Saigon Heritage District Walking Tour

After the cathedral visit, the guide asked if I like coffee. I answered very honestly saying "I can drink a cup just to taste, but I'm not a coffee addict, not even a regular coffee drinker". Oops, she paused for a moment looking blankly at the pavement. Ah that certainly meant she was thinking for an alternative.

Da! Sinira ko yata ang plano nya haha! Eh, sino ba naman kasi ang gurang na Asian, na hindi hayok sa kape, di ba? Ako lang yata! But I said "if it's something uniquely Vietnamese that I should see, let's go"!

So on with my walking tour. This time, going to some coffee shop - kakaibang coffee shop or café! But, as I always say 'let me start from the very beginning' - blow-by-blow account, para buo ang 'full story'!

We started off with napahiya yata ako!

Laugh if you must, but I believe I did some blooper here. Leaving the Mama Mary Shrine I realized our way was to the corner (and beyond) where I earlier went to take my landscape-oriented picture of the Notre-Dame Cathedral. Eh, kung nagsabi sana ako kanina, she could've said "wait we are going there"!

Lesson learned: ayaw pataka going anywhere w/o your tour guide hahaha! Eto o, an even better shot!

Naglakad at tumakbo pa ako, nahirapan pang tumawid.., dadaan din naman pala kami sa kantong ito!

Anyway..,

We walked eastward along the historic Dong Khoi St. (Đường Đồng Khởi). It starts from the Mama Mary Statue (photo above) and ends at a park by the bank of Saigon River (Sông Sài Gòn). But that is about a kilometer long! No, we didn't walk the entire street. Only a block, probably like mga 200meters lang!

Dong Khoi St. (that also had other names in the past) is one of the, if not the busiest street in Saigon. It is considered historic. It's where the city started to grow to prominence as capital of South Vietnam.

A number of old colonial buildings still stand together with modern buildings of civil and commercial establishments. A stroll on this street is a must - from early in the morning, to the wee hours of night.

I even told my self 'I could spend a day (or two) roaming just this one-kilometer stretch of road'. Aside from the big colonial buildings, it's lined with malls, government offices, plus new (and oldest) hotels!

Like the buildings below (at right). My guide told me they're even more beautiful at their façades.

But we weren't going there. We went up an even older building on this side of the road, at the corner.

Before that though, I caught a glimpse of this vendor. Guide and I asked permission for this photo.

I am no foodie, nor was I craving for any of those 'snacks' she was selling. I just got curious, since they all looked familiar to my Pinoy eyes and nostrils. The only difference I noted: there is no rolling cart!

Waffle, right? It looks-like! But, upon 'further investigation' (yes, me ganun!), not really like ours. There are differences than meets your eyes, making this delicacy worth more than just a photo-opportunity!

As said above, there's no 'rolling cart' that we're used to seeing with waffle vendors in the Philippines. Here, there's none. No gas or keronsene powered 'kalan' too. The manang just uses charcoal placed in a tin basin (banyera) to fire up those waffle making cast-iron molds. It must be heavy on her shoulder.

The coconut-flavored waffle is different too! They're delicately thin and crispy (parang kiping), unlike the thicker, fluffy, pancake-like consistency that we are used to. But I admit, theirs is a tasty treat too!

Tastier I think, because of the coconut flavor! Well, their "waffle" has the consistency of, and it tastes like, a snack in Samar and Leyte, that my driver fondly jokingly calls plywood or lawanit. Is it Salvaro?

Anyway...

We went up this old edifice that looked like a normal commercial building viewed from the road, that however felt like eerily weird on the inside - I mean not a place I would easily venture into and alone!

But I was with my guide, and she told me the coffee shops are upstairs, so I went in with her! Winding dark and narrow hallways of aged buildings in foreign lands, are not in my list of fun day tour places!

Okay, tama na ang satsat, nakapasok naman kami ng mahinahon! This is Cộng Cà Phê, as in Cong Café.

It's one of the most popular cafés in Saigon (Vietnam actually), by both local and foreigner feedback - even if it's on the pricey spectrum of everyone's 'capacity to pay'! Why? Ah, mahirap daw saguntin yan!

Some say it must be the location. Hmmn, pwede. Because this place is right on the busiest street. But the building where this café (and others) are located isn't at all attractive. Medyo nakakatakot nga eh!

Some say it must be the theme of the place. Ayan, pwede! This is a 'communist inspired' coffee-shop!

Maybe people visit this place, first out of curiosity, after which they then probably discover something that they like in the food or drinks that's worth coming back for. Me, I got curious with coconut-coffee!

Anyway, if you are curious, the "Communist Vietnam Theme" is nothing more than the crew uniform is similar to what their solidiers wore during the war days. Well, the place is also masikip, madilim, mga luma at kung anu-ano'ng gamit ang naka-display, plus an old library! Reminiscent nga of the war era.

As to their coffee, well my first impression was "ano pa nga ba, it should be expected since Vietnam is the world's second largest coffee-producing country (after Brazil)". But the coconut-coffee amazed me!

I was amazed that it's a "frap" pala, and we don't have that yet in our inang-bayan! Eh madami tayong niyog, di ba? It smells good, at nawawala ang pait ng kape! Not sure, pero meron yatang 'condensada'!

That's that glass on the left edge of that photo collage. Para syang "vanilla ice-blended" ng CBTL. I did see that aside from crushed-ice, they put 'coconut cream' from a 'tetrapack'. Not gata or coconut milk.

I don't know if we even have that sa atin. Naka-sulat "Coconut Cream". Dili lagi tono. Diri liwat hatuk! I also saw, that almost every table in this crowded place, had at least one order of that coconut-coffee.

My guide said, coconut coffee is what visitors come to this place for. Sikat sya, kung ganun!

Now look at the right panel of the same photo collage. That's the entrance to Cộng Cà Phê! Madilim at masikip na pasilyo lang of an old building! Middle pic is a terrace overlooking this street intersection.

That picturesque old building houses their information & communications department, their industry and trade offices (parang DTI natin), and others more. On the other side of it, also old and beautiful is their People's Committee Headquarters Building. I think that's the equivalent of our Congress/Senate.

Going upper-left of that corner (still on Dong Khoi St., going towards the river) are more charming old colonial structures that we did not anymore go to. My guide just told me about them - but in my mind I said I'll walk to the river, next time! Hotel Continental (1880) and the Opera House are along the way.

Going to the upper-right of that corner (Lý Tự Trọng St.) was next in our itinerary. So...

Done with the coffee and some native snacks, we went down, and of course I took note of these:

Left pic is the elevator door that is in ruins (not anymore in use since decades ago); so people use the stairs (middle photo). Mind you, this building has 5 floors - aw make that 6, since the roof deck is also in use! The photo at right is the café itself (note its terrace on 2F with plants), as seen from the street.

There are many cafés (even restaurants and other shops) in the various floors of that big old building. But, let me say it again, it's not somewhere we tourists would easily venture into without a tour guide.

Kahit alam mong nasa 2nd or 3rd floor ang pupuntahan mo.., mag-aalangan kang pumasok o umakyat dahil sa itsura ng loob hehehe! Remember the old buildings in Avenida, Recto, Juan Luna in Manila, or those in Colon and Jakosalem in Cebu? Parang ganun ang feeling pag-pasok/akyat sa building na yan.

Pero wala naman ako nakitang mukhang adik, sanggano, pokpok o bangaw hahaha! Medyo ano lang!

Alright, my tour continued and we walked southwestward along Lý Tự Trọng St. My youthful tour guide said this was the longest walk on our tour, and it's about 500meters. Lang? I said no problem, let's go!

This was the coolest walk so far, as in malamig dahil malilim. Nobody would care how long is 2 blocks southward on Dong Khoi St. plus 1 and a half block westward on Nam Kỳ Khởi Nghĩa St. It is treelined!

That is Tòa án Nhân dân Tp.Hồ Chí Minh or Ho Chi Minh City People's Court. Kumbaga sa atin, City Hall! It is a big wide place in there. The building is also wide and with that noticeably French Colonial style.

You will readily notice, so many tourists, especially white people (Caucasians) shoot pictures all over this wide neighborhood. Because really, many of the buildings don't look nor feel like you are in Asia!

We also have old colonial type buildings in our country, right? But, either we don't preserve them like Vietnam does, or we renovate them to look "new", so we do not showcase them as tourist attractions!

Example: nakakita na ba kayo ng sangkaterbang banyaga na umiikot-ikot sa Manila Central Post Office with a tour guide explaining thigs about the building? Same with provincial capitol buildings of many of our provinces. Wala lang, andyan lang sila. Ang tourist spot kasi sa inyo puro beach at bundok lang!

If I may say so, even if they were of a painful past (colonial kasi), they're still part of the 'heritage'!

Wait kayo sa next story ko, me mas "painful past" pa - lalo na sa mga kano! Pero later pa yan!

Meanwhile, our easy walk brought us to this old house that seems to be a Chinese-Vietnamese fusion!

Basa nyo ba? Ayun sa second line nakasulat o, Ngon 138 Restaurant. Aha, we were just in time. LUNCH!

My guide says 'actually it is Quan Ngon 138, and Quan means restaurant, while Ngon means Delicious'. So ano yung 138? Street address nila! E bakit, kayo lang ba marunong mag-inarte ng restaurant name?

Now... I'm not good at choosing restaurant food, even if they're described in English, and even if there are pictures, lalo na pag me mga halaman halaman! Ah, my guide was very helpful here. I asked her to choose! All I did was tell her what I don't like - e.g., maanghang, celery, internalities and stinky things!

Hehehe, natawa si ineng sa mga sinabi ko! Sya rin daw, ayaw nya ng mga iyon! O ha, compatible kami!

Like at the café, she alerted me beforehand, that this place is a little pricier than 'normal' restaurants, especially that most of what are served here, can or may actually be had at StreetSide (hawker) stalls.

Magaling na bata! She also told me to try the 'iced-tea' in this place, as she knows there's nothing like that in the Philippines. Oo nga, kakaiba, me mga nakalutang na parang dinurog na styrofoam hahaha!

Rice-pops yata yun!

Oh this one, you my dear Pinoy Travelers have to know... that 'cold towel' sachet is not free! Me bayad yan, sinabi rin sakin ng guide ko! But only if you use it. Pag di mo binuksan, hindi naman nila isisingil. Eh ginamit ko! Ayun nadagdagan ng 3,000VND ang bill! Don't panic, mga 7PHP lang yan, 'wag kang ano!

And lunch arrived! Don't ask me what these are. Basta masarap silang lahat (alisin lang ang celery)!

That omelette thing is so big and thick with many yummy things inside it! 'Di yan pang isang tao lang!

And my dear little youngster of a tour guide educated me how they 'attack' this kind of food-to-share.

You get a piece or cut of the lettuce, put a little of everything you like, wrap it to a bitesize lump, then schwack to your mouth! Hindi sa lalamunin mo ha? Mouth lang as in bibig for you to chew everything!

Oh, if you noticed, the whole table spread has forks and chopsticks but no spoons. Do you know why? Because, they inherited that kind of 'table-etiquette' from their French colonizers (1887 to 1954). Even if there is soup in your orders, walang kutsara. They'll give soup-spoon instead - parang sa mga insik! But if you really need a spoon as in kutsara talaga, you can ask, and they'll give you, if they have one!

Hahaha don't you panic, meron sila! Hindi sila parang sa Canada (French influence din yun) na ipapa-principal's office ang batang gumamit ng kutsara sa lunch! At the very least, they have Chinese spoon!

Why did this "spoon matter" come up in my kwento? Wala lang, I just asked my guide, para lang alam natin lahat! Because as you may have observed, di kami nag-order ng soup. Sawa na ako sa Pho Hoa!

Lastly, everything above was worth 203,000VND, about 460PHP. Mahal daw yan, pero pwede na for the experience. Dalawa na kami dyan. Me and my guide. In case you have forgotten, your free guide has to eat too, at dapat lang sagot mo yan! Sobra ka naman makapag-feeling lucky, kung pati free tour guide mo eh pa-aambagin mo pa sa bayad ng mga nilamon mo! Shhh, meron daw ganun, buti di mga Pinoy!

Okay, one last glance as we already left Quan Ngon 138, to continue my free-guided walking tour.

This is a nice place. Airy spacious, with big tables & chairs the way we are used to (not mini benches)!

And our next destination was just across the street, not even a hudnred meters walk.

But let's do that as my next blog entry!

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