about that vietnam trip

oh, ho chi minh ... you're such a lovely city. so much like home, and yet so much unlike manila. i had fun, and there are so many things to write about.

like that wonderful topiary park we accidentally discovered while walking around the city

or how our very own crazy tricycles would not stand a chance against the rampaging scooters that lord it over the streets 24 hours a day.

i could write about how we were surprised to stumble upon a louis vuitton store in a country without starbucks ...

... or how much i learned about the vietnam war from a brief visit to the war remnants' museum (learn ... hmmm, maybe more like shocked from all the information).

i could write about how we realized that there was a reason behind the muddy water at the puppet theater, and how the mekong delta is always this muddy brown color ...

... and how we tried the elephant ear fish which is supposed to be the area's specialty but tasted like a not-so-good tilapia.

but, i will not write about those things. instead i will write about the beauty loot i got from vietnam. see:

while they had only recently released the all new pantene shampoo, conditioner, and treatment in the philippines (remember all those mystery shampoo posts?), i stumbled upon them in a tiny grocery in vietnam and couldn't help but buy them considering that the 350 ml bottle cost around Php123 only and the treatment around Php150 only. not only that, the sunsilk leave on conditioner (and it's the new products too -- the one with the tie-ups) cost me a measly Php27.75 per bottle, and the schwarzkopf treatment thingee less than Php100. all in all, my stash of hair stuff cost less than a trip to the salon.

and, i must admit that if i had more (1) time (2) money and (3) baggage allowance, i would have bought more stuff.

so forget about the cute beaded bags and the yummy dried jackfruit. ignore the much talked about coffee and the original north face backpacks for only Php875. the next time i set foot in vietnam, i'm going to make sure that i'm going to be bringing home a ginormous stash of beauty loot.

btw -- i've tried the "new" pantene stuff and i must say, i likey :)