I Keep My Connection to My Family's Hanoi Tết Traditions in a Tiny Quất Tree
I am not a plant person. So when even I notice the abundance of vườn kiểng — a place selling a myriad of plants — it must mean that Saigoneers truly love buying plants. Some of my friends, who are also Hanoians, asked me one day to visit these vườn kiểng and look for Tết plants: “Let’s celebrate Tết the way northerners do, you know?” And somehow, being amongst the plants brought me right back to Quảng Bá Flower Market in Tây Hồ.
Paul Christiansen in Saigon
How to Curate the Best Playlist to Listen to While Riding the Saigon Metro
When you get a new toy, it's only reasonable to take it out to play with as often as possible.
Paul Christiansen in Vietnam
Đi Bão Is Vietnamese Culture at Its Most Jubilant, Raucous, and Fervent
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.
Life in Saigon's Old Tenements, the Remaining Vertical Villages of Past Decades
Is “out with the old, in with the new” the new motto when it comes to Saigon's real estate scene?
A Merry Memory of a Mid-2000s Middle-Class Christmas in Saigon
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
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).
Paul Christiansen in Vietnam
‘Công tử Bạc Liêu’ Asks: ‘What Would You Do if You Won the Lottery?’
They say you don’t buy a lottery ticket because you think you’ll win; you buy one so that you can fantasize about winning.
For Hội An Residents, Learning to Live With Floods Is a Fact of Life
The water reached my shoulders, and when I stepped into the street I suddenly felt the current trying to pull me into its invisible grasp. A familiar feeling that set off an alarm inside my head: “Be careful! It looks like nothing, but don’t get caught in it.”
Morning News Roundup: Man Dies in Underground Hole While Committing Gambling Fraud
Vietnam airlines plan fleet boom as roads and rail fail [WTAQ] Vietnam city police to probe utilities for paying excessive salaries [Thanh Nien] Student keen on conserving ancient HC...
Yesterday's Flooding Breaks Record for HCMC. Today May be Even Worse.
If you were caught in waist-deep water yesterday, you weren’t the only one. The floodwaters reached 1.64 meters, breaking the previous record. But the worst might not yet be over.
What the Phở Happened Last Weekend? 10 Stories You May Have Missed
Chinese woman caught with 2.2 kg of drugs at airport [Tuoi Tre] Vietnam gives green light to genetically modified crops [Vietnam Net] Vietnam's economy regaining growth momentum ...
Morning News Roundup: Vegetable Prices Jump After Storm Nari
Government decrees support for atomic energy studies [Nhan Dan] Oil refinery projects erected all across Vietnam [Tuoi Tre] Vietnam cyber crime rising in 2013 - Vietnam Economic Times ...
Typhoon Nari Leaves Path of Death and Destruction Across SE Asia
As Typhoon Nari swept through SE Asia this week, it left a path of death and destruction from the Philippines to Laos. Thousands of homes were destroyed, dozens of lives were lost and it may have even...
Brian Letwin in Saigon
Video: Girl Causes Accident, Brushes it off Like a Boss
Even though drivers in Vietnam seem to have mastered driving the wrong way on one way streets, this tactic can still result in accidents. Especially when the offender drives in the middle of the road....
Morning News Roundup: Vietnamese Want City, Airport, Avenue Named After Gen. Giap
Half of Vietnam’s industrial sewage dumped into rivers untreated [Thanh Nien] Vietnamese want city, airport, avenue named after Gen. Giap [Tuoi Tre] Vinalines former head guilty of c...
Brian Letwin in Vietnam
Morning News Roundup: Vietnam's Chief Warns Against Growing Economic Divide, Again
Vietnam Vows Dong and Interest-Rate Stability for Growth [Bloomberg] US alliance says Vietnam software piracy decreasing [Thanh Nien] Dogs in Vietnam: Not just for dinner anymore [Reu...
Typhoon Nari Devastating Central Vietnam
After wreaking havoc on the Philippines where it killed 13 people, Typhoon Nari made landfall this morning in central Vietnam, causing massive flooding, power outages and destruction of property.
Brian Letwin in Roundups
Morning Links: Mass Evacuations in Vietnam for Typhoon Nari
Vietnam Vows to Boost Political Trust With China During Li Visit [Business Week] Sustainable tourism in Vietnam inspires film [ABC] Killer drunk drivers stalk Vietnam roads [Thanh Nie...
Brian Letwin in Stories
What the Phở Happened Last Weekend? 10 Stories You May Have Missed
At Least 21 Dead in Vietnam Firework Factory Blast [Farsnews] Japan slow to realize nuclear plant export to Vietnam [Global Post] High cholesterol might become top killer in Vietnam&...
A Look into the World of HCMC Sex Shops
Even though sex toys and unregistered aphrodisiacs are awesome illegal in HCMC, many sex shops stock these items and are seeing their profits soar. After all, it’s hard to run a business selling condo...
Video: iPhone Thievery
Crime is on the rise in HCMC. The city may be installing video cameras and increasing the number of security personnel, but these won't solve the problem on their own. Thieves are conniving and thrive...
Brian Letwin in Roundups
Morning Links: Vietnamese Manufacture Unmanned Aircraft, Submarines, Battleships
Railway planned to link Vietnam metro with new airport [Thanh Nien] Vietnam-Japan trade turnover at US$16.3 billion in first 8 months [SGGP] Foreign banks lend $100 mln to Vingroup&n...
Brian Letwin in Roundups
Morning Links: Vietnam Seizes Nearly 2 Tons of Elephant Tusks Smuggled From Malaysia, Labeled as Sea Shells
General Vo Nguyen Giap to be laid to rest at Dragon Cap [SGGP] A new phase of poverty reduction [VoV] Two hospitals violate regulations, suffer great losses [Tuoi Tre]
Brian Letwin in Vietnam
98-Year-Old to Continue his Hunt for $100 Billion Treasure
98-year-old Tran Van Tiep of Ho Chi Minh City has been given permission to continue his hunt for Japanese treasure he believes is buried at Tau Mountain in Binh Thuan Province.
Brian Letwin in Roundups
Morning Links: EVN Posts Massive Losses Over Non-Core Investments
Vietnam Government Clarifies its 'Buy-Local' Policy [FutureGov] Toxic waste continues to flood into Viet Nam [Vietnam Net] Refinery investment to double [VNS] City prepares supply of...
Brian Letwin in Saigon
South Korean Man Found Dead in HCMC Apartment
In what's becoming a seemingly weekly occurrence, another foreign national has died in Saigon. Korean Kim Tea Sik was found dead in his HCMC apartment yesterday morning. Sik's naked body was discover...
Brian Letwin in Roundups
Morning Links: Foreign Ship Spills Oil into Reef Off Vietnam
Vietnam, Myanmar agree upon visa exemption [VoV] Vietnam workers indifferent to minimum wage hike, employers fret [Thanh Nien] Thousands pay respects to Vietnam's General Giap [France...
Brian Letwin in Vietnam
Vietnamese Hero, General Vo Nguyen Giap, Dead at 102
It's been all over the news this weekend but in case you missed it, General Vo Nguyen Giap, who ousted both the French and Americans from Vietnam died in Hanoi last Friday at the age of 102. Late...
