Legoland Saigon

It took about 1 ½ hours flight before we touched down at Saigon International Airport, Vietnam. The city is extremely packed and looks like a Legoland from top view. The buildings are mostly vertical in nature with the shop lot concept.

Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) a.k.a. Saigon is the capital of Vietnam. I’m here for a business trip and took full advantage of it with shopping! It’s a nice place to shop, but 2 days are just not enough! Luckily I’m accompanied with someone who has been there before and knows all the tricks and good places to go.

We stayed at the Sheraton Saigon, which is located at the elite side of the city. Its location is very strategic as it has a few Halal restaurants/stalls nearby. If you were to be at Saigon, feel free to dine at the Four Seasons Restaurant (I can’t remember the street name) for a taste of our local dishes. If you stay at Sheraton Saigon or nearby, you can also lepak at the Bombay Restaurant for Halal mamak cuisines. It’s just opposite the hotel. There are other Halal Restaurants available for Muslims, so makan is not a big problem there.

Okay, let’s talk on my shopping spree experience. I didn’t waste any second when I was there. First thing we did was to find the money changer. Tips for those who plan to go there, bring USD and exchange to Vietnam Dong (VND) there instead of exchanging it here in Malaysia. The rate at that time was 1USD = VND16530. So, everytime you shop, just divide with VND5000 to get the rate in RM.

Best place to shop is the Ben Tan (tak ingat camne spellingnye), which is a bigger version of our Central Market. It has more than 100 shops that sell lots of things ranging from clothes, telekung, bags, households and many many many more! Branded clothes are widely sold there but you have to be extremely careful when buying those as some are imitations. There’s not many shop sells original clothes but once you’ve find it, you’ll not regret! The prices are extremely cheap! You can get Vietnamese silks at a reasonable price too. Don’t forget to buy souvenir with Vietnamese signature.

Another good place to shop is the Saigon Square, which is a double storey building consist of small shops that sell clothes and bags. You can find quite a number of North Face items, Crumpler, Samsonite, Clarks, GA, etc. All you need to do is check for its originality and you’ll get out of the building with worth buying goods. I got myself a Samsonite laptop bag, and GA’s shirt for my ehem ehem..

Okay, dahla tu sikit2 update.. Pape pun, I love shopping at Saigon!!