Ho Chi Minh City: Lunch at Quan Vit Gay and Panorama Views at Saigon Sky Deck

I made this trip back in 2016 with my family and one of the things we did was visit the Bitexco Observatory aka the Saigon Sky Deck.

But not after a traditional Vietnamese lunch at Quan Vit Gay.

I found this restaurant randomly after searching for a place to eat near the shopping mall we visited in the morning. My parents cannot walk far so my search was focused between a 100-200 meters radius. Because of the yellow exterior signboard and ornaments, the restaurant was easily spotted, thankfully. After a quick look at their menu, I knew this was the place for lunch.

We had noodle soups with lots of vegetable garnishings (tauge, shallots, fried garlic, spring onions, and more).

This is one of my favourite Vietnamese food, Cha Gio. They are fried spring rolls wrapped in lettuce with rice noodles and then dipped in a sweet and sour sauce.

We also ordered some greens and of course rice.

And some stew which I forgot the name. I love all the side sauces!

Lunch was delicious. Another Vietnamese cuisine experience in our stomachs. We are only wanting more.

After the filling lunch, we climbed into a cab to go to Bitexco to visit Saigon Sky Deck.

The Saigon Sky Deck is indeed the best place to see a panoramic view of the city. Saigon / Ho Chi Minh City has quite the same feel as the Philippines, although Manila is much more modern, advanced, and large. Saigon gives me more of the feeling of Cebu, especially due to the presence of motorists that crisscross everywhere. Saigon wins against Cebu though on the subject of motorists.

I do not have much more to say except show you some of the pictures I took with a few commentaries.

The famous Ben Thanh Market is below with red roofs. We booked a hotel in this area on the other side of the market just across it. We had a daily view of the busy streets below and especially at night when they close the streets for the open-air night market. Lots of exciting street food action. We could see all the smoke from the live cooking. I really enjoyed the sights!

We did this trip after Christmas as evidenced on the date stamp below. We didn’t stay for the New Year though and we flew back on the 31st. Great times with my dad, we miss him terribly, and my mom still looks younger here, well, we all looked younger, haha. It’s been 6 years ago!

The Ho Chi Minh City Hall is one of the most striking buildings in the city. The architecture is French Colonial-style. Vietnam was part of the French colony called French Indochina from the late 1880s to 1954. Vietnam gained independence earlier though in 1949.

There was a mini-museum on Ao Dai, the traditional Vietnamese clothing for women.

There are so many motorcycle motorists in Saigon. You always have to watch out for these ferocious things, especially during peak hours, and even on the trottoir, they make no distinction at all. They are ruthless and will find any little space on the road to drive on just to beat the traffic.