Vietnam Trip - Day 2

6th November 2009, Friday

Good Morning Vietnam!!!! Yes, this would be my first Friday morning in Vietnam, without worrying about going to work...I really need a break here. Nasib baik all my hard work previously really got paid with this trip.

Our schedule today are packed with lots of activities. We had our morning call at 630am. No problem for me to wake up, as I didnt get a good nite sleep cos my room mate did not switched off the lights (ohhh headache), some more, we're a bit confused with the timing here. Should set the alarm 1 hour earlier or later??? nah.....

We had our breakfast at the hotel. Because the hotel does'nt serve halal food. So this is what I had for my breakfast.....

pity me...had some cereals and coffee too

and so, we moved from the hotel at 8 a.m. But while we're waiting for the bus, I managed to grab this...

cheap cheap only..but good quality..thats why aku borong haha

Our first visit would be the War Museum. (I think this would be the 'must visit' place cos Vietnam is famous of its war)

Banyak sangat toys yang dipamerkan di situ:

percubaan sahaja...

The Bombs:

and inside the museum:

I dont know how many of you know what is Agent Orange. I just knew bout this actually since Im not really into war. Agent Orange is the code name for a powerful herbicide and defoliant used by the U.S. military during the Vietnam War. Untuk maklumat lanjut boleh di-wikipedia kan. This chemical caused cancer, birth defects and health problems.

ini salah satu contohnya...(kesian baby ni. Nasib baik negara kita aman damai)

apahal pun, aku lebih enjoy melihat pameran di kedai souvenir di dalam museum tu

and bought this fridge magnets

After that, aktiviti yang diwajibkan semasa trip ini ialah.....

Visiting Aeon Credits Service Vietnam. Amat terkejut aku bila tengok ACS di sana cuma deretan kedai. uhuhu sedey ;(

this is the counter

This is Marketing and Finance Dept, sedey lagi sekali cos ada 3 meja jak

This is CAD (approval)-sekali kami masuk, terus full house

can you believe it, all the documents is lying everywhere...diorang ni tiada audit ka?

this is judgement (legal dept)

comes to Collection Dept-current unit (all girls)

this one also Collection Dept-Delinquent Unit

there's no lift here, tangga manual jak, ada 3 tingkat semuanya and you can still see boxes of documents there ;p

wah, yang penting depan ACS tu ada MNG kekeke

allocation time to visit ACS is about 2 hrs, but then disebabkan ACS tu kecik (di luar jangkaan), maka kami telah mengeluarkan diri sejam lebih awal. And sementara menunggu bus kami, sempat lagi si Vincent ni mendapat perkhidmatan polish kasut. Tips for you, bayaran untuk perkhidmatan ini adalah semurah 5,000 Dong sahaja. But our friend here kena tipu, he paid 20,000 Dong. But he's a millionaire, its ok.

sementara menunggu rakan rakan yang lain, kami berlepakan dalam bus. Ternampak seorang penjual buah yang berbasikal. Buah apakah ini yang kelihatan seperti tomato?

asam asam manis..tapi ada banyak bijian di dalamnya

Disebabkan masa sangat mengizinkan, maka Ah Leong decided to slot in aktiviti hari esok kepada hari ini. So kami pun round round kota Saigon

untuk melawat the cathedral....

the post office

Inside the post office

telephone booths inside the post office

then after that we went to Hacota Shopping Complex. Punyalah aku excited.Yeah!!! shopping time. Tapi indah khabar dari rupa. Its not a shopping complex. Its a small one stop souvenir shop yang banyak jual perabot. Barang barang semua macam tiada faedah and mahal pulak tu. Tidak layak untuk diblogkan.

so i just sit there and had my Vietnamese Coffee. Cost me USD1. Memang kaw, but one thinglah, Vietnames ni macam Kelantanese jugak. Sukak manis....

So, Ive ordered 3 boxes of coffee from Ah Leong. Cost USD7 each. Memang tidak boleh tidur

then before we proceed with our next agenda, we had our lunch first cos to get to Cu Chi Tunnel, it will take about 2 hrs journey.

We had our lunch at a Muslim Restaurant called The Four Seasons Restaurant. Kali ni makanan memang best cos yang ni memang masakan melayu habis. Terasa macam di Malaysia lah pulak.



masak lemak

sup sayur

ayam goreng kunyit

telur dadar

and bubur pulut hitam for dessert

then after lunch kami berjalan kaki untuk melawat Masjid terbesar di Kota Saigon. Depan masjid tu ada orang jual buah. Wah so tradisional and eksotique huhu

This is the mosque. PALING BESAR ok

Then after visiting the mosque, we continue our journey to meet the rest at The Palace restaurant. Cos kali ni, we had our lunch separately with the non muslim.

The view sepanjang perjalanan:

oh ada Citibank

Sebelah restoran tu ada sebuah kedai jual paintings. Just to let you know that Vietnam also famous with their oil paintings. Its one of the "must buy item"

here you can get the cheapest USD 35. malangnya aku tidak beli pun cos the one that I like cost about USD300 ;p

The next journey begins...

After everybody kenyang memerut, mata kuyu mengantuk..maka kami pun bertolak ke Cu Chi Tunnel (sebutan KUCI not CUCI ok) Pemandangan penuh dengan pokok getah dan jelapang padi

The entrance to the place

before the explorasi begins, we had our little briefing about the place first

ada tayangan video bout the history and the making of the tunnel

And Ah Leong also brief sedikit sebanyak. Boleh tahan kau Ah Leong

this would be the dummy set for the tunnel. As you can see the tunnel ada beberapa peringkat. The 1st level is 3 metres deep, followed by 6 metres and up to 10 metres deep. OMG! aku sesak nafas...

sepanjang eksplorasi dalam hutan tu, macam macam boleh nampak, all the kesan kesan and bekas bekas peperangan diorang cos this is the real battle field. Contohnya all the entrance to the tunnel

kecik kan

this is how you enter

then cover balik so that pihak musuh wont realise it

this is one of their traps. Kalau tersalah pijak.......

inilah jawabnya....


yang ni pulak bekas letupan bom

dalam hutan tu, kita akan terjumpa beberapa orang askar, but actually semuanya patung

aha, yang ni betul, see how small viatnamese, thats why they can survive inside the tunnel

ini besut palsu, wanna know what is this?

inilah air hole diorang. Saluran air hole tu dibuat dari buluh. And normally they will put pepper or baju baju American Army so that bila hanjing American tu smell, tiada lah kesan bau ketiak orang Vietnam ;)

ok, iklan sekejap, memandangkan ada sebiji tank terletak di situ, maka kami pun mengambik group photo..inilah rombongan kami

gambar saja saja untuk membuat papito terliur

ok here, kami diberi demonstrasi all the self made weapons and traps that the vietnamese have created

dan kami ditunjuk aktiviti membuat senjata, seperti traps and bombs

semua ini cuma patung bergerak ya

dan kini, masanya telah tiba, the shooting area. Earlier, my dad sudah pesan, ask me to try the guns. Eventhough it cost me 3oo,ooo dong for 10 bullets only, but its ok. As usual, semua ambition bapaku yang tidak tercapai itu, maka anak anak musti buat on behalf. Ada bermacam jenis senapang lah di sana boleh pilih...hey, its real ok, bukannya mainan and bukan untuk hiburan semata mata....all live bullets. At first I decided to use AK47, but then the army advised me to take M16 cos hentakan AK47 lebih kuat dari M16 dan silap silap boleh buat aku terbang melayang layang hahahahah

this would be my first experience. My feelings that time, no more sexcited. My heart beats faster, aku rasa menggeletar cos holding the M16, I cant believe that I'm doing this, macam mana mau pull the trigger? sekarang baru aku tau macam mana perasaan orang mau bunuh diri. Bang!!! aku rasa gegendang telinga mau pecah walaupun dia bagi headset yang tidak ber wire itu dengan hentakan yang kuat di bahu ku. my reflects that time, "aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh" bukan menjerit takut! relief plus sexcited

then after tat barulah aku gian mau menembak again and again and again and again

kenangan ku, tapi buat tatapan di hotel sahaja. Cos benda ni tidak lepas masa di airport nanti. Baru ingat mau kasih papito untuk buat keychain hehe

but its ok, at least I got this for my papito. Cost me 55,000 Dong

and now, tiba masanya to experience the tunnel.

maaf tiada gambar semasa eksplorasi kerna lubang itu sangat sempit so barang barang semua ditinggalkan. And keadaan sangat gelap, udara pun kurang. When I enter a few steps, aku rasa mau patah balik. Aku sudah toleh belakang, but then, it wont be fun right. Nasib baik aku boleh managed my phobia arghhhhh...

setelah tamat eksplorasi, kami dihidangkan dengan ubi rebus cecah dengan kacang tumbuk

dan juga teh

wah penat sungguh rasanya..oppsss jangan khuatir, mamat sebelah tu tidak masuk cu chi tunnel k, disebabkan oleh saiz yang tidak mengizinkan

badan sudah letih kami pun beredar. On my way out I saw this....

and I bought 2 for my dad. Its a snake wine. According to Ah Leong, its good for old people and for backpain. Tapi orang muda di Malaysia pulak cakap ini ubat KUAT. konon la...but dont worry, I've warned my dad, this one untuk tatapan saja. Kalau my dad minum and pengsan, aku tidak jamin ya....

By the time we reach Saigon, its already 7 p.m. we had our dinner at a muslim's restaurant called "Restoran Samsudin" Mari kita tengok menu pada malam itu:

sup tauhu..yeee so oily

ikan goreng

udang masak sambal

ayam masak kicap

telur bumbu bali

sayur kangkung (kenapa mesti ada sayur kangkung??)

and then after the bus drop us at the hotel, kami beramai ramai took the hotel shuttle bus untuk ke pasar malam. But hampeh, tiada apa pun, not my stuffs and the goods mostly low quality. But cheap.

bought this T shirt only for papito. cheap cheap 2USD.

ok then balik hotel, penat mau tidur..besok another adventure and aktiviti yang menakutkan gagagaga