Holiday in Ho Chi Minh City (Day 4) - Bansai Cruise

For our last night in HCMC, we decided to go for a dinner cruise along the Saigon river. We asked our hotel reception and they booked the Bansai Dinner Cruise for us. It was pretty expensive - USD 33 per pax (with a USD 3 surcharge for New Year) but we thought we should still try it out.

Price includes a 2 hour cruise along the Saigon river, buffet dinner, live entertainment, one drink and a short massage.

The Bansai Boat

Supposed to be a replica of the emperor's dragon boat

Just before going up the boat
Elyssa, hubby and I with the "emperor" and his ladies

Food was so-so only (ok, it was bordering on lousy). Not much variety and not tasty either. Most of our previous meals in HCMC were easily better than what was served that night.

Luckily, we were not disappointed cos we had minimal expectations for food - our main aim was to enjoy the atmosphere of a dinner cruise!

We got a nice table on the upper deck

Cheeky Elyssa
(in her new dress no 4)

Enjoying the night scene

Now, our Main Highlight for the night :
During dinner, there was a singer performing on stage. I asked Elyssa whether she wanted to dance and she answered with a firm "yes". I led her to the middle of the dance floor and was pleasantly surprised.................. when she started dancing happily away on her own :)

Our little solo performer

Yup, there were about 10 tables arranged in a U shape on the upper deck, and my little girl was just happily dancing away in the middle. The little Miss Show Off LOVED it when everyone started clapping. Ha hah!!! And she couldn't help smiling when an elderly Japanese man came over to shake her hand at the end of the cruise.

I must admit that I felt sooooo proud of her! Growing up, I was a painfully shy kid so I just love her strong sense of confidence !!! I hope she will remain this confident when she grows up :)

Video clips of her little solo performance

There were other dances that night too -

Traditional dancing

Sexy dancing, to a Shakira tune

But of course for hubby and I, our favourite performance for the night was from our little girl :)

-End of Day 4 -

Holiday in Ho Chi Minh City (Day 4)

For Day 4 breakfast, hubby said "no more Pho 24!". Ha ha... 3 days in a row was more than enough for him. So we walked around and ended up eating - beef noodles. Well, he was happy enough that it wasn't from Pho 24 plus he insisted it was different cos he ordered the oxtail version.

The big BOWL of Oxtail Beef Noodles
This was from a cafe serving Hue cuisine which is essentially Chinese cuisine. I didn't enjoy it that much cos it tasted like noodles we can get at home, but hubby loved it cos it tasted like noodles from home. Duh!

After breakfast, it was time for shopping at Ben Thanh Market again! Bought some boxers, t-shirts and souvenir items, but the main loot was DRESSES. Yup, we went crazy -

Absolutely Lovely and Sweet Smocking Dresses.
Irresistible!

Just look at the beautiful details!

More smocking dresses, in bigger sizes

Lots of cotton dresses!!!

The dresses were actually from 2 separate trips that day. Bought some at first, then went for lunch. During lunch, I kept thinking about the beautiful dresses and told hubby we should buy some more. Ha ha. I was finally contented after the second trip :)

Note : I'm not listing the price of dresses cos I bought extra to be given as gifts plus I'm toying with the idea of putting some up for sale. But main problem I'm facing is that I love them so much that I'm tempted to keep them all for Elyssa and baby!

After shopping, we went for lunch at Quan An Ngon, a place highly recommended by my SIL and the guidebook. The restaurant is in a big bungalow with a ring of cooks at individual stations serving a wide selection of traditional Vietnamese dishes.

It was absolutely packed when we got there, but we were lucky to get a nice table next to the indoor courtyard -

Our table at Quan An Ngon

Elyssa was fast asleep in her stroller

Some of the Cooking Stations

Food we ordered

Spicy noodles, beef & onion salad, steamed rice cakes with chicken wings, pork glutionous rice and Vietnamese pancake.

Elyssa woke up just as we were about to finish eating. She had her yoghurt plus some of our lunch, then we took some photos :)

My princess and I
She's wearing her New Dress No 3

By that time, the lunch crowd had already dispersed so it was really nice and comfortable in the restaurant. We decided to order two cups of iced coffee and just enjoy the surroundings. Aaahhh...... nice! I just love travelling on our own cos we don't get restricted by schedules of conducted tours.

After our long lunch, we mad a quick stop to the Museum of Ho Chi Minh City. Nothing much to see actually.


Saw from the guidebook that the museum is popular for couples to take wedding shots. Sure enough, there was a wedding photography session going on -

Elyssa on the same staircase. Errr..... hope she doesn't make her trademark gesture on HER wedding photography day. Ha hahh!!!

We went back to Ben Thanh market for shopping trip no 2 after the museum. Then it was time to sit down again for ice-cream at Fannys, another place recommended by the guidebook.

Our ice-cream

Interior of Fannys

Elyssa fooling around with the orchid and little hat from the ice-cream

-to be continued with Bansai Dinner Cruise at the end of Day 4. Something interesting happened during the cruise! -

Holiday in Ho Chi Minh City (Day 3)

Breakfast for Day 3 was....... beef noodles at Pho 24 again!! Ha ha. I got addicted to the noodles there. This time, I found my perfect combination - two slices of lime, some cut chillies, some basil leaves AND one spoonful of chilli paste plus one spoonful of their brown paste into the soup base. PERFECTO !! :)

After breakfast, we took a stroll to the Ton That Dam Street Market. Rather quiet as it was a Monday morning -

Live seafood for sale

Stall selling all sorts of liquor

Something we don't get in M'sia!

Locals having breakfast at a roadside stall

Mother hen and her chicks
Elyssa was scared at first! Realised she had never seen a real chicken before

It was a pretty hot day so we stopped by at a supermarket to get some sunblock. Found a nice bookstore for Elyssa to enjoy some reading. (she was wearing her New Dress No 2. I just love all her new dresses!)

Less than 2 hours after our breakfast, we stopped to eat again! Finally spotted Pho 2000 which is supposed to be a chain comparable to Pho 24 (and where they proudly displayed that Bill Clinton ate there before). I wanted to try Pho 2000 to compare with Pho 24.

Comparison : Clearer soup base, bigger chunks of meat with softer "slurpable" noodles.
Verdict : Taste wise, Pho 2000 was better BUT I discovered I got really, really thirsty after that. Must be more MSG. So, Pho 24 is still the winner for me!

Beef noodles and fried spring roll at Pho 2000

After our meal, we took a cab to Cholon, the Chinatown of HCM to visit a cluster of pagodas there. We were slightly disappointed that their "pagodas" were actually more like typical chinese temples!

Snapped some photos anyway, since we were already there. Elyssa hated it cos it was dark and smoky ;)


The last "pagoda" that we went to - Giac Lam Pagoda was more like a pagoda we expected. This was had a really huge compound with lots of statues, a tall stupa, a big prayer hall and chanting monks.

Before leaving Cholon, we had iced coffee at Trung Nguyen a popular local coffee chain. It was really nice and aromatic! Forgot to take photo though.

After taking a cab back to the city, we decided to have an early dinner (since we booked tickets to watch the Water Puppet show at 8pm) at Lemongrass. It was our second visit and again, the food was fabulous.

Lemongrass Fried Rice and Crabmeat Fried Glass noodles in claypot

Spicy and sour Fish Soup

This was absolutely delicious!

Cosy ambiance at Lemongrass

(our dinner bill was approx RM40 )

After our yummy dinner, we walked back to the hotel. Hubby went for a swim while Elyssa and I enjoyed snacks by the poolside.

Elyssa enjoying her pink guava

Happy girl posing for mummy

View of the Saigon river from the poolside

Daddy in action

Looking down at the Saigon river

Around 7+pm, we went for the Water Puppet show. We booked the tickets from the hotel the night before which turned out to be a good idea cos we got really good seats on the 5th row of the hall. (too near the stage is no good either cos I think the people on the 1st row get a little wet)

The show itself was in Vietnamese though! Got a little boring in the middle but overall it was interesting and I still rate it as a "must-see" for first timers.

Photos from the Water Puppet show

3 musicians on each side of the stage

Just outside the hall

We finished off Day 3 with pizza, sandwich and milkshake at the comfortable Ciao Cafe -

- End of Day 3 -