in Music & Arts

Cá Hồi Hoang to Disband After National Tour Marking 10 Years of Making Music

On the cusp of their current nationwide tour, indie band Cá Hồi Hoang abruptly announced that they would disband after touring finishes.

in Culture

The Hanoi Village Where Making Folding Fans Involves Every Family

One summer day, I made a trek into suburban Hanoi to Thạch Thất District. Walking along the dirt road surrounded by green maturing rice fields, I reached Chàng Sơn Village.

Paul Christiansen

in Music & Arts

Art Exhibition 'Ngẫu Biến' Invites Viewers to Find Their Own Meaning

“When you write, you go inside yourself, when you paint, you go outside,” said poet and painter ng. anhan.

in Film & TV

Filmmakers Trần Anh Hùng, Phạm Thiên Ân Win Awards at Cannes Film Festival

At the 76th Cannes International Film Festival, Phạm Thiên Ân's Bên trong vỏ kén vàng (Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell) was awarded the Camera D'or while Vietnamese-born French filmmaker Trần Anh Hùng won the best director prize for The Pot-au-Feu.

in In Plain Sight

In Hanoi, the Vietnam Museum of Nature Is an Inquisitive Child's Heaven

Amidst the dull, grey buildings of the Hanoi University of Science and Technology, a giant dinosaur model stands out. The T-Rex was guarding the entrance to the Vietnam National Museum of Nature (Bảo tàng Thiên nhiên Việt Nam), and as I approached it I felt a sense of childlike wonder wash over me. I thought I would learn much about Vietnam’s natural history; I was wrong.

Khôi Phạm

in Film & TV

Review: Wow! This Brochure for Vietnam Tourism Has a Plot and a Romance.

I was prepared to hate A Tourist’s Guide to Love on sight. As a movie setting, Vietnam has been burned by foreign productions one too many times, so I often find myself dry-heaving whenever any international project announces its intention of portraying Vietnam on screen.

Paul Christiansen

in In Plain Sight

An Ode to Saigon’s Chò Nâu Trees

It’s too cold for chò nâu to grow where I’m from, but we still gave it an English name: dipterocarp.

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in Culture

Saigoneer Dispatches: How a Phnom Penh Youth Center is Using Hip Hop to Empower Street Kids

Through an unassuming alley in a slum of Phnom Penh, the deep beat of a bass line rings. One and two and three and four echoes off its dusty walls. Kids are dancing. Breakdancing.

in Music & Arts

Hoang Oanh: Vietnam’s Original Pop Star

The crate diggers over at music blog, Bodega pop have put together a collection of songs from Hoang Oanh, the “Saigon Siren,” produced between 1960 and 1975, the Golden Era of Vietnamese pop.

in Culture

How to Draw Buddha, the Right Way

During the Golden Age of Tibetan Gupta rule, strict guidelines were created for how one should draw Buddha. And they’re insanely specific.

in Culture

[Video] Hilariously Awesome Vietnamese Remix of The Avengers/Unstoppable

In Vietnam, where the concept of ‘copyright’ is as foreign as queuing in line, we’re bombarded by faux Western products on a daily basis. While these knock-offs generally carry a reputation for cheap ...

in Music & Arts

[Video] American Shows off Impressive Vietnamese Skills in Trinh Cong Son Tribute

While most foreigners in Vietnam seem to be intimidated by the tonal nuances of Vietnamese, Kyo York, an American expat living in Vietnam for over 4 years, seems to have the language down pat.

in Culture

[Slideshow] Motorbikes Can Carry Anything and Everything

In many developing countries, motorbikes are the main method of transportation for not only people but also, well, everything else. To illustrate this, the Global Post recently published an article, “...

in Music & Arts

Beautiful Origami Street Art in Hue

French street artist, Mademoiselle Maurice, learned the art of origami when living in Japan in 2011. After mastering the craft, she began a quest to stimulate positive emotions by adding some color to...

in Culture

International Pillow Fight Day @ 23/9 Park

From the organizer: Wake Up Saigon brings you our city's participation in this international day of fun for the 3rd straight year! Join us as we pummel each other with pillows joining over 120 cities...

in Culture

Expats and #SAIGONISHAPPY

Everyone should, at least once, climb to a high rooftop in Saigon. On most days, the subtle fog on the horizon recedes just far enough to let you glimpse a motley patchwork of aquamarines, drab and pa...

in Culture

[Video] Presenting: Grand Theft Auto Saigon

As if driving in Saigon weren’t close enough to a videogame, a group of enterprising gaming enthusiasts have created a seemingly Vietnamese mod of the popular title, Grand Theft Auto 3.

in Culture

[Video] In the Ruins of a Hue Temple

From 1802 – 1945, Hue was the imperial capital of the Nguyen Dynasty. Buildings from this period have become popular tourist attractions and many, such as the city’s famous citadel, have been painstak...

in Music & Arts

[Video] Saigon Is Happy

You've probably seen the video for the hit song Anh Không Đòi Quà where a women is stripped (literally) of the gifts given to her by her ex-boyfriend. While there have been dozens of remakes of this v...

in Culture

The Brains Behind Vietnam’s Meme Explosion

Vietnamese netizens have embraced internet memes which employ a mix of humour and satire to create a new lens with which to view everything from daily life to pop culture. In a recent interview, Vietm...

in Culture

Apocalaughs Now @ Cargo

From the organizer: You've seen the amateurs, now it's time to see the pros.

in Music & Arts

The Second Portion 'Red' Opens at the Observatory

Upon entering the gallery section, visitors find themselves in a dark space lit only by Le Brothers’ video installations on the wall and by the shiny red reflections coming from the two cage-like scul...

in Music & Arts

How to Approach People When Taking Photos in SE Asia

I’ve wanted to write something on this topic for ages. To be honest, this is probably the question that I hear most from my students: how should I approach people to take their photos?

in Music & Arts

Tropicaliente Returns to Saigon Outcast

From the organizer:  We invite all our latin "panas", local friends, lovers and curious of the latinamerican culture to our second TROPICALIENTE night!

in Music & Arts

[Slideshow] Propaganda Art of Vietnam

“All Art Is Propaganda” – George Orwell Propaganda art serves as a rallying call for the defense of both ideas and nations; a colorful and static reminder of the things we should strive to cherish a...

in Music & Arts

Photography/Digital Editing Courses with Quinn Ryan Mattingly

From the organizer: Do you have a great camera or editing software but not sure how to get the most from it? Saigon School of Imaging is here to help. With current courses in Lightroom, Photoshop and...

in Culture

3 Vietnamese Women Make Forbes 'Asia's Power Businesswomen' List

Forbes recently released their 2014 list of the most powerful Asian businesswomen which included 3 Vietnamese – the CEOs of Vinamilk and REE, along with the chairwoman of SeABank.