Bánh Bèo Tâm - Vietnamese Steamed Rice Cakes @ Da Nang in Vietnam

My first trip to Vietnam, specifically Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC), brought knowledge of a dish with the name, Bánh Bèo, that gave a fresh twist to the non-assuming chwee kueh that I have known my whole life. 

Fast forward to two years later, and here we were; seated on stools and low table in an eatery (Bánh Bèo Tâm) at Da Nang, recommended by the Greatest Kon. 

Problem we faced was ordering as the menu was only in Vietnamese, and it's stressful as both Alex and I aren't fans of non-conventional meat / animal parts, which can be very common in Vietnam. Well, I did recognise banh beo and that's definitely on the to order list.

It's a small eatery with a tiny "kitchen" right at the shopfront. However, the customers were never-ending and many were for takeaways. Mind you, our visit was almost past lunch hours.

Sugarcane Juice - weather was hot and a cold glass of sugarcane juice would do the trick of quenching the heatiness! It came with lime and boy was it satisfying! What made me happier was that it cost 10,000 dong! That's like 60 Singapore cents! 

Bánh Bèo - this would be the chwee kueh lookalike that I was introduced to back in HCMC, albeit a drier version sprinkled with meat floss and pieces of sausages. 

Accompanying sauce was the soul that we required; soak in the steamed rice cakes to soften and make them tastier! Together with the delicious sausages, every spoonful was a moment of pure bliss! p.s. ric cake was a tad sticky for the teeth.

  

Bánh Lọc - next dish we ordered was based on luck as I simply chose the more expensive one on the menu, which cost 25,000 dong (S$1.30) for ten pieces. And yes, those are the cute, little ones wrapped with banana leaves.

After unwrapping, what appeared within was a gelatinous, translucent material that encased small prawns, and they were totally out of the world! Once my teeth bit through the jelly material, which was made from potato starch, the savoury, sweetness of the prawns engulfed my palate! 

Alex found the material a bit hard to stomach but my love for the dish was so deep; I would have said this dish would be one of the main reasons I am going back to Da Nang for!

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Clean sweep! And I shall be back in May, with my mom!

Address

291 Nguyễn Chí Thanh, Phước Ninh, 

Hải Châu, Đà Nẵng 550000, Vietnam

Map

As above.

Pricing

Sugarcane Juice - 10,000 dong

Bánh Bèo - 20,000 dong

Bánh Lọc - 25,000 dong

Click here for my 8 Days' Itinerary to Danang (The City of Bridges) & Hoi An (The City of Lanterns) in Vietnam

Sapa Stone Church (Exterior) @ Vietnam

Up in the misty Vietnamese town of Sapa was a church that was unlike the famous pink church at Da Nang or the imposing Saint Joseph Cathedral at Hanoi. 

It appeared to be much smaller with a narrow church front, reminding me of a simple looking stone church in a European village. Strangely, it stood out for being plain simplicity, especially in the town that was always swirling with clouds.

Built in 1895 featuring a 20-meter high bell tower, this church was located at the foot of Ham Rong mountain; which I didn't manage to visit when I was there in December 2024! 

My siblings and dad in front of the church.

As expected, we didn't go in to explore further.

The church was easy to find in the small Sapa town. Bordering Sapa Square, that was undergoing some upgrading back in December, it was also right across the iconic building which housed Hotel de la Coupole Sapa and also the station going up Fansipan! 

Interestingly, the church transformed at night, with lines of neon light showcasing its architectural shape. As it was misty in the few days we were in Sapa, the atmosphere was somewhat magical. What it lacked, especially for the period, was a christmas tree adorned with lights. 

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Address

P. Hàm Rồng, TT. Sa Pa, 

Sa Pa, Lào Cai 333100, Vietnam

Map

As above. 

Click here for my 

summarized itinerary 

of my 3 Days trip to Sapa!

Thien Huong Spa & Massage @ Da Nang in Vietnam

Like my mom, I am a sucker for massages; anything with the potential to relieve my body aches and relax my cluttered mind. Hence, on this official last night at central Vietnam, I decided to check out Thien Huong Spa & Massage! 

Simply because it's within walking distance from Haian Riverfront Hotel Da Nang and they still had available slot for massages. It definitely did help that review score on Google Maps was above 4.5.

Menu as above; I went with the Oil Body Spa Therapy for 60 minutes at 380,000 dong, about S$20. Although traditional foot spa had a cheaper pricing, I personally prefer body over foot massage.

Washing my feet first! Of course, hard to take photographs during the massage and in summary, there wasn't any of the "cracking" typical of thai massages. However, I would deem this massage as above average as I almost dozed off, and was awakened due to my dripping saliva! 

Extra points for the after massage snacks! First time I am having a free serving of longans, and to think that we had mangoes a few days ago at Ni Spa in Hoi An. Instead of fruit after a meal, it's fruit after a massage. Loving it.

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Address

195A Trần Phú, Phước Ninh, 

Hải Châu, Đà Nẵng 550000, Vietnam

Map

As above. 

Pricing

Oil Body Spa (60 Minutes) - 380,000 dong

Click here for my 8 Days' Itinerary to Danang (The City of Bridges) & Hoi An (The City of Lanterns) in Vietnam

Dua Ben Tre 190 (Dessert) @ Da Nang in Vietnam

Is it strange to want to enjoy as much as you could on the last night of your overseas vacation? For someone who is normally quite disciplined when it comes to late night food intake in Singapore, I was tempted to step into the above green building, and mind you; it was close to 11pm! 

A dessert place that claimed to be open 24 hours (claimed as I noted it was close the next morning), my eyes were drawn to the cheapest item on the menu. Beer that cost only 20,000 dong, slightly more than S$1. No, I shall have a dessert, as per the shop's original purpose.

Avocado Cream - served nicely in glass bowl, this was a beautiful display of three scoops of ice cream, topped with shred of coconut, raisins, a slice of strawberry and a stick of love letter. All for only about S$2.40!

Indulging in ice cream on a cool 23 degrees celcius night was so comforting. Ice cream looked avocado green but strangely, it tasted more like your typical cheap vanilla flavored ice cream; not exactly worth it from the point of a true blue ice cream connoisseur.

Nevertheless, I am not wasting food. 

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Address

190 Bạch Đằng, Phước Ninh, 

Hải Châu, Đà Nẵng 550000, Vietnam

Map

As above.

Pricing

Avocado Cream Kem Bo - 45,000 dong

Click here for my 8 Days' Itinerary to Danang (The City of Bridges) & Hoi An (The City of Lanterns) in Vietnam

Day Five of My 8 Days' Trip to Danang (The City of Bridges) & Hoi An (The City of Lanterns) in Vietnam

<<< Day Four

Detailed Postings for Day Five

• Nguyen Van Troi Walking Bridge 
• Sun World Ba Na Hills 
• Cable Car Rides
• Alpine Coaster
• Fantasy Park 
• French Village 
• Brasserie Restaurant 
• Spiritual Zone 
• Golden Bridge
• Le Jardin D'amour Flower Garden
• Linh Ung Pagoda 
• Bánh Mì Cô Tiên 
• Seoul Cắt Tóc Spa
• Thien Kim Restaurant
• Dragon Bridge Show from Hotel

When people use their vacations to catch up on your sleep, guess who woke up at 6am, decided he can't sleep anymore, and went out for a jog towards the Tran Thi Ly Cable Bridge?! Of course, it was me! Ageing is a bitch! 

I am not the only one! The local aunties were already fully decked out, in bright, colorful Vietnamese traditional attire, the ao dai, on a Friday morning! Guess they face the same situation as me.

Jogging nearer to Tran Thi Ly Cable Bridge. My focus that day was on the walking bridge, the yellow one, that was before Tran Thi Ly Cable Bridge. Visually, both seemed to be one bridge but it's definitely not. Check out my post on Nguyen Van Troi Walking Bridge.

View of the iconic Dragon Bridge from the Walking Bridge.

Its full 666 meters body, from head to tail.

There was no fence and I didn't realize I chanced into a private estate. How did I know? The security caught me and chased me out! Correction, I was invited out. 

Known as Euro Village, it's a cluster of villas that's at prime real estate! No wonder security was so tight although I thought some kind of physical barrier, that's more obvious, would have been helpful to keep curious people like me out of it. 

Continuing my jog on the other side of the Han River. Frankly, jogging in Da Nang was invigorating; the March temperature was cool, and there's also a nice breeze brushing against my sweaty skin.

One of the major tourist market for Da Nang is South Korea and it's not uncommon to see Korean translations on the menu, and for the above pho eatery, signboard too! 

Jogging towards the direction of Dragon Bridge.

It was a surprise to see the chatter of aunties out so early in the morning, but it was a shock to see a group of teenagers out too, apparently to learn dancing! That's commitment to some level! 

Going up the staircase and cutting across Dragon Bridge! 

I can never get sick of being so close to the dragon head.

My gosh! Another group of youngsters; looked like students. As it was a Friday, was it some kind of morning activities before they go to school?! Singaporean students would likely make use of such time to sleep!

Had to get through an underpass. And mind you, it has a height limit of 1.6 meters! And even I, a shortie, had to bend down in order not to hit my head. A rare moment of self-acclaimed pride that I wasn't so short after all. Haha.

View across Han River. 

Kick starting our first day tour in Da Nang; to Sun World Ba Na Hills! Many foreigners would likely ask what's this place about as most only recognize a prominent attraction it was most famous for. 

Arrival at the grand entrance of Sun World Ba Na Hills! 

First thing we needed to go; the Cable Car Rides up the 1,500 meter high Bana Hills! In Singapore, they would have been called mountains or highlands. 

There were nine sub postings under Sun World Ba Na Hills and you could also find the listing here. You can also click the hyperlinks as follows; Alpine Coaster, Fantasy Park, French Village, Brasserie Restaurant, Spiritual Zone, Le Jardin D'amour Flower Garden and Linh Ung Pagoda.

Prominent landmark I mentioned earlier; the icon of Ba Na Hills, although some will argue it's likely the icon of Da Nang; here's the impressive Golden Bridge! 

Took the cable car back to the foot of Sun World Ba Na Hills, and on our way back to Da Nang. As mentioned in my posting here, it's better to stay one or two nights at Ba Na Hills so that you have sufficient time to explore the humongous "theme park"!

Most countries have carparks but in Vietnam, motorbike carparks are the norm, to the extent that the pavements in front of shops often doubled up as parking spaces, at the expense of pedestrians.

Drove past Cho Han Market, which we visited on Day Four of our trip.

We hit the street shortly after taking a short rest back at our Da Nang accommodation; Haian Riverfront Hotel! Strolling past the 'flower market' near Cho Han. 

Our intended destination; Bánh Mì Cô Tiên! This was like my 3rd or 4th banh mi in this trip and although there wasn't my favorite thit nuong option, I was still darn happy with my egg banh mi above! 

Pampering session at Seoul Cắt Tóc Spa!

The one in Ho Chi Minh was better though. 

Dinner at Thien Kim Restaurant; a highly reviewed restaurant with over 4,000 reviewers! Was it worth the calorie intake? Please check out my review here. 

From the comfort of our room at Haian Riverfront Hotel, let's check out the Dragon Bridge Show. I could see the actions but to be honest, it was too far! 

Well, the night was still early.... So...

Hot chocolate at Maison Marou Chocolate Flagship Cafe.

Ending the night with a cocktail at the Haian Riverfront Hotel's rooftop bar! View was nice (Dragon Bridge was right ahead) even though I feel the glass panels were too tall.

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Click here for my 8 Days' Itinerary to Danang (The City of Bridges) & Hoi An (The City of Lanterns) in Vietnam