Linh Phạm in Trích or Triết
In Xuân Diệu's Tender Poetry, a Reminder to Love Honestly and Courageously
“Tenderly, fondly, Xuân Diệu held on to my wrist, caressing it up and down. Our eyes locked in affection…Xuân Diệu loved me.”
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.
Should The Firing Range At Củ Chi Be Closed?
Over at his excellent blog, Rusty Compass, Mark Boyer argues that it may be time to close the firing ranges at the Củ Chi.
An Illustrated Guide to Vietnam's Motorbikers
The streets of Vietnam is home to many colorful personalities.
[Video] Sơn La Children Use Highway Water Drain As Water Slide
Highway 6 is a busy truck route connecting Hà Nội and Sơn La. But when it rains, local children take to the slippery, moss-lined water drains along its side, creating an impromptu water slide.
2014 Canon Photo Marathon Vietnam Comes To HCMC This Weekend
After a successful launch in Hanoi last Saturday in Hanoi, the 2014 Canon Photo Marathon Vietnam, “which aims to accentuate Vietnam’s natural and cultural charm,” will arrive in HCMC this weekend.
16 Pictures Of Vietnam’s Peckish Urban Chickens
In many developing countries the line between urban and rural is often blurred. If you live in Saigon or Hanoi, the lack of this distinction is typically manifested in the great number of chickens tha...
Event Rewind: The Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride 2014
On the afternoon of September 28, 300 bikers on approximately 200 bikes took to Saigon’s Streets in formal attire in support of charity.
Creator Of “Humans Of New York” Visits Vietnam
Last week, Brandon Stanton, the photographer behind the bestselling photo book, Humans of New York paid a visit to Vietnam with stops in Hanoi and HCMC.
[Video] Rap Video Shows an Expat’s Life in Saigon
A week after the release of “The Mì Quảng Song,” another expat has taken to rapping to show their love for Vietnam.
[Video] Interview With Afro Funk/Disco DJ Frank Gossner Who Returns To Saigon Tomorrow
Frank Gossner has one of the largest West African funk and disco records around. He’s a collector, a DJ and a promoter. He runs the website Voodoo Funk, which is recommended by the Beastie Boys.
The 10 Unholy Driving Commandments Of Vietnam
On his website, On A Bike Vietnam, Alex Sinclair Lack presents his list of the 10 driving commandments for Vietnam. While a tad less scandalous than Biggies 10 crack commandments, keeping Lack’s list ...
[Photos] Event Rewind: Saigoneer Photo Walk With Lee Starnes
Last Sunday, Lee Starnes led the second monthly Saigoneer photo walk, taking a group of amateur photographers around the streets and alleys of District 1, capturing images of the area’s street life al...
[Photos] French Photographer Highlights Vietnam’s 54 Ethnic Groups
These photos of Vietnam’s ethnic groups are the work of French photographer, Sébastien Laval, who has been lugging his camera around the country since 1995. His works, along with those of his Vietname...
[Photos] The Simple Differences Between Hanoi And Saigon
As Hanoi and Saigon are constantly compared to one another, graphic designer, Nhat Le, created this illustration book, The Difference Between Hanoi and Saigon.
[Video] An Giang - Back To Motherland
Produced by Tam Bui and Tung Phan, this ode to the northwestern Mekong Province of An Giang should help you escape the stresses of life for about 2 minutes and 30 seconds.
Modernization Of A Holiday: The Mid-Autumn Celebration In Saigon
Today’s Trung Thu (Mid-Autumn Festival) has become a “modernized” affair with plastic lanterns vendors and mooncake shops sprouting up on every corner, selling their wares a month beforehand. But ther...
Saigoneer Presents: Photo Walk With Lee Starnes
Kick off your Sunday morning with some coffee and a friendly chat. Then take a slow walk through a local neighborhood and discover the beauty in the every-day details of local life.
Vietnamese Film Takes Top Spot At Venice Film Festival
Dap Canh Giua Khong Trung (Flapping in the Middle of Nowhere), the work of Vietnamese female director, Nguyen Hoang Diep, beat out 7 other foreign debut features to win “Best Film” at the 2014 Venice ...
X98: Hanoi’s Zone 9 Version 2.0?
When Zone 9 was closed late last year, it was a major loss for the complex’s patrons, shop owners, artists, and more generally, the city’s cultural scene. After months of mourning, it looks like Zone ...
'Licence 2 Draw': UuDam Tran Nguyen Brings Robotic Art to Vietnam
Software-based creations are increasingly populating the 21st century art scene, which sees smart phones, websites, digital moving images and software used to investigate and address the most varied t...
Brian Letwin in Culture
This Insane 12 Gigapixel Photo Of Hanoi Will Blow Your Mind
We love our timelapses and animations but this static, 12 gigapixel photo shot almost 270 meters above Hanoi is mighty impressive.
