Air Mail or Surface

i was looking for the cheapest way for some stuff to reach my mom's hands asap. known courier companies quoted sky high prices (courier fee 2x more expensive than the actual worth of the package). seeing as i don't have much of a choice & being happy with the previous service rendered, i have decided to utilize vietnam's postal system (vnpt).

of course, growing up in the philippines, i was expecting (yet again!) zombies with lead appendages attending to the customers. sometimes said zombies are too busy eating butong pakwan & chatting with each other to actually do customer service. OR! they'd throw me a huge book to look for the price myself. OR!!! this is a classic... they'd refuse to lend packaging tape or even a pen because these items are being sold!!!! hahahahaha!

there are several companies to choose from inside the post office ranging from the trusted courier companies to the not so known ones. there are also quite a handful of services being offered. they have snail mail, air, flower delivery, moneygram, etc. nice!

so there i was at the hcm post office shaking in my slippers worrying about getting the same treatment. luckily, none of those fears materialized. the postal place employees were efficient. when i asked for prices for my package to reach home, they actually told me how much it would cost & how long it would take to reach the destination! they even provide boxes & secure the boxes with tape (for a minimal fee of 20,000 dong - 60pesos). interesting. no hassle in paying, no queues anywhere. heaven! now the main challenge is if it gets to the philippines on time.

only thing is, they asked me to fillout a form which asked if i wanted to send my package by air or "surface". is this really the term for snail mail i wonder... of course i chose air (which will take 2 weeks if lucky... 3 weeks at most, never arrive - worst case scenario)

vnpt, please don't fail me now...

Edited: yes the package DID arrive 2 weeks later! woohoo! kakahiya... when my mom went to post office in the phils to retrieve the package, the post office employee didn' want to hand her the package asking for a bribe! A BRIBE!!! hay! my mom told him "personal po yan. hindi na kelangan dagdagan ng 'tax' "-- eep!