ISSUE 118

M A RC H 2015

IS SU E 118

THE REAL

MIRIAM YEUNG
Hong Kong's golden
girl on education,
playing headmistress
and motherhood

MIRIAM YEUNG
MARCH 2015

HK$45

TRAVEL

Hotel Metropole's Parisian style cafe, Terrasse

A TALE OF TWO CITIES

PART 1: HANOI

Hanoi, Vietnams northerly capital, retains a quiet, elegant grace with wide tree
lined boulevards, yellow washed colonial buildings, traditional shop crammed
old quarter and calm city-lung lake areas.
by Carol Wright
Hotel de l'Opera terrace
with the opera house in
background

Luxuriate in one of
Hotel de l'Opera's plush bedrooms

120

ACCOMMODATION
Follow the famous to the Metropole Hotel,
(www.sofitel-legend.com) which opened in
1901, where Charlie Chaplin honeymooned,
Somerset Maugham and Graham Greene
wrote and everyone from Putin to Brad and
Angelina laid their heads. The old wing, in
original dark wood decor with its celebrity
name suites, contrasts with the newer Opera
Wings neo-classical rooms, some with a
terrace. Gauzy drapes divide off the freestanding tub and rainhead shower bathrooms.
Hotel services include cookery classes, spa,
Path of History tours, BMW airport limos and a
shoeshine ambassador.
Nearby, the Hotel de lOpera (www.
hoteldelopera.com) reflects its location near
the 1901 Opera House with theatrical colour
splashes in bed throws and art. Rooms feature
unusually high beds with specially designed
mattresses facing double sided TVs for
round-the-room viewing. There are terraces
for swimming or cigar smoking and a new
spa. An eight storey atrium houses Satine
for Vietnamese cuisine while Mediterranean
dishes are served in Cafe Lautrec.
Hanoi means within rivers but the city
relaxes round its two lakes. A resort feel
envelops the Westlake Intercontinental
(www.intercontinental.com/hanoi), built out

into the lake with water lapping round room

terraces. Room decor showcases local crafts;
lanterns become beside lamps.

WINING & DINING

Crafts, as well as food traditions, are reflected
in the buffet decor at the Metropoles Spice
Garden, a perfect lunch spot with a garden
terrace and a vast buffet choice of food from
all parts of the country giving a sophistication
tostreet food. Jackie Chan has dined at The
Press Club (www.hanoi-pressclub.com)where
western and local dishes are served in a
colonial styled series of rooms divided by
oriental wooden screens. The rooftop terrace
has opera house views, the library relaxes with
armchairs and low tables and most evenings
there is live musical entertainment.
Watching the world bike by, the
Metropoles Terrasse recreates a chic Parisian
pavement cafe. At the end of the day, the
Intercontinentals Sunset Bar set out in
the lake gives uninterrupted sunset views.
Angelinas at the Metropole (named for Jolie
after her visit) has a resident DJ.
SIGHTSEEING
Hang Gai Street is the place for specialist
shops and galleries: Tan My (www.
tanmyembroidery.com.vn) sells superlative

silk clothing and embroidery from bed linen

to seductive robes. Upstairs is a design cafe/
art gallery with music. More art can be found
across the street at Thang Long Gallery
(www.thanglongartgallery.com) showing Vu
Thu Hiens lacquer on wood works and Ngo
Van Sacs woodcuts. Be a colourful bag lady
like Hillary Clinton, Michelle Yeoh and Maggie
Cheung with an Ipa-Nima design by Hong
Kong lawyer Christina Yu. Her Hanoi shop
is at 5 Nha Tho Street and she also sells
through Tan My and has two stores in Saigon.
For silk shawls, scarves, robes, carvings and
lacquerware, the Temple of Literatures
museum shop is a calm, fixed price spot.
For some R-and-R en route to Saigon,
the Intercontinental
Danang
Resort
(www.danang.intercontinental.com) provides
cliffside seclusion, stunning black and white
designer rooms and both incoming and
outgoing plush exclusive airport lounges
to smooth the way. Accommodation villas
with large terraces are layered above the
private beach reached by thatched cable
car and buggy transport. Michelin starred
chef Michel Rouxs menus are served at La
Maison 1888 while Citron, the Vietnamese/
Mediterranean restaurant has circular private
dining tables spearing out a hundred metres
over the bay.
MARCH 2015

121

Boudoir Lounge at Sofitel Plaza

A TALE OF TWO CITIES

PART 2: SAIGON
Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City)is a pulsating, sprawling southern metropolis with high-rises
spearing up from its river banks, flourishing arts and culinary life plusrelaxing riverside
areas and Mekong delta trips. Best overview is from the Sky bar of the AB Tower.
by Michael Geare
Arriving by boat at The Deck restaurant

L'Olivier restaurant at the Sofitel Plaza

STAYING
Villa Song Hotel (www.villasong.com) in a
colonial style mansion, opened early in 2014
with detergent white interiors hung with
contemporary Vietnamese art. Rooms with big
rain showers have optional ceiling fans. On one
side is a secluded garden pool, on the river side,
Bistro Song Vie provides all day dining at palm
shaded tables along the water line serving eggs
benedict breakfasts to Mekong dory fish and
chips, pizzas, risottos and Asian dishes. Villa Song
has its own speed boat for traffic free trips to the
city centre.
Under renovation from March-June 2015,
the Park Hyatt (www. parkhyattsaigon.com) will
retain its French colonial feel with hardwood and
tall windows, but add more dramatic Indochine
elements including crystal chandeliers, silver
leaf white panelled walls and crafted furniture.
Square One serves Vietnamese seafood and
Western grills with five show kitchens and
a wine library with 1,500 labels. The Sofitel
Saigon Plaza (www.sofitel.com) renovated in
2012, has neutral shaded rooms accented by
vibrant silk touches, wall mirrors, hardwood
furniture, marble floored bathrooms and floor
to ceiling windows. The best views are from
the rooftop pool and its bar for sunset drinks.
LOlivier restaurant serving Mediterranean food
regularly hosts Michelin star guest chefs.
GRAZING
Cool off by taking a boat to romantic candlelit
riverside The Deck (www.thedecksaigon.com)
for a blend of western and local culinary
ideas from tuna wrapped spring rolls to

122

Australian grilled meats. The Temple Club

(www.templeclub.com.vn) evokes the 1930s
with a clubby library lounge area, dark wood,
period paintings and red lanterns over the
bar. Try snails stuffed with lemon grass or
steamed drunken prawns in coconut milk.
Cuc Gach Quan (www.cucgachquan.com.vn/
en) uses rustic, but elegant rooms of a former
architects office linked by serene tiny plant
filled patios and carp pools. Authentic local
dishes include caramelised clay pot pork, sea
bass with passion fruit sauce and flavoursome
tofu dishes.
An art deco atmosphere comes with
cocktails at the Sofitel Plazas Boudoir Lounge
with leather sofas, devor velvet cushions,
patterned rugs and antiques. A glass of
wine at The Refinery (www.therefinerysaigon.
com) has the underlying frisson of a former
opium refinery setting. Both food and drinks
local style are swiftly accessed on a Back of
Vespa all-inclusive food and drink tour (www.
vietnamvespaadventures.com) starting at Cafe
Zoom and being driven to small restaurants
and clubs.
Recreate those flavours with a mornings
lesson at the sunny, spacious rooftop
Vietnam Cookery Center (www.vietnamesecooking-classes-saigon.com) by learning to
make dishes like sour soup, beef fillet with
tamarind sauce and caramelised catfish in a
clay pot. Find the source of ingredients on a
Les Rives (www.lesrivesexperience.com) speed
boat trip down the river and into the Mekong
delta visiting markets, crocodile farms, flying fox
sanctuaries and mangrove jungles.

SHOPPING
Designer label stores from Dior to Versace edge
Dong Khoi, the best shopping street. Christian
Louboutin is tucked among local high-end shops
like Khaisilk (www.khaisilkcorp.com) for the
softest rainbow swathes of silk. A French take on
traditional Vietnamese dressmaking produces
elegant
summery clothes at Handmade
for Song (www.valeriegregorimckenzie.com)
on Pasteur Street. Mai Handicrafts (www.
maihandicrafts.com) at 298 Nhuyen Trong
Tuyen, a lifestyle store helping disadvantaged
people, sells lamps, cushions, ornaments plus
coasters and boxes made from discarded
lottery tickets.
WHAT ELSE
Focusing on the art scene, Sophies Art Tour
(www.sophiesarttour.com) guided by Sophie
Hughes, visits private art galleries and the
Fine Arts Museum filled with Vietnamese
art from elaborate lacquer works to simple
pot black wartime sketches. Among Sophies
recommendations for art enthusiast visits are
The Observatory (www.theobservatory-hcmc.com)
for art and music events with cafe, restaurant and
bar and Galerie Quynh on Dong Khoi Street
(www.galeriequynh.org) for contemporary art.
VISITING VIETNAM: Cathay Pacific fly
to Danang and Saigon and Dragonair to
Hanoi. Inside Vietnam (www.insidevietnam.
com) provide tailor-made individual tours.
Lonely Planets 2014 revised Vietnam guide
(www.lonelyplanet.com) is an invaluable
companion.
MARCH 2015

123