Day 3- Ho Chi Minh City

The lonely planet walkabout...

Beef Pho at Pho 2000. Bill Clinton came here before!

Deep fried spring rolls Museum of Fine Arts War Museum

Reunification Palace

War Remants Museum

The 1 picture that captured my attention... the sordid truth of war...

Notre Dame Church

Post Office

Classic photos from every developing nations.. hahaha..

I totally got so lazy this morning till I only woke up at 0930am (Vietnam time is 1hr behind SG). It's quite unlike my usual "wake up early, chiong whole day, sleep early" routine.

Anyway, my boss mentioned that I should do the 7km route recommended by the lonely planet, which will bring me to all the "must-see" attractions in HCM city. hahaha... luckily, Serene bought me the chiong version of the Vietnam Lonely planet...

According to the book, I have a breakfast stop at "Pho 2000" beside Ben Thanh Market for some beef kway tiao soup (it's called Pho) and some deep fried spring rolls. Not cheap but quite delicious, though I think it's due to the MSG.

2nd stop: Museum of Fine Arts. It's quite disappointing though. Probably was because I have been to the ones in Europe which were really good. However, 1 thing to note was at least 70% of the art pieces was about war. The Vietnamese had a huge chunk of their history being invaded by others, Chinese, French, US etc.. In my humble opinion, if any nationality is to be called a real fighter, it has to be the Vietnamese.

3rd Stop: Frozen Yogurt. =P weather was too hot and the Doi Pasteur has a couple of nice cafes and ice cream palours that I just couldn't resist stopping by in.

4th Stop: Reunification Palace. I didn't plan on entering the palace but somehow it was damn crowded at the entrance and everyone seems to be snatching tickets. Since I had time to kill, might as well join the fun. Only after I entered, then I realised it was because the place only just opened after lunch! liew... I don't recommend going in. Not much to see.

5th Stop: War Remants Muesum. Everyone told me that this is a must-go and really, I wasn't disappointed. You have to read up on the History of Vietnam before going to this museum for a deeper appreciation of it. During my 1st 2 days in Vietnam, I did realise that I saw quite a few people with Down Syndrome. I took it that it was just plain coincidence. Only after this museum visit did I realise how come there are so many people in Vietnam with genetic defects! And I was reading about the Con Dao Islands. It sounded damn huat, but how come nobody goes. Then I realised that it's like the Alcatraz Island in San Franciso, but they simply disbanded every single humanitarian rights in there! Goodness, if you ever visit this museum, you will come out with an "anti-war" kinda mentality. I mean, the pictures, photographs were astonishing truth. 20 years of war... how many generations will it take to get over it? Can you imagine, 20 years of regular bombings, fearing for your loved ones every single day, nothing to eat/drink or even having a gun pointed to your head. *sigh*

6th stop: Couldn't find the Jade Emperor Pagoda. hahaa.. ended up taking a bus back to Ben Thanh Market. haha.. walked around my neighbourhood. Too much backpackers, too much pubs, too much ang mohs..

Had my dinner at "Asian Kitchen" which is a few blocks away from my hotel, same street..err.. Vietnamese curry was so-so only...