The Continental Hotel...Through the Years

Named after the prestigious hotel in Paris with the same name, manufacturing tycoon,Pierre Cazeau, a home-appliance and construction material manufacturer, provided most of the funding for the hotel in 1880. It was designed with the purpose of providing the French traveler with a French style of luxury accommodation after the long journey from France to Saigon.  Over the years it has housed great poets and artists as well as some of the world's most prestigious journalism outlets including the New York Times and Newsweek, who  covered the country's multiple conflicts throughout the 20th Century. They camped out there because of the building's close proximity to the National Assembly, which is now the Municipal Theatre.

The hotel was featured in the movie The Quiet American, the film adaptation of the book by the same name. The novel was written by Graham Greene, who got the inspiration for writing it while living in the hotel. The Continental is also a prominent venue in the Academy Award-winning movie Indochine.  Absolutely fascinating to see how she has changed over the years.

These photos are in no particular order.

Last but not least....yours truly out the front.  A piece of history in the heart of Saigon.

Jaspas Sunday Roast

Jaspas on Hai Ba Trung offer one of our favourite things on a Sunday.  A roast lunch!  As far as I know it is the only place around that does it and it is so popular if you are planning on visiting you might want to book in advance.  As stated above, for 395,000VND (less than $20AUD) you get a huge 3 course lunch.

Slight problem with this post.  I was so hungry and it looked so good I kept forgetting to take photos.  Please feel free to use your imagination to insert photo of pumpkin soup here....
As for the roast, yummo.  Sorry , I again forgot to take a photo before I started to stuff my face.  This was the New-Zealand lamb and the stuffed pork.

Ummm....sorry...did it again.  This is what is left of my piece of Banoffee cake before I remembered to take a pic.  This is one of my favourite all time deserts in HCMC.  You can actually order a whole cake if you want one for a special occasion and they will make to order.

A great way to get my Iron fix for the week.  They still serve the kids menu for the little ones as well.

In Breaking News.....

Pun intended......
Last nights check up went well and he is happy with the way it is healing.  New cast only on half of the arm this time but has to be on for another 3 weeks.  Unfortunately that means she will have it on for her birthday but I promised we would buy some pink ribbon and wrap it up so it looks pretty.  Hang in there Scarlett.....

Where There's a Will.......

.....and ebay....There's a way!

You Have Mail.

On Thursday Christophers class did a bit of a walking tour of HCMC as they are studying buildings in ICT.  They visited the Cathedral, the Palace and lastly the Post Office where they got to send their own hand drawn postcards to their homes.  Unbelievably...it arrived the next day!

I absolutely loved his interpretation of the Palace.  Fabulous detail right down to the chopper on the roof!  He was beside himself when the postcard was delivered.  I must say...I was a little surprised myself!

Superstitions

Superstitions.  Honestly, I don't know what to make of a lot of this stuff.  My grandfather passed away last  week and as such I made a flying trip to Aus to farewell him with my family.  Speaking about it with Quyen really got me thinking.  She was explaining to me that after 3 years the Vietnamese exhume the body and kind of collect the bones and re-bury them.  Mind you...my Vietnamese is as shite as her English so a bit may have been lost in translation.  It just got me wondering about the differences.  Obviously it is not the first time I have pondered this as being guests here we do try to be respectful of local customs etc.  A bit of internet searching came up with this:

Superstitions

:

There are numerous taboos on all aspects of life in Vietnam, just as we have our omens of bad luck such as walking under a ladder. A few of them are as follows:



Don’t express lavish admiration for a new baby, because the devils might hear you and steal the child because of his desirability.



When going somewhere on business, avoid seeing a woman first. If you do see a woman first as you go out your door or on the way, postpone the trip. (what the!)


Mirrors are often placed on front doors. If a dragon tries to get in, he will see his reflection and think that there is already a dragon there and go away.



Single bowls of rice and chopsticks should not be served. Always place at least two on a table. One bowl is for the dead.

Never let chopsticks touch others or make unnecessary noise with them. Do not place chopsticks in food and leave them there.



Do not hand someone a toothpick.



Never buy one pillow or mattress pad, always buy two.



Do not use relative’s towels.



Do not overturn musical instruments, or beat both sides of a drum simultaneously.



Do not cut finger and toenails at night.



Going dutch with a Vietnamese is not appreciated. If you run into someone at a restaurant and you join his table, let him pay the whole bill or pay it all yourself. The senior person usually pays.



Gifts for brides and grooms are usually given in pairs, including blankets. A single item indicates the marriage is not expected to last long. Two less expensive items are more desired than one nicer one.



Educated people and others who are not in the peasant class do not work with their hands. To do so would appear to try to beat a poor peasant out of his job. In addition, it is considered beneath the dignity of refined people.



Hats are not usually worn inside churches, even Catholic ones.

Now some of this I can definitely see similarities.  Hats in church,....ummmm...  hats in church.  Thats about it for me.  Let me clarify I am not judging what I have no understanding of. What I really want to do..IS understand.  To me, this information is fascinating and I would dearly love to know the history behind them.  I am not even sure what I have posted from google here is accurate but I guess it  is a start.   Lately I have been lucky enough to have had some fantastic input from Vietnamese people who have stumbled across this blog.  If anyone out there knows the answers to the history of some of this stuff I would be fascinated to know.  After all, it is all about sharing information and learning  from each other.  I can guarantee you, if it fascinates me then it also fascinates countless others who want nothing more than to visit Vietnam and show it and its people respect. Basically, no-one wants to do the wrong thing but sometimes it is hard to know what the wrong thing is.  I'm also dying to know why I should not cut my fingernails and toenails at night and all about the relatives and the towels before the family visit. 

Trois Gourmands (Also known as the 4 hour lunch!)

Living away from your home country has so many ups and downs.  On the down side, so many people are coming and going and it seems that every other week we are farewelling friends that we have made along our journey.  On the up side, we get to do it in style!

Enter Trois Gourmands.  This wonderful French restaurant is located out in District 2.  We have been meaning to go there for so long but have never quite made it.  Well, we won't be letting THAT happen again.

Our group opted for the "pretty much eat yourself silly" menu which consists of 3 entrees and a main AND desert AND cheese for about $45.

Our palette cleanser was an interesting one.  Truffle ice-cream!  Mixed reviews but I quite liked it.

This was followed by another small dish which at a guess was egg dusted with truffles.

Alas, this entree was not mine but how good does the ceviche look?

Now this one was mine...all mine!!!!  It was a foie gras pate on the right and a deep fried spring roll filled with foie gras on the left.  It just melted in your mouth.  Really lovely.  Very rich, but VERY tasty!

Tuna done two ways.  Beautiful fresh ingredients.

This was one of my favourites. Tortellini stuffed with lobster swimming in a light buttery sauce.

This one was not mine but from memory it was duck.  Fabulous colours!

A French restaurant would not be a French restaurant without the obligatory escargot.  Loving the dish.

Oh maybe this one was my favourite.  Scallops on a bed of creamy mashed potatoes again with that amazing sauce.  And the mains have not even arrived yet!

Judging by what was left on this plate by the end, the lamb shanks too were a winner.

This was my main dish which was slow cooked beef cheeks with foie gras.  Oh my.  It just fell apart at my touch and the sauce was amazing.  Again, it was very rich and I could only manage half (I'm sure stuffing myself silly with entree's had nothing to do with it), plus I needed to leave room for desert.

Duck breast in orange sauce.

Coc Au Vin.  Note in the back ground, not only were we eating ourselves silly there was plenty of wonderful wine to be had.  And guess what?  You can bring your own!

I am a sucker for cheese and the chef here makes his own.  They vary in texture depending on their age.  We figure these ones were somewhere in the middle.  Seriously good.

This appeared to be one of the younger ones.  It almost had like a goats cheese texture with rosemary and pepper on top.

And here are the aged ones.  Again with the rosemary and beautiful oil.  Oh...so much cheese!

But I could not let the team down and manned up for my desert.  Creme Brûlée is a staple dish that I tend to judge a restaurant on.  This one was a winner.  The top cracked open with a bang and a gorgeous light inside did not last long.

I forgot what this one was!

Chocolate fondant.  Oh my.  Nuff said.

All of that in a lovely setting.  I suppose you could even have a dip in the pool to work it off.  As it was, I think I would have sunk like a stone.

So, that is how you do a four hour lunch.  It went by in a flash filled with fantastic food, wonderful wine and great company.  You have to laugh and realise you really are an expat when YOU receive gifts from the people who are leaving!  As they say...you can't take it with you.  Yes, even the 7 packs of wheetbix you stocked up on after the "Great Wheetbix Drought of '11".  So I wish my dear friends the best of luck with their move to Hanoi.  Make sure you come down and visit soon....I know a great place for a four hour lunch!

333 Bia...or is it 33?

I wonder what year we gained an extra Ba?