Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam
Xin Chao Ho Chi Minh!!
We have a great location, sitting in district 4 and across the river from most sights. Ho Chi Minh is much more of a modern city than anywhere else we've been in Vietnam. It's filled with sky scrapers and modern restaurants and amenities, although the street food scene here is still very much alive. We celebrated with pizza!! The 4Ps restaurant is in a luxurious mall. We were drawn to this place with the promise of wood oven cooked pizza topped with house made cheese, we're all in need of some cheese.... It did not disappoint!
Our first morning we stumbled upon a gem of a pho place. It had a stellar broth and we basically ate there every morning, with the exception of a few.
After our bellies were full, we were dropped off at out apartment and decided to have a couple of beers on the rooftop over looking the city.
The following day we walked out to an apartment complex converted to local shops and restaurants. It's supposedly an iconic place. Instead it was overpriced and lacking flavor, but we were there, so we ate. I had Bun Rieu, a crab based noodle soup. It was ok, a little on the sweet side for my taste.
Luke headed out to the local market while we dragged the kids home for a nap. In the evening Isa and Mack headed out for the same tour. They had different guides and instead of Bun Cha, had a different dish.
On Tuesday, we thought we would shake things up a bit and find a different spot for breakfast. It really is hard to leave a great bowl of pho. We headed out to the carts that set up near a local hospital and found some banh mi for the boys. The cart also served Op La, which is essentially egg banh mi. It may have been the mayo or some other magic, but this is by far the best Op La we have had in Vietnam to date. The people at the cart came to know us well. Luke, Mack and I grabbed a mystery noodle dish around the corner everyone was eating. It consisted of very wide rice noodles mixed with thin sliced veggies and topped with crunchy shallots and meat with a sweet and spicy fish sauce. It was different and tasty, but we still have no idea what it's called.
We headed to the market in the afternoon to barter for some shoes and clothes for the boys and a bag to send all of our junk back to Canada with. We ate in the food stands at the far end of the market before heading into the thick of things. The food was ok, but nothing new. We were successful on all fronts except finding a bag. Eventually, we had had enough of bartering and the hustle of the market and needed to get back to out the kids to bed.
This being Mack's last day in Vietnam, he decided on a hot pot for dinner. We found a traditional spot 15 mins or so from our place in a maze of shops and markets to the east of our apartment. We chose the beef hotpot, not really knowing what to expect. It was authentic to say the least. 80% organ meat authentic. We had ordered a few side so that Isa had something to eat and they were attacked by all of us. we did fairly well at trying just about everything. All three of us were ok with eating peices of tongue. None of us are fans of kidney or liver. The large colon was not a favorite either. Surprisingly stomach and small intestine was much better than expected. it didn;t have that offal taste to it. Luke and Mack weren't fans on account of the texture, but I didn't mind it being a little chewy, like squid. The most disappointing aspect for all of us was the broth. It was relatively bland. This from a country famed for broth. We were definitely expecting much better. We took Mack home and introduced hom to the movie Se7en. Neither of them had seen it and now they will better understand when Luke and I whine out "what's in the box?!"
Wednesday morning, we woke up to no Mackie..... the boys spent a good part of the morning looking for him. We grabbed some Op La from our stand and remained hidden in the aircon. Luke and I did take the boys for a swim and Luke headed out in search of a bag. In the end we sent our large bag packed to the rafters with Mack. It was honestly one of the most cathartic things we have done in a while, purging our backpacks. You learn to live in 3-4 outfits quite easily.
I returned to the area where we had dinner the night before in search of lunch. I wasn't sure exactly what I was craving, so I wandered around for a while until I found it....Banh Tom. I didn't have my phone with me, so the picture below is from the internet. They are fritter like bites. The lady selling them had a small muffin tin set up over a flame. The wells were filled with oil. She would pour her batter of rice flour, water, turmeric and veg into the wells and fry them until the bottoms crisped up. Then just before flipping, she would place a piece of pork or a whole shrimp into the top and flip quickly just to finish cooking the top. She them popped them out onto a plate for you with some mustard greens and herbs and sweet and spicy fish sauce for dipping. They were so tasty!! I sat there with an older gentleman who warned me against leaving my purse in view and pinched my thighs followed with a thumbs up when I ordered a second round haha.
In the evening we took the boys up to the roof to run around and play on the workout equipment. The visibility was great for once, so the views were fairly impressive. We met a couple of guys from Toronto and chatted for a few minutes.
Thursday was "Happy Birthday Daddy" day! (So was every morning for the next week after that. The boys didn't quite get it ;)) Luke woke up to a morning present from the boys. We also had our offer on a different house in Brighton accepted! Yes, we bought a house we toured via facetime with Luke's parents on Tuesday night! As most of you are by now well aware, we aren't very conventional people. The house was in an area we had been attracted to. The problem was that I had visions of an older home with renovations. Once I worked past being trapped in that mindset, we found a house both of us really liked, in a great area (only 5 mins from Lake Ontario with a park in our back yard). If all goes well with the home inspection next week, we will have a place to call home when we return to Canada!
In the afternoon Isa went out to the market and returned with Thit Kho, Vietnamese empanadas.
Luke decided he wanted to spend part of his day at the EON 52 Heli Bar at the Bitexco Tower. We enjoyed a few pitchers of beer overlooking the city while listening to a very eclectic playlist. Is there a better way to enjoy your birthday and recent house purchase? On the way to the bathroom there was a guy perched at the bar smoking. So strange to see people smoke indoors nowadays. We decided to close out happy hour and stopped for some takeout Korean fried chicken and cheesecakes on the way home. We were met with cheers at home, predominantly over the cheesecake, and chowed down.
Tomorrow we fly out to Cambodia. Vietnam has been one of my favorite countries in all of the travels I have done. We've already talked about planning a return trip for a motorcycle tour starting in the north around Sappa and trailing down through the interior of the country. The food is some of my favorite and the people are so warm and friendly. Aside from that one gringo priced experience in Hue, we have not been met with any scams or hustles of any kind. People are genuinely interested in talking to you, even if the goal is only to practice their English. We really enjoyed Thailand when we visited a few years back, but Vietnam now holds my heart. I look forward to our return.
We have a great location, sitting in district 4 and across the river from most sights. Ho Chi Minh is much more of a modern city than anywhere else we've been in Vietnam. It's filled with sky scrapers and modern restaurants and amenities, although the street food scene here is still very much alive. We celebrated with pizza!! The 4Ps restaurant is in a luxurious mall. We were drawn to this place with the promise of wood oven cooked pizza topped with house made cheese, we're all in need of some cheese.... It did not disappoint!
Our first morning we stumbled upon a gem of a pho place. It had a stellar broth and we basically ate there every morning, with the exception of a few.
We have the luxury of a pool at this airbnb, so we took the boys for a swim in the kiddy pool. They're really getting comfortable in the water and at least with the kiddy pool, they can do their own thing under supervision. It's much easier on us. For lunch we went to an overpriced dumpling joint. They were tasty, but 5 or 6$ for three dumplings?! Insane! If you aren't eating at small street eateries here, you're likely getting hosed.
In the evening, Luke and I signed up for a food tour of the evening street food. We were paired with a local student looking to improve their English while touring us around to various local joints. Our guides were Windy (with Luke) and Beatrice (with me). They taught us a lot about Ho Chi Minh and the food we were eating. Windy was also quite funny and was committed to "cracking" Luke's tough exterior. We had Bun Cha, a typical vermicelli noodle bowl, a Vietnamese take on rice pudding with banana and coconut milk, a vietnamese "pancake" which was more like an omlet and serving in greens, Banh Trang Nuong, Banh Xeo, a Vietnamese pizza on rice paper grilled and a flan in iced coconut milk. We travelled from place to place on the back of their scooters. These girls are brave! If you've never been to Asia....traffic here is insane!
The following day we walked out to an apartment complex converted to local shops and restaurants. It's supposedly an iconic place. Instead it was overpriced and lacking flavor, but we were there, so we ate. I had Bun Rieu, a crab based noodle soup. It was ok, a little on the sweet side for my taste.
Luke headed out to the local market while we dragged the kids home for a nap. In the evening Isa and Mack headed out for the same tour. They had different guides and instead of Bun Cha, had a different dish.
On Tuesday, we thought we would shake things up a bit and find a different spot for breakfast. It really is hard to leave a great bowl of pho. We headed out to the carts that set up near a local hospital and found some banh mi for the boys. The cart also served Op La, which is essentially egg banh mi. It may have been the mayo or some other magic, but this is by far the best Op La we have had in Vietnam to date. The people at the cart came to know us well. Luke, Mack and I grabbed a mystery noodle dish around the corner everyone was eating. It consisted of very wide rice noodles mixed with thin sliced veggies and topped with crunchy shallots and meat with a sweet and spicy fish sauce. It was different and tasty, but we still have no idea what it's called.
We headed to the market in the afternoon to barter for some shoes and clothes for the boys and a bag to send all of our junk back to Canada with. We ate in the food stands at the far end of the market before heading into the thick of things. The food was ok, but nothing new. We were successful on all fronts except finding a bag. Eventually, we had had enough of bartering and the hustle of the market and needed to get back to out the kids to bed.
This being Mack's last day in Vietnam, he decided on a hot pot for dinner. We found a traditional spot 15 mins or so from our place in a maze of shops and markets to the east of our apartment. We chose the beef hotpot, not really knowing what to expect. It was authentic to say the least. 80% organ meat authentic. We had ordered a few side so that Isa had something to eat and they were attacked by all of us. we did fairly well at trying just about everything. All three of us were ok with eating peices of tongue. None of us are fans of kidney or liver. The large colon was not a favorite either. Surprisingly stomach and small intestine was much better than expected. it didn;t have that offal taste to it. Luke and Mack weren't fans on account of the texture, but I didn't mind it being a little chewy, like squid. The most disappointing aspect for all of us was the broth. It was relatively bland. This from a country famed for broth. We were definitely expecting much better. We took Mack home and introduced hom to the movie Se7en. Neither of them had seen it and now they will better understand when Luke and I whine out "what's in the box?!"
I returned to the area where we had dinner the night before in search of lunch. I wasn't sure exactly what I was craving, so I wandered around for a while until I found it....Banh Tom. I didn't have my phone with me, so the picture below is from the internet. They are fritter like bites. The lady selling them had a small muffin tin set up over a flame. The wells were filled with oil. She would pour her batter of rice flour, water, turmeric and veg into the wells and fry them until the bottoms crisped up. Then just before flipping, she would place a piece of pork or a whole shrimp into the top and flip quickly just to finish cooking the top. She them popped them out onto a plate for you with some mustard greens and herbs and sweet and spicy fish sauce for dipping. They were so tasty!! I sat there with an older gentleman who warned me against leaving my purse in view and pinched my thighs followed with a thumbs up when I ordered a second round haha.
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| Taken from the following source: http://dulich24.com.vn/bai-viet/am-thuc/mon-ngon-noi-tieng-soc-trang-id-1505 |
Thursday was "Happy Birthday Daddy" day! (So was every morning for the next week after that. The boys didn't quite get it ;)) Luke woke up to a morning present from the boys. We also had our offer on a different house in Brighton accepted! Yes, we bought a house we toured via facetime with Luke's parents on Tuesday night! As most of you are by now well aware, we aren't very conventional people. The house was in an area we had been attracted to. The problem was that I had visions of an older home with renovations. Once I worked past being trapped in that mindset, we found a house both of us really liked, in a great area (only 5 mins from Lake Ontario with a park in our back yard). If all goes well with the home inspection next week, we will have a place to call home when we return to Canada!
In the afternoon Isa went out to the market and returned with Thit Kho, Vietnamese empanadas.
Tomorrow we fly out to Cambodia. Vietnam has been one of my favorite countries in all of the travels I have done. We've already talked about planning a return trip for a motorcycle tour starting in the north around Sappa and trailing down through the interior of the country. The food is some of my favorite and the people are so warm and friendly. Aside from that one gringo priced experience in Hue, we have not been met with any scams or hustles of any kind. People are genuinely interested in talking to you, even if the goal is only to practice their English. We really enjoyed Thailand when we visited a few years back, but Vietnam now holds my heart. I look forward to our return.
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