InterContinental adds local flavor to meetings deals

InterContinental Asiana Saigon's marketing director, Daniel Kipping, introduces a new hotel program introduce HCMC's culture, charity and community to hotel guests attending meetings - Photo: Mong Binh

InterContinental Asiana Saigon has launched its global meeting program called IC Meetings targeting MICE delegates who want an insight into Vietnam as well as a luxury hotel to hold their meeting in.

Daniel Kipping, cluster director of sales and marketing at the hotel, told the Daily at the package launch on Friday that guests worldwide can access www.intercontinental.com to book packages with menu options for guests to explore the city during their business visit.

Kipping said InterContinental Asiana Saigon could tailor out-of-the-meeting-room activities for guests to see as much of Vietnam as possible.  

The Insider Collection for example offers interactive off-site team-building activities, and the opportunity to contribute to the community and environment.

As part of the collection, Insider Location offers a glimpse of HCMC’s history as part of a day-long board meeting; for Insider Community the hotel has adopted four orphanages where participants can visit and are welcome to give their support; and Inside Speakers presents celebrities and experts who talk about culture, cooking and cuisine.

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Places to celebrate Halloween Night

Scary party heads pose for photos at Seventeen Saloon’s Halloween bash last year - Photo: Official website of the Seventeen Saloon

If you are looking for a cool place for a Halloween party, here’s our list of some hotels, bars and café in town.

*Caravelle Hotel: The Halloween Nightmare Party will be at Saigon Saigon Bar at 6:30 p.m. on October 31 with exciting games, sweet and spooky Halloween drinks, “frightening food” and shock-inducing shots awaiting you and your friends.

Halloween drink list includes Vampire’s Kiss, Blood and Sand, Ectoplasm n’ Eyeballs, Swarm Water Gross and Bloody Vampire for VND135,000++ each.

*Legend Hotel Saigon:  A fabulous night filled with the Halloween spirits and treats lies ready at the hotel’s Atrium Café from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Oct 31. There’s a buffet with frightful dishes, live entertainment by the Jamm’n Essence band and the orange and black scareroom, with skeletons, spider webs, carved pumpkins and frightening creations.

A witch will be flying her broom over the tables to make you scream. While enjoying the live band, you can have Transylvania Dinner, Asian Witch Soup, Dracula’s First Bite and many more devilish foods.

*Windsor Plaza Saigon: On Oct. 31 from 9 p.m. till late, the hotel’s America Discotheque will host Halloween special activities.

Dress up in your best costume for a chance to be crowned Halloween King or Queen of the night in the special costume contest. At 12 midnight, the lights will go out for 15 minutes and Halloween fever will come to life for everyone present.

America Discotheque will be decorated as a haunted house on the evening with plenty of spooky decorations everywhere, including traditional Jack-o’-lanterns, spider webs and mummies. There will be plenty of opportunities to take fun and memorable photographs with special backdrops and photo areas as well.

The hotel’s Café Central An Dong in Dist. 5 and Café Central Nguyen Hue in Dist. 1 will also present a fun-filled Halloween.

*Seventeen Saloon: The saloon will be turn into a Halloween maze with well-known celebrities from hell like Jason, Dracula, Vampire and Frankenstein. There are two different theme nights including “The return of Jason” (the main character in the Friday the 13th horror movie) featuring dances and gameshows on Oct 30 and “The combination of Dracular and vampire” on Oct 31.

The fun starts at 9 p.m. both nights at Seventeen Saloon, 103A Pham Ngu Lao Street, District 1. Guests who buy a bottle of spirits will get one Halloween mask or gift. Seventeen Saloon with give prizes for guests with the best make up. Free make-up is available from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.

For further information, contact 3914 0007 or 0944 017 017.

*Vasco’s bar: To celebrate Halloween on Oct. 30, Vasco’s will transform its two rooms into dungeons. The main room will feature A.K.A.T, DJ Kamel Knight, DJ Robert Brant, DJ Alex Zander, Jordan and Jase while the Blue Room will host several birthday parties with music by Von Knappe, Don Pucci, DR.Jakell and guest performers.

The night also includes a variety of prizes and specials including a bottle of Southern Comfort and a US$200 F&B voucher to be used at La Camargue and Vasco’s for Best Male Costume and best Female Costume. Lucky guests will also have a chance to win bottles of Southern Comfort throughout the night.

Vasco’s 74/7D Hai Ba Trung Street, District 1, HCMC, tel: 3824 3148.

*Acoustic Café: The live music cafe Acoustic will host “Scream From the Ring” at 8 p.m. on Saturday Oct. 30. The Halloween live concert features bands Titanium, Coconuts and Overload, singers Ha Okia, Thao Trang, Chu Minh Ki, Minh MTV and special guests guitarist Nguyen Dat and his famous band Da Vang.

The night will also feature a host of horror games with the chance to win prizes worth US$400. Halloween makeup for guests is available from 6 p.m. Entrance is VND80,000 inclusive of a drink. Entry is free for guests in Halloween costumes.

Acoustic, 6E1 Ngo Thoi Nhiem Street, District 3, HCMC, tel: 3930 2239.

*Hard Rock Café: “Running with the Devil” is the Halloween Special Treat to guests at 9 p.m. on Saturday Oct 30. The café offers free entrance with live music, free shots and special treats for those in Halloween costume.

Hard Rock Café s at Kumho Asiana Plaza, 39 Le Duan Blvd., District 1.

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Fairy tale telling café in noisy town

A view of The Princess and the Pea Café - Photo: Tuong Vi

It’s not difficult for Saigonese to find a coffee shop to escape the noise because there are a variety of cafés including those featuring live music, soft music and comedy performances. But a fairy tale telling café in the heart of a modern city like HCMC is quite new.

The café going by the name of The Princess and the Pea was opened in August by two film directors, Lam Minh Khoi and Vo Thi Thach Thao, as they were inspired by the well-known fairy tale of the same name by Danish author and poet Hans Christian Andersen.

Since it is in a very small alley on the crowded one-way street of Pasteur in District 1, it may take you some time to spot it. Car or bike parking is recommended at the HCMC Exhibition House, 92 Le Thanh Ton Street, and the coffee shop is just across the street. Entering Alley 85 for some meters and looking left, you can see Princess and the Pea sign and go up an old apartment building.

On the walls along the stairs there are many pictures featuring Western folk culture. The dark purple-painted café covers over 40 square meters on the third floor.

This is like a private world for the princess and is divided into three compartments. Given the limited space, the owners arrange low tables with cushions and pillows for guests. All cushions, pillows, curtains and even menus are made from flowered cloths.

At the window is the little smiley doll statue in a blue dress with a basket in her hands. She is a naive countryside girl who sings and dances in the yellow rice field as the tale tells her story.

At the end of the room, there’s a small bed piled with many mattresses reminding guests of the tale. Beside the bed are a mirror and a long red and black gown of the princess. Next to her bedroom is a place for the princess to entertain with the old stories and listen to music.

If you come there, don’t forget to taste a dish called burning rice. Dip a piece of burning rice into a small bowl of fatty onion and roll it with shrimp and salted dried meat, then dip it into chili sauce.

Visitors come to the place because they are curious about The Princess and the Pea tale by Andersen. Once upon a time, there’s a prince seeking a perfect princess for marriage and he goes many places but he finds no perfect lady. On a stormy night, a girl knocks on the door of his palace begging to stay there for a night. She says she’s the perfect one the prince is looking for. To check it, the queen leaves a pea on the bed and piles 20 mattress layers on the pea. In the morning, the queen asks the girl whether she sleeps well or not. The girl says she could not sleep well because of something hard under the bed. The queen smiles as she finds a true wife for her son.

On Friday, from 8:30 p.m. to 10:00 p.m., guests can listen to live music performed by amateur singers with famous movies soundtracks. Moreover, a monologue comedian nicknamed Cucumber performs there and tells guests about daily life stories. Because so many guests come on Friday but the room is small, for a maximum of 60 guests, you need to make reservations by Thursday by phone 0907.703.159 or 0907.010.192.

If you wish to stay away from the noisy streets and enjoy a fairy tale atmosphere after a day of hard work, don’t hesitate to go there.

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