Re: Vietnam - HCM (Thread 3)
 

Outside Cho Ben Thanh Market there are 2 Goldsmith shop. The rate is about the same; not much difference. It is easy to locate cos the each Goldsmith shop is beside a small lane. Regarding about SIM; you can get Vietel and you could buy it at the Airport as they are able to assist you to activate your SIM Card for 3G

Hi Tom
Thanks for the answers.

For ktv, actually i have no idea what is the price point.
Any recommendations that is maybe abput average to you?

For makan places, i dun mind travelling as long as not like 1 hour just to eat ba

Thanks in advance

Re: Vietnam - HCM (Thread 3)
 

Is just a small difference as you will not be changing much so why bother.

Is not even SIN $5.00 difference in the end

Just buy your SIM off the airport

Re: Vietnam - HCM (Thread 3)
 

Bro, izzt the place u talking about? As I always go there to change rate not bad, hope every Bro enjoy WeTnaN :D

http://i.imgur.com/uF5bNBL.jpg

Re: Vietnam - HCM (Thread 3)
 

SIM at airport 290k
SIM at street vendor 100k
that's more than S$10 difference le

Re: Vietnam - HCM (Thread 3)
 

Yes, totally agreed.

Foods.com.vn a good website for foid.

My friend recommended me this website.

Re: Vietnam - HCM (Thread 3)
 

I agreed on that for SIM card but not the dong unless he is going to change tons of SG notes

In the end I still go airport as they activiate everything for me for my VN SIM. Is Hassle free and that is the catch.

I can use immediate and start to contact friends or surf the net for information if needed.

Reach there then look for Street vendor, language is one problem. Activiate myself I do not know how as all in Viet language. Pass the phone to street vendor I think twice.

Pass the phone to a vendor in the airport and pass the phone to a street vendor is totally two different type of trust.

So pay $10, I will as is only one time.

First timer can fly all the way to HCM and stay in the hotel. The money already spent.

I personally will not fuss over this.

For first timer I would strongly suggest to do it in airport.

Season traveler and senior traveler, I say yes you can look for street vendor

That is my own opinion. I personal think when we give advise we need to think at their role as a first timer rather then a season traveler to HCM role.

I am trying to think as a rookie first time in HCM, no offense.

For first timer you need to know to ask the correct question and listen to the right and correct answer if not the beginning of your happy trip is actually your first screwup of your trip.

Hope this is useful for first timer as I was once too.

I listen to senior but I also go thru a thinking process if it is the best way

Regards

Allow me to add on this.
I usually buy my sim card at the airport, the last stall on the left when you come out of customs. It cost 160k for a vittel sim. Don't go to the one next to the door. Damn attitude, I quarrel with them before.
I use vittel because it has a 6 month expiry, unlike mobisim only 3 months. I choose the package that allows me to activate data every day for just 5k dong.it comes with 50k value as well. If use finish,just buy a top up off the street. I usually stay a few days so is more than enough.
Buying sim card off the street is cheaper... about 120k. But language is a big problem. I bought once, and had very much difficulties telling the guy what I wanted. Don't know what package he do for me also.and more important is, while it s easy to find stalls selling top up, it is much harder to find stalls selling sim cards.

Just save the trouble and buy from the airport.it is important to have connectivity once you leave the airport.. you know, to use Google to find info, to check maps and contact your friends.

Re: Vietnam - HCM (Thread 3)
 

I myself prefer mobiphone as the network I feel much better in Vietnam..and directly buy sim at airport and activate the data right away. It will be a problem to look for SIM card in the city and correct SIMsize for your phone.

Re: Vietnam - HCM (Thread 3)
 

I agree to purchase SIM at the airport as they have SIM card cutter to cut the SIM to the correct size of your phone which u will have a problem if u buy from city stall

Re: Vietnam - HCM (Thread 3)
 

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Re: Vietnam - HCM (Thread 3)
 

any bros here go to nha trang and dalat lately? i just want to ask what is a must do or see at those two area? it my first time there as i go hcm to many times le now want go explore other places in vietnam. Thanks for the help.

p.s i know nha trang is go mud bath famous

Re: Vietnam - HCM (Thread 3)
 

Been to both places.
What kind of fun u looking for?
Dalat is a very good place if u have a gal to go with.
I almost never notice any hanky places around.
Weather and quite a few nice scenery places. Go for the day tour.

Nha trang famous is the beach..much cleaner than vung tau.
Massage places are a bit more of the main strip.
Seafood is plenty and fresh.
Quite a few pubs disco at beach front. Have seen a few gals there wait to pick up customers.

Re: Vietnam - HCM (Thread 3)
 

Hi all bros,

Will be going to HCMC ALONE on the 2nd to 5th to de-stress. Any bros feel free to meet up for coffee or light drink pm me anytime. Thank

Re: Vietnam - HCM (Thread 3)
 

bring a viet girl go , prob she first time there also so dont know what to do sia haha

Re: Vietnam - HCM (Thread 3)
 

Go dalat...it's very nice then.
Book a tour using sinhtourist (go Google).
The price, food and hotel is very very very reasonable in the package.very (includes the one day tour)
Only bad thing is the bus is sitting... not sleeper bus.
The hotel recept is very pretty... out of topic.
Evening time..take a walk to the lake and the night market.
Cheap goods sold there and sit by the lake for hot soya(very shiok in the cool weather and some BBQ foods. (Try the rice paper with egg and condiments ...better than in hcm)

Re: Vietnam - HCM (Thread 3)
 

Catwalk is attached to the New World Hotel, still around. Expensive compared to other spots round town. What exactly are you after?

If you scroll back a few pages you can find Densha's karaoke guide, pretty good.

If you find Hurricane88's posts he has a link in his signature to a website with a very basic list of places in different categories (bars, clubs, karaokes, massage, etc etc).

Re: Vietnam - HCM (Thread 3)
 

Sorry I missed this one. Just saw it now. That is weird. Once it happened to me that I waited 45 minutes and then finally finally a knock came on the door and it was a girl who was completely unlike the picture and unattractive. I just said Sorry, you're not the girl in the photo, and I left. But your case, what did you you say in your text message to her? There are the difficult problems that can happen when our limited VN skills can't overcome obstacles. Maybe use google translate to ask her "what time you come?" or "how many minutes must I wait?" something along those lines. To me it seems like she must have got another customer and was trying to keep you waiting til she could get free. I guess. What I would do, well I guess it depended how interested in meeting her I was, and if I had a good Plan B ready to go or not. I was actually ok up to the 30 minute mark, but at 40 minutes it started to feel like WTF. Then when some other chick came, that was just too much. I was pretty green then and didn't think to try to contact the original number then and there, see if this girl had that phone or if someone else (somewhere else) had it, and I didn't have the VNese to text her and say "are you really the girl in the photo?"

But back to yours, you gave up at 30 minutes? what did you do? I guess you were pretty annoyed by that time, with just those vague OKs.

I'd be curious to see which ad/girl that was, PM me the link if you are ok with me having a look

Re: Vietnam - HCM (Thread 3)
 

Thank you all for the replies and and yes i do prefer a no hassle transaction in regards to buying sim card so will defo check out the airport vendors... So 2 votes for vietel and one mobiphone anyone else care to chime in with their prefered telco provider? Sorry if this is boring subject for u guys but its important for me to have a sim card with good coverage and data plan... So basically the money changer at the airport rates are more or less the same in town? I was under the impression the ones in ben tanh market was better, if the difference is just small then i don't mind changing at the airport itself then...

Thanks again for the info....

In hcm, the mobile coverage are more or less the same. Doesn't matter which telco you choose. I choose vittel simply because of the 6 month validity.
For money changing, unless you're talking about a few grands, otherwise the difference isn't much. I change 200 to 300 so the difference is OK. If I run out of dongs, I just simply walk into a gold shop and change. The rates are similar to airport.
Just don't change in Singapore.

Re: Vietnam - HCM (Thread 3)
 

personal experience..unless u really need to make phonecalls or sms (for booking gals) then really no need for a sim...
wifi network in vn is sooo much better than in Singapore. U can walk to so many places to get wifi.
I do know certain plans once u exceed then all your money is gone then u need to top up or some student plans (once u hit the limit, then its like super duper slow).

money changing at CBT is if u are changing a lot or on your way to your destination.
You can always tell the taxi uncle to drive u to CBT to change money first then to your destination if you don't want to change at the airport and along the way (if you are ok with the traffic jam at CBT).. why bother to earn a few K VND when u lose more whilst travelling and waiting at CBT?

Re: Vietnam - HCM (Thread 3)
 

Dun be too paranoid. Why waste so much time on deciding which telco, where to change money? Waste more time thinking where to get laid.

The 3 main telcos in Vietnam are as good as the 3 telcos in Singapore. If u will be in big city in Vietnam, nothing to worry. If u are in a blind spot, move your ass to a better coverage. Just get a sim card, u will be able to login into their 3G without much problem. Send/reply any IM to your lovers, your colleagues and friends, check email and reply. Once u reach hotel, then decide which package to subscribe to via USSD. If u are street smart, u should know which package to subscribe to even before u fly out of Singapore.

Again, be smart... the whole world works more or the less the same. Airport rates is always worse than city unless u stupid enough to head towards a black shop. Change where depends on your location. If I tell u there is shop in Hanoi which has the best rates in the whole entire Vietnam, will u purpose go there just for few thousands SGD? Change money if u are in or near CBT. There are others in other district too.

Move on with other question on Vietnam.

Re: Vietnam - HCM (Thread 3)
 

Wow, 12 posts about getting a SIM and currency exchange. :mad:

Re: Vietnam - HCM (Thread 3)
 

So boring right?

When TS and his friends posting juicy forum some clones just cannot tolerate their happiness here. Now that they have move on and stopped posting this thread was really boring.

After more than 5 years reading this HCMC thread, incredible still asking where to change money and buy sim card?

Above is IMHO and my two cents worth.

Re: Vietnam - HCM (Thread 3)
 

Hi any senior bro here any advise for me whether this hotel "The White 3 " is it gal friendly ? Tks in advance for the advise!!

Re: Vietnam - HCM (Thread 3)
 

Maybe there should be a Sex Info thread and also a Non-Sex Info thread -- then the sims and soups and etc can go in Non-Sex. But then we need lots more info in the Sex thread. I tried to keep it going but not getting much help. View a few pages back to see examples, if you have not already. I must have PM'd 50 members with that website info, just a couple reported back with field reports.

Re: Vietnam - HCM (Thread 3)
 

White 1, 2 and 3... and 100s of similar hotels in the range of US$20 - 80... are all gal-friendly. However, if the gal sleeps over, she needs to show her ID at the counter for record purposes. If she is just "visiting" for an hour or two, just inform recep that she is a visitor... no need to record ID.

Re: Vietnam - HCM (Thread 3)
 

Wow i didnt know askng a simple q can have very agressive response my bad then... i did say at first did a search before and didnt get a definite answer hence i asked politely for answers to my q... As for recommendations for telcom providers welll its my first time in hcmc so i dont know which telco has the best coverage thats why i rely on answers from bros experience here... Ive tried in other countries that in some instances had to buy 3 different sim card to be satisfied with coverage and data (and yes i did mention was important for me to have a good telco provilder) good to know theres good wifi access and all but a crucial info that i didnt know before as i say again its my first time in Hcmc... As for money changer i asked about location of the money changer at benh tanh market i didnt ask for the best money changer in town... Reason that i asked for it cuz i will be staying near that area and i asked just for convenience sake... Well thanks again for the help bros... Im ranting here cuz i feel that some remarks were outta plc and not friendly at all... If you dont agree well to each its own... cheers for that...

Re: Vietnam - HCM (Thread 3)
 

Can anyone tells me where can I have the best banh mi, hu tieu, op la in hcm? Hope to b the cheapest too.. A typical cheapo here.. I usually stay in back pack motel so I'm not worry abt accommodation.. :)

Re: Vietnam - HCM (Thread 3)
 

Just to share as today xchager rate for SGD to Dong is 1:16.020. And just return from massage from Le Duyen 4 which have about 35 HOT girls for selection which I think ICA have ban more and more vnb back to Vietnam which have no much fun in Sg already. (*LD4 is a clean massage parlours)