Vincom Center HCMC

The latest and perhaps most luxurious shopping center scheduled to be opened in HCMC on 30 Apr 2010 - Vietnam's National Unity Day. Just walked past it today and the fences have been removed, giving pedestrians a glimpse of this big modern shopping center.  It has 3 basement and 5 ground levels of shopping, dining and entertainment; a total of more than 250 shops. So far, there's nothing like this here in HCMC so this is a first indeed. 

Related to this is that most of the shops opposite Parkson on Dong Khoi St have been vacated, including the relatively new Eden Mall. Wonder what they're planning to do next. Only Fahasa Book Store is still intact there. 

Phnom Penh

21 Mar 2010

0615  Depart HCMC on a Mai Linh 16-seater

0835 Cleared both VN and Cambodian customs; took a short break

0900 Depart for PP

1030 Reach Ferry Terminal

1145 Reach Golden Gate Hotel

22 Mar 2010

1035 Depart PP 

1135 Reach Ferry Terminal

1150 Depart Ferry Terminal

1355 Cleared both customs

1550 Reach home

This is our first trip to Cambodia. Our observations :

1. Cambodia is indeed a poorer cousin to Vietnam.

2. Vast pieces of empty land. Many houses in the countryside are built on concrete stilts. Horse and bullock-carts are still common in the country-side. 

3. Most riders wear helmets that are of better quality than VN riders. Most helmets have visors. Either they wear helmets or not at all!

4. In PP, more cars than in HCMC. They even have multi-storey carparks!

5. PP seems more cosmopolitan than HCMC. Supermarkets are better stocked with imported foodstuff compared to HCMC.

6. More Khmers seem to be able to speak better English than Vietnamese.

7. Khmers do not push each other like Vietnamese do.

8. Things are more expensive in PP than in HCMC - looks like the cost of living is higher. One DVD movie costs US$2 (20,000VND). It's 10 - 15,000VND in HCMC. Petrol is about 21-22,000VND/litre compared to 17,000VND in HCMC. 

9. US$ is the main currency for transaction - not the riel. US$1 : 4,000 - 4,200 riel - it varies from place to place.

10. Few riders wear masks - and these masks are all medical masks. They do not have anything like the masks that are found in HCMC. 

11. Tuk-tuks and motor-cycle taxis are the most common mode of transport for tourists. We saw only a few taxis.

Vinh City

Visited Vinh City on Sat 20 Mar 2010 at the invitation of a friend. Takes about 1h 45m to fly there. It is the capital of Nghe An Province and the fourth Grade-I city after Haiphong, Danang, and Hue.

Vinh is a laid-back city, quite clean and the air is fresh compared to HCMC. Life is slow there and traffic is light. All houses have several lightning conductors because of the frequent storms and hurricanes there. Four seasons here - it's early spring now and the night is quite chilly. The best part was dinner. One dish looked like fried egg with mince-pork - we were told it's cooked with some sea creature which the Vietnamese couldn't translate in English. Well, what harm is there in trying? Tasted quite good - I had three helpings :) ... see last pix for the sea creature!!! Shown to us after dinner!!! Managed to take a few hurried shots from the taxi.

Nice article on Vinh City by a German.
SOS Village in Vinh

Vinh City wrt Danang & Hue


















Giant Uncle Ho statue in the middle of the town square















Ancient gateway to the city, I think















Nice hotel
















Dragons for decoration of altars















This was the sea creature that we ate!!!

Saigon Square 2

Saigon Square 2 (SS2) opened in Nov 09. Decided to explore it today. It's located after Legend Hotel - at the junction of Ton Duc Thang and Nguyen Huu Canh. SS2 is a bigger sister to its sibling Saigon Square in Nguyen Thi Minh Khai; with 350 shops in tight spaces of 2-4 sqm. It looks much nicer from the outside but doesn't have the same feel as its smaller "sister". Has a more "expensive" and "commercial" look to it.

Sinh Tourist (aka Sinh Cafe) - then and now

Just found a 2008 brochure of Sinh Cafe, which has changed its name to Sinh Tourist (probably too many "imitation" Sinh Cafes sprouting up in Vietnam), and compared prices with its recent brochures out of curiosity:

1D HCMC Tour  

then 112,000VND now 140,000VND

1/2D Cu Chi Tunnels Tour  

then 80,000VND now 90,000VND

(exclude all entrance fee)

1D HCMC Tour + Cu Chi  

then 128,000VND now 150,000VND

(exclude all entrance fee)

1D Cao Dai Temple + Cu Chi  

then 112,000VND now 120,000VND

(exclude all entrance fee)

1D My Tho & Ben Tre (Mekong)

then 160,000VND now 180,000VND 

1D Cai Be & Vinh Long (Mekong)

then 176,000VND now 210,000VND

2D1N Phan Thiet-Mui Ne

then 900,000VND now 980,000VND

(twin-sharing)

3D2N Phan Thiet-Mui Ne

then 1,460,000VND now 1,570,000VND

(twin-sharing)

Adel and Bryan star in the school musical "Grease"

After months of preparation and rehearsals, the night finally arrived when parents are more anxious and nervous than performing children!! What an outstanding performance - if I had not been watching them, I wouldn't know that those were my two kids singing. Joyce and I are so proud of them. 

1st Anniversary

It's been exactly one year since The Alpha International Kindergarten was opened. It's been a short, and yet long, year. We've been through so much - the worries of whether we'd be getting students, the problems with authorities, management of the school, the language etc etc...it's a wonder that we still have hair on our heads! It would have been a much, much easier process to just start a kindergarten in efficient and clean (in more than one aspect if you know what I mean) Singapore but we chose to venture out. So we have to be happy and live with our choice.

Today, we have 2 kindergartens with almost a hundred kids - guess it's not too bad a start after a year's work. There was a time when we worried whether we'd ever hit 10 students! We are thankful to God (who has seen to everything for us despite all our doubts), our families (for being so understanding), our partners and friends (for their very staunch support) and especially our 3 kids, Nicole, Adeline and Bryan for understanding despite the disruptions we brought to their lives with this shift.

Our plans for 2010 are to open at least another kindergarten and a primary school. We pray that God will continue to guide us and give us strength to face the new challenges ahead. It's very exhausting and frustrating at times, and we need to rely on more than just our own strength and effort to move on.