Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Metro An Phu (District 1)

Major shopping today. Where to go? Our friends told us about the Metro Cash&Carry in District 2 (An Phu). We took a cab in the Zoo area (Nguyen Binh Khiem St.) - 85,000 VND (roughly $4).



Metro An Phu is like any other Metro store in the world - the layout and the concept are the same, only the products are different. In order to be able to do the shopping here, you need a one-day pass. They will issue you one on the spot, after you present your passport and a photocopy of it.

What I liked about that place was that you can find everything you need under one roof and, it's fairly inexpensive, and the price tags display the name of the products in English. Otherwise I would have found myself in big trouble :). The downsides: they do not take any kind of Visa, Mastercard, or American Express and you are not allowed to have any kind of bag or any bottle of water or juice on you.  That's insane.



Metro sample prices:

Fresh clams - 40,000 VND/kilo

Vinamilk cream cheese - 25,800 VND / pack

Tuna - 54,780 VND / 4 cans

Bread - 17,700 VND

Green dragon - 5,700 VND/kilo

Water melons - 7,190 VND/kilo

Radishes - 8,000 VND/kilo

Carrots - 20,000 VND/kilo

Sweet corn - 36,740 VND / 2 cans

Rice - 78,750 VND / 5-kilo sack

Fresh noodles - 43,670 VND / 3 packs

Nuoc Mam (dipping fish sauce)  - 31,680 VND / 2 bottles

Chili sauce - 29,150 VND / 2 bottles

Zorok beer - 208,000 VND / 20 cans

Dalat red wine - 47,300 VND

Chile red wine - 105,710 VND

Shower gel (Lifebuoy) - 85,000 VND / 3 bottles

Raid insect killer spray - 92,547 VND / 2 pieces

Cif cleaning paste - 51,557 VND / 2 pieces

Cotton bath towels - 124,000 VN(60 cm * 120 cm)

Cleaning cloths - 24,750 VND / 3 pieces

Door mats - 49,000 VND / 2 pieces

Ironing board - 153,500 VND

Vacuum cleaner (Goldsun) - 902,000 VND

There are many other things on my invoice, but it's impossible for me to list them all here because of the Vietnamese I haven't learned yet. All in all, it's a very good place to go shopping for your house. They also have a delivery service for a nominal fee, depending on how many items you purchased. But you can just take one of the Vinasun taxis parked in the front of the store and... delivery problem solved!

Metro An Phu - An Phu - An Khanh, District 2, HCMC, Vietnam. Ph: (+848) 37 406 677; Fax: (+848) 35 190 361. Opening hours: Monday to Sunday : From 06:00 to 21:00.

3 comments:

  1. is there a metro in district 1? i'm staying in district 1 n i tot the nearest one is in D2..

    ReplyDelete
  2. but i personally dun find metro so helpful.. most of the things here such as detergent, condiments etc r sold in packs, which is great if u r buying in bulk or u have a large family... not so great for singles or couples... i mean, u dun really have to buy a year's supply of ketchup at one time rite just to save a dollar or two, rite??

    ReplyDelete
  3. Yes, you are right - Metro is good for those times when you want to stock up on household items or food. Still, there are also items that are not sold in bulk in have very good prices - vegetables, fruit, meat, seafood, electric and electronics etc. There is no Metro in District 1. The closest one is in An Phu (D 2).

    ReplyDelete