Tạp chí WORLD 01/2014:The Islands chuyên đề du lịch và ẩm thực

NHÀ XUT BN LAO ĐNGNHÀ XUT BN LAO ĐNGNHÀ XUT BN LAO ĐNGNHÀ XUT BN LAO ĐNGNHÀ XUT BN LAO ĐNG
CHUYÊN Đ DU LCH, M THC
VIETNAM EDITION
JANUARY 2014
The Islands
2 | Word January 2014
THE TALK
010 / Walk ‘n Ride
Pedestrianising Hanoi’s Old
Quarter
011 / The Big Five
Events to look out for this
month
BRIEFINGS
014 / Burger Games
McDonald’s takes no
prisoners
018 / Only in Asia
A roundup of the latest
weirdness
020 / The Buffalo is Back
A local treasure gets restored
INSIDER
042 / The Province
In-Between
We cover the resorts, fishing
rods and ruins of Ninh
Thuan in our special feature
052 / The Islands

For this month’s cover story,
we cast ourselves away
ARTS
080 / Art & The City
Artists who think globally,
and locally, too
084 / The Future of
Vietnamese Dance
Arabesque is tiptoeing on the
frontier
EAT & DRINK
088 / The Caffeine Contests
We tasted our way through
11 of the best coffee blends
Vietnam has on offer
096 / Vegetarian Hanoi
Finding a route past the
capital’s obsession with meat
100 / Beer Club Evolution
Vietnamese nightlife has a
new diversion
104 / Mystery Diner Hanoi
The KAfe: hot or not?
105 / Street Snacker Hanoi
On the menu: barbecued
Muscovy duck
106 / Street Snacker HCMC
The many faces of com tam
contents
JANUARY 2014

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4 | Word January 2014
FASHION
108 / Tusks & Dust
Aligned with a rough beauty
TRAVEL
114 / Beautiful Bays and

Haunted Hotels
The many fine qualities of
southern Cambodia
118 / The Stopover
Three hours and
VND800,000 in Japan’s
Narita Airport
124 / Travel Listings
HANOI
036 /
Calendar
125 / Hanoi City Guide
126 / Overscene
131 / Hanoi Promos
HCMC
030 / Calendar
143 / HCMC City Guide
144 / Overscene
150 /
Coffee Cup
156 / In the Frame
COLUMNS
134 / Business Buff
148 /
Book Buff
136 / The Alchemist
138 / The Therapist
140 /
A World of Good
142 / Student Eye

160 / Body and Temple
162 /
Medical Buff
170 / Tieng Viet
FINAL SAY
174 / Opportunity Knocks
What the country’s most
famous footballer was doing
out of country
176 / The Last Call
In a moment of melancholy,
Tadioto’s Nguyen Qui Duc
laments on life
contents
114
174
118
6 | Word January 2014
NICK ROSS
Chief Editor

MADS MONSEN
Creative Director

YVES SCHIEPEK
Photo Editor

FRANCIS ROUX
Staff Photographer (Hanoi)

KYLE PHANROY
Staff Photographer

FRANCIS XAVIER
Staff Reporter

HOA LE
Staff Editor

ED WEINBERG
Deputy Editor

DEREK MILROY
Features Editor

ELISABETH ROSEN
Staff Editor

KAREN HEWELL
Online Content Manager

MARK ALLAN
Website & Graphic Designer

NGUYEN LOC
Layout Designer

TAL COHEN
Listings Editor

EDITORIAL
ADMINISTRATION
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CHUYÊN Đ DU LCH & M THC
This month we asked Word staff: What ve
albums would you bring with you to a desert
island, to listen to foreva eva?
KAREN HEWELL
Online Editor
Sia, We Are Born
Agnes Obel, Aventine
Phantogram, Eyelid Movies
Matt and Kim, Grand
Tegan and Sara, The Con
MADS MONSEN
Creative Director
Röyksopp, Running to the Sea

Ludovico Einaudi, In a Time Lapse
Mahakala Prayer
Om Tare Tuttare Ture Soha, Tara Mantra
Ani Choying Drolma, Namo Ratna Traya
FRANCIS XAVIER
Staff Reporter
My Bloody Valentine, Loveless
Darkside, Psychic
Radiohead, The Bends
Soft Powers, Bad Pop
The Cure, Disintegration
YVES SCHIEPEK
Photo Editor
Andy Bey, Experience and Judgment
Lizz Wright, Salt
Brian Blade Fellowship, Perceptual
Sara Tavares, Mi Ma Bo
Keith Jarrett, The Melody at Night, With You
ED WEINBERG
Deputy Editor
Bob Dylan, Nashville Skyline
Bud Powell, Jazz Giant
Sam Cooke, Live at the Harlem
Square Club, 1963
WU LYF, Go Tell Fire to the Mountain
Eleanor Friedberger, Last Summer
ELISABETH ROSEN
Staff Editor
“I'd just bring my entire iPhone
#21stcentury”

NICK ROSS
Chief Editor
(desert island themed songs)
Pink Floyd, Wish You Were Here
U2, Running to Stand Still
Roy Ayers, Everybody Loves the Sunshine
De La Soul, Me, Myself and I
Massive Attack, Hymn of the Big Wheel
Contributors
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71–73–75 Hai Bà Trưng, Q. 1, TP. HCM.
www.tranphuprint.com
Số ĐKKHXB: 1148-2013/CXB/13-127/LĐ
Quyết định XB số: 289/QĐCN-LĐ.

Ngày 30/12/2013
In xong và nộp lưu chiểu Qúy 1 năm 2014.
ISBN: 978-604-59-0372-8
9 786045 903728
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Email: - Website: www.shangpalace.com.vn
8 | Word January 2014
W
hen Desert
Island Discs
rst hit
the British
airwaves in 1942, it
created a timeless format
that tapped into the
fantasies and exoticism
many in the west
associate with tropical,
blue sky, blue sea, white
sand beach islands. In
a country where the
weather is, well, pretty
atrocious, castaways
were asked to choose
eight pieces of music, a
book and a luxury item
to take to an imaginary
desert island where they
would be marooned
indenitely.
That the radio
programme has been
aired continuously
for over 70 years says
much for our Robinson

Crusoe-like fascination
with islands. Not only
has the BBC show
managed to attract some
well-known celebrities
to its recording studios,
but the programme has
become an institution, a
well-loved eternal radio
show that continues to
woo listeners.
It is this same
fascination with islands
that we have tried to tap
into with our cover story
this month. Although
the exotic desert island
is a rarity these days,
the concept of a piece of
land surrounded by a
body of water, whether
mountainous or at,
desert or jungle, built
up with concrete or
sparsely covered in huts
continues to excite the
human mind. However,
we’ve focused on rocky
reality rather than the
concept of paradise —

after all, few islands out
there remain untouched
by the hand of man.
From Phu Quoc and
its partner, undeveloped
archipelago Nam Du,
to the other side of
Halong Bay, the islands
around the island of
Singapore, the islands
in the swamps, urban
island living and even
rebuilding an island,
we’ve tried to cover
every type of island out
there, at least in this
part of the world. But
the centrepiece has to
be our story of games
programmer Curtis
Norris, who went in
search of his very own
desert island. It was a
journey that led him to
an uninhabited tract of
land in Halong Bay and
six months isolated from
the outside world.
Not everyone can nd
their own desert island

— at least not physically
— but they can certainly
create an image of it
within their mind. —
Nick Ross
DO YOU HAVE ANY COMMENTS THAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO AIR? IF SO, REACH OUT AND TOUCH US
AT — WE’RE AT YOUR FINGERTIPS.
THIS MONTH'S COVER
Cover by DH Advertising
Photo by Ed Weinberg
NHÀ XUẤT BẢN LAO ĐỘNGNHÀ XUẤT BẢN LAO ĐỘNGNHÀ XUẤT BẢN LAO ĐỘNGNHÀ XUẤT BẢN LAO ĐỘNGNHÀ XUẤT BẢN LAO ĐỘNG
CHUYÊN ĐỀ DU LỊCH, ẨM THỰC
VIETNAM EDITION
JANUARY 2014
The Islands
The prelude
inbox
HAVE YOUR SAY
DO YOU HAVE ANY COMMENTS? THEN LET US KNOW ON FACEBOOK — FACEBOOK.COM/WORD.VIETNAM — OR VIA TWITTER, @WORDVIETNAM.
NO MATTER HOW POSITIVE OR NEGATIVE YOUR THOUGHTS, WE LOOK FORWARD TO HEARING FROM YOU.
Nightlife
Phuc Tan and New Century
I like your story on nightlife (December 2013, The
Nightlife Issue), but your Hanoi timeline missed out
two important places. The rst is Phuc Tan. It may
be a dive, but for years it has often been the only
place open late. It’s also perhaps the only bar to
change names — Phuc Tan, Barracuda, Lighthouse
— and then go back to its original name. You also
missed New Century, that huge nightclub which

was shut down in 2007. It had a huge impact in the
development of nightclubs in Hanoi. — JC
Linda’s
You missed out two places that without them,
wouldn’t have made nightlife into what it is today.
Pacharan on Hai Ba Trung is on the spot
formerly occupied by Monkey bar and prior to that
Linda’s Bar, which opened in 1992 with Rod from
England and his Vietnamese wife Linda. The bar
was one small ground oor room on the corner with a behind-the-curtain, hole-in-the-oor
toilet with a wall tap where the glasses were washed. Linda’s 2 opened in Vung Tau in 1993
in the alleyway at the side of the Palace Hotel.
Linda’s 2 in Vung Tau was managed by a Kiwi guy called Andy and his room
(accommodation) was between the bar and toilet. Painted on the wall of his room was
something on the lines of ‘Andy’s place, keep out’. It was an all day bar. They were strange
times. — CE
Dalat to Thap Cham Railway
I missed the original article on the
Dalat Railway (September 2013, p. 176)
but caught up through the comments
section in December.
The answer to CE’s question about
whether you can cycle the former
railway line is ‘yes and no’. Some
sections are used by farmers for
motorbike access to their land, others
are completely overgrown. I wouldn’t
recommend trying any of the route in
the wet season. The road that goes from
Dalat to Trai Mat Station (QL20) runs

close to the route for long sections so
there is always an alternative. The long
tunnel (#3) is said to be blocked by a
roof collapse, but the last time I tried
to get into it from the Dalat end it was
ooded and said to be full of snakes.
Anyone who would like to share
knowledge of the route should get in
touch with me at alanmurrayvn@gmail.
com — Alan Murray
Design
Your magazine is both vital and enjoyable, but from the perspective of a design teacher, the
design is all over the place. The photography’s excellent, but you really don’t do it justice. Who is
doing your layout? I think you need to have a chat with them. — DG
54 Colours
What a lovely article you wrote about
Sebastien Laval’s show at the museum
(December 2013, p. 94). He was so happy
about that and me, too. I want to thank
you for all the great work you are doing
with your magazine. — SL
NHÀ XUẤT BẢN LAO ĐỘNGNHÀ XUẤT BẢN LAO ĐỘNGNHÀ XUẤT BẢN LAO ĐỘNGNHÀ XUẤT BẢN LAO ĐỘNG
night
life
NHÀ XUẤT BẢN LAO ĐỘNG
CHUYÊN ĐỀ DU LỊCH, ẨM THỰC
VIETNAM EDITION
DECEMBER 2013
January 2014 Word | 9
10 | Word January 2014

The talk
F
our years ago a new
transport scheme was
introduced to help
relieve congestion
pressure on Hanoi’s Old
Quarter — the electric car.
Designed to shuttle tourists
around the labyrinthine
streets of Hanoi’s historical heart, it was
believed that this new mode of transport
would reduce bottlenecks and pollution. While
it provided a welcome new sightseeing service
for tourists, the trafc jams and motorbike
fumes remained.
At the time a case was also made for
pedestrianising parts of this area. The night
market on Hang Dao was already successfully
closing down a slither of streets on Friday,
Saturday and Sunday nights. Yet the logistics
of such a move seemed insurmountable. While
long-term this would be good for business
— the area would effectively become a cross
between an on-foot shopping precinct and a
cultural tourist attraction — in the short term,
the nature of street life, business and a lack of
parking space and public transport facilities
in downtown Hanoi would make this difcult
to implement. And one simple issue — the

constant need for motorbike deliveries and
pick-ups — would make it impossible to keep
such a zone vehicle-free.
Fast forward to the beginning of 2014
and on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights,
Ma May, Luong Ngoc Quyen, Ta Hien and
Hang Buom have been cleared of all vehicles.
It’s not the 24-hour, congestion-easing
pedestrianisation that was hoped for, but it’s a
great start. For business owners there is better
news. No longer do licensing rules require
them to close before midnight — they can now
stay open to 2am.
Uncapping the Bottleneck
That such a move has been tried says much for
the issues faced by the capital. While in Ho Chi
Minh City, the Pham Ngu Lao area — known
affectionately as The Pham — buses in tourists
in their beer-drinking droves, Hanoi has
struggled to have the same impact on visitors
from overseas. As one bar owner explains, “In
France, people save up for two years to come
to Vietnam. But when they arrive and discover
that everything closes at midnight, they leave
disappointed. This is a capital city.”
The opposite happens down south. In The
Pham, bars and clubs stay open into the early
hours, providing a Bangkok-like esta for
tourists and locals of all ilks. Yet in Hanoi, it’s
only in the now defunct Zone 9, Phuc Tan and

occasionally in the Xuan Dieu area that the
city’s watering holes are allowed to take such
liberties. The days of Ta Hien bars staging all-
night lock-ins are a thing of the past.
Yet implementing a pedestrian-only
area is not without its difculties. For one,
how will residents get in and out of their
homes, especially if, as predicted, bars and
restaurants will spread tables
and chairs out onto the street?
Also, where will people park?
A space has been reserved
for motorbikes just by the
dyke road under Chuong
Duong Bridge. But will this be
enough?
Spreading the Love
Should the initiative work, then it is something
that should be tried down south. Despite the
area’s success, a lack of sidewalk space and
narrow roads mean streets in The Pham such
as Bui Vien and Do Quang Dao are often
difcult to navigate, whether you are on foot
or on a vehicle. A recent move to prevent
chairs and tables from blocking the sidewalk
has eased the congestion. But night-time
pedestrianisation would be a welcome move
— weaving through the mass of people forced
to walk on the road can be dangerous.
Businesses would also benet. A

pedestrianised area would make The Pham
into a much more pleasant — and safer —
space for night-time shopping, eating and
drinking. Like Ben Thanh Market at night, it
would attract more people.
Despite the logistical issues surrounding
the night-time pedestrianisation of parts
of the Old Quarter, it is a welcome move.
It’s good for business and it provides a
hassle-free night-time eating and drinking
environment for customers.
Let’s hope local residents don’t kick up a
fuss. If they do, then all could be rolled back
again. — Nick Ross
Walk ‘n Ride
Pedestrianising the Old Quarter
Photo by Thiep Nguyen
January 2014 Word | 11
1.
2.
5.
Kicking off with New Year’s Eve
festivities on Thursday Jan. 30, the
Year of The Horse will descend on Vietnam
the following day. So, time to hold onto
your saddle, stirrups and mane for a year
of leaders — 2014 is set for those who want
to make a difference and know how to
make it happen.
According to astrologists, people

born under the signs of Cancer, Pisces
and Scorpio are set to have a great year,
enjoying things that are close to them
such as friends, travelling, romance and
even learning a new language. For the
Leos, Aries and Sagittarians out there, life
will also be good, although the focus will
be on their careers and responsibilities —
the moneymaking potential for this year
is huge.
So prepare yourself, the Year of the
Horse is set to be a ery one. And if you’re
not one of the lucky star signs mentioned
above, grab destiny with both hands.
Unless you believe in fate, that is.
DETROIT HOUSE
RELOCATES TO SAIGON
Detroit house music legend Alton
Miller is coming to town. The man’s
been active since 1988, when he helped
make Detroit one of the epicentres of the
underground house movement. Inspired
by Stevie Wonder, Santana, Parliament,
Funkadelic, the Philadelphia sound and
DJs he’s play alongside of like Ron Hardy,
Frankie Knuckles, Larry Levan and Timmy
Regisford, Miller will be mixing the old
with the new, and showing us what house
music and hi-tech soul is all about.
The Observatory is on the corner of Le Lai

and Ton That Tung, Q1. The party is on Jan. 11
at 10pm, VND150,000 entry
Based on the lives of the legendary rst queens
of Vietnam, the Trung sisters, whose inspiring
bravery has so affected the history of this
country 2,000 years ago, The Me Linh Drums
is a classic of cai luong — Vietnamese opera —
coming to Idecaf Theatre on Jan. 7. Performing
the piece alongside others is Thanh Sang, the
most famous cai luong singer living today, a
legend since the 1960s. He hasn’t appeared on
stage in nearly a decade, and hasn’t performed
the classics on this list since he sang them with
Thanh Nga, the great diva of cai luong.
This may well turn out to be Thanh Sang’s
last concert, as well as the kind of event that
people will look back on and say, “I was there.”
The Me Linh Drums will be performed Jan. 7
at 8pm at Idecaf Theatre, 31 Thai Van Lung, Q1.
For more info, call (08) 2229 9414
THE YEAR OF THE HORSE
THE ME LINH DRUMS
4.
SAIGON COMEDY
NIGHTS RETURNS
Remember Glenn Wool,
the Canadian comic who wooed
Hard Rock a year ago with his
jokes about swans? Well the
maestro of on-stage laughter

and proverbial cool is back on
Tuesday Jan. 14 at Cargo Bar, as
part of a Southeast Asian tour.
As ever, he won’t be alone.
Celebrated comedienne Mandy
Knight will also be shaking up
some tale feathers — she was the
rst woman to ever MC at The
Comedy Store in London. And
while it’s yet to be conrmed,
it’s hoped that some of the local
comics will also be there to add
some spice and all things nice.
Doors open 8pm on Jan. 14,
and admission surcharge is
VND250,000 — includes a free
beer. For more information email

Cargo Bar is at 7 Nguyen Tat
Thanh, Q4
3.
the big five
SOUTH RAKKAS TO PLAY
HANOI
Jamaican-born and Florida resident
South Rakkas, with his lthy sound system
beats and killer rhythms, will be playing
CAMA ATK on Thursday Jan. 23.
Garnering a reputation as one of the
best in dancehall electro riddims, Rakkas

has taken on remix-duty for artists such as
M.I.A and Tricky, and is signed with Diplo’s
notorious Mad Decent label.
For more information what promises to be
a huge gig in an intimate atmosphere, head to
page 35
12 | Word January 2014
brief ings
S
treams of sunlight crawled across the early
morning sky as the sea of blue-clad participants
stretched and jogged in place. Close to 5,500
people were about to ood Phu My Hung over
the next couple of hours — a tidal wave of runners
would stretch from Crescent Mall to the Phu My
Bridge, and back again.
There were children and the elderly, students and
expats amongst the crowd at the Dec. 8 HCMC RUN
2013, the rst edition of an annual concept. Even a
few hardcore runners turned up barefoot. Some were
there to have a good time and test the benets of their
healthy lifestyle, while others were there for the battle,
warriors in running shoes. Many were embarking on
their rst-ever competitive race, and I was one of them.
I came across the HCMC RUN when I was looking
for a safe place to do road running in the city. In the
weeks leading up to the event, free training sessions
were organised to help drum up interest in the
forthcoming race, and to promote a healthy and active
way of life. After I ran their 7.6km route one Saturday

afternoon, I signed up for the excruciating 4am start.
That’s what endorphins will do to you.
Three weeks later, I stood, one of thousands,
wearing the obligatory blue T-shirt covered in
sponsors’ logos and a bib that wasn’t going to be
splattered with gravy — instead it declared my
temporary identity, 6145, and the beast I was to
combat, the 5km route.
Three groups awaited their respective gunre. The
10k racers — who would be expected to conquer
the outrageous incline of Phu My Bridge, the run’s
marquee challenge — were up front and the rst to
burst the banks. At the rear was a massive pool of 3k
runners and, sandwiched in between both groups, a
deluge of 5k-ers.
The Floodgates Open
Five minutes after the 10k group had departed it was
our time to shine. The cascade of runners was soon
owing around The Crescent and pounding across
Starlight Bridge (Cau Anh Sao).
The route followed some of the main roads, none
of which appeared to be ofcially closed for the race.
Trafc was effectively managed, to an extent, by the
local police who stood at certain points with warm
smiles, occasionally helping the stewards to direct
runners around corners. However, having to stop and
wait for an impatient lorry driver to cross the junction
of Tran Van Tra and Nguyen Luong Bang — where
trafc was surging in both directions — wasn’t ideal.
This is how a race like this ends: you feel the roar

of the nish line in your belly, then you hear it and,
no matter how painful that stitch is, or how tight
your calves are, you are sprinting until you can’t
feel your legs anymore. And the awareness of your
accomplishment overows as you make that nal push
across the nish line, proving that you can do anything.
Apart from the trafc management issues, the rst HCMC
RUN was a success, raising VND950 million for the Ho Chi
Minh City chapter of Vietnam Red Cross and other charities.
Event organisers promise that the challenges faced by
runners will be addressed for next year’s event and — with
full and half-marathons being scheduled, and a predicted
10,000 runners — HCMC RUN 2014 should be epic.
And, for those of you who are interested, my ofcial
time was 32:19, coming in a very respectable 24th place
among the female 5k runners. — Jennifer Graham
Conquering
the Bridge
Photos provided by HCMC RUN
January 2014 Word | 13
14 | Word January 2014
A
ll the burger talk this past month
has centred on McDonald’s long-
awaited entrée into the chain-
hungry Vietnamese market, with a
three-property location and 24-hour drive-
thru service in downtown Ho Chi Minh City
set to debut after Tet. It’s a move that’s been
years in the making.

But lost in all the excitement is the fact
that Vietnam already has its own American
hamburger mega-chain in Burger King —
two if you want to include Carls Jr. — and
the reigning American rulers of the local
burger scene have been squaring up to
guard their 143,000 Vietnamese Facebook
likes. There’s also the not-so-small matter
of Korean burger chain, Lotteria, and the
Filipino equivalent, Jolibee.
Over the last couple of years, Lotteria has
been doing refurbs and rets, and setting
up its stall in as many corner locations as
possible. Saigon Burger King has also been
in on the act. In the past month or so they’ve
added two westerner-friendly locations to
the 11 that were already in Ho Chi Minh City
— one in the expat enclave of Thao Dien and
one in the tourist hub of Pham Ngu Lao.
Careful watchers are thinking this
constitutes a strategy. Says one expat, a
50-year-old Australian named Paul, “Burger
King will still nd the market. But the locals
will love McDonald’s. How many locals
do you see here tonight? Most of them are
gonna be expats.”
The Facts on the Ground
True to form, ve out of seven of the patrons
interviewed at these new Burger King
branches say they’ll stick with Burger King

when they have the choice (the only born-
and-bred Saigonese interviewed, 20-year-old
Loan, remains undecided).
“McDonald’s is boring,” says 17-year-old
Giuliano, a three-year resident of Saigon.
“It’s like the same kind of burger done all
over. Here they mix it up with the burgers
and, you know, it’s better.”
“Burger King for me,” says Paul. “Dearer
but it’s much better.”
The rst stop 62-year-old Ruth from Israel
came to in Ho Chi Minh City was Burger
King on Pham Ngu Lao. She found the
Whopper quite tasty. But if she had a choice?
“McDonald’s. Because it’s more familiar to
me.”
Loan ate burgers and fries with her friends
at the Pham Ngu Lao location. For now,
she’s picking Burger King over Lotteria and
Jollibee: “I like it very much.”
Squaring Up
From the rumours, it looks like McDonald’s
has their strategy set too.
“They will have an impact,” says Paul.
“They will blast the airwaves. The media
spin next year will be incredible.”
Leading up to the McDonald’s
announcement, the press was lled with
speculation as to where they’d land. Sites
in out-of-downtown districts like Go Vap

and District 10 were mentioned, as well as
the triangle corner where Pham Ngu Lao
splits off of Tran Hung Dao. Burger King
never generated this kind of buzz.
“It wasn’t too packed when they rst
opened,” Giuliano says about Burger
King’s two-years-ago debut. And now, “it’s
just consistent customers”.
23-year-old South African Cameron,
with 16 years in Saigon to his credit, says,
“I think when it opens it’s going to be
quite busy, because the Vietnamese are
gonna be like, ‘Oh McDonald’s, we’ve seen
it in the movies and TV, but we’ve never
been to a real one.’ So I think in terms of
Vietnamese people, they’re gonna stop
there to try it.”
Paul sees it in more clear-cut terms. “Not
a chance,” he says about Burger King’s
chances. “Macca’s’ll kill ‘em. Macca’s are
coming in for the price of a bowl of pho.
[They’ll have] 200 restaurants next year.”
— Ed Weinberg
brief ings
Burger Games
McDonald’s is coming. Time to shake up the burger market
Photo by Yves Schiepek
January 2014 Word | 15
16 | Word January 2014
brief ings

I
n Vietnam, it is rare to see exhibitions of
the most prominent Vietnamese artists.
The stars of the country’s art world are
in high demand in art fairs, biennials and
museums in other parts of the globe.
In a career spanning little over a decade,
Tiffany Chung has, on average, exhibited
one solo show and two groups shows per
year, and participated in an international
biennial or triennial every two years. Her
art has travelled from cities across the US, to
Asia, Australia, Europe and the Middle East.
The last time Tiffany’s paintings and
sculptures were shown in Vietnam was ve
years ago, at Galerie Quynh in Ho Chi Minh
City, where her new show An Archeology
Project for Future Remembrance can be seen
this month, across the gallery’s two spaces.
A Landmark Exhibition
This exhibition is possibly the rst
in Vietnam that shows the type of
interdisciplinary research that is making
waves in intellectual circles. At some point
in the second half of the 20th century, the
modernist admiration for the instinctual
genius of the artist gave way to a trend for
intelligent artworks that demonstrated the
artist’s ability to articulate theories and
illustrate concepts.

Saigon resident Tiffany Chung’s
brainpower seems to be switched onto
hyperactive all the time. Tiffany speaks with
energy and sharp insight. Her research is a
solid backup for her unapologetic opinions.
For a long time, she has been a good
friend of Erik Harms, assistant professor
of anthropology at Yale. In the Dong Khoi
space, the collaboration between the artist
and the anthropologist is presented linearly.
Excerpts from Erik Harms’ next book
are glossy art objects. Selected passages
of colonialist propaganda and historical
descriptions of Saigon are also readable
art. But the research is not just text, it is
drawn into the maps and crafted into the
sculptures.
The drawings on vellum paper, velvety
and translucent, are based on historical maps
or futuristic maps projecting urban plans
of areas yet to be built. The gleeful layers
of the drawing, minute doodley patterns in
pretty colours, deceive us into thinking they
are imaginative fabrications. Their hidden
research tells other stories.
The maps — a trademark of her art
practice — critique the political decisions
that shape borders, lead to wars, construct
articial communities or displace people.
The six map drawings in this show are

specically about areas in southern Vietnam,
mostly referencing the forced evictions of
people who lived on land slated to be turned
into a fancy nancial district. The three-
channel video art also comments on that
issue.
Art as Prophecy
The gem of the exhibition is the hanging
installation, Stored in a jar: monsoon, drowning
sh, color of water, and the oating world. The
piece was commissioned by the Singapore
Biennale in 2011. On glass puddles, dozens
of miniature houses, houseboats and boats
are aligned with neat gardens reminiscent of
a middle-class American suburb.
The detailed architectural models are
inspired by traditional Asian design and
materials. Rather than glorifying colonial
architecture, Tiffany’s art admires older
vernacular architecture. Not for sentimental
reasons, however. The design of her mini-
housing project is informed by in-depth
research, adapting ideas from all over the
region, from Japan to Thailand as well as
Vietnam, and crafting the models with
cutting-edge technology. The modern and
the traditional coexist.
The overall magical appearance of this
calming and poised artwork is a plan for
a portable model of sustainable urbanism.

Wooden houses, some on stilts, have solar
panels and rainwater collectors.
The evidence she builds from here is a
projection of how climate change will affect
the Mekong region in the coming decades.
Floods will increase their devastating
capacity, so we should prepare for them,
she suggests. In this, perhaps her oating
communities are less artice and more
science than her choice of mediums suggests.
— Cristina Nualart
See the art exhibition of the year before the
exhibition closes on Jan. 10, 2014. It’s spread
across Galerie Quynh’s two venues: 65 De Tham,
Q1, and 2nd oor, 151/3 Dong Khoi, Q1, both
in Ho Chi Minh City. For more info, head to
galeriequynh.com
Tiffany Chung
Sustainable urbanism and
the future of architecture.
Photos by Cristina Nualart
Photo provided by Tiffany Chung
January 2014 Word | 17
18 | Word January 2014
brief ings
Only in Asia
Stories from around the region
Facebook Street
Vietnam has ofcially become the rst
country to have a street named after

Facebook.
Called ‘Duong Facebook’, the road in the
north-central region of Ha Tinh has been
named after the Social Media website thanks
to the charitable work of the Facebook group
Khan quang do TP Ho Chi Minh — the Ho
Chi Minh City Red Scarf.
In response to the ooding in Ha Tinh in
October earlier this year, the group visited
three of the most affected areas — the rural
districts of Huong Khe, Huong Son and
Vu Quang. However, so touched were the
group by the poverty they encountered in
the village of Yen Hoi in Vu Quang, that they
ran an additional campaign to raise VND30
million to build a road for the people of
Hamlet 7, who were otherwise cut off from
civilisation.
The road will create easier transport access
for the villagers, who live a life of extreme
rural poverty.
Tower Infinity
Incheon in South Korea has decided
to go against the phallic symbol, ultra-
high skyscraper grain by constructing a
450m-high building in stealth mode.
Yes, you guessed it. Tower Innity, as the
structure will be called, will be invisible to
the naked eye.
A feat of modern human ingenuity,

according to California-based GDS
Architects, the skyscraper will use LEDs to
project the image of the sky from behind it,
as captured by cameras on the other side. In
the process, Tower Innity will disappear
from Incheon’s skyline.
Located just a few miles east of Korea’s
busiest airport, anyone with 9/11 intentions
can think again — you cannot plough into
what you cannot see. Let’s just hope that
normal ight paths are diverted, otherwise
ying into Seoul Airport could give
turbulence a new meaning.
Hello Kitty Beer
At the end of last year, Hello Kitty maker
Sanrio introduced their latest marketing
stunt — Hello Kitty Beer. Available in China
and Taiwan in a number of fruity avours
including banana, lemon-lime, passion fruit
and peach, the tipple is colourfully packaged
with emblems of the popular cartoon
character.
But worry not. For anyone concerned
that this brew will be alcohol-free, think
again — Hello Kitty has it covered. At
between 2.3 and 2.8 percent alcohol, this is
perfect for that young kid or experimental
teenager looking to get into the adult
world of boozing. Even better, according
to one blogger in China, the brew is so

“ridiculously smooth and tasty”, that no one
would easily know it’s beer.
As another reviewer was quick to remark,
the passion fruit-avoured beer has the tinge
of Fanta, but with “a beer aftertaste.” Time to
get those mot-hai-ba-yos going…
Speed Texting
A man believed to be a Saudi local was
recently caught on video sitting on the hood
of a speeding car along a Saudi Arabian
freeway.
The video shows him wearing Saudi’s
national costume — the thawb and the

kefyeh — taking out his phone and sending
an SMS as the car travels at 100 km/h.
It’s unsure whether the video was a
deliberate stunt or a short movie made by
some reckless Saudis. But one thing’s for
sure — kids, don’t try it at home.
The Perfect Spread
How do you evenly spread butter on bread
or toast without creating the requisite rip or
tear? Well, one option, of course, is to make
sure the butter is softened or slightly melted.
But for those who prefer to have their butter
come cold, directly out of the fridge, Japan’s
Metex Corporation have the answer — Easy
Butter.
A simple contraption that allows you to

grate your butter into strings, the resulting
substance is easier to spread. It’s fun, too,
as you watch the butter come out in little
stringy tendrils from a plastic tube.
So when life bugs you and all those
insignicant but vitally important things just
get you down, now you have the answer.
Easy Butter. What more could a man or
woman ask for?
January 2014 Word | 19
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E:
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20 | Word January 2014
Lighting Up the Skies
In mid-December, to celebrate 40 years of diplomatic ties between France
and Vietnam, the Reunification Palace was lit up in a spectacular 3D light
show created by Les Allumeurs d'Images.
Running for 15 minutes, with a number of performances over each night,
tens of thousands filled both the palace grounds and the streets outside to
watch the spectacle. Accompanied by live music and the voice of singer
Le Cat Trong Ly, and organised by Mr. Festival himself, Philippe Bouler, it
was a show that will live long in memory.
brief ings
The Buffalo
is Back
After an electrical fire knocked out
its lights a few months ago, one

of the most photographed and
iconic symbols of modern Saigon
has returned to light up the streets
of The Pham. Yes, you got it
in one. That enormous Crazy
Buffalo sign is back, and with a
vengeance, too.
Overlooking the intersection
of Bui Vien and De Tham, it will
make you forget all the talk about
McDonald's. The buffalo sign is
the real deal.
Photo by Yves Schiepek
Photos by Nick Ross
January 2014 Word | 21
brief ings
A
ll over the
world, academic
conferences
are held yearly
on topics ranging from
nanotechnology to supply chain finance
and the oral literatures of Africa. Hordes
of lecturers and a handful of industry
professionals flock to them to discuss their
investigations on some minute detail of
their speciality.
Some years ago, Dr. Phan Le Ha, a
Vietnamese lecturer based at Australia’s

Monash University, wanted a platform for
a broadminded discussion on her home
country. As people who follow a dream
sometimes do, she set about making it
happen — organising a conference on
all things Vietnam that’s now ve years
running. From Melbourne, to Hanoi, to
Hawaii, Engaging With Vietnam has brought
together scholars from all sorts of elds
together to discuss the future, past and
endlessly-curious present of the country.
This past month, the 5th Engaging With
Vietnam conference addressed the theme
‘The Multiple Ways of Knowing Vietnam’.
The event was held in Thai Nguyen
University, two hours north of Hanoi.
A Grab Bag of Ideas
From Dec. 16 to Dec. 17, 200 researchers
shared their work. In coats, scarves and hats,
hundreds of attendants — many of them
students from the hosting university —
sipped hot Thai Nguyen tea in between note-
taking. It was easy to forget details, over the
course of 100 presentations across the two
days, which ustered many an indecisive
person.
Would you choose to learn about
mitigating climate change or nd out the
impact on Vietnam of the Trans-Pacic
Partnerships? One session on cultivating

organic rice could be continued with one on
conict management, or one on cheating in
schools.
In one particularly interesting session,
PhD candidate Nguyen Anh Tuan explained
the difference between a psychic and a
medium. He gave examples of how an egg
and some chopsticks are used to nd the
remains of lost ancestors. His discussion on
extrasensory perception and paranormal
beliefs preceded an impassioned call to
female empowerment, inspired by the works
of Vietnamese and Filipino women artists.
From Berkeley, California, history
professor Peter Zinoman came to present
his book on writer Vu Trong Phung, one
of the most inuential Vietnamese authors
of the past century. Another
history professor, Liam Kelley
from the University of Hawaii,
demonstrated how digital
mapping systems and other
software can engender a global collaboration
on research in the humanities. As we know
from Wikipedia, projects like this utilise the
expertise of many individuals willing to
contribute their time and knowledge to the
greater good.
Dozens more speakers, coming from all
continents, shared their ideas — including

yours truly, in connecting the work of artists
in Saigon with ethnographic research on the
region.
The conference that started off as a
personal project has proved to be an ongoing
success. Hosting it in Vietnam offers
many local educators and professionals
the possibility of participating in an
international event without the prohibitive
cost of long-distance travel.
The timing of the conference also gave
its international visitors something useful
— the opportunity to plan a Christmas
holiday in Vietnam. Many of the speakers
are now engaging with Vietnam’s sights and
cities rsthand. Without a doubt, Vietnam
will offer plenty of material to continue the
dialogue. — Cristina Nualart
To learn more about this and previous editions,
head to engagingwithvietnam.com
Engaging With Vietnam
Five years in the life of a conference
Photos by Cristina Nualart
22 | Word January 2014
what s on
Ho Chi minh city
Caravelle
caravellehotel.com
In honour of the moon revolving around
the earth, Nineteen will make your

tongue revolve around your mouth with
its full-course Tet feast, every evening
from Jan. 30 to Feb. 5. Indulge in an
array of time-honoured Tet delicacies:
ocean-fresh sh and seafood, imported
meats grilled and barbecued to perfection
and a warm oyster pass around. The
East-meets-West spread will feature
mouthwatering local dishes such as beef
in la lot leaves and banh xeo alongside
international classics, such as red
wine-poached beef tenderloin, saffron-
marinated chicken and Chinese steamed
whole sh.
InterContinental
intercontinental.com/saigon
The InterCon is covering all aspects of
the Tet experience this year, starting
with the luckiest ones. At 10am on Jan.
31, a local dance troupe will gather in
the hotel’s lobby, dressed as lions, and
shake their tails to bring you a prosperous
2014. And if you stick around, your luck
will only multiply with the prosperity
toss of the Yee-Sang Salad, a ritual salad
tossing that symbolises ushering in
prosperity and abundance for the coming
New Year — from VND250,000 for two
people at Yu Chu. At Market 39, things
get even more bountiful, with a buffet

selection of traditional Tet dishes and
other international selections, priced at
VND498,000++ per person for lunch,
VND899,000++ for dinner.
Mövenpick
moevenpick-saigon.com
You have more loved ones than you
know what to do with, and you won’t
have time to break banh with all of
them. Mövenpick’s got you sorted
this Tet, with lucky cakes and Tet
hampers communicating your love and
appreciation through a variety of red
velvet, passion fruit, tiramisu, lychee
and green tea pastries, and some of
the most prized gourmet products a
hamper-opener can receive. Lucky cakes
are available now through February, Tet
hampers are available now through Feb. 7
at Cay Da Café.
Shang Palace
shangpalace.com.vn
Shang Palace is giving into its royal whims
this Tet, with one of the most sumptuous
spreads you’ll nd in the city — with
must-have delicacy Yusheng, containing
“wealthy” salmon, jelly sh, eye-catching
vegetables and sauces that represent your
luck and abundance in the coming year; a
“prosperous” big bowl feast with premium

ingredients such as abalone, oyster, sea
cucumber, scallop, roast duck and tiger
prawn; cured meat and a special dual
sh glutinous rice cake. And if you’re not
wealthy and lucky enough by the end of
all that, at noon on Jan. 31, a lion dance
will bestow all the good vibes you need for
a successful new year.
Sheraton
sheratonsaigon.com
All through January, Mojo Café is
welcoming Tet with a special Asian
delicacy menu, featuring Chinese roasted
duck sandwiches, grilled sh with chilli
and lemongrass, prawn and mushroom
noodle soups, every day from 11am
till late. From Jan. 15 to Jan. 31, Li Bai
Chinese restaurant really anticipates Tet
with a traditional New Year Yee Sang with
salmon, wok-fried baby lobster with chilli
sauce and deep-fried cod sh with special
sauce. Not only will luck be on your side
leading up to Tet, but also a full belly.
VinSpace Garage
vin-space.com
VinSpace doesn’t have food for you this
Tet, but they are hosting a special Tet
calligraphy workshop to help you wish
your eventual benefactors “Phuc — Good
Fortune”, “Loc — Prosperity” and “Tho —

Longevity”. Join them on Jan. 18, 10am to
noon with your kids, or come by 2pm to
4pm that same day for the adult session.
THE YEAR OF THE HORSE
Tet is fast coming up, and with it, all the hotel specials you can handle. You can get your banh chung and quyt everywhere, but if you’re
looking for something a bit different, odds are these places will have it.
Provided by Movenpick Hotel
January 2014 Word | 23
Fruit is abundant in Vietnam, coming
in many forms and varieties. And for
Vietnamese people from the various
regions and provinces of this country,
fruit brings with it a series of sensory
emotions — smells, tastes and memories
— visions of childhood, reminiscences of
the countryside, feelings about home and
the past.
Such evocative images and memories
are captured in the collection of essays,
Vietnamese Fruit and Other Stories, by author
Cao Thi Lan Phuong. Costing VND286,000
and now available in bookshops around the
country in English, the 112-page work is
published by Phong Lan Printing & Media
Company in association with Thanh Nien
Publishing House.
Evocative, lyrical and nostalgic, as
the author herself writes in the book’s
foreword, “I grew up sitting in the sweetsop
tree in my grandparent’s plot eating my

lunch after school, and joining the other
kids in their rowdy search for wild fruits in
the garden. Today when I see fruit, I see the
little stories around them.”
VIETNAMESE FRUIT
Well-known and well-loved spa and hair
salon Jasmine on Ton That Thiep has
opened its third location, this time in the
connes of the former Eden Mall, now
known as Union Square, Vincom A.
Providing a more exclusive, top-end
edge to its other locations, the spa and
salon includes a range of treatments
from pedicures, manicures and all things
nails, through to facials, foot, leg, hand
and full body massage, waxing, scrub
and hair services. Under the auspices of
three, well-travelled hair professionals
— Jonny, Kevin and Ukrainian, Dimitry —
the full range of hair, cut, colouring and
treatments are available here, all in the
connes of a pleasant, contemporary spa
and salon atmosphere.
The new Jasmine of Saigon is at B2-01B, Union
Square, Vincom A, 171 Dong Khoi, Q1, Tel: (08)
3936 9195, jasminespa.vn
JASMINE GOES THREE