Walking, Eating & Discovering Saigon

Sometimes the best way to experience a city is simply to follow someone who knows where the good food is.

And eat.

A lot. 😂

Jeffrey, Donald, Adrian and I made a quick weekend getaway to Ho Chi Minh City. I've been to HCMC countless times and am semi-familiar with the city, so for much of the weekend I was quite happy playing unofficial tour guide — “Come, come, follow me…” 😆

But for Sunday evening, I decided someone else could take over. I had booked us a guided street food walking tour with Street Food Man, starting at 6pm.

Everything was included in the tour, so there was really nothing for us to prepare or worry about. We just needed to turn up with an empty tummy.

One other thing was made very clear when I booked: Rain or shine, we walk and we eat.😂

Thankfully, Saigon was kind to us.

Meet Anna — Our Guide for the Evening

Our guide for the evening was Anna from Street Food Man, and from the moment we met her, we could simply relax and let her lead the way.

That's one of the things I like about doing a guided food tour. Even when you've visited a city a few times, a local can take you into neighbourhoods, little streets and food places that you would probably never think of exploring on your own.

Anna knew where we were going. We didn't. Perfect arrangement. 😂

She led us through the streets of Saigon, introducing us to different local food stops and sharing bits and pieces about the food and local life along the way. And because everything was already taken care of as part of the tour, there was no looking at menus, deciding what to order or reaching for our wallets at every stop.

Our job was very simple:

Follow Anna. Walk. Eat. Repeat.

I could definitely manage that.

Walk. Eat. Repeat.

And that became the rhythm of our evening. Walk a little. Eat something. Walk some more. Eat again.

My kind of exercise programme. 😂

Rather than sitting down for one big dinner, we moved through the neighbourhood from one food stop to another. At some places we watched our food being prepared right in front of us.

Hot pans.

Fresh ingredients.

People chatting.

Motorcycles passing behind us.

And within minutes, another plate or bowl would appear in front of us. There is something I really enjoy about eating this way. No fancy presentation. No elaborate restaurant setting. Just local food being prepared and eaten while everyday Saigon carries on around you.

Tiny Stools, Big Appetites

And of course, somewhere along the way came that wonderfully Vietnamese experience: the tiny stools. 😂

There we were — Jeffrey, Donald, Adrian and me — sitting by the side of the street, eating while the city moved around us.

Motorcycles going past.

People stopping for dinner.

Food being cooked only a few steps away.

These are actually some of my favourite moments when travelling. Not necessarily the famous landmarks or the places everybody says you must visit.

Sometimes it's simply sitting somewhere ordinary, eating something local and watching life happen around you.

How Are We Eating Again?

Anna continued leading us from one stop to another. And somehow, every time we arrived somewhere new… we could still eat.

By this stage I wasn't quite sure whether we were:

walking so that we could eat more

or

eating so that we had enough energy to keep walking.

Either explanation worked. 😆

That's also what made the walking tour so enjoyable. The walking broke up all the eating.

You never really felt as though you were sitting through one enormous meal. Instead, the evening unfolded gradually — eat something, walk through another neighbourhood, discover another little place, sit down and eat again.

Then Anna would announce it was time to move on.

And off we went.

There's Always Room for Something Sweet

Naturally, after everything we eaten, there was still dessert. Because everyone knows dessert goes into a completely separate stomach. 😂

By the end of the evening, we had spent several hours walking through Saigon, eating our way through different local stops and seeing parts of the city that I probably wouldn't have known to bring Jeffrey, Donald and Adrian to myself.

When I looked at our walking route afterwards, I had to laugh.

Quite a bit of walking. A ridiculous amount of food.

And absolutely no regrets.

It Wasn't Just About the Food

When I booked the Street Food Man tour, obviously the food was the attraction. But looking back, I realised that wasn't the only thing I enjoyed.

It was the whole experience.

Walking through the neighbourhoods after dark. Watching food being prepared. Sitting on tiny stools. Seeing a different side of Saigon. And, most importantly, the four of us getting to enjoy it together.

For most of our short HCMC getaway, I was the semi-official guide because I knew the city a little better.

But for these few hours, I didn't have to think about where we were going next, what we should eat or whether everyone was enjoying themselves.

Anna had that covered.

All I had to do was follow along and eat too.

Rather nice, actually. ❤️

Thank You, Anna

A special thank you to Anna from Street Food Man for taking care of us that evening. She made everything easy and relaxed, while introducing us to places and food we probably wouldn't have discovered ourselves. And somehow she managed to keep four increasingly well-fed Singaporeans walking from one food stop to another for several hours.

That deserves some credit. 😂

I also liked how uncomplicated the whole experience was. Book the tour. Pay for it. Turn up hungry. Everything else is taken care of.

Just remember — it's rain or shine, so if Saigon decides to rain on you, apparently you're still going to eat. 😂

For such a short weekend getaway, this turned out to be one of my favourite experiences of the trip.

Nothing extravagant.

Just four of us, one lovely local guide, the streets of Saigon and a lot of food.

Good food.
Good company.
A lot of walking.
And somehow… still enough room for dessert.

Saigon, you fed us very well. ❤️

This was not a sponsored experience. I booked and paid for the Street Food Man tour myself.