Huyen Sy Church - HCMC

Aside from the Notre Dame Basilica, we frequented Huyen Sy (or Huyen Si) Church during our stay in Ho Chi Minh City. Only after I conducted further research in the internet, was I able to know that this particular church is called Huyen Sy.

Huyen Sy is one of five biggest churches in Ho Chi Minh City and is frequented by visitors and Catholic worshippers. It is located, at the corner of Nguyen Trai and Ton That Tung Streets in District 1 of HCMC. It was built in 1902 according to the architectural direction of Father Boutier and its construction was financed by Huyen Sy,the grandfather of Queen Nam Phuong, the wife of Vietnam’s last king, King Bao Dai. Hence, the Church was named after him.

Though I was at first surprised to see the prevalence of Catholicism in Vietnam, I was so amazed how well designed their churches were. In this particular church that we visited, they have this replica of the Our Lady of Lourdes, complete with the cave and testimonials from those who experienced God's healing hands through her intercession.

Our Lady of Lourdes

We even attended the Sunday evening Holy Mass though it was celebrated in Vietnamese. We just celebrated it in English though. What can I say, Faith knows no boundaries. We even purchased images of the Our Lady of La Vang, perhaps the most revered image of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Vietnam.

At night, the Huyen Sy Church is adorned with lights that add magnificence and charm to it. I have not seen anything quite like it here in the Philippines. Nonetheless, the Church's interior is even more impressive.

We will surely visit and say our prayers at Huyen Sy Church once we get to visit Ho Chi Minh City again.

The Mass has ended

Outside looking in...

St. Joseph and the Child Jesus

Angel of God My Guardian Dear...

Cho Ben Thanh - HCMC

Ben Thanh is perhaps the most famous market in HCMC. It is located along a rotonda where the streets (Duong) Le Loi, Tran Hung Dao, Ham Nghi , and Le Lai in District 1 meet. It is also very near the backpackers' area of the city.

Ben Thanh

The market is a very popular landmark in HCMC. It seems like a train station outside, but located inside are rows and rows of stalls selling clothes, fruits, handicrafts, souvenirs, sandals, and other implements popular to both locals and foreigners.

Store owners will sometimes do everything just to get your attention. However, one of the hassles in going to this market is the fact that most stores do not allow haggling. They will just claim that their goods are already on bargain.

The statue in front of the rotonda in front of Ben Thanh



Yummy

Coffee and Tea

While Ben Thanh Market is open until 7:00PM only, this nonetheless marks the start of the night market in the streets surrounding Ben Thanh. Just like the famous Night Market in Divisioria, the goods sold at the night market are a bit cheaper, and haggling is also allowed. Of course, there are lots and lots of streetfood. So you will really enjoy going to the night market.

Fresh Seafoods

Fruits

Night Market

Quan An 138 - Pho time

Since it was already high noon when we reached the Reunification Palace from the Notre Dame Basilica, the ticket booths were then closed for lunch break. So we dawdled around the area until we decided to eat at the Quan An 138 Vietnamese Restaurant.

Quan An is located opposite the compound of the Reunification Palace, more or less two hundred meters from its main gate. So it's really very easy to find.

The Restaurant is really very big house, typical of the usual restaurants usually seen in Chinese movies. And though the place has no airconditioning, they have mist fans installed around. Also, their waitstaff were very efficient and friendly as they made sure that all our requests were taken care of.

The Reunification Palace grounds on the opposite side of the road

Inside the restaurant

Though it was awfully hot in HCMC at that time, we all decided to have Pho for lunch. But what can I say, we did not err in doing so because the Pho was really awesome. It was really delectable. In fact, my wife and I were still craving for such kind of Pho until now. So much so, that we are already planning our next trip to Vietnam just for another round of food trippin'.

Thank God we ordered Pho!

Scrumptious

This is mine

Kuya Richard's Wanton Noodles

Golden Dragon Water Puppet Show - HCMC

Since we already spent most of our final day in Vietnam shopping for goodies at Saigon Square and Ben Thanh, we decided to reserve our remaining time to watch the highly-regarded Water Puppet Show.

The Water Puppet Show is a cultural performance that usually illustrates the daily lives of the Vietnamese people. Although some may find it uninteresting because of the traditional Vietnamese music played by an orchestra throughout the performance, aside from the fact that Vietnamese language is also used, for me, the VND70,000.00 that I spent to watch the show was money well-spent.

Water Puppets are like colorful wooden dolls. The performance is made in a waist-deep pool of water that serves as the stage. As such, there are lots of scenes where the puppets seem to appear from beneath the water.


We arrived at the theater early so we just spent our spare time taking pictures of the huge puppets outside and had snack at the cafeteria. Anyway, there are two (2) fifty-minute performances daily. The theater opens at 4:45PM in time for the first performance that starts at 5:00PM.

Muscular

The Orchestra

Traditional Vietnamese Music

First Scene

Planting Rice

Ducks

The tiger ate the duck

Poor Duckie

Tigger's been slain

Fish is abundant

Here comes the Emperor

Phoenixes

Slay that sea monster

Triumphant

Sea Fairies

Take a bow

They maneuver the water puppets