1. Woke up early and headed out for some local pho (it's no vietnam without a pho, me say ;D). This one I had is called "pho le" and was so good! Foods are super cheap in vietnam, even cheaper than Thailand :D
2. Went to ChoLun (the chinatown) which looked like typical chinatown all around the world :p we didnt really walk around, just passed it by in the taxi.
3. Headed out to District 1 (where all the main sightseeing can be found), and hit the Notre Dame church
4. Just opposite the church, was the General Post Office, which I like very much, the building was very pretty (French architecture). Send some postcards back home if you like :) I did!
5. Walked around the surrounding malls. They were generally not very big. And not many variety (yet) on cosmetics departments but I found CLIO (Korean) brand in a mall called "diamond" and snatched some pretty lipsticks :D
6. Next, to the famous theater (but it's not open for public, so just took some pics lolz).
The nice French old style building hotel just across the theater, the building is more than 100 years but still look nice.
7. Walked, a bit, we arrived at the city council buidling. I like this building because it has a nice garden at the front of it.
6. Lunch time. Here's a must visit resto called Quan An Ngon. This resto got featured on Lonely Planet. And although not all resto featured on lonely planet lives up to its description there, this one sure does!! This resto serves bunch of different foods from all over vietnam!! You can watch them live cooking too. Tasted yummy, fab atmosphere, and the price made you smile after the good meals
7. Another walk to one of the surrounding malls. Got myself the famous HIGHLAND coffee (Vietnam is famous for its coffee too). Highland is like the starbuck in Vietnam. Look how clever they made the take away bag lolz...loving the idea so much...
8. Saigon Square is where to buy clothes, bags, and such. The place isn't big and the variety is pretty limited. I found some Foverver21 dresses though ;D
9. Cho Bin Tanh Market is the popular tourist destination. But I didn't go in because I was told the stuff sold there would be similar to what I saw in Saigon Square, with more expensive price tags and heat :p
10. This is the palace, where we spent quite some time to walk around and see many interesting objects.
I missed out the War Museum but was tired already lolz... those places above are all in District 1 and within walking distance (except ChoLun), so it's possible to see them all in one day!
Aside from that I noticed many interesting things in Vietnam:
* Motorcycles are abound here...similar to Jakarta XD
*Many street sellers selling vegetables and foods. This view below is quite common in some areas
*People here are still wearing the straw hats :D I love seeing them walking around with the hats! for some reason XD
*This is the highway. Motorcycles are allowed on highway @.@" I was quite surprised...
*But nothing surprised me more than seeing this cool bicycle on the highway HAHAHAHA..
That's the brief summary of my visit to HCMC. It was a short but pleasant visit. And I found myself liking Vietnam. I would love to go back there again in the future!
Hope you all have a good start of the week
xoxo
ps. Giveaway from my lovely Julie!! Check her fab blog out if you haven't!!
25 comments:
How would you rate cosmetics shopping in Vietnam? What other brands do they have there?
You showed quite a bit of pictures, but I only focused on the shopping ones hehee~ So sorry, Hana!!!
I've never heard of Purederm! Have you tried their masks? Which is your favourite?
That's such a cool city...I hope to visit someday. Thank you for sharing your experiences and your pics. Two of my friends have visited there is the past year, but neither has come through with any pictures yet!
Aww, you post makes me what to go back and visit! I saw a lot of those things too. The Diamond mall is good place to beat the heat! I had fun, the Ben Thanh is actually pretty good. I dunno if the prices are higher, but it's got a butt load of stuff so you save time by shopping around I guess. It's so funny, you will find anyone and anything driving on the highway there.. it's crazy!! I got to be one of them, so fun!
What a wonderful city!
Is that pho? Making me want some now.
Ohhh Hana these photos are soooooo fantastic! I really want to go to Vietnam now!! It looks really pretty- especially the Notre Dame!!! And the shopping looks gooood!!
Aw no way you could totally pull of the 60's look- you would look totally gorgeous!!! As always :)
The garden looks beautiful!! Looks like you had fun. I heard the typhoon Ketsana which came from here paid a visit to Vietnam too! Glad it didn't seem to have ruined your trip.:)
Great pictures!!
You look so cute holding the HIGHLAND coffee. Was it really good?
Yum I love Pho & Summer Rolls.
P.S. I have an award for you on my blog :)
i heart heart pho so much!
and look at the amazing view!!
Thank you for signing up, it was a wonderful surprise. You're just in time to read my craziest experience. I don't know if any of it was real, but it sure seemed real at the time!
haha you had food at a place called P-Hole. Like as in your pee hole? HAHAHAHAH sorry just had to say something about the name!!! I kove your pics and I really want to visit there! And same with blair, I focused mainly on the shopping ones too :D
thanks for posting my giveaway too hunny!!
Nice! I can't believe its cheaper than in Thailand! :P
Yeh you can say I'm part Thai :)
Man I miss riding those small motorcycles! :P Pretty fun! I think they are much easier to ride than the ones here :P Did you get to ride one? :)
Where are you going after this?
it looks like u had a great time!
I read from another blog that Vietnam has Integrate and VOV so I thought that it'd be pretty impressive~ No Bobbi Brown? Hmm.. even MY has this brand although we don't have NARS here :(
Although I must say that the buildings in Vietnam are very very beautiful... always enjoyed looking at them :)
Yup, shoot me with your questions and I'll try my best to answer them :)
I'm currently using my old laptop (as the new one died, what irony) and it's on its last legs.. slow and annoying *arghhh*
You did a lot of great things just for one day :-) That little theatre only opens at night mostly for shows, so audience can enter (just not visitors)
They had Forever21 there? How was the price (on average)?
Ben Thanh might be a good place for souvenirs (prices are negotiable), but yeah, it's busy and hot
You are a very busy woman! ahahah! Look at you all smiles.. You look so pretty!! ^^
I love pho!!! It looks yum!
I've been to vietnam some years back and I wish I could go there again.
Vietnam ,Indonesia and Philippines are so much alike esp in motorcycle :D you can see them at highways here too lol .. omg luv all your pictures! my ultimate dream is to travel around asia damn girl you are so lucky hmm why not visit here hun :P
hey cutie! :) looks like a wonderful city! enjoyed this post!
It's easier to tell you about the brands that you should avoid. MAC and Benefit are definitely overpriced. Korean brands like Etude House, Skinfood etc etc are also more expensive here, 2-3X the price in Korea... oh yeah, EH is cheaper in MY compared to Thailand, so get it here haha ;D
Hmmm, what other brands are you interested in?
such a cool post! i feel like i just visited it too lol
the food looks gorgeous!
and you look so cute in the picture where you're carrying the coffees ^^
Awww.. I miss Vietnam! Can't wait to go back. Glad to see you enjoyed your trip! =)
it spretty much look like jakarta huh?
hehehe
i wanan try tehir food !lol
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Awww Hana thankyou :) You are the sweetestttt!!! And no I haven't used the old Ojon hair treatment for awhile now, I'm almost out and not sure if I want to pay so much again! I'm just using good old Herbal Essences atm lol Are you still Vietnam-ing?? :)
missing your update :]
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