Saigon Saigon

Tauranga, NZ

Every time I come back to Vietnam, there's always an agenda. This time, it was 2 concerts, celebrating 40 years of diplomatic relations between Vietnam and Australia. I was honored and humbled to be asked to represent in this iconic and historical moment, especially being the child of a refugee! The concert went swimmingly well and the performance as well as the behind the scenes footage will be up soon on my YouTube channel HERE.

Of course in the moments I had in between rehearsals, dress fittings, interviews and photoshoots, I love to suss out the new hangouts and eateries as well as Vietnamese designers so here are my recommendations and findings:

1. Lunch Lady

Where: google map it. Just type in lunch lady and it actually comes up - it's District 1 :)

What: made famous by Anthony Bourdain, it's a street vendor. Don't expect fancy. You're on low plastic seats, in the heat and she cooks a different soup everyday sitting at about 35,000 VND ($1.50USD) They also have rice paper rolls at 5,000VND (25 cents a pop) so winning all round! 

Recommend: trying whatever is on offer on the day. 

2. Quan Bui 

Where: there are 2. The one i went to was 17A Ngô Văn Năm – District 1.

What: Vietnamese home style cooking, great for lunch or dinner but in a very pretty old-school setting, not quite as lavish as Cuc Gach but similar vintagesque feel. I went on a Tuesday and booked and would highly recommend it because it does fill out. There are 3 floors, ground floor doesn't have A/C and the other 2 do.

Recommend: all the traditional stuff - caramelised pork in clay pot, lotus salad, kankong or morning glory in garlic sauce, lemongrass beef. 

Pricing: very reasonable. You'll see higher end Vietnamese or ex pats here. 

3. Fê Cafe

Where: 26 Ly Tu Trong, District 1 (literally across from Vincom)

What: cafe newly opened by the founding director and designer for Valenciani, Adrian Anh Tuan. Super cute, small but full of character and befittingly designed. It also houses the Devon London line of clothing. What more could a girl want? Coffee and clothes :)

Recommend: coffee ... Duh! And their iced teas are fab too! 

4. M2C Cafe

Where: 44 Ly Tu Trong St, District 1(just around the corner of Quan Ngon, corner of Ly Tu Trong and Pasteur, and right next to Fenetre de Soleil)

What: cafe and restaurant. This place literally had its soft opening the day I arrive in Saigon this time (Sunday 8th dec) and 2 days later I was in there with the Elle Magazine girls tasting the menu. Opened by the same owners of the I.D Cafe, Art Director Dzung Yoko and ex model and entrepreneur Minh Anh so finely curated this beautiful cafe. Spread across 3 levels, the lounges through to the light fixtures, plants, resurfaced walls and who could forget the Unicorn are so carefully positioned to create a beautiful setting to have coffee or a meal. The food is fantastic! 

Recommend: Bun Cha (it's a vermicelli fish soup), honey banana smoothie as well as the M2C rice paper rolls! Tastes a bit like Brodard rice paper rolls in California! 

5. L'usine

Where: I know I've posted L'usine before but that's their flagship cafe on 151/1 Dong Khoi St. Their second one is 76B Le Loi St, 

What: cafe, kitschy hipster clothing and accessories, perfect gifting ideas and stocks Australian designers like Finders Keepers along with Herschel Bags etc they sell all their outfittings from lights to tables to decor. Just think Alexandria/Surry hills feel for you Aussies. 

Recommend: caramelised pork salad, a latte (real tasting coffee, not the Vietnamese coffee because sometimes you just don't need that speed hit!), olives and then of ochre some vino during their daily happy hour from 4-8pm! 

6. Dong Pho

Where: 57 Ho Xuan Huong, P. 6 District 3
What: a central-Vietnam cuisine restaurant! Seriously delicious and so many different dishes. Nice and quiet setting too with great decor. Seemed to have a lot of Japanese and French tourists.
Recommend: all the different 'savoury cakes' like 'banh bot loc', 'banh cuon', 'banh it' etc. There's also a French cakes section to the restaurant so go nuts, all you non-gluten intolerant people :)

I will need to do a post on clothing separately I think! 

That's all from me for now folks! Go nuts!

Love and grace,

Van-Anh

And for the Right Nows:

Wearing: lime green Dawn Lu Shoes, J Brand waxed denims, Tommy Hilfiger belt, LF peplum, Carrera sunglasses.

Favorite food: rice paper rolls ... Gets me every time. Oh and green mangoes. Major salivation happening right about now!

Current city: Tauranga

Next city: Bay Of Islands
Listening to: Pharell Williams 'Happy'

Reading: Shantaram ... Never got to finish it

Wish list: a GoPro Hero 3

Missing: the same amounts of food I devoured over the Christmas period. Plane food sucks! Oh and missing a hell of a lot of sleep too! :)

the land where dreams are made of

California, USA

It is astonishing that its been almost 6 months that I have written on my blog. It is only now that I am surfacing from what feels like a 2 day coma of absolute fevers, chills, shakes, coughing, sneezing and everything nasty that I wouldn't wish upon ANYONE. Now that I have a moment to breathe, reflect, ive realised thay I haven't written in  THAT long! I know my vlogs have taken over a bit and I totally enjoy making them with many great responses but my fingers itch to type and write away. 

Goodness what has happened in the last 6 months? Well I flew emergency home from Beijing from a 2 month stint away and had a near miss of glandular fever. Bed bound for almost the entire month of May, i only left bed for the moments that I had performances and recording sessions. Mid June and July led me over to the US with an amazing trip, reigniting my love of America. 

There is no doubt about it that I am an outgoing person and due to that very reason, I had the opportunity to make new acquaintances of which have transpired into longer friendships. Friendships which I have been able to develop this time around being in the US. That's not to say that I revisited friendships that I had made amidst my travels during the last 2 years, if not from high school or musical adventures.

That same trip, I was able to spend time in San Diego, a new city which I grew to love and get to know quite well. I sailed Alaska for a week and was able to go ziplining and dogsledding, things that were on my bucketlist which I happily ticked off. Then of course, there was New York. Seeing Kinky Boots, experiencing 4th of July in NY itself and then leaving on the 5th July with 2 tickets in hand: one to London and one back to California. Talk about fork in the road?! I had never had such a situation before and i chose the latter. Saddened by the fact that I wasn't going to make it back to Europe this year, I flew back to California hoping it was the right decision and it sure was. 

Amidst all of this, Chris and I were mastering our Sentimentales album which came out last month and is available now through my website, on iTunes or CDBaby. This of course led to the launch concerts of the album in both Sydney and Melbourne and filming our first music video clip. We filmed til 4am after our Sydney Fringe Concert, the night before I flew back to the US. Talk about no rest for the wicked!!

Which leads up to now. The last 2 weeks, i've spent in the O.C with an amazing group of people. Not only have i met great musicians, been guest artist to some great events and shows, eaten to my hearts content but have hung with some wonderful people who i so rightfully can call friends. Sure we've had some rough nights, late night hang outs at BCD or a Pho joint, dancing til our feet were numb, laughed til our stomachs hurt and sung til our voices were no more. But DID WE DIE??? NO! The fact you didn't kill me, I have everything to thank for! :)

Health is gold. Nothing can happen unless you are in tip top condition and I feel so lucky to have an incredible group of calvins and fake-ratchets (Thy, Winnie, Adam, Michael, David, Alex, Sing, Brian) to count on! You guys have made these last 2 weeks incredibly memorable!

I have nothing to complain about really. I am living out my dreams and speak out my dreams daily. I can't wait to share more of my journey with you all.

MUCH LOVE and i promise i'll write more!

Love and Grace,

Van-Anh xoxo

And for the RIGHT NOW:

Fav food: tastea drinks

Reading: a theater hiring manual.

Wishlist: Jeffrey Campbell Shoes ... any will suffice :D

Current city: Orange County, California

Listening to: All Of Me, John Legend

Fav clothing item: my BCBG jumpsuit & my LF daisy crop

Next destination: Denver, Colorado

Missing: my hairstylist ... if only i could have you travel around with me ALL THE TIME! life would be pretty darn blissful :D