Saigon, Ho Chi Minh City - 2 to 5 Nov 2016

The US helicopter on the Independence Palace's helipad.

Flashback: Fall of Saigon 1975.   The helicopter with US insignia markings parked on the rooftop of the Independence Palace...not sure if had anything to do with evacuation of personnel after the Fall (or Liberation) of Saigon in 1975.

Whether its "fall" or "liberation" is a matter of perspective. From the victors' point of view, it was liberation of Saigon.  From the perspective of the Americans and their allies, it was definitely the fall of Saigon".  41 years later, we are here visiting this great country and enjoying its unique culture and cuisine!

There was indeed a very famous photo of a US helicopter evacuating personnel at the top of a building during the fall (or liberation) of Saigon >40 years ago.....and this scene really forces that mental picture to mind!

The famous snapshot of a helicopter evacuation during Fall of Saigon (photo by Hubert van Es on 29 Apr 1975, courtesy of Google and Wilkipedia)

This actual photo was taken of the elevator shaft roof top of No.22 Ly Tu Trong Street (formerly  known as No.22 Gia Long Street) in Ho Chi Minh City.    No 22 is an apartment building which still stands. In 1975, the offices of certain US aid and government agencies were at that building, hence the helicopter evacuation of US personnel, from its elevator roof top.

The Independence Palace was last occupied by the South Vietnamese top brass before the Fall of Saigon.  This is the ticketing counter entry.

View of the front compound of the palace. See 2 T4 tanks parked on the left near the main gate after the fountain.

A 1975 photo of Vietnamese tank crashing through the Independence Palace gate.

This symbolic bulldoze through the main gate on 30 April 1975 signaled the capitulation of the South Vietnamese government and the end of the Vietnam War.   After the war ended Saigon was renamed Ho Chi Minh City in honor of the founding father of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam.

Poster showing the original French governor's building (below) and current palace (above).

The old French governor's building later became Prime Minister (later President) Ngo Dinh Diem's offices. The entire left wing of the old building was destroyed in bomb attack from rebel pilots, in the 1960 coup attempt which he prevailed. The building had to be demolished.

(Let's indulge in a bit of history here: President Ngo Dinh Diem reputed to be a strong nationalist and anti-communist, was assassinated in a coup d'etat in Nov 1963.  President Ngo's ouster paved the way to the Vietnam War. <Read here for the declassified US government papers on the Diem coup, which reported: "Supporting the Diem coup made the U.S. responsible for the outcome in South Vietnam in exactly the way Bobby Kennedy feared on October 29," said Dr. Prados. "Ironically, though, as the conversation continued, he and the other doubters abandoned these larger considerations and concentrated only on whether a coup would succeed - nothing else mattered.">   John Prados was the then head of the National Security Archives.  Wilkipedia reported on the Communist North's reaction.).

The new building was completed in 1966.  The top building is the current Independence Palace, which housed the last South Vietnamese Presidents & Vice President's offices in 1975.

The layout was inspired by this character in the Vietnamese (and Chinese) vocabulary. It's "Ji" in Chinese, loosely translated means "Lucky".

We observed that the Latin (or English) alphabet is used extensively in Vietnam instead of local script like that above, or Thais have Sanskrit, Malaysia & Indonesia have Jawi, etc.   Interesting to find out why at some point.

Sprawling grounds of the palace.

The Saigon Notre-Dame Basilica is in heart of town, in District 1.  Its next to the Saigon Central Post Office.   District 1 is the heart of the original city, from which the city sprawled out.

The cathedral built between 1863 - 1880 has two bell towers, reaching a height of 58 meters.

The grand cathedral Saigon Notre-Dame Basilica

A 5-meter tall Virgin Mary in front of the cathedral. 

 A couple using the cathedral as backdrop for their wedding photo

A recess on left side with panels of thanksgiving and memorials

Ceiling befitting a cathedral

Although grand and imposing, the arched ceiling does not have the elaborate decorations and painting of the saints and biblical stories we see in similar European cathedrals.   However the cathedral was built mainly with French materials, eg. its red bricks exterior were from Toulouse.

Door way into the sanctuary

The Saigon Central Post Office is situated next to the cathedral, and was constructed when Vietnam was part of French Indochina in the late 19th century.  It has Gothic, Renaissance and French architectural features.

The Central Post Office was constructed between 1886 to 1891.  Although a tourist attraction, it is still a working post office.

The old Saigon Central Post Office, in District 1.

Grand interior and ceiling with old world spacious wonder.

Painted map of "Saigon and its surroundings 1892".  Old public phone booths with world time clocks mounted on top.

Painted map of "Telegraphic lines of Southern Vietnam and Cambodia 1892".

This is still a working General Post Office.

Besides the Independence Palace, Saigon Notre-Dame Basilica (cathedral) and the Central Post Office, we also visited the War Remnants Museum and Ho Chi Minh City Museum later.

Villa Song Hotel

Our HCMC accomodation was this pretty hotel is at 197/2 Nguyen Van Hrong, Thao Dien, Quan 2, HCMC.   The front of the hotel faces the Saigon River which is its main attraction.  It's a boutique hotel with 23 unique rooms and suites.  The hotel which is in District 2, has a jetty which allows guests to travel by boat into District 1 in the main city area.  Unfortunately the city jetty is closed and so river travel is out for the time we were here.

Hotel cafe on the banks of the Saigon River.

Villa Song, front facing the Saigon River.

Walk way from road into the hotel. Our room is just next to the corner on the left.

Afternoon rains on the swimming pool

 Night lights

Night fascade from the river

Reception area.

Looking up at the 3 storey stairs well from the ground

Our room's verandah doors viewed from the walkway

Get a sense of how deep the river is with the size of the container ship traffic.

Hotel jetty not in operation because of closure of city jetty.

Water hyacinth floating down the Saigon River.

Hotel breakfasts @ Bistro Song Vie

Pho Hoa @ Pasteur

Pho Hoa @ Pasteur is a well known pho noodle restaurant.   Pasteur is the street name.  The address is 260C Pasteur, Q 3.    Having tried so many beef pho in our 4 days here, we think Pho Hoa @ Pasteur truly lives up to its reputation as the best authentic beef pho in Saigon.

Shop front

Raw beef Pho (Tai)

Chicken noodle (Ga)

Pho menu on wall

The boss cum cashier 

Ngoc Chau Garden

Ngoc Chau Garden is located near the 262-meter high Saigon Skydeck - Bitexco Financial Tower, at 116 Ho Tung Mau, Ben Nghe, Quan 1, HCMC.   It served very authentic "home-cooked" Vietnamese cuisine.  Tasty and though a bit oily, that's the way the locals like it.

Service is fast, and we didn't have to wait long for our orders to arrive.   Because of its location, there is a good crowd of office workers at dinner.

Diners on the upper floor where we were seated

Diners on the ground floor

Stirred fried cowslip creeper buds, aka bunga tonkin.

Pork ribs stewed

Salad with sliced pork and pineapples.

Fried rice

Rau & Do Xao - vegetables and salty stewed combination dip

Chicken and mushrooms in soup

Stirred fried chicken

Spring rolls

Stirred fried beef

Fried spring rolls

Quan An Ngon 138 Restaurant

Quan An Ngon 138 is also known as Ngon 138, the address is 138 Nam Ky Khoi Nghia, Ben Nghe HCMC.

We had lunch at this restaurant.  It works like Marche-concept in Singapore, where there are "food hawkers" lining their stalls within the restaurant and who will prepare the foods we ordered from a menu.    We can eat in safe (from heat and dust) aircon comfort and still enjoy hawker food!

Lady in traditional Aodai.

Rice pancakes

Prawn and coconut salad

Fried prawn with sweet potato

Vietnamese drip coffee

Dry noodles with skewered meats

Beef noodles - my reason to be here

Dong Pho Patisserie

Dong Pho is a delightful restaurant is in Ward 6, 57 Ho Xuan Hurong, phurong 6, District 3, HCMC.   The cuisine is stated simply as Hue food.

We had dinner at this highly recommended restaurant for Hue or Central Vietnamese cuisine.   It is truly Viet food with style.  Even the beef pho taste authentic!   

The restaurant is nicely decorated with memorabilia from Paris, France, and European in general. The food was good although some like the pomelo salad caught us a bit by surprise with its slight spicy after taste.    The two starters' platters were well organized and thought out, and we enjoyed every morsel of it.  Its crab cake was a bit limited but we rationed among ourselves and enjoyed it anyway!

The cakes and pastries on the glass display looked absolutely sinful and we had to avert our eyes when it came to dessert time.

Pomelo chicken salad

Central Vietnam assortment of appetizers

Hue assortment of appetizers - crab cakes and meat on sugarcane skewer.

Beef pho tai

Clam and crab porridge

Clams vermicelli

Baba Rum

Chendol

Magnolia Kitchen & Cafe

Magnolia Kitchen & Cafe billed itself as "the lost recipes of Vietnam".  It's address is 190-192 De Tham Street, District 1, HCMC.

Salad with prawns and cucumber slices.

Prawn crackers with the salad

Prawn and melon salad

Fried prawns

Rose apple salad

Fatty pork

Rice crackers with dip

S

Vegetables leaf wrapped fish

Salted fish with lard.

Fried tofu

Fish meat balls soup

Crab and pork meat dumpling soup

The manager Mr Dung (pronounced "Yung") and his team

We like the food offerings at Magnolia. Substantial and refreshing, and the service was impeccable. Worth another visit for sure.

Pho Phu Vuong restaurant

The beef cuts in the soup

Beef brisket pho (Gao)

Beef balls pho (Vien)

Beef balls (without noodles)

We thought the pho serving seems a bit weak in that both substance and taste was lacking.  Good for quick lunch but Pho Hoa Pasteur is much more superior.

Visit to Ben Thanh market

Ben Thant market is a city landmark and our favorite haunt for trinklets & fruits shopping.

Traffic round the cicus in front of the Ben Thanh market

The east gate

Food section

Lots of trinklets, apparel and food stuff offerings at the market.  The vendors are very friendly and have no qualms about touting people walking by to try their goods.

Museum visits

We visited the Ho Chi Minh City Museum or previously called the Gia Long Palace.  Its located at corner of Ly Tu Trong and Nam Khoi Nghia streets, and is near the Independence Palace which we visited earlier.  Gia Long Palace was where President Ngo Dinh Diem escaped from during the 1963 coup, but was later captured and executed.

Bicycle used by North Vietnamese troops to carry provisions

Cannot comment much about the other exhibits except that there was one room displaying wedding customs with costumes and mannequins, which somehow made us feel eerily uncomfortable.  It's just a feeling of ghostly creepiness!  (Photos taken there have been deleted!!)

We also visited the War Remnants Museum at 28 Vo Van Tan in District 3.   It has many graphic displays of horror of wars, and not for the faint-hearted. Here are the only palatable photos..

Machine gun mounted on a Huey helicopter.

Bomb scrapnel

M-16 semi-automatic rifles

Photo with tank relics.

Personal food recommendations

If there's only time for one bowl of beef pho in Saigon, must go to Pho Hoa Pasteur.

Dong Pho is a delightful restaurant, with the diner entertained by the light chatter of other diners and the pretty collections of memorabilia on display.    The food is good too!

Magnolia Kitchen & Cafe, and Ngoc Chau Garden serves hearty Vietnamese fare, which are both substantial and enjoyable.  

If looking for a hawker or street food encounter but don't want the fuss of the heat and grime of the real thing, go to Ngon 138.  It's good spread of tasty street foods with good service (and feels like aircon) as well.

Finally, the blog writer tries to recall what he ate over the last 4 days....without much success...

......sipping Australian sauvignon blanc & voignier blend on the bank of the Saigon River.