Since I've got one week off, I decide to spend 5 more days again in Vietnam before my visa expired, to explore more cities around Ho Chi Minh City.

Photos coming up tomorrow !! :)

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Do you mean your VISA in Cambodia will be expired soon ?
Would you like to renew it or what ?

Do you mean your VISA in Cambodia will be expired soon ?
Would you like to renew it or what ?

No, I mean my VISA to Vietnam will be expired soon.
My passport require VISA to Vietnam

I've took about 300 photos all together during the trip, capturing the daily life of people in the countryside and the city.

No photos are being overlapped from my last trip :)

Departing at Sihanouk Boulevard

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De Castle Royal Condominium at Monivong Boulevard

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9 floors department store at Monivong Boulevard

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Phnom Penh Skyline from Monivong Bridge :)

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Bavet Town

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Border Checkpoint (Cambodia Side)

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Entering Ho Chi Minh City

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Tree Line Boulevard at Cong Hoa (outskirt of Ho Chi Minh City) - Many of the streets, roads and boulevards in Ho Chi Minh City are surrounded by tall trees

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Hoang Van Thu Park

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A mix of ''traditional'' and ''modern'' style of buildings at Nguyen Van Troi Street
Phu Nhuan District

Chinese temple

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Powerlines were installed underground at Nam Ky Khoi Nghia street, District 3

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Sacombank Tower at Nam Ky Khoi Nghia street, District 3

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You can find this kind of cafe in almost everywhere around Ho Chi Minh City

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and more ..

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Celebrating 1000 Years of ''Hanoi - the capital of Vietnam'' in Ho Chi Minh City

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and more decorations at Le Thanh Ton Street, District 1

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Saigon Opera House and Q bar at night time, District 1

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''Opera View'' - The building opposite Saigon Opera House

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Milano Department Store at Dong Khoi street, District 1 - brands like D&G, Roberto Cavalli, Blumarine, Tod’s, Moschino and Brioni are displayed.

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Nguyen Thiep Street - District 1

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The 68 floors Bitexco Financial Tower - almost completed, full of construction activities even at night time.

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Sarpino's Pizzeria from Canada at Ho Tung Mau Street, District 1 (I saw this restaurant once at Singapore) :)

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Outdoor cafe at Ton That Thiep Street, District 1. Still remember I was here two years ago ..
People usually come after 9 or 10 pm ..

Tran Nguyen Han Statue at night time

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Saigon Center at Le Loi Boulevard, District 1

This place is famous for its coffee at ''Highland Coffee'' and ''Terrace Gallery'' on the ground floor - famous for its mushroom soups :)
Many fashion and furniture boutiques like Axara Paris, Mango, Levis, bebe, Nine West are located on the second and third floor of this building.

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Beautiful Street lights with a new construction site opposite the Sun Wah Tower at Nguyen Hue, District 1

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This main clock tower at Nguyen Hue, District 1 has become a symbol of HCMC

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The newly open NOWZONE Fashion Mall at Nguyen Van Cu Street, District 1

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A huge IT plaza at Tran Hung Dao Street, District 1

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The Famous ''New World Hotel Saigon'' at Le Lai Street, District 1 - one of the largest and most impressive 5-star hotel in Ho Chi Minh City

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Rex Hotel at Nguyen Hue, District 1
The ground floor is under renovation

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Asiana Saigon at Le Duan Street, District 1
Intercontinental Asiana Saigon Hotel, Intercontinental Asiana Saigon Residences and Kumho Asiana Plaza

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War Remnants Museum at Vo Van Tan, District 3

Formerly named "The House for Displaying War Crimes of American Imperialism and the Puppet Government (of South Vietnam)", this museum under its more tourist friendlier name "The War Remnants Museum"

The museum displays American aircrafts / weaponry and horrific photos of prisoners inside.

After visiting this museum, I felt more connected to Vietnamese people learning more about their history.
This is a 'must' visited place for those who is coming to Ho Chi Minh City

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A very beautiful mansion right next to the War Remnants Museum

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Government Office opposite War Remnants Museum

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Period military equipment located within the walled yard of War Remnants Museum.

The military equipment include a UH-1 "Huey" helicopter, an F-5A fighter, a BLU-82 "Daisy Cutter" bomb, M48 Patton tank, and an A-1 attack bomber.

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The Purple People Eater

Exhibits include graphic photographs, accompanied by short copy in English, Vietnamese and Japanese

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Sewer display at War Remnant Museum, contributed by the young widow of Mr. Bui Van Vat.

In 1969, Mr Bui Van Vat hiding in the Server along with her three grandchildren aged 6, 8 and 10 years. But then the U.S. soldiers who attacked their villages massacred Mr Bui Van Vat and his grandchildren.

U.S. Senator Bob Kerrey admitted that his crimes. His photographs were displayed at the War Remnant Museum.

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Great pix, SeeMacau!!

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cool, thanks for the photos

The issue of ''Agent Orange''

Images of how the toxin actually affects living people in various unpleasant ways. Showing people born with deformations due to their families living in areas that were sprayed with agent range.

Many of these images are of children born with bulbous odd shaped heads, missing eyes, or limbs twisted and deformed into awkward and acute angles.

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Cage

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The famous guillotine that was brought to Vietnam by the French in the early 20th century and used in a jail on Ly Tu Trong Street.

During the Vietnam War with the US, it was transported to all provinces to decapitate Vietnamese patriots. The last man who was executed was Mr Hoang Le Kha, member of the Provincial Committee of the Vietnamese Workers' Party in Tay Ninh province in 1960.

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Weapons and bullets

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Declaration of the Independence of the Democratic of Republic of Vietnam

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“Historical Truths”, “Requiem” - a photo collection of people killed or missing during the Vietnam War

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Prisoner

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Any Vietnamese forumer can help me to translate the words in this photo?

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On my way to ''Cu Chi''

Chinese Pagoda

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Quan khu 7 Stadium on Hoang Van Thu street, Tan Binh District

This stadium was one of the venues of 2007 AFC Asian Cup finals, hosted by four South-East Asian countries, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam.

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One of the stops during my tour in Vietnam was a visit to Handicapped Handicrafts.

Handicapped Handicrafts was established in 1976. The company's primary goal is to employ the handicapped through making handicrafts.

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The production area - we got to see the step by step process in producing these beautiful products.

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After that, we saw all the displays of their finished products in the showroom :)

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We left Handicapped Handicrafts and heading towards Cu Chi Tunnel :)

Cu Chi Tunnel is 70 km from Ho Chi Minh City in the Northwest

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Entering Cu Chi Tunnel

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The start of the trip begins with a grainy black & white film that charts the history of events during the war and gives a brief background on the tunnels.

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There were almost 200km of Viet-cong tunnels found in Cu Chi area

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Tour guide showing how the tunnel works.

The tour guide proceeded with a history lesson on the fighting forces

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Cu Chi Tunnels Illustration

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The tunnels are well-designed with cooking areas, meeting rooms all underground.

It housed up to 10,000 people who rarely saw daylight for years at a time, choosing to live, get married, have children and then teach these children, all underground.

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Tour guide demonstrates one of the tiny entrances - secret entrance into the underground tunnel networks at Cu Chi

These tunnels were deep and interconnected, well-ventilated by breathing holes

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Anyone with a big waist can not fit down this entrance :)

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I had a chance to get in this entrance :)

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Other Entrances

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Can you guys guess what this is?

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Booby traps were laid everywhere

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Photo of American tank

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American M41 Tank was destroyed by a delay mine in 1970

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The back of the tank

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Photos of different traps used during the Vietnam (American) war

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Traps the Viet Cong invented to torture the mighty Americans

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This swinging pole - with metal spikes that had two portions
The top going for the chest and the bottom piece allowed to swing and going for the gonads

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Soldiers

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Making rice paper in the most traditional way

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Living firing range - where visitors can land their hands on the weapons that were common during the war period.

For those who want to see my photo, I am the person with the yellow t-shirt :)

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We took a break after that .. and I saw this bottle of ''snake wine'' at the soveniour store

Snake wine is an alcoholic beverage produced by infusing whole snakes in rice wine or grain alcohol.

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I had a bottle of ''Nuoc Yen Ngan Nhi'' Instead of drinking snake wine :)

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Our tour continued after that and we visit a rubber sandal production bunker

These sandals were sculpted from used vehicle tyres. It was named ''Ho Chi Minh Scandals'' because it was designed by Ho Chi Minh himself.

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A huge crater left by a B52 bomber Not far from the bunker.

The trees in this photo are replanted as they had been completely devastated by Napalm bombs

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Other entrance / exit of the tunnels

The ‘highlight’ of this tour - where visitors were able to enter the tunnels once used by the guerilla fighters

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Inside the tunnel - the tunnel is 200km long and 10m deep, 3 levels down the ground

It was unbelievably hot and inside the tunnels, some part of the tunnel is so narrow and uncomfortable to walk

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These tunnels were specially widened & heightened to allow tourists to enter.

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Tunnel Exit

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Kitchen

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At the end of our trip .. We were treated with these delicious steamed tapioca.
Tapioca was eaten with ground peanut mixed with some sugar and salt (a highly recommended dish)

Rice is a luxury during war time and only served to the injured soldiers, therefore the Viet Kong thrived on tapioca and peanuts.

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with some sweet tea

Absolutely delicious !! :)

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you better check your bandwidth usage this time

Dismantling the bomb to make land mines or other weapons??

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Another Handicap Handicrafts on our way approaching Ben Tre Province

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you better check your bandwidth usage this time

Thanks for remaining .. I am using imageshack :)

We drove for about two hours from Ho Chi Minh to reach My Tho

My Tho
Capital city and municipality of Tiền Giang Province, located in the Mekong Delta region of southern Vietnam.

It has a population of approximately 160,000. The city is clean and organised.

Miss World 2011 and 2012 will be held in this city :)

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We then went on a cruise of the Tien River, enjoying a view of the four islands: Dragon, Unicorn, Turtle and Phoenix

Mekong Delta

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One of our boats :)

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Inside the boat

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My Tho Terminal

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The area has so many bridges crossing through different islands

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We set off in a motorised boat, to explore the other branches of the Upper Mekong River and many canals and islands around My Tho.

We spent hours on the river and small canals. The people, especially the children were extremely friendly :)

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Very Beautiful Scene :)

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Removing Coconut Meat From Shell

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At Turtle Island, you can see the Vietnamese making coconut candy :)

1) Coconut is squeezed to obtain coconut milk
2) Coconut milk is then mixed with sugar and boiled until the soft crack stage
3) The candy is then cooled until cut into thin strips
4) The thin pieces are then cut into smaller pieces of candy

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The candy making process was interesting :)

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Products made by Coconut Shell

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Hon Dua (Coconut Island)

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We stop over at another island for lunch and fruits :)

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Here is the restaurant - well known for its big and delicious Elephant fish

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Thoi Son Island - honey is abundant here

We were served delicious ginger

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and honey tea :)

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The locals treated us with a fruit buffet and sang to us :)

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Back to My Tho - waiting for another bus in this restaurant

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My Tho - a small and quiet city :)

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Outside Vinh Long

This area is full of factories. Foreign direct investments in Vietnam is going strong

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Can Tho Market

Used to be located on Ninh Kiều pier, and be mostly an open market.

Today, the only original building left is the beautiful old market hall, now surrounded with a garden along the river.

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Can Tho Market Entrance

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Ho Chi Minh Statue at Can Tho

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Today we visited the famous floating market of Can Tho before heading back to Ho Chi Minh City

Can Tho pier

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Our boat

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Bridge Under Construction - Infrastructure in Vietnam is improving at a fast rate !! :)

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The whole Mekong delta is buzzing with commercial activities of every kind

The floating market at Can Tho is very dynamic, hundreds of of boats selling various vegetables and agricultural products

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It was on Sunday, so the kids can help out their parents :)

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Hundreds of boat along Can Tho River - offering visitors and people living along the river with drinks, foods, breakfast and lunch

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Pitaya (Dragon Fruit) :)

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Families living on the boat

Some of the larger selling boats are also used as their houses. These people are coming from distant places up the Mekong River to bring their goods to Can Tho's floating market

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My Pineapple :)

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Very interesting trip . I personally don't like Cu Chi Tunnel though I'm a Saigonese . That tunnel brings back violent memories .

These kids are so cute !! :)

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Things required to make rice paper and rice noodles

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Making Rice Noodle

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Drying rice paper under the sun.

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Awaiting to cut ..

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Pig Farm

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A photo of this village :)

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With many different kinds of fruits ..

Jackfruit

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and more ..

Dragon Fruit

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Traditional food in this village

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After that, we are heading back to My Tho City

Many nice buildings along the Can Tho River

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Can Tho Pier

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Petrol station in the middle of the river

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Tourist boat along the river

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We spend our last meal at one of the restarant near Can Tho Market before heading back to Ho Chi Minh City

Our lunch !! :)

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My dinner at Can Tho Market

Can Tho-style grilled pork rice with egg

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After that, we walk to the shopping area of Can Tho and having ''Bun Bo Hue'' at one of the restaurant.
Very delicious !!

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My breakfast .. nothing special

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Chinese temple

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all they are Vietnamese traditional pagodas. You can see many chinese pagodas in Dist5 (Chinatown of Saigon); even though they share many identical features but not too hard to distinguish them.

Thien Hau pagoda in Dist5 HCMC

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thanks for your nices photos:)

^^ Thanks :)

The first one seem to be a Chinese temple, because I can read all the words in the photo

Um .. I am not sure

Back to Ho Chi Minh City :)

MOF Japanese Cafe

The cafe serve Japanese style desserts and beverages

Address : 17A B3 floor, Vincom Shopping Mall, 70 - 72 Le Thanh Ton, District 1, HCMC

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Teriyaki Chicken on Rice

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Breakfast

Vietnamese Bread and Hot Tea

US$0.4 :)

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Reminds me I am now in Australia :D

The Coffee Bean & Teal Leaf

Address : 94 Nguyen Thi Minh Khai street, District 3, HCMC

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- Cappucinno
- Spiced Chicken & Baked

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Gloria Jean's Coffees is opposite :)

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Sanuki Japanese Restaurant

Address : Diamond Plaza, at the junction of Le Duan and Pham Ngoc Thach Street in District 1

- Tobico with Rice

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Trung Nguyen Coffee

One of the most famous coffee chain in Vietnam, along with Highland Coffee

Vietnamese Coffee
The coffee is brewed in a filter, and then let to slowly dripped into the coffee cup

Address : 26B Le Loi, District 1, HCMC

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Pho 2000

Because of the bad weather, I decided to have ''pho'' at Pho 2000 instead of going to ''Pho Hoa''

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Tous Les Jours from USA - a French-Asian Bakery serving a unique selection of bakery goods and beverages

Address : 59 Tran Hung Dao, District 1, HCMC

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Nice Interior

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A great selection of breads, pastries and sandwiches

''Croissant'' and ''Palmiers'' :)

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Fanny Ice-cream

Probably the best place for ''ice-cream'' in Ho Chi Minh City :)
All ice-creams are creatively presented

Address : 29-31 Ton That Thiep, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City

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The decor is delightful :)

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Ice-cream are beautifully presented

Feuille de Menthe
Chocolate and Mint Ice-cream with a Mint liquor heart

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Bud's Ice Cream from San Francisco / Espressamente Illy from Italy

Address : B2 – 33, Vincom Center, 70-72 Le Thanh Ton, District 1, HCMC

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Did you go inside Vincom Center ? There is a huge Food area on the basement floor 3 .

''Marocchino'' :)

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Did you go inside Vincom Center ? There is a huge Food area on the basement floor 3 .

Yes I do, the food area is very impressive !! :)

Restaurant recommend by the locals :)

Thanh Binh

Address : 140 Le Thanh Ton, District 1, HCMC

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Crab Noodles Soup

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One of the foodcourt at "Nowzone Fashion Mall"

Address : 235 Nguyen Van Cu, P Nguyen Cu Thinh, District 1, HCMC

'Ga Tiem Bach Qua'

Duck soup with noodles - very delicious and it was way better than what I expected :)

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Yes I do, the food area is very impressive !! :)

There's a "3 Mien" food store there . It means Food from 3 regions of Vietnam. You can try many dishes from North Vietnam to South Vietnam there . :lol:

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There's a "3 Mien" food store there . It means Food from 3 regions of Vietnam. You can try many dishes from North Vietnam to South Vietnam there . :lol:

I think I've tried that restaurant before ..
The food there is quite expensive :)

Here is the link of my last trip:
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1179785

Many locals recommended this place for ice-cream :)

Bach Dang Ice Cream

Address : Sitting right at the cross junction of Le Pasteur & Le Loi, District 1, HCMC

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The most famous out of all - ''Bach Dang'' Ice-cream

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Last meal before I leave Ho Chi Minh City

Seoul Garden Buffet Restaurant

The atmosphere is great, food is well laid out and beautifully displayed. However, I was told not to take any photos inside the restaurant :(

The restaurant offers various menus. Abundant buffet menu with over 200 different dishes meeting demands of hygiene: Sze Chuan (Sichuan), Char Siew (Xa Xiu) Beef, beef with black pepper sauce, Terriyaki chicken (Japan), Bulgoggi chicken (Korea), Tom Yum chicken (Thailand), Curry chicken (Malaysia) or salmon, scallop and other special fresh seafood. In addition, guests are also provided 6 San Francisco ice cream flavors, 16 kinds of sweetened soup only at Seoul Garden.

Address : B3-16A, Vincom Center, 70-72 Le Thanh Ton, District 1, HCMC

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Vietnamese Prawn Rice Paper Rolls

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Inside Saigon Central Post Office

The building was constructed when Vietnam was part of French Indochina in the early 20th century. It has a Gothic architectural style. It was designed and constructed by the famous architect Gustave Eiffel in harmony with the surrounding area.

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I think I've tried that restaurant before ..
The food there is quite expensive :)

Here is the link of my last trip:
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1179785

Yea , I think food in Saigon is a little bit too expensive , especially those restaurants come from foreign brands like Pizza Huts , Pizza Inn , Coffee Beans , Highland Coffee...

I think u should visit Saigon again after October . Bitexco Financial Tower will be opened and there will be a restaurant on the 50th floor. They say you can go there for free sightseeing , but u'll have to pay for food :lol:

^^ Still cheaper than Phnom Penh ..

I will be back again next year .. or 2012 :)

Imagine having a glass of cocktail with such a good view .. :D

2 big maps on each side of the wall

One is "Saigon and its environments" created in 1892 and "Telegraphic network in South Vietnam and Combidia" created in 1936.


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Notre Dame Catherdral Vigin Mary Statue
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Maria's crying in Saigon
Link : http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=275213

Taking No 34 bus to ''Phu My Hung''

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Ho Chi Minh City skyline View from Calmette bridge

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Temple at District 4

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Thanks for the photos. Nice trip.
How long have you been there ?

Jolibee from Philippines also have their restaurants in Ho Chi Minh City - District 4

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Thanks for the photos. Nice trip.
How long have you been there ?

5 days !! :)

I wrote it on the first post :D

Ho Chi Minh City skyline View from the ''Cu Ong Lanh'' bridge ??

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Yea , it's a bridge and its name is Ong Lanh. It connects District 1 and District 4 and runs over East-West Highway. You must have been on the East West Highway.

You took the bus to Phu My Hung ? Did u take any photos of Phu My Hung ?

Phu My Hung Urban Area

A new urban area in District 7 covers an area of 600 ha. The urban area features good urban planning carried out by US/Japanese architecture company.

Phu My Hung's urban design master plan received the 1997 American Institute of Architects Urban Design Award. The World Bank featured it as an example of a sustainable development project.

The urban area is built in harmony with the surrounding areas, dominated by green trees, canals, and pools.

Phu My Hung New City Center was the first to be awarded with the "Model City" award by the Vietnam government.

Phu My Hun offers more parks and walking areas than any other district in HCMC. It was well planned with high quality infrastructures allowing the roads to be less congested.

The area offers many convenience stores, fine dining restaurants, malls, health spas and even a 9-hole executive golf course.

Projects completed recently:

- The Saigon Exhibition and Convention Center (opened in November 2008)
- Saigon Paragon Shopping Mall and Cinema (2009)

Apartments at ''Phu My Hung''

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Petro Vietnam Tower, Saigon Paragon and Lawrence S. Ting Building (the founder of this project)

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Yea , it's a bridge and its name is Ong Lanh. It connects District 1 and District 4 and runs over East-West Highway. You must have been on the East West Highway.

You took the bus to Phu My Hung ? Did u take any photos of Phu My Hung ?

It's Calmette bridge. Ong Lanh is next to it.:bash:

Yea , it's a bridge and its name is Ong Lanh. It connects District 1 and District 4 and runs over East-West Highway. You must have been on the East West Highway.

You took the bus to Phu My Hung ? Did u take any photos of Phu My Hung ?

Yes I do, but only a few ..

It's Calmette bridge. Ong Lanh is next to it.:bash:

Thanks for your correction :)

First phase of apartments built in Phu My Hung during the late 90's ..

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RMIT University from Melbourne, Australia

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Construction sites everywhere .. :)

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Crescent Mall

A ''super large'' shopping complex !! :)

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Porsche Showroom !! :)

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Saigon Paragon

Another high-end shopping center with brands like Sisley, Givenchy, Omega, Menard etc.

The mall is under renovation

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Sunrise City

The project is located on Nguyen Huu Tho Street close to the Himlam residential area in Kenh Te and Phu My Hung town

A huge project with a total land area of 51260 sqm, consisting 8 buildings with 32 floors and 5 buildings with 35 floors

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Lotte Mart from Korea

The shopping center covers 33,400 square meters in the Saigon South area in HCMC’s District 7.

The shopping center includes a 15,800-square-meter supermarket which stocks some 50,000 items, more than 90% of them produced in Vietnam. The supermarket will also sell 50 items imported from South Korea.

The shopping center has other amenities such as cinemas, bookstore, home appliance center, restaurants, cultural center, bowling and billiard facilities, coffee shop, children game area, and fast food center.

The joint venture will open 15 department stores and supermarkets in HCMC and the city’s neighbouring provinces in the near future.

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Lotte Cinema

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Sun Rise City - Second Phase :)

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Bitexco Financial Tower view from Lotte Mart :nuts:

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Dolce and Gabbana from Italy .. at Dong Khoi Street, District 1

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Decorations at Dong Khoi Street, District 1

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More shops at Dong Khoi Street, District 1

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Street Scene at Ton That Thiep, District 1

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Street Scene at Nguyen Trai, District 1

This area will soon become a ''Ginza'' of Tokyo with full of brand name shops. The street looks totally different compare to three years ago ..

I feel exactly like walking on the streets in Hong Kong :)

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Intersection of Nguyen Trai, Le Thi Rieng, Cach Mang Thang Tam and Ly Tu Trong :)
A future shopping district of Ho Chi Minh City

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The road networks are very simliar to ''Ginza'' Shopping district in Tokyo

Ginza in Tokyo :D

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It's Calmette bridge. Ong Lanh is next to it.:bash:

sorry for the confusion . There are too many bridges over East West Highway.

How about Anh Sao Bridge in Phu My Hung ? Didn't u go there ?

Pham Hong Thai Street, District 1

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How about Anh Sao Bridge in Phu My Hung ? Didn't u go there ?

Probably ''Yes'' ??

Sorry, I am not familiar with all the bridges name in Vietnam ..
I refer to the map :)

Pham Hong Thai Street, District 1

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Pham Hong Thai Street, District 1

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High-rise buildings at Nguyen Thi Minh Khai, District 1

Avalon Saigon Apartments
High-end apartment

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Faxa House

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