I spend the last nine days in Da Nang, Vietnam.
We would usually have our Providend/Havend retreat somewhere at the start of the year and this year it was almost after the turn of the year.
The exact retreat was 4.5 days but I decide to take up Yong Cheng’s suggestion to do a 2 day, one night home-stay and hike in a remote part of Bach Ma. After that, chill for 3 days in the city of Da Nang.
We were largely fortunate that the weather was great for majority of our retreat. The only unfortunate day fell when we went up to the scenic Ba Na Hills.
Jayla managed to capture our bittersweet struggle with the weather. That is what everyone (including us) was trying to do that day. As crazy as the wind and the rain is, I find the storm in Taichung during my bike ride last year to be much worse than this.
It was unfortunate but I guess we can always go back to Ba Na Hills to take a look. This is a must visit if you are going to Da Nang despite our experience. The package ticket was good value, including the ride up in cable car. You can choose whether you wish to add in a buffet for lunch (that will be an additional USD 15).
If we can have one day of poor weather so that we can have many days where all our events went smoothly, then I will gladly take that.
Retreat has always been one of the highlights for us because it allows all the staff to get to know one another better. It can be through the cohesion activities planned by the Retreat committee (some of us will double hat and plan for this annual retreat for the rest of the staff). If you are interested in shopping, sight seeing, spa, pickleball, gymming, you will out who shares your common interest.
it is also a time to show those newer to the company our second secret ingredient why it is so difficult to replicate how successful we have been for the past few years in the Singapore finance industry.
We got to thanks Joyce and her retreat committee for taking time out of their standard scope of work to make sure we have a great time in Da Nang.
I am not sure what to make of Da Nang.
This was my first trip to Vietnam and honestly it surprised me.
Da Nang felt like a surprisingly unthreatening place. The city felt orderly. I was surprised how everyone seem to keep to the vehicle speed limits. There is a young vibe to the city.
Aside from the touristy stuff, I wondered what would make me go back to Da Nang.
I suspect we will go back because:
- Food that is not too touristy is relatively cheap.
- Accommodation are affordable.
- Go tailor make a bunch of clothes.
- Weather from Jan to April is great (if it is not raining!)
- People are nice.
- Affordable Spa & massage.
- 2.5 hours away from Singapore by plane.
If you don’t like this, then may be Da Nang is not for you.
Some Potential Recommendations
I am not the best guide for these kind of things so I can just try my best account of the things I experienced, then you make the judgement.
We stayed at the Sheraton Grand Danang Resort and Convention Center for our retreat. Sheraton Grand is south of Danang and not in the Danang city center. There is NOTHING much around the resort but it is like the mid-point between Danang city and Hoi An, which is a place you would want to visit.
It cost SGD 10 in Grab from Sheraton to Hoi An, and about the same to the main areas in Danang.
A check of the price will tell you that Sheraton is not the cheapest but if you can afford it, its great. It is very kid friendly because there is playground, rooms for kids, and pool. Some of my colleagues felt that it is conducive if they just want a place to keep the kids occupied sometimes.
The breakfast is pretty power. There is an assortment of food to try. Almost everything is nice I felt just that my stomach was too small for this trip.
Our dear coffee aunty models the view from her room.
You can see the sea at the far end in this picture. Honestly I was surprised how nice that sea connecting to the hotel was. If you wake up early, you can walk along the sea, or catch the sunrise.
Sheraton Grand is a nice place if you are organizing some company activities.
After my home stay at Bach Ma, I stayed at Estrella Boutique Hotel in Danang. This is one of the newer hotel that Joyce spotted. Cost me about $166 for 3 nights. The bed is big, there is 3-pin plug. After Sheraton, every breakfast in hotels feels like a downgrade but Estrella’s breakfast is serviceable. The main complains is that the rooms facing the road does not have thick enough windows and thus you will hear the road if you pick the rooms there. I did not get this problem since I am on the other side. Some of the rooms will smell the kitchen downstairs.
I saw many of the homestay and the small hotels nearby, I guess they cost half of Estrella and that is probably something I would try if I am adventurous enough next time.
We travel everywhere by either legs or Grab.
You can make use of the same Grab app that we are using in Singapore. You can choose to pay by credit card or cash and I would suggest cash since there might be some credit card conversion cost. Many of us pay by cash.
The Grab cars come fast.
We almost don’t have to wait. The moment we order, its there within 5 mins and it is affordable. It cost like SG$3 to SG$10 within Danang. If you are in Danang city and you wish to go Hoi An, the Grab will cost about SG$20.
Airport to Danang city is about 15 minutes and including toll will cost you about SG$10.
Suffice to say, moving around is not a problem.
One of the main thing to do in Hoi An, south of Danang is to tailor clothes or leather stuff. I did not make anything but that would be something to do the next time I go back.
Hoi An is infested with tailors and you may have your own favorites (leave them in the comments below) but here are two I gather from my colleagues:
- LiMe Store. This shop is almost next to the awesome Banh Mi Queen and you can custom make linen stuff there. My colleague Jayla made 8 items that cost about $3 million VND (SG$161). The lady will offer advise on whether your choices is suitable for you.
- Be Bi Leather. Off the shelf or custom made leather shoes. Ideal if you need a pair of work shoes. Since you be buying a pair of shoes for SG$100 to SG$200, you might want to make one that fits you nicely. Turn around is one day and if you buy 2, they deliver to your hotel.
Shampoo and Massage.
Not something that I venture to try for fear of shocking them with my skin but my colleagues went back to this one a few times:
- Len Spa. 90 mins full body package cost like VND 334,000 (SG$18)
Food to try.
Here are the food to consider:
- Pizza 4P. They say this is one of the best pizza they ever tasted in their life. And the pizza taste’s uniquely nice. Not just the pizza, a lot of the side dish is great. You should try it (maybe not just once).
- Madam Lan. Traditional Vietnamese Cuisine. Michelin selected. I think if you wish to taste an assortment of the best traditional Vietnamese, this is the place. We ordered Bun Bo Hue, Bun Cha, Pomelo Salad, Ca Nuong Song. Total damage is about $1.3 mil VND or SG$69. Divide among 4-5 it is well worth it.
- An Thoi. A cheaper than Madam Lan for Vietnamese cuisine. It will set each back perhaps SG$10? but it still taste pretty good.
- Madam Khanh – The Banh Mi Queen. Probably the best Banh Mi we tasted in Danang/Hoi An. This is in Hoi An. We ate the not fresh one when Jacq packed for us enroute to the homestay and it was STILL awesome enough. SGD $1.60 for one! Cheaper than their coffee!
- Pink Salt Restaurant. Annette’s find. More of an Ang Mo meal but one of the satisfying meals we tried there. Pink Salt Pasta, Risotto are must try. The damage can be quite a bit depending on how much you order but ours came up to be SG$20++ each for 3 person.
These are the more extravagant ones. If you are okay with the normal food it cost like SG$2-4. The drinks can cost SG$1.
Vietnamese food are simple yet satisfying.
I think perhaps it is also the weather or that my stomach have shrunk massively but I just don’t feel a strong urge to eat a lot. The food just fills me up easily.
If you don’t know what to go for:
- Pho
- Banh Mi
- Bank Xeo (Pancake with veggie eaten with paper)
- Bun Bo Hue
- Bun Cha (my favorite)
- Cao Lao. Native to Hoi An.
Of course, Vietnamese is one large coffee exporter. Vietnamese coffee is damn strong and we been trying to get a good mix there. If you order the coffee with milk, it comes traditionally with a strong dose of condensed milk due to the French influence.
I couldn’t get used to it. Ice coffee feels like it will give me diabetes.
Bach Ma Homestay
Some of us took up a 2 day 1 night homestay at a place in Bach Ma. Part of the homestay includes a hike in Bach Ma National Park.
This is how it looks like in the National Park:
Can’t see shit.
We decide to call it off early because we will be walking around in this rain and if we venture to the waterfall, things might be slippery.
I think that is better for me since I was struggling with a bad leg after pulling the leg in one of the retreat games activity. Since the day after the games activity, the pain curtailed much of my enjoyment.
This is where we stay. We were getting ready for dinner. The son of the owner of the place is barbecuing for us.
We stayed in makeshift houses that are indoors. The houses is cozy enough to keep us warm. There is electricity and you can have cell reception. There might be creepy crawlers so if you are not a fan of that, you might want to think twice.
This is me sleeping. Not sure if it is the cold weather but we just felt damn sleepy. I am probably the only one sleeping out in the open while everyone was back in their rooms sleeping.
We were in the good company of two dogs and a cat. They keep our legal head Jacqueline happy while she wait for us to finish our National Park hike.
This is part of our dinner.
I said part because the food they prepare was so much that I think if we have twice the number of people, we couldn’t finish as well.
This was our traditional Vietnamese breakfast. Crazy amounts of food as well. Some of the best dumplings I ever had.
It was a unique experience and we were in good hands.
The home stay cost $1.2 mil VND and twice if you choose to hike the National Park. You can find the link here.
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