Jollibee Isdatchyu Vah Talagah?

I'm on my final hours in HCMC. Tonight I'm finally in BKK and I could not be happier coz I badly miss BKK.

My stay here had been very uneventful. I met a couple friends of friends (one is Vietnamese and the other is a Filipino); and the rest of the time my colleague and I went around Saigon in the evening after we were released from the workshop. Yesterday afternoon, after the workshop closed, we went around the museums and some landmarks.

HCMC's architecture is grander than that of Hanoi (I cannot help comparing the two), but the latter is obviously more charming. HCMC, as the financial capital of Vietnam, has gleaming buildings rising all over the place and more are scheduled to clog the skyline. I'm afraid it's going to become another chaotic Asian city... hopefully not. There are magnificent colonial architecture in one section of the city though (fortunately close to my hotel), and we focused on those spots.

So I'm dumping a few pictures of my days here in HCMC.

Oh my gawd... HCMC has seven branches of Jollibee. That really drove me crazy with excitement. And what's a Pinoy to do in the midst of Jollibee but gorge on its burgers? Damn, for lunch today I felt like I was back home.

Saigon at Night

My colleague and I arrived in Ho Chi Minh City (or Saigon) tonight. The flight was delayed becuase Air Asia's system went down, which was a good thing coz I had barely a couple of hours to catch my plane after I arrived in Suvarnabhumi from Krabi.

After checking in at our oh so unimpressive hotel, we walked around Saigon. We realized that our hotel's location is quite right in a posh area, with gleaming department stores and hotels just outside our doorstep. God, how ignorant can I be? I thought HCMC is just a notch better than Hanoi. I am quite impressed at how way taller the buildings and how wider and saner the streets are. I have a strong feeling that the bitch is going to love HCMC as well.

We immediately found ourselves in front of the wonderfully lit People's Committee Hall, undoubtedly HCMC's main landmark. A few blocks from it is the river, where we saw a few gaudy boats with diners on board (reminds me of the similar boats in Chao Phraya, ugh). The rest of the evening was spent on sipping beer and smoking.

Oh, the workshop starts tomorrow. I'm thrilled (rolls eyes). I'm looking forward to exploring more of HCMC in the evening in the coming days though.