Hong Kong & Vietnam Day 13

We woke up really early Monday morning. We wanted to head back to Saigon early. We had a 5 hour drive so we just slept in the car. Partly on our way back our drive took us by the river. I guess normally you can rent a boat or buy tickets and they take you around the river and boats come up to you and sell food. We just drove around and took in the sights. Most of us just wanted to get back to Saigon.




We stopped in town for a quick bite to eat. We had Com Tam (Vietnamese broken rice dish). It was excellent. This little hole in the wall place with a grill in front. We literally walked up and pointed out what meats we wanted on our dish. You don't see stuff likes this back at home.

These dishes come in with all kinds of different types of meats and sides. We chose grilled pork and chicken, with a side of Bi (thinly sliced pork and pork skin), steamed egg cake, and pickled veggies. Looking at this picture makes me hungry again.

It also gets served with a side of broth soup. This one is bitter melon with meat in the middle.

After we got back to Saigon we checked into a different hotel. We wanted a hotel that was located closer to Ben Thanh Market and we wanted a hotel that didn't have see through bathrooms. LOL. So thanks to Duc he booked us at A & Em White. There are a lot of A & Em hotels in the area, but the A & Em hotels have different grades. So we wanted something a little bit of a better grade from our previous accommodations.

This hotel was a lot better than our previous spot.

The had bigger rooms


Nice bathrooms with real wooden doors.

After we checked in we rested for a bit and then we headed out for a shave, mani & pedi. $5. I can't complain. I have never had a mani & pedi done, but man have I been missing out.

Our friend Binh and my friends Aunt invited us over for dinner at their home. They had an excellent meal planned for us.


Binh created his own fish marinade and it was amazing.

Binh on the left and my friend's Aunt on the right.



It isn't a meal without Alcohol.

Dragon fruit for desert.

After dinner we met up with Duc for a night out. He took us to this really mellow lounge. It had a live band playing Latin Jazz type music. It had a great atmosphere. Really chill.





Some of the friends we made on our trip met up with us at the bar.







After the lounge we headed back to the restaurant from the other night. Last time we were here we had that awesome Congee (porridge) and we tried to order seconds, but they were all sold out. So we came back to get some more.



It doesn't look like much, but it was really good. Even Eden said it was good and he lives in China. I have never had porridge this good back at home. Sorry mom you don't compare.

This trip is almost coming to an end. We have two days left. This trip started off slow. It seemed like we had a lot of time on our hands, but now it is coming to a close quickly. Tomorrow we hit up Ben Thanh Market to do some souvenir shopping.