~ Travelog: Vietnam (Part 1)~

Hi & Assalamualaikum...

Ok.. now i already have moods to write about my travel to Ho Chi Minh (Saigon) Vietnam recently.. weeee.. still sorting & selecting the best pictures and videos to share with you guys.. I'll write this travelog in full English as it may be referred by  people from other countries as well (if they do visit my blog..hehe).. 

So, let's begin the journey guys.. For your info, actually this trip was planned by my aunt (Ateh), who loves to travel..and she always got a sudden vacation plan.. like this..hehe.. only a month before, when Air Asia have promotion to Vietnam we booked the flight.. we planned to go to Ho Chi Minh Saigon on 14th to 16th of August 2013, which is actually on the 6th day of Hari Raya Aidilfitri.. This trip was joined by Ateh's Family (Ateh, Her Husband- Ayah Teh, Her son-Khairul & her daughter-Mira), Mak Su' Family (Mak Su, Her husband-Pak su & her daughter- Syirah), My family (Me, My sister-Along, My Brother-Efi & My Mom-Mama) and my grandparent (Atok & To'ki).. So, there are 13 people who joined this trip.. The flight we booked on that 14th August was at 7.05am.. To ease everything as we got to be in the airport early, we rent a guesthouse for a night.. The guesthouse was so beautiful & large.. "Rumah Persinggahan Pak Wan".. Located nearby LCCT at Bandar Salak, Nilai.. only about 25 minutes to LCCT.. An old school exotic wooden house fully furnished with 3 large bedrooms and additional pillow & beds, 3 bathroom, a living room, kitchen, and air conditioned.. After a bargain session with the owner, we managed to rent the guesthouse for only RM250 instead of RM400, since we check in at 7pm and will be check out early the next morning..

The next morning, 14th August 2013, we got up late.. hahaha.. everybody woke up at 4.30am.. supposedly we planned to be at the airport at 5 am.. so everyone was rushing getting bath and cleaning the house before leaving... we reached the airport at 6.05am.. Then, rushing to drop the baggage and check everything before fly.. the procedure takes quite sometimes.. Everything was kinda hectic.. walking around with high speed and running..pity  my Atok & Toki.. My sis, Along almost being left.. Because she hold her passport and it needed to be stamped before we can fly.. at that time, she's park her car.. luckily, she managed to be on time.. just few minutes before the counter closed..phewww.. then, we need to go to the immigration and went to the international departure hall.. again, we went to the wrong gate.. we just know that for flying to Ho Chi Minh and Guang Zhou, we need to go to gate Y1 which situated beside the domestic departure hall.. again, a hectic situation.. running to the new gate.. and as we entered the gate, there's no toilet or surau for praying and it's already 6.45am, and we need to board right away.. pfffttttt.. a lesson this time, never ever booked early flight again.. :(

This is our flight to Ho Chi Minh Saigon.. it took a long journey to reach the bay from this gate.. almost 10-15 minutes.. pfffttt.. as a conclusion, we do exercise a lot by walking and running on that morning.. hahahaha.. :P

Bye-Bye Malaysia.. still early.. zzzzzz

For the first time ever, i went to somewhere- important places (this is international bro) with bare face..no make up at all even compact powder.. hahaha..  At first, i was planning to wear make up after performing Subuh prayer.. However, we missed it.. so everyone fly with bare face & didn't have the chance to go to the toilet before fly.. hahahaha

My Bro (Efi) and Cousin (Khairul)... :D

My cousin, Syirah (the baby) didn't get a chance to bath too.. she fly to Vietnam unbathed..hahaha

Mi Familia.. Everyone pose with bare face and swollen eyes..bahahaha

My Atok & To'ki near the window.. :)

Yummeehhhh... having a breakfast on flite & enjoy the sightseeing of the beautiful sky.. 

Nasi Lemak ayam rendang for breakfast.. :)

Beautiful isn't it? Subhanallah.. :')

Approaching Ho Chi Minh city.. view from the sky.. ;)

A very crowded city.. 

and yeay, we safely landed.. we reached Ho Chi Minh about 9am (Malaysia time) and 8 am (Vietnam time).. It means that Vietnam time late about 1 hour from Malaysia.. But here, 11.30am already Zohor, 6.20pm already Maghrib.. and at 6am, the sun already shine bright outside.. so you have to wake up early to perform Subuh prayer..  

At Tan Son Nhat International Airport of Vietnam.. :)

During our arrival here, at the immigration counter, the staff was not very friendly.. one of the staff asked us to make only 1 line.. but she speaks in Vietnam and with such a high & harsh voice.. how can we understand.. very annoying.. such a pretty face, but her attitude was not so pretty..useless indeed...hehe :P.. then we booked a van to bring 13 of us to the hotel.. this van cost about 30 USD.. besides, there was a counter if you want to buy local sim card.. i did bought, but due to a very complicated procedure just to make the sim card functioning (you have to call the operator blablabla), and i was  a bit lazy when it comes to this, i didn't use the simcard & prepaid at all.. it cause RM30.. just wasted like that.. i rather turn on my hp wifi & surfing the internet, whatsapp my friends without hesitation..hehe..it's much more easier.. ;)

This is Ho Chi Minh city.. a very crowded and noisy city.. You can see clearly that there's lack of cars on the road (except in picture).. there's so many motorbike on the road..motorcycle is the main transport for the people here..i almost have a heart attack.. the road was so busy and noisy with the horn.. and it was very dangerous how the people drive here.. seriously, it is much worse than traffic jammed in Malaysia.. and oh yeahh, the drivers here was only allowed to speed between 40km to 60km only.. for all roads..and they also have speed trap..hehe

Another view of Ho Chi Minh city.. 

Actually, before we travelled to Vietnam, my aunt & i had booked the hotel which is An Tam 3 hotel.. but It's quite far from the Ben Thanh market (the most famous tourist shopping center), so we asked the van driver to bring us to the hotel near Ben Thanh Market.. The driver brought us to An Tam 1 hotel.. but it's quite expensive.. about 42-45 USD per night for 2 people.. so we asked another hotel around the area.. and we decide to stay at Saigon Pink 2 Hotel.. we booked 1 family room with 5 bed (2 double+1 single) for 8 people (50 USD), 1 superior room (40++ USD) and 1 double room (30++ USD).. if we want to add a person in a room, we need to add 5 USD.. if we want to add a bed, we need to add another 5 USD.. for example, for a family room which can cater 5 people in a room, we have to add another 15 USD  for another 3 person to stay in the room.. The receptionist will collect our passport and count how many people stay in the hotel..   we may got our passport back when we want to check out from the hotel.. So let's see the pictures of the room.. ;)

The front view of our hotel.. Saigon Pink 2 Hotel.. :)

very beautiful (as everything is white..hehe) and comfortable.. this is actually the view of  superior room only.. 

i only have 2 pictures of family room.. but it was really really big..it may cater 10-12 people.. there was 2 queen bed, 1 single bed, 2 desk mirror with chairs, tv, bathroom with a bath tub and 2 large cupboards.. it's very very comfortable for a family.. if you're going there with family/friends and you want to save money, it's better to take this room and share with a lot of people instead of booking a 2-3 rooms.. if you have any inquiries regarding the hotel if you want to travel to Vietnam, just PM my FB.. i've the contact no. and fb of one of the worker's there.. :) 

we got rest a little bit, have shower and pray before we went out to explore the Ho Chi Minh city.. Wait for Part 2.. to be continued... heeeee... ;)