18th March 2006
SATURDAY IN SAIGON
T has always been my perfect shopping companion and if she weren’t working in travel, she’d be the perfect Personal Shopper/Stylist. She knows exactly what I like and where to get it, which saved me days of getting lost and returning empty-handed. Phew. Got most of my shopping done around Ton That Thiep St and even had time to pop into Fanny’s for ice cream. T says it’s a typical meeting place for Vietnamese women instead of bars, as the majority don’t drink or smoke. Saigon Kitsch is a great shop, 50s-style retro with commie-prop gallery upstairs. Shopped out, we took a taxi to L’Apothiquaire, 63 Le Thanh Ton St, District 1 for some serious pampering. This day spa is set in an apothecary-style French 100-year old building with limed woods, lilac shutters and a great pool.
Ready to hit the tiles, we decided to splash out and go for dinner at Xu Restaurant Lounge, Level One, 71-75 Hai Ba Trung, District 1. As with most exclusive new establishments, you must know its elusive address; with no glamorous entrance, you have to go down an alleyway then up a non-descript staircase to get to the restaurant. Once there, you enter a haven of minimalist cool, with chandeliers projected on the ceiling, dark teak walls, and low lighting to create a club-style intimacy. The fusion cuisine is equally cool, dishes such as seared black bass and durian tiramisu make this a restaurant to watch.
Everyone who’s anyone makes it to Q Bar, 7 Cong Truong, District 1 at some point in the evening. The place is crawling with gorgeous women, Ipa-Nimas in hand. The Lychee Martinis are rather yummy, as are the Passionfruit Martinis. According to an ‘en vogue’ fashion magazine, Kate Moss, Robert De Niro and Daryl Hannah like to frequent this place, but when I showed the article to a Q Bar ex-employee and regular, she laughed hysterically. Q Bar is obviously not a great spot for celeb spotting. But it is for the It-girls and boys of Saigon.
SATURDAY IN SAIGON
T has always been my perfect shopping companion and if she weren’t working in travel, she’d be the perfect Personal Shopper/Stylist. She knows exactly what I like and where to get it, which saved me days of getting lost and returning empty-handed. Phew. Got most of my shopping done around Ton That Thiep St and even had time to pop into Fanny’s for ice cream. T says it’s a typical meeting place for Vietnamese women instead of bars, as the majority don’t drink or smoke. Saigon Kitsch is a great shop, 50s-style retro with commie-prop gallery upstairs. Shopped out, we took a taxi to L’Apothiquaire, 63 Le Thanh Ton St, District 1 for some serious pampering. This day spa is set in an apothecary-style French 100-year old building with limed woods, lilac shutters and a great pool.
Ready to hit the tiles, we decided to splash out and go for dinner at Xu Restaurant Lounge, Level One, 71-75 Hai Ba Trung, District 1. As with most exclusive new establishments, you must know its elusive address; with no glamorous entrance, you have to go down an alleyway then up a non-descript staircase to get to the restaurant. Once there, you enter a haven of minimalist cool, with chandeliers projected on the ceiling, dark teak walls, and low lighting to create a club-style intimacy. The fusion cuisine is equally cool, dishes such as seared black bass and durian tiramisu make this a restaurant to watch.
Everyone who’s anyone makes it to Q Bar, 7 Cong Truong, District 1 at some point in the evening. The place is crawling with gorgeous women, Ipa-Nimas in hand. The Lychee Martinis are rather yummy, as are the Passionfruit Martinis. According to an ‘en vogue’ fashion magazine, Kate Moss, Robert De Niro and Daryl Hannah like to frequent this place, but when I showed the article to a Q Bar ex-employee and regular, she laughed hysterically. Q Bar is obviously not a great spot for celeb spotting. But it is for the It-girls and boys of Saigon.
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