Saigon

Saigon- Saturday- 6/7/2008

Once a year Hoa has to travel to India for business and since Vietnam is only a hop away it is a nice opportunity to stop by Saigon for the weekend. I agree with Hoa when he said he rather spend the weekend in Saigon with friends than spending the weekend alone in India. There was a huge storm from Singapore and Hoa's flight was delayed for 5 hours. He was scheduled to land in Saigon mid afternoon and ended landing around 7:00PM luckily Tan Son Nhat airport is only about 15 minutes from Saigon and he was still able to keep most of his plan. Hoa was able to hook up with Vu and Thuan to go to dinner the same night.

Vu and his cousin met Hoa in the lobby of the Renaissance Hotel. We stayed there the last time and all of us really enjoy this hotel.

Thuan and Hoa in the hotel Lobby.

Com Nieu Saigon is a very popular restaurant and was remodeled very recently. The old Com Nieu was so old and scary looking the last time we were there and needed so badly a new facelift.

The new entrance of Com Nieu Restaurant is a step up from the old one, and looks pretty nice.

Yum... the food looks really good.

Lunch at Quan Ngon - Sunday -6/8/08

Quan Ngon operates differently than a regular restaurant. Once you get in the restaurant there is food court in the middle of the restaurant, with lots of little food stands. You can find most of the popular dishes such as Bun Rieu, Bun Oc, Banh Cuong, Tra Gio, Nem Nuong, Bun Thit Nuong, and many more. All the food stands in the restaurant are selected to represent a specialty. The restaurant rent out the space and the vendors has to cook their own speciality. Quan Ngon is operated like a food court but in a more upscale environment. Tourists love it there because they can find a large variety of dishes at a reasonable price but in a nice surrounding.