TO DO

Cu Chi Tunnels (70 kilometres out of Ho Chi Minh; cuchitunnel.org.vn). These are the tunnels that the Vietcong lived in and fought out of. The tunnels are hot and sweaty, and you may get dirty, but it’s a fascinating day tour. For a cheap tour, try the Sinhcafe on De Tham Street in the backpacker area (sinhcafe.com.vn); or for a higher-end tour, contact Travel Indochina.

The War Remnants Museum (28 Vo Van Tan, District 3)

Ho Chi Minh Fine Arts Museum (97A Pho Duc Chinh Street, District 1)

Mekong River. The Mekong is the world’s 12th-longest river and the seventh-longest in Asia. I advise the one-day tour rather than the overnight one. Make sure you take a reliable tour operator.

Ben Thanh Market. This is the market of Ho Chi Minh. It will be busy and hot but must be experienced. If the main walkways are too much, don’t venture into the smaller ones, but if you can there are cool nick-nacks there. At a stall near the main walkway and on the last row, two or three stalls in from the main walkway, they sell banh cuon, steamed rice flour roll with minced pork and mushroom served with sprouts, herbs and fish sauce; this is the best banh cuon in the universe.

There are other attractions like the Notre Dame Church and Reunification Palace which will be in your guidebooks and are worth visiting.

SHOPPING

Gaya (1 Nguyen Van Trang Street; gayavietnam.com). A block west from the New World Hotel, in a unique 1970s building, Gaya has four levels of upscale contemporary indoor and outdoor furniture and accessories. It’s owned by artsy expats who are in the film industry. It’s a unique store, slightly outside of the city centre.

Mai’s (132 Dong Khoi Street, District 1).

L’Usine (First Floor, 151 Dong Khoi Street, opposite the Caravelle Hotel; lusinespace.com).

Parkson Shopping Mall (Dong Khoi Street, next to the Continental Hotel; parkson.com.my ).

Vincom Center (Dong Khoi Street, across the road from Parkson).

EATING

Hoang Yen (7-9 Ngo Duc Ke Street, District 1). Great home-cooking-style Vitnamese food; stay away from the Western offerings. Some of the dishes I like are the coconut pork clay pot, seafood sour soup, beef clay pot, prawn and lotus salad, eggplant with fish sauce, and lemongrass clams.

Xu Restaurant Lounge (75 Hai Ba Trung Street). It’s my place so it’s great!

Maxim’s (15 Dong Khoi Street). This is a straight-up tourist Vietnamese restaurant decked out in 1950s Saigon style. It’s cool and easy, but the food and service is just par most of the time.

Tib (187 Hai Ba Trung, District 1). This is owned by the parents of my friends that come from Hue, the ancient capital of Vietnam. The food is considered as royal cuisine.

PLUS For steaks, go to New York steak house Cepage (22 Le Thanh Ton Street, District 1; Lancaster Building). for good international cuisine. An Vien is a nice Vietnamese restaurant – upscale and a little hard to find. Your concierge can help book and give directions for these.

NIGHTLIFE

Q Bar (underneath the Opera House). Cool address, cool bar, good drinks. It gets packed on Friday and Saturdays after 11pm. I enjoy going in the early evening to sit outside and watch the traffic, a French martini in hand.

Cepage (22 Le Thanh Ton Street District 1; Lancaster Building). Marcus is the cocktail barman and is very good. Andy is the chef and boss and is one of the best chefs in town.

Level 23 (Sheraton Hotel, Dong Du Street, District 1). Great view of the city, and the cocktails and prices are reasonable. There is a club as well.

Lush (2 Ly Tu Trong Street, District 1). More a nightclub style with inside/outside areas and mostly house music catering to an expat/young Vietnamese crowd.

Amber Room (opposite Sheraton Hotel, first floor). A cool, very small cocktail bar.

Fuse (3A Ton Duc Thang Street, District 1).Hip-hop club that really gets jumping Fridays and Saturdays.

Velvet Bar (26 Ho Huan Nghiep Street, District 1. Corner of Dong Khoi Street). Hip-hop club Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Some of the who’s who and some not-so who’s who. Best to go with a group of four or more.