Friday night was a terrific night in Saigon; Buddha Bar on Thao Dien held its 10th birthday party. The place was absolutely rocking. I have played enough gigs and ran enough events to know that there was in excess of 250 people in the bar and all were having a blast. The bar is of course the most popular bar in district 2 anyway, so a decade of success was never going to pass unnoticed.
Ms. Thu must have been delighted with the number of friends who turned out to help her celebrate the great success that this bar has had, and continues to enjoy. She looked lovely on the night as she always does. Music was provided by Hoochi Cu Chi and Nuoc Mam Experience and they were also really on form. Free food was handed out and there were also many beer promotions and special offers. One word of advice for future events though, must be to keep the special offers simple. It seemed to take the staff half the night to understand what the offers were, and the customers even longer.
Nothing could have spoiled the fun and games though; this was a brilliant. There were so many friends in, it seemed like everyone I know was there. The District 2 crowd is a great bunch and a close-knit community. For me the most pleasing aspect was the fact that the crowd was made up of just about all ages. Early on small children were enjoying the fun. Teenagers and young professionals probably made up the bulk of the crowd but even old farts like me didn’t feel out of place.
If you haven’t been down to the Buddha Bar yet, get in! It is easily the best bar in D2 for my money and offers all the top spots on the TV screens, Pool, great food and drink and a terrific atmosphere most nights. What must have been especially rewarding for Ms. Thu and her staff was that the place packed from really early on. I arrived at 7.00pm and it was busy then. By 9.00pm it was totally packed out and remained so for the rest of the night. By the time the infamous Saigon Buddha Bar Jaeger train got underway, the people were hanging from the rafters.
Congratulations to all concerned from InSeAsia.com. This was a terrific job from one of my favourite haunts.
