Vietnam: Where We Went In Ho Chi Minh City,

Hello!

This is a long overdue post because I've been busy with work and some personal stuff! #whatsnew #whatsnot

Anyway, I am gonna update about the places we've been to during my trip to HCMC with Mr. Z.

Cu Chi Tunnel 

It was a Saturday and we decided to go for Cu Chi Tunnel tour. You may enquire for more information from your hotel. We booked for this tour on the day when we checked in to our hotel. It's more legit this way lah. I cannot remember how much this tour costs per pax. It wasn't as cheap as we thought. The journey to the destination was about an hour long...

According to Wikipedia, Cu Chi Tunnels are the hiding locations for the Viet Cong soldiers back during the Vietnam War.

The famous hidden hole

Look what's in the trap hole!! 

So apparently, the soldiers in the past dug their own trap holes for the enemies and placed sharp stuff inside. It's an instant yet slow torture. Just imagine if the victim didn't die immediately, but slowly...

Sweet potatoes

People in the past mostly survived on sweet potatoes. Not sure if it's bcos of the nutrients or that it can easily fill one's stomach... We tried the tea and sweet potatoes. Verdict: not to my liking. I wouldn't survive if I was one of them during those times!

Central Post Office 

We didn't stay here for long because tbh, there was nothing much to see? Just a very pretty post office that's all.

But ok lah, it was an eye opening experience lah.

Saigon Notre-Dame Basilica

War Remnants Museum

This place consists of historical facts (I hope it is) and images of how the people in the past were being tortured. It was really unbearable.

Mr. Z and I were filming and taking photos respectively but we stopped doing so after entering the station below. We thought it'd be good to stop doing that because the atmosphere was quite bad and the methods of being tortured was even worse!

We took a break because I was too drowsy from my medications the previous night. Some chocolate ice blend as my tea snack!

I forgot who told me but someone actually said "this could be a good place if you want your kids to behave!" LOL!

Independence Palace

Thanh Dinh Catholic Church 

We dropped by this church as it looks pretty on the Internet and it was also one of the must-visit places in HCMC.

Basically, these summed up our 4D3N in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam! :)

Goodbye! 

Vietnam: What We Had In Ho Chi Minh City,

Hello!

Vietnam has always been one of the countries in my travel list. As there were 2 long weekends in December and I was free during the last week of December, Mr. Z and I decided to fly over to Ho Chi Minh City for our short break. It was really a well-deserved break for me as I was super busy over the planning of Company Annual D&D from the month when I joined till late December 2017! There was also a time when there was a meltdown due to the hectic stress at work, but that's not the point.

Today, I shall go through the list of food places during our short 4D3N visit to HCMC!

Our flight was in the late afternoon so by the time we checked out of the airport, the sky had already turned dark. Checked into our hotel, which I'll talk about it in another post, and made our way down to 4P's Pizza for our first meal in HCM!

4P's Pizza

We did not expect 4P's to be in such an atas place! We did not look up the Internet of how the interior design was too that is why we were both quite surprised in a pleasant way when we reached the restaurant. We were brought up to the second level and the environment was really good. Apart from the noise level, I think this is a good place for you to visit if you love to have some Italian cuisine in HCM!

One thing good about this restaurant is that, we could order 1 pizza with 2 different flavours. I forgot if there were any additional cost to it but this helps to save so much stomach space in us! Imagine if we would like to try 2 different flavours but, like everywhere else, we had to order 2 whole pizza to try. Eew. So this is one of the pros for people who love to try different pizza!

With that, I ordered half Terriyaki Chicken and half Salmon Miso pizza, and a plate of carbonara pasta for our mains. As for desserts, I had Frozen Yogurt while Mr. Z had Double Cheese Cake. This guy of mine can never resist a cheese cake!

Carbonara Pasta

Please give this carbonara a try! I'm not sure about others but as a carbonara lover, this is really something that is worth the calories! You have to make sure to mix the cheese cubes well with the pasta and voila! Everything was so perfect that I had wanted to order for another plate of this!

Unlike some of the carbonara pasta we have in Singapore, this is thick and I think people who don't usually eat creamy carbonara sauce will somehow like eating this too. It just didn't give us the sick-of-this feeling at all!

Pizza. Left: Salmon Miso, Right: Terriyaki Chicken

I couldn't decide on the pizza so I had Mr. Z to help me with it. We both agreed on Terriyaki Chicken pizza and I just had to choose another one to make it a whole so I decided on Salmon Miso.

Terriyaki Chicken is so much nicer than Salmon Miso. It was also a wrong choice to eat Terriyaki Chicken before Salmon Miso. Terriyaki Chicken is very flavourful together with the sauce and seaweed seasoning. We then tried Salmon Miso and it tasted really meh as compared to the other one. I wonder if things would be different if we had eaten the salmon first. Hmmm. But anyway, Terriyaki Chicken is one of their signature dishes for the pizza!

Frozen Yogurt

This dessert was super legit! Like what the name suggests, you could taste the ice and yogurt! Jokes aside, I think I will never get sick of this bowl of goodness. I finished all by myself without any help from Mr. Z. Okay, except for the strawberries and that stem of leaves. Other than that, it's nothing really special about this lah. Just thought it was worth trying.

Double Cheese Cake

Mr. Z ordered this as cheesecakes are his past, current and future lover. Lol. I guess this suits the cheese lover in Mr. Z! He mentioned that it doesn't taste like the usual cheesecakes he had and that it was quite a unique texture.

Verdict: Yes, please visit this restaurant even if you have only 1 day in HCM. Hahah, it's really worth the visit! Mr. Z and I agreed upon visiting 4P's Pizza again if we ever go back there for leisure / any purpose!

Oh, I forgot to add that the total bill for these was only S$27!

Imotaro Lau

This is a random Japanese Restaurant that we chanced upon after our half-day tour to Cu Chi Tunnel. We were both famished and couldn't wait till we get to another area for a local cuisine so we settled for something that I love instead.

Again, we were brought up to the second level where it was more private and spacious!

Yakitori Don

Menchi Katsu Teishoku

The portions were huge which was really a good thing because we were famished and needed lots of food to energize ourselves for the rest of the day. Hahah! Mr. Z, yet again, said that mine looked better than his order. To which he was right! I have no idea how his Yakitori Don tastes like because I didn't get to try. Anyway, this meal costs us only S$17!

Pho 24

To be honest, I think we went to the wrong Pho 24. The one we patronised was a franchised one and we were being told not to go for franchised outlets. Sadly, we didn't know it.

Isn't this nostalgic to you?

I have no idea what we ordered. Anyway down to the point of the taste.

I personally think that the soup is really good. The broth was thick and to my liking! I could finish the whole soup if I hadn't bought the bottle of coke! The rice noodle, was really meh. I didn't quite like the texture of the rice noodle. It just felt weird to me. Or prolly because I am already used to the ones I had in Singapore. But not true, because the one I had at HCM Airport was good. So I thought the problem might lie with the franchised outlet? The beef was okay? I think the only thing I'd recommend would be the broth. JUST. THE. BROTH.

Banh Mi Hoa Ma

This is a local breakfast and it is located in District 3. It was quite a distance from where we stayed, and the Grab journey took about 25mins? I fell aslp on the way there. Lol.

Anyway, fun fact about bahn mi that I came across on the Internet. Bahn Mi started during the French Colonial times, introduced to Vietnam at that time as bread was one of the food that has to be on the menu as the French loved eating breads. I guess it still is now? As baguette.

Anyway, this is the Vietnam version of baguette lah. It tasted hard, yet a bit crispy at the sides. The hard and sharp parts actually caused my gums to be swollen after the meal. Mr. Z took the one with ham and bacon in the baguette while I had the other set which tasted oily yet good! The eggs were fried with lots of oil, I felt sick after awhile. But it is still recommendable as you can experience the way the locals have breakfast in Vietnam.

L'usine

We patronised only 1 cafe throughout our 3.5 days in Vietnam and L'usine was the one we went near Ben Thanh Market.

It consists of 2-storeys, the first level is where you can shop while the cafe is located at the 2nd level.

Tomato, Fresh Mozzarella & Feta Sandwich

L'usine Brekki

 Mr. Z ordered a cup of Vietnamese Coffee as well to go with his mains. Overall, I think the food was average. I personally think that the L'usine Brekki is nicer than my sandwich. HAHAH, needless to say actually cus it's one of the signature dishes there.

Night Market

Initially Mr. Z planned to have our dinner at a Vietnamese Restaurant. We checked out the restaurant before we headed down to this night market for a walk. We then decided that we should just stay in this area and not spend so much on a luxurious restaurant for dinner. Hahah. Tbh, I have no idea where this night market is located. The name in my video below might not be correct as well... But the one thing I knw was, this night market has quite a lot of snacks to buy!

Beef Cheese - This is really good!!!

Chicken Egg Roll

Vietnamese Pizza (?)

Airport foodcourt

Earlier I mentioned about the Pho 24 and the pho at the airport, this is the one! The rice noodle itself is so much nicer than Pho 24. Sorry, but really, personally I feel that this is nicer. Not just the rice noodle but the broth as well!

That's all for the food in Vietnam for 3.5 days! Here's the video...

Goodbye!