Đuông Dừa, the Mekong Delta's Unique Squishy Snack and Enemy of Coconut Trees
Towards the deep end of our home, several coconut trees’ fronds started browning and falling off, straight from the bud. For the last few weeks, tiny holes have gradually appeared on the coconut trunk...
Music Is My Release: Behind the Anger That Fuels the Fiercely Indie Group COCC
“I don’t make happy songs,” says Phúc, the lead singer and guitarist of Saigonese rock group COCC. He and I are sitting in the middle of the band’s “cave” — a homemade recording studio they began putt...
Oliver Newman in Society
Chạm Vào Xanh, the Social Enterprise Normalizing Joy for People With Disabilities
Hồng’s parents took her out of school in Grade 5. They weren’t facing financial issues, her grades weren’t bad and she had no behavioral setbacks. It was just because she has cerebral palsy.
Khôi Phạm in Food Culture
How Cá Cắt Khúc Becomes My Personal Touchstone of Vietnamese Cuisine
It was 13 years ago when Christine Ha auditioned for and eventually won the third season of MasterChef US. Then a grad student from Texas, Christine’s victory was a watershed moment in the history of ...
Đờn Ca Tài Tử Captures the Soul of Southern Vietnam in Every Melody, Every Word
“It’s not something unfamiliar, but it’s been a few years since I last heard it. Stumbling upon this beautiful bucolic scene now has made me fall in love with the Mekong Delta’s đờn ca tài tử melodies...
Paul Christiansen in Natural Selection
A Folk Symbol and Cash Animal, King Cobras Just Really Want to Be Left Alone
The king cobra, or rắn hổ mang chúa in Vietnamese, has great personal branding. For proof, one need look no further than the recent flower display on Nguyễn Huệ celebrating the Year of the Snake: th...
Between Victory and Sorrow: The Complex Realities Behind Văn Cao's 'Mùa Xuân Đầu Tiên'
Composer Trịnh Công Sơn once wrote: “In music, Văn Cao is as noble as a king. In the field of song composition, I am like a child dreaming that the sun is a paper kite to play with. Brother Văn's musi...
Vũ Bằng's Nostalgic Longings for Hanoi Teach Us How to Love a Place Deeply
From Thương Nhớ Mười Hai to Miếng Ngon Hà Nội, Vũ Bằng’s way of lacing Hanoian features with melancholic reminiscence always brings me straight back to the embrace of my hometown, even more so after I...
Uyên Đỗ in Vietnam
How the National Lottery Reflects Vietnam's Socio-Economic Realities Through Time
For nearly a century, lottery tickets and their strings of lucky numbers have occupied a special role in Vietnamese society: both as a lifeline for dreams of better fortune and as a mirror reflec...
The Phenomenal Phonk of Budding Rapper Ci Pi's Fever Dream
Everybody in my university program seems to know Bùi Ngọc Cẩm Phương, though in the music world, she's more popularly known as Ci Pi, a stage name that combines her name’s 2 initials. Be it because of...
Khôi Phạm in Music & Arts
5 Classic Christmas Songs in Vietnamese for Those Craving Nô-en Wistfulness
Christmas celebration in Vietnam is something else altogether.
From Abroad to My Favorite Bún Riêu: A Brief History of Trứng Vịt Lộn
I pride myself on being a child of Hanoi, but only after nearly 20 years, did I realize that trứng vịt lộn is not exactly an authentic topping in Hanoi-style bún riêu.
Hanoi's Soviet-Style Khu Gia Binh and Life Amid Vietnam's Growing Pains
Hanoi is often known in Vietnam as the land of a millennium-old civilization, a living archive of past Vietnam life. Each tiny alley within the capital can evoke a strong sense of nostalgia in visitor...
What Will Become of Chợ Quê in the Era of Widespread Online Shopping?
Firmly taking root in everyday life, our hometown markets — chợ quê — are not simply a place to trade, but also puzzle pieces that make up childhood memories, holiday excitement, and even tales of har...
Khôi Phạm in Music & Arts
5 Albums to Put on While Driving Home at 12am Pretending You're in an MV
It’s 12:03am in Saigon. You've just finished a movie at the last screening of the day. The asphalt in the parking lot is coated in a layer of golden light from the streetlight. You walk gingerly to yo...
Synths, Dreams, and French Culture: Inside Vietnamese Duo Coïncidence's 1st EP
“When we finally finished the project, I was just like ‘Yay, we’re done!’ Then I went to sleep to go to work tomorrow. I guess life just goes by like that,” recalled Thông, a member of Coïncidence, re...
