We have heard so much about the frenzy of traffic in Ho Chi Minh City and when the day came, it was still pretty surreal. A mere 2 hours flight from Singapore, we touched down at the airport in no time. Spoiler alert: Our journey in Vietnam was perfect. Vietnam is a paradise for people who don’t plan their trips down to the nitty-gritty detail, but still wanted the element of surprise that is delightful at every turn. So much reminiscing to do, so little time.
Getting to Ho Chi Minh City from the airport was a breeze, with the frequent Bus 109 already at the berth. Tickets costed 20,000 VND, and we arrived in the city in an hour. Our accommodation, Elios Hotel was a 5–10 mins walk from the last stop of the bus route — that is, if you take into consideration the ridiculously frenetic traffic that seem to continue ceaselessly. Crossing the roads became a major achievement — a heart-stopping adrenaline rush. The jewel of Elios Hotel was perhaps its rooftop restaurant on the 12th floor, which affording sweeping views of Ho Chi Minh City. Borrowing a travel adapter was a breeze, and the hotel also ranks highly in cleanliness. After relaxing over some vietnamese coffee and oolong tea (there’s a stash in our room), we headedq out in search of food. Just a stone’s throw away from our hotel lies a cute restaurant dishing out com suon — broken rice topped with grilled pork (50,000 VND). Freshly grilled and immensely juicy, the well-marinated pork was a great start to our trip. Paired with a runny egg and fragrant rice (not mushy at all!), the meal was sumptuous, washed down with iced green tea (Tra da) (4,000 VND) and coconut water (Dua tuoi) (20,000 VND).
Our journey to Ben Thanh Market, a decidedly touristy attraction, was fraught with distractions, from quirky little cafes to the wonderful Fine Arts Museum.
Our first distraction came in the form of a delightful chocolate cafe — Maison Marou (167–169 Calmette Street). The chocolate truffles (25,000 VND each) here boasted fascinating flavours, from the multi-faceted Coconut Green Tea truffle to the Pho truffle, with a gentle infusion of the spices used to prepare the iconic beef noodle dish. The shop also serves chocolate drinks, chocolate popcorn and an assortment of chocolate bars laced with interesting ingredients like caramel, cookies and even chilli (50,000 to 150,000 VND a bar). One can even see chocolate being made behind the glossy glass panels — a rare opportunity to see the bean to bar process where the primary ingredient of the artisan chocolate is sourced from local cacao farmers. The only thing missing was a modern-day Willy Wonka!
Art is the best eye candy…
To beat the heat, we decided to explore the Fine Arts Museum, where paintings and sculptures revealing Vietnam’s past and dreams are housed in a vast colonial building. Admission cost a mere 20,000 VND. The first object that struck us was the old, wooden lift that looked like it belonged in an bygone era. We spent some time puzzling about whether we could take the lift up, but the huge crack at the top broke our reverie and we took the stairs instead. There was beauty everywhere in the museum — the graceful spiral staircase, the stained glass windows with floral designs, the Romeo-and-Juliet-esque balconies…they all contributed to the old-world charm of the city.
The artworks revealed secrets of Vietnam’s past — abstract renditions, fluid sculptures and beautiful paintings steeped in realism. My favourite were the portraits, giving a glimpse into the people that were part of Vietnam’s history and rich agricultural heritage.
How ‘bout some Matcha?
The main shopping centre, Saigon Centre comes with the anchor tenant Takashimaya — this means treats from the Food Hall at the basement! After chilling with a Matcha Float from Azabu Sabo (55,000 VND), we shopped at the spiffy artisan market, and found some Italian Spinach Pasta selling for only 50,000 VND (after cooking them back in Singapore, I can safely say — yum yum!). The shelves were stocked with Maison Marou chocolate bars too, a convenient spot to stock up if somehow missed out on the chocolate cafe. Our favourite hummus was nowhere to be found though:( Matcha lovers will be delighted by the plethora of matcha dessert options from little cafes at the mall’s basement.
District 1 — the city’s best history textbook
District 1 is jam-packed with the city’s best historical monuments.
Rex Hotel, an imposing building famous for its role as a conference location during the Vietnam War, was somewhat marred with a gigantic rooster decoration for the upcoming Chinese New Year. From our vantage point at the main square, the rooftop garden bar, once popular with war correspondents, was bustling with tourists downing cocktails as they waited for the sunset to bathe the city in a warm glow. Ho Chi Minh City Hall stands quietly in its ornate grandeur, built in a French colonial style, fronted by a bronze statue of Ho Chi Minh. Before the Vietnam War, the capital of Vietnam was named as Saigon instead of its present name of Ho Chi Minh City. Nightfall comes quickly in Vietnam — it was not long before it grew dark. We quickly went over to explore the nearby attractions — the General Post Office and Notre Dame Cathedral.
Isn’t the General Post Office grand?
One of the oldest buildings in Ho Chi Minh City, the General Post Office is remarkably well-preserved, with high ceilings stabilised by steel pillars. Stepping into the post office feels like entering a different world — Gothic architecture, wooden furnishings and beautiful tiled floors offers a slice of European grandeur, even in an era where emails have largely replaced the need for postal services. We decided to send postcards to each other (actually Vanessa didn’t really want to so it’s just me being enthusiastic) and the sales of postcards (we’ve got a pack of 10 postcards depicting ancient Saigon for just 10,000 VND) and stamps all under one roof made it amazing easy to send a letter here in Ho Chi Minh City. A stamp to Singapore costs 10,500 VND.
Not the Notre Dame in Paris.
Like the General Post Office, Notre Dame Cathedral is also another grand old dame, constructed between 1863 and 1880. The soaring bell towers reach a height of 58 meters. I found the bright red brick facade amazingly beautiful (found out that they were imported from Toulouse, France) — they have retained their colour for so many years! Though the original building materials were imported from France, many were replaced in Ho Chi Minh City after the cathedral was destroyed by the war. Though we promised ourselves that we wouldn’t eat so much fried food, the tantalising smell from the grassy patch in front of the church was too good. In the dark, we could hardly make out the ingredients as they were making our Banh Trang Nuong or Roasted Rice Paper Pancake. A random street seller harassed us with a block of agar agar (20,000 VND). Best kind of harassment ever, because the layers of coconut cream and jelly were an explosion of flavours. #don’tbejelly
I wanted to see the Independence Palace, but it was quite disappointing as the palace was shrouded in darkness. We stumbled across a grungy artsy little restaurant called Ngo 89 along our walk back to our hotel, where we feasted on a selection of “healthy” dishes like fish soup, crab soup and a wickedly delicious vegetable egg. Ordering dishes was quite a hit or miss here — the fish soup came in a hefty portion with juicy chunks of fish, but the crab soup was an open-ended “Where’s the crab?” question. We figured that the “crab” probably referred to the fishcake-like ingredient in the soup. Everything was loaded with vegetables, soaked in the flavourful soup. The vegetable in the vegetable egg tasted like kale — interesting and delightful. A little dish of salt and lime was on the side for dipping. The iced lemon tea was on the sweeter side but was amazing to wash everything down. Total damage? 125,000 VND, the equivalent of S$7.90. In Vietnam, we feasted like queens.
The utterly satisfying dinner marked the end of our first day in Vietnam.
