Saigon Expat’s Night Out

Living in Saigon as an expatriate might be boring if you choose to be at home after work. No matter if you are Asian or Westerner, it is very common to extend the business deal from office to “night out entertainment”. Other than to strengthen the business relationship, at least they can retreat that homesick feeling with clients and friends.

If you are staying in Saigon, this is a buzzing city for business people and youngsters with non-sleep entertainment.

Business Dinner

Business meetings in offices normally will be continued to entertainment dinner with the client in fine restaurant in town. Sometimes, there are matters which not suitable to talk about during formal meeting can be appropriated to talk during after work activities. It is a normal evening scene along Le Thanh Ton street and Ngo Van Nam street when Japanese businessmen starts to feel in all the Japanese restaurants. At another corners, westerners normally will head up to tapas or western restaurant such as Pacharan Restaurant at Hai Ba Trung Street, Jaspas Restaurant at Dong Khoi Street, The Elbow room at Pasteur Street and many more.

Networking Event

There are many forms of networking events in Saigon which is favorite among foreigners as their evening activities.. It can be a cocktail party, product launching, group gathering or a business talk. Example, British Business Group in Vietnam (BBGV) is one of the aggressive foreigner association in town which are always organizing monthly networking events and business talks for professionals. There are many Vietnamese professionals and expatriates that like to attend this kind of events as this is a good channel for them to catch up with friends or finding new business prospects. Normally this networking event will starts from 6.30pm and finish around 9.00pm. The venue for this networking event normally has been held in five star hotels such as Renaissance Hotel, high-profile restaurant and bar such as Purple Jade in InterContinental Asiana Plaza Saigon and many other posh venues.

Karaoke-ing

This night activity is very popular among Chinese and Singaporean expatriates in Vietnam. Karaoke centers such as No.700 in Tran Hung Dao Street is always a top choice for this group while luxury karaoke clubs such as Club Royal and Renaissance Hotel and Catwalk or International Tourist Club (ITC) of New World Hotel is a premium choice for important Chinese client’s entertainment.

Bar & Club

The bar and club entertainment scene shall be different for different nationalities. For Chinese business communities, clubs in District 5 or Vietnamese Club such as 030 in Ton That Thiep street and Oscar Club in Nguyen Hue Street is popular among them. While for westerners, clubs and bars which played reggae music or house music will be their preferable to hang out after work. Places like Vasco in Hai Ba Trung street, or elite bar such as Blanchy’s Tash and Xu on the same street is the best place to hang out.

Massage Centre

This night activity is very popular among Asian communities in Vietnam especially Japanese, Korean & Chinese. After a long working day in the office, it’s time for them to relax the body with sauna and good body massage. Clean and good service massage centres such as Quynh Nhu Spa & Massage Centre at Ham Nghi street and selections of massage centres along Ngo Van Nam Street and Le Thanh Ton Streets are famous among them.

Other than above night activities, some other expatriate will spend their after work time with other activities such as work out at gymnasium, golfing at golf range or spending time with family in shopping mall or other leisure activities.