Saigon Square 2

Saigon Square 2 (SS2) opened in Nov 09. Decided to explore it today. It's located after Legend Hotel - at the junction of Ton Duc Thang and Nguyen Huu Canh. SS2 is a bigger sister to its sibling Saigon Square in Nguyen Thi Minh Khai; with 350 shops in tight spaces of 2-4 sqm. It looks much nicer from the outside but doesn't have the same feel as its smaller "sister". Has a more "expensive" and "commercial" look to it.

Sinh Tourist (aka Sinh Cafe) - then and now

Just found a 2008 brochure of Sinh Cafe, which has changed its name to Sinh Tourist (probably too many "imitation" Sinh Cafes sprouting up in Vietnam), and compared prices with its recent brochures out of curiosity:

1D HCMC Tour  

then 112,000VND now 140,000VND

1/2D Cu Chi Tunnels Tour  

then 80,000VND now 90,000VND

(exclude all entrance fee)

1D HCMC Tour + Cu Chi  

then 128,000VND now 150,000VND

(exclude all entrance fee)

1D Cao Dai Temple + Cu Chi  

then 112,000VND now 120,000VND

(exclude all entrance fee)

1D My Tho & Ben Tre (Mekong)

then 160,000VND now 180,000VND 

1D Cai Be & Vinh Long (Mekong)

then 176,000VND now 210,000VND

2D1N Phan Thiet-Mui Ne

then 900,000VND now 980,000VND

(twin-sharing)

3D2N Phan Thiet-Mui Ne

then 1,460,000VND now 1,570,000VND

(twin-sharing)

Adel and Bryan star in the school musical "Grease"

After months of preparation and rehearsals, the night finally arrived when parents are more anxious and nervous than performing children!! What an outstanding performance - if I had not been watching them, I wouldn't know that those were my two kids singing. Joyce and I are so proud of them. 

1st Anniversary

It's been exactly one year since The Alpha International Kindergarten was opened. It's been a short, and yet long, year. We've been through so much - the worries of whether we'd be getting students, the problems with authorities, management of the school, the language etc etc...it's a wonder that we still have hair on our heads! It would have been a much, much easier process to just start a kindergarten in efficient and clean (in more than one aspect if you know what I mean) Singapore but we chose to venture out. So we have to be happy and live with our choice.

Today, we have 2 kindergartens with almost a hundred kids - guess it's not too bad a start after a year's work. There was a time when we worried whether we'd ever hit 10 students! We are thankful to God (who has seen to everything for us despite all our doubts), our families (for being so understanding), our partners and friends (for their very staunch support) and especially our 3 kids, Nicole, Adeline and Bryan for understanding despite the disruptions we brought to their lives with this shift.

Our plans for 2010 are to open at least another kindergarten and a primary school. We pray that God will continue to guide us and give us strength to face the new challenges ahead. It's very exhausting and frustrating at times, and we need to rely on more than just our own strength and effort to move on.

See what we bought

Went to Ben Thanh Market tonight - the kids had to do some shopping. This is what was bought :

2 Crumpler bags for 800k (S$60)

Socks @ 10k/pair (S$0.75)

Eagle long-sleeve Shirt @ 120k (S$9)

Bag @ 70k (S$5.20)

2 VN wallets @ 15k (S$1.20)

Bryan's boxers @ 35k (S$2.60)

10 Magnetic Necklace @ 30k (S$2.30); 35k if bought per piece

Adidas @ 50k (S$3.70) & 60k (S$4.50)

Long-sleeve shirts

Took a pix of this when I was walking past - Abercrombie slippers

Boxers @ 35k

Nicole buying magnetic necklaces (35k each)

This stall sells the cheapest Crumpler Bags

This money-changer (jewellery shop) gives good rate

--------------------------------------

More updates :

"Samsonite" bag - 200k

Metal Robot - 250k

Dragonfly (medium size) - 10 for 50k

Egg Lacquer coasters (pack of 6) - 65k

Lacquer box - 40k (Painted box), 50k (egg shell dragonfly), 60k (Painted box with eggshell)

Billabong Shirt - 60k

"Adidas" t-shirt - normal 55k; with printing 60k

"Levi's" bermudas - 90k; buy 2@80K

3m embroidered table cloth with 12 emb napkins @ 250k (Saigon Tax Trade Center)

"Saigon" emb t-shirt XXXXL @ 50k (Roadside)

Filigree picture @ 120k (Central Post Office)

2 Magnetic necklace @ 25k (Saigon Tax Trade Center)

 

Phu My Bridge & East-West Highway

Decided to recce the newest bridge across the Saigon River while waiting for Adel to finish at the hairdresser's. Had been wanting to do this since its opening on 2 Sep 2009, Vietnam's National Day. This cable-stayed bridge is about 2km long and connects Dist 7 to Dist 2. It is the 3rd bridge across the Saigon River. The road leading to the bridge is still under construction (from Dist 7 side). Access to the bridge is via the side roads for now. It is the world's most modern bridge in terms of suspension cable technology, so claims the project co-investor Phu My Bridge Corporation. (Note : If you want to see the bridge, better go now as it'll be open to big vehicles after Dec 09.)

A 4th crossing, the Thu Thiem Tunnel, is still under construction. This 1,490m tunnel will be the longest in SE Asia when completed, with 371m running under the Saigon River. I have already biked on the new East-West Highway that leads to the uncompleted Thu Thiem Tunnel. Originally slated to open in 2007, the highway was finally declared opened on 2 Sep 09 (auspicious date, huh?) and spans 8 districts...well, better late than never. It's a nice piece of work for Vietnamese standard; traffic is light along this stretch (about 14km for now) which is a blessing indeed. It links Binh Tan to Dist 1, passing Binh Chanh, Cho Lon (Dist 5), Dist 6, Dist 8 and Dist 4. Problem is that the bike lane gets flooded in heavy downpours - poor drainage again.






































































The new Phu My bridge is a place for lovers, vendors and sight-seeing - yes, you just park your bike at the side, buy a snack or just "makan angin" and enjoy the view ... until the police comes!!!

Ref : Baovietnam

It's that time of year again ... for visits

Let's count the visits for Nov and Dec 2009 :

David Kuoh - 9 Nov to ?

Nicole - 26 Nov to 1 Dec 

Roderick - 26 Nov to 7 Dec

Vincent Lee & Family - 26 Nov to 1 Dec

Raj - 1 Dec to ?

Fong & friends - 3 to 7 Dec

Chris & friends - 17 to 22 Dec

A warm welcome to everyone.