Authentic Italian restaurants in HCMC

There isn't a lack of Italian restaurants in HCMC but its hard to tell which is the most authentic.

Tried the pizza, pasta, lasagna & tiramisu at the Luna D'Autunno restaurant along Suong Nguyet Anh Street, which prides in its wood fired oven pizzas. As for its Tiramisu, I must say its not as good as the one I had at the Good Morning Vietnam restaurant.

Beef steak in HCMC

Its hard to find good quality beef steak in HCMC. There is no Morton's equivalent here and among the best are probably the Wagyu beef served at The Signature restaurant in Sheraton Hotel, pan-fried beef medallions at Reflections restaurant in Caravelle hotel or the U.S. prime Omaha corn-fed & Australian's premium black angus served at the Square One restaurant in Park Hyatt hotel.

Over the weekend, I had a beef steak dinner at the Amigo Steak House along Nguyen Hue Street. It was affordable and its beef tasted not too bad (though I had better). Ordered their signature dish serving 3 types of beef from America, Australia & Argentina. Meat was juicy, tender and the US beef was the best, Argentina the worst. The meal came with the salad buffet bar which was nothing to shout about.

Amigo Steak House was previously known as the Amigo Char-Grill (owned by an Australian couple) before it was taken over by the Winsor Vietnam Group Restaurants.

Chinese Dim Sum in HCMC

Chinese dim sum has always been my favourite food and after trying them at Ming Dynasty restaurant , Li Bai restaurant in Sheraton Hotel, Crystal Jade restaurant in Legend Hotel, Royal Garden restaurant at Hung Vuong Plaza and Yeebo restaurant along Le Thanh Ton Street, I realise that they are not a far cry from one another although the ones at the hotels (and Ming Dynasty restaurant) are priced much higher.

Yeebo Restaurant along Le Thanh Ton Street

Royal Garden restaurant in Hung Vuong Plaza, District 5

Dining at the "Imperial Palace" of Ming Dynasty

The Ming Dynasty restaurant, located in the Phu My Hung area belongs to the Khai Silk Corporation (with many more shops, restaurants as well as the upcoming Saigon Paragon under its umbrella) serving expensive chinese dim sum amongst other dishes.

Dining with beautiful chinese crockery

Sumptuous dim sum

Soup of the day - choose from 2 types of brewing herbal soup

'Ming Dynasty' designs in the washrooms as well

Door of the cubicle in the washroom

Hanging artefact above the toilet bowl

Phu My Hung...Little Singapore in Vietnam?

Phu My Hung is located in the southern part of HCMC in district 7 and stepping into this place takes you into another world, totally unlike what you see in the bustling areas of district 1, 3, 4, 5 etc.

What is so special about Phu My Hung?
- Systematic running of housing estates - clusters of tall residential apartments
- Symetrical low rise terrace houses & villas in neat rows
- Wide roads with shiny lampposts & traffic lights - No traffic jams …. most importantly, no sounding of vehicles' horns!
- Neat rows of trees & bushes providing fresh air
- Wide range of amenities (shops, supermarket, restaurants, laundry, hair salons, hospital etc)
- Smooth & clean walking pavements

Can't visualise? Just think of Katong in Singapore.

Indeed, many Singaporeans live in this area, partly because of the easy access to the nearby Singapore International School. However, with its distance away from my work (about 30 mins drive away), I will rather stay put in district 1.

See that building in the background?
It is the Saigon Paragon which will be the next
thing to look out for in southern HCMC.
Its european design inside & outside and its promise
to be the next cultural & economic center with
shopping, entertainment & dining will definitely amaze many.

Wonder of the medieval world

Among the seven wonders of the medieval world, are the Stonehenge , Colosseum , Catacombs of Kom el Shoqafa , Great Wall of China , Porcelain Tower of Nanjing , Hagia Sophia , Leaning Tower of Pisa.

Traveled to China (Beijing, Cheng De & Tian Jin) a couple of weeks back and visited one of them - Great Wall Of China.

The steps were extremely steep & high - height of each was almost reaching my knee cap!

This far I've achieved. Starting point was at the top left hand side of the
photo where the buses were parked.

Summer Palace

'Chang Lang' - Long corridor found in the Summer Palace, built in 1750.


Restored ancient houses, still in livable condition

Underground tunnel that was used during the war

Beijing sweets

Beijing food

Chateau de Luze Hotel in Beijing's business district area

Free upgrade to a suite with great walk in wardrobe

Breakfast at the hotel's cafe

Olympic count down

Tiananmen Square

Forbidden City

This is the room of the Forbidden Palace where the emperor got married in

Stretch of pubs found by the river

Teahouse

The famous food street along Wang Fu Jing road

The Olympic Stadium

The magnificant olympic pool

Qian Yang Hotel in Chengde

Food in Chengde

Garden in the emperor's Summer Villa

The Mongolian tents are actually hotel rooms!

Replica of Tibet's Potala Palace

Tianjin's cultural street

Beijing's 'Tut-tut'

Stage play with impressive props - this is real water

coming down the stage to create sea waves!

Temple of Heaven

Beijing's 'The Place' - high end shopping

Beijing Airport