Prologue:
After we came back from Japan PapaVoo said he wanted a trip, it's annoying especially when I had actually asked him to join us in Tokyo. Supposing to be Turkey but we thought it would be better to give them some time to pick up and bounce back from the recent earthquake (though I didn't read into how much would it affect tourist cities/areas).
Taiwan didn't sound interesting, Hong Kong was too rude in general to deal with, Okinawa I been already... reluctant to bring him, he didn't feel generous for Europe... at the end it narrowed down to Chiang Mai Thailand or Da Nang Vietnam.
Da Nang it should be, cos the Golden Bridge became very attractive to us, it just appeared every min on my social media. Ideally Sep would be the best time, it's his birthday month and the weather is cooler. By chance I found out that Da Nang's Fireworks Festival was in Jul, I didn't want to miss it, so it was fixed on within the frame of the festival despite of the warm weather.
PapaVoo was always inclined to tour agencies but look at this:
At least $1600 per pax for a 5 days vacay in asia was absurd. Other agencies also around the same price, only my old man would dive in to be a carrot. I told him we do free & easy with a local guide/driver. He turned really green but I managed to coax him into my plan lolxx... and that saved his pocket about $1K and enjoyed 7 days instead of 5.
Only 2 choices of airlines with direct flights to Da Nang: risk it VietJet budget or SQ slit throat. We chose to bleed to prevent unforeseen headaches. Very little research was done prior to this trip, I dumped everything to the local private chauffeur cum guide.
Scroll down for details and further down for photos weeeeeeeeeee.......
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Duration: 7D6N (6 Jul - 12 Jul)
Travel Buddy: Le Hubby
Flight: SQ (huge damage $1145.40 for 2 pax)
Accommodation: Pavilion Hotel (5 nights at Da Nang $286.21),
La An Central Boutique Villa (1 night at Hoi An $54.67)
Mode: Free & Easy with local guide/driver - KENT TRAVEL AGENT $370
Weather: same as Singapore
Time difference: 1hr behind Singapore (ie. Singapore 2pm = Da Nang 1pm)
Currency: Vietnam Dong VND10,000 = S$0.56
Let's go!!
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06/07/2023
Flying from Terminal 2, our airport sibei swee...
It was a breeze to check-in.
Enjoyed the transit area a bit.
Normally I board without make-up cos I snooze my way, hadn't been on short flight for a few years le.
For once not cui (though still fat and my white hair were sprouting like nobody's business).
I took this pic of him and send it to him. He looked at his phone then looked and looked around for me lolxx... This blind bat very fun to disturb.
Cargo containers like Lego cubes from far.
Boeing 737-8 Max is a baby waahaahaa... so tiny this plane! Almost same size as the bridge sia waahaahaa....
Boarded for 2pm flight, punctual.
I thought it would be the best chance to try SQ biz but was full since there were only 10 seats. Economy was in 3-3 configuration.
Flight duration 2hrs45mins.
Bye Singapore.
SQ meal on short haul, quality didn't match it's price.
Beef stew and mashed potato in a box, looked messy but was easy to hold up and eat. Taste not bad but portion a bit small.
I didn't realise that the spoon was under the lid, so I ate ice cream with a fork lolxx...
Day flight by the window was awesome, already above Vietnam overlooking a huge river, what's the name of it?
Million dollar view.
Touched down Da Nang Airport safely.
The airport was clean, cool and shiny.
The loo was spotless and spacious.
I used AirSim while old man bought his SIM card from one of the counters in the airport. Not much difference in price and so far we both had no problems, we hardly use our phones anyway.
The driver was late, we waited for about 15mins which left us a bad impression, but as days went by the service was quite ok.
A taxi stand right outside the airport, so if you didn't hire a private driver, there's always transport.
One row of money changers but I think Singapore's money changers are the best.
We reached our hotel in 15mins drive, heehee... They gave us welcome drinks which didn't taste too good.
Deluxe Twin Room 30sqm, this was probably the best deal located a stone throw away from the beach.
Partial sea view from the window.
We relaxed a bit before heading out for dinner.
Booking was required at Le Comptoir Restaurant which our private guide had it done for us.
Outdoor dinning area with fan cooler but I still felt warm.
We were moved indoor later but the air-conditioning wasn't enough to cool off the heat from the spot lights. The setting was nice with fresh flowers but lighting was a bit harsh.
I had mojito which was not in the menu.
Complimentary bite size spring roll.
Parma ham and warm bread with the best butter ever.
Hokkaido scallops carpaccio.
Snails ravioli with truffle.
Fish and clams lemon confit.
Duck breast with tempura zucchini, this was crazy delicious, I almost wanted to order another serving.
Duck meat was so juicy and tender without meaty fowl smell.
Wagyu beef with cream basil mashed potato.
PERFECT.
Chocolate mousse.
Complimentary brownie.
Couldn't find fault with the food, so it's still recommendable. Would be perfect if they could just removed some spot lights.
The night was still young after dinner. The purpose of staying near the beach was to enjoy it.
The beach was incredible, the moon was red.
Found a few coconut boats with paintings, this was one of them.
Never know a beach could be so beautiful at night.
Enjoyed the quiet side of beach.
The beach had a line of restaurants. We walked towards loud music.
Saw a disco mobile stage.
This side of beach was lively with music and lights.
Could see our hotel from the beach.
Stroll back to the hotel, enjoyed the night view from the window.
We were in love with Da Nang already.
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