HI EVERYBODY! this is my first ever blog entry on my yahoo 360 and i'll be blogging on my entire VIETNAM TRIP experience here. This yahoo 360 was actually created so i can keep in touch with my Vietnamese friends that are oh so lovely and well missed by me. I got to know them through this School Visit to "HONG BANG university". The whole VIETNAM TRIP was a school planned trip for my CDS i have chose called "Global Citizenship". Never regret taking this module! the best thing ever! great friends, teacher, trip and foreign friends! I will tell you everything that happened in Vietnam! its a great place to be in. OVERALL the trip was FAN-TAS-TIC! loves loves loves.... Sorry for the long wordy entry and i bet not much people will finish reading the whole entry

Class photo taken at the airport before leaving for vietnam with GC banner

DAY 1 - the day we leave for Vietnam

in the morning we assembled at Singapore Changi Airport for attendence check and check-in and all. My dearest cousin CLEO was there to send me off. Was really excited.. took some photos with the class peeps and some with the whole GC classes together. When it was time to get in the plane, we took a approximately 1 and a half hour journey flight to "TAN SON NHAT airport" in Ho Chi Minh. To my surprise! the airport is pretty clean, new and modern. The only difference with singapore was that the moment we step out of the baggage collection area, it was OPEN AIR!

at Singapore Airport

in the plane with xiu wen

some photos we took at vietnam's airport

soon after we left to check into our hotels at "liberty 3". my hotel room was 608 which was small and cosy compared to Jasper's room 609 which was real huge and luxurious. But i still love my room! HAHA

MY ROOM

MY roomate and i

okay then we had some free time till we had business forum dinner at "Liberty 4 hotel" which is just down the street. Dinner was okay. Lazy to fill in the details so i shall just show some photos.

Some guests speakers for the night

Annoying Aaron, Japer and I

Thats all for the 1st day in Vietnam.... And back to my hotel room!

DAY 2 - Gu Chi Tunnel, CaoDai Temple, Vietnam Water Puppet

okay today is the second day in vietnam! and still loving it! Basically the 2nd day we went to "Gu Chi Tunnel" in the morning!

ME and Yani at Gu Chi Tunnel

Me inside the tunnels

okay now we are going to CaoDai Temple... A real interesting place with all 3 religion into 1. Cool isn't it? Taoist, Buddist and Catholic...

We went to "AN DONG plaza" to shop at the supermarket to shop for some groceries. Bought jelly, VINAMILK, and so much more!

Taken outside "AN DONG plaza"

After dinner at "Saigon 3" we went for a local vietnamese water puppet show at "THAI DUONG THEATRE" where we got to see the local vietnam water puppets. they are so cute! and i really enjoy it...

OKAY end of day 2!

DAY 3 - HONG BANG Uni, Picasso Orphanage, dinner at RAMANA & KY HOA market

In the morning we went to "HONG BANG University" for a School Visit. The students there was really friendly and nice. Asking us to sit beside them when we were there. My buddy for the day was "Ngoc Duyen" She is a very bubbly, friendly, nice and hyper girl so she clicked very well with me. We were like sisters.

Nikka, Trang, ME, Ngoc Duyen & Jasper

After that we went down with Ngoc Duyen and she bought some Local street food for us to try. At first i didn't really dare to eat it but it was actually very delicious! It is something called "BANH TRANG TRON". Its a rice paper thing they have in Vietnam! super delicious! they have peanuts, eegs, bean sprouts and so much more in it. I also bought some fresh fruits. Watermelons and Sugarcane! the fruits was really juicy and sweet. and i didn't know we could just eat the sugarcane just like that. AMAZING!

In the afternoon, some HONG BANG students went with us to "PICASSO Orphanage", a place that really touched me. The kids that are so cute and adorable! At first the HONG BANG boys and our singapore students played soccer against the PICASSO boys. but we lost. Then after that we told stories and had some art and craft with the kids! i organised the art and craft! HAHA the kids was sooo HAPPY!

PICASSO Orphanage

Football times with PICASSO boys

I like this girl! She is soooo CUTE!

Arts & Craft time!

A photo with some girls there and ME

At night! We had dinner at "RAMANA Hotel" it was a dinner to celebrate the "Hari Raya Puasa" for the muslim students. "Hari Raya Puasa" is a new year for the malays after their fastings. We had very singaporean food there. Dinner was GOOD!

RAMANA Hotel's dinner

After dinner we went back to the hotel to refresh ourselves and around 8pm all the HONG BANG friends came to bring us out! OMG i'm so touched They brought us to "KY HOA night market" one of their local night market and went to their local seafood restaurant to try some seafood though i couldn't eat it cause i'm allergic to seafood i was very happy! I got to ride on Jenny's motorcycle and i experienced the traffic in Vietnam.. it was so much fun!

ME on the motorcycle (JENNY's)

Seafood restaurant

Group photo (i look horrible that day) so hot!

DAY 4 - My Duc Ceramics, VSIP, sasa restaurant

Today was quite a short day. Visited "My Duc Ceramics" in the morning. Toured around the Factory... Pretty cool eh! HAHA see how they produce their tiles and all.

Some Ceramic tiles we saw

A group photo we took there!

Went to "VSIP" after that. VSIP means VIETNAM - SINGAPORE Industrial Park where it really look very Singapore in there.

Some photos when we were at VSIP

In the night. We went to SASA restaurant that was near our hotel to have our supper and they guys drank a little alcohol. Aaron got drank and threw a 20,000 DONG which is S$2 which cant even pay half of what he had ordered. WTH right?! okay whatever then we had a inside joke of him dancing while he was drank! LOL

Supper at SASA restaurant

Cool uh... they still have the coke glass bottles

Our little inside joke of the day on AARON!

DAY 5 - War museum, Lacquer Factory, Mekong River, Cyclo Ride, Tau Saigon CRUISE!

this is the most pack day of the whole Vietnam trip... In the morning we went to the "War Remnent Museum" pretty cool place that tells you alot on Vietnam's history on the War times they have been through..

photos taken at the museum!!!

Next we stopped at a Laquer Factory where real authentic Laquering wares were done there... Really beautiful works but they were very expensive...

THEM at work! and they actually use egg shells to do it! cool mans!

Had lunch at a local restaurant near "MEKONG river" the food there was FAB-U-LOUS!!!

MY LUNCH!

I REALLY LIKE THIS!

After lunch! we Head down to "Mekong River" took a boat there, Ate some fresh fruits directly riped from the plantationsm, went to see a traditional coconut factory that make "QUA DA" sweets.... AND went to bee farm.. Carried a snake... had a pony ride... SAT on a 'sampan' boat and went back on shore!

BTW: i bought a "NON LA"

on the boat to the island

cute dog on the boat!

me with the dog

FRUITS

Ride on the small pony... (so poor thing)

OMG i'm so daring!

me on the sampan

Back on shore!

After that we had an 3 hours bus ride all the way back to HCM to have a "CYCLO ride" it was really late and dark. And when we reach the destination. That guy just keep saying " more money more money!" LOL so funny la i gave him around 2US$. then we went for our "TAU SAIGON cruise" we had dinner on it and celebrated jonathan's birthday! sorry camera battery died so no photos for that...

DAY 6 - Going back to SINGAPORE

today we will be leaving Vietnam for Singapore.... SO early in the morning we went for our last minute shopping at benh than morning market and "an dong plaza" again to buy some food back to Singapore! I love vietnamese cookies, and jellys... so cheap and nice. When we went back to the hotel... the HONG BANG friends came to send us off.... they are so nice luh.... i will so miss them when i go back to singapore!

Group photo before going to the Airport

I think this photo is nice!

Mr Dat and I (my vietnam tourguide)

Group photo at vietnam airport

In the plane with Xiu Wen

My FOOD

Singapore airport T3