How to Curate the Best Playlist to Listen to While Riding the Saigon Metro
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- Published on 13 January 2025
- Written by Paul Christiansen. Photos by Khôi Phạm.
When you get a new toy, it's only reasonable to take it out to play with as often as possible.
Vũ Bằng's Nostalgic Longings for Hanoi Teach Us How to Love a Place Deeply
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- Published on 12 January 2025
- Written by An Phạm. Graphic by Ngọc Tạ.
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 moved to Saigon at age 19. Since then, my writing and social media posts about Hanoi have often been accompanied by quotes “stolen” from his books: “My spring — the spring of northern Vietnam, Hanoi's spring — is a season of gentle misty rain, cool tender winds, the sound of swallows calling all jade-dark night, distant chèo drum beats from distant hamlets with maidens lovely as poems singing timeless love songs.” This was how Vũ Bằng’s oeuvre made its way to my heart.
Hẻm Gems: In a Hẻm, on Plastic Chairs, One of Saigon's Best Pizzas Beckons
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- Published on 11 January 2025
- Written by Rhianna Morris. Photos by Pete Walls.
“The leopard spots. They hate them,” Hiếu Trần explains to me. “They think it means the pizza is burnt.”
Typing Vietnamese, Part 1: Language, Identity and Technology at a Crossroad
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- Published on 10 January 2025
- Written by Thi Nguyễn. Illustration by Hannah Hoàng.
My first exposure to the computer traces back to my primary school years when computer classes were conducted once a week. In order to study computers, students had to migrate from their usual classrooms to a multimedia lab — an air-conditioned room filled with computers. Computer classes were generally more popular among us than most subjects thanks to that satisfying cool breeze and the delight of operating something one wasn't privileged with at home.
Hoa Sữa, Poetic Icon of Autumn in Hanoi or Nasal Health Enemy No. 1?
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- Published on 09 January 2025
- Written by Thảo Nguyên. Graphic by Dương Trương.
It was early in the day. I opened my window to let in the very first rays of the morning sun, just to catch a waft of that distinctive floral aroma lingering in the cold air. This year, autumn came early, and hoa sữa has started blooming where I live.
A Shelf-Stable History of Why Vietnam Loves Mì Gói
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- Published on 07 January 2025
- Written by Uyên Đỗ.
Instant noodles are more or less a religion. They have widely spread to many lands, where they are adapted to suit the culture and people there. Most importantly, they offer us salvation in some of the darkest times.
Đi Bão Is Vietnamese Culture at Its Most Jubilant, Raucous, and Fervent
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- Published on 06 January 2025
- Written by Paul Christiansen.
Dustbins, tree branches, advertising stands and tarps, leftover Christmas decorations, whatever pot, pan, ladle or utensil left unattended in the family kitchen, and at least one street vendor’s bánh khọt mold: whatever wasn’t bolted down got caught up in the wave of đi bão that filled Saigon’s streets last night.
How the National Lottery Reflects Vietnam's Socio-Economic Realities Through Time
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- Published on 05 January 2025
- Written by Uyên Đỗ. Graphic by Ngọc Tạ.
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 reflecting the socio-economic realities of the times.
Plastic Waste Is Choking the Mekong River and Every Nation on Its Path
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- Published on 05 January 2025
- Written by Anton L Delgado. Illustration by Sunhee Park.
On Son Island in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta, Le Trung Tin scatters fish feed into his ponds, where dozens of snakehead fish leap through the surface in synchronised bursts. “I taught them how to do that,” he says proudly, tossing another handful of feed at his fish.
Life in Saigon's Old Tenements, the Remaining Vertical Villages of Past Decades
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- Published on 02 January 2025
- Written by Christian Berg. Photos by Christian Berg.
Is “out with the old, in with the new” the new motto when it comes to Saigon's real estate scene?
How to Know You're in Mỹ Tho? The Sugarcane Juice Has Roasted Peanuts.
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- Published on 31 December 2024
- Written by Phương Nghi. Photos by Ben Nguyễn.
In Marcel Proust’s In Search of Lost Time, when the protagonist tastes a piece of tea-dipped madeleine, the flavor combination immediately transports him back to the childhood memories he’s buried deep inside. This involuntary experience is often called the “Proust Effect,” referring to shards of memory that reappear randomly thanks to olfactory and gustatory triggers; something that other senses can’t achieve.
The Vintage Charm of 1995 Vietnam on Kodachrome Film Slides
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- Published on 31 December 2024
- Written by Geoffrey Hiller. Photos by Geoffrey Hiller.
While editing a retrospective of my recent work from Vietnam in the summer of 2019, I discovered 50 yellow boxes of Kodachrome slides in my basement that were shot in 1995. The images were from my first trip to Vietnam.
Sấu, Mơ, and Lotus Tea: The Delight of Freezedom Hanoi's Creative Gelato Flavors
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- Published on 29 December 2024
- Written by Khôi Phạm. Photos by Khôi Phạm.
Apart from a rather ambitious list of Hanoi-specific dishes to sample, my itinerary for the capital includes three personal wishes: ride the Hanoi Metro, visit Sonder Coffee Bar, and try out Freezedom’s ice cream.
The Phenomenal Phonk of Budding Rapper Ci Pi's Fever Dream
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- Published on 27 December 2024
- Written by An Phạm. Top graphic by Ngọc Tạ.
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 her music or her noticeable Japanese fashion styles, even on campus, Ci Pi’s presence is “vivid” and easy to spot. However, it wasn’t until I knew her personally through a group project that I caught a glimpse of her true self. Despite the edgy appearance with quirky hairstyles and aesthetics, Ci Pi is quiet and calm, and always seems to be immersed in her own world.
History in a Tin: The Colonial Past of Vietnam Through Popular Canned Food
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- Published on 27 December 2024
- Written by Thi Nguyễn. Illustrations by Hannah Hoàng.
Whether it is fish placed neatly inside rectangular tins or uniform meat slabs stored in cylindrical cans with colorful packages, eating canned food is a strange experience. Unlike sitting in street food stalls or eating at home — where one can witness the food being made — the homogenizing, sanitized, mass-produced packages one mindlessly grabs from a supermarket counter obscure the labor that goes into the meal, as well as its origins.
A Merry Memory of a Mid-2000s Middle-Class Christmas in Saigon
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- Published on 26 December 2024
- Written by Uyên Đỗ.
As my palm felt the glossy wrapping paper for my Secret Santa gift, I was transported to my early childhood Christmases — filled with warmth, wonder, and the bubbling discomfort of class insecurities.
Watching Snowfall in 'Home Alone' Is My Saigon Christmas Tradition
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- Published on 24 December 2024
- Written by Khang Nguyễn. Graphic by Dương Trương.
Christmas is so globally celebrated that even in Saigon, as the coldest time of the year approaches, you can hear Christmas hymms echoing from homes in the alley, and spot houses adorned with Christmas trees, Santas, snowmen, regardless of their cultural relevance to Vietnamese culture. For me, one of the activities that truly embodies this global spirit of Christmas is watching Home Alone (1990).
5 Classic Christmas Songs in Vietnamese for Those Craving Nô-en Wistfulness
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- Published on 23 December 2024
- Written by Khôi Phạm. Graphic by Ngọc Tạ.
Christmas celebration in Vietnam is something else altogether.
Composer Hoàng Việt and a Radical Romance Across the North-South Border
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- Published on 22 December 2024
- Written by Vũ Hoàng Long. Top image by Mai Khanh.
In a country fractured by ideology, Hoàng Việt's love for his wife Ngọc Hạnh persisted like a secret melody carried across closed borders by weak radio signals, and letters that had to circle the globe before finding their way home.
The Childhood of Côn Đảo's Baby Turtles Caught on Film
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- Published on 20 December 2024
- Written by Hoàn Phan. Photos by Hoàn Phan.
In July, I visited Côn Đảo National Park as part of a group of International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) sea turtle volunteers to see first-hand conservation efforts aimed at the local sea turtle population.
