Old and new entwined

There's a new place in Saigon where the cool kids hang, and it's old

The first few sunbeams of Monday morning fall down on the ramshackle rooftop of 42 Nguyen Hue. Some splash on newly-cleaned glass windows of surrounding skyscrapers, filling the famous pedestrian street with such radiance. That is when aunties and uncles emerge from the dark hall of Nguyen Hue apartment building, bags of bottled drinks and snacks slumped over their shoulders. Every now and then, a group of teenagers in hippie clothes would walk past fancy boutiques to stop at the rusty gate, greet the vendors with smiles and follow each other quietly into the building. “This old place is now the coolest place in town” they say.

The old Nguyen Hue apartment building standing tall and still on present day among layers of lavish stores

Vendors, signs and busy daily activities overlapping at the small gate

Having been in Saigon since the middle of the 20th century, Nguyen Hue apartment used to be the very place that housed government and military personnel, enough to witness the roller coaster ride of history and culture of the city. By now it has grown dilapidated, inhabited only by elderly who have called this place home since childhood, and a handful of poor extended families. Recent years, nevertheless, saw a breath of modernity to life at Nguyen Hue apartment, blown by aspiring young entrepreneurs who brought out the aesthetic side of the crumbling building to create a fashionable stop for Saigon youngsters.

“So many ‘dope’ clothing stores start to appear here. And pretty vintage, indie coffee shops as well. This place never fails to delight me” exclaimed Nguyen, a frequent customer at the apartment, as she leads us up to the first floor. The scratched, peeled-off spiral staircase stained with damp footsteps gives a feel of a black-and-white classic movie, until the light from back-to-back stores bears a slice of modernity. Signs in all shapes and colors flashing very Western names such as “Thinker and dreamer”, “Partea”, “Chicbae” stick out from freshly-painted walls. Through the window glass, mannequins in à la mode clothing and Scandinavian furniture pieces shout luxurious all over. We walk through the door of Lapin clothing store and go through what feels like Charli XCX’s very own closet while jamming to a Billboard hot 100 playlist. It is such vigorous ambience that one might forget that they are in a decaying building.

The building, beaten by time and life, now calls for restoration

Shopping store and the interior of the building stand side by side in contrast

“Touring Saigon has never been like before ever since the growth of café – fashion apartments like Nguyen Hue.” said Nguyen as she sips from her antique teacup amidst a replica of Buckingham Palace tearoom in Partea shop.

“Any first time tourists in Saigon are likely to be recommended Ben Thanh market, or museums. As historically valuable as those places are, Saigon isn't just about old traditions. Or "exoticism"! Or "wars"! If you want an authentic feel of a Saigonese living in the now, this is the place to be”.

At that, we stop and take a look around the room, wherein teenagers here and there are giggling with their friends, or sitting back and swaying to the jazz track that just came on. Although the modernised part of this place is no different from a super mall just a few meters away, there is no group of visitors every minute that crowds the place with loud chatters, no pushy staffs who urge you to choose or move with their eagle eyes or bombard of suggestions. Maybe the shop owners are one of those who sit around here, sick of such hassle. Maybe they, too, needed an escape. And so they created one. The building, with its retro tone, embodies one of many desires of the young Saigonese. They all want to run away from their busy city life to experience a piece of old times. But at the same time they never want to leave the comfort of modernity too far behind. And in this apartment they find fashion items close to the Vincom Center or Diamond Plaza kinds, through which they could spend all day sifting in a much more relaxed manner. Here, behind the century-old walls of foreign-inspired coffee shops, they find their peace of minds as they dip in nostalgia and go on their solitary exploration of different cultures.

Shops competing with their original exterior designs

The inside of a nature-inspired coffee shop

But the youths are not the only ones to enjoy this wind of change. Grandma Nam Anh, whom we find cleaning vegetables alone at the tiny dark corner on the stairs, greets us with a crooked smile and invites anyone who passes by to sit down and have a chat with her. Her extended family has been living here since war time, residing at the far end of the apartment along with most of the permanent residents here. Their houses hide under the staircase, behind a rusty metal gate easily oblivious to the modern eyes.

Opposite the luminous café and clothing section, apartment residents carry on with their days behind grunge walls

There in the middle of the one-meter wide staircase, we squat down next to her, like wide-eyed kids gathering in a circle for folk tales. Grandma looks into the distance as she recalls the once dynamic life here back in the days, when her husband who was a soldier used to sit around the apartment with his fellows and together they sang and danced the night away. Overtime, when high-end apartments rise in number around the city, and Nguyen Hue building starts to grow shabby. More and more people move out, leaving it in gloom.

Only until the trend of fashion stores and coffee shops in old apartments came was the place brought back to life. Grandma recounts how the atmosphere was lifted up when teenagers started to fill the place with their urban vibe. Grandma enjoys watching kids come in and out, and welcomes anyone who comes to ask for direction or just talk with her. Shop owners often invite her family over for a meal - not much different from old times. "The kids are friendly, and those who stay here love me", she whispers shyly.

We are waving goodbye to her when a girl dressed in punk emerges from one of the stores to give her a lunchbox. The two start exchanging smiles, warm looks, and playful tease. There we saw the generational gap closing. There we saw the old and new co-exist in such harmony.

Le Thanh Nhien (2016)