Welcoming Christmas in 32 degree Celsius weather in Ho Chi Minh City

To have a Christmas photo album "as beautiful as Europe", some young people are willing to spend from 2 to 3.5 million VND for a photo shoot amidst the snowy scene at Christmas cafes in Ho Chi Minh City.

In the 30-32 degree Celsius weather of Ho Chi Minh City, the "snow villages" have become popular meeting places, crowded both on weekdays and weekends. Although Christmas is still more than two months away, many coffee shops have already "transformed" with a brilliant Christmas atmosphere, filled with lights and flying artificial snowflakes.

Traveling nearly 15 km from her home in Binh Dong ward (HCMC), Tam Nhien arrived at a coffee shop in Tan Thoi Hiep ward (HCMC) at 8am, when the shop had just opened, to start the Christmas photo shoot. She said she spent about 2.5 million VND on makeup and two outfits, all ideas and shooting angles were consulted by the crew. Nhien rented the outfits for 100,000 VND/set/day. "On weekends, the shop is inevitably crowded, but I was still very happy because I had two friends with me and the crew guided me enthusiastically in posing," Nhien shared.

Inspired by snow-covered European villages, the cafe introduced the Christmas concept from September 22, while the Mid-Autumn Festival concept is still present. The highlight attracting young people is the space covered with artificial snow and snow machines operating in two time slots, 10-11am and 7-8pm, each time 5 minutes apart. The scene of snow falling in the heart of Ho Chi Minh City has become a moment that many people wait for to check-in in the middle of "winter in the tropics".

Talking to Tri Thuc - Znews , Truong Ngoc Trung (HCMC) said he started taking Christmas photos from mid-October, when many coffee shops simultaneously changed their concepts after the Mid-Autumn Festival. "I only take 2-3 photo sessions a day, each customer has a separate time slot to ensure quality. I usually advise customers to go in the middle of the week to avoid crowds. If the shop is too crowded, I will choose the shooting angle with the least unnecessary details or re-process in post-production," he said. According to Trung, each photo session, including makeup and photography, usually lasts at least 2 hours, costing from 2 million VND for one outfit. If a second outfit is taken, the cost increases by about 500,000 VND/month.

Taking advantage of the weekend, the two children Dau and Chuot (6 years old) were taken by their mother to a coffee shop to take early Christmas photos. Hong Phuong (Tan Thoi Hiep ward, Ho Chi Minh City), Dau's mother, said that every time the shop changed its decoration concept, she took her children there to capture the new moments. "The children were very excited to be dressed up and hang out with their best friends. Even though the shop was quite crowded, they still ran around freely, and I still managed to 'hunt' for some good photo angles to keep the image of my children when they were young," Phuong shared.

Not far away is a famous check-in cafe, located in a three-story castle. This year, the cafe chose a Christmas Eve concept with a pine tree covered with red balls, ribbons and large bows. The fireplace, crystal chandeliers and warm yellow light create a luxurious, cozy space, reminiscent of European nobility.

In the spacious space, ceiling-high bookshelves and elaborate reliefs create a classic, luxurious background. In this context, many young people wear thick sweaters and scarves, despite the city's 32-degree heat to get a satisfactory Christmas photo set. Red and white are still the two main colors, evoking a brilliant festive atmosphere.

At the invitation of a friend, Pham Tu Linh (HCMC) dressed up to go to this cafe to take Christmas photos: "The space here is quite luxurious, there are many shooting angles so even though it is crowded, I can still easily find a place to pose", Linh shared. She said the price of about 80,000 VND/dish is reasonable, the drinks are okay, nothing too special but enough to relax while waiting for your turn to take photos.

For their first Christmas photo shoot, Kim Yen and Ngoc Duy (HCMC) spent time researching the concept of the restaurant to rent suitable party outfits. Yen said that at first she was quite awkward in front of the camera, but after a while she found a satisfactory angle. "We rented the clothes for about 200,000 VND, and the rest was taken by the people who came with us to take the photos. The restaurant space is beautiful and neatly decorated, so everyone can easily get beautiful photos," Yen said.

Located on Hoang Hoa Tham Street, a coffee shop has been decorating with a Christmas concept since the end of September. The shop representative said that because the space is warm and suitable for the holiday season, the shop decided to skip the Mid-Autumn Festival to celebrate Christmas early. The small house is filled with yellow lights, each corner of the room has a nearly 2 meter high pine tree, surrounded by gift boxes piled up next to the fireplace - evoking a cozy feeling like being in a corner of Europe in the middle of Ho Chi Minh City.

Tra My ( Binh Duong ward) said she had planned to take photos and shop for Christmas items since mid-summer. She originally planned to take photos in the afternoon, but it started to rain heavily so she had to move to the evening. "I was quite surprised because the shop was beautifully decorated, with many sparkling photo angles and cheap drinks, only about 20,000-45,000 VND/dish," My said. As one of the earliest Christmas check-in shops in Ho Chi Minh City, this place is no longer as crowded as when it first opened, creating a more comfortable feeling for those who want to enjoy the Christmas atmosphere early.

Source: https://lifestyle.znews.vn/don-noel-giua-troi-32-do-co-tphcm-post1595208.html