Travel Log: Beerification in Sunny Saigon (Day 1)

Destination: Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Duration: 4 Days 3 Night (Oct 26~Oct 29, 2018)

A short 4D3N trip is a way to quench the travel thirst when one is desperate for travel. This is the 2^nd time we will be visiting Vietnam even though it was planned before our Hanoi trip. Similar reasons applied on the destination – direct & cheap AirAsia flight from Penang and low cost accommodation if compared to other countries. Our return tickets cost around RM350/pax with seat selection when we bought it in a non-discount period.

Day 1: Of Beers & Wines

Our trip started with the common trend of parking the car indoor and getting a lift from colleagues to the airport. The unconventional scenario was the hubby had to arrive in airport earlier because the passport expiry date was entered wrongly by yours truly. *facepalm* Well, the verdict? “Passport Expiry Date” is not an important field according to the AirAsia Check-in Counter and no changes were needed! *shocked* We walked pass the immigration nervously and were able to board the plane without any issue with a wrong passport expiry date!

Our flight departed at 12.10pm and we were able to reach Ho Chi Minh City by 1pm local time. We bought the unlimited 4G in the arrival hall at vnd200k and managed to find the bus to city center easily. The bus 109 was yellow and we were able to see it at the right side of the arrival gate. The ride to city cost vnd20K/pax and the conductor would remind you when your station arrived. We stopped at the HCMC Supreme People’s Court and had a short 5-10 minutes walk to find Ace Hotel Ben Thanh.

It's time for another Adventure!

Look at the tower from afar!

Safely arrived in HCMC

Counter for Bus 109

We booked the hotel through booking.com and checked in without any issue. The reception seemed very proud that they got us a room with a ‘small window’ which I was not sure whether I specifically requested it during booking. We got to our room at 8^th floor and the window was indeed small overlooking an alley. LOL! The 3 nights stay only cost USD94.50 and definitely worth the money considering the proximity to Ben Thanh Market.

Our Hotel for 3 nights

Sammy enjoying the bed...

The 'Small Window" in the room...

The Bathroom

We had a short rest before settled in Nam Giao (link) – a recommended restaurant in tripadvisor which was just a short walk away. The restaurant was quite empty due to the odd hour though. We ordered banh beo (steamed rice cake) and pork skewer along with beer & tea since the beer seemed to be cheaper than other drinks! The banh beo was kind of strange but the crispy shrimp topping was quite savoury. The pork skewer was served with lots of vegetables and rice papers. The skewer was quite nice but we were clueless on the hard rice papers - I think it should be soaked to soften 1^st?

The Empty Restaurant

When in doubt, always order the beer!

Banh Beo

Pork Skewer

After lunch we continued on with our itinerary to take a picture on the outside of Ho Chi Minh City Museum. The weather was really scorching and we kind of missed the rain during our trip to Hanoi (link). Strangely we noticed the traffic here was actually not as chaotic as Hanoi.

The HCMC Museum

Taking a shot of Helicopter from outside...

We found the majestic Ho Chi Minh City Hall but did not see the statue. We only saw a something closed off by renovation board in the middle of the square so I assumed that was the statue. Too bad! Speaking of renovation/restoration, our luck went out again at Notre Dame as it was closed off and surrounded by scaffolding. Part of the roof was even covered by blue plastics! There went our plan to take a picture from the top from Diamond Plaza.

Ho Chi Minh City Hall

Sammy getting a shot as well! 

HCMC Notre Dame - note the scaffolding at the side!

The Statue & the Cathedral

At the side of the Notre Dame

Roof with Plastic Cover!

Saigon Central Post Office was just beside the Notre Dame so we went in for some pictures as well. The post office interior had this Renaissance feeling which made you thought you were in Europe for a second – until you saw all the tourist stalls in the middle of the building which kind of ruined the mood. The place was swarmed with tourists from some day tours coming in bus by bus nonstop!

At the Saigon Central Post Office

Inside of the Post Office with stall in the middle..

Old Phone Booth without Phone...

An Old Map of Saigon

This is where you can write your letter/postcard!

The Hard Rock Café was just around the area so we went there to do some shopping on HCMC’s special style. I must say the design looked really pretty!!! There was also a book street at the area as well with tiny book stalls along the street just like the one in Hanoi.

At the Book Street

with Small Bookstores

A Bookstore Bus!

It's Halloween!

Hard Rock Saigon!

Special Design for Saigon!

Propaganda Bistro was definitely our biggest splurge during the trip – it was a Fusion-Vietnamese style restaurant with beautiful mural & cozy environment serving twisted Vietnamese cuisines. It was still not too busy when we arrived so we managed to snatch a corner seat. We ordered the Discovery Menu I & II with 4 course meals & wine pairing. Our impression was since it was kind of a ‘sampling’ menu, the portion should be small. We were so wrong! *facepalm*

In front of Propaganda Bistro

The Discovery Menu

Beautiful Mural

Even the Napkin is special...

Cozy Environment with Wine!!!

Our eyes were bulging when the 1^st course arrived – shrimp roll from Menu I & Chicken & Mango salad from Menu II. The roll was still at reasonable size but the salad was simply humongous. The shrimp rice roll was paired perfectly with chardonnay whereas the beef salad was paired with Pinot Noir with the strong taste of Chicken & sour mangoes complimented well by the Pinot Noir.

Shrimp Roll (Menu I) & Chicken & Mango Salad (Menu II)

The 2^nd course was served and it was Beef salad (Menu I) with Syrah Grenache & Fish cake roll (Menu II) with Riesling. I was not a fan of the beef salad as water spinach’s taste was simply too sharp. However, I loved the fish cake roll as the fish cake was really scrumptious. The course was again paired nicely with the wines.

Beef Salad (Menu I) & Fish Cake Roll (Menu II)

We finally had the 3^rd course served and we were already full by then. The 3^rd course was the famous duck curry (Menu I) with Pinot Noir & crunchy tri-coloured rice w/seafood (Menu II) with Torrontes. The duck curry was too sweet and it kind of make you sick when eating too much. We preferred the crispy rice as it had an extra kick. The Argentinean Torrontes had a sharp taste but the rice neutralize it.

Duck Curry (Menu I) & Crunchy Tri-coloured Rice w/seafood (Menu II)

We were stuffed to the brink by the time our last course was served – Dark Chocolate ice cream (Menu I) & Soursop ice cream (Menu II). The soursop ice cream was really refreshing with fruit inside but the dark chocolate won hands down!!! It was very similar to Haagen Dazs Dark Chocolate ice cream and it was simply yummylicious!!! Thank goodness the dessert was paired with green tea to wash off all the heavy food we’d eaten. The restaurant was already full with patrons by the time we finally able to leave with a overly full stomach. The only complaint – the wine given were just a few mouthful per glass – I guess the wine size was really ‘sampling’ but the food ‘full size’. =P

Yummy Dark Chocolate & Soursop Ice Cream

Green Tea!

We could barely walk now...

We needed to burn off the excess calories so we walked back the Notre Dame & Post Office with a darker sky. Thus it was time for the iconic buildings at night! Not to mention the crowd was dispersing as well.

No Special Lighting at Notre Dame

At least some lighting at the Post Office

We walked along Dong Khoi Street and took pictures of the Opera House. The stretch was full of high-end brands boutique such as Prada, LV and such in beautiful French buildings. We walked past the HCMC city hall again as well as the Nguyen Hue Walking Street – the walking street was pretty underwhelming unlike the Hoen Kiam Lake area in Hanoi. The highlight of the street was the café apartment which provided a glittering landmark.

City Hall at night...

Opera House

LV at the background

The Cafe Apartment

The Walking Street - Note the covered HCM Statue at the back

Look at the kids!!!

I was thinking of skipping our plan for craft beer due to our bursting tummy but hubby insisted thus we continued on to Pasteur Street Brewing Company (link). The entrance was in an alley – they had 2 bars after the alley with the original bar at the left side with stairs and the new bar at the right. We were confused on which one to go in and a tourist who just came out told us to go for the original bar instead. We had a great seat overlooking the street and we order “Sampling Flight” to share. “Sampling Flight” consisted of 6 glasses of 125ml beers of your choices and we took the bartender’s suggestion.

At the Alley

The Stairs to the Original Tap Room

Part of the Choices

The beer had different alcohol contents and our favourite was the fruity Dragonfruit beer with 4% alcohol. The other recommendations from the bartenders seemed to have higher alcohol content ranging from 7-9% and the taste was bitterer. The “Jasmine” apparently won many awards but we thought the lemongrass taste was too overwhelming. We took our time to drink the beer as it was not easy since our stomach was almost bursting and we just had wines earlier! I should thank “Propaganda” for not serving us bigger portion of the wines indeed!

Our 'Sampling Flight"

Care for some beers?

Sammy was half drunk...

Goodnight HCMC!

Thank goodness we still managed to walk to our hotel in one piece with our alcohol fueled mind. The shower in our room seemed to be a bit crazy with either too cold or too hot water. We finally called it a night and fainted after all the alcohol & food… darn! There went my diet plan!

Next Day (Museums & Binh Quoi Village)