Hanoi viewed through Leica M

[Out to Lunch]

typical hanoi beverage station

A nice one. I love to hang-out at a similar road-side coffee shop near where I stay in Ho Chi Minh City. Strangely enough, the kids prefer foreign and Vietnamese-owned
chain stores, like Starbucks, Phuc Long, and Highlands Coffee.

 

[kiemchacsu]

Thanks,
I think chain stores and local stores will co-exist.
Sometimes when I need to meet customers in a fancy places, I would go to STarbucks or similar shops.

A nice one. I love to hang-out at a similar road-side coffee shop near where I stay in Ho Chi Minh City. Strangely enough, the kids prefer foreign and Vietnamese-owned
chain stores, like Starbucks, Phuc Long, and Highlands Coffee.

 

[nickthetasmaniac]

Flares after Vietnam beat Malaysia in a World Cup qualifier

Pentax MX, SMC-M 28/f2 and Tmax400

 

[Out to Lunch]

Out to Lunch, on Flickr. Coffee in style at the rooftop bar of the Caravelle Hotel in downtown Saigon. Leica M7 - CV 1.2/35 - TX400.

 

[Out to Lunch]

Out to Lunch, on Flickr. Coffee at Kem Bach Dang, an old-world coffee & ice cream shop on Le Loi in District 1, Saigon. Zeiss-Ikon ZM - Zeiss Tele-Tessar 4/85 ZM - TX400.

 

[nickthetasmaniac]

Tam Cốc, to the south of Hanoi

SWC/M and Portra400

 

[Out to Lunch]

Out to Lunch, on Flickr. Ferry landing at Thanh Da, Ho Chi Minh City. Leica M-E - Zeiss Distagon 4/18.

 

[kiemchacsu]

Some great photos above. Thanks all for posting.
@out to lunch: I got to visit Caravell roof top one day, looks amazing. Do you have any photos of the city take from there,

@Nick: Ninh Bình province is fantastic, isn't it?

 

[Gregm61]

Out to Lunch, on Flickr. Coffee at Kem Bach Dang, an old-world coffee & ice cream shop on Le Loi in District 1, Saigon. Zeiss-Ikon ZM - Zeiss Tele-Tessar 4/85 ZM - TX400.

Really like this image, the composition, the way you used the light, processed and the excellent background highlights retained.

 

[kiemchacsu]

old people taking care their grandchildren

2103_F2_50F2_UFX100_04 by Trung Nguyen, on Flickr

 

[Out to Lunch]

Thanks, Gregm61!

 

[Out to Lunch]

Hi Trung, a view from the Caravelle rooftop bar:




Downtown Saigon dates back to the French colonial days. It has not only survived but all the landmark buildings have been renovated and preserved or replaced by similar
structures: on the far right, the spires of the cathedral, which is now undergoing major renovations; on the right, the Continental Hotel where Graham Greene drank his
whiskey and wrote the first chapters of The Quiet American; in the middle, the Eden Building which was wrecked and then rebuilt in the same style -unfortunately, it lost
the famous Eden Cinema, and on the left, the Rex Hotel. During the war, it served as a USA officer billet and was also the venue where the US Army briefed the press
corps -aptly named by them as the 'five 'o-clock follies'. Nikon FM3A - AIs Nikkor 2.8/28 - Ifinity Uxi 200.

 

[Out to Lunch]

Some more pictures taken from the Caravelle roof top bar:



A view over Nguyen Hue Boulevard before it was transformed into a pedestrian street. In the background, Saigon Center, which was built just before the economic downturn in 2008, and was one of the first high rise buildings in the city.



Rooftops with the dominant VinCom Center buildings to the right. After it was completed, city planners changed their mind and destined Dong Khoi Street as a low to medium high building area. Instead, Le Loi and Nguyen Hue Boulevards were chosen as the future high rise business style venues.



A similar view over Nguyen Hue Boulevard with a jumble of individual houses and businesses. Many of these have been demolished to make way for high rise developments. Land prices in this area are very high. Some have complained about current city developments but I am not one of them. Vietnam has one of the fastest growing populations in the world and they can't live in nostalgia. PS. These pics were taken with the original Fuji X-100, which is, even today, a competent camera for urban landscape exploration. Cheers, OtL

 

[nickthetasmaniac]

@Nick: Ninh Bình province is fantastic, isn't it?

Yes we really enjoyed it down there, a very different pace of life to Hanoi.

This shot was taken in Trang An, near our accomodation.

SWC/M and Portra400

 

[kiemchacsu]

Hi OTL;

Thanks for informative descriptions, and great photos also.
I am also in the side of promoting city development, as many can see that we've changed dramatically since end of the civil war in 1975.
The concern here is how to mitigate the down side of rapid development.

Some more pictures taken from the Caravelle roof top bar:

A view over Nguyen Hue Boulevard before it was transformed into a pedestrian street. In the background, Saigon Center, which was built just before the economic downturn in 2008, and was one of the first high rise buildings in the city.

Rooftops with the dominant VinCom Center buildings to the right. After it was completed, city planners changed their mind and destined Dong Khoi Street as a low to medium high building area. Instead, Le Loi and Nguyen Hue Boulevards were chosen as the future high rise business style venues.

A similar view over Nguyen Hue Boulevard with a jumble of individual houses and businesses. Many of these have been demolished to make way for high rise developments. Land prices in this area are very high. Some have complained about current city developments but I am not one of them. Vietnam has one of the fastest growing populations in the world and they can't live in nostalgia. PS. These pics were taken with the original Fuji X-100, which is, even today, a competent camera for urban landscape exploration. Cheers, OtL

 

[kiemchacsu]

recent shots by Nikon F2 lens 50F2 Auto-H
Ultrafine Extreme 100 souped in HC-110B

Hymn for the weekend life by Trung Nguyen, on Flickr 2103_F2_50F2_UFX100_10 by Trung Nguyen, on Flickr

 

[Out to Lunch]

An old-style alleyway -Binh Thanh District.



New-style -crossing the Saigon Bridge -with Vinhomes Central Park and the Landmark 81 tower in the background.

 

[Rayt]

Mr. Lunch, Do you have any photos of the Da Nang dragon bridge?

 

[Out to Lunch]

Hello Rayt, unfortunately, I don't have photos of the dragon bridge. I've had a look and these are some of the shots I took in, or near Da Nang:













Cheers, Out to Lunch

 

[Rayt]

Nice! The last one is brilliant. I have only ever spent a few days in Da Nang, always in a hurry to get to Hoi An from the airport.