i am off to siagon for a week and need information about the
nightlife and reasonable shopping centres.
any tips on bar hopping and coming out alive will be
appreciated
cheers
jim
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Bars:
The "exclusive" ones ($2-5 for a beer, fancy decorated, lots of expat office rats) are located in a
cluster from about southern 5-6 blocks of Hai Ba Trung street and 3-4 blocks eastwards.
The casual ones for backpackers are located around Pham Ngu Lao and De Tham streets.
Then, of course, lots of them scattered all over, especially karaoke-bars.
Shopping:
"Classy" shops at Le Loi, Nguyen Hue streets and there about. Cheaper at the backpack area. But
then again, there's a shop of some sort in almost every house in HCMC, so I think you'll be
satisfied.
Bar hopping survival tip:
Unfortunatelly, there are a-holes at night cruising the "exclusive" bar area (as above) looking for
an easy score = a dead drunk foreigner. So stay conscious and don't bring more money than you can
lose ($30-40 is plenty for a night on the roll).
Fortunatelly, it's much better down at the backpack area.
--------------------------
Lest we forget, its pricey but the bar on the 5th floor of
the REX hotel is not only famous but it also has a great
view of the city, plus birds and x-mas tree lites hung
around everything. Hint: have dinner on the inside
resturant, and drinks out side, prices are almost half.
Hi Dani, you about ready to get on a plane aren't you, have
fun, wish I was going back with ya. The way things look, I
might even miss TET this year, first time since 89. That
reminds me, on a earlier post you indicated 6-7 Feb as TET
dates, haven't looked it up but thought it was late Jan
this year from what I read last year.
Since the demise of the Q-Bar which was the coolest night
spot in Saigon the "in-crowd" have moved over to the Saigon
Saigon bar on the top floor of the Caravelle Hotel.
It has better atmosphere, better view and better prices than
the tired old Rex across the road. Most nights there is
live music and you can sit outside and look down on the
busiest intersection in HCMC.
One tip : watch out for the working girls who cruise the
perimeter of the bar like sharks. At 12 midnight they all
dash inside and sit with (or on) any prospective client.
Another tip: if you're coming to Danang try to Christies
Restaurant - I own it!!
You got it Dani, 5 & 6 Feb, why I thought it was towards
end of Jan beats me.
1. I thought you were there? No?
2. That bl---y lunar year has always confused me, too. So, finally I bookmarked
http://www.chinesefortunecalendar.com/
http://www.homepagers.com/chinese/chinese.html
these are not as good as another site I checked some months ago, but then I didn't have the wit to
bookmark it, and now I don't know where it is.
-----------------------
Dani,
Got a good one with pictures at a VNI software site, put it
on my desk top, don't ask why I only need it for one event
a year "TET". No I'm not there, you forgot I'm in Japan.
Saigon Saigon on top of the Caravelle is quite nice, but it
is not all that happening, it is more of a sophisticated
place to go for a nice drink with a gorgeous view of the
city. A friend of mine sings there, and it is mostly soft
rock. It depends who you are talking about when you say
the 'in-crowd'. A lot of the trendy socialites hang out at
this place....
If you want a laid back atmosphere with a lot of fun and
crazy people then the Gecko Bar on Hai Ba Trung is a great
place to head at about 11:00-12:00. This is my favorite
hangout as it seems to be the closest thing to what I would
find back home. Everyone is friendly, the owners quite
often give out free drinks, they have wacky theme nights,
funky music, and everybody always ends up pushing the
stools aside and dancin'! Great place to start.
Of course after the Gecko, a lot of us move on to
Apocolypse now which is kind of sleazy, but a good place to
dance with no cover charge. There is a nice outdoor area
to have a beer and snacks, and a pool table as well.
HOwever, this is bar girl central! It if fun to go there
with a group of people.
A newer dance spot that is becoming popular is the
Pharoah's Cave on Hai Ba Trung St. It is not always busy,
but some Saturday nights it is hopping. There is a live
band that plays there with plents of space to dance. Not
too bad.
There is also Gossip, but that has a huge cover charge! 8
US$. There is a Philipino band that plays there, and they
are pretty good, but it is very loud, and smoky! Also lots
of bar girls there.
Globo is also a great bar to go to. It is more of a french
crowd that goes there, but a wild bunch! There was just an
African party at Globo the other weekend and the owner
rented a python for it. We were all taking turns wearing
it.
For a good night on the town I recommend going to check out
Saigon Saigon first for a nice view of the city, then hop
over to Gecko and then Apocolypse. If you are in Saigon on
a Friday night than also check out Globo that is the night
it is hopping.
Oh how could I forget. The Blue Gecko on Ly Tu Trong St.
is also a cool little bar to start out with for drinks.
There is also a funky live band who plays there...a lot of
REM and U2 stuff.
Hope that helps some.
Nadima