Vibrant Vietnam (Part 4): French Influences in Saigon and Xa Loi Pagoda

- December 24, 2024, Tuesday.

- My last full day in Saigon had an unintentional theme: French influences in Saigon. Although this is inevitable in almost every place in Saigon, or even across Vietnam, this was more apparent in the places I went to on this day.

- That morning I decided to visit Cau Mong (Mong Bridge / "Rainbow Bridge"). It was built in 1882 by Gustave Eiffel - yes, the person responsible for the Eiffel Tower. Beside the bridge is the State Bank of Vietnam (Saigon office), built in 1930 when it was still the Bank of Indochina during the French rule, before being the State Bank of Vietnam in the 1950s.

Cau Mong.

I feel like I'm in a Broadway musical (Miss Saigon or Singin' in the Rain?)

Underside of the bridge.

State Bank of Vietnam (and the Bitexco Financial Tower behind.)

- I rode a Grab bike from the bridge and headed north to the Tan Dinh Church. Also called the Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, it was built in the 1880s by the French. It has a distinct pink color that gives the city a pop of color! Honestly, I think it gained more attention after tourists felt sad because they couldn't take a photo with/of Saigon's Notre Dame Cathedral due to the current renovations.

I feel like I'm in an amusement park because of the colors.

Unfortunately, like most churches in Vietnam that I have encountered, they're often open only during masses. Else, visitors can only see the facade and yard of the church.

- From there, I felt I needed to slow down and have breakfast. I rode a Grab bike to the Cafe Apartments, which I had only seen from the outside on my first day in Saigon. Now, I was finally able to go inside and try two cafes. Madam Quyen, and Saigon Oi. By the way, each floor of the apartment building has several restaurants and cafes, so I suggest doing a bit of research before going. I was too overwhelmed with the number of choices, but I was happy with these two cafes!

One of the cafes I tried, view from the street.

Went to Madam Nguyen first, customers were allowed to post notes on the walls.

Love this cafe so much. They serve traditional Vietnamese food.

Xin chao!

My com ga (chicken rice) and egg coffee. Can I just say that I didn't know that egg coffee would taste great COLD? I know egg coffee is served hot because they don't want the egg to become custard. But hey I guess I like it this way not! (Especially since I often like cold drinks more than hot ones.)

Second stop: Saigon Oi! The only reason I chose this cafe was because I wanted to try a balcony view. (Madam Nguyen didn't have a balcony, and it wasn't facing a nice side of the city too.)

Durian coffee and chocolate opera cake. Side note: as someone who palpitates after drinking coffee, maybe drinking two glasses of coffee in a morning - especially VIETNAMESE COFFEE (which is stronger than the usual), was not a good decision. I had indigestion the whole day hahahaha. (But this was completely my fault haha. Both Madam Nguyen and Saigon Oi were superb! But for me, maybe just one at a time, not both in a morning haha.) 

Saigon Oi interior. Love it so much!!

- After breakfast (which I guess was already brunch), I headed to the HCMC Museum of History at the western part of the city. However, as it was still closed for lunch (something I always forget Vietnamese museums do), I decided to visit the Saigon Zoo located just beside it. The zoo was built in the 1880s by the French, and has since been a place to educate people and protecting both native and foreign animals.

Zoo!

The first thing I saw in the zoo after entering was a peacock walking around by itself. It was a good sign.

Flamingoes.

Sleeping bear.

Photogenic tiger.

Probably Moodeng's Vietnamese cousin. (Moodeng is the baby pygmy hippo from Thailand that has gone viral online lately.)

Giraffes.

Elephant with a really really really long tusk.

Sleepy rhino.

A lot is going on here.

- After going around the enormous zoo, I found my way back to the Museum of History. Part of it was under renovation but at least I still got to see most of the museum. The museum was established in 1929, also by the French, but gained its current name in 1979. Though the museum was smaller than I expected, the galleries were comprehensive and were able to give a good overview of Vietnam's history from ancient to modern times.

Various Asian Buddhas.

Hall with many blue-and-white ceramics.

Dong Son Drums.

Cham-style Hindu statues.

Nguyen Dynasty royal robe.

Ethnic cultures of Vietnam.

Outside the museum.

- Thinking whether to rest or squeeze in one more place to visit, I thought of going to one more place right at the other side of the city because I thought it was significant (although....it didn't fit in with the "French" theme of the day so far). The Xa Loi Pagoda, built in 1956, was the center for Buddhism in Saigon. This quiet temple was the site of several raids by the South Vietnamese government under then-President Ngo Dinh Diem, who was a devout Catholic and had anti-Buddhist policies and biases. Since the reunification of Vietnam, the temple has been used continuously until today.

Entrance to Xa Loi Temple.

Here is the temple's belltower.

Main hall.

Quan Am (Guanyin) statue at the back.

- For the rest of the afternoon I had to rest because I felt bloated, possibly because of having too much strong coffee for the day. I also took some time to stroll around Ben Thanh Market for one final time for this trip, and had dinner there. I still had to pack my bags for my next destination: Hoi An.