Thailand 8D7N Trip: Day 7 & 8 Mall Hopping; Chinatown; Chatuchak Weekend Market

Day 7: Breakfast near Platinum Mall --> Big C --> Siam Paragon --> Siam Square -> MBK Shopping Centre --> Chinatown

Second last day of our 8D7N trip in Thailand. We decided to go mall hopping in the morning and check out Chinatown at night.

First thing to do: Feed our stomach! We went to hunt food at the street opposite Platinum Mall, again. This time, we found a small local stall that sells wan ton noodle soup and chicken/roasted pork/roasted duck rice. 

Platinum Mall (le heaven)

So this is how my breakfast looks like. I ordered a bowl of Wan Ton Noodle with soup and they served with quite a number of Char Siew (pork) (THB40). I find it quite OK.

After that, we started our journey to explore malls that are nearby. We first stopped at Big C Supermarket (Right opposite Central World) as the weather was really hot and all of us were sweating. And we did some shopping there to get junk food. The price at Big C is cheaper than elsewhere. A good place to buy stuff to bring home, especially junk food. Another place to buy cheap junk food would be a stall at 7th floor of Platinum Mall. Their Pocky is relatively cheaper than other places. 

After that, we walked from Centrtal World to Siam Paragon, which was about a 10 minutes walk.Walking under hot sun is really a big challenge. We just did some window shopping at Siam Paragon and went to Siam Square.

Group photo in front of Siam Paragon =D

At Siam Square, I found my beloved kitty cafe! Awww..... Unluckily, I was running out of cash and decided not to try it out. What a waste! I would definitely come back for this as it looks very promising and larger than the one I've visited in Taipei. 

Till we meet again.... >.<

Then, we had lunch at A&W. Fast food restaurant again! 

Bacon Burger + Fries + Rootbeer. 

This is not available in Malaysia though. Something special at least. 

After lunch, we continued to hop to MBK shopping centre as our last stop. We did our shopping along the way. MBK shopping centre isn't that nice to shop. It looks more local and older than other malls. However, I still get to do some shopping. Got my neck pillow here from a Korean Shop. XD

We were all very exhausted walking everywhere under hot weather. So we decided to head back to hotel with cab. NO MORE WALKING, they said. Haha.... However, girls decided not to rest in hotel until dinner time. We went out to the Pratunam market to continue our shopping journey. Pratunam market is huge and there are plenty of stalls! However, it is open air and I find it uncomfortable to shop in there. Ended up, we spare another hour time in Platinum Mall before going to dinner at Chinatown. 

Finally, we are done with shopping and going for dinner! The guys should be relieved that we had done our shopping. XD We headed out to Chinatown for shopping. We wanted to try and find out how to take local bus to Chinatown. The hotel reception thought us how to take bus but due to time limitation, we ended up trying Tuk Tuk instead. 

Bought ourselves a stick of BBQ pork as snack along our way to hunt for a Tuk Tuk. 

THB10 per stick, it's good!

Vietnam: Ho Chi Minh City Tour

Day 4 of Ho Chi Minh Trip ^_^

After a heavy lunch at 4P's Pizza (click this link to read about it), we decided to have a stroll at the city. After 4 days in Ho Chi Minh, we haven't been to the tourist spots in the city. We have a little sense of urgency to visit them as we are leaving HCM the next day. 

Hence, we walked under the hot sun to look for Saigon Opera House a.k.a Municipal Theatre. Saigon Opera House was built in 1897 by French architect Eugene Ferret. The 800 seats building was used as the home of the Lower House assembly of South Vietnam after 1956. It was not until 1975 that it was again used as a theatre, and restored in 1995. It is a smaller counterpart of the Hanoi Opera House which was built between 1901 and 1911, and shaped like the Opera Garnier in Paris. (Read more on Municipal Theatre at Wikipedia here)

The opera house with the bright blue sky.

The Saigon Opera House. 

Was contemplating if we should go in for a show. But, due to time constraint, we decided not to. If not, we will not be able to drop by the Central Post Office and Saigon Notre Dame Cathedral. 

Found a nice garden on our way from Saigon Opera House to Central Post Office.

While walking, I saw Trung Nguyen Coffee opposite the road. 

Then, I pointed and said, "Friends, can we go there?" I promised myself to have a try of Trung Nguyen Coffee before heading back Malaysia. Now it is just right in front of me, and surely I will not walk pass and wait for another chance. Hence, we de-route to Trung Nguyen Coffee. Yeah! =)

Some other friends are still buying souvenirs while I can't stop myself from walking towards the coffee shop. Vietnamese coffee is so attractive... 

Ordered a cup of Hot Sang Tao No. 2 and friend ordered Iced Sang Tao No. 5. Surprisingly, they served us with their new item - banana pancake for FREE! So sweet of them! Back to coffee, so whats the difference between the numbers? According to the worker, different number has different kind of aroma, ranging from mild to strong. But their numbering did not go according to the level. So if you're not sure, please kindly consult the workers. They are very helpful in explaining =)

Trying to take a hipster photo for my coffee. XD seems a bit fail though...

For my cup of hot coffee, I tried a bit and decided to ask for ice. It is too strong for me and I still think it goes better with ice. I need the ice to melt slightly to make it a little thinner, which suits my taste better. The banana pancake is surprisingly good though. Crispy pancake with sweet banana inside. Me likey, especially it is free! =D

Close up of the pancake. Looks good right? It was served with sliced ginger which neutral out the sweet taste of banana pancake. 

After having our coffee, we bought some coffee as souvenirs in the shop. Surprisingly, the price of their coffees aren't expensive for such a branded coffee shop in Vietnam. I realized that their price is affordable when I was in airport. Why so slow? VND is merely just too confusing. Too many zeros and I thought they are expensive. Too late to realize! Aikzz.....

Ok, back to my Ho Chi Minh City Tour. After a half an hour detour to have a cup of coffee, we proceed our journey to Central Post Office and Notre Dame Cathetral. It is not too far from the coffee place. Didn't expect it to be so near. We were a bit lost at first and thankfully we have Waze to guide us to the place. =) 

Here we are at Notre Dame Cathetral and Central Post Office. They are just beside each other and you definitely won't miss either of them. Notre Dame Cathetral is so beautifully constructed that your eyes will definitely stare at it for a while whereas Central Post Office is so striking with its yellow paint that you won't missed out too. 

Notre Dame Cathedral.

Saigon Notre-Dam Basilica, officially Basilica of Our Lady of The Immaculate Conception is a cathedral located in the downtown of Ho Chi Minh City. It was established by French colonists, the cathedral was constructed between 1863 and 1880. It has 2 bell towers, reaching a height of 58 meters (190 feet). All the original building materials were imported from France. (click here for more information)

This cathedral is so beautiful! Can't stop taking photos of it. Makes me feel like as if I'm in Europe. Such a beautiful building. So glad that it is still well maintained and I have the chance to visit it. 

We were there on a Sunday evening and they are having Sunday prayers. It is quite a grand prayer as a lot of people were standing outside the gate to join because inside was full! We managed to take a look inside and was amazed by the interior design. 

Vietnam: Mekong River Day Tour (Part II) & Ben Thanh Market

Day 3 of Ho Chi Minh Trip ^_^
Continue from Mekong River Trip Part 1 (click here to read more)......

After we had our lunch, then we proceed to listen traditional music and tropical fruits tasting. It was quite a chillax session where we get to listen to people playing traditional instruments and enjoy some fruits. They served us with papaya, jackfruits, papaya, banana and "ciku". 

I was sitting with a few Korean tourists and I noticed that they seem a little fascinated looking at "ciku" and jackfruit. One of them took and tried jackfruit for a bite. Then her face turned a bit sour and gave up on it. That scene reminds me that I shouldn't take things for granted, even just a fruit. Things that seem so usual for us back home may be something new for others. That's why...... we have to explore more places to try more new stuff! =D

Their traditional instruments. 

They look a bit like our traditional chinese instruments and they sound a bit special to me.

After that, we went to the coconut candy factory. We get to see how they make coconut candy and also get to try some. But because the weather is too hot, we don't have much energy to check out their coconut candies thoroughly. Instead, all of us bought one coconut to quench our thirst. Coconut is such an amazing thing in the world. It is so important when there's hot sun!

The making of coconut candies.

Meet our new friends from Taiwan! 

Really appreciate them for helping us in photo-taking and shared experience with us. They are so nice and kept asking us to visit them in Taiwan. Love is all around the world. 

The Mekong River Day Tour ended around 5pm. Finally we can check in and get some rest in Ho Chi Minh city! We booked a unit via AirBnB and it's our first time booking via this website. So, we were a little worried at first. However, with the help of the owner to text us the address in Vietnamese language, we get to reach the place successfully. =) It is actually really hard to communicate with Vietnamese taxi driver if you don't have an address in Vietnamese language. 

Surprisingly, the unit is very beautiful! It is located at third floor and there is no lift available. Indeed, most of the buildings in Ho Chi Minh does not have lift. Luckily our luggage aren't too heavy and hence carrying them up the stairs is still an achievable mission. 

One of the rooms! So cozy!

And there's a corridor full of plants. A very relaxing place. Love it!

Selfie before heading out to Ben Thanh Market for dinner. 

Ben Thanh market is a large marketplace in District 1, Ho Chi Minh City. It is one of the earliest surviving structures in Saigon and also an important symbol of Ho Chi Minh City. It is popular with tourists seeking local handicrafts, textiles, souvenirs and local cuisine. This market is developed from informal markets created by early 17th century street vendors gathering together near the Saigon River. The market was formall established by the French colonial powers after taking over the Gia Dinh citadel in 1859. This market was destroyed by fire in 1870 and rebuilt to become Saigon's largest market. In 1912, the market was moved to a new building called the New Ben Thanh Market to distinguish over its predecessor. The building was then renovated in 1985. (information from Wikipedia)

We took a cab from our place to Ben Thanh Market, which is about a 8 minutes drive. Actually, we could walk to the market instead of taking a cab. But we are a little confused with our location and a bit tired after the tour, we decided to take a cab. Taxi fare here isn't expensive and it is shared among six of us. Less than RM1/person for a trip. Not too luxurious. 

We walked into the busy street where all the vendors are, and we eyed on this! 

Colourful sticky rice! Look so yummy! Of course, we bought one to try. We ordered all in one.

After buying the sticky rice, we continue walking to explore more food and also souvenirs. 

This is how Ben Thanh Market looks like at night. Pretty much like our pasar malam back in Malaysia. There are vendors selling clothes, souvenirs and food.

Vietnam: Ham Tien Market & Poshanu Cham Towers

Day 2 of Ho Chi Minh Trip ^_^  Part 2

After visiting the sand dunes (click here to read my blog post about the sand dunes, very interesting!), we were really hungry. However, we have no idea where to hunt for food and hence we decided to visit Ham Tien Market to check out if there's any interesting food to try. 

Ham Tien Market 

Ham Tien Market is also being called Mui Ne Market. It is a quite happening market where the locals will be here to buy their goods. There are wet and dry markets in within but it is consider quite a small market. 

This is my first time seeing people sells seafood like this! All spread out on the floor. Interesting.

We went in and walked a round but found nothing interesting to eat. Hence, we decided to walk out and look for restaurants beside Ham Tien Market. Simply find a decent restaurant and went inside for lunch.

I ordered a fried pho with seafood. It is really nice as there are lots of vegetables and the taste is something different from Malaysia-style fried noodles. 

After lunch, we went back to Diem Lien Guesthouse to rest. We spent too much time traveling around and our body need some rest. We were really lucky because when we were taking nap from 12-2pm, there's a heavy rain outside. When we were ready to go out and explore Phan Thiet Poshanu Cham Tower and Phan Thiet City, the rain stopped. (To be honest, I didn't know that there's a stormy rain when I was taking nap. It's my friend who told me. Really amazed by my sleep -- loud voice can't wake me up!)

At first, we wanted to take local bus to Phan Thiet but due to the hot sun, we decided to catch a cab. We requested the driver to stop us at Poshanu Cham Tower before heading to Phan Thiet City. Poshanu Cham Tower is located about 15km from Fairy Stream, nearer to Phan Thiet City as compared to Mui Ne.

Poshanu Towers are one of the most precious and important cultural vestiges of the Champa Kingdom. It was built in the late 8th century, which worships the Shiva Genie, who is highly respected by the Cham. Inside the main tower, there is an altar, on which a couple of Liga-Yoni, a symbol of the existence of the Shiva Genie, is worshipped. Besides these towers, there was once a temple, but it has been buried in the ground for more than 300 years. This group of tower templese was constructed using HoaLai art architecture -- one of the Champa Kingdom ancient art architectural manners. Poshanu Towers are among the oldest Champa towers that are not much damaged. (information from muine-explorer)

Poshanu Cham Towers (The 3 Towers)

Typical tourist photo

Vietnam: Ho Chi Minh City, Mon Hue Restaurant & Paper Card Stall

Day 1 of Ho Chi Minh Trip ^_^ Part 1

Ho Chi Minh -- I would call it a City of Coffee and Motorcycles. I never expect myself to visit this city before I travel to Europe or Japan. Due to lack of travel fund, I've decided to explore countries nearby Malaysia. Hence, I took 4 days off and go for a 5D4N Ho Chi Minh Trip with my ex-colleagues. 

Flying off from KLIA2 at 12pm and reached Ho Chi Minh City at 1pm (local time). Upon reaching airport, we got ourselves a SIM card at Vinaphone counter. There are a few counters at the arrival hall and we chose the shop at a corner. Why we choose Vinaphone? It offers 5GB data for VND 100,000 (RM18), which is quite a good offer as compared to other stalls. As a smart consumer, we did compare prices and found that this offers the best deal. *wink*

After inserting new SIM card into our phone, we went to get a bus to the city. Thanks to the lady at Vinaphone stall, she taught us how to get local bus to the City. 

The Vinaphone Counter at Airport, with 2 kind ladies at the counter.

We went to lane 12 to get into Bus No. 152 to Ben Thanh Market. We were told that our tour office is within walking distance from Ben Thanh Market, so we decided to carry our luggage to get on the bus. Each of us paid for 2 pax as we have our luggage with us (VND 5,000/pax). 

The bus tickets to Ben Thanh Market. 

Feel so great! We're not taking taxi to the city. ^_^ And the bus ticket is soooooo cheap!

Here we are at HCM city! 

Was holding our luggage walking on the street, but we never forget to wefie! 

We walked about 5-10 minutes to The Sinh Tourist office. 

Surprisingly, it is a very nice office as compared to tourist office nearby. For the price that I've paid for the bus tickets and tours, I am very satisfied. Cheap price for classy service. Thumbs up!

We left our luggage in the office as we will be traveling to Mui Ne at 8.30pm. After settling down, we walked out of the office to look for FOOD! We walked to Family Mart few shops away from the Sinh Tourist office to check out local snacks and milk. And... we spotted something cute! Doraemon bun! 

Doraemon bun! ^_^

It has custard filling and surprisingly nice. 

While looking around for food, we saw a mobile stall selling spring rolls. How can we not stop the stall and buy some?

Ta-daa! The spring roll stall. Selling one for VND5000.

We bought two spring rolls to try as we are worried about the cleanliness issue afterall. 

After trying, I would say this is not the best spring roll I've tried throughout my trip in Vietnam. The one in Ben Thanh market tastes much better.
(Will show photos of it later on... ^_^)

Then, due to hunger and laziness, we decided to dine in a restaurant opposite The Sinh Tourist office. We were choosing in between a few restaurants and then at last, we decided to try Mon Hue Restaurant. 

The menu looks very tempting!

Hue Style Rice with Baby Clam (VND45,000)

This baby clam rice is very nice and it tastes like nasi kerabu. My favourite dish of all. =) 

Spring rolls with sour shrimp and pork (VND48,000)

This is a special type of spring roll. Well, I still prefer traditional type. 

Hue Noodle.

In vietnam, every dish will surely have lots of vegetables, or served with another plate of vegetables. Super healthy. ^_^