Tet 2012 Celebration

After a quick dessert at XCream Cafe, we went to Renaissance Hotel to prepare for the New Year's Eve Celebration.

At the right side, my bed, and my mess!

Renaissance organized a pool party especially for this Tet Celebration. It was an international buffet dinner plus free flowing wine or any drinks until dawn. You have to pay to join in on the fun.

International buffet dinner at the pool area

They have a nice river view where you can witness the fireworks display at midnight. 

While waiting for 12 midnight, we went outside to see a street filled with flowers.

There were a whole lot of flowers, the street were filled on both sides. I wish I was able to capture photos of them during daytime.

Then finally, the clock strikes 12!

Happy New Year!

And look at how many people watched the fireworks in the city...

The view from the top

These are motorcycle riders on the streets after the fireworks display. Looks like every family in Vietnam owns at least one motorbike. The good thing is they can go out and watch the fireworks without worrying if there is public transportation available.


The traffic was dispersed quickly. If those were cars, I bet it would take hours before the streets would be cleared.

Vietnam Charm - Day One

I booked a ticket to Vietnam for Jan 20 - 25, which I thought were excellent dates because of  the Chinese New Year holidays in Singapore. But then I learned that during those days, the Vietnamese celebrate Tet (their New Year), which means shops and restaurants are closed for the whole week!

Good thing I didn't changed my flight. It was a great experience to witness their new year celebration. There were some establishments that were still available, as well as public transport. If you happened to book for this period, you can spend your time at Mui Ne, just like what we did.

We toured around the city on our first day. Shops were still open since they wouldn't be closed until the 24th. We stayed in a resort-like house, thanks to Neanne's (my sister-in-law) godmother. And the bonus part is we had a free tour around Vietnam.

We went to Nha Hang Ngon for lunch.

If you've read the Lonely Planet book on Vietnam, this place has a different name written on than on the book, but it's referring to the exact same place.

160 Pasteur

Our orders...

Lotus Salad

Fresh Salad Roll with Shrimp and Pork - 14,000 VND per piece (29 PHP / piece)

Seafood Fried Rice

Grilled Shrimp wiith Lime and Chili Garlic Salt - 130,000 VND (266 PHP)

Grilled Beef with Chili Salt served with seasoned toast -  125,000 VND (255 PHP)

Fruit Shake. I really loved the Strawberry Milk Shake at the right.

All were fantastic! And it was inexpensive, our total bill was only 671,000 VND (1,373 PHP) for the four of us. No wonder there were a lot of diners here.

After a great lunch, we headed to Reunification Palace. 

A quick tour around their numerous meeting rooms. :) 

One of the many meeting areas around.

There is an entertainment area in the upper level which includes mini theater and piano. I was thinking maybe while the husbands were on a meeting, their wives were entertaining themselves at the upper floor.

Hunting memorabilia are also displayed.

At the basement, there is a network communication system used during the war.

And a kitchen with a giantic mixer. :)

Afterwards, we went to War Remnants Museum.

It was heartbreaking to see stories about the victims of the war :-(. To cheer us up, we dropped by Saigon Square for some shopping.

We wanted to go to Ben Thanh Market but we were invited for a dinner at Cham Charm. Who are we to resist a free buffet dinner with free-flowing wine right?

The highlight of the dinner...

Grilled Lobster with cheese

Drink-All-You-Can Wine

We ended the night with a photoshoot around the area.