Rach Rover: A Day at Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam

Why Vietnam?

OK. Thing is, I was supposed to be one of the Pinoy Big Brother housemates but the staff accidentally booked my flight 2 weeks earlier. I know.. shocker. *sigh*

Charot. 

But if only I knew that PBB will be shot in Vietnam, I could've booked my flight same time the housemates landed in Ho Chi Minh. Wala lang, mema lang. 

No, really.. Six months ago, my colleagues nudged me to book a flight going to Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand. Being my Dora self, had no second thoughts and booked away. They planned out everything so seamlessly. I said "they" because I barely took part in laying out our itinerary. They even had a breakdown of expenses in excel file, labeled with colors, and detailed down to the last centavo. Talk about proper travel planning. 

I just went with the flow. I trusted them with my life. We had a decent amount of time to save up for a week long trip, but I only managed to properly set aside my travel pocket money a month and a half before the trip. As you can tell, I can never leave my moolah unspent for more than 2 minutes. 

We arrived at Ho Chi Minh on July 28, 1:30AM. Exchanged our USD to Vietnam Dong. And boy, I was a millionaire for a day. Php 500 is equivalent to VND 237,000. Oha! Makakabili na ko ng kotse nun e. Managed to communicate with our cab driver, who we called Poy, even if he didn't open his mouth to speak. Checked in at Saigon Hostel (check out my vlog for a hostel tour.. nothing much to see really). Slept at 3AM and woke up at 5:30AM.

Off we go to our half day adventure. Started off our day with the Pho and Banh Mi for breakfast. And I must to say.. it was heavenly and cheap too (VND 40,000). The serving was ginormous that neither of us finished our bowls.

First stop.. Notre Dame.

Next stop.. Saigon Central Post Office.

Saigon Opera House..

Ho Chi Minh City Hall

Lunch Lady.

Had our lunch at the Lunch Lady, just about 20 minutes away from the City Hall. I didn't get to take a photo of our Thai Noodles as I was almost passing out of hunger. But it was really good. The owner was so accommodating that he even put few more dishes on our table. We headed back to our hotel around lunch time to gather our stuff and catch our 2:00PM bus ride..

Off we go to Phnom Penh!

The Search

In honor of tradition, my friends and I would get together every New Year's Eve and read our horoscopes for the year. Mine specifically says that I should go to social gatherings this year to meet the love of my life. As funny as it gets, we started to plan out which social gatherings to go to that year, not that we intentionally would flirt with anyone but just to make a fun out of it. 

And yes, I occasionally went to events, concerts, even church activities that would allow me to meet people. But being my introvert self , I never met my KPI. My colleagues would even send me a list of events that I should go to. It's funny how my friends even my boss contributes to Project Find Mr. Right. Everytime there's a male applicant for our department, my boss would automatically call me and ask, "Rach, what do you think?" as if I have a say on whether to hire them or not. 

There's this one event that my friend invited me to and I had to ride with my boss going to that event. My friends made a bilin to my Venezuelan boss that he has to find me a #SaktongPogi guy. Before leaving he asked, "You're not wearing heels?" I shook my head. He replied, "You know it makes a lot difference for us men if we see a lady wearing heels." I just gave him the you-won't-make-me look. During the event, he overheard me saying that I don't drink. He then asked, "So, how do I sell you, Raquelita? You don't wear heels. You don't drink." Sir, saan nyo po ba ako ibebenta at kailangan ko mag-takong at mag-inom? But he realized (naks) and said, "Oh wait, you're a nice, smart, cute girl. Aaah I can sell you." Tss. Alam mo naman pala e. 

Going to these social gatherings and meeting people, I would ask myself.. Am I really searching? Because from where I am and where my heart stands right now, I'm perfectly fine. No drama. No insecurities. No heartaches. When I first watched the new McDo ad, I wanted to relate to the girl. I wanted to somehow feel how it's like to have love lost and move on from it. But now matter how deep I dig into my feelings, there's nothing in there. It's funny and sad.

Do I want having someone who would make me feel beautiful everyday? Someone who would ask me how my day was. Someone who would lie to me whenever I ask him if I look fat. Someone who would help me burn those calories. Someone who would call in the middle of the day just to say "ano gawa u? hehe" (maybe no haha). Someone who would hold my hand and think "ang taba talaga ng kamay nya pero I love her anyway". Someone who would support my Snapchat addiction. Someone who would abang promo plane tickets with me. Someone to try new adventures with. Someone who would make me want to fall in love again.

Do I? Maybe it's not yet the perfect time. Because for now, I'm better off this way. 

For now. 

Vigan Vlog

Rach Rover: Vigan