Punggol Park

It's been a long time...lazy, lazy. So what have I been up to the last 8 months or so? Well many things but no need to tell grandmother stories here. Suffice to say that I'm now shuttling between SG and HCMC. Have been exploring our local parks and walks (a paradise compared to HCMC) and this morning, it was a stroll in the park ... Punggol Park to be exact. I've lived near there, witnessed the building of the park but never really explored it ... the shame of it all.

It's a nice and peaceful place, underused as most parks are in Singapore and a great place for me to perfect my skating falls in the future. Yes, I know not what I was doing when I took up inline skating. But no choice. Cannot run as knees are out of order, walking is a tad slow for me so blading is the next course of action.

Some photos here that I took while on my walk today (click for bigger pix).

Panaromic view of Punggol Park

Reflections

Hardworking Ant!

Hardworking Bee!

Was very thrilled with this little bird. Many of his bros were around but they were all shy except for him. So I followed him around for about 20 min.

Later found that he was a Striated Heron (aka Little Heron, Little Mangrove Heron, Little Green Heron, Green-backed Heron) and probably the most common heron in our area (according to singaporebirds.net). Really? How come I've seen so few of it around?

Close-up of the Striated Heron

Snack is served

Poor Ant or something...

This I think is an Egret of some kind.
See tidechaser.blogspot.sg 

Another bro of the Striated Heron species
I found along the canal

A Walk in the Park ... Southern Ridges (Part I)

We decided to explore the Southern Ridges today starting at the foot of Mount Faber. It's a steep walk for two unfit persons but we managed to "conquer" the hill a tiring huffing-n-puffing 15 minutes later. Haven't been to Mount Faber for a couple of years. Nothing much has changed, which is indeed a comfort given that Singapore is changing so rapidly that I am now a tourist in my own country. Along the way after the Henderson Wave, we were so thrilled to come across a family of White-crested Laughing Thrush. A rare sight for city-dwellers like us. It turned dark and we managed to reach Alkaff Mansion. Decide to head for the nearest bus-stop before the sky gave way. So end of walk for us, and back to VivoCity.

The start of our adventure

Just a few steps to climb!

And another few steps...

What on earth is this?
Stairway to heaven?

Finally ... civilisation

View from Mount Faber

The way to continue our walk along the Southern Ridges

Going down this time

Step-by-step

Start of the Henderson Wave

View from Henderson Wave

+67.22m above sea level

Nice benches for tired bodies

White-Crested Laughing Thrush

Lost/Stolen Passport Procedure in HCMC

I am documenting this as a guide for foreigners who have lost their passports in HCMC or have had them stolen.

Background (5 Dec 12) : We were walking along Dong Khoi outside Parkson. 2 well-dressed men on a bike went onto the pavement. We made way for them. One of them suddenly grabbed my mother's handbag and they sped off. That was it. 2 passports and money gone.

Step 1 : 
Make a police report at the WARD police station where the crime was committed - you need to get the right ward police station. Otherwise you'll be running in circles looking for the right one. You'll need the help of a Vietnamese as most of the policemen do not speak English. You also need to write your statement in English and then have it translated to Vietnamese.

We made the report at night right after the incident. We were "informed" that if we reported our passports as lost instead of stolen, we will get the procedures processed faster. What procedures? Their motive? No prizes for guessing. Hint : statistics. The passports and money will never see the light of day again - it's just the report that we need. We stuck to our story -  asked for a copy of the report but none was given. No reason given too. We were just told that we can only collect our copy at 9am the next morning.

The next morning, we arrived promptly at 9am. One officer pulled the report from his drawer, passed to another for a look, and then to a third officer to stamp the report. All done in less than 3 minutes. That's how the "procedure" is for collecting a copy of the police report. Note also that procedures differ from ward to ward.

Police station at Ward Ben Nghe

Police Report (EL in front)

Police Report (VN - at the back)

Step 2 :

Go to your embassy/consulate, in our case Singapore. They will need the police report and 2 passport photos per person. You need to check with your embassy on their specific requirements. Don't go there and then start searching for a photo-shop to take your passport photo - adds to the delay and frustration, which you can well do without. Get your photos taken before you go there. We needed 3 photos per person - 2 for consulate, one for the VN Imm Dept later. Best to make 4.

The embassy will issue a Document of Identity (see below) for you to fly out of the country legally. However, in Vietnam, they need an additional Vietnam visa together with this document. So you need to go the Vietnam Immigration Department. See below for details.

Our consulate said it will take about 3 days to get the VN Visa done - which means you should be prepared to stay another 3 days or more. (See how we cut short below)

Document of Identity

Letter by SG Consulate to VN Imm Dept

Step 3 :

Go to the Immigration Department. In HCMC, the address is 254, Nguyen Trai, District 1.

It is about 10 minutes walk from Citi Plaza (shopping centre where we had lunch).

You need to get a Vietnamese friend to go with you. Handling them on your own is really difficult.

Note that it operates Mon to Fri 0800-1130, 1330-1600; Sat 0800-1130.

We rushed to reach there at 1110 but the queue number counter already closed.

So don't bother to go in the morning if you can't make it by 1100.

We had no choice but to hang around at Citi Plaza for 2 hours to wait for the 1.30pm opening.

Went back at 1.25pm - queue counter was already opened. Got a queue number.

Imm Dept at 254, Nguyen Trai, Dist 1

This is the queue number ticket

This is Counter 9 where you will make your report.

You need to fill up another form : "Application for visa issuance, replacement, modification or stay extension". One for each visa application. You need to buy it from the queue counter.
You also need to submit one passport photo to make your visa document.
You will need to make photocopies of all your documents for submission.

We went out to make photocopies after talking to the officer (machine at queue number counter was out). Someone in uniform approached us and offered to help get our visas done by today so that my parents can fly out this very night as originally scheduled. I let my VN friend handle the discussion. Final "service fee" was US$100. That's why you need a Vietnamese to go along with you.

We finally got the visas done at 4.30pm. Cost is US$25 per visa.
Total damage for us : US$150

Finally, the VISA!!

HCMC - No longer safe

Caught in the act (Crime in HCMC)

In my earlier days in HCMC, when I was still green, I attributed being cheated by some Vietnamese to my naivete. Then my wife was pick-pocketed. Still defended HCMC and blamed ourselves for not being careful. Then my apartment was burgled - ok, bad luck. Then I was robbed a few months back - my fault? Today, my mum was robbed. A very kind young lady brought us to the police station and help us make a police report. She said that her foreigner boss and another manager also fell victim to crime. Sorry, HCMC, I cannot defend you anymore. You have become too dangerous for me as a foreigner.

One year back, I rated you, HCMC, as the second safest city for tourists after Singapore, even safer than the other cities in Southeast Asia. Sorry, not any more. Not after what has happened to me and my family - call it bad luck, call it my fault, call it whatever you want - but HCMC has degenerated into a very dangerous city to be in, especially the city centre. Even their own citizens are afraid. See the following news from just one source, vietnamnet.vn (I've added more sources since then) :

Police-detain-25-muggers-on-buses-in-hcmc
Back-to-the--hot-spot--of-street-crime-in-saigon
More-mobile-police-for-hcmc-to-fight-crime
HCMC-to-mobilize-forces-to-crack-down-on-crime
Robbers-slash-man-s-arm-for-30-chinese-phone
Woman-s-arm-chopped-off-by-thieves
Woman-pushed-into-moving-traffic-by-bag-snatchers
HCMC-parks-targeted-by-criminals
Witches-brew

From vietnamnet.vn
Cruel-tricks-of-saigon-bandits
Incredible-tricks-of-saigon-robbers
Robbery-on-the-streets-of-saigon (1)
Robbery-on-the-streets-of-saigon (2)
The-police-to-declare-war-against-robbery-in-saigon
Street-knight-identifies-robbery
Combating-street-robbery--street-knight--model-still-a-concern
Ministry-of-public-security-to-tackle-robbery-in-hcm-city
Crime-will-bring-consequences-to-vietnam-expat-victim

I read the comments of some foreigners about how wonderful the country and city is, about how long they have stayed here and never fell victim to crime, about dumb people who don't know how to protect themselves from being robbed ... all I can say is that it only has to happen to you just once, and that spell which Vietnam cast will be broken. I gave HCMC four to five chances. Enough! For all its charm, beauty and hospitality, I do not want to live in a city where I have to look over my shoulders each day I go out, especially if I have a bag ... to look at every bike coming my way as a hostile force out to rob me, to go home and wonder if it has been broken into. This is what's happening to me now every day - certainly not a good way to live life.

I do not want to feel the helplessness of being robbed again and not being able to do anything about it. It is very frustrating. And if you do happen to be robbed, you are to surrender everything because if you retaliate, chances are you'll be hurt or killed. And the irony of it all is that you should thank your lucky stars that you're not hurt after being robbed. And you can expect that nothing will be done by the authorities despite your report. Whether it's the sheer numbers they have to deal with, or the helplessness, or the inefficiency, or the simply can't-be-bothered attitude, or whatever excuses they can cook up, you'll never see your belongings ever again - unless you're some super VIP with heavenly connections.

Even with all the pleasant memories, experiences and some wonderful Vietnamese friends, there comes a time when what is acceptable crosses the line, and enough is enough. I have made enough excuses for you, HCMC ... hasta la vista, Saigon! I'll be back for business but never to live again.

Pandora City

A new shopping mall has just opened at the stretch where Cong Hoa Street meets Truong Trinh Street - Pandora City. You can't miss it - a lively coloured facade of red, white and blue, and anchored by Big C. Should be opening some time soon. There's Big C, Nguyen Kim (electronics supermart), Adidas, KFC and Pizza Hut as far as I can see for the moment. However, seems like only KFC is open for business so far. Completing the Cong Hoa/Truong Trinh stretch will be another new shopping/office complex Pico Plaza. I also saw a site opposite Pico Plaza with a signboard that states TDB-Parkson Plaza. Certainly good news for residents of Tan Binh, Tan Phu and the surrounding districts.

For those unfamiliar with the location, this is the stretch of street bringing you to Cu Chi Tunnels and Cambodia. You can now stop along these locations on your way back from Cu Chi/Cambodia to explore a more local shopping scene. No worries, you can either take a cab back to town or take Bus No 4 which brings you to the Bus Station opposite Ben Thanh Market.

Pandora City

Genting Highlands - 2 decades on

Well...almost. Our last visit to Genting Highlands was when Bryan was like 2 or 3 years old. So it's been more than 15 years since. The reason why we're there (10-12 Aug 12):

This fella ...

was invited to perform at this.

As proud parents, we had a maternal/paternal instinct to show our staunch support for our casino ... oops, wrong ... son during his performance.

He did well, judging from the interested crowds ...

Busking at First World Plaza

Appreciative crowd

A twist here...a turn there ... and voila 

Well, we can't be forever standing there staring at our son ... support has its limits ... and he needs a break from us blah blah ... excuses, excuses. So we scuttled off to explore ... the air is great; really 'cool' in both literal and figurative sense, the malls are ok - can get some good bargains, the food a tad expensive at some places, the casinos... now THE casinos ... well...

I don't know about the big rollers but for us small-time social 'gamblers' (not sure if we even qualify for that title - casinos would have long gone broke if they depended on us!!), the Genting casinos are great. To qualify, as we don't play table games, the slot machines are great. Simply because we can stretch our $$$. You get 5 x RM50 for S$100 with some spare change. In HCMC, you get two miserable pieces of US$50 for S$120+. And since the machines are mostly the same in both places (2¢ and 5¢) - so one gets to play (lasts?) a lot longer in Genting than in HCMC, which in a way adds to the fun as we're not there to make serious money and worry a lot about losing it. The variety of slots machines is amazing - I like the way wikitravel puts it - you can have your "vice of choice".

No wonder there are so many uncles and aunties there. We, the new birds, made some enquiries at  the agencies in Golden Mile. At offpeak periods, you can get a 3D2N stay at First Hotel for S$88 (inclusive of a return ride on a 26-seater luxury coach). Now ain't that a bargain?

However, you get for what you pay for - so don't expect RW Genting to have first-class facilities and amenities like RW Sentosa. The theme parks are rather old, First Hotel (where we stayed) is ok - can't complain except for the check-in time, food is ok if you're not fussy etc etc.

We boycotted Starworld Casino mainly because of their card system. They require us to sign up a new card which is a pain as we've already signed for the Genting Worldcard. Then their cards have a big problem "talking" to the machines ie 4 out of 5 machines will have problem reading the card. On top of that, the buttons are not responsive and you end up punching your PIN many times, compounding the above problem. After a while, it becomes a real pain to machine-hop. And if you want your money back (if you have any left in the first place!!), you need to queue to get it physically from the cashier. In the end, we gave up. We're there to have fun, not frustration.

Monte Carlo, Circus Palace, Hollywood Casinos use the Genting Worldcard system which is a lot more efficient. All you need to learn is to slide your card into the slot in a specific way. The rest is a breeze.   Apparently, you acquire points from playing and can exchange for certain benefits like free hotel rooms etc.

Monte Carlo - the biggest casino there

Another part of Monte Carlo

We stayed at First Hotel - that gawdy, strange rainbow-themed 3-star hotel. It holds the world record for a hotel having the most number of rooms - 6,000 + rooms. No wonder it takes such a long time to check in. We took about a half hour but I read complaints about 2-hour waits.

Really gawdy, isn't it?

Looks better hidden in the mist!

There was no breakfast with our hotel booking so we tried the "Bakery" - which I must say has very good breads. The breakfast muffin (with scrambled eggs and ham) was great and a generous portion to top it; so was the chicken pie and coffee. And that's how "Bakery" became our fav breakfast haunt.

Muffin, chicken pie, coffee and my dear wife :)

Some other attractions at Genting :

Hotel Highlands in the sun - nice and cool

Hotel Highlands in the mist - nice and cold

Genting Skyway- very nice ride. RM12 for a return ticket.

Here's where we end - Gohtong Jaya - small shopping centre there

Became all misty again when we went back up to Genting

One of the 2 theme parks

Casino victim ... RIP!

Playing with this app whilst at Genting