Trip to Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam Day 1

Sampai di area Ben Thanh, we went ahead to find our hotel, Saigon Pink 2. It’s not hard to find this hotel. Memang betul2 dekat dengan Ben Thanh market ni. It just kiteorang tertanya orang yang salah. He showed the wrong way to the hotel. Berpusing sakanlah jawabnya. At last jumpa jugak signboard kuning merah which I dont even see any pink element in this hotel.

After 5 minutes rest and had Maggie for lunch, we walked to Ben Thanh market. I would say this place is huge with only one storrey building. We tried to locate few famous shops among Malaysians such as Dam, Tuang Huoc, Hasimah and many more. Hampir semua jual fabric yang dah dilipat2. Jadinya, makin susahlah nak buat pilihan. If suruh dorang bentangkan kain2 tu, buatnya tak beli since tak menarik mau dibalutnya lah kita ngn kain2 tu. 

In Ben Thanh most of sellers here can speak Bahasa Malaysia. Takdelah terkejut sgt sbb penah baca dalam forum yang dorang memang belajar ckp bahasa pon. Basic words yg agaknya wajib hafal mungkin : kakak, abang and murah. Haaa, kalau yg extreme tu siap cakap korang kedekut lagi. Ha nak tahu lebih lanjut? Jap lagi story-mory…

Pasar ni memang penuh dgn orang Malaysia. Dah terasa mcm Jalan TAR dah. Setiap corner mesti ada je orang Malaysia. Even kat Bandung pun tak ramai mcmni tau. I’m impressed dgn kebolehan orang2 sana menarik minat orang Malaysia utk membeli dan memborong. Even, rata2 orang Malaysia yg kiteorg jumpa semuanya baru balik bulan lepas. Dorang mmg selalu dtg Vietnam utk shopping and borong kain untuk meniaga kat Malaysia.

Tapi adakah saya akan seperti mereka? My honest answer, I will never return to this city. Enough said. Nothing attract me. Even most of people said, shopping murah. Maybe yes maybe not. Depends on ur bargaining skill. But I can’t stand on how the people treated me during my 3 days visit. It doesnt happened to me, but to all people I’ve met. So everyone having same experience like me.

We even shared our stories to some Malaysians we met. They shared theirs too. But they said this is normal. I dont think it’s normal to be treated like we have no feeling at all. At least we still human. So we deserve to be treated like one. Ha kann dah teremosi dah ni… Serious time tulis post ni, terus teringat balik apa yg terjadi kat sana. Tapi tunggu dulu, let me finish my story on activities I’ve done in Saigon.

Time kat Ben Thanh tu my sisters bought shoes, fabrics and table cloth for my family. Me? Walking around and did some window shopping yet not buying anything. Until I’ve found 1 shop which (I forgot the name) sold fabrics at only 10 usd. Actually most of the shops sell their cotton fabric starting from 10usd. I choose the shop because of their promoter. She can speak fluent Bahasa and we can bargain kaw kaw! That’s why we bought kain from her.

Even though she’s a bit rude, I still trying to calm myself down. Sabar itu separuh dari iman kan? Since barang pun dah banyak, we dropped  our stuff in the hotel room. It’s time for early dinner and remove all negative vibes. I suggested to have dinner at Vietnam Delights. While asking our receptionist on the exact location, my bro in law kena pow dgn one mamat polish kasut. Fuh! Ni lagilah nervous.

Actually time tu, dah nak bergerak ke money changer (Ha Tam- near our hotel) before we head to Vietnam Delights. Suddenly, this mamat came from out of nowhere and polish my brother-in-law (BIL) shoes. He tried to push him but the mamat pulled his shoes as a trick to make my BIL waiting until he’s done. I’m so pissed off at that time because I was hungry and I know this is tourist scam.

Yes it was true! He asked my brother to pay. Then, my brother gave him 1000 dong. He refused to accept the money as he said the amount is too small. My brother gave him 1 usd and he said he doesn’t want. Still small. We tried to blah but he stopped us. He said he needs the money. When my brother asked how much, he said RM20. And at that time, I shout loudly… What? RM20 for stupid service? And we refused to pay. This is insane.

He called his friend. Okay, this time, things get really serious. I said to him, I will call the police and went to the lobby to ask for receptionist’s help. Luckily, the receptionist understands us and trying to talk to that mamat. We still need to pay him usd1. My brother pass the money to the receptionist and she hands it to the mamat. However, that mamat doesn’t want to accept the money. He said it’s okay. Don’t pay anything to me. Pulak!

And the receptionist advice us not to layan all this scam anymore. Noted then. Once we out, the mamat shake hands with my brother and his friend arrived. Actually he called his friend when we report it to receptionist. He explains to his friend and we get back to the receptionist whether he & his friend will threatens us? She said don’t worry everything gonna be okay. Alhamdulillah, lega sgt rasanya time tu. Memang nervous gile time ni.

We cancelled our plan to Ha Tam (sebab takut mamat polish tu ikut) and head to Vietnam Delights instead. Vietnam Delights was a bit far from Ben Thanh area. From VN Halal, you need to cross the road and you’ll see a park. Walk straight until you see traffic light. Go straight once u cross the road. Within few mins you’ll arrive at Vietnam Delights on your right. Food kat sini better than Vn Halal. You shud try Pho and ice coffee. Cheaper than VN Halal. So please try.

This time, Happy nak kena ambil ukuran utk buat jubah. She said if lining she will charge additional rm20 (pay in RM). And I said can discount tak? She said, ‘I kedekut so I tak boleh bg discount’. Oh hoooooo!!! Pandailah Happy speaking Malay. Since die pon kedekut, I confirmed lah buat satu je. Then boleh pulak si Happy ni keluar statement, oh you kedekutnya… Suke hati je kan sound orang mcmtu. I said to her, yes I mmg kedekut, I kedekut mcm u lah. Hamikkkk. Terus terdiam si Happy tu. Jgn main2 miss Iron River pun tak mau kalah jugak 

Lepas dah bagi ukuran semua, me and my sister went to a shop near Basiroh. Forgot the name but they sell bags and clothes. Selections quite limited but the price is average. Then, we went to 24 hours convenient store in front of the hotel. Haa kat sini je mineral water die murah. 1.5 liter only cost you about 8500 dong. When u paid 9000 dong, they will give u one sweet as a balance. So 1 sweet equal to 500 dong. Bijak!