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Except for the occasional bout of nostalgia, she is very much at home here. 'Our cultures are similar. We celebrate Chinese New Year, too,' she said. The former model, who stands at 1.7m, used to run an advertising agency although she studied tourism at university in Hanoi. 'Being creative, I like the service industry. I think it's my forte,' she said, without a hint of conceit. It was while looking for opportunities overseas that Singapore came to mind. She was visiting friends and checking out the furniture import business here in 2004 when the idea of starting a restaurant struck her. She knew about Singaporeans' love for food and its cosmopolitan buzz. A fine-dining Vietnamese restaurant would work here, she reasoned. She opened Le Tonkin in Mohamed Sultan Road in 2006. It serves fine Vietnamese and French food. Some of the French recipes are from her mother-in-law. Singapore has been 'perfect' for another reason: It was here that she met her French husband Christian Duhain, 57, through a mutual friend in 2004. Mr Duhain, who is head of EADS International, the marketing arm of EADS, which makes the Airbus range of planes - returns to Singapore from Paris about twice a month to rejoin his family in their Grange Road apartment. They have a 15-month-old son and Ms Nguyen also has a seven-year-old son from a previous marriage. She goes back to Hanoi once a month to shop for ingredients like rice paper, ginger candy and Vietnamese coffee and tea, none of which can be found here. Ever energetic, her next idea is to open a restaurant in Hanoi. It is likely to be up against celebrity chef and TV host Bobby Chinn's eponymous fusion eatery in the Vietnamese capital. 'Chinn is very good at marketing. I go to his restaurant for its ambience and a drink, but not for the food.' It is not that she thinks his culinary skills aren't up to scratch. Her taste buds are just more 'old school'. Which might explain why she still has not warmed to Singapore's hawker spread, except for chicken rice and laksa. She is also allergic to shrimp. Regular days see her working from 9am to 4pm, then 8pm to midnight, with just enough time in between to cook for her children and put them to bed. 'My Mum always said, you work but you also have to go home to be a housewife after that. I grew up with that attitude.' Weekends are work days too but she does occasionally indulge in Sunday brunch at the Four Seasons Hotel or the Grand Hyatt.
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