Ho Chi Minh Day 1: Silverland Central Hotel & Ben Thanh Market

Believe it or not, it's our first overseas trip just the three of us: my mum, sister and I! Previously, we have always travelled with my dad, brother or hubby in tow. As usual, I had to bring one kid along, and I chose Baby Boy because his ticket was cheaper while my girl needed to go to school.

A group selfie before boarding

As it was quite last minute (sort of), we decided to fly by Jetstar because they had a promotion on flights; it cost us approximately $180 per adult for return tickets, inclusive of seat selection and 20kg check-in baggage (infants are a flat fee of $100).

Baby Boy slept for most of the flight and we arrived safely at Tan Son Nhat International Airport (International Terminal) 2 hours later as scheduled. Ho Chi Minh City, also known as Saigon by the locals, is 1 hour behind Singapore.

Tan Son Nhat International Airport

We cleared customs quite quickly as we didn't need to complete immigration cards on arrival. After we got our luggage, we proceeded to the nearest Mobifone store to buy our 3G card. It cost us roughly S$16 for one week (just internet, no calls). It was a worthwhile investment as one card could be tethered so that all three of us could have access to the internet.

Sister paying for our card at Mobifone

There was no queue at taxi stands hence we boarded a Vinasun Taxi to our hotel. I was told that Vinasun was the only trustworthy company in Ho Chi Minh City so we ensured that we travelled with this cab company for the whole duration of our trip.

We arrived at Silverland Central Hotel & Spa after approximately 20 minutes. I chose this hotel because of its close proximity to Ben Thanh Market, good reviews and value-for-money.

Silverland Central Hotel & Spa
(Address: 14-16 Le Lai Street & 15-17-19 Nguyen An Ninh Street, Ben Thanh Ward, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam)

We were told to wait in the restaurant while they processed our check-in documents. We were famished so we ordered a bowl of pho and some spring rolls.

Mum eating our first bowl of pho (beef noodles) and many more to come! =)

Seafood spring roll

After a satisfying meal, we headed to our Junior Suite Triple Room. Silverland Central Hotel was one of the few hotels that had rooms that could accommodate 3 adults. It cost us approximately S$144 per room per night.

The Junior Suite Triple room with a double bed and a single bed (no need to add additional beds)

Table for our belongings

Left: Side vanity table
Right: Think we used this more than anything in our room as we needed to boil all water used for drinking and making formula. We even boiled some suspicious mineral water just in case. We'll never take our drinking tap water for granted again.

Spacious bathroom with a large bathtub

Even though the water jets did not work (sadly), the bathtub was still great for hot baths and bathing the baby.

Once we were sufficiently rested, we headed out to explore the neighbourhood.

Walking along a very busy street with a nice view of the Saigon Skydeck, the tallest building in Ho Chi Minh City

I was told by friends that Ho Chi Minh City would be extremely noisy but I actually didn't find the noise all that bad. We approached a road crossing and remembered what our friends had told us about crossing roads in Saigon: don't look, just cross. And so we did!

Our hotel is literally just a road-crossing away from Ben Thanh Market

I'm glad that I was with my mum and sister so I didn't feel too scared. The motorcyclists and cars avoided us like people told us they would.

We arrived at Ben Thanh Market, also known as Saigon Market, which was one of the largest retail centres in Ho Chi Minh City.

Entrance of Ben Thanh Market

Rows and rows of shops!

There were shops that don't put price tags on their products so be prepared to bargain your heart out. And then there were those that put price tags so their products were a fixed price. I personally preferred the latter as I'm not very good at bargaining, although we did manage to buy stuff from the bargaining-type shops.

Just remember to drink loads of water and bring a fan because it can get really hot and stuffy in there! Poor Baby Boy was so sleepy but he couldn't sleep because it was so hot! I had to fan him vigorously before he finally fell asleep and even then, he was whining in his sleep. Poor guy =(

Finally, we got too tired and decided to head to the famous Nha Hang Ngon for dinner. All cab drivers should know this place so it should not be difficult to find. Vinasun taxis go religiously by the meter so the fare was really cheap (there was once we only paid $0.70 for a short journey; way cheaper than Singapore)!

Nha Hang Ngon
(Address: 160 Pasteur, Bến Nghé, Quận 1, Hồ Chí Minh, Vietnam)

Nice oriental interior decorations

This restaurant was so famous that the place was huge and every table was filled! Crazy!

Even though the sister had visited before, she decided to seek the inputs of the friendly waiter who recommended a few of their popular dishes.

Crunchy seafood salad

Delicious pho
(Must have at every meal in my opinion! 😄)

The waiters taught us how to make the spring rolls and I must say, for a person who hates cooking, I'm really good at it! *laughs*

Ingredients for the spring rolls

Spring roll that I made myself! Yum =)

The key to making a good spring roll is to add enough water so that the rice paper is not too hard and to pluck off the stems from the vegetables so that it is more tender. The sister joked that I must have some Vietnamese blood in me! *laughs*

With the sister and Baby Boy after our meal; we were so full!

Apologies for the low resolution of the photos! I didn't bring my huge Olympus OMD to Ho Chi Minh, especially since I'd already had so many things to carry and friends advised me to bring as little valuables as possible. I do miss my beloved camera though! The Olympus Tough and Samsung Note 3 just don't cut it at all! Oh well... 😔

Anyway, we returned to the hotel room where Baby Boy vomitted because he still wasn't feeling too well (poor boy got a bad sore throat and runny nose before the trip). He refused to eat anything except his milk so I had little choice but to give him more formula. To make matters worse, my sister also caught his bug so she wasn't feeling too well as well. Sigh 😞

Hopefully things will be better tomorrow..


Continue to >> Ho Chi Minh City Day 2: Mekong River Tour

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