END OF THE YEAR
BY LOCALS, FOR LOCALS
10-11-12/2018
#iAMHCMC
#iAMHCMC
EDITOR’S NOTE
By Locals, For Locals Dear Readers,
TRAVEL FEATURE 6. Barefoot Bliss at Sheraton Grand Danang Resort 7. Best Family-Friendly Hotels in Saigon 8. Exploring Ben Tre with VTV4 10. How not to Get Food Poisoning while Travelling 12. Indigo Images: Réhahn, French Photographer Turned Museum Curator
14. Cycling Vietnam’s Mekong Delta
F&B FEATURE 16. MANZO: Beef and Craft Beer with a Japanese Flair 18. 3 Days in Saigon if You’re a Foodie 20. The Sweet Success of Marou Faiseurs de Chocolat 21. Bamboo Chic: Panoramic Views/Asian Cuisine 22. Best Ice Cream in Saigon 24. An Entertaining Dining Experience at Hard Rock Cafe
LEISURE FEATURE 26. Best Yoga Studios in Saigon 28. Saigon in 3 days if you’re a Culture Snob 30. A Brief History of the HCMC Botanical Gardens
SOCIETY FEATURE 31. British Consulate Aims to End Motorbike Deaths 32. Can You Really Trust the Reviews on TripAdvisor? 34. Behind the Bleach; Vietnamese Women’s Obsession with White Skin
Notice something different? You hold in your hands the inaugural edition of our new quarterly #iAMHCMC. Not only have we refreshed the design, we are also bringing you more articles from all the subjects that interest you most. If, like us, you are passionate about Travel, Food and Beverage, Leisure, Education, Real Estate, Healthcare and more... read on. Within the pages of our Quarter IV magazine, you will find original articles such as JK Hobson’s in-depth exploration about the artisans of Ben Tre Province, our resident food guru Mervin Lee’s top picks for a Saigon Foodie Adventure, and guest writer, Steve Raymond’s exposé about the questionable truth behind TripAdvisor reviews. In these changing times where online is King and print media struggles to remain relevant, we are more aware than ever of the importance of reinventing ourselves to gain and maintain our readership. English language publications come and go in a flash in Vietnam. Even an established magazine like Word, one of the very first glossy lifestyle and culture publications in HCMC, has not published since May. Our response to this flux is to focus our energies and grow stronger. Innovo JSC., the mother company of #iAMHCMC, has become more than a publisher. We are now a thriving boutique marketing firm as well. Our targeted experience in Travel, F & B, Hospitality, Education and more has pulled us above the advertising pack and inspired us to challenge our creativity. Find out more at www.innovo.vn. To keep up to date with all the changes we’ve been making and to read the latest articles as soon as they come out, head to www.citypassguide.com We hope you enjoy reading this edition as much as we enjoyed writing it! Stay tuned for our Quarter I edition due out in January. Sincerely yours,
SHOPPING FEATURE
Molly Headley-Benkaci Content Manager
36. Origins and Organic Cotton: Metiseko’s New Collection
HAVE FEEDBACK? CONTACT ME AT MOLLY@INNOVO.VN
EDUCATION FEATURE 38. The Real English Teachers of Saigon 40. ISHCMC Celebrates 25 Years of Educational Excellence
41. ISSP: Progressive Education set at the heart of Ho Chi Minh City
HEALTH FEATURE 44. What Hospital Should I Go to in HCMC?
TECHNOLOGY FEATURE 47. Mobile Apps and Marketing
REAL ESTATE FEATURE 48. Will You Recognise Saigon in 2020?
Q&A FEATURE 50. A Guide to Moc Bai Border And What You Should Know
CEO Patrick Gaveau Executive Assistant Thao Dao Finance / Admin Celine Huynh Accountant Minh Huynh BD Manager Benjamin Giroux BD Manager Dung Pham Sales Team Leader Sarah Pham
BD Assistant Hang Luong Chief Marketing Officer Paul Espinas Marketing Coordinator Thomas Kervennic Marketing Assistants My Tran Lien Nguyen Nhu Tong Webmaster Toan Le CTO Stefan George
IT Manager Albus Ha Data & Marketing Executive Vivian Nguyen Editor Rob van Diesum Content Manager Molly Headley-Benkaci Writers J.K. Hobson Sivaraj Pragasm Jon Aspin Mervin Lee
Robert Fouldes Lucie Sherwood Tom Hitz Angee D Brennan Lagman Steve Raymond Traffic Coordinator Huong Pham Front Cover Øyvind Sveen Design Manager Hera Nguyen
E-NOVO CO., LTD 42/37 Hoang Dieu, District 4, HCMC | +84 28 3825 4316 | sales@innovo.vn
END OF THE YEAR - (nhiều tác giả) Thanh Niên Publishing House 64 Ba Trieu - Hanoi - Vietnam | Tel: (+84 0 24) 3 943 40 44 - 62 63 1719 Publishing Liability: Director - Editor in Chief: Nguyen Xuan Truong | Editor: Ta Quang Huy License Info: Publishing Registration Plan No.: 13-2018/CXBIPH/29-210/TN Publishing Permit No.: 584/QĐ-TN | Issued on 04 Oct 2018 | ISBN: 978-604-64-9477-5 7,000 copies printed at HCMC Nhan Dan Newspaper Printing Co., Ltd (D20/532P, Hamlet 4, Binh Chanh District, HCMC) No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission in writing from the publisher.
2 | iamhcmc.com/gazette
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This Month in #iAMHCMC
Sure, [the locals] were giggling at our lycra-clad bellies, funny shoes and weird choice of headgear, but the overwhelming response was to welcome us, pour us tea, bring us fruit and smile—never expecting a cent in exchange.
Some of his creations are near mindboggling yet surprisingly delicious—for example, the bacon gelato made with Quan Ut Ut’s smoked bacon, Winking Seal’s craft beer, virgin-pressed Phu Quoc fish sauce... and even a phở gelato made out of two bowls of phở đặc biệt. #iAMHCMC contributor Mervin Lee on the creative concoctions at Ralph’s Artisanal Gelato
#iAMHCMC contributor Jon Aspin on his cycling trip in the Mekong Delta
We don’t usually refer the patient outside of Vietnam if it is an emergency. We will admit the patient and make a detailed review then decide if we need to refer the patient elsewhere. Some patients require a very high standard of service. It is not for the quality of treatment but for the service that they request to go overseas. Dr Nguyen Vinh Tuong on whether he would advise a patient to go overseas for treatment
English Teacher
The resort is less of a hotel and more of a private village. A quarter-kilometre long infinity pool winds its way between the resort buildings and beneath arched bridges to culminate in a half-moon bay facing a private beach. #iAMHCMC contributor Molly Headley-Benkaci on the new Sheraton Grand Danang Hotel
When all is said and done and the empty lots we see all around the city are replaced with soaring skyscrapers, what will Saigon’s true identity be? #iAMHCMC contributor Sivaraj Pragasm discussing what HCMC will look like in 2020
“We are a bit like a chef who goes to the market every morning to find the freshest products.”
Mobile phones are available for use 24/7, which allows for consistent and efficient advertising designed to align with the specific wants and needs of the audience.
Samuel Maruta, co-founder of Marou Chocolate, reflecting on the company’s commitment to sourcing their ingredients locally.
#iAMHCMC contributor and marketing guru - Paul Espinas, on the exponential potential for advertising on mobile devices and apps.
“The facilities look nice from the outside. It’s really flashy but the basic requirements, the things you really need aren’t there. It’s a facade. It’s very much a business.” Brendan* an English teacher, on the quality of English centres in HCMC.
Due to the power of TripAdvisor to make or break small businesses, the potential for abuse is phenomenal. From its inception, TripAdvisor has been accused of publishing fake reviews, as well as reviews written by competitors of the listed establishments. #iAMHCMC contributor Steve Raymond on whether we should really trust TripAdvisor ratings. 3
www.theabcis.com
Recognised as “an outstanding school” by British Government inspectors, The ABC International School delivers a globally valued UK curriculum for students aged 2–18 years, based on the best professional practice. Early Years Campus Đường số 5C, Khu Dân Cư Trung Sơn, Bình Hưng, Bình Chánh TP. Hồ Chí Minh, Việt Nam
Primary Campus Số 69, đường số 3, Khu Dân Cư Trung Sơn, Bình Hưng, Bình Chánh TP. Hồ Chí Minh, Việt Nam
Secondary Campus
Primary Campus - 5 to 10 yrs
Đường nội bộ số 1, Khu Dân Cư Tân An Huy, Đường Nguyễn Hữu Thọ, Phước Kiển, Nhà Bè TP. Hồ Chí Minh, Việt Nam
Telephone: E-mail:
84. 28. 5431 1833 office@theabcis.com
Early Years Campus - 2 to 4 yrs
Secondary Campus - 11 to 18 yrs
ABC International School, Ho Chi Minh City, Official 4 | iamhcmc.com/gazette
5
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From Our Partners
TRAVEL FEATURE
Barefoot Bliss at Sheraton Grand Danang Resort cocktail or you can sample one of the bar’s 60 different types of whiskeys. Sip your drink to the soothing tunes of live jazz. Then it’s off to dreamland in a Sheraton Sleep Experience bed. In the morning, the buffet breakfast at Table 88, served until 11 a.m., accommodates even the latest risers. You’ll need your strength for a day of exploration.
Southeast Asia’s first Sheraton Grand is in Danang, Vietnam. Packed with luxurious rooms, an endless infinity pool, and 6 restaurants, the resort has everything you need for the ultimate weekend relaxation.
Gracing the sands of Non Nuoc Beach, the 5-star Sheraton Grand Danang on Vietnam’s Central Coast is the perfect destination for stylish sun-seekers craving a weekend escape from Saigon. A 1.5-hour flight and a short car service will drop you in front of the resort— where the rush of the city will fade away, to be replaced by palm trees and sparkling blue waters. As the bell-boy spirits your luggage off to your room, cast off your urban exhaustion and head straight to the resort’s uber-chic beach club, La Plage. Indulge in one of the restaurant’s freshpressed juices and Asian starters and take in the full scope of your surroundings. The resort is less of a hotel and more of a private village, designed to fit seamlessly into the 17.3 acres of tropical landscape that surround it. A quarter-kilometre long infinity pool winds its way between the resort buildings and beneath arched bridges to culminate in a half-moon bay facing a private beach. The beach club is bathed in natural light. The sea awaits just beyond the endless waters of the infinity pool. What’s next? A quick swim or a stop by Shine Spa for a full-body massage? If you’re travelling with little ones take heart in the fact that there is a dedicated pool for children next to the infinity pool as well as a Kid’s Club. Even the most discerning mini-guests will love the poolside snack menu. Happy kids mean relaxed parents. 6 | iamhcmc.com/gazette
Back up to your deluxe room with your choice of view: sea, pool or Son Tra Peninsula. That tap on your door is room service bringing up a bottle of wine to enjoy sundowners on your private balcony or perhaps from your personal plunge pool. As the sky turns to deep indigo, dress smart and head down to The Grill. The restaurant with its moody lighting and pinstriped chairs gives off just the right amount of dapper. From Wednesday to Sunday, you can enjoy grilled Tomahawk steaks prepared tableside or the restaurant’s signature seafood tower. After dinner, head to the Mix Bar where a bartender will shake up a signature
The resort is situated midway between Danang and Hoi An, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Danang’s tree-lined boulevards, beaches and French architecture craft a constant vacation vibe. The Marble Mountains are only five minutes from the resort and are a perfect place to start your day. If you’re travelling with children you’ll want to put Ba Na Hills on your itinerary, especially the new Golden Bridge, which was the Instagram darling of 2018. For those who prefer alleyways and architecture, no visit to the Central Coast would be complete without a stop by the ancient city of Hoi An. When you’ve had your fill of exploring, it’s back to barefoot bliss at the Sheraton Grand Danang. You’ll be planning your next mini-vacation to paradise before you’ve even checked-out.
Details SHERATON GRAND DANANG RESORT 35 Truong Sa Street, Ngu Hanh Son, Da Nang 550000 +84 0236 3988 999 www.sheratongranddanang.com
by Angee D
TRAVEL FEATURE
#iAMHCMC
Best Family-Friendly Hotels In and Around Saigon Saigon may be a good option for you. With the option of adjoining rooms as well as a beautiful pool area with a shallow kiddie pool, there will be plenty of space for your family to enjoy. Additionally, the lobby is connected to NowZone, a shopping mall with a food court, arcade and play area for your little ones. Amenities are well rounded with a shuttle service to attractions in the area.
available and a separate kids’ pool. A stand out for them is their dedicated kids’ corner adjacent to the restaurant. While parents enjoy a meal, the children are free to play.
The Reverie Saigon
Riverside Apartments, located in District 2, is a great option for family-friendly travel. The apartments have fully stocked kitchens and spacious, well-appointed spaces of up to five bedrooms. There is an outdoor playground, pool, and indoor play area. With on site full cleaning service and laundry, Riverside Apartments is a good choice for a stress-free stay.
$$$$ 22 – 36 Nguyen Hue Boulevard, District 1 +84 28 3823 6688
The Reverie Saigon
Finding family-friendly hotels can be a challenging task, but #iAMHCMC has you covered! Here’s our list of the best family-friendly properties in Saigon and nearby. Travelling with a family can make for a fun holiday, but sometimes it can also create some headaches for parents. A family-friendly property has to have a balance of adult amenities and some special offerings just for kids to enjoy. After all, a holiday should be relaxing for everyone. If you’re looking for a familyfriendly hotel in Saigon, you consider some of our suggestions for a great stay in the city. $ - Below VND 700,000/night $$ - VND 700,000 to 1,500,000 $$$ - VND1,500,000 to 3,500,000 $$$$ - Above VND3,500,000
Hotel Nikko Saigon $$$ 235 Nguyen Van Cu Street, District 1 +84.28 3925.7777 If you’re travelling with a family, Hotel Nikko
The bright and colourful Reverie Saigon is a unique property that is a nice option for families. The rooms are spacious and well appointed with a separate tub and shower space, perfect for a fun bubble bath. They also offer a childcare service for some adult time, or families can beat the Saigon heat at the children’s pool.
Hotel Equatorial Ho Chi Minh
$$$ 242 Trần Bình Trọng, Ward 4, District 5 +84.28 3839 7777 Children are always welcome at the Hotel Equatorial. The staff is friendly and attentive and the property has a special outdoor saltwater children’s pool. If enjoying a stay over the weekends, families should be sure to take advantage of the complimentary buffet for children 6 years old and under.
Novotel Saigon Centre Hotel $$$ 167 Hai Ba Trung, District 3 +84 28 3822 4866 As with all Novotel properties, the Novotel Saigon Centre Hotel provides excellent service and comfort for your family to enjoy. Some of their family-friendly amenities include spacious rooms with extra beds
Riverside Apartments $$$ 53 Vo Truong Toan Street, District 2 +84 28 37 444 505
An Lam Retreats Saigon River $$$$ 21/4 Trung Street, Thuan An District +84 274 378 5555 Only a twenty-minute boat ride from central HCMC, An Lam Retreats Saigon River is traditionally thought of as a couples resort. However, they also have a host of family-friendly amenities. In the room, the resort offers infant beds as well as childcare available upon request. There is a playground and a pool. The resort also offers free supervised children’s activities to give parents a bit of time to relax kid-free.
Binh Quoi Village Resort $ 1147 Binh Quoi, Binh Thanh District +84 028 3556 6020 Located only 20-minutes by car or taxi from Thanh Son Nhat International Airport in Saigon, Binh Quoi Village Resort will rid you of your city exhaustion. The resort features an outdoor pool for adults and kids, a children’s playground, tennis courts and lush green grounds. In addition, the evening barbeque offered at Binh Quoi Village 2 is sure to have options to please both kids and adults. 7
#iAMHCMC
TRAVEL FEATURE
by JK Hobson
Thai, one of the cameramen for VTV4 snagging some footage of women bailing coconut fibre hay.
Coconuts and Cultural Tourism; Exploring Ben Tre with VTV4 All pictures by JK Hobson
Ben Tre is one of the gems of the Mekong Delta. I spent five days traveling through the province with the Vietnam Discovery Channel and got to know the local artisans. I’ve been a resident of Saigon for a little over a year. Like many metropoleis, the hectic and frenzied energy of it has a way of sucking its denizens in. Often, our ways of viewing Vietnam become limited to Saigon’s many districts. (“What’s Vietnam like? Well, I live in Thao Dien, which is kinda like Brooklyn with more motorbikes!”) I’m always looking for opportunities to get out of the insanity of the traffic and smot and to experience culture in Vietnam’s rural areas, so when I was invited to guest host VTV4’s travel show “Vietnam Discovery” I jumped at the chance. The two filmed episodes would take us through the rural areas of Ben Tre Province, which I was slightly familiar with from the year that I had spent in the Mekong Delta. During the Vietnam Discovery filming, I was able to experience a deeper level of cultural immersion. Just outside 8 | iamhcmc.com/gazette
the city limits, I found a lush countryside brimming with scenic beauty and friendly local folks willing to share and engage in dialogue about their lives in the Mekong Delta province. Ben Tre is most well-known for the ubiquity of the coconut, which is why it’s widely understood to be Vietnam’s “Coconut Kingdom.” For
local people in Ben Tre, the coconut trees have a special place in their culture and their economic development. Along both sides of the Ba Lai river, which runs between the districts of Mo Cay Bac and Mo Cay Nam, there are a seemingly endless number of coconut processing plants where coconuts are sorted, processed and exported.
This husband and wife work hard every morning ripping coconuts out of their husks. They work side by side and in unison, radiating with the intense energy of a young couple in love.
TRAVEL FEATURE
by JK Hobson
#iAMHCMC
Over generations, the people of Ben Tre have uncovered the versatility of the coconut and have become masters at turning it into hundreds of products. Coconuts are used to make candy, oil, milk and water among other comestible products. It is also used for skin care, hair care, fuel, and even musical instruments. (More on that later.) When you visiting the processing plants, you can see people hard at work, often with their bare hands, separating the coconut. Each part will be utilised in some form or another. The variety of ways in which Ben Tre’s most valuable resource has been employed reveals the resourcefulness of its people. While on the Thom River which splits Mo Cay Bac and Mo Cay Nam, I met locals performing their daily duties. Some splitting coconuts from their husks, some extracting water, others separating the husk into a kind of hay used for constructing rope, and even for fire fuel. These processing plants line both sides of the river and run as far as the eye can see. The local people have also learned how to repurpose the coconuts and the wood from coconut trees to make ingenious artwork. The coconut is an integral part of Ben Tre culture, so it’s not surprising that the local folks incorporate it into their craftsmanship. Perhaps the most resourceful of all the people I came across on my travels in Ben Tre was a craftsman who went by the name of Ba Ba. In Ba Ba’s home, the living room looked like a
Another worker in the coconut processing plant. His daily workout regimen involves spinning coconut husks into fiber, which are later used to make rope and fishing nets.
music shop for string instruments. Lining the walls were all sorts of guitars, basses, as well as traditional Vietnamese instruments like the dan tranh, and the one-stringed lute known as the đàn tỳ bà. Ba Ba goes to bed at night thinking about his next project and still wakes up in the morning excited about completing it. Etched in his face is the serene look of a person who does what he loves.
Ba Ba about to put on a private concert using this electric guitar with a built-in microphone that he made using coconut wood.
In Phu Le Village of Ba Tri district, I found an enclave of people that shared a deep interest in preserving cultural traditions. Among them, a woman who is a renowned sac bua singer. Sac bua is a form of music recognized as a National Intangible Cultural Heritage that originates from Quang Ngai in the central province of Binh Dinh. Many people from that province moved South during the 18th century and brought this vocal tradition with them. The songs are a wish for peace and prosperity for listeners and are generally performed around the Tet holiday. These are just a few of the people that I encountered on this adventure. It’s heartening to know that just a few hours outside of my home in busy Saigon there are places rich with scenic natural beauty and culture. I would advise a trip to the province of Ben Tre for anyone looking to get a sense of Vietnam’s vibrant artistry.
Like this article? Read the full story at CityPassGuide.com. For more about the Mekong delta turn to page 14-15 9
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TRAVEL FEATURE
by Robert Fouldes
How not to Get
Food Poisoning while Travelling
If the threat of food poisoning is keeping you from booking your next adventure, read on. Here’s a practical guide to how to enjoy your trip while eating Vietnamese food in safety. After a quick online search for health tips and warnings about food poisoning, you may rapidly come to the conclusion that you should only eat in expensive restaurants and international hotels in Vietnam. However, don’t get too intimidated and don’t assume that high cost is a guarantee of good food hygiene.
Use Bottled Water, but Filtered, Boiled Water is Usually Safe Enough
Personal Hygiene: “Now Wash Your Hands!” In day-to-day travels, our hands touch all kinds of things. Therefore, the best favour you can do yourself is to always wash your hands before eating or handling food. The most common cause of travellers getting sick is from hand-tomouth contact. Sharing finger foods can also be a great way to pass-on any bugs.
Check the Kitchen When I left England long ago heading to the Far East for a new job, I asked my doctor what health issues I should be concerned about. He was a welltravelled chap and I always remember his words of advice: “Most water will be safe enough to drink as long as it’s been boiled enough to make a good cup of tea.” Note: this refers to local drinking/ potable water, not river or stream water. However, do use bottled water or water from a known healthy source for personal use whenever possible. It should also put you at ease to know that most homes and businesses in Asia have their drinking water delivered in large geyser bottles. 10 | iamhcmc.com/gazette
It’s not always possible to look over the kitchen for hygiene standards but when you approach your chosen eating place, observe the surroundings. Glance at the rear entrance where the kitchen usually is, if possible. If you see food hanging around outdoors and unrefrigerated, you may wish to reconsider or be sure you order something that is well-cooked. Is the food hot and steaming when served? Food in Vietnam is commonly pre-cooked and served with rice or a noodle dish. Do you think it has
been adequately covered and protected from contamination prior to being paired with the rice or noodles (are there any flies or insects on the food)? In a street market, you will find many vendors selling the same foods. Locate the person cooking that food, and buy directly from them.
Meat and Fish In Vietnam, meat is usually served in small amounts and is often very well-cooked, boiled, fried or grilled. If you really must have that rare steak oozing blood or that seemingly fresh sushi, think about the supply chain (do you see refrigerated delivery trucks)? Visit a local food market and make your own judgements. If you are on a beef farm or at a fishing port, enjoy the local delights; if not, perhaps think again.
Dairy: Yes or No? Usually a sniff test is sufficient to warn you off milk past its best. In today’s brand-name coffeeconsuming culture, we get lots of dairy pressed upon us and sometimes it is difficult to know how fresh the product is when it is combined with a stronger flavour. Milk is costly in Asia and many vendors don’t like to throw it out.
by Robert Fouldes
Alternatives do exist, such as soy or other vegetable sourced milks, but the same questions on freshness remain. Local Asian coffee products are usually produced using sweet condensed milk, which in my experience, is far less likely to be served past its shelf life as it lasts much longer than fresh milk.
TRAVEL FEATURE
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FOOD POISONING
Some dairy can be very beneficial to your digestive health. A small amount of yoghurt daily can keep the good bacteria in your gut in shape. Most yoghurts in Vietnam are filled with sugar, but one natural yoghurt from Da Lat is commonly available at most supermarkets. Probiotics are available in drink or capsule form. The drinks are a bit on the sweet side, but they can also work wonders in protecting you from a bout of food poisoning and in aiding a speedy recovery.
Fruits and Vegetables Many fruits in Vietnam can be found in their own skins, but cut fruit may be exposed to unclean environments or contaminated by insects carrying dirt and bacteria. Peeling fruits yourself is by far the wisest choice, but washing thoroughly with clean water, or soaking in salt water or vinegar water is a good practice. Washed and cooked vegetables are unlikely to present any problems on their own, but consider uncooked salads and vegetables more carefully. Pay attention to the washing method before you commit your stomach to trial by bacteria. Fruit and vegetables are usually grown locally or on the outskirts of towns and cities. The land
may be intensively farmed and the fertilisers used may be a by-product of animal waste or the chemical fertiliser that is used may be too strong. This thought alone makes me extra cautious in buying fruits and vegetables, no matter where they are from.
fluid levels by sipping on water or oral rehydration solution (ORS) salt drinks. It is always good to have a few of these in your luggage along with a supply of Immodium or similar medicine (Dhamotil is commonly provided in Asia).
Don’t Panic. Just Stay Hydrated—but be Prepared to Seek Medical Attention If you do succumb to a bout of food poisoning, often (usually) your body will deal with the issue itself and perhaps by lunchtime the next day you will be fine.
If the problem persists or you find yourself unable to hold down any fluids, then seek medical help as soon as possible. Some victims reach straight for Western antidiarrheal medicines, some of which work by slowing down your digestive system. This may make life more comfortable, and may be useful to make it through the journey, but if the problem persists for longer than a few days, seek medical help as soon as you can.
In other cases, you may be facing dangerous levels of fluid loss. Always maintain body
Like this article? Read the full story at CityPassGuide.com
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TRAVEL FEATURE
by Molly Headley-Benkaci
Réhahn and Mrs. Bui Thi Xong, a 74 year old lady who is featured on the cover of Réhahn’s first successful book “Vietnam, Mosaic of Contrasts.”
Indigo Images: Réhahn, French Photographer Turned Museum Curator Leave your gear questions to Google. If you meet Réhahn, ask him what makes his heart tick and his camera click, his answer may surprise you. The photographer’s Saigon gallery is at the top of the same narrow staircase that leads to the indie-cool and well-frequented l’Usine café. Just beyond the doorway, giving us a glimpse of l’Usine’s cakes du jour and shiny pro coffee gear, is the gallery with Réhahn’s photographs of ethnic minorities and jewel-toned landscapes of Sapa and other wild areas in Vietnam. Réhahn has been featured in more than 500 articles and interviews and his biography reads like a who’s who of the international press: National Geographic, BBC, Condé Nast Traveler, Forbes and Paris Match amongst others. Entering his Couleurs by Réhahn Fine Art Photography gallery feels like a step into an intimate space, each of the framed subjects demanding a tête-à-tête with the viewer. An Phuoc, a young girl with unexpectedly blue eyes, stares out at us. From another wall, Madame Xong, one of Réhahn’s most legendary subjects, covers her mouth with her hand, blunt fingernails dyed a hennah 12 | iamhcmc.com/gazette
brown. Other photographs show workworn hands pigmented with dye, fingertips tinted an unsettling indigo blue. Or an old Cuban woman, head topped with a red flower wreath, puffing on a cigar and staring into the camera as if daring the viewer to cross her. It has been said that Réhahn manages to capture the soul of his subjects through his camera, and standing in the centre of the gallery with each personage vying for attention, I must agree. But these photographs are not the only thing that drives him. In January 2017, Réhahn opened his first free museum, the Precious Heritage Museum in Hoi An. With 500 m² of open space, it presents photographs that tower two metres high, traditional stories and music as well as the garments and hats from each tribe he has collected over the course of his research. For Réhahn, cultural preservation, more so than simply photography, is avowedly his raison d’etre.
Réhahn doesn’t loll in the safe area of camera equipment and photography techniques; he willingly delves into the deepest backroads of Vietnam—the places whose very inaccessibility has managed to keep the cultural traditions and craftsmanship of ethnic minorities alive.
Reluctant Artist, Passionate Anthropologist I leave the hushed space of the Couleurs by Réhahn Fine Art Photography gallery and find a table at l’Usine. Réhahn arrives a few minutes later, apologising for being late. He’s been busy preparing his next trip, to the Himalayan region of India to meet the Ladakhi tribes. Réhahn has a tendency to avert his eyes as he speaks, wary of his words being taken out of context but he makes one thing clear: he has more than just a passing interest in the people he photographs. Part anthropologist, part artist and in some cases an honorary family member, Réhahn is passionate and protective about the connection he has gained with the people he encounters.
by Molly Headley-Benkaci
TRAVEL FEATURE
#iAMHCMC
“I’m a people person”, he says. “I love interacting. I’m not interested in talking about [the camera] because I think it’s just a tool. Some people do wedding photography to get income to follow their hobby. Me, I do fine art. Some people don’t understand, they say, ‘Oh you sell photos of ethnic people and you make money’ and I say, ‘No. I’ve been working for seven years researching, and to create this project I have to sell limited edition photos”. Réhahn has also launched a free app called Precious Heritage available on Android, Google Play and Apple store to document the minority tribes. It gives access to the stories of all the tribes, a map that shows where they are, their traditional music. You can listen to children singing or download an iPhone photo background.
49 Out of 54 Tribes In May 2011, Réhahn and his family moved to Vietnam and decided to visit Sapa. “I expected to take photos of the landscape”, Réhahn says, “but instead I came back with photos of the people. People wearing the Hmong skirts and the Red Dao hats”. This was the beginning of what would turn into a project spanning more than seven years. At the time of this article, Réhahn has met 49 out of the 54 tribes in Vietnam. These minority villages are not always easy to access. It took Réhahn three years to see one of them because he needed permission from the Vietnamese army. Finally VTV (a Vietnamese television station) featured the photographer in a documentary and secured the consent.
“It’s a small village. The smallest ethnic group in Vietnam, only 376 people (according to a 2009 census report). The chief of the village gave me a costume for the museum”, Réhahn says with pride. “I’m also building another museum for one particular tribe that I love, the Co Tu. I use all of my money for the museum.” (The money from the sale of Réhahn’s highest priced photographs, “Best Friends” and “Madam Xong”, went directly to the creation of this museum.) The planned design for the Co Tu Museum represents a traditional Guol community house.
Completing the Circle The museum is part of what Réhahn calls his “Giving Back Project”. He describes the project as
a circle—from the inception of the photograph to the selling of a print to the moment that he closes the circle by giving something back. He has paid school fees for the children of his subjects, offered cataract surgery and even purchased a new boat for a woman who made her living selling wares in a floating market. Réhahn gets emotional for the only time during the interview when I ask whether he himself has ever had a life-changing experience while visiting the tribes in Vietnam. It revolves around his young son rather than himself. “I took my son to a village in Sapa last week. He’ll be six”, he says. “It was our first trip together, just us. He was so happy to be with the children and to be fully connected with me. I really feel like he learned something. I saw my son playing with the other children in the village, they couldn’t speak the same language but it didn’t matter. That is really special for a little boy. As a father to witness that, it’s beautiful.” As we head back to the gallery to get a more in-depth view of his photos, Réhahn summarises his view of his career in a short sentence: “You can have the most expensive camera in the world but unless you have a connection with the people you’re shooting, what’s the point?” This is an excerpt. To read more about Rehahn and cultural tourism go to CityPassGuide.com 13
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TRAVEL FEATURE
by Jon Aspin
Cycling Vietnam’s Mekong Delta
If there’s a better way to see the Mekong Delta than strapping a spare pair of cycling shorts, a dry T-shirt, a couple of pairs of underwear and some decent off-road thongs to your bicycle, #iAMHCMC contributor Jon Aspin would like to know.
The Basics of Cycling the Mekong Delta
High Praise from a Mekong Delta Cycling Enthusiast
here that we would begin our first bikepacking trip together, and what better place to do it? “I’ve done this trip four times already”, Jeremy offered, “and I can’t wait to do it again.”
In truth, you do need a few more items than the above shortlist lets on. A spare tube and puncture repair kit is mandatory on any ride, and a water bottle, sun cream and shades are no-brainers. In addition, as every cyclist already knows, if your ride doesn’t upload to Strava, it may as well not have happened, so a power pack to keep your phone charged should also be considered essential. At the beginning of June, as my immense number of followers on Strava, the abovementioned ride-sharing app, (90) will tell you, something definitely did happen. I spent four days in the saddle getting to know the Mekong Delta as I hadn’t done before and it’s an experience I’ll never forget. 14 | iamhcmc.com/gazette
Riding alongside me, or for large parts of it, ahead of me, was my ride buddy Jeremy, a native of the Alaskan wilderness, though more latterly of Portland, Oregon, and a veteran of several trips to this incredible part of the world. “You’re going to love it, Jon”, he told me as we sat in the van we had hired to take ourselves and our bikes—mine a well-worn Cannondale CX, his a recently purchased Giant Roadster—to our first destination, Ben Tre, the Mekong Delta’s unofficial, coconutflavoured capital. Skipping the dusty, dangerous highway to arrive there in air-conditioned comfort—leaving only a good night’s sleep in front of us—it was from
Coming from someone who’s ticked off some serious bucket-list rides, including a circumnavigation of the bike-friendly but dramatically beautiful Taiwan, some more extreme bike-kayak-bike rides around his home turf of Juno, Alaska, as well as several other multi-day excursions all over southeast Asia, it’s high praise. In total, we kept the pace light and in four days of riding completed just under 300 kilometres, give or take a few. Using Jeremy’s saved maps (I told you a charged phone was an essential piece of kit), we avoided anything that resembled a highway and stuck mostly to back roads and quiet lanes, crossstitching our way through stunning countryside,
by Jon Aspin
dense jungle and quaint villages, always with the mighty Mekong in range. It didn’t mean we never got lost, in fact that is part of the joy, but because we weren’t trying to break power or distance records, this was cycling at its absolute best.
Cycling from Bến Tre to Vĩnh Long and Back
For the uninitiated, 300 kilometres might sound like a lot, but Strava tells me that our biggest day was day one, when we covered a flat 78 kilometres between our riverside accommodation in Bến Tre (I’m not getting paid to say that Mango Home is well worth staying at next time you’re in the area) and Vĩnh Long, where we lobbed at the charismatic and incredibly good value-for-money Happy Family Guesthouse. On day two, we returned from whence we came, taking a slightly alternative route from the previous day that involved a number of ferry crossings— adding to the mystique of being there. On all four days we encountered locals who reminded us of the magic that is Vietnam.Sure, they were giggling at our lycra-clad bellies, funny shoes and weird choice of headgear, but the overwhelming response was to welcome us, pour us tea, bring us fruit and smile—never expecting a cent in exchange. Of course, we did spend money, as there were far too many opportunities to drink delicious nước dừa (ice coconut) and eat the freshest vải (lychees) I’ve ever tasted—though these were also available
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for free off the trees we rode past. Obviously, you can’t go all the way to the Mekong Delta without getting deep on life while sipping more than your fair share of café sữa đá, so we did this too. There may even have been a few Saigon Specials in the mix as well. It was hot after all.
we know about the encroaching threat of things like saline intrusion—caused by rising sea levels worldwide—plus the general level of poverty we hear about in the Mekong Delta, and the apparent abundance of life all around us.
During our ride we came across virtually no other foreigners, save for a drunk Russian couple in Bến Tre. The riding itself was excellent (aka flat), across a variety of manageable terrains with limited traffic outside of the regular flow of improvised ‘hoppers’ that carry anything and everything you can imagine. Whether we were traversing multiple series of tiny old bridges, stopping to admire artwork and vestiges of communities we’ll never know, or riding through towns that time had forgotten—all while luxuriating in the fresh air we miss while living in Ho Chi Minh City—every day in the Mekong Delta was a very good day for a bike ride.
Cycling the Mekong Delta in the early morning glow through fields of coconut palms, cashew plantations and lush vegetable and rice paddies, not to mention on residential paths where beaming locals live out what seem like idyllic lives, it was hard not to get a bit dreamy-eyed about it all. I asked Jeremy at one stage, “Wouldn’t you just move down here if you could?”
Cycling to Gò Công in the Mekong Delta
On day three, we made it to Gò Công, through what can only be described as one of the coconutprocessing capitals of the world. It was incredible to see the strength of the men and women who take this commodity from raw product and strip it back manually, ready presumably for export. Also remarkable throughout the trip was the ever-present dichotomy between what
It was on day three that we also unexpectedly happened upon a prison labour camp in action. Young men paying their dues in fields wearing striped uniforms under the supervision of local officials. Before we knew what was happening, a very cordial police escort had greeted us, making sure we found our way off a property we didn’t know we were on—an interesting and unexpected highlight.
A Better Way to Cycle the Mekong Delta?
On day four, having spent the night in what was essentially a converted warehouse before filling ourselves with yet another nutritious bowl of Vietnamese goodness—bún bò Huế from memory—the dense vegetation and meandering pathways along the tributaries of the Mekong eventually gave way to straight-up commercial cropping and the hint of industry, signalling a transition from where we had been, to where we were going. One ferry crossing and a final bridge climb later, the Mekong Delta was behind us, accompanied by the familiar drone of heavy traffic, and a sense of sadness that the experience was over, but also a satisfaction that we had created new memories, seen things that so many people never will and left no trace of us ever having been there. Like this article? Read the full story at CityPassGuide.com. For more on the Mekong Delta turn to page 8-9 15
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MANZO: Beef and Craft Beer with a Japanese Flair Beyond the liberty of well-doneness, diners are able to choose two types of special flavoured salts and sauces with their steaks. One of the most popular choices is the handmade red wine salt which is painstakingly created by reducing a solution of wine and salt over low heat. MANZO’s black beer sauce is a demi-glace sauce made with one of Saigon’s most celebrated craft beers, Rooster Beer’s signature dark ale, resulting in a true fusion of gastronomical traditions.
Craft Beers for a WellCrafted Meal
Fancy craft beers, fine wines, steaks, carpaccios and Italian cooking with a Japanese flair? Time to save a date for Butcher MANZO & Craft Beer Bar. Possibly the first food and beverage establishment in Ho Chi Minh City to introduce the Japanese-style niku-baru (meat bar) concept to Vietnam, since its inauguration in May this year. MANZO is conveniently located in downtown District 1 on Le Thanh Ton street, home to a growing Japanese enclave filled with gastronomical surprises known intimately to both expats and locals as ‘Little Japan’. With a casual wooden interior that combines the nuances of Japanese simplicity with classic European beer halls, MANZO may just be the perfect after-work chill-out place if you fancy good meat, good beer and good company. Boasting two spacious levels, a tap bar, terrace and enough private space to host a party of approximately forty people, MANZO’s name conveniently translates to beef in Italian, reinforcing the fact that its founders and Japanese-trained head chef are ready to satisfy any cravings for well-prepared flesh. To begin, tantalizing starters such ‘Ajillo Garlic Oil Bacon-Rolled Oysters’ combine 16 | iamhcmc.com/gazette
umami flavours for maximum enjoyment. Fancy something with an Asian touch? Try MANZO’s Octopus and Avocado Marinated with Wasabi Soy Sauce and the signature Caesar Salad with Hot Spring Egg.
Dry-Aged Beef + DemiGlaze= Steak Heaven As the first steakhouse in Ho Chi Minh City to feature in-house dry-ageing, MANZO’s dryaged beef such sirloin and tomahawk steaks are definitely stars of the show. Temperature, humidity and air-circulation are crucial and a specialised dry-ageing refrigerator assures utmost quality and hygiene throughout the lengthy process which lasts at least three weeks. When beef is aged, naturally-occurring enzymes break down muscle tissues, improving texture and flavour. dry-ageing entails a loss of up to 30 percent of the meat’s original weight and must be trimmed before cooking; a sophisticated sacrifice for the enjoyment of MANZO’s guests.
Sporting a bar counter with a total of 14 beers on tap, MANZO’s emphasis on local craft beers is admirable. Apart from amazing craft brews made by local veteran brewers such as Pasteur Street Brewing Company and Tê Tê Brewing Company, MANZO is proud to present a range of beers from 7 Bridges Brewing Company that hails from Da Nang City. The 7 Bridges’ Vietnam Red Ale (5.5% ABV) is a crowd-pleaser. For something stronger, indulge in 7 Bridge’s Imperial IPA (9% ABV) which is floral and citrusy, you’ll forget what you’re about to get into! MANZO also offers lunch sets of great value. The beef katsu cutlet is coated with Japanesestyle panko breadcrumbs and fried to golden perfection, before being topped with demiglace sauce and served with a choice of miso soup or soup-of-the-day and a choice of rice or homemade bread. Butcher MANZO & Craft Beer Bar’s lunch, dinner and beer promotions are renewed on a regular basis so be sure to like and follow their Facebook page ‘Butcher Manzo & Craft Beer Bar’ for the latest updates! For 10% off your total bill at Manzo, mention you read this article in #iAMHCMC.
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by Mervin Lee
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3 Days in Saigon if You’re a Foodie Bamboo Chic
Picture by Mervin Lee
Induldge with #iAMHCMC’s intense three-day food tour plan to keep your bellies filled and and your foodie senses impressed by Vietnamese cuisine. With recent heated debate about why fast food is losing its edge in the labyrinth of Vietnam’s vibrant local food scene, it’s never too late to discover (or rediscover) Saigon’s surprisingly good blend of old school and new world gourmet spots.
that purportedly rids the toasted rice of overly charred contaminants. The rice is then tossed with fragrant shallot oil and enjoyed with your choice of Vietnamese stir-fries.
Day 2
#iAMHCMC challenges you to undertake our intensive three day food schedule to live life like a food expert.
Catch a glimpse of housewives going about their daily business at Tan Dinh Market, one of Saigon city centre’s most bustling hotspots for early-morning fresh produce.
Day 1
Take a short stroll to Tran Quoc Toan street to grab a bite of a banh mi sandwich like no other: a dense, French-style baguette stuffed with jambon and cold cuts, which are made fresh daily at the Banh Mi Ngoc Xuyen.
Start the day by savouring Phở Phú Vương’s noodle soup where the beef cut and style of broth are essentially Saigonese: meaty, robust and flavourful, served alongside fragrant herbs. Be sure to order the special bowl with oxtail. For lunch, Com Nieu Saigon offers a truly local experience where food bonds closely with the performance arts. Freshly steamed and toasted rice, still piping hot in clay receptacles is tossed across the dining hall and smashed, an action 18 | iamhcmc.com/gazette
End the night at Le Méridien Saigon’s Bamboo Chic restaurant where modern Cantonese meets Japanese flair: peking duck and wok-fried beef shank alongside creative sake cocktails. Come early between 5 p.m. and 8 p.m., Mondays to Fridays to enjoy 50 percent off all cocktails, wine by the glass and beer.
Pho Phu Vuong
After an extended coffee break to dodge the relentless sun, head over to Hủ Tiếu Triều Phong on Võ Văn Tần street in District 3 to sample of one Saigon’s most popular noodle dishes: Hu Tieu Nam Vang, Cambodian-style chewy rice noodles with minced meat, shrimp, quail eggs and innards.
by Mervin Lee
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Witness Saigon’s growing ethnic diversity at Ralf’s Gelato, a no-frills ice cream parlour run by German-Italian expat Ralf Ehresmann. One should expect nothing short of pure artisanal gelato made without semi-finished starters; simply high-quality French milk, micronised raw ingredients and state-of-the-art equipment fit for a self-proclaimed gelato otaku. Don’t forget to sample his nuoc mam-flavoured gelato. Don’t worry! It’s just a really intense sea salt caramel. End the day on a literal high note at SOHY Sky Lounge & Dining where cocktails, whiskies and beers become perfect pairings with a 360° view of Saigon’s fast-growing skyline. Still famished? Don’t forget to sample the raw oysters served with steeped onion oil, quail eggs and caviar, freshly caught in Nha Trang City.
Day 3 They say three’s a charm and what’s a better excuse to pamper yourself? Start your day late but in time for lunch at La Villa, an authentic French restaurant set in a gorgeous garden villa in Thao Dien, District 2. Chef Thierry’s menu privilege tantalises seasoned tastebuds through a creative mix featuring the best of both the new and old world: duck confit ravioli, Japanese scallops, royal transmontanus caviar and choices of other delights such as Wagyu beef tenderloin from the highlands of Victoria, Australia. Don’t forget to leave some room for La Villa’s cheese platter. Relax over hot chocolate at Maison Marou, one of the only true artisanal chocolatiers in Asia that handcrafts chocolate using locally grown cocoa beans roasted to perfection by skilled experts. Remember to grab some of Maison Marou’s dark chocolate bars originating from
Pasteur Street Brewing Company
a wide range of locations in Vietnam. The 74 percent Lam Dong dark chocolate is rare and delicate, grown just like specialty coffee along the hilly slopes of Vietnam’s central highlands. (Turn to page 20 to read more). A light Vietnamese dinner is a great way to rest overworked bellies. Drop by Ngoc Chau Garden, a stone’s throw away from Bitexco Tower, for a taste of Indochinese home cooking. The traditional sour soup with snakehead fish and dien dien blossom, known in English as Egyptian river hemp, is both exotic and tantalising in flavour. They say alcohol is good for digestion so we reckon you’d end your three-day mission by sampling some of the region’s best craft beers. Pasteur Street Brewing Company’s Jasmine IPA featuring American hops and dried jasmine flowers is enjoyably tangy and floral, while the intense Cyclo Imperial Chocolate Stout made with cacao nibs from the Mekong delta has achieved serious accolades abroad, achieving a gold medal in the prestigious annual World Beer Cup.
Addresses PHỞ PHÚ VƯƠNG 120 Nuyen Thai Binh, District 1 COM NIEU SAI GON 27 Tu Xuong, District 3 BAMBOO CHIC 3C Ton Duc Thang, District 1 TÂN ĐỊNH MARKET 48 Ma Lo, District 1 BÁNH MÌ NGỌC XUYẾN 41 Tran Quoc Toan, District 3 HỦ TIẾU TRIỀU PHONG 338 Vo Van Tan, District 3 RALF’S GELATO 39 Dang Thi Nhu, District 1 SOHY SKY LOUNGE & DINING Floor 25-26-27, 72-74 Nguyen Thi Minh Khai, District 3 LA VILLA 14 Ngo Quang Huy, District 2 MAISON MAROU 14 Ngo Quang Huy, District 2 NGOC CHAU GARDEN 116 Ho Tung Mau, District 1 PASTEUR STREET BREWING COMPANY 144 Pasteur, District 1
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by Patrick Gaveau and Lucie Sherwood
F&B FEATURE
The Sweet Success of Marou Faiseurs de Chocolat Maruta and Mourou have been on an incredible journey for the past seven years since the inception of Marou—from two friends making chocolate in their kitchen to a business which has two shops, a factory and a team of almost one hundred people. Being an entrepreneur means both freedom and responsibility to Maruta—the freedom to make decisions but also the responsibility to our customers and colleagues who have put their trust in us.
In 2011, two intrepid Frenchmen left corporate careers to create artisanal chocolate. Marou, the result of their venture, has become Vietnam’s premier chocolate company. Samuel Maruta and Vincent Mourou joined forces and their names to create the Marou brand. Dedicated to the “Made in Vietnam” concept from the beginning, the brand produces their chocolate within the country and buys small batches of cacao from local farmers. The chocolatiers make it their mission to find excellent ingredients while maintaining their commitment to sourcing locally . “We are a bit like chefs who go to the market every morning to find the freshest products,” Samuel Maruta explained.
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Marou sells mostly dark chocolate, a trend which Maruta believes was inspired by the French taste for higher percentages. Marou also produces a dairyfree milk chocolate made from coconut milk. At Maison Marou, the brand’s flagship Ho Chi Minh City cafe, the chefs experiment with more adventurous recipes, such as a ganache infused with the same spices that are used to make Vietnamese pho. Marou has also expanded its offering at this central Saigon hub to feature a gourmet pastry menu, which offers some of the best desserts in the city.
Marou has become known internationally as the specialist brand of Vietnamese chocolate but they also have a local market. People love buying the chocolate to take back overseas. “Chocolate has always made a good gift because it travels well across the world.”, Maruta said. In the future, Marou will continue to grow but Samuel Maruta highlighted, “We are big on organic growth. Expansion should not happen at any price.” The company’s principles will always remain at the forefront of their business.
Details MAISON MAROU SAIGON 169 Calmette, D1, Ho Chi Minh City (+84) 28 7300 5010 www.maisonmarou.com
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Picture by Mervin Lee
Bamboo Chic: Panoramic Views and PanAsian Cuisine Looking for phenomenal asian food in a stunning location? Bamboo Chic delivers. A panoramic view of the Saigon harbour combined with Vietnamese recipes with a fine dining style—prepared to be impressed. There is a certain magic that unfolds when you enter Bamboo Chic restaurant on the 9th floor of Le Méridien Saigon hotel. The decor is elegant yet simple, with a few surprises thrown in to create an atmosphere that bewitches. Above the iridescent, scarab green bar, a metal sculpture made up of interlocking circles rises towards the ceiling like champagne bubbles floating to the top of a glass. Near the windows wine-coloured cushions top bamboo chairs and invite guests to sit and stay for a while. Between 5 p.m. and 8 p.m., the bartender prepares cocktails for guests who’ve come to enjoy the panoramic sunset view of the Saigon skyline as well as the Happy Hour discount on drinks. From classics like the bourbon and sweet vermouth Manhattan to the restaurant’s signature mixes infused with additions such as ginger, passion fruit and plum sake, the cocktails, like every detail at Le Méridien’s Bamboo Chic, add to the feeling of modern Asian luxury. As night falls, the twinkling lights on the Ho Chi Minh City harbour mimic the glow of the restaurant’s candles. An enticing aroma begins to fill Bamboo Chic restaurant.
Contemporary Cuisine with Vietnamese Flair Chef Duc, the restaurant’s Executive Sous Chef, brings out the starter. Taro, julienned and fried to a perfect crisp, merges with the unexpected combination of tart kumquat and thinly sliced beef. The salad dressing is so enticing that you’ll be looking for something with which to sop up the sauce left on the plate. Next up, crispy grouper fillet with a hint of calamansi and fish sauce is a fine dining take on contemporary Vietnamese flavours. The cuisine at Bamboo Chic highlights the top tastes of Asia. A stop in Japan brings us sashimi and sushi, while a generous plate of fried rice with salted fish is a Cantonese delight. Yet, it is the Vietnamese dishes, newly added to the menu, that really take the menu to another level.
At Bamboo Chic, a fine dining experience is in store for diners who’ve come to Ho Chi Minh City looking for top-notch Vietnamese food in a beautiful setting.
Robert Conte, Hotel Manager of Le Méridien Saigon, explains that Bamboo Chic is a branded restaurant from Le Méridien, a member of Marriott International group. The restaurant’s concept has always been “modern, eclectic Asian cuisine”, Conte says, but in Saigon, Bamboo Chic has chosen to delve into the local cuisine. The chefs have achieved a creative take on Vietnamese fine dining that will wow both locals and visitors. The flavours of each dish mingle unhesitatingly with one another, salty and sweet, fresh herbs and savoury sauces. Bamboo Chic invites us to partake in the culinary traditions of Vietnam at its best. After the main course, guests can relax a little deeper into the comfortable atmosphere and take in the stunning Saigon river view before indulging in dessert. Pineapple carpaccio with lime sorbet, anyone?
Details LE MERIDIEN SAIGON 3C Ton Duc Thang Street, District 1 (+84) 28 6263 6688 Lunch: Monday to Friday, 11:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Dinner: Everyday, 6 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. Bar: Everyday, 12 p.m. to midnight Happy Hour: Discount half-off for all cocktails, wine by glass and beer from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., Monday through Friday. Business set lunch: eight options for your main course with accompanying side dishes for VND 250,000++ 21
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F&B FEATURE
by Mervin Lee
Best Ice Cream in Saigon
All photos used are by Mervin Lee
Our reviewers at #iAMHCMC spent almost 20 man-hours to bring you a list of the 10 best ice cream, gelato and soft serve shops in Saigon.
ingredients is impressive; worth every dong at VND60,000 a scoop.
Some of his creations are near mind-boggling yet surprisingly delicious—for example, the bacon gelato made with Quan Ut Ut’s smoked bacon, Winking Seal’s craft beer, virgin-pressed Phu Quoc fish sauce... and even a phở gelato made out of two bowls of phở đặc biệt.
Our favourite flavours: Amarena cherry, raspberry sorbet, Phú Quốc fish sauce (reminiscent of sea-salt caramel) and nếp cẩm, fermented Vietnamese purple rice.
If the inner child inside you has been yelling out loud for sugary redemption, #iAMHCMC has you covered! Apart from the celebrated chains available in Ho Chi Minh City such as Haagen-Dazs, Swensens and Baskin Robbins which require no further introduction, where else can you find great ice cream in Saigon? To help you with that, we spent nearly 20 man-hours binging on sugary treats at countless locations to bring you a list of the best ice cream, gelato and soft serve locations in HCMC. We hope you’re mentally prepared because we’re pretty sure you’ll need to hit the gym after this feature!
Ralf’s Artisanal Gelato 39 Dang Thi Nhu, Nguyen Thai Binh ward, District 1 1 p.m. - 10 p.m. on weekdays. 11.30 a.m. - 10 p.m. on weekends. Closed on Mondays. Named after German-native Ralf Ehresmann who moved to Vietnam in 2016 to share his passion for authentic gelato, Ralf’s Artisanal Gelato focuses on authentic Italian-style gelato that is made from scratch using state-of-the-art equipment, natural ingredients and without semi-finished starters which are common in the gelato industry.
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Puppy & Cesar
Vegans will love Ralf’s creations too since his sorbets are ridiculously smooth and velvety, nearly the same sensation as a milk gelato.
35 Tong Huu Dinh, Thao Dien ward, District 2 10 a.m. - 10 p.m. daily
Bottom line: The ultra-smooth texture of Ralf’s gelato and his dedication to high-quality
This quaint and homely gelato store has been making Italian-style gelato since 2013 and is the
by Mervin Lee
brainchild of a dog-loving couple who learned gelato-making in Italy. Flavours such as cheesecake, salted caramel cookie and chocolate orange sorbet, filled with candied orange peel, are beloved. Vegans will fall in love with Puppy & Cesar’s black sesame gelato with Korean brown rice milk. Vietnamese-style flavours such as cốm green rice kernels and salted kumquat are interesting pairings that work surprisingly well. Bottom line: At VND25,000 per scoop, the quality of gelato at Puppy & Cesar exceeds its price which makes it one of the most popular places for gelato in District 2. Our favourite flavours: Apple pie, made with home-pressed apple juice and speculoos cookies, leads as the most unique flavour we tried in Saigon.
Osterberg Ice Cream 94 Xuan Thuy, Thao Dien ward, District 2 2 p.m. - 10 p.m. on weekdays. 10 a.m. - 10 p.m. on weekends. An excellent ice cream shop from Denmark. The Osterberg family was in the fresh fruits business long before venturing into ice cream—a tempting reason to journey to District 2 for a taste of their fruit sorbets! All milk-based ice cream such as Tahiti and bourbon vanilla is made with Danish milk, while vegan flavours such as avocado and date sorbet and peanut butter steal the limelight.
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Staying true to its Danish roots, the elderflower sorbet is a dessert adaptation of Hyldeblomst Saft, a lemonade-like beverage commonly made using elderflower heads, lemons and sugar. Bottom line: Many expats adore Osterberg for its dense ice cream and sorbets and their rotational selection of vegan choices. Our favourite flavours: Piña colada made with white rum, strawberry, and the vegan chocolate sorbet made with Marou’s locally grown chocolate.
Dolce Vita 74/2 Nguyen Cu, Thao Dien ward, District 2 12.30 p.m. - 11 p.m. daily except Mondays Dolce Vita is a hidden gem. Leonardo, born in Sicily, quit his job as a shoe designer for brands such as Coach and Geox to start a gelato business with his partner Nga, leveraging on his knowledge gained from working six years in a gelateria during his college days. “We create many custom flavours for more than 20 restaurants in Saigon!” Leo, as he prefers to be addressed, said proudly. Amazing flavours such as Te Te craft beer, Italian yoghurt, white chocolate, spicy chocolate, lemon and basil are unique combos not easily found elsewhere. Don’t miss out on Dolce Vita’s coffee-flavoured gelato made with Lavazza espresso or enjoy that same cup of espresso as an affogato.
Bottom line: Anything creamy or rich gets a further boost when Leo puts it into gelato-perspective. Our favourite flavours: The ca phe sua da gelato was definitely the most ca phe sua da tasting item that was not an actual ca phe sua da. The After Eight flavour was also so similar to the real deal that our reviewers were stunned that it contains no actual After Eights.
The Coconut 131 Vạn Kiếp, P. 3, Bình Thạnh 6 p.m. - 11 p.m. daily Founded by Kory Nguyen and his business partner Bao Chau Nguyen, The Coconut is, true to its name, a coconut ice creambased dessert shop that impresses with a minimalist menu featuring six unique coconutty items. If having a single dose of coconut isn’t sufficient to please your palate, the coconut ice cream with coconut milk-infused pandan sticky rice, served in an actual coconut and topped with roasted coconut chips and peanuts, just might. Bottom line: All items at The Coconut are priced at VND28,000, striking a perfect balance between price, quality and quantity. This is an excerpt. To read about more excellent ice cream options go to CityPassGuide.com 23
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An Entertaining Dining Experience at Hard Rock Cafe $7USD in Saigon, even though the beef is still imported from the US. The Hard Rock Cafe individualises itself with each location. The restaurant, which has recently undergone a complete renovation, uses the lotus flower as a recurring motif to represent the beauty of Vietnam. The wallpaper features golden flowers that morph seamlessly into electric guitars and back again. Moody lighting offsets the newly redesigned bar.
Events for All Types of Music Lovers
Hard Rock Cafe Ho Chi Minh City renovates and gets ready to brighten up District 1. Rock out every night of the week with the live house band.
Faint notes of music drift out from the entrance to Hard Rock Cafe Ho Chi Minh City in District 1’s MPlaza. The familiar song beckons you to come closer—isn’t that Metallica’s “Enter Sandman”? A server greets you with a smile and invites you into the restaurant. You head down the stairs, past the enviable collections of electric guitars and rock memorabilia mounted on the walls. “First time?” the server says. “Well, you’re in for a surprise.” This is when the restaurant, which at first glance seemed to be a small outlet of the internationally known franchise, opens up to a full-fledged stage for live music. The space is big enough to take the cafe’s mantra of “Love All, Serve All” seriously.
Prices that Rock as much as the Music A little more than 38-years after the Hard Rock Cafe became the hottest rock n’ roll themed place in London, the brand opened their first restaurant in Vietnam. Like all 24 | iamhcmc.com/gazette
Hard Rock Cafes in the world, Hard Rock Ho Chi Minh City is a one-stop shop for music lovers, from merchandise to live shows to memorabilia owned by actual music legends. There is a full-on rock show sixdays a week as well as local acoustic sets in the lounge. At Hard Rock Cafe Ho Chi Minh City, rock music is not just about punk rock or metal. The restaurant’s exclusive house band can play everything from rock tributes such as Linkin Park to EDM, dance music, latin or even Rihanna depending on the mood of the night. Compared to the pop-centred scenes in places like Korea and Japan, Saigon has a strong love for rock and the Hard Rock Cafe’s exclusive band often plays to a full-house during their live music shows. People come for the free entrance, well-priced beers and above all the party vibe. You might be surprised to learn that Hard Rock Cafe Ho Chi Minh City has some of the best prices in the city for a top quality burger. A burger that you might pay $17USD for in a US branch is
Hard Rock Cafe HCMC has 224 seats in the basement venue that have been designed to be able to be moved around for any type of function such as birthday parties, company events and mixers. The Hard Rock Cafe has it all when it comes to events—catering, live music and custom t-shirts are just a few of the options. Now instead of passing by the iconic guitar in front of MPlaza or thinking it is just another chain restaurant, head on in. Grab yourself a seat, order some American comfort food and take in the world of rock n’ roll. One of Jimi Hendricks’ infamous headbands is on the wall over there and that black Washburn guitar belonged to no other than Paul “Starchild” Stanley from Kiss. Sit back, the music will start in a minute and then it will be time for the restaurant to live up to its name. At the Hard Rock Cafe Ho Chi Minh, everyone can party like a rock star or at least have a great time trying.
Details HARD ROCK CAFE HO CHI MINH CITY MPlaza Saigon (formerly: Kumho Asiana Plaza) 39 Le Duan Street, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam +84-28-6291-7595 RESTAURANT: 11:00a.m. - 1:00 a.m. BAR: 11:00 a.m. - 1:00 a.m. ROCK SHOP: 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 a.m.
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by Brennan Lagman
LEISURE FEATURE
Best Yoga Studios in Saigon
Get strengthening, stretching, and stabilising in Saigon! With a little something for all levels and budgets, this is the ultimate guide to Yoga Studios in HCMC.
$ = VND 50,000/night or less/class $$ = VND 50,000 to 1,500,000/class $$$ = VND150,000 to 250,000/class $$$$ = VND250,000 and up * Please note these rates refer to the purchase of a membership package.
The studio is straightforward: one large room with mirrors, mats and basic yoga props. “If you are looking for a spa, go to an elite studio. If you are coming for yoga, I am here to share my passion�, Tram said, with years of Vinyasa, Hatha, Acro Yoga and fitness experience.
Yoga Living YogaHaus+ Location: 106 No. 2 St., Cu Xa Do Thanh, Ward 4, District 3 Hours: 8:00 a.m. to 21:30 a.m. Styles: Vinyasa, Hatha, Acro, Ashtanga Levels: All Price: $$ If you are looking for an intimate, affordable, no-fluff yoga practice with small class sizes, YogaHaus+ is perfect. Daytime hours are very limited in this young studio that opened in 2017, but the schedule suits exercise in the evening. In 2017, Tram Le, a hard-working entrepreneur, started YogaHaus+ to share her passion for yoga. 26 | iamhcmc.com/gazette
Studio 1: B building, ITAXA House, 19 Vo Van Tan, District 3 / Studio 2: 11B Nguyen Binh Khiem, District 1 Hours: 6:30 a.m. to 7:35 p.m. Styles: Hatha (variety), Vinyasa, Ashtanga, Power, Teacher Training and more. Levels: All Price: $$ In terms of the variety of classes, affordability and locations, Yoga Living is one of the best options the city has to offer. It is one of the first larger studios to serve a wide variety of clients. There are two studios on either end of District 1. Teachers usually teach at both, so if one studio is not accessible, you can still catch the teacher you love.
The Vo Van Tan Studio has three large classrooms that can accommodate 50+ students. Classes get rather full during peak hours, but luckily the class schedule changes every week providing plenty of options from open to close. Enter either studio and you are greeted by the sound of relaxing zen music, and a smiling Yoga Living employee to guide you. The rotating schedule includes everything from high-intensity fat burning flows, to gentle and restorative classes in Vietnamese and English. This is a great option for people to try a variety of classes and instructors to find what fits their body best. The facilities are simple and include lockers, showers, complimentary water, mats and towels.
Yoga Pod Location: 28 Thao Dien, Ward Thao Dien, District 2 Hours: 6:30 a.m. to 8:15 p.m. Styles: Vinyasa, Hatha (Variety), Restorative, Yin Levels: All Price: $$$ Tucked away in a secret green haven in Thao Dien, this studio feels like a magic portal to the natural landscape of old. To find it, you
by Brennan Lagman
have to wander past a beautiful family garden with open grass. It is easily the best yoga studio for reconnecting with the elements in Ho Chi Minh City. The small space includes two classrooms for up to 20 people that connect patrons to the surrounding nature. There are simple facilities that boast an all-natural, earthy ambience to match the environment. Bathrooms, showers, lockers, towels and mats are included. The owners of Yoga Pod maintain a rotating variety of classes so clients can experience different teachers, philosophies and practices.
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wraps around a stunning white, vine-covered façade. The facilities include bathrooms, showers, lockers, a juice bar, counselling and therapy rooms, and two classrooms for up to 40 people at a time. When it comes to the restorative aspect of yoga, this one-of-a-kind HCMC studio is unrivalled. Apart from some of the more popular types of yoga, Mandala offers many services including counselling, reiki healing, meditation, sportstherapy, Tai Chi and more.
Yoga Sculpt and Shape (SNS)
Mandala Wellness Location: 41 Tran Ngoc Dien, Ward Thao Dien, District 2 Hours: (Variable) Types: Vinyasa, Hatha (Variety), Qi Gong, Tai Chi, Yoga for Older Bodies, Reiki Healing, Sound Bowl healing, Meditation Levels: All Prices: $$$ Mandala Wellness is much more than a yoga studio. Founded by two mothers looking to provide a holistic wellness sanctuary, this centre is dedicated to giving back to the community by “empowering [people] from within.” Mandala is a top-tier wellness retreat perfectly located in a Thao Dien villa, just far enough from the noise of the city. When you enter the driveway, you are greeted by a lovely garden that
Location: 3 Võ Văn Tần, Ward 6, District 3 Hours: 9 a.m. to 8:15 p.m. Types: Advanced, Prenatal, Hatha, Vinyasa, Ashtanga and more. Levels: All Price: $$$
also common. It boasts mid-high level pricing, but is worth the money for a world-class yoga training experience.
Yoga Sculpt and Shape is one of the pioneers of yoga in HCMC, on the 16th floor of a high-rise, nested high above the noise of the city centre.
Yoga Plus
Besides an impressive history and height, what makes the studio stand out is its advanced level of training. It has produced some of the most famous names from the Vietnamese yoga scene and still attracts master level teachers from around the globe.
Studio 1: Plus Yoga Center Aeon Mall Binh Tan 2nd Floor, No. 01 Road No. 17A, Quarter 11, Ward Binh Tri Dong B, Binh Tan District Studio 2: Plus Yoga Center Thao Dien Pearl Plaza, 3rd floor, 12 Quoc Huong, Ward Thao Dien, District 2 Hours: 6:30am to 8:30pm Types: Over 20 yoga types + Aerial, Pilates, Levels: All Price: $$$
The studio is simple, with two large classrooms and basic facilities. Class sizes are up to 40, but smaller advanced groups and private sessions are
When it comes to luxury, world-class facilities, high-end equipment and specialised training, nothing compares to Yoga Plus. Owned by the same company as UFC Gym, Yoga Plus offers up to 22 different types of yoga, with highly trained professional instructors from around the world. The modern facilities ring of elegance from ceiling to floor. The lobby boasts large ottomans complete with pillows, ambient lighting and music, a small yoga shop and juice bar. Clients can find themselves practising in large, naturally lit classrooms or in specially designed private rooms for one-on-one instruction. Almost every yoga niche can be found here, as the studio contains every yoga and Pilates prop imaginable. Locker rooms include saunas, steam rooms, showers and hair dryers. For more information about fitness in Saigon go to CityPassGuide.com 27
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LEISURE FEATURE
by Brennan Lagman
Saigon in 3 days if you’re a Culture Snob
Entrance to the National History Museum
Get off the beaten path to tour some of Saigon’s best destinations for Vietnamese arts and culture. Explore, taste, and experience the best museums, monuments and foods in town. For the well-travelled culture connoisseur, Ho Chi Minh City is a sheep in wolf’s clothing. On the surface, it’s rough around the edges. But beneath the heat, pollution and organised chaos is a unique place full of one-of-a-kind gems that unveil the city’s heritage. In this quickly expanding city, knowing where to begin can be overwhelming. Especially if you are looking to dive deeper than the typical things-to-see for tourists. That’s why we put together this three-day itinerary for anyone itching to chart a course less travelled and see the best of the city’s rich history and culture.
Friday: A Museum Marathon and Some OldFashioned Opulence
for a jolt of coffee and some female-inspired photography. The downlit, rustic vibe of the place is just the right amount of artsy. 11 a.m: Once fueled-up, jump straight into the city’s war-time history by exploring the popular Reunification Palace—the centrefold of the end of Vietnam war. 12:30 p.m: A taste of Vietnam’s famous food culture is mere steps away at Quan An Ngon 138. The Chinese pagoda-style restaurant takes you on a culinary voyage across Vietnam’s vast and flavourful food landscape by dishing up high-quality, authentic favourites from different regions of the country.
9 a.m: Start your trip with a fresh coconut at the Tao Dan park sculpture garden, where you can discover local art history as you stroll along meandering pathways lined with some of the city’s oldest trees and modernist sculptures.
2:00 p.m: After lunch, hail a cab to Hung Kings’ Temple, which is located across the same plaza as the Museum of Vietnamese History and the Saigon Botanical Gardens. Completed in 1929, the Hung Kings’ Temple honours fallen heroes with exquisite masonry and architecture. The 2,000 square metre National History Museum is home to plenty of artifacts of ethno-cultural significance.
You’ll need caffeine to get you through this day, so consider heading to nearby She Café
4:00 p.m: Head back along Le Duan street, a wide tree-lined boulevard that passes through
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‘consulate row’. Pass the heavily guarded American Consulate, the stunning colonial style Consulate Générale de France, and the recently opened German behemoth, Deutsches Haus. Turn left on Hai Ba Trung, and wander down Saigon’s quaint, pedestrian-only Book Street. 5:30 p.m: A day of exploring can be tiring so after some browsing, we recommend quenching your thirst for haute culture with an aperitif at the majestic RuNam d’Or villa. From your happy hour vantage point, you can see two beautiful, if typical, stops on the Saigon tourist map—the Saigon Post Office and Notre Dame Cathedral. 7:00 p.m: Cruise over to Propaganda restaurant for contemporary Vietnamese cuisine alongside vintage communist propaganda art. 9:00 p.m: After dinner, indulge in 1930s-style Saigonese luxury. Have a drink in the cigar lounge at the Hotel des Arts Social Club, then head one floor up to take in the breathtaking rooftop view.
Saturday: War Remnants, Feminist Fighters and Religious Relics 9 a.m: Kick off day two with a carefully crafted cup of artisanal coffee from Fugashin Coffee.
by Brennan Lagman
LEISURE FEATURE
The baristas are coffee artists who bring you along for every step from grinding the beans to sipping. Right across the street is the War Remnants Museum, a painful but necessary journey to gain understanding of the brutal American War. 12:30 p.m: For lunch, rejuvenate your senses with the fusion vegetarian cuisine of Prem Bistro and Café, which offers a tranquil, Tibetan-style ambience as an escape from the heat. 2 p.m: After you’ve had your fill, explore Vietnam’s history through the eyes of inspirational local women at the Southern Women’s Museum. The museum highlights some of Vietnam’s strongest female personalities throughout history including age-old matriarchal leaders and some of the fiercest wartime heroes. 4 p.m: The next stop on our list is the high-class Salon Saigon. This gallery and performance space showcases the artistic prowess of contemporary Vietnamese Artists. Just down the street is one of the Ho Chi Minh City’s grandest statements dating back to Saigon’s French Colonial roots: The Archbishop’s Palace. Moved in 1946 from its original 1790 birthplace, the well-maintained mansion is still a colonial site to behold.
courtesy of the 5-star Rex Hotel. The hotel was the infamous location of the American military’s daily war conferences. Though the rooftop is low compared to today’s high-rise standards, you’ll have a view of the Saigon Opera House and the People’s Committee Hall. But be warned, outside of happy hour the drinks tab can be quite high.
Sunday: Musical Overtures and a River Finale 8 a.m: Don’t miss the weekly free live music in front of the Opera House. The Opera House is the premier jewel of French colonial architecture in the city, boasting a repertoire of performances that’s easily on par with international standards. 9 a.m: Today’s recommended breakfast and coffee is just a stone’s throw away at the Caravelle hotel. This lavish hotel is lovely to look at but more importantly it housed the Australian and New Zealand embassies during the 1960s as well as being the nerve centre for many of the major American television networks.
7 p.m: For this evening’s meal, feast your five senses at Hoi An Sense, a restaurant that takes cultural fine dining to a new level. Central Vietnamese delights are served alongside traditional Vietnamese music and dance performances.
10 a.m: The last museum on this list of cultural gems is one you shouldn’t miss! Saigon’s Fine Arts Museum has three floors of extensive exhibits that take you on a journey through Vietnam’s rich art history, with rotating installations including everything from contemporary and political art to Cham, Indian and Khmer artifacts dating as far back as 600 AD.
9 p.m: To cap off the night, treat yourself to a cocktail at Sky Garden Rooftop lounge,
12 p.m: For a post-museum snack and coffee, check out Cà Phê Cô Ba, a local favourite coffee
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house known for its vintage and comfortable interior design and affordable drinks. 1:45-6:15 p.m: It’s been a full few days. What better way to see the rest of the city than a jeep and river boat tour? Les Rives offers a comprehensive tour of the town that includes food and refreshments. Sit back, relax, and enjoy different angles of the city along the cities waterways, while taking in a Saigon sunset. Prefer to have a guide? We recommend these two cultural tours: Sophie’s Art Tour (www. sophiesarttour.com) and Hidden Saigon (www. hidden-saigon.com).
Where To Stay Sleep amongst vestiges from Ho Chi Minh’s oldest shipyard at the The Myst Hotel Dong Khoi (6-8 Ho Huan Nghiep St., District 1). The hotel was inspired by the idea of sharing the sophisticated spirit of Saigon with world-travellers.
Addresses Friday: 1. Tao Dan Park, Between Cach Mang Thang Tam Street and Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Street. She Cafe, 58 Pasteur, Bến Nghé, D1. Reunification Palace, 135 Nam Kỳ Khởi Nghĩa, Bến Thành, District 1 Quan An Ngon 138, 138 Nam Kỳ Khởi Nghĩa, Bến Nghé, D1 Hung Kings’ Temple and Museum of Vietnamese History, 2 Nguyễn Bỉnh Khiêm, Bến Nghé, D1 Book Street, Nguyễn Văn Bình, Bến Nghé, D1 RuNam d’Or, Số 3 Công xã Paris, Bến Nghé, D1 Propaganda, 21 Hàn Thuyên, Bến Nghé, D1 Hotel des Arts Social Club, MGallery Saigon, 76-78 Nguyễn Thị Minh Khai, Ward 6, D3 Saturday: Fugashin Coffee, 15 Võ Văn Tần, Ward 6, D3 War Remnants Museum, 28 Võ Văn Tần, Ward 6, D3 Prem Bistro, 204 Nguyễn Đình Chiểu, Ward 6, D3 Southern Women’s Museum, 202 Võ Thị Sáu, Ward 7, D3, Salon Saigon, 6D Ngô Thời Nhiệm, Ward 7, D3 Archbishop’s Palace, 180 Nguyễn Đình Chiểu, Ward 6, D3 Hoi An Sense, Rooftop, 12 Phan Kế Bính, Đa Kao, D1,Rex Hotel, 141 Nguyễn Huệ, Bến Nghé, D1
The steps to the Hung Kings Temple
Sunday: Opera House, 07 Công Trường Lam Sơn, Bến Nghé, D1 Caravelle Hotel, 19 Lam Sơn Square, Bến Nghé, D1 Saigon Fine Art Museum, 97A Phó Đức Chính, Phường Nguyễn Thái Bìn, D1 Ca Phe Co Ba, Lầu 1, Số, 2 Đồng Khởi, Bến Nghé, D1 Les Rives, 98 Nguyễn Huệ, Bến Nghé, D1 29
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LEISURE FEATURE
by Brennan Lagman
A Brief History of the Ho Chi Minh City Zoo and Botanical Gardens
Take a walk through the HCMC Zoo and Botanical Garden’s history and discover why its one of the city’s best places to visit. When it comes to breathtaking nature, many areas of Vietnam exceed expectations. Sadly, for nature lovers who find themselves in Ho Chi Minh City, it’s easy to forget the beauty of the country. As Saigon scrambles to absorb its rapid growth, green spaces are getting scarce. Fortunately, city dwellers have the Saigon Zoo and Botanical Gardens—a place where nature and history have been enshrined.
The HCMC Zoo and Botanical Garden: A Brief History The Saigon Zoo is teeming with history. At 150 years old, it stands as one of the oldest zoos in the world, and a time capsule for some of the country’s most impactful eras. Commissioned in 1864 by the French Admiral Pierre de la Grandiere, the zoo reeks of an era of global European Dominance through colonialism, industrialisation, and the exoticism of people, artifacts and animals. Originally, the zoo was designated for conservation and breeding of animals found in the surrounding countries. Five years later in 1869, the breeding grounds opened its 20 hectares of exhibits and 30 | iamhcmc.com/gazette
gardens to the public. The young zoo boasted just over 500 animal species. During the mid-1920s, the Saigon Zoo incorporated another 13 hectares from the northern bank of the Thi Nghe canal, ushering in a new era of history, flora and fauna in the park. A botanical garden featuring plants from far-off places was added as well as the Hung Kings Temple to commemorate fallen soldiers. Over time the zoo developed a well-intentioned effort to emphasise conservation and education. Between the 1980s and 2000s, many planning strategies were implemented to help improve the living conditions of the animals, though visitors from Western Countries might find it hard to believe.
The Zoo of Today and Tomorrow At the intersection of the wide, Parisian-esque Le Duan street and tree-lined Nguyen Binh Khiem, the Saigon Zoo and Botanical Gardens are recognizably the green jewels of the city. Upon entering two large yellow stone and castiron Victorian-era gates, you are transported from the rush of the city into an earthly escape.
Just a take a few steps past the Hung Kings Temple and Vietnam Museum of Natural history, and the garden hits your senses. The familiar unfurling branches of ficus benghalensis hide amidst dense shrubbery, creating a meditative stillness—a rarity for Saigon. Nearly 260 species of matured plants cast a visual overgrowth of biodiversity that feels age-old. Pathways meander through gardens of cacti, bonsai trees, ponds filled with lilies and lotuses and other local and exotic plant species. The transition from plants to animals can be nauseating. Though the zoo has made efforts to boost the living conditions of its nearly 600 resident animals, it is easy to see their distress. Elephants sway back and forward in anxious repetition, otters scratch at their irritated fur and rarely do you see an exhibit with adequate space for creatures meant to be mobile. However, the zoo has made a slow, imperfect yet vital transition to a place of conservation and education. As the children of this city enter an era where many of these animals may not exist in the wild, we must support this cracked window’s view of nature as a necessary evil. Regardless of its flaws, the HCMC Zoo and Botanical Gardens remains a place to see in Saigon.
by Mervin Lee
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#KnowSafetyNoAccidents UK Consulate Launches its Safety Campaign
British Consulate-General Ho Chi Minh City helms a new #KnowSafetyNoAccidents Campaign to promote safe motorbike riding habits in Vietnam Based on a study by the World Health Organisation, an average of one individual dies every hour due to road accidents in Vietnam. Unsurprisingly, most deaths, severe injuries, disabilities and emergency evacuations of foreigners in Vietnam are a result of motorbike accidents that strike individuals who may be insufficiently equipped or lack awareness of how to ride safely in a country where road conditions and driving culture may be vastly different from their country of origin. On September 27th, 2018, the British ConsulGeneral Mr Ian Gibbons launched the British Consular Team’s #KnowSafetyNoAccidents campaign at British International School HCMC. A panel of speakers ranging from road-safety experts, motorbike enthusiasts and healthcare experts were invited to share their experiences and knowledge with eager educators, expats and other members of the public.
Safe Riding Starts with Good Gear Mr Trevor Long, a longtime motorbike
enthusiast living in Vietnam, shared a tip for motorcyclists: Riders should always be equipped with a pressure gauge to ensure that motorbike tires are well-inflated and roadworthy. Most local maintenance shops over-inflate tires and braking action is severely compromised as a result.
Mr Tran Huu Minh from the National Traffic Safety Committee shared the sobering news that there is an epidemic of fake motorbike helmets. An estimated 40 percent of helmets sold in large cities such as Saigon are counterfeits. Riders should only buy helmets from supermarkets and retail outlets of certified brands. Parents need to be especially vigilant. 90 percent of student accidents involve individuals aged 16 to 18 years old. Accidents are due to several factors that can be a deadly combination. Many young adults ride motorcycles rated 50cc or below, there is a lack of driving experience and they may not have a proper license to operate 50cc motorbikes.
Ms Mirjam Sidik, a representative of AIP Foundation, said that “An estimated 3 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is lost in Vietnam because of road accidents.” AIP Foundation focuses on raising awareness about the social, economic and human impact of road accidents in Vietnam and other developing countries. She added that a 5 km/h reduction of speed effectively reduces the chance of fatal accidents by a stunning 30 percent.
The Campaign Continues Mr John Fox, Asia Pacific Consular Regional Director for the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office, gave further insights about UK Consular Team in Vietnam’s future plans. “We’ll be working on online campaigning via the UK in VN’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages. Videos and pictorial stories highlighting measures people can take to be safer on the roads in Vietnam will be shared with the public.” UK in Vietnam Facebook Page: https://www. facebook.com/ukinvietnam/ UK in Vietnam Twitter Page: https://twitter.com/ UKinVietnam 31
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SOCIETY FEATURE
by Steve Raymond
Can You Really Trust the Reviews on TripAdvisor It is the world’s most influential platform for affecting decisions made by potential consumers of accommodations, restaurants and attractions. But how dependable are the reviews and ratings? Before the internet and social media, travellers relied on advertising, slick brochures and promotional materials from individual businesses or from government or private tourism promotion bureaus. Word of mouth advertising was minimal and it did more for restaurants that relied on local business than for hotels, attractions or other tourism dependent establishments. The result was that companies with the largest budgets or best marketing departments attracted the most customers. However, having a good marketing department did not necessarily translate into the highest quality customer service or the best experience. In the year 2000, Stephen Kaufer and Langley Steinert created TripAdvisor to provide consumers with first-hand descriptions of experiences by tourists at thousands of destinations around the world. Using the slogan ‘The World’s Most Trusted Travel Site’, 32 | iamhcmc.com/gazette
TripAdvisor grew into a billion dollar mega media group, which currently has over 25 brands and around 300 million unique monthly visitors. But after countless lawsuits in multiple countries, the word ‘trusted’ was removed from their slogan and they even stopped using the word ‘honest’ in their marketing programs.
Trip Advisor; The Opinion Propeller Due to the power of TripAdvisor to make or break small businesses, the potential for abuse is phenomenal. From its inception, TripAdvisor has been accused of publishing fake reviews, as well as reviews written by competitors of the listed establishments. Some businesses even go so far as to hire and pay people to write good reviews about their businesses and bad reviews about their competitors’ businesses, whether or not they have even visited the places they write about.
According to an undercover investigation by the British daily newspaper The Times, “Hotels and restaurants are trying to cheat their way to the top of TripAdvisor amid claims that as many as one in three reviews is fake”. Proof of this claim comes in the form of businesses that make a buck off of the faith consumers have in TripAdvisor. ReviewsthatStick.com, an Asian-based website, is a good example of a company that unabashedly publishes fake reviews for their clients. Reviews that Stick uses the phrase “Putting Businesses on Top Since 2001” as their company motto. How do they do that? By offering review services and reputation repairs that include pre-paid reviews for all of the major online review aggregators. Need 10 more five-star ratings to appear on your TripAdvisor profile? Buy a bulk package. Or perhaps just a single review to negate a bad consumer experience review? That is available for purchase as well. From the website: “To do so, just head on to the order form and put in the type of review you want to buy.”
by Steve Raymond
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Not Just a Fake Review, Here We Have a Fake Restaurant The story of Oobah Butler is an extreme example of how the site can be manipulated. A Londonbased professional writer, Mr. Butler made money writing fake reviews on TripAdvisor. In April 2017, he created a TripAdvisor listing for a non-existent restaurant. He used the patio behind his house to take pictures of dishes created in his own kitchen, wrote many fake reviews and had friends write others, plus constantly told people calling for reservations that the restaurant was always booked up. Within seven months, Butler’s nonexistent restaurant became number one on TripAdvisor for the city of London. It is very difficult to get TripAdvisor to correct inaccurate information, remove listings of businesses or to delete obviously fake reviews. Many business owners give up trying, as getting someone at the company to make corrections or changes is almost impossible. For example, most of the TripAdvisor listings in Phan Thiet are incorrect. As the TripAdvisor destination expert for Phan Thiet, I have been attempting to get the location information corrected for ten years. I have sent the geocodes for virtually all Phan Thiet listings to the company so that they can give tourists accurate information about the destination. Many establishments that are listed as being located in Mui Ne, for example, are not in Mui
Ne. Some are ten or fifteen kilometers away from Mui Ne, but they are still listed on the Mui Ne page, rather than on a page for Ham Tien or Phu Hai, the wards in which they are located. This is akin to creating various pages for Ho Chi Minh City and then listing businesses in Phu My Hung or An Phu on a page for Cholon. Although TripAdvisor has had the geocodes for almost every listing for years, nobody at the company seems bothered by the fact that their information is not accurate nor is any content specialist at the company inclined to take the time and effort to correct the location information.
TripAdvisor Looks to the Experts
Although the large majority of reviews on TripAdvisor are legitimate, consumers should be careful and look at overall ratings and trends rather than deciding which establishments to patronise based on one or even a few reviews that contradict the majority opinion. Even a review that seems legitimate after the customer has actually used the services may not be an accurate account of the experience. Customers sometimes threaten employees or business owners that they will post bad reviews if they are not given complimentary services or discounts. Therefore, it is important to be discerning when reading any single review. For years, TripAdvisor has kept how it vets its reviews a closely guarded secret. Now, the company is shedding a little more light on how it controls reviews written by frauds and optimisers. In addition, Stephen Kaufer has just announced that, instead of relying entirely on user reviews, the new TripAdvisor will add tips from publishers such as National Geographic, Condé Nast Traveler, the Travel Channel, Business Insider, and PopSugar. Plus TripAdvisor is venturing more into the mass social media market by creating a personalised social media feed that delivers Twitter and Facebook-like pages. Only time will tell if these changes affect the overall accuracy and legitimacy of the world’s largest and most powerful social tourism platform. Like this article? Read the full story at CityPassGuide.com 33
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by JK. Hobson
Behind the Bleach; Vietnamese Women’s Obsession with White Skin Why do Vietnamese women seem to be obsessed with having white skin? Is this a by-product of colonisation and western standards of beauty or is it something else? Rochelle Nguyen, a 25-year-old VietnameseCanadian woman who teaches at a prominent English centre in Ho Chi Minh City, explained how she went to get a health check in order to obtain a work permit. “They take a urine sample. They check your eyes. They check your teeth. They check your skin”. (Rochelle accompanied the word skin with air quotes.) She related this story over a bowl of bo kho in a tiny eatery in one of the off-the-beaten track hems of Phu Nhuan District. “All they looked at were my hands, back and forth, and then [the doctor] was like, ‘Hmmm. Your skin is really dark. You must like the sun…You’d look better if you were lighter’. It wasn’t even like, ‘Stay out of the sun; it’s bad for your skin’ or anything like that!” Rochelle was floored by the non-medical nature of the doctor’s advice, and the boldness with which he dismissed her skin tone as unattractive. 34 | iamhcmc.com/gazette
The question arises: why are so many Vietnamese women obsessed with having white skin?
Ho Chi Minh City’s ‘Street Ninjas’ Avoid the Sun You can see the care in preserving skin whiteness in the women driving around on scooters and motorbikes, covered almost entirely from head to toe in combinations of helmets, sunglasses, facemasks, long sleeves, gloves and socks. This ‘street ninja’ motif, as it has been dubbed by some, has become a staple style in Ho Chi Minh City’s fashion culture, while serving the purpose of shielding women from sun rays. Photographer Mona Lippi explores this culture of skin covering in her series of photos titled “White Skin” and marvels at the distinctiveness of each subject. “I was very interested in the original, colourful, modern individuality of each driver”.
Whitening Agents in Vietnam’s Skin Care You can also see reflections of the obsession in the skin care aisle of a local Co-Op mart. Finding lotion that isn’t advertised as having some kind of skin-bleaching property is nearly impossible. My, a 25-year-old Vietnamese woman, said, “Vietnamese people prefer to have white skin. In their minds, white skin stands for being rich and beautiful so they want to buy a skincare product that helps them to have white skin.” The assumption about class attached to skin colour is ubiquitous throughout Asia. Mimi, a 24-year-old woman of Vietnamese descent who was raised in Europe, wrote via Facebook Messenger that “It was only royalty and wealthy people who could afford to sit indoors and avoid the sunlight. The working had to be out and about in the fields, on the streets, hence the exposure to the sun and darker skin.” Nguyen Oanh in an interview with Asia
SOCIETY FEATURE
by JK. Hobson
Life Magazine supported this assertion: “For Vietnamese women, being white means that you are beautiful, that you are a person who has money and doesn’t work too hard”. Tu, a 30-year-old local woman from Hanoi adds that there’s also an East Asian influence at play. When asked about skin-whitening products, she notes that they have been “... influenced greatly by Japanese and Korean culture since early 2000s, where women there have naturally lighter skin”. On another note, Tu points out that the penchant towards white skin can also be attributed to the lack of options provided by makeup manufacturers. Vietnamese women with darker skin “...have no makeup products that match their skin tone just yet. That’s why having lighter skin allows them to have more natural looking made-up faces. It’s quite a homogenous society, so there’s a delusion that one could obtain exceptional white skin by paying a lot of money for products. The truth is that some people’s skin will just remain the same tone, unless [they use] invasive intervention.”
When asked her own opinion, she adds, “Asian women associate lighter skin with a better lifestyle. Probably from years of being colonised.”
What’s Colonialism Got to Do With It? My Tho is a city of about 220,000 with only a handful of Western expats. Even so, a good percentage of the advertising features Caucasian faces. Are the beauty standards the result of the ‘opening’ of Vietnam to Western ideals via globalisation? Are they an echo of Vietnam’s colonial past and its relationship with Europe? Vietnam has a history of incorporating the ideas, fashion, cuisine, architecture and religion of former colonisers. (“Thanks for the Buddhism and the noodles, China, but you have to go now”. “Thanks for the banh mi, the infrastructure, and the modifications on the ao dai, France, but we’re done here”.) It is likely that at least some ideas about whiteness and its proximity to wealth and power were handed down from Vietnam’s former status as a French colony.
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Fewer Incidents of Skin Cancer in Asia? Vietnamese women’s avoidance of the sun does have a practical benefit. People in Western countries, who have the inverse obsession and enjoy tanning, pay a high price for their sunworship. Although this is at least partially due to genetics and lack of melanin in Caucasians, white Westerners have the highest incidents of skin cancer in the world. Vietnam ranks 165th out of 183 on the list of incidents of skin cancer by country, according to the World Life Expectancy website. It even ranks lower than Iceland, Finland and Norway, countries that experience dark winters lasting for months. Perhaps Vietnam will become so influenced by its Western counterparts that one day tanning beds will be a staple of Vietnamese spas. In the meantime, we can be sure that the ‘street ninjas’, covered from head to toe on the eternal quest for the milkiest of skin, will remain iconic features in the tapestry of Vietnam. Like this article? Read the full story at CityPassGuide.com 35
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SHOPPING FEATURE
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Origins and Organic Cotton: Metiseko’s New Collection Metiseko launches their dreamy new collection of sustainable clothing, accessories and homeware in Vietnam. “Heatwave… The sand is lightly smoldering under our steps. The sun is at its highest and the carved, dark wooden doors have been shut. Naptime. It is summer in Hoi An.” At Metiseko, poetry is crafted out of organic Indian cotton and mulberry silk that is locally produced in Vietnam. The hand-painted prints recall the scent that lifts off of flowers in the aftermath of a monsoon. Tropical fruit meets art-deco elements, hibiscus and peonies float across misty blues and greens, lotus leaves and koi fish swim through a painterly aquatic garden. The fact that Metiseko is also one of the most well-known sustainable clothing brands in Vietnam lends weight to the beauty of the sustainable textiles. Each of Metiseko’s clothing, accessories and soft furnishings collections is presented like a travel journal that introduces a reimagined view of Vietnam. CỘI-Origins, Metiseko’s 8th collection to date, launched on September 14, 2018. This collection takes us on a voyage to revisit the company’s roots in the ancient city of Hoi An.
Hoi An Inspired During the collection’s launch party, a film by French filmmakers Robin and Cako, played as models weave between the crowd. The film, a dreamy day between four friends as they experience moments with family and the intimacy of friendship, evokes the concept behind the collection. “It’s about spending time together”, Metiseko co-owner and Artistic Director Florence Mussou said. “Reconnecting, coming back to where Metiseko started... to Hoi An, which is still a source of inspiration.” Eight years ago the brand was created by Mussou and co-owner/General Director Erwan Perzo 36 | iamhcmc.com/gazette
in Hoi An. Mussou brought her experience in textile design to the company, while Perzo’s passion for sustainability inspired Metiseko’s commitment to ethical work conditions and the use of organic cotton and silk. The brand stands out as one of the few truly sustainable brands in Vietnam. CỘI-Origins includes organic cotton pieces with colours and shapes that were conceived to work for both masculine and feminine styles. The colour palette was created to reflect one day in Hoi An from sunrise to the sunset. The shades, like denim blue, terracotta, custard and aqua, were inspired by different times of day in the ancient Vietnamese coastal city.
A Conscious Collaboration Linda Mai Phung, a French-Vietnamese designer, collaborated on the collection. Phung has become known in Vietnam and Europe for her clothing designs as well as her company ethos: respect humanity and the environment while creating great fashion. She has won numerous international awards for ethical-fashion. Phung’s designs seem simple but there is complexity in the details—a thin band collar and hidden buttons on a man’s button-down shirt and the narrow pleats made to highlight the waist
on a women’s skirt are a few examples. Phung’s clothing designs combined with Metiseko’s organic fabrics manage to be contemporary and classic, French and Vietnamese at the same time. Part of what creates client fidelity at Metiseko is the strong narrative that the company conveys. When you walk into one of the Metiseko stores it is as if you are entering another world. From the lyrical text that scrawls across the lookbooks to the hanging lanterns wrapped in Metiseko’s signature organic fabrics, each detail works together to create a sense of nostalgia for a place you may never have been to but emphatically want to experience. Each collection invites us to take a trip with Metiseko, to see the country in a different light. The care that is put into each piece, from the brand’s commitment to sustainability to their exquisite designs, stands as a testament to Metiseko’s ongoing love affair with Vietnam.
Details SILK BOUTIQUES 101 Dong Khoi, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City 140 Tran Phu, Minh An, Hoi An ORGANIC COTTON BOUTIQUES 157 Dong Khoi, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City 142 Trần Phú, Minh An, Hoi An SNAP CAFE BOUTIQUE 32 Tran Ngoc Dien, District 2, Ho Chi Minh City VICTORIA CORNER Victoria beach resort & spa, Cua Dai Beach, Hoi An www.metiseko.com
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EDUCATION FEATURE
by JK Hobson
The Real English Teachers of Saigon
Saigon is known as one of the best locales for native speaking English teachers to teach locals. What are the ups and downs in taking on this kind of work? Anyone who’s spent a significant amount of time in Saigon can’t help but notice the preponderance of foreign-born English teachers living in the Vietnamese metropolis. In fact, if you go to any of the city’s nightlife hotspots on any given day, chances are that you’ll be surrounded by drinking party-goers who have just a few hours earlier been in front of a classroom teaching local students the finer points of English grammar. English teaching became a viable means of living for foreigners in Saigon in the early 1990’s when the demand for foreign English teachers skyrocketed, vastly outstripping the supply. Since then, backpackers, travellers, and expatriates have come to the Southeast Asian city and settled in, providing a means of sustenance for themselves as English teachers in language centres, international and public schools. Some of them are highly-skilled, while others have been able to get their feet in the door of language-teaching based primarily on their countries of origin. #iAMHCMC sat 38 | iamhcmc.com/gazette
down with some of them to discuss the pros and cons of teaching English in Saigon.
The Saigon Career Stumble If you ask around, you might find that there are a fair amount of English teachers in Saigon that have no prior experience or interest in teaching. I sat with Hien* and Sarah, both teachers at a prominent English centre that specialises in teaching students from age three to adulthood. I asked Sarah, an English teacher of Polish origin, how she got into the profession. She replied, “I hate office work and having to work 8 hours a day. I also wanted to be able to live somewhere abroad. I was looking for something that would take less time than full-time, but still make a lot of money… so Vietnam seemed like an option.” Native speakers of English in Saigon can expect to make between USD15 to USD20 per hour depending on their experience, sometimes even
without an advanced degree such as a TEFL or TESOL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language and Teaching English as a Second Language, respectively). Many find that they can have a high quality of life in Vietnam with a teacher’s salary. Just last year, Business Insider named Vietnam the number one most affordable country for expats living abroad. Hien, an American of Vietnamese heritage and originally a painter with a Bachelor’s degree in Art also found her way into teaching almost by happenstance. Hien recounted her experience. “I got really sick and I was trying to look for a random job and was having a hard time. I applied to hotels for receptionist work. Someone did tell me about English teaching, but I didn’t think that my skills were adequate.” She said she didn’t know anything about grammar but people told her it didn’t matter.
The Downsides of the Saigon ‘Education Culture’ A common perception about English teachers in Saigon is that they’re underqualified and for the most part are hired if they’re white westerners,
regardless of whether they have limited teaching experience or lack advanced degrees. Like Sarah and Hien, few had aspirations to be teachers back in their countries of origin, and a minority of them aspire to be career educators. Regina*, a teacher at a different English centre, who also teaches in public schools in Saigon, is one of those rare exceptions. She plans to move back to her home country, the US, to become an educator in the public school system there. “A lot of teachers in Saigon are not here to be career teachers. They’re here to pay the bills and travel. There’s a lot of going-throughthe-motions mediocrity within the teaching community in Saigon. You can come to Vietnam, not have a TEFL or TESOL certificate, just be a westerner and get a job.” Regina says that she is more concerned with developing her skills and her repertoire as a teacher than she is making a quick buck but also thinks that this attitude is rare amongst her peers. She enjoys working in the public schools, where resources are limited, but students are eager to learn, over the English centres. “I feel like in the government schools, I’m making a difference. It’s sad but hopeful at the same time. The problem is there are 50 kids and I only have a half hour to teach. That’s where I feel the most challenged.” Some teachers find that low standards in the school system are perpetuated when teachers are not allowed to fail low-performing students. This often is the case in private schools or English centres where parents pay top dollar in order for their child to attain certificates of achievement. These parents are often more concerned with the ways in which their children can present themselves on paper than they are with their children gaining language proficiency. As a result, these learning centres are burdened with the pressure of keeping these students moving along and often passing them through their systems in order to please the paying customers, even when students are underperforming. All of this can become frustrating, especially to teachers who actually care about the quality of education they are providing.
Conflicts of Interest When Education is a Business Brendan* has been teaching in Vietnam for
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EDUCATION FEATURE
by JK Hobson
the past 18 months, but had prior teaching experience in South Korea. “I left South Korea and did a bunch of travelling throughout Southeast Asia and then money ran out. I knew that outside of Korea and China [Vietnam] was the most viable market within Asia.” He said that landing a job in Korea was easy, despite his lack of experience or certification. “I was very fortunate to get a job at a private elementary school, which I was completely unqualified for. I’m pretty pale and have blue eyes. Yeah, I feel [bad] about it in a way, but also it’s pretty sweet. I had one year of experience. I had no right to get that job.”
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He described the learning establishment that he began teaching at in Vietnam. “The facilities look really nice from the outside. It’s really flashy but the basic requirements, the things you really need aren’t there. It’s a façade. It’s very much a business.” He said he was forced to pass a number of students that were performing below the expectation of the level. “I raised an objection, not even a particularly strong objection, but I didn’t keep my head down as a new teacher and I’m 95 percent sure that’s why my contract wasn’t renewed.” Despite the setback, Brendan was able to find his way into another position at a different international school. English teachers will likely be a part of the fabric of Saigon for many years to come. Western foreigners will continue to descend upon the city employing the use of their native tongues as a means of acquiring an occupation. The job certainly has its perks. Depending on your proficiency, where you’re from, and certainly to some degree what you look like, you can be almost guaranteed a job, even with zero experience or advanced degrees in teaching. There’s certainly a bit of luck involved in that your experiences will vary depending on the kind of educational facility in which you find yourself. Career educators may find aspects of the business culture of education in Saigon frustrating. At the same time, for those up to the challenge, teachers might find themselves having rewarding interactions and relationships with their students, ones that will sharpen their skills as educators while being able to enjoy a relatively good quality of life in an emerging economy. *names denoted with apostrophes are pseudonyms
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Reggio Emilia & STEM inspired curriculum KINDER ACADEMY PRESCHOOL
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EDUCATION FEATURE
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ISHCMC Celebrates 25 Years of Educational Excellence international school in HCMC to provide this type of top-quality air purification system throughout both campuses.
Diversity and Achievements
International School Ho Chi Minh City (ISHCMC) celebrates its 25th Anniversary as the forerunner in innovative education and academic excellence in Vietnam. ISHCMC was the first international school established in Saigon and the first accredited International Baccalaureate® World (IB World) school in Ho Chi Minh City to offer all three IB programs for primary years, middle years and diploma students.
This year, International School Ho Chi Minh City (ISHCMC) is proud to celebrate another first—the 25th anniversary of achieving excellence in education. This has been made possible through the support, trust and inspiration of all those who have passed through the halls of ISHCMC to become inquiring and knowledgeable young adults. Another recent milestone at ISHCMC is the completion of a brand new state-of-the-art secondary campus that boasts numerous enhanced facilities including an innovation centre, collaboration centre, design and technology suites and a recording studio. In the 2018-19 academic year, ISHCMC expanded its line of subject options for secondary students by introducing film, design and media programmes 40 | iamhcmc.com/gazette
that fully utilises the new facilitie at the brand new campus. ISHCMC provides a holistic approach and the importance placed on student wellbeing is crucial for a rewarding learning journey. Research has shown that practicing mindfulness reduces stress and combats depression and anxiety. Likewise, positive mental health in all students is a priority within the ISHCMC community. The pre-existing primary-level campus has also received an intensive makeover to further cater to the needs of ISHCMC’s youngest learners ranging from two to 11 years old. Some notable additions to the facilities include a suite of learning spaces and an indoor early years playroom. To provide a physically conducive learning environment for ISHCMC students, air purification systems are available in all classrooms of the early years programme ranging from Early Explorer (two to four years old and in Primary grade level areas. The Secondary Campus provides a built-in air purification system throughout the school. The importance of clean air for growing lungs can not be overstated. ISHCMC is the only
ISHCMC is a truly international school with more than fifty different nationalities currently represented by the student body. As such, students at ISHCMC are no strangers to globalisation and foreign ethnicities. ISHCMC’s rich history is strengthened by a continuing urge to innovate and challenge pedagogical norms and has become renowned for progressive thinking in the realm of educational diversity. As an experienced IB School, ISHCMC strives to equip students with knowledge, skills and the ability to live and work as global citizens. In terms of academic achievement, senior students at ISHCMC have a long history of achieving an International Baccalaureate® Diploma Programme (IBDP) score well beyond the international average. In 2017/18, ISHCMC students passed the IB DP exam with a 98 percent pass rate. ISHCMC is inclusive and all students in Grade 11 and 12 study the IB Diploma Programme, ISHCMC students achieved an average IBDP score of 33.5 points compared to the global average of 29.78. For the second consecutive year, the highest score attained by an ISHCMC senior student was the maximum score of 45. More than 23 percent of students achieving a score of 39 or more, placing them at the top 5 percent of all examinees all over the world. 67 percent of graduating students were also awarded the prestigious International Baccalaureate® Bilingual Diploma, an admirable statistic which is triple that of the international average. To learn more about admission to ISHCMC’s well-rounded educational programmes and opportunities, visit www.ishcmc.com today.
Details INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL HO CHI MINH CITY 28 Vo Truong Toan Str, An Phu Ward, District 2, HCMC 028 3898 9100 www.ishcmc.com
EDUCATION FEATURE
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ISSP: Progressive Education set at the heart of Ho Chi Minh City A key principle at ISSP is it’s focus on natural materials and classroom environments that are non-imposing. ISSP strives to promote interaction with the natural world. The 80 20 model developed at ISSP combines both standard and straight architecture with a 20 percent inclusion of curves derived from natural materials such as wood, leaves and clay.
International School Saigon Pearl offers a natural environment that makes learning enjoyable and effective for elementary school children in Saigon.
Progressive Education in a Global Environment At International School Saigon Pearl (ISSP), a culturally diverse environment coupled with English immersion and personalized learning nurtures children aged 18 months to 11 years old to become compelling communicators, enduring learners and responsible global citizens. ISSP is also the only international school for early years and elementary education in Vietnam that has been accredited by both the Council of International Schools (CIS) as well as the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC). One of the main focuses at ISSP is creating strong foundations for English language proficiency through a wide range of pedagogical strategies and facilities. ISSP has recently expanded it’s elementary library and conservatory beyond it’s pre-existing collection of 14,200 English books.
Children are able to immerse themselves in an abode of learning that combines classroom, nature and technology. For instance, a tree was preserved during the construction of the building and has now become an integral feature of the library’s IT space. International School Saigon Pearl’s extensive Summer Reading Program and timetabled reading sessions provide round-the-clock opportunities for language immersion. For non-native speakers, the English as an Additional Language (EAL) programme is designed to assist students of all levels to achieve fluency through practical learning activities that stimulate auditory and visual learning. This allows them to integrate effectively and excel in the mainstream programme. As a result, almost 70 percent of students at ISSP, including non-native speakers, achieve a worldwide grade level standard in the Measure of Academic Progress (MAP) test. Similarly, over 75 percent of students at ISSP achieve a MAP test score for mathematics that exceeds global standards.
ISSP understands the importance of the “hundred’s of languages of communication” utilised by children, which may not be understood by adults. Educators at ISSP take advantage of student’s strengths through a series of visual cues analysis. The goal is to empower them by using these strengths to complement weaker components identified by students themselves through inquiry based learning.
Beyond the Classroom At ISSP, a curriculum that goes beyond syllabus and classrooms is considered vital. An extensive swimming programme with professional coaches helps students build core stamina and promote regular physical activity. Beyond the third grade, students who are passionate in competitive sports may choose to participate in a wide range of sports activities at ISSP including soccer and basketball. ISSP’s focus on technology is also critical. A green screen media production room assisted by a full-time digital technology specialist provides children an opportunity to enhance their presentation and language skills while seamlessly acquiring Information & Communications Technology (ICT) skills relevant to the our time. To learn more about admission to ISSP’s student-centred and value-added programmes, visit www.issp.edu.vn today.
Details INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL SAIGON PEARL 92 Nguyen Huu Canh, Binh Thanh Ward, HCMC 028 2222 7788 / 99 www.issp.edu.vn 41
42 | iamhcmc.com/gazette
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#iAMHCMC
by Molly Headley-Benkaci
HEALTH FEATURE
What Hospital Should I Go to in Ho Chi Minh City? #iAMHCMC asks three experts in healthcare in Vietnam to weigh in on where you should go to get treatment for maternity, heart disease, emergencies and more.
OUR EXPERTS
Dr NICOLAS LAGÜE Medical Director - General and Tropical Medicine - CMI (Centre Médical International)
Life is sweet in Ho Chi Minh City until something happens like an illness or an emergency that throws us into a panic. What hospital to go to? What doctor should I see? How can I pay for this?
Diabetes?
Rather than jumping onto the expat forums to try to find answers to these hard questions, we asked these three experts to weigh in on where to go and what to do when every moment counts.
Any clinic of international standards. - Dr Nguyen Vinh Tuong
Where Do I Go if I Have an Accident (Motorbike or Other)? FV Hospital; Cho Ray or Vinmec - Dr Nicolas Lagüe FV Hospital - Dr Jean-Marcel Guillon The short answer is that you should go to the hospital that is closest to you in the event of an emergency and let them refer you if need be. - Dr Nguyen Vinh Tuong
Heart Disease?
Dr JEAN-MARCEL GUILLON Legal Representative and CEO of FV Hospital
Dr NGUYEN VINH TUONG Chief marketing officer of Victoria Healthcare as well as a specialist in gastroenterology and hepatology 44 | iamhcmc.com/gazette
Heart Institute (D10); Cardiology Hospital Tam Duc (D10); FV Hospital (D10, they have an interventional room for few months); Vinmec hospital - Dr Nicolas Lagüe
FV Hospital; Cho Ray; Hospital of Medicine and Pharmacy University - Dr Nicolas Lagüe FV Hospital - Dr Jean-Marcel Guillon
Dengue Fever, Malaria or another Tropical Disease? For hospitalisations: FV Hospital; Cho Ray; Vinmec; Hospital of Medicine and Pharmacy University. For consultations: CMI; FMP (Family Medical Practice); Raffles - Dr Nicolas Lagüe FV Hospital - Dr Jean-Marcel Guillon Go to a clinic nearby your home if it is outpatient. However, if you need to be hospitalised Vinmec in District 1 or FV Hospital in District 7 have good services. - Dr Nguyen Vinh Tuong
MRI? I recommend Dr Pierre Jaillot at FV Hospital for a closed MRI or Vinmec has two open MRI machines - Dr Nicolas Lagüe
FV Hospital - Dr Jean-Marcel Guillon
FV Hospital - Dr Jean-Marcel Guillon
For Hypertension you should find a doctor near your home to monitor you regularly. In the case of a heart attack, the University Medical Hospital can do an emergency assist. Victoria Medical has a CT scan for heart attacks and can do an emergency assist but does not deal with thombolism. FMP in D1 and D2 do not have ECG machines, so they cannot diagnose a heart attack. If the patient needs to be admitted, they can go to Medical University or Tam Duc Cardiology Hospital because they can do a cardiac catheterization there. - Dr Nguyen Vinh Tuong
It depends on the case. For example, for pediatrics sedation is necessary to do an MRI. Pediatrics Hospital 1 and 2 are good choices. Vietnam Singapore Clinic on Nguyen Thi Minh Khai has an MRI machine for adult patients in D1. - Dr Nguyen Vinh Tuong
Internal Medicine? FV Hospital; FMP; CMI for some cases. - Dr Nicolas Lagüe FV Hospital - Dr Jean-Marcel Guillon Victoria Medical. I am the GI specialist there. - Dr Nguyen Vinh Tuong
by Molly Headley-Benkaci
#iAMHCMC
HEALTH FEATURE
Surgery? It depends on the type of surgery but FV Hospital, Hospital of Medicine and Pharmacy University are good choices - Dr Nicolas Lagüe FV Hospital - Dr Jean-Marcel Guillon Medical University; FV Hospital; VinMec International Hospital are all good for that. Dr Nguyen Vinh Tuong
Where do I go for Pediatrics? For Consultations: CMI; FMP/ For Hospitalisations or other: FV Hospital; Cho Ray; VinMec. - Dr Nicolas Lagüe FV Hospital - Dr Jean-Marcel Guillon For Consultations: Victoria Medical / For Hospitalisations or other: FV Hospital; VinMec; City Children’s Hospital - Dr Nguyen Vinh Tuong
Gynecology and Maternity? Gynecology: CMI; FV Hospital; Hanh Phuc Hospital / Pregnancy: Hanh Phuc Hospital; CMI; FV Hospital - Dr Nicolas Lagüe FV Hospital - Dr Jean-Marcel Guillon Gynecology: Victoria Medical / Maternity: Hanh Phuc; International OB-GY hospital; Từ Dũ Hospital - Dr Nguyen Vinh Tuong
Dermatology? FV Hospital; Stanford Skin Center - Dr Nicolas Lagüe FV Hospital - Dr Jean-Marcel Guillon Victoria Medical - Dr Nguyen Vinh Tuong
Plastic or Reconstructive Surgery? FV Hospital - Dr Nicolas Lagüe
Not much experience but FV Hospital is a good choice. - Dr Nguyen Vinh Tuong
Dental? Starlight; Maple Healthcare (Australian clinic); FV Hospital - Dr Nicolas Lagüe FV Hospital - Dr Jean-Marcel Guillon West Coast for dental; Victoria also does dental surgery - Dr Nguyen Vinh Tuong *Dr Nguyen Vinh Tuong also noted that in the case of stroke, patients should go to 115 Hospital or any other hospital nearby. Patients must have Embo Thrombosis therapy within four to six hours.
When would you advise a patient to seek care outside of Vietnam? When we cannot treat the disease in Vietnam. Question is too large. It depends on the disease. In the case of cancer, FV Hospital is a good place to start. But the patient might need an medevac or to go back to their country of origin. - Dr Nicolas Lagüe
Singapore before I came to Vietnam, so usually I refer my patients to a specific doctor not to a hospital. - Dr Nguyen Vinh Tuong
What advice would you give to foreigners seeking healthcare in Vietnam? Check on internet forums for advice. Check on consulate websites for recommandations. - Dr Nicolas Lagüe Honestly, if they want quality and serenity they should come to FV Hospital - Dr Jean-Marcel Guillon First, to make sure they have insurance that covers outpatient. Second, they should choose a clinic that they know and try to find a regular family doctor that can give them advice whenever something happens. It is important to have someone that you can call if you need advice and a referral. - Dr Nguyen Vinh Tuong
What hospitals are only open to Vietnamese nationals (not foreigners)?
On rare occasions, we do refer patients to Singapore for certain eye conditions that require complex surgery that we cannot perform at FV Hospital. Some very high-risk pregnancies are also referred to Singapore (especially when surgery on the newborn is foreseen). - Dr Jean-Marcel Guillon
The new policy is to start opening departments to foreigners. We should see more Vietnamese hospitals such as Cho Ray, Hospital of Medicine and Pharmacy University, Heart Institute and Hospital Tam Duc, completely opening their doors to foreigners soon. - Dr Nicolas Lagüe
We don’t usually refer the patient outside of Vietnam if it is an emergency. We will admit the patient and make a detailed review then decide if we need to refer the patient elsewhere. Some patients require a very high standard of service. It is not for the quality of treatment but for the service that they request to go overseas. Sometimes, I send my patients with early cancer overseas for minimally invasive treatment. Usually,I refer them to Parkgroup in Singapore or National University Medical (NUH) in Singapore. I worked in
I don’t know of any hospital that is restricted to Vietnamese. - Dr Jean-Marcel Guillon Every district has their own hospital called a District hospital and there they don’t like to take in foreigners because they have limited space and experience. In an emergency, they will stabilise the foreign patient and then refer them to another hospital. These hospitals are required to receive all patients but then they try to refer foreign patients to another hospital. - Dr Nguyen Vinh Tuong
FV Hospital - Dr Jean-Marcel Guillon
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HEALTH FEATURE
What hospitals can foreigners go to that are less expensive than an international hospital? Cho Ray (but not always); Hospital of Medicine and Pharmacy University - Dr Nicolas Lagüe All public hospitals are cheaper than the private ones. Second-tier hospitals like Hoan My or Anh Sinh are cheaper that first-tier hospitals like FV Hospital, VinMec or City International. Dr Jean-Marcel Guillon
by Molly Headley-Benkaci
Saigon International Ob-Gyn Hospital is actually a local hospital but of very high quality; Van Hanh Hospital is good and is a good choice for foreigners. Some new hospitals have opened such as Hospital Tan Hung, which has quite a big facility in D7. Often the problem with foreigners going to local hospitals is that the doctors can’t speak much English. The facilities are good but it’s easier if you can speak Vietnamese. - Dr Nguyen Vinh Tuong
Ho Chi Minh City Emergency Numbers Police: 113 Fire: 114 Ambulance: 115
List of Clinics and Hospitals in Ho Chi Minh City (For a full list of hospitals and clinics in Ho Chi Minh City go to CityPassGuide.com) Family Medical Practice (FMP)
34 Le Duan St., D1 +84 (28) 3822 7848 Open 24 hours
Vinmec International Hospital
208 Nguyen Huu Canh, Binh Thanh D. +84 (28) 3622 1166 Open 24 hours
HANH PHUC International Medical Building
97 Nguyen Thi Minh Khai, D1 19006765 or +84 (28) 39259797 Mon-Fri: 8 a.m.-5 p.m.; Sat: 8 a.m.-12 p.m.
Pediatrics Hospital 2
14 Ly Tu Trong, D1 +84 (28) 3829 8385 Open 24 hours
99 Suong Nguyet Anh, D1 +84 (28) 3925 1990 Mon-Fri: 8:30 a.m. - 5 p.m. Sat: 8:30 a.m. - 4 p.m.; Sun: Closed
Saigon International ObGyn Hospital
63 Bui Thi Xuan, D1 +84 (28) 39253619 +84 (28)39253625
95 Thao Dien, D2
Centre Medical International (CMI)
30 Pham Ngoc Thach, D3 +84 (28) 3827 2367 +84 (28) 3827 2366 7:00 a.m. - 7:30 p.m.
Stamford Skin Centre
Family Medical Practice (FMP)
+84 (28) 3744 2000 Mon - Fri: 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. Sat: 8:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.; Sun: Closed
Singapore-Vietnam Cancer Centre
97 Nguyen Thi Minh Khai, D3 +84 (28) 3925 1155 Mon - Sat: 8 a.m. - 10 p.m.
Hoan My Saigon Hospital
60-60A Phan Xich Long, Phu Nhuan D. +84 (28) 3990 2468 Mon - Sat: 7 a.m. - 6 p.m. Sun: 6:30 a.m. - 12 p.m.
An Binh hospital
146 An Binh, D5 +84 (28) 3923 4260 Open 24 hours
An Sinh Hospital
10 Tran Huy Lieu, Phu Nhuan D. +84 (28) 3845 7777 Open 24 hours
Hospital of Medicine and Pharmacy University
215 - 217 Hong Bang, D5 +84 (28) 3856 6154 Mon - Fri: 6:30am - 4:30pm Sat: 6:30am - 11:30am; Sun: Closed
Cho Ray
201B Nguyen Chi Thanh, D5 +84 (28) 3855 4137 Open 24 hours
Franco-Vietnamese hospital (FVH)
6 Nguyen Luong Bang, D7 +84 (28) 5411 3333 Mon - Fri: 8am - 5pm Sat: 8a.m. - 12p.m.; Sun: Closed
Cardiology Tam Duc Heart Hospital
Hospital Tan Hung
871 Tran Xuan Soan, D7 +84 (28) 3776 0648 Mon - Fri: 7 a.m. - 4 p.m. Sat: 7 a.m. - 12 p.m.; Sun: Closed
Van Hanh Hospital
781/B1 Alley 781 Le Hong Phong, D10 +84 (28) 3863 2553 Everyday from 7 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. – 5 p.m.
Hanh Phuc
18 Binh Duong BLVD, Binh Duong Prov. 19006765 or(84) (0274) 3636068 Open 24 hours
115 People’s Hospital
46 | iamhcmc.com/gazette
527 Su Van Hanh, D10 +84 (28) 3865 4249 Open 24 hours
4 Nguyen Luong Bang, D7 +84 (28) 5411 0025 Open 24 hours
by Paul Espinas and Tom Hitz
TECHNOLOGY FEATURE
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How Mobile Apps Have Forever Changed the World of Marketing a mobile phone and there are 50 million people currently active on social media. This makes Facebook ads the most effective digital advertising platform in terms of potential reach. According to market research sources such as eMarketer and IAB, USD78 million was spent on mobile ads, accounting for 36.6 percent of Vietnam’s total spending on digital ads. The presence of mobile phones within society will continue to rise as phones continue to make the transition from a communication device to a personal assistant tool. As these numbers increase, so too will the number of potential applications and opportunities for advertising.
The mobile app industry is one of the fastest growing markets in the world right now. Mobile apps are disrupting every industry from lifestyle and health to finance and human resources but the biggest shift is in the way we advertise. “The Mobile app market is expected to grow 270 percent—from USD70 billion in 2015 to USD189 billion by 2020,” according to App Annie, an app data and insights company in San Francisco, California. Mobil apps are growing at an unbelievable rate in large part because of the ‘digitalisation phase’ we are currently witnessing. What is digitalisation? Digitalisation refers to the conversion of analogue systems and information into a digital format. Mobile phones are a tool used by more than 75 percent of the world’s population. They help us to communicate, store information and complete daily tasks that are crucial to most people’s lives. The mobile app industry is at the forefront of this digitalisation era. Here is an example to provide an understanding of the process of digitalisation and in particular a mobile application. 10 years ago if you wanted to hail a taxi or organise a ride, you would call the taxi company or stand on the side of the road or at taxi stands and physically wave a
taxi down. Now we have companies like Uber and Grab who have a developed a mobile phone application that has digitalised and therefore simplified this process. And not only simplifying the process, ride-sharing apps now provide everyday people with a driver’s license and a car the ability to earn money as a driver. In this example, the digitalisation occurring has not only simplified the existing process but has become an added benefit as well.
Apps and Advertising Whether we are at work, on holiday or at home, every element of our lives is beginning to involve our mobile phones. Mobile app stores allow businesses to utilise the existing hardware that mobile owners possess and implement their solution or software through a simple download. Vietnam has a total population of 95.6 million people. Out of that number, 73 percent use
A Constant Call to Consumers Traditional advertising methods rely strictly on strategies such as placement and timing. For example, a television commercial that is aimed at a mature market will be placed amidst a news program displayed between 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Mobile phone applications are a new territory for advertising campaigns and they call for an updated approach. Mobile phones are available for use 24/7, which allows for consistent and efficient advertising designed to align with the specific wants and needs of the audience. Machine learning plays a big role in this alignment. Mobile apps have the ability to collect data based on user behaviour. If I spend my time researching yoga and where to find yoga studios, the application itself will begin to notice these trends and you will likely begin to notice ads in your newsfeed relating to yoga. As mobile phones continue to become more prominent and useful in all areas of life, the potential for effective and personalised advertisement is rising at an enormous rate. 47
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REAL ESTATE FEATURE
by Sivaraj Pragasm
Will You Recognise Saigon in 2020? For now the city is littered with construction sites, but soon Saigon’s cityscape will be forever changed. Here are just a few of the planned developments that will appear by 2020.
Tran Hung Dao Street
The Saigon of today is drastically different than it was just a decade ago. As the city changes, construction sites have appeared and disappeared, leaving behind shiny glass-walled skyscrapers and contemporary buildings, turning the city into a pulsating metropolis.
One of the busiest streets in Saigon, Tran Hung Dao Street runs through the centre of District 1, accessing a multitude of homes and businesses and more recently, construction sites near the Ben Thanh Market area, which are paving the way for the upcoming metro line.
As pre- and post-war buildings start to make way for new residential complexes, offices and shopping malls, the city is starting to gain a new topography. The Saigon of old was fondly described as the “Pearl of the Orient”, or the “Paris of Asia”. Whereas, many say that new Saigon is set on a fast-track to become Vietnam’s “Little Singapore”. When all is said and done and the empty lots we see all around the city are replaced with soaring skyscrapers, what will Saigon’s true identity be? And how will this be reflected in the heart of the city - District 1? This article will highlight five familiar areas in District 1 and how they will look like in the not-so-distant future.
The Saigon River Historically, the Saigon River runs through land 48 | iamhcmc.com/gazette
that was once part of the Champa Kingdom and as Vietnam turned into what it is today, the river has played a major part in the development of the city thanks to its port. The areas bordered by the Saigon River are expected to undergo a massive revamp. Thu Thiem New Urban Development Area in District 2 is set to change the entire cityscape. Meanwhile, on the other side of the river in District 1, construction work has already begun on multiple new developments, including a new Grade A office building. Slated to be complete in 2020, the design of the 55-storey, 240-metre tall Sun Tower was inspired by the iron tree—a symbol of strength, stability and wealth in Asia, according to its Singaporean developers CapitaLand. The building’s unique architecture takes the form of artificially created terraces on its middle floors, effectively breaking the symmetry and providing a surprise splash of green, a refreshing and eye-catching element.
By 2020, expect a new 35-storey grade A office building to grace the area with Alpha Town - the central business district’s first foreignowned development in Saigon. Inspired by the ao dai, the delicate curves of the building will provide a distinguishing landmark for tourists and locals alike. According to its developers Alpha King Real Estate, the building will be packed with features such as facial recognition and guest enrolment systems making it the first office building in Vietnam to apply the most advanced technology of its kind currently available. Although primarily an office building, it will be accompanied by a premium integrated development called Alpha City which will feature residential spaces and a shopping mall.
REAL ESTATE FEATURE
by Sivaraj Pragasm
Melinh Roundabout Facing the Saigon River, with the statue of Tran Hung Dao in its vicinity, the area around the Melinh Roundabout is filled with a mix of modern buildings like The Myst Dong Khoi. Saigon Mehlinh Towers will be the new kid on the block when it is completed next year. The Towers are a mixed-use complex developed by Novaland and will feature two condominium towers standing at 212 metres and 220 metres respectively.
Developed by the same team that brought us the now-iconic Bitexco Financial Tower, Spirit of Saigon Towers’ architecture pays homage to the Vietnamese myth of the Two Dragons. The podium is meant to represent its coiled tails as it rises from the land and the cantilevered tops represent the dragons’ heads. The glass ‘cubes’ on the dragons’ heads are meant to depict Vietnamese pearls in the mouths of these creatures.
Nam Ky Khoi Nghia/Le Loi
More popularly known as the backpackers’ district, the Pham Ngu Lao area in District 1 is characterised by its vibrant bars and restaurants amidst the Saigon Bus Station and the 23/9 Park.
One of the busiest intersections in the city that connects 4 major roads, the area is more popularly known for its current landmarks - Takashimaya and Saigon Square 1. While construction work has been fast and furious on the metro line, another high-rise development is set to make its appearance, and possibly stake its claim as the area’s new central landmark.
In 2020, none of that is going to change but instead, a new addition to the city’s everchanging skyscape will appear in the form of the creativelynamed, Spirit of Saigon Towers. The complex is comprised of a 55 and 48-storey tower connected by a podium. The taller tower features office spaces and a hotel on its higher floors while the other tower will be mostly residential apartments.
The development, Saigon Jewelry Center (SJC) Tower, has been conceived as a 200 metre, 52-storey building and will be a luxurious multi-purpose building complex with a trade centre, offices, apartments, restaurants and enclosed amenities for its residents. There is a literal jewel in the crown of this building—a diamond embedded in the roof of the building.
Pham Ngu Lao
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Saigon Diamond Corporation, a Vietnamese real estate joint venture, is the developer of this project. Just like most other entries on this list, the building is expected to open in 2020. Last but not least, another new high-rise development within the vicinity will appear in the form of a 49-storey building called Saigon Gem Tower. The mixed-use development will feature a hotel, office spaces and homes. Beyond the 49 storeys above the ground, there will also be 6 basement levels as well as 9 dedicated levels for retail. Designed by Aedas, one of the leading architecture firms in the world who has been responsible for some of the many mind-bending building designs across China, Singapore and The United Arab Emirates, the new Saigon Gem is expected to stand out as one of the tallest buildings in the city, and yet another sign of the city’s extremely rapid economic progress. The all glass building will act as a reflection of the sky and the ever-rising buildings nearby. With all these developments slated to be operational by the end of this decade, will District 1, and Saigon itself be able to maintain their current identities? Or will the race to the clouds forever alter the soul of Saigon? 49
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Q&A FEATURE
by Sivaraj Pragasm
A Guide to Moc Bai Border And What You Should Know
Many expats living in Saigon are familiar with the Moc Bai border run. Here’s an overview of what the experience is like and what you should know before you go. The “border run”, as dodgy as it may sound, is an experience that many expats in Vietnam are familiar with. For expats living in Saigon or other nearby southern provinces, the thought of the long ride up to Moc Bai in Tay Ninh Province on the border of Cambodia could evoke anything from a disgruntled groan to a fair bit of excitement. It depends on how you feel about burning at least half a working day going somewhere you’d rather not be, just to ensure you remain in the country legally. Typically, most expats will have to wait a few weeks or months to get their official work permit sorted out. This means if you’re the proud owner of a 1, 3 or 6-month tourist or business visa, you will need to ensure you get a new visa on the day the current one expires.
Get a Visa Depending on which country you’re from, the process starts with finding a reputable visa agent to obtain a letter that you’ll need to submit to the immigration officer. All you have to do is a 50 | iamhcmc.com/gazette
quick Google or Facebook search or get a referral from another expat. Going through an agent can help you avoid a trip to Moc Bai entirely. Vietnam allows visa-exemptions to citizens of Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Norway, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, The United Kingdom, South Korea, Japan and fellow ASEAN member states, excluding Timor Leste and Cambodia, for limited periods ranging from 14 to 30 days. If you’re not from any of these countries, or if you need a visa for more than a month, you’ll need to find that visa agent regardless of where you’re from. It’s best to seek this information directly from the visa agent as the immigration rules are constantly changing and it can be quite confusing and challenging trying to keep track. The countries that do not enjoy visa-exemptions are categorised into different “tiers” that determine how much you will need to spend for the letter and what kinds of visas you are eligible for. This letter typically costs anywhere between US$25 to US$40 and will be e-mailed to you within 2 working days. Then the fun starts.
Getting To The Border There are many ways to get to Moc Bai Border, either via private transport through your visa agent that might cost quite a bit but will save you lots of time or public transport. For the purpose of this article, I will focus on the latter as that’s the most commonly used and also the cheapest. It’s always good to start your border run bright and early in the morning, preferably before 9:00 a.m. because it will generally take anywhere between 5 to 8 hours depending on how familiar you are with the process and the traffic situation during the journey. It’s also a good idea to pack some small snacks and a bottle of water and have plenty of VND in small denominations. Alternatively, you may also bring USD with you, either currency is fine. Don’t forget to bring along a printout of the visa letter, plus 2 passport-sized photographs and cash for the stamping fee either in USD or VND. The cheapest way to get to the border is by bus number 703 that you can board at Saigon Bus Station at Pham Ngu Lao street in District 1. You can find these buses parked near the entrance facing the Cong Quynh Street roundabout. The
Q&A FEATURE
by Sivaraj Pragasm
buses, run by SAPACO Tourist are usually blue or silver with Moc Bai written on the front display. The 3-hour journey will cost you only VND40,000 each way. For those of you who have never taken a public bus in Vietnam, all you need to do is board the bus, take a seat and a few minutes later, the bus conductor will collect the fare in exchange for a paper ticket. As your bus streams across the city, you will be joined by a whole bunch of other passengers, mostly locals. They will not be doing the border run with you. At some point, the erratic swarms of motorbikes and incessant honking will be replaced by vast fields with grazing buffaloes and half-completed skeletons of bridges, highways and roads as you make your way out of Saigon.
The Actual Run Once your bus reaches the destination, it will be fairly obvious to you because the driver will yell something in Vietnamese. Then you will see a group of xe om drivers circling the bus, congregating near the exit and you will see trucks lined up along the road, waiting to cross the border. At this point, you have two options. The first option, or what I call, the ‘express package’, is to get on the back of one of these bikes and for a fare of VND100,000, the xe om driver will drive you through the checkpoints at the border and back to the bus station. This option can be very tricky for the first timer because there is a very high chance you might end up spending much more than the VND100,000 quoted to you.
These additional charges include simple tasks such as filling out forms for you or helping you join ‘express queues’ at the various checkpoints. The good thing with this option is you will most likely clear the whole process within an hour. However, if you prefer doing this entire border run without spending a single dong or cent, then option two is for you. Once you disembark from the bus and politely decline the swarm of xe om drivers, walk towards the large line of trucks. Here, you will realise that you’re on a road that’s about 500 metres long that leads directly to the border. The walk itself will take about 10 minutes until you reach the complex. There is a high chance you will see multiple lines, which all seem the same. However, since you didn’t get the ‘express package’, you’ll have to join the ‘normal queue’, on the extreme right. This queue is usually the longest. Once you’ve gotten your exit stamp, you can proceed to walk towards the Cambodian immigration complex about 200 metres away. Upon arrival, a couple of guys may offer to fill out the immigration form for you. If you’re not in the mood to hold a pen, these guys will do it for you for a small fee, not more than VND50,000. If you require a visa to enter Cambodia, these guys can help. Once you’ve cleared Cambodian immigration, you can proceed towards exit queue, which is outdoors and also doubles up as a checkpoint for vehicles. After you’ve gotten your exit stamp, you’ll have to walk back towards Vietnam to sort out your Vietnamese visa, the reason why you’re even here in the first place.
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When you enter the complex, you will see a bunch of guys wearing blue uniforms. They work at the border and will insist on helping you fill out the application form, then help you submit the form to the immigration officer once you’ve paid the stamping fee. This amount depends on which visa you’re getting. You can always refuse this service and do it by yourself but it’ll take longer. After a 15-minute wait, you’ll get your passport returned to you with the new visa in place and you can then proceed to the final phase of your border run—re-entering Vietnam. Don’t forget to check the visa before you leave to make sure you got what you paid for. Once you’ve cleared the exit queues, congratulations. You’re now legally back in Vietnam. Now you just have to sit through the arduous 3-hour journey back to Saigon Bus Station.
What You Need to Remember There are a few important things you need to know to ensure a safe and smooth border run. The first thing is to make sure you have the required documents with you. These include the visa letter, photographs and cash. The latter is the most crucial. It is advisable to bring a slightly higher amount than you expect. As a foreigner, and especially if you’re a first-timer, you’re going to be bombarded by service providers you don’t really need and you might end up forking over some extra cash. In addition, there is no ATM at the border. The nearest one is a 15-minute bike ride away, courtesy of a xe om ride that will probably cost you another VND100,000. Another important thing to remember is to check the expiry date of your current visa. If you’ve accidentally overstayed your visa, the immigration officer will point it out to you and you will be required to pay a fine depending on how long you have overstayed. You will also be required to sign some documents as part of the paperwork process. Once again, an inconvenience that could easily be avoided. Also ensure your passport has a minimum validity of six months or you might not be allowed to enter Cambodia, effectively wasting your time and effort getting there. If you need more information, feel free to reach out either to visa agents who are mostly bilingual. 51
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