My Google Maps Addiction, and Why You Should Use It, Too

Today I'd like to talk about how I log what I do for fun around town. It's really nerdy!

For several years now (maybe 4?) I have been using Google Maps to document all the cool places I've visited, what I've eaten, and all the great coffee I've had to drink.

It sounds kind of inane now that I'm saying it out loud, but I absolutely love using this service, mostly on my phone. It has even become something of an addiction, I'd say! 'Must get rid of the yellow marks...!'

Here's the overview of my immediate neighborhood, for example:

• Blue checks are the places (cafes and restaurants, mostly) that I've visited and reviewed.
• Yellow checks are the ones I haven't been to yet but want to visit. 

The orange ones are the standard google maps suggestions, which are sometimes accurate for your interests and sometimes not. I don't let Google track my location, so these are pretty random for me, personally.

Let me tell you about why this is a great way to explore HCMC, or any city - click through for more!

Modern Vietnamese Music I Actually Dig

Vietnamese music is... not for everyone. This is probably an understatement! But after 7 years, I've finally started to 'get it' and I couldn't be happier about it.

Den, my favorite Vnese rapper... a true gem.

While Japanese music has its faithful adherents and K-Pop is having its biggest-ever moment, with BTS and Blackpink actually singing entire songs in English and catering to a worldwide audience, other Asian countries have been somewhat left in the dust. That's not to say there's nothing here worthy of the world's attention, however!

When I first got to Vietnam in (holy shit) 2013, I absolutely hated, HATED, all the music I heard. This is because most of what I heard was bolero (largely wistful songs of love, loss, and an imagined idyllic countryside existence of yesteryear). I'm also not a romantic and don't much care for ballads, so this whole package is massively unappealing to me.

In recent years, however, I've had the pleasure of being proven very, very wrong.

Click through for my thoughts, and my favorite Vietnamese pop, rap, and hip hop music videos!

The Best Vegetarian in Da Kao, District 1, HCMC

Tib's tofu skin rolls stuffed with mushrooms

Up next on my food tour of Ho Chi Minh City, I bring to you the best vegan / vegetarian Vietnamese cuisine in Da Kao ward, District 1! 

You're in luck today, because all three of these options are absolutely, undeniably excellent, and in three different and unique ways. In my opinion, these are three of the best veg spots in the city, so there's no clear frontrunner... you'll just have to try them all and choose for yourself.

If you haven't yet, read about finding and ordering vegan food in Vietnam. If you're looking for more vegetarian nearby, check your vegan options in Tan Dinh ward. Otherwise let's rock!

Da Kao ward sits just north of the major tourist and financial centers of District 1, and is full of big companies with hungry office workers, and thus excellent food at every price point and of every kind. Here's the area I'll be covering in my next few food posts:

As usual, I try to avoid the chain restaurants and focus on independent places that I think are unique and extra-delicious.

Click here for three tasty veg joints that will make your day:

Bicycle Tour of District 12, HCMC: Grasshopper Adventures

Last weekend Sieu and I took Grasshopper Adventures up on another of their excellent local bicycle tours around Ho Chi Minh City, and it completely rocked!

This one was a serious step up from our previous Saigon bike tour to the Cambodian Market. While that was a nice 20km (11.whatever miles), this tour to District 12 was a relatively hefty 42 km (26.1 miles) spread over about 5.5 hours, with several stops.

In all seriousness, I'm pretty proud that I didn't stroke out from heat and I completed the whole damn thing. *pats self on sweaty back*

Click through for our epic route, pictures, and details!

The Best Street Food in Tan Dinh, District 1, HCMC

So you're in Tan Dinh ward and you're hungry... You want street food? You want fast food? I've got some great options for you today.

Welcome to my last food entry exploring all the restaurants and foods of Tan Dinh ward, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City!

This final post is all about the best fast, street-level food you can get around these parts. Tan Dinh is a smorgasbord of fantastic food options, and the quick food is some of the best you can get when your tummy is angry and you need some calories STAT. 

Today I've got the best banh mi in the area, some Vietnamese pizza, some crazy chicken sticky rice, a very unique bowl of thick crab noodles, and the second biggest meatball you'll find in HCMC. All are craveable, all are cheap, and all are ready to fill your belly within a few minutes of ordering. 

Sometimes, faster is better. With these, you don't have to sacrifice quality in the name of quickness.

Click through to see the street food I recommend in Tan Dinh!

Grasshopper Adventures: Saigon Bicycle Food Tour to the Cambodian Market

Get on, losers, we're bicycling through hidden Saigon to the Cambodian market!

Last weekend Sieu and I had a great experience: we participated in a bicycle ride around Ho Chi Minh City that featured some great food, exciting alleyways, and awesome local areas. We went down hems barely wider than our handlebars, we crossed massive rivers of evening rush hour traffic, and we cycled through the city's biggest (and most fragrant!) flower market, all in the name of exercise, exploration, and eats.

But best of all, our mid-trip destination was the exhilarating dinner and snack stop in the Cambodian market in District 10, about 1/3 of the way through our 3 hour and 15 minute trek.

Because of COVID, Grasshopper Adventures has moved more of a focus on day trips of varying kinds. It's a genuine pleasure to explore more of this city, which hides a lot of what makes it unique inside twisting alleys (hems) and dense, crowded local markets. In olden times, this company (which operates in several SE Asian countries) specializes in longer trips, but these local ones are a fantastic way to explore your own backyard and appreciate the complexity and energy of this dynamic city.

On their evening foodie tour (which is 20km, or about 11.8 miles), you'll get an up-close-and-personal experience that you won't soon forget.

Click on through to see our route and more pics of the market!

The Best Restaurants in Tan Dinh, District 1, HCMC

Welcome back, folks!

I've been a bit sick the last couple weeks with a persistent cold, and now a possible ear infection, so I've been a little languid and haven't gotten much writing done. But the time has come to try and finish up my food and cafe overviews of Tan Dinh ward, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City.

Assorted Steamed Rice Cakes at Bep Hue

Saigon is a city of (as of now) 13 million people, and is, no surprise, a never-ending font of amazing food and restaurants of all kinds. Tan Dinh is a densely populated place and there's a lot of foot traffic, which leads to a pretty excellent variety of neighborhood eateries. 

You've seen my list of awesome cafes in Tan Dinh, drooled over the ward's many excellent vegetarian restaurants, and now it's time to focus on some of my favorite proper non-veg-exclusive restaurants in the ward (although, as usual, many of them offer some vegan options).

Click through for everything from Hue specialties to grilled octopus to Chinese noodles and more...