Changing landscapes of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

It had been a lapse of 5 years since I last stepped into Saigon and the city had certainly made great leaps ahead to be a competitive country within the region.

The changing landscapes of Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) convinced me that they will only head towards one direction from now and that's FORWARD!

Every step around the city with lots of historical monuments and heritage buildings could easily transport the visitor back into the history which they had blended it perfectly well with modernisation.


With more Halal dining available, it triggers the opening of a new market segment for Muslim travelers where that country had traditionally been a non Muslim friendly country that has certainly changed.

With raw materials, production and labor costs still low, its not difficult for big names e.g. Adidas, Nike, etc to establish manufacturing plants in that country.

Ba Ba Ba (333) Beer ... locally brewed in Saigon and dates back to more then 100 years while had peentrated in major EU countries. Almost every city in Vietname has it's own beer brand(s) e.g. Saigon Do, Bia Ha Noi, Bia Saigon etc. but nothing beats "Bia Hoi".

The latest icon of Saigon, Bitexco Financial Tower, rising high above the city of 10 million Vietnamese people (somehow looks a little like Menara Telekom in Kuala Lumpur).

Care for the environment had taken a great step forward for HCMC as evident by this well landscaped greens within the city centre.

The Ben Thanh market in central of District 1, Saigon housing the hundreds of stalls selling various local silk products, souvenirs, Vietnamese coffee, souvenir t-shirts and more recently "genuine fakes"

More interestingly, majority of the female traders there speaks Bahasa Malaysia and this is a total change compared to 5 years ago.

A typical junction in downtown Saigon when it's a free for all even with traffic lights! So here I go again kept walking when crossing the road ignoring the oncoming motorcycles and vehicles.And that's the way the Viets would teach you how to cross the road.

Halal restaurants sprout around Dong Khoi and Dong Du area of District 1. The red building behind is a Malaysian owned restaurant aptly named D'Nyonya but do not expect signature nyonya dishes as they had none of those in the menu.

Saigon Opera House (Ho Chi Minh Municipal Theater)

Branded fashion names were unheard off those days but it's everywhere in Saigon.. Chanel, Louis Vuitton and many others. Signs of a burgeoning Vietnam.

Chanel designs window display

Vietnamese ladies are still not prepared to ditch their traditional costume Ao Dai but would favor to keep up with the latest fashion trends of today.

Walk around downtown Saigon along Le Loi Street.

Even KFC have landed in VN in a big way with Pizza Hut.

Halal restaurants are the in thing now with more Muslim visitors making Vietnam their holiday destination. Many female Malay Malaysians make their regular trips into HCM to make large purchase of silk products e.g. handbags, cloths, pouchs etc before re-selling it in Malaysia.

The locals have also got into the taste of Indian Muslim food here.