Here's another notable place we went to, Wrap and Roll. We also have Wrap and Roll in Singapore, but boy were the menu items different! But first, let me say how beautiful some of the cafe and restaurants were! I will slowly share more and more photos of these places as I blog more, but look at the view from the photo above. It looked like something out of a designer magazine. The place was spacious as we were on the 2nd floor, and you can view the streets and shops across the road. The furnishing were simple and elegant as well.
Again, it was a spring roll feast! I never knew a whole meal could just be nothing but spring rolls! But that was what my Japanese colleague helped us ordered, and above is one of the platter that was served to us. Isn't it lovely? I just simply love the visual effect of that. And you may think that spring rolls are not filling, but you are so damn wrong. We couldn't hardly finish everything we ordered.
Here's a photo of my colleague teaching us how to assemble the items together for the best taste. Just use your hand! I personally like the fried spring roll cause the paper rice skin spring roll is kinda hard to eat for me. And as usual, there is no shortage of weeds and herbs on the table.
The next few blogs will all be about food, cause well, there wasn't much to do in Ho Chi Minh except to eat. The food was good and cheap. The only regret I had was not sitting by the roadside having a meal just like the locals. I guess, that was one of my regret for this trip.
But anyway, we can't all dwell in the regrets of our lives, so let's start about the food we had! First day lunch, my Japanese colleague took us to a Pho Cafe. This was my first bowl of Pho in Vietnam, and it was delicious! I almost finished all the soup! I am a snob when it comes to Pho, reason being, I compare it with beef koay teow from Penang and it kinda is the same thing. So I've never been a fan of Pho. But this first bowl I had was flavourful and soothing. I actually went back on another night, but sadly, the taste wasn't consistent and the soup was rather blend then.
Every dish in Vietnam seems to be served with basil leaves and herbs. It kinda take some getting used to. But the herbs seems to make me hungry faster too, so I guess they must be good for you since they aid digestion? Just saying. I can also understand how some people may not like the taste of these raw herbs. But I grew up in a Peranakan family were herbs and vegetables were mostly eaten raw, so I was pretty much at home with these although my stomach took a day or two to be comfortable with it.
We also had the cliche spring rolls. The dipping sauce that came with it was delicious. They weren't fish sauce or sweet and sour sauce, but kinda like peanut-y, rojak-y, chinese sweet red sauce kinda taste. Overall thumbs up! My colleague ordered a steak from the same cafe on the 2nd time I drag him there, but like I said, the standard wasn't consistent, and the steak wasn't anything to rave about. Sad, cause the place was very affordable.
On our 2nd last day there, we went to a noodle show call "Tam Hao", and I ordered beef noodles. Can't say I was impress by it. It tasted like Taiwan beef noodle, but more diluted. But the coffee there was lovely.
11-July-2017. I think this is my first business trip where I have a colleague stuck to me almost from the word "Go". From Changi Airport Day 1, to Changi Airport Day 7, he was with me most of the time. As he has been to HCM before, he gave me a one day tour of the place, saying that if we don't do everything on Sunday, we won't get a chance to do anything during weekdays cause we would be stuck in the office every night doing OverTime....
So the first day we arrived, there was another weird story to tell. A lady started chatting with me when we were queuing at the immigration and since she was traveling alone, we gave her a free ride to town (a.k.a our hotel). She offered to give us a free ride to her hotel area since we were headed to Ban Tien Market. Yay! Free transport! We stop at our hotel for just 10 mins to check-in and throw our stuff before heading out.
Ban Tien Market was touristy. My colleague wanted to go buy stuff there (mainly cloth for his tailor made pants and shirts). I just tag along, this being the first taste of Vietnam for me. (actually I have been to HCM last time during a Cruise to China....). Anyway, the market was interesting enough, and you have to bargain for everything. I was more interested in the food being sold there. I was really tempted to buy the mangosteen I saw outside the money changer.
Anyway, after he got like half a dozen cloth, he was happy and took me to a massage place which he recommended. Below is the shop name and address in case you are interested, along with a menu of the services provided.
It looked decent enough, and since I didn't want to wonder around the area on my own while he took a 2 hour massage, I decided to settle for a one hour massage and a half hour pedicure. And OMG, the massage was wonderful! For one hour, they massage me, used some suction cup on my back, and hot stone as well! I told them my back shoulder was hurting, and they did a wonderful job and making it hurt even more! But it was great! And it only cost me SGD12 for a one hour massage! The pedicure cost me SGD5. It wasn't as nice as the one I had in Bali, but it was still relatively cheap. My colleague also had a one hour massage, and a one hour body scrub. He came out smelling like 'bandung' as his massage uses coffee and milk, but it smells like rose and milk. Not the most manly scent for a guy. I couldn't help laughing at him silently inside.
I was feeling rather happy after the massage and couldn't stop talking about it as he lead us towards dinner. We were going to Bistro 48, a French Restaurant as he had promised me if I went HCM with him. I actually forgo a night at the Opera House because of this. But before we hit the bistro, he took me to Banh Mi Huynh Hoa (Bánh Mì Huỳnh Hoa) for the famous baguette. It cost only SGD1.80 for one, and while we were queueing for it, I already knew it was going to taste great cause the smell was so wonderful. Plus I was hungry. Once we got ours, we walk down the street eating it. I split it into two and shared half with him. It was the most delicious and memorable thing I ate on my trip. I remember having bread crumbs all over my top and I couldn't care less what my colleague thought of me. It was just me and the Banh Mi there and then, and I finally understand what is so special about it. Just like France and Onion Soup, Vietnam and Banh Mi finally made sense.
After Banh Mi, we went to Bistro 48 just a few shops away. It was a modern french restaurant, and the price was really reasonable. I can't remember how much, maybe SGD20 per person for 3 mains, 1 dessert, and 2 red wines. The food was just ok for me. Strangely none of the French Restaurant I went to (I went to another one on my last day there) left a lasting impression for me. They were just ok.
We ordered a steak which was served first. My colleague happily cut it into half and share it with me. Later on, he would come to regret this action as apparently, he couldn't stomach the next two dish too well.
The next dish was rabbit stew. It was his idea to order it to try. I had rabbit before, so I was ok with it. He took one piece and left the whole bowl to me, which I happily ate even though the stew wasn't exactly to my liking.
The last main was grilled pigeon. I ordered this, cause well, Babette's Feast! And my colleague was game to try it. It came with a charred pigeon head as well. He took one piece, and again, the whole plate was mine. This was probably my fave dish. It was crispy and the meat tough and gamey. If I was on my own, I would have lick all the bones clean. But since my colleague was looking bored and tired by this time, I just quickly ate everything and we left and made our way back to the hotel by taxi.
So yeah, that was basically my first day in HCM. When we reach the hotel, we went to the roof top to view the pool and the night view. My colleague gave me a scare when he showed me his back and ask if there were any visible mark on it. There was a very visible circle from the suction cup used in the massage we had and I pointed it out to him. I quickly went back to my room and check my own back. Most of my work clothes were sleeveless, and I wasn't too thrilled of the idea of showing up at work on the first day with a mark on my back shoulder. Luckily, there was no mark on my back, only a very red and sore shoulders which lasted about two days.
All in all, a very enjoyable and memorable day in HCM. Its great that I didn't have to spend a lot of money too!
It has been 3 month since my last business trip. In order to move on, I thought I'll blog everything as soon as possible and get it over with. Everything about this trip was off track from my normal business trip. So let's start with the "I Love Vietnam" photos above taken from the airport on my way home, lol. This was the very first business trip I couldn't wait to get home, in fact by mid week, I was already feeling damn exhausted and wondering why I was even there. But anyway, let's try to be positive for this blog's sake and carry on....
I traveled with one of my colleague together on this trip, and his boss booked us into Bay Hotel, a Singapore run hotel chain. When I heard the name, I was already not looking forward to the trip, having stayed in the Bay Hotel Singapore before once. The experience was terrible, and in Vietnam, well, I wasn't expecting much either. Interestingly, they provide free laundry service daily. I used it once, and decided I'll wash my own clothes after that. Mini bar was free, which means most drinks ended up with our Vietnam colleague. Breakfast was ok. The location was extremely colourful, colour here mainly referring to the colour "red". Cause every night, the street turns into an entertainment district mainly catering to Japanese Business Men. But what I really really really missed about this trip was a nice long bath tub, which Bay Hotel doesn't provide :(
Anyway, above are two photos from my room. I can see the river, and it is kinda pretty, especially every morning when the sun shines in. I sleep with my window curtains open, so it's lovely watching the sky turning shades of orange. I'm usually up by 6am just to watch this, down by 7am for breakfast, and a 10mins walk to the office. Usually we finish quite early as compared to my other trips, so we had plenty of time to wonder around nearby to look for food. Basically this whole trip was mainly on food. I'll blog separately on that.
One of the thing I was nervous about when I found out I was going to Vietnam was whether I would be able to cross the road. The traffic was terrible there! Cars and motorcycles everywhere! And on the first day, I was kinda nervous when I followed my colleague around town. But after a few days, I realise that I wasn't going to get hit by any moving vehicle, my mind set started to change about Vietnam. Here, people actually acknowledge your existence and avoid colliding into you. This is strangely different from in Singapore where cars would speed up and brake at you or horn at you. Here, people just move out of your way! It was totally amazing! On my last day, I was totally comfortable moving about by myself, even though I did get lost on my way back....
Interesting story to note. Initially I wanted to visit Hanoi instead of Ho Chin Minh, reason being Halong Bay, and Sapa was nearby and I wanted to extend my stay to travel. My colleague who was posted to Hanoi and I were already even making plans to travel together. But for many weird incomprehensible reason, I was sent to HCM instead. The photo on top is sent from my colleague who ended up in Hanoi. On mid week, Hanoi was flooded! Lol. Looks like India to me! I share the photo with my boss and thank him for making me go HCM instead of Hanoi, and all he did was laugh at me.
Anyway. I made it back alive, and very much 'changed' from the trip. I hope I can make it through all the post on Vietnam without tripping myself over. But don't get me wrong, I love Vietnam! I am even planning a trip at the end of the year to finally visit Halong Bay and hiking in Sapa. Would I want to go back HCM again? Sure, why not. Preferably with the same colleague cause without him, my trip would have been dead boring, peaceful (more peaceful if the hotel has a long bath....), but well... Let's just say, it won't be the same. Do I regret this trip? Well, "No" from the perspective of life experience, and a probable "Yes" from the perspective of the madness that I had to go through this past 3 months. But let's just leave it as that. I am feeling much better now. Let's move on.
I thought I'll blog about something more personal today. A lot have been going through my mind lately, and I wanted to change the way I was thinking and feeling. So when I got back from Penang in Aug-2017, I decided to visit the library on my day off, and borrowed a bunch of books to help me figure out what I was going through and where I was headed. Well, this post is about some of the books that left a mark on me. I managed to take some photos of them to remember them by. So let me tell you a little bit of each one.
First is "Love Your Life", a small easy to read quote book by Dominique Bertolucci, and its just a feel good book to read to remind myself about how my life isn't really that bad. I took this photo with a bag of Okinawa Coffee which my old friend Pei Shi gave me on my last day in Penang. My initial idea was to share it with the caption that Coffee is not about taste and aroma, but also about occasion, venue, and the people you drink them with that makes it special. My friend say it is the ritual of preparing and drinking the coffee that binds us. I guess its the same with wine and tea. It is that shared moment you have when you're either alone with your thoughts, or with pleasant company. I'm gonna dedicate one entry about coffee right after this post.
The next book that really strikes a core with me was "Party Of One" as per photo above. This book talks about loner personality. I enjoyed reading it so much that I finished it in two days, carrying it around with me even though it looks kinda sad to be seen with it, alone, in public. But still, this book really explains everything about loner quite well. And it kinda made me understand myself and other loner so much better. And how other people may misjudge us or think we are antisocial etc. All in all, an enjoyable read. I have been blessed with quite a few exceptional read this year, and I am grateful for each wonderful book I finish.
Lastly, my last read was this beautiful Murakami book, which I got for 20% off from Kinokuniya. Even then, it cost me more than SGD30 as it was his latest book, and it was a hardcover. Can you imagine, that if I were to buy this book in Malaysia, it would have cost me over RM100!
For some reason, maybe because of the title, maybe because of the great review from bias Murakami fan, I knew that I needed to read this book. I was quite set on buying it. On 1-Sep, I finally did when I saw it on sale. Although I hesitant to start reading it, knowing too well what his books can do to me, when I finally did, I finished it in 2 days, savouring each short stories slowly, all of which, has no concrete ending. But the last story sealed this book forever special in my heart, rightfully titled Men Without Women.
There are only a few books that are special to me: Dragonlance Chronicles, The Wind-up Bird Chronicles, and now Men Without Women add itself to that list. Unlike the first 2 titles which are tied very closely with my past, this last one ties with my present, one which caught me off guard, and which I never expected would happen again in my life time... And that is the most beautiful thing about a Murakami book. It is surreal, dreamlike, ordinary normal, yet strangely familiar all the same. Murakami writes some of the best love story, if you can call them that. They just cuts through the heart like no other. Subtle, but deep cuts....
