“We’re on the road. We move from place to place. And often times when I’m about to call it home, we have to move along. Life is a constant change. Oh no…” – Jose Mari Chan, Constant Change
We officially start our 3rd year in Saigon on July 1 and it’s surprising that in just 3 years time, we have witnessed the changing facade of this city. I’ve seen my favorite second hand bookstore close down and has now turned into —
It’s now Liberty Boutique and the clothes shop beside it closed down too!
And if you frequent Fahasa and Sunwah area along Nguyen Hue, you might have noticed this:
Barcook is gone. 😦 It’s the bakery I frequent during my office lunch hour to have a quick bite. :((
And along Dong Khoi St., the Grand Hotel’s new wing has opened. It now sits right next to the Renaissance Riverside Hotel.
They should rename Dong Khoi to Hotel Avenue. But then again, Nguyen Hue is dotted with hotels as well.
Caught this sight by the Grand Hotel. Some vendors were trying to sell their wares to some guests inside the hotel. Hated that the guests were just teasing the vendors. 😦
That’s nothing new. Just an advice for tourists, if you’re not serious in buying, please don’t lead the vendors on. It just doesn’t seem right. Or if you do, expect to be harassed into buying.
In our area, another new thing — the 4th convenience store opened.
I feel sad it when big franchises such as this invade the turf of local shops. The longstanding shops have been delivering the goods that our neighbourhood needs pretty well already. I’d hate to see them lose customers. Plus we have a grocery right down our building!
Oh well, that’s Saigon for you.
Hello Saigon! 
Just want to say that I like reading your blog……I’m currently working here in Vietnam also, a bit far from HCMC though (I’m in Can Tho City now)…Been to HCMC only once but I plan to roam around the city once I get the time to do it or maybe after leaving my current job this August…..Although I’m sort of a ‘foodie’ also (a noodle addict at that) but Vietnamese love eating pork and I’m not a pork eater……Any tips on where to eat in HCMC, all beef or chicken only restaurant, Halal restaurant or a vegan restaurant will do.
Thanks and all the best for you and your family.
Hi Yousef! Thanks so much for visiting Hello Saigon. For chicken, you might want to try Ganesh Restaurant. I’ll research on this some more and let you know. 🙂
Yousef, here’s the link to Ganesh. You might want to try it. https://hello-saigon.com/2011/06/12/food-trip-ganesh/
I ran across your blog yesterday when I searched for sth on Google. It’s a nice and interesting blog with a lot of information about my own city that I’ve never known before, esp the restos 🙂 The Barcook owner (as she told me so and shown in the take-away cup) has opened a small coffee & bakery near my house in Dist 7 (Tan Quy Dong residence – few walks away from Lotte Mart).
Thanks Yen for visiting. Thank you also for letting me know about Barcook! Tell her that I miss her bakery! Will visit her bakery next time I’m in Lotte Mart. 🙂