Tips Percutian ke Ho Chi Minh Vietnam

bismillahirahmanirahim.

heading back to kl tomorrow at 1125 hrs. *sedih*
habis lah cuti seminggu for my final year. time flies fast isnt it.
my next cuti is ?

selamat hari raya aidilfitri. hehe. 

actually labour day from 1st to 4th may pun ada cuti. nak pergi pulau perhentian / redang with my parents & F. tapi tgk bajet *cough*. apparently pakej pulau pun ada GST starting 1st april, so ditambah dgn date PUBLIC HOLIDAY jadi lah semakin MAHAL. walaupun percutian dalam negara sendiri. hmm and apparently, itll be tiring and i cant afford to go for my hospital sessions or classes with exhaustion. need at least 1 day to recover kepenatan.


so back to the main subject. cuti seminggu kan. myself and parents sempatlah vacation ke - ho chi minh aka saigon, vietnam 4H3M. we were there from saturday 21st march to tuesday 24th.

alhamdulillah. it is an enlightening experience. of course, we have our mishaps, misfortunate events too. manada benda 100% happy senantiasa kan? kena berjaga jaga lah.

so i think ill do a SUMMARY OF OUR TRIP.
hoping it can help anyone of you whos planning to go there soon.

pre departure :
1. CURRENCY - plenty of malaysian ringgit, vietnam dong can change once you arrive at tan som nhat airport, keluar arrival hall terus nampak counter bersusun susun. please mintak duit kecik also supaya senang bayar transportation. USD? i carried 100 USD, and till now i still have it with me. hehe. maksudnya, not compulsory lah nak convert to USD. lagipun sekarang our MYR is dropping kan, so dalam 100 USD kene standby dalam RM 360 - 370 .

in ho chi minh city :
1. TRANSPORTATION

• from tan son nhat airport toward your hotel via taxi - once you arrive at the arrival hall. walk outside. theres a taxi stand on your left. you can see a table with taxi supervisor (formal wear with tie) and show your hotel address, and ask is it a metre taxi or not. (i ask 3x same question  because i heard and read about taxi charges cut throat here). 
• most people recommended VINASUN TAXI OR MAI LINH. but when we were there, we took SAIGON TOURIST TAXI and it is a metre taxi. our metre charge were 244 000 vietnam dong. from airport to our hotel in district 1. traffic was quite heavy anyways. since we had no change and my father said to tip the taxi driver because he can speak good english, so we paid 300 000. he didnt ask for it, or raise the charge from the metre. tapi ikhlas bapak suruh bayar kan.
• from our hotel to airport on our lst day, we paid 160 000 vietnam dong. its not the metre taxi. it is an aiport transfer service. using avanza silver, no sticker or taxi written. no metre too. but driver said its an airport transfer company. i took a picture of the name. ill upload it later. its something like viet song company or something similar.
• we only use taxi twice during our visit. most of it? WALK ON YOUR FEET. you will be surprised at how far you can go with those 2 legs. consider it as exercise.
• from tan son nhat airport toward ben thanh market via bus - its on the right when you exit the arrival hall (when i came). no need to walk further like i read in previous blogs. you can see several buses lining up. fare is of course cheaper. and the bus drops you just at the ben thanh market. 
• BEWARE OF TRISHAW or beca. toksah naik lah. kat melaka pun ada apa. i read previous blogs, stating they like to scam the tourists. mula mula ckp certain amount. tapi last2 mintak over. something like that. my backpacking friend pun pernah kena this year. mula2 ckp brp USD entah. last2 bertekak dan gaduh mulut with my friend siap RAMPAS wallet and ambik duit. we had our fair experience too. tengah jalan kaki nak ke notre dame cathedral (dah dekat sangat. xsampai 50 m. nampak building colour brown2. tp just nk double confirm lah), benti tanya orang yang ddk tepi jalan. tunjuk map. die mcm blur2. pastu tibe2 die panggil pak cik beca. pak cik beca datang tunjuk OPPOSITE WAY walhal kami di jalan yang lurus. (eh. macam jalan menuju syurga kan. hee. insyaAllah.) ok back to the story he said "high land coffee. good good" siap tunjuk beca dia. i said "no no. we walk". dalam 3 4 min jugak la berkeras tak nak naik beca. alhamdulillah. cakap elok elok kat diorg. jangan gaduh2. cakap NO NO. pastu jalan je ikut NALURI kite. tengok2 dah sampai. alhamdulillah, Allah lindung hambaNya. Doa baik baik masa musafir. Allah tolong. Janji Dia satu kepastian. 

2. SHOPPING AT BEN THANH NIGHT MARKET (must read)

• ok this is one of the most important thing!!!
• firstly, you need to bargain. and of course you can pay in RM or dong
• basically you know the keychains / fridge magnets (1 strip 10 keychains / magnets) - it costs about RM10 per strip. IF YOURE LUCKY especially at the malaysian street you can get 1 strip for RM5. the cheapest ever. but we didnt buy because we bought so many before the night we heard the seller saying "satu 5 ringgit. satu 5 ringgit". we can only smile. knowing how much we spent and how much we loss before that. tapi nak buat macamana, orang meniaga mesti nak untung. nak hidup jugak kan. 
• kain cotton you can get about RM30 for 3.5 metre, baju kurung cotton manik2 or beads you can get 3 for RM100 (i think super berbaloi because the beadings are heavy. and you need to actually feel the texture of the cotton because some are thick type, some are thin type)
• vietnam tshirt - you can get RM7 per piece. so kalau ada jual RM15 or 20. jalan je ah. sure you will find the stall with the RM7.
• so whats the must read? ha. this applies to anything that you buy especially from the night market - you know how we sometimes buy souvenirs for family and friends, we usually buy in large quantities? 5,7,9 pieces or so. BE EXTRA EXTRA CAREFUL with the SELLERS (Sellers usually wants to close deal ASAP. so they talk very fast with their hand gestures etc). PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE (u see how im repeating 3x). COUNT BACK HOW MANY ITEMS THEY PUT IN THE PLASTICS. eg, you buy 8 tshirts. after you pay, IMMEDIATELY CHECK YOUR PLASTIC BAG and COUNT. is it 8 pieces altogether or lesser. sharing from our experience shopping here. we pay for 8 tshirts, but in the plastic on 6 tshirts. we pay for 8 hats, in the plastic on 6 hats. coincidence? wallahualam. i am not saying that sellers are taking advantage over us. but it seems that, there are missing items  either MISCALCULATION 100% or just a way of earning more. only Allah knows. this happens when you buy in large quantities. because if you only buy 2 or 3 pieces, its there. no missing item. SO BE CAREFUL, AND CHECK IMMEDIATELY. because if your item is less, than you can ask for it. 

3. MAKANAN HALAL

• alhamdulillah, halal restaurant is available. it feels like makan kat malaysia. but price tag of course not like mamak lah.
• its like 99 000 dong, or 100 000 dong for nasik goreng
• kalau nak jimat, makan maggi cup lah dekat hotel. as for me, i travel with parents. so i dont think maggi cup is sufficient for my folks. so we dine at halal restaurants the whole time we were there. 

4. SAFETY 

• when in ho chi minh, do it like the locals - when you cross the road, CHILL. BE CONFIDENT IN YOUR STEPS. because the motorists and drivers will know to slow down, or stop or avoid you. but remember, sometimes at interserctions they also have TRAFFIC LIGHT where we pedestrians have to wait before crossing. tengok tengok la keadaan sekeliling ok. jangan la jalan time pedestrian light tengah MERAH PLUS ( kalau merah, tanda die plus. bukan bulat merah sahaja)
• bags - SLING BAGS are better. alhamdulillah during our stay, nothing bad happened. but we were REMINDED more than 2 times regarding bag safety. first, by our flight attended. she told us, hati hati dengan bag. second, by a worker at a shop told my dad (he carried a DSLR around his neck) hati hati dengan bag, and camera and dont play hp especially when you walk by the streets (beware of the motorists), third by the owner of the restaurant we had dinner at hati hati dengan bag. so you see, a lot of people warn us. so its my duty to warn anyone of you going there in the future. alah, sama macam kita hati hati kat malaysia la. dalam keta, handbag x letak atas seat kan. jalan handbag kepit kuat kan or crossbody kan tali handbag mcmtu. sama lah kat tempat orang. 
• wallets / purse - ok this is a tip from my backpacker friend. dia cakap ASING KAN DUIT awal awal. duit kecik simpan lam wallet. duit besar, simpan lah mana mana tempat selamat. dalam bra ke spender ke (style org lama lama kan). sebab? sebab in case ada kejadian di mana wallet anda akan dirampas. at least yang dirampas, xde la value sehingga *sakit nya tuh di sini*.

4. DEPARTING BACK TO OUR COUNTRY

• pack your items neatly. ada forum ckp, kalau plastic2 tu, bukak. susun mcm kain baju kotor kite. thats wht we did lah. 
• i read in travel forum regarding how the customs officers at the airport sometimes request you to pay so called "tax" (duit kopi). i was nervous too and told my dad to spend his last remaining dongs, and keep his RM in other bags or pockets. and myself too, was worried because i had thick amount of RM in my wallet. memang nangis setaun la, kalau tiba tiba kena bayar ratus2 (tau x betapa tingginya value duit bila kita susah payah berjmat nak simpan duit . tapi akhirnya gone with the wind. lagi lagi student macam saya. bergantung duit mak ayah. Allah, saya dah serik. )
• when we arrived, alhamdulillah. it was a steer clear process. flight at 1100 hrs, we arrived at 930 am. (about 1 hour drive sebab traffic jam. driver siap geleng geleng kepala dgn jam). we fly with MAS. so ticket counter lain dari AirAsia lah. tak boleh nak kasi tips k. hehe. check in counter business class, TAPI ya Allah, serve orang dengan muka MASAM BEKERUT. memang berbeza dengan klia. masa macam ni lah, kita hargai tempat sendiri dari tempat orang lain. CAKAP pun kasar. tanya bag saya "how many bag you want to check in". i said "1 but i have 2 bags" (sebab total 2 bag xsampai 40 kg limit pun sebenarnya. so by logic, x perlu la nak check in 2 orang 1 bag each. kalau boleh 1 person 2 bag, kan senang. betul x?). die potong cakap repeat question dengan tone kasar "i SAID how many bag you want to check in". last last, malas nak buat hal cakap selamba ja "ONE". xpela, experience enriching my life. my dad pun cakap "muka berkerut kan". so kalau ada orang cakap naik business lagi best dari economy ke. TAKDE BEZA PUN LAYANAN TAK MESRA SEMUA ORANG DAPAT. hehe.
• ok kat airport ni macam klia. xde scan scan. check in drop baggage terus. kalau handcarry baru ada scan 2x. so sekiranya ada masalah "tax" ini, anda akan ada halangan start dari drop baggage. masa q up cop passport lepas dari counter dan lepas handcarry scan no 1 and 2. ada couple from malaysia tegur (i carried a 65L backpack, mum with 2 handbags and 1 paper bag, dad 1 small backpack and 1 70L backpack too) tanya bag lepas ke. kami pun blur blur. cakap ok je. rupa rupanya, this couple had their fair share of experience. diorg check in kat kaunter G (AirAsia counter rasanya sebab depa naik AirAsia). diorg ckp, dri kaunter G. kene rejek ckp beg2 semua mesti masok cargo. dia ckp, semua in line G semua kena. (Allah, dalam hati terkejut dan at the same time syukur kat Allah sbb tolong urusan kami semua lancar). diorg pn sorok2 backpack diorg yg slightly smaller than mine. and they said they had to pay 200 USD for the duit kopi. Allah, kalau kira in RM? hmmm. boleh lepas sebulan myvi punya installment.   they said previously they came, they were fine. no issues. so from my reading, its true. customs officers ni ikut mood. kadang kadang ok. kadang kadang kurang ok. xpe lah kalau betul duty die, die buat. good. tapi, kalau duit haram. hasil haram. nak bawak ke mana kan. tak kemana pun hasil nya. you see because of the issues you face at the counter, it will drag your time. because malaysian couple tu tgh q up. orang dh announce flight diorg boarding 2x. tak ke naya kalau ape ape jadi.

ok. rasanya intipati yang penting dah masuk. ill write more specific details when im free. 

now time to sleep.

heading back to busy city life tomorrow. 

*deep breath* - LIFE MUST GO ON.

kamon malia. final year. final stretch. you can do it!

percutian ke krabi thailand day 2

holla.

ok my entry for day 2 in krabi. i think ill go straight to the point rather than typing nonsense

so our tentative on day 2 in krabi was going on ISLAND HOP. there are various of ISLAND HOPPING TOURS here. because krabi has a number of islands. and for the day, we went on the 4 ISLAND TOUR.

first things first. how much? so for this 4 island tour my dad got a 400 baht/person deal. (roughly this was the common price. but mum and me saw even a cheaper price which was 350 baht and some tour booth selling at 300 baht. so like i mentioned earlier, YOU HAVE TO WALK AROUND AND SEE THE PRICES FROM DIFFERENT TOURIST BOOTH.

so for this 400 baht 4 island tour - what do you get?
1. 4 island tours from morning till evening (roughly we ended our tour and reached the pier around 4 ++ pm), with lunch, and snorkelling. :)

below was the lorry that pick us up. around 9 am (pretty much around that time. so the lorry will go from list of hotels to pick up the tourists). transportation in krabi is rather unique, where they modified pick up lorries so it can accommodate travellers, and protect us under the sun too :p, the famous tuk tuk, the modern lorry, mpvs, vans and others.


2. we traveled via long tail boat, traditional wooden boat. they also have a speed boat tour, but the price is pricey. if im not mistaken, double the price of long tail boat tour. of course, it was FULL with tourists. my dad even made friends with a french teacher, and an australian grandpa (both were travelling solo. i wish i can do a solo vacation. but hmm for now?lets put that in the bucket list before getting married at the last number. mum surely will hesitant to let me travel on my own. mehh)
the long tail boat speed was of course slower than the speed boat because it uses a long propeller. while speedboat uses a modern engine  (1 engine is 250 hp ok. and some have 2 engines, and some have 3 engines. so you multiply that!)

the long tail boat at the pier. the pier was located around noppharattara beach. thats why we were transported from hotels respectively. to gather here. you can walk from Ao Nang beach to Noppharattara, but its quite a distance. (but tour is inclusive of pick up and return right. so why the hassle?)

if you are sea sick or motion sick - my advice is : get an antiemetic aka anti vomiting aka ubat tahan muntah before you ride the boat (any of the boat). my mum gets sea sick but mildly. so she took the tablet before we started off our journey. i am medical student and a future doctor, so health is a priority even when we travel. we even learn about travel medicine. so the most common sickness traveller experience is diarrhea. we call it travel diarrhea (you know all the eating and drinking in foreign places, and we are unsure of the hygiene and things like that). and boy, you should see my medications that i brought along. i have 1 full bag of it.

but if youre lazy to carry around medications with you. dont worry. there are plenty of pharmacies in ao nang. its like the family mart. scattered and abundance. but urm from my dad's experience of buying balm. its quiet hard because of the english proficiency level is different. id say malaysians speak good english. and some of the thai speaks minimal english. so its hard to communicate. and my dad often uses hand language and basic english to indicate that he will find what he needs on his own. if you carry your own meds from home, you save on the unnecessary spending. thats the most important thing right. why buy when you have plenty of it at home.

3. so the islands listed under the 4 islands tour was

- Tup Island
- Chicken Island
- Poda Island
- Phra Nang cave, at Railay beach (there is a penis shrine here)

this is the chicken island. it looks like the head (jambul ayam)

the colour of the sea. im in love.

clear

first stop : Tup Island

here you can snorkel or swim or just laid back on the beach. 

from this island you can also walk (around 30-40 mins) across the sea to the next island. (theres 3 islands. its like a triangle. and is reachable by walking). m not sure which one. but you can walk to adjacent island when it is low tide. (when we came, it was low tide). but mum and i decided not to walk because we need the strength walking in water and up till higher than waist level. so, na ah for us. 

chicken island again . we snorkel here. basically the boatman stoppped the boat. and we just went down in the water. i had photos but in dad's dslr. it wasnt scary because (i am bad at swimming), and they had life jackets. and theres even a hongkong girl (maybe 6 or 7 years old) who enjoyed the snorkelling very much. 

beautiful. along the way we spotted some people kayaking. but the tour for kayaking is more expensive. (more than 1000 baht)

poda island signage. this is where we had our lunch. (forgot to take photos). it was rice, sweet sour chicken, mixed vege, egg in sauce, coke and mineral waters. it was delicious! (maybe because we were hungry. but i enjoy the food. and it was still hot)

sitting on the beach of poda island. taking photo. this is a COMMON photos on fridge magnet etc. i think i can apply to be a national geographic photographer. lol.

and oh theres monkey here! more than 1. and this monkey is tame. we even patted it on its back. but monkeys are naughty. so they stole some crackers from other tourists and climbed up the trees. lol.

photos again

leaving poda island

this is the penis shrine in Phra Nang cave. its basically an island with cave. on the left, there are rock climbers. i forgot to take photo. 

i knew this place way before i went here. because of instagram. i saw people posted photos of the big black penis. lols. (my mum thought it was mushrooms until i told her its penises.)

the story on this place is that, theres a goddess here that grants prayers and wishes. so people come here to pray. and they pray for love, and fertility. HENCE the penis statues. 

i dont think theres nothing wrong, because its the religious practice of other people. i find it unique. i dont really have dirty mind on this thing because hey, ill be working later on and FOR SURE ill be seeing alot of penises and vaginas especially to insert urine catheter (you know those urine bag collection on patient's bed). so its fine by me. (not to my mum. because as she found out that these were penises, she went away from here. lol)

theres another shrine consisting of mythical arts and items depicting the goddess. but i didnt get near because theres a whole group of tourists there. listening to the tour guide. 

so, after Phra Nang - we get back to the pier. yay. 4 islands - CHECKED


so whats for dinner? i wanted to try the famous pancake. (theres a particular stall that i am looking for, because fellow malaysian travellers shared in their blogs that this aunty sells the yummiest pancake. but since i couldnt locate her. so i just make do with whatever stall i found).

this stall is located near the mcdonald. but i believe the location varies, as they can park anywhere they want. this is not a fixed stall. its a stall on the motorbike.

so i had the nutella pancake and cheese pancake. YUMMY! nutella spread was awesome. and cheese was awesome too. there are stools provided. so you can just eat in front of the stall. 

it costs 30 bath for nutella pancake and 40 baht for cheese pancake. 

you wont possibly think that 2 pancakes can satisfy 3 stomachs right? of course we had proper dinner. but, its at the same restaurant - LEMON restaurant. partly because they can speak malay, and food is OK ( im a picky eater. so yeah). but my dad thought the food were super. and for the 2nd night, we didnt eat as much as the 1st night. and the total dinner expenses was under 1000 baht. i think around 800 + baht?

so end of day 2. 

day 2 epxnediture :

1. 4 island tour 400 baht/pax = 1200 baht (3 pax)

2. pancake 70 baht

3. dinner under 900 baht

4. misc - my dad likes to eat and munch junkies. so he bought pringles, cokes, jucies, chewing gums etc. and im not sure how much does all that cost. lol. 

roughly. estimated under 2500 baht. (RM250)

so for day 3? another island hop! dad were asking me which one to go. is it james bond island or phi phi island?

ill share later on day 3 and our shopping sprees.

happy sunday people. its standard chartered kl marathon today.