Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) food trail- breakfast

Vietnam is a Haven for food lovers, even more so for Saigon. From the diverse street food culture to high end restaurants, it has something to offer to everyone. This is a list of places where we enjoyed dining so much during our one week stay.

Breakfast

Street food here is not for the faint hearted. For one, the stalls can be located in pretty eerie looking back alleys. Or try having coffee at a busy crossroad with non ending traffic and beeping of motorcycle horns. Literally risking our lives for a good cuppa.

Nevertheless they smell amazingly good and is worth trying. The common ones include

Banh Mi- motorcyclers can literally drive through and get a quick bite on the bike. A cripsy French loaf sandwiching various preserved and fresh meat as well as fresh salad.

Xoi ga man- fried chicken with glutinous rice ( the rice can come in a great variety of rainbow colors)

Assorted roast pork kebab

Hu Tieu Mi- clear soup noodles with pork. Vietnamese simply loves pork slices and pork internals ( liver, heart, intestines and sometimes curdled blood in cubes)

Bun Rieu- rice vermicelli in tomato and crab based broth with shrimp paste aka belacan, crab cakes, congealed pig's blood

This roadside stall has been cooking for the past 40 years! And it's just at the beginning of the street that our Airbnb was. 

Address
327 Nguyễn Đình Chiểu, Quận 3, Hồ Chí Minh, Vietnam

Bun Thit Nuong Chi Tuyen

175 Cô Giang, Phường Cô Giang, Quận 1, Hồ Chí Minh
090 853 80 79
https://g.co/kgs/GNHLAH

This is a popular spot to get cheap breakfast. Dry vermicelli that goes very well with fried spring rolls and roasted pork, sprinkled with peanuts and herbs as well as salad. The special fish sauce just brings all the flavors together.


Banh Mi Hoa Ma
53 Cao Thắng, Phường 3, Quận 3, Hồ Chí Minh, Vietnam.
https://goo.gl/maps/cxdKGMSoUTT2

People literally queue up at this extremely small stall and sit by the road. Because the toasted French baguette is that good. We had sunny side up egg with luncheon meat and various deli meat slices, as well as preserved radish and carrot. One has to assemble your own banh mi here. 

Vietcetera Cafe

290 Nguyễn Thị Minh Khai, Phường 5, Ho Chi Minh City, Hồ Chí Minh
0126 411 4084
https://g.co/kgs/13owUr

A lovely Western/Asian fusion cafe located in the suburb. Great affogato that's so rich in flavour and the ice cream is smooth. Perfectly done scrambled egg that Bing devoured with a slice of crispy toast. The teriyaki chicken with spaghetti is sweet to taste and made fragrant by the roasted sesame seeds. 

Bánh cuốn Hải Nam

11A Cao Thắng, Phường 2, Quận 3, Hồ Chí Minh
028 3839 3394
https://g.co/kgs/F2kPhW

Absolutely in love with the cheong fun aka rice noodle rolls that's smooth and just thick enough to contain the generous portion of minced pork and dried shrimps inside. A similar variety to the Chinese chwee kueh is also available here with the same pork and dried shrimp toppings. Not to forget the stir fry noodles that's so similar to what we can get in malaysia. The crab rolls came a bit late but were nevertheless bursting in flavours and went so well with the fresh salad and vermicelli. 

That's for our breakfast experience in Saigon. Stay tuned for our list of great lunch and dinner in Saigon! 

Maternity & Nursing Bra Advice featuring Mamaway

Hands up if you have really sore breasts? And if you don't fit into your normal bra anymore? Welcome to this perhaps annoying sign of pregnancy or does it mean more shopping? :P p.s. It is normal for the breasts to grow as early from 8-10 weeks of pregnancy.

I can't stress enough how important it is to get comfortable and supportive bras. Especially when you are still nursing your older child like me. Save me some sore breasts and back pain.

These are great shopping tips for good maternity/nursing bra from Babycenter


How to size your bra?

Don't be shy to get the professionals to measure them. These are the guides

-the cups fit snugly, cover most of your breasts, and have no overflow at the top
-the centre seam lies comfortably against your breastbone
-your bra fastens on to the first set of hooks, leaving plenty of room for growth

The important features in a good maternity/nursing bra:

Support
Adjustability
Comfort
Coverage

I'll explain to you why I love Mamaway Maternity &Nursing Seamless Bra based on the features above.

Support- Mamaway supports the growing breasts well. It has wide straps, side and underbust bands, as well as a deep center.

Adjustability- it has 4 sets of hooks and can stretch up to 2 to 3 cup size. There's also detachable feeding clips that's easy to undo and redo.

Comfort- the material is thin, doesn't stick to the skin (very important in the tropical climate especially after sweating!) and it's seamless. I prefer no underwires because it is not as comfortable and baby Bing hates it during nursing.

Coverage- full cup bras are the best options for these blossoming bosoms. There's an added padding slot so that the paddings don't move. If they do, you can easily adjust it back.

Antibacterial- Made of Merylr, it contains silver ions that have antibacterial properties. This also makes the bra breathable, easy to absorb moisture and odour resistant. I do use extra paddings to absorb the occasional leaky boobs but sometimes it stills overflow. And I have had a few mouldy looking bras previously (yucks) even though I change and wash twice a day. So I'm really positive about these bras.

There are 2 designs for Mamaway bras
- seamless maternity & nursing bra (with padding) great for daily wear outside

- crossover sleeping & nursing bra perfect for lounging and sleeping as the material is even thinner and silkier with no padding

Get your own Mamaway Antibacterial Maternity &Nursing Seamless Bra from Mamaway website.

Alor Setar day trip | itinerary

Feeling lazy to write because I lost my half done draft :( so just going to list down where we went :)

Accommodation

Hotel Grand Crystal

40, Jalan Kampung Perak, Bandar Alor Setar, 05100 Alor Setar, Kedah
04-731 3333
https://g.co/kgs/8tmE7F

Old but clean. Has a bathtub and swimming pool. Spacious room. Only at RM85/night. Walking distance to nearby Chinese food places and Aman Central.

Breakfast

SK Kim
168e, Jalan Kampung Perak, Bandar Alor Setar, 05100 Alor Setar, Kedah
https://g.co/kgs/vKWVfq

Hokkien noodles

Delicious but prefer to have prawns :p

Thai noodles

Spicy chilli flakes with dry noodles in caramel sauce.

Favorite order for breakfast/lunch. Fried dried turnip, chilli and garlic with steamed fish. Must try.

KEDAI KOPI KIM TAO

168e, Jalan Kampung Perak, Bandar Alor Setar, 05100 Alor Setar, Kedah https://g.co/kgs/gnX3JY

Dry shredded chicken with homemade noodles. Fragrant fried garlic and shallots. At only RM3 per plate!

The soup variety

Double half boiled egg with double happiness

Old schooled coffee

Lunch

Nasi Lemak Ong

Jalan Putra, Kampung Lubok Peringgi, 05100 Alor Setar, Kedah
012-498 3660
 https://g.co/kgs/f6CHyd

Pork free Chinese restaurant with so many different curries! (Chicken, fish, squid, petai, prawn). Not your usual nasi lemak.

Dinner

China Town Food Court 唐人街饮食中心

Jalan Putra, Bandar Alor Setar, 05150 Alor Setar, Kedah
 https://g.co/kgs/D3Jgde

Otak-otak. Soft, fish well mashed with some vegetables. Unlike the Johor/Pahang variety which is more densed.

Grilled sting ray marinated in tumeric. Just nice and still very juicy.

Interesting places

Masjid Zahir

Jalan Kampung Perak, Bandar Alor Setar, 05150 Alor Setar, Kedah
04-733 3288

https://g.co/kgs/Rmz3DG

One of the oldest mosque is Malaysia basking in the evening light.

Masjid Al-bukhary, Bandar Alor Setar, 05100 Alor Setar, Kedah

Part of the Al-burkhary international school. Huge compound with stately architecture.

Muzium Padi

06570 Alor Setar, Kedah
04-735 1315
https://g.co/kgs/oXMgL5
RM5 per adult
Opens daily 9am-5pm

A 3 storey high museum with winding staircase leading to a perfectly done mural.

One can enjoy the view sitting as the platform rotates slowly.

Ground floor showcased rice varieties worldwide.

Lower ground floor exhibited the various tools used to harvest and process paddy. Spent an hour there.

Aman Central

Aman Central, Darul Aman Highway, Kampung Lubok Peringgi, 05100 Alor Setar, Kedah
04-735 2626

https://g.co/kgs/3pcXrp

A 7 floor high departmental store.

Love their kids indoor playground Kidzoona. At only RM19 per child, one can easily spend the whole morning there. Remember to bring your own socks or else buy a pair there at RM7 each.

Transport

Can easily grab in between places. Not worth renting a car.

Tada, a complete fruitful family day trip at Alor Setar.

Vitamin C and iron supplements from LiveAcerola C900

Picky eater? You are not alone. We have tried so many different methods to encourage baby Bing to accept new food. We have come to learn that he only eats very limited food choices such as rice, egg, tofu, fish, fishball, fruits (bananas, papayas, grapes and mangos).

Why is iron so important? Because it's the main ingredient to make hemoglobin which are important to carry oxygen around the body. Iron rich food includes iron-fortified baby cereal, pureed meats and pureed beans. For older children, good sources of iron include red meat, chicken, fish, beans and dark green leafy vegetables.

Read more about iron deficiency in children here at Mayo Clinic


So you can tell that baby Bing doesn't get a whole lot of iron in his diet unfortunately. And it's not easy for him to take vitamins either. After pulling a few more hairs out, we discovered LiveAcerola C900. This a a supplement containing both iron and vitamin C.

Vitamin C is important to help iron absorption. We get vitamin C fully from diet. Adults need up to 900mg vitamin C a day but children 1-3 years old only need 15mg a day and not more than 400mg. Extensive supplementation may cause an upset stomach. Read more about vitamin C supplement in children from babycentre

So instead of a whole sachet, I only used a quarter of the sachet for baby Bing. Mix it in about 30ml of warm water and it tastes just like my childhood favorite Ribena. Or make it simpler, make the whole drink but only give him a quarter haha. Yum!

LiveAcerole C900 can also be consumed by healthy adults like Mr husband. But there's insufficient evidence to show that it's 100% safe in pregnancy so I plan to try it after I deliver.

LiveAcerola C900 has 2 main ingredients

Acerola Berries

These are thin skinned, bright red, cherry-like fruit that originate from the tropical regions o in America. It has extremely high vitamin C content which is about 30 times more than orange!

Red Beets

Red beets contains phosphorus, sodium, magnesium, calcium, iron, copper and potassium as well as fiber, vitamins A and C, niacin, folic acid and biotin. The iron in red beets, is much easier to be absorbed by the human body than man-made iron supplements.

If you are interested to know more about the benefit of phytonutrients (basically much easier to absorb than individual vitamin and minerals, as well as containing many other nutrients) and also important certification to look out for in supplements, please read my previous post here.


If you would like to try LiveAcerola C900 out, go to their official website here.

Disclaimer: the opinion given is merely a personal experience and does not constitute formal medical advice. Please seek your medical professional's advice before any complementary therapy. Always ask for product certification before proceeding with treatment and stop if side effect ensues.

Dress shopping for expecting working mother

Yes, a lady can never have enough clothes! Especially when she's pregnant and has been gaining weight. And nothing in the wardrobe fits anymore. Looking good definitely helps to make me feel good and we need positivity in pregnancy.

This is the dilemma that I'm in at the moment. And online shopping is definitely one of my best friends. I would like to thank the express delivery service men for pulling up with the many parcels, as well as my neighbor for picking up some parcels for me :p

Shoppee Flash Sale SouthEast Asia has become my favourite place to get new clothes recently. This is their official page

They have a big range of woman bag and clothes. What's more important is that it's cheap! Hands up who doesn't like good and cheap clothes?

Just would like to showcase my latest purchase. A Chinese style A Line dress that is versatile. I'm 167cm tall, so the dress goes to midthigh. So I can easily wear it outside for a quick outing. At work, because I work in the public sector, I prefer to add on tights.

The material is light, does not wrinkle easily and also absorbs sweat easily. The ideal clothes for the Malaysian tropical climate.  Shipping took around a week plus so be patient my ladies.

And the good news for all my readers! Contact Beryl on Facebook

And get discounts storewide up to 50%!
If you would love to get the dress I'm wearing, go to this link

Happy shopping!

Making breastfeeding easy with Shapee

It's never easy to breastfeed. It is not as natural and easy as it seems. Both the mother and the baby have to learn about it. Not everyone can breastfeed successful from day one. Not only does one need the necessary skills and determination, one also needs good equipments. This includes good nursing bras and nursing pads.

Leaking was a particular challenge for me during the first few months because I was exclusively pumping for the first 6 weeks as baby Bing can't latch yet. Subsequently, if work gets too hectic and I missed my pumping schedule, I'll have some leaking too. So nursing pads are very important to me. I suggest good quality ones with a waterproof layer facing the bra to avoid embarrassing leaking through the work shirt.

Shapee Disposable Nursing Pad has proven to be effective and user friendly. Each pack came in 30 pieces. The following are the special features.

•    Ultra-Thin Design - 1mm thickness for extra comfort
•    Dri-Comfy Technology – stay dry for longer hours
•    Ultra-Water Absorber – absorb up to 55ml breastmilk
•    3D shaped design – comfortably and discreet fit even when wet
•    Leak Proof Coverage – lock core helps absorb breastmilk for long
lasting protection
•    Double Anti-Slip Adhesive Strips – Peace of mind when on-the-go
•    Made in Korea
•    Retail Price: RM18.90 (introductory price: RM13.90)

If you would like to know more go to their official link here.

I have made a video and put the nursing pads to test. After instilling about 10ml of fluids, the pads remained dry on the surface and even with dapping. And it's easy to attach the pads to the bra. Previously I have used washable pads but they tend to develop a milky smell after a few hours and the absorbency was always a problem.

Shapee's Seamless Nursing Bra is an award winning nursing bra. I personally find it difficult to get a nursing bra that's affordable yet comfortable. The ones without padding at all risk revealing the nipple from the outside of the work shirt. With too much padding, it becomes uncomfortable and difficult to expose the breast for direct latching. Shapee provides just the correct amount of padding and support to these milk factories without using underwire with easily accessible clips for breastfeeding.

• 3D seamless design provides comfort all day long and virtually invisible under clothing 
• Comfortably fit and support your changing shape each step of the way.
• 4 hooks & extensions for greater adjustability
• Reinforced non-slip straps for total support and comfort
• Removable foam cups provides greater flexibility.

Where to buy?

Shapee brand store (www.theshapee.com)
Alternatively, you may wish to visit your nearest independent or chain baby
store at www.theshapee.com/where-to-buy
Quote 10dnpblogger18 (10% discount) for the nursing pads!

Soi 98 Restaurant Kuantan food review

We are always on the hunt for good food! This time round we have found a hidden gem in the kuantan town. Soi 98 Restaurant has just opened for 3 months. And it's not on Google map yet! (Until I added it recently :p )

Soi 98 Restaurant
Address B-38, Lorong Sekilau 58, 25200 Kuantan, Pahang
Opens daily 5pm to 12am
Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/Soi-98-Restaurant-201107320478326/

This is a Thai Malaysian fusion restaurant but we think that their food is more Malaysian. And therefore more suitable for our taste buds. The chef had previously worked in the Klang valley and had been in Malaysia for more than 10 years.
It's a cosy area, slightly away from the hustle bustle of the city. The indoor sitting area is air conditioned but it doesn't have glass doors. This is because the owner thinks that it will create an unfriendly impression.


Bentong tofu rojak

Roasted tofu pok originating from the Bentong district (more densed and have more fillings) stuffed with shredded cucumber,  turnip, carrot and mango. Drizzled with a generous amount of caramelized prawn sauce from Penang and cripsy peanut powder, it's such a refreshing combination that also irresistible.

Fried pork

The pork belly had just the right balance of fatty and lean parts. Marinated in fermented bean curd, it can function as a main dish or even a snack suitable during TV watching.

Thai green curry

This is a dish with extremely powerful flavors. Curry made fragrant by basil and the spiciness was thrilling for the taste buds. This went really well with chicken and brinjal. The green color was in a stark contrast to the whiteness of the coconut milk yet these flavours blended well with each other.

Red seafood tomyum

The spiciness, sourness and fragrance of lemongrass all harmonized to make this soup very appetizing. And they were generous with the amount of prawns, squid and chicken.

Curry fish head

This dish is very Malaysian like. Thick curry gravy with coconut milk that goes well with rice and even bread. The fish head was not fishy at all and we loved the lady fingers and brinjal in the pot too.

Lime steam squid

You will love this dish of you like sour stuff. It goes very well with the squid that's just cooked and still soft.

Cockles with thai sauce

Blanched fresh cockles tasted fresh and refreshing after dipped in their signature sauce made of garlic, chilli, lime, coriander etc.

Mango sticky rice

Sweet mango strips nicely arranged intr the shape of a rose. Glutinous rice with a nice blue color using butterfly pea flowers. The black sesame and the coconut milk added so much vibrancy to the presentation and layers to the taste.

Mango kembung fish

This popular Thai dish is given a twist that the mango was sweet and the peanuts gave the dish a great crunch. The kembung fish was deep fried beforehand and it's not fishy at all. One can also use grouper instead.

All these costed just around RM200 only!

Besides all carte orders, Soi 98 also has birthday packages. For orders exceeding RM168, they can also arrange for complimentary birthday cake provided reservations are done at least 3-4 days earlier. What's unique is that there are no menus. One is encouraged to order based on photos pasted on the outside of the restaurant or based on their Facebook page.

Our verdict 8/10! Especially great for those who love spicy and sour dishes that burst in flavors!