The long-awaited Crescent Mall opened early this week and like any typical Filipino in Vietnam who is craving for a REAL mall, we just had to check it out.
Of course we knew that there won’t be a lot of stores open — so I had my expectations at the lowest level. Only a handful of stores were open scattered in the 5 floors. The 5th is still closed being prepped for the Bamboo Court (whatever that is), Happy 100 Entertainment (probably an arcade), and the Megastar Cineplex.
It’s actually a no-frills type of mall with shops easily accessible both physically and visually – I mean it does not have HIDDEN shops at the back like Vincom. It’s kinda a smaller version of Queensbay Mall in Penang, Malaysia. The mall is not too aesthetically designed in the inside. Save for the bubbly pillars.
However, I do hope they put some benches because there was no area where people can rest a bit. Also, we couldn’t find the toilets. Well, we found one but is beyond the emergency exit. Therefore, you can’t go back inside the mall after you pee! I think the exit doors were meant to stay open but it wasn’t that way today and I was too scared to get locked in the other side!
The foreign shops that were open include GAP, Diesel, Sony (!!!), Esprit, BCBG, Charles David, Tommy Hilfiger, and the smallest Toy Kingdom I’ve ever seen.
Sadly, there is no bookstore in sight. 😦
The only open dine-in place is Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf. Gloria Jeans, Bread Talk, and MOF have yet to open. I didn’t see whether Vietnam’s coffee shops Trung Nguyen and Highlands Coffee will open shop.
What I’m excited about is F.O.S. Hahaha! Finally a store my wallet can afford! 😀
And can you believe it? From Dong Khoi St. to Crescent, Unique opened shop!
I love their shawls and leather goods! And it’s one Vietnam-owned shop that sells quality products!
So there, I do hope more non-overpriced shops open in the next few weeks and that they can squeeze in a bookstore.
Hello Saigon! 
I was disappointed when i went there.. it’s full of construction dust. I cant breath properly. Anyone with asthma would probably suffer attack once enter the mall. It’s ok if the mall is not fully opened but at least clean it up properly.
I cant say much about it now except that ‘i cant breath’ in the mall at this moment.
Anyhow it’s good that there’s a new mall in town…. we are moving towards civilsation…
Ah yes Danny! That’s so true! They didn’t clean the place up. I think the management was pressured into opening the place because they keep on delaying. The floors were dusty and you can obviously see the difference between the upkeep of Parkson Paragon versus Crescent Mall — no shiny floors here.
Hi Lyra.. I’m from Indonesia and i stay here almost 1 year.. I really like your blog and i can’t stop read all your posted. 🙂
I hope crescent mall will sell the newest fashion with a cheaper prices..
Hi Amel
Any idea where can I get Indonesian food in hcmc?
Tq
Hi Danny.. You can find indonesian food at foodcourt in Parkson, Le Thanh Ton. You can try sop buntut its an ox tail soup, thats my favorite.. 🙂
Thanks so much Amel for the kind words! Do hope you continue to enjoy what I write! 🙂
Cheers!
Hi Lyra,
I don’t like your comment about Vietnamese shops not selling quality goods. It sounds rather stuck up and patronizing. I think Vietnam deserves better than foreigners putting it down for lack of ‘quality’.
Hi Kerry. I’m sorry if you interpreted what I wrote that way. I rechecked my post and I didn’t say anything about Vietnamese shops not selling quality goods. I was actually very excited about Unique because it’s A Vietnamese shop selling quality goods in A MALL filled with imported products.
I didn’t find anything offensive too.
Duh….
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