{Saigon Snacks & Sights} Black Cat and Saigon's fine arts

After this morning's swimming lesson we headed into District 1 for lunch and a look at some of Saigon's popular (expensive!) art galleries. My plan, although somewhat ambitious with the toddler terrors in tow, was to aimlessly wander the galleries in search of souvenir artworks.

{Saigon Snacks} Black Cat

Our lunch destination was the popular Black Cat at 13 Phan Van Dat in District 1. This is the place to go when you're over Vietnamese food and have a craving for a western-style burger, sandwich or salad.

They have extensive brunch and lunch/dinner menus with salads, sandwiches/wraps, burgers and Mexican fare (including heart stopping deep fried burritos!), delicious juices and dairy-free smoothies.

This charming two-level burger joint, with walls covered in photos of Hanoi and Saigon tourist sights,  was famously put on the map in 2006 when CNN.com voted it one of the "Top 10 Places in the World You Must Eat".

Undoubtedly the menu item deserving of this prestigious accolade is Black Cat's 1.5 kilogram cheeseburger - an almost dinner plate-sized bun containing a 500 gram beef pattie , 6 slices of bacon, 4 slices of cheese and more. Photos of patrons attempting to finish the burger adorn the walls, but reportedly only a few have made it to the end.

Watch this space when Rob challenges my brother-in-law Justin to a burger eating contest when he visits us in December!


Black Cat - Mackenzie attempted to eat the kid-sized cheeseburger (she didn't make it to the end!)



Georgia at Black Cat

Rob had a Black Cat sub























{Saigon Sights} Saigon's Art Galleries

Saigon has a thriving art scene with many popular Vietnamese artists showing original pieces in the exclusive galleries on Mac Thi Buoi and Dong Khoi, and numerous galleries throughout the city with in-store painters happy to rip off famous artists (alive and dead).

I must admit, I haven't done a lot of research on where to buy art in Saigon. I had previously passed a lot of galleries on Dong Khoi so the plan was to start there and see if we could find a large piece to take home as a souvenir of our time in Vietnam (as well as a few smaller pieces to fill the space on our walls).

Did I mention that these galleries are EXPENSIVE??!

In summary, the many galleries in this exclusive pocket are well worth a look if only so you can salivate over what you can't afford!

Some of the priciest pieces were in the Apricot Gallery at 50-52 Mac Thi Buoi, which has a sister gallery in Hanoi. Georgia and I spotted a pair of funky, abstract streetscapes which I thought would look great hanging side by side in our dining room. That dream was quashed when I was informed they were US$1800 per paitning. And they were certainly two of the cheaper pieces in the gallery!

If, like me, you wouldn't know the difference between a real or fake Monet, let alone an original by an apparently famous Vietnamese artist, it will all come down to what you like the look of and how much cash you're willing to part with.

Dong Khoi Street

Some Dong Khoi galleries, a little cheaper than Apricot but still with many gorgeous pieces:

• Quoc Dung Gallery at 36 Dong Khoi - boasting all original artworks, prices here are a little more affordable at US1,000 and under!
• 83 Dong Khoi - houses two galleries in one space, as well as the Gallery Deli upstairs (a restaurant with an artwork display). Both the galleries downstairs have a range of small, ready framed canvases starting from US$30 as well as larger range of more expensive, original pieces. The gallery at the back specialises in modern art.
• Thanh Mai Gallery at 52 Dong Khoi - a huge multi-level space with many original, large pieces (oil and lacquer). It's owned by Apricot Gallery. Definitely not cheap, but worth a look.

 For tourists who want to spend as little cash as possible, there are numerous pockets of galleries outside of the Dong Khoi strip offering up cheap copies and some funky originals.

I promise to devote another post to the location of Saigon's budget art gallery gems (once I locate more of them!) but my best find this afternoon was a gallery called Kim Do at 32 Le Loi Street in District 1 (across from the Saigon Centre).

I purchased a small, abstract painting of a traditional stilt house for US$35. The painting had just been finished so I left it at the gallery to dry. I'll post a photo later this week.

Happy hunting!

{Saigon Sights} Water puppets

Vietnamese water puppets

If you're travelling in Vietnam with young children, a visit to a traditional water puppet theatre should be on your list.

The art of water puppetry originated in the flooded rice fields of the Red River Delta. Farmers carved puppets from water-resistant fig tree timber in figures modelled on villagers, animals and mystical creatures such as the dragon, phoenix and the unicorn. Performances were staged in ponds, lakes or flooded paddy fields.

Today, modern performances of water puppetry use a square tank of waist-deep water for the stage. The water is generally murky to conceal the magic behind the puupet peformance, with up to eleven puppeteers involved.

The puppeteers stand in water behind a bamboo screen working puppets attached to a long pole to make the audience believe each character is literally walking on water.

Traditional music, generally provided by a live band, is almost as important as the action on the water stage.

Water puppetry originated in northern Vietnam, so undoubtedly the best place to see the puppets is at the Thang Long Water Puppet Theatre in Hanoi.

In Saigon, tourists who don't travel north can watch water puppets at the War Remnants Museum or the History Museum, both in District 1.

This week, through word of mouth, we discovered a relatively new venue to watch water puppets in Saigon that is surprisingly close to our house.

Thao Dien Village in District 2 is a 12,000 sqm riverfront property with a hotel and a number of international standard restaurants. In the village is fine dining Vietnamese restaurant Ngon which has a gorgeous outdoor dining area and a traditional water puppet theatre. The restaurant holds performances every Saturday night from 7.30pm to 8.00pm.

With starters from as little as 20,000 VND and mains ranging from 110,000 up to 290,000 VND, this is certainly not the cheapest Vietnamese cuisine you'll eat in Saigon, but the food and service is superb. With a gorgeous location fronting the Saigon river and a water puppet show, this is a unique opportunity to enjoy a combination of local cuisine and traditional Vietnamese entertainment.

The show doesn't have live music, and we defintely did not see 11 puppeteers when the screen was lifted at the end of the performance (there was only one guy, but may'be the others were shy??) but this is still a worthy performance. Fueled by fabulous cocktails, an extensive wine list and tasty food, the adults will probably enjoy the experience even more than the kids!

Insider tip: there are a limited number of tables in the outdoor area, so if you know you're going to be in Saigon on a Saturday night be sure to book ahead.

Ngon - 195 Nguyen Van Huong Street, Thao Dien Ward, District 2. For bookings phone +84 8 3744 6457

{Saigon Sights} Saigon Zoo and Botanical Gardens

Rob and the girls on the Saigon Zoo train

In the heart of Saigon is the Saigon Zoo and Botanical Gardens, lauded by tourism guides as a place to escape the hustle and bustle of the busy city.

Indeed, this is a place to get away from the constant stream of traffic, an open space with grass and tall trees providing relief from the heat and an opportunity to walk around without fear of being hit by a motorbike (although you do have to watch out for the zoo train!) but unfortunately, in my humble opinion, that's where the attraction ends.

Currently, as with so many attractions we have visited in this country, the site is in a state of partial renovation making huge chunks of the zoo a complete eyesore.

Location, relocation!

Top that off with the tiny, smelly habitats housing all manner of animals from around the globe, many of which would force a tear from the most hardened of tourists, and this place is somewhere you'll likely regret entering!

From crocodile enclosures with floating soda cans and chip packets casually discarded by visitors, concrete enclosures with sad looking lions and tigers, and a tiny, filthy hippo waterhole with floating scum (the hippo was submerged the entire time so we're not sure if it was alive!), if this was a zoo in Australia the RSPCA would have had it shut down!

Add to that the behaviour of the many locals who tease the animals and toss them food in plastic wrappers, this is a place that would make most tourists outraged.

The saving grace is the fact that, despite the concrete barren enclosures, the animals look like they are well fed.

Here are some pictures I took of the most disturbing enclosures at the zoo - decide for yourself if I'm exaggerating!

The sad, shackled elephant

The white tigers

The hippo waterhole - is it alive or dead?

Playing devil's advocate, I can see that this place would be attractive to locals who want an escape from the city. As we walked around we saw many families sprawled on the grass with picnics, enjoying their definition of serenity.

As a westerner, the only advantage of walking through the gates is the hope that the paltry amount you hand over as an entrance fee may go some way to improving the livelihood of the animals housed here.

Entrance fees: 12,000 VND per adult and 6,000 VND per child - that's 36,000 VND for a family of four - less than US$2!

Saigon Zoo and Botanical Gardens - No. 2 Nguyen Binh Khiem, District 1