The Story of “Vietnam day 2 evening”
Assalamualaikum all. Enjoyed the first 2 part? here is the account of the rest of second day in Ho Chi Minh City.
After a very Malaysian lunch at the cafe behind the mosque (nasi putih, lauk kari kambing, ayam goreng, sayur kacang panjang, ubi kentang, ca phe sua da – kopi susu) we went back to our hotel to send all the things we bought earlier. We go out again and head straight to Reunification palace. Please Google or search in Wikipedia about these things to get a better idea on vietnam.
Vietnam war, Reunification Palace, Agent orange, Viet Cong, Ho Chi Minh, Saigon, Ho Chi Minh City, French Colonization.
Our first stop…Reunification Palace. It’s so big..and full of local and international tourist.
Dining hall for dignitaries.
I framed this picture nicely and ask fahmi to shoot it. Perfect!
Dragon carpet.
This is the room where the president receives his guest.
On the rooftop.
Spooky tunnel.
Going underground we see all the war preparation rooms such as this radio room.
After that we walk around the area enjoying the nice garden with tall trees like this:
Street food vendors consists mostly of springroll, subway like sandwich and fresh fruits. Vietnamese love fruits!
Another landmark. Notre Dame Basilica. Build by the French…its a popular tourist spot.
Just nearby the Basilica is the famous Post Office. Its still in operation. But the number of tourist outnumber the people doing business at the post office.
Superman could change here 🙂
I just love the interior. Its so classic
Portraits and statue of Ho Chi Minh is everywhere. Google to read about the legend.
Rickshaw are aplenty too. But we were warned not to use their service because lotsa tourist have been scammed before.
The motorbikes here range from the new ones right to really old one like this. Its basically a skeleton bike! Parking for motorbikes are everywhere and nobody locks their bike and helmet like in Malaysia. Its very safe for bikers here in term of bike security.
If it 3 lane per way, at any traffic light the 2 right lanes will be dominated by motorbikes. Cars, lorry, van etc will be on the left.
Family of 3 or 4 and even not wearing helmet is a common sight here. Is it not compulsary? hmmm
Street vendor.
We decided to try VN halal restaurant (near Ben Thanh market) for dinner. It serves malay and vietnamese dish same like halal @ Saigon. The price is slightly cheaper and the taste is definitely delicious. The only thing is the service. It took a long time for the drink and dishes to arrive.
Yesterday we tried fresh springroll. Today is time for fried springroll.
Pho Bo is the one dish you should try . Its a national dish consisting of thin rice noodle (like koay teow only thinner), beef broth (like mee sup utara), slices of beef and beansprout. Delish!
Bought something to remind me of my trip.
More trinkets for you to choose.
At night (around 7+pm) everyday, Ben Thanh night market would be a nice place to shop. Look around for best buy as some unscrupulous dealers may try to swindle you.
Happy family!
Thats all for my second day account. Wait for day 3 tomorrow!
The Story of “Vietnam day 2 morning”
Assalamualaikum all. Due to the number of pics I took on the second day, I’ve decided to split into 2 parts. Here are the first part from morning till afternoon.
Time in Vietnam is 1 hour early than Malaysia. Subuh prayer is at around 5am and dawn at 6am. After breakfast of biscuits and cup maggi, we took a taxi (Vinasun of course) and head to our first destination. Cho Ben Thanh or Ben Thanh market is a famous market that is packed with shops and visitors. It is a bit like Central Market. The market is arranged in a systematic way. There’s section for clothes, coffee, wet market (lotsa oink oink lol), food, shoes, handbag and handicraft among others.
Exterior and Interior shot of the market.
We decided to recce most of the offerings first and compare prices before buying anything. Well…that plan fails miserably as we kept buying things as we go along.
Our chief negotiator Cik Kham in action.
Various shirts for men, dresses, clothes, handbags, shoes and jackets are available. Some are much cheaper than Malaysia but you be the judge of that. 100,000 dong is roughly equivalent to Rm15. A track suit for RM15 or a La Coste shirt for the same price is definiely cheap in my book. Crocs cost around 200,000+ dong which is still cheaper than in Malaysia.
Avoid stalls that have these signboard. Negotiating and haggling is part of the adventure. ask for around 40-50% discount and settling for 20-40% discount is what we do.
Did I say that Malaysians love shopping here? Lotsa Malaysians that we encountered along our trip.
So cute…remind me of Qariena Sofeya..my goddaughter
The coffee is definitely something marvellous. Buy in small packs or buy in bulk. You may also try Chon (Squirrel coffee). Just google it and learn why Viet people love their squirrel coffee…hehehe
I was reminded to take care of my camera lest something bad like snatching happens…..
A group of cobblers hard at work.
After Ben Thanh we walk around in finding our next stop…Hong Anh collection. A shop nearby (2 stories) that sells baju kurung, telekung, tudung and vienamese t shirt. the aunty even speaks malay! They accept Dollar, Ringgit and Viet Dong. Framed pictures on the wall shows the former Queen of Malaysia and Tun Siti Hasmah had come to shop at the shop. A tudung similar to Ariani tudung (which cost Rm35 to 200+) cost only RM13 here…insane price. Wifey loves this shop very the much hehehehe…
Kham demonstrated how to pay in USD.
More motorbikes.
Lotsa Vietnamese girls wore their national dress. They sure love striking color especially red.
Although language is a barrier, we tried our best to speak of our destination and they are more than happy to help pinpoint where to go.
Their helmets are really colorful..unlike ours.
The information we got states that Mens clothing are aplenty at Saigon Wear. Only problem is…there’s no Saigon Wear anywhere! Only Saigon Square…hehehe
Inside Saigon Square.
Next stop…Du Dong street again. We visited Jami’ Mosque (in front of Halal @ Saigon restaurant) to eat….
A nameless restaurant behind the mosque serves rice and malay lauk pauk (malay dishes). Price is cheapest among all halal restaurant but still more expensive than Malaysia. Ice tea is only 1000 dong = 15 sen..haha cheap. But comes without sugar. Add sugar at another 2000 dong..hehe
We stop for Zuhur & Asar prayers at the mosque.
Several old people are chilling at the mosque. I asked for permission to capture their image. Love the result…
Wait for the next installment tomorrow!
Amrufm The Storyteller 