Okay, so I know I'm supposed to call the name of this city by her official name Ho Chi Minh, or HCM, but for some reason, inexplicable as it is, I prefer calling it Saigon.
Yes, I know it's the 'old' name, and there's a whole lot of history (both pleasant and unpleasant) attached to her present name, but somehow Saigon sounds easier to roll off the tongue, and, if I'm not wrong, certain places still use the city's old name.
Coming here to Vietnam for the first time ever was quite an adventure.
Many people I know would take direct flights between Singapore and HCM because, oy, life's such that now we're going back and forth much between both countries, but life's also such that, out of the many flights that operate between Singapore and Ho Chi Minh City, we would choose one that transited us through Kuala Lumpur before heading onwards to Vietnam.
Am I complaining?
No, not at all.
It's been a long, long time since I transited via KLIA, and anyway, the airline gave us a bottle of water and a small bag of roasted peanuts to munch, so, why not?
I got quite charmed by this little one-stop-shop booth that I saw at the transit lounge, by the way, and wondered to myself why in Melaka a few weeks ago I didn't see it more.
The flight to HCM was pretty smooth and we touched down at Tan Son Nhat International Airport safely.
Got through immigration and customs, no issue at all, and I had my first look of an airport that holds its origins all the way back in 1930. It served as a military airbase during the years of 1968 to 1974, but has now gone commercial, with two terminals, and a third one in the making.
What makes this airport charming is that you can still see traces of the military airbase here and there.
No, I don't mean that there're military planes or that there're markings.
But there aren't many airports that have hangars that close to the gates.
It was quite a sight, I have to say, to see all the planes of Vietnam Airlines parked neatly on the runway tarmac.
I can't remember just how the interior of the airport looked like- and for some reason I don't have many pictures- but outside, once you stepped beyond the sliding doors, there was a Highlands Coffee booth, and a takeaway Burger King.
First thing about Saigon that struck me was the humidity.
Now, I'm born and bred on a hot, sunny, humid island, and I've been to BKK very much over the last few months, but the humidity here at Saigon is something else.
Never have I had a situation where the humidity wraps around you like a shrink wrap from head to toe.
It's not suffocating (not here in the open air space that makes the airport) but the uninitiated will feel like they're walking in a sea of tiny water droplets that just stick onto their skin.
(So all those American crime fiction stories about Bosch the LA-based detective didn't lie)
We managed to get a Grab to our hotel in District 1.
Amanaki Saigon Boutique Hotel, located in Ben Nghe Ward, sits in a district literally opposite the Bitexco Tower.
A narrow building that looks like it's five storeys high (but actually has nine storeys with the rooftop pool on the ninth) the hotel's next to a coffee place, across a whole row of eating places, and near the Saigon River.
To get to the lobby one has to climb up a short flight of steps but then there's a lift in the basement, and that's how they brought up our luggage to the lobby floor.
First thing about Amanaki Saigon Boutique Hotel is that the lobby feels like a person's living room. It's the sort of vibe that one would get if you were visiting a friend's house. On one side there's a couch, a coffee table, cushions on the couch, hardcover coffee table books on the table. Along the walls there're shelves, there're paintings hung upon the very same walls, and on the shelves along those walls there're vases of all colors, sizes and shapes.
The atmosphere felt very earthy.
Welcome drinks were in the form of fresh coconut water from fresh coconuts, we were checked in, and soon were heading to our room upstairs.
They gave us a room on one of the higher floors, the 7th, to be exact.
And let me just say that the room held the same earthen, earthy vibe that I had felt downstairs.
Almost all of the furniture was wood- dark wood- whether it were the bedframe, the bedside tables, the desk, the desk chair, the shelf underneath the TV, even the open wardrobe.
There were snacks in little mason jars on the shelf beneath the TV.
There was a plate of fruit- dragonfruit, I think- and a knife to cut the fruit with.
Then there were sachets of instant Vietnamese coffee.
It were the snacks that interested me.
I don't think I had ever seen such a collection of nuts, lotus seeds, dried candied ginger, and dried strawberries- amongst others- all in the little jars with brown paper labels tied to the side with brown string.
The ginger was very spicy, but it were the strawberries I especially liked.
They weren't hard, nor did they taste sourish either.
We unpacked, settled down, sorted out our things, and went out looking for dinner.
Here's the funny part though.
I have no idea where exactly we went.
All I know is that we crossed Ho Tung Mau, walked along Ngo Duc Ke, and turned out to this well known street called Nguyen Hue.
Here there was an event going on, some sort of a street party, so we took a look at that, and then after that made our way back on the other side of the quadrangle.
Honestly I wish I had paid a bit more attention to the street's name, but we were passing by a lot of stores and shops, including a rather huge bookstore, and then spotted this little place that looked bright and cozy.
So we went in, and had a bowl of pho each.
Let's just say I wasn't surprised that the bowl came with a huge heap of onions, bean sprouts, and vegetables that I happily dunked into my soup and ate with the kuay teow and beef slices together.
