Nik


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Tuesday, July 26, 2011 @ 5:57 PM PERMALINK

The long bus ride to the temple and Cu Chi really took its toll on us and so we decided that even though we really wanted to see the Mekong River that we should take it easy on the 3rd day.

Third Day in Saigon: Two girls, a map and a mission

After talking to Thang in the lobby, we decided to head to Cho Binh Tay in Chinatown. He had told us how to get the bus from the bus terminal but since we felt like we had so much to see, we took a cab anyways. (leaving experiences for our next trip to Saigon!)



Breakfast in the morning! (couldn't eat this either cause of the killer amounts of fish sauce) but it probably is really yummy if u aren't phobic of everything from the sea; unlike me.


More famous Saigon Traffic


This is Binh Tay Market from the outside, unassuming huh? Wait until you get in.


Layout of the market



This is how the market looks on the inside and yes, it is as cramped as it looks. I have honestly never been in a market with smaller isles. If you think Chatuchak is crapped, you will reconsider that fact considerably once you've tried to navigate Binh Tay Market.

For the record, while Binh Tay Market is a great place to see where Vietnamese get their stocks for stores, there isn't really much to buy unless u are interested in buying hair accessories/party food or slippers in bulk. And no, this is not Platinum Mall, 3 for wholesale type bulk. I'm talking about one huge packet of slippers with 50 pairs type bulk.

Jasmine tracked down a store that sold various kinds of sticky rice with beans/yam and coconut milk. For like 20,000 VND we got a bowl, a glass of tea and a place to sit.





My mum usually uses these black eyed beans to make soup, is it was pretty suprising to have them with sticky rice and coconut

Binh Tay was quickly exhausting and after getting a pair of helmets as gifts for friends, we handed out to find air-conditioned comfort (mega fail).

The first place we saw once we got out (i'm ashamed to say) was KFC.





I got a meal seat with rice, fried chicken strips and gravy. Was quite nice actually. The KFC staff were amazingly polite and there was a girl who would open the door for you when u were entering or leaving and the plates were really plastic with metal cutlery. Very different and interesting from our KFC's format.

After we recovered, we re-grouped and decided to head to Saigon Square because Jasmine had heard that the shoes there are a great buy. We explored Chinatown a little bit first to take in the sights before flagging down a cab with a rigged meter. (sad face)

Here's my story about how we did everything right but still got into a bad taxi. We had flagged down the cab (heeding the don't take stationary taxis advice) , we had ensured that the Vinasun number was legit but still his meter ran up like CRAZY. By the time we got to Saigon Square, it was 120,000 VND but we decided not to make any noise (probably a controversial move for some travelers), paid him in full and got out of the taxi.

I'm just glad that we had only a short way to go and that 120,000VND to us was about $7SGD only.

As we moved from the Chinatown area to where Saigon Square was located, the scenery changed rapidly. Newly built modern buildings started to emerge and more cars seemed to be on the road.

When we got to the mall, we were confronted with more free space that we had seen in the past 3 days. Everything in the PNL area where we lived and in Chinatown was packed closely together and every inch of space was fully utilized (which is really what makes Saigon so interesting to navigate)

We didnt buy anything at Saigon. For shoppers who've been to Bangkok, most of you will notice that stocks on clothes seem to come direct from Bangkok at higher prices. There are alot of lovely shoes which bear labels from Zara, River Island, New Look, Topshop, I'm not sure of the authenticity of those shoes but they cost a pretty penny for budget travellers ($20-40 SGD for a pair of shoes)

To be honest, unless u have never shopped in Bangkok, Saigon Square is not going to hold any treasures for you but it was fun taking a look at the contrast between what we've been seeing.

We retired to a little cafe in Saigon Square where Jasmine found her coconut jelly (though not in the same form as expected) and got walking directions to Dong Koi. The cafe owner hesitated for awhile after giving us the directions and suddenly said "Good Luck!!"


Jasmine and her stupid coconut jelly that she's been chasing since we landed

The directions were pretty simple, we were told to walk straight down and turn left but once we were on the roads, things got abit confusing. There were so many chances to turn left and we were pretty sure that it wasn't as near as it would be in the 'Singapore distance sense' we were used to.

We found it anyways (all due to Jasmine's keen sense of direction and with help from a cute Vietnamese boy)

Dong Khoi is the Haji Lane of Saigon or even the Siam Square of Bangkok, its filled with lovely shops, hotels and little cafes, eateries and bakeries.

Our first stop was Tombo. It is a little boutique selling bags of all shapes and sizes. They have backpacks, totes, handbags and each bag is made out of really colorful fabric. The bags aren't as authentic as the Sapa hand-sewn variety on the street but still great for gifts.Each bag only set us back about $10-$15.

We wandered around Dong Khoi for abit, Jasmine got herself one of those boxes with an egg-shell painting motive and decided to splurge on dinner.

We walked past Ciao Cafe and liked the look of the place.




Jasmine making the serious decision on what to eat. That bag was from another shop in a plaza near Dong Khoi. The shop's name is Sapa and they have a TON of great authantic Sapa bags.


DINNER!! Jasmine's salmon and my steak Maryland. I really really enjoyed my steak, it was crisp on the outside but so tender and yummy once you cut it open. Shiok.

We spent alot of time chatting about life and about what to do with our degrees before catching a cab back to Bich Duyen. We caught a glimpse of the Oprea house on the way back and it was amazing! Pity we didnt get to see it up close.

As usual, we explored the streets of Bui Vien behind our hotel and bought a couple of things. More bags and knick-knacks. We also went to visit Thang at Hong Han which is Bich Duyen's brother hotel. The vibe at Bui Vien street is amazing but shops do close early 10-11pm-ish. There are a couple of pubs along the row but nothing too rowdy.

Forth Day in Saigon: Familiar Faces and sad goodbyes


We had arranged to meet Jinshun and his girlfriend at Ben Thanh market at noon. They were flying in for the weekend and we wanted to have lunch together.

We woke up in the morning and had dinner at this great place with 2nd level balcony seating.


Like many people say, people and traffic watching in Saigon really is enjoyable

We had a great breakfast. I had a vietnamese style pancake with sugar and lime juice (its kind of a cross btw our chinese pancake snacks and a french crepe) while Jasmine had a breakfast with the works.


My breakfast complete with a whole pot of Vietnamese tea


Jasmine's breakfast (bacon passed to me of course)


This is the traditional way Vietnamese serve their coffee. With the coffee filter on top, a whole lot of condensed milk at the bottom with a flask of water for you to adjust the thickness

After breakfast, we made our way to Ben Thanh Market to buy all our touristy things. Another bag for me, 10 bamboo balancing dragonflies for my girl-pals, various dried snacks like candied ginger, roasted lotus seeds (my mum LOVES these) and cashews.


Loads of dried goodies!

Jasmine and I also fell prey to the graceful Ao Dai. I had vowed that I was not going to buy one because I was running out of cash but the clever sales-lady appealed to my vanity and smartly got me into one which I REALLY had to have.

Halfway through our shopping, it started to pour like CRAZY and we thought we'd never be able to find JS and Winnie only to hear someone call out and startle Jasmine.

Well, yep. We found them! :D


See that unassuming glass of murky liquid there. Its what the vietnamese menus call Lemon soda. Its really just soda water, limes and sugar and u mix it together yourself. I love it.


Pho 2000 again this time with two more people in our tow

After we bade goodbye to JS and Winnie and I had imparted my Saigon notes with them (yea, I really had like 2 pages worth of notes) we headed back to our hotel to relax.

After a shower, we started to feel abit peckish and headed to Pao for a quick dinner. We had deep fried spring rolls and a salad to share.


best spring rolls ever. I was convinced that I didnt really like vietnamese spring rolls but these were fantastic!

Pao is a great place to hang out. Its got dim lighting and there is a tour desk located in it, the tours advertised look pretty interesting, maybe next time huh. ;)

Wary about getting a bad taxi, we got the hotel to call us their own transport to the airport. It cost us $9 USD and it was an amount we were very happy to pay.


Thang and us in the lobby

Saigon was a great experience and for me it was really different. Normally my holidays revolve around drinking, eating and shopping. I barely have the time or opportunity to stop and talk to the locals.

However in Saigon we were blessed to meet amazing people. There were shop keepers in Bui Vien that enjoyed speaking to us, the Malaysian family also staying at Bich Duyen were super friendly and great to talk to when we got back from the streets, Long was so interesting to meet, the malaysians we met on our tour were really cute too and of course both Thang and Chanh were all great to interact with.

All in all Saigon really isnt for the faint hearted. It is a city that is still developing and sometimes the locals are rude (although I don't know if its because they don't know what to make of tourists or because they are just that way), not everyone speaks English and it is SUPER busy on the roads. Its dusty and there are a ton of touts but Saigon is so rich in history. Its people and country have yet to be competely ruined by tourists.

I have heard that Saigon is a tiny represenation of Vietnam and that the country is vastly different across states so I'm very sure I don't know Vietnam at all but do take the trip down to Saigon if you are willing to walk, sweat, talk to strangers, learn history and aren't afraid to go out of your comfort zone.

I loved it.

Labels: saigon, travel, vietnam

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