French Architecture, Central Saigon

I think this is the Party Headquarters in District 1. I know I've never been able to take pictures of it before because there are always armed guards outside looking sternly at me but I managed to grab this image from a taxi.

I love the slightly debauched and louche face surrounded by hair and roses and I'll have to try to take more stealth snaps of the building in future.

Home made designer chic

Fashion, grooming, style and labels are very important in Vietnam and the high end labels do good business. However once you hit the streets originality is more evident than originals.

I'm guessing this is not part of the official collection.

Dalat Christmas Break

A four night trip to Dalat for Christmas in the well posh Sofitel Dalat Palace was a nice break from Saigon. Vietnamese people tell me it's very romantic, certainly unheated rooms do encourage cuddling up, but I enjoy it for the cool air during the day and the kitschness.

First, here's a picture of the cool air:

And now some of the kitsch:

Dalat makes a wine, and from the bottles they have also made a Christmas tree which will also double as a general purpose tree for the upcoming flower festival.

One of the "romantic" attractions of Dalat is to take a swan pedalo onto the lake.

You can take your swan for a tour past the potato crisp heart:

Or gaze at the Dalat Eiffel Tower courtesy of the Post Office:

Pony rides are popular, so is taking pictures of people taking pony rides. Look carefully (you might want to click on the picture for the full size on flickr) you should be able to see the best combination of hats in any one picture ever.

A stetson, a non la or cone hat, a sun hat complete with face protector if the hat doesn't provide enough coverage and, being Christmas, a santa hat. There's also a hat on the guy on the pony that I don't know the name for.

Merry Christmas

Mumtaz Indian Restaurant, Saigon

In the interest of fairness I'm posting Mumtaz Indian Restuarant,226 Bui Vien - in the backpacker area.

Me and the man fight over whether this or Ganesh is the best in town and truly there's not much to choose between the food. Ganesh has airconditioning and is a bit spiffier, Mumtaz is friendlier. Both serve very good Northern and Southern Indian food, a great line in vegetarian dishes and for me, crucially, Mumtaz delivers within half an hour.

Saigon acrobats

The recent Loreto Fest went all out to create a carnival atmosphere complete with acrobats and slightly creepy isnie-disney costumes.

While the acrobats were impressive, as is so often the case in Vietnam, it was the unexpected that really caught my eye.

Another shot of the real acrobats


Accidental acrobat

The lighting rig needed adjusted. Ladders? Harness? Hard hat? Clear the people underneath? Why on earth would you do that?

I would lay money on the power still being live too. Still, at least he isn't wearing flip flops.

Loreto Fest Saigon 2009

A few more posts from this event will eventually make their way to my adoring public but to keep you satiated here's the best 'fro seen since the Seventies.

Loreto Fest is the biggest live music gig in HCMC and all for a good cause so that makes getting drunk in the open air a good thing. Here are some details.

The terrible truth about the Ao Dai or The Pajama Party

Browse any website aimed at tourists to Vietnam and you'll be hard pressed to find one that doesn't feature the undeniably beautiful national dress, the Ao Dai (áo dài). Sure you'll see them worn by receptionists in hotels, in tourist oriented shops and of course on Vietnam Airlines but far, far more prevalent is the pajama suit. They're EVERYWHERE.

Polyester miracles of bright patterns not seen elsewhere since the sixties adorn everyone from children to ancient grannies. They come in all sorts of patterns and styles according to the preferences of the wearer and hardly ever featured on the tourist industry websites as an attraction.

Sleeveless and short trousered.


Stretchy and spaghetti strapped.


Puff sleeved and tailored.


Flowing and edging on elegant.



Covered with a big cardigan to provide further protection from the sun.

I love pajama suits and think they should be celebrated more but I doubt there will be a day when Miss Ao Dai competitions are replaced by Miss Pajama Suit. Shame.
Ao Ba Ba
Thanks to Louis Pasta on flickr for letting me know that the correct name for the flowing suits is Ao Ba Ba

Scotia Vietnam Fashion?

I'd seen the helmets, tried them on, not photographed them, I'll have to now for comparison. The helmets have a strip of tartan down the middle and the slogan "Scotland, every day is lovely". I hadn't seen the complimenting shirts though.

I'm suspecting, what with the wrong colours on the flags and all, that this is a local design but I'd be delighted to be informed otherwise. The Lovely Scotland helmet would go much better with this than the hibiscus strewn one.

Wiring solution?

In my previous post I showed pictures of power cables, mainly on Trang Hung Dau and mused about them being moved underground some day.


Co-incidentally Vietnam Daily News published an article about the same thing.Full article here

The main concern is that there are no standards in place and cables are being buried in a haphazard manner. On Tran Hung Dao they'll be in lined ditches with power and telecom wires kept apart. On Le Than Ton they'll be buried 75cm underground in plastic pipes with no concrete support.

Great, the era of the permanent roadworks is dawning.

Power talks

You know what it's like, you stop seeing things after a while then something happens and whatever it is is back in focus.

I'd been trying to take some pictures of buildings and bemoaning the power cables always getting in the way so, of course, soon I see nothing but power cables.

These are fairly well ordered, there's still a lot of them though.


The busier the road, the more houses and businesses there are, the greater the need for power and things start to get a bit more complex.



Then there's this, it reminds me of the last time I decorated a Christmas tree. Snagged, tangled and horribly confused.

I suppose one day they'll all be underground and what excuse will I have for not being able to take good pictures of buildings then?