I never intended to have a travel blog, but here we are!
Thinking about it, it does make sense to write about my trip to Ho Chi Minh; after all, a vacation delights one’s senses. You go to a foreign country and as soon as you step foot in it, you immediately sense the singularity of a place. You receive a “Welcome to Ho Chi Minh City!” text as you stroll through the airport. You walk the streets and look up, and you’re greeted by foreign characters on billboards and buildings; you feel a gust of wind and immediately sense how it differs from your hometown. You can’t immediately pinpoint what is so different, yet you feel it all the same.
The moment it sunk in that I was in Vietnam is when I caught a wiff of patis or fish sauce. We use patis often in the Philippines but street food culture varies greatly from Ho Chi Minh and the central business district of Makati, where I live. While I use it frequently when cooking, patis is not something I smell in the streets. As I walked further, I was greeted by even more bold and aromatic flavors—coriander, cilantro, basil and shrimp paste. As I turned a corner, there it was: an elderly woman cooking what looks like delicious crab noodle soup. I wanted to snap a photo and devour one cup, but I ran out of phone battery and it was already quite late.
I was with my childhood yaya for this trip. It was my treat to her for taking care of me when I got severely injured 11 months ago. She briefly left her peaceful life in the province and flew immediately to Makati to take care of me as I struggled doing daily tasks and chores alone with only one functioning foot. How lucky am I to have her in my life? I flew her again to Manila, and then to Ho Chi Minh. It was her first time abroad, and by traveling with her, I got to go on vacation and experience things through her lens. She was so amused that we were technically billionaires in Vietnam. To her surprise, our Php12,000 pocket money became VND 5,313,697. There were no coins, only smaller bills— which I think is genius because seriously, why do we have coins when they make our wallets unnecessarily and inconveniently heavy?
Before talking about the places I went to, I wanted to show perhaps the top reason why I vacationed in Vietnam: the food! My hero, Anthony Bourdain, had raved about this country and their cuisine for so long, and now I understand why. In every street you walk in, either you pass by a restaurant or see someone cooking. Its food is central to its culture, or perhaps it IS their culture. It’s one of the many things I took away from my vacation and admire this beautiful country for.
What struck me, especially as a cook, is how there’s a balance of all seven elements of taste; salt, sweet, sour, bitter, umami, fat and spicy in almost every dish I’ve tried. Of course some dishes have more dominant tastes but the presence of all these elements is what makes their cuisine so rich. The flavors are in harmony with one another — each bite bursting with rich and complex depth that leaves a lingering satisfaction on your palate and onto your stomach. I get it, Tony. We miss you dearly.
This is in stark contrast to Philippine cuisine. As much as I love Filipino food, our dishes often emphasizes only one or two dominant taste(s) (e.g. sweet for tocino, sour in sinigang, salty in lumpia, etc.) Furthermore, we Filipinos use herbs sparingly, with onion and garlic being the most common, whereas Vietnamese food relies on fresh herbs like cilantro, Thai basil, mint, and perilla, which add depth and brightness to their dishes. What elevates these dishes even further is how cheap they are relative to the cost of food here in the Philippines (lol).
Here are some snaps of the food I ate, but do note that these are not the only dishes I ate! I devoured their food like my life depended on it 🐷
Most of these were taken in Quận 10 and Ho Thi Ky Food Street, which is Saigon’s ultimate after hours-food spot!
And here perhaps is my favorite, the classic pho. Luckily, there is a pho restaurant near my Airbnb. Just imagine my joy having pho and ice cold Saigon beer and coconut at 2AM, away from all of life’s responsibilities, and only living in the moment— in every sip of soup made from beef bones that was simmered for hours and seasoned with fresh herbs; in every bite of rare and tender beef; in every slurp of thin and smooth rice noodles.
In moments like this, I can’t help but think to myself that life is worth living. There may be some difficult moments where perhaps we feel like it might not be, but as I sit there and devour every bite, and as I bring these memories with me moving forward, I know with absolute certainty that it is.
Me and some guy who was probably judging me:
Where we stayed:
I booked an Airbnb that was ultra cheap, only Php6,198.57 for five nights! The room was huge and extremely cozy, especially for its price. It’s designed with vintage interior and paintings, giving this aristocratic yet comforting feeling, perfect for resting after a long day of walking and exploring the city. The only con (if you can even call it one) was the bed is too big and too comfortable, it was sooo hard to get up! The location’s great too, we were near iconic tourist spots, and it’s easy to find in Google Maps.
Places we went to:
Visited the Saigon Skydeck in Bitexco Financial Tower! It offers a panoramic 360-degree view of Ho Chi Minh City, and they have telescopes to zoom in on landmarks (but to be honest, I used the telescope only to see cars driving around and people walking and speaking with each other. It kinda felt like I was invading their privacy, but it was fun nonetheless. Sorry random strangers!)
Went to the Monet and Van Gogh Art Lighting Experience in Gigamall Vietnam! I’ve never been to any interactive museum, and to be honest, this was a mid experience for me. I’ve always loved going to museums and seeing the artworks displayed, but the main attraction of art museums to me is the history. The place definitely has great aesthetic, but I learned very little about Monet and Van Gogh other than quotes that were attribute to them, which were flashed on the walls. My favorite was “There is nothing more truly artistic than to love people.” I agree with you wholeheartedly, Vincent.
Had a boat ride in the Nhieu Loc – Thi Nghe canal! I opted for this ride instead of the Saigon River route because the latter was fully booked on the same day. Yep, I’m that gal who books tours (literally) last minute. What I found surprising is the water in the canal was dark and was dirty, but there was no smell. Try doing this in Pasig River and you’ll probably pass out due to the stink. We were alone during the ride, and it was a peaceful and serene experience, especially as it approached nighttime and the lights began to glow.
A view of the Bitexco Financial Tower at night from the canal:
We lit a lantern and left it in the water:
We then dedicated a day for a tour of historical landmarks. We booked a tour guide named Tom who showed us around, made our stomachs hurt from so much laughter, and taught us some things about Vietnam history.
Visited the Saigon Central Post Office, which was built in 1891! One could presune that I had sent myself a letter through a post card (being the self-proclaimed old soul and romantic that I am) but we were pressed for time. When I go back, I definitely will.
A snap from the inside. That is a photo of President Ho Chi Minh in the center, who was the great leader of the Vietnamese revolution in the twentieth century. He led Vietnam to independence from French colonial rule after winning the Battle of Dien Bien Phu.
We also went to the Saigon Notre-Dame Basilica, which was unfortunately under renovation when we visited. It was built between 1877-1880 by the French architect Jules Bourard in a Romanesque and Gothic Revival style, inspired by the famous Notre-Dame de Paris. Luckily, Tom was able to take a great picture of me in front of the basilica:
With Tom, our lovely tour guide!
We then visited the Independence Palace, which is perhaps my favorite historical landmark as it is a beautiful symbol of Vietnam’s reunification. In 1975, a North Vietnamese Army tank broke through the main gate of the Independence Palace, which marked the official fall of South Vietnam and the victory of communist North Vietnamese forces. The Independence Palace was the seat of power for South Vietnam’s government, who worked closely with colonial forces in France and the United States. When the war ended, South and North Vietnam were reunited as one nation.
Outside the palace, there are replicas of tanks supplied by China and Soviet Union to North Vietnam. It would have been so cool to see the actual tanks used during the war! Fortunately, the tanks looked very realistic, I got goosebumps.
Inside the palace are the offices of past government officials, including the president and vice president, along with their meeting rooms and areas of entertainment such as game rooms and a home theatre. The furniture displayed are the actual furniture used during that time period.
Lastly, we visited the War Remnants Museum, which was a harrowing experience given how graphic they presented the horrors of the war. I wrote about my experience of the museum on Instagram, which I’ll be posting here. Let’s just say that the way Filipinos interact with their history is vastly different from how Vietnamese do. Granted, this might not be how the general Vietnamese population views their history of suffering from colonial rule, but this is the impression I got when I visited the museum and listened to my tour guide speak about the war. I intend to write more in depth about this comparison when I finish Patricia Evangelista’s book about Duterte’s war on drugs called “Some People Need Killing” (which I started during this trip) and after I rewatch Ken Burns’ documentary on the Vietnam war. For now, here are my thoughts.
Something we Filipinos can take away from Vietnamese is this: they are very upfront about the brutality they faced against French and American colonialism. They don’t shy away from discussing it; whereas Filipinos tend to romanticize colonial rule, and in turn, colonial brutality & Filipino suffering. This is evident when we elected a dictator’s son in 2022, and at present, we have people loudly opposing the International Criminal Court’s arrest of Duterte for the brutal killing of Filipino people.
Unlike many war museums that focus on military strategy, the War Remnants Museum highlights the human cost of war. Inside, there are raw and graphic images of Vietnamese war victims. There are replicas of torture chambers. The museum doesn’t just document history—it forces you to reflect on the consequences of colonial rule.
It felt weird to take pictures of these images as a tourist; instead, I took photos of Vietnamese and their weapons and vehicles, an account of torture methods of prisoners, and journalists’ text highlighting why it’s important we face the brutal part of our history upfront. In doing so, we tend to not repeat it.
Outside of the tours and food trips, I would take walks in the famous Bui Vien Walking Street, which at night, is a neon-lit spectacle of bars, street food, live music and endless energy that doesn’t slow down until 2-3AM. I never got to visit it during the day, but apparently, it has a more relaxed vibe and features coffee shops, souvenir stalls and small local restaurants.
Mandatory traveller’s convenience store picture:
Also accompanied my yaya to shop at the famous Ben Thanh Market. When the vendors realized we were Filipino, they yelled out “mura lang!” The salesman skills were next level. Unfortunately, I am not much of a buyer of material things myself, but I did buy coconut and Vietnamese coffee to bring home to friends and relatives.
Thanking Sat for accompanying me to my food trips on a motorbike! True bliss is riding a motorbike at night through a beautiful country, the wind in my hair and stomach satiated with delicious food 💙
