Buying and delivering a mattress. Many firsts

Today was filled with a number of firsts for me as I bought a bed mattress, got it delivered to my apartment and dealt with the traditions and life in HCMC.
I rode pillion on the back of a motorbike
I (with the help of others) managed to clinch a deal and get the mattress delivered from one suburb to my apartment
I rode on the back of a bike that only slightly broke the law, twice
I survived and I loved the whole experience.

My apartment is one bedroom with a ghastly fold out, foam squab couch that doubles as a bed and I have wanted an extra bed for ages. Beds are very expensive in HCMC.
Sally a British friend in An Phu had a mattress for sale, so I decided to buy the mattress and have it delivered.
In HCMC trucks are not allowed in the city except at night, and smaller delivery trucks cost approx 600,000 VND so I have to have my mattress delivered by a somme, a motorbike delivery. Sang the head receptionist at my apartment organises the details.

The motorbike taxi man at the end of the street sends over his nephew who doesn’t speak English to pick me up and take me to Sally’s house as a pillion on the back of his motorbike. Slow I say as we move off . My driver laughs.
Asians require very little small personal space, so being on a bike with many others at close quarters was OK. Slipping between a couple of cars on the road was OK. I guess I have travelled around the roads enough to know it happens. It's that personal space thing
My driver stops to negotiate with various somme drivers on the way to An Phu. They see me as Western woman and meal ticket. My driver refuses to negotiate
I have enough Vietnamese language to direct my driver to Sally’s house
At Sally’s he eyes up the mattress and rings the manager of the apartments and explains. The manager translates for me. My driver will leave me at Sally’s and scour Anu Phu for a somme and bring him back to her house. Without me on the back of the bike he can command a better deal.
The somme arrives and throws the mattress onto the back of his cart, attached to his motorbike 150 he says and drives off. My driver hands me a helmet and we are off again Up and over the Saigon bridge we go, this time there is definitely with much more traffic around. I feel like an old hand as we pass families of four on a bike. Around the huge round abouts. My driver sticks to the very edge of the roundabout and avoids most of the conglomerate of traffic in the centre.
With the somme in the distance and a red light in front of us we ignore the light, drive very close to the pavement and sneak around the corner. (This is actually standard practice in HCMC)
We also ignore a red light and slowly cross the road, there is no traffic coming any way! Also standard practice.
We pull into the apartment right behind the somme driver, who poses for a quick photo and helps carry the mattress into the lift and up to my apartment.
I run up 5 flights of stairs, definitely a first, to get to the door the same time as the lift.

Cost
150,000 VND for the delivery
100,000 VND for 2 x 30 mins ride as a pillion on a motor bike
I am out of breath and ecstatic. I have my mattress, and I’ve had an adventure. Cost for that? Priceless.