Ahhhhh 40 years old last month! I can't believe a decade has passed since I turned 30 (also a milestone that took place in Hong Kong, man I have lived here for a long time now). And I can't even remember how I celebrated my 20th.
I had a few celebrations this year, including a nice birthday hotpot dinner at home with the kids on the actual day, and a pretty rare and wonderful trip to Ho Chi Minh with my best girl friends in HK. I deeply appreciated their taking the time out of their hectic, busy, demanding lives to dedicate a weekend to hanging out together. We ate a ton, went shopping, drank so many coffees, and got massaged, all of my favorite things.
Three of us flew together from HK, and one other came from Singapore. In a stroke of luck, all 3 of us got complimentary upgrades to business. We stayed at the Park Hyatt Saigon, which was lovely and provided us with a refreshing welcome drink.
The streets of HCMC and Vietnam generally are so fun! I have missed the energy and the complete mix of old and new. Also, so many scooters! Street shots:
We ate endless amounts of food and drank so many coconuts:
This was our go to place, Ngan; we went twice and ordered an ungodly amount of food:
My birthday dinner at Hoa Tuc right near our hotel, with stuffed snails, hearts of palm salad, deep fried soft shell crab and assorted desserts:
We also took some group shots in our beautiful hotel and out and about town:
I went clubbing for the first time since... I don't even remember ?!
During the rest of the trip, we also went to the market, which was as byzantine, chaotic and overwhelming as you would expect:
And checked out the super cool coffee building - an entire building dedicated to cafes:
We got matching friendship bracelets (fittingly for our age, with gold and diamonds rather than beads and macrame!) which turned out brilliantly.
I now have a stack! I love it. The rose gold Cartier bracelet was a completely unexpected present from Michael, on our Singapore trip.
We then enjoyed a nice spa massage down a leafy lane in a historic villa:
On our last day, we had breakfast together before the group split. I impressed everyone with my multiple fruit plates. Admittedly I can eat pounds of fruit in one sitting, and drink copious amounts of fresh coconuts...much like a chimpanzee.
My friend and I went to the War Remnants Museum, which was educational and interesting, but left us both feeling very heavy and dark. It is unfortunate that even in 2023 we have not learned how to spare our young and innocent from the brutality and trauma of war.
We finished the trip with some more wanderings about town
and ticked off one of the last items on our sweet tooth wish list, chendol:
before we headed to the airport, enjoyed some quick foot massages, and headed home. I am so grateful I got to take this trip with my hollaback girls!
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