(Vietnamese Folk Music)
- What is up everybody, my name is Kenny Nguyễn,
I am your ITA Video Ambassador coming out from
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
I just want to say, Happy New Years.
I finished my first english lesson,
and tonight I have another class,
it's going to be about seven thirty.
Right now, it's about 12 so we have several hours
to go before my next lesson.
I'm pretty starving, so right now we are in District 1,
that is like the down town area of Ho Chi Minh City,
and we're going to find some
really delicious street food to eat.
I'm going to take you guys around the city
and show you guys what the street food scene is like.
But today we are only gonna be spending
about 200,000 Vietnamese đồng,
I'm not gonna spend any more than this.
I really wanna show you guys how cheap
it is to eat around Ho Chi Minh City.
This is about nine US dollars
from the last time I checked.
So let's walk around District 1, check out the scenery,
and find some delicious street food.
It's called Xôi Gà, I purchased this for
about 25,000 Vietnam đồng.
Basically it's like a savory glutinous rice dish.
So as you can see, those are pickles right there,
you have the shredded chicken on the right,
and glutinous rice in the middle.
It's pretty damn good, really sweet,
chicken in there is a little salty so
it balanced itself out.
All for 25k.
Yes.
So I'm walking through this market here in District 1,
in every district in Ho Chi Minh City there is
a fresh market like this.
They sell everything from fresh fruits,
to recently cut meat, to clothing, snacks.
Basically everything you can find.
I also was really thirsty, now I found nước mía,
which is sugar cane, only cost me 10,000 Vietnam đồng,
so super cheap.
As you can see, these are the small plastic stools that
you tend to sit on when you're eating street food.
Right now I'm having a noodle dish, what's in here?
This is egg noodles with cut up pork and quail egg.
I'm not gonna finish the whole broth
because it's about 100 degrees here, but I am starving.
I've been having snacks along the way
and I thought it would be a good idea to finally sit down.
(electronic music)
As you can see right behind me,
that is the opera house located in District 1.
This was built in the late 1800's
and it played a lot of high profile musical events.
Still do so to this day,
and it's a shame that I've been living here for seven months
and I haven't been able to see a musical show,
but hopefully soon.
(electronic music)
So right now we are standing in front of
the Ho Chi Minh City Hall.
This was built like a hundred or so years ago.
If you walk around Vietnam,
you can see much of its influence come from
the french culture and whatnot.
Alright, I just spent 30,000 Vietnam đồng on a coconut
since it's so dang hot out, but so worth it.
I think I got overcharged.
So right now I'm having some sweet beans with coconut.
This is such a refreshing dessert right now
because it's about 100 degrees,
I am sweating so much but it's really delicious.
This is only gonna be about 10,000 Vietnam đồng,
which is less than a dollar, probably 40 cents.
But I'm probably gonna give her 50,000 dollars
'cause this woman right here is telling me
she works seven days a week but she makes close to nothing.
She's 80 years old and she says she's been doing this
for 25 years just as a way to survive
and get by through today.
She also has a young child that is extremely ill,
and so she does this to help pay for
his medical expenses as well, it's really sad.
So I'm eating the sweeties and my back is killing me.
Why? Because I'm sitting on these tiny stools.
(electronic music)
Doing this before class, I'm pretty hungry,
so I just grabbed a snack on the street side.
Right now I'm having a Vietnamese sandwich
called bánh mì.
I have to thank the french for introducing
the bánh mì to Vietnam.
Pork's grilled to perfection guys.
Alright guys, it's a Thursday night,
I have like four hours of lesson planning
for tomorrows classes.
What you're looking at is grilled pork chop,
marinated with sweet and savory fish sauce,
topped off with a fried egg.
You get along with it this pork fish sauce
along with peppers inside and whatnot.
This is my absolute favorite dish in Vietnam
and I have to give credit to my mom
because I grew up on this,
and I've been eating this ever since I was a child.
What's even more great about it is that
it's only 25,000 Vietnam đồng,
so I'm definitely gonna enjoy this meal right now.
I'm eating at 12 o'clock and this is what I've added up,
your mind is gonna be blown,
that adds up to 180,000 Vietnam đồng.
Probably wondering, do I spend that amount every day?
Sometimes less, I eat Vietnamese food three days
out of the seven days of week,
'cause sometimes I just eat my fix
and I go get western food, nice meaty burger,
french fries, pizza, whatnot,
so it's gonna be on the higher end.
But you can definitely save in Vietnam.
So let's go into our currency converter
and convert 180,000 Vietnam đồng to US dollars,
and what do you get?
That right there guys.
So, 180,000 Vietnam is about eight US dollars
and it cannot get any cheaper than that.
You can live a really nice lifestyle in Vietnam,
you can eat out a lot.
If you wanna try a lot of Vietnamese food
it does not really cost that much.
But yeah, that's what I've been doing
for the pasts few months.
Keeping my budget under 10 US dollars a day,
and anyways, I'm gonna get started eating my gốm sứ.
I have four hours of lesson planning so I'm getting to it.
I hope you guys enjoyed the video,
join back next time to see what other adventures
unfold in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
Once again I am your ITA Video Ambassador Kenny Nguyễn,
and goodnight Ho Chi Minh City, buh-bye guys.