Saigon Central Post Office – Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

        Just across the city’s main church, Saigon Notre Dame Cathedral, we visited another French architectural leftover in the form of a main post office called Saigon Central Post Office. The post office is not only a place to deliver mails but more than that it has become one of the most inspiring landmarks in the city. 

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Saigon Notre Dame Cathedral – Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

        Visiting church, the house of God, has always been an exciting thing for me. To my amazement, in a predominantly Buddhist country like Vietnam, a cathedral built in French style architecture is the city’s iconic symbol and one of the most prominent landmarks in the cityscape. We rode motorbikes to tour around the city and visited the strikingly beautiful cathedral in the middle of the busy streets called Note Dame Cathedral of Saigon.

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Binh Tay Market (Chinatown of Saigon/Cholon) – Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

        Almost all countries in the world have migrated Chinese population living there such as Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, and many others. Wherever you go, you will always find Chinese people and the community they build that we often call “Chinatown.” Whether you fly to Europe or travel to Asia, the Chinese exist and they give significant contribution to the economy in that region. Vietnam is a country of no exception of strong Chinese cultural influence. Vietnam is the first country in Southeast Asia that received the largest number of Chinese migrants and the country with the strongest Chinese cultural influence due to the close distance to the Mainland China and the facts that Chinese Dynasty ever ruled in Northern Vietnam for over 1000 years. The next morning we went to the Chinatown of Saigon referred to as Cholon. In Vietnamese language, the city literally means big market (big (lon) and market (cho)). The Vietnamese exclusively call it Cholon, while the Chinese in that area name it Di An which means “embankment”.

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People’s Committee Building – Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

        We continued our journey to the city center where one of the stunning landmarks is located. Our friends took us to the famous People’s Committee Building near Dong Khoi Street.

        Built between 1901 and 1908, the building is arguably one of the most prominent French architectures and the loveliest structures in the cityscape. It is located at the north-western end of the Nguyen Hue street. Designed by the famous French architect, P. Gardes, it was modeled after the original Hotel de Ville in Paris. After the construction was completed, the building was used as a hotel, thus referred to as the City Hall of Saigon. However, since the communists took control of the city in 1975, it soon was transformed into the People’s Committee Building and has been used as the city government’s headquarters for the Ho Chi Minh City’s People Committee ever since. Unfortunately, the building is closed for general public visit or tourism. Only those who have official state business can enter the interior of the structure. So, we could only admire it from outside.

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Vung Tau Beach – Vung Tau, Vietnam

        After exploring Jesus’ mountain, we went back to our room to rest. In the late afternoon, we went out to the nearby beach called the Front Beach. My husband and friends already prepared extra clothes to swim, but I refused to do so for I did not like to have sticky body after swimming in the beach.

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The Statue of Jesus Christ - Vung Tau, Vietnam

        From Ben Thanh Market, we took a tour around the city by motorbikes to enjoy the sightseeing. Then, we stopped at a ticket office to purchase bus tickets for four of us to go to a beautiful resort town called Vung Tau. They did not allow us to pay for the tickets. We were very thankful to have such good friends like them. Her husband even specially asked for five days off just to accompany us. What good friends they really were!!! The next morning we departed early in the morning and headed to the meeting point. We waited for the van to come and pick us up. We boarded into the car and got ready for the three-hour journey. Along the journey, the driver played Vietnamese songs and we could not keep ourselves from laughing because the sound of the language was funny to us. My husband teased our friends and we were all laughing. They were really kind-hearted and did not get offended by our jokes at all.

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Ben Thanh Market – Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

        What comes across your mind the first time you hear about Vietnam? Is it war, turmoil, rice land or what? Indeed, when my husband asked me to go to visit his best friend in Vietnam, the first thing I thought was a poor country often engaged in wars. Relatives and friends who heard that we were going to spend our honeymoon in Vietnam were surprised and advised us to be careful there. However, my husband had bought the tickets for two of us and after our visit to Singapore we continued our journey to Vietnam. Surprisingly, when we arrived at Ho Chi Minh’s international airport, Tan Son Nhat, we were amazed at the magnificent and modern structure of the airport. It was far from our imagination and impression about the country. I could say that the airport is more beautiful than the one in my country, Indonesia. Along the way out of the airport, we could not stop comparing Vietnam with our country. When we arrived at the exit gate, our friends were faithfully waiting for us. They welcomed us with warm smile and big hug. We then boarded the car heading to their house. Vietnam is a developing country that nowadays starts to flourish as one of the top tourist destinations in Southeast Asia. For the past 10 years, the economy in Vietnam has increased tremendously supported by foreign investments in the country. Pubs, bars, restaurants, luxury hotels were built up to accommodate tourists.

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