5 Saigon Coffee Shops Based in Buildings With Southern Modernist Architecture
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- Published on 31 July 2025
- Written by Khôi Phạm. Graphic by Ngọc Tạ. Photos by Khôi Phạm.
Saigon is a cafe enthusiast’s paradise. A decades-old coffee culture fostered by previous generations is still alive and well, in addition to the latest global trends brought over by the younger generation of baristas. When it comes to interior styles and vibes, there’s a little something for everyone, from gritty industrial to spartan Japandi chic to Saigon’s very own southern modernist architecture.
The Hunt for Vietnam's Dinosaurs Has Found Nothing Yet, but There Is Hope
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- Published on 30 July 2025
- Written by Paul Christiansen and Khôi Nguyễn. Graphics by Ngọc Tạ.
Why aren’t there any Vietnamese dinosaurs?
In Hanoi, Waacking Is Not Just a Dance, but a Home for Creativity, Gender Fluidity Too
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- Published on 29 July 2025
- Written by Nguyệt. Photos by Léo-Paul Guyot. Graphic by Lê Minh Phương.
“I get to express my madness.” That is what Trần Khánh Linh, also known as Lyna, says when asked why she has been waacking for the last 10 years. By day, Lyna is a jewelry and gemstone seller, but by night, she joins her friends at the Soul Waackers, a waacking group based in Hanoi, and practices a dance style that allows her a vibrant way to self-express.
Wipha, Yagi and Luc-Binh: How Are Tropical Storms Named in the Pacific Region?
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- Published on 28 July 2025
- Written by Khôi Phạm.
Wipha was the latest typhoon to batter Vietnam this year, sweeping through northern provinces like Hưng Yên, Ninh Bình, Nghệ An, and Thanh Hóa and causing dangerous floods. It was 2025’s third and probably will not be the last that Vietnam will have to endure this year.
Vietnam's Colonial Histories Reimagined as Fictional Adventure Tale in ‘The Year Is XXXX’
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- Published on 27 July 2025
- Written by An Trần.
We often encounter adventure tales in books and through adaptations of films or television. But what if a newly imagined adventure tale can also be written as an exhibition — one that maps strange-yet-familiar landscapes with a colonial history of exploration and exploitation?
The Legends of Thăng Long Tứ Trấn, the 4 Guardian Temples Protecting Hanoi
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- Published on 25 July 2025
- Written by Hà Bích Ngọc and Mia Trịnh. Photos by Alberto Prieto.
In the edict to move Vietnam’s capital to Hanoi, Emperor Lý Thái Tổ described this land as the middle of heaven and earth, the center of the four directions. Such a place would bring peace and prosperity, he believed, and deserved sacred protection.
Hẻm Gems: A Bún Bò in Huế That Rivals Even Saigon's Best Bún Bò Huế
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- Published on 25 July 2025
- Written by Paul Christiansen. Photos by Alberto Prieto.
Plastic stools circling low metal tables. Staff wearing pajamas and street clothes that match patrons welcomed from all walks of life. Meagre and/or mismatched decor. Views of street traffic with motorbike engines as soundtrack. Brief menus sometimes consisting of a single dish. A strict cash-only policy (until recent years, at least). Minimal concern for health-safety regulations. No artifice of chef as artist or meal as a masterpiece. While we can quibble over a specific, all-encompassing definition for streetfood restaurant, there are many qualities most will agree they share.
Contemporary Hip-Hop Dance '129BPM' to Perform at Art Festival in Malaysia in August
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- Published on 24 July 2025
- Written by Saigoneer.
After two successful nights in Saigon last year, a mesmerizing contemporary hip-hop dance performance is bringing its raw energy abroad.
Visit a 160-Year-Old Chapel Inside Saigon's Historic St. Joseph's Seminary
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- Published on 23 July 2025
- Written by Tuyết Nhi. Photos by Alberto Prieto.
Hidden within the compound of the Saigon St. Joseph’s Seminary is a historic chapel that has withstood the test of time.
The Surprising Japanese Origin Behind the Vietnamese Term 'Ô Sin'
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- Published on 21 July 2025
- Written by Khôi Phạm.
It’s not uncommon to come across words in everyday conversations that have roots in the French language. Albeit less frequently, a handful of Russian and English loan words have also made their way into our lives at times, but for a term of Japanese origin to have taken root deep in the collective psyche of Vietnamese, that’s rare.
There's a Cordial Vietnamese Greeting That Has Been Floating in Space Since 1977
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- Published on 18 July 2025
- Written by Uyên Đỗ.
At this very moment, while you're reading these lines, a silver “bird” of human design is hurtling away from the Sun at roughly 60,000 kilometers per hour, slipping past the boundaries of our solar cradle and into the endless quiet of the cosmos.
Feel the Pulse of a Fast-Changing Vietnam in the 1990s via This Lively Photo Album
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- Published on 18 July 2025
- Written by Saigoneer.
By the mid-1990's, Vietnam's astounding economic transformation was well underway.
Remembering Thuy Trang, the First Vietnamese Power Ranger
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- Published on 17 July 2025
- Written by Khôi Phạm. Graphic by Mai Khanh.
It was the late 1990s, and I was standing in front of the bathroom mirror of our childhood home, holding my dad’s solid-metal belt buckle up with a pseudo-serious expression on my baby face. Fortunately, I wasn’t doing a YouTuber-style makeup review, but was in fact mirroring the transformation sequence of my favorite TV idols, the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.
How a Self-Taught Documentarian Spreads His Boundless Enthusiasm for Vietnam's Nature
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- Published on 16 July 2025
- Written by Paul Christiansen. Photos by Dính Nguyễn. Top graphic by Ngàn Mai.
Why “Sticky Discovery”? This was the first question I asked during my interview with the man behind the YouTube series of nature documentaries. His name is Dính, given by his paternal grandmother because after Dính’s mother had two miscarriages, she’d hoped Dính (meaning “sticky” in English), would stay put.
In 'Vietnam Retropunk,' a Young Illustrator Dreams of a Cyberpunk Hanoi
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- Published on 15 July 2025
- Written by Phạm Thục Khuê. Illustrations by Đặng Thái Tuấn. Top graphic by Trường Dĩ.
To Đặng Thái Tuấn, the talent behind illustration project “Vietnam Retropunk,” whimsical depictions of robots and animatronics sprouting out from everyday objects and activities embody the space in between the ancient and the futuristic.
A Story of Personal, Political Reckoning in a Singaporean Writer's Fictional Wartime Vietnam
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- Published on 14 July 2025
- Written by Tuệ Đinh.
The Immolation first came to me as a bewildering surprise: at a now-relocated bookshop in Singapore, the book caught the eyes of the 17-year-old me. It was not so much the cover’s pale blue background, or the expression of ennui on the author’s post-impressionist portrait, but rather its dealing with the American War. After all, the title directly referenced the iconic protest by the Buddhist monk Thích Quảng Đức, who set himself on fire on the street of Saigon.
Street Cred: Dauntless Antiwar Icon Nguyễn Thái Bình and His Tragic Death
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- Published on 11 July 2025
- Written by Saigoneer. Illustration by Hannah Hoàng.
If one were to see the streets of Vietnam as a tangled network of people whose names they took, every city would resemble a messy collection of historical fragments.
Hẻm Gems: Chè Lâm Vinh Mậu Anchors the Last Remaining Hoa Vestiges of D1
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- Published on 09 July 2025
- Written by Tuệ Đinh. Photos by Jimmy Art Devier.
Whenever I come back to Vietnam, it is a personal ritual of mine to visit locales of the past. As clichéd as it sounds, as I have been abroad in Singapore for six years, returning to Vietnam is almost synonymous with returning to places that once shaped my past selves, whose presence has been fading in my mind.
In a D7 Residence, Natural Wood Textures Hark Back to Vietnam's Traditional Homes
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- Published on 09 July 2025
- Written by Saigoneer.
During a new decade when architecture projects in Vietnam are increasingly looking towards the future and influences outside the national boundaries for inspirations, Memories House decided to do the opposite by integrating old heirloom furniture and elements from the past into the living space.
Tà Năng, One of Vietnam’s Most Beautiful Trails and Best-Kept Secrets
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- Published on 07 July 2025
- Written by Alicia Moran. Photos by Alberto Prieto.
Whether we choose to participate or not, most of us are fascinated by Vietnam’s motorbike culture.
