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.
Event Rewind: The Saigon Projects 5 Year Anniversary Party
There may have been a mixture of complexions and languages, but the crowd at The Saigon Projects 5 year anniversary party shared one love for the growth of graffiti art and underground hiphop in ...
Vietnam's Fading Black Smile
Contrasting black and white is not a modern aesthetic. For a long time, it was a standard of grace for Vietnamese women for whom traditional beauty was judged by “white skin, black teeth.”
Brian Letwin in Culture
Made in Vietnam: Electric Chopper Bicycles
Looking to step up your bicycle game? Two mechanics in Nam Dinh Province have made their own electric chopper bicycle and the final product could only be described as baller.
Fashion Show: A Midsummer Night's Dream @ OMG
This Thursday, Studio co will host a new fashion show - A Midsummer Night's Dream- featuring garments, jewellery and accessorise from its multi-cultural group of creative minds including La ...
deciBel 2 Year Anniversary Party
It's finally time to celebrate our 2 years anniversary. 2 years of Music, Art, Cinema, drunk dance moves, yummy food and freaky meetings. deciBel wants to thank you guys for making this bar so awesom...
Saigon Urban Legends: The Ghost of the Fine Arts Museum
The Ho Chi Minh Fine Arts Museum, an ornate, colonial-era building at 97 Pho Duc Chinh, District 1 stands elegantly and quietly in the less-traveled area of District 1. Beyond housing some of the...
Brian Letwin in Culture
Teaser: Meet the Nguyễn's - Part 2
After moving to Vietnam, Richie Humphrey, in an attempt to improve his Vietnamese, started a video blog where he posted short, comedic videos. Last year, the Los Angeles, California native released a ...
Book Box Vietnam: Encouraging People to Spread and Share the Written Word
Inspired by the Little Free Library project, a group of young Saigon residents has launched a book exchange project called Book Box – placing little boxes of free books in public places.
Vietnamese Traffic Patterns Explained in One 'Simple' Image
This image explains Vietnamese traffic patterns better than words ever could.
Rock Paper Scissors Tournament @ Saigon Outcast
From the orgnaizer: There’s nothing that rivals a rock paper scissors tournament for excitement and tension. And fans of such contests are in for a treat at the SGOC's Rock Paper Scissors Tournament. ...
Event Rewind: Saigon Artbook Edition 3
After two extremely successful (and packed) releases of the Saigon Artbook, the team decided to launch the third edition over 2 days at the new exhibition space, Lê Công Kiều Station.
[Slideshow] 13 Beautiful Fields in Vietnam
Vietnam offers a wide array of natural beauty, leaving photographers with their fingers glued to their camera’s shutter release. While there are plenty of mountains and coastal scenes to photograph bu...
[Video] Vietnamese Grannies Get Down to Techno
“Women may be the one group that grows more radical with age.”― Gloria Steinem
3A Station: Saigon’s Answer to Zone 9?
There is a new area in Saigon, closed off to motorbikes, where artists and creative minds from different disciplines as well as businesses come together. This is the idea sketched out so far behind th...
[Slideshow] The Giant Rubber Duck has Arrived in HCMC
Yesterday, we waddled down to District 7’s Crescent Lake to check out the newly installed giant duck and found quite a scene.
Camping: Into the Wild @ Saigon Outcast
Ready to do a little camping? Then make your way over to Saigon Outcast next weekend and enjoy: a bon fire, a BBQ, s'mores, acoustic guitar, a pyjamas party, ghost stories, camp fire songs, games...
Camping: Into the Wild @ Saigon Outcast (2)
Ready to do a little camping? Then make your way over to Saigon Outcast next weekend and enjoy: a bon fire, a BBQ, s'mores, acoustic guitar, a pyjamas party, ghost stories, camp fire songs, games...
Hong Kong Record Exec Lists his Top Underground Asian Tracks. Cambodia Wins.
Over at & of Other Things, an excellent Vietnam-centric arts website, CAMA’s Eliza Lomas talked with Sean Hocking, owner of Hong Kong’s Saffron Records, who gave her a list of his current favorite...
Saigon Artbook Presents: Laurent Judge
Due to high demand, the release party for Saigon Artbook’s 3rd edition will be held over two days at Lê Công Kiều Station starting this evening. For those unfamiliar with the project, it is a quarterl...
19 Pictures of Wacky Japanese Vending Machines
Vietnam might not have many vending machines but Japan more than makes up for the deficit. Not only are they seemingly everywhere, from Mt. Fuji to train cars, but they serve up basically anything you...
