Wednesday, March 30, 2005

Ho Chi Minh City - Vietnam

Recently I paid my third visit to Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) for the 3rd time, as the destination is not exactly a hot tourist spot, I decided to introduce the place to you.

The skinny:
Currency is Vietnamese Dong but USD is often preffered. US$1 is currently about at 15800 Dong.

The following photos will give you a better sense of what HCMC has to offer.

Traffic:
The traffic is generally very chaotic to foreigner, honking sound can be heard every 5 seconds. However, it seemed relatively safe at the lower speed of flow and people aren't so full of rage like them road bullies you find in Malaysia.

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lotsa motorcycles, and helmet is an option, not a must

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Viet chicks on bike, you see that alot

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more bikes, with valet service too

Food:
Being in South East Asia, the flavor of food does not vary too much from Malaysia or Thailand, and best described as a mixture of both with a hint of Chinese. There are very few fastfood restaurants around, and their beef noodles (Pho).. yumm.. ooooo yummm..

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pho, comes with basil, bean sproud, and jalopeno pepper on the side, excellent

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kerang bakar (grilled clam) is served here too

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steamboat fish in slightly spicey soup base, plenty of vege on the side

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mixed rice buffet style, similar dishes to Malaysian food

Cool Restaurants:
Despite being a relatively poor country, there still plenty of people with decent spending power, hence, fancy eat-outs. These places, however, are relatively cheap compared to Malaysian restaurants. For example, a decent meal for 4 fetches US$20

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one of the cafes, better decorated than Starbucks, which they don't have btw

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another restaurant with nice rain forest theme

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my favorite pho shop, a meal costs less than US$2

War History Museum:
The war history museum is a must-go place to get the perspective of Vietnamese side on the war that killed so many.

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plenty of photos taken during the war

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recreation of POW cells, and how Faggot will look like if he's ever incacerated

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more war remnants

Shopping:
What is a city without places to shop? They'll just instantly lose 50% of visitors. You know which gender I'm talking about anyway. HCMC has all that covered, there are plenty of places selling everything from handbags to wooden decorative boats.

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pottery and more

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scaled wooden boats, these are from less than US$10 and up

MAS has 2 daily flights to HCMC. If you plan to go to Bangkok for the 2nd time or more, I suggest you might want to give HCMC a try.

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