A few days in Kuala Lumpur

My Vietnamese Visa was about to expire, and to be honest I had had enough of being in HCMC so I was excited to get away. I knew I wanted to head to a beach I could chill out on, so it was a matter of going to the airport and looking at the departure board to see what options we had. Kuala Lumpur stood out, as I knew I could get a connecting flight to Bali from there.

I decided to chill out in Kuala Lumpur for a couple of days. There’s not much to see or do, in fact I’d go as far as saying it’s one of few cities I have visited that I actually dislike. It’s filthy and very, very smelly. In fact that’s an understatement, it’s fucking disgusting.

The highlight of the trip was going up to the The Petronas Twin Towers connecting bridge and the cool thing is, it’s free! This is the view from up on the bridge:

The China Town Market was cool to walk around and grab some satay’s!

Getting Dengue Fever

It’s been a while since I last updated this blog… lot’s of events have been going on. First up, while I was in HCMC I got a very nasty fever, which the doctor later confirmed was Dengue Fever.

Having Dengue Fever, as it sounds, was very nasty! It started out just as any fever would; headache, lack of energy, cold/hot shivers and a runny nose. Then I lost my appetite, which really messed me up. I ended up not eating for 7 days, and even the thought of eating anything made my stomach turn. By day 4 of having the fever I was vomiting around 6 times per day and sleeping all the time. I simply had no energy… I remember going to the shop around the corner from the hotel and just couldn’t gather enough energy to put one foot in front of the other. As I said, it was a nasty experience.

I then went to the doctor… I knew I needed help due to the lack of food intake. I first went to a clinic, and the doctor got all excited thinking I had the HDN1 virus. The doctor was weird, it was almost like we wanted me to have the HDN1 virus. Anyway, He transferred me to the Tropical Disease Clinic.

I clearly remember pulling into the Tropical Disease Clinic and thinking there’s no way I was going to get treatment here. The hospital was very old and just looked unhygienic. I then instructed the taxi driver to head to the FV Hospital. What a difference this was… the hospital was of international standard…. It could have been mistaken for a 5 star hotel. I was directed to the emergency department where I was checked over and put on 2 drips, had an x-ray of my chest and had my blood checked against lot’s of different viruses. For the first time in a week, I felt like I was getting taken care of.

Sitting on the bed with the drip inside my arm was heaven… a tear dripped down the side of my face knowing I was going to get better. And the drip worked; later that day I was able to eat half a chocolate chip cookie.

After the doctor confirmed I had Dengue Fever, I had the option to stay in the hospital or return back to the hotel and come back in for a blood test 2 days later. I opted for the later option.

Over the next few days I was able to eat little pieces of food without vomiting; I was started to recover. When I returned to the hospital 2 days later, I was given the all clear.

I just want to thank everyone that sent me a Twitter message, sent me messages on Facebook and thanks to the people that called and emailed me. Special thanks to my Mum… My mum makes a great nurse when I’m sick and not being able to have her with me was a real shitter.

Ratatat in Saigon (HCMC)

First up, a HUGE thanks to Natalie for letting me know Ratatat would be playing in HCMC this weekend. I’ve been looking forward to the event all week and after some great food and wine, we made our way to the Spanish Pacharan Restaurant and Bar where they would be playing. The event was free so as expected the bar was rammed!! So much in fact, that there were lot’s of people outside on the street.

Before the duo went to the stage, they were standing behind the bar chatting to people which I thought was cool. The visuals that got displayed behind the band when they were playing were excellent, especially considering they were playing in a small bar. And of course, you could tell the guys really did give it their all. It was a great show.

Here is Loud Pipes, one of my fav Ratatat tunes:

Saigon Central Mosque & Mosque Cafe

Sorry for the lack of posts recently! I lost my CC on a crazy night out so I’ve been stuck here in HCMC waiting for my Mum to send the new card over to me.

Today I visited the Saigon Central Mosque & Mosque Cafe - Which was the first time I’ve visited a Mosque. I’m surprised how bland the Mosque is, if you compare it to other places of worship. Apparently, Islamic law strictly forbids using human or animal figures for decoration. I met a great guy (pictured below) who showed me around and introduced me to his friends - making for a pleasant afternoon sitting on the mat chatting while sipping some tea.

The main reason for visiting was to visit the Cafe, which I had read about on the Gastronomy Blog last year. If you go, the Cafe is hidden right around the back of the Mosque, so I’d recommend asking someone where it is otherwise you’ll have trouble finding it. I’ve always been a sucka for Muslim/Islamic foods with their rich curries so was keen to check it out. And bwoy, I was not disappointed!!! The cafe like place had an assortment of metal pots on the table and it was just a matter of lifting the lid up and choosing which curry to have. I opted for the beef, mutton, vegetable curries along with a Sapathi and a potato dish (which was rich is flavor).

It made for an interesting and different afternoon out!

Have you ever visited a Mosque before?

Reunification Palace & War Remnants Museum

Warning: There are some disturbing images after the Read More link.

I started the day by visiting the Reunification Palace, which was the home and workplace of the President of South Vietnam during the Vietnam War and the site of the official handover of power during the Fall of Saigon.

To be honest, for me it was pretty boring. If you have ever visited a school in England that was built in the 60/70’s, you’ve got a god idea of what it feels like walking around the countless meeting and housing rooms. The tunnels in the basement were the most interesting part though.

We then made our way to one of the most interesting Museum’s I’ve ever visted, The War Remnants Museum. I spent at least 2 hours walking around looking at the hundreds of images with great descriptions educating myself more about the Vietnam war. Very interesting.

Lot’s of US aircraft’s and tanks in the outside grounds.

This is a 82 Seismic Bomb that has 5,700kg of explosives in it. When exploded it destroyed an area of 100 meter radius and caused serious damage within a diameter of 3.2km. Used in Vietnam from 1970

Click here to continue reading »

HCMC Central Post Office and Sushi at the Sushi Bar

Another day chilling out in Saigon!

Cho Quan Church - Constructed in 1882 by Father Nicolas Ham, who died in 1886 and was buried under the foundation of the church.

HCMC Central Post Office - This was easily the most impressive post office I’ve visited - Beautiful!

An old Vietnamese guy taking a little time out for himself.

Much needed rain to clear the air.

Sushi at the Sushi Bar - This is the first time I’ve visited a proper Sushi restaurant and it didn’t disappoint. The place was really buzzing and every seat was taken. Every piece of Sushi I tried was excellent- Even the smoked eel I thought I’d end up spitting out! My favs were the scallops, tuna and salmon. What’s your fav Sushi?

First day in HCMC

After a few days chilling out in Hue, we got a flight down to Ho Chi Minh City. I have wanted to visit Saigon, as the locals call it, for a long time now. It’s exactly how I imagined it to be; A city filled with great bars, lot’s of restaurants and a mind boggling number of motorbikes!!

The agenda for today was just to explore the city by foot and get my bearings, stuff my cake-hole with great food and explore a few of the many wine bars the city has to offer.

After getting some email in nice and early, we headed out to get some breakie – which consisted of meat, fish and veggies from the road side. The food was excellent.

We then strolled around for a couple of hours, admiring the traffic, hustle and bustle of the city and the artitecture.

We then stumbled upon Annam Gourmet Market, a  great deli that stocks lot’s of imported foods, meats, cheese and wine.

We opted to get some lunch here, after having a flick through the impressive menu. The missus had the smoked salmon salad, while I went for the Black Forest Ham and Cheese sandwich which I washed down with a glass of white wine – Both were amazing. This is what I call a perfect lunch (and cost just a little more than a Mcshit value meal in England - Unbelievable!)

We then continued to explore more of the town and doing a little shopping before going back to the hotel for some much needed rest.

During the evening we ventured out to explore some wine bars. We started the night at the low-key Qing Bar where we sampled some impressive 94+ point wines and some Asian tapas.

We then went onto Zan Z Bar, opposite the Sheraton Hotel. This bar had a great vibe going on – a similar atmosphere you would find in London. The menu featuring wines by the glass was huge, the tapas was great, they had a good live band playing indie music and it felt like the whole bar was filled with movers and shakers.

When living in Bangkok, I always wanted a bar exactly like this that me and the missus could go to, relax, order some fine wines and food and mingle with like minded people. Although there is the Niu’s Jazz Blues Bar in Silom, it doesn’t have that lively after work vibe thing that, in my opinion, make a great bar.

During the evening we chatted to loads of expats living here, many of whom were drinking champagne like there was no tomorrow and great conversations flowed. A far cry from chatting to an English teacher ordering happy hour pints in an English pub in Bangkok!!!

So far, I’m really liking HCMC!