Sophia Chong: airbnb

Hello from Saigon! Did some sightseeing today but I'll leave that for another day. Here are some of my day 1 pictures (: Enjoy!

Clean space at my Airbnb apartment

In case you're wondering, I'm not sponsored by Airbnb this trip. I paid for it cos Airbnb is a travel lifestyle I truly enjoy (: No regrets booking this apartment at all!

Prior to this trip, I had my hair done at Salon Vim. Decided to go even lighter with the highlights so I tried out ash blonde (or brown)? Really like it!

Readers get 15% off first visit when you mention my name (:

Thank you SV and Fiona for the purrrdy hair!

Love this photo!

Went to this area called 3A station which sells local designers' apparels! Pretty interesting but very small.

My Airbnb host recommended us to check out this flea market in District 7 and it was quite nice! Managed to get a few nice accessories and mini macarons for my sis. No pictures there but here's one by the river while catching the sunset!

Dinner at Nha Hang Ngon which is pretty popular among tourists. Thought the food was alright only though :/

So far, Saigon's been rather pleasant! I really love the french influence on the architecture, sometimes I feel like I'm in Paris. It's a good place if you like museums and history (fortunate for me cos I love history) but there's nothing much to shop for. There are quite a lot of hipster cafes in Saigon so that's a pro too! Going out for dinner now, be back with day 2 soon!

Sophia

Instagram and Twitter : @sophiachong

London's defo one of my favourite cities for now but I'm biased cos I went during Christmas and shopping was sick! Besides the shopping, I love how it's a vibrant and energetic city that's very all rounded. And I certainly appreciate the fact that everyone speaks english cos I died in Paris trying to communicate. Anyhoos, picture time!

The all famous Monmouth coffee near Borough Market!

I love Borough market's atmosphere and I'm definitely going back the next time I'm in London. I didn't really get to try a lot of nice food but I think it was cos we didn't know which stalls to go, and the cheese toasties I wanted weren't for sale during Christmas :/

Winter Wonderland at Hyde Park was....meh for me. I felt it was a bit overrated and way too cold for me to enjoy :(

Super yummy turkey dish at The Wolseley where we had our Christmas brunch! I highly recommend The Wolseley for breakfast. It's lavish and serves GREAT food albeit a bit pricey. Must go in London!

Buckingham palace!

The big ben and westminster abbey are soooooooooo pretty!!! I have seen big ben pictures before I went and I thought, it's just a clock lor what's the big deal but nooooo it's very grand and majestic! I love it!

Trafalgar square!

Afternoon tea at English Tea Room at the famous Brown's hotel. Be prepared to spend a bomb if you're planning to go. We wanted to have a high tea set to share but it was 80 pounds per person! That's a whopping $160SGD for high tea PER PERSON. In the end, Ange and I ordered 2 pots of tea and 2 slices of cake, and it already cost us around $40SGD each!

Piccadilly Circus at night!

This is the only photo I took on Boxing day cos I was busy shopping! Boxing day sale in London is insane! Everything was 40-70% off and the shops open at 8am so people can shop longer. So sad we only started at 2pm cos we overslept :( But we managed to comb Piccadily circus, Selfridges and a bit of Oxford street! I'm not really big on Oxford cos it's all high street and I feel it isn't a lot cheaper? The only high street brands I like are Zara and Topshop so it was quite meh. Prefer Soho and Piccadily. Wish I had more time to shop more though, feel like I didn't buy enough!

Rushed off to catch Wicked musical after that which was soooooo good and funny! 36 pounds well spent!

Tower Bridge!

Samba Sushi for dinner! Yummy and great view!

Had to try the best red velvet cupcakes in London so made a trip to Hummingbird Bakery. Certainly did not disappoint, and other flavours were good too.

Christmas themed cupcakes!

Shopping in Bicester Village which is one hour train ride away from London but so worth it!!! The branded goods there were so cheap. I bought my YSL trainers for only 100 pounds! And they have a pretty wide range of brands like Prada, YSL, Celine, Ralph Lauren, Salvatore Ferragamo and even BOSE!! Regret not buying myself the noise cancelling earphones urgh :/

Four Seasons duck!!! The best duck ever! So ironic that the supposedly best duck in the world is in London but it's opened by Hong Kongers (: Love it and it's not expensive!

Ahhhh I miss London so so so much! Someone teleport me there now!

In London, we stayed in Airbnb as well to cut cost cos hotels there aren't cheap at all during Christmas especially if you want to stay in the city centre. Our big apartment was only $46 per person per night, super cheap!!!

The apartment wasn't fancy but it was sufficient and spacious for the 4 of us! What I like about the apartment was the proximity to the underground station and how the city was so accessible from where we were! We were staying in zone 2 (the main area is zone 1) and the train ride to places like Oxford and all took less than 15 mins. Also, we got a 7-day pass for unlimited rides in zone 1 and 2 so it was perfect!

The apartment came with a kitchenette so we made breakfast almost everyday and did our laundry every few days. If I were to go to London again, I'll definitely airbnb it again cos English homes are damn pretty! The next time I'll probably stay in an English house or a stylish loft smacked in Soho! Lemme show you some really gorgeous ones below $200/night!