When I was kid, every time while sitting in the classroom, I heard the drum beat, the sound of cymbals from the street, sign of a coming Tết, it made my heart beating to their rhythm too, the excitement, the impatient eager for Tết. But now...that feeling has gone, or partially (!), maybe a little bit of it - still left somewhere, and not only me but for many people, many companies -Tết is a big burden of many things: bonus to the staff, gifts to the business partners, some inexplicable duties to the authorities (!?) and obliged duties to the big families : from left to right (i means relatives in any sides), from head to toes ( I mean the lucky money that we should give to the old - to wish their longevity, and to the kids - to wish them to grow fast!). Tết is still good?
Anyway I got some small stories to share before the arrival of the Horse.
The first story - 20 years - is it a long wait?
The first fast-food store in Saigon was KFC, actually there were some others but all were Asian brands. I used to work for Ogilvy & Mather, KFC's advertising agency, so I was involved in the first KFC pioneer store opening at SuperBowl, near to the airport, in 1996. Everyone thought McDonalds would follow later, let's say in a couple of years, but surprisingly no.
In 2005 I decided to leave my Finnish company and to apply for the biggest American fast food brand, my cousin living in US gave me their contact in Singapore. I expressed my interest to work for them...but the answer was - no plan for Vietnam. At that time it was already 10 years after how KFC entered into our market. Then by somehow the destiny put me in the hands of some "famous business people" in Vietnam and that was, honestly, half interesting learning, half miserably suffering process or we often say in Vietnamese - half-smile-half-cry experience. But I survived.
Now in 2014 the first two big McDonalds stores with drive thru will be opened in Saigon, right after Tết, in Feb. Just wonder why it took them nearly 20 years to land in here…when the fast food is already long absent in my appetite!
The second story - the old market will survive forever in Saigon?
Just a very short walk from the most famous flashy boulevard Nguyen Hue to this old market - exactly how it sounds in Vietnamese - Chợ Cũ. This is not historical, not any special memories related to this place, it's simply one of hundred, if not thousand markets that vendors just created by themselves around Vietnam. What they need is just a space along the sidewalk and the buyers.
Day after day, month after month it became a real market selling everything you may need. This old market already - 30 year old. Despite the long-years efforts from the authorities to remove it, it surely scaled down in size but still there. As it's right in the heart of the city so very convenient for tourists to walk around to curiously discover what they are selling here.
Another market along the highway - they gather only before the sunrise, it's apparently the remains of a famous market which was located nearby and has been erased long time ago - Chợ Cầu Muối. By somehow people tried to survive, they gather before sunrise, then disappears quickly…until late afternoon they appear again but fewer vendors. The old market never dissappear in Saigon, despite any big urban changes.
The last story - the great fortune from just a basket of bread in the street.
We all know and many tried Bánh mỳ Như Lan. It would be the most successful case - from a very small stall selling bread in Hàm Nghi, after years the owner miraculously turned it into a huge store which surely cost millions USD to own the estate like this.
To be honest I don't like bánh mỳ from this store, it's not bad but nothing special, not distinctive…especially when the owner expanded the business into so many different foods, even stuffs like dried shrimp, Chinese sausage and then lunch meal.
Many rumours circulated about the woman- the owner: supposedly she's a gambler, a female pop star's lover, a weird character, about her bankrupt, her family plots…True or false, who cares? Look at what she created with her hard work in years, I think we need to give her a great respect. She survived all kinds of cruel rumours. The shop is doing well, very busy during certain special occasions.
So we all survived. I survived in the business mess, the old market survived in the new times, the business woman survived all rumours (by the way I was told she has only two real bad habits: working hard and passionate to the pingpong game!). I guess in probably a week I will update my blog with some latest photos, news about another Tết at home in Saigon. See you then!
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