Ho Chi Minh - Kem Bach Dang coconut ice-cream

Ic-cream made with coconut milk, scooped into a coconut, topped with fresh watermelon, strawberry, dragon fruit and candied pineapple. I thought the ice-cream was just plain vanilla, and didn't find it all that special 'til the lady saw my puzzled face and taught me to scrape off the meat on the inside of the coconut and eat it together with the ice cream. Ahhhhh, much better it was. Gonna tell them to hold the chocolate sauce next time. Too sweet for me.

Kem Bach Dang
26-28 Lê Lợi, Phường Bến Nghé, Quận 1
Hồ Chí Minh
+84 8 8292707

Ho Chi Minh - street view

The first impression I had of the streets of Ho Chi Minh was the mopeds! After that, one thing after another, including hawkers and night markets and plastic chairs kept reminding me of Taipei, perhaps in different periods of economic development. Binh Thay Market was flooded with people and everyday goods from backpacks to fresh food to be sold. When not busy, some moms helped their kids with homework while sitting on red, plastic stools next to towers of shrimp chips, and some young people tended to each others' acne problems...

One fruit I saw for the first time was what the locals call "bom bom." It looked small, round potatoes, but strung up like grapes. The skin is thick and soft, the meat tastes like pomelo, the texture like lychee, but the seed is tiny enough to accidentally swallow. It was good!

We did't get much time to explore the city, including its historical, multi-cultured sites, but I hope to next time!

Ho Chi Minh - Mekong

We had a one-day whirlwind tour of Ho Chi Minh, half of which we spent in the Mekong Delta. We got on a motorboat to an island for tourists where handicrafts were sold while children of shop owners played nearby and local fruits like rambutan and jackfruit were served with people performing traditional sounding music in front of us. Although it couldn't have been more touristy, the canoe ride back to the motorboat was fun.

Video of canoe ride: http://youtu.be/p84oFGvJZuA?hd=1