{Saigon Snacks} Baba Ganoush and Ice-cream in Thao Dien

While an Arabic restaurant and an ice-cream parlour may seem like a weird culinary pairing, the combination of Warda and Fanny's ice-cream on the same lot in Thao Dien is a welcome one for parents.

Fanny's and Warda in Thao Dien

Inside the gates at 63 Xuan Thuy Street in Thao Dien you'll find parents of busy young children enjoying the chance to dine out on exotic middle eastern food while the kids play in the (sparsely!) grassed courtyard between the two restaurants.

The courtyard has a few pieces of play equipment, as well as a foozball table and a toy area in Fanny's, to keep the kids entertained.

Dining in the outdoor bedouin tent with its cushioned lounge seating, and the promise of Fanny's ice-cream for dessert, is enough to get most kids through the mezze platters, kebabs and tajines. But if their young tastebuds aren't that exotic, Warda also offers a kid friendly, albeit, middle eastern-styled menu.

Rob and Georgia in Warda's bedouin tent

Me at Warda - where's the wine??

Mackenzie

This is Warda's second restaurant in Saigon (the original Warda opened in 2006 in District 1), but you'll find the same menu and prices in a very different, contemporary-styled setting.

With its modern, minimalist styling inside the restaurant, Warda number 2 would be a gorgeous spot for a kid-free date night, but during the day be prepared to have your eardrums assaulted by Saigon's expat kiddie population!

Georgia at Fanny's

Warda and Fanny's - 63 Xuan Thuy Street, Thao Dien, District 2

Murtle the Turtle & Hair of the dog!

This morning there was a strange sight outside our house. The girls discovered a terrapin (turtle) wandering along the edge of the backyard.

Not really surprising given we live next to a river, but this guy had clearly lost his way. Worried that it might be dried out, who knows how long it had been wandering around our compound, I put it into a bucket of water so we could return it to the river.

Before we left for our Sunday swimming lesson we wandered along the boardwalk trying to find the right place to set it free. Problem was that the water was so far down our only option was to toss it from quite a height.

I was worried the turtle might have a heart attack before it hit the water, so for now we have adopted the terrapin (now christened Murtle the Turtle) until the tide is high enough to set him free.

On the way back to the house one of the compound gardeners came over to see what we had in our bucket. He told us that we should keep it and eat it once it was big enough! Ahhhh, no thanks!

Murtle the Turtle

With Murtle safely inside the house we took the girls for their Sunday swim class. There were a few very hungover parents who had been at the Sheraton AFL party yesterday!

Like troopers we backed up and met our friends Lotta and Darrin for Lotta's post-birthday lunch at the Mekong Merchant on Thao Dien. There's no better cure for a hangover than hair of the dog! (although poor Rob was so seedy that he could only stomach a milkshake!).

And best of all, after extensive renovations, Mekong Merchant has re-opened their kids/toy room. Yay!

Lotta and new bub Jonathon

Mackenzie and Rob

Lotta and me - a bit wet from this afternoon's rainstorm!

{Saigon Snacks} Blu Bar & Grill, Riverside

Mackenzie at the Blu Bar & Grill, Riverside

For Team Somerville, Sundays in Saigon have fallen into a regular pattern. Sunday morning swim school with Mr. Tony at the AIS pool followed by lunch at the Snap Cafe.

Today we decided to mix it up a little with a new lunch venue. Not as exciting for the girls (because it's hard to beat Snap with its massive outdoor jungle gym and sand pit) but good for us parents who need variety once in a while!

Today we had lunch at the Blu Bar & Grill, a cafe cum restaurant within the Riverside compound in District 2.

They serve a brunch menu from 11am to 4pm, mostly international dishes such as eggs benedict and breakfast burritos, and some with an Asian twist such as a vegetable ommlette  with chilli soy sauce and steamed rice. Good food and friendly staff.

A great outdoor/indoor venue on the Saigon river (with overhead fans to keep diners cool) and a playground within the compound for the kids once they get bored with eating.

Most of the dishes are under US$10, but best of all there's a complimentary salad bar.

Riverside is next to our compound (Villa Riviera) on the river. Would be great if the management of both compounds could come to an agreement about extending the river boardwalk so we can dine here on a regular basis!

Georgia



The Saigon River

Blu Bar & Grill, Riverside Apartments, 53 Vo Truong Toan Street, An Phu Ward District 2

Travelling with kids in Vietnam

Georgia - 2-years-old in Mai Chau, Vietnam

For many parents the prospect of travelling with young children is daunting, let alone travelling to a country that’s still developing.

Vietnam may not seem like a logical travel destination with young children in tow, but from the north to the south there are plenty of options to keep both kids and parents satisfied.

In the last 18 months we have lived in both Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, and as parents of 3-year-old twins we have tried and tested many of the country's kid-friendly destinations (with more to visit!).

My article in September's East & West magazine gives an insider's view on the best places to holiday with kids in Vietnam.

{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 Snacks} Another long Sunday lunch!

Legend Hotel Saigon - all you can eat buffet

If you're holidaying in Vietnam with kids, and have had your fill of local food, the all you can eat and drink Sunday lunches at the major hotels in Hanoi and Saigon could be just the ticket.

As parents of busy toddlers we're always on the look out for hotels that have a kids area within the restaurant. A perfect way to bribe your kids to eat before going off to play and a way for Mum and Dad to relax with a few drinks while the kids are taken care of.

I hadn't heard of the restaurant kids club concept until we moved to Vietnam. We never dined at hotels in Australia (unless it was a special occasion) because (1) it was ridiculously expensive and (2) I was under the assumption that they weren't kid friendly venues.

In Vietnam this is a growing industry - a fully staffed area within the restaurant to keep the kids entertained - genius! Of course the low cost of labour, and the Vietnamese love of children (particularly light-haired, blue-eyed kids!) makes it a viable business in this country. 

Unfortunately, unlike Hanoi, the large hotels in Saigon don't seem to have the kids club option down pat just yet (although there are a growing number of smaller cafes around the city with playrooms/outdoor playgrounds).

In Hanoi many of the large hotels had fantastic kids clubs that, although fully staffed with babysitters, were also in sight of the restaurant so parents could keep watch.

A few people in our Saigon expat network had recommended the Legend Hotel for its all you can eat international buffet (with free flow wines and beer included in the price), and the attached kids club, so we arrived at 11.30am today ready to eat (and drink!) our fill.

Sadly the kids club was not up to scratch. The room wasn't close enough to the restaurant to make me feel safe about the girls playing in there (and it wasn't staffed) and, as Georgia and Mackenzie would say, the room was "lame". Definitely more suited to babies than toddlers.

Not to worry because the array of food, as well as the friendly ladies at the entrance of the restaurant making balloon animals for the kids, kept them well occupied.

At around US$36 per person, kids under 6 eat free, it was good value.

Legend Hotel Saigon - Ton Duc Thang Street, District 1

If you're in Hanoi visit the Daewoo Hotel - 360 Kim Ma Street, Ba Dinh District.

Although the Daewoo's price of US$25 per person only included a glass of champagne and free flow beer (I need wine!) the kids room within the restaurant was huge.

The room was sponsored by Lego and came with a giant screen to watch movies, a colouring in area, a lego corner and a kiddies buffet, complete with babysitters to help the kids build fantastic Lego creations. Kids under 120cms eat free.

{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

{Saigon Snacks} The Snap Cafe

We've been living in Saigon for 5 weeks!

Being back in the workforce, my social life has certainly had an upswing and I've gone to more bars, restaurants and networking functions (many I haven't had time to write posts about!) in the last 5 weeks than I did in the 16 months in Hanoi.

Today I had a quiet one. Suffering from the excess of a Friday night out (my boss had a party on his rooftop terrace - far too much alcohol was consumed by all!), I spent the morning begging Georgia and Mackenzie to lower the verbal volume while Rob was out on his first road bike ride in 18 months.

At 11am when he finally staggered through the door complaining of hangover/heat stroke/unfitness (is that a word?) the girls and I were dressed and ready to party...well, they were at least!

Before we moved to Saigon we discovered Snap Cafe - a fabulous sanctury in District 2 that has a huge playgym and sandpit for the kids and a thatched roof outdoor cafe with funky, low lounge chairs for the parents to eat and drink the hours away. Perfect hair of the dog venue!

All morning I had promised them that if they let me nurse my sore head in peace and quiet they'd be rewarded with a trip to Snap. Thankfully it worked so we spent a relaxing 2.5 hours eating lunch, sipping hair of the dog wine and watching the girls have a blast with the other kids in the play area.

The cafe, owned by an English expat, has a great western/Asian menu with cheap food and drinks to suit all tastes.

Snap Cafe - 32 Tran Ngoc Dien Street, Thao Dien Ward, District 2

I was too hungover and crabby today to remember my camera, so here's a pic of Mackenzie eating lunch there late last year. Not the best pic of Kenny, but you can see a small section of the cool play area in the background!

Mackenzie - The Snap Cafe, December 2009