Random HCMC-trip Notes

Well, I was in Ho Chi Minh City on a business trip and guess what I found out? There are no McDonald's in Vietnam! Not a single one. Asking the locals confirmed it but he doesn't know why. There's only one or two KFC in the city. I saw one KFC and was tempted to try it but I was in a taxi and just finished lunch and could not ask the cab to stop. But goodness.. no McDonald's! Is it because of anti-American sentiment or just that Vietnamese don't like burgers? I have no idea.

Coincidentally DroolMan is in HCMC too and he will be here for two weeks. What's bizarre is that we both stay in the same hotel! We didn't know about our trips and yet we stay in the same hotel. How about that for coincidence! I found out that he's going to HCMC from his FB status. We met up for breakfast every morning and if time permits and I am not too burnt out, we meet up for coffee at night. It's like the old times - mamak - but in a 5-star hotel under the comfort of air conditioning.

I love pho - it's Vietnamese beef noodles soup. We have pho in Malaysia too served by Vietnam Kitchen in 1U. What I found out in this trip is that the Vietnamese eat pho with yau char kwai. Yup, that oily pastry Malaysians (and Hongkies) eat with porridge. Vietnamese eat yau char kwai with pho. And it taste ABSOLUTELY delicious! They called it "yau char kweiii". The local thinks it's a Chinese influence. The first time I had pho was with Rotitelur in a Vietnamese restaurant in Las Vegas. She introduced me to pho with fish-sauce. It's strangely delicious. Hmm, maybe I should go for more pho tonight.

Oh, they use the same plug point as Malaysia - strange considering this was a French colony.. wait.. does France use the same plug point? I couldn't remember..

Comments

  1. Ringgit! There are a lot of bureaucreacy in Vietnam. Also, it's consider a new developing country, hence, it's still going thru changes. For example in India, the Mcdonald only starts growing like 4-5 years ago. KCF was even banned by govt one time because tandoori chicken are tastier and generally Indians don't eat chicken 'skin'!! They are a lot of cultural things that you Ringgit may not know!

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  2. Agree.. I may not know the culture but in my post, I said I asked the locals. If they do not know their cultures, then what?

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  3. I remember when I travelled to Sri Lanka 10 years ago, they just had their first McDonald. I wonder how many they opened after that.

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