Ladies A-Line Skirts.....

will soon be available again! I am slowly working my way through the last of my orders so stay tuned.....

Ho Chi Minh - at night

I must say our nights in Ho Chi Minh were very tame there are many clubs, pubs etc you can go to but just being on the street & seeing all the local people on motorbikes was enough action for us. During the days the sidewalks are full of parked up motorbikes & at night the sidewalks are full of small plastic chairs & pop up bars/cafes...

We found the best & cheapest places to sit & watch life were on Bui Vien which was very close to our hotel  you could sit and stay for just a beer or three & there was no pressure to order food. I was saddened to see that this area has become quite touristy with a lot of Western food restaurants where you are charged too much and  are served as fast as possible & they get you out. Why go somewhere & eat what you eat at home when you can get fantastic tasty local food?

We ate street food & would grab whatever went past & in this instance it was a woman with a large basket, we had no idea what was in there but was told it cost 15,000 dong (75c) it was a bag of sliced green mango with fresh chopped chilli & salt to dip it into, a perfect addition on a hot sweaty night with a cold Saigon beer.

One thing about this area is that everyone is super friendly & the people sitting next to us were expats working in Vietnam & gave us a heads up on a quiet place to have a dinner or a drink which I must say can be a lifesaver if the constant beeping & noise gets too much. Our only directions were "It's on this street keep walking & look up for light's"

We found it! It is the Duc Vuong Hotel which is lovely & quiet. You do need to get a lift up to it, which was rather funny as hubby & I were onboard & we stopped at level 3 to take on 3 more people... the buzzer sounded for overweight & one had to get off. The limit was 6 people max 400kg definately not a Western elevator. However the rooftop was quiet, had excellent staff, awesome views & Vietnamese food at a great price.

Next stop - Cu Chi Tunnels

Vietnam - Ho Chi Minh on a budget...

Mr Sprout & I kicked off our holiday in Ho Chi Minh, so many motorbikes & not so many road rules or so it seems!

I'm all about saving a dollar or two when it comes to accommodation while on holiday & if you are spending most of your time out & about, exploring, trekking or touring I just don't see the point in paying big bucks on a room that you are in for only a few hours at night.

Being my 3rd time to Vietnam I did have some local knowledge as to the more quieter budget area's to book into which is why I chose to stay at Ti Ti Hotel which is in a little alley (motorbike & pedestrian access only) just a few metres away from the main budget area. For $14 US a night we had a Queen sized bed, window (cost's more but well worth it), fridge, bathroom, phone, satellite tv & air con & some rooms also have balconies.

A bargain at $7 each! the only draw back is that there are no lifts in many of these buildings so when you are handed your key I always send a little prayer up that it's a low number...it was 502. But we pretty much left our room at 8am & returned at 10pm so we only had to go up 5 storey's once a day & the room was always spotless & made up when we returned.

One of the main reasons I absolutely love Vietnam is the food & the freshness of it, every morning we had iced coffee (very thick Vietnamese filter coffee with sweetened condensed milk over ice) 

& a large fresh baguette filled with egg,cheese,tomato.cucumber,soy & chilli sauce. We would sit on tiny (to my butt's size & Mr Sprouts 6foot5 size!) plastic stools while our breakfast was made. Total cost 

56,000 Dong or nearly $3 Australian. Yes those big baguettes were $1 each filled! Mr Sprout had the meat version one morning I don't know what sort of meat it was but I did try a bite & it was delish. 

Will post next time about our evening dinings.....aka beer drinking it was so hot!

Vietnam here we come............

Mr Sprout & I are heading off to Vietnam for 3 weeks today. This will be my 3rd visit but Mr Sprouts first so he is really looking forward to it...maybe so he doesn't have to hear me going on & on about how wonderful it is! I am looking forward to some fabric shopping while there :)

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Tuesday's with Joshy.....

Tuesday is the only day of the week that I don't work & it's also a day that my Junior Sprout has off kindy so it has become our day. Next year he will be at school 5 days a week just like his older brother so I really want to make the most of the one on one time I have left.

Every week I ask him what he would like to do for the day & it usually involves the same thing, heading out to a discount store to buy art supplies, puzzle books or a small toy. What I love the most about this day is that Josh always insists on buying his brother a 'surprise' for when he gets home from school & making Daddy a 'surprise' to give him after work.

There is a couple of rules for Tuesday's firstly that the maximum amount spent is $5, secondly he must be well behaved the entire time we are out or we go home immediately without buying anything (this rule has only been broken once by him!) & lastly at the end of each month one thing must be given to charity.

Today's budget was spent on transformer mask's, glow in the dark swords & some stripey pipecleaner's let the fun begin!

I'm going to really miss my Tuesday's with Joshy next year but I am sure I can think of something else to occupy my time....... maybe Mummy Tuesday's at the Day Spa!