One month assignment to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

In mid-Nov'13, I was told by my boss that I would be posted to the Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) office for a month to stand-in for the office manager, who was to go on leave throughout December. I was initially upset with this piece of news - I would have to forego Christmas with friends and family in Singapore to man the Vietnam office; and it appeared likely that my assignment to the New Zealand office in the first quarter of 2014 would similarly prevent me from celebrating Chinese New Year with my dear ones.

Despite arriving in HCMC with a heavy heart, I made efforts to settle in quick. The daylight hours were spent in the office, learning the ropes of how to manage a satellite office; and most nights were spent with William, one of my ex-colleagues stationed with HCMC with one of the Big Four accounting firms. William had been a wonderful host, taking me to his favourite bars and restaurants in HCMC, and I swiftly discovered the food and cultural diversity amongst the organized chaos of motorcycles, taxis, shopping malls, tall office buildings, and little alleyways.

I first came to HCMC in 2010 for a three-day management conference. I had a little taste of the local and french cuisine, and made time to visit the Cu Chi tunnels, Cao Dai temple and Mekong delta tour. To be honest, I was not impressed during this virgin trip. I found the traffic situation chaotic, the distances between landmarks too far for walking, and the highlights did not give me that "Wow" factor I so enjoyed throughout my travels to other cities.

On this second visit in 2013, William turned my impression of this city 180 degrees. There was always a cafe around the corner, excellent bars/restaurants at a fraction of the cost of Singapore, and nightlife options aplenty. In one month, I had tasted authentic Vietnamese, French, Singaporean, Indian, Middle Eastern, American cuisine. And did I mention the best streetside breakfast of baguettes each morning!

Lesson learnt:

As a traveller, my focus was to see as many highlights within the short duration to maximise experiences, whereas as an expat living in a foreign land, the focus would be on quality of life.

HCMC has proven that despite its stigma of being a developing South-East Asian city with chaotic traffic, this city is constantly sprouting up little surprises to keep foreigners entertained whilst still retaining strong local traditions and culture.