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It's been an eventful January thus far and that I find it difficult to pen down my thoughts and the events. But thus far the most memorable event was the Scarlett. Managed to book a night at the Scarlett hotel, a boutique hotel in Tanjong Pagar.
I must say the furniture in the hotel was stunning. Lots of red velvet surrounding the room...unfortunately no pictures but you can get a rough sense from the website. In addition, there's a wonderful restaurant called Desire in the hotel and the decor is similar to the hotel, fantastic! The food was lovely (will try to add the photos once I figure out how to work my bluetooth on my computer :p) Overall, a nice place to spend the weekend in the centre of Singapore.
Update: Photo of the food we ate
PS: In return for the Scarlett stay, I got the chance to stay at the Siloso Beach Resort last weekend. The room was much bigger than that at the Scarlett and it even had a rooftop jacuzzi. Though it was raining pretty heavily on that Sunday afternoon, we still manage to soak in the jacuzzi in the evening before our dinner. Dinner was at Il Lido, one of Sentosa's famous restaurant and I really liked the food a lot. Much better than at Desire and the ambience was fantastic, facing the sea, feeling the sea breeze.
A good substitute overall considering that our Phuket trip was cancelled due to Jetstar!
Been rather fascinated with watches recently as my colleague has a watch shop in town. Was even more interested when I was in Vietnam oggling at all the fake watches. Hmmm....very tempted to get an automatic watch and have been fascinated by the design, etc.
My friend convinced me to get Oris, a reputable Swiss brand and at a much more affordable price.
Lovely!
Was away in Ho Chi Minh City from the 24th Dec to 27th Dec. Was rather surprised of the distance and the time it took to get us there, a mere 1 hr 40 mins, even faster than going to Bangkok.
Day 1: Christmas Eve
We got through the customs alright and we were glad that there was a airport pickup in a comfortable SUV. The first thought that came to my mind was: "Wow there's hell a lot of motorcycles!" In addition, there were no traffic rules to speak off as well. The best way to cross the road is to actually close your eyes. Magically the motorbikes will move away for u but dun bet on that for the cars and buses.
Had lunch and dinner at Pho 2000. Apparently, it's a chain restaurant specialising in vietnamese beef noodles, aka pho. The restaurant is famous as apparently Bill Clinton had stopped by for a bowl of noodles and the restaurant was full of his pictures.
After a filling lunch, we went to Ben Thanh market. Similar to Chatuchak in Bangkok but cooler, the market is huge with everything you will ever need. Shirts, t-shirts, tailors, food, watches, bedsheets, etc, etc are all there. Managed to do some shopping and got myself a nice fake Breitling watch! Somemore it's automatic :-)
Ended the day with dinner at Pho2000 as all the restaurants were booked for Christmas Eve.
Day 2: Christmas Day
After a good nite sleep at the Bi Saigon, we headed out of town to explore the famous Cao Dai Temple and the Cuchi Tunnels. The Cao Dai Temple was really an interesting visit. The whole religion of Cao Dai was interesting as it's the combination of many different religion. The temple was grand and designed in an interesting way with dragons and bright colours all round.
Our next stop was the Cu Chi Tunnels. Amazingly 250km of tunnels were dug in the area during the Vietnamese war and the size of the tunnels were ridiculously small. Not for the fainted hearted!
The bus ride was pretty bumpy as well and it took us forever before we reach our destination. Interesting tour at a very affordable US$6 per person. Well worth the experience!
Day 3: Boxing Day
Woke up early as there were plenty to cover in our last proper day in HCMC. Went to the Reunification Palace where it was there where South Vietnam surrendered and reunited the country.
Tried to go to the War Remnants Museum but it was closed during lunchtime. Had lunch at the upscale Temple Club. The food was excellent and for the price we paid, it was definitely worth it! We decided to head off to the spa soon after that. After much convincing, I did the foot scrubbing, parafin treatment (read soaking your feet in hot wax) and thai massage. Total cost - US$25! Very good value for money!
Day 4: Last Minute Shopping!
Decided to visit a salon for a haircut and we read in Lonely planet about Toni & Guy, no not the famous american brand but a salon opened by a Vietnamese-American named Toni. It took them nearly an hour to cut my hair as it included shampooing, facial, massage and finally the hair cut. An interesting experience to say the least.
Last minute shopping and home sweet home!
Looking forward to my next holiday in Phuket on 1st Feb! :-)
PS: In return for the Scarlett stay, I got the chance to stay at the Siloso Beach Resort last weekend. The room was much bigger than that at the Scarlett and it even had a rooftop jacuzzi. Though it was raining pretty heavily on that Sunday afternoon, we still manage to soak in the jacuzzi in the evening before our dinner. Dinner was at Il Lido, one of Sentosa's famous restaurant and I really liked the food a lot. Much better than at Desire and the ambience was fantastic, facing the sea, feeling the sea breeze.
