Opened as far back as 1958, Hoa Ma Bread is one of the oldest bakeries in Saigon. Initially, the bakery was located at 511 Phan Dinh Phung (now Nguyen Dinh Chieu, District 3) with a small cabinet. But only 2 years later, Hoa Ma bread moved to Cao Thang Street, District 3 and has remained until now. The name Hoa Ma bread is no stranger to Saigon people, along with the pan bread that has created the name of this restaurant. You may not know, but the owner is a Northern couple who migrated to the South. The name Hoa Ma is also taken from the name of a village on the outskirts of Hanoi. Over 60 years of development, Hoa Ma bread is always one of the top delicious dishes in Saigon that you must definitely enjoy. Although it is a very ordinary dish, but thanks to the unique way of processing, it has a special taste, so the restaurant makes many diners fascinated. Not only attracting the people of Saigon to eat, there are many foreign tourists who also want to try this long-standing pan bread. Currently, Hoa Ma shop has been maintained by 3 generations in the family. The price of a piece of pan bread is 52,000 VND, while the ready-to-go sandwich is 34,000 VND. The menu of Hoa Ma bakery is simple and unchanged. The shop serves 2 “all-in-one omelets” with pan-fried ingredients and “burgers” filled with cold meats. Drinks are equally simple, only iced coffee, milk coffee and mineral water, tea… Like a beautiful color painting, Hoa Ma pan bread has a striking combination of golden egg yolk and the eye-catching burnt red-brown color of slices of meat, sausage… Besides, bread is also a factor that makes diners fall in love. Crispy bread, thick inside, fragrant. When eating, dip it with egg yolk to make sure no one can resist. In addition, each meal also comes with extra pickles to serve without being fed up at all! Hoa Ma Bread is open from 6 to 11 hours daily. But a lot of days, the shop closes early because the diners are always crowded, so you may have to go home hungry if you come late. (According to GiadinhNet)

However, before he had time to prepare the ingredients, Man heard from his neighbors that the alley in front of the house had been blocked off after a person living here was positive for SARS-CoV-2. “At that time, everyone was surprised, did not understand what happened. However, knowing that the epidemic situation is complicated, all of them strictly follow the instructions of local officials and medical staff.” Like Mr. Man’s family, most of the households in alley 287 are trading and trading in food. At the time of the blockade, many households had prepared cooking ingredients, and breakfast shops that had just moved out had to be cleaned up immediately. “A few stalls of ready-made rice, porridge, and soup cakes that can’t be sold are shared by everyone in the neighborhood, each family taking a few portions to eat. They’re all neighbors, and they both work as wholesalers, so they all try to support each other,” Mr. Man said Zing . Alley 287, Nguyen Dinh Chieu Street, District 3, Ho Chi Minh City was blocked on the morning of May 20. Photo: Chi Hung. “Rescuing” food in the blockade area During the outbreak from April 27 to now, Ho Chi Minh City has recorded 6 positive cases of SARS-CoV-2 and is blocking 9 areas in Go Vap District, District 10, District 3, District 7, Binh Tan district and Thu Duc city. Although quite surprised by the blockade information, people living in these areas remained calm and complied with epidemic prevention measures. Especially for business and trading households, despite facing many disadvantages, they still show their concern and help the community when they switch to distributing food and free food to people in isolated areas. Alley 287 Nguyen Dinh Chieu connects with alley 270 Vo Van Tan about 500 m long with 70 households living. In addition to the large concentration of business households, shops, and restaurants, this alley is the place where Ve Chai market is held every morning. Ms. Linh, a fish seller in the market, said that on the morning of May 20, when her family and many other people had finished packing, the ward officials announced the disbandment, no market meeting and quickly erected a fence to blockade the surrounding area. around the alley. People in the blockade area share food with each other. Photo: Nguyen Nhuong, Trang Anh. Both domestic and foreign, fresh food traders like Ms. Linh choose to give free vegetables, fruits, meat and fish to neighbors to bring home to store refrigerators and gradually eat them during the quarantine days. However, what surprised Ms. Linh was that everyone who visited her shop also offered to pay instead of receiving free items. “Many people say that when they sell, people buy to support them, but when they give, they don’t dare to accept them,” she said. Similarly, Mr. Man’s beef noodle shop was also “rescued” by many familiar neighbors. However, because he did not prepare much and did not suffer much damage, Mr. Man refused. “The first day, everyone in the neighborhood kept ‘rescuing’ from one shop to another. Everyone hopes no one gets hurt much. Like my family, we also run to the market to support the sisters selling fish, selling vegetables and at the same time having food for the coming days.” “Health comes first, money comes second” Ms. Pham Minh lives in block A1, Sunview Town apartment building (Hiep Binh Phuoc ward, Thu Duc city, Ho Chi Minh City) – a place under lockdown after recording a Covid-19 case on May 18. Previously, Ms. Minh sold fruit and some drinks online. However, after the block was blocked, she switched to making smoothies and juices to cheer up her neighbors who were quarantined like her. “Every day, I make about 20-30 glasses of juice and smoothies to distribute for free to neighboring households. It’s not much, but it’s also a way to spread positive energy and optimism to everyone around,” Minh said. On each glass of juice, Ms. Minh sticks sticky notes with words of encouragement and encouragement for the recipient. “The epidemic has also affected my business a lot. However, for now, health is still first, money can be earned later.” Parts of bread and sticky rice were distributed free of charge by Mr. Bui Hoai Thanh’s group to people in the blockade area in Thu Duc City. Photo: Bui Hoai Thanh. Although he does not live in Sunview Town apartment building, Mr. Bui Hoai Thanh still regularly delivers food to people in the blockade area for the past 3 days. On the first day, Mr. Thanh’s group distributed 100 servings of sticky rice, on the second day 180 loaves of bread and on the third day 150 portions of spicy rice cakes. “I have a bakery near the apartment building and have been in business since 1992. Many of my regular customers are living in this apartment, so when I heard the news of the blockade, I immediately thought of helping people,” Mr. Thanh said. know. In the past few days, temporarily putting aside the business, every day Mr. Thanh and his group of friends prepare ingredients and make dishes from morning to 5 pm to deliver to the apartment. “We are planning to make 100 more jars of braised fish sauce to support people to bring home to eat with white rice. Everyone is affected by the epidemic season, but I believe that with the spirit of solidarity and the efforts of each individual, we will all win the pandemic together again,” Thanh shared.

Mui Ne (Phan Thiet City, Binh Thuan) is a tourist destination that attracts a lot of tourists on holidays. The highlight is the road stretching along the embankment of Mui Ne sea. This is not only the “resort capital” but also a place for dining, entertainment and shopping. However, over the past time resorts and restaurants along the roads along the coast of Mui Ne such as Nguyen Dinh Chieu, Huynh Thuc Khang fell into a slump. The reason is that since the outbreak of Covid-19, the main source of tourists of these establishments is Russians, Koreans, Chinese … unable to travel to Vietnam. Ms. Do Thi Thanh Oanh (33 years old) has been in business for 13 years in Mui Ne. Ms. Oanh said that for more than a year, it is very difficult to maintain the operation of the restaurant. She has to reduce staff, each employee works 15 days per month because there are no customers. The staff in the restaurant of Ms. Oanh took advantage of painting and repairing the roof, installing more light bulbs to prepare guests for the holidays of April 30 to May 1. “Since the beginning of 2021, the number of visitors has increased significantly on weekends,” said Ms. Oanh. Nguyen Dinh Chieu Street (Ham Tien Ward), dubbed the “West Street” of Phan Thiet, fell into a deserted state for more than a year. “Before, this street did not seem to sleep. Restaurants and bars were open until 2-3am, always crowded with customers”, a restaurant owner shared. Many coastal huts also fell into a situation with no customers and losses, so they were dismantled. Ms. Thanh Huong, manager of a restaurant on Huynh Thuc Khang Street, said she has high expectations for tourists during the holidays of April 30 to May 1. “This is one of the long holidays in the year, I hope the epidemic does not go bad for Mui Ne to return to like 2 years ago,” said Huong. Huong’s restaurant also prepares more fresh seafood for sale during the holiday season. “Every month, it costs 20 million dong to rent premises, we maintain the restaurant just waiting for the holidays so we can pay back the capital,” said Huong. The scene was quiet and quiet on Nguyen Dinh Chieu street when a series of hotels, bars, souvenirs were closed and the ground was returned.