So over the recent Good Friday weekend, I brought Mother along for a trip to Danang, Vietnam.
Breakdown as follows:
- Flight (VietAir) + Hotel (TMS Hotel Da Nang Beach): $830 SGD/pax
- Activities (Ba Na Hills Tickets/Lantern Making/Parasailing): $150 SGD/pax
- Food & Expenses: $200 SGD/pax
- Total Damage: Est. $1.2K SGD/pax
Day 0 | Arrival
Collected our sim cards at the airport; the booth was all the way outside the airport premises but the collection process was very smooth and fuss free. We then onboarded our private pick-up to our hotel; they offered us mineral water and a wet towel which was really great. The hotel staff gave us a flower garland each upon entering the premises of the hotel which really made us feel warmly welcomed. Ngl Mother was pretty pleased at their service too. I didn’t know this was 5-star hotel until J told me so, dang my taste is expensive. We checked in and quickly went to grab lunch before going to chill by the beach which was literally right at our doorstep. The beach was definitely one of the highlights with plenty of bars littered along the whole stretch. Afterwards, we ate dinner at a nearby seafood restaurant and encountered so many Korean who were dining in the same place as us. Fun fact: Surprisingly, there were plenty of Korean tourists in Danang; there were even shops and convenience stores in Korean wordings.
Day 1 | Ba Na Hills
Had International breakfast in the hotel and was pleasantly surprised at the wide spread of foods available. Afterwards, I arranged for a round trip shuttle from our hotel to Ba Na Hills sand we set off at 9am after breakfast. Ngl Ba Na Hills was quite disappointing because it seems to be in another round of construction since I last visited and many of the roller coasters and rides were closed for maintenance. We tried to enjoy to the best of our abilities but damn the food was subpar and many restaurants were closed too. We ended the trip there earlier than expected at 2pm and managed to go back to our hotel to rest up after the long hours of walking. Definitely recommend to check the availability of the rides before visiting. However, I would like to commend that my entry process using the tickets I got from Klook was very seamless; the QR code can be immediately scanned by the staff prior to boarding the cable car without going to any booth to “redeem tickets”. That was amazing. We had seafood for dinner again because my whole intention of visiting Danang was because I missed their seafood; they just seem to hit home. Ended the day with a nice massage before I scammed the staff to thinking we were from Taiwan HAHAHA
Day 2 | Hoi An
Hoi An was more crowded than what I remembered. There were plenty of tourists at every inch of the perimeter. Mother has her fun looking at jewelleries displayed in the shophouses while I just tried not to melt in the unbearable heat. We went to make lanterns and Mother literally almost made a lantern ideally displayed in temples given the colors that she chose LOL The staff there were super supportive and we fooled around a bit with them as we teased my Mother during the session. Unfortunately, the selection of cloths they had for the lanterns seems to have gotten lesser though): Nevertheless, we completed out 2 hour lantern making class and brought home our lanterns with glee. Before we left Hoi An, we went to get Bahn Mi from a famous stall there; it was sooo good. Then we took a grab back to our hotel (about 30minutes away).
Day 3 | Thanh Ha Pottery Village + My Khe Beach
Initially, I did not have any plans for Day 3 but after some last minute research, I discovered a pottery village which was quit near Hoi An so we went there for the day trip. We had to pay a small fee at the entrance and this included having a hands-on pottery session with the villagers there as well as a souvenir. Given that it was Mother’s first time trying pottery, it wasn’t rocket science to see her clay fly off the wheel HAHAHA Until now, she still insists that the pottery teacher was poor at teaching. After moulding the clay, they put the piece into an air-fryer to dry it out LOL Very innovative and it actually works. Once the pieces are dried, we were given paint brushes and paint to decorate our pottery pieces. Mother was not very good at art it seems. Despite the rural setting, it was quite a memorable experience having a pottery class there and we had a great time there for sure. After we completed the pottery session, we got to bring our pieces home and also the souvenir which came along with the package.
With half a day left, we decided to go parasailing by the beach and also surf. Yes, I learnt how to SURF. Parasailing was amazing even though it lasted about 10 minutes. I bruised my thigh from climbing onto the jetski too enthusiastically. Oh, my GoPro also got water damaged from parasailing; no worries I’m getting a new replacement for it from GoPro.
Ah, then there’s surfing. So we found a guy by the beach who was offering to give surfing lessons and we agreed to sign up. The instructor was a Swedish man who apparently ran a few businesses in Sweden but decided this was not making him happy so he went to travel for 12 years. Now he happens to be in Vietnam for almost a year, just teaching people how to surf everyday. He says this brings him more joy which was really nice. He taught us how to surf; we had to do push-ups to stand on the surf board and try to maneovre the board from there. What seems to be two enthusiastic individuals at first, came back bruised and exhausted HAHAHA In fact, I did so many push-ups, my whole body ached for an entire week. I did enjoy myself though, so I guess you can surf even if you can’t swim LOL Funny story, a Vietnamese lady wanted to steal my surf board half way through my lesson thinking that the surf board is open for all to borrow. I had to explain to her that it’s my board and it’s tied to my leg tsk.
Ended the eventful day with a manicure + pedicure + massage and had Italian for dinner. Since it was our last night in Danang, we went to a place with a live band and made a song request for Mother – “Wonderful Tonight”. She was so happy when the singers started singing her song. Geez.
Day 4 | Home
It was time to go home so we packed up early and made our way straight to the airport. At the airport whilst we were checking in, a lady RAN into the glass door and we heard a loud bang and she started crying so hard. We reckon she probably didn’t see the glass and just plunged head first at the glass. The glass door literally shattered. People need to be more careful… We landed back in SG and L came to fetch us woohoo~ That pretty much sums up my DAD trip.
Until the next,
D
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