Wow! Vietnam is really different from what I imagined it to be. As the plane was flying into the airport, what greeted me were not just paddy fields, but a whole canvas of colours. The houses were painted in bright pastel colours and it gave it a character of a city that is not known to me.

The architectural build of the airport was also modern and gave the third world city a spruce of attitude and reflects their want to improve and embrace globalisation. Customs were not as pleasing as the faces of the Vietnamese gals. With a queue that that took longer than expected was definitely now enticing to a tourist. I was hopping from one queue to another in a bid to accelerate the process. Finally I spotted a sign that read “ASEAN”. Knowing that SG is part of ASEAN I quickly grabbed my bag and headed over there. It was a much faster queue. They actually put there Caps on the tops of the counter. I wonder if it was a sign of authority.

Getting a cab to the hotel was easy. Cost us USD$7 for a ride to the hotel. Accommodation for the trip was arranged to be at The Equatorial, a five star hotel. It was really not that impressive on the whole. Was rushed to dinner upon arrival and it was not impressive. The hosts actually took us to a “Char Siew” place; I went like “double wow!” Why do they even bother bringing us there when they know that we come from a country with better Chinese food? Can’t complain I suppose as they were just being hospitable.

Sleeping early to be well-rested for the next day of conferences.