Monday, 5 Dec 06: Day 2
Our agenda for the day was to walk around the backpackers' area and book ourselves into a day tour or two.
We set off after breakfast at the hotel. The city was interesting for the gems of colonial architecture that lingered. Typically, these were conserved as hotels.
a hotel in the Dong Khoi area
the Hotel Continental by day
the Municipal Council, with a suitably patriotic statue in the foreground
But HCM City is every bit the busy modern city (or as modern as a city in a developing country can be, I suppose) with all the attendant ills. At least we were getting used to crossing the streets without too much hesitation. Here's a look at the traffic:
corner of Le Loi and Pasteur
across the road, at the same junction
the busy corner that is Ben Thanh Market
It was actually much more likely that we would get killed on the sidewalks than crossing the streets. Already, I had been tripped by a construction worker tying planks together. And then there were the many ankle-high stools to avoid, thanks to the Vietnamese habit of chillin' out on the sidewalks. Last but certainly not least, we had to skirt around the scooters and motorbikes idling, with hot exhaust pipes.
a typically crowded sidewalk
Anyway we finally reached the backpackers' area, minutes away from Ben Thanh Market and flanked by Pham Ngu Lau and Le Tran Dao Streets. We were hot and sweaty, and not a little ill from the exhaust fumes. To make ourselves feel better, we decided to take a rest break at Sinhcafe, right next to the popular Sinhcafe budget travel agency.
more pho, this time at Sinhcafe
Cheered up by some ca phe da (iced black coffee), iced Vietnamese tea, pho bo, and crepe with lemon and sugar, we went next door and booked ourselves into a day trip to to Mekong Delta for US$8 (SGD $13.60) each, an extra US$1 per person to be picked up from our hotel.
On the way back to the hotel, we found ourselves detouring to Ben Thanh Market. This was becoming addictive!
picturesque prawns
did you ever wonder where such kitschy stuff comes from? now you know...
endlessly fascinating...
We came away with
bags that mums like...
because they are big and roomy, and embroidered!
On the way back to the hotel, we stopped by Pho 24, for tea. We were beginning to understand why people ate a little often. The regular meal breaks were necessary as a respite from the heat, but then the fact that it was hot meant that one didn't feel like eating much. It evened out somehow. Today's discovery was the papaya milkshake, thick and creamy, mmmm.
Of course we had to have a little something from Brodard's as well, a raisin muffin (11000 dong/SGD $1.20).
That tided us over till dinner time. Our choice of dinner venue was Tan Nam.
the crowd inside Tan Nam
little details that pleased
Our guess was that it was probably owned by a foreigner, possibly a Japanese expat. The place was tastefully done up with a real (read not tacky, not OTT) sense of aesthetics.
would these goi cuon be tastier?
take some steamed barramundi with baby onions, dressed in fried onion and peanuts
... served it with rice paper and condiments
... and you get this!
that's the good thing about Vietnamese food - lots of veggies, yummy
The food was pleasant enough, although the goi cuon were dry-ish. The bill came up to 191540 dong (SGD $20.50), inclusive of jasmine tea for two.
The walk back to the hotel was dotted by little visual pleasures, a routine that I was becoming quite fond of.
the facade of a jewellery shop
an upmarket silk shop, khaisilk
hehe nothing like a cat to make us feel at home
We set off after breakfast at the hotel. The city was interesting for the gems of colonial architecture that lingered. Typically, these were conserved as hotels.
a hotel in the Dong Khoi area
the Hotel Continental by day
the Municipal Council, with a suitably patriotic statue in the foreground
But HCM City is every bit the busy modern city (or as modern as a city in a developing country can be, I suppose) with all the attendant ills. At least we were getting used to crossing the streets without too much hesitation. Here's a look at the traffic:
corner of Le Loi and Pasteur
across the road, at the same junction
the busy corner that is Ben Thanh Market
It was actually much more likely that we would get killed on the sidewalks than crossing the streets. Already, I had been tripped by a construction worker tying planks together. And then there were the many ankle-high stools to avoid, thanks to the Vietnamese habit of chillin' out on the sidewalks. Last but certainly not least, we had to skirt around the scooters and motorbikes idling, with hot exhaust pipes.
a typically crowded sidewalk
Anyway we finally reached the backpackers' area, minutes away from Ben Thanh Market and flanked by Pham Ngu Lau and Le Tran Dao Streets. We were hot and sweaty, and not a little ill from the exhaust fumes. To make ourselves feel better, we decided to take a rest break at Sinhcafe, right next to the popular Sinhcafe budget travel agency.
more pho, this time at Sinhcafe
Cheered up by some ca phe da (iced black coffee), iced Vietnamese tea, pho bo, and crepe with lemon and sugar, we went next door and booked ourselves into a day trip to to Mekong Delta for US$8 (SGD $13.60) each, an extra US$1 per person to be picked up from our hotel.
On the way back to the hotel, we found ourselves detouring to Ben Thanh Market. This was becoming addictive!
picturesque prawns
did you ever wonder where such kitschy stuff comes from? now you know...
endlessly fascinating...
We came away with
- 10 mangosteens for 70000 dong (SGD $7.50) – the shopkeepers from the fruit stall recognized us!
- Cashew nuts and pistachio nuts, for 52000 dong (SGD $5.55)
- Two embroidered bags for US$20 (SGD $34) each, one for each of our mums
bags that mums like...
because they are big and roomy, and embroidered!
On the way back to the hotel, we stopped by Pho 24, for tea. We were beginning to understand why people ate a little often. The regular meal breaks were necessary as a respite from the heat, but then the fact that it was hot meant that one didn't feel like eating much. It evened out somehow. Today's discovery was the papaya milkshake, thick and creamy, mmmm.
Of course we had to have a little something from Brodard's as well, a raisin muffin (11000 dong/SGD $1.20).
That tided us over till dinner time. Our choice of dinner venue was Tan Nam.
the crowd inside Tan Nam
little details that pleased
Our guess was that it was probably owned by a foreigner, possibly a Japanese expat. The place was tastefully done up with a real (read not tacky, not OTT) sense of aesthetics.
would these goi cuon be tastier?
take some steamed barramundi with baby onions, dressed in fried onion and peanuts
... served it with rice paper and condiments
... and you get this!
that's the good thing about Vietnamese food - lots of veggies, yummy
The food was pleasant enough, although the goi cuon were dry-ish. The bill came up to 191540 dong (SGD $20.50), inclusive of jasmine tea for two.
The walk back to the hotel was dotted by little visual pleasures, a routine that I was becoming quite fond of.
the facade of a jewellery shop
an upmarket silk shop, khaisilk
hehe nothing like a cat to make us feel at home
posted by blobbes at 10:37 PM
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