Moving out ... again

Here's our sentimental garbage again ... some of the boxes were not even unpacked from the last shift-in ... lol

Jeremy and Julia's visit

Jeremy and Julia came over from 11 to 15 Dec 2011. Very kind of him to offer to lug up our groceries - button mushrooms, gluten, curry powder - things not easily available here. Accompanied them for a visit to Vung Tau on 12 Dec.

Vung Tau

Went to Vung Tau again - this time with Jeremy and Julia. Good thing as it gave me the opportunity to find out a few more things about Vung Tau.

HYDROFOIL SERVICE

Important things to note :

1. Vina Express is the best of the 3 hydrofoil companies, followed by Petro Express and then Greenlines. I took Greenlines the last time - it was small and being the last, we were squeezed into a small space at the back. Vina Express has bigger ferries and the aircon was working well. Too well, in fact, that it was cold ... but better cold than hot and stuffy.

2. Determine when you want to come back and buy both the forward and return tickets together at the same time. Tickets cost 200,000vnd one way as of Dec 2011. A group was stranded because they "assumed" there would be tickets available (in Vung Tau) for them to return on the same day. Well, they had an extra night to spend there.

Although most sites say it's 1 hr and 15m one way, it's actually 1.5 hrs if you take into account the delays here and there. For us, it was 1.5 hrs there and the same when we came back.

The ferry/hydrofoil terminal in HCMC

Viet Express Counter

Entry to waiting area

The waiting area

Boarding the Vina Express Hydrofoil

Sufficient leg space in Vina Express Hydrofoil

Ferry Terminal at Vung Tau

TAXIS

Always use Vinasun or Mai Linh. Never take the other taxis, whatever brand they are, as they're known to overcharge and rip you off. We had an arrangement with our Mai Linh driver - we paid him the indicated meter fare at every destination, and then tell him when to come back and pick us up. Both parties are happy with this. Note that the meter runs faster than in HCMC, about 30% more according to reports in the internet.

The following is an indication of our fares :

Terminal to Mary & Baby Jesus Statue : 70,000vnd

Mary & Baby Jesus to Ganh Hao Restaurant : 20,000vnd

GH Restaurant to Imperial Plaza (Shopping Center) : 130,000vnd

(I estimated : GH Restaurant to Jesus Statue : 90,000vnd)

Imperial to Jesus Statue : 40,000vnd

Jesus Statue to Ferry terminal : 45,000vnd

All in all, we spent about 305,000vnd running between Mary & Baby Jesus statue, ferry terminal, Jesus Statue and the Imperial. So if you need to negotiate a flat fee for a day's visit to these 3 places, 250,000 to 300,000vnd for a taxi should be just fine.

Vinasun taxi fare guide (Dec 2011)










The sign reads " Statue - God Jesus the King, Mount Tao Phung"; Tao Phung translate roughly into "meeting point/place"














The second last flight of steps before reaching the top


































Mary and Baby Jesus Statue

Stations of the cross are lined along the hill side under the shade of trees

TIMING

We reach the HCMC ferry terminal at 8.10am on a Monday morning and managed to get Seat No 98-100 (out of 131 seats). A little later and we might have no seats.

So if you plan to go on a weekend, better to book a day earlier or go there an hour before.

We took the last boat out at 4.30pm - that's the latest of the 3 companies.

As mentioned above, we went to 3 places.

We reached Mary and Baby Jesus statue at about 10.10am and left at 11.45am for lunch.

Spent an hour for lunch and an hour at Imperial.

Started at Jesus Statue at 2.00pm.

Reached the top at 2.25pm - that's the average climb rate for 2 middle-aged man and a young lady on a day with very few visitors.

Spent 30 min at the top, including going up inside the statue - but that's because there was no one there today. Add another 30min or more if you're there on a weekend as there'll be a queue to go inside the statue. Ladies, be warned again - you must be in long pants. Shorts and prohibited and you'll find yourself sitting outside if you're wearing shorts. The guard is very strict about that - and he is one who doesn't stoop to bribery so don't try that.

It's a 10min walk down to the giftshop - add 5min to go right down to the road.

Additional taxi charges at TSN Airport

The exit "toll" fee (or whatever you want to call it) at the airport has increased from 5,000vnd to 10,000vnd - just recently. So when you take a cab to the airport, you have to add 10,000vnd to the fare. Likewise, when you leave the airport, add 10,000vnd to the fare when you reach your destination.

The Perils of Living in a Foreign Land

Well, our apartment was burgled yesterday. Someone climbed from the window at the open staircase onto our balcony, picked the lock and the rest is history.

Here's where he climbed in from

He headed straight for the bedroom (must be a seasoned thief) and took all the cash he could find, some jewelry and watches. The irony was that he locked the door after he left. We came back to find every door and window locked, and the above missing.

Of course we had to make a police report but they couldn't help much. Came in uniform and slippers. Said that this was not the first case in this block - guess it will not be the last. Oh yes ... Vietnam doesn't believe in finger-printing. So they said it's no use looking for that when we pointed out some finger smudges to them...not that we wanted them to do so in the first place.

Thank God for Ms Dung and Ms Nga who rushed over when they heard about the burglary and helped with the translation for the policemen. It's a lesson learnt - we always hear about it happening to other people but when it happens to us, we're more than shocked...how surprising.

To those of you who thought like us, it's about time to do a stocktake of the security measures at your home to prevent a burglary.

Saigon Square and Russian Mart

The latest news - Saigon Square 1 has taken over its neighbour - the Singapore-owned Chinese restaurant. Went there last night to find that SS1 has expanded by at least a third of its original size. That's good news for shoppers.

On the flip-side, Russian Market at Lucky Plaza has closed down. That's bad as it's actually a better place to shop - cheaper prices, less crowds even though it's smaller. Seems like some of the vendors have shifted to the new Taka Plaza. We're now on the look-out to see where the rest have moved to - esp my fav Jack Wolfskin shop.

Official Opening - The Happy Schoolhouse

We had a small party to celebrate the opening of our 3rd preschool in HCMC, The Happy Schoolhouse. Students from The Alpha Kindergarten joined us in the celebrations, giving the school a more lively and vibrant environment ... at least for the morning.

LotteMart Dist 11

Went to LotteMart at the Everrich Apartments in Le Dai Hanh Street, Dist 11 for dinner at our fav Japanese restaurat, Hikari. We like Hikari for its reasonable price, generous helpings and the fact that there's no ++. Today, we had a steamboat dinner set - for 190,000 nett (about S$11)...yes, that's the 3 photos below.

Then these 2 old folks decided to pass some time at the arcade on the same level before going marketing at the LotteMart supermart. Paid 35,000 (S$2) for 10 tokens. Each game costs 1 token. Had a hard time finishing the tokens.

This cost 2 tokens.

Another month has passed

Here's the view from our living room window - it's a fine evening indeed; one of the rare sunny evenings in this rainy season. And that's a concrete jungle out there if you can't picture what one is like.

We had dinner last Sunday at a very cozy Japanese restaurant, Geisha at 85 Pasteur St in Dist 1. The ground floor was a boutique. The restaurant occupied the 1st and 2nd floor. They had a set dinner special at 150,000vnd (S$9). For that, I had pork chops and potatoes (it was really good; one of the best pork chops I've had in a long time), desert - peach and mango torte (my kind) and iced green tea. Joyce had fish and a mixed of carrot and ginger juice, which definitely did not go down well with us. Desert was fried bananas with coconut cream (my kind again!), and hot green tea. Geisha's a very nice and cozy place for a meal or a drink to while the afternoon away. Books and free wifi available. The couches on the 2nd floor looked most inviting. And they have shisha there too - 120,000vnd (S$7).

This is where I buy my phone card top-ups.

A 100,000vnd (S$6) card goes for 95,000vnd here.

Once a month, there'll be a 3-day period where there's free 50% for every top-up (used to be 100% a few months back).

What you see below are prices for new SIM cards. Pay 25,000vnd and you get 65,000vnd for Mobi-phone. For Vina-phone, 33,000vnd gets you 117,000vnd worth of calls. So many Vietnamese have 2 phones - one permanent line for incoming calls (free) and one phone for new SIMs. This has led to the ridiculous situation of them discarding SIM cards (and the accompanying tel numbers) and buying new ones just to take advantage of the offers. There are an estimated 85 million people in Vietnam. If 1% buys new SIMs every week, can you imagine how many numbers would have been discarded every month?

School No 3 (The Happy Schoolhouse) is up and running - have finally completed most of the preparations. Updates are here and the website (temp) is here.

Crumpler Bags

[Update : There are now 2 Crumpler shops along Bui Vien. Not sure if they belong to the same owner.]

2 queries in a day made me realize that I haven't had any updates on these hot item bags.

The most convenient shop (for visitors) with the most range of Crumpler bags and also havanas and crocs is at 137 Bui Vien St, District 1. It is in the backpackers' area - Pham Ngu Lao - within walking distance from Sinh Tourist - if you're booking tours from the latter. However, this outlet's prices seems to be a tad more expensive than the original at District 4, whose prices are found in the bagvina website.

The shop with the bagvina website is located in Dist 4. But it's kind of way-out and inconvenient for visitors unless you're adventurous. A cab will get you there in about 10 min or less. Walking will take you about 20-30 minutes from Pham Ngu Lao.

Website : http://bagvina.com

See my friend's post : http://www.vietnam720.com/travel-tips/crumpler-bag-shop-in-hcmc/

You can also buy Crumpler bags at some stalls in the Ben Thanh Day and Night Market, and at both Saigon Squares (there's a 1 and a 2). But the range is quite limited.
[Update : Can also find them at the new Taka Mall - near Pasteur/Le Than Ton junction]

"Happy" and "Dai Nam"

The 3rd pre-school, The Happy Schoolhouse, is coming along fine and should be up and open for business in about 2-3 weeks. A little delayed but not much of a problem.

Will be taking a break on 1 Sep 2011 and biking to this huge theme park know as Dai Nam Theme Park in Binh Duong. Supposed to be about an hour out of HCMC and includes temple, mountains, rollercoasters, a zoo and more. Will blog more about this next week.

Mum and Dad visited last week and had a "rolling" good time here - esp at Ace and Dynasty casinoes. No harm passing time there so long as the stakes are low and all are having a good time. As usual, Dad is here to shop for his golf wear - good value-for-money here in HCMC; half or less than half the price you get in SG. If you're lucky, you may get a bargain at 80% off.

They followed us to Can Tho City in the Mekong Delta as I had an appointment there. A change from the routine run-around in HCMC. We hired a 16-seater bus for the 4 of us - a luxury! - and took about 3.5 hours to reach there. Nothing much has changed since our last visit 3 years ago.

Lazy, lazy

...been a good four months since the last entry. A lot has happened. School No 3 is official after a long search for a suitable location. We now have a presence around the airport area. More updates when it's done up properly.

Nicole and Adeline had come and gone - it was really nice to have them around. Hopefully it will be Bryan the next time round but he seems really caught up with school work and personal work.

We shifted ... yet again. It's a long story but it has taught us a good lesson. If something's too good to be true, then it is. The short story - we offered the owner our budget if she wanted us to stay on. She agreed despite it being low and then changed her mind just before signing the new contract. That sparked a mad rush to look for a new place.


3rd school - front entrance















Back entrance



















Side view

Phnom Penh (26-27 Mar 2011)

Here's an update of Phnom Penh from our recent trip :

MEKONG EXPRESS (MKE)

I would give it 7 out of 10 points - good service indeed. Cost : US$12 one way. We were given breakfast (from ABC Bakery), a bottle of water and a wet towel, all served on a tray. The bus leader was a nice and polite Khmer who spoke quite good English. The driver was careful and did not speed...well, speeding here is a relative term. The seats were comfortable although the bus was not new - understandable as the company makes many daily trips from Saigon to PP to Siem Reap and back. The bus leader collected our passports - all we did was to fill up the immigration form for Cambodia (Vietnam abolished this in Sep 2010).

The trip back was more impressive. MKE set up a table for the bags, unlike at the VN end where we dropped our bags by the road side. Then we had to go to the office to have our passports checked before we were allowed to board. The journey itself was just as good except for the Vietnam immigration side. More of the immigration next.

Just note that the end point (coming from Saigon) at PP is at the Russian Market while the embarkation point (to Saigon) is at the riverside opposite Bopha Phnom Penh Restaurant (locally known as Titanic Restaurant). Another landmark is the Weekend Night Market - it's just after this location.

IMMIGRATION

The Vietnamese immigration is a mess compared with the Cambodian side. I cannot, for the life of me, understand why they don't do something to make life more comfortable and easier for travellers and for themselves. Perhaps if they made a change, they won't get any "benefits" for processing some passports faster than others?

The VN system - the bus leader collects all the passports and hands it to one of the VN immigration officers. He stamps the passports, and if another local squeezes his/her way through and throws his/her passport on the counter with a "tip", naturally that passport is given priority and the owner breezes through. Then it's back to our passports. MKE has a staff standing by who will call out the names. Once you get yours, you move on to a desk where another officer will check your passport ... again. If several tour buses happen to arrive at the same time, then there'll be a big crowd to jostle with.

Going to PP wasn't so bad, but coming back was bad. It took a good 55 minutes to clear the VN immigration. Compare that with the 5 minutes (I timed it) over at the Cambodian side!!!

The Cambodian system - like any international immigration, even more efficient than some developed countries. You queue in front of an immigration counter and the officer does the usual - checks the passport then stamps it. They even take a digital photograph of every visitor. All done in a few minutes. They're dressed smartly in proper jackets.

Coming back was even more impressive. The bus stopped at a restaurant near the Cambodian immigration. Someone from MKE collected the passport while we were resting/eating. When we finally reached the immigration, all we had to do was to disembark from the bus. The Cambodian officer, with all passports stamped and ready in his hand, simply stood by the door of the bus and called out our names. Everything was done in 5 MINUTES - from the time we started disembarking to the time we depart!!! I was thoroughly impressed with the efficiency.

Of course, we almost died from frustration when we reached the Vietnamese end.

TIMING

7.09am Depart Mekong Express Office at Pham Ngu Lao.

8.25am Pass Cho Cu Chi (Cu Chi Market)

9.10am Moc Bai Immigration

9.40am To Cambodian Immigration

9.55am Cleared Cambodian Immigration. Rest at Flowery Restaurant.

They accept VND. We paid 70,000vnd for our bill of 13,500 riel.

10.30am Left Flowery Restaurant for PP

11.50am Reach Ferry Terminal

12.10pm Clear Ferry Terminal

1.25pm Reach Mekong Express Office at O'Russey Market (Russian Market)

2.05pm Depart PP from Mekong Office at the river side

3.30pm Reach Ferry Terminal

3.45pm Depart Ferry Terminal

5.13pm Reach Flowery Restaurant

5.43pm Depart Flowery Restaurant

5.47pm Reach Cambodian Immigration

5.52pm Clear Cambodian Immigration

6.47pm Finally cleared VN immigration and on to Saigon

8.20pm We disembarked at Cong Hoa MaxiMark which is about 30 minutes from Pham Ngu Lao. It's nearer my home.

So it took about 6 1/2 hours in total to get to PP from Saigon and

about 7 hours to get back to Saigon at Pham Ngu Lao.

BLUE TONGUE HOTEL

It's a modern hotel in a minimalist design. Our superior room was very clean and neat. The beds were firm and the aircons quite new. The shower head was BIG but the toilet was very small. We were quite happy with the room. The only gripe we had was about breakfast - a little bare. The hotel needs more light - especially at the reception and cafe.

Hotel Reception & Cafe

The location is quite ideal because it takes only a few minutes to walk to Sorya Shopping Centre and the Central Market. It is also a 5-min walk to Golden Sorya Mall which is quite a pathetic place as most tenants have moved out of the place, most likely due to a lack of business. Only the shops along the road were occupied.

Golden Sorya Mall - only the shops along the road are open.















The inside is empty - a sorry state

ROMDENG RESTAURANT

No 2 restaurant of 174 in PP on Trip Advisor's list. It lived up to it's name - the food was good, so was the ambiance. And it's just 3 minutes stroll from Blue Tongue Hotel.

My delicious & extremely sweet dessert

BOPHA PHNOM PENH RESTAURANT (TITANIC RESTAURANT)

No 11 on Trip Advisor's list. Definitely did not meet expectations. The rice was hard, barely edible. The food was palatable but nothing great. The ambiance was nice, that's about all. Service was nothing great too. Romdeng, with only apprentice young waiters, put them to shame. I will not be going to Titanic again.

Note that this is the only restaurant on the river bank. All others are found across the road. Tells you something about the owners, doesn't it? Cambodia is all about connections.

Fish Amok in Coconut

Chicken and vegetables

Some duck dish

TUK TUK DRIVER MR SMITH

We happened to chance upon Mr Smith, a very enthusiastic English-speaking tuk tuk driver just outside Blue Tongue Hotel. We engaged him for a one-hour city tour for US$10. It was a nice ride and Mr Smith took pains to explain to us the various sight

s along the way. He brought us to Diamond Island and insisted on helping us take a few photographs. So how could we resist such a sincere offer? And the result ...

Here's the man himself - Mr Smith