Sampai je airport, terus ke immigration. As usual,mana2 country pon, susah nak jumpe kastam yang senyum. But im impressed dgn service yang agak cepat compared to Korea dulu. It took about 1 hour ya berdiri. But in Saigon, only few minutes then you can chow.
Ada satu incident di mana ada sorang minah ni, die snap lah picture immigration die. Then kastam die nampak tau. Pastu kastam die jerit kuat2 marah kaw2 kat minah tu. Bila minah tu tutp camera kastam tu tetap halau minah tu suh gi office kastam. Okay di situ cam tak paham, kenapa mrah sgt smpai cmtu… If die tegur je and that girl dh simpan kamera tu sudahlah kan. Ini die halau jugak suh gi office. I dont know apa jadi ngn minah tu but haruslah kau welcome orang tu dgn attitude yang sebegitu.
First experience time cross the road, kami cari locals and ikut je diorang. Jerit2 itu harus ada. Tapi kiteorang la. Locals relax je. Dah hari2 hadap mesti takde masalah. Nak tau tips melintas kat sana? Senang je. Anda perlu berdiri kat zebra crossing then tgk kiri kanan, tarik nafas, alert je then lintas dgn tenang. Jangan lari2. Nanti lagi bahaya… The tips for from them tau 🙂
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.
But janganlah uols rasa die okay jeee. Even time I asked her to unwrap few fabrics as I changed my mind, she started to pissed off. And buat muka itu harus bagi dorang. Start tengking2 tu pulak kononnya dah paling garang lah tu. Dorang kan tak suka if dh nak beli then cancel2. Pantang datuk nenek moyang mereka. But, pantang saya adalah bila ada kain lain yg lagi lawa, haruslah pilih yg lawa kan…so if u marah2 pon, I still paid all my fabrics bukannya hutang2 then bayar tahun depan kan kakak??
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!
As time still early to go back to the room, we continue our journey to Night market. Don’t worry. For those yg stay near Ben Thanh market boleh jalan kaki je sbb dorang bukak mcm khemah2 depan Ben Thanh je. Melangkah he kaki ke night market ni, memang serious dah mcm kat Uptown n Downtown… Orang Malaysia semata kat sini. Jgn tak tahu, kalau nak beli baju2 cotton manik ready made sume trasaction adalah dalam Ringgit Malaysia. So sapa2 yg memang peminat Uptown n Downtown, ini memang syurga anda.
Balik je dari night market, terus mandi and rehat2kan badan. Penat yg amat sgt. Day 1 mmg kami byk brjalan. So tido lah jawapannya. But before that, kena kira duit dulu…
hi
going to HCM next week. will be there 4 nights. saigon pink hotel tu walk in atau book in advance? Is this the one without windows? I need windows 🙂
i am not into shopping that much except for souvenirs. Other than tunnel visit and historical places around, what others u suggest, if any?
hi,
going to HCM next week.
Do u book hotel in advance from Malaysia or just walk in? I am not into shopping, and browsing internet, too much info. Any suggestion other than the tunnel?
Hi MT,
I booked Saigon Pink 2 in advance…via Agoda.com. And it's without window. Ada byk actually beside Saigon Pink 2. So can try (I forgot the name but it's start with T)….
If looking for souvenirs…go to Ben Thanh market. less than 5mins walking distance from saigon pink 2. Apart from where I went, u shud try floating market, museum, reunification palace (near Post office area)…
if u unsure…u can book few tours from Saigon Pink 2 hotel.
Hope it helps!
Hi,
Ada jual cotton jersey x kat ben thanh?
N saigon square jauh x dari ben thanh?
Tq 🙂
Hi Raesa,
I think ada…If x pon, check kat Night Market jugak. Saigon Square tu dalam 5 minit walking from Benh Thanh je. Memang dekat je. Kena cross jalan skit 🙂