From Vietnam With Love : Ben Thanh Market & Shopping Tips

Hello all

Been so happy lately with quite lots of happy news received, and of course after replenishment of a week of free honeymoon :)

Have you read our journey to Ho Chi Minh Day 1? You may click on this link to read more.

Let's continue the story..

After whole night of rest in the Equatorial Hotel, we were so energized and excited, especially when we knew that we are going off for a shopping spree at Ben Thanh Market. Heard a lot of stuff to buy there.

Selfie on the room balcony before off to the Market

A must, breakfast first. Since our group is big, Sahajidah Hai-O Marketing booked a dewan to cater all of us at one time.

Lots of food to choose from, This is just the dessert, bread, fruits and coffee section

Okay, this was definitely not the only thing i ate. The first round completed with Nasi Lemak udang :)

Ready to go!
Yeah, You Should Be Here! Let's follow us to the next trip : OSAKA!

Since it will be a whole day shopping trip, company provided us the angpau for Lunch.
Each one of us received VND 200,000 (almost RM40 each)

Turun bas je beria snap pix depan Ben Thanh Market

Us, fresh lagi ni. Belum berlengas!

And the bargain started! Dah mula start pilih seluar golf. maka, iols duduk je la diam2 kat situ.

Siap tolong ukurkan size seluar

Kalau dulu pergi Krabi, rasa buat suit RM400-500 murah, kat Ben Thanh ni lagi super duper murah! It was only RM200-250 per set and siap within half a day!
Maka, en husband pun bergembira la tempah 1 set for himself. I also tempah one pant for myself.

In the afternoon we went for a lunch in one of the halal restaurant nearby.

This Restaurant called Serai. The food is a bit pricey if compared to other Halal restaurants

We had vegie soup and stir-fried beef with lemongrass and Vietnamese coffee

The yummilicious Vietnamese coffee



The food was tasty tho.

The environment was like so Malaysia!

Bought Vietnamese coffee at the local store nearby Ben Thanh market.
Tengok auntie tengok iols, pelik semacam,agaknya dia cakap, beli kopi pun nak bergambar ke? kuikui

Here is where the coffee shop located

Tepi motor pun nak posing. padahal dah berlengas badan

Since our friends semua tak jumpa this Serai restaurant, they went to another restaurant. So we went there just to be reunited with them. shopping mak jemah la katakan. mesti nak sekali

This is another Halal Restaurant : Hajah Basiroh

We bumped into a store which sell instant shawl and telekung.Terus berkampung masing2.
The funny thing; they did mention; shopping dengan Airin ni stress, sebab semua nak cepat2.
You can see how I sat there, waiting for them to finalize the choice. nak merah ke biru. Amik je la both! hahaha

Right after shopping, while killing time for bus to pick us up, we went to a coffee break in the store inside Ben Thanh Market.
Sebenarnya bukan sebab takde bende lagi nak shopping, tapi sebab cash dah habis. Me and husband's strategy was to divide money into 3 days. so confirm2 la dah habis portion Day 1 nie

Yup, Vietnamese ladies are all kurus2 and spicy katanya.
This is Bella. Both my husband and Ezam (ain's husband) konon2 malu nak amik gambar with Bella.:P konon je la kan...

Done first day shopping!

He was satisfied, I know!

Went back hotel, we got ready for Gala Dinner that night

and some of the instant shawl that I bought.

Here are some shopping tips while shopping in Ben Thanh Market :

Tips No 1: Most of them speaks Malay fluently
Tak payah la tergeliat lidah nak cakap english or trying to understandi their English. hehehe. Yang tak bestnya, tak boleh mengumpat.huhu sebab most of them faham! Baru je cakap kat husband, oh patutla mahal sikit harga, ni material tebal sket. Then boleh plak that salesgirl menyampuk : Kakak tahu quality, tapi tak mau bayar lebih. and we was like...wuttt??

Tips No 2 : Bring a lot of Ringgit Malaysia
Although Ringgit Malaysia wasnt strong enough this time, it is much much better if we bargain in Ringgit Malaysia.
For example, a jersey worth RM25 can be bargained as low as RM23 or even RM20. but in VND, the lowest they can give you about VND125,000 (which is exactly RM25), not less. The bargain power is much much better in Ringgit Malaysia. They also accept USD, but buying small stuff, it will be a lot valuable in RM.

Tips No 3 : Start your price at least 50% less than the displayed value
If they mentioned a shirt worth VND 500,000, go for VND 250,000. Then they'll say "takda untung".. they'll ask back how much lower. Dont settle for a price too soon. Try to walk away, and they'll chase you and somehow give you the price that satisfied you. This will be more successful early in the morning.
Altho it was difficult bargaining when ur partner was a bit lembut hati (like my husband - cepat kesian).
We went to a store for a sport shoe. They started the price as high as VND1 mil. I walked away immediately but my husband was quite kesian with the guy. and then i started bargain til it dropped down as low as VND400k. and my husband said ok straight away. I wanted to make the offer as low as VND300k, but husband wasnt so pleased :P **dush dush**
Later that day (after brainwashed my husband), i asked him to let me bargain. We got a pouch bag which offered VND800k at first, for a VND150k.. and im a happy girl :D

So if Tanya nak pegi lagi tak Ben Thanh? the answer would be... of course!!! Bila je yang tak tau** hehehe

Will continue our story on Gala Dinner and the journey to the Mekong River. Memang bestttt! stay tuned!

xoxo,
Airin