this is the third time i been to vietnam but it felt like the first time. probably bcuz' of the good laughter i shared with my buddies and the time-off from the overstressed country we lived in... 5 days in HCM were well spent and i rate this country - awesome. here's all the good things im gonna share with u too!
first thing first, check-in my golf bag! ^.^
over the hcm sky~~
the local scene is kind of manifested by motorbikes and you gonna watch your way when crossing the road. no joke okay o.O
the hotel arranged a mini bus to fetch us and upon arrival, he parked his car onto the walking pavement and... a tree right in front of the door. epic parking, tat's so cool. lol
h o t e l
the accommodation was arranged at Phu Giai Loi (PGL) hotel and in chinese translation, it's known as 福佳利. importantly the room is decent, cleanliness is well maintained and the best part -- it's newly open, so everything is new and nice. good food and shopping is only a 5 mins walk *thumbs up*
the beauty of PGL hotel is that the staffs speak chinese and cantonese!
language barrier is the only problem i encountered over that few days...
most of the vietnamese doesn't speak english and so if you intend to
shop in the local market without a companion who speaks native language,
think twice. lol price tag at least tripled too!!
lucky me stayed at the 8th storey which is the highest level... that
means i don't get the vehicle noise waking me up in the morning as the
hotel is located next to the main road! *wink wink* see the view from my room :))
Phu Giai Loi Hotel
580-582 Nguyen Trai Street,
Ward 8, District 5, HCMC Vietnam
Ward 8, District 5, HCMC Vietnam
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l o c a l . f o o d
don't miss the local delight - pho (beef noodle soup)!
as told, this cafe serves the best pho in town. and yes, i totally agree. the soup is refreshing from mostly the beef broth, not so much of msg. and... did i ever tell you that the chilli is spicier than our chilli padi... omg!
each bowl of the delicious pho cost only 30,000vnd (less than 2sgd) and it's a bowl full of fresh beef meat :)) official drink of the trip? beer. lol only 30,000vnd too!
Phở Lệ
303 – 305 Võ Văn Tần
District 3
303 – 305 Võ Văn Tần
District 3
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m a s s a g e . s p a
besides the food, spa was fantastic. excellent service with cheap price tag. one minus point, none of them speaks english or chinese. even the service menu is in vietnamese words *fainted*
that's the vip room where we are being massaged! okay, hiding somewhere in the pic is one of my cute friend trying to 'camouflage' himself when i take picture. lol
for 115,000vnd (abt 9.50sgd) per pax, we
get 90mins of spa service in vip room which includes foot spa, head to toe
massage and steam bath sauna. the only thing is that you are required to tip the masseur from 100,000vnd onwards. well so what? even 20sgd spent is worthwhile!
Minh Phuong
21/16 Nguyen Thien Thuat - Phuong 2, Quan 3
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m a n i c u r e
it's not to be missed. i was brought to a local manicure shop owned by carmen's friend :) this is my other cute friend indulging in her manicure service done by the shop owner!
this is my manicurist, trying to remove my gel nails. im so glad they know the technique to remove gel nails althou' they don't know how to do gel nails!
this lady pretty young lady is my lovely vietnamese friend - carmen! she's assisting to soak off my gel nails even thou' she's not working there *hurhur* so nice rite?!
ta-dang!! my spa manicure and pedicure all done in 90mins :)) thou' it's not the type of nailart that i'll do in singapore but i think this manicure and pedicure are so nicely done.
these manicurists are skilled and their service is great, they even walked over to the opposite cafe and treated us drinks! price tag for the manicure? only 80,000vnd (5sgd)!!! wth rite?! with this price tag i won't mind to do manicure every other day!!
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g o l f i n g
my expectation was met. so im glad that the golf resort did not disappoint me after a 2hrs long journey ^__^ the golf course was fabulous, service is good (staffs speaks english too! lol) and changing room is clean and well equipped.
hmm, we'll always stopover at the golf club's cafe stocking up our ice-box with beer before our first tee-off :)
starting off our first tee-off at the desert course! weather on that day was cloudy and did drizzle a bit in the midst of our
game but overall the weather was considered nice. see the awesome view
of the golf course hehe
this desert course is so cool... they literally made the landscape like real desert.
but definitely not an easy course to play, especially for novice. we did the 2nd 9-hole at the palm course which is slightly easier to play and nice golf course too! too bad i was too engrossed in my game that i didn't take pictures for the palm course :(
aside clubbing, golf is the only thing that is not cheap in vietnam o_O
18holes game, a personal caddy, a buggy and few cans of beer -- total
bill 160usd . but im sure going to play golf at this resort again.
golfers, do mark this venue as one of your next golfing trip! :)
Song Be Golf Resort
77 Binh Duong Boulevard, Lai Thieu, Thuan An,
Binh Duong Province, Vietnam
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f o o d
the host gave us a treat at a well-known local chinese steamboat restaurant. well, don't underestimate this typical steamboat meal we had in singapore cuz' the bill was 8,000,000vnd (abt 500sgd)... -.-"'
the roasted pig was yummylious thou'
this other cute friend of mine is holding to a quail as small as a fist size... and the last thing i'll ever eat in vietnam belongs to a quail too. the egg. See it yourself!
yup, quail is forming and they eat it. apparently it's the local delicacy... but im not gonna had it anyways. lol
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l o c a l . s c e n e
we went to the local temple and seems like the vietnamese religion is very much alike to our chinese buddhism ^.-
while visit the temple inside a small heartland, this is the transport of the day - 3 pax bike ride! feels like im in old days m'sia hahaha. can you spot me?!
i must post this pic cuz' i find it so hilarious. the story -- my guy friend, obviously someone hunky and vain, freaked out from a ride offered by carmen and was made to wear an hello kitty helmet during the ride. lol WELCOME TO HCM!
so much to share for now...
hope you enjoyed reading as much as i had enjoyed the trip :))
lurves, candy t.
Soooooo jealous, I wanna go travelling too. Love your pedicure. :)
ReplyDeletehey alex! do visit vietnam some time soon :) im sure u gonna lurve it!!
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