Thanks MovieMob!

Drive In & Watch For Free!

http://www.moviemob.sg/

Wen promised a surprise and he brought a mat along to the car. It must be a picnic or something I thought. But at night, star gazing.... perhaps? And we have not had dinner. Weird.

We then made a stop by KFC for a drive-through takeaway. It was then that he told me that we're heading for a drive in movie!

Held every forthnightly by Honda Moviemob, we were in for Wolverine tonight!

Located at a big field at Stadium Walk, loads of cars were already there when we arrived. Organised by Honda, the traffic marshals were helpful and professional. We were briefed on directions to the mobile toilets and snacks corner, and instructions to tune to the designated fm. We parked our car and enjoyed our Zinger while waiting for the movie to start. It was really fun and this was my first time watching movie this way! And with Hugh Jackman on the screen, it was entertaining enough! As it was Wen's first time too, we didn't even need to use the mat, unless you prefer to sit at the front of the screen instead of on your car seats.

I heard about this from my mum about her park-tor days with dad, but I didn't know this still exists.

Thanks to MovieMob for the great experience! & Wen. :) 

Revisit the Titanic after 100 years

Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition
Marina Bay Sands ArtScience Museum

Finally after 100 years, RMS Titanic reaches our sunny island and it will be ending this month.
An unfortunate account of the magnificent ship that took away the lives of 1,514 passengers was relived. Besides the sadness and heavy heart we expected to bring with us to this exhibition, I was secretly excited. :p Can you believe it? You get to see the grand staircase that Rose and Jack met, the cabin Jack stayed with his pals, and the first class cabin where Jack sketched Rose... naked. The famous 1997 movie did bring more anticipation and curiosity to this artifact exhibition I must say.

The pass was creatively made for every guests in the form of the actual White Star Line boarding pass that was issued to its 2,224 passengers on its maiden voyage on 10 April 1912. Each pass bears the name of an actual passenger on board that fateful day and I was immediately anxious to find out if mine was a survivor or a victim. Sad to know, mine died.. and so was Wen's, bro's, jiefu's... Only sis's survived.

The largest passenger steamship at its time, it cruised through the North Atlantic Ocean from Southampton, and bound for New York before the disaster struck on 15 April 1912. Only 710 survived that tragic night. The exhibition features 275 artifacts (out of 6000) that were dug up from the ocean bed where the wreck was discovered in 1985. The actual wreck has never been recovered and its fate is now left to the rust-eating bacteria, depending on how fast they can consume.

As no photography was allowed, I could not provide a pictorial explanation of the exhibition. Although one may have thought the exhibition was kind of small and brief, I thought it gave a good and comprehensive overview of Titanic. You really felt like you were on its cruise and it was an interesting experience. Wen went to the one at Manchester and he commented that this was much better than that.

Ho Chi Minh City

2-4 March 2012
Ho Chi Minh City
A short weekend getaway with Wen before I start work at my new place, we chose to visit Ho Chi Minh City, formerly known as Saigon.
Green Suites Vietnam

http://greensuiteshotel.com/
Arriving at Tan Son Nhat Airport, we had some problem getting to our hotel as our cab driver did not quite know his way. We thought his was the legitimate cabs but after spending a couple of days here, we felt like we were on a ‘black’ cab. This was confirmed when the cost was almost twice as much as what we paid to the cab our hotel staff has booked for us for a return fare to the airport.
Nevertheless, the counter staff was friendly and helpful. The room was clean. The main attraction is the rooftop patio where they served our continental breakfast. The serving was huge and very good! They also served Vietnamese style coffee (unique coffee filter) which I looked forward to in the morning.




Unique coffee filtering technique - Nguyen Trung coffee


What a great way to start our Mornings!!

Food!

 Vietnamese are really healthy people. They eat a lot of vegetables and fruits.

You’ll find leafy greens served along with your Pho (Vietnamese noodles).
Their spring rolls have lots of vegetables. Their market is full of vegetables and fruits.

Vietnamese beef noodles - Pho

Apart from that, head down to Bhan Thanh Market at night and you’ll see the streets transformed into a night eating place with Tze-Char (wok-fried) style dishes. Although the streets were closed to cars, motorbikes could still whisk through this area.
Before 7pm...  ...& After

We got a table somewhat close to the road side and it was interesting watching the motorbikes just an arm’s length away from us. We ordered the chili fried fish and it was really tasty.
 

Interesting Sights of HCMC
The traditional ao dai, Vietnamese dress, can still be seen worn by the Vietnamese women on the streets. Take notice of how slim all the vietnamese ladies are!

It is not uncommon to see Vietnamese balancing 3-4 or even 5 people on a teeny weeny bike (compared to Wen's...), and look at this man doing a stunt which I thought was pretty cool.
He was chatting away with someone while doing this. Awesome.

City Attractions

You can easily walk to these french-inspired attractions on foot if you dont mind the weather and the traffic.

Statue of Mr Ho Chi Minh, in front of the People's Committee Building (City Hall)

Notre Dame Cathedral

Old Saigon Post Office

Wen with his travel guidebook, a regular companion to all his travel trips.

 Day Tour @ Mekong Delta

We booked a day tour to head to the Mekong Delta and nearby islands.
Day tours are popular in HCMC, and you can basically book with any of the tour agencies that you will find abundant at the backpacker’s streets. All packages work on the same tour. That is to say, on the coach bus that you booked for, you will find several other people who booked from various tour agencies. They group, divide, split, allocate. It seems pretty efficient to do it this way, since attractions are only those few. However, the people handling it could be somehow disorganized. We heard of some tourists being over-promised. And sometimes the ‘tour-guide’ changes, coach bus changes along the way to your destination.

The view of Mekong was quite an experience. Unlike the blue waters we would love to see, Mekong is brownish in colour. The tour guide educated us that this is due to silt deposits – a granular material (sand/clay-like). Despite giving it a ‘dirty’ look, silt actually creates rich and fertile soil.

We were treated to folk song performance and fruits on this trip, visited bee farm for honey and snacks, coconut candy factory, and a ‘sampan’ ride along the Mekong swamps. We were exhausted after the trip, but it was a great feeling to be able to get close to nature and enjoy the river breeze.




Sampan ride along the river swamp, we were all given the conical hats - Non La, on board the boat. And it did helped to shield those sunny glares.

Songs and Fruits

We were brought to a village on an island where we were entertained with vietnamese songs and tropical fruits.

And we could take a snooze on the hammock...

Ho Chi Minh City Museum - Reunification Palace
Formerly known as Independence Palace, the building was built during the French colonial era.
A residence and political office of the President, the place was once bombed during a mutiny. Deep underground tunnels were constructed to facilitate the escape of important officials. It was turned into a museum after the Fall of Saigon in 1975.



It was a relaxing trip without much rushing or heavy itinerary.
Ho Chi Minh City is a laid-back backpackers favourite choice.
We had a great weekend and it was just too short!

Coffee at Highlands Coffee and half way through the creamy tiramisu.
We were waiting for the night market to start...

If we had more time, we would love to visit Central Vietnam... Da Nang, Hoi An... etc.
Next time, Wen. :)

View of Vietnam from the plane... Awesome!