Archive for 'June 2008'
The good about Saigon (Ho Chi Minh)
Overall the trip was good though I can’t say I am a big fan of Vietnamese food and things to do in Vietnam. I guess I like the atmosphere and feeling of Thailand the most in Asia compared with other Asian countries. Moreover, I much prefer spicy food. Vietnamese cuisine is rather mild for me. The French influence of Saigon is what I like the most. I did manage to have a French cuisine in one of the local well known French restaurants last night, La Camargue. It took us more than an hour to get there as the first address we got was the old one. However, we found it at last after we had been told the restaurant moved to another area. The food was good though my appetite isn’t very good lately. Vietnamese people are overall very friendly. Once I stucked in the middle of road, and didn’t know how to cross to the opposite side, a very nice lady took me through. (there were too many motorbikes travelling around on the road) She was so kind, same as many others who instructed us how to find our directions though they can’t speak English. Ho Chi Minh was also kind to us as it was supposed to rain with thundering during the period we were there, but it ended up no heavy rain. It rained in short time only the first day we arrived. The local taxi is very cheap. Few minutes ride with taxi, it costs less than USD1.00 per trip. The longest ride we took with taxi was the trip from airport to our hotel that took 25 mins. It costs USD7.00. I found no McDonald in the city, but many KFC around though.
The rest of photos are on Flickr, enjoy!
The last Vietnamese local cuisine of the trip…
At La Camargue, one of the best French restaurans in Saigon….
The beef rice noodle soup again as well as the ice coffee at the boarding gate of airport…
The colony scene
The beautiful Cathedral Notre Dame of Saigon
The post office…
People Committee Hall…and classical music played by local musicians
Do you want to hear? I couldn’t record the full music, but part of it. The sound wasn’t very clear though. I crossed the road, and took a short video of what they were playing in the park. I sat in a very nice open cafe right opposite the park. I was enjoying my Vietnamese coffee and chilling….:).. (The video is workable, but just don’t know why the preview scene is gone. Anyway, enjoy!)
No commentsBen Thanh Market, street and gallery scene, and sound of the roads
Some people said it’s easy to spend a lot in Vietnam as they do have lots of interior decoration stuff and they are very cheap. However, I almost spent nothing in this trip for shopping. Ben Thanh market is the major shopping area of the city compared with many others I had been, but I only bought a buffalo bone made brooch, which costs VND45,000.00. It’s about USD2.90. Vietnamese coffee is great. Their coffee beans are very cheap. I bought 100gm of Bluemountain coffee and 200gm of Moka included a drip filter, only costs VND75,000.00. It’s about USD4.8. It’s so cheap though I don’t know if those Bluemountain coffee is real or not. Bluemountain is supposed to be very expensive but theirs are very cheap. Anyway, I just bought it for souvenir. If any of you don’t know what Vietnamese coffee is, and how to make them. You can go to this site for details. Most of their home decoration stuffs are either wood made or bamboo made. Most of them are not very colourful. Oh well, I am a colourful person, so their designs are not so attractive to me. It’s good as I didn’t spend anything for shopping. 
If I was in Thailand, I am sure I will spend fortune.
My buffalo bone made brooch and Bluemountain coffee, Moka with drip filter….
Saigon street scene….
Gallery scene…there are so many lovely galleries in Ho Chi Minh. It’s actually part of the influences caused by the French colony period.
By the Saigon River, and the night cafe scene in District one…
I found the most significant scene of Ho Chi Minh is the motorbikes on the roads, and their sound. Apart from taxi and travel buses, I really didn’t see many private cars on the roads. There are many motorbikes in Taiwan, but the noise of those in Ho Chi Minh is remarkable. Do you want to hear?
No commentsFanny Ice cream
It’s a great ice cream place. You can have ice cream with fresh fruits made for you right after ordered. I love the architecture. It’s the old French colony building.
Temple Club
A delightful and tasty Vietnamese cuisine restaurant in Ho Chi Minh city, where you can have very nice Vietnamese food. It’s a kind of classy restaurant in Ho Chi Minh, where Hollywood stars also visit. I like their interior decoration a lot. I feel Vietnamese cuisine is kind of mixing with Chinese food culture in many ways. It’s quite light in flavour generally. Air conditioning is not really common in Ho Chi Minh I found, as it is actually not existed in any kind of restaurants included this one. I am glad that they do have big windows by the table we sat as well as decorative fan otherwise I would feel like being in the desert.
Very nice floor tile….
Vietnamese rice wrapped roll and spring roll. I love all their herbs as the flavour is so refreshing.
Green pea sweet cake and squid with white pepper.
The Wine Bar of Sheraton
It’s located on the rooftop with airy Deck of Sheraton Saigon. This rooftop bar excels in offering breathtaking views of Ho Chi Minh City and the dazzling Saigon River. It was quite windy but the air was refreshing. Snails were around the plant grown area of the bar.
L’ Apothiquaire, Traditional French Day Spa
Spa of Vietnam is a big bargain. L’ Apothiquaire is the Artisan Spa that you can’t miss in Ho Chi Minh. I only spent USD75.00 for 4 hours Spa included the Spa cuisine. The package included facial treatment, full body and foot massage as well as the Spa cuisine. The pick up service was also included. It’s not the price that you can pay in Thailand and China for such luxury service. This is a popular place of lady tourists from Hong Kong, Japan and Europe.
They came to our hotel, and picked us up with an antique car.
We had dinner by the pool. Their cusine wasn’t something fancy but simple and refreshing. We had rice noodle and fried chicken in sweet and sour sauce with peanuts for garish. The dessert was tasty banana cake. It was so relaxing having a light dinner after the great Spa.
Phở bò, beef noodle soup
This is absolutely something you can’t miss to eat in Vietnam, it’s the traditional thick rice noodle soup with half cooked beef. We tried the one, which was the best in town. The soup base was great with rich beef flavour. I also love their herbs and basil for garish.
Miss Saigon
I didn’t have much trip planned, but the trip ended up good. I only printed out some information from internet the night before I left. I read them on the plane, then just go!! It doesn’t really matter what I was doing as I just wanted to be away for few days. It was bad that it rained so heavy the day I left Hong Kong.
I looked out from the window on the plane, the scenes of cloud and lagoon were incredibly beautiful. This is one of the reasons I love to fly. It’s the touch of freedom. I naturally smiled from my heart.
The rainbow….
Arrival…..
