5D4N Ho Chi Minh Travel Itinerary 2015

Here's to share with you, my 5D4N Itinerary for those who are interested to travel to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, wondering what to see how much fund to prepare for the trip. I hope this post would give you some idea. 

To be honest, my 5D4N in Ho Chi Minh City does not cover the city thoroughly (just explored a bit of District 1 and Mui Ne). So if you are a hardworking traveler or explorer, you will definitely be able to explore more places as this trip we spent a lot of time lazing in Cafes and guesthouse. XD

Day 1: Alor Setar -->  Kuala Lumpur (KLIA2) -->  Ho Chi Minh City (SAIGON)

We took a morning flight from Alor Setar to KLIA2 and then proceeded with a noon flight (12pm) to Ho Chi Minh (also known as Saigon). We went HCM in a group of 6 girls. I like this number of people as even number is easier for sharing and our number is just nice to fit into a big taxi. It is my first time traveling with only girls, normally I'll have one or two guys in my travel group. Hmm... A different experience. 

It took us 2 hours to fly to Saigon. So we reached Saigon around 1pm (local time is 1 hour later than Malaysia). Prior leaving the airport, each of us got a SIM card with data. Then, we took a local bus to Ben Thanh Market, and walked to Sinh Tourist to get our bus tickets and tour checked in. 

Street view in front of Sinh Tourist. Motorcycles are everywhere!

Walked around District 1 while waiting for our bus to Mui Ne (at 8pm).

Around 7.30pm, we walked back to Sinh Tourist to prepare for our bus trip to Mui Ne. We booked a sleeping bus and hence we cleaned up at the office before we go on board. 

Day 2: HCM --> Mui Ne 

Bus trip to Mui Ne took us 5 hours and we reached there around 1.30am. Checked in at Diem Lien Guesthouse and then we rested for 3 hours before we go for the sunrise tour at Sand Dunes.

White Sand Dunes @ 5.30am

Red Sand Dunes

Mui Ne Fishing Village

Long waited ---- Fairy Stream

Cham Tower, Phan Thiet 

After touring around Mui Ne and Phan Thiet, we went back to our guesthouse to rest for a while. At 11pm, we checked out from the guesthouse. Then, we waited at the Sinh Tourist office and took another sleeping bus back to Ho Chi Minh at 1am. 

Day 3: Mui Ne --> Ho Chi Minh City --> Mekong River Day Tour --> Ben Thanh Market

Reached back HCM city around 5.30am. We have a day tour to Mekong River at 8am and hence we decided to rest before joining the tour. The Sinh Tourist office opens at 6.30am and hence we had to rest at Family Mart. 

Mekong River

Hand-rowing boat. New experience and really thankful to the 2 men who row our boat.
Thanks for the ride. =) 

Ben Thanh Market

Back from Ho Chi Minh - A healthy city with lots of motorcycles

Hi all! I'm back from a 5D4N Ho Chi Minh Trip! It was another different traveling experience where language barrier is much a concern and taxi is the main mode of transportation throughout the trip. 

Will be sharing my itinerary in a bit! 

Favourite photo of the trip. Taken at White Sand Dunes at Mui Ne, Vietnam.

No filter, no edit. The view is really beautiful and the wind was strong. ^_^

Stay tuned! Kindly come back later today for more updates..Cheers!

Kedah: Noodle History 尹面之家

It has been a year since I heard about this noodle stall which sells nice Wan Tan Mee. People known it as "Simpang Kuala under-the-bridge Wan Tan Mee". I always wanted to find time to try but because of the queue and late opening time, I'm reluctant to go. I hate to queue. XD

And so nowadays, I have my dinner alone, hence waiting is even more a problem to me. Waiting for food in a table of one will attracts some attention (I think). But last week, when I was making a U-turn under the bridge to go Simpang Kuala shop lots area to go to a stationery shop, I found that there are not many people at the stall. Looking at my clock pointing 7.18pm, I decided to go down and have my dinner at this famous noodle stall. I'm gonna see what's so nice in there. ^_^

The stall is located in a house. Hence, it is a little hard to spot. But don't worry, you won't miss it as you will see a lot of cars parking beside the road. 

I made my order at the counter and the aunty told me that they are starting at 7.30pm. 

Well, just 12 minutes. I can wait. =) So I ordered a small plate of Wan Tan Mee to try.

Hence I picked a table and started to play with my phone. Playing with phones make me feel less awkward to be alone. At 7.30pm, I thought my food will be served immediately, but I was wrong. I have to wait for another 15-20 minutes for my turn as there are people who arrived before me. The queue gets longer as they started their business. More and more customers come in for dine in and more queuing for takeaway. 

After a while, my food is finally served!

Yes, Wan Tan Mee in Alor Setar are all in this colour. I still can't find one with black colour like the one I used to eat back home. The Char Siew looks more tempting than the noodle. XD

The noodle doesn't taste too special to me. There are much more tastier noodles out there. But I can't deny that their Char Siew is good. If I were to come back, I would order more Char Siew (for the Char Siew, not noodle... haha!)

Here shows their opening hours: 7.30pm onwards (close on Saturdays)

Need some direction? 

Hmmm... Let me try to describe... If you were to come from Alor Mengkudu McD, go straight and cross a flyover. Immediately after the flyover, turn left to make a U-turn. The noodle stall will be 1 minute drive away from the U-turn, so just look for it at your right after turning. Hope it helps! =)

Kuala Lumpur: Nana's Green Tea & Minion Exhibition

#throwback

Finally I have the chance to try the soft serve at Nana's Green Tea. My previous visit was in December 2014, which I tried their lunch set. (if you haven't read before, please click here for that blog post. =D ) 

I had a family day trip to KL to find my sister in Sunway. We went to Jing Xuan Restaurant for Dim Sum as brunch, then to Midvalley for a short shopping trip. I had brunch and dinner in 5 hours and then I still want to buy that soft serve from Nana's Green Tea. Can't wait till next time, as I have no idea when is next.

Look! This is my green tea soft serve (RM7++). =)

Yeah! It was in the evening and the restaurant is quite empty. 

Not as packed as when it was newly open. But anyway, soft serve is the main point!

Tired face with my dose of energy and happiness! 

The green tea soft serve is really nice! The matcha flavour is really nice but it is quite bitter. If you like ice cream with sweet taste, then it might not be your type. If not, I'll highly recommend this to you!

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Meanwhile in Midvalley, there's a minion exhibition. Cute little yellow creatures are all over the concourse area. Cuteness overload! =D

That 8 hour trip in KL was really too short. Can't wait for my next trip to the city! =D

I'm going to Ho Chi Minh!!!

One week to another holiday! Can't believe that my next trip is just around the corner. Ho Chi Minh, I'm coming!!! =D

Vietnam, to me, is a very strange place. I have never imagine myself visiting this country so soon. Recently, it has been a trend for people to visit southeast asia countries, such as Philippines, Cambodia, Indonesia, and of course Vietnam. I felt a bit regret because Halong Bay is not in my list this time. The UNESCO World Heritage Site, how could I missed that out? Why I did not plan it in the first place?

image from tiranthotel.com

Hmm Hmm.,, Look at the nice scenery of Halong Bay. How could I miss it? It didn't came into my mind until I book my flight to Ho Chi Minh. One of the reason I did not change my plan is that I have only 5 days of holiday and I do think that Ho Chi Minh is also a nice place to visit and explore. So Halong Bay, next round! =)

Countdown to my next getaway! Can't wait!! =D

Alor Setar Jogging Club (ASJC) Cross Country Run (10km)

Just done a 10km cross country run this morning. Never knew I could make it till the end. I felt so grateful that I joined this run because the view is really really beautiful. 

The run started from Alor Setar Mall and then we were guided to the paddy field. While running, I can enjoy the nice view and get some fresh air. So refreshing! Almost a year in Alor Setar and I never been to such nice paddy field to have a walk or run.

Sunrise at Paddy Field. (photo credited to YYY)

Imagine running marathon with such view. So beautiful and the nature can give you motivation. =) Oh! I decided to come back for photography next time.

Here's my tired but happy face after the run! I got No. 11, which really really surprises me!

I should have push a little harder to get No. 10 for cash prize. T_____T

My first marathon certificate. So motivated to keep running to maintain good health. 

[Travel Tips]: How to plan a trip

Life is short. Why not spend some time to explore the world?

More and more people are addicted to travel nowadays. I can't stop myself from feeling jealous towards people who can travel often to different places in the world. I don't have the time and money. So, recently, I have been reading on a lot of travel blogs and posts. They inspired me to share my ways of planning trips. I may not be as good or as professional as other travel bloggers, but I have my way to plan a trip, either domestically or internationally. 

Here are some tips on how to plan a trip! This can help me to imagine that I'm indeed on a vacation NOW! 


#1 DECIDE ON A DESTINATION
You have been saying that you want to travel, you want to explore. But, W-H-E-R-E?? Do you prefer going on a shopping trip? Relaxation trip? Adventurous trip? Beach getaway? It is very important that you choose a place that you will like and enjoy to the fullest. Don't just follow the crowd or the trend. You could be a beach person but all your friends went Bangkok for a shopping trip. Which one would you choose? Follow the trend? The point here is, if you have limited travel fund and time, please follow your heart.  


#2  BOOK YOUR TICKET
Either you are traveling by land, sea or air, you need to book a ticket to leave your home. Checking schedules of bus, flight or boat is very important if you are on a tight schedule. Make sure you get cheap tickets by comparing prices from different companies. Not to forget, allocate enough time for yourself to travel. If you found really really cheap flight ticket, I would suggest you to grab it first! Of course, pick a time that you probably can travel to avoid wastage. 


#3 PLAN YOUR ITINERARY
You've chose a place to explore. And now you have your tickets ready. You must have something in your mind about the place. What you want to see? Where you want to visit? I would strongly suggest to visit tourist spots if you are visiting the place for the FIRST time, at least the famous ones. List down the places that you want to visit and then take a look at the map. Group places that are near to each other accordingly. This will help you to save time on traveling and also easier to plan your itinerary too! If you have no idea at all, you can ask Mr. Google, or visit TripAdvisor website for suggestions.