Vietnamese supermarkets

Ho Chi Minh City — these days there are more supermarkets than you can count, which is so convenient. What's fun is that, somehow, you start to see the face of the customer each one has in mind. For Westerners, for Koreans, for Japanese. In the way the shelves are arranged, the selection of goods, and how the prices are set, the sense of daily life particular to each country seeps through. Lately, one of my little pleasures has been puttering along on my motorbike and casually dropping into any supermarket that catches my eye... and today, the one I stopped at for no reason other than that it was "easy to walk into and had an easy-to-find parking lot" was this place~~ E-mart Supermarket @ Sala 10 Mai Chí Thọ, Thủ Thiêm, Thủ Đức, Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh It's a Korean supermarket.

Once you step inside, it's just so spacious~. This is originally a characteristic of Vietnam, but the ceilings are high, so it feels open and airy. It's that vibe of Costco or overseas supermarkets. The carts are just huge. There's not only a food and general goods section, but also a food court, and the sales floor has a pleasantly lively atmosphere. In addition to staple ingredients like kimchi and sesame oil, Korean cosmetics are also lined up, and it's fun just to look around. At the bakery corner, freshly baked bread is restocked one after another, and both the loaf bread and the donuts are more reasonably priced than I expected.

There was no square bread this day, but the English bread is about 35,000 VND = 180 yen

It's a sale, but a croissant is under 70 yen!

The baguette costs less than 50 yen. In many ways, I think it's different from the French-style baguette you'd find in a banh mi. Though I haven't actually eaten it... 、 There's also a sushi corner, which is just right for those days when you think, "I'd like to take it a little easy today." One piece starts from 6,000 VND, and nigiri with raw toppings is 10,000 VND, about 60 yen. It's cheap, above all else. The pieces are on the small side, but women and children will find them satisfying.

Personally, what drew my heart the most was the tea corner! Rows upon rows of tea leaves and packages neatly lined up.

There's also a wide variety of Dilmah teas with a rich aroma. I wonder if you can buy them a little cheaper than in Japan? (They're under 300 yen, so that's cheap~) Since many of them aren't individually wrapped, if you're thinking of handing them out to lots of people, check the packaging. Also, the scented flavored teas come in peach, lychee, mint, apple, and so many other kinds—which makes me happy. They're probably hard to find in Japan, so it might be nice to give them a try. Personally, for everyday use I always keep black tea, Ceylon, and English Breakfast stocked. Even so, there were several teas I wanted to try, and I found myself stopping in my tracks. I grabbed a few of the lotus teas with their cute packaging, all together.

The aroma and quirks of lotus tea differ quite a lot depending on the maker and the tea leaves, so I'm planning to gradually try out various kinds from now on. And if I come across a good one, I'll share it here! That said, it seems to get super crowded on weekends, and the flow of foot traffic apparently gets congested too, so when I take friends who come to visit, it'll probably be on a weekday, before early evening. You can take your time and look around at a leisurely pace~ Relocated-Life Ranking