A five year score card: Ho Chi Minh City

Remember that wedding in Australia I went back to at the end of 2012? Well turns out he's over in Vietnam for a few weeks spending time with family, which is as good as an excuse to go visit Saigon. This is an interesting comparison. Since 2012, he has had his honey moon, had his first child, purchased multiple properties in Australia and is now expecting his second child. Me, on the other hand, well you can see my "accomplishments" over the last five years through this blog. It's quite the contrast.

Plenty of eating, plenty of ubers, plenty of catching up and plenty to think about.

HCMC

The second consecutive long weekend brings about Ho Chi Minh. Again, another entry visa consumes an entire page in my passport, it's almost time for renewal.

So much food.

The fight of the century is watched from the comforts of the hotel. Currently reading "Make it Stick".

Vietnam

Sometime, throughout the course of the year my then, (ex) Employer changed the the Annual Leave policy. The new rules stated that come December 31st the maximum number of days that could be rolled over into the new year could not exceed 5 days. All days in excess of this number would be forfeit, without any compensation. This new mandate saw the Q4 period become a pseudo holiday period with employees scheduling leave for the sake of reducing their total leave. This new policy was of course two-fold. To prevent employee burnout but more importantly, reduce the overhead of employee payouts should employment termination ever come into the fray.

I had pencilled in leave immediately after the work Christmas Party and had planned to join some friends in Vietnam for a few days. In hindsight, I wish I had booked a longer trip...

I arrived in Ho Chi Minh City early Saturday night. Hong Kong had only this week dropped below the 20 degrees Celsius mark and the warm South-East Asian Saigon climate was unexpected. My friends were asleep, it was 6 pm. They had experienced their first night in Ho Chi Minh, namely Apocalypse Now, a local haunt that catered to expats and local revellers until the early hours. The recount of Rooftop bars, Magnums of Belvedere and foreigner-filled bars corresponded with zeal of their greetings, or lack thereof. That night we indulged in a steaming bowl of Pho (30,000 VND ~1.50 AUD) and headed to Lush, a cigarette fumed club. So it began, the following four days we literally ate and snoozed our way around Vietnam.

A short flight to Da Nang, and we arrived at base camp, the Hyatt Regency (we squeezed them for a free upgrade). Here we stole naps by the pool, in the car, in the hotel, anywhere we could really. We lazed by the pool, participated in daily yoga, sat in the sauna and made the occasional day trip to Hoi An and Hue. We consumed cakes, donuts, all-you-can-eat breakfasts, Hoi An Chicken Rice, Pho, Bun Bo Hue, Cafe Su Da, until our pours oozed fish sauce and mint.

Excellent trip - four days of not having to worry about being an unemployed 30 year old. I wonder if I can work in Vietnam?

Currently reading: Perfume: The Story of a Murderer