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Sunday, February 19, 2023

Day Two of My Inaugural Visit to Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) in Vietnam



Detailed Postings for the Day

Day two shall start with some exercises right at the gym of Vien Dong Hotel. There's actually a park in front of the hotel but it appeared to have been cordoned off due to some fair. Anyway, I was disallowed from jogging outdoor given it was my first trip to Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) and how clumsy I am. 

Waiting for the arrival of Great Kon at Liberty Hotel Saigon Parkview, which was just 40 meters away. We actually bought our accommodations separately but so long near to each other; it's not that much of an inconvenience.

The park opposite was hosting the Vietnam - Korea Week! Although I knew there were activities, my primary objective was to check out permanent places of interests rather than temporary events.

Like the charming little lanes in HCMC.

The rumor was true; there are so many motorbikes in the city! With a population of  about 8.8 million people, HCMC has 7.3 millions motorbikes, and only about 0.7 million cars. 

Video to prove my point! 

Random sight on the streets - a chained up doggy with wiry fur. Just for your information, dog meat is consumed in Vietnam even though demand has dropped over the years. 

I mentioned about this building for the day one posting; an 80-year old building owned by this tycoon by the name of Nguyen Van Hao. You can actually read more about its history here.

Even though I love eating fruits, I don't really buy them when I am overseas; which is funny given that pricing can sometimes be lower as the fruits were mostly locally produced. 

With so many motorbikes, it's a given that stores selling wheels were everywhere! With each of them wrapped in such manner, I was wondering if people would given them as birthday gifts. Haha.

Random street view again. 
Many of such photos in this post.

Frankly, I should have procured this letter box for my office as the existing one seemed a bit wonky. Speaking of that, I think we can tease out some money from the current budget to procure a new one.

Breakfast for the day; Quang Noodle @ Mì Quảng 3 Anh Em. To be frank, not really the kind of noodles I like. I would be happier with our local mee poh or mee kia. 

Black Sesame Paste and Creme Caramel from Chè Mè Den; desserts from both the Eastern and Western worlds. p.s. black sesame paste was sugar free.

A statue in the middle of a roundabout. 

Let's check out the first museum for the trip. War Remnants Museum and the Tiger Cages and Imprisonment System that's within the same museum. To me, this is a must-visit, showing us the devastation and impact of a war. 

It reminded me of the current Ukraine War, which I sincerely hope a peaceful resolution would be agreed upon soon by the two warring nations. The harm was already made but let's not worsen it. In wars, civilians suffer the most. 

Looks like a four-wheel drive tour! 

Hum Vegetarian Café & Restaurant; lunch venue for the day and it's absolutely worthy of its number 10 rank as the world's best vegetarian restaurants; most dishes were great and I must specially mention the epic Steamed Mushroom in Curry!

Hoards of motorbikes coming my way!

Coffee drinking is a culture in Vietnam and you can see cafes everywhere! Prices are economical and in the case for the above Viva to Go, an expresso cost just 20,000 dong (S$1.20); cheaper than most kopi in Singapore. 

Walking around the perimeter of Independence Palace. This is also the hot spot for the coconut scams in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC). They seemed to target tourists who were alone and didn't even want to accost us; sad. 

Peering in between the metal fences of Independence Palace. Looks like a lot of greenery and not exactly something we would want to do under the sunny weather. 

Front view of the Independence Palace. Completed in 1966, the exterior facade didn't wow and was famous due to the iconic moment back in 1975, when a "North Vietnamese Army tank crashed through its gates"; effectively ending the Vietnam War.

Ticketing building.

Price list as above. I wasn't that keen in museums and as Kon had been there before, let's just save time for everyone and proceed to our next destination.

Final few photographs taken from in between the metal fences. With the weather, I bet both Alex and I would yawning profusely if we were to purchase the tickets and explore the palace. 

I am keener in exploring home furnishing!

Quán ăn ngon Sài Gòn - also known as Ngon 138 restaurant, we did notice a lot of tourists streaming into the restaurant on another day. Review score was good at 4.3 from over 500 reviewers.

Changing money at this place that's across from the eastern gate of the tourist-famous Ben Thanh Market! Weirdly, I don't see a lot of money changes in HCMC, unlike Bangkok where they were everywhere! 

See, it's just a road away from Ben Thanh Market.

In case you need some other landmarks, just note that the money changer is along the same row of shophouses as the Cafe Amazon. A friend was having coffee there so I took the opportunity to go in to take some photos of Ben Thanh Market.

View from Cafe Amazon; it's a great vantage point to take time-lapsed videos of Ben Thanh Market. I begged my friends for a few minutes and they accommodate by buying some beverages while waiting for me! 

For your viewing pleasure! 

There was a Cheers convenience store in HCMC. I didn't know our local NTUC had expanded overseas and you may refer to the article here if you would like to know more.  

Building at the back was Bitexco Financial Tower; we shall explore the sky deck on day four of our journey. You may check the summarized itinerary periodically for the upcoming post, which I am expecting to be ready in hopefully two months' time.

Exploring Ben Thanh Market!
Click here for more photos. 

Random street view; day two and I have yet to have bahn mi even though it only cost about S$2.00 right here in HCMC. 

Tea-time; Vietnamese Chwee Kueh @ Quán Ăn Thanh Bình! Another thing worth trying would be the delicious dessert known as Che Dau Van.

More photographs taken along the street. I initially thought Chuk Chuk was a toy store; turned out to be another cafe competing in the almost saturated industry. 

Street stalls offering locks and keys service!

People's Committee Building, also known as Ho Chi Minh City Hall; used exclusively by the government, it's unfortunate that tourists would not be allowed entry. Nevertheless, the resplendent facade was a beauty to behold! 

When I asked friends who had visited HCMC around ten years ago, most of them would tell me the shopping scene was lacking. Things have changed over the past few years I guess as there were quite a number of shopping malls like this Vincom Center.

There's even a Uniqlo store!

Photographs taken at Ho Chi Minh City Opera House where we would be catching a show in the evening. Right now, we just needed to collect our tickets for the show.

This Rex Hotel seemed like a great place to stay at; located at District One, near the Opera House and the upcoming MRT station, the only problem would be budget. 

Garden with musical notes behind the Opera House.
The sparrows appeared to like the notes a lot.

As the show was later, the intention was to visit the historic Sai Gon Central Post Office. However, we believed the body and soul would need some rest; hence, let's have a massage at Temple Leaf Spa & Massage! 

I opted for a shorter massage and decided to wait for my friends at Rang Rang Coffee. Alex joined me shortly and we went for hot mocha and hot chocolate. 69,000 Dong, about S$4.00.

In Singapore, motorbikes can sit no more than two persons. Here in HCMC, I am unsure about the local regulations but three persons on one motorbike isn't the most I encountered. 

Question; how could he be able to sleep in such a position?! 

Ho Chi Minh City Opera House & The À Ố Show; you don't need to know Vietnamese to enjoy the pretty entertaining show. I did find certain sections a bit boring but overall, still not bad. 

Nguyen Hue Walking Street - a pedestrian only passage that stretched for about 500 meters and popular with the locals in the evening, when the temperature wouldn't be as uncomfortable as daytime. 

Phuc Long Cafe - yet another coffee chain in Vietnam. The name is extremely easy to remember given how similar it would have sounded to a vulgar term in English. In Chinese, however, it would likely mean crouching dragon or prosperous dragon. 

Vietnamese style pizza using rice paper as the base. 
In Vietnamese, it's known as Bánh Tráng Nướng.

The Gangs Central - we were supposed to have dinner here. Sadly, it was fully booked on the Friday night and the staff cannot even give us an estimate an how long we would need to wait. Hmm... maybe he doesn't know what we mean. 

Continued walking would be our next step. 
A picture of the instagrammable Cafe Apartment.

That gaudy tower would be Landmark 81; at 461.2-metre, it's taller than Bitexco Financial Tower and also has an observation deck. We chose the former as it's located at District One, and hence, more convenient for us.

Singapore style ice cream! They were so common in Singapore that I didn't realize that we don't really see them in other countries. 

Ginkgo - why name a clothing shirt after a nut? 

Liberty Central Hotel; there were seven liberty hotels in HCMC and they seemed to be quite centrally located within District One. Guess I should give it a try in my next visit. And is that a sixth-floor gym next door?!

Decided to step into Saigon Centre in seek of a venue for dinner.

Familiar brands like Takashimaya and even our Singapore's BreakTalk! What's more mind boggling for me would be the Vietnamese translation for BreakTalk; it's also called Bahn Mi?! I always assumed Bahn Mi refers exclusively to the Vietnamese baguette! 

We found a Pizza 4P's at Saigon Centre! Having heard so much about this restaurant from the Great Kon, I must say we were not disappointed. I can't imagine having pizzas with honey would be so delicious! 


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