HCMC Vietnam, Day 3 - Part 2

Continuation of the previous post

During lunch, we went to a buffet restaurant located in Bitexco Financial Tower.

I was so excited to get into one of the tallest buildings in HCMC...which houses a sky deck.

(nope we didn't go to the sky deck)

this building is located at a busy financial district in HCMC

There's a registration counter for visitors entering the building

After the registration we passed thru these turnstile to get to the escalators and lifts

very much like any typical office buildings in KL

The restaurant is located at upper floors with spectacular city view.

It's huge enuff to cater large group, yet the dining place looks neat and bright

these beers greeted us nearby the entrance...woah, free flow!

rambutans...with skin peeled....not bad eh....especially for lazy people like me!

dragon fruits

cut mangos

guavas

all sorts of cakes, desserts, puddings

egg custard pudding

all sorts of 'tong sui' 

the 'pho' station where u can assemble ur own 'pho'

roasted meat section

potato salad

hard boiled egg (the outer red colour is just coloring)

chicken wings

I tink these wines are for display only

yam soup

my favorite salted egg prawns

buns, breads - not sure if these are for consumption or for display only

Caesars salad

crispy Vietnamese spring roll

sauerkraut with sausages

grilled pork rib in Kinh Do sauce

cold section, the below are prawn salads

my favorite pork belly...yummmmm!!!

assorted tempuras --- was too full and I did not manage to try any of these!

assorted pizza (which I did not try either)

there goes the food on my plate

a lil' bit of everything, ended up a plateful of assorted stuffs!!

the desserts that I took - cakes, jelly, sweet bean soup...and some fries to balance out the sweetness

sushi, and soups

I also tried one of the spring rolls

'balut' - a boiled 'developing bird embryo' egg

we left the place feeling full and satisfied...BuRPPPPPPP

there were so much variety and impossible to try out everything

 

Great services and food. The staffs immediately started to clean our tables while we were leaving!



A Visit to Food Bazaar

Occasionally (like once every 2-3 months), there will be a mini food bazaar set up nearby my office which lasts for a week. This is a halal food bazaar and the stalls sell food that are commonly seen in Pasar Malam.

From left to right: Cheesy potato wedges, cheesy 'pisang goreng' and cheesy chocolate 'pisang goreng'.

I bought one of the items below, can you guess which?

the skewers - fried fishcakes, fishballs, sausages....but all drenched in red sauce.

I was told that the red sauce is 'percik' sauce.

more skewers

more & more skewers....

I'm skeptical about its hygiene of having these skewers drenched in sauce and exposed to air like this, would prefer having it plain/dry. Anyway, these are quite cheap - RM1 to RM3 per stick.

the tornado potato which i have tried before...Nothing to shout about, just some flour coated potato and deep fried.

This stall also sells fried squids, XXL chicken and keropok lekor

Another stall selling nasi tomato with ayam masak merah...Looks good but I did not buy.

these bazaar stalls could be selling repetitive items - more keropok lekors and fried stuffs here

and Samosas

I bought maggi mee goreng with egg topping for my lunch (RM5). Tastewise 'so-so only' coz the fried noodle was cooked earlier and not served hot.

HCMC Vietnam, Day 3 - Part 1

On Day 3, we spent our morning visiting the historical buildings around the city

Firstly, the famous Saigon Central Post Office

 it was beautifully painted in yellow and well maintained despite being built in the 19th century

 inside the building, the colonial architecture are still very well preserved

the below are wooden booth....for ATM (?!)

 the main hall with post counters

wooden benches for people to apply stamps, write notes or check their postal...very 'old school'!

 a map of Saigon on the wall

 the flooring tiles, very aesthetic!

 

the post office is situated just right across the Saigon Notre-Dame Basilica

busy Sunday with lotsa tourists

 another popular landmark for bridal and graduation pictures

while they were busy taking bridal photos, I busy-body to snap the photographer and the bride

As it was a Sunday, there were worshippers inside the cathedral...Visitors are not allowed to cross the barriers to the worshipping area.

the full view of the cathedral

Nearby the entrance, there were plenty of marble stones with the words 'Merci'...I have no idea what are these (to commemorate the deads?)

after visiting the cathedral, we were guided to walk along some alleys to our next spot....

passing by some book cafes, Starbucks and shopping malls

I was deviated to enjoy the sights of...

 pastries and cakes in Starbucks!

20 to 30 minutes later....we reached the War Remnants Museum

There are real military helicopters showcased at the entrance compound

which was used during the Vietnam war

here's the description

fighter jet used by US air force during the war is also displayed here.

the museum is a 3 - 4 storeys building with galleries displaying the history, artifacts and pictures of the victims during the Vietnamese war. Felt sombre after looking at those pictures, especially the victims from the landmine and 'Agent Orange' (a herbicide and defoliant chemical that caused health problems for individuals who were exposed to it).

The former US defence secretary did expressed regrets in his memoir (over the damaged done to the Vietnamese and the country). Let's learned from the history and never repeat them again.