Ho Chi Minh City - (Spring 2025) - Day 4
Huynh Hoa Banh Mi
We decided to get sandwiches for breakfast because this is the most famous sandwich place in the city and can attract a long line during peak hours. Evidently very popular as Grab delivery drivers were lined up waiting for pick ups and the place filled up pretty rapidly after we got there.
The sandwich was good but is it sacrilege to say but I prefer my sandwiches in San Jose? The sandwiches are huge and they have the veggies separated so they don’t get soggy if you get it for take out but then I find it a bit of a hassle to assemble. My advice would be to split these unless you are starving.
I would say the star of the show is the pâté. I probably would have preferred a sandwich of just the pâté instead of the huge chunks of other meat.
April 30 Celebration Flyover Practice
In preparation for the April 30th celebration which was less than 2 weeks away, they had practice dry runs for the festivities all over the city. Part of the action were low flying jets thundering around the city along with helicopters toting flags. The locals were pouring out into the street to observe as they had never seen this kind of thing. I wonder if this display caused a bunch of traffic accidents because everyone just stopped to look and take photos as soon as the aircraft flew by.
People everywhere were wearing flags and traditional garments in celebration of the upcoming holiday
I think people everywhere in general are happy to have a reason to have a party or celebrate
Highlands Coffee
Mid-day coffee break. This is a popular chain around town. It was a good place to rest with AC, wifi, and charging outlets.
War Remnants Museum
A very popular site to visit is the War Remnants Museum. The outside of the museum is filled with vehicles and armaments on display as well as a recreation of prison conditions of various wars. The inside is separated into several rooms and floors with weapons displays and historical exhibitions of different events.
I think the displays and wording have softened towards the west as relationships develop over time between the countries. Events like the Mai Lai massacre are told through the reporting of American journalists and the most graphic display would probably be the Agent Orange exhibition.
Continental Saigon Bar - Le Bourgeois Restaurant
The hotel and bar are famous because the novelist Graham Greene had stayed and drank here and wrote about the place. I didn’t see a formal bar area, just a restaurant area where you could get drinks. I didn’t know what to expect but the vibe I got was that it was probably felt like this in the 50’s. There was a quietness to the place and I felt like I was drinking in a museum. You can feel that they are trying to keep the sense of grandeur but in doing so you can feel that the past is gone now. But, hey, either way, the drinks are still good and cold.
Every aspiring Asian country has to have nice malls
They also make for great places to escape the heat while walking around town
O’ Brien’s Irish Pub
I have often called day drinking the Irish gift to the world. If other bars are closed, you can usually find an Irish pub in whatever town that is open during the day. This place had cold beer, fried food, and soccer on TV. Checks all the boxes. Also plenty of whiskey options available.
Government buildings were lit up for a celebration dry run that evening
Many roads were also blocked off for the practice parades
Rabbit Hole
We were barely able to get to this bar because a lot of the streets were closed around it and soldiers were shooing us away. We finally walked around a block and found a street that we were allowed to walk down. It was still hard to find as its entrance is an unmarked staircase set back from the sidewalk.
Very creative menu book and an attractive bar. In general the bars in that area were quiet because most of the streets were impassable that night.
Angels’ Share
Right around the block from Rabbit Hole was Angels’ Share. This was a very stylish upstairs bar with great drinks and a pretty good whiskey selection.
House of Merlin
Across the alley from Angels’ Share was this bar with a kitschy theme. It felt like we were drinking where Hogwarts postgrads would hang out. Not surprisingly their drink menu strived to do stuff that looked creative such as drinks with smoke.