Saigon cooking class
Posted by admin on Jul 04, 2011 | Comments Off
Hand-on cooking class, in the refined set up of Hoa Tuc restaurant in the heart of Saigon. Classes are conducted by a Vietnamese chef speaking English (French with a translator). Optional market visit with our Chef to purchase the ingredients you will cook just after during the Cooking Class.Only small group from 1 to 8 persons.
Given the success of our restaurant and in response to numerous requests from our regular...
Yếm: A Modern Classic
Posted by admin on Jun 16, 2011 | Comments Off
The yếm (breastcloth) is perhaps the most typical item of Vietnamese women’s clothing. A diamond or square-cut piece of cloth placed diagomally on a woman’s chest, with its upper angle cut in a round form or in a V from, it has been worn for centuries by women of all classes.
Traditionally worn under a blouse or overcoat, the yếm is on hand is a symbol of modesty. As one 17th century observer, the Italian priest...
Barbecue Garden Restaurant Introduction
Posted by admin on May 31, 2011 | Comments Off
Barbecue Garden is a new outdoor restaurant of 800m2 in the center of Dist.1 of HCMC. It is 20 meters far from Le Loi Street and Ben Thanh market, you will discover this new restaurant located in a very surprising garden…!
With a relaxing atmosphere, surrounded by banana trees, majestic Phuong trees and the outdoor of barbecue dishes, the restaurant brings customer feeling of being out of Saigon and all of its...
The Vietnamese Pho: An Explosion Of Flavors!
Posted by admin on Feb 19, 2011 | Comments Off
Vietnam is a jewel that is nestled in steamy Southeast Asia, is a catchall that borrows a little from each of the culture and conjures up a unique culinary tradition of its own. Vietnamese food is fast catching up the world as one of the spiciest ways to jazz up America’s calorie conscious table!
For the Americans who are used to having a cholesterol laden breakfast of ham, bacon and eggs the Vietnamese national dish,...
Bars & Pubs in Saigon
Posted by admin on Dec 15, 2010 | Comments Off
The city of Ho Chi Minh or Saigon has a lot to offer to its tourists. The boulevards, the buildings that helps the tourists as well as the locals to get an idea about the French architecture, the over crowded streets, the traffic, the shops that displays different kinds of goods, the attire of the local residents, the roads which are always jam- packed is sure to give you an idea about the kind of lifestyle that...
Where to Go in Ho Chi Minh City
Posted by admin on Dec 15, 2010 | Comments Off
Dinh Thong Nhat (Reunification Palace)
The Reunification Palace is beautiful in its ugliness, a 1960s monstrosity designed with the help of Soviet architects. Most people will remember the image of a North Vietnamese tank crashing through the gates on 30 April 1975 signifying the fall of Saigon. The tank still graces the front lawn. Rooms open to the public remain exactly as they were in 1975, showing where important...
Vietnam Traditional Ao Dai
Posted by admin on Nov 19, 2010 | Comments Off
Áo dài is always considered a symbol of traditional Vietnam. A foreign tourist who lands in Vietnam has the opportunity to see a woman dressed in her ao dai. It is about a close-fitting long tunic in light fabric, open on the sides from the waist down, worn over a large pants. It will be surely of speechless admiration facing this incarnate elegance. It is not the clothe that provokes this admiration but rather the...
Cai Be Floating market 1 day
Posted by admin on Nov 09, 2010 | Comments Off
Highlights tour
+ Cai Be Floating market: Cai Be, one of the many well-known floating markets in the western region of southern Vietnam was formed in the Nguyen Dynasty in the 19th century. The Cai Be Floating Market is always busy, bearing all the characteristics of the locals’ life in the western region.
+ Binh Hoa Phuoc Island: The island emerges from the middle of the Tien River, just opposite to the Vinh Long...
GETTING AROUND SAI GON
Posted by admin on Sep 22, 2010 | Comments Off
By Taxi
Taxis from the airport to the city center would take as little as 15 minutes in lighter traffic (which only happens between 11:00 am and 4:00 pm). This should cost no more than 80,000VND. The more typical experience is to creep along in near-standstill traffic for 30 minutes or more, at a cost of about 120,000VND...
Shopping for antiques at Cao Minh Café
Posted by admin on Sep 06, 2010 | Comments Off
Every Sunday morning, people come to the secondhand goods and antiques market to enjoy coffee, have breakfast, listen to music and seek unique secondhand goods. The market opens at 9 a.m. at garden café Cao Minh in HCMC’s Binh Thanh District.
At the market, antique collectors, sellers, and enthusiasts can trade and exchange their knowledge and passion for antiquity.
The market is divided into many sections and sells...
Out of Saigon – Cu Chi Tunnels: Fighting underground
Posted by admin on Jul 02, 2010 | Comments Off
Set around 35km from central Ho Chi Minh City, the Cu Chi Tunnels earned legendary status during the American War. A massive network of underground tunnels and chambers, Cu Chi, in its entirety, stretched for over 250km from Saigon all the way to the Cambodian border. Few sites bear stronger testament to the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong’s will to defeat the Americans (and the French) than these tunnels.
It’s...
A unique “banh xeo”
Posted by admin on Jun 16, 2010 | Comments Off
“Banh xeo” is Vietnamese style crepe with whole shrimp, thinly sliced pork and bean sprouts.
Like the salad roll, the “banh xeo” is a do-it-yourself dish that involves the messy but delicious process of wrapping the crepe in lettuce with cilantro and basil. Though the filling might fall out on your table, you will be completely lost in the crispy, warm combination of lettuce and crepe, and the attentive staff...
Saigon’s markets
Posted by admin on Jun 10, 2010 | Comments Off
The best place to shop in Saigon, in terms of value and choice, is at the markets. Saigon’s markets are a treat for all the senses. Visiting these lively trading arenas is as much a social occasion, as a shopping trip.
At the southwest end of Le Loi, Ben Thanh Market, is easily spotted with its clock tower on the roundabout. This market is the city’s largest and has been divided into two sections: one side targeting...
History of Saigon in brief
Posted by admin on Jun 10, 2010 | Comments Off
From the first to the sixth centuries, the area where Saigon now stands was under the sway of the Funan empire and was occupied by Khmer fishermen. They found its stable ground an ideal base for fishing in the nearby Mekong Delta, though it amounted to no more than a village at the time, which went by the name of Prey Nokor.
Little more is known about the city’s development until the 17th century, when the Nguyen...
SAIGON WELCOMING THE ARRIVAL OF VISITORS
Posted by admin on Jun 09, 2010 | Comments Off
If you are reading this prior to your first visit to Saigon, or just need an update, the following travel tips may assist you in preparing yourself for your arrival.
Before you leave home
Make sure you have plenty of business cards (in Vietnamese if you are really serious) with a Vietnam contact address if possible
Ensure you have a least a dozen passport photos – you’ll...
Highlighted sites of visiting
Posted by admin on Jun 09, 2010 | Comments Off
Giac Lam Pagoda
Located at 118 Lac Long Quan, Tan Binh Dist., this is the most archaic pagoda, which built in 1744. Here is the inheritance of Buddhism preachers from China. Giac Lam Pagoda has architecture of unusual excellence with huge columns where golden – plated parallel sentences engraved. Within its precinct, there is collection of religion –...
AROUND THE CITY
Posted by admin on Jun 09, 2010 | Comments Off
Cu Chi under – ground tunnels
70 Km North – West from downtown, it is the typical construction of revolution troops to fight against French colonists and invading American as well as Sai Gon former forces. The secret combat trenches system had been dug under ground with the total length over 250 Km in 3 layers where the lower case reached 8 – 10m in deep....
SAIGON On the go
Posted by admin on Jun 09, 2010 | Comments Off
Named after the late President Ho Chi Minh after the nation was reunified in 1975, this city is the locomotive of national development. Its 300-year history is dwarfed by the more stately 1000 years of the capital Ha Noi, but this youthfulness perhaps is manifest in the fact that the city seems perennially on the fast track. Busy and noisy both day and night,...
SAIGON WELCOMING THE ARRIVAL OF VISITORS
Posted by admin on Jun 09, 2010 | Comments Off
Travelers from year-round snow covered countries to Vietnam, a year-round sunny tropical country only know in books and newspapers, and European and American tourists pay a visit to the place where a long war have taken place and where people are enjoying peace. French and American veterans return to the old battle field to find some recollections. Businessmen...
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