Ben Thanh Night Market - Update

The bad news - it's true, Ben Thanh Market has closed down. The good news - partially!! About half the stalls are gone now - the food stalls are still there but the souvenir, t-shirt and others stalls along the 2 side roads are gone...and along with it, a lot of the fun and spirit that used to be associated with Ben Thanh Market. So tragic! However, the permanent stores are still there - probably the reason why the night stalls have disappeared. There were rumours about complaints by shop owners that the night market stalls were taking away business from them. See map to see what I mean.

Sunday "stroll" around town - Hello Kitty, Swensen's

We took a Sunday "stroll" on my bike around town today. Found a new "Hello Kitty" shop - great news for "Hello Kitty" fans. Prices seem reasonable to me - 250,000 upwards for a bag. But we're no HK fans, so just browsed around and left.



Address :
Hello Kitty
360, Nguyen Thi Minh Khai
Quan 3
(after CMT8)
Tel : 08 7303 7900; 0903669100
Website : www.kittybycam.com
E-mail : minhanh3891@yahoo.com

Checked out Swenson's for lunch.
"Assume" = making an ass of u and me, ya? And so assume we did - that Swenson's will have a menu for lunch just like in Singapore. We sat down only to find that they served only ice-cream and coffee!!! No food!!! Hungry, hungry. No choice - ordered a waffle and a brownie. Both came with a scoop of ice cream of our choice. Damage : 45,000vnd for waffle, 55,000vnd for brownie. Fair price to pay. Waffle was freshly made and brownie was fresh too.


Swenson's
73 Nguyen Thai Hoc Street,
Quan 1
(848) 3838 8335
(it's after Tran Hung Dao Str.)

Next on our list - the latest Russian Mart. No change in the place. Not fruitful today - didn't get anything there. There was a very nice backpack there for 700,000vnd but since I'm not going trekking anytime soon, no point buying one now.

Then it's to Ben Thanh to buy some lotus nuts and soursop sweets - prices have gone up quite a bit probably due to Tet.

See what we bought

Went to Ben Thanh Market tonight - the kids had to do some shopping. This is what was bought :

2 Crumpler bags for 800k (S$60)

Socks @ 10k/pair (S$0.75)

Eagle long-sleeve Shirt @ 120k (S$9)

Bag @ 70k (S$5.20)

2 VN wallets @ 15k (S$1.20)

Bryan's boxers @ 35k (S$2.60)

10 Magnetic Necklace @ 30k (S$2.30); 35k if bought per piece

Adidas @ 50k (S$3.70) & 60k (S$4.50)

Long-sleeve shirts

Took a pix of this when I was walking past - Abercrombie slippers

Boxers @ 35k

Nicole buying magnetic necklaces (35k each)

This stall sells the cheapest Crumpler Bags

This money-changer (jewellery shop) gives good rate

--------------------------------------

More updates :

"Samsonite" bag - 200k

Metal Robot - 250k

Dragonfly (medium size) - 10 for 50k

Egg Lacquer coasters (pack of 6) - 65k

Lacquer box - 40k (Painted box), 50k (egg shell dragonfly), 60k (Painted box with eggshell)

Billabong Shirt - 60k

"Adidas" t-shirt - normal 55k; with printing 60k

"Levi's" bermudas - 90k; buy 2@80K

3m embroidered table cloth with 12 emb napkins @ 250k (Saigon Tax Trade Center)

"Saigon" emb t-shirt XXXXL @ 50k (Roadside)

Filigree picture @ 120k (Central Post Office)

2 Magnetic necklace @ 25k (Saigon Tax Trade Center)

 

Molly's here

Molly's here with Nicole for a short visit from 19 to 22 Sep 09. Molly is Joyce's aunt. Booked the Cu Chi tour this evening and had a good dinner at Hai Lua Restaurant in Ben Thanh Market. Had a shopping good time, esp with the Crumpler bags. The backpack went for 500k, the camera bag for 350k and the 2 laptop bags for 390k/350k- the cost of all 4 bags is less than 1 in SG!!! 

Tomorrow, we're making a trip to Cai Be for our Mekong tour.

Huong Xuan - Local delicacies

I putting this here cause I always forget the address.

HUONG XUAN
991, Ben Thanh Market
Right side of the main aisle - somewhere in the middle next to a fruit stall - if you enter from the front.


We been buying the following from here for ages :

Coconut Candy
Soursop sweet - best in the world, cannot find elsewhere...yet! - 100k/kg
Cashews - 180k/kg
Pistachios - 180k/kg
Roasted lotus seeds - found only in VN - expensive - I think 300k/kg
Lots of other types of sweets like banana & "asam", dried goods, coffee and tea. They also have dried meats - you can try exotic ones like deer meat and rabbit meat. Not sure, but I think there's a horse meat too.

Good buys

Joyce's dad, auntie and June came over for a visit from 16 to 20 Sep 08. These were the good buys that they were very happy with.

Their good buys
@ Cho Ben Thanh














@ Saigon Square & Le Thanh Ton














@ Saigon Square














@ Saigon Square














@Saigon Square














This are our good buys - caps at Russian Mart














@Russian Mart



















@Cho Dan Sinh



















Saigon Square

Saigon Square is packed with "copy" brands - and a teenagers' paradize...well, and some undergrown adults too. The outlets sell everything from Mont Blanc pens and LV bags to Adidas apparel and North Face winter wear. There are shoes, socks, DVDs, belts, t-shirts, jeans, shirts - I think anything remotely linked to apparel can be found there. Prices are cheap by SG standards but for us, it's still slightly expensive compared to the other places that we buy from. But it's convenient for the tourist as it's just a stone's throw from Ben Thanh Market.

Cho Dan Sinh (closed down)

Cho Dan Sinh is a strange mix of machinery, tools and equipment coming together with military stuff, clothes and kitchen ware. This is the best place for military buffs esp if you're into the Vietnam War - you can buy "Vietnam War" lighter souvenirs, watches, full packs, uniforms, bags etc. If you're short of tools, this is also the place to go - I bought some of my tools here, and my tea spoons as well. Cho Dan Sinh is sandwiched between Pham Ngu Lao and Nguyen Thai Hoc but it's not on the main road itself. You need to take one of the side roads to get there.