Ho Chi Minh City Hoppin' - Day 3 & Heading Home

We spent our final day (well, morning, hours, whatever) in Ho Chi Minh City at The Manor to attend the birthday of our family friend's daughter.

But you know, that didn't mean that I couldn't have one last taste of Vietnamese cuisine before leaving!

We had quite a late breakfast at the Pho 24 branch at The Manor. To be honest, I was freaking out a little the night before as I was worried that I would be leaving the city without having a bowl of pho.

Mhmm... so many yummy choices...

What do you know, cafe sua da! Two glasses of it too...

I always get pho ga, and add some bean sprouts in mine. Simple. Other people I know go for the whole shebang and put in egg, lemon, all sorts of veggies, etc. The works if you'll have it.

Again, I don't eat pho outside of Vietnam purely because I'm a stickler for taste. Pho outside of Vietnam just doesn't taste as amazing. (If you read my last post about my thoughts on eating Cha gio outside of Vietnam, those feelings apply to pho too.)

How good does that look?

We also got a side order of bun cha gio - fried spring rolls served with rice vermicelli. It was such a big bowl, I couldn't finish it all, what with my pho ga also calling my attention. Personally, I think that the bun cha gio from Pho 2000 (another popular pho place) is better than the one from Pho 24, not to say that this wasn't good too. But that's just me.

Price-wise, very affordable (one bowl is about 60,000vnd), so if you're craving Vietnamese food, come check out any of the branches of Pho 24 (or Pho 2000, both are equally awesome in my opinion). Everyone passing through Vietnam needs to have a hot bowl of delicious pho straight from the country it originated from!

Just a few snippits from the birthday party we attended - there was so much food that I wanted to try out, but I was so stuffed from all the pho and bun cha gio! Lesson learned - don't eat pho before a children's birthday party where you're guaranteed to be drooling over all the food.

Sadly we had to leave the party early to catch our bus back to Phnom Penh at 1pm! It was a bit of a mad dash trying to get back to Pham Ngu Lao on time...

...because we dropped by Tous Les Jours to buy a few snacks for the road!

Tous Les Jours is a South Korean bakery franchise, with over 100 stores outside of Korea, serving a wide selection of baked goods and beverages. I remember how I would sometimes bring a few of their pastries to school for break and lunch time! TLJ is apparently the biggest bakery in Vietnam, and I can't argue with that! They've also got stores here in Phnom Penh, though I've yet to visit one.

My fave picks from TLJ - their croque monsieur, apple muffin, plain croissant and chocolate buns. Mhmm...

Nom nom nom...

Heading back! We passed by the first Starbucks that opened here in Ho Chi Minh City, the branch over at New World Hotel. I actually dropped by here May of last year with a few friends who had also come back to visit HCMC. Same menu, same vibe, same crowd. What did I expect really? Still, it's a great place to hang out. I believe they've got more branches around District 1 and 7 now.

After about two hours, we reached the Cambodian border. This time I remember to take a few photos!

We had a break once again at the Flower restaurant, and lesson learned, we didn't buy anything there besides drinks. My dad actually popped by Burger King before we left Ho Chi Minh City, and we ate those instead!

Not long after, it started to rain pretty hard while we were on the road and that got me pretty anxious. Bad weather while traveling always puts me on edge. So much so I didn't get any sleep despite feeling a little under the weather. We arrived back in Phnom Penh a little past 7pm - not bad at all. The trip back to Phnom Penh wasn't as thrilling as it was heading to HCMC (the movie wasn't as good and the views didn't seem so appealing in the rain), but it was much cooler as this time round, the air-condition on our bus was working well. Thank God!

It was so great being back in Ho Chi Minh City! It was like a breath of fresh air, being back in the city I hold near and dear to my heart, the place I called home for pretty much my entire childhood. Damn, I wish we had stayed for longer than the weekend but I guess that's just going to give me more incentive to come back. There literally was so much to do, and so little time. Probably this time next year? Who knows?

Hopefully my posts have helped you plan out your future trip to Ho Chi Minh City!

Happy discovering!

PS - I tried to take the quickest snapshot of the Cathedral as we passed it while in the car, and this was the result. Epic. Fail. 

Ho Chi Minh City Hoppin' - Day 2, Part 2

As promised, part 2! God, I cannot get enough of this city.

Bitexco Financial Tower - 68 stories high, making it the tallest building in the city. The building was inspired by the country's national flower, the lotus, so make sure to have a good, hard look to see he resemblance. You'll be able to see Bitexco from all the way in Dist. 7! Although I've only ever been here once (and that was for dinner at one of the restaurants on the ground floor), there are six floors filled with retail stores, restaurants on the 50th and 51st floors, a helipad (on the 52nd floor) and Saigon Skydeck, a public observation deck on the 49th floor, that gives a 360 degree view of the city and the Mekong River.

As it was a Saturday night, we went to mass at the Archdiocesan Pastoral Center along Ton Duc Thang St. in District 1. Quite a number of expats do attend mass here and the community is continuously growing what with more and more people moving to the city. Again, it was really great to see a few familiar faces and catch up!

If you're ever in the city and are looking to attend a mass in English (besides from those at the cathedral), you're always welcome here - Saturdays, 6pm on the second floor (in the air-conditioned area that looks a bit like a theatre).

Taking a stroll down Dong Khoi St. after mass

Ipa-Nima is an accessory label known for its unique designs featuring embellishments and striking colour schemes. Christina Yu, considered as a style icon in Vietnam, founded Ipa-Nima in the 90s after moving to Hanoi in 1995 and being impressed by the workmanship of the local artisans. A lot of their products have been featured in major fashion magazines such as Vogue, Harper's Bazaar and Cosmpolitan, and they've got boutiques all over the world.

I love how girly and trendy the stores are, with the pink walls, dark floors and fancy chandeliers. I would love to have a walk-in closet that looked exactly like their stores. Let's face it, it is my dream walk-in closet design. Period. I'd spend my whole day in there! *sigh* I also love the sweet fragrance you sniff the minute you step into the store. Hmm...

Check out one of their stores while you're in the city! The products are so gorgeous, unique and of a high quality that you may end up wanting everything despite the price tag. I will admittedly say that my mom and I do have a few items from Ipa-Nima, but how could we resist? *ahem* I actually know a few people who have bought more than two bags at a time here *ahem*
You can check out their website here.

Introducing my all-time favourite restaurant in the city - Quan An Vietnamese Restaurant!
I cannot, I repeat, CANNOT leave this city without eating here.

It's actually a bit of a hidden gem, as you won't find it along the actual road. I'd say the easiest way to get here is to go through the Pho 24 on Dong Khoi St. (right next to Ipa-Nima) - you gotta walk all the way to the back and go out (it's directly behind Pho 24) There's another entrance just around the corner of the street (Mac Thi Buoi) - it's an alley way that, again, you just have to walk through all the way to the end.

While we were still living here in HCMC, we frequented this restaurant so much that a few of the staff actually know us, especially my dad. Heck, we probably ate here at least once a week. We would bring all our visitors here, and highly recommend it to anyone else.

On the wall is actually a certificate from TripAdvisor - just goes to show how much people love this place. I know I do.

Amazing decor here - with the wall mounted hand-made fans, silk lamp shades down to the deep yellow of the walls.

Fresh coconut juice - perhaps the sweetest I have ever had. So cold, so sweet, so tasty!

My mom's personal favourite - Banh Beo Chen (flat floating rice cake topped with shrimp)

Mhmm, my all time favourite Vietnamese dish - Cha gio (fried spring rolls). I refuse to eat Cha gio outside of Vietnam. Though I'm sure Cha gio in Vietnamese restaurants outside of Vietnam are delicious, there's just something about them that tastes wrong. Nothing can live up to my expectations, having grown up with these dishes for 16 years in the country they originate from. I'm a stickler for authenticity and taste. Don't judge.

Fried squid *drool*

My third favourite (second would have to be pho) - Goi cuon (fresh spring rolls). The thing I love the most about this dish is the peanut sauce that you dip the rolls in. I can't have these babies without that peanut sauce. It just tastes and feels wrong without it.

Dragon rice served in a coconut - how cool is that!? It's basically fried rice with seafood, and it tastes super amazing.

Fried chicken -urgh- I'm so hungrryy now... Although I have tried countless kinds of fried chicken, there's something about the ones from here that make it so different from the rest. I'd suggest you try these out.

Check out all the sauces (pictured left)! That's something I quite love about Vietnamese cuisine - there's a sauce for each dish, making it so uniquely delicious and authentic. Hmm... now I'm craving some Vietnamese food...

And how could I have this fantastic feast without ordering cafe sua da (pictured right)? It's basically iced coffee with condensed milk. I love how strong the coffee is from Vietnam, and the sweetness of their milk just turns it down a notch in this mixture. I could have two of these at a time and still have a good night's sleep. I confess, in every Vietnamese restaurant I go to, I never fail to order this drink. Soo good...

Complimentary cup of hot tea at the end of the meal

Price-wise, super affordable and worth every penny!!! Our feast costed around 900,000vnd ($45) - keep in mind, we had leftovers between the three of us. Price is well worth the delicious Vietnamese cuisine here. Now, I'm probably just being a tad bit biased here, but I swear, you will not regret eating at Quan An Vietnamese Restaurant.

If Vietnamese food is your thing, come here. They've got so much food to offer that you'll be so bloated at the end of the meal that you'll probably have to walk down the whole of Dong Khoi St. to walk it all off, the ambience is so homey and warm, and the staff super friendly.

As always,
Happy discovering!