Day 01 (04/Nov/2013) It begins

Here we are again ... on Holiday !!!
Two years since the Honeymoon, this is a well deserved break for Cat :)

Some people choose to spend their holidays lying on a beach in paradise, climbing mountains, jumping out of aeroplanes, braving safaris in the wilderness, admiring historic castles, seaside treasures or taking in breath taking views.

The intention of our holiday is just to eat > shop > eat > shop > eat & sleep.

A short 8 hour flight will deliver us to our 10 day food binge fest.

Airline food actually tasted better than it looked

Halfway through the flight I was reminded why I hate flying.

Those of you who know me know that I need to be in control.
I avoid trains, buses, boats and other people's cars.
Couple this with Ill feelings and my time in the A330 wasn't pleasant.

So jealous of Cat who can just pop some pills and sleep for hours on end.
I on the other hand was really trying hard to not introduce myself to the airsickness bag.
It seemed that chunder time was imminent.
The last time I felt like this was on a boat where I earnt the nickname "Burley Boy".
Slight relief was provided by sniffing my trusty Vicks inhaler.

What seemed like an eternal 8 hour flight wasn't helped by the Skymap to which one would expect to provide details of current flight location, speed and estimated time of arrival to the destination, instead it was just a graphic of the world map ... which didnt change !!!

Positive thoughts prevailed and there was no airsickness :)

Overall the flight was okay, the flight crew's customer service levels have improved and they now speak a relatively westernised sounding English.
The plane was 3/4 occupied by Australian holiday goers and the rest being old grannies returning home.

We stepped off the plane and the familiar smell and heat of South East Asia greets us. Ahh.
This time around we didn't get shanked by the private taxi operators and headed straight for the taxi stand.
Being peak hour, the legit taxi driver still tried to scam us asking for A$20 instead of what should have costed A$8 claiming the journey may take up to 4 hours.
Upon decline, we were taken on a very indirect route to our hotel, not such a big deal since we got to see bit more of the city.
The fee ended up being A$15.

Although this is my third time in Saigon, my mind still couldn't comprehend how the flow of chaotic traffic just works without incident.
Mix 1000's of taxi's, private cars, buses, trucks, scooters, motorbikes (some with 2 adults + 2 babies), bicycles and pedestrians.
The most eye catching was an old man on a motorbike taking home a washing machine, right hand on bike throttle left hand holding the washing machine :S
You have to wonder how many people dont make it home each day.
Everywhere you look there's a near miss whether it be a cm or a foot, each and every one accompanied by a snarling glare, beep, honk or bunch of swear words.

We checked into our hotel.

Suite 902 will be our home away from home for the next four days.

This hotel is located a few doors down from our previous hotel stay and one of my favourite restaurants.

After settling in and relaxing a bit, it was time for dinner.

Pepper mud crab

Awesome king prawns fried in garlic and chilli 

Salt steamed chicken

Crab roe ... mmm

After a satisfying dinner (okay Cat watched me devour the seafood) we walked down the road to see what was new.
We discovered that the once glamorous Zen Plaza is now half empty.
We stopped by Family Mart for some essentials and not so necessary items :).

Everyone loves Gap ! & needs some brain supplements ~

View from our window

The remainder of the night was spent relaxing and getting reacquainted with Asian cable television i.e Star World and alot of cheesy commercials !.

My mobile number for whilst here in Saigon is 012 6400 9162, Cat's is 012 4007 451.