Tips
- I use Skyscanner to find cheap flights. We paid $830 for each of our flights. I would personally avoid China Eastern airlines because of 1) their limited selection of movies. Most of their movies are in Chinese! 2) food sucks!
- Plan your trip and book local flights in advance because it is much cheaper than to buy the last minute. Avoid VietJet because they almost always have delays.
- Use e-visa. It's cheaper and faster than regular visas.
- Avoid drinking tap water unless the restaurant/homestay boils the water
- Avoid drinking ice coffee unless the ice is made by a big company
- I brought a fan around the neck, very handy!
- Avoid the bank ACB when withdrawing from their ATM. The ATM gave me ripped bills and did not give me the full amount, WTF.
- Check out my Trip Advisor profile which contains reviews from my Vietnam trip.
Day 1 - Family Edition
Tran Family
On our first day, my cousin Vu took us to go grab breakfast and then headed over to my Aunt 4's (mom's side) house. Cousin Hoa couldn't make it, but all the guy cousins showed up just for me :] They are all old enough to be my dad lol. I requested for coconut and cousin Khoi brought over a ton of coconut hehe. I murdered quite a few.
Doan Family
After that, we visited my cousin Nhan (dad's side). He upgraded his home to a nice cozy and have a utility business on the first floor. It's always good to see Uncle Extra, who drove into the city to see me :)
Jackie is holding Rosie, Nhan's daughter, who just peed all over her leg. Good god lol.
Flying to Hai Phong
By night time, we grabbed our luggage and headed to the airport to fly to Hai Phong. The guy sitting next to me on the airplane was very religious. He tried to sell me very hard to convert to Catholicism. After a long preach of religious stories, I eventually put on my sleeping mask and earplug and passed out. He kind of looks like my friend Hao.
Day 2 - Ha Long Bay Part 1
From Hai Phong to Ha Long
We stayed at the Hoang Tuyet Motel. It's more of an Airbnb rather than a motel. The host is very nice and welcoming! We took a 1.5-hour taxi ride to Ha Long Bay and only cost $15! We booked a 1-day premium cruise at Huong Hai Sealife Day Cruise for about ~$230 which included the 2 of us. The cruise boards at 12 pm, so we sat inside the lobby area and drank cafe sua da (Ice coffee with condensed milk).
Cruise
This cruise is phenomenal! Unlike some of the other cruises, this cruise has A/C in the dining area and our own room (much needed)!
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Exploring Ha Long Bay
We checked out a cave, visited the natives who lived on the harbors, made spring rolls, and watched the beautiful night sky.
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Day 3 - Ha Long Bay Part 2 / Travelling to Hoi An
We managed to wake up in time for Tai Chi at 6 am in the morning. After that, we had a breakfast buffet, yummy! I can't remember what else we did, but the trip ended with a lunch buffet and we were taken back at noon. We wished we booked our flight for 3 pm to Hoi An. Instead, we booked a 6 pm flight just to be safe since we didn't want to risk missing our flight. We stuck around Hai Phong for a couple of hours and left our bag at the motel. We got a massage at Truong Tho Spa, a 15-minute walk from Hoang Tuyet Motel, and it was amazing and cheap! This place gets booked really fast, so call ahead! After the
massage, we walked around the city, but there wasn't much to do/explore. Eventually, we headed back to the airport and waited around.
We booked a homestay in Hoi An with Blue Clouds. They arranged a pick-up service at the airport and dropped us off at the homestay. It worked out very well. Our room was on the first floor, towards the end of the hallway. Our room is very cozy, with a Vietnamese style bathroom.
Day 4 - Hoi An Part 1
Blue Clouds
Mr. Duong is an awesome host at Blue Clouds, really nice, and always made us felt welcoming! His voice sounds just like a friend of mine, Bi. Maybe that's why I liked him a lot.
His breakfast menu is the bomb! For breakfast, we also ordered 2 fruit smoothies, cafe sua da, egg omelet with tomatoes, and some kind of noodle soup. He has complimentary bikes with locks for use. I believe scooters can be rented per day, but not sure how much. There are also tours that you can book for scuba diving, snorkeling, etc.
Custom Tailored Clothes
The first thing we did was to go to The Tailory to get our measurements and choose our custom made clothes. This can take up to 3 days which include fitting, resize, changing the style, etc. After choosing our outfits, we went back and forth on the price for about 20 minutes and eventually succeeded in haggling down the price :D
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Madam Khanh Banh Mi
While waiting for her to pick out the fabric and such, I decided to grab food at a highly rated Trip Advisor restaurant instead. I first went to Long's Chicken Rice, but it wasn't open yet. Then, I tried to stop by Banh Mi Phuong, but it was closed. I wasn't sure if they were closed for the day or for a period of time :( So I went to Madam Khanh Banh Mi is soooo good and it's only 25K Dong. I ordered the traditional for myself and a veggie for her. The smoothie was alright, I don't care for it.
Lemongrass Flavor Spa
After getting our custom-tailored order in, we went for a massage at Lemongrass Flavor Spa is walking distance from our homestay. My first experience with them was okay. It's a small shop but they do take credit card.
Bike Adventure
Once we were done with our massage, we walked back to the homestay and picked up our bikes. Then, we rode north towards the beach. It was a hilly adventure and riding a single speed bike in scorching hot weather isn't fun. We were trying to eat at Purple Lantern, but the chef wasn't available at the time. The owner was very nice and told us that we can leave our bikes there and get them later. She even suggested some good restaurants around the area. We both were drenched in sweat and Jackie just wanted to head straight to the beach. We rented out 2 seats with a giant umbrella and just read our books. Very relaxing!
Tree Coconut Beach Restaurant
I was a bit hungry and just wanted something to munch on before grabbing dinner at Purple Lantern when the chef returns. Luckily, there is a small dinky local restaurant Tree Coconut Beach Restaurant on the beach. So I ordered a shrimp spring roll. Surprisingly, this was the best fucking spring roll ever and the best food during this Vietnam trip! It was so damn good that I had to place another order.
Purple Lantern
As soon as it was getting dark, we started walking back to Purple Lantern. We ordered scallops, vegetarian curry, and mango shake. Everything was delish! We didn't really get to enjoy our meals since we had to bike back and make our appointment at La Luna Spa.
La Luna Spa
The second massage place we tried is La Luna Spa. It was decent except that it was kinda warm in there. The A/C wasn't cold enough to cool the room.
Day 5 - Hoi An Part 2
Blue Cloud
Of course, we had breakfast here again. In addition to this bowl of noodles, I also had the omelet, fruit smoothie, and a cup of coffee. Cheers to champion's breakfast!
La Spa
The best massage in town goes to La Spa. This place is so busy that you must book an appointment at least a day in advance. Our masseuse was Huong and Thu. Was it good? Hell, fucking yes.
Long Chicken Rice
We stopped by The Tailory to try out our clothes. My outfit was great! She had to go to the factory for more precise measurements. When she came back, she was so excited about the quality and fitting that she ordered a couple more. Because they had adjusted correct measurements, it was easy to make dresses on the same day.
While she was at the factory, I biked to Long Chicken Rice. I remember coming here 2 years ago and it is still freaking good! I ordered the boiled chicken with rice. I also bought 2 bags of Jasmine Tea. I'm not a huge fan of tea, but this tea is very floral and delicious!
Old Town
We had to go back home to drop off our bike there and then walk to Old Town. This area is more like a massive market that spans many streets. We went shopping for essential oil and also bought Vietnamese shorts. There is a lot of entertainment and stores in the area. It's a very festive street and good to visit for the night. Of course, there are many shops that sell the exact same item. So it felt redundant after a couple of hours.
Mot Hoi An
While walking, I saw a crowd lined up for this store. I asked someone in line what the dealio is and she said that this is a very well known herbal tea place. I thought to myself that the worse thing that can happen is having an ice-cold tea to quench our thirst. Best herbal tea ever, and only 12K.
Lemongrass Flavor Spa
We were walking back home and the night was still a bit young. Since I've only had 1 massage today, I figured I need to get my 2nd. Jackie just wanted to go home to AC. So I came back again later at night and it was amazing aka 5 stars! I think what did the job was to request for the hardest massage and my masseuse was really good. Too bad I forgot her name :/
Day 6 - Hoi An Part 3
Blue Cloud
Surprisingly, we had breakfast here 3 days in a roll! Again, in addition to this noodle soup, I also had the omelet, fruit smoothie, and a cup of coffee.
Phuoc Lavendar Spa
On this day, we decided to travel far east to hit up a spa and an essential oil shop. The last fancy spa we went to was Phuoc Lavendar Spa. My masseuse was amazing, she knew what she was doing. I also had her washed my hair. Washing your hair in Vietnam also includes a head massage. Make sure you request for Xuan! I had a blast here :) Jackie had her eyelashes done here and she wasn't happy with it :[
FireFly Restaurant
We walked around trying to find the essential oil shop called Essensian. This place must have closed or moved away. We couldn't find it on Google Maps nor TripAdvisor map. We decided to go eat at FireFly Restaurant. The food was really really good! We ordered the vegetarian version of Chef’s Noodles and an Indonesian dish. Vietnamese food never disappoints!
Farewell Hoi An
We came back to the Tailory to pick up our clothes. Jackie got her nails done at a nearby shop. I went home and despite already checked out, Mr. Duong was generous enough to let me shower there. Eventually, we took an uber towards Da Nang airport and flew into Saigon. We had to book a hotel last minute because our booking.com place failed us >:O.
Day 7 - Tony's Wedding
Tea Ceremony
We woke up around 7:30 am, prepped and packed, and started walking towards Tony's Airbnb. We got dressed in our Vietnamese outfit. Then, each groom had to carry a large round container and walk over to the bride's house. I thought I had the heaviest platter, a plate full of apples. As it turns out, Peter had to carry a whole roasted Wilbur. He was struggling pretty badly and Wilbur's greasy oil spilled onto his shirt.
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Then, all the guys walked towards 241/14 Ben Van Don. I will explain why this address is significant momentarily. We sat at a local cafe nearby. He treated us with free water and cafe sua da, woot! I didn't even have breakfast yet. I recall as I carrying the plate of apples, there were a couple of old ladies cooking food in the alley. As a light bulb appeared on top of my head, I walked there and saw someone was eating food out of a sizzling pan. She said that the recipe is called Bo Ne, English translation is "beef dodge". I murdered breakfast. This is the 2nd best food during this Vietnam Trip! I wished I knew about this recipe and go BoNe hunting in Vietnam :'D Wished I took a picture of it! One of the American bridesmaids heard how much I rave about it and asked me to buy it for her since I knew the native tongue. When I asked the old lady for another dish, she said it ran out. Hu hu hu for the bridesmaid. The old lady is just south from the main street and north of the address in this alley. Remember: come really early like by 8 am if you want that BoNe.
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My 2 bodyguards are protecting me.
Touring Saigon
After the Tea Ceremony, we went to grab lunch at Huong Lua with everybody. Following that, we went to Ben Thanh market with Oscar and Allie. Not long after, we went back to the Airbnb to get ready for the big night!
Wedding Reception
The wedding took place at an outdoor location. There was a little performance dance at 7 pm. The bride and groom cut the cake and the usual happens. Food came out at 8. Everyone left by 9:30 pm. That's the Vietnamese Wedding :D
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