June in the heart of Saigon, the sweltering heat seemed to burn away the energy of the people bustling about on the streets. There wasn’t enough green to ease the summer’s sweltering heat, so I looked for a green and quiet space to temporarily escape the early heat of the season.
The tree and leaves are like a peaceful green patch in the middle of the city.
The world inside and outside the glass box
Located nearly 15 km from the center of Saigon, in a residential area, Me Cay Me La appears like a peaceful green corner, welcoming me on a very peaceful morning. Every corner of the shop is used to cover moss and nurture plants. The sound of gravel rustling underfoot and the tinkling of wind chimes are the clearest sounds I can hear at the shop door. In the middle of that space, the warm scent of coffee gently takes my feet into the world of terrarium boxes (miniature ecological landscapes in glass boxes).
The space of the shop is filled with green trees and terrarium boxes.
On the shelves and tables arranged around the four corners of the room, each terrarium box from big to small was neatly arranged and closed. Under the soft light shining down from above, the water vapor clinging to the glass walls made the world inside the boxes become magical, cool as if they did not belong to this dry, hot and dusty world.
Terrarium is the art of creating a miniature ecosystem in a glass box, a delicate and creative hobby loved by nature lovers. Not simply growing ornamental plants, terrarium brings a miniature living space, combining green trees, rocks, moss, soil and sometimes even model details such as wooden houses, stone streams, creating a lively and highly artistic miniature world.
Terrarium creates a living and moving ecosystem in a glass box.
Each glass box opens a story about each land, they are named according to the way they were formed and the contemplation of the person who placed each stone and pebble in it. With “The Flow”, each branch of wood and layer of moss seems to be telling a wordless story about the operation of nature. They move slowly like mist through the cracks of rocks, like a small stream running through a wild forest. Or the “Summer Garden” tank is inspired by the peaceful scenery in Ghibli films with cool green grasslands, ancient trees reflecting on the gentle stream, reminiscent of pleasant sleeps on a summer afternoon. There are still tanks like “Village under the Moon”, where time seems to stand still, with only a small stream at the foot of the hill like the flow of time, of the breath of the earth and sky without stopping.
Each terrarium box is like a land that contains stories of nature.
In the middle of the room, the terrarium boxes are gradually taking shape, dripping with mist. The rough gray stones contrast with the smooth green moss, creating harmonious angles of nature, sometimes mysterious like deep forests and caves, sometimes wild and primitive like fallen trees and storms, sometimes soft and gentle like a quiet stream and fine sand.
Every ecosystem created requires creativity from the creator.
The journey of pursuing the art of miniature
In the middle of that green space, Hung and Thuong, the two shop owners, were busy with their own work. Hung is a young man with a love for nature, from the smallest things like grass, moss, and rocks. For Hung, trees also have their own sounds, like when a young shoot breaks its bark to start a life cycle or when a fallen leaf ends its life cycle. Next to Hung, Thuong learned to slowly listen, from which the sound of water flowing through the stream also became a song. Because someone said we will also love what they love.
Hung and Thuong are two young people with kindred spirits and a love of nature.
Starting from the day they practiced making simple terrarium models with few details, with a small online income, until they opened a shop together and now have a private space for their passion, Hung and Thuong have been involved in terrarium art for 3 years. The journey is not long but not easy for many reasons...
Sipping a cup of coffee, Hung said that to create a terrarium box, from the idea to choosing details, arranging the layout and the process of attaching and connecting to create a link between the details so that they truly become a land can take from hours to days. “We do not make a series of similar boxes because each branch and blade of grass is a unique object that does not overlap in nature. That uniqueness and distinction nurtures creativity in the mind, helping me to constantly think new and do different things,” Hung said. Thanks to that, each time a box is completed, the space of the shop is renewed and the flow of creativity is always endless here.
Creativity is the thread that connects small pieces of wood, pebbles, moss, and rocks into a vibrant space.
Perhaps because the creative flow is constantly flowing in each terrarium box, everyone who comes here feels that energy and is inspired, especially those who love nature like me and like to play with aquatic plants like Hieu. Meeting Hung and Thuong for the first time, stories about tree branches and fish in aquariums or terrariums seemed to fill the space. Everyone sat and laughed and said to each other: "What is there not to love, love trees and leaves".
Chill corner to travel between tiny lands
Terrarium hobby requires a lot of money, time and effort because if you do not really put your passion into the box, the land will soon become messy and destroyed. That is why terrarium is quite picky about its players, and even though you like it, not everyone has the conditions to have their own land.
Terrarium is a hobby that requires dedication, trimming and nurturing every day.
As insiders who understand this best, Hung and Thuong decided to set aside a private space at the shop to welcome terrarium lovers to drink coffee and chill in the green space without having to worry about buying or selling. The purpose of this space is simply for customers to sit and feel, share stories about their passion or take a tour of each land in glass boxes while enjoying a normal cup of coffee.
Corners to enjoy coffee, read books and look at terrarium boxes.
Although the coffee shop is just a small space in front of the shop with simple dishes such as black coffee, milk, silver coffee, matcha, cocoa or kumquat to cool down in the summer, Thuong still takes care of it every day to bring the best experience to customers visiting the shop. Who doesn't like to sip a cup of delicious coffee in a space that recreates miniature pieces of nature, especially on a rainy day when the soil and grass give off a damp smell, Thuong just smiled and talked while bringing out a cup of strong brown coffee for me.
The coffee corner is taken care of by Thuong every day.
I received the cup of coffee from Thuong, took a slightly bitter sip to let the sweet aftertaste linger in my throat. Hung and Hieu were still discussing how trees shed leaves to nurture buds, the old leaves giving way to new, healthier foliage. I thought that like Hung and Thuong, and the boxes at Me Cay Me La, they change every day to improve, growing with the flow of time.
