well today is my last day in this wonderful city of HCM... tomorrow ill be moving up north to mui neh supposedly a really nice beach resort... i wont be able to update my blog when i go over there so today should be the last post till i get back which is on monday...
well here are just some of the things and reccomendations i have for HCMC... when you walk around HCMC dont be too afraid to slash down prices of the goods by at least 40%-60% the store vendors are only too happy most of the time to entertain you... the service that they provide here totally overshadows what is found in singapore... for example staff from one particular shop would only be too happy to go all the way to get you what you want... even if it means travelling down from district 5 all the way to district 1 which is about 20km apart... or going to another branch and bring back the good you specially request for... service in singapore is really dwarfed by the service found here in HCMC... other than service found at the shops, taxis would also be willing to wait for you at a location for a few hours with no extra charge... and you can ask any service staff at a restraunt and they would be glad to help you call for a taxi...
for shopping i highly reccomend the markets... forget about the shopping centres... the shopping centres are really too expensive and are not really fun as in the market you would be allowed to bargain... and hey everyone loves to bargain right?
as for the markets themselves there are 3 main ones that i reccomend but all for different purposes:
SAIGON SQUARE
saigon square is probably the smallest market in the whole of HCMC... however, the shops here offer a great variety of goods... most of the goods here are of better quality than compared to the other markets... most of the goods here esp all the shoes are originals... however, due to the fact that they are originals and a lower competition from other stalls, you as the customer do not comand a high bargaining power.... you would probably be able to get about a maximum of 30% off the goods... store vendors may at times be abit arrogant...
BEN TAI (district 1)
Ben tai market is a really big market... it really host a lot of goods... the quality of the goods here are not as good as compared to saigon square however due to the large number of stalls selling identical goods do not be afraid to slash prices down by up to 60%... a shirt here would roughly go for 100 000 dong from 450 000dong thats for the kind of addidas shirts... vietnamese souvenir shirts can go as low as 20 000 dong from 40 000 dong... vendors maybe a bit stick however threaten to move away and they would pull you back after a long time of bargaining they would most likely give in... however, due to stiff competition, vendors would literally try to pull you into their shop so it maybe a little irritating at times...
BEN TAY (china town)
it is a really large whole sale market... it is famous for the selling of materials... i would not really reccomend this place for shopping... however, the sight of the quantity of goods and the hustle and bustle of the market is a must see... as it is a whole sale area do not count your luck on getting much of a discount off a good if you are only buying one or two... if you were to go there do keep in mind your pockets and bags as there is a high rate of sntch thieves and pick pockets in that area...
generally HCMC is a really great place to visit... when travelling to a location the worst thing you can ever do is to fall asleep because everything from the traffic which seems to have some sort of order in the disorder to the people is an attraction to view... so far HCMC has been one of my favourite destinations to be...
well thats all i have or rather i dont want to bore you guys with any more info... hahaha... just come to HCMC and see it for yourself i really love this place...
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17:30