Xin Chao, Vietnam!

"Xin chao, cac ban!" :) Which means, "Hello there my friends!", but in Vietnamese of course! Hello friends, I have touched down at the Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) and I just want to tell you that I am loving it here! This is only my first day in Vietnam, but I quite love everything about it. Here are some pictures while I tell my story on my first day in this lovely city of vegetables (rau), beautiful women (co cai dep), and triangular hats!

This is the first time that I am riding a plane (may bay), and illegally at that. Usually animals have to be placed in the quarantine section in the cargo area, but thankfully, Joyce managed to smuggle me up onto the main plane in her pocket. It was a really interesting experience for me, even though it was a budget aircraft and I was starving because I didn't bring sufficient cash with me! Cheese and crackers cost SGD$9 and of course, Joyce was unwilling to splurge on such a fancy breakfast for me! Ah well, the life of a mouse. I must say, she was kind enough to help me take a few fancy photographs though! :)

Check out the Tiger Airways Flight Attendant Behind Me!

This Is My Makeshift Seat on the Airplane

My Very First Immigration Card on My Very First Trip Overseas!

Me Staring Out of the Airplane Window (I think I look so cool here)

I Got Bored and Started Reading the In Flight Safety Information

It was Valentine's Day... But My Girlfriend... Doesn't Exist!

First Thing In Vietnam, and Joyce Tries to Find a New Pet. Pffft.

Boys Playing A Vietnamese Version of "Chapteh"

Le Bo, my Vietnamese Dog "Friend"

One of the Best Restaurants in Ho Chi Minh City

Toi uong bia Saigon! (I'm drinking Saigon Beer)

Two Days to FlyDay

The last time I posted, it was two weeks to Flyday. Now, it's two days to FlyDay and boy am I excited. I have been doing a lot of packing, scampering in and out, up and down. Joyce only bought 30kg of baggage for her flight and considering I have to share the space with her, there's not much for me left.

Anyway, as usual with Joyce, big drama ensued her luggage and she was faced with baggage woes. Initially, Joyce was using a 25-inch soft-case no-brand zipper luggage and really trying to squeeze everything in to no avail. After a Lunar New Year visit to her boyfriend's house in Johor Bahru and chatting with her boyfriend's mother, she realised that she couldn't squeeze in 6 months worth of clothes because her luggage was too small! Thus, being the insistent (not spoilt, just insistent) only child that she is, Joyce managed to persuade her parents to buy her a bigger luggage bag.

Since she was probably only going to be away for so long just once, her parents decided to buy another no-brand bag, just that this time, it was 28-inch hard case, pearly purple and 2 clasped, much to Joyce's dismay because she kept insisting that there was such a thing called... 一分钱，一分货... or something along those lines. I thought she was just being a brand concious brat, but hey, guess what, that night when she went back to pack her luggage, the clasp broke.

Sigh. So she dragged her parents back to exchange the faulty bag and bought another bag. This time, 26-inch hard case, hot pink and 3 clasped (apparently, the more clasps there are, the better and stronger) and the renowned Japanese Lojel brand! End of story. Thank goodness. Girls and their luggage dramas. Never could understand it.

Me and the Lojel 26-Inch Luggage

This episode however, made me understand a little more about the aviation rulings for checked in baggage. Most international airlines accept up to 41-inch luggage, although I would really not venture beyond 30-inch check-in luggage (especially if you are traveling via budget airlines) because Joyce's mum saw someone's luggage being rejected for check in by the airline staff at Changi Airport because it was apparently bigger that 30 inches.

Anyway, she's done packing her luggage (couldn't believe that the bag could fit everything in!) with 1kg to spare for me to stuff my things in so yup, here I go scampering to squeeze my cheese into whatever available space there is! Wish me luck! And oh dear, hope I don't make her baggage overweight!

This feels like I'm going to open Pandora's Box!

Tikus, Out!

Two Weeks to FlyDay

In two weeks, on the 12th of February 2011 in the wee hours of the morning, I will be flying off to Ho Chi Minh city from Singapore. Singapore has been my home for the most part of my life and it will be a good change leaving this city life for literally greener pastures in Vietnam. I'm having mixed feelings about leaving all my mice friends and family here, but I guess this is going to be a once in a lifetime chance for me to travel abroad for such a long time.

You see, I'll be following my human friend, Joyce, while she goes to Vietnam for an overseas internship and my guess is that it's going to be pretty fun for me because well, she has agreed to sponsor my accomodation, so I have more money to spend on countless visits through Cu Chi tunnel! Yup, how do I know about that? It's because I've already purchased my copy of Lonely Planet Vietnam and gone around asking my mice friends about mice friendly places to visit! If not, I guess I can just tuck myself in Joyce's pocket and peek out to snap a few photographs.

Lonely Planet: Vietnam, $48.95 from Borders Singapore

For now though, I'm halfway through preparing myself for what is to come by packing up my luggage with lots of clothes, cheese, a fur dryer and a comfortable blanket to snuggle in! I'll check back in a few days! Good night!

Tikus, Out!



What I'm Listening To: Monique Klemann - Haze, Undercover - Gemma Hayes