This is an on-going series where I’m trying to give you as much as I can on shopping in Saigon. So do remember to check back every once in a while. I’ve already started 1 on Saigon Shopping Eden Mall which cover the immediate perimeter of Eden Mall. For this article on Saigon Shopping Opera View, it will be on the immediate perimeter on (of course) Opera View. Opera View is just diagonally across the Saigon Opera House…

Standing in front of the Ben Thanh Market, you’ll see that there are 2 streets flanking the sides of the market (marked by the 2 arrows). Start your way to the Mariamman Hindu Temple from the left side (yellow arrow)…

The Vietnam History Museum has just been refurbished recently. I returned to create virtual tours and this post is on the pictures I took and some explanation on the exhibits…

Dropped by Le Pub to do a virtual tour and here’s more pictures and some comments…

Huynh Anh Hotel in Ho Chi Minh City, Saigon, has always been the hotel I’d book for my buddies whenever they come over to tour Vietnam. Located right in Saigon backpackers hostel area, they have very friendly staffs, a security guard based in the lobby for 24 hours a day and even security cameras on every level of the hotel. For US$25 per night at Huynh Anh Hotel, you’ll get cable TV, hot shower, a small fridge, free breakfast, WIFI, free access to the internet in the lobby and GREAT views of Saigon backpacker’s area if you can get the room with a balcony. Note that this is not the perfect hotel. If you want a flawless one, go to Sheraton or Hyatt My experience with them is that sometimes the battery for the air con remote goes flat. And sometimes the hot water gets too hot, or not at all. But at only US$25 with its location and facilities, you’ll find that it’s worth every dollar…

This is the last of my series documenting the Vietnamese New Year. This time it’s on the Nguyen Hue Flower Street Festival, or ‘Duong Hoa Nguyen Hue’ in Vietnamese. The Nguyen Hue Flower Street Festival is an annual event in Ho Chi Minh City, Saigon, where the whole of Nguyen Hue Street, in the heart of the city central, will be closed. For about a week, this street will be filled with diverse colors of flowers and the Lunar New Year decorations. Mixing with the sweet melodies of traditional music and folk songs, it gives the Vietnamese and tourists alike a chance to indulge in nature and to soak up the festive mood…