Day 1: 16th Aug
This year birthday celebration was extra special because it was a surprise bday weekend specially planned by A. I was really looking forward to a break from my hectic work and dance schedule. I knew that there would be a getaway because I was asked to apply for leave, but I'm not sure where to. I suspected it could be a staycation, a drive to M'sia, a plane ride or even no surprise. But anyway, I was asked to packed for 3 days of clothes, pack casual and something I would wear in BKK. I thought we were going to some beach-cation initially haha. Until 1.5 hours before the flight, the destination was finally revealed. It was quite funny because on our way to airport, the taxi uncle was very friendly and asked us where were we heading to but A doesn't want to spoil it so he just ignore his question and move on to another topic. I bet the uncle was thinking why are we so secretive.
Anyway, after 2 hours of flight, we arrived at Ho Chi Minh. The first thing we had to do once we got out of the airport was to exchange currency and get a local phone card with data plan. Having access to internet is especially important because without it I will be cut away from social media. Well, social media is secondary when you are overseas but we really could used some help from google to navigate around when we are on a free & easy holiday.
So this was the really popular telecom provider, but we got ours from the last corner shop(just 2 shops away, couldn't find the image of the shop). In my opinion, the one I went to provided really fast connection, no lag of reception during my stay and is cheaper than Mobifone.
The place where we exchanged currency do provide airport transfer, you may consider booking a cab through them and they would give you discount.
Yes we heard about the crazy traffic in this city but it was a pretty fast drive, about 20minutes to our Hotel. Here we are at the 5 Stars Luxury Hotel Nikko Saigon located at District 1(reminded me of hunger games).
The moment we step in, I feel like it is vastly different from what I just saw on the street. Elegant colors, mainly earth tone helps to maintain a sleek and minimalistic image. Hotel Nikko is part of JAL group and you can really expect great service from their team. As we took the earliest flight and arrived at HCM very early, the rooms were not ready for checked-in. They kindly helped to deposit our baggage so we could tour around before coming back in the noon for check-in.
My favourite Japanese restaurant in BKK, they serve authentic Japanese food with fresh sashimi!
Direct walkway to the departmental mall beside the hotel.
This silly boy, upgraded to a club king room, located at 22nd Storey. One night cost about S$220 per room. When we first entered the room, it was the unique design washroom, with separate shower-area and wash-let toilet that caught our attention. It is pretty thoughtful and also shows their attentiveness to design details.
The huge king size bed which was really comfy and I refused to get off every morning. Is it me or hotel beds with clean white sheets are always very comfy.
These are the most important facilities for A, to keep fit while on holiday.I guess it make some sense since we are both busy with work and hardly have time to exercise on weekdays, exercising during holidays seems more feasible.
So we headed off to the street for lunch. Yes you can tell from the picture below of the crazy traffic and the thousands of motorists on the road. They don't have traffic lights at every junction we crossed, so we had to literally inch forward and squeeze between the motorists until we made it across. Sounds scary for the beginner but we both got used to it after a few tries. There's no point waiting because NO ONE will stop for you to cross, just go!
Walking along the street, this whole street sells/makes guitar.
Our first meal in HCM, a random small family-owned eatery between the street.
We had some language barrier and had to look, point and act out for our order. Initially, I was quite worried to eat the pork because they were pretty raw when served. But we were both fine after eating and the soup was tasty and light, similar to our fishball noodle soup haha and lucky we did not experience diarrhea heh!
Lots of condiments provided to go with my Pho! Random pho shop at HCM wins Nam Nam Noodle Bar anytime. The pho was delicious with the hot piping soup but I avoided the pork because some of them were still quite raw.
Immediately after lunch, we say this motorist selling chiffon cake:
Greedy me, just want try a little of everything. It tasted like our Chiffon Cake (from neighborhood bakery).
Another popular Vietnam snack is Bahn Mi, Basically baguette spread with butter sliced ham, some greens and crushed peanut. The baguette was quit tough and as much as I like sandwich I didn't find this appealing. But you got to try the famous Bahn Mi that i tried, just continue to read on.
Vietnam has a rich coffee culture and you can see plenty of coffee bars around. Unlike Singapore's cafe culture, their cafes served mainly coffee and desserts. I rarely chance upon cafes that serve brunch food like eggs benny etc.
Another small coffee bar along the street.
The weather was unbearable hot and we just had to walk in this ice-cream retail chain for some shade and ice-cream. My taro ice-cream:
We couldn't take the heat and went back to the hotel to check-in and took a nap before our food hunting.
Snacks: Sweet corn with LOTS of margarine, shrimps and sweet chili sauce. The shrimps help to add extra chewiness to the sweet corn. This actually tasted quite good.
The famous coffee chain- Phuc Long. You hardly see starbucks along the street but you see Phuc Long everywhere.
Strawberry cheesecake: I was not very impressed with the cake served, it was quite sweet. The top layer of jelly helps to add a little more texture to the cheese.
Phuc Long iced milk tea to go with the cake but it was wayyy to sweet for my liking.
The famous Bahn Mi in HCM- Huynh Hoa.You probably will see some singaporeans queuing too. It is located across the Phuc Long coffe house so if you happen to see a Phuc Long nearby you are somewhere near by.
Charcoal toasted baguette, crispier and more fragrant.
Whats inside the Bahn Mi: shredded chicen ham/meat ith cilantro sprigs, cucumber, tomatoes and their special sauce. I love it! A cheaper version of subway but tasted better!
Bahn Mi Huynh Hoa
26 Lê Thị Riêng Bến Thành, 1
Ben Thanh Night Market: In the day, blocks of the morning market will be opened. This reminded me of Istanbul- Grand Bazzar. In the evening, you will see vendors pulling out their push cards or motorist carry big baggage in between the streets, setting up their night stalls.
Colourful sticky rice:
This was very fragrant because of the coconut and best eaten when served. Different flavours has different colours. They even served durian sticky rice for the durian lovers.
Lê Lợi, Bến Thành, Hồ Chí Minh, Vietnam
Opening hours(morning market): 8am- 6pm
Opening hours (night market): 7pm- 12am
French bakery for some late night snacks.
Toasted mini croissant: it wasn't fantastic. Very much prefer the versions from provence bakery & cafe or Mini ones( located at B2 of Takashimaya food level).
Went back to 'home' sweet 'home' for a short gym session before supper!
Next up Day 2 and 3 of my Bday holiday!
XOXO!
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