American Tourister Adventures in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) - Vietnam

Why the weird title?
Because I won it, compliment from American Tourister's Facebook contest in locating Carl's luggage in Ho Chi Minh City, otherwise known as Saigon.
This was a contest where participants enter 25 words (max) to describe how they would recover Carl's (a fictional character) lost luggage in each respective city, and each week, for 10 weeks, they have one destination for a lucky winner who contributed the most impressive entry. The winner gets a pair of air tickets, travel insurance, as well as accommodation and airport transfer, and they throw in a pair of American Tourister luggages as well! Very generous huh? Consider most other contests would probably only offer air tickets, or at best, throw in accommodation (in JNTO's case, spending money ^_^).

In fact, among all the countries American Tourister has on offer, Vietnam is the sole country I haven't set foot on, and Ho Chi Minh City is a total blank for me. With a notice of about 12 days before the trip, I had a daunting task to read up whatever I can find about a city I actually had never think of going since I started my traveling adventures some 17 years ago. And I decided to share these findings to fellow DIY travelers ^_^

Currency Exchange
Before I really get started with the main subject, let me touch on currency exchange. Like many airports, usually, the rates will not be as attractive as most downtown outlets are offering. But Ho Chi Minh City generally accept US Dollars, (and in one case, my friend even pay with Singapore Dollars!) although that sometime put you at the peril of THEIR preference rate! During my visit, the exchange rate for Singapore Dollars was S$1 = 16,615 Vietnam Dong (from Tan Son Nhat Airport). I understand that Vietnam Dong is a controlled currency and I couldn't find any rate better back home prior to arriving Ho Chi Minh City. But becareful of counterfeit or torn notes, even from authorised money changers in airport!

Take note that the large currency denotion can cause confusion, and usually vendors will find it a hassle to give change of less than 5000 Dong.

Airport Access
Even though I have a airport pickup service thrown in, I read about the airport access, in case something screw up and I have to make my way from/to airport. Ho Chi Minh City's Tan Son Nhat International Airport situated mere 7 km away from downtown, and some 20 minutes drive away. I know, it's amazing it took that long for a short strip, but Ho Chi Minh City's traffic can be congested at times, their roads are narrow, and many lanes are one-way, so detours are most of the time, necessary. So it rather surprise us when we took more than 30 minutes to reach downtown. But anyway, the most economical way getting downtown from the airport is taking the air-conditioned bus 152 (3000 Dong), departing every quarter between 6am and 7pm, and the bus stops regularly along Pham Ngu Lao area and many international hotels along Dong Khoi.

Taxis are aplenty in HCMC, and the most popular ones are Vinasun and Mai Linh, these taxis have their meter on (Usually 120,000 - 150,000 Dong), and the biggest concern is actually the fear of they getting you for a merry-go-round. Beware of some un-metered taxis especially some taxi companies with names similiar to the above mentioned.

However, when getting to the airport, make sure be specific, because Tan Son Nhat Airport also has a domestic terminal situated few hundred meters away.

Accommodation
I lost count of the number of districts forming HCMC, but one sincere advice is to stay within District 1 unless you have special agenda (such as work etc). There are plenty of cheap and luxury accommodations within District 1 and here's also where most of HCMC's attractions lie! Save, perhaps, for Cholon (Chinatown) where it is located in District 5, some 6 km away from Cho Ben Thanh.
Accommodations around HCMC's famous 'Thief Market', Cho Ben Thanh, are generally cheaper tourist class hotels, while classy hotels are mostly found along Dong Khoi, HCMC's very own luxury shopping street. Both areas are within walking distance, usually less than 30 minutes on foot.

Getting Around
I did all of my exploration of HCMC on foot. But HCMC has plenty of Taxi Motorcycle (Xe Om), and if you can appreciate the local bus routes, it will be even more economical!
Naturally, to get around any foreign city, a well illustrated map is very much appreciated! But I had no luck getting really useful maps prior to my trip, it's worthwhile finding a good city map from the airport or just try asking your hotel for one. I couldn't understand why my traveling companion was so anxious in hurrying me to leave the airport, I really regret giving in. Because the downtown tourist office was really hard to find! Afterall, he wasn't a season traveler, I am. You can of course, buy a local map from any bookstore or tout.
But anyway, I am willing to share the map my hotel provided, and some less useful maps I searched from the www or scanned from various resources. In any case, you can always make use of the GPS map in your smart phones.

Auxiliary HCMC Maps (Please note that my links enclosed will NOT be updated and if it expired, I will NOT reload, and I will also NOT respond to any request to send via email whatsoever. I am only doing this for sharing, and hopefully it helps your visit in no small way, with NO intention to make any profit out of it at all.):

https://www.yousendit.com/download/UVJqZm1ZWlRoeVpWeHNUQw

While I was searching for information on Ho Chi Minh City, I came across a very concise guide by a Mr Robin Nguyen, whose detail account from a local point of view is very useful. I strongly recommend it, and if you truly find it helpful like I did, do consider his plea for donation! I lost his initial link, so again, please DO NOT ask me to repost if the following link expired.

https://www.yousendit.com/download/UVJqZm1VMVhnYVA0WjlVag

Another advice, unless you seriously think you can speak an accent the local can understand (most likely not), otherwise, it's good to possess some colour pictures on your destination. You just need to show them, I assure you it would be easier for them to understand!


OK, here's my Ho Chi Minh adventures...  ~ ^.^ ~

Day 1

I left my home at 4.45am in the morning, catching the 7.20am flight 3K555 by Jetstar Asia for Ho Chi Minh City's Tan Son Nhat Airport. I don't know why, somehow my recent two trips taking Jetstar flights always find myself flying in very odd hours, I know this is normally the case for budget airlines in European countries, but it's not generally the case here.

Anyway, like always, I checked-in early, taken breakfast at the T1 staff canteen, and gleefully cleared custom check soon after. Surpringly, duty free shops were already opened as early as 6am! Routinely, I window-shopped without buying anything, foot-massaged, before entering the waiting room.
Flight 3K555 took off slightly late at about 7.45am, but it appeared the flight timing required lesser than stated, we landed at Ho Chi Minh City's Tan Son Nhat International Airport at 8.15am local time (Vietnam is an hour behind Singapore, which puzzled me @_@).

Like a seasoned traveler, my very first objective was to look out for Ho Chi Minh City map, but after I changed my Vietnam currency, before I could locate the tourist information office for map, my traveling companion hastily located the pick up chauffeur and hurried me over. Sigh.. Amateur. But nevermind, I thought, I could always get a map from the city tourism office. How wrong was I! Eventually, we never managed to find the city tourism office, and the maps from my guide books were sometime erratic and lacked details >.<"

The journey to hotel took longer than I expected. There was little jam, and for 7 km, 30 minutes on car was hard to justify. But it was a free pick up, there was no reason the driver needed to bring us for a merry-go-round and the only reason I could find, was that many roads into town are one-directional, and the chauffeur needed to detour, as I could identified the driver deliberately drove away from the direction of our hotel at times.

Our accommodation in HCMC was Golden Central Hotel, Saigon (But the signboard actually put 'Golden Hotel' =.="). Supposingly a 4-stars accommodation, but that was somewhat exaggerated, I thought. Situated one street behind HCMC's landmark Cho Ben Thanh, along Ly Tu Trong, the location was excellent, central to many things, including the central bus station, Cho Ben Thanh, Dong Khoi, and within walking distance to many major attractions.

Surprisingly, the hotel allowed us for an early check-in at 9.20am, we left our luggage in room 502, rest for a while before taking on Saigon's traffic! I have to say, I was somewhat disappointed with the lack of a bathtub in the room, but was fascinated by the shower, which has many showering points where water sprays out! ^.^ My friend was grumbling the promised welcome drink was absent, but I didn't recall hearing about it in our itinerary. Of course, direct booking from the hotel website may offer some incentive, but maybe at a higher price.

The beds are nicely decorated and looked classy, and I found the room size good enough with sufficient spaces moving around. There was no cable for LAN, but the hotel was wifi connected throughout. However, I learned that I could not surf Facebook nor Yahoo mail there >.<"
Window's view offer a look over Ly Tu Trong, could not see Cho Ben Thanh or beyond. But at least not seeing the wall of the opposite building! ^.^
But I have to give credit to the hotel for providing 2 pillows and a cushions, it really made for quality sleep! :)

Anyway, we understood that we did not come here to enjoy the cosy hotel room, we made for the street to get a breathe of Ho Chi Minh City's heartbeat in no time!

Without a proper map, I really could not figure out any concrete plan. I had expected getting one from the airport, and then I could work out some itinerary enroute to hotel. The maps provided in my guide books were rather vague, only had major streets printed, and the fine print were a pain to read. Anyway, it's suppose to be a leisure shopping trip, since my friend mentioned about visiting Diamond Plaza, we would start from there, on a cab!
Diamond Departmental Store was the very first departmental store we visited in Vietnam, and it provided me a good gauge for prices on items I might buy so that I knew how much to bargain later on. It turned out, prices there on branded goods weren't much cheaper than Singapore, but I did found out Saigon offered a wider variety, and many of the stuffs there were made in China as well!

Before we found our way for our next destination, we decided to have a cuppa at the Highlands Cafe downstair, the price of the coffee was cheap, about half the price in Singapore. I wasn't sure whether it was because Vietnam produce their own coffee or the operation overhead was cheaper, perhaps both! At the same time, we asked the waiter for direction to the Notre Dame Cathedral. Before that, I actually orientated myself with the shadow on the ground and roughly estimated the direction, it works all the time! But the direction the waiter given somehow puzzled me. I was utterly skeptical, but didn't show any of it in front of him, my friend seemed to take it. We decided to seek a second opinion, and I was proven right. Seasoned traveler ^_^

The cathedral, turned out to be just across the junction! @_@

Like I said, keep a picture handy, even if no local can give you any good advice, you'll find it when you come across it! ^.^

Soon as we found Notre Dame, the other attractions were easy. Many of them actually lie along Dong Khoi, adjacent to the street where the cathedral is.

It was around 12pm local time when we reached Parkson along Lê Thánh Tôn. We had an early breakfast, so by then, we were already hungry for replenishment. There was a foodcourt in that same building, and the price of food there was similar to what we normally pay in foodcourt back home. I won't say cheap, but affordable in our own standard, so we decided to have our lunch there.
I was bewildered when I saw my friend queueing to buy Wanton Noodle there, I wanted to laugh! @_@ Nothing wrong, but we went all the way to Ho Chi Minh City, and then we were eating the same food we could find back home, what's the point? Not to mention I really doubt whether they could have cook it any better! It's up to him, but I would settle for something local, something unique here.

I found an outlet selling 'Broken Rice', I studied their menu which came with English definition, and ordered a set meal with soup, Broken Rice, BBQ Pork, Pork Omelette, and sunny egg (52,000 DONG). Soon as I made my order, my friend came along and decided to try out this outlet too. He pointed at one item, and asked the staff whether it was beef. The staff nodded and said, "Bi! Bi!"
My friend was shocked, he asked (in English of course), "Your menu stated Pork, how come you give me beef?"
I took a glance and saw there wasn't any mentioning of beef, but my friend just wanted to double confirm. I couldn't help probing, could it be 'Beef' happened to be Vietnam pronounciation for pork?
Just then, my meal was served, my friend took a look at the meat pastry, seemed like pork, and he pointed at it again, "Beef?"
The staffed nodded again and replied, "Bi! Bi!"
It was later that I learned, true indeed, pork was pronounced as 'Bi' ('Beef' without the 'F')! LOL!
So, 'Hossan Leong', next time don't 'kei-kiang'! ROFL!

After lunch, we continued southward along Dong Khoi, and the Opera House came into sight!

The Opera House was particularly grand, resembling that of Paris, built in late 19th century during the French-era, and was once home to the National Assembly.

This is how local have their drink, seated on low stool. It is a common understanding that, the lower the stool, the cheaper is the drink. So if I sit on the ground, coffee free of charge??? :D

People's Committee HQ (City Hall)

After reaching People's Committee HQ, I still could not locate the tourism office (for map), we decided that we had covered enough along Dong Khoi, and walked back towards Cho Ben Thanh. I was thrilled as ever whenever I was visiting the landmark of a city. But my expectation turned to bewilderment as my friend simply cut across the market and walked towards our hotel! @_@
I was stunned, and wondered what he was doing!! Nevertheless, I thought I'd still have time to pay Cho Ben Thanh a visit since our hotel just situated behind the street. =.="
We went back to the hotel for about an hour's rest before venturing around again. I guess he was simply too tired..

Before we proceeded to our next destination, I asked the hotel reception for a tourist map (which is the one I posted above), she casually produced a copy of photocopied map from her cabinet. It's definitely a better map on nearby attractions than what I already possessed, with major roads clearly identified. But somehow I wonder, a map like this is not worth a million gold, why the need to hide so discreetly? In any other hotel, usually they would have map easily available for hotel guests. Anyway, we decided to walked north, to see the remaining major attractions in District 1, namely the Ho Chi Minh Museum, Reunification Palace, and War Remnants Museum.

Ho Chi Minh Museum, not to be confused with Museum of Ho Chi Minh City. The former, also known as Dragon House because of the two dragons on the roof, is a museum on Ho Chi Minh's history and his revolution.

The Reunification Building is perhaps the most notable building in Saigon. It was built in 1868 as then French governor's residence, and later became Ngo Dinh Diem's presidential palace in 1954. In Feb 1962, a pair of planes took off to bombard Viet Cong but instead turned back and bombed the Presidential Palace instead in an unsuccessful assassination attempt. But the building was severely destroyed and rebuilt into what is now known as the Reunification Building, to signify the reunification of North and South Vietnam. In 30 April 1975, North Vietnam tank crashed through its gate to symbolise the end of the South Vietnam government. A similar plane and a pair of tanks are on display in the building compound. It cost us 30,000 Dong each for entrance.

Cabinet Meeting Room

The same tank model that stormed down the gate in 1975, with the same number painted.

We did not visit the War Remnants Museum, and while walking back to hotel, we were caught in the rain and took shelter inside a cafe. Might as well get another cuppa, the rain was pretty heavy.

After the rain finally stop,we returned to the hotel (AGAIN!! haha!) for a short break before dinner.


Before we left for dinner, I asked to check out the pool on Level 16.5 (it's inbetween Level 16 & 17). Because we would be flying back on the 9.40pm flight on 03 Jul, but during the day, we would have to check out much earlier and then hang around outside, so it would be nice if we could shower before our night flight back home. But my reconnaissance turned out to be futile. Anyway, it's a small and nice pool, with a beautiful surrounding view~

I'd really LOVE to own a house of this size!

Splendid views huh?

Just a side note: For this trip, I did not bring along my favourite Sony T-50, it's getting erratic, and both the camera and battery seemed to be reaching the end of its lifespan. So, I take this trip as a testing platform for my Casio EX-G1, not really new, but so far, I have not been able to optimise this camera, mostly rely on the auto focus function. And the pictures taken were, most of the time, inferior compare to that of my Sony.

Colours wise, I discovered that actually Casio EX-G1 is not that bad. But focus aspect, it really trailed Sony T-50 for a mile. It has a small depth of field, and I still cannot figure out how to compromise landscape portrait pictures. Sony at least handles this well! Besides, Casio start-up time is longer, and user interface is less user-friendly. Not really for beginners, unless you solely rely on the AUTO mode, which most of the time only produce mediocre picture quality.

Back to dinner, we did not go too far for dinner, just along Le Thanh Ton. My traveling buddy wanted to eat something 'good', that means nothing cheap >.<". We went pass one sushi restaurant, I declined. I found the price rather ex and of unknown quality. Afterall, why go Vietnam try Japanese food unless it's absolutely fantastic? It all ended up back to a familiar outlet again. Com Tam Broken Rice! They happened to have branches nearby. Vietnam actually quite famous for their beef noodles, but both of us were not beef eater >.<" Anyway, we had Broken Rice earlier in the day, and decided to try Hue noodle instead. It was a decision we truly regret...

I was shocked by the volume of the vegetable! The noodle (more like Bee Hoon) came quite tasteless, but the portion of vegetables easily doubled that of the noodle! And it also exceeded the amount of vegetables I had eaten for the past month >.<" Well, at least I finished it, my friend's portion was left relatively untouched. After meal, then I realise, my buddy wasn't the only one who couldn't do with the vegetables, there was another patron having the same problem, but I couldn't tell whether he was local though. But this sure scared us stiff for the rest of our trip, that we sticked solely to Broken Rice! LOL!

Before getting back to room, I decided to take a night shot of HCMC, but this pix appeared under-exposed. The objects in close proximity still can be vaguely sharp, but the distant objects were clearly distorted. I forgot to bring my mini-tripod for this trip, and though I tried my best to keep my hand stable, the strong wind at the swimming pool was too much for a good shot >.<"

That concluded our day 1 activities, and we had covered more than half of the major attractions in HCMC. I was wondering whether we can find something for the 3rd day, but let's take things as it comes!


Day 2

At 7.15am, we were already having our breakfast at the Level 17 restaurant. The food variety was considerably aplenty, but that didn't neccessary spelled quality. However, I was quite taken in by the awesome view from the window!

I like the muffin best among the breakfast items!

I have a feeling.. when the French left Vietnam, they left behind architectural heritage, but they took home their culinary skill >.<" The bacons and potatoes were the only satisfactory items, the siew mai were horrible!

Scrambled egg & tasteless Chicken noodle

But I was pretty impressed how their servettes were arranged!

After breakfast, I only have one agenda in mind, Cho Lon (Chinatown) and the nearby temples.It was quite a distance away, maybe about 6 km, but I told my friend, if we were to take a cab there, we probably could have finish everything before lunch. So we decided to stroll there and see things along the way.

Nguyen Trai

We walked along Nguyen Trai and indeed had some interesting experiences along the way. I was particularly curious about one market I saw along the way, on what kind of exotic stuff they were selling... I really miss the Singapore markets of the olden days...

And then we came across Sogo... I remember the departmental store in Raffles City (Singapore), in Malaysia, in Hong Kong...

But.. guess what??

It's that 'BIG'!

I know Vietnam's unique system about houses aren't able to get within a certain width (they don't care about depth and height though, so, many afforadable locals are having elongated and tall houses but having a tiny front), but for a departmental store???

Optimus Prime outside Parkson Hong Bang :P

Historical wood carving at Phuoc An Hoi Quan Pagoda (福安会馆)

Those long and elogated shophouses I mentioned earlier ^.^

Hai Thuong Lan Ong

Upon reaching the edge of Cho Lon, my friend didn't want to go on further, he's probably right. As the sky's getting dark. HCMC was into raining season... and we had to seek refute at a commercial building for some half an hour as my umbrella was somewhat overran in a stormy rain.

We continued our walk back towards hotel after the heavy downpour, and found another franchise of Highlands Coffee near Cho Ben Thanh, I could do with a cup of hot beverage to keep myself warm, and to rest our tired feets. This time, I wanna try the traditional Vietnam coffee!

Another cuppa at Highlands Coffee ^.^ That's how Vietnam Coffee looks, they put coffee powder on the dripper on top, milk beneath. Allows about 5 minutes for the coffee to drained through to the cup beneath, and you'll have an aromatic and thick coffee!

After coffee break, as we progressed towards Cho Ben Thanh, we came across this Yen Sao Saigon Anpha Birdnest store just opposite the market, and decided to give it a try!

It seemed like a very small store, with a spiral staircase at one corner, which easily occupied 1/6 of the shopfloor. And from outside, it didn't seem sufficient space to put even a decent table for diners, until I saw the spiral staircase leading upstair from close.

The waitress brought us up the very narrow spiral stair which I climbed very cautiously, holding on to the railing along the way. And as we reached the 2nd floor, the opening turned out to be a astonishment!

We had first hand experience of a typical Vietnam apartment with a tiny front on the ground floor, and expanded hall on the upper level, and this wasn't all, there were alleys at the side plus a kitchen where the waitress prepared our order!

We selected a roughly S$18 birdnest each from the menu, and was impressed by the look of it, with generous portion of birdnest, ginkos, shrimps, sweet corns and coriander. The taste was very different from what I normally tried back home, simply put, it wasn't sweet, it was saltish instead. But the favour was rich and taste was fantastic! It was so nice that my traveling companion was pondering buying some retail pack back for his family, before realising the family logo on the packaging... Guess what? Brand's! LOL!

After birdnest, I wanted to explore Cho Ben Thanh in further details, as the day before, I was stunned when my friend simply cut across the market and proceeded directly back to the hotel @_@. As a rough guide, the market basically divided into retail, wet market, and cooked food section. The picture above illustrated a clear border, but otherwise, the stalls were very packed together that left only a tiny lane inbetween, barely enough for two person to walk shoulder to shoulder.

Durians!! But wonder whether its taste was closer to Thailand or Malaysia.. I'd prefer Malaysia anytime, but not Thailand durians :D....

I did find something fascinating, but insufficient to trigger me digging out my wallet for them. It's a pity the lane was so squeeze that I found it difficult to take pictures between the stalls without causing unnecessary annoyance.
It was close to 5pm after we finished hanging around Cho Ben Thanh, still full after the birdnest and my friend was apparently tired, he decided to go for a massage. I might try it if I was in Thailand or Indonesia, but I had never heard of any uniqueness in vietnamese massage so I gave it a miss. I returned to the hotel and shot some more pictures, from the room and from the rooftop pool.

It took more than an hour before my travel companion returned to the hotel, we left for dinner around 7.30pm. This being the 2nd and last night in HCMC, I wanted to tried the Broken Rice again, I would surely miss it back home! My friend was kinda weird, he pointed at the vegetable salad in the menu and waved his hands vigourously, to indicate if the set menu he ordered came with it, he didn't want it. Silly, lol! He was obviously haunted by yesterday's experience, and actually, the set menu he ordered today did not come with the sumptous but somewhat tasteless vegetable salad.
After dinner, I reckoned it was time to get some food for friends back home, and patronised one local foodstuff store just opposite our hotel. It's convenient, and the pastries quite nice too, too bad, no tasting, and a bit hard for the tooth, which I only found out back home!

Day 3

Breakfast @ hotel was still as plain and tasteless as the morning before, but wiser from the experience, at least I knew how to choose the better one... muffins! ^_^

The noodle was known as Singapore Fried Noodle, but I assured you, Singapore never had such noodle! Needless to say, erm.. fail! haha!

and the prawn bee hoon... could only taste the pepper! lol

Like usual, I tried to fill myself so that I could skip lunch, even though the breakfast was rather blend.
After breakfast, we went to Cho Ben Thanh, my friend was keen to get a few T-shirt as souvenir, we started off at the government regulated section in Cho Ben Thanh, but my travel companion ended up buying T-shirt from the tout inside instead. I tried to stop him, and to some extent, taught him bargaining tactics, but he was simply too stubborn. Very well...
After Cho Ben Thanh, we walked around rather aimlessly, this 3rd day was supposingly planned for Cu Chi Tunnel, but me and my friend was not keen to explore a killing field, nor spend $ and time on needless travel, gave it a miss.

Vietnam has interesting trash bin too! :P

Bitexco Financial Tower (Tháp Tài Chính)

We shopped along the famous Dong Khoi street, but I still could not find anything to buy. Eventually, we found ourselves reaching a new landmark in Ho Chi Minh City, the Bitexco Financial Tower. It was the tallest building in HCMC, but not in Vietnam. Hanoi's seemingly plain-looking Keangnam Hanoi Landmark Tower took the honour. But Bitexco Financial Tower resembled Dubai's Burj al Arab, and designed by Carlos Zapata Studio of New York. At the time of my visit, the building was relatively quiet, I suppose some final touching up was been carried out before the tenants moved in.

My friend's hunger took its toll, and we settled for a meal break at a Lotteria outlet along Nguyen Hue. Later, along a shopping mall, I finally found something that made me broke my spending curfew! I bought a cute red BAMBO T-shirt with a Pig named Leo in the foreground for 190,000 Dong (S$12)! I soooo luv it! As I'm a Leo borned in the year of Pig!

As the name suggest, No. 1 Coffee ^_^

We walked back towards Cho Ben Thanh, a good landmark in HCMC if ever you get lost in Saigon, and since it was still too early for our night flight, we sheltered at Trung Nguyen Coffee along Truong Dinh, at the corner of the junction near our hotel. It was about 3pm, we had to wait a few hour before having dinner and our subsequently journey to the airport.

My good old buddy spent all his Dong, and I had my remainders carefully allocated for dinner, so I could only forked out enough for two beverages, and one cake for him. I unknowingly ordered an Expresso, and really struggled very hard to drag my coffee for a couple of hours... =.=" It's painful when I wasn't really a coffee lover, but simply wanted to try Vietnam coffee or otherwise I would have gone for tea instead!
Until we really found it embarass to stick on our seats, we left the cafe and returned to the hotel main lobby, where we waited until about 5.30pm when we had Broken Rice again for dinner (I really luv the BBQ pork!).

I would really like to recommend this beverage at Com Tam, where we had our Broken Rice, its taste was awesome!

After dinner, we waited at the hotel lobby until a little after 6.30pm, our driver came and picked us up for the airport. We reached Tan Son Nhat International Airport slightly after 7pm, and found ourselves behind a long queue at the airport check-in counter, it wasn't helpful that the staff delayed the operation and crowd swamped over when they started. Anyway, we were in no hurry as I understood that there ain't much to shop in the duty free zone. We hanged around took some pictures before clearing custom.

The boring holding area

Flight 3K552 back home wasn't as comfortable as 3K555 that took us here, the bloody seat could not be inclined, but fortunately it was merely a 2-hour flight. We reached Singapore after midnight and my clueless friend had to borrow $ from me to cover the taxi charge... lucky he, I didn't spend all my S$ like he did.

 

My loot from HCMC mainly consist of tea and coffee powder ^_^ But I later learnt that none of this offered a significant taste. At least the food still OK.

Alright, I have some footnote regarding the tea I bought in HCMC, Giao Co Lam, the top left in the immediate picture above. I would like to elaborate on the medical benefit of which I learnt from the www only recently, but these research are in Mandarin and I ain't able to translate it into English without significant distortion. So for visitors who purely landing on this site for tips in visiting HCMC, you can kindly leave out the following.

大概衆所周知，越南的咖啡舉世聞名，街道上咖啡座比比皆是，雖然品質也許不是世界上最好的，但絕對是手信佳品，特別是Truong Nguyen Coffee，敢自稱No. 1 Coffee，相信也有些許斤兩。而爸爸嘗試后，罕有地竪起拇指，所以在此我也不吝推薦。但是，越南除了咖啡之外，茶葉的產量也是極大的，不過水準一般就參差不齊了。
我一向不喜歡在出遊時接受採購要求，所以當媽媽慣例地提出購買茶葉時，我滿臉不耐煩。要知道茶葉品種偏多，何況我不諳越南語，詢問都成問題，更別説尋找了。
在很偶然的情況下，經過一間胡志明市的超市，看到滿柜的茶袋，我大概知道茶在越南語中就是"Tra"，就索性隨意挑選一盒茶葉交差算了，其中一盒，就是上段文中提到的Giao Co Lam。
回國后，試了購買的鐵觀音和香片，茶味偏淡，幾近無味，不值推薦。倒是這Giao Co Lam讓我印象絕對深刻！並不是茶葉香味四溢哦，相反的，是口味超苦，特別難喝！一飲之下，隱約好像聞到濃厚的塑胶味，比苦瓜茶更苦，害我馬上找陳皮疏解。可以說，第一次接觸這種茶葉者，絕對會反感。
後來在好奇心的驅使下，上網查了Giao Co Lam，原來正是曾經喝過一次的絞股藍茶！上回喝的，是中國廣西金秀絞股藍茶，一樣超級難咽。但是，越難喝的茶，就和苦葯一般，有著極佳的功效哦~下列資料是從互動百科直接抄下的∶

花　　名： 绞股蓝

学　　名： Cucurbitaceae
英 文 名： Fiveleaf Gynostemma-Herb
科　　名： 葫芦科绞股蓝属植物
摘取部位： 根茎或全草 

产　　地： 湖北，廣西，福建， 雲南，浙江，江蘇等

绞股蓝又名七叶参，素称南方人参，在日本称之为“甘蔓茶”、“福音草”，新加坡、马来西亚称为“美女神”、“百病克星”，属多年生草质藤本植物。100%甘 味纯叶绞股蓝原料，品质超群.有效成分含量高,且经济实惠,适合于需要大剂量饮用的消费者购买。绞股蓝为葫芦科植物，在古代本草中不见其名。日本科学家发 现其组成中有多种成分与部分人参皂甙结构相同，近年来发现，绞股蓝具有抗衰老、抗疲劳、抗癌、调节内分泌功能，能提高人体应变能力和免疫力，降低胆固醇和 转氨酶，预防肿瘤，抑制溃疡，缓解紧张，镇静、镇痛。

簡介∶

绞股蓝又名乌七叶胆，为葫芦科绞股蓝属值物。它在世界上已被鉴别的有13种之多，中国有11种。生长在田间的绞股蓝与乌敛梅（葡萄科），在植物形态上很相 似。鲜绞股蓝是多年生草质藤本植物，茎细长，有1~3米，横断面呈五角形或多边形，卷须生于叶腋，叶色墨绿，复叶，椭圆形小叶5~7瓣，有小叶柄，叶片皱 缩，易破碎，边缘有锯齿，圆锥花序，长8~20厘米，果球状小花，直径5~6厘米，成熟后黑色，稍带清香、微苦。 

在民间，将绞股蓝用于治疗咳嗽、痰喘、慢性氣管炎、传染性肝炎等 疾病。1974年以来，日本学者从该植物中分离出50多种皂甙，其中4种与人参皂甙结构完全相同，11种完全相似。中国从1984年开始对绞股蓝的分布、 资源进行调查、开发等工作。（中）国内外的研究一致表明，绞股蓝具有抑制肿瘤细胞繁殖、搞疲研劳、保肝、抗胃溃疡、调节脂质代谢等药理作用。

特點∶

绞股蓝在每年5~8月这段时间内是收割期，将茎叶一起割下后，如有带泥土的，应洗净晾干，再用铡刀切成5厘米左右段状茎叶，按制烘青绿茶方法加工，经杀 青、揉捻、解块、烘干或炒干，即成为绞股蓝茶的初制品，再精制整形，包制成袋泡茶形式。有的绞股蓝茶中拼入20%左右的茉莉花茶，使其香味更加协调柔 和。 

它的茶茎叶中可能不含多酚氧化酶，所以不易发酵后制成红茶型的绞股蓝茶。绿茶型的绞股蓝天茶，带有芬芳的清香，滋味和淡微苦，回味甘醇，汤色淡黄清澈。它素有南方人参之称，故有的产名为"南参茶"。据有关资料报道，绞股蓝茶确实具有滋补、安神的作用，对某些慢性病菌有辅助疗效，常服用无副用，也不会成瘾，是值得推荐的保健饮料。
冲泡方式： 一茶匙干燥的花茶，用一杯滚烫开水冲泡，焖约十分钟后即可；可酌加冰糖或蜂蜜饮用。

功效∶

经现代医学研究证明：绞股蓝富含人体有益的皂甙82种、氨基酸18种、微量元素19种及多种维生素。能增强细胞活力、提高机体免疫力。

 绞股蓝味苦，性寒，清热解毒、能降血脂、降胆固醇。降血脂，降血压，增强冠状动脉和脑雪流量，抗DNA的变异作用，提高机体免疫功能，防治动脉硬化，肥胖症，癌症及慢性肝炎，是滋补安神，保护肝脏的。消炎解毒、止咳祛痰、适用于动脉硬化、支气管、哮喘胃溃疡、高血压、高胆固醇等延寿作用。在民间绞股蓝用于治疗咳嗽、痰喘、慢性气管炎、传染性肝炎等疾病。据研究表明绞股蓝具有抑制肿瘤细

胞繁殖、抗疲劳、保肝、抗胃溃疡、调节脂质代谢等药理作用另据权威认证绞股蓝确实具有滋补、安神的作用，对某些慢性病有辅助疗效，常服无副作用，也不会成瘾，是中老年朋友值得饮用的一种保健饮料。近年来，日本科学家研究发现，绞股蓝中的4种皂甙含量超过了人参,具有明显的补气作用，降糖功能显著，尤其对于糖代谢、防止动脉硬化、保护心脏和增强机体免疫功能等方面有明显的功效。绞股蓝对于防治高血脂、高血压、心脑血管疾病、糖尿病并发症等，已得到充分的验证。因为绞股蓝含有很多种与人参相同的皂甙，所以有人参甘味。绞股蓝兰是一种具有人参作用，而无人参副作用的多功能保健药，被誉名为“世界四大保健品之冠”。

注意事项： 绞股蓝的注意事项：请置于室内阴凉干燥处，避免儿童自行拿取。

适宜搭配： 绞股蓝适合单泡，不适宜搭配其他茶。

泡法喝法： 绞股蓝的泡法及喝法介绍：一茶匙干燥的绞股蓝茶，用一杯滚烫开水冲泡，焖约十分钟后即可；可酌加冰糖或蜂蜜饮用。

藥理作用∶

其具体药理作用大致可分为以下五个方面：

(1) 影响机体的代谢水平：绞股蓝茶具有降血脂、降血糖、提高蛋白质的合成速率、减少脂肪的吸收积累、促进肝脏细胞的再生等作用。

(2) 具有抗癌的作用：表现在能防止正常细胞癌化，引导癌细胞恢复正常，如对肝癌、肺癌、子宫颈癌、黑色素瘤等癌细胞的增殖有明显的抑制作用，抑制率20-80％。

(3) 调节机体的免疫机能及抗衰老、抗疲劳的作用：绞股蓝茶具有人参皂甙的免疫双向调节作用，由于其具有大量的Rb及Rg两大类活性成分，所以能自动调节失眠和 消除疲劳症状，提高人体缺氧耐受力，并有助于淋巴细胞数增加，显著延长细胞寿命(动物试验表明能延长果蝇及小鼠寿命11.89%-24.1%)，同时还能 改善头皮微循环防治白发。

(4) 绞股蓝茶具有镇静、镇痛以及明显的缓解紧张等作用，并能调整内分泌，防治糖皮质激素的副作用。

(5) 抗心肌缺血、改善心脏血流。 

可惜，要是早知道絞股藍茶功效那麽特出，當時就多買幾盒回來了！據聞此茶在中港澳也不好找（我從來沒見過），而且價格偏高，而胡志明市僅售（折合）幾元新幣，實在值得！