Voila!

Vinyl Bar

Our investment mission was drawing to a close.  We decided to end it with a night cap at a nearby bar, which supposedly played vinyl disks (we couldn't tell, really).  Saigon beer wasn't bad at all, turned out to be the surprise of the night.

A Tale of Two Hospitals

From the point of view of a potential expat, I wanted to find out more about medical facilities in the city. We had a chance to visit FV Hospital, which is one of the upper end hospitals in Saigon.  I was impressed with the comfortable feel of the building architecture, as well as the breadth of practice and treatment available.  The hospital is accredited by Joint Commission International (JCI).

We were also able to visit Cho Ray Hospital, which was run by the government.  Noticeably more patients, of course.  From the number of motorcycles in the parking lot (Vietnam is probably the motorcycle capital of the world), I was mentally preparing for visuals of extreme bed congestion, but there was nothing of the sort.  The Philippine General Hospital still takes the cake on that issue.

La Cucina

We chose to have lunch at La Cucina, a riverside Italian restaurant at the Crescent promenade.  Not so many people around, and I half expected ho-hum food and service. Turns out that we had a wonderful meal, with fresh seafood pasta (yes, it was done in chewy al dente fashion) and rich flavorful pizza!

We had a chance to meet the American chef and we didn't fail to thank him for the good meal.  I don't have a handle on how much our meal cost us, but judging from the looks of the place, I'd say that the pricing would be well above the average meal cost in Saigon.

It's funny that the cooking ovens (you can see them in the pictures below) somehow reminded me of the white sugar coating of banadas cookies popular in Iloilo and Bacolod. Room decor wasn't particularly awe-inspiring, but was cozy enough to be traditional without being ornately Italian.

Crescent Mall

I love observing the transformation of a city.  New housing zones become populated, a flurry of construction activity is evident, and world-class concepts just keep coming in.  We visited the Crescent Mall, which is the retail cornerstone of the Phu My Hung development in District 7, Saigon South.  While the mall had little foot traffic (we were there on a weekday), I was quite pleased to see several international brands.

I love the aquarium at the base of their escalator!  Such a wonderful idea, a visual respite from the city concrete.

I was told that the Phu My Hung township encompasses some 400 hectares of riverside property, and I was amazed with the beauty of the modern cityscape blending with the river view.  Definitely something that local master planners can emulate. 

Paris Deli

Merienda in Saigon?  Yes!  We were waiting for Kenny to finish his meeting with some building contractors, and we took a little time to have cake at the nearby Paris Deli, obviously capitalizing on the sales pitch of colonial history.  Both cake and cold smoothie weren't bad, but weren't astonishing either.

Trung Nguyen

Our rooms didn't come with the usual breakfast package.  We wanted to explore the city; and our first breakfast was at Trung Nguyen, one of the homegrown coffee chains.  The particular outlet we chose was just a 5 minutes walk from the hotel. 

I had a bowl of beef phoa, which, being fast-food, wasn't really much of a brekky.  The coffee though wasn't bad.  The standard Vietnamese service style comes with condensed milk, and thus the coffee was on the sweet side.  The aroma of the roasted mountain bean, however, was strong, and that gave my senses a quick fix! 

Zen

Our hosts took us to a Japanese dinner in Zen, just a 10 minute walk from our hotel.  I was pleasantly surprised to find an izakaya in Saigon, and our hosts told us that the place was a favorite of the Japanese expat population.

We had lots of sashimi and sushi.  All seafood was quite fresh, but the rice seemed to be a bit overly soaked in vinegar.  Service was prompt and the atmosphere was as Japanese as you can get.

Hoa Tuc

The first item on the agenda was to have a late lunch.  Since we were pressed for time, we opted to look for a nearby place, and Hoa Tuc was the immediate suggestion.  The restaurant is located right at the very building where Indian opium used to be refined by the French colonial government.

I particularly liked the wok-fried beef strips atop a bed of watercress.  The meat was tender and the aroma was startling.  I don't know what spices the chef had used, but the dish was quite outstanding.

The sea bass was topped with mango and came with sweet potatoes and cassava.  Not bad. The barbecued chicken though was ordinary, and the only indication that we were in Saigon was that it was served with bean sprouts and coriander on the side.

Park Hyatt Saigon

The flight from Manila to Ho Chi Minh was pretty bumpy, and I was lucky to remember to take my Bonamine tablet prior to take-off.  As we were brought into town by our hosts, I felt a quick jolt of relief as we were led to the lobby of the Park Hyatt in District 1.  The ice-cold welcome drink was quite refreshing, and we wasted no time in settling in.

I like the serene ambiance of this hotel.  It's centrally located, right in the middle of town, and the room interiors have an elegant charm, cozy and relaxing without losing its stately feel.  I slept like a baby!  

While it is classified as a 4-star property, it's pretty much one of the top-tier hotels in the city.  Room rates are quite reasonable, and start at around US$200 a night.