Day 4 started a little bit later than usual.. coz we didnt book any tours with our favourite Sinh Tourist.. haha.. so we took our time to wake up and strolled to the basement of our little cosy hotel for our last breakfast in Ho Chi Minh.. haha..
Must eat until full! coz we know that lunch and dinner will be on us already.. no more hotel food =P We still have a long day ahead of us...
These are our luggages... haha.. that's all~ We had wanted to backpack on the last day, but we decided to leave our luggages with the hotel and head out with as little things as possible.. which I feel is the right choice as we had to walk quite a distance later, and I wasnt in the best of health.. lousy me~ haha..
We checked out of our hotel - home for the past 3 nights.. and headed to Cholon.. the chinatown of Ho Chi Minh! =)
Arrived at Cho Bin Tay after approx 30 minutes of taxi ride.. haha.. skies not looking so good then.. =P
We went in, and realised that it's a huge warehouse selling everything in bulk.. haha.. I bet things here would be very much cheaper than Ben Thanh, but too bad, the vendors could easily tell that we're not locals and would take this chance to overcharge us =P
So we decided to just walk ard, take some pictures.. and spare the agony of bargaining and being 'cheated'... haha..
HATS! hats galore.. haha.. I cannot imagine myself wearing one of those.. =P
After a few shots and walking around the market, it started to pour.. really pour! haha.. everyone scrambled for shelter and we did too.. to the nearby KFC =)
Where we had an early lunch.. haha..
After filling our stomachs, we walked around the area and decided to explore the area.. and we suddenly thought that it would be nice to just stroll around on our last day, and perhaps walk back to our hotel!!.. haha.. it's going to be a long walk.. and we were prepared for that =P
A typical crossroad... with bikes going in different directions...
Ready, get set, go!
And so we walked... for a good 1 hr or so?.... before we stopped at some place for ice cream.. haha..
which I believe we got 'toked' too... haha.. coz ice cream we got were ard 30 cents sgd each... haha.. which I find quite exp, considering we were ard some local streets, where tourists were a rare sight.. I strongly believed we were toked!! =P
And we contined walking, walking.. towards the end of the road, where a fateful accident happened, to me................. *sobs*
I slipped and fell down!
It was hilarious but painful =P my hands were full when I fell and with a camera in one hand and a half eaten ice cream in the other, i balanced myself and stood up.. I wanted to check my wound, but had no hands to do that.. =P and I painfully finished my ice cream first, then checked my wound.. Haha..
It was an ugly scratch =P no more shorts and skirts for a month I told myself.... Poor camera got scratched too..
But still we continued walking~
Mr Koh was my compass and GPS.. haha..
We finally walked to civilisation where we spotted a shopping mall! hahaha.. I washed my wound *ouch* and we soaked ourselves in the aircon, before we contined with our walking journey.. haha..
We walked into another shopping mall half an hour later of walking, coz it started to rain! again~~~ haha...
and it's Basketball time again! woohoo.... my favourite game in arcade.. we play this in every country we visit! hee =)
We competed and I won!!!! At least there's something I'm better than him in =) haha...
We slacked around for a while and contined walking again.. haha..
Taking shelter under this umbrella-lookalike shelter to check GPS and directions.. haha..
not deterred by the rain.. haha..
We found Hello Kitty too! and it was not long before it started to pour cats and dogs again.. haha.. the weather that day was erratic~ rain and stopped, rain and stopped and the cycle repeats...
After few hrs of walking under the rain, we finally decided to just take cab back to somewhere near our hotel coz we should just pamper ourselves by having a nice dinner, before we board the plane.. haha.. we've done enough walking for the day... Eventful day of walking, strolling and roaming.. and falling down =P
And indeed... we had a very good dinner =) The best dinner we've had during the trip.. haha..
got roses somemore~
We ate like kings and queens and ordered 3 main dishes.. haha.. because they are cheap! haha... and we want to eat ourselves silly before we say bye bye to Ho Chi Minh City...
Nice~ =)
Lovely deco too...... high class~
Time for a shot together to remember this dinner.. haha..
Happy and satisfied!
We walked back to our hotel.. walking back that familiar stretch of road we walked almost every night, for that one last time.. a little sad coz I'm not sure when we'll ever come back and walk that stretch of road again.. but it's ok, as long as my mind's fresh, I will keep all the memories locked in.. and of coz we have the pictures to remind us! =)
A picture with another french designed building nearby...
The nightview.. still vividly clear in my mind =)
There's LV too!
We went back to collect our backpacks and went straight to hail a cab outside our hotel... we are leaving Ho Chi Minh City already~~ Goodbye Mai Hotel! I can still remember how the receps look like.. haha..
In the cab, on our way to the airport =)
Say cheese... at the check in counter, before checking our humungous backpack in.. haha..
Posing with the interior of the transit area.. we spent a good 1hr or so loitering inside.. haha.. and it's surprisingly comfortable strolling ard coz it's pretty new and it somehow reminds me of our very own Terminal 1? haha..
With some time to spare... we decide to indulge ourselves in a cup of nice hot latte... before we board the plane.. afterall, we still have some spare dong/usd =)
Enjoy~
While waiting to board the plane.. haha.. I will miss HCM~
Just to show you my wound from the fall earlier that day.. haha.. still fresh and pain! =P
Finally it was time to board the plane... a final goodbye to Ho Chi Minh... and off we went, on a 2 hr flight back to home sweet home... haha..
*pom pom* and the plane landed...
We're back at home............... it's almost midnight! =)
Home sweet home! hahaha... we're both tired.. it was a long and eventful day for us.. with the erratic weather, everything was even more memorable..
As I recollect the memories of my Ho Chi Minh trip, though it's not the usual glamourous and shopping-filled trip, with clean and high class shopping malls, etc.. I really did enjoy our trip! haha... It was an eye-opener, I learnt and see alot.. understood more about our asean neighbour.. It was an enriching trip to a country which I've always wanted to visit and I didn't regret visiting... though it was raining throughout the 4 days when we were there, plus the fact that I fell sick and slipped.. haha.. I truly had a great time at Ho Chi Minh..
High five Mr Koh!.. One country down (maybe we'll visit Hanoi next time =P).. Where to next? =)
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