Good Morning Vietnam, Day 1

We—my husband Nubs, daughter Indie, friend Rosene and myself—landed in HCMC at midnight. Masks on our faces, we went from immigration to baggage briskly and proceeded to get ourselves some dong. It was actually a lot of dong, no loads of it! I exchanged a couple hundred USDs and became an instant millionaire three times over and more!
We were collected at the airport by the driver of a local travel agency and immediately transported to our 2-star hotel along Mac Thi Buoi St. in the Dong Khoi area in District 1. I discovered Thang Long through the internet and chose it over many other budget hotels simply because it was negative review-free on Trip Advisor and other similar sites. Our room, bathroom included, was spotless when we arrived. It was cramped but it was cheap so no one complained.

We unpacked, slept around 2 am Vietnam time (1 hour later than Philippine time) and woke up by 10. Complimentary breakfast, on the top floor, was a choice between bread or pho, plus a drink. Save for the bread which was very good, it was nothing great but filling enough.
We walked along Dong Khoi. This was roughly equivalent to our Makati as opposed to Pham Ngu Lao, the backpackers' district that was more like our Ermita. By Makati, I meant the Sheraton was there; there was a Gucci, a Versace, a Marc Jacobs and a Louis Vuitton among others; the restos were on the uppity side, with food prices more or less similar to those in Greenbelt; there were rows upon rows of mid- to high-brow shops selling embroidered accessories, art, apparel, silk scarves and ethnic bags among others.Of course, Ho Chi Minh was, correct me if I'm wrong, about two or three decades lagging behind us. Our MOAs, Gloriettas and Ayala Avenue skyscrapers were unheard of in these parts. All the same, HCMC was not provincial, possessing a touristy bustle that seemed both healthy and promising.
For lunch, we walked thru a dark alley of a hundred parked motorcycles you'd think this was the hideout of some Vespa mafia. It was deceiving, naturally, for hidden in this alley was a classy Thai restaurant with gorgeous Old World interiors and world-class cuisine. We had Catfish Salad (with green mangoes on top), Vegetables with Grilled Pork, Red Chicken Curry and sticky rice to go with everything. Deeeeelicious!

We spent our first afternoon in the city in Ben Thanh market where we bought an ao dai and traditional Vietnamese hat for Indie and souvenirs to bring home. Haggling was the norm. It paid to pretend to walk away to get the price you wanted or at least close to it. Generally, it was cheaper to buy from outside stalls where they sold goods at fixed prices versus those inside where everything was more expensive—I think it didn't matter if you haggled hard for them.
From Ben Thanh, we moved to Saigon Square for the overrun selection the prices of which, according to Rosene who was there three years ago, rose in direct proportion to HCMC's popularity among tourists. Oh, by the way, cab-hopping within District 1 should cost you 12,000 dong only, anywhere higher than that and you probably flagged a not-so-scrupulous taxi driver.

It rained in the middle of the afternoon so the night was thankfully cool. We had dinner at a restaurant aptly called Vietnam House that catered to a Caucasian market. There was a certain grandeur to the place: high ceilings, chandeliers, yellow hotel-ish lighting, ambient indigenous music played by a group of four ladies in national costume.

We had spicy beef pho, prawns in honey and grilled pork chop. The meal was soooo good but hey, what could we expect from people who once hosted former Presidents Cory Aquino of the Philippines and George Bush of the USofA!

Dessert was Banoffee Pie in Jaspas, a few blocks from Vietnam House in the company of two of Rosene's Saigon-based Filipino friends. The pie was fantastic, rivalled only by the banoffees of the now closed Area Café back Home.

After dinner, Rosene and friends headed for a night of clubbing in Pham Ngu Lao while Nubs, Indie and myself walked backed to our hotel to let the little tourist rest. Good night, Vietnam....