Continue from the Part 1, after walked around in the famous Ben Thanh Market, we head to our next destination - Reunification Palace. =)
Reunification Palace (统一府)
Also known as the Independence Palace, built on the site of the former Norodom Palace, is a landmark in Ho Chi Minh City. It was the home and workplace of the President of South Vietnam during the Vietnam War. (From Wikipedia)
Address: 135 Nam Ky Khoi Nghia Street
Opening Hours: 7.30 a.m. - 11.00 a.m./ 1.00 p.m. - 4.00 p.m.
Entrance Fees:VND 30,000
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| My first jump shot in Vietnam! =) |
After visiting the Reunification Palace (well, I do hope the pictures are enough to do all the talking..I'm lazy, I know. xD), we continued to walk towards our next destination - War Remnants Museum. =)
While we were strolling on the street, we saw many motorbikes and the most strange thing was, the motorcyclists were mostly dressed in the same shirt and judging from the way they looked, they were promoting something, haha.
We also spotted a local cinema along the way, haha. It's hard to tell that it is a cinema cuz I think it looked more like those old style cinema, unlike the modern one nowadays and we can totally tell cuz there were different kind of movie posters on the wall besides the cinema. xD
Finally we are reached! It's already around 4.30p.m. by the time we reached the War Remnants Museum, it took us quite some time to figure out the way here, haha. =)
War Remnants Museum (战争博物馆)
Specialized in research, collecting, preserving, and exhibiting the remnants proofs of Vietnam War crimes and their consequences. Through these, the museum intends to call the public to say no to war - yes to peace for world people solidarity.
Address: 28 Vo Van Tan, District 3, Ho Chi Minh City
Opening Hours: 7.30 a.m. -12.00 p.m./ 1.30 p.m. - 5.00 p.m.
Entrance Fees: VND 15,000/pax
There was one board that have all sort of different torture techniques against prisoners, reading through it just make me can't bear to give any further thought on how a human can actually be so cruel and the one who being tortured and managed to survive (some really did survived), how much pains they need to get through? :'(
The last few pictures were all taken in a hurry as the museum already wanna closed for that day, haha. =P
By the time we came out from the museum, it was already 5.00 p.m. and all of us started to feel hungry. So we decided to walk to this restaurant called Quan An Ngon to have our dinner. While we were on our way walking, yes, walking, to find for the place, we saw the Notre Dame Cathedral! xD
So we decided to take a selfie with the building! =) So some of you might be wondering: since you guys were there, why didn't you all go in and paid a visit? Oh we definitely wanted to but the opening hours of the church is only until 5.00 p.m., so we only can took a picture first! xD
After what seemed like a decade-long walking (haha, just being exaggerating here as I just want to emphasized that we walked for quite LONG!), we've finally reached our destination!! *happy*
Address: 138, Nam Ky Khoi Nghia, Ben Nghe, Quan 1
The reason why we choose to enjoy our dinner here is because it is one of the restaurants recommended from the travel book I got and another reason that convinced me the most is the research I do online.
Like I mentioned earlier HERE , I went to read others' blog and looked through in the forum, most of them also recommended this restaurant, so I guess it must be quite good to gain such good reviews right? =) So without a doubt it had become one of the must try restaurant in my lists. =)
This is how the entrance looked like and part of the interior? Lol, fail shots I had here. =/
These were the drinks and the food we ordered there. =)
I personally think that the drinks were so-so only, especially the coconut that I ordered. I preferred to enjoy it in cold but it just came without any ice, so can't really quenched my thirst, lol. But really a thumbs up for the food they served. All taste so delicious! =)
We ordered the fried spring rolls, sauteed beef in "ngon" style(sorry, I don't know what "ngon" style is but the dish taste amazing! xD), fried chicken (if not mistaken) and squid!! xD The price was a bit costly but kinda worth it since they served some quite up-to-standard food. So yup, I will definitely recommend this restaurant to you if you travel to Ho Chi Minh. =)
After our sumptuous dinner at Quan An Ngon, we decided to have dessert at this place called Creperie & Cafe.
Address: 5 Han Thuyen, Ben Nghe, Quan 1
Ok, I really need to say this place was quite a big disappointment to me, no matter is regarding the food or the place itself. After I stepped into the place, I felt like getting cheat from the travel book's description. =/
The cafe was too simple(not those in a simple good way I mean) and the ambience was just too turned off for you to enjoy desserts. =/ Ok, it's time to move on to the food part now.
While we were not that fond of the look of the cafe, we thought that maybe their food can make it up but unfortunately, the food is a big let down too. =( I forgot the name of the dessert, but it was a crepe that came with ice-cream toppings.
The ice-cream taste so-so but is the crepe that spoiled the whole thing. The crepe, which taste more like an oily roti canai aka prata to me, didn't complement well with the taste of the ice-creams. *omg*
We didn't stayed here for long and after we finished the crepe, we decided to walked around again.
We decided to walk around in Diamond Plaza which is just not far from the Creperie & Cafe. =) Diamond Plaza is the biggest shopping mall in Ho Chi Minh, it has become the attraction for both locals and the tourists to shop here. =)
Guess who I bumped into when we were strolling inside the Diamond Plaza? Oh My God! It's my Professor Do - Kim Soo Hyun! Haha! =P (Like real, lol)
We also tried this street food called "Keo Chi" after we came out from Diamond Plaza. Can't really tell what are they cuz I seriously had no idea as the uncle don't know how to speak English and we don't know any Vietnamese too. =O
The left hand side one is sweet but the crust (or skin? I don't know, lol) was kinda hard. The right hand one was more like a vege that wrapped in a "polystyrene-like" wrapper? That's how it taste to me lol. But of course not the real polystyrene, the thing is totally edible! =)
We went for some cafe hopping around that area before we heading back to our hotel, haha. Seriously, Ho Chi Minh got more cafes than I thought and most of them are very beautiful! Since I never really do research on which cafe should I go so we just randomly picked one and gave it a try.
This cafe is called "Highlands Coffee" and I think they got quite a few branches in Ho Chi Minh. And these were what we ordered.One of their specialty - Highlands Ca Phe Sua Da (Iced Coffee with Milk) and a Hazelnut Freeze (Can't really remembered haha).
I have to say that their coffee are nice! Not too sweet but mix with some bitterness, definitely to my preferences! =P This place definitely one of my cafe recommendations to you who wanna cafe hopping in Ho Chi Minh. =)
We took some crazy photos while relaxing and enjoying our coffee. The quality of the photos were kinda sucks cuz it was taken using my iPhone 4s front camera. =/
We eventually managed to drag ourselves out from the cafe after what seemed like a long hour of sitting, haha. By the time we left the place it was already around 11p.m., since we need to wake up quite early the next day to take bus, so we just headed straight back to Seventy Hotel and rest. =)
Till then, annyeong! Xoxo, Phoebe. :)
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