VIETNAM
The blogging has been lacking for the last 3 weeks or so because Mumma was on board the Odyssey and we traversed India and Dubai, then headed back to Vietnam! Ahhh Vietnam! Every time i go back to Vietnam, I am caught off guard. There's this amazing familiarity and peace as I look out the window, half asleep but smiling quietly to myself. Home. Second home. Saigon. I hadn't been back to Vietnam for 9 months but it didn't feel distant.
The winding of the Mekong, the rice paddies, the sparse housing then more condensed and then the traffic. It all seemed to flow from above. The hooting of the horns. Less than Mumbai and somehow seemingly more orderly even though from a birdseye view, there diefinitely was a rice in traffic.
Stopping at a traffic light (yes, they actually do stop and abide to street laws these days), i turned my head out the window and saw a kid at the front and another toddler sitting in reverse, wedged between dad and mum. The toddler smiled and i smiled back, a warmth inside me brewing, probably because it was just nice o see such innocence and naivety in the world still existed.
The sky turned dark and my cabbie said it was about to rain. Surely, it did. 5 minutes later, it poured and motorbikes and scooters scattered to the sides of the roads to pull out their ponchos. They were clearly used to this.
I have an amazing set of friends in Saigon so catching up with all of them was ridiculous fun. I had the instant 'in' places and new restaurants to hit up. This time, it was a Vietnamese BBQ place on top of Temple club (delicious!!!), Sky Gardens (known for its seafood and seriously, the guava salad is tops!), Koh Thai (order the salmon sashimi, it's a thai twist on japanese cuisine), and a street stand called 197 on Vo Van Kiet ... and Hoa Tuc (after hours menu at Blanchy's which you can order til 3am .. TO DIE FOR!!! talk about the best Vietnamese ever!)
The favourites are of course L'usine, Quan Ngon, Pho Hung, Chill Sky Bar (for the views) and I paid them a few visits naturally!
Of course other than food and bars (of which i still gravitated around the same places - Blanchy's, La Fenetre), there were the fashion houses which i adored:
Lam Boutique
Devon London
Valenciani
I've replenished my designer wardrobe with personal assistance and chit-chats with all the designers.
I shot with the amazing Alexandre Garel (unluckily for us, we were caught out in the rain but still produced quite a few shots which we were both happy with). Thanks goes to Dior Make Up Artist, Lam, who so finely glammed me up to just-the-right point!
Four out of my 12 days in Vietnam were spent in Central Vietnam with the extended family, going to UNESCO World Heritage sites like Phong Nha and another cave - amazingly beautiful, huge and well worth the flights that I really didn't need).
New friends were made, a concert was performed and I am so so excited in coming back to Vietnam to do some projects with creatives! it's a definite watch-this-space :) end of 2013 and 2014 are SUCH exciting moments (not that right now isn't, but seriously SERIOUSLY EXCITING!!! WEEEEE).
And for the RIGHT NOWs:
Fav food: glass noodle seafood salad from Hoa Tuc inside The Refinery, Saigon.
Reading: Shantaram. Absolutely amazing!
Wishlist: a completely soundless 8 hours sleep. this WILL happen in Hong Kong tonight (i hope please please please)
Current city: Saigon
Listening to: Bastille
Fav clothing item: Charles & Keith loafers. resort, perfect for travelling!
Next destination: Hong Kong, HK!
Missing: home. truly. i'm ready to come home for a bit :)
