Well....little did this Jaded Empress ever imagine that when she wrote her first post about her return to her beloved Ho Chi Minh City in 2018 (as chronicled here) that two years later she would be entangled-up in and greatly affected by the global pandemic that is $%#@*&% Covid-19. Actually, being in Vietnam probably ended-up a pretty good move in some ways, as, throughout 2020 and well into 2021 during the coronavirus pandemic, this nation of 90 million people ranked amongst the world's top to contain the coronavirus, with some of the lowest number of confirmed cases and related deaths (even more amazing as Vietnam's neighbour is China, where we all know, Covid-19 originated from). Not that many folk were/ are aware of all this, as Vietnam never got the media coverage, nay, recognition, it deserved like other Asian nations, such as South Korea, Taiwan and Singapore, etc.
The Vietnamese government's response to this catastrophic global situation, which reared its nasty spiky head around February 2020, was of frightening efficiency, a perfect storm of plans of actions and policies that covered swiftly closing the Chinese and international borders, extensive contract tracing, zapping down and isolating at-risk communities whenever outbreaks occurred - anything from apartment complexes, hospitals and wards to entire villages and cities - strict quarantine measures, plus expertise gained by the East Asia SARs experience in the early 2000s. (Ya gotta love the Vietnamese! They banished the Mongolians, Chinese, French, Japanese and Americans and for a while, held off McDonald's and Covid-19).
This relatively successful handling of Covid-19 was / is all the more remarkable, given that Vietnam is still a developing country and hasn't got the resources like many 'developed' nations (some of whom still made a pig's ear of the pandemic), no big roll-out vaccination programme (well, not until it was too late), not to mention, slap-bang next to mega-culprit, China, So the year or so during the global pandemic, compared to elsewhere, Vietnam was a surprisingly safe, calm and organised haven, with Covid-19 outbreaks firmly suppressed; thus, I concluded, if you found yourself anywhere holed-up in the world during this cataclysmic pandemic, Vietnam was a good a place as any.
Foreigners like me living in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) during the pandemic ended-up having a relatively normal daily life (if you can call life in HCMC 'normal,' ha ha ha); nay, all things considered, even enjoyable, interesting and memorable in many parts, finally attending festivities and events I never got round to before, that, stacked against a down side: disrupted by a three-week lockdown at the start, a constant ebb and flow of cautionary measures, borders closed and a woeful lack of work and income.
That is, until that pesky Delta variant emerged around May 2021 and Vietnam's stellar Covid-19 track record - like many in East Asia - imploded (as documented in my sobering Part 2 chronicle, coming soon!) But for now, Part 1: which doesn't dwell so much on boring stats, figures and official details (you can read about that elsewhere), but more of a personal journey photo essay.
March 2020
Let's rewind back to late February 2020, when alarm bells started ringing increasingly louder as something alarming called 'coronavirus' started breaking out, first in China, then spreading to East Asia, ... Singapore, South Korea, Malaysia..........
And Vietnam. By mid-March, increasingly concerned by all the rapidly developments, Vietnam made wearing face masks in public mandatory ...
And Vietnam had the good sense to swiftly slam shut the border with their old adversary China, where, as the epicentre of coronavirus, cases had sky-rocketed (no love lost there! ask any HCMC taxi driver! and on this, I'm right behind the Vietnamese, especially after they caused this "little global debacle." Anyway I digress.....). Then late March, amongst other governmental policies, Vietnam shut all its international borders and airports, effectively sealing itself in, with no one able to fly in ....or out.
April
Vietnam had no official COVID-19 deaths and relatively low cases, but pre-empting any potential outbreaks, from April 1, the government commenced a two-week
nationwide partial lockdown (or ‘social distancing campaign,' as they like to call it.) All non-essential businesses and services were shut down, gatherings of more than two people together banned and people were urged to stay at home. Essential services, like pharmacies, food stores, banks, post offices and even pagodas remained open.
Just before the lockdown was hastily announced, like many Saigonese, this Jaded Empress dashed to the supermarket for what would be the start of several 'siege mentality' stock-ups. But like elsewhere in the city, things were calm and well organised and supermarkets remained fully operational; unlike western countries, there were mounds of supplies available and as evident here, no need for fisticuffs over essentials like toilet paper....
Almost having a meltdown in the snaking long check-out queues, while trying to unrealistically maintain social distancing, locals invariably shot me empathetic glances over their mandatory face masks.
This notoriously buzzy, vibrant city fell eerily silent and all the fabulous cafés, bars, shops and
restaurants, etc shuttered and closed... once thronged with people, pulsating street-life and chaotic motorbike traffic, central downtown and familiar sights resembled a ghost town...
Silver linings ... one of the rare times you could cross the street without having an anxiety attack and the city's air pollution was down......
As a partial lockdown, you were allowed out, only there wasn't much 'out there' as most places were closed. We could, however, exercise outdoors (an integral part of Vietnamese culture), the city parks, as well as the promenade alongside Nhieu Loc-Thi Nghe Canal in my local neighbourhood (as chronicled here) were packed with
locals... er, not a whiff of social distancing here. The public gym apparatus however was a no-no, taped-off with the increasingly familiar "police-do-not-cross" tape.... .....
Much as I planned in my first chronicle, even Jaded Empresses have to earn a living: during this time, a senior marketing content writer / editor for an upmarket Viet-American tour operator specialising in niche, bespoke tours across Southeast Asia. Shutting the borders in Vietnam and other Asian nations was a sensible move, but for those in the travel and hospitality, the kiss of death. With Covid-19’s catastrophic fall-out, international flights ceased operating and travel reservations rapidly cancelled from clients in North, Central and South America, Europe and Australasia and no likely revenue for months to come, this travel company collapsed like a fragile house of cards (albeit perhaps indicating that its 'foundations' weren't so solid in the first place... but I digress).
I first suspected something was amiss late February, when I and all staff at the HCMC global head office were duly put on substantial mandatory unpaid leave for March and April. My two-year contract was up mid-April, but I planned to extend it for some additional months. However, the company started axing staff like some bad Hollywood 'B' movie, not just at the head office, but the regional and international branches: I not only lost my contract renewal but the entire marketing department was handed its execution orders.
So what else could be done, but organise a final lunch on the last day when all the marketing team would be together, before dispersing into the unknown. Despite all of us - three foreigners, the rest of the team, Vietnamese - imminently about to be unemployed in the midst of a lockdown and global pandemic, it all ended-up a surprisingly jolly affair.
We couldn't go out for lunch as all restaurants were closed, but many venues across the city still offered delivery service ......
which meant we still enjoyed a delicious Southern Vietnamese feast, spread amongst the computer terminals and photocopier machine....
And then, it all descended into silliness... ...
In response to the global coronavirus outbreak, late February, Vietnam's National Institute of Occupational and Environmental Health released this animated
PSA
www.youtube.com/watch?v=BtulL3oArQw&list=RDctF5aMV05kM&start_radio=1
With an impossibly catchy beat (a 2017 Vietnamese pop hit with new lyrics added)
this was meant to promote the best hygiene habits to fight coronavirus: urging folk to thoroughly
wash their hands and “rub, rub, rub evenly,” not to touch your eyes, nose and mouth, keep yourself and surroundings clean and limit going
to crowded places.
To make this go viral, a well-known Vietnamese dancer, Quang
Đăng, was commissioned to choreograph
dance moves to accompany the lyrics, sparking the 'Ghen Cô Vy' dance challenge on TikTok, a worldwide
trending hit with over 22 million views ......
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctF5aMV05kM
So here is our equally super-cool version.....
During the April lockdown, it’s likely my office shouldn’t even have been open, as all non-essential businesses were ordered shut. Apart from unpaid leave days, I nevertheless made my way into the office, not only for the much-needed camaraderie, but to sort out the end of my contract, exit visas and paperwork..... oh.... and to work. A few days after that epic lunch, it was my last day and coincidentally, that of the marketing department's, too. So a final, final farewell lunch was organised, with in-office food deliveries again, but a far more subdued affair, with the realisation that not only was this the very last time we would all be together, but our department was closing down for good today - and that was the end of my office life in Vietnam.. ....
What with the knock-on effects of a global pandemic and international borders likely staying shut to foreign tourists for months, staff at the head office were hacked down to a skeleton team of around ten, business suspended and most regional offices closed.
Even the yummy spread of dishes and some bottles of wine and spirits (leftover departmental gifts from the Lunar New Year) failed to raise any spirits. One or two Vietnamese colleagues had already stopped working and some had to rush off straight after lunch, scrambling back to family homes in the outlying city provinces or Mekong Delta countryside. It was a race against time as municipal public bus services and inter-province transport were increasingly cancelled or scaled back, while partial roadblocks sprung-up along the main highways out of the city. Most got their relatives to 'rescue them' in private cars.
I never did see any of
this lot again (joined here by some of the inter-related Products Department)
and guessing this, our final embraces goodbye were especially poignant.
I
cleared out my desk, offloading office clutter into several bags. During the
lockdown, taxis weren't permitted to operate, so a colleague booked me a motorbike taxi. The driver drove me home along deserted streets once notorious for bottleneck traffic, lined with a never-ending run of shuttered premises. No time for any sentimentality on what was an emotional day, as overladen with bags precariously perched on the back of the motorbike, I was more
preoccupied with the possibility of the vehicle toppling over.
After
days of uncertainty, Vietnam’s extended partial lockdown officially lifted around late April. Finally, things started to open-up again and this dynamic metropolis awoke like a slumbering giant, easing back into its noisy, exciting, nutty self, the traffic back to insanity and what the city does best.... the fantastic street food joints and restaurants, bars and cafés, vibrant once more and spilling out onto the pavements ......
For a while, however, some city establishments still lingered on the cautious side. I regularly bought my Vietnamese roasted coffee beans at Phuc Long, an excellent, home-grown tea and coffee house, at their broom-cupboard sized branch in the centre of town (as revealed in my café chronicles, here).
When most things were returning back to normal, this branch still operated a somewhat bizarre 'social distancing' system. Upon purchasing my vanilla bean-infused coffee beans (so recommended), I would place my Dong, (er, the local currency, folks!), into a glass tray on a pulley contraption near the doorway, which vaguely resembled something out of the medieval ages.......
The cashier pulled on a rope which moved the glass tray towards her, then picked-up the cash payment; she'd then place my change in the glass tray and hoist it back towards me. .....
All well and good, maintaining strict social distancing measures, but then inexplicably, the cashier came out from behind her counter, passing right-up close to me, as she carried my beans to the coffee grinder machine, then handing back a bag of freshly-ground beans. The establishment so miniscule, sort of unavoidable, but one of several ridiculously ironic Covid-19 encounters I experienced.
And beyond catchy dance ditties, to keep reminding the masses the dangers of coronavirus and their personal habits, Vietnam's historic propaganda art (for more on this and stunning examples, have a peek at my chronicle here), was given another new lease of life. Similar to fighting other battles decades before, this trademark art form was cleverly re-interpreted, or inspired new art forms, swapping old nostalgic themes for modern-day PSA's on streets across the country, waging a battle of a different kind. These colourful posters are all in Vietnamese but the simple yet striking graphic designs makes it pretty clear what message is being relayed....
and far removed from the boring, non-descript PSA's of other nations during coronavirus, some new street art in a cute, cartoon-style got the message across in a more fun, friendlier and colourful way....
Covid-19 PSA's even flashed-up on giant electronic screens, clearly visible to all and sundry whizzing past on the streets below.....
There were no Covid-19 deaths in Vietnam until August 2020 (and those numbered five) and from then, well into 2021, remained in the double digits.... consistently relatively fewer cases compared on a global scale. True, borders remained shut and for many months, although most of the time not mandatory, we continued wearing face masks practically the entire time while outdoors (nothing new, wearing them for years riding on motorbikes, due to the dire urban air pollution), invariably getting our temperatures checked entering official premises, hands squirted with some industrial strength hand sanitizer and observing off-on-off-on social distancing and crowd restriction measures.
But through 2020 and until around June 2021, unlike many other parts of the world, Vietnam didn't have to endure any more lockdowns and enjoyed a rare relative freedom going about their daily business.... geez, even the nation's economy grew! And within the country, amazingly, HCMC, one of the most densely populated cities on earth, emerged as Vietnam's poster child, with the least Covid-19 cases and outbreaks.
July
With what was going on elsewhere in the world, I relished my Covid-19-era freedom in HCMC. However, on the flip side, there was scant writing work to be had, due to the decimation worldwide of the international travel industry and related media. However, on the positive side, a rare, opportunity as a professional writer to have (plenty of) time to immerse myself in personal writing, getting a handful of articles published and on one of the few paid gigs assigned, a 23-year bucket list finally realised.
Since writing about Vietnam for two decades, I'd had my eye on getting a media stay at Hotel Majestic Saigon, a 1925-built Saigon heritage landmark and one of Southeast Asia's classic colonial hotels. Despite extensive renovations, this elegant grand dame - the best known of Saigon’s Indochina-era hotels - still manages to evoke an endearing old-world charm and faithfully maintains the colonial-era architecture and art deco interiors.
Photo courtesy of Hotel Majestic Saigon
But despite featuring Hotel Majestic Saigon in prestigious guidebooks and international magazines, over the years, management of the hotel's state-run tourism body only offered me a rushed hotel inspection tour, drinks and a framed water colour painting of the hotel's riverfront façade. Then the pandemic struck and with all of Vietnam's borders shut and no foreign tourists, like all city hotels, occupancy rates plummeted. So when assigned to write about HCMC's most stylish luxe hotels for a new Hong Kong website, and of course, featuring this beloved tourist favourite, I finally got offered a media stay.
Alas, a bitter-sweet experience: true, I got upgraded to a time-warp elegant room in the historic old wing, with a wrought-iron balcony overlooking the Saigon River....
but this 175-room five-star had a total of just four guests, including me.... . I felt like Michael Jackson or HM the Queen of Great Britain, having VIP run of the place. And much as the hotel's golden-marbled lobby-cum-lounge dazzled with glittering crystal chandeliers and exquisite stained glass, including the stunning domed skylight, it all seemed rather empty, lacking the constant frisson of tourists and intriguing characters coming and going...
Most times I had the place to myself and by around 10pm, the doorman bolted the front doors, locking what few guests there were in like a cheap backpacker guesthouse!
Hotel Majestic's iconic watering hole, M Bar, up on the eight floor, is one of the city's most popular rooftop bars, boasting panoramic city and river views and despite its cavernous size, most nights jammed with guests, tourists and expats. However, thanks to the pandemic, that night there were just three guests (no wonder the head bar man was ecstatic to see me). Thankfully however, by the time the in-house Filipino band started belting out their cheesy but infectiously toe-tapping melodies, a large family group of Saigonese turned-up and filled out the terrace (a bit).
When all the world is crumbling around you, a Miss Saigon signature cocktail (or two) makes everything seem not quite so bad...
I also scored a freebie media stay at the funky Fusion
Suites Saigon; however, their normally high occupancy rates had plummeted with the Covid-19 border closures, all-too evident with only ten guests in the house and as the sole diner in their bright, open-plan lobby restaurant. Weeks later, with a continual lack of guests, this tourist favourite was forced to temporarily close and later, put on the market for sale.
Struggling with low occupancy rates, other featured hotels could only offer me hosted lunch or dinners, but sheesh! during a pandemic and surviving on a self-enforced budget, this Jaded Empress could hardly grumble, wonderful gourmet cuisine and drinks, with classy service and amid fabulous surrounds...and no face masks, social distancing or hand sanitizer in sight.
"How would you like your gin and tonic, madam?"
Living the high-life, literally, up on the 23rd floor of the five-star Hôtel des Arts Saigon - MGallery and at a hosted dinner at their signature restaurant, The Social Club, the head bar man concocted a bespoke Gin & Tonic for me right by my table (made with aromatic spices, orange and astronomically-priced Japanese gin) that beautifully accompanied the fabulous starter (scallops, my favourite), then mains and dessert .......
Unfortunately, I was unable to secure a media stay at lavish The Reverie Saigon, Vietnam’s sole ‘Leading Hotels of The World’ member and most opulent five-star hotel, but I did get to sit-down at a hosted lunch of sublime dim sum at the aptly named The Royal Pavilion - justifiably self-proclaiming itself as 'Vietnam's finest Chinese dining' ........
Looking around at the moneyed, well-heeled Vietnamese diners lunching at this super-refined, sumptuous restaurant, you'd never guess there was a global pandemic going on... until you discovered how many guests were actually booked-in that night, at this 286-room, internationally acclaimed hotel.
Just some examples of the fall-out from the border closures; with no international tourists, the city's tourism and hospitality industry suffered dreadfully and with business decimated, many tourist-dependent establishments temporarily shut or were forced to close down.
The increasing number of shuttered premises along tourist epicentre Dong Khoi boulevard and surrounding streets in central Saigon presented a stark reminder of the ravages of the global pandemic.
One by one, several of my personal fave shops, cafés and restaurants sadly disappeared for good, including one-of-a-kind tourist haunt, Chi Hoa, popular for its delicious Vietnamese home cooking (as detailed here).....
several hip home décor stores, not to mention, upmarket hand-bag heaven, Ipa-Nima, along beleaguered Le Loi Street, on Hai Ba Trung Street, my go-to Indian restaurant, Ganesh, always extending a warm welcome to me and its kitchens dishing-up the finest butter chicken. ever..
and on the corner of Mac Thi Buoi, beloved flagship café, Cong Ca Phe, a stand-out for its distinctive vintage interiors (as chronicled here), which I frequented numerous times on my downtown forays.
But the most jaw-dropping disappearing act of all: legendary Temple Club, a gorgeously refined, exquisitely decorated restaurant, housed in a historic mansion; fond memories of atmospheric dinners here and an upscale establishment - akin to an exclusive supper club - I'd featured countless times in international publications .....
Housed on the ground floor, extending out to a lovely, Parisian-style pavement terrace, another Saigon institution, Fanny Ice-cream, relocated nearby to a far less inspiring, inclusively indoor premises. Inevitably, looking now in disrepair, this priceless heritage premises will most likely be torn down.......
October
Meanwhile, other aspects of life (local) seemed to positively thrive in HCMC, a succession of traditional, large-scale festivities and events that still went full steam ahead(despite a global pandemic raging across the planet) and the odd restriction...many of which I hadn't experienced before and turned-out great fun!
Coinciding with the full moon in late September or early October, the 15th day of the eighth lunar month brings on the Mid-Autumn Festival, a traditional festival especially celebrated in East Asia and of course, Vietnam, where it's known as 'Tet Trung Thu' and is the second most important festival after the Lunar New Year (Tet).
In HCMC, the best place to experience Mid-Autumn Festival is in Chinatown ('Cholon,') which sprawls across District Five; here amongst the amiable Viet-Chinese community, you'll find the most traditional and vibrant atmosphere and biggest festivities, lasting around a week or so. I attended the final night on October 1 and despite Covid-19, the compact grid of streets in central Chinatown where the festival centres on was jam-packed with locals - mostly families; so many visitors crammed down the narrow, bustling streets, there was almost a complete bottleneck of bodies. Definitely no social distancing here, although everyone did wear their face masks!
Mid-Autumn Festival is also known as 'Lantern Festival,' why the streets here are gorgeously illuminated with decorative lanterns of all shape, size and colour, hanging-up in homes, shops and businesses for sale and decoration and traditionally symbolising beacons to light the way to prosperity and good luck!
As well as glowing lanterns, I was also captivated by lion dances, yummy Chinese street food and having my written prayers attached to giant coils of incense, which are hoisted up into the rafters of ancient pagodas (read more about this amazing experience in my latest blog post,
Magical Mid-Autumn Festival in Ho Chi Minh City's Chinatown, HERE
Then after month's of inactivity, the city's progressive art scene was starting to get back on its feet and the excellent art galleries, launching exhibitions again. This included renowned Craig Thomas Gallery, tucked away in upper District One, with their solo art exhibition, 'Hidden Flowers 2,' showcasing the latest collection by Saigon-based artist, Nguyen Thi Chau Giang....
the Jaded Empress herself, hobnobbing with Saigon artist, Nguyen Thi Chau Giang....
On the evening of October 23, the opening reception party of this intimate art gallery was mobbed, literally, with locals and expats, despite the city pummeled by a wild tropical rain storm. Maybe like me, these art lovers were just grateful to attend cultural events once more, especially when serenaded upon arrival by a violin quartet and admiring Ms Nguyen's stunning series of water colour and pigment on silk paintings, while clutching a complimentary glass of rosé wine. .....
November
While for most places in the world, international travel, even internal travel was a complete no-no and jaunts to far-flung tropical islands a far-off dream, Vietnam enjoyed a thriving domestic travel market: home-grown flights, resorts and holiday hotspots were doing a roaring trade, with unprecedented bookings from stir-crazy local Vietnamese and expats.
By the time November came round, much as this Jaded Empress loves her Saigon life, there comes a point where she's in dire need of a break from the city, not to mention Covid-19 fatigue. And it just so happened, with a perfect storm of super cheap flights, slashed hotel rates, the end of the monsoon season and a prize-winning voucher for a 2-night stay at one of Southeast Asia's most luxurious resorts (that had to be used pronto), etc, etc, it was high time to fly-off to the beautiful tropical island of Phu Quoc, a mightily convenient one-hour flight south of HCMC, dangling below the Cambodian border... a much needed break and a complete privilege in these Covid-19 times!
Seems though like everyone else had the same idea to flee to Vietnam's largest island; my Vietnam Airlines flight from Saigon airport was fully booked, tellingly all passengers, Vietnamese..... I was the only foreigner on board. Phu Quoc is an increasingly popular beach destination on the Asian stage, there's even a swanky new international airport to handle all the waves of foreign tourists flying-in; during the dry season, the hotels, resorts, beach bars and beaches, etc are usually overrun with visitors.
So here's Phu Quoc's aptly-named Long Beach, the island's most popular beach strip....
its 12-mile (2o-kilometres) stretch of golden sands lined with a continuous run of resorts, guesthouses, beach bars, water sports centres and so on. But look here how deserted this magnificent beach strip was during the day, in what is early high season and heartbreaking to see all the boarded-up water sports kiosks, local eateries and even some guesthouses due to lack of normal trade. However, what must be noted as a notoriously polluted beach with plastic waste and general flotsam, mainly during the monsoonal rainy season, Long Beach and the sparkling turquoise waters that lapped it, were now unusually pristine and garbage free. That, along with the seductive bath-like temperatures and noticeable absence of fellow holidaymakers splashing around, was why I was prompted to swim alone in the crystal-clear sea for hours.......
Actually, this is deceptive: many resorts along Long Beach were actually pretty booked-up, but with Vietnamese / domestic tourists; unlike most foreign varieties, who tend to lie on sun-loungers frying themselves like chickens in the sweltering heat, or out at sea trying their hands at various water sports, generally speaking, the Vietnamese head off to excursions across the island during the day, then return back to their resorts in the breezy cool of the late afternoon, descending in their droves into the warm sea for a refreshing sunset swim......
...the time of day when foreigners like myself tend to hit the beach bar, albeit this November noticeably far fewer international patrons than usual, etc....
Further north on the island, another resort I stayed at had mostly foreign expat guests, flying-in from Hanoi, Danang and HCMC, perhaps, like me, reveling in the fact they could enjoy affordable tropical island holidays when others, in Covid-19 ravaged Europe, UK, North America, etc, could not....especially during the northern hemisphere colder climes. The French GM of this popular expat haunt revealed business was booming, as those Vietnamese expats that normally fly-off to international destinations, but were now unable to, like me, were making the most of Vietnam's own treasures, especially when resort prices were complete bargains.
Anyway, whoever you were, wherever you stayed and whatever you got up to during the day, most tourists on the island tended to head to Phu Quoc Night Market, in the main town Duong Dong, one of the island's most popular tourist attractions - and rightly so. Due to the lack of international tourists, many bars, clubs, restaurants, etc, had closed or slashed their hours and service, so this open-air night market really was the place to come, crowded the three successive nights I visited.
The night market's main draw card is chowing down on freshly-caught seafood, what Phu Quoc is famed for, at one of the many no-frills, open-air food stalls and eateries that grill and barbecue succulent prawns, crabs, clams, oysters, scallops, squid and more.. a ridiculously cheap, yet tasty feast watching the crowds pass by .....
This is also the best spot to snap-up bags of Phu Quoc's world-famous peppercorns, cultivated in plantations across the island (the fresh green and black peppercorns made a fantastic aromatic addition to my home-cooking for months) .....
and simply to interact with all the amazingly friendly, laid-back and evidently happy market vendors and islanders; although tourism had taken a (large) dent, Pu Quoc's alternative home-grown industries - seafood, peppercorns, fish sauce, pearl farming, etc - had not.....
December
Joy to the world! Er, maybe not.... most folk across the world this festive time experiencing dreary lockdowns, or pandemic limitations. Here in HCMC, it was like a Christmas miracle coming to town and unexpectedly finding myself here, I had myself a very merry Christmas (considering), following along the lines of Christmas past in HCMC, IE, pre-pandemic times, as chronicled here.
Christmas Eve: a refined festive afternoon tea full of yule-tide goodies was swiftly followed by traditional Christmas carols performed by hotel staff in the lobby of the five-star Caravelle Saigon, proving year after year, hands-down the best international hotel in town to get you in the Christmas spirit....
It really was, Jingle bells, Jingle bells, all the way!
Leaving these upscale quarters, I hit the chaotic streets, where no one was more happy than me to see the annual free-for-all tradition that is Christmas Eve night in HCMC: inexplicably, the night before Christmas, Saigonese out on their motorbikes en masse, with kids dressed-up in their finest Santa Claus attire.....
have their photo taken in front of downtown's gaudy but glorious Christmas decorations, admire the twinkly seasonal street lights and try and track down Father Christmas, handing out sweets from a giant red sack .........
As usual, all the action (and mayhem) centred around the 19th century Notre Dame Cathedral, with mobs of people congregating outside to celebrate Christmas and for some lucky worshippers, access to the highly sought-after Midnight Mass... ....
All of which, I never imagined to be able to experience this year, like I'd done in previous years, what with Covid-19 lurking around in the background, nor appreciate so much HCMC's insane traffic, surely at its ridiculous best on Christmas Eve night, as revealed here..... .
I had joined-in these Christmas Eve nocturnal rituals before, but never, the Christmas Day English morning Mass at Notre Dame Cathedral.... until this crazy year.....
Normally, I wouldn't have a hope in hell chance of getting a pew seat at the very popular, sole English-language Mass here on Christmas day itself. But with no tourists in town and a depleted expat population, this year I finally got to attend the 9am service, another first! albeit the stunning Cathedral still got packed to the rafters with Vietnamese and foreign Catholics... .
True, everyone wore face masks, albeit these were hastily whipped-off for a brief few minutes for that essential, Christmas day shot in front of the cathedral's sumptuous marble altar ....
and the nativity scene in the outer courtyard.......
What a lovely way to spend a Christmas morning: a beautiful service and inspiring sermon, warm sense of community, with fellow worshippers extending heart-felt Christmas greetings to each other within a colonial-era architectural masterpiece.... which, for the time I'd lived in HCMC, was nigh on impossible for tourists to enter, thanks to ongoing exterior renovations and extensive scaffolding.
Later on, I even enjoyed a traditional Christmas turkey dinner with all the trimmings, in an expat café-restaurant overlooking a small shaded park, just at the rear of the Cathedral!
Thanks to some idiot lab technician in Wuhan, China, most cities across the world had their New Year's Eve celebrations cancelled. But not, however, HCMC, which, just like previous years, hosted grand-scale live concert performances and firework displays on the last night of the (western) year. And I was fortunate enough to enjoy all these brilliant - and free - celebrations, along with all the other thousands of revelers packed into the city centre .......
The main pre-midnight event, a massive, multi-hour live concert on Nguyen Hue boulevard was simply staggering, compared to what was (not) going on in the rest of the world .......
Non-stop glitz and glam singing and dancing performances on stage in this downtown pedestrianised zone, jam-packed with Vietnam's bright young things and families ....and as you can see, certainly no social distancing here (and not everyone wearing face masks, either)....
More than happy to be just one of the crowd!!
HCMC's annual firework display at midnight, albeit 15 minutes-long, was spectacular and uplifting, watched by excited crowds crammed rows deep along the banks of the Saigon River, another memorable first for this Jaded Empress.....
.... where else would you accidentally find yourself dancing to techno music amongst a mob of under 25's at 1am on NYE during a global pandemic?
February 2021
Another NYE swiftly followed in February; namely Tet Nguyen, the Vietnamese Lunar New Year (to save me repeating myself, read all about Vietnam's most important festival of the calendar year,
here).
With dates determined each year by the Lunar calendar, in 2021, Tet fell in mid-February; things officially last seven days, but festivities, events, rituals and celebrations continue for weeks before and after New Year's Eve and Day. Again, I normally wouldn't attend all these local festivities, previously, guilty of being a tad dismissive of them and usually flying-off on holiday to an international destination. But maybe with Covid-19 and what was happening elsewhere on the planet, it made me appreciate even more the Vietnamese Tet traditions and infectious joy and fun, able to authentically interact with local life and join-in the bustling events with fellow Saigonese folk... an opportunity I may not get again.
As these awesome experiences spread over several weeks have been well documented on my gi-enormous, 'My big fat Tet Lunar New Year celebrations in Ho Chi Minh City' chronicle, here, only a few Tet highlights below .....
After attending the pre-Tet festivals as above, a few days before New Year's Eve on February 11, HCMC authorities promptly ordered the city's bars, clubs and nightspots to close and all cultural, sports and entertainment activities to cease, etc, until further notice. This was due to Covid-19
community transmission cases rising in several city districts since the country's
latest outbreak began around late January (the national Covid-19 tally now stood at around 2,050 related cases and 35 deaths). Which, at a time of major socialising and big crowds, was a kiss of death for many local and international venues, unable to do business at their most lucrative time of the year.
Which explains why, HCMC's blue riband Tet event, Nguyen Hue Street Flower Festival, canceled its forthcoming scheduled opening ceremony and pruned back its hours from 8am to 5
pm (so no evening laser and light shows) and the annual New Year's Eve firework display and live concerts didn't go ahead as normal. Sigh. Another year I didn't get to see the Tet fireworks, but at least this time, I finally got to see the similar style, December 31 celebrations (and didn't have to repeat the 3km walk home from downtown at 2am, as it's impossible to find any taxis).
Although mandatory mask wearing was maintained, curiously though, post-Tet pagoda festivals I attended, seemed to disregard the crowd and social distancing regulations....
Although this now too-familiar sight was back on at the entrance of a 17th century Chinatown pagoda: a 1-2-3 quick succession of body temperature check, squirt of hand sanitizer and complimentary three joss sticks for all the worshippers who flocked here.
March
Restrictions generally eased-up after Tet (Lunar New Year). Another foray to one of the city's increasing number of excellent rooftop bars, I discovered Banana Mama, a fabulous low-key, unpretentious and fun watering hole, elevated high-up in 'backpackers-ville' in central District One: cool staff, Mediterranean-chic design and drinks without the sky-high prices.... not to mention, awesome sunset views that blur into twinkly city panoramas under the stars.....
As the evening wore on, the al fresco bar got pretty crowded with young Saigonese and foreign revelers; the French owner told me that authorities had re-introduced the 30 maximum patron quota restrictions, as they were getting increasingly twitchy about rising Covid-19 cases. But I thought, geez, any more than 30 in a bar the size of a postage stamp, and you'd closely resemble tinned sardines (or maybe I'm just showing my age).
April
The global pandemic rages on, but this Jaded Empress still had to celebrate her milestone birthday and positively make the most of it in a city where she hadn't originally planned to be for this important anniversary. But again, mainly unencumbered by Covid-19 restrictions, HCMC threw a lifeline of some pretty decent compensations. The night before, late
afternoon cocktails at the historic street terrace of Indochina-era Hotel Continental Saigon (as featured in 'The Quiet American' novel), overlooking the magnificent 19th century Opera House.....
... impeccably served by the Hotel Continental Saigon's adorable waiting staff .....
yet, sadly, even this state-run heritage hotel and tourist favourite had been badly affected by the pandemic fall-out and continuous lack of foreign guests... allegedly, now up for sale.
And the big day itself (coinciding with Easter Sunday): a decadent Champagne Sunday Brunch along the Saigon River at Mia Saigon Hotel, in expat enclave, District Two; a mouthwatering feast washed down with free-flow Champagne in a riverside restaurant along with a heap of fellow international expats .....
hours afterwards, whizzed back to downtown on the hotel's exclusive, James Bond-style speedboat service, complimentary to a few lucky patrons like myself ......
The good life in the hot dry season continued, but things were slowly starting to tighten-up, such as travelling around the country and caps on restaurant dining numbers. For the nation's late April long weekend (marking Vietnam's Liberation / Reunification Day and International Labour / May Day), with the lovely sunny weather, what better place to diffuse in a sweltering metropolis than Korean-owned Lotte Hotel Saigon along the Saigon River. And specifically, their tropically-designed outdoor pool, allegedly the widest in HCMC and surely, one its most picturesque, shaded by coconut palms and frangipani trees (which, I'd discovered by chance at a monthly business networking event back in January, sipping chilled Sauvignon Blanc poolside under clear starry skies.....but I digress)....
True, with many locals and foreign expats here on a staycation, there were packs of families in the pool area and boisterous kiddies splashing around in the water, but unusually,
I relished the crowds, noise and the sight of folk simply enjoying the sunshine. And besides, the inviting pool was the temperature of bath water (inducing you to linger for hours) and the hotel staff were super friendly and pro-actively efficient. I had procrastinated over the expensive day-pass fee, befitting a five-star hotel, but enjoyed it so much, returned a successive second day. And am mighty glad I did, as it turned out, I wouldn't get the opportunity to repeat this treat again.
May
An ominous sign of things to come: on my second day at the pool, I spotted an official notice from the HCMC People's Committee, hastily posted-up outside the sauna and steam room area (which I'd made full use of the previous evening), declaring these complimentary facilities out of bounds as from 6pm onwards. It transpired Vietnam had detected its first locally transmitted cases in over a month and once again precautionary measures were having to be put in place (despite in early May, Vietnam still registering only around 35 related deaths and 3,000 cases).
But from around May onwards, a new wave of Covid-19, a far deadlier and highly transmissible variant - the 'Delta variant' - burst onto the scene. Life as we knew it in HCMC and Vietnam took a very different turn, the party well and truly over; it seemed around this time, the East Asia Covid-19 success stories ... in Thailand, Japan, Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea, etc... also suffered a similar fate.
What had been Vietnam's relatively low Covid-19's cases and deaths rapidly multiplied in July and August - albeit let's bear in mind, for a nation of 90 million or so, even into August 2021 these were still comparatively lower numbers to other hotspots worldwide (under 8,000 deaths)) - the dreaded lockdown returned, but this time, way longer and stricter, weeks then months. And not surprisingly, as one of the planet's most densely populated cities, former poster child, HCMC, got relegated to the 'bad boy of Vietnam' status as the nation's epicentre of the Covid-19 Delta Variant!
.....All of which is now detailed in my latest Part 2 chronicle, found here....
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