Ho Chi Minh Biz Trip - May 2017

Soo.... There's a first time for everything, such as a trip to Ho Chi Minh, VietNam.  Never in my wildest dreams had I ever thought of going to Ho Chi Minh, but since work dictated me to do so, off I went.  For this trip I brought my trusty RX100 Mark III again as I wanted to travel light.

Ready to go after a brief shower

The flight was slightly under two hours from Singapore and after clearing the immigration and forty minutes or so of taxi trip to the hotel, I finally checked-in at Sheraton Saigon Hotel & Towers.

Neat and tidy

I was rather pissed off that the trip had to span over the weekend, but it was out of my hands...  So I just put up with it and did my job.

Anyway, my room had a nice city view so I just had to take a snap the moment I arrived.

District 1 skyline

Then it was time to get out to explore a bit and get some stuffs before finally hitting the bed.

The following morning I immediately set off for my assigned meeting room.

Room 4 - that's the destination!

First to arrive

Day 2 finished uneventfully and I just settled in comfortably for the night.  Besides it was a day of long tough discussions so I wanted to take it easy for the night.

Day 3 started normally too and again I was first to arrive in the meeting room.

First to arrive again!  That's nice coz I get to pick the best seat.

Day 3 ended quite early which is very nice since it was a Friday.  When I returned to my room the sky looked so blue and inviting.

Such a nice skyline

So after a quick rest I took a walk towards the river which is not too far away from the hotel.  Traffic was very heavy, lots of motorcycles!

Rush hour traffic at 5:30 p.m.

Since I didn't see anything interesting I decided to just go to Bitexco Financial Tower's observation deck.

To get to the observation deck you have to pay VND 220,000.  Then you'll be whisked to a lift that will bring you up to 49th floor.  Once above I indulged in the view prior to sunset.  There's a tiny museum showing VietNamese Ao Dai and a short video presentation.

VietNamese dresses for ladies called Ao Dai

And more Ao Dais

Once the blue hour arrived I started going around again taking as many photos as I could and the results certainly did not disappoint.

Blue hour Ho Chi Minh skyline

View at another side

After taking lots of photos I finally decided to go back to the hotel and call it a day.

Day 4 was a Saturday....  I had to go out anyway while waiting for my room to be cleaned up.  So I decided to go to Ben Thanh market hoping to see some interesting stuffs.

On the way to Ben Thanh market I passed by the Ho Chi Minh City Hall, unfortunately I was too close to the building to take a decent photo, this was my best effort at that moment.

Ho Chi Minh City Hall - very beautiful facade

After that I continued walking to Ben Thanh.  I arrived a tad too early at around 8:30 a.m. as some stall holders were still setting up their stalls.

Should have bought some of those fruits and brought them back to the hotel

And.... another shot of what's inside the market

After getting some fridge magnets as souvenirs I decided to return to the hotel.  Before leaving Ben Thanh I took a picture of the market's exterior, unfortunately the view was not very good due to ongoing construction works nearby, but hey, there'll be a subway in the future!

Exterior view of Ben Thanh Market

When I arrived at the hotel, my room was not done yet, so I stopped by Trung Nguyen Legend which was just across Sheraton.  Had an affogato, bought lunch and finally returned to the hotel to rest after spending the whole morning exploring around on foot.

That, without a doubt is the nicest affogato I've ever had.  Or perhaps I was just too thirsty...

Freshly done laundry coming in the afternoon

I got bored again in the late afternoon so I decided to take a walk at the Pedestrian Plaza, stopped by Trung Nguyen Legend again and returned to the hotel to call it a day.

The Pedestrian Plaza after a brief shower

Coffee Ice Cream from Trung Nguyen Legend before returning to Sheraton

Day 5 was a Sunday.  This time I decided to visit the Post Office since it was highly recommended by the hotel staffs.

Central Post Office Facade

It was OK I suppose, too crowded to take decent photos inside.

Really love the interior of this building

 Just next to the Post office was a small street (or more like a lane) for book fairs.  Since I had nothing to do I just explored around, unfortunately the books were all in Vietnamese.

Very lively atmosphere along the street (lane)

Many small bookshops around along the lane

Book Cafe - there's a "Book Cafe" too in Mohammad Sultan in Singapore

Lucky Luke comics!  In Vietnamese!  Isn't that interesting?

After having a quick look and see at the book fair I went to nearby Cathedral for more photo taking.

Notre Dame Cathedral de Saigon

Then I walked back to the hotel again for a quick rest.  Feeling bored again in the late afternoon, I ventured out to Saigon Center and took more photos on my way there.

This is a better view of the Ho Chi Minh City Hall

Daytime shot of the Pedestrian Plaza

After having had enough I returned to Sheraton again to finally call it a day yet again.  

Day 6 & 7 were straightforward days of training and finished uneventfully.  Having trouble sleeping while travelling, I was up at about 5 in the morning and the sun was just about to rise.

Skyline before sun rise

On day 8 I couldn't wait to go home and had been sleepless on the night before.  Checked out at 9 something and immediately left for the airport.  I only wanted to go home soon.

Nope that was not my plane, but it was the 1st time I saw the Sanrio theme Eva Air aeroplane up close

And that was 8 days and 7 nights adventure in Ho Chi Minh.

Here's a closing shot for this entry:

It's the same view as my earlier photo above, but at a later timing - really love this view of Ho Chi Minh

~ Photos taken with Sony RX100 Mark III~