Michelle Manzo

After ultimately spending nearly six months in Saigon I can now say it was quite an experience for me. Getting my phone stolen on the plane and then feeling isolated in my hotel room because of the many petty thieves in the streets, I was left disconnected. I was also in hibernation mode because I wanted to focus on just practicing for awhile as well. So even if I felt amazing walking the streets of Vietnam I would have stayed glued to my piano bench anyway. Facebook was also banned and the internet was a tricky feat sometimes….. I then started to feel lonely.

Its funny but there are quite a few ex-pats in Saigon but not much diversity for being social. The Vietnamese way and the ex-pat ways are still pretty segregated when it comes to social gatherings. We just don’t hang the same way. Except for going to clubs. They love going to clubs just as much as an ex-pat but even within the clubs there were more clubs geared for an ex-pat and others for Vietnamese. Ofcourse the biggest difference is the music. Vietnamese have been listening to different things in the past years than an ex-pat. Anyways, I love to dance so I decided to make the club scene my little escape.

I luckily made some really nice girlfriends who I felt safe with drinking and dancing with all night. It then began feeling like college again. All the ex-pats that worked in the hotel I was working at, also lived in house and we were all on the same path….. Going to the same 3 clubs that all ex-pats in Saigon go to. The hotel was like a dorm and we’d see each other at all the clubs all the time. While I was practicing all the time at all weird hours of the night. I’d rush home to practice even if I had been out dancing for a few hours. It was like college again. Seriously. And as much as I wanted to move on and get to my next contract in a more modern civilized country….It hurt when I left Saigon. I made those type of friends that you make in college. We were all experiencing living in such a foreign place and making the best of it. I also met some interesting people who made me question my beliefs and then began feeling like a cast member in “Lost” lol. There is something magical and mysterious about Saigon. Maybe its from all the bad juju from the war but nevertheless I felt a force. 

I have been in Ho Chi Minh City or Saigon for a little over a month now. I’m performing at the Park Hyatt all by myself. Just me singing and playing piano. Its quite an interesting place. There’s just so much energy brewing at all levels. More and more foreigners are popping up, new hotels, new restaurants, luxury mall, stores, gentrification, petty thieves, hostility, heat, everything under the sun. Ninety million people under a communist regime but with an extreme capitalist presence. Yea there’s a lot going on here. There’s a lot going on with me amongst all of this. My iPhone was stolen on the plane and through my “Find my iPhone” app I saw its somewhere in Vietnam. My diamond cross and hair brush was stolen in the hotel, Someone in the states hacked into my bank account and shopped at Target. My card had to be cancelled and the only other card I travelled with was demagnetized. So here I am practicing like crazy, stressed with no money, no iPhone and now the government blocked all access to Facebook. Talk about an adjustment! I’ve lost my daily material dependencies. At first I was livid, then pissed, then stressed and emotional. Now I feel liberated! I can’t let these things ruin my days. They are just things. I’m in the other part of the world. Shit happens. And I have the opportunity to soak up whats really happening around me here. I already see that the outcome of these 3 months in Saigon will be great. 

So while I was there I had the opportunity to make great friends who showed me many shops throughout Tokyo. I went through Ginza, Shibuya, Harajuku, Omotesando, Shinjuku and of course where I was staying at in Roppongi. Shopping was almost suicidal for me. LOL Most Japanese people are not typical bargain hunters like Americans, if they want something they just buy it. So the mark up on many products is sky high. And if that didn’t make things worse the Yen is so strong that my dollar was like a peso. Yes I felt like how Mexicans feel when they come to the states to make more money. Nevertheless because of my good friends I was able to find some places with decent prices. 

For cheap beauty products and all of the above Don Quihote is like a Sephora, Walgreens, Target, Bed Bath and Beyond,  and a Best Buy all in one. It’s 6 floors of total merchandise chaos and they are open 24hours. They are also several ones throughout Tokyo. For a more upscale organized experience you can check out Loft. My favorite one is the the one in Shibuya. They have more cool stuff :) 

I went nuts at this store in Roppongi Hills called Yevs. There stuff is pretty classic but trendy Japanese style clothing. I found them to be cheaper than many other typical Japanese stores and the quality was just as good as the other places. I also went nuts at the 109 building in Shibuya. It was teenager mayhem or a forever 21 on steroids but I had fun there. Even if I didn’t buy, I was inspired by the styles. They are extremely fashion forward and are not afraid at combining mix/match in many different ways.

Ultimately I didn’t find the worth in spending money on clothing there. With the markup being so high and the yen so strong its just throwing away your money for the thrill of shopping. I guess we all do it from time to time but unless you can’t find it anywhere else but in Japan, don’t waste your money on it. I also noticed you can get those only in Japan products online and the price is either the same or cheaper. Save your money :) 

This year has been a great year but it didn’t reach its greatness till I came to Japan. I arrived September 1st and I am truly in love with this country. I came to sing at the Maduro Bar located in Grand Hyatt Tokyo. A gorgeous 5 star hotel located in the trendy Roppongi District. I perform 6 nights a weeks with a bassist, pianist and drummer and we cover songs from the Great American Songbook as well as bossa novas, boleros and some pop/R&B style songs. Its been a treat every night to perform for this audience. Japanese appreciate jazz so much that they are passionate listeners. They hear everything! Its beautiful!! I love this culture. Here are a fews pictures of what I’ve seen throughout the city. I will share more on my thoughts about my wonderful experience in Japan soon…