Time really flies when you're having fun and soon it was our last day in Vietnam...
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| Feasting for breakfast! |
We went for our buffet breakfast before heading out to the UP cafe. Thankful we ate a feast before going to the cafe because there was really nothing fantastic in the cafe (plus we read reviews on the cafe).
We took a cab, costing us about 90,000VND (~SGD$5) and about 15 mins before arriving in this interesting cafe.
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| UP cafe |
The reason it is called the UP cafe is because of the interior that everything is upside down and I have to admit it is an interesting enough idea to attract us there.
Level 2 of the cafe
When I saw the UPside down PIANO, I was quite intrigued by it to visit the cafe. Unfortunately it was closed when we got there in the morning and we learn that they only open level 2 in the night. So if you would like to sit under this upside down PIANO, come by in the evening.
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| Level 1 of the cafe |
As such, we were only able to sit on Level 1 of the cafe. There were guests actually smoking indoors (apparently it is allowed) and so that kind of killed the ambience of the cafe. I was disappointed with my order of RAINBOW ICE-CREAM, too sweet (though it looked presentable) but LY finally had her hands on DRIP COFFEE (maybe it is because it is the first cup of HOT coffee she ordered).
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| My RAINBOW ice-cream, so sweet!!! |
UP cafe
269 Nguyễn Trọng Tuyển, 10,
Phú Nhuận,
Hồ Chí Minh, Vietnam
Opening hours: 7am - 11pm (daily)
Wifi available:
Yes
As it was about time we had to check out, we took a taxi back to our hotel.
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| Nice blue sky on our way back to the hotel |
And this time, even though we took one of the two trusted taxi operators, we were on an imitated one. We knew because the hotline of the taxi company is different and the meter jumped a little faster and he did take a bit of detour before dropping us off at the hotel. Though we were alert, we didn't want to cause a fuss and since the trip back to the hotel cost us less than our trip there, we figured we would just give it to him, ultimately the safety of us two ladies are more important than losing a bit of money.
After checking out and dropping our luggage at the concierge, we took a taxi out for lunch. We have heard that Uraetei served good Japanese/Korean food so we decided to check it out on the last day there.
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| Uraetei Restaurant |
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| FEAST |
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| BBQ!!! |
And with that we had a delicious BBQ meal, costing us 600,000VND (~SGD$18 each), making it the most expensive meal we had in Vietnam. Even so, this meal in Singapore would have cost at least double the price we paid so it was still worthy.
Next to the restaurant was Saigon Square where you can shop for clothes, bags etc. We didn't end up buying anything from Saigon Square but we crossed over to Ben Thanh Market (just 5 minutes away) for a last minute shopping spree. And it was the first time I totally run out of cash and even had to find a money changer opposite of Ben Thanh Market to change for some more Vietnamese dong. I was expecting to be "ripped off" since it was a tourist venue but surprisingly we got the same rates as we had when we changed two days ago, leaving us happy and a little less poorer and onwards we went for more shopping!
And because we were finding for money changers nearby, I finally found the Strawberry Sugarcane my ex-colleague recommended me (which we were unable to find on our first day)!
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| Thanh Binh |
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| Shophouse selling Strawberry Sugarcane |
Who would imagine a shop like this selling strawberry sugarcane?
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| Menu |
Didn't manage to snap a photo of the Strawberry Sugarcane because we were too thirsty and we finished it quite quickly. A very unique taste, worth the try! Am thankful to have been able to find it! After a fruitful shopping, we hopped on a cab and headed back to our hotel.
Then we went to PHO 24 and Caffe Bene again to relive our memories (to check on details, refer to
Day 1)... It was quite sentimental considering how unfamiliar we were when we visited on the first day and now again on the last day, when we have gotten used to the difficult-to-cross roads, the numerous numbers of zeroes in their currency and sign language to express what we want etc, Vietnam has definitely left an impression in my heart.
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| Caffe Bene on the last day |
And at the cafe, a Vietnamese local asked if she could use the power plug to charge her phone under the table and of course we said yes. She asked us where we were from, thinking we were from Taiwan, and we even made quick chats here and there. And when she went to get water for herself, she actually got us both water as well. How blessed were we to encounter nice people here and there!
When it was about time, we headed back to the hotel, and we asked the hotel staff to help us to mention to the taxi driver driving us to the airport that we would like to drop by Banh Mi Huynh Hoa again to buy the Vietnamese Baguette again. And that was so worth it as we were enjoying every bite of it while waiting to board the plane...
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| Banh Mi on the last day |
It is amazing how this city which never made it to the top few places I had wanted to visit initially to become a must-visit-again city! And thankfully it is only 1.5hrs plane ride away and it doesn't seem impossible to visit this city again. Even though we have had to be careful and aware of our belongings that it does not get stolen, be alert when we are crossing the roads flooded with motorbikes, we have been very blessed to come across helpful and nice people!
That's all for now, I'll be back for you, Vietnam!!!
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