Almost famous

I take some time of my busy vacation schedule to do some sightseeing of Saigon. I have been to most places, but its always good to see the war museum again, which houses numerous pictures of the French and American wars. The exhibition ends with pictures of deformed babies due to the used Napalm bombs during the Vietnam War. It's all mixed feelings here and it was interesting to see first time visitors reading the shocking captions of the horrible pictures on the grey painted walls. I guess it's time to party tonight!

Saigon's Club Scene is evolving and with new venues opening almost every week, it is difficult to choose a place to 'dance the night away'. Thursday we had pre-drinks at a German Beergarden. Not that the food they served had anything to do with Germany nor the beer was German origin - it was simply the name to attract people to have a few drinks. Looks like German beer has a good reputation throughout the world.
We ride our motor bikes to Saigon Face. Eric reserved a table before hand, so we were treated as VIP's. I mean like REAL VIP's. It took 4 greeters and 3 people opening the doors until we entered the freezing cold club. A one floor venue with plenty of little bar tables and lounge corners to chill in. We are greeted by the manager who walks us over to a table next to the dance floor. 4 security guys watching behind our backs and 3 servers are available around our table to serve us the drink everybody comes to drink here: Hennessey's Cognac. Pored from a 3 liter bottle ($US 1000 - yes - no typo and keep in mind that this high quality beverage is most likely not original and has been pre mixed with water or other substances and then nicely sealed with the government tax seal which is also faked) into little shot glasses and served with a side of water or coke (Cola that is ;-)). 3 DJ's work the music and fill the place with loud tunes from the States. The entire club is filled with about 250 guests and 100 security / wait staff. All clients are in their mid twenties. Finger are being pointed to other tables and they explain me that 'this guy over there' just bought a Ferrari and the other guy on the left is a famous singer in Vietnam. I am asking myself one question: when did these 'kids' make all this money they are spending here. I guess daddy is making some money and I am getting confirmation that most of these kids do not work at all. It's custom that one person pays - here is no splitting bills in Vietnam, so Erik ended up with a nice bill but also some leftover Cognac for the next visit. It was a nice bill Erik ended up with and not too bad for current Vietnamese 'show off' clubs, but certainly an amount you could easily feed a 10 people family for a month in the house next to this club. It was a great experience and I certainly haven't had this kind of treatment anywhere in LA. We were (almost) famous.
For a little night our around time we can't miss an after hour venue. We arrived at a lounge type of restaurant with private cabanas, personal waiter and almost as attentive staff as the club before. Here meets chic Saigon for late night delights like pork brain and snake blood as well as cold beverages of your choice. I only tried the Heineken by the way. Around 4:30am we make hour way home through the empty street of Saigon. That was a nice night out!