AsiaLIFE HCMC 54

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AsiaLIFE volume 54

www.asialife.asia

22 front

08 News & Events 12 AsiaLIFE Goes to Thailand

food

44 DeciBel

16 Street Smart: Cho Vuon Chuoi

45 Bahdja

20 Photo Essay: Hidden Istanbul

on the cover

24 International Relations

storyboard

30 Tracking Down Disaster

style & design

46 French Connection

back

52 The List

48 Street Chic

78 Spotlight 80 Street Guide

33 Tangled Hierarchy

88 Odd One Out

34 Master of a Dying Art

89 This Country Life

36 Breaking Ground

90 Pub Quiz

38 Before it's Gone 40 Super Singapore

40 Cover Art Direction Johnny Murphy Photography Fred Wissink Models Adam Schofield and Le Thi Ngo Nhien

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43 May

14 Dispatches 18 Q&A with Carl Robinson

getaways

42 Sterling's Saigon

45

note from the editor

Group Director Sales & Marketing / Director Vietnam: Jonny Edbrooke jonny@asialife.asia Managing Editor: Chris Mueller chris@asialife.asia Deputy Editor: Lien Hoang lien@asialife.asia Contributing Editor: Michael Tatarski michael@asialife.asia Editor-at-Large: Brett Davis brett@asialifehcmc.com

Chris Mueller Romantic relationships aren’t easy anywhere, but in Vietnam, where many expats end up dating or marrying locals, a whole new set of unique challenges is created that can be especially daunting. It’s not so much the relationship as a whole, but rather the small things most foreigners wouldn’t give a second thought to that end up causing the most problems.

The first time I met my Vietnamese girlfriend’s mother, it was a brutally hot afternoon. One of those times during the rainy season where it hasn’t rained in a couple of days, the sun is out and it feels like a drop of water thrown in the air would cause the sky to open up. Since it was the first time I was meeting either parent, I decided I should ignore the heat and wear a long-sleeve shirt to cover up the tattoos on my arms, something, at the time, I would never even consider back in the US. All went well, and despite the sweat dripping off my face and my shirt becoming soaked throughout the conversation, I made a fairly good first impression. That is, until I left.

When I got outside, I decided to take off my shirt and just wear the t-shirt I had underneath. Her mother was already inside, but curious neighbours were apparently still watching.

This was in an old-school Chinese and Vietnamese neighbourhood in District 11, where tattoos are still a sign of the mafia.

Even though I thought I had made a good impression, that night my girlfriend told me her parents were very concerned about her seeing me. After some prodding, she told me her neighbours had said something about my tattoos. Luckily, after a couple of months her parents eventually warmed to me.

I’m fortunate enough to only have to think about the small cultural differences that could complicate our relationship, but in this month’s issue we take a look at some of the bigger challenges Vietnamese and western couples face when their cultures intertwine. For many Vietnamese, getting their families to accept their partners seems to be the overwhelming and most consistent challenge and there is no single solution to overcome it. The number of obstacles involved in any relationship is countless, but intercultural relationships add even more. But for many expats, these relationships are one of the main reasons to stay in Vietnam and most would agree that the effort it takes to make them work is well worth it.

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Regional Creative Director: Johnny Murphy johnny@asialife.asia Photo Editor: Fred Wissink fred@asialife.asia Production Manager: Nguyen Kim Hoa nguyenhoa@asialifehcmc.com Photography Interns: Alex McMillan and Rosa Chung Editorial Intern: Claire Jowell

For advertising and marketing enquiries please contact: +84 908 298395 / +84 8 6680 6105 or adsales@asialifehcmc.com

AsiaLIFE Group Group Editor / Director Cambodia: Mark Bibby Jackson mark@asialife.asia Managing Editor Cambodia: Ellie Dyer Art Director Cambodia: Steve Tierney Sales Cambodia: Sorn Chantha Chantha@asialife.asia

Director Thailand: Nattamon Limthanachai (Oh) oh@asialife.asia Associate Editor Thailand: Yvonne Liang Photo Editor Thailand: Nick McGrath Sales Thailand: Piyalai Tandhnan (Ming) Ming@asialife.asia

Next time you're in Cambodia or Thailand, check out the latest issue of AsiaLIFE or download them from www.asialife.asia Find AsiaLIFE articles on

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NEWS La Trattoria and Wine Bar

Starting from the second half of October, well-known Italian ristorante and pizzeria La Braceria, at 11 Le Thanh Ton Street in District 1, will be replaced by a trattoria, or an informal Italian restaurant. La Trattoria del Zamboni, run by Zoe and Riccardo Pacciani, will be the first trattoria in Vietnam. The entire restaurant will change, from the layout to the menu and wine list. The menu will be a remix of classical Italian cuisine with a contemporary, innovative touch, created by chef Francesco Zamboni, who is coming directly from Rovigo, Italy. There also will be a wine bar, Il Buon Vino, on the third level with a selection of 30 different brands of wine.

Classical Piano Concert Terraverde will host ‘Autumn Concert’ with the HBSO orchestra conducted by meri-

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EVENTS torious artist Tran Vuong Thach and special guest pianist Urs Buchmann performing Anton Rubinstein's Piano Concerto No. 3, Op. 45. The concert will take place at 8pm on 16 September at Conservatory Hall, 112 Nguyen Du, District 1. Tickets can be purchased at the door the evening of the concert.

For more information, contact huongduong@terraverdetravel. com or for pre-purchase and seat reservation, call 09 08 85 36 86.

taurant, Square One, featuring 'Hanoi — Flavours of the Rising Dragon'. Influenced by the many cultures that have occupied this capital city, Hanoi’s cuisine perfectly embraces them all in inimitable fashion. In particular, the master class will teach you how to perfect the textures and distinguish the different sides of pho. Admission is VND 627,000 per person. For enquiries, visit restaurants.parkhyattsaigon.com or call 08 38 24 12 34.

a quest for love, friendship and happiness, which will not disappoint devoted fans of Antoine Saint-Expury's masterpiece nor fail to surprise with its modern and explosive reinterpretation.

The professional cast is comprised of expatriates and local Vietnamese. Performances are scheduled for the weekends of 6 and 13 October at The Children's Theatre on Le Quy Don. Tickets range between VND 275,000 and VND 350,000.

Cooking Class at the Park Hyatt

The Little Prince

Dragonfly Theatre Co. and blah blah films is producing The Little Prince in English as a play accessible to children yet engaging to adults. The adaptation envisions a magical and poetic theatrical experience that remains faithful to the original story but touches current audiences. It recreates the interplanetary journey of the prince from asteroid B-612 to Earth, in

Tea Ceremony Day

Park Hyatt Masters of Food and Wine returns to Saigon for its last affair for 2012. This annual series of epicurean events was held earlier this year, showcasing the diversity of regional textures and flavours found throughout Vietnam. The final series will happen 22 September at 2.30pm in the western and Vietnamese res-

To celebrate the introduction of Matcha to its tea menu, Operation: Tearoom is hosting a free Tea Ceremony Day. A bowl of Matcha will be prepared in the Japanese ceremonial style for anyone who stops by the Tearoom on 23 September from 2pm to 5pm. Matcha has been prized in Japan since the 12th century when the traditional Japanese tea ceremony, chado,

flourished. In addition to its rich history and flavour, it is renowned for its health benefits. One serving is equivalent to 10 cups of normal green tea in terms of nutritional value and antioxidant content. Operation: Tearoom is open Monday to Friday 8am to 8pm, Saturday to Sunday 8am to 5pm. 335/31 Dien Bien Phu Street, District 3.

Danang Triathlon

On 29 September, the inaugural Danang triathlon will offer athletes five different challenges. Choose from the full tri, a 5km swim, 40km cycle, 10km run (VND 750,000/individual, VND 1.5 million/team); half tri, a .75km swim, 20km cycle, 5km run (VND 750,000/individual, VND 1.5 million/team); student fun (ages 18 to 23), 5km cycle, 2km beach run, with best crazy costume surprise prizes (VND 50,000/ individual); junior (ages 12 to 17), 2km beach run (VND 50,000/ individual); youngsters (ages 6 to 11), 1km run (VND 50,000/individual). Email philbozz@hotmail. com or call 0903 03 52 71 for details.

French Discovery Menu at Vatel Saigon Exclusively in September, Vatel Saigon is offering a brand new

‘Discovery Menu’. This menu is specially designed for gastronomists who love French culture and cuisine. It is a unique opportunity to taste famous dishes including, pan-fried foie gras on Dalat young cheese, or filet of beef Rossini and wine. The new menu costs VND 500,000++ and includes two glasses of wine. Vatel Saigon is run by the students of Vatel International Business School in Hotel and Tourism Management under the supervision of internationally experienced managers and teachers. For more information visit Vatelsaigon.com.

New Art and Music Centre

VinGallery and Inspirato Music Centre will host a grand opening 15 September from 6-10pm with free cocktails, finger food, art and music, though the concert requires RSVP. VinGallery was created to spread awareness of the modern and contemporary art that is emerging in Vietnam.

It helps support many of the influential and distinctive artists working in the country today, artists who come from diverse cultural backgrounds, work with various mediums, boast different art educations, and have a spectrum of life experiences. VinGal-

Meet Trixie, ARC's Pet of the Month

At 7 months old, Trixie is sweet and excitable. She is very playful and great with children. A medium size dog, Trixie has short fur so her coat doesn't shed much. She was born at the clinic, where her mum was rescued, so Trixie has been with ARC her whole life. She has had all vaccinations and has been spayed so she is ready to be adopted now! Contact arcfostadopt@gmail.com.

Cuisine Francais Newly opened 10% off in Sept, 2012

Chez Paul 16 Nguyen Dinh Chieu, D 1.

HCMC, Vietnam Tel: 08 62 678 333 0932 770 709.

E: info@chezpaul.com.vn www.chezpaul.com.vn

lery exhibits painting, sculpture, photography, drawing, and installations, with new exhibitions and events every month. For more on the gallery, located at 4-6 Le Van Mien, Thao Dien, District 2, email info@vingallery.com or call 09 07 72 98 46.

Beyond Formula One

Where can motor sport fans find 100 of the world’s finest racing cars for the price of a single ticket? At the Marina Bay Street Circuit, where three top-line racing series will provide the back-up to the fifth running of the 2012 Formula 1 Singtel Singapore Grand Prix from 21-23 September. Heading the list, and making its first visit to the Singapore street circuit, is GP2 — in its seventh season, the innovative series has proved itself as the category of choice for future Formula One stars. In the Ferrari 458 Challenge, the cars are built for both professional drivers and ‘gentleman’ drivers. The third of these three support categories is the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia, which is back for its fifth year.

VietJetAir Launches Route With Sexy Hawaii Dance

Any press is good press. Vietnam’s low-cost carrier VietJetAir made international headlines last month when it got a slap on the wrist for flight attendants who dressed in beach holiday attire and performed a sexy Hawaiian dance. The performance helped kick off the airline’s service between Ho Chi Minh City and Nha Trang, which operates once a night, each way, on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday.

In August, VietJetAir also introduced its 'You’re No.1' package, which will enable passengers to be the first to board the aircraft

and to collect their baggage after their flights. Passengers now can pre-book seats, including hot seats with extra legroom.

Work, Not Just Charity

A graduation ceremony on 3 August recognised 34 disadvantaged students who studied the free vocational training course Saigon Hospitality, through the NGO Saigon Children’s Charity.

The students have gone on to look for jobs at hospitality venues in the city. With the aim of helping underprivileged young people to realise their full potential and escape from poverty, Saigon Children’s Charity has run the Saigon Hospitality Course since 2007. The course has helped students who have a great interest in working in the sector to find decently paid jobs and it also has connected highly qualified graduates with Vietnam’s rapidly developing hospitality sector.

Film Festival

The 2012 Saigon Student Film Festival, ShortSStuFF, is under way. Students throughout Vietnam and other countries in Southeast Asia create short films of a maximum 5 minutes on the theme of 'Dreams'. With three age divisions and six different categories, the contest is open to film-makers of all levels from age 7 to 18. This is the third year the festival will take place, with a grand prize of an iPad 2. Three international guest judges from the filmmaking world will choose their favourites this month, but all submissions will be screened 19 September at the Australian International School, Thu Thiem campus in District 2. Everyone with an invitation will get free popcorn at the door, and will be entered into a prize drawing to take place in the evening.

myAccess Online Banking

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This month the AsiaLIFE family adds a third member with the launch of AsiaLIFE Thailand. We talk to the people behind the venture, asking why the time is right for a blitz on Bangkok.

It has been almost six years since Jonny Edbrooke and Mark Bibby Jackson launched AsiaLIFE — first here in Ho Chi Minh City, then in Phnom Penh. Much has happened in that time. The world has been shaken by a global recession that decimated advertising revenue and the internet revolution has transformed the way the publishing industry works.

Throughout this, the two 40-something Brits have shared the same belief they held all those years ago — there is space for a strong, regional lifestyle publication and AsiaLIFE has the right brand to fill it.

More than 120 issues later, and with three partners who share their vision, the pair

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have decided the time is ripe to launch a Thailand edition, along with a new website — Asialife. asia — and an iPad app.

“We always did intend to roll out the AsiaLIFE brand across the region,” says Edbrooke. “Unfortunately the global economic downturn put our plans back a bit.”

Bibby Jackson has no doubts the new venture will be successful.

“When I launched AsiaLIFE in Cambodia everyone thought

I was mad,” he says. “Nobody had successfully published a quality lifestyle magazine in the country. Now, 68 issues later, everyone seems to be trying to copy us.”

Edbrooke, who has been going to the Thai capital for nearly 30 years, feels there is a clear gap in the expat market, which AsiaLIFE naturally will fill.

“There is much more to the city than going to bars and drinking beer,” he says. “We cater for a more sophisticated Bangkok market.”

What is the secret to AsiaLIFE’s success when so many other magazines have fallen by the wayside?

“In some respects AsiaLIFE represents a return to good old-fashioned journalistic principles,” writes Bibby Jackson in the first edition of the Thailand magazine. “We will not run advertorials or PR pieces, even if an advertiser threatens to pull out of the magazine, because we write what we believe. What we will do is publish that which is of ‘interest’ to our readers.”

In the past AsiaLIFE has tackled controversial issues such as human trafficking and domestic violence. Both Edbrooke and Bibby Jackson are proud to

publish the first magazine in the mainstream media to write about the gay community in Vietnam and Cambodia.

For the first issue of AsiaLIFE Thailand, Bibby Jackson spoke to Bangkok counsellors and expats to find out how difficult it is for foreigners to adjust to life in this culturally complex and at times frustrating city.

“It is a process that we have all gone through,” he says.

The new website will feature articles from all three magazines, as well as select listings.

The magazines also can be downloaded from the website or the new iPad app. Plans for an iPhone app are underway, most likely to launch in October. Add this to the TV reviews that are being shot by director of photography Jake Houseago, which now can be seen via AsiaLIFE Media’s Facebook page, and it's clear AsiaLIFE has been busy over the last few months.

“It has been pretty hectic at times, and if I still had any hair I’d have turned grey by now, but this is why you get into the business in the first place,” says Edbrooke.

For their Thai adventure, Edbrooke and Bibby Jackson have teamed up with Nattamon

Limthanachai (Oh).

She first came across AsiaLIFE while working in Phnom Penh in 2008 where she set up two companies, a couple of Thai restaurants, and a gelato café.

“I noticed that all our potential customers were picking up a copy of AsiaLIFE so I knew I just had to advertise in it,” she says.

Although she has no prior experience working in publica-

tions, when Oh became aware Edbrooke and Bibby Jackson were looking to expand into Thailand she was interested immediately.

“It is just too good a magazine to fail in Thailand,” she says. “From the start I knew I had to be part of it.”

Now readers in Thailand will be able to understand just why Oh caught the AsiaLIFE bug.

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dispatches

Travel news from around the region and beyond

Brunei Gets Back to Basics Offering a mild adventure in Borneo's best preserved rainforest, Ulu Temburong National Park in Brunei benefits wildlife, science, and visitors. A day tour will introduce you to great hikes and views, local food, and river travel among waterways and mangrove islands. Watch for hornbills, butterflies, gibbons and macaques. Cross the Suspension Bride, climb the 1,a200 steps to the Canopy Walkway, and enjoy a buffet lunch near rock pools and waterfalls. You also have the option to swim, canoe, or go rafting. For more, including information about tours with longhouses, tent accommodations, rural living, crocodiles, and campfires, go to bruneibay.net.

Gem by the River Boutique hotel The Siam is scenically situated along the Chao Praya River in Bangkok’s royal Dusit district. The area is an ideal vantage point from which to explore the city’s historical palaces, temples and museums. The 39-room hotel was conceived partly by owner and Thai celebrity Krissada Sukosol Clapp, a member of the Sukosol ‘musical hoteliers’ family. Each suite has a unique theme, drawing inspiration from Thai culture through the ages, as well as original turn-of-the-century oriental artwork and antiquities from Krissada’s private art collections. The Siam complex also houses a cooking school, Muay Thai boxing ring and traditional Thai teakwood houses. For more, visit thesiamhotel.com or call 66 2206 6999. – Ellen Boonstra

Music in Manila If you can’t get to the United States anytime soon, let the pop concerts in Manila bring it to you. The American Idol summer tour stops there 21 September, when the final 10 from the show’s 11th season will perform solos, duets and group performances. For a little less sugar, you also can wait till 2 October to catch Keane. Four men from England make up the alternative rock band with a pretty soft side. But maybe not as soft as The Fray, the American band, which plays in Manila on 11 October. For tickets, go to mtvasia. com/mini/gigguide.

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Street Smart

Cho Vuon Chuoi

Alex McMillan explores one of District 3’s more interesting markets.

Set on the corner of Nguyen Dinh Chieu and Nguyen Thuong Hien in District 3, Cho Vuon Chuoi, translates to the ‘Banana Garden Market’.

As the name suggests, it was previously known for its many banana trees. Although we had set out to write a listing for the entire street, the market proved to be so large we decided to highlight some of the best things that can be found there. Unfortunately, there were no names or addresses, so if you head over for a walk around the market be prepared to put aside an afternoon to sample everything thoroughly.

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Ground Coconut Probably one of the most interesting sights in the market is the woman who spends every day filling gunnysacks with coconut products. Working in her simple and unassuming stall, she was happy to oblige us with pictures, samples and explanations of her products.

VND 30,000 for 1kg of beautiful, ground coconut.

today, especially amongst elderly women. This green fruit is bright pink on the inside and extremely gummy. Locals are known to chew on the gumlike-substance to make their teeth stronger, and also black.

It costs VND 2,000 for a brick.

If not to horrify your dentist, at least check out the stall with its kind and informative shop owner.

Trau Cau Vietnamese legend has it that a love triangle ended tragically when the lovers turned into three different edible products. One of these products, trau cau, still remains popular

Che Chuoi The market’s namesake still holds true to some degree in that you can find an abundance and variety of bananas. One of the best products is a parfait of grilled banana, coconut,

jelly and khoai mi (Vietnamese potato), which is garnished with peanuts and served warm.

VND 10,000.

Papaya, Shrimp and Pig’s Ear Salad This spicy dish is light and fresh. Don’t be afraid of the pig’s ear, it adds a crunchy texture without much flavour. The salad dressing is a sprinkling of fish sauce. VND 12,000.

Chicken Curry One of the main reasons so many people come to this market is because of the famous chicken curry, which is a dark, sweet dish. The chicken is

incredibly tender and will have you coming back for seconds.

VND 20,000 for a portion.

Seafood There were stalls at the market with just about every crustacean found in the sea. The most available creatures were clams, mussels and snails. Pull up a plastic chair and snack away.

Clothing If you’re finding that you gained too much weight from all the amazing food this market has to offer, you’re in luck, as there is a gigantic clothing section here. Get lost in the aisles of textiles, lots to see. asialife HCMC 17

Carl Robinson

The American-turned-Australian was a correspondent for The Associated Press’s Saigon bureau from 1968 to 1975, and now returns to the country regularly with his Vietnamese wife. Photo by Fred Wissink.

What was it like being here in the 70s?

My perspective was always different from other correspondents, more politics-oriented, because prior to that I had worked with USAID and because I knew the Vietnamese. I didn’t cover much shoot-em-up, bang-bang stuff. I learned early on, you can get killed doing that. I lost a lot of colleagues who went out on the frontlines.

I covered opposition politics.

I also did a lot of social sorts of stories, Tet stories, refugee stories.

Did you have any close calls?

The hairiest operation I was involved in was the Laos invasion in 1971, being under artillery fire, being ambushed out on the road. But I never pretended to be a combat reporter. I was a correspondent and there was a war going on.

What about the day-to-day?

I’d get up, have breakfast, get on my motorbike, and get to the office by 7.30 or 8am. I’d catch up with what happened overnight, ongoing developments.

As photo editor, you were making sure your photographers can ship down to you from where they are. In the after18 asialife HCMC

noon, photos would be coming down and reporters would be calling in. We also covered Cambodia, so we’d meet the plane, get the photos. It took 20 minutes for each photo to be sent through shortwave radio through Tokyo. And Vietnam could intercept them, and they did sometimes, using them for their own propaganda. NBC was next to us, they had to ship their film out every time. We didn’t realise the impact our photos were having, but we wanted to know who had won the competition for play that day. Some we knew, the photo of the Viet Cong execution or the napalm girl, we knew something like that would be dynamite.

Tell me about your colleagues.

There were 100 or so in the press corps. There was a line between the boozers and the heads (drug users). You socialise with each other. I was a head. This street was full of girly bars (pointing to Dong Khoi). There were only French restaurants, so it’s nice to see that’s changed. There were not a lot of Vietnamese restaurants then, so a lot of correspondents’ first encounter with Vietnamese food was [my wife] Kim’s

cooking. Remember, there was a midnight curfew. The streets were deserted. You could get a pass but it was better not to push your luck because they had militias out, military patrols. If you invited people over for dinner, it became a sleepover.

What stories were you most proud of?

I was one of the journalists who broke the tiger cage stories on Con Dao island. There were heart-wrenching stories about political prisoners. I was quite pleased with my coverage of the Laos invasion; got photos of people hanging onto a helicopter.

What’s it like returning to Vietnam?

It’s really exciting getting to know Vietnam. One thing that’s helpful in me getting over Vietnam is becoming very interested and knowledgeable about Vietnamese history. We were just a part of Vietnam’s long sweep of history. We weren’t the first, don’t feel bad.

What are these tours you organise?

We bring Australian veterans and Viet Kieu back here. It’s im-

portant to come back here and see Vietnam again, especially vets, they have a lot of baggage.

They bring their wives along, and by the end, [the wives] understand where it all comes from. It’s a life-changing experience. The Vietnamese haven’t been wallowing. They’re a good example for the veterans. I think seeing them and the attitude of the Vietnamese is good for them. It’s been the most heartening thing we’ve done, getting them together with old enemies.

By the end, they’re all drunk and hugging and they get it.

The best thing you can do is go back to a traumatic place and get over it.

How do you think people here deal with the history?

Vietnamese are very pragmatic.

They don’t have time to sit around and be bitter. We think there must be guilt, ingrained guilt, you feel bad if you do something bad. Here, the bad is accepted; the good and the bad, the yin and yang. Buddhism is part of it, life is suffering.

Whereas in the west, we’re always looking for solutions, we strive for happiness and we don’t know how fleeting happiness is.

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Photo Essay

Hidden Istanbul

Earlier this year AsiaLIFE photographer Nick McGrath spent 10 days walking the back streets of Istanbul, from Fatih to Emininou. Away from the mosques and into ordinary suburbia, he discovered an amazing city full of the most hospitable people.

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INTERNATIONAL 24 asialife HCMC

RELATIONs When Vietnamese and foreigners start on the path towards marriage, the cross-cultural couples must choose the customs they’ll bring along, and what they’ll leave behind. By Lien Hoang. Photos by Fred Wissink. asialife HCMC 25

F

or most of their wedding, Do Thi Thanh Thuy and Andrea Da Gasso followed Vietnamese tradition, lighting incense, wearing ao dai, and marching gifts over from the groom’s house.

But as for the ritual of clinking glasses at every table, Andrea didn’t want to drink that much alcohol. So his aunt brought from their native Milan what he called 'a kind of keo' — confetti, or chocolate-covered almonds that brides and grooms deliver, table by table, at Italian weddings.

Such cultural compromises began long before the nuptials and, as with so many mixed-nationality couples in Vietnam, they continue long after.

“She’s open to learn about my culture,” Andrea, 42, says of his wife, “and that’s important to me.”

Couples like Andrea and Thuy represent roughly 2 percent of marriages in Vietnam each year, according to the Ministry of Justice. Of 668,026 marriage certificates issued in 2010, for instance, 13,882 went to foreign-Vietnamese couples.

When people travel to Vietnam and fall in love with locals, the couples embark on not 26 asialife HCMC

just long-term relationships but long-term questions about how to marry their own habits and traditions with those of their partners.

Dating the family More than anything, Confucian obsession with filial piety can complicate romances, from day one. Gia dinh la tren het, as the Vietnamese say. Family first.

Thuy, 30, met Andrea in 2008 when he visited the art gallery she was managing, to see about displaying his photography. He teased her about pronouncing 'next week' like 'Nesquick' and asked her out. After some qualms about dating a client, she finally agreed.

But like the majority of single Vietnamese, Thuy was living with her parents, so early on, dates ended with the pair sitting outside her house. From a balcony, her mother could watch over them or shout down to them about how late it was and shouldn’t he be going?

Doru Tudose, from Bucharest, met similar suspicion when he started dating Nguyen Han in 2006.

“In the first days, when I was picking her

up, her mother was looking mean, no eye contact,” Doru, 34, says.

The two have since married and opened Bootleg Cafe together. But Han, 32, explained that at the time her parents were wary of foreigners, whose time in Vietnam could be fleeting, and they didn’t think it was proper for her to go out with Doru.

But the couple didn’t have as hard a time as Sonia Watson, 29, and Nguyen Hung, 28.

Raised in Paris but identifying as British like her mother, Sonia is a rare white woman to marry a Vietnamese man. Hung says the gender reversal was a problem right away, in part because his parents expected him to marry a Vietnamese who would move in with them.

On the other hand, a Vietnamese woman wed to a foreigner could make a smoother transition, because custom already requires that she move out of her parents’ house. Tuoi Tre newspaper quoted government statistics in July estimating that four in five Vietnamese who marry foreigners are women.

“It’s easier for a foreign husband and Vietnamese wife, because in Asian countries the man is usually more important. So if a daughter marries a foreigner, parents think she’ll

have a better life,” says Hung, who works in customer care at Lakeview Villas.

Sonia, a behavioural therapist, becomes emotional when she recalls how Hung’s parents initially ignored her. His father walked out when she brought mooncakes the first time they met; his mother continued cooking rather than respond when she announced she was pregnant.

“We had big, big fights,” Sonia says. “They wanted me out of his life and did everything they could to get me out.”

That was years ago. But a newer couple, Doan Thi Ngoc Hien and Arnaud Darras, are now facing similar resistance from the Vietnamese side.

The couple have a lot to prove to Hien’s family. Arnaud, a manager of a heating ventilation and air conditioning company, is from Bordeaux but met Hien online in January, and they got married here in August. While talking with AsiaLIFE at a restaurant downtown, Hien feeds Arnaud ice cream and describes how her family urges her to marry rich, especially because they are well-off already.

Arnaud, 40, says Hien’s brother wanted to set her up with one of his wealthy friends.

“Later, when he sees we’re happy, we have a child, we’re still married, they will think, ‘He’s a good guy, we can accept him,’” Arnaud says, lacing his fingers around Hien’s.

“But for now, I know it’s not the case.”

Hien, 28 and a sales manager at a shipping company, is adamant her family will have to come around.

But in the beginning, some choose not to deal with their families. That is, they lie. It’s common enough for women to date by telling parents they’re going out with friends. Thuy took it a step further, spending a weekend with Andrea on Phu Quoc island. What did her parents think she was doing? Surveying a

Sonia for a week. He came down with chickenpox after they met and told his parents he would go to a friend’s so the family wouldn’t catch it.

Tilting at stereotypes Thuy says she trusts Andrea, with whom she shares a photography business out of their house in Binh Thanh District. But during the courtship, she kept an ear to friends who warned that when it comes to Vietnamese, westerners love them and leave them. And sometimes, leave them pregnant. When Thuy

and Andrea finally visited Milan together, she went in part to check he didn’t have another wife and children in Italy.

The stereotypes cut both ways, says Doan Thi Ngoc, an instructor at Hoa Sen University’s Gender and Society Research Centre. Vietnamese women who walk down the street with western men can be seen as prostituting themselves or marrying for money and a passport, she says.

But Ngoc has found that people opened their minds as Vietnam opened its doors economically and socially. More tourism, wealth,

“She’s picked up saying, ‘It’s mental.’

I’ve picked up saying, ‘Troi oi.’”

Adam Schofield client hotel for her art gallery.

“They don’t agree with me to go overnight with a man, but I follow my heart,” she says, sitting cross-legged on the floor at home with that man, whom she affectionately calls Heo, Pig. On the island, they booked separate rooms, hers with a balcony from which she could listen to his guitar serenade. They grilled seafood on the beach and had their first kiss.

Hung made up a different story to stay with

Adam Schofield and Le Thi Ngo Nhien

asialife HCMC 27

business links, exposure to pop culture, and intermarriage, have meant that “attitudes can be more open,” she says.

Integration In the case of intermarriage, Vietnamese families tend to open up to foreigners not just because they stick around, but because they adapt.

The process begins with le phep, deference to parents, from learning to address them respectfully, to having them over or visiting at least once a week. Andrea remembers one meal when he began eating before Thuy’s parents — a faux pas in Vietnamese culture, which dictates that younger generations invite older ones to eat first.

But few changes have a larger impact on the dynamics of relationships than a foreigner’s decision to take up Vietnamese.

“In the beginning I would take my son out, and everybody just looked at me with strange eyes.”

Nguyen Hung

“I want to learn everything,” says Arnaud, adding that Hien will teach him Vietnamese.

“You cannot understand the way of life of a country without learning the language.”

That’s still a work-in-progress for Adam Schofield, from Manchester, and Le Thi Ngo Nhien. Since his studying has dropped off, Adam is more likely to use his language CD during a DJ gig than a Vietnamese lesson.

Red tape has stalled their marital plans, but the two have a 1-year-old son, and Adam says he’ll probably try learning Vietnamese again when his son does.

Sonia studied Vietnamese for a few years and says she’s grateful to participate during festivities, such as wishing her in-laws good health and longevity. But she and Hung generally lapse into English, which Ngoc, the university instructor, says reflects a 40-60 balance between Vietnamese and westerners.

“Just in my own opinion, still one side is dominant,” Ngoc says. “Vietnamese usually have to follow other cultures, but they enjoy that culture, too.”

The language barrier intrudes most obviously when husbands and wives can't communicate with their in-laws, or even pronounce each other's names correctly. English is but one symptom of how far western influence has spread, but that makes it a more widely useful language than Vietnamese.

Partly for that reason and to keep a vacation-like barrier between him and the country, Doru, the Romanian, chooses never to adopt Vietnamese. Though Han wants him to learn, Doru is blunt in his refusal. Just as he never acquired a taste for local cuisine, Doru thinks no one has to change his ways for others. Yet he admits, “When we chose that she would learn English, subliminally, we were choosing to live on my terms.”

Gender divide Han makes the compromise, reasoning that living on western terms is to her benefit. Wearing a white lace dress and heavy bangs, she says during an interview at her bar-cafe that the arrangement puts her on a more equal footing with Doru.

“Vietnamese men want us to be traditional, clean the house, cook, take care of the kids,” she says in Vietnamese. On the other hand, if she washes clothes, Doru dries them. If she cooks, he washes dishes. Not that she likes to cook.

She writes off Vietnamese men as selfish and jealous, but Vietnamese women own up to their spars with the green-eyed monster, too. Chalk it up to a society that leaves little room for friendships with the other sex, particularly after marriage.

Adam, 33, and Nhien, 27, have trouble Sonia Watson and Nguyen Hung

28 asialife HCMC

finding middle ground here. They’re butterflies in a social scene ripe for jealousy because they like to DJ at clubs. Across from the altar in their parlour at home is a corner turntable.

She sees less nightlife now their son Lucajay is in the picture, while Adam continues to work, which he says requires him to be, in a word, friendly. Still, Adam tries to curb the flirting, and Nhien tries to overlook his habit of calling people ‘darling’ and ‘love’.

“Women always want to be number one,” she says. “If he just hugs anybody, I feel like I’m the same as them, I’m nothing special.”

Sonia doesn’t worry so much about jealousy or infidelity. Friends had warned her of those problems among Vietnamese men, who they said drank, expected to be waited on, and hit their wives. Those formed an image that Sonia says turned her white girlfriends off from Asians. It doesn’t help that Asian males defy a somewhat western construct that they must be bigger and taller than females (Sonia notes that she’s taller than Hung). If dating sites are any indication, Asian men are some of the least successful pursuers, according to a 2009 study published in Social Science Research. Asian women ranked among the most sought-after.

But Sonia has been attracted to Asian men most her life, while she considers herself nothing like traditional Asian women.

“I complain a lot,” she says, before turning to her husband in the living room of their District 7 apartment. “Your life would be easier with a Vietnamese wife.”

He considers. “You make me think about it.”

“Admit it, you know it’s true,” she says.

“You’d live with your parents, you’d come home and everything would be done.”

Hung turns back to the interview, joking, “She wants me to get a Vietnamese wife.”

Bringing up baby As couples go about welding their two worlds, no issue complicates the process more than the question of children. Hien and Arnaud want to conceive this month, while Andrea and Doru each need some convincing from their wives.

Those with children must then decide on a bevy of compromises. Will they keep the newborn inside the house until the first-month celebration? What will they feed the baby?

For education, will they enroll in a Vietnamese school, pay five figures for an international program, or move to the foreign spouse’s home country?

Despite the challenges, parents say having children has smoothed the welding process.

At first, Nhien earned her mother and father’s disapproval by drinking and going out late with Adam.

“But they’re happier now that I settled down and have a stable family,” she says.

For Hung and Sonia, 2-year-old Tam has

made all the difference. When she became pregnant, they got not a single 'congratulations' from Hung’s parents, who harbored something verging on contempt for her.

Over the months, some of the animosity subsided and his mother even began to smile.

“The bigger I got, the more they realised, this is really happening,” Sonia says, before her son interrupts to ask for an explanation.

He is holding a book, pointing to a picture of milk.

The day he was born, Tam’s paternal grandparents transformed completely. They

spent the day at the hospital, tending to Sonia and cradling their hours-old grandson. It was as if they had always gotten along, and they never looked back.

While selecting a name, Sonia and Hung considered Tam, which means 'heart' when topped with a hat-shaped accent marker. But her mother observed that in Scotland, where she grew up, the name also means 'Tom'. So they opted to forgo the marker, leaving their son with a Vietnamese heart, and a western one, too.

Doru Tudose and Nguyen Han

asialife HCMC 29

Tracking Down Disaster In the closing days of the war in Vietnam an audacious plan was hatched to fly thousands of Vietnamese orphans out of the country. The first of those flights ended in disaster, killing more than 150 people. Almost four decades later, Brett Davis accompanies a survivor of that fateful flight on a search for the scene of his brush with death.

It’s an unusually clear earlyAugust afternoon and we are standing in the middle of a small cluster of rice paddies in Ho Chi Minh City's District 12. It is only a kilometre or two from the main road but the landscape quickly takes on a semi-rural feel, dotted by low-set houses with small front gardens.

The directions were not exact; we had a rough idea and then started asking around once in the vicinity. Pulling out the photographs we were given, there is no doubt we have found the spot. This is where the first of the Operation Babylift flights came to a shuddering halt, crash landing shortly after take-off in April 1975.

I’ve come along on the day’s search with Landon Carnie, who with his twin sister was 30 asialife HCMC

among the fortunate who survived that day. They were both thought to have perished.

Yet the two were found more than a day later in a nearby field, unharmed and reportedly clinging to each other.

While he says he has often thought about visiting the site, Carnie only became aware of the general location of the crash recently. “I was interviewed a few months ago by a reporter from Al Jazeera, and she was on one of the later Babylift flights and she told me about the location,” he says.

There are 173 other survivors. Another 153 people, including government officials, air force crew, nurses, civilians and 76 children were killed. Yet there is little to mark the location of such a significant event — just an old bowl and vase

atop a cracked bit of concrete, nestled between two rice paddies hidden by the tall grass.

The crash In the dying days of the war in Vietnam, then US President

The only marker of the resting place of the plane's front section

Photos by Brett Davis

Gerald Ford gave the order to commence an operation to help thousands of orphans evacuate the country. Between 4 and 26 April, some 3,000 children were relocated to the United States as well as Australia, Canada and France.

The first of these flights took off from Saigon’s Tan Son Nhat airfield around 4pm. A quarter of an hour later, about 24 kilometres off the coast from the fishing village of Vung Tau, the Lockheed C-5 Galaxy carrying the human cargo suffered a catastrophic failure. The rear cargo doors blew out, causing an explosive decompression and severely damaging the aircraft’s control systems.

With extraordinary skill the pilots of the stricken aircraft managed to turn the plane around and get it back in sight of the runway in Saigon. But at about 4.45pm the Galaxy hit the ground in rice fields, miraculously bouncing again to allow it to clear a reach of the Saigon River, before smashing into a dyke and breaking into pieces.

The area at the time was farmland and the crash site was more than a kilometre from the nearest road so firefighters could not reach the burning wreckage. The first rescuers had to be choppered in.

On learning it would be up to 11 days before the surviving children could be airlifted out of the war-torn country, American business man Robert Macauley mortgaged his house to charter a Boeing 747 to get the children out.

Back at the site As we walk back out of the fields to the road where our

taxi is waiting, a couple of local residents are talking animatedly with other members of our party. One woman, whom I would guess to be in her 60s — although she declined to give her name or age — tells us there’s another site nearby where the middle part of the fuselage came to rest. We are astounded when she adds that the single remaining piece of the aircraft is still there. Everyone piles into the cab as the woman hops onto the back of a motorbike and we head back down the road.

She later tells me she and her husband were living in the same place back in 1975. They remember hearing a tremendously loud noise. They ran out of their house and were “scared” by the site of burning wreckage and bodies strewn across the landscape.

Heading roughly due east, we turn on to one road and then another, before taking a right on a rutted dirt track just wide enough for the car to pass. Tall trees line the path and the houses are a little closer together than before, but the shade at least provides some respite from the sun. After bumping along for about a kilometre we stop at a typicallooking countryside house set at the back of a wide courtyard.

It takes a moment to realise where to look, or even what exactly we are looking for. But there it is. Tucked just inside the front gate of the property is a little altar divided into halves, top and bottom. The top chamber of the small concrete structure contains a flower and a small bowl, and underneath, protruding from the earth about 30 centimetres, is the last

An eyewitness to the crash

Landon Carnie searching for the 'Operation Babylift' crash site

asialife HCMC 31

It takes a moment to realise where to look, or even what exactly we are looking for. But there it is.

mottled-grey piece of Lockheed C-5A Galaxy number 68-0218.

The owner of the house initially is not too pleased to see us. Despite our excitement at finding this artefact from Operation Babylift, we apparently are not the first to make the trek to his front door. It is not long though before Mr Dang, who says he is a year shy of 50, warms to us once he understands the reason for our interest. He tells us his family moved to the area when he was a boy and built the house he currently lives in. At that time, he says, there was still much of the wreckage to be found. He also related stories about people gathering clothing and even jewellery from around the crash site.

I wonder why there is still one piece of the aircraft remaining and an altar built around it. Apparently, like an iceberg, only a small portion is visible and Mr Dang estimates the piece of metal extends perhaps two metres below ground. It was simply too large to dig away so life continued on around it.

From somewhere cans of 333 are produced and we enjoy a beer and amiable conversation.

Out of a clear blue sky commercial airliners regularly descend on their final approach to the airport only a few miles away. It is a reminder of how close that flight in 1975 came to making it to safety.

Carnie is uncharacteristically quiet, and seems content to take things in while others do the talking. I ask how he is feeling now we have found the crash site, and even the 32 asialife HCMC

remaining piece of the plane.

“I can't fully grasp it at the moment,” he says. “But I’ll let it sit for a while as I digest everything that has happened.”

He says he is maybe a little disappointed there was not more tangible evidence of what had occurred. “I also realise why there wouldn’t be, it is not the story of the Vietnamese living here.”

When I met Carnie at his apartment at the beginning of the day, before we set out on our search, I was interested to know if he felt in any way special because of what he had been through, the very fact he was alive.

He tells me it is difficult to say because he has no recollection of the events of that day, being only 18 months old at the time. “But it was always something I kind of knew, even though I don’t remember when or how I was told,” he says.

It is understandable that it would take some time to process everything he thought or felt on the day of our expedition, so I get in touch a few weeks later to ask how he is feeling about it now.

“I think I feel more at peace about one small bit of my life and experience of coming to America,” he tells me. “I think about the sacrifices that were made to get me and many others to countries which would provide us with great opportunities. Mainly, I think you have to live life as you want to, not how you are expected to, and just try to make others’ lives better and show compassion.”

The last remaining piece of the aircraft

Mr Dang, on whose property the makeshift shrine is located

Tangled Hierarchy Here are the rules for when to use the terms of endearment anh, chi and em — and here is when to break the rules. By Lien Hoang.

Photo by Rosa Chung.

At their most basic, anh and chi mean older brother and sister, respectively. But as anyone knows after spending enough time with them, Vietnamese people really use the words for any moderately older person.

There are so many exceptions in this social hierarchy, though, that I find myself in a sort of Mobius strip.

Let me explain. I defer to my former roommate as chi because she’s older. She defers to my cousin as anh because he’s a man. And he defers to me as chi because my mom is older than his dad. It’s like each of us is rock, paper or scissors.

And what makes the loop stranger still: I’m eight years younger than my cousin. In other words, he is older but calls me chi.

The example paints two rules that defy age. First, the pecking order of cousins depends not on

their age, but on the age of their parents. So it’s pretty common for an elder cousin to treat a younger one as the superior.

In western countries, if you’ve had an uncle who is your age or younger, you get a sense of how awkward that feels.

It’s similar for Vietnamese in-laws. If you marry a man, for example, you must call his older sister chi, even if you’re older than she is. Your age doesn’t matter; you have to follow the rules that your spouse does.

The second rule of thumb in my example above is that women tend to address men as anh even if the men are younger and definitely if they’re dating or married. It’s something of a patriarchal holdover despite an increasingly gender-equal society.

Around my old neighbourhood in District 12, that first rule made for an odd couple

of weeks when I moved back to Ho Chi Minh City. All of my cousin’s friends have a decade on me but referred to me as chi simply because my cousin did.

Some still do.

I reciprocated by calling them em, a term of endearment familiar to many an expat at many a downtown restaurant.

Again, regardless of age, servers pleasantly greet guests as anh and chi, so foreigners have mastered asking for the check, “Em oi, tinh tien.”

In the context of the service industry, one could translate anh and chi as ‘sir’ and ‘madam’, respectively. But the English versions are limited to polite exchanges, whereas the Vietnamese titles somehow convey affection and courtesy simultaneously. What makes the difference is em. Alone, anh and chi denote Confucian respect for elders and other

superiors. But em, which has no satisfying English equivalent, creates a relationship, a role for the lower-ranked because it conjures up the intimacy of sister and brother. Without ever learning each other’s names, two people can establish an instant connection. (For better or worse, this also allows me to get by without remembering people’s names.)

Anh, chi and em also pose much more delightful alternatives to the dry personal pronouns toi (I) and ban (you) that foreigners first learn in a beginning Vietnamese class.

Instead of a stuffy thank you (“Toi cam on ban”) people inch a little closer by saying, “Em cam on chi,” for instance. Try it out.

Of course, all this applies to people in roughly the same generation. The titles designating older people (co, chu, ong, bac, etc.) are a whole other story. asialife HCMC 33

34 asialife HCMC

Master of a Dying Art In today’s age of digital photography, the craft of personal portrait painting is fading fast. Tu Hoa Loi is one of the few remaining practitioners in Ho Chi Minh City. By Michael Tatarski. Photos by Alex McMillan.

Photography has, in many ways, become a medium of the masses. Cameras are now built in to nearly every cell phone, and many of them take fairly high-quality snapshots. As a result the once prolific art of personal portrait painting, a craft with one foot in the world of photography and the other in the art world, has nearly slipped into oblivion. Tu Hoa Loi is trying to prevent it from disappearing completely.

Loi realised he had a skill for painting around the age of 11, but his parents forced him to study medicine when he entered university. After one year he decided he had had enough and enrolled in the Hanoi Fine Arts University so he could pursue his true passion.

After graduating in 1959 he worked for the Central Circus Federation, painting advertisements as the troupe toured northern Vietnam. Eventually he grew tired of moving around so much and decided to open his own personal portrait painting shop in Hanoi’s Old Quarter at a time when the art form was venerated. But after running his shop for a decade Loi noticed his health was declining. His sister convinced him to move to Saigon for the weather, and 21 years ago he made the move south.

Loi has been working at a small shop in District 10 ever since. He sits on the sidewalk with an easel and his equipment and paints every weekday. He maintains steady focus

and appears to completely block out the din of the traffic on busy Dien Bien Phu and the roaring of circular saws in the shop next door. The genteel 76-year-old has never smoked and doesn’t drink alcohol. Loi says since his work requires sharp eyes and concentration he doesn’t do anything that would hurt his ability to paint.

Loi’s talent is prodigious, as evidenced by the incredibly life-like black and white por-

ful careers in Hanoi, painting is his life.

Somewhat surprisingly, given the proliferation of computers and digital technology, Loi still has plenty of customers. He says the majority are people who want portraits of their parents or grandparents who lived before cameras were widely available in Vietnam. Some people bring damaged photographs to him, hoping he can recreate the image in a way that digital

traits on display in front of his shop. Understandably, though, he is worried about the future of personal portrait painting.

“Young people don’t have the patience to do this anymore,” he says.

Despite the bleak future facing his profession, Loi says he has no intention of slowing down. As a widower who has never remarried and with his three children enjoying success-

restoration cannot. Sometimes Loi can base his paintings off of an older, faded portrait, but occasionally he has nothing to go on but descriptions of facial features from relatives.

He recalled one story in which a high-ranking, 90-yearold military official from Cu Chi arrived out of the blue and described his father, who had died four decades earlier. Loi asked about his eyes, nose and mouth

then worked at his easel for four hours. When he presented the finished painting to the official, the man wept. “He was amazed at how much it looked like his father, and the fact that he was crying really moved me,” Loi says.

It takes an average of three to four hours for him to complete a painting, though larger pictures can take up to six. And the work seems to suit him. With a razor-sharp mind and shock of black hair that would make men 20 years younger envious, he constantly interupted to add more anecdotes and thoughts on his craft.

When asked about the possibility of retirement Loi laughs and says, “I have never even thought about that, since this is my happiness.” He says his children worry about him because he lives alone and is reaching an age when most people start to rely on their families. But his only response to their concern is, “I am stronger than them [others his age].”

In this digital age, Loi is a stark reminder of the analog past. His business cards are hand-written, and there isn’t a single electronic device in his work area. Even though he is part of a dying craft, his passion burns stronger than ever. He has mastered personal portrait painting, and as Saigon continues to change around him it seems that his little spot on Dien Bien Phu will remain a testament to a once-prized medium. asialife HCMC 35

36 asialife HCMC

BREAKING GROUND As Loreto prepares to celebrate its 15th year in Vietnam in October, Chris Mueller speaks with the face behind the charity about what it has accomplished and what’s in store. Photos by Fred Wissink.

Sister Trish Franklin is already well-known in the expat community, especially among Carlton Football Club supporters. The 61-year-old Australian has been living in Vietnam for 18 years, 15 of them leading the Loreto Vietnam-Australia Project. In the process, she has become the face of the charity, helping more than 25,000 disabled and disadvantaged children throughout Vietnam.

While the charity previously focused on helping disabled children, Trish has taken Loreto further into the remote areas of Vietnam.

This new direction began at the end of 2010 after receiving requests for support in Phu Yen province along the south central coast, as well as another school in Ca Mau, the southern-most province in Vietnam.

These newest projects are meant to not only target the disabled, but bring much-needed kindergartens and schools to areas that have few. Despite the large demand for a kindergarten in the Phu Yen community, there was only room for 30 students, all 5 years old.

“When we arrived there was only a small stone house with no toilets, running water or resources,” Trish says. “The teacher had to carry buckets of water to the classroom.”

Now that the kindergarten in Phu Yen is finished, complete with a kitchen, eating area and playground, more than 250 students attend. Many villagers

passing by describe the school as “their town’s palace”, she says.

Soon after construction in Phu Yen began, Trish was walking along a small road, when she came across a young girl with cerebral palsy, a disability she commonly works with in Vietnam. This little girl, she says, brought her full-circle.

“It’s like being on a journey,” she says. “Is that destiny? Is that meant to be? I think that was destiny.”

Trish says her faith is important to her but only uses it as personal guidance and doesn’t let her Catholic beliefs dictate the direction of her organisation.

She first joined the Loreto Sisters in 1970, before the order sent her to Thailand to work on refugee camps in 1985. It was there that she first started working with Vietnamese children,

which led her to move to Vietnam in 1995, when she founded the Vietnam branch of Loreto.

Throughout Loreto’s 15 years in the country, it has built primary schools, kindergartens and other educational facilities, working primarily with children with disabilities. In Vietnam there is still a stigma on those with disabilities, leaving many families to keep the children in the house out of shame.

Even among volunteers, which number in the hundreds, Trish says it is difficult at first for them to feel comfortable around the kids.

“Some of the volunteers think the kids are dangerous at first,” she says.

Trish says of all the projects they have done, the computer room they built for blind children in District 10 stands out the most. Another was a computer room they built next to a school

in Nha Be, on the outskirts of Ho Chi Minh City, which opened in March.

“The kids didn’t even know how to pull out the keyboards,” she says. “I hate the things [computers], but there is no way any child in the world can be successful without them.”

One of the main reasons Loreto has been so successful, compared to many other international NGOs, is its ability and willingness to work with local governments and convince them to contribute funding. This forces the governments to take responsibility for the projects and allows them to be successful long after Loreto leaves. “We get them to walk beside us,” she says.

But that may soon change as Trish prepares to leave the organisation. Although her departure will not happen anytime soon — she says in the next three to five years — she is planning for it. “I’m not going to be here forever,” she says, adding that she will not leave Vietnam.

Right now she has an architect and three dedicated staff members, all of whom are Vietnamese. Trish says they are really the ones that make Loreto run and could continue to do so if she left. “The are passionate,” she says. “They are serving their own people."

All of the Loreto staff say they couldn’t imagine the organisation without Trish, but if she does leave, they say they’d continue her legacy. asialife HCMC 37

Photos by Claire Jowell

Desperate to get away from the backpacker scene on a trip across the border to Cambodia, Claire Jowell finds some peaceful bliss on Koh Rong Island.

For pearly white beaches and warm calm seas, most travellers seem to flock to Thailand or to Vietnam’s Phu Quoc island, yet little is ever mentioned about Cambodia’s scatter of tropical islands. On a recent trip to Angkor Wat I decided I needed some serious beach time and stumbled across one of Cambodia’s best-kept secrets (for now).

Most of those who have been based in Saigon a while, us self-proclaimed ‘locals’, prefer to disassociate ourselves from the scruffy, bangle-laden backpackers on Pham Ngu Lao Street — although many of us were once avid participants of this group (and have several pairs of Thai pants in the back of the wardrobe). When sitting at one of my favourite cheap and cheerfuls on Bui Vien Street I make a concerted effort not to be mistaken as a tourist. I pull out all the Vietnamese gestures and expressions I know and nod and smile with authority in the direction of the Aussies on my left, discussing which countries they’ve ‘done’ (a term I well and truly hate). But the truth is, as soon as I clambered onto the early bus from Bui

Vien to Phnom Penh I reverted to my traveller ‘comfortable pants-beats-sophistication’ attitude.

I ended up ‘doing’ Cambodia. With all good intentions of venturing off the common tourist track, I initially ended up following it exactly, as so often happens. As we arrived down south, however, having been very unimpressed with Sihanoukvilles’s happenings, I finally managed to stray away from the gappies and their neon tops and achieve a little more than just ‘doing’ the south. We booked a boat with The Dive Shop to Koh Rong, knowing little about the island apart from the fact it had a dive shop and was three hours away. At 10am the next day we approached the landmass, and it was breathtaking. A pristine stretch of beach lay ahead of us only interrupted by a hammock or two, a handful of foreigners, and a few carefree children enjoying the soft sand. Eager to get involved in the frolicking, we dumped our bags at the nearest (and cheapest) room and hit the beach.

Koh Rong is the largest of Cambodia’s islands in the Gulf

of Thailand. With 43 kilometres of beaches, it is largely uninhabited other than four tiny villages and a scatter of guesthouses and bungalows, mostly foreign-owned. Apart from long, unspoiled beaches and a few small wooden structures the island is a wild and fantastic jungle. There is no electricity and, even on the main beach where we stayed, very few sounds interrupted our day, except the children playing in the water and the water buffalo carting loads of timber along the beach. The guesthouses turn their generators on for a few hours each evening and the beach is lit up by scattered lights marking small gatherings of people drinking cocktails or Angkor beers and eating fresh barbecued seafood at the two main restaurant bars. Zero pretence, and zero pressure.

One might even fancy a wallow with the phosphorescent plankton that shimmers around you when you swim in the ocean at night after devouring a barbecued crab.

Our few days there consisted primarily of reading, eating and drinking. We did, however, take ourselves off on a jungle

exploration and walked across the island to an even longer stretch of sand, where there was not a soul in sight. The bungalows on that side of the mountain are closed in low season. It was one of those days where no conversation was needed, and all communication between my friend and me consisted of a few “wows” and photographs.

There are currently no roads on the island, although one is in the process of being built.

And like the age-old story in Asia, this situation shall be short-lived, as a 99-year lease was granted to a development group to transform the island into a luxury resort destination.

The island will be developed over 20 years and phase one will include two spa resorts, a beach club, five restaurants and a lagoon, equipped with an airport, port roads, power, water and telecommunications.

So the bottom line is Koh Rong is currently a slice of raw paradise, but go now. Soon it is sure to be on the hot and heavy tourist route with bars booming cheesy pop songs. So I ‘did’ Koh Rong before they ‘did’ and it was magnificent.

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Super Singapore Take a campy ride through the island country’s not-so-wild side, anchored by mega-trees that take mechanical efficiency to Mother Nature. By Lien Hoang.

Photo courtesy of Gardens by the Bay. How do you create green space on a crowded island city-state with a booming population?

First, add more island. Then, as with everything else in the city, build skyward.

This summer, Singapore opened to the public its socalled ‘Supertree Grove’, a collection of 18 artificial trees that stretch as high as 50 metres into the air.

The faux forest in the Gardens by the Bay grows on reclaimed land. Government officials literally and controver40 asialife HCMC

sially have enlarged the island by dumping cubic metres of sand, by the billions, into its adjacent waters.

With all these new hectares, Singapore built an airport, state-sponsored housing, and more recently, the larger-thanlife woods.

The Supertree Grove is part of a broader urban plan on the island’s southern tip. Think of the facelift in Marina Bay as official attempts to make Singapore both more liveable to young professionals and more

appealing to tourists.

To explore this upgraded playground, the Supertrees are a good place to start. Planners have dubbed them vertical gardens, which support ferns, orchids, and 200 other species on concrete trunks. Forming patterns of cool colours on some trees and warm colours on others, the plants were chosen because they grow well vertically and suit the local climate yet are rare in Singapore, many coming from Latin America.

With more than 150,000 plants,

the fake trees help circulate air, collect rainwater and harness solar energy.

That alternative electricity comes in handy at night, when the 18 giants awake in a sound and light show that brings out an even more colourful side to all the flowers and greenery seen during the day. Take in the music, smell the mysterious scent of sandalwood, and stroll along the network of paths and bridges that crisscross the park’s man-made ponds (which were added to the land, which was added to the ocean).

The oversized forest tells thoughtful visitors a lot about how far Singapore has come and where it is headed. In its history, the island nation has added more than 100 square kilometres of land, and the Gardens by the Bay, sprouted on some of that reclaimed land,

is similarly an outcome of such authoritarian planning. To lure travellers, officials had to devise a vice-free attraction and think outside the box of the excesses of nightlife. Singapore’s rigid politics and mechanical efficiency do not exactly make for a hotbed of arts and creativity.

That should, therefore, help one appreciate that the unique gardens of 18 trees, which are spectacular if campy in a way particular to Singapore, are no small product of the imagination.

The formal planning that went into the Grove targets another group: locals, especially working professionals.

As the population has roughly doubled over the course of three decades, Singapore has grappled openly with curating a sustainable home to keep the talent. One result has been the

Bay Central Garden, the Bay East Garden, and the Bay South Garden, where most of the Supertrees live. With the gardens, Singapore strives for its own Central Park or Hyde Park to give urbanites an oasis.

Aside from green goals, a minor theme of the Marina Bay remodel is kitsch and grandeur that must function in the framework of safe politics. On the reclaimed land, the powers that be are redrawing the downtown skyline of Singapore with a mammoth ferris wheel that dwarfs the Supertrees, as well as a massive casino of three towers connected by a boat-shaped top. Don’t worry about the vice — one needs a foreign passport to enter the gambling halls, so Singaporeans themselves stay clean. But they, and anyone who eschews foolish betting, still can enjoy the

new Marina Bay Sands casino and resort by climbing to the rooftop bar. In a part of the city where tall is the name of the game, there’s no shortage of great views from high-rises. But at this hotel bar, even against the dance music, one can find quiet escapes to behold the island. Look down on a waterfront with a footbridge and a floating sports field-turnedtheatre.

In the evening, the casino beams out its own light show from the three skyscrapers, but for a better production, head down to the nearby Waterfront Promenade. In regular, nightly sound and light shows, shooting jets of water, bad 90s music, bubbles, and (best of all) video clips projected onto the spraying water will serve up about as much camp as you can handle. asialife HCMC 41

Beat the Heat The day was beastly hot, not long ago. I was stumbling through the narrow alleyways of ‘the Pham’, keeping track of all the continuous changes and deciding if they were good or bad. It’s part of my job as a self-appointed arbiter of taste. I was sweating bullets and much in need of blessed relief. Now if you’ve lived long anywhere in the tropics you know that there is a great and universal constant that offers such relief.

It’s more pleasant than shade and cheaper than air-con. It’s more reliable than rain and you don’t need an umbrella, though sometimes you get one with it.

I’m talking about the venerable and curiously refreshing gin and tonic.

I was navigating the very narrow alley where Le Pub’s back door used to offer entry and egress until they padlocked it to keep passers-by from traipsing through the kitchen.

Six steps south of the forbidden portal lay the inviting Bread and Butter bar and its upscale upstairs café. I staggered in and heaved myself up a tall stool at the end of the bar. Behind said bar stood Dan Carey, owneroperator and sympathetic ear to overheated wayfarers.

He looked at me through his Maryland-born rock-n-roll eyes and already knew my need.

But I voiced it anyway. “G and T,” says I. “Tall.” Dan deftly filled a tall, slender glass with shimmering ice and squeezed a wedge worth of tangy lime juice over it. He poured an honest measure of honest gin, a thing we still can’t always count on in this town. He topped it off with pleasingly bitter tonic water and set the already sweating glass before me. Not only was I about to imbibe liquid comfort, but in simply contemplating this crys42 asialife HCMC

tal clear column of restoration I was imbibing a tradition of tropical life that goes back more than 150 years.

To be sure the G and T isn’t limited to the tropics. Indeed, according to the novel Restaurant at the End of the Universe, it’s all over the cosmos. But it is a child of the tropics, and it has been a mainstay of elbowbenders in Saigon for generations. Back in the early 1990s it was the only mixed drink I could find here. Everything else alcoholic was either warm beer or straight whisky. So whence came this perfect balance of taste, aroma and ability to slake a tropic thirst? We start in India. There the army of the British East India Company was

be a treatment for such aches and pains as gout and lumbago.

He concocted it by flavouring neutral grain spirits with botanical essences such as coriander, cassia, and anise. But the most important is juniper berry (Juniperus communis), and all gins to this day must use it as the chief essence. It’s what gives gin its distinctive, almost pinelike, aroma. In Dutch, juniper is ‘jenever’. Hence, the English ‘gin’. And of course while there are a few styles of gin, the most popular today is London Dry. The variety of lime most often used in our drink is the Citrus aurantifolia, often known as ‘bartender’s lime’. And while we can justly thank the Tommies (for some reason they

“Not only was I about to imbibe liquid comfort, but in simply contemplating this crystal clear column of restoration I was imbibing a tradition of tropical life that goes back over 150 years.” battling malaria. At the time, the only remedy for the dread disease was quinine, an extract of the bark of the cinchona tree (Cinchona officinalis), native to the Andean region of South America. It is quinine that gives your tonic water its distinctive bitter flavour. However, as the Brits soon learned, in medicinal quantities the stuff is too bitter to swallow by itself. So the wise British sawbones added a goodly slug of London Dry to make the medicine go down.

And this begs the question: what exactly is gin? It was invented by Dr Franciscus Sylvius of Amsterdam about 400 years ago. He meant it to

don’t like the term Limey) for our basic cocktail, it is thought that the Yanks perfected it with ‘ice and slice’. Evidence for this is displayed in any proper pub in the UK. Order gin and tonic and that’s all you get: tonic and gin. But don’t worry, here in Saigon people know how to do it right. And there is one more little improvement on the tropical thirst quencher that we can thank a Yank for. Step into Dan’s bar in Bread and Butter. Belly up or take a seat. Then tell Dan you would like a trip to London.

He’ll set you up with a good and proper G and T and a Huda beer back. It just keeps getting better. Cheers!

May Nestled inside a typical Vietnamese alley off the canal running between District 1 and Binh Thanh, May occupies a spacious old house that has been redecorated to evoke the French colonial era. Dark wood flooring and furniture, plus homages to decades past fill three floors including a rooftop terrace. There is also an open kitchen so customers can watch as their meal is prepared.

Named after the Vietnamese word for ‘cloud’, May is run

by Thai To Tho, the FrenchVietnamese woman who was the brain behind Cuc Gach Quan when it first opened. The menu is made up of recipes

Traditional, natural Vietnamese food served up in a gorgeous old mansion. By Michael Tatarski. Photos by Fred Wissink.

perfected by Tho’s Vietnamese father, who travelled back to Vietnam from France to train the cooks. The food is meant to be as natural as possible, and no MSG is used in their dishes.

The menu features a number of traditional Vietnamese dishes including salads, meat options and seafood. Prices are reasonable, especially considering the quality of the ingredients, with most items costing between VND 60,000 and VND 150,000. The drinks menu offers vintages from around the world plus an enticing selectoin of cocktails.

We start off with the Sunday fried spring rolls (VND 60,000),

a family specialty that includes rice paper fried in beer and vinegar. The rolls felt lighter and less greasy than most of their fried counterparts, and their unconventional preparation gave them a unique flavour.

Next up was the Sunday salad (VND 80,000), a pile of lettuce, watercress, tomatoes, onions and stir-fried beef. The portion was big enough for two and was a refreshing dish on a hot afternoon. We also tried the zucchini flowers stir-fried with garlic (VND 60,000), which tasted like they came straight from the garden.

Finally, we went for the

pink duck breast with ginger nuoc mam (VND 200,000). The sizeable portion was perfectly cooked and wonderfully tender. The ginger sauce also gave the dish a unique kick. For a big fan of duck, this was the highlight of an already excellent meal.

May strives to create natural, fresh, and healthy food, and you can taste this effort in the dishes. With its great prices, beautiful interior and fantastic food, May is a must-try.

3/5 Hoang Sa, Da Kao Ward, D1.

08 39 10 12 77 10am – 1am, seven days. Last table seated at 11pm. asialife HCMC 43

DeciBel DeciBel, a versatile eatery on the edge of District 1, is the type of place one would expect to see somewhere like Brooklyn, not Saigon. The owners have created a sort of collective of creative people, with indie films screened every Wednesday night, live music, and monthly exhibitions of photography and graphic design. Alternative music from around the world drifts out of the speaker system while hip young patrons gaze at their iPads.

The restaurant’s first floor features a small stage and simple seating, while the upstairs is decked out in plush sofas to create more of a lounge feel.

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A simple menu of well-executed dishes in a unique and hip setting.

By Michael Tatarski. Photos by Nam Quan.

The bar features an impressive array of cocktails crafted by an international bartender, and from 5pm to 8pm every day they cost just VND 60,000.

The menu includes tapas, salads, pasta and western mains such as burgers and steak.

Nearly everything costs under VND 150,000. These dishes aren’t groundbreaking, but they are very well-executed, and more exotic selections will be available in the coming months.

Our first dish is an appetizer of Croquettas (VND 70,000), fried potatoes stuffed with chicken and béchamel. They manage to be the right combination of fluffy on the inside, but crispy on the outside and

are a good, light way to start the meal.

The 200-gram Australian steak (VND 200,000) served with a side of mashed potatoes and gravy is next. The steak is full of flavour and cooked to medium-rare perfection, and the potatoes perform admirably as well.

Finally, we decide to make this a large meal and go for the chicken parmesan (VND 120,000) along with a side of wedge fries. A huge slab of chicken slathered with mozzarella cheese and tomato sauce shows up and it can easily be split between two people.

DeciBel’s food isn’t quite what one would expect from a

restaurant with such creative ambition, but that isn’t a criticism. The cooks aren’t trying to be needlessly fancy or cute, and the menu is very appealing as a result. The dishes are good and reasonably priced.

Of course deciBel isn’t just about food, and its openness to film, photography and other creative outlets means it is more than just a restaurant. That being said, eating here is well worth your time, particularly if you’re in the mood for some comfort food.

79/2/5 Phan Ke Binh, Da Kao Ward, D1 Ph: 08 62 71 01 15 7am-12am seven days

Bahdja This charming North African restaurant can be found tucked away in the centre of town and is lovingly run by the Algerian owner, Ahmed, and his wife, Anna. The décor is simple yet stylish, with locally-made wooden carvings that replicate an Algerian setting, coupled with relics from Ahmed’s hometown.

The couple was extremely hospitable, quickly and ceremoniously pouring us tea from an ornate set. All their dishes are cooked as they are ordered and are made with the highest-quality ingredients, which Ahmed and Anna say took a long time to search out. Their homemade bread

A District 1 restaurant serving authentic and high-quality North African cuisine. By Claire Jowell. Photos by Fred Wissink.

is baked fresh every morning and is served as an entrée with an aubergine pate, harissa paste and pickled gherkins and chillis (all prepared by Ahmed).

The menu consists of five starters, three different couscous dishes and two tajines.

The mains are ideal for sharing, as is the tradition in Algeria, and larger groups can enjoy a taste of all the dishes. To start with we were served a platter of all five of their starters: tomato paprika salad, chicken salad, tuna bourek, minced bourek, and prawn salad. All were delicious, but special mention has to go to the fresh and flavourful grilled tomato paprika salad, which comes

in a parmesan basket (VND 90,000). The minced beef bourek (VND 130,000) was also flawlessly spiced and wrapped in a light, crispy pastry. Next we were given the slowcooked beef, apple and prune tajine (VND 250,000), which is cooked for four hours until the imported beef is tender. The sweetness of the soft fruits was offset well by the rich tomato and onion sauce, and the meal comes with their homemade bread to soak up the sauce.

Finally we tried the fine, golden couscous with an assortment of meats, including merguez (paprika-spiced sausage), chicken, and succulent lamb chops (ranging from

VND 220,000 to VND 390,000, depending on the choice of meat). Their couscous comes Algerian-style, which means a thick tomato-based vegetable stew is served separate from the couscous, which is served separate from the meat. The combination of flavours was excellent and we finished our meal extremely satisfied. Bahdja is an intimate and charming restaurant ideal for a romantic date, a festive group dinner or a private event.

87-89-91 Ho Trung Mau, D1 Ph: 12 27 63 12 61 Monday to Friday 11.30am to 2pm and 6pm to 11pm, Saturday 6pm to 11pm. asialife HCMC 45

French Connection The owners of a rare District 1 French villa have converted it into a café, preserving its unique architectural heritage. By Chris Mueller.

Photos by Fred Wissink.

Across the street from the aging, yellow walls of a shipyard and colonial-style warehouses lies a building that stands out from new, hastily built developments.

Constructed in the 1930s, this French villa originally was used as bachelor quarters for the French navy, but recently has been converted into a café that aims to take its guests back in time.

The large villa on Ton Duc Thang Street is actually one building. But a wall bisects it to form the offices of a real estate company on one side and the newly-opened MonPERE Café on the other.

Nguyen Duong and his family have made few changes to the building since he received it in 1988 for his service in the Vietnamese navy. From 1994 to 2011, the family rented it to Landis Hicks, an American engineer who worked for an architectural company and whose maintenance helped preserve the villa.

“When we moved in, not much had been done to it over a long period of time,” says Hicks, who still lives and works in Ho Chi Minh City.

“We tried to restore it to its original design.”

Today, that design remains

46 asialife HCMC

almost entirely intact and the owners plan to keep it that way, says Giang, the granddaughter of Duong, who opened the café. Although the walls have been repainted, she says they used the exact same colour from when they moved in. They’ve even retained the original faded, black and white checkered tiles.

Structurally the building is as it would have been in the 1930s. When Hicks moved in, the building was in need of repair, but from what he could tell nothing had been changed from the original floor plan.

The most significant change he made was putting glass in the windows so the villa could be air-conditioned.

Giang says when her family took over the apartment from Hicks she was amazed at what she found. “I had never seen anything like this before,” she says.

Behind clusters of bamboo and a large iron gate, a small terrace with several tables separates the villa from the street. Once inside, the busy honking of traffic gives way to soft jazz emanating from an old phonograph.

Like so many villas of its time, MonPERE has a core room surrounded by a cor-

ridor. In the room, several plush sofas and a number of armchairs are placed around dark wooden tables. The sofa and armchair combination allows for both a laid-back and work-friendly environment.

From a piano at the front of the room, classical music is played every Saturday night.

The corridor also has several tables, chairs and sofas, but offers more privacy. Upstairs has the same layout as the ground floor and is in original condition, but hasn’t been renovated yet. Giang says she plans to turn it into a spa.

Hicks says there used to be several other villas along the same stretch of road, but developers have bought up and leveled them. As the buildings around MonPERE continue to get taller, this café stands as one of the few remaining privately-owned villas in the city, and is something both Giang and Hicks feel should be protected.

“It’s our history,” says Giang. “When new generations want to study Vietnam’s history, there should be places like this for them to see.”

MonPERE Café is located at 5H Ton Duc Thang Street, District 1.

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STREET CHIC 48 asialife HCMC

Left Pleated linen dress embroidered with mother of pearl sequins (VND 1,700,000) Big Gold Bracelet Materials: metal (nickel free) and strass Small Gold Bracelet Materials : metal (nickel free) and strass

Right Flower Hmong embroidered silk-cotton top (VND 1,390,000) Linen circle skirt (VND 1,250,000) Red Elegant GrandPa Necklace (Family Collection) Materials: metal (nickel free), glass and amethyst stones Small Gold Bracelet Materials : metal (nickel free) and strass

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50 asialife HCMC

Left Linen biker jacket and shorts with Thai ethnic lining (VND 2,720,000 and VND 1,210,000) Sleeveless Peter Pan collar cotton top.

(VND 1,180,000) Nefertiti Moonstone Necklace Materials : metal (nickel free) and moonstone Big Gold Bracelet Materials: metal (nickel free) and strass

Right V-neck linen and Lu ethnic minority handwoven cotton shift dress (VND 2,100,000) Kind, Knit and Kiss Necklace or Granny Necklace (Family Collection) Materials: metal (nickel free), porcelain and strass Small Gold Bracelet Materials: metal (nickel free) and strass Photos by Fred Wissink

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Tel: 3936 0360 www.turkishairlines.com Awarded as the Best Airline in Europe offers the brand new Comfort Class to E conomy class: 46inch leg room, personalised entertainment screen and globally awarded cuisine on-board.

listings

hotel & travel AIRLINES

Air Asia 254 De Tham, D1 Tel: 3838 9810 www.airasia.com Asia’s largest low-cost airline operates one daily flight between HCM City-Hanoi, as well as international flights to Bangkok, Phuket, Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur.

Cathay Pacific 72-74 Nguyen Thi Minh Khai, D3 Tel: 3822 3203 www.cathaypacific.com Hong Kong-based airline makes three flights daily to HCM City and two flights daily to Hong Kong’s international airport.

Malaysia Airlines Unit G8 Ground floor, SG Trade Center 37 Ton Duc Thang, D1 Tel: 3824 6663 www.malaysiaairlines.com Offers daily flights from Hanoi and HCM City to Kuala Lumpur, with four economy class fare levels: low, basic, smart and flex.

Turkish Airlines 8th floor, AB Tower 76A Le Lai, D1

escape

Vietnam Airlines Hanoi: 25 Trang Thi, Hoan Kiem Tel: 6270 0200 HCM City: 16th Floor, Sun Wah, 115 Nguyen Hue, D1 Tel: 3832 0320 www.vietnamairlines.com.vn The domestic route map is extensive, with several flights daily between major and less touristed cities throughout Vietnam. Flies internationally throughout Asia and to Paris, Frankfurt, Moscow, Sydney, Melboure, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

CON DAO

Six Senses Con Dao Dat Doc Beach, Con Dao Dist, Ba Ria Tel: 064 3831 222 www.sixsenses.com/SixSensesConDao The first 5 star resort with 50 villas stretch across a mile-long beach, each villas has its own infinity-edge pool facing the ocean and a stunning restaurant.

DALAT

Ana Mandara Villas Resort & Spa Le Lai, Ward 5, Dalat Tel: 063 3555 888 www.anamandara-resort.com Luxury 35-acre resort encompasses 17 restored early 20th-century villas and 65 rooms set in the rural highlands. La Cochinchine Spa offers wide range of treatments. Le Petite Dalat Restaurant serves Vietnamese and fusion cuisine.

Heated swimming pool, art gallery and cooking classes in organic garden.

The Caravelle is offering 50 percent off its published room rates until 30 September, with complimentary unlimited use of Wi-Fi Internet in room and throughout the hotel.

This month guests also can book deluxe rooms with daily buffet breakfast and roundtrip airport transfers starting at VND 4 million per night for two or more nights. For bookings, email: rsvn@caravellehotel.com or call 08 38 23 49 99. The hotel is at 19 Lam Son Square, District 1.

A package focusing on Vietnamese culture at Six Senses hotel comes with a Vietnamese green tea scrub, natural facial and Vietnamese massage. Then head to the cooking class to learn traditional cuisine in a typical market setting, using an original design in a wood burning oven. The hotel also provides an historical tour of the island, daily buffet and a la carte breakfast and airport transfers. Also available are 30 percent discounts for three or more nights, until 31 October, or 10 percent discounts for booking more than 30 days in advance, until 15 October. Info at sixsenses.com/ sixsensescondao.

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Dalat Easy Rider Tours 70 Phan Dinh Phung dalateasyriders@yahoo.com www.dalat-easyrider.com Ride pillion with English-, French- or German-speaking tour guides on motorbike adventures that start in Dalat and snake through mountains, jungles and deltas, lasting anywhere from three to 21 days.

HANOI

Intercontinental Westlake Hanoi 1A Nghi Tam, Tay Ho Tel: 04 6270 8888 www.intercontinental.com Located on the waterfront with contemporary Vietnamese design, restaurants, business services, fitness centre including exercise classes and pool.

Mövenpick Hotel Hanoi 83A Ly Thuong Kiet Tel: 3822 2800 www.moevenpick-hotels.com Conveniently located in the heart of Hanoi’s business district, a 40-minute drive from Noi Bai International Airport and only 5 minutes from the city centre, Mövenpick Hotel Hanoi is the latest five-star hotel in town, tailored to meet the needs of discerning guests and especially corporate travellers.

Sheraton Hotel Hanoi K5 Nghi Tam, 11 Xuan Dieu, Tay Ho Tel: 04 3719 9000 www.starwoodhotels.com “Resort within a city” boasts 299 spacious guest rooms with panoramic views, fitness centre, international restaurant and Hemisphere Vietnamese restaurant.

Sofitel Metropole 15 Ngo Quyen, Hoan Kiem Tel: 04 3826 6919

www.sofitel.com Located downtown. Colonial-style hotel with well-regarded restaurants/bars serving French & Vietnamese cuisine, plus Italian steak house.

HO CHI MINH CITY

Caravelle Hotel 19 Lam Son Square, D1 Tel: 3823 4999 www.caravellehotel.com One of the city’s most prestigious venues. Features a casino, Reflections Restaurant and al fresco 9th-floor Saigon Saigon Bar. Equatorial 242 Tran Binh Trong D5 Tel: 3839 7777 www.equatorial.com/hcm On the intersect of 4 districts, with 333 rooms, Orientica Seafood restaurant and bar, Chit Chat cafe, pool (swim-up bar), gym.

InterContinental Asiana Saigon Corner of Hai Ba Trung & Le Duan, D1 Tel: 3520 9999 saigon@interconti.com www.intercontinental.com/saigon 305 rooms/suites with floor-to-ceiling windows, five restaurants/bars, meeting/ banquet facilities, spa/health club and lounge with panoramic view.

Mövenpick Hotel Saigon 253 Nguyen Van Troi, Phu Nhuan Tel: 3844 9222 www.moevenpick-saigon.com Has 278 well-appointed rooms/suites, five restaurants/bars, meeting/banquet

take flight with travel promotions around the region

Summer Saver

Island Tradition

activities

Honeymoon in Phan Thiet

Set on the secluded and pristine Ke Ga bay, facing a century-old French light house, the Princess d'Annam is the first all-villa luxury boutique resort in Vietnam. The resort style mixes modernist sensibility and post-colonial ambience. With 57 villas, eight swimming pools, two restaurants, and a 1,800-square-metre spa complex, Princess d’Annam has a French management team with personalized attention, including a 24-hour butler service. Those who stay five nights get a free cocktail and head and shoulder massage, for eight nights it’s a body massage. Honeymooners, ask for the bed decoration with flowers, fruit basket, sparkling wine and chocolate upon turn dow. Visit princessannam.com.

Dalat’s Vegetable Fields

Evason Ana Mandara Villas Dalat sits on 35 acres of suburban parkland that forms its own unique compound, an area originally known as the 'Bellevue Quarter', a nod to the rich French influence. Striking views of the surrounding town, countryside and flourishing vegetable fields abound from all areas of the gently sloping hillside property.

Through 31 October, two-night bookings

come with dinner, three nights are charged for two, and four nights are charged for three in addition to dinner. Honeymooners get a free upgrade to the next category, massage, herbal bath, champagne, and other discounts. See anamandara-resort. com.

Stay 3, Pay 2 in Nha Trang

Novotel Nha Trang is charging for just two nights when three consecutive nights are booked, through 31 October. The hotel offers guests in house complimentary use of the sauna, steam bath, swimming pool, gym, Mac computer at the lobby, sun lounge and towel at a private beach.

Contact 058 625 6900 or novotel-nhatrang. com. The hotel is at 50 Tran Phu street, Nha Trang city.

facilities and a shopping arcade as well as a popular e-gaming centre.

Park Hyatt 2 Lam Son Square, D1 Tel: 3824 1234 www.saigon.park.hyatt.com Luxury colonial-style hotel includes 21 suites, lobby lounge with live music, Xuan Spa, pool, gym, international dining at Square One. Windsor Plaza 18 An Duong Vuong, D5 Tel: 3833 6688 services@windsorplazahotel.com www.windsorplazahotel.com Located in a main shopping hub. Three restaurants, modern discotheque, conference centre, shopping centre, supermarket.

activities

Vietnam Vespa Adventures 169 De Tham, D1, Pham Ngu Lao Tel: 3920 3897 www.vietnamvespaadventures.com Offers 3-day trips to Mui Ne, 8-days to Nha Trang or half-day tours of HCMC on classic Vespas.

HOI AN & DANANG

PHAN THIET

Villa Aria Muine 60A Nguyen Dinh Chieu, Mui Ne Tel: 062 3741 660 www.villaariamuine.com Villa Aria Muine is a boutique beach resort in Phan Thiet, Binh Thuan province. Set on a beautiful beachfront in the middle of the Mui Ne strip, the villa combines modern tropical style and French country luxury.

Princess D’Annam Resort and Spa Khu Hon Lan, Tan Thanh, Ham Thuan Nam, Binh Thuan. Tel: 062 3682 222 www.princessannam.com Located on Ke Ga Bay with 57 exclusive villas, eight swimming pools, two restaurants and 1,800 square metres spa complex.

The Sailing Club 24 Nguyen Dinh Chieu, Mui Ne, Phan Thiet Tel: 062 3847 440 www.sailingclubvietnam.com Open bar overlooking the sea, spacious rooms, restaurant, swimming pool and day spa.

Victoria Hoi An Beach Resort & Spa Cua Dai Beach Tel: 0510 3927 040 www.victoriahotels-asia.com Set on its own stretch of beach with 105 rooms spread through a traditional fishing village design of small “streets” and ponds.

Victoria Phan Thiet Resort and Spa Mui Ne Beach Tel: 84 62 3813 000 www.victoriahotels-asia.com Located on a private beach, 60 cosy bungalows, natural spa experiences among other great activities on offer at the resort

HUE

SAPA

Vedana Lagoon Resort & Spa 112 Minh Mang Tel: 054 3830 240 www.vedanaresorts.com Nestled on the shore of a peaceful and serene lagoon, vedana lagoon resort & spa is ideally situated between the two cities well-known as world heritage sites: hue and hoi an. The resort designed with a stylist harmony between the local traditional culture and a modern art concept with 27 villas, bungalows and 2 houseboats.

SCUBA DIVING

Pilgrimage Village Resort & Spa 130 Minh Mang Tel: 054 3885 461 www.pilgrimagevillage.com Boutique resort with hut, bungalow and villa accommodation draws on natural environment and local culture. Features Vedana spa, two restaurants serving Vietnamese & Western food and imported wines and three bar/lounges.

NHA TRANG

Evason Hideaway at Ana Mandara Ninh Van Bay, Ninh Hoa, Khanh Hoa Tel: 058 3728 222 www.sixsenses.com/hideawayanamandara An island hideaway accessible only by boat, 58 private pool villas, international and local restaurants, wedding services, water sports and scuba diving.

Evason Ana Mandara Nha Trang Beachside, Tran Phu, Nha Trang Tel: 058 3522 222 www.sixsenses.com/evasonanamandara Beachside resort set in 26,000 square metres of tropical garden, with 74 guest villas, three restaurants, Six Senses Spa. Mia Resort Nha Trang Bai Dong, Cam Hai Dong, Cam Lam, Khanh Hoa Tel: 58 398 9666 www.mianhatrang.com Ultimate luxury resort with 50 rooms divided into villas and condos, catering by wel-known restaurant Sandals and Mojito's bar.

Victoria Sapa Resort Sapa District, Lao Cai Province Tel: 020 0871 522 www.victoriahotels-asia.com Mountain chalet perched over the village wth cosy but modern guestrooms overlooking the lawn and garden. Ta Van restaurant overlooks Mount Fansipan and Ta Fin bar has a stone hearth fireplace. Connection from Hanoi by private train.

Note: AsiaLIFE only lists dive centres recognized by international dive training programs, such as the Professional Association of Dive Instructors (PADI) and Scuba Schools International (SSI).

We strongly advise against diving with unaccredited dive centres in Vietnam.

Rainbow Divers 55 Nguyen Dang Giai, An Phu, D2 Tel: 3744 6825 www.divevietnam.com Diving tours and career/instructor development offered by Vietnam’s first PADI centre. established in the mid-90s.

Operates dive centres in Nha Trang, Whale Island, Hoi An and Phu Quoc.

VUNG TAU Ho Tram Beach Resort & Spa Ho Tram Village, Xuyen Moc Tel: 06 4378 1525 www.hotramresort.com Located about 45km from Vung Tau in the Phuoc Buu Reserve Forest, Ho Tram Beach Resort & Spa boasts uniquely designed bungalows and villas.

TRAVEL AGENTS

Buffalo Tours Agency HCMC: Tel: 3827 9170 Hanoi: Tel: 04 3828 0702 www.buffalotours.com.vn Exotissimo HCMCinfosgn@exotissimo.com pmh@exotissimo.com HANOI: infohanoi@exotissimo.com www.exotissimo.com

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environment with frequent live music.

Offers Spanish and Cuban fare including paella and a tapas fiesta comprising three plates. Open late daily.

listings

Le Pub 175/ 22 Pham Ngu Lao, D1 www.lepub.org One of Pham Ngu Lao’s favourite watering holes, Le Pub also has a good menu of well-executed pub grub and international favourites. Hearty breakfast is available all day and specials are offered daily.

food & drink BAR RESTAURANTS

Alibi 11 Thai Van Lung, D1 Tel: 3822 3240 Hip without being showy, this versatile venue has a pleasant front porch, stand up bar and comfortable lounge seating with bright, warm décor and great tunes.

Drinks list is extensive and the food menu boasts French-style mains.

Buddha Bar 7 Thao Dien, D2 Tel: 3744 2080 An Phu institution serves up tasty meals and good drinks in a friendly, chilled environment. Plenty of room to relax inside or out, plus a pool table on premise.  Corso Steakhouse & Bar Norfolk Hotel, 117 Le Thanh Ton, D1 Located in the chic Norfolk Hotel Corso Steakhouse & Bar is well known for its steak imported from the US and Australia.

Good destination for both lunch and dinner.

La Habana 6 Cao Ba Quat, D1 Tel: 3829 5180 www.lahabana-saigon.com This charming little place has seating indoors and outdoors, upstairs and downstairs to fit your dining pleasure.Relaxed

feast

Mogambos 50 Pasteur, D1 Tel: 3825 1311 This restaurant has been around since the mid-1990s, which offers an insight into its enduring quality. Specializes in American grain-fed steaks, hamburgers and salads served in a pleasant atmosphere.  Pasha Bar & Restaurant 25 Dong Du, D1 Tel: 08 629 136 77 www.pasha.com.vn Turkish–Mediterranean restaurant located in heart of HCMC serves halal and high quality food with ingredients imported from Turkey, Spain, Singapore, Egypt, New Zealand, Japan and France. Long happy hour half price by glass. Various shisha flavours.

Phatty’s 46-48 Ton That Thiep, D1 Tel: 3821 0705 www.phattysbar.com Jaspa’s Steve Hardy and Ben Winspear’s sports bar has five widescreen TVs, a large drop-down screen and lots of pub grub and beer for fans looking to take in a game or two.

Qing 110 Pasteur, D1 www.qing.com.vn Sophisticated downtown bar just off Le Loi specializes in Asian tapas, Asian/

Park Hyatt Saigon debuted customised set dinner menus in Square One and Opera.

Making it easier for guests to dine without the pressure of having to choose from the à la carte menu, the chefs have crafted coursed menus to present a dining experience full of flavour. To offer the best seasonal ingredients and produce, the menus will be changed monthly with new original creations. Current selections at Square One include Cornichon and truffle mayonnaise, and crispy skinned barramundi fillet with a bisque sauce, while guests at Opera choose dishes like fish stew with sausage and vegetable cous cous or chilled marsala raspberry soup and fried basil.

Prices begin at VND 580,000.

Gourmands and comfort food fans can find common ground in the Caravelle’s new main: The exclusive burger, panseared French duck liver, truffle-infused egg and mayonnaise, slow cooked-onions and Italian Taleggio cheese arrive riding a flame-grilled patty of minced US beef stuffed with braised beef rib, all layered be-

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Sheridan's Irish House 17/13 Le Thanh Ton, D1 Tel: 3823 0793 www.sheridansbarvn.com Cosy Irish pub with authentic Irish decor, a pleasant atmosphere and regular live music. Wide range of classic pub grub, East Asian dishes and a fantastic breakfast fry-up available from 8 am.

The Tavern R2/24 Hung Gia 3, Bui Bang Doan, D7 Tel: 5410 3900 Boasts good international food, a pool table, dartboards and sports coverage on large screens. Outdoor seating on mutiple levels. Second floor sports lounge hosts DJs at the weekends.  Vasco’s Bar 74/7D Hai Ba Trung, D1 Tel: 3824 2888 Chic bar decked in deep reds that gets packed to capacity on weekends. Open Monday to Saturday with live music on Fridays. Food menu by chef with over 10 years experience at La Camargue. Also does excellent pizza.  ZanZBar 41 Dong Du, D1 Funky, modern interiors and varied international breakfast, lunch and dinner cuisine. Imported beers, cocktails, gourmet espresso coffee, and happy hours make ZanZBar a great after-work spot. Open late.

CAFES

Cay Da Cafe Ground floor, Moevenpick Hotel Saigon 253 Nguyen Van Troi, Phu Nhuan Tel: 3844 9222 ext. 118

www.moevenpick-saigon.com Stocks the Moevenpick’s chef’s most delicious cakes, pastries, ice cream and sandwiches.

Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf 12-14 Thai Van Lung, D1 94 Nguyen Thi Minh Khai, D3 Nowzone, 235 Nguyen Van Cu, D5 Metropolitan Bldng, 235 Dong Khoi, D1 International café chain with a wide variety of coffees and teas, as well as light snacks and food. Also sells freshroasted coffee beans and tins of whole leaf tea.  Mojo 88 Dong Khoi, D1 www.sheratonsaigon.com A top-end cafe with an attractive interior, outdoor terrace at street level and comfortable lounges upstairs. Good business coffee or lunch venue.

That’s Café Rivergarden, 170 Nguyen Van Huong, D2 The Crescent, 103 Ton Dat Tien, Phu My Hung, D7 Hailing from the U.S., That’s Café is a new Khai Silk initiative. Claiming to provide the best coffee in town in a comfortable and friendly atmosphere, it’s a great place to hold a business meeting or catch up with friends.

X Cafe 58 Pasteur, D1 Tel: 3914 2142 Bright, spacious foreign-run cafe decorated in the style of an Alpine chalet.

Popular with local makers and shakers, has a great open-plan upstairs area and two outdoor terraces. Regular live music and homemade ice cream.

CHINESE

Li Bai Sheraton Hotel, 88 Dong Khoi, D1

broaden your palate with promotions around town

New Set Menu

Gourmet Burgers

South American fusion dishes and a few delectable deserts. Variety of good wines by the glass or bottle.

tween a freshly baked parmesan bun and served with hand-cut potato chips. Take a bite out of the burger for VND 550,000 from 12 to 18 September, between noon and 10pm at Reflections Restaurant, Restaurant Nineteen, or the Lobby Lounge at the Caravelle Hotel, 19 Lam Son Square, District 1.

Home-made Moon Cakes

Celebrate this Mid-Autumn Festival with Shang Palace’s home-made moon cakes, which are available in a myriad of creative creations including seven flavours by Hong Kong chef Lim Eng Cheong. Ingredients range from assorted nuts, pandan mung bean paste, white lotus with macadamia, and egg yolk. For those who prefer the petite and delicate chilled snow skin moon cakes, choices include durian paste, green tea lotus paste, and coffee mung bean paste.

The limited edition of Shang Palace’s elegant designed box can be used as a gift, through 30 September.

Korean Fare, from Korea

Until 14 September, in conjunction with

AT Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation, the Market 39 restaurant of InterContinental Asiana Saigon is offering the Authentic Korean Cuisine Discovery Journey. Prices are VND 498,000 for the lunch buffet (food only) and VND 728,000 for the buffet dinner, including free flow of soft drinks, beer and house wine. The buffet includes Korean dishes rich in spices and nutritional value like kimchi, bulgogi, bibmbap and jajangmyeon. The event is also part of the activities marking the 20th anniversary of the relationship between Korea and Vietnam. A guest chef team is flying down from leading hotels in Korea.

Muffin Time

Mekong Merchant is introducing a batch of new muffin flavours for VND 35,000 with the purchase of coffee until 30 September.

They include Rhubarb and Apple, White Chocolate and Raspberry, Moist Classic Blueberry and others. Don’t forget their happy hour Monday to Friday 4pm to 7pm, with discounted drinks and complimentary appetisers. The restaurant is located at 23 Thao Dien Street, Thao Dien Ward, District 2.

street gourmet

Bo bia ngot If you're looking for a mid-afternoon pick-meup, bo bia ngot is a sure thing. Found throughout the South, it's made with sugarcane, shredded coconut and black sesame seeds neatly wrapped in sweet rice paper. As the sugar cane melts, it turns into a sticky paste, making this already extra-sweet

Tel: 3827 2828 Imperial-styled restaurant named after a famous Chinese poet. Excellent lunch time dim sum buffet for USD $17.00.

Nightly à la carte menu with dishes going from 100,000 VND. Lotus Court 1st floor, Moevenpick Hotel Saigon 253 Nguyen Van Troi, Phu Nhuan Tel: 3844 9222 ext. 168 www.moevenpick-saigon.com Dim Sum and exciting Cantonese cuisine in a unique and elegant setting.

treat even sweeter. Bo bia ngot carts are often found near schools by the ca vien chien (fried fish ball) carts and are popular afterschool snacks with young children. But, be warned: eat too many of these tasty indulgences and you won't have room for dinner. A serving will cost you VND 5,000.

Ming Dynasty 23 Nguyen Khac Vien, Phu My Hung Tel: 5411 5555 Decorated in Ming Dynasty-style; offers 100 dim sum varieties and 300 dishes prepared by a chef from Hong Kong. The restaurant’s Imperial Buffet includes free flow of wine.

Ngan Dinh Chinese Restaurant Windsor Plaza Hotel, 18 An Duong Vuong, D5 Tel: 3833 6688 Beautiful wood paneling, colourful

hanging lanterns and a sparkling mineral gallery make for a relaxing dining experience at the Windsor. Feast on roasted Pi Pa duck, giant grouper and steamed king prawns. Be sure to check out monthly specials.

Popular venue with an enormous menu.

Serves both southern and northern Indian dishes like tandoori, biryani, dosa and idly snacks, plus a wide range of vegetarian dishes. Offers a set lunch menu. Cater service is available. 

Shang Palace Restaurant Norfolk Mansion, 17-19-21 Ly Tu Trong, D1 Tel: 3823 2221 www.shangpalace.com.vn An upscale Chinese restaurant with a spacious and welcoming atmosphere.

The menu boasts a wide range of Hong Kong Cantonese cuisine, including both dim sum, a la carte and set menus, regularly changed by the creative chefs.

Tandoor 74/6 Hai Ba Trung, D1 Tel: 3930 4839 www.tandoorvietnam.com Part of a chain of restaurants covering Hanoi and Saigon, Tandoor features a large selection of standard northern Indian dishes, including a good vegetarian selection. Excellent cheap set lunches and reasonable prices all around. Will organize catering for events. 

Yu Chu InterContinental Asiana Saigon, corner of Hai Ba Trung and Le Duan, D1 Tel: 3520 9099 dine@icasianasaigon.com Specializing in authentic Cantonese and Peking cuisine. Award-winning chef prepares dishes including handmade noodles, dim sum and wok-fried items.

Wide selection of live seafood. Five interactive kitchens.

FRENCH

Au Manoir de Khai 251 Dien Bien Phu, Q3 Tel: 3930 3394 This top-end contemporary French restaurant is set in a picturesque colonial villa with a lush courtyard and a lavish interior.

Full of private rooms and opulent lounge areas, this unique eatery is the brainchild of Vietnamese fashion guru Hoang Khai of Khai Silk fame. Offers up dishes such as lobster consomme, pan-fried duck liver, salmon medallions with Moet and escalope de foie gras.

Le Bouchon de Saigon 40 Thai Van Lung, D1 Tel: 3829 9263 This French diner-style restaurant has an emphasis on hearty home cooking, courteous service and a relaxed atmosphere Chefs David Thai an Alexis Melgrani are well known industry figures and this venue can hold its own among the city`s many French restaurants

INDIAN

Saigon Indian 73 Mac Thi Buoi, D1 Tel: 3824 5671

INTERNATIONAL

Al Fresco’s 21 Mac Dinh Chi D1 Tel: 3823 8427 27 Dong Du, D1 Tel: 3822 7317 D1-23 My Toan 3, D7 Tel: 5410 1093 400 Nguyen Trai, D5 Tel: 3838 3840 www.alfrescosgroup.com Theme restaurant boasting a range of Tex-Mex, Italian and Australian-style BBQ dishes. Huge portions and tasty Australian ribs coupled with a good atmosphere and helpful staff. Good lunch menu.  Amigo Grill 55 Nguyen Hue, D1 Tel: 3824 1248 Outstanding steaks made with Australian, U.S. and Argentine beef, served in a cosy, family-friendly environment with large tables and banquette seating. Dishes like leg of lamb and seafood are also on the menu. Open 11 am to 11 pm.

Au Parc 23 Han Thuyen, D1 Tel: 3829 2772 Lavishly decorated brasserie borrowing from Moroccan and French styles and popular during lunchtime with expats.

Specializes in Middle Eastern and North African food. The salad menu is a favourite, and a great range of lush smoothies and juices are on offer.  Blanchy's Tash 93 - 95 Hai Ba Trung, D1 www.blanchystash.com A high-end bar and restaurant with outdoor terrace. With ex-Nobu London Chef at the helm, Blanchy’s offers tapaslike snacks that fuse Japanese and South American influences. Expect great things here from international DJs and renowned mixologists Black Cat 13 Phan Van Dat, D1 Tel: 3829 2055

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Tiny but popular District 1 restaurant serving up an excellent selection of Western and Vietnamese fare and an extensive range of sandwiches and burgers.  BoatHouse 40 Lily Road, APSC Compound, 36 Thao Dien, D2 Tel: 3744 6790 Riverside restaurant with umbrella-shaded tables spread across outdoor deck and small indoor dining room. Serves remarkably fresh and inspired dishes made with choice local and imported ingredients—favourites include the sirloin burger and pan-fried fish and chips.

Boomarang Cresent Residence 2-3-4, No. 107 Ton Dat Tien, PMH, D7 Tel: 3744 6790 Riverside restaurant with umbrella-shaded tables spread across outdoor deck and small indoor dining room. Serves remarkably fresh and inspired dishes made with choice local and imported ingredients—favourites include the sirloin burger and pan-fried fish and chips.

Cafe Saigon Ground floor, Moevenpick Hotel Saigon 253 Nguyen Van Troi, Phu Nhuan Tel: 3844 9222 ext. 234 www.moevenpick-saigon.com An international buffet with unique food concepts that is perfect for gathering family and friends.

Cham Charm 3 Phan Van Chuong, Phu My Hung Tel: 5410 9999 The highlight of this upscale, beautifully decorated Asian restaurant is a special seafood buffet that includes Portuguese oysters, Alaskan crab, lobsters, sushi, sashimi, Japanese-style seafood, Langoustine prawns, American Angus beef and much more. Errazuriz wines are also included in the buffet. Part of the Khai Silk chain.

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El Gaucho 5D Nguyen Sieu, D1 Tel: 3825 1879 Cresent Residence 1_12, No. 103 Ton Dat Tien, PMH, D7 A classic Argentine steakhouse where beef is the main attraction. There is still plenty of other options on the menu, in addition to an extensive wine list. Open from 4pm until late every day.

The Deck 38 Nguyen U Di, D2 Tel: 3744 6632 Serves upmarket takes on regional specialties made with fresh local and imported products. Well-designed, minimalist dining space and bar on the river are a serious draw.

The Elbow Room 52 Pasteur, D1 Tel: 3821 4327 elbowroom52@yahoo.com American-style bistro offering a wide range of appetisers, soups, salads, sandwiches, mains and desserts, plus an extensive wine menu. Open daily 7.30 am to 11 pm. Breakfast served all day.

Gartenstadt 34 Dong Khoi, D1 Tel: 3822 3623 Opened in 1992, it’s the first venue in town to offer German food with specialities such as pork knuckle and authentic German sausages prepared fresh each day. Also offers imported German draught beer.

Good Eats NTFQ2, 34 Nguyen Dang Giai Thao Dien, D2 Tel: 3744 6672 Easteran and Western dishes are low in saturated fat and made from all-natural ingredients. Organic vegetables, herbs and spices accompany meals. Even the French fries are healthy.  Halal@Saigon 31 Dong Du, D1 Tel: 3824 5823

www.halalsaigon.com Serving up a range of Vietnamese and Malaysian dishes prepared according to halal guidelines including ban xeo, pho and roti chennai and seafood favourites such as shrimp, squid and mussels.

Hog's Breath 02 Hai Trieu, D1 Tel: 3915 6006 The popular Australian eatery's first foray into Vietnam. Centrally located on the ground floor of the Bitexc Financial tower. The legendary Prime Rib steaks are the centrpiece of the menu which also includes burgers, seafood and bar snacks.  Jaspa’s 33 Dong Khoi, D1 Tel: 3822 9926 www.alfrescosgroup.com Unpretentious brasserie-style restaurant specializes in Australian-influenced international fusion cuisine. Full range of drinks including Australian and French wines and good cocktails.

Hosts monthly Spam Cham networking event.  Kita Coffee House 39 Nguyen Hue, D1, Tel: 3821 5300 Four-level restaurant serving a wide menu of mains, pastas, salads, sandwiches, soups and appetizers for lunch and dinner, as well as a variety of coffee and fresh fruit juices. Includes a bright ground floor cafe, sophisticated Old World second floor bar and rooftop dining. Set dinner everyday from 5pm.  Koto 151A Hai Ba Trung, D3, Tel: 3934 9151 This is the Saigon arm of the renowned organisation that began in Hanoi a decade ago. Vietnamese food is prepared with innovative twist by young people Koto are helping get a start in the hospitality industry and on a path for a better life. 

Market 39 InterContinental Asiana Saigon Ground Floor, Corner Hai Ba Trung and Le Duan, D1 Tel: 3520 9099 dine@icasianasaigon.com Seven interactive live kitchens offering French, Vietnamese and Southeast Asian cuisines, including a bakery, French patisseries, pancakes, tossed salads, grilled steak, seafood, wok-fried items, noodles and pasta dishes.

Mekong Merchant 23 Thao Dien, D2 Tel: 3744 4713 Set in a courtyard, this rustic Australianstyle brasserie has brought modern international cuisine to suburban An Phu. Popular for weekend brunches. Weekly specials and seafood flown in from Phu Quoc.  New York Steakhouse & Winery 25-27 Nguyen Dinh Chieu, D1 Tel: 3823 7373 New-york@steakhouse.com.vn www.steakhouse.com.vn Chic dining venue designed in a classic New York City Art Deco. Open every day until late. Specializes in certified U.S. Black Angus steak, and features a fully stocked wine cellar. Guests are invited to bring their own wine on BYOB Mondays.

Orientica Hotel Equatorial, 242 Tran Binh Trong, D5 Tel: 3839 7777 www.equatorial.com/hcm Top-end seafood and grill restaurant boasting modern decor. Good service and excellent food presentation make this a pleasant alternative to the downtown scene.

Pacharan Tapas and Bodega 97 Hai Ba Trung, D1 Tel: 3825 6024 This tapas restaurant and bar serves up superb Spanish fare crafted from authentic imported ingredients. The

exclusively Spanish wine list is extensive and Sangria is half price during happy hour from 5 pm to 7 pm and all day Wednesday.

The Refinery 74/7C Hai Ba Trung, D1 Tel: 3823 0509 Authentic bistro with cane furniture outside, informal indoor restaurant section and a bar area. Cuisine is light, modern European. The menu spans a price range to suit most budgets.

Reflections Caravelle Hotel, 19 Lam Son Square, D1 Tel: 3823 4999 Contemporary fine dining that combines Asian flavors with classic Mediterranean cuisine in an ambiance of understated elegance and European style. Special culinary events include guest chefs from Michelin-star establishments around the world. Private rooms are available.

Riverside Cafe Renaissance Riverside, 8-15 Ton Duc Thang, D1 Tel: 3822 0033 International venue opening onto the bustling river sidewalk, open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and particularly noted for its sumptuous buffet selection which combines Asian, Western and Vietnamese cuisine.

Signature Restaurant Level 23, Sheraton Hotel, 88 Dong Khoi, D1 Tel: 3827 2828 Fine dining with panoramic views over central HCM City. Food is stunningly presented, top-end European cuisine with Asian influences cooked by German chef Andreas Schimanski. A la carte or five-course set menu available.

Skewers 9A Thai Van Lung, D1 Tel: 3822 4798 www.skewers-restaurant.com

Rustic Mediterranean restaurant where subtle colours and exposed brickwork combine with jazzy tunes. Serves tabouleh, falafel, couscous and kebab. Highly rated for its grilled meats, bread and dip combos, soups and pastas.  Square One Park Hyatt Saigon, 2 Lam Son Square, D1 Tel: 3520 2359 Specializing in high-end Western and Vietnamese cuisine, Square One serves charcoal-grilled meats and seafood, as well as steamed and wok-cooked Vietnamese fare.

Warda 71/7 Mac Thi Buoi, D1 Tel: 3823 3822 Chic, middle-eastern themed eatery swathed in oranges and reds serving Lebanese cuisine prepared by Damascan chef, Nouman. Mezze and tapas are the main draw, but you can also puff on hookas post-meal.

Xu Saigon 71-75 Hai Ba Trung, D1 Tel: 3824 8468 www.xusaigon.com Inspired restaurant with an F&B director with a passion for mixing Vietnamese cooking with flavours and styles from around the world. Sleek but sparsely designed, the restaurant serves nouveau takes on Vietnamese cuisine.

ITALIAN

Basilico InterContinental Asiana Saigon, Ground Floor, Corner Nguyen Du and Hai Ba Trung, D1 Tel: 3520 9099 dine@icasianasaigon.com Contemporary and casual trattoria-style restaurant specializing in authentic Italian dishes and homemade desserts.

Wood-fired pizza oven and a wide selection of Italian wines.

Casa Italia 86 Le Loi, D1 Tel: 3824 4286 www.casaitalia.com.vn Serves home-style Italian cooking including pasta and pizza as well as a selection of steak and seafoodd dishes. Open daily 10 am until late.

Good Morning Vietnam 197 De Tham, D1 Tel: 3837 1894 Popular authentic Italian restaurant with additional outlets around the country.

Specializes in thin-crust pizza, pasta and a range of Italian dishes. Good selection of Italian wines.  La Braceria 11 Le Thanh Ton, D1 Tel: 3824 7446 www.labraceria.com.vn A Mediterranean-style grill house that serves imported prime steaks, lamb, duck and fresh seafood as well as pasta and pizza. Great selection of old and new world wines La Hostaria 17B Le Thanh Ton, D1 Tel: 3823 1080 Rustic eatery specializing in top-end traditional cuisine from various regions in Italy. Main courses from 130,000 VND with daily specials on offer. Serves excellent pizza.  Opera Ground floor Park Hyatt Hotel, 2 Lam Son Square, D1 Tel: 3824 1234 Slick, contemporary eatery with exposed brick and glass. The space revolves around an island kitchen from which chefs produce gourmet Italian fare.

Internationally trained chefs work with the freshest and finest ingredients around to produce some superb dishes.

JAPANESE

Chiisana Hashi River Garden, 170 Nguyen Van Huong, Thao Dien, D2 Tel: 6683 5308 0903 669 252 Serves authentic Japanese cuisuine including sashimi, sushi, tempura, sukiyaki and shabu shabu.

Kissho 14 Nguyen Hue, D1 Tel: 3823 2223 Fax: 3823 3343 kissho.wmcvietnam.com Saigon’s newest Japanese restaurant boasts a multi-concept cuisine set in a cutting edge interior. Specialties include teppanyaki, yakiniku, sushi and sashimi crafted by expert chefs. The freshest imported meats and seafood round out the menu, accompanied by an extensive selection of fine wines and Japanese spirits. Open 11.30 am to 2 pm and 5.30 pm to 10 pm.

Iki Ground floor, Moevenpick Hotel Saigon 253 Nguyen Van Troi, Phu Nhuan Tel: 3844 9222 ext. 127 www.moevenpick-saigon.com A Japanese restaurant that turns the notion of the common hotel sushi eatery on its head thanks to an affordable menu and a fun atmosphere.

Nishimura Mövenpick Hotel Saigon, 253 Nguyen Van Troi, Phu Nhuan Tel: 3844 9222 Exquisitely prepared sushi and sashimi from a globetrotting chef with three decades’ experience. A wide range of cooked dishes and monthly meal promotions are also available.

The Sushi Bar 2 Le Thanh Ton, D1 Tel: 3823 8042 3A Ton Duc Thang, D1 Tel: 3911 8618 This brightly lit Japanese-style restaurant serves over 40 varieties of sushi at rea-

1st Floor , 17-19-21 Ly Tu Trong St., District 1, HCMC, Vietnam Tel: (84 8) 3823 2221 - (84 8) 3822 6111 Ext: 164 Fax: (84) 3822 6116 Email: reservation@shangpalace.com.vn Website: www.shangpalace.com.vn

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imbibe

street gourmet

Banh bo dua Wine-Food Pairings, Asian Edition

By Darryl Bethea I got schooled in the magic of pairing a dish with the perfect wine in Northern California.

Typically we would consider the protein, sauces, and dominant flavours, then find the appropriate wine that would compliment and elevate the experience.

But in Vietnamese or any Asian dining, the ordering of meals is not usually an individual choice. It is more like a little of this and that for all to share, and the flavours can run all over the map. Soy sauce (with or without chilli), wasabi, fish sauce, and sweet and sour sauce all have their own flavour profiles. And at one meal sitting, you can experience them all.

To describe wine on the palate, we talk about the 'mouth feel', the physical sensation a food or drink creates. Tofu, sushi, steamed shellfish, curry, and fried foods all have the their own 'mouth feel'. Get the pairing wrong (too fatty, oily, or dry), and the dining experience becomes flawed. So what can we do?

Stay away from wines with high tannins, whose bitterness and dryness in the mouth may dominate and interfere with seafood. Also, if a red wine is high in alcohol, it will intensify the spiciness and result in a fire in your mouth, destroying your taste buds.

As a simple guide, seek wines with excellent acidity,

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wines that will have a refreshing, palate-cleansing quality that either compliments or stands up to the bold flavours.

Keep in mind, a lot of traditional Asian beverages are not consumed to compliment the food. Many times, green tea comes at the end of the meal to aid digestion. When it comes to wine, consider the following: Sparkling wine like Champagne or Brut Prosecco. It will not overpower the food, is low in alcohol, and has great acidity. Just stay away from anything with an oaky flavour profile. Dim sum and sparkling wine is divine!

Off-dry Riesling. The crisp acidity combined with the slightly sweet impression at first taste will combat the spiciness of chilli. The key here is off-dry, from Germany or Washington state.

Pinot Noir with a medium body, and a light, fruity aroma and taste. Be careful not to get a high-alcohol, tannic variety from the New World. Look for one that has a description of good acidity, with round, smooth tannins.

Darryl Bethea is Group Sales Manager for Fine Wines of the World (09 3378 5005) and is a certified sommelier from the Court of the Master Sommeliers. Contact Darryl at 09 3378 5005 or email Darryl@ finewinesasia.com.

At first glance, it's easy to mistake banh bo dua for a tart, mini quiche or even a knish. But take a bite and you'll know you're eating classic street food.

The outside is made from two thin pieces of baked wheat flour that fit over each other, and the filling is a mixture of shredded

sonable prices. Sit at the sushi bar or in private rooms upstairs. Open until 11.30 pm, delivery available on request.  Zen 20 Le Thanh Ton, D1 Tel: 3825 0782 Located amid the sea of Japanese restaurants on Le Thanh Ton Street, Zen offers a wide range of Japanese dishes.

The yakitori station grills up fantastic steak and quail’s eggs, and the chilled udon noodles are also a standout.

KOREAN

25 Si 8A/6D Thai Van Lung, D1 Tel: 3824 6921 Traditional Yasik-style drinking restaurant.

Winter and summer scene murals fill the walls of this dual level eatery. Large menu with favs like budae jjigae, a mix of chilli paste, Spam, hot dog and tofu, as well as super spicy duruchigi.

Hana 8 Cao Ba Quat, D1 Tel: 3829 5588 Japanese-Korean fusion in the heart of District 1. Contemporary decor with a private, yet open feel. Broad menu including cooked and raw fish and traditional hot pot with fish eggs, rice and vegetables.

Kim Bab Chun Gook R4 42 Hung Phuoc 2, Phu My Hung Tel: 6296 9057 Korean boonshik/snack food eatery serving up a wide variety of light but substantial foods including dumplings, rameyon and fish cakes.

SOUTHEAST ASIAN

Baan Thai 55 Thao Dien, D2 Tel: 3744 5453 If you have been missing the delights of Bangkok nightlife then this restaurant

coconut, lentils and sugar.

To eat this chewy, sweet treat simply slice it up and serve or remove the baked wheat covering to enjoy the coconut mixture directly. Banh bo dua is served warm and can be found around town all day. A serving costs VND 5,000.

and bar should be for you. The Thai chefs whip up all the traditional dishes you know and love, while in the bar there are a host of drinks and activities to help while away an evening.

Lac Thai 71/2 Mac Thi Buoi, D1 Tel: 3823 7506 An elegant restaurant tucked in an alleyway and decorated with art-deco furniture. Authentic Thai cuisine prepared by two Thai chefs. Food is tasty but less spicy than you’d find in Thailand.  Little Manila S2-1 Hung Vuong 2, Phu My Hung, D7 Tel: 5410 0812 Small, no -frills eatery with outdoor and indoor seating located on a quiet street. Serves a range of dishes from the Philippines (pictured on menu for those unfamiliar) and draught San Miguel.

Thai Express 8A Le Thanh Ton, D1 Tel: 6299 1338 www.thaiexpress.vn Modern restaurant with a massive menu of Thai specialties served in moderate proportions. The menu inludes chef’s recommendations and background on Thai cuisine. Warning: some dishes will test your tongue’s threshold.

VEGETARIAN

Hoa Dang 38 Huynh Khuong Ninh, D1 Swish vegetarian restaurant on a quiet street that serves up nutritious dishes, including meatless versions of bun bo, pho and steamboat. Cosy bar serving non-alcoholic drinks, fruits and other sweets.

Saigon Vegan 378/3 Vo Van Tan, D3 Tel: 3834 4473 Rustic vegan restaurant with extensive menu of healthy food at moderate prices.

Lots of tofu dishes and soya chicken/ beef, soups, banh bao and more. Also has a kids menu.

Viet Chay 339 Nam Ky Khoi Nghia, D3 Tel: 3526 5862 Upscale vegetarian restaurant specializes in fake meat dishes. The attractive dining room is suffused with natural light. Located within the walls of Vinh Nghiem Pagoda.

VIETNAMESE

Banian Tree River Garden, 170 Nguyen Van Huong, Thao Dien, D2 Tel: 6683 5308 – 0903 669 252 A fine dining Vietnamese restaurant that serves authentic cuisine.

Offers a set lunch, set dinner, International breakfast is served from 6.30 am - 10.30 am.

Blue Crab 49D Quoc Huong, Thao Dien, D2 Tel: 3744 2008 This seafood restaurant has some of the most well-prepared and cheapest seafood in town. Its menu offers everything from prawns, scallops and lobster to pork ribs and crab, all for rock-bottom prices.

Cha Ca Viet Nam River Garden, 170 Nguyen Van Huong, Thao Dien, D2 Tel: 6683 5308 0903 669 252 Serves Hanoi specialty Cha Ca—turmeric grilled fish with noodles and dill.

Com Nieu 19 Tu Xuong, D3 Tel: 3932 6288 The house specialty, com nieu (smashed rice), comes with a shattered-crockery and flying-rice show at this well-known restaurant, prominently featured in Anthony Bourdain’s A Cook’s Tour.

An extensive and tasty selection of southern Vietnamese cuisine rounds out the menu.

Hoa Tuc 74 Hai Ba Trung, D1 Tel: 3825 1676 This comfortable high-end restaurant serves traditional Vietnamese fare with a contemporary, classy twist. Expect to find your local favourites as you’ve never experienced them before. Beautifully plated, this is Vietnamese cuisine at its best.

Lang Nuong Nam Bo 285/C145 Cach Mang Thang Tam, D10 Tel: 3862 2569 Warehouse-sized quan well-regarded among locals serves everything from beef, chicken and fish to porcupine, weasel and field mouse. Great destination for intrepid gastronomes. Has standard hot pot, rice and noodle dishes too.

Mandarine Restaurant 11A Ngo Van Nam, D1 Tel: 3822 9783 Fine dining Vietnamese-style courtesy of two sumptuously decorated colonial villas, an antique wooden stair and a menu spanning all regions of Vietnam.

Traditional music performances are available for dinner.

Cloud 9 2bis Cong Truong Quoc Te, D3, HCMC (Corner of Turtle Lake Roundabout & Tran Cao Van), Tel: 0948 445544 Recently opened with beautiful déco, this rooftop lounge bar has its stunning views at night. Live DJ, great cocktails and desserts. Open 6pm till late. 

Nam Phan 34 Vo Van Tan, Q3 Tel: 3933 3636 Well known at its previous corner location on Le Thanh Ton, Nam Phan continues to serve modern Asian cuisine including asparagus and crab meat soup, stewed bellyfish in pineapple and grilled duck breast in orange sauce. Set in a restored colonial villa, the interior is alive with reproductions of Cham-era bas-reliefs and is inspired by Euro-Zen.

The Library InterContinental Asiana Saigon, corner of Hai Ba Trung and Le Duan, D1 Tel: 3520 9099 dine@icasianasaigon.com Unwind with a glass of wine or a cup of tea. The Library provides a welcoming atmosphere for those in search of calm, comfort and personalized service.

Quan Bui 8 Nguyen Van Nguyen, D1 Tel: 3602 2241 Well executed and delicious Vietnamese food at almost criminally affordable prices. Tucked away at the top end of District one, this place is worth seeking out for five-star food in a casual setting that will certainly not strain the budget.

M52 Bar 52 Ton That Thiep, D1 Tel: 3821 6726 Sparsely-appointed venue with reasonably priced drinks noted for packing a punch. Owners Annie and Ms. Van are

never too busy to check on their patrons, and the busy bartenders are quick with a smile.

Park Lounge Park Hyatt Hotel 2 Lam Son Square, D1 Tel: 3824 1234 Elegant lounge bar, with classic songs played every night by international musicians. The salubrious surroundings are matched by the range of the drinks, with vintage wines from USD $6 to $10 per glass. Tiger is $4.50 a bottle.

Purple Jade InterContinental Asiana Saigon, corner of Hai Ba Trung and Le Duan, D1 Tel: 3520 9099 Chic lounge blends the stylistic influences of contemporary design and opium dens. Hosts live music and serves special drinks, including Shaoxing and Maotai rice wines and an exclusive selection of luxury spirits.

Temple Club 29 – 31 Ton That Thiep, D1 Tel: 3829 9244 This high-end restaurant attached to an elegant lounge bar is a must-try for its art deco atmosphere as much as for its food. Mains go from around VND80,000 to VND150,000.

Wrap & Roll 62 Hai Ba Trung, D1 Tel: 3823 4030 SA1–1, My Khanh 1, Nguyen Van Linh, D7 Attractive downtown venue that brings street-style food into air-conditioned and uncluttered comfort. Choose prewrapped appetisers such as the cha gio (spring rolls) or roll-it-yourself mains with ingredients like pickled shrimps, beef on sugar cane, fish, grilled eel and pork. 

nightlife BARS & LOUNGES

See bar restaurant listings for more popular watering holes.

Bar's bar 47 Phan Chu Trinh, D1 Tel: 3822 3352 Small luxurious upstairs bar adjacent to Ben Thanh Market, offers a welcome retreat from the bustle of the city centre.

Customers are served with relaxing music and a wide selection of cocktails, whiskies and Japanese Sake. Open nightly 6-late. 

LOUISIANE BREWHOUSE Beachside Nha Trang Asian & Western Cuisine Swimming Pool & Private Beach www.louisianebrewhouse.com.vn

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Saigon Saigon Bar 9th floor, Caravelle Hotel, 19 Lam Son Square, D1 Tel: 3823 4999 Popular bar usually packed out with tourists and business travellers searching for some delicious cocktails and a great view of the city skyline. Cuban band Warapo plays every night except Monday from 8.30 pm until late.

playing the latest in beat-based music and the city’s beautiful people add to the sights and sounds. It’s on-par with Western clubs in both ambience and drinks prices.

Voodoo Lounge 92 Ho Tung Mau, D1 Voodoo paintings adorn the white walls at this small, attractive bar south of Sunwah Tower. A daily happy hour, plenty of stool space and a pair of dartboards make it a good place to grab a drink.

BAKERIES

BREWHOUSES

Alderbrau 98 Nguyen Du, D1 Small brewhouse decorated with antique brewing miscellanea, with an enclosed garden for outdoor swilling the small range of house brews and bottled imports. The kitchen dishes up sausages, German fare, and Vietnamese dishes.

Gammer Czech Beer 107 Pasteur, D1 Tel: 3824 8619 www.biatuoitiepvn.com Attractive, multi-story Czech beer hall furnished with heavy wood and outfitted with a few flat screen TVs tuned in to sports. Dark and blonde beers are available, as well as a full menu of Vietnamese food from mussels to rabbit.

Hoa Vien 28bis Mac Dinh Chi, D1 Tel: 3829 0585 www.hoavien.vn Expansive beer hall serves up pilsner beer crafted from malt, hops and yeast from the Czech Republic. There’s also a large food menu and imported Pilsner Urquell.

at home Harvest Baking 30 Lam Son, Tan Binh Tel: 3547 0577 harvestbaking@yahoo.com This authentic bakery offers a range of specialty baked goods for delivery.

Offering bagels, scones, breads, desserts,cakes, tarts and more.

Chocolate fudge cake and cinnamon rolls with cream cheese icing highly recommended.

Pat A Chou 65 Hai Ba Trung, D1 25 Thao Dien, D2 The home of the long and crusty baguette. Supplies many restaurants but also sells wholesale. The miniature patisseries such as crème brulée and cheesecake are worth a taste. Opens at 6.30 am.

Schneider’s Finest 27 Han Thuyen, D1 Tel: 3829 1998 www.schneiders-finest.com Traditional German bakery bakes 45 different kinds of breads, rolls and baguettes and a wide range of danishes, pastries and cakes. Catering available.

Tous Les Jours 180 Hai Ba Trung, D3 Part of the Korean bakery chain, Tous Le Jours stocks a superb range of freshly baked good from sugary treats like pain au chocolat to superior quality baguettes and loafs.

Lion Brewery 11C Lam Son Square, D1 Tel: 3823 8514 Microbrewery featuring traditional German brew technology and German fare like pork knuckle and wurst. Good spot to meet friends and enjoy a hearty meal and a whole lot of beer.

Voelker 17 A7 Le Thanh Ton, D1 Tel: 7303 8799 39 Thao Dien, An Phu, D2 Tel: 6296 0066 Small bakery turns out sweet and salted pies and mousses in addition to baguettes and a range of Western sweets.

NIGHTCLUBS

CATERING

Fuse Bar 3A Ton Duc Thang, D1 A popular bar that plays primarily hiphop music. Every Tuesday Fuse hosts a ladies night where women drink for free.

Lush 2 Ly Tu Trong, D1 Tel: 3824 2496 A large and lavishly decorated bar and club popular on weekends. Good DJs

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Saigon Catering 41A Vo Truong Toan, D2 Tel: 3898 9286 Provide services of catering, banquets, event planning, BBQ’s. For a custommade quotation e-mail SaigonGG@ gmail.com or call Huong on 0913 981128.

Xu Catering 71-75 Hai Ba Trung, D1

Tel: 3824 8468 www.xusaigon.com From the brains behind Xu Restaurant and Lounge comes this new catering service, promising the highest standards in service. Everything from the menu to the comprehensive bar service and the staff is tailor-made to your specifications.

COOKERY CLASSES

Caravelle Hotel Cooking Classes Caravelle Hotel, 19 Lam Son Square, D1 Tel: 3823 4999 Full-day Vietnamese cooking classes for groups of up to 20 people. The classes include a visit to the market with the sous chef.

Saigon Cooking Class by Hoa Tuc The Courtyard, 74/7 Hai Ba Trung, D1 Tel: 3825 8485 contact@saigoncookingclass.com Cooking classes available from Tuesday to Sunday 10 am-1 pm/2 pm-5 pm.

Students make an entire meal that includes traditional dishes like pho and cha gio, as well as more creative fare.

Conducted by Vietnamese chef in English, Japanese or French on request.

DELIVERY

KITCHEN Tel: 0974 444 001 kitchen.net.vn Visit the website and start an account to begin ordering fresh, homemade meals to your home. Options include beef lasagne, big chicken and mushroom pies and pork dijon as well as a variety of sausages and vegetarian dishes. Must order a minimum of three dishes at a time.

Pizza Hut Delivery (PHD) Tel: 3838 8388 www.pizzahut.vn Serving up pizza, pasta, chicken wings and much more. PHD guarantees 30minute delivery or a free pizza at your next order (you must live within 2 km from a PHD store). www.vietnammm.com A free website that allows users to order delivery from dozens of restaurants in Ho Chi Minh City.

Simply provide your address and phone number and pay the delivery driver in cash when he arrives Willy Woo’s www.vietnammm.com Southern American fare including skillet fried chicken, Belgium waffles and BBQ foods, red beans and rice, Jalapeno corn bread, and other classic southern sides. Delivery only via vietnammm.com

GROCERIES

Annam Gourmet Market 16-18 Hai Ba Trung, D1 Tel: 3822 9332 41A Thao Dien, D2 Tel: 3744 2630 SB2-1 My Khanh 4, Nguyen Duc Canh, D7 Tel: 5412 3263 / 64 www.annam-gourmet.com Boutique grocer with wide selection of foreign foods; Annam-brand coffee, tea and spices; and household products.

Wine and premium beer, full deli counter, produce, dairy-frozen and baked goods on second floor.

Classic Fine Foods 17 Street 12, D2, Tel: 3740 7105 www.classicfinefoods.com Luxury food primarily imports for wholesale, but also takes orders for its range of dry goods, cheese, meat, poultry and seafood from private clients.

Kim Hai Butchery 73 Le Thi Hong Gam, D1 Tel: 3821 6057 or 3914 4376 Excellent chilled imported beef, lamb, veal and other meats sold at reasonable prices.

Metro An Phu, D2 Tel: 3740 6677 www.metro.com.vn Warehouse wholesaler located just off the Hanoi Highway in D2 between the Saigon Bridge and the tollbooths. Sells bulk food, fresh fruit and vegetables and meat, as well as paper products, cleaning supplies, housewares--basically everything.

Organik 11A Thao Dien, D2 Tel: 090 273 3841 www.organikvn.com Online grocer based out of Dalat selling a range of organic vegetables and groceries, as well as imported all-natural products such as cereal, soymilk and tea. Operates a retail shop in An Phu. Veggy’s 29A Le Thanh Ton, D1 Tel: 3823 8526 Sky Garden Pham Van Nghi, Bac Khu Pho, D7 Riverside Apartments 53 Vo Truong Toan, Thao Dien, D2 Popular expat market with a huge walk-in fridge area stocked with fresh fruit and vegetables, dairy products and a range of meats. Imported canned and dried foods, wines, beers, soft drinks, spirits and snacks also available.

LIQUOR & WINE

The Warehouse 178 Pasteur, D1 Tel: 3825 8826 www.warehouse-asia.com One of the city’s premier wine distributors, The Warehouse is an aptly named, stylish wine store that stocks a full range of both New and Old World wines, sparkling wines, Champagne, spirits, imported beers and accessories.

Cambodia

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Crossing borders www.asialife.asia http://www.facebook.com/asialifemedia enquiries: info@asialife.asia

master of mixology

By Matt Myers I have always wanted to work in Southeast Asia, in part because of the fresh ingredients used in local cuisine. Before I finally made the move to Vietnam, where I work at the MGM Grand Ho Tram, I was the master mixologist and assistant director of beverage at Bellagio Las Vegas. What qualifies someone to have such an auspicious title with the term ‘master’ in it? My title was actually only given to me as a way to describe my duties. A chef is a leader of cooks and creates dishes; similarly a master mixologist is a leader of bartenders and creates cocktails.

I will use this experience in mixology to provide readers with useful recipes and techniques that are used in the hospitality industry. This column is for the mixologyminded, those in the hospitality, food and beverage industry, and for anyone who likes a good drink.

As mentioned, the fresh ingredients found in most Southeast Asian countries are an inspiration. The one ingredient here I just can’t get enough of is fresh herb. The use of fresh herbs in a cocktail (other than mint) seems to be lost, or at least not that popular. There are countless ways fresh herbs can be used in drinks, and a basil gimlet is one example. The basil gimlet is a basic California staple and a fresh and easy cocktail that allows for creativity.

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What you need: 1 ½ oz gin or vodka 1 oz rock candy or simple syrup ¾ oz fresh lime juice 4 basil leaves Now it’s time to make it: 1. Make sure you have everything ready for the recipe (martini glasses polished and chilled, etc).

2. Combine the simple syrup and basil and muddle gently (Three light crushes.

Don’t ring it up, you are not making pesto.)

3. Add fresh lime juice, gin and ice. Make sure the ice doesn’t smell, you don’t want this cocktail to smell and taste like durian.

4. Shake. Make sure you are smiling and looking at your guests. No limp-wristed shaking.

5. Strain with a fine mesh strainer (double strain).

6. Pick a leaf of basil, rub it around the rim of the glass and throw it away.

7. Pick another leaf, float it on top and serve.

Once you get the technique down, play with it. Try different herbs to create your own cocktail, and Impress your guests or friends with your creation. Cheers!

Matt Myers is the director of beverage for MGM Grand Ho Tram.

listings

www.lottecinemavn.com Modern cinema with four-way sound system. D7 location houses luxury theatre Charlotte with 32 seats and eight sofas.

culture

me phim HCM City-based film initiative that provides support to local filmmakers and hosts regular film screenings/discussions.

Email dduukk@gmail.com for information or join the Facebook group.

CLASSES

AngelsBrush by Vin Tel: 0983377710 Shyevin@mac.com Oil painting course gives learners the opportunity to work from the different objects; explore different mediums, materials and techniques; and interpret line, tone and colour. Instructor works with students on individual basis.

Helen Kling Oil Painting 189/C1 Nguyen Van Huong, Thao Dien, D2 Tel: 0903 955 780 hk.painter@gmail.com/helenkling@ yahoo.com www.helenkling.com Helene is a French painter who teaches beginners (children and adults) various techniques and the art of working with different mediums. She is also a fantastic tool for advanced artists who are looking to increase their creativity. Both day and night courses are available. Helene has a permanent exhibition at FLOW, located 88 Ho Tung Mau, D1.

Printmaking alphagallery@bluemail.ch Classes are held at Alpha Gallery taught by the gallery owner Bernadette Gruber, who offers the chance to learn monotype, intaglio and etching techniques.

CINEMAS

Bobby Brewer’s Movie Lounge 45 Bui Vien, D1 Tel: 3610 2220 86 Pham Ngoc Thach info@bobbybrewers.com Popular top-floor home cinema showing movies five times a day on a large screen. Email for the latest schedule.

Cinebox 212 Ly Chinh Thang, D3 Tel: 3935 0610 240 3 Thang 2, D10 Tel: 3862 2425 Cinebox cinemas show both original language films with Vietnamese subtitles and the dubbed versions.

Future Shorts futureshortsvietnam@gmail.com www.futureshorts.com/vn Vietnam branch of the international network screens foreign and local short films around town. Events often incorporate other media and elements, including live music, performances, installations and discussion. Submissions accepted.

Galaxy Cinema 116 Nguyen Du, D1 Tel: 3822 8533 230 Nguyen Trai, D1 Tel: 3920 6688 www.galaxycine.vn Large, modern cinema that shows the latest foreign releases in English (with Vietnamese subtitles).

IDECAF 31 Thai Van Lung, D1 Tel: 3829 5451 French cultural centre and cinema theatre. Showcases French movies with English and Vietnamese subtitles. Also hosts movies and documentaries from a number of overseas film festivals.

Lotte Cinema Diamond Plaza, 34 Le Duan, D1 Tel: 3822 7897 LotteMart, 469 Nguyen Huu Tho, D7 Tel: 3775 2520

Megastar Hung Vuong Plaza, 126 Hung Vuong, D5 Tel: 08 2222 0388 CT Plaza, 60A Truong Son, Tan Binh Tel: 6297 1981 www.megastarmedia.net State-of-the-art cinema complex screening the lastest blockbusters with plush, reclining seats. All movies shown in original language with Vietnamese subtitles.

GALLERIES

a little blah blah OUT-2 STUDIO, L6 FAFILM Annex 6 Thai Van Lung, D1 albbsaigon-2010.blogspot.com Operates as an engine for contemporary art by organizing projects, exhibitions, screenings and talks. Runs one major art project each year and a reading room with more than 1,000 texts on art, design and creative culture. Free for everyone and open Tue to Sat 10 am to 6 pm.

Blue Space Contemporary Arts Center 97A Pho Duc Chinh, D1 Tel: 3821 3695 bluespaceart@hcm.jpt.vn www.bluespacegallery.com Busy, working gallery with easels propped up outside situated in the grounds of the beautiful Fine Arts Museum. Holds regular exhibitions by local artists.

Duc Minh Gallery 31C Le Quy Don, D3 Tel: 3933 0498 Housed in an opulent colonial mansion, private museum and art gallery showcases the private art collection of Vietnamese business tycoon Bui Quoc Chi. Containing more than 1,000 pieces that range from traditional to contemporary.

Galerie Quynh 65 De Tham, D1 Tel: 3836 8019 www.galeriequynh.com The city’s only international standard gallery, housed in a modern, two-floor space. Organizes regular exhibitions featuring established, emerging local/ international contemporary artists, publishes original catalogs in both English and Vietnamese.

Ho Chi Minh City Fine Arts Museum 97A Pho Duc Chinh, D1 Tel: 3829 4441 btmthcm@hotmail.com Institution housing contemporary/traditional works by Vietnamese and foreign artists. Pieces date from as early as the 7th century. Includes Vietnamese antiques, art crafted by the Cham and Funan peoples.

San Art Independent Artist Space 3 Me Linh, Binh Thanh Tel: 3840 0898 hoa@san-art.org www.san-art.org Artist-run, non-profit exhibition space featuring contemporary work by young Vietnamese artists. San Art hosts guest lecturers and curators. A reading room of art books and magazines is open to the public.

TuDo Gallery 53 Ho Tung Mau, D1 Tel: 3821 0966 www.tudogallery.com Hosting permanent exhibitions of works by the city’s artists, Tu Do deals in oils, silk paintings and lacquerware. More than 1,000 pieces on show.

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equipment. Available for party hire, with BBQ included on request. Membership packages available. Kids swim club and adult masters programmes. Rainbow Divers offers scuba diving courses for children and adults. Free morning yoga.

listings

sports & leisure Sport Street Huyen Tran Cong Chua, D1 between Nguyen Du and Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Services include mending and restringing broken tennis rackets. Products range from badminton birdies and rackets to basketball hoops, free weights, roller blades, scooters, soccer jerseys and all manner of balls.

Trophies & Custom Signage Street Le Lai, D1 between Truong Dinh and Nguyen Thai Hoc Offers custom engraving on trophies and plaques made of plastic, wood, metal and glass.

CRICKET

Saigon Cricket Assocation Social cricket league plays 25 overs a side matches Sunday mornings at RMIT’s District 7 pitch. Season runs November through May, with friendly games throughout the pre-season. Practice on Saturdays and Sunday afternoons.

Australian Cricket Club Terry Gordon terrygordoninasia@yahoo.com.au saigonaustraliancricketclub@yahoo. com www.saigoncricket.com English Cricket Club Richard Carrington Richard.carrington@pivotalvietnam.com info@eccsaigon.com www.eccsaigon.com Indian Cricket Club Manish Sogani, manish@ambrij.com United Cricket Club Mr. Asif Ali, asif@promo-tex.net keshav.dayalani@rmit.edu.vn

DANCING

DanCenter 53 Nguyen Dang Giai, Thao Dien,

District 2 Tel: 3840 6974 www.dancentervn.com Purpose built studio with foreign trained dance instructors. Classes in jazz, ballet, tap, hip hop, yoga, zumba, belly, hula, capoiera and more. Kids can start from 4+ and adults of all ages and levels are welcome. Schedule and news on events available on-line.

Salsa Dancing at La Habana 6 Cao Ba Quat, D1 www.salsaigon.com salsaigon@gmail.com Six-week salsa package at 350,000 VND for single persons and 550,000 for a couple, run by Urko. Lessons every Tuesday (beginners L.A. style at 7.30 pm; intermediate L.A style at 8.30 pm).

Registration required.

FITNESS & YOGA

AIS Sports Centre 36 Thao Dien, An Phu, D2 Tel: 3744 6960, ext 126 sportscentre@aisvietnam.com www.aissportscentre.com Features six-lane, 25-metre pool, basketball and netball courts, astroturf hockey/football area and outdoor gym

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counsel corner

California WOW Xperience Parkson Plaza, 126 Hung Vuong, D5 28/30-32 Le Loi, D1 Tel: 6291 5999 The world’s biggest fitness centre chain is one of Saigon’s most modern places to get your sweat on. Located in Hung Vuong Plaza, CWX offers a huge workout area and all kinds of classes including spinning, KickFit, yoga and more.

Caravelle Club Spa 19 Lam Son Square, D1 Tel: 3823 4999 Modern and stylish gym with lots of cardiovascular machines and free weights.

The swimming pool is a great place for a dip, and the massage parlour, sauna, steam room and jacuzzi are there for winding down.

Equinox Fitness & Leisure Centre Equatorial Hotel, 242 Tran Binh Trong, D5 Tel: 3839 7777 Decent-sized 3rd-floor gym with modern cardio and weights machines, sauna, steambath, jacuzzi, and large 4th floor pool great for swimming laps.

Suzanne & Saigon Yoga Tel: 090 835 2265 suzanne@saigonyoga.com Suzanne is an ERYT- 200 (Experienced) Yoga Alliance Instructor. She boasts two decades of experience, offering various yoga styles in District 2 and yoga retreats in Vietnam.

FOOTBALL & RUGBY

Australian Rules Football Tel: 093 768 3230 www.vietnamswans.com vietnamswans@gmail.com The Vietnam Swans play regular international footy matches around Asia.

Training sessions are held weekly in HCM City (2.30 pm Saturday, RMIT D7) and Hanoi (midday, Saturday, UN International School, Ciputra). All skill levels and codes welcome.

Les Gaulois de Saigon www.gauloisdesaigon.com info@gauloisdesaigon.com A new team of French footballers, the side invites players and their families to come and join in their friendly training sessions, where everyone can get together and enjoy the sport while making new friends. Contact Sebastien on 0919 691785 or Romain on 0908 060139.

RMIT Vietnam sports.recreation@rmit.edu.vn A new player on the SIFL scene with a team made up of students from the University. They have their own football ground on-site consisting of two brand new pitches. Contact Landon Carnie.

Saigon Raiders jon.hoff@saigonraiders.com Sociable football side who are always on the lookout for new talent for their weekly matches and training sessions. The team participates in the Saigon International Football League and also has regular fixtures against local teams in the outlying provinces and also participates in international tournaments.

Saigon Rugby Club Tel: 0903 735 799 www.saigonrfc.org saigonrugbyfootballclub@yahoo.com Social, mixed touch rugby played every Saturday afternoon for adults at RMIT from 4 pm until 6 pm. Regularly welcomes visiting teams and tours the region for men’s contact and women’s touch rugby tournaments. Beginners welcome.

True Beauty, Part Two

By Briar Jacques For a woman who grew up in a culture that allows media misrepresentation of beauty, what happens when she moves to a county where women are naturally petite and very pretty? Where women seem to age a lot slower, often still looking girlish well into their 30s?

In many cases, a western woman may feel large, all of a sudden. She may feel even more pressure to change and ‘improve’. Increased insecurity about both her attractiveness and her ability to stay attractive to her partner can become a big problem. Eating disorders, smoking, exercise addiction and abuse of diet pills often result from such intense pressure and lack of emotional equilibrium. For many expat women, this is another factor that can make living in Vietnam a challenging experience.

Of course, Asian women are just as affected by the unrealistic standards of beauty all around them. The cosmetic surgery industry is growing in Vietnam as it follows the trend in the rest of Asia.

Vietnamese women may be more petite than their western counterparts but the pressure to have the right look, skin tone and shape is still there.

Korean movie stars are often held up as the ideal standard of beauty and an industry of cosmetic surgery to specifically copy certain actresses has emerged.

If only we could relax and accept the things about us that are beautiful! We should

spend time working on our positive self-regard instead of just our abs. If we now look at photos of ourselves at age 20, we will probably only really see the good stuff. Yet when we were 20, chances are we were locked into self-criticism. The same will happen when we are 60, looking back at photos of ourselves now. We will think we are young and cute. Why can’t we feel that now — focus on what we have rather than what we don’t?

There is nothing unhealthy about striving to be physically fit and healthy and look good.

However, just as much attention needs to go to developing our appreciation for what we have and integrating the knowledge that we have been manipulated by the media into judging ourselves harshly.

Imagine if all the energy that goes into trying to achieve slimness or physical beauty went into working to develop true beauty — kindness, compassion, wisdom, humour. It is possible to improve these qualities constantly if we choose to direct our time and energy in their direction. And these qualities actually exist!

They are attainable and they endure. The same can’t be said for the images of physical beauty we have been force fed.

Briar Jacques is a trained Australian counsellor who deals with issues like expat adjustment, depression, anxiety and drug abuse. Call 0 12 14 80 87 92.

Saigon Saints chris@saigonsaints.com www.saigonsaints.com Expat football club of all ages, which has been running since 1995 and plays in the SIFL. Regularly venture on international tours especially to Bangkok and Manila and play in other local and international tournaments. The players train weekly, and new players are encouraged to join.

Saigon South Golf Nguyen Van Linh, Tan Phu, D7 Tel: 5411 2001 sgs.golf@yahoo.com.vn Nine-hole mini golf course and driving range set amongst attractive gardens just behind FV Hospital. Membership starts from USD $700 for 6 months. Visitors’ greens fees for a round of golf are around USD $16 before 5 pm and $19 after. Club, shoe and umbrella hire is also available.

GOLF

SaigonSports Academy League Tel: 093 215 3502 greg@saigonsportsacademy.com www.saigonsportsacademy.com 12-week, 5 a side community football league with Adult, U18, U14, U10 and U7 divisions. Matches held at Thao Dan Stadium in District 1. Corporate, local and expat teams compete in adult division with cash prize for champions.

Dalat Palace Golf Club Phu Dong Thien Vuong, Dalat Tel: 063 3821 101 dpgc@vietnamgolfresorts.com The most beautiful course in Vietnam, combining the crisp mountain air with an environment of stately pine trees.

Overlooking Xuan Huong lake, the 7,009-yard course is an enjoyable challenge for golfers of all levels.

Dong Nai Golf Resort Trang Bom Town, Trang Bom Tel: 061 3866 288 / 3677 590 www.dongnaigolf.com.vn Large golf resort with 27 holes, plus a villa complex, bar, sauna. jacuzzi and billiards. The resort sits on 160 hectares of land in Dong Nai Province, about 50 kilometres from the city.

Membership starts at USD $2,000 a year.

Ocean Dunes Golf Club 1 Ton Duc Thang, Phan Thiet Tel: 062 3821 995 odgc@vietnamgolfresorts.com Designed by Nick Faldo, the 6,746-yard par-72 course winds through seaside dunes, with the variable coastal breezes changing its character each day.

An enjoyable and eminently playable course and has become a favourite venue for expatriate tournaments.

Song Be Golf Resort 77 Binh Duong Blvd, Thuan An Tel: 0650 3756 660 info@songbegolf.com www.songbegolf.com Located 22 kilometres from the city centre, the premier golf course in the area features an 18-hole, 6,384-metre course.

Also has tennis courts, a swimming pool, and a gymnasium.

Vietnam Golf and Country Club Long Thanh My Village, D9 www.vietnamgolfcc.com This facility consists of two courses of 18 holes each, one of which is designed in a more traditional Asian style, and the other in international style. Has other attractions such as boating, tennis and a restaurant area.

LEISURE

Hash House Harriers www.saigonh3.com

Running club that meets every Sunday at 2 pm at the Caravelle Hotel to go on a run in different locations out of town with their traditional balance of exercise and beer.

Phun Runner info@phun-run.com Social running group that meets Saturdays at 7 am for a scenic run around Saigon before breakfast. Great way to explore the city, meet fellow runners and get fit for future events. Check website for rendezvous points.

Rangers Baseball Club Isao Shimokawaji isao.shimokawaji@sapporobeer.co.jp A baseball club always looking for additional players of any age, race or experience level. Plays Saturdays or Sundays, often against Korean or Vietnamese teams.

Saigon International Dart League www.thesidl.com A highly popular group in town, the darts club runs a competitive year-long league for 16 pub-based teams. There are some excellent players in this sociable and international group. See website for details of how to join and latest 180 scores.

Saigon International Softball League sisl@saigonsoftball.info www.saigonsoftball.info The league plays slo-pitch softball every Sunday (usually at the Taiwanese School in Phu My Hung) and always welcomes newcomers.

Saigon Pony Club Lane 42, Le Van Thinh, D2 Tel: 0913 733 360 A standout facility offering pony rides, riding lessons, horse clinics and pony rentals. Also hosts events and birthdays.

Squash The Landmark, 5B Ton Duc Thang, D1 Tel: 3822 2098 ext 176 www.thelandmarkvietnam.com One of three squash courts in town.

Membership is open to non-Landmark residents and drop-in players. Lessons and racquets are available for additional fees. Balls are provided.

Book in advance or phone for further information.

Ultimate Frisbee RMIT, 702 Nguyen Van Linh, D7 www.saigon-ultimate.com Join in this exciting popular sport every Sunday afternoon from 3pm to 5pm in Saigon South. Pan-Asian competitions also organised for the more experienced. Contact David Jensen at 0909458890 Vietnam Hobby Brewers hobbybrewer.vietnam@gmail.com www.hobbybrewer-vietnam.de.tl Small group of beer enthusiasts gather bi-monthly at microbrewery to talk beer, share brewing tips and sample homemade suds. The group is keen on taking on new members with an interest in learning how to brew.

X-Rock Climbing Phan Dinh Phung Sport Centre 75 Nguyen Dinh Chieu, D3 Tel: 6278 5794 503A Nguyen Duy Trinh, D2 Tel: 2210 9192 www.xrockclimbing.com Offering safe and professional climbing for anyone aged 4 and up. Featuring mountain climbing routes rated from beginner to advanced, climbing and belay-safety courses and training, birthday parties, corporate team building. Excellent facilities for children and annual membership for kids.

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ners. Au fait with the latest treatments and techniques, the surgery prides themselves on their high standard of equipment & sterilization.

health & beauty

Tu Xuong Dental Clinic 51A Tu Xuong, D3 Tel: 3932 2049/050 drhung01@yahoo.com www.nhakhoatuxuong.com Provides general and cosmetic dental services at reasonable prices. Specialises in implants, orthodontic treatments and making crowns and bridges. Staff are professional and speak English.

ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE

American Chiropractic Clinic 8 Truong Dinh, D3 Tel: 3930 6667 www.vietnamchiropractic.com A chiropractic, physiotherapy, foot care clinic staffed by American-trained chiropractors speaking French, English, Chinese, Vietnamese and Korean. Treats back pain, neck pain, knee pain, also specializing in sports injuries, manufacture of medical grade foot orthotics.

Institute of Traditional Medicine 273-275 Nguyen Van Troi, Phu Nhuan Dr. Le Hung is the man to see at this wellestablished traditional hospital & training centre. He speaks good English and provides excellent treatments in a clean environment Theta Healing – Jodie Eastwood Tel: 091 859 1933 www.thetahealing.com A unique energy healing technique for mind, body and spirit. Jodie is a UK qualified practitioner based in HCM City.

COSMETIC TREATMENT

Cao Thang Lasik & Aesthetic Clinic 135-135B Tran Binh Trong, D5 Tel: 3923 4419 A modern clinic offering a comprehensive range of optical services. Specializes in LASIK correctional procedures. English spoken. Open seven days a week.

FV Hospital Cosmetic Surgery 45 Vo Thi Sau, D1 Tel: 6290 6167 6 Nguyen Luong Bang, D7 Tel: 5411 3366 www.fvhospital.com International-standard cosmetic procedures from simple dermabrasion and chemical peels to collagen injections, nose and eye shaping, liposuction, and breast enhancement. Procedures carried out by French and Vietnamese doctors using the latest equipment.

Parkway Shenton International Clinic Suite 213-214, 37 Ton Duc Thang, D1 Owned by the Singapore-based healthcare giant Parkway Holdings, this aesthetics clinic offers a range of both surgical and non-surgical treatments including dental reconstruction.

DENTAL

European Dental Clinic 17 - 17A Le Van Mien, Thao Dien, D2 Tel: 0918 749 204/08

3744 9744 Expat English and French-speaking dentist. Performs full range of dental treatment including whitening, aesthetic fillings, porcelain crowns, full ceramics, veneer and orthodontic treatment. 24hour emergency line: 0909 551 916 or 0916 352940.

Starlight Dental Clinic Dr. Philippe Guettier & International Team of Dentists 2Bis Cong Truong Quoc Te, D1 Tel: 3822 6222 doe.linh@gmail.com With 14 years’ experience providing dental treatment to expat and Vietnamese patients, this well-known dental surgery is staffed by both foreign & local practitio-

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Westcoast International Dental Clinic 27 Nguyen Trung Truc, D1 Tel: 3825 6999 71-79 Dong Khoi, D1 Tel: 3825 6777 info@westcoastinternational.com www.westcoastinternational.com Canadian-run dental clinic staffed by French, Japanese, English and Vietnamese speaking dental professionals.

HAIR & SALON

Anthony George for LondonHair & Beauty FIDECO Riverview Building 14 Thao Dien, D2 Tel: 3744 6475 www.aglondonsalon.com.vn Top British stylist George brings his unique flair to hair in District 2. The modern, stylish and professional salon is host to a staff of professionally trained beauty therapists.

Uses Dermalogica, Schwarzkopf and L’Oreal products.

Lloyd Morgan International Hair Studio 234 Nguyen Van Huong, Thao Dien, D2 Tel: 090 8422 007 International stylist Lloyd Morgan is one of the best in town. He’s been in the business for over 30 years and brings his expertise to this established, top-notch salon.

Qi Spa 151 Nguyen Van Troi, Phu Nhuan Tel: 3844 1719 Caravelle Hotel Tel: 3824 7150 Mövenpick Hotel Saigon, Tel: 3997 5437 High-end salon and spa offers the standard range of services in a calming atmosphere with good service. Waxing, nail services, hair dressing as well as luxurious facial and massage treatments on offer.

Souche 2nd Floor, Saigon Trade Centre 37 Ton Duc Thang, D1 Tel: 3910 0372 A top-end beauty salon using the Dermatologica line of skincare products. Specialises in personalized facial care treatments and medicated acne treatments. Waxing and other aesthetic services are also available in a pleasant atmosphere with excellent service.

Sunji Matsuo Hair Studio Saigon Paragon, 3 Nguyen Luong Bang, D7 Tel: 5416 0378 Celebrity hairstylist Sunji Matsuo’s Singapore-based hair salon has a variety of hair services including scalp treatments, rebonding and hair extensions.

The Salon 21-23 Nguyen Thi Minh Khai, D1 Tel: 3822 9660 65 Le Loi, D1 Tel: 3821 6394 Reliable haircuts from well-trained stylists at this local salon with multiple locations.

MEDICAL

Australian Clinic & Pathology Diagnostics (ACPD) 273-275 Ly Thai To, D10 Tel: 3834 9941 www.australianclinic.com.vn Services include general outpatient healthcare, corporate / visa healthchecks, X-ray, full laboratory and in-house pharmacy including specialist medical services covering cardiology, paediatrics, obstetrics, gynecology, orthopedic and dermatology.

Heart Health

By Claire Uebbing High blood pressure or hypertension is a common problem worldwide. The World Heart Federation estimates that approximately 970 million people suffer with the condition. It is also the leading cause of stroke and a major contributor to heart and kidney failure.

The World Health Organisation considers high blood pressure to be one of the most important factors causing premature death across the world. Blood pressure is basically a measure of the force of blood circulating in blood vessels and the heart.

When vessels lose their elasticity, blood pressure rises. This can cause a problem as, over time, increased pressure weakens the heart muscle and blood vessel walls. Little tears in the walls attract blood clots and narrow the vessels, restricting blood flow and causing strokes and heart attacks.

Hypertension is a silent disease. It doesn’t usually cause any symptoms but headaches, blurry vision and sometimes ringing in the ears when blood pressure is elevated. The only way to know for sure is to have a nurse or doctor measure it.

Hypertension also can run in families, so if your parents or siblings have been diagnosed it is especially important that you be checked,

too. Several measurements a few weeks apart are necessary to diagnose hypertension since many other factors, like pain or anxiety, can influence blood pressure.

High blood pressure can be treated first by improving your diet and lifestyle. If it remains high, medicines are necessary to lower the pressure and prevent excess wear and tear on blood vessels.

You can work to prevent hypertension by eating a nutritious diet with lots of fruits and vegetables and only small amounts of salt and fat. This doesn’t mean you have to eat bland food, you can still use spices and herbs.

Exercise for at least 30 minutes every day. If you can walk at a pace that gets your heart beating fast, that is enough. You can also separate your exercise time into shorter increments as long as you meet the total 30 minutes in a day. Stop smoking and limit alcohol use. Schedule a check-up once a year to have your blood pressure measured.

Dr Claire Uebbing is a new full-time American General Practitioner at the International SOS Clinic Phnom Penh.

If you have any enquiries regarding this or any other medical matter please contact aine.flanaghan@internationalsos.com

CARE1 Executive Health Care Center The Manor, 91 Nguyen Huu Canh, Binh Thanh Tel: 3514 0757 care1_reception@vietnammedicalpractice.com www.care1.com.vn Sister clinic of Family Medical Practice, CARE1 is an executive health care centre offering comprehensive preventative-care checkups in a modern and professional setting. State-of-the-art technology provides fast and accurate diagnoses.

Centre Medical International (CMI) 1 Han Thuyen, D1 Tel: 3827 2366 www.cmi-vietnam.com Located downtown next to the cathedral, the centre provides a high standard of medical care from qualified French and Vietnamese physicians. Its range of services include general and tropical medicine, cardiology, gynaecology, osteopathy, pediatrics, psychiatry, speech therapy and traditional Eastern medicine.

Family Medical Practice HCMC Diamond Plaza, 34 Le Duan, D1

Tel: 3822 7848 www.vietnammedicalpractice.com Leading international primary healthcare provider, with a 24-hour state-of-the-art medical centre and highly-qualified multilingual foreign doctors. Extensive experience in worldwide medical evacuations with car and air ambulance on standby.

Also in Hanoi and Danang.

HANH PHUC International Hospital Binh Duong boulevard, Thuan An, Binh Duong.

Tel: 0650 3636068 www.hanhphuchospital.com The 1st Singapore Standard Hospital in Vietnam. 260 –bedder, provide a comprehensive range of quality healthcare services: Obstertrics, Gynaecology,

Paediatrics, Immunization, IVF, Health checkup, Parentcraft, Woman Cancer, Cosmetic Surgery… Just 20- minute driving from HCMC. HANH PHUC International Hospital Clinic 2nd fl., Saigon Trade Center, 37 Ton Duc Thang, D1. Tel: 3911 1860 www.hanhphuchospital.com The 1st Singapore Standard Hospital in Vietnam. The clinic is located at the center of Dist. 1, provides a comprehensive range of services specializing in Obstertrics, Gynaecology, Peadiatrics, Immunization, General Practice and Emergency. Open hours: Weekdays: 8am to 5pm; Saturday: 8am to 12pm.

International SOS 167A Nam Ky Khoi Nghia, D3 Tel: 3829 8424 www.internationalsos.com Globally-renowned provider of medical assistance and international healthcare.

Specializes in offering medical transport and evacuation both within and outside of Vietnam for urgent medical cases. Foreign and Vietnamese dentists. Has multilingual staff.

Victoria Healthcare 135A Nguyen Van Troi, Phu Nhuan Tel: 3997 4545 79 Dien Bien Phu, D1 Tel: 39104545 Well-regarded clinic offering general examinations and specializing in pediatrics, digestive diseases, cardiology and women's health. Offers a membership program and cooperates with most insurance companies in Vietnam and abroad.

Open with doctors on call 24/7.

NAILS

OPI 253 Nam Ky Khoi Nghia, D3

International brand of nail care offering a variety of treatments from standard manicures at 50,000 VND to the whole host nail services such as acrylics, powder gell, cuticle treatments and French polishing.

SKINCARE

Avon 186A Nam Ky Khoi Nghia, D3 Tel: 3930 4018 HCMC branch of the world’s largest direct seller of cosmetics occupies the ground floor of District 3 villa, selling brand names like Anew, Skin-So-Soft and Avon Natural.

The Body Shop 87 Mac Thi Buoi, D1 Tel: 3823 3683 31 Nguyen Trai, D1 Tel: 3926 0336 www.thebodyshop.com International cosmetics retailer with strong commitment to environment sources natural ingredients from small communities for its line of more than 600 products.

L’Apothiquaire 100 Mac Thi Buoi, D1 Parkson Saigon Tourist Plaza Parkson Hung Vuong Plaza The Crescent, 103 Ton Dat Tien, D7 64A Truong Dinh, D3 07 Han Thuyen, D1 Tel: 3932 5181/3932 5082 www.lapothiquaire.com info@lapothiquaire.com French-made natural products for all types of skin. Also offers exclusive natural Italian skin, body and hair care from Erbario Toscano.

Marianna Medical Laser Skincare 149A Truong Dinh, D3 Tel:3526 4635 www.en.marianna.com.vn

Professional Laser Clinic in Ho Chi Minh City, Marianna owns the excellent experts in Aesthetic Medicine and the modern technologies such as Laser, Botox, Filler and all solutions can help you more beautiful and younger day by day Sian Skincare Laser Clinic 71–77 Dong Khoi, D1 Tel:3827 6999 info@sianclinic.com www.sianclinic.com Skincare laser clinic offering the latest in non-surgical esthetic treatments including Botox, laser, acne treatments, hair loss regrowth, hair removal, skin rejuvenation and anti-aging treatments.

Led by Dr. Tran Ngoc Si, a leading esthetic dermatologist from the hospital of Dermatology of HCMC.

SPAS

Aqua Day Spa Sheraton Saigon, 88 Dong Khoi, D1 Tel: 3827 2828 Recently revamped luxury eight-room spa with a holistic approach to treatment, using natural Harnn products plus hot stone therapy and seaweed treatments.

Renaissance Riverside Spa 8-15 Ton Duc Thang, D1 Tel: 3822 0033 No-frills Vietnamese, shiatsu and aromatherapy massages plus a room dedicated to foot massages at the atrium level. Also has sizable steam and sauna rooms at the club Xuan Spa Park Hyatt, 2 Lam Son Square, D1 Tel: 3824 1234 Beautiful spa with highly rated Swedish massage and water therapy including the unique 60 minutes Vichy shower to soften and smooth skin or the Indian Shirodhara with special oil for 45 minutes.

Spa packages aimed at rejuvenation, calming, and hydrating are also available.

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family ACTIVITIES

DanCenter 53 Nguyen Dang Giai, Thao Dien, D2

Tel: 3840 6974 www.dancentervn.com Children and teenagers from age 4+ can enjoy jazz, ballet, tap, hip hop, acro dance and break dance classes at this professionally run, newly built dance studio. Schedule and news on events available on-line.

Helene Kling Painting helene_kling@yahoo.com Offers classes in oil painting to both children and adults for 150,000 VND and 300,000 VND respectively. Classes are paced to suit each student.

Briar Jacques bjacques123@gmail.com Cel: 0122 480 8792 Helping families, individuals, couples, children and teens. Caring and confidential counselling to address issues such as expat adjustment, depression, anxiety and substance abuse. We take a holistic approach to enhance wellbeing on mental, emotional and physical levels.

Saigon Pony Club Lane 42, Le Van Thinh, D2 Tel: 0913 733 360 Close to X-rock climbing centre, kids from three and upwards can ride one of the stable’s 16 ponies. Lessons with foriegn teachers last 45 minutes and cost 350,000 VND for kids from age six.

Tae Kwondo BP Compound, 720 Thao Dien, D2 and Riverside Villa Compound, Vo Truong Toan, D2 phucteacherkd@yahoo.com Private and group classes are run after school three times a week by the friendly Mr. Phuc. Anyone over the age of five is welcome to join in the course, which costs USD $50 for 12 classes/month with a $25 fee for non-members. Contact Mr. Phuc directly on 0903 918 149.

BABY EQUIPMENT

Belli Blossom 4F-04 (4th Floor) Crescent Mall, Nguyen Van Linh Parkway, Phu My Hung, D7 Tel: 5413 7574 12 Mac Dinh Chi, D1 Tel: 3822 6615 www.belliblossom.com.vn contactus@belliblossom.com.vn Belli Blossom catering to moms and babies with imported brands of maternity and nursing wear and accessories, infant clothes, baby bottles and feeding products, strollers, high chairs, slings, baby carriers, diaper bags, and many others. Brands available include: Mam, Mamaway, Quinny, Maclaren, Debon, Luvable Friends, Gingersnaps.

Maman Bebe Vincom Center, 70/72 Le Thanh Ton, D1 Tel: 3825 8724 www.mamanbebe.com.vn Stocks an assortment of modern strollers and car seats. Also sells various utensils and practical baby products. Small selection of clothing for ages newborn to 14 years.

OUTSTANDING EXAMINATION RESULTS The British International School is pleased to announce its 2012 examination results. Behind this picture of success for the school lie many stories of individual achievement and success. Congratulations to our students and teachers.

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Detailed subject reports for IGCSE and IB results together with university destinations can be found on our website www.bisvietnam.com

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Me & Be 230 Vo Thi Sau, D3 40 Ton That Tung, D1 141D Phan Dang Luu, Phu Nhuan 246 Nguyen Dinh Chieu, D3 101-103 Khanh Hoi, D4 287A Nguyen Van Troi, Phu Nhuan The closest thing to Mothercare the city has to offer. Stocks a substantial range of apparel for babies including bottles and sterilizers, cots (including travel cots), clothing, toys, safety equipment and more, all at reasonable prices.

Me Oi 1B Ton That Tung, D1 A small shop adjacent to the maternity hospital bursting at the seams with everything you need for your baby. Clothing, footwear, bottles, nappies, nappy bags and toys all at reasonable prices.

CLOTHES

Debenhams Vincom Center, 70 - 72 Le Thanh Ton, District 1 A superb range of unique and beautiful clothing for young children (from newborns to 12 years old) imported brand from UK. High to mid-range prices.

DLS Paris 17/5 Le Thanh Ton, D1 Diamond Plaza, 34 Le Duan, D1 Saigon Centre, 65 Le Loi, D1 Vincom Center, 70/72 Le Thanh Ton, D1 A superb range of unique and beautiful clothing for young children (from newborns to pre-school age) at high to midrange prices. The quality compensates for the price. Bedding, baby equipment and furniture and organic and natural supplies also kept in stock.

Ninh Khuong 44 Le Loi, D1 Tel: 3824 7456 www.ninhkhuong.vn Well-known hand-embroidered children’s clothing brand using 100% cotton. Newborn to 10 years old (girl) and fourteen years old (boy). Also stocking home linens. Prices are reasonable.

EDUCATION

ABC International School 2,1E Street, KDC Trung Son, Binh Hung, Binh Chanh Tel: 5431 1833 abcintschoolss@vnn.vn www.theabcis.com UK standards-based curriculum awards diploma with IGCSE’s & A Levels certified by Cambridge Universit examinations board.

From playgroup to pre-university matriculation. Served by 80+ British teachers. Good facilities and extra-curricular activities.

ACG International School East West Highway, An Phu, D2 Tel: 3747 1234 www.acgedu.com Part of the Academic Colleges Group’s international network of schools, ACG offers comprehensive education from

kindergarten to senior high school and a range of extracurricular activities. International curricula (IB PYP and Cambridge International Examinations).

The Australian International School Xi Early Childhood Centre 190 Nguyen Van Huong, D2 Tel: 35192727 Early Childhood & Primary School Cherry Blossom 1 & Lotus 1, APSC Compound, 36 Thao Dien, D2 Tel: 3744 6960 Middle & Senior School East-West Highway, An Phu ward, D2 Tel: 3742 4040 www.aisvietnam.com An international curricula and PYP/MYP school. Senior students follow Cambridge A levels. AIS is the only school in Vietnam authorised to deliver the University of New South Wales (UNSW) Foundation Studies Year 12 curriculum. Well-resourced classrooms, highly qualified and experienced teachers, excellent facilities that support academic, creative and sporting activities.

Book a tour at enrolments@aisvietnam. com.

British International School Primary Campus 43 - 45 Tu Xuong, D3 225 Nguyen Van Huong, D2 Secondary Campus 246 Nguyen Van Huong, D2 Tel: 3744 2335 www.bisvietnam.com With campuses all over the city and expansion underway, BIS offers a mixture of both English and International curricula-based education alongside excellent facilities and extra-curricular activities. Senior students follow the IGCSE and IB programmes.

ERC 86-88-92 Huynh Van Banh, Phu Nhuan Tel: 6292 9288 www.erci.edu.vn ERC Vietnam is a member of ERCI Singapore. Founded by a group of successful business leaders around Asia Pacific. Our primary objective is to groom and mentor a new generation of business leaders in Vietnam equipped with skills to analyze and solve real-world business challenges of today.

German International School 257 Hoang Van Thu, Tan Binh Tel: 7300 7247 www.gis.vn A bilingual English and German school, supported by the Federal Republic of Germany, where children can learn subjects in both languages. The curriculum follows the National Curriculum of Germany, which provides students the assurance they can enter or re-enter the German Education System at any time.

Horizon International Bilingual School HCMC 6 Street 44, D2 Te: 5402 2482

www.hibsvietnam.com The only bilingual international school offering dormitories for their students.

Located in the most prestigious area in HCMC offering from kindergarten up to grade 12. The school apply 100% Vietnamese curriculum, MOET as well as an intensive English program. HIBS also has 2 campuses in centre Hanoi.

International School HCMC 28 Vo Truong Toan, D2 Tel: 3898 9100 www.ishcmc.com One of 136 schools around the world to be accredited as an IB World School. Offers all three of the IB programmes from primary through to grade 12. The school is fully accredited by CIS and NEASC and has a strong focus on community spirit and fosters an awareness of other languages and cultures.

KinderStar Kindergarten 08 Dang Dai Do, Phu My Hung, D7 Tel: 5411 8118/9 Offering bilingual preschool program with capacity up to 900 students with the most updated international standard.

The Little Genius International Kindergarten 102 My Kim, Phu My Hung, D7 Tel: 5421 1052 Kindergarten with U.S.-accredited curriculum, modern facilities and attractive school grounds.

Montessori International School International Program 42/1 Ngo Quang Huy, D2 Tel: 3744 2639 Bilingual Program 28 Street 19, KP 5, An Phu, D2 Tel: 6281 7675 www.montessori.edu.vn Montessori utilizes an internationally recognized educational method which focuses on fostering the child’s natural desire to learn. The aim is to create an encouraging environment conducive to learning by developing a sense of self and individuality. A wide array of curriculum/extra-curricular activities are on offer including Bilingual programs.

Renaissance International School 74 Nguyen Thi Thap, D7 Tel: 3773 3171 www.rissaigon.edu.vn IB World school, one of Vietnam’s international schools operating within the framework of the British system. RISS provide a high quality English medium education in a stimulating, challenging and supportive environment. The purpose built, modern campus has excellent facilities.

RMIT 702 Nguyen Van Linh, D7 Tel: 3776 1369 Australian university located in District 7, offers a highly regarded MBA and undergraduate courses in various fields.

Saigon South International School Nguyen Van Linh Parkway, D7 Tel: 5413 0901 www.ssis.edu.vn An International school environment offering an American/international program in a large, spacious campus, to children from age 3 to grade 12. Great facilities, extra-curricular activities and internationally trained teachers giving unique opportunities to learn.

Singapore International School (SIS) No.29, Road No.3, Trung Son Residential Area, Hamlet 4, Binh Hung Ward, Binh Chanh District Tel: 5431 7477 44 Truong Dinh, D3 Tel: 3932 2807 Ground floor, Somerset Chancellor Court, 21 - 23 Nguyen Thi Minh Khai, D1. Tel: 3827 2464 The Manor, 91 Nguyen Huu Canh, Binh Thanh. Tel: 3514 3036 www.kinderworld.net Students play and learn in an environment where the best of Western and Eastern cultures amalgamate to prepare KinderWorld’s students for today’s challenging world drawn from both the Singapore and Australian curriculum. The school offers International Certifications such as the iPSLE, IGCSE and GAC.

ENTERTAINMENT

Gymboree Play & Music Somerset Chancellor Court 21-23 Nguyen Thi Minh Khai, D1 Tel: 3827 7008 www.gymboreeclasses.com.vn The Gymboree Play & Music offers children from newborn to 5 years old the opportunity to explore, learn and play in an innovative parent-child programmes.

PARTIES

Beatrice’s Party Shop 235 Le Thanh Ton, D1 A lovely little shop selling everything you need to throw your little ones a good party. A catalogue of entertainers showcases a number of party favourites such as magicians, circuses and more.

Nguyen Ngoc Diem Phuong 131C Nguyen Thi Minh Khai, D1 A curious shop stocking a range of hand-made fancy dress costumes such as masks, superman outfits and much more. The stock changes seasonally, so this is a good place to stock up on Halloween, Christmas and other holiday-specific party costumes.

The Balloon Man Tel: 3990 3560 Does exactly as his name suggests – balloons. Great service has earned this chap a reputation around town for turning up almost instantly with a superb selection of balloons. Also provides helium balloons.almost instantly with a superb selection of balloons. Also provides helium balloons.

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living

camera that also specializes in repairing all camera makes. Measurement equipment and spare parts also available.

Shop 46 46 Nguyen Hue, D1 Small shop run by photographer and collector. The owner’s more collectible pieces are pricey, but entry-level manual focus SLRs from the 70s and 80s are affordable.

finance

COMPUTERS BUSINESS GROUPS

Computer Street Luong Huu Khanh, D1 between Nguyen Thi Minh Khai and Nguyen Trai This stretch of District 1 is literally wall to wall with small shops selling computers, printers, monitors and everything computer related, more so toward the NTMK end of the drag.

AusCham TV Building, Suite 1A, 31A Nguyen Dinh Chieu, D1 Tel: 3911 0272 / 73 / 74 www.auschamvn.org

iCenter 142A Vo Thi Sau, D3 Tel: 3820 3918 Professional, polished Apple retailer and repair centre with an attractive showroom featuring some of the latest in accessories and audio. English-speakers on staff. Honours Apple service plans.

AmCham New World Hotel, 76 Le Lai, D1 Business Centre, Room 323 Tel: 3824 3562 www.amchamvietnam.com

British Business Group of Vietnam 25 Le Duan, D1 Tel: 3829 8430 execmgr@bbgv.org www.bbgv.org CanCham New World Hotel, 76 Le Lai, D1 Business Centre, Room 305 Tel: 3824 3754 www.canchamvietnam.org Citi Bank 115 Nguyen Hue St, D1 Tel: 3824 2118 Citibank Vietnam offers a wide range of banking services to both consumer and corpo-rate. Services include Corporate and Investment Banking, Global Transaction Services, and Consumer Banking.

In Vietnam for 15 years, Citibank has a presence in both HCMC and Hanoi.

Eurocham 257 Hoang Van Thu, Tan Binh Tel: 3845 5528 www.eurochamvn.org German Business Group 21-23 Nguyen Thi Minh Khai, D1 www.gba-vietnam.org Singapore Business Group Unit 1B2, 21-23 Nguyen Thi Minh Khai, D1 Tel: 3823 3046 www.sbghcmc.org Swiss Business Association 42 Giang Van Minh, Anh Phu, D2 Tel: 3744 6996 Fax: 3744 6990 Email: sba@hcm.vnn.vn www.swissvietnam.com Hong Kong Business Association New World Hotel, 76 Le Lai, D1 Business Centre, Room 322 Tel: 3824 3757 / 3822 8888 www.hkbav.com NordCham Bitexco Building, 19-25 Nguyen Hue, D1 Tel: 3821 5423 www.nordcham.com

CAMERAS

Hung Hai 75 Huynh Thuc Khang, D1 A good place to purchase hard-to-find gear and some rare equipment, mainly auto focus lenses.

Le Duc 5B Huynh Tinh Cua, D3 A shop for all your professional accessory needs. From lighting equipment to tripods and reflectors, the shop offers the best equipment and service in HCM City.

Pham The 11 Le Cong Kieu, D1 An authorized service centre for Nikon

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Future World 240 Nguyen Thi Minh Khai, D3 Authorized reseller of Apple computers and products, as well as some off-brand items like headphones. Excellent service and English-speaking staff. Accepts credit cards.

Phong Vu Computer 264C Nguyen Thi Minh Khai, D1 Tel: 3933 0762 www.vitinhphongvu.com The biggest and busiest of the PC stores in town. Known for good, efficient service, in-house maintenance and aftersales repair on the second floor.

SYS Vi Tinh Saigon 96C Nam Ky Khoi Nghia, D1 www.vtsaigon.com A superb place with an excellent reputation for after-sales service with competent English speaking staff and a wide range of products and services.

Freeware and shareware also available on the store website.

CONSULTING

Concetti 33 Dinh Tien Hoang, D1 Tel: 3911 1480 www.concetti-vn.com Consulting and research company for technology transfer and investment.

Embers-Asia Ltd. Level 9, Nam Giao Building, 80-8 Phan Xich Long, Phu Nhuan Tel: 3995 9163 www.embers-asia.com With a focus on experiential learning, Embers-Asia has been creating and delivering high-performance training and development solutions for corporations, embassies, international schools and NGOs throughout Southeast Asia since 2002.

Ernst & Young Saigon Riverside Office Center, 2A-4A Ton Duc Thang, D1 Tel: 3824 5252 www.ey.com Professional service firm specializing in advisory, assurance, tax, transactions and strategic growth markets.

Flamingo Corporate Services Tel: 2217 1662 Email: info@flamingovn.com www.flamingovn.com Specializes in business immigration, providing services like visas, work and resident permits, police clearance, APEC cards, authentication and legalization of work experience certificates and degrees in Vietnam and abroad.

Grant Thornton Saigon Trade Centre, 37 Ton Duc

The Tipping Point

By Paul McLardie I did something very stupid last week; I downloaded the UK top 40 chart for my iPod. I just wanted something different to listen to in the gym. How was I to know that I would only recognise three or four of the artists by their names? I don’t know the exact date it started, but I have begun to turn into my parents.

Years ago, when they had their 40th birthday party, I remember being a 13-yearold lad thinking how funny my mum and dad looked dancing to their music. Looking back though, it’s just what they knew and also what they enjoye. But when does the tipping point come? That moment when you prefer all your old stuff rather than listening to new stuff?

It’s similar to one of the first things you learn in training when you start to deal with personal finances. It’s called the financial life cycle.

Everyone at a certain point in life will be looking for different things and have new needs.

For example, a couple in their 20s saving up looking to get married has different needs to someone who is getting near retirement. It used to be all very dry and everyone got

pigeon-holed into different groups or categories. Things have changed.

Since starting to work abroad, you realise the old financial life cycle does not work. You can’t place people into groups just by their age and pre-ordained ideas about their needs. Anyone living abroad is here for a reason and for different amounts of time. It could be for the lifestyle, it could be for the money, it could be that you are running away from something. Who cares? The important thing is that you should be treated like an individual and not be influenced by an out-of-date and antiquated method of giving financial advice.

If you are in your 20s and you want to start looking into retirement, it’s up to you. If you are heading for retirement, but your are just about to get married for the fifth time, good luck to you. All I know is that it may be some time before I try to rediscover my youth and for now I’ll just stick to my old music.

Paul McLardie is a partner at Total Wealth Management.

You can contact him at paul. mclardie@t-wm.com.

Thang, D1 Tel: 3910 9100 www.gt.com.vn International business advisors specializing in auditing, management consulting, corporate finance, risk management and information technology.

IF Consulting IBC Building, 3rd Floor 1A Me Linh Square, D1 4th Floor, 5 Ba Trieu Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi Tel: 3827 7362 Fax: 3827 7361 Email: pascal@insuranceinvietnam.com Private insurance and finance.

Indochine Councel Han Nam Building, 65 Nguyen Du, D1 Tel: 3823 9640 www.indochinecounsel.com Business law firm specializing in legal services to corporate clients in relation to their business and investment in Vietnam.

Inspired Image 42/2A Ho Hao Hon, D1 Tel: 091 635 2573 www.inspiredimage.co.uk Image consultant and personal stylist.

Previous clients include business leaders, TV presenters and busy professionals.

International Management Initiative for Vietnam (IMIV) info@imiv.org www.imiv.org The International Management Initiative for Vietnam (IMIV), a non-profit initiative within VinaCapital Foundation that promotes excellence in business leadership and management by bringing to Vietnam proven international executive education and professional development programmes.

Phuong Nguyen Consulting TPC Business Center, 92-96 Nguyen Hue, D1 Tel: 3829 2391 www.pnp-consulting.com Specializing in business facilitation, conferences, education counselling, market-entry research and IT/business consulting.

Prism Information Technology Services Level 4, YOCO Building, 41 Nguyen Thi Minh Khai, D1 Tel: 3829 6416 info@prism.com.vn A foreign-owned information and communications technology company that offers value-added IT solutions. Enables local businesses to attain and maintain international IT standards to be more competitive in the marketplace.

Rouse & Co. International Abacus Tower, 58 Nguyen Dinh Chieu, D1 Tel: 3823 6770 www.iprights.com Global intellectual property firm providing a full range of IP services including patent and trade mark agency services.

Star Management Limited 92-96 Nguyen Hue, D1 Tel: 3897 2765 www.starlimited.com Business advisory services for companies investing in Vietnam, business project advancement and a range of business development services.

TMF Vietnam Company Limited Unit 501, 5th Floor, Saigon Trade Center 37 Ton Duc Thang, D1 Tel: 3910 2262 ext. 113 Fax: 3910 0590 www.tmf-group.com With headquarters in Amsterdam and Rotterdam, TMF Vietnam specializes in accounting outsourcing and consulting.

PERSONAL FINANCIAL PLANNING

Total Wealth Management 66/11 Pham Ngoc Thach, D3 Tel: 3820 0623 www.t-wm.com Specialists in selecting and arranging tax-efficient savings and pension plans for expatriates. Offers councel on private banking services, wealth protection in offshore jurisdictions, currency risks and hedging strategies.

Stock up on shower heads, kitchen supplies (juicer, spatula, grater, etc.), coat racks, clothes hangers, pots, pans, champagne flutes, bowls, coolers, trash bins, ironing boards, magazine racks and the like.

Chau Loan 213 Dong Khoi, D1 Tel: 3825 7991 Gallery based in a colonial shophouse stocking mainly Vietnamese-themed oil paintings and images of Buddha. Also deals in better-known reproductions.

Decosy 112 Xuan Thuy, D2 Tel: 6281 9917 Producer of a large selection of European styled furniture and interior fittings, specializing in wrought iron and patine (distressed) wood finishes. Also stocks a wide-range of decorative accessories, crockery and fixtures. Custom design services available upon request.

Dogma 175 De Tham, D1 Tel: 3836 0488 www.dogmavietnam.com Located upstairs from Saigon Kitsch, this art gallery deals in Vietnamese propaganda posters, apparel, accessories and random paraphernalia. Large prints are sold at USD $60 each and small prints cost $25.

Mekong-Quilts 64 Ngo Duc Ke, D1 Tel: 3914 2119 www.mekong-quilts.org NGO enterprise specializes in quilts and sells a range of appealing handmade products created by underprivileged women in Binh Thuan Province.

Mekong Creations 64 Ngo Duc Ke, D1 Tel: 3914 2119 www.mekong-quilts.org NGO enterprise specializes in quilts and

Towers Watson Vietnam (formerly Watson Wyatt and SMART HR) Sun Wah Tower, 115 Nguyen Hue, Suite 808, D1 Tel: 3821 9488 Global HR consulting firm specializing in executive compensation, talent management, employee rewards and surveys, HR effectiveness and technology, data services and total rewards surveys.

DECOR

Antique Street Le Cong Kieu Street, D1 between Nguyen Thai Binh and Pho Duc Chinh A variety of antiques and faux antiques from Thailand, China and Vietnam including silverware, compasses, lighters, brass knockers, urns, vases, abacuses, religious and pagan statues, candlestick holders, furniture and watches.

Asian Fish 34 Mac Thi Buoi, D1 Boutique-style arts and crafts store selling locally made gifts and souvenirs, all designed by the Japanese owner. Products include clothing, bags, crockery, sandals, chopsticks and jewellery.

Aquarium Street Nguyen Thong Street, D3 between Vo Thi Sau and Ly Chinh Thang Dedicated street has everything one needs to display fish: tanks, decor, feed, filters and the fish themselves.

Budget Housewares Street Corner of Pasteur and Nguyen Dinh Chieu

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sells a range of appealing handmade products created by underprivileged women in Binh Thuan Province.

Minh Boutique 15 Nguyen Thiep, D1 Lacquerware pieces, tea boxes, teapot warmers, ice buckets and sake drinking sets all handmade in Vietnam. Also sells a range of silverware, egg holders and ice tongs.

OUT-2 STUDIO L6 Fafilm annex 6 Thai Van Lung, D1 Tel: 3825 6056 STUDIO@OUT-2.com www.out-2.com Studio space for independent designers to showcas their wares, sell their work and meet with clients. Open Monday t Saturday 10 am to 6 pm.

Phuong Mai 213C Dong Khoi www.phuongmai-gallery.com Gallery specializing in original oils by Vietnamese artists. The works here are a mish-mash of styles but do contain some standouts, particularly well-known local artists La Hon, Quy Tam and Pham Trinh.

Romance in the Office

By Gary Woollacott Are office romances good or bad? Surprisingly, this came up at a business lunch recently. Well, if everything goes smoothly it might not be a problem; only if it goes wrong can grief ensue. I am not endorsing office romances, only pointing out some considerations. Single people can do whatever they like without worrying about others’ feelings, but those involved in relationships have more to think about.

It’s an easy situation to imagine: Two people who spend much of their working time together learn they have much more in common than they thought. Or maybe they regularly travel together for business. Either way, an initial spark of attraction turns into something else and before they know it they are spending much more time together, and this time it has nothing to do with work.

The tough part is what can happen to the working relationship if the physical bit ends. That might be tricky, particularly if one party feels aggrieved about how it comes about. If both agree and can handle their feelings in an adult and professional way there's really no reason they shouldn’t continue to work together — and no one needs to ever know what happened between them. The flip side is, one of them is angry. If you’ve seen

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Basic Instinct, you’ll know how nasty things can get.

Speaking of films, forget sleeping with the boss to get ahead. That only happens in the movies and even then it rarely works out. In Asia few secrets are kept, especially in a romantic entanglement between supervisor and subordinate, and it won’t take long for the rest of the office to find out. On one insidious scenario, one person supervises the work of another, or company money is involved, and maybe no one knows that these two are an item. That opens up the possibility of abuse of position, which is never a good thing.

Many companies have rules barring couples from working together, which may not seem fair but at least it’s out in the open and easier to deal with.

If you’re considering an office fling, it may be very exciting in the early days but consider the longer-term consequences. It could cost you your job as well as a lot of personal grief.

As usual, let me know if you have any particular topic you would like to see covered here.

Gary Woollacott is the CEO of Opus executive search in Vietnam and Thailand. He can be reached at +84 8 3827 8209 or via gary@opusasia.net.

Opus is a partner of Horton International.

Sapa 125 Ho Tung Mau, D1 Offers a better selection of hill tribe handicrafts than most of its rivals.

Concentrates mainly on the hand-woven clothing of the indigenous tribespeople of the region. There is also a line in ladies’ shoes and the standard range of silk wraps and bags.

Unity 12 Dang Tran Con, D1 Tel: 3823 9375 info@unitycompany.com www.facebook.com/unitycompany Located opposite Galaxy cinema, Unity offers accessories that are designed to seamlessly blend in with your life. Familiar basics are given a contemporary update with the use of modern, alternative materials like silicone, rubber, and brushed aluminum. From orbital lamps and eggshell-white china, to wire-clasped water bottles, each individual piece complements the others in the collection to give your home a sense of Unity.

ELECTRONICS

Savico 117 Ho Tung Mau, D1 Tel: 3821 7993 One-stop electronics and home appliance superstore. All products have a one to three-year warranty.

Tech Street Huynh Thuc Khang Street between Ton That Dam and Nguyen Hue, D1 Sells compact discs, DVDs, electronic money counters, video games and systems, Discmans, mp3 players and portable DVD players.

FURNITURE

Appeal 41 Ton That Thiep, D1 Tel: 3821 5258 A small, upscale shop that offers modern accents for the sleek dining room. The colours of the over-sized vases and fruit bowls are either glistening red or lacquered black.

AustinHome 20 Thao Dien, D2 Tel: 3519 0023 Outstanding quality and style for your home. The shop says its products are hand-picked by an American furniture expert from the best factories in Vietnam.

Upholstery, accessories, antiques and more.

Catherine Denoual 15C Thi Sach, D1 Tel: 3823 9394 Beautiful showroom with clean lines and a sumptuous array of bedroom products including bedside lamps, linens, pillowcases and duvet covers.

Decosy 112 Xuan Thuy, D2 Tel: 6281 9917 Producer of a large selection of European styled furniture and interior fittings, specializing in wrought iron and patine (distressed) wood finishes. Also stocks a wide-range of decorative accessories, crockery and fixtures. Custom design services available upon request.

Esthetic 11 Nguyen Huu Canh, Binh Thanh Tel: 3514 7371/7372 Fax: 3514 7370 esthetic@vnn.vn www.estheticfurnishing.com.vn Design and manufacture as order with a mixture of antique and modern furniture.

Friendly staff speak excellent English.

Hi End Audio 84 Ho Tung Mau, D1 A standout that stocks the very latest and greatest in home entertainment.

Retails in everything from giant plasmascreen TVs to audio equipment. Most top brands are available.

Furniture Outlet 3A Ton Duc Thang, D1 Tel: 2243 7955/3911 0104 Wide selection of well-crafted and carefully constructed pine wood pieces at good prices, aimed at customers craving a taste of Europe.

iDEAS Shopping Centre 133-141AB Cach Mang Thang Tam, D3 The largest of the electonics stores along the street, the three-storey iDEAS sells every type of electronic and home appliance imaginable. Offers proper warranties. Staff speaks some English.

Furniture Street Ngo Gia Tu, D10 between Ly Thai To and Nguyen Chi Thanh Very affordable furniture can be found on this stretch: couches, mattresses, desks, chairs, etc. It often takes some looking to find a gem. A connected sidestreet, Ba Hat, features woodworkers’ shops.

Nguyen Kim Shopping Centre 63-65 Tran Hung Dao, D1 Tel: 3821 1211 www.nguyenkim.com Stocks DVD/CD players, cameras, TVs, hi-fis and more from Sony, Sanyo, Panasonic, Philips and other major manufacturers. Also a good place to pick up electronic kitchen supplies like coffee makers and rice cookers, as well as large and small appliances, from hot water heaters to regrigerators.

Phong Vu 125 Cach Mang Thang Tam, D1 Tel: 6290 8777 www.vitinphongvu.com Two-storey electronics store retails in international products conveniently grouped by brand. Carries computers, home audio, printers, hard drives and more, as well as a variety of mobile phones, handheld electronic devices and accessories.

Gaya 1 Nguyen Van Trang, D1 Tel: 3925 1495 www.gayavietnam.com Four-floor store featuring the work of foreign designers: home accessories and outdoor furniture by Lawson Johnston, linens by Corinne Leveilley-Dadda, furniture and lighting by Quasar Khanh, laquerware decor by Michele De Albert and furniture and decor by vivekkevin.

LINH‘S WHITE

37 Thao Dien, D2 Tel: 6281 9863 Furniture shop that focuses on solid wood furniture and decorative items ranging from pillows and lamps to bedding. Also offers kids’ furniture and custom pieces.

Rare Decor 41 Hai Ba Trung, D1 Tel: 3822 2284 137/1 Nguyen Huu Canh, Binh Thanh

Tel: 3840 6304/5 Leading home furnishings company in Vietnam, supplying high quality, unique products. Also offer custom made furniture, accessories and lighting for commercial projects and home use.

The Furniture Warehouse 3B Ton Duc Thang, D1 Tel: 6657 0788 namtran121@yahoo.com, ttpnam@ webtnl.com Offers a range of reasonably priced Italian, European and French colonial sofas, indoor/outdoor wooden furniture, lighting and interior décor, as well as custom designs based on clients’ specifications.

The Lost Art 31 Nguyen Cong Tru, D1 Tel: 3829 0134 Extensive product range as well as comprehensive interior design service, from initial conceptualization to design, manufacture and installation of unique products.

INSURANCE

Blue Cross Vietnam 8th Flr. River View Tower, Thai Van Lung, D1 Tel: 3821 9908 www.bluecross.com.vn Blue Cross Vietnam is part of the Pacific Cross group of companies with over 60 years' experience in providing health and travel insurance to people and businesses who call Asia home. Our reputation for transparent, honest and reliable service means we are the strength behind your insurance. To make sure you are getting the most out of your insurance please contact us for a free quote.

LEGAL

Allens Arthur Robinson Saigon Tower, 29 Le Duan, D1 Tel: 3822 1717 www.vietnamlaws.com Australian law firm for law translation services and legal advice on foreign investment and business in Vietnam.

Baker & McKenzie Saigon Tower, 29 Le Duan, D1 Tel: 3829 5585 www.bakernet.com International law firm providing on-theground liaison and support services to clients interested in investigating, negotiating and implementing projects in Vietnam.

Frasers International Saigon Centre, 65 Le Loi, D1 Tel: 3824 2733 www.frasersvn.com Full service commercial law firm providing international and Vietnamese legal advice to both foreign and local clients specializing in transactions in Vietnam.

Indochine Counsel Han Nam Building, 65 Nguyen Du, D1

Tel: 3823 9640 www.indochinecounsel.com Business law practitioners specializing in mergers & acquistions, inward investment, and securities & capital markets.

Limcharoen, Hughes and Glanville Havana Tower, 132 Ham Nghi, D1 Tel: 6291 7000 www.limcharoen.com Full service international law firm with head office in Thailand. Main focus on real estate in Asia.

Phillips Fox Saigon Tower, 29 Le Duan, D1 Tel: 3822 1717 Full service law firm providing legal services in healthcare, education, crime, banking and hospitality among others.

Pricewaterhousecoopers Legal Saigon Tower, 29 Le Duan, D1 Tel: 3823 0796 www.pwc.com/vn Part of a network of international legal and financial advisors, PWC gives both specialist and general legal advice with a focus on mutli-territory projects.

Rödl & Partner Somerset Chancellor Court 21-23 Nguyen Thi Minh Khai, D1 Tel: 3824 4225 www.roedl.com European legal firm assisting foreign investors with structuring/establishing companies, investment projects, and mergers & acquistions.

LIGHTING

Luxury Light 1483 My Toan 1, Nguyen Van Linh, Phu My Hung, D7 For those who really want to bring a touch of luxury to their homes, this place deals with Italian imported lighting from the ultra - modern to the traditional Murano style chandeliers. Extremely expensive reflecting the quality of the design and workmanship.

Mosaique 98 Mac Thi Buoi, D1 One of the best and most diverse selections of lamps in town with everything from the ordinary decorative lotus silk lamp to more inventive and original designs in lacquer and silk.

MOTORBIKES

Bike City 480D Nguyen Thi Thap, D7 Luxury motorcycle shop carries a range of accessories, including apparel. Sells Vemar helmets, a brand that passes rigorous European Union standards.

Protec Helmets 18bis/3A Nguyen Thi Minh Khai, D1 248C Phan Dinh Phung, Phu Nhuan 417B Nguyen Dinh Chieu, D3 American nonprofit manufacturer makes

112 Xuan Thuy Ward Thao Dien District 2 Ho Chi Minh City Tel/Fax. (+84) 8 62.819.917 shop-hcm@decosy.biz

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helmets with densely compressed polystyrene shell with ABS, PVC or fiberglass exterior, available with polycarbonate shatter-proof shield. Options for kids.

REAL ESTATE

CB Richard Ellis Me Linh Point Tower, 2 Ngo Duc Ke, D1 Tel: 3824 6125 www.cbre.com International property consultants and developers with both commercial and private properties for sale, lease and rent.

Diamond Plaza 34 Le Duan Street Tel: 3822 1922 lntdung@diamondplaza.com.vn Located in the heart of District 1, connected to Diamond PLaza. Services 1- to 4-bedroom apartments with gym, swimming pool and panoramic views of the city.

HousingInteractive www.housinginteractive.com Offering an easy-to-use, comprehensive website that only lists authentic apartments and villas throughout Ho Chi Minh City. The website empowers users to make specific searches to narrow down properties in order to suit their exact requirements and save time.

Upon selecting, HousingInteractive's professional staff is available 6 days a week to introduce tenants to their future homes.

InterContinental Asiana Saigon Residences Corner of Hai Ba Trung & Nguyen Du, D1 Tel: 3520 8888 saigon@interconti.com www.intercontinental.com/saigonres Contemporary residential space in the heart of the major business and cultural area in District 1. There are 260

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one, two or three-bedroom units plus health club and outdoor swimming pool.

Namhouse Corporation 48A Tran Ngoc Dien,

Thao Dien, D2 Tel: 0989 007 700, 0989 115 511 www.namhouse.com.vn Provides rental properties, construction services and interior decorating.

Supports professional services and after-sales.

Riverside Apartments 53 Vo Truong Toan, D2 Tel: 3744 4111 www.riverside-apartments.com One of the first luxury serviced apartments in town located next to the Saigon River set in lush tropical gardens.

Savills Viet Nam Level 18, Fideco Tower, 81-85 Ham Nghi, D1 Tel: 823 9205 www.savills.com.vn Savills Viet Nam is a property service provider that has been established in Vietnam since 1995 offering research, advisory services, residential sales, commercial leasing, asset management, retail advisory, valuation, investment advisory and more.

Sherwood Residence 127 Pasteur St., D3 Tel: 3823 2288 Fax: 3823 9880 Hotline: 0917470058 leasing@sherwoodresidence.com www.sherwoodresidence.com Sherwood Residence is a luxury serviced apartment property and the first property certified by the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism.

Modern living spaces meet prime location, comfort and class with 5-star facilities and service.

Snap Tel: 0989 816 676 www.snap.com.vn Online Real Estate service providing information on rental properties exclusively in District 2. Full listings online.

RECRUITMENT

HR2B / Talent Recruitment JSC Thien Son Building, 5 Nguyen Gia Thieu, D3 Tel: 3930 8800 www.hr2b.com HR consulting advises businesses on how to improve employee productivity.

The search team specializes in matching senior level Vietnamese professionals and managers to top level opportunities in both major cities.

Opus Vietnam 2A Rolanno Offices, 128 Nguyen Phi Khanh, D1 Tel: 3827 8209 www.opusasia.net Established in HCMC in 2005, Opus

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services local and multinational companies seeking to recruit high quality personnel. An Associate of Horton International, one of the world’s leading search groups with over 30 offices worldwide. For more info contact info@ opusasia.net.

RELOCATION AGENTS

Allied Pickfords Satra Building, Room 202, 58 Dong Khoi, D1 Tel: 08 3823 3454 Kevin.hamilton@alliedpickfords.com.vn http://vn.alliedpickfords.com Moving and relocating services company specializing in business and office moves.

Overseas and specialist movers also available.

Crown Worldwide Movers 48A Huynh Man Dat, Binh Thanh Tel: 3823 4127 www.crownrelo.com hochiminhcity@crownrelo.com Not just International or local moving and storage. Crown Relocations offer a wide range of services including orientations, immigration, home search, intercultural training through to pet relocation. Call the team on the above number and check out our website for more information.

JVK International Movers Saigon Port Building, 3 Nguyen Tat Thanh, D4 Tel: 3826 7655/6 chris.honour@jvkasia.com www.jvk.com International agengy with a full range of services including sea/air freight services and worldwide transit coverage.

Santa Fe Relocation Services Thien Son Building, 5 Nguyen Gia Thieu, D3 Tel: 3933 0065 www.santaferelo.com Provides a range of services including home/school search, language/cultural training, tenancy management and immigration/visa support.

STATIONERY

Custom Signage Street Le Lai, D1 between Truong Dinh and Nguyen Thai Hoc Offers custom-designed signs and custom engraving on trophies and plaques made of plastic, wood, metal and glass.

Fahasa 40 Nguyen Hue, D1 Tel: 3822 5796 Bookstore chain carries an expansive stock of office and home stationary; a one-stop shop for basic needs.

Pi-Channel 45B Le Thanh Ton, D1 Tel: 3822 0253 www.pi-channel.com Boutique shop carries up-market collections of pens and notepads, as well as desktop organisers, clocks, calendars and frames. Corporate services offered.

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fashion ACCESSORIES

Accessorize Vincom Center, 70/72 Le Thanh Ton, D1 www.monsoon.co.uk/icat/accessorize Fashion-forward accessories including necklaces, handbags, wallets, flip-flops, sunglasses, hair accessories, belts and more.

Alfred Dunhill Diamond Plaza, 34 Le Duan, D1 A timeless style in male luxury providing formal and casual mens accesories tailored for the discerning man. Also stocking handcrafted leather goods.

Anupa Boutique 17/27 Le Thanh Ton, D1 Tel: 3825 7307 anupaboutiquevietnam@anupa.net The ever-changing boutique retails in the elegant design of anupa accessories made from high-quality leather.

Collections available range from men, women, executive, travel, spa, yoga, board games, boxes and semi-precious stone jewellery. Collection changes on weekly basis. Also carries toys, stationery, Unitdot Bamboo eye wear, Ella Charlotte scarves and ladies' apparel brand Things of Substance.

Bally Rex Hotel, 141 Nguyen Hue, D1 Diamond Plaza, 34 Le Duan, D1 www.experience.bally.com Flagship store in the Rex Hotel providing luxury Italian-made accessories for men.

Among these are shoes, belts, wallets and a collection of male jewellery.

Banana 128 Ly Tu Trong, D1 Women’s accessories and more, from bags, clutches and belts to clothes and jewellery, all at reasonable prices.

Cartier Diamond Plaza, 34 Le Duan This well-known designer brand displays a wide range of accessories for men. Famous for its watches, Cartier also stocks pens, key rings, belts and sunglasses.

Cincinati 177P Dong Khoi, D1 www.cincinati.vn info@cincinati.vn Vietnamese brand of genuine leather bags, shoes, accessories and personal goods for men and women: notebooks for a classic vagabond look. Quality leather from crocodile, horse, snake and fish made by local craftsmanship.

Cleo-Pearls 30 Nguyen Dang Giai, An Phu, D2 Tel: 091 3587 690 Jewellery designer Birgit Maier operates Cleo-Pearls from her home, specializing in necklaces, bracelets, earrings, key holders and bag accessories. All pieces created with gemstones, fresh water pearls and beads.

Coconut 100 Mac Thi Buoi, D1 Bags of all shapes and sizes rule the roost in this small shop. Made of silk and embroidered to the brim, these unique bags start at about USD $30, and many are suitable for both day and night.

Creation 105 Dong Khoi, D1 Tel: 3829 5429 A two-storey shop selling scarves, intricate handbags (from USD $30), tailormade silk dresses and tops. Has a wide range of materials on the second floor.

Gallery vivekkevin FAFILM Building, 6 Thai Van Lung, D1 Tel: 6291 3709 info@vivekkevin.com www.galeryvivekkevin.com Handcrafted pendants, necklaces, rings and bracelets. The gallery’s focus is on design, craftsmanship and finish, as well as educating clients on the intricacies of each piece.

Gucci 88 Dong Khoi, D1 Tel: 3827 6688 Located on the main shopping street in HCMC, this flagship store brings Florentine fashion to an array of luxury leather goods such as briefcases, luggage and a selection of men’s shoes for office or more casual occasions.

Ipa-Nima 71 Pasteur, D1 Tel: 3824 3652 77 Dong Khoi, D1 Well-known Hanoi-based fashion brand.

Founder Christina Yu is a former lawyer turned designer who produces eclectic and eye-catching handbags. Also stocks costume jewellery and shoes.

J. Silver 803 Nguyen Van Linh Parkway, D7 Tel: 5411 1188 Make a statement without being ostentatious with handcrafted silver jewellery from the boutique store. Expect big, interesting pieces that are simple yet glamorous.

Laura V Signature 11 Dong Du, D1 Tel: 7304 4126 www.laurav.net Vintage designs aplenty with everything from jewellery and hair accessories to funky styled sunglasses, umbrellas and colourful maxi dresses.

Louis Vuitton Opera View, 161 Dong Khoi, D1 Tel: 3827 6318 Designer brand name housing traditional craftsmanship of luxury leather goods for men and women. An array of bags, wallets, cuff links and watches are available.

Mai O Mai 4C Dong Khoi, D1 Tel: 3829 4007 A superb little place with beautiful jewellery and accessories to suit all budgets. Silver necklaces, bracelets, rings and more in both classic and imaginative designs, as well as gorgeous hand-embroidered bags.

Mont Blanc Diamond Plaza, 34 Le Duan Notable for fine writing instruments, Mont Blanc also houses cuff links and other male accessories Rimowa Level 2 OperaView Tower, 161 Dong Khoi, D1 Tel: 3832 6941 hotline@rimowavietnam.com The German luggage maker is popular with a who’s who of the celebrity world.

Their range of cases come in varying sizes and are made from high-tech materials to provide exceptional durability while remaining very light weight.

Scorpion Vincom Center B1, 70 - 72 Le Thanh Ton, D1 Tel: 3993 9889 www.scorpionbag.com Selling high-end leather products for both men and women, including shoes, handbags, belts and other accessories.

Features a variety of leather in bright colors and styles.

Tic Tac Watch Shop 72 Dong Khoi Tel: 0838 293519 www.tictacwatch.com

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femme fashion

Elegant show room displaying some of the world’s most recognized Swiss brands such as Rolex, Tag Huer, Baume & Marcer, Omega and Hirsch. On-site watch repair service and complementary watch evaluation available. Also carries a small collection of vintage Rolexes.

Massive and minimalist design-led interior lets ultra high-end designer garments stand out. Carries men's, women's and children’s clothing, swimwear, shoes, accessories along with home décor.

Brands include Chloe, Marc Jacobs, Balenciaga, Sergio Rossi and Eres.

Tombo 145 Dong Khoi, D1 Of all the embroidered and sequined bags, shoes and tidbits (or “Zakka” shops) that can be found in Dong Khoi, this shop’s has products that are prettier than most. Shoes can be custom-made and the sales staff is friendly.

Versace 26 Dong Khoi Designer brand in men’s formal wear.

Houses suit jackets and trousers, shirts as well as an array of men’s accessories. Also stocks womens clothing and shoes.

Umbrella 35 Ly Tu Trong, D1 and 4 Le Loi, D1 Tel: 6276 2730 www.umbrella-fashion.com Sophisticated boutique showcasing a diverse range of imported women’s accessories. Also houses women’s garments from office wear to cocktail and party creations.

Lucas 69A Ly Tu Trong, D1 Tel: 3827 9670 Fashion store housing contemporary designs in casual, office and evening wear imported from Hong Kong.

ACTIVE WEAR

Roxy and Quiksilver Parkson Plaza, 39-45 Le Thanh Ton, D1 The original active living and extreme sports brands, Roxy and Quiksilver products combine form and function. Choose from outdoor gear to cool indoor clothes.

Know Your Skin

By Christina Yu Those who know Ipa-Nima know we didn’t start producing leather bags until about seven years ago. Around that time I went to a course held by the British Leather Centre to learn more about leather.

I was surprised to find how similar our skins are with animal skins, and how many misconceptions we have about leather. Many who own leather bags think they should be as durable as possible and never fade. The truth, however, is the complete opposite — we need to look after leather in the same way we look after our own skin.

The best kind of skin is the top layer, also called aniline.

We buy skin care products with collagen to ensure our own skin looks as radiant as ever. The same concept goes for leather — the top layer is the most precious. The best aniline should have no scars or marks, and be smooth and consistent in texture. That way the texture remains soft and looks natural. However, because of the lack of chemicals, aniline leather is not as durable as one would think.

In order to keep the leather, you need to moisturize it from time to time, and look after it from the very beginning.

The first step in taking care of aniline leather is having a good leather moisturizer and

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a good repellant, like Scotch Guard Fabric Protector. When you buy your bags, moisturize them first and then spray them with the repellant.

Concentrate on the back of the bag where there may be more friction. This can protect it from being scratched easily or scarred and also from getting soiled in light rain.

Test your moisturizer on a small part of the bag first to see what kind of reaction it will have on the rest of the leather.

Do not leave the bag in sunlight — put the bag in a shady area of the room so it will not change colour easily.

Some types of leather, called a natural crust, may change to a darker shade with use and sunlight. This is a natural progression for the leather (similar to how our own skin changes when exposed to the sun).

Although you may think your leather bag is defective because it gets scratched and scarred easily, the opposite holds true. Now, you know your skin.

Christina Yu is the creative director and founder of Ipa-Nima, an award-winning accessories brand. Email your questions to Christina@ ipa-nima.com or visit Ipanima.com.

TBS Sports Centre 102 Nguyen Van Troi, Phu Nhuan This store stocks a range of good sports clothes and equipment from big name brands such as Puma, Adidas, Ecco, Nike and Converse.

Volcom Diamond Plaza, 34 Le Duan, D1 Chic and funky ladies’ apparel brand from America. Lots of tank tops, minis and shorts for day tripping with girlfriends or lazing on the beach.

READY TO WEAR unisex

BAM Skate Shop 174 Bui Vien, D1 Tel: 0903 641 826 In addition to a range of decks, wheels and trucks, this small shop is stocked with bookbags, skate sneakers, track jackets and t-shirts emblazoned with your skateboard company of choice.

FCUK 127 Le Thanh Ton, D1 Diamond Plaza, 34 Le Duan, D1 Saigon Centre, 65 Le Loi, D1 Vincom Center, 70/72 Le Thanh Ton, D1 Tel: 3914 7740 www.frenchconnection.com Trendy UK brand with a selection of fashion-forward dresses for women and smart workwear and funky casual wear for men, all at middle-market prices.

L’Usine 151/1 Dong Khoi, D1 Lifestyle store and cafe housed in a period building restored to evoke the aesthetic of an early 20th-century garment factory. Carries an exclusive, frequently refreshed line of imported men’s and women’s fashion, including T-shirts and footwear, and a range of unique accessories. Entrance via the street-level Art Arcade.

Replay Vincom Center, 70/72 Le Thanh Ton, D1 116 Nguyen Trai, D1 187 Hai Ba Trung, D3 Tel: 3925 0252 Wide variety of shoes, clothing, denim for teens and university-age men and women. Carries boots, sandals, pumps and sneakers at mid-range prices.

Runway Vincom Center, 70/72 Le Thanh Ton, D1 Tel: 3993 9988 runway.sg@global-fashion.vn

men

Massimo Ferrari 42-A1 Tran Quoc Thao, D3 Tel: 3930 6212 Bespoke menswear shop also boasts its own brand of contemporary preppy attire tailored for the tropics. Carries a line of European-quality shoes, bags and accessories designed in-house, as well as exclusive Orobianco unisex bags, designer fragrances and eyewear.

Mattre 19 Nguyen Trai, D1 Tel: 3925 3412 This local men’s clothes shop has some funky tops and jeans for more fashionforward males. Apparel in sizes that fit the typical Western man’s frame are often available.

Milano Sheraton Hotel, 88 Dong Khoi www.milanogoods.com A conjoining shop with D&G offering a selection of men’s shoes and accessories with a sideline in women’s clothing.

D&G provides a collection of menswear, from casual jeans and T-shirts to uniquely designed suit jackets.

Timberland Parkson Plaza, 39-45 Le Thanh Ton, D1 Sells everything the brand is known for, from heavy-duty boots to tops and trousers that are both smart and casual.

The emphasis is on muted tones and unobtrusive logos for men who don’t like to show off.

women

Axara Vincom Center B1, 70 - 72 Le Thanh Ton, D1 Saigon Centre, 65 Le Loi, D1 21 Nguyen Trai, D1 Tel: 3993 9399 www.axara.com Carries women’s clothing suitable for work, weekends or evening. Luxurious fabrics and simple cuts and styles all at reasonable prices. Also carries handbags and accessories.

Balenciaga Rex Hotel, 155 Nguyen Hue Tel: 6291 3572 Sporting modern shapes and elegant items crafted from natural, raw and artificial materials.

BCBGMAXAZRIA Vincom Center, 70/72 Le Thanh Ton, D1 American brand sells women’s day dresses and tops, evening gowns and wear-to-work attire in many prints and colours. Also carries a small selection of accessories, sunglasses and watches.

Bebe Saigon Center, 65 Le Loi, D1 Tel: 3914 4011 www.bebe.com An international brand that specializes in contemporary, modern tees and sexy, elegant dresse, tops and party attire.

Chloe Rex Hotel, 155 Nguyen Hue, D1 Tel: 6291 3582 Parisian-influenced fashion house specializes in simple, traditional designs with a feminine and fashionable twist.

Jeans, satin dresses and a wide array of accessories are on display.

valenciani.sg@gmail.com www.valenciani.com Homegrown luxury boutique carries silk dresses, velvet corsets, chiffon shawls and a range of accessories, all designed in-house.

Gaya 1 Nguyen Van Trang, D1 Tel: 3925 1495 Carries a range of couture and pret-aporter garments and silk and organza dresses in vibrant colours created by Cambodia-based designer Romyda Keth.

Charles & Keith 10 Mac Thi Buoi, 18-20 Nguyen Trai Tel: 3925 1132 Vincom Center, 70/72 Le Thanh Ton, D1 www.charleskeith.com Singapore brand housing youthful and trendy shoes of a contemporary, high fashion design.

SHOES

Geisha Boutique 85 Pasteur, D1 Tel: 3829 4004 enquiry@geishaclothing.com Facebook: Geisha Boutique Australian fashion label offering a contemporary range of casual and evening wear with an Asian influence. Printed tees, singlets, shorts, skirts, jeans, summer scarves, dresses, silk camisoles and satin maxi dresses.

Converse 186 Hai Ba Trung, D1 148 Nguyen Trai, D1 122 Ba Thang Hai, D10 Tel: 3827 5584 www.converse.com.vn Sells iconic Chuck Taylor, Jack Purcell and All-Star sneakers and Converse brand clothing and accessories. Also at department stores around HCMC.

Kookai Saigon Centre, 65 Le Loi French brand stocking classic, feminine, styles with a twist. Gypsy day dresses and classic little black dresses at mid- to high-range prices are perfect for twentyand thirty-something women.

Dr. Marten’s 173 Hai Ba Trung, D3 Tel: 3822 4710 Air Wair sandals and shoes here feature the classic yellow stitching and chunky rubber soles. Also stocked with clothes and accessories by Replay and Kappa tracksuit tops.

La Senza 47B–47C Nguyen Trai, D1 Tel: 3925 1700 65 Le Loi, Saigon Centre, D1 Tel: 3914 4328 www.lasenza.com Boutique carrying a wide range of bras, panties, pyjamas, accessories and lounge wear.

Sergio Rossi 146AB Pasteur, D1 Rex Hotel, 141 Nguyen Hue, D1 World-renowned Italian brand stocks a diverse European-style collection of upmarket shoes and bags made of quality materials, from crocodile and python skin laterals to garnishings of Swarovski crystals and colourful beads.

Mango 96 Mac Thi Buoi, D1 Tel: 3824 6624 Saigon Centre, 65 Le Loi, D1 Vincom Center, 70/72 Le Thanh Ton, D1 A favourite with fashion-conscious women, this mid-range store stocks clothes from simple tees and jeans to evening wear.

TAILORS

Marc Jacobs Rex Hotel, 155 Nguyen Hue , D1 Tel: 6291 3580 This spacious shop with high-ceilings carries up-market clothes, shoes and accessories from the internationally recognized designer brand.

Song Saigon Centre, 65 Le Loi, D1 Offers women’s fashion designs by Valerie Gregori McKenzie, including evening dress, tops and hats.

Valenciani Saigon Centre, 65 Le Loi, D1 Tel: 3821 2788 66-68 Nguyen Trai, D1 Tel: 7302 4688

Dieu Thanh 140 Pasteur, D1 Tel: 3824 5851 www.dieuthanh.com Experienced tailor shop specializes in swimwear and cotton clothing, as well as business suits, evening dresses, luxury fabrics and accessories.

Massimo Ferrari 42-A1 Tran Quoc Thao, D3 Tel: 3930 6212 Traditional Italian sartorial techniques are employed to offer a full wardrobing service and custom tailoring for men.

Stocked with imported fabrics primarily from Italy. In-office and workplace fittings available.

Uyen 13 Nguyen Thiep, D1 An excellent option with English-speaking staff and a good selection of fabrics (although the price takes a dip if you bring your own) and some off-the-rack staples to copy. Reasonable prices.

LINH‘S WHITE PLEASANT LIVING MINIMALISM 37 THAO DIEN (OPPOSITE AN PHU SUPERMARKET) 67 XUAN THUY - DISTRICT 2 PHONE: (84) - 62819863 - 62818488 E : linhnguyen@hbdecor.com.vn

- www.linhfurniture.com

asialife HCMC 77

AsiaLIFE Pre-Launch Party at Bed Supperclub, Bangkok

Red Rock Reggae Splash on the Island

Photos by Nick McGrath, Chris Mueller and Alex McMillan.

78 asialife HCMC

Dose Party

Thao Trang Video Release

Adidas at Lush

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radar A Better Use for OkCupid

blog.okcupid.com Dating site OkCupid hasn’t updated its blog since last year, but if you’ve never had a look, do it. You’ll be glad you did, no matter your feelings about cyber romance. OkTrends takes data from millions of users to show titillating patterns such as: the percent of men who prefer rough sex increases with age, or, vegetarians enjoy performing oral sex more than meat-eaters. Most of the findings reflect correlation more than causation, but that doesn’t make them useless. One blog post applies the data to first dates. For instance, if it’s too soon to ask your date’s religious views, ask whether she minds spelling and grammar mistakes. If not, odds are she’s religious, according to trends OkCupid found among its members. See? Useful!

Just the Facts

snopes.com Watching the news has gotten so much more interesting with sites like FactCheck.org and PolitiFact.com to alert us almost immediately when a public official is full of, well, not facts. But another breed, Snopes.com, takes vetting in a different direction. What it lacks in the depth and timeliness of the other sites, Snopes makes up for in breadth. Besides political rumours, it investigates urban legends, folklore, and all around misinformation. So in addition to the truth about that photo of a gun-toting, bikini-clad Palin, the searchable database will tell you whether Morgan Freeman really said Black History Month is ridiculous, or the origin of German cake (hint: not Germany).

Allergen-Free Foods

friendlyfoodfinder.com A friend told you about a great milk free substitute for whipped cream, where can you find it? You want to bake a cake, who would know if the vegan buttery sticks you found are good for baking? Friendlyfoodfinder.com can help. This new social networking site creates a place for those with food allergies or sensitivities to share food substitutes that have worked for them and where they bought them. The site currently includes products suitable for those with milk and peanut allergies and is designed to expand with help from you.

Through this website people with allergies can connect with one another and discover manufacturers that are sensitive to those with food allergies.

82 asialife HCMC

soundfix album review

by Mai Lynn Miller Nguyen

Janka Nabay and Antony and The The Bubu Gang Johnsons

Purity Ring

James Yorkston

Shrines

En Yay Sah

Cut the World

I Was A Cat From A Book

Sierra Leonean singer Janka Nabay began by performing reggae, but he has built a career with the lesser-known bubu music. Bubu has its origins in witchcraft ceremonies of Nabay’s homeland and he has breathed new life into the centuries-old music, expanding the genre beyond its flute and pipe-based folk form to create a popular, modern sound.

When civil war drove Nabay to the United States, he rebuilt his career as a musician while working in fast food joints to survive. In Brooklyn, he began collaborating with a band comprised of members of Skeletons, Chairlift, Starring, Saadi and Highlife. The group’s first full-length record stays true to the uplifting sound of bubu, with beats designed to move hips.

The core of Antony and The Johnsons, Antony Hegarty is not easily forgotten. On the second track of Cut the World, he presents seven and a half minutes of his musings on the moon, religion, feminism and his transgender identity. Rather than being overly indulgent, his monologue — delivered in an accent forged of his English roots and American upbringing — is as hypnotic as his falsetto.

Recorded live, Cut the World culls highlights from the group’s previous four full lengths.

Hegarty has always conducted himself as an artist in the capital A sense — performing with international symphonies, staging elaborate installations and collaborating with music heavyweights like Yoko Ono and Lou Reed — and this latest work is no exception.

From Bjork to The Knife, various musicians have carved out a niche that celebrates the ethereal and eerie. Purity Ring, a Canadian duo from Alberta, are one such act. Their carefully constructed debut album, Shrines, pairs Corin Roddick’s electronic beats with Megan James’ vocals. The result is a haunting sound, reminiscent of the witch house tunes of Salem and Austra. Scratchy synths layered with a throbbing almost hip-hop bass create dance floor rhythms, while James’ girlish voice floats over like a spectral presence. Although selecting a favourite from an overall cohesive work is a challenge, Ungirthed — the duo’s snappy first release — remains one of the record’s best.

With a substantial discography from the past decade, James Yorkston is one of Scotland’s bestkept secrets. Inside the United Kingdom, the singer-songwriter maintains a loyal following.

Yet despite his notable Domino Records imprint, Yorkston hasn’t quite captured the breakout notoriety enjoyed by fellow Fifebased Scots King Creosote. That’s not to say he’s undeserving.

His thoughtful lyrics, delicate vocals and lithe guitar are remarkable, but in a gentle sense. Quiet and contemplative music, even as honest and emotional as Yorkston’s, has the danger of being overlooked.

This latest album is solid and will be appreciated by his fans and perhaps attract some new admirers, but ultimately his audience must be measured in quality over quantity.

84 asialife HCMC

endorsed

xoneFM top ten Hot 10 this last

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title

artist Jennifer Lopez feat Flo Rida Taylor Swift

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Justin Bieber feat Big Sean Linkin Park Frank Ocean Cee Lo Green Alexandra Stan Maroon 5 Marina and the Diamonds Train

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title

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(All Along the) Watchtower We'll Be Coming Back

9 10

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artist Sam & The Womp Rita Ora Wiley feat Ms D Emeli Sande Taylor Swift Florence & The Machine Devlin feat Ed Sheeram Calvin Harris feat Example Angel Trey Songz

US Top 10 this last

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title

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1 2 3 7

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Lights Wide Awake Titanium Give Your Heart a Break Payphone

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artist Ellie Goulding Katy Perry David Guetta feat Sia Demi Lovato Maroon 5 feat Wiz Khalifa Calvin Harris feat Ne-Yo Rihanna Flo Rida Pink Cher Lloyd

Treme

By Chris Mueller Seven years after Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Region, most of the postapocalyptic landscape in and around New Orleans has been cleaned up. While its people haven’t forgotten the immense challenges, setbacks and frustrations around the storm, they and their unique culture are still standing strong.

In David Simon’s newest made-for-HBO series, Treme, he has succeeded in portraying the difficulties New Orleanians faced, and continue to face, long after the floodwaters receded. The show begins three months after Katrina and is set partly in Treme, a poor neighbourhood famous for its contribution to the New Orleans music scene. Simon, who gained recognition for his widely acclaimed series The Wire, has taken the same incredibly realistic format to Treme.

The show intertwines the lives of a number of characters, such as the affable Antoine Batiste (Wendell Pierce), a jazz trombonist constantly struggling to find the next gig in a city full of musicians.

Then there is Albert ‘Big Chief’ Lambreaux (Clark Peters), a Mardis Gras ‘Indian chief’. The Indians dress up in elaborate feather suits inspired by Native Americans during Mardi Gras, and are an important part of New Orleans traditions. Other notable char-

acters include DJ Davis (Steve Zahn), a character based on real New Orleans musician Davis Rogan, who consulted for the show; and Annie Talarico, a classically trained violinist who makes money busking on the street.

After the first few episodes it becomes clear that the true star of the series is the music.

Every character is influenced in some way by both the hurricane and New Orleans music. Like the tough bar owner LaDonna, also Batiste’s ex-wife, who desperately tries to keep a familiar part of the community alive as the city seemingly descends further into chaos around her. Or John Goodman’s excellent portrayal of a vocal English professor and author who tries to show the world his city is still alive and kicking. In the opening of the first episode he throws a British TV journalist’s camera into the river after the reporter suggests the city doesn’t deserve to be saved.

The gloomy premise of the show and the light it shines on the pathetic mishandlings by local and federal governments during and after Katrina can sometimes make for depressing viewing. But there is enough humour and brilliant acting that the viewer can’t help but sympathise with nearly every character. Treme shows how the city can bring out the best and worst in the characters that inhabit it.

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boxoffice

The Odd Life of Timothy Green

Premium Rush

The Expendables 2

Resident Evil: Retribution

Academy Award-nominated director/writer Peter Hedges (Dan in Real Life, What’s Eating Gilbert Grape) brings enchantment to the screen with The Odd Life of Timothy Green, a story about a happily married couple, Cindy and Jim Green (Jennifer Garner and Joel Edgerton), who can't wait to start a family but can only dream about what their child would be like. After learning Cindy is infertile, they write a description of their perfect child on a piece of paper and bury it in the garden. When young Timothy (CJ Adams) shows up on their doorstep one stormy night claiming to be their son, Cindy and Jim — and their small town of Stanleyville — learn that sometimes the unexpected can bring some of life's greatest gifts.

A New York City bike messenger is given an envelope by a young woman at an uptown Manhattan college and is told he has 90 minutes to deliver it to Chinatown. Dodging speeding cars, crazed cabbies, open doors, and eight million cranky pedestrians is all in a day's work for Wilee (Joseph GordonLevitt), but this time complications ensue when an undercover police officer appears and demands the envelope. The truth, hidden motivations, and the life-and-death stakes on all side are revealed through a series of flashbacks as the cop and the messenger engage in a length-of-Manhattan chase.

From David Koepp, the director and writer of Ghost Town and writer of Spider-Man and War of the Worlds.

The Expendables are back and this time it's personal. Barney Ross (Sylvester Stallone), Lee Christmas (Jason Statham), Yin Yang (Jet Li), Gunnar Jensen (Dolph Lundgren),Toll Road (Randy Couture) and Hale Caesar (Terry Crews) — with newest members Billy the Kid (Liam Hemsworth) and Maggie (Yu Nan) aboard — are reunited when Mr Church (Bruce Willis) enlists the Expendables to take on a seemingly simple job. The task looks like an easy paycheck for Barney and his band of old-school mercenaries. But when things go wrong and one of their own is viciously killed, the Expendables are compelled to seek revenge in hostile territory where the odds are stacked against them.

- Lionsgate

The Umbrella Corporation's deadly T-virus continues to ravage the earth, transforming the global population into legions of the flesh eating undead. The human race's last and only hope, Alice (Milla Jovovich), awakens in the heart of Umbrella's most clandestine operations facility and unveils more of her mysterious past as she delves further into the complex. Without a safe haven, Alice continues to hunt those responsible for the outbreak; a chase that takes her from Tokyo to New York, Washington DC and Moscow, culminating in a mind-blowing revelation that will force her to rethink everything she once thought to be true. Alice must fight to survive long enough to escape a hostile world on the brink of oblivion. - Sony

Opening Dates CINEMAS M: Megastar Cinema www.megastar.vn

G: Galaxy Cinema www.galaxycine.vn

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The Odd Life of Timothy Green (24 August) Premium Rush (7 Sept.)

The Expendables 2 (7 Sept.)

Resident Evil: Retribution (21 Sept.)

The Expendables 2 (7 Sept.)

Resident Evil: Retribution (21 Sept.)

Premium Rush (28 Sept.)

The information on this page was correct at the time of printing. Check cinema websites for screenings.

bookshelf Marilyn: The Passion and the Paradox Lois Banner Bloomsbury

Fifty years after her death, Marilyn Monroe continues to captivate. The blonde bombshell has inspired countless biographies, films and Las Vegas impersonators. The icon has been especially en vogue over the past year, with homage paid in the film My Week with Marilyn, the US television show Smash, and this recent biography by Lois Banner.

Marilyn: The Passion and the Paradox explores the actress’s many contradictions, drawing from interviews and recently discovered documents to provide new insight into the star’s complicated life. The biography follows Marilyn from her troubled childhood and early years as Norma Jean, on to her sensational Hollywood career, her personal relationships with husbands Joe DiMaggio and Arthur Miller, and the murky circumstances surrounding her death.

The Price of Inequality Joseph E Stiglitz W.W. Norton & Company

In response to the notion that inequality is inevitable, Joseph E Stiglitz begs to differ. The Nobel laureate economist deviates from a purely economic lens to understanding the shape of our world and considering the impact of politics.

As the gap between rich and poor widens, Stiglitz sees that “while there may be underlying economic forces at play, politics have shaped the market, and shaped it in ways that advantage the top at the expense of the rest.” In his view, inequality serves to weaken democracy, as well as create fissures in economy and society when potential is limited by lack of opportunity. Change, Stiglitz argues, can be achieved when equal competition in the free market is safeguarded by government oversight.

Night Dancer Chika Unigwe Jonathan Cape

A Belgium-based Nigerian writer, Chika Unigwe is part of an emerging wave of African women novelists. Her third publication, Night Dancer, is narrated from the perspectives of two women with different backgrounds.

Set in Nigeria during the 1970s, the first half follows Ezi, a young, university-educated woman struggling to meet expectations for a male heir. To the disappointment of her in-laws, she becomes pregnant with a daughter. When her husband’s affair with the maid, Rapu, produces a son, Ezi’s position within the family is threatened. She decides to leave her husband and raise her child alone, facing intense stigma from her family and community. The second part of the book follows Rapu’s own struggles to rise, mirroring Ezi’s fall.

Vladimir Nabokov: Selected Poems Vladimir Nabokov Knopf

Known best for Lolita and Pale Fire amongst other literary feats, Vladimir Nabokov is considered one of the great modern novelists. Less is known about his ventures into poetry. This collection features selected poems translated from Nabokov’s native Russian as well as 23 pieces originally written in English. The earliest piece comes from 1914, when the writer was only 15 years old. Ever erudite, Nabokov writes poetry with the same attention to structure and depth as can be seen in his novels. In The Poem he seems to encapsulate his own style of poetry: “In the tangle of sounds, the leopards of words, the leaf-like insects, the eye-spotted birds fuse and form a silent, intense, mimetic pattern of perfect sense.”

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Dana Filek-Gibson learns to choose her words carefully.

Everyone makes mistakes. If you are at all like me, this is a fact of which we do not need to be reminded, though people constantly do so as they usher me out of their house and point to where I should have left my shoes. At least once a week, I eat in public and my chopsticks fall to the plate, criss-crossing each other in some rude formation.

Only after I sigh and say, “Well, fingers crossed, you know?” do I realise the gesture I'm making is lewd and inappropriate. On average, I am offensive at least four times a day.

This is nothing to be proud of. While I am grateful to those who excuse my cultural faux pas, many of us expats strive to blend in as best we can. Our credibility as local residents is weakened when we present a gift unwrapped or beckon someone much older than us 88 asialife HCMC

with an “em oi!” Getting the hang of local culture can be tedious. Just when you think you're fitting in, you accept your change one-handed and the salesperson before you rolls her eyes, unimpressed.

For the most part, Annie had it figured out. In the nearly two years she lived in Vietnam, my friend and fellow teacher mastered most of the ins and outs every foreigner must learn. She drank beer with ice, had a decent knowledge of Saigon news, and use chopsticks like a local.

In the end, after a few mishaps with the neighbourhood xe om drivers, she even gave in and got a motorbike. Annie had become as comfortable in Vietnam as she was in her home country — most of the time, anyway.

Later, I will tell Annie, “It could have happened to anyone.” But right now, sitting

across from each other on the shaded veranda of a coffee shop and nursing cups of ca phe sua da, I watch her fingers trace the edge of her glass. She looks at me, a grave expression on her face.

“I did something bad.”

“What?” I ask.

Before she can answer, a nervous laugh escapes. It is not often that I see Annie flustered.

“You know the name ...” There is a deliberate pause here. She considers the coming word: “...

Hiep?”

I nod. “I have a Hiep in class.”

Her eyes go wide. “How do you say it?”

In my best Vietnamese I repeat the word, even spell it on a serviette lying on the table.

Annie exhales and fidgets in her seat, smoothing the wrinkles from her dress. “Apparently,

I've been saying it wrong.”

“How have you been saying it?” I ask.

Several minutes and a great deal of coaxing later, an explanation arrives. For months, my friend has inadvertently been calling her student 'rape’. The pupil, too polite to correct her, only recently decided to speak up.

Through a fit of giggles, I reassure her. But Annie continues, mortified, “And then there's this other student.” Turns out Ms Loan, too, had been meaning to say something. During lessons, Annie does not call Loan's name but rather a swear word, which she repeats loudly and often.

Eventually, my laughter subsides and I sear this moment into my memory, so my students might be spared the same experience.

This Country Life Marriage brings some much-needed celebration to those living in the sticks. Walter Pearson breaks down a typical countryside wedding.

“Marriage,” Peter Cook said as the bishop in the hilarious movie The Princess Bride, “Marriage is what brings us together today.” Indeed, marriage often brings us together in the bush.

And I love it.

Marriage, or more specifically, the wedding festival surrounding marriage, sometimes goes on for more than three days. Fortunately for an old bloke like me, not continuously for three days. Marriage festivities usually go something like this: The first day is the preparation for the ‘Girl’s Day’. The night before, the marquee is set up outside the father of the bride’s house just before dark.

This is done with stunning efficiency. It includes steel forms, canvas roof, frilly decorations around the outside, circular stainless steel tables each surrounded by 10 red plastic stools, the stage and, most importantly the sound system, which is capable of a sound only slightly louder than a space shuttle launch. Naturally, the completion requires a celebration.

Most of the guests invited to the Girl’s Day turn up, but not everyone gets an invite to both the Girl’s Day and the 'Boy’s Day'. The Girl’s Day invitees are usually her family and friends and of course the bridegroom and his close family members. The music is cranked up, the beer flows, a few bottles of rice whisky come out, food appears and it’s party time.

The Girl’s Day takes place on the second day. This is pretty straightforward. Guests arrive and are met by the lucky couple at the entrance at the set time, 11am is preferred where we live. This means you can write off the day by getting really drunk really quickly and then head back home to sit around on the floor and drink rice whisky, a process called in the vernacular nhau. The first time I went to one of these days I mistakenly thought it was the wedding. The bride and bridegroom have the full outfits on and everyone gets dressed up and they seriously party.

There is always an MC and a keyboard player. The MC has

the same pattern every time. It’s just a matter of changing the names to implicate the guilty.

The MC starts off as soon as most of the guests are seated with the usual, “With your permission and with no further ado we’ll start the program.”

He or she will then go and explain that Mr and Mrs (the bride’s parents) have invited us here on this day to celebrate the bringing together of their daughter with the son of Mr and Mrs (the groom’s parents) and the joining of these two families through this nuptial.

Then the bride’s parents are introduced and go up onto the stage. The groom’s parents are then introduced along with a representative who speaks on behalf of the family.

Finally, ladies and gentlemen, we give you (fanfare at 8.6 on the Richter scale) the bride and groom. Sound the Bridal March, and the bride and groom enter. A table may applaud. Everyone keeps eating and drinking and talking and one, two, three, vo-ing. Loud explosions and confetti — or

the Vietnamese version of it — fills the air. Roman candles shower sparks over the bridal party and place the safety of 150 people in jeopardy. Everyone keeps eating and drinking and talking and one, two, three, vo-ing.

The bride’s father speaks and, like every speech by the father of the bride, it is predictable and clichéd. The groom’s family representative replies and everyone keeps eating and drinking and talking and one, two, three, vo-ing. Then the bride and groom and both sets of mums and dads start the trawl around the tables having their photo taken with all the guests. When they get to our table we one, two, three, vo, smile for the camera and go back to eating.

After exactly two hours of eating and drinking and talking the guests move as one for the door, bid farewell to the lucky couple, stagger to their bikes and head home. The bride and groom separate. No sleeping together tonight. They’re still not married. asialife HCMC 89

pub quiz

Spirits 6) Which spirit derives its predominant flavour from juniper berries?

7) What is the best selling Irish whisky in the world?

8) According to a CNN article, Jinro Soju is the world’s best selling brand of liquor. In what country is it produced?

9) Which Greek spirit was the first to be consumed in space?

10) Originally drunk in the navy, what spirit is found in grog?

Fruits 11) How are Fleegle, Bingo, Drooper and Snorky better known?

12) Who played Daphne in Some Like it Hot? 13) Where would you go to have your custom-made motorbike built by the Teutul family?

14) Grenadine, found in many cocktails, was originally made from the juice of which fruit?

15) Which fruit was given its name by missionaries, because parts of the flower seem reminiscent of the torture of Christ prior to his crucifixion?

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Connected 21) Which film starred Al Pacino as Tony Montana?

22) In which city did the first competitive football match of the 2012 Olympics take place?

23) What is the second longest mountain range in Europe, with more than half of it in Romania?

24) In which body of water are the Cayman Islands?

25) What is the largest coastal town in North Yorkshire, made famous in a song?

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Vegetables 16) Which American producer is best known for his work on James Bond films?

17) What two vegetables are the main ingredients in Aloo Gobi?

18) Which vegetable gets its Australian and North American name from the Italian for small pumpkin?

19. The US Department for Agriculture stated in 2005 that this vegetable, gram for gram, contains more iron

Thoâng tin du lòch vaø vaên hoaù ôû Vieät Nam ASIALIFE HCMC

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Pub Quiz Answers

1) Which ‘new’ red wine is released for sale on the third Thursday in November?

2) Traditionally, German wines from the Rheinhessen are sold in brown bottles. In what colour bottles are wines from the Mosel region sold?

3) In which country is the winegrowing Barossa Valley?

4) Wines from Italy are sometimes sold in a fiasco. What is it?

5) Which country is South America’s largest wine producer?

than an average hamburger patty.

20) Which vegetable takes its English name from the Latin word for root?

1) Beaujolais Nouveau 2) Green 3) Australia 4) A straw basket around the bottle 5) Argentina 6) Gin 7) Jameson 8) South Korea 9) Metaxa 10) Rum 11) The Banana Splits 12) Jack Lemmon 13) Orange County (New York) 14) Pomegranate 15) Passion Fruit 16) Albert (Cubby) Broccoli 17) Potato and Cauliflower 18) Zucchini 19) Spinach 20) Radish 21) Scarface 22) Cardiff 23) Carpathians 24) Caribbean Sea 25) Scarborough 26) Bogart and Johansonn 27) Laurie and Bergman 28) Cooper and Roberts 29) Cruise and Wayne 30) Hepburn and Downey Jr

Wine