After breakfast, Zack and his family left for airport to take the morning flight to KL. We planned to do some serious shopping for the day.
Binh Tay Market
We took a cab to Cholon District to Binh Tay Market. Cholon is a commercial center, a Chinese business district. Binh Tay Market is bigger than Ben Thanh but caters more to the local populations. It is a wholesale market. The prices were a lot cheaper but there were less tourists’ stuffs. We bought clothes for Ton’s baju kurungs and my pants. It was time for me to make new pants as my waist was bulging like crazy making most of my pants obsolete. We bought another backpack for Anas, similar to Daddy’s but cheaper. Then we were ready to catch a cab back to hotel, lugging the stuffs all the way.
Inside Binh Tay
After a short rest in the room, we walked to the mosque, not for prayers, but for more shopping. The mosque is located next to Sheraton Hotel, in front of our hotel. The guys hanging about the mosque pointed us to go inside thinking that we were looking for a halal eating place. We were actually looking to buy telekongs, the ladies’ prayers clothes. A guy, speaking in perfect Malay, took us to a living quarters inside the mosque compound. We were invited in by an elderly Champa Malay lady. Ton bought some telekongs from her.
Bombay Restaurant
Right across the mosque, there was a halal restaurant called Bombay. It was at this place that we frequented for meals during most of our stay in HCMC. It is a mamak-like restaurant serving spicy Indian foods. Anas could have his favourite roti canai. The prices were a lot cheaper than Four Seasons but the menu was limited.
While Ton and Anas were resting inside the room, I went to Caravelle to try my luck. I recovered some of the earlier losses. Then, it was more shopping at Ben Thanh.
HCMC at night
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