Day 2 in Saigon- February 25, 2011

The next day in Saigon was to see the city. This day included some sites including the train station, Notre Dame Cathedral, the Reunification Palace (something that was initially not included but we insisted as we are only in Vietnam once in a lifetime). In the palace you could see visualize the famous pictures of the Vietnam war and see how the Americans and their Vietnamese supports escape. To finish we ended up in the War Crime Museum- a museum that emphasizes how the US was wrong. I am a strong believer that war takes two sides to tango (My impression of the Vietnamese I met they could not acknowledge this point and being Canadian- who were not involved in the war- was as bad as being American in their minds). Our tour ended after 2 hours of sightseeing, while our guide  shrug his shoulders and explained he showed us everything therefore could not take us an additional 15 minutes to shop near our hotel when we had paid for 4 hours. Sadly, for him his attitude reduced his tip and ended with him getting the horrible Canadian cold (we accidentally brought with us).

After shopping at  a few interesting Vietnamese stores that I know my Friend Serena would love to shop at, we ended up with Italian at our hotel. Everything was perfectly prepared- a wonderful pizza, soup and pho for my dad. We then proceeded to relax that afternoon, while I enjoyed the wonderful Intercontinental Spa. I ended up spending $81 for 3 hour treatment- body scrub, massage and facial.

That evening we were supposed to go Quan Na Nog however Xu Lounge was calling. So we cancelled and went again to Xu to try more of their extensive menu.

First we stopped off at our Intercontinental Lounge that became our haven during our stay in Saigon. At any time we could grab a soft drink, water or juice. In the evening we could enjoy some traditional and pan-Asia snacks and drinks.

Xu Lounge: I started off Cinnamon cocktail that was wonderful.

Our first dish with Sweet and Sour Soup- Very different from what we are used to in Toronto and another dish was okay. Thankfully my cocktail softened the blow.

Our first appetizer was wonderful beef skewers on sugar cane stick. These sticks were amazing and other than getting over a cold I would have had more than my one stick.

The next dish was a fried springroll- nice and once again I love their sauces.

A trip would not be complete without fried shrimp with coconut sauce- At home this dish would have been in my tummy in 5 minutes, it was just that good.

Our final main course was a spicy lamb with cauliflower on top of a spicy eggplant puree- A very spicy dish that was surprisingly good.

Our side dish was spicy rice- I actually would prefer it a bit less spicy but wonderful for those in love with spice.

Once again a wonderful meal in Xu- our last meal in Saigon. This was a real city and a nice excursion though I admit I really enjoyed the later portion of the trip. In fact I  would rate most countries I have visited except Dubai ahead of Vietnam- the people there have an attitude towards their tourists. The plan is to grab your money and then the smiling stops- sad really since I know some wonderful Vietnamese here in Canada.