Vues des rues

In a rapidly developing city, the contrasts of sights on the streets are plain for all to see. Even the shiny red Louboutin shop is nestled between local craft shops and two street hawkers.

The chaotic overhead wires in this side street differ widely from the cable-free environs of the Opera House, only a few minutes walk away.

And then again, within close proximity is an alley which houses a tiny fraction of the city's millions of motorcycles.

The central tree-lined garden along Le Loi

shines anew compared to some of the older buildings, as yet unrestored, or awaiting demolition.

The new pyramidic tower of a bank, (what else?), overshadows an ochre colonial building

with its mildewed Empire gateposts.

An advert for a modern bath faces a rather unlikely setting.

And occasionally, as below, sights that have remained unchanged for decades.

Sonata

Coming home is nice too.

Café society

From a rather unlikely entrance, through a motorcycle filled corridor, and up a dilapidated stairwell

on to an open balcony

there emerges the most delightful of cafés, L'Usine.

Where quite delicious homemade food and freshly brewed coffee swirl the senses.

As we were following our own pace, we would wake and then swim, by which time it was too late for the hotel's breakfast schedule. But we were so glad of that and of the recommendation from friends who live in Saigon. L'Usine serves all day breakfast. It is housed in a French C19th colonial building which, according to their blurb has endured the ravages of two wars and been reincarnated as a ballroom, a boutique hotel, an apartment building and government offices. Now this...vestige of Vietnam's colonial heritage has been re-imagined anew...as a 1930s French garment factory.

The rooms have long industrial era inspired furniture, hand built using authentic materials such as cast iron and wood reclaimed from old weaving looms.

The young and friendly staff are efficient, charming and refreshingly sincere. L'Usine has one balcony, visible from the street, below 

and the views from the balcony are of the opera house, to the left of which was our hotel.

Stay tuned for more of sunny Saigon, the hustle-bustled Ho Chi Minh City.

Here today, Saigon tomorrow

A short interlude in Indochina tomorrow, revisiting after five years and staying again at the Park Hyatt Saigon, which previously ticked many boxes for an excellent place to rest one's weary. Whether the intervening period has enabled them to maintain the high standards remains to be seen. I expect much else has changed dramatically in a country growing in leaps and bounds. We are flying on Lufthansa, so I hope my recent experience of things German proves a little more satisfactory. Perhaps I should have pumped up the airship instead. News, views and reviews to follow. 

 

In a country whose currency, the dong is not freely convertible, it is wise to carry US dollars. My attempts at trying to purchase some small denomination notes in downtown Bangkok have proved quite frustrating. The incongruously named "Exchange" counters seem only interested in buying foreign currency, and not selling it. And I'm talking about buying the Greenback, not some exotic like the Papua New Guinea Kina. Ding dong merrily on a highway to nowhere.

The vagries of the system

If I thought I had problems at the auction house, this story, on which I have previously commented, has at last had a happy ending. And twenty million quid, although not as stunning as forty three million, is better than a poke in the eye with a short stick.

Meanwhile, in the real world, this is the latest tablescape with the beast:

It was arranged last night and looked rather pleasing this morning, (despite the unwound clock which might tell you otherwise, that it was morning, not the pleasure). Until the next reincarnation, or the next dusting by she who does, after which all placements have to be reinstalled by the curator.

A late ungulate

The Art Deco bull was delivered to me this morning. It only arrived in Bangkok yesterday morning, so I'm much impressed by the service provided by Thailand Post. Less can be said for its counterpart in Germany, or indeed the auction house. But as they say, better an ungulate than never.

And I am indeed loving the little beast, and still unsure about where it will reside, but enjoying the prospect of playing with placements and tablescaping.

Here? 

Or here?

 

You dear reader (or is that readers?) have endured my pain, but no longer. But if a magazine can run stories on an animal, then so can I. The fact that their's was animate probably accounts for the column inches in national newspapers too. Good grief. Front page news.

My country seat

Well, it's my equivalent of a country seat; one on the balcony. The glorious weather has encouraged us to sit out on one of the balconies where we keep two chairs, and once the sun goes down, two drinks on the table, to enjoy the cocktail hour.

It was mildly alarming to note that the mesh fabric on one of the seats is gradually separating from the main body, and in due course will provide the occupant with an unwelcome surprise. 

My two attempts to get someone to repair the chair have so far met with rather lukewarm enthusiasm, and so I have summoned up my can do approach and tried to think of other ways of repairing the chair. Unfortunately I skipped the sail mending class during my training as a lad on board HMS Victory, but I did rather suspect that whatever resulted from my attempt would look dreadful.

My city seat, the cane one in one of the red lacquer Regency chairs, was collected for its repair this morning, and I took the opportunity to buttonhole the furniture man to see whether he could be a bit more enthusiastic about solving my problem. I suggested to him that if he could supply a similar fabric he could redo both chairs, and this, (the prospect of my spending considerably more money), seems to have encouraged him. Or he could just be being Thai, by saying "yes" to my face and "no" at a later juncture and by telephone or email.

Anyway, like a failing government, I am losing seats quite rapidly. So perhaps it's best if I don't "go to the country", for seats, or any other purpose.

Devil's work

 

Spurred on by activity from the airconditioning technician who replaced the annoyingly noisy part of one of my aircons, and by the fridge man who replaced a section of the ice-making machine on Friday, I called my furniture maker to see whether he could replace the cane underneath one of the dining room chairs, which would have given way to the next occupant, and he turned up on Saturday after lunch to take details.

I then decided to attend to a few other minor outstandings, including cleaning the pair of white urns in alcoves on either side of the front entrance, and the glass shelves upon which they reside. Most people would cherish a Saturday for other activities, but I always like the maid-free environment to attend to things that are best left to me because of their potential for disaster.

The devil is in the detail, and idle hands make the devil's work.

 

And cleanliness is next to godliness.

 

And it's clearly time to find more gainful employment, which may be presenting itself in the form of an interior decoration project in Saigon.

A chip off the old block

 

It is coincidental that two lots at two different auctions I previewed yesterday should be of greyhounds. The above, by Lalique has a slight chip to the base, so would eliminate my interest and will very likely reduce its sales price.

 

This is only an engraving by the original artist's brother Thomas of the oil created by one of Queen Victoria's favourite painters, Edwin Landseer, of Eos, the greyhound belonging to Prince Albert. It is for sale at Skinner in Boston, from where this image comes.

 

Anyway, my interest is concentrated on the arrival of my Art Deco bull, for which the DHL Tracking now informs me that the international shipment has been processed in the parcel center of origin, which as you can imagine makes it almost difficult to contain myself with excitement that it has moved on from the first notification: the instruction data for this shipment has been provided by the sender to DHL electronically, which was logged on 20 December.

 

Perhaps if it had been a greyhound it would have arrived more swiftly. But in any event, arrival without any chip off its block would be much appreciated. But "arrival" is a key event. And providing an estimate as to when this might take place as easy as weather forecasting.

 

Lalique  greyhound image from Case Antiques Inc, Knoxville, TN

Three, two, one...2013

 

 

Happy New Year!