Shopping and Eating in Ho Chi Minh

Transaction in Ho Chi Minh can be done in USD or VND ( Dong ) and even RM in Ben Than market and the night market. 1 USD = VND 21300; 1 USD = RM3.145. It's easier to use USD. However, it's better to pay in VND for food. In my case, I prepared 3 currencies in my purse. I used the one that gets me better price ;-) 

We started our day early at 7am. We had breakfast at our hotel. The hotel serves no pork food considering many malaysians stayed at this hotel. The food was okay and there were many choices.

After breakfast, we looked for the bus station near Ben Thanh. We boarded bus no 1 to Binh Tay Market located on Thap Moui Street in District 6, Cho Lon. It is also known as Chinatown. Binh Tay Market is a wholesale market selling various stuffs. You need to bargain at least half of the quoted price. Some stalls do not sell in small quantities as they normally cater for retailers. We bought some cotton here. The bus fare to Binh Tay is only VND 4000. ( RM0.60 ). Bus No 1 goes from District 1 and stops at a bus station just across the road from Bin Thay market.

Binh Tay Bus Station

Binh Tay wet market

Bus ticket

Garlic nicely decorated

The fruits here are so cheap. Mango was sold at VND 15K per kg ( RM2 ). Fruits like Avocado, pomegranate and dragonfruit were very cheap. We were tempted and bought some. Of course we had to buy a knife which was sold at 80 cents!

Then, we went back to district 1 and had lunch at Vn Halal. Hubby & Liza had Pho i.e viatnamese noodle ( pick the spicy 1 as it tastes better and yummy ). Sumai & I had rice. Mine was okay but Sumai's Nasi ayam hainan looked unappetising to me..hehe.. The cost for our lunch was RM70 - 80 for 4 persons.
( Vn Halal, 14, Pham Hong Thai St. Tel: 84-8-38220252 ).

Pho ( pronounced 'fer' )

After zohor prayer at our hotel, we headed to Ben Thanh Market. The famous cotton shop for Malaysians i.e Dam, shop 433 didn't offer good price. So, we didn't buy anything there. Personally, I prefer the night market, may be because there are many muslim sellers. Bargaining can be done in Malay. I didn't buy much at Ben Thanh market coz i did't get a good bargain. Just bought some polo t-shirts and smocking dressess for the princesses.

Tired of browsing in the market, we went to Le Than Ton Road next to Ben Thanh market. I wanted to buy a pair of glasses. There are many opticians along the road. But we went to Nhat Quang ( 126, Le Than Ton Rd ). Glasses here are cheap. Sumai & Liza ended up with a pair each. They said normally they spent around RM700 to do glasses  in Malaysia. But over here it was only RM100++. You can choose a range of branded and imitation glasses. You can get imitation Dior, Gucci etc with latest designs at just over USD30. The glasses can be collected the next day.

Just across the road from Nhat Quang located Minh collection ( 189, Le Than Ton St ). Jubah & beaded baju kurungs are sold from USD10 . But, beaded baju kurungs in the night market are better with more beads. We bought a few jubah & baju kurungs.

Then, we had dinner at a stall in front of Basiroh's fashion. They sell viatnamese nasi lemak; about the same like Malaysian nasi lemak. The food here is cheaper which was around USD3 per plate. 

After dinner , we started our shopping spree. The famous stall for baju kurung is Gerai Aziz located at the street near My Sang tailor & Ha Tam goldsmith. You can ask them to order kopi ais or kopi susu while you browse their collections. Next stall also sells baju kurung and cotton. I bought vietnam simcard here. It was cheaper to call malaysia. I bought for VND80K and got a credit of VND115K. With this credit, I could call Malaysia 5 times.

Night market opens from 7pm - 12pm

Bargaining price: vietnam t-shirt USD2, Polo t-shirt USD5, 3-zipped vietnam purse USD9 for 10 pcs, handluggage USD8, Smocking dress USD5, Trung Nguyen Coffee USD 4 for 1/2 kg. For best price, be friendly to your fellow malaysians. Ask them what is the price that they got and bargain lower..:-) . Normally, mat salleh got higher price...hehe..
 

Other shopping places that I wanted to go but didn't have time;
Mery boutique, 156 Bui Vien St
Hong Anh Collections, 110Nam Ky Khoi Nghia St & 75 Ly Tu Trong St.
Russian Market. 225,Ben Chuong Duong St. ( Winter clothing )
An Dong Plaza. 18,An Duong Vong St.
Saigon Square. Went there but didn't have time to browse.

Halal restaurants:
Parkson. 4th floor. 3 halal stalls; D' Anjung, Pakistani food & Indon food. 45, Le Than Thon St.
Halal @ Saigon. 30, Dong Du St
Sulayman Restaurant. 40, Tran Hung Dao St.
Kedai Shamsudin. 445, Le Hong Phong, District 10. Delivery; tel 84-8-62717494.
Bombay Restaurant. 66 Dong Du St.
Pro Doner Kebab. 169, De Tham,Pham Ngu Lao Ward.
Satay House Malaysia. 307/25, Nguyen Van Troi St, Phu Nhuan Ward.
Zam Zam. 26, Bui Vien St.
Masala Kitchen. 28 / 21, Bui Vien St.
Mumtaz Restaurant. 226, Bui Vien St.
Mohamad Aly. Delivery; tel 01218747096 , 0933799621.

Ho Chi Minh city

Ly Tu Trong St. Look at all the motorbikes being sold!



Bui Thi Xuan St where our hotel is located