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! :)

Show post-mortem

Playing the piano is truly the icing on the cake. Everything else that happens behind the scenes is why you get paid. From flying to getting your body adjusted to a new time zone, from promoting your show through all avenues possible (even if it means going clubbing to meet and greet and shotting Hennessy shots) to not knowing who will actually come to your show, from drawing up a VIP list to printing name cards to personally place on seats ... The list is endless. The stresses of putting your own show on in another country is something that I would not wish upon anyone. But it happened and I couldn't have done it without a handful of people. I say a handful because there are a lot (let me stress A LOT) of talkers. Then of course, there are the doers. 

Doing such a show definitely showed who were my true friends and had my best interest at heart. It exposed those who used my name in vain, it drew me closer to the right people and sent me running the other way to those who were complete shit-talkers and used my name only to get themselves further. 

I could ellaborate but there's no need to ponder in the past. The show itself went great and musically, I was happy with the versatility that our show had. 

Orange County, you will be missed. The 24 hour Pho joints, Trà Teahouse, the various local clubs that need not be named because the locals know what I'm talking about. 

I'm ready to go home. This last stint of touring has been taxing on the body. I sure have had fun but you know it's time. 

Til next Easter, thank you OC! 

Love and grace,

Van-Anh

And for the Right nows:

Wearing: pink converse chucks, Dotti crop navy sweater, Claude maid tee, Zara denims

Favorite food: Pho at 2am at Thanh long on westminster

Wish list: a new suitcase (how I managed to break a new IT hard case bought only 6 months ago!)

Reading: where chefs really eat 

Current city: San Diego

Next destination: Phoenix Arizona 

Missing: home, that is, Sydney