Today is the last day in Vietnam.. YAY!! I am so homesick and miss my house and everything in it.

We started the morning out with meeting up with the aunties at a neighbor’s house to eat pho ga. Apparently she makes very good pho ga and only serves it outside of her house in the mornings every Wednesday.

Pho ga. It was so good! It came with a chopped chicken drumstick. The meat was so tender and juicy. The broth was flavorful either depth. The noodles were soft. The only surprise I didn’t like about it was the bean sprouts hiding at the bottom. I avoided those.

Then we walked around and my mom helped me find my dad’s old house. Thank you Mommy!!!!

Then my mom took me to eat at a very famous pho place for many 20+ years called Pho Tau Bay Ao Vang. She says this is the number 1 pho place in Saigon. Even sitting down, I can already smell the pho aroma. It smelled so good.

Their pot of broth was huge too! This was in the morning and it was already about 5inches off the top.

I got a pho chin nam gau. It was so good! The meat was so soft, tender and delicious. The broth smelled and tasted so good. It was just so good. I wish I could eat their bowl of pho every morning!

Then next to a sieu thi was Highlands Coffee and I requested to make a stop there so that I can try their cafe sua da. I wanted to compare between the three main chains in Vietnam that I noticed: Trung Nguyen, Highlands Coffee and Phuc Long.

So far I really liked the phin sua da from Highlands Coffee. It is more milky and less bitter and more sweet. I like it more than Phuc Long’s in terms of taste but it is not as strong as Phuc Long’s.

Then she found her old high school friend. We walked around a few shops and mall.

Then we walked around more and eventually landed at Trung Nguyen again. We got another egg coffee as one last hurrah! This location was cheaper than the first location by 10k VND. It was 86k VND. Their presentation included a hot tea on the left.

It was good but nowhere near compared to Cafe Dinh at Ha Noi. I am so glad we went there!!!

We went back to our aunt’s house and Chi Trang offered to take me for one last ride to get one last drink. I picked rau ma sau rieng (pennywort durian). YAY! I know this is my last time to drink this for who knows how long. I don’t know a place in Westminster and Garden Grove to get this.. just pennywort mung bean.. it was so good and refreshing..

For dinner, we ate at a banh cuon place that is made by a neighbor starting at 4pm everyday. My aunt said she tends to sell out by 6pm. Most homeowners live upstairs and turn their first floor into the restaurant or it’s where they cook to make business. Then they set out plastic tables and chairs for customers to sit outside to eat.

The banh cuon was very good! The minced pork and mushrooms were plentiful. The ride paper roll was so soft. I liked the gio and nem chua that came with it.

I even got a second plate!!!

At the airport, we initially tried to go to Jasmine Halal Lounge because it was near our gate and we were lazy to find the other one but the host said they were closing soon so he escorted us to the other lounge called Apricot Business Lounge, which is a newer lounge just opened and has Vietnamese food to gear more towards the Asian population.

The lounge is a mediocre size and there is minimal amount of food. They had rice porridge with a variety of toppings including pork floss, pho ga, and xoi man.

This lounge sucks!! Most of the outlets don’t work so we couldn’t charge our phones. The WiFi was fast though. Food and drink options were little. There is a fridge of beverages but the fridge isn’t even cold.

The mien noodles were okay but bland overall the vegetables with it weren’t appetizing. The xoi man was pretty decent actually and the Cha Hue. Oh well, I definitely am not eating much here because it’s not worth the calories. Going to wait for the lounge in Taipei, much better!