HCMC Picture Hodgepodge

Now that I have access to my computer (thanks to H for fixing my virus ridden laptop!), I can upload my many pictures. Here are miscellaneous pictures that I took in HCMC that did not make it into a post!


View from our hotel room on our first night in HCMC.


Careful there! So many electrical wires!


Rex Hotel. Dammit, I never had a drink on the patio!! However, I did get a Swedish massage at the hotel thanks to The Gastronomer.


Old houses in District 5.


Line of vendors lined up, selling ... I don’t know what. I always meant to try it but never got around to it.


Vegetarian thali at our favourite Indian restaurant, Mumtaz, at 226 Bùi Viện. I’ve had many thali‘s and this is one of the prettiest! The Boyfriend and I ate there every few weeks!


Bánh mì thịt bò nướng, fancied up (and the price showed it!)


Bánh cam Vendor.


Can you say traffic?


Family friends from Montréal in front of city hall.


Park by Phạm Ngũ Lão St (near the backpacker’s district).


Carved stone depicting traditional Vietnamese musicians.


Bright yellow Jaspas restaurant from where we ordered 2-for-1 pizza on Mondays and Thursdays!

My cousin L’s twins! Aren’t they cute?

Not one but two TV’s loaded on a motorbike!

HCMC has luxe stores of its own.

Striped socks seem to be the trend for motorbike drivers.

…and fancy motorbike helmets…

Talking about luxe stores and motorbike trends!

Kids playing in a puddle after a rainstorm.

View of the densely populated city from the International Language Academy (where The Boyfriend works).

Can you spot the salamander(s)?

Saigon

We’ve been back in Saigon for a week. During this time, we moved from our hotel on Le Van Sy St. to one on Nguyen Thi Minh Khai St. (yes, street names are that long, just to make my life harder it seems…). Now we’re steps away from where The Boyfriend will be teaching. We’ve spent most of our time exploring the city, walking when we can (did I mention it’s VERY hot?) and taking taxis when it’s too far. We’re also in the midst of apartment hunting, which is not easy. It’s hard being in a small hotel room, so let’s keep our fingers crossed!

We explored the centre of the city on a REALLY hot day. This is where the well know buildings and hotels are. On another day, we went to Cholon, which is pretty much Chinatown in District 5. There, we saw numerous intricately decorated temples. Here are some of the pics.

Beautiful Hindu temple in Saigon.

City Hall.

Notre Dame Cathedral.

General Post Office.

The old Opera House.

The well known Continental Hotel.

Binh Tay market in Cholon.

Temple in Cholon.

Beautiful detail on another temple in Cholon.

And another temple...

Finally a mosque for a change!

And a temple I like to practice my shopping! I like the name!

Arrival, finally! – Feb 7

On our arrival to HCMC (Ho Chi Minh City, previously known as Saigon), my uncle Cau H (Cau = maternal uncle) from LA was there to greet us with his wife. I should note that February 7 is Tet, Vietnamese New Year. Imagine having someone pick you up at midnight on New Year’s Eve, someone who came all the way from California to celebrate Tet (Thank you Cau H!!).

Finding a taxi was difficult considering it was New Year’s. Taxi drivers were also charging hiked up fees for that reason. $20 USD for a 10 min cab ride! But my aunt and uncle came through with one that came to less than $10.

My aunt was also nice enough to have booked us a hotel room in advance. However, when we got there they wanted to charge us the “foreigner” fee because of The Boyfriend. The initial “Viet Kieu” fee was slightly cheaper. (Viet Kieu is a term used for Vietnamese people outside of Vietnam). I think that’s pretty ridiculous but it’s hard to argue at 1 am. It still was only about $21 USD a night, which is not bad!