Pete Walls in Travel
For the Freshest Fish of the Day, Head to Hội An's Coast Before Sunrise
The alarm goes off at 3am. By 3:30am, scooters laden with empty crates and baskets are already moving through the dark lanes and sandy passages towards Hội An's coast. Long before the old town wakes, the beaches along the shore are coming alive with engines, head torches, waves, and fishermen preparing to return to land. Thankfully, coffee is readily available almost anywhere.
From the Mind of 'Mekong Review' Comes ‘Yellow,’ a New Lit Mag Focused on SEA
“Cooped up in my apartment-cage in Tân Định, I created, with scissors and glue, dummy after dummy of a cosmopolitan rag positively pumping with scandals and half-truths. I was having a lot of fun dreaming of a magazine that I would never be able to do. And buried somewhere in that detritus on the floor—advertising cutouts and newspaper clippings—was Yellow … Once I knew I had the name, the magazine more or less made itself, as though the name determined the rest, ie, form and content,” writes Minh Bui of the birth of Yellow, his “what-do-I-do-after-Mekong Review magazine.”
In Saigon's Bửu Long Pagoda, a Meditative Escape and Pan-Southeast Asian Architecture
It all started with a sparkle on the horizon, a beam of solar brilliance bouncing off a garish metallic surface.
On Reading Ocean Vuong and Thinking About the Sniff Kisses of My Family
Having always been a little brother, I had to learn to be a big one when I was 10 years old. In the midst of the confusion of this new role, I found myself pressing my nose to this newborn’s head and inhaling as hard as I could. This “sniff kiss” was not an action I invented. Rather, it was an instinct forged through mimicry: I started noticing from this point that my father and grandmother both did the same thing to me.
Paul Christiansen in Music & Arts
Meet Th.ink Room, the Tattoo Collective Bringing New Life to Old Artworks and Onto Skin
Tattoo Therapist, dr.99hz, cd.cadao, goc.viet, Solarist and Baby Nepotism: listing the artists that call Th.ink Room home feels like shouting out the members of a rap clique. Indeed, tattoo artists, more than any other visual artists, are akin to rappers in their use of pseudonyms, so to employ a common hip-hop refrain, Saigoneer became interested in Th.ink Room because “game recognize game.”
Khôi Phạm in Film & TV
A (Literally) Brief History of Vietnamese Representation in 'Mean Girls' (2004)
Written by Saturday Night Live alum Tina Fey and premiered in 2004, Mean Girls is often heralded as a sharp, self-aware comedy that was ahead of its time, yet still holds up surprisingly well today. Alas, its depiction of Asians has aged a little more poorly, even though at the time of its release, the Asian representation was shockingly accurate for its time, despite some haphazard characterizations.
On Shooting an Entire Movie on 35mm Film: The Curious Case of 'Quán Kỳ Nam'
“Let’s go to Vietnam!” declared Sabrina Baracetti, president of the Far East Film Festival (FEFF) in Udine, Italy, as she wrapped up her introduction for Leon Lê's Quán Kỳ Nam (Kỳ Nam Inn). Sitting in the Teatro Nuovo, watching Quán Kỳ Nam unfold for the first time, I felt an overwhelming surge of pride.
Tracing the History of 'Hello Vietnam,' the Overnight Sensation From Europe
Most people who have flown with VietJet are probably familiar with the song ‘Hello Vietnam’ or its Vietnamese version ‘Xin chào Việt Nam.’ As it's often played during landing, tourists might mistake the song for a cute jingle of the company, but the meaning behind the song lyrics is much more nostalgic. It’s about a person of Vietnamese descent longing for their ancestor’s homeland, a place they’ve never been — a story that can certainly strike a chord with many Vietnamese people. Few know, however, that this song was originally a French-language song, one that was almost never released.
[Photos] New Children's Book Introduces Southeast Asia's Animals to the World
A New York-based art director and illustrator recently published a children’s book on the fauna and flora of Laos and Vietnam featuring a host of intricate drawings.
[Music] How Indonesia’s Horn-Honking Became a Hit Among EDM DJs
On the streets of many Southeast Asian countries, vehicle honking presents yet another opportunity to stand out from the crowd.
#WeAreSaigoneer: Instagram Shots of the Week
From quiet, waterfront cafes to bustling city corners, this is what we saw through our lens this week.
[Recording] Listen to Saigon’s Hottest Track From 1900
At the turn of the 20th century, with French colonialism well under way in Vietnam and the age of motion pictures just beginning, Saigon – and much of the rest of the country – became a subject of gre...
Wonderfilled Magazine Explores Saigon’s Sustainable Leather Goods
Ahead of their Saigon issue, Saigoneer presents an exclusive excerpt from Wonderfilled Magazine. Now in its sixth volume, the travel magazine tells stories about creativity around the world. Each issu...
An Illustrated Homage to Saigon Traffic
From old buildings and frenetic traffic to bustling sidewalks and endless construction, Saigon provides no shortage of visual inspiration for the city’s illustrators, artists and graphic designers.
#WeAreSaigoneer: Instagram Shots of the Week
From French colonial mansions to the chaotic traffic of urban Vietnam, this is what we saw through our lens this week.
[Illustrations] Animals, Explained: 6 Unusual Vietnamese-to-English Translations
When it comes to the gap between Vietnamese and English, there are a lot of things that get lost in translation.
[Photos] Meet Hanoi's Savvy Grasshopper Hunters
For most of Vietnam’s farming community, grasshoppers pose a real threat to fields and plantations. However for a particular commune in Hanoi’s suburban areas, these pesky insects have become a signif...
#WeAreSaigoneer: Instagram Shots of the Week
From cityscapes to seashores, this is what we saw through our lens this week.
[Photos] Check out This Vietnamese-American Artist's Mesmerizing Portraits
Next time somebody claims that “colored pencils are for kids”, show them the work of Cuong Nguyen, whose intricate paintings are crafted entirely from colored pencils.
As Indonesia Modernizes, a Remote Culture Begins to Fade Away
Far removed from the rapidly modernizing cities of Indonesia, the Mentawai people are struggling to reconcile their traditional way of life with the country's development.
Indie Artists Bring New Sounds to Vietnam's Contemporary Music Scene
The state of current Vietnamese music is complicated. In the minds of the older generation, years of historical turmoil are intricately linked with their personal identity, thus they tend to harbor a ...
[Podcast] Songs From Southeast Asia: Vietnamese Music Through the Ages
Given the country's geography and the many twists and turns in its history, defining a distinctly Vietnamese sound is no easy feat.
#WeAreSaigoneer: Instagram Shots of the Week
From hand-painted signs to nón lá to the quiet coast of Con Dao, this is what we saw through our lens this week.
[Illustrations] Award-Winning Comic Depicts Favorite Pastimes of Ancient Vietnamese Elite
In its latest volume, Vietnam’s award-winning comic series Long Than Tuong shines a light on the country’s favorite pastimes during the Tran Dynasty, including Go, wrestling, kite-running and, surpris...
Iconic Hanoi Cinematheque Closes Doors to Make Way for Mall
The Hanoi Cinematheque, an independent movie house and cultural icon of the capital, closed its doors yesterday to make way for a shopping mall.
[Video] A Celebrity YouTuber's Heartfelt Father-Son Vietnam Documentary
In the opening of The Vietnam Notebook, narrator Casey Neistat flips open a fat, worn out Moleskine and holds a magnifying glass against the hasty scribble on the book’s bottom corner: “Experience doe...
Vietnamese Designer Sparks Debate With Modernized National Costume
Miss Vietnam's national costume for the 2016 Miss Supranational beauty pageant, created by designer Le Long Dung, has sparked debate over its cultural accuracy.
Dana Filek-Gibson in Arts & Culture
In His Second Feature, Viet Max Leans on Hip-Hop Roots, Unconventional Style
Viet Max is a man of many talents. At 37, the Hanoi native has managed to parlay his eclectic skill set into a breakdancing career, a street fashion brand and, more recently, work as a feature film di...
