Alycia’s Foodie Adventures in Ho Chi Minh – Now I Want to Go Too!

Alycia’s recent trip to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam turned out to be such a wonderful and delicious getaway. She and her university mates had a fantastic time digging into authentic Vietnamese food — and from the daily photos she sent me, I could tell they were truly enjoying every bite!

What amazed me most was how affordable the food is in Vietnam, especially when compared to KL. From beef pho to banh mi and other street food, the dishes looked not only mouthwatering but also generously portioned and beautifully presented.

Honestly, with every photo Alycia sent — some showing hearty bowls of pho, others featuring crusty banh mi bursting with fillings, and the prettiest Vietnamese jelly desserts — I found myself saying the same thing over and over again:

“I need to go to Vietnam soon!”

Our family has always been big fans of Vietnamese cuisine. We often dine at Vietnamese restaurants and order our favourites through ShopeeFood online delivery.  Our usuals include banh mi, lemongrass grilled chicken noodle salad, and of course, a comforting bowl of beef pho from Pho Viet.

But there’s something about enjoying these dishes right at the source, where the flavours are bold, fresh, and authentic — and the prices are a steal!

Alycia and her friends each spent less than RM2k on this trip, which included flight tickets, hotel, food, and souvenirs. The Maison Marou (Vietnam's famous artisan chocolate) dried coconut coated in dark chocolate that Alycia got for us from Vietnam was very delicious.

So for now, I’ll let Alycia’s food photos do the talking in this post. I’m pretty sure they’ll make you salivate and perhaps even inspire you to book your own food-filled trip to Vietnam soon!

Vietnam, you’re officially on my foodie travel bucket list!

This delicious crab salad came loaded with crab meat and cost around RM30+ a plate. The four girls ordered two plates.

Bánh Mì (Vietnamese Baguette) loaded with meat from a street vendor.

Wagyu pho at a Michelin restaurant on the first day.

Delicious Viet jelly ice dessert.

On the second last day, they visited Tan Dinh Church, an over-150-year-old pink church in Saigon.

Butter Lovers in the House – And My Handy Hack for Hard Butter

It’s no surprise that Cass is a butter lover — the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree! Hubby absolutely loves butter, and so does his mother. Clearly, the love for good butter runs strong on that side of the family.

Just the other day, hubby came home from Lee’s Frozen with a giant 500g block of La Belle D’Andiane Salted Butter — a premium butter made from grass-fed cows. It looked luxurious, but the problem? It was so huge and heavy it didn’t fit into the butter box!

Now here’s the thing: I have zero patience scraping hard butter, especially when I’m in a rush to make breakfast. That’s why I always buy spreadable butter, and Lurpak is my go-to. But my MIL? She only likes the real deal — good quality block butter.

So, in the spirit of keeping everyone happy (and to save our wrists from butter scraping agony), I decided to come up with a solution. I left the butter at room temperature for about 10 minutes, then used a serrated knife to slice it into small, bite-sized pieces. Now, each time we want some butter for our bread or toast, we just take 2 or 3 pieces — no scraping, no struggle.

This little butter hack has been a game changer in our kitchen! Everyone gets to enjoy their butter fix hassle-free, and we still get to savour the richness of premium grass-fed butter.

Do you do this too with your block butter? If not, try it — your mornings might just get a whole lot smoother (and softer)!