My best is yet to come and until that day comes — I’ll keep my peace and my words sealed until there’s nothing more to be concealed.
For now I’ll dream of my someday – and be amazed that one day I will be released from today.
It’s been four months since I moved back in the Philippines and every single day of that four months – not a day has been wasted… I’m so grateful that the Lord has not allowed me to be left behind.
AcCELLerate!
Good night from Bambie and Teddy
Today is another Bed Weather which gave me enough time to finish compiling these photographs. Two or three weeks ago we celebrated ate Shirley’s birthday and we also started with our Vietnam journey – Last July 29th we met up in the airport, she was here in manila for about 2 hours which gave us enough time to catch up!
And boy did I really miss her and amongst my other friends in Singapore. I guess it’s such a relief too that Singapore is just a few hours away! But enough about that, let’s move on with our day two in Saigon!
We woke up really early because we have a tour scheduled for the whole day.
‘Good Morning Saigon!’
7.30am call time and present we were! And it was nice to see Saigon in that early hour. I can attest that Vietnamese are early risers and true enough they are hardworking too!
You’ll love the next photograph; it’s a flood of motorbikes! I wasn’t kidding about how much motorbike is a necessity for them… in their streets you will also see numerous vans and buses, tour buses in this case. I’d have to say that Vietnam is doing a great job with promoting tourism for their fine country, you’ll see a number of foreigners just by crossing the streets and not to mention the crowd in the airport.
Our first stop was at an eggshell/lacquer souvenir shop. The products they made are wonderful but the prices are not so appealing to me, hahaha. I guess it’s one of those shops that take advantage of foreigners, ey? Most of the stuff they sell can be seen in the usual markets and way cheaper.
However posing for photographs wouldn’t hurt, ey? Haha
Remember I told you about how Vietnamese are always pictured in bikes and hats? This is the best example of it! Though mine is not as beautiful as the others but you do get the picture now right?
Our second stop is one of the popular temples in Vietnam, Cao Dai Temple. I’m not sure if it’s categorized under religion or cult but for this entry we shall place it under culture! It’s a ‘movement’ that combined 3 religions into one – when we got there we were just in time for their prayer time.
One of the rituals they followed was people were not allowed to enter from the main entrance because ghosts/spirits would enter from that door and so everyone, including myself and ate Shirley entered from the side door, we were asked to take of our shoes.
We were allowed to takes photographs inside but we weren’t allowed to take photos right at their faces. The ladies in white are in mourning stage, they are praying for a member of their family whom they just lost. I’m not sure though how long they are required to be doing this all I’m sure of is that they were many.
As you can see in this photo, there are people in white and some in colored which is an indication of ranking and which specialty of religion they specialized in. The steps show ranking of how deep/mature they are in their ‘movement’.
This compound might be big and they sure do have hundreds of visitors each day not because they share the same belief – for some it is merely to understand better what and how the world is and be aware of it and to appreciate how creative people can be.
But know that it is not religion that saves us and no amount of prayer can ever allow you to cross over to heaven. There is only one way:
John 1:12
12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God
Moving forward with our trip next stop is at Cu Chi Tunnels!
This covers history and a glimpse of how Vietnam lived in the war times. Tunnels will define it best, they lived in those tunnels for days, weeks and months!
I can’t imagine how they managed but I was able to experience 15 minutes or so in one of the tunnels and it was a horrifying experience! It was very tight and breathing took so much effort! I didn’t even get a chance to take a photo because I was so busy convincing myself not to panic or faint! This was my favourite part of the day. And it sure was the best way to know their race. This was our last stop for the day tour. I do appreciate our tourist guide very much; he shared with us a story during the war-time. One member of his family was trying to escape the country. His uncle and a few of his friends and a family braved themselves and took a small boat to exit the country. But they didn’t actually know how many days they’d be travelling – so it came to a point that they ran out of food. The men in the group gathered and concluded that in order for them stay alive they had to make sacrifices. Drawing of lots took care of it… have you seen the movie ALIVE? Well, remember I told you there was one family in the boat? A dad, a mom, and two kids, but when they finally reached land, they didn’t have a dad anymore. A few men sacrificed their lives for some to survive.
I didn’t think stories like that happen in real life but that story made my Vietnam trip one of my favorites. And life is different after hearing that story!
I kind of got a bit sad after our tunnel experience maybe because I got too emotional about it? To lighten things up ate Shirley and I decided to explore the night market and street food and we did enjoy it!
That’s how our day was, I thought at first that Vietnam didn’t have much to offer but on the contrary – it was full of everything, sure they didn’t have tall buildings, stupendous bridges, enormous malls and fast trains… but they had as much to offer or maybe even more, they didn’t have all those spectacular things and still it was one heck of a day!
Good Night for now Saigon!
Composed two days ago:
Today a good friend of mine (from Singapore) is celebrating her birthday, ate Shirley happy happy birthday! And to celebrate her birthday we’ll be visiting Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam where I vacationed with ate Shirley way back in 2011. We were there last November 5-8 of 2011, we actually were supposed to be flying to Bangkok, Thailand but during that time – some areas in Bangkok was flooded. The night before our flight to Bangkok I had our booking transferred to Vietnam! And Vietnam has truly surprised me/us indeed! (oh, and because our trip to Bangkok got cancelled, I still pursued Thailand and welcomed 2012 there with my ever adventure hungry self, LOL)
Here we come Ho Chi Minh,Vietnam! Our flight left Singapore early morning and we arrived in Vietnam around 9 in the morning. In the airport itself you’ll find taxi booths and agents that can speak English. These agents are also in-charge of some bargaining, so be sure to scan a few of them first to see if what’s the standard rate. After agreeing with the price they will be jotting down your hotel name and address in a piece of paper which you will later pass to the cab driver, efficient right?
We then got in a cab and passed the paper with our hotel name and address to the driver and yes our driver didn’t speak any English word which was fine because looking at my side of the window was good enough for me!
The first thing that I noticed in this wonderful country, boy do they love motorcycle, you’ll be amazed how a whole street can be flooded with them! I guess it’s cheaper and more efficient/faster?
Our first day in Ho Chi Minh or with its more popular or dramatic name Saigon was filled with exciting and intense adventures!
And I say from the streets of Saigon:
Chào! (jow)
Hello!
Our Hotel was 45 minutes away from the airport, without traffic! I booked a hotel from agoda.com, it’s a small hotel with a homey feeling, ate Shirley and I agreed that if we do decide to visit again, we’d still stay in the same hotel. The best part with our Halo Hotel its 2 minutes away from the famous Ben Thanh Market which is a major plus! We took a few minutes to rest and we were off to Ben Thanh Market, we had our first meal there, and when I say market, this is one typical Asian market dirty floors, fire hazard with a bit of stench but – the food was fantastic! Ate Shirley and I braved the food stalls there and really had our tummies full of healthy vegetable dishes! It’s sad to say that I am very picky when it comes to food – I do try though, sometimes, LOL! I was never adventurous with food: NO TO EXOTIC FOOD! But that’s not stopping me from enjoying my trips!
We found this very mouth-watering steamed rolled rice pancake (as they call it) and it became my favourite dish in Vietnam, either fried or steamed, I loved it! Vietnamese food like all Asian countries they are very fond of vegetables, fruits and they love using different spices and flavours which makes the dishes even more interesting. Honestly, I’m no fan of veggies, but in Vietnam – I am changed, LOL!
Street food are no different, I love them! Green mangoes with chili salt and a handful of magic, ate Shirley loved it!
The best part in touring is bargaining and the best part in our short vacation in Vietnam – there was no minute wasted! Feast your eyes in this market or should we say – heaven of cheap, colourful, useful, good quality: bags, shoes, trinkets, handicrafts name it, they most likely had it! Later I will show you a few scenes from my shopping escapade!
A trip in Vietnam will never be considered complete unless you have experienced their motorcycle ride! Back in the older days they were very famous with the image of a girl dressed in a white dress with a hat made of nipa (?) and riding a bike, now that we are in the modern days – motorcycles are more famous, LOL! A well-known fact in Vietnam, body-massage, foot-spa, pedicure and manicure are like the cheapest!!! The quality though will last only for about 5 days or so but for its rate it’s not considered bad anymore. From our hotel we had arranged for a body-massage session, we were told that someone will pick us up from the hotel to take us to the ‘spa house’. And truly someone did, he rode a motorcycle and I was shocked, haha. The first thing I thought, can the bike carry us both, LOL? Since ate Shirley and I were up for the challenge – here is the evidence!
It was a 10 minute back ride, LOL! The funny thing is for the amount that I paid for the body-massage, I would have doubled it just to experience the bike ride alone. That’s how fun it was! I guess I’ve tried riding a motorbike back in the Philippines but to experience it in Vietnam, it’s a totally different story!
After our body-massage we walked a few minutes from the spa house and got our nails beautified! And we were off for a painful shopping spree!!!
They had everything in that market! Food, clothing, accessories and mostly handicrafts, Vietnam is popular with their crafts of lacquer – dinnerware, frames and coasters they had it, they all are shinny and colourful!
Since I was already there in Vietnam, I didn’t pass on purchasing on some lacquer products! One of which I am using in my room, I did bring a big luggage from this trip, and I used up every inch of that trolley, haha!
We had dinner in the market and went back to the hotel not so early and not so late – our next day, calls for an early rise and shine – the official touring around Vietnam begins!
I’m sure we are both excited to reminisce about our second day in Vietnam, see you again here!
It hasn’t stopped raining since early morning and yes Bambie and I are loving the BED weather! Just to show you how much, here is a photograph of us enjoying our cozy shared bed, LOL!
With love from Bambie, LOL
