Indie Short Film 'Saigon Kiss' Is a Quintessential Saigon Queer Love Story
Is there a meet-cute more characteristically Saigon than a motorbike breakdown and subsequent friendly assist from a stranger?
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.
Vietnamese Photographer Takes Home Grand Prize at International Photo Contest
A photo by Vietnamese photographer, Pham Ty, has beaten out 26,500 other submissions to take the top spot at the recently concluded Smithsonian Photo Contest.
Saigoneer Sunday Rewind
Saigoneer's staff highlight their favorite articles from the past week.
12 Of Saigon’s Best Parks And Open Spaces – Part 2
Though Saigon has lost quite a bit of its verdant luster over the years, there are still patches of green throughout the city that are worth checking out.Vietnam Coraclehas made a handy guide to some ...
Incredibly Detailed Map Shows SE Asia's Amazing Diversity
This detailed map created by the Indigenous Knowledge and Peoples Network shows the incredible diversity of ethnicities in SE Asia.
Vietnam’s First IMAX Theatre To Launch In Saigon With “Furious 7”
IMAX is finally coming to Vietnam next month with screenings of the seventh installment of the “Fast & Furious” franchise.
[Video] Saigon Mad Men: “The Guitar-Maker's Labor of Love”
This short film is the fourth episode in a series called "Saigon Mad Men" that profiles some of the city’s most passionate business people.
April Movies At Saigon’s Alternative Film Venues
As we slowly move away from the awards season, our local film venues go back to what they do best: indie and cult cinema.
Saigoneer Tet Photo Contest [Results]
Over Tet, many of us got out of Saigon either to our hometowns, or for some much needed holiday time to surrounding countries. Either way, some beautiful images were submitted, and we had a rough time...
21 Outrageous Photos Of Vietnamese Motorbikers – Part 2
For many living in Vietnam, motorbikes act as an appendage, taken everywhere and used for everything. They are monuments to function that are at once a personal vehicle, a delivery truck, a school bus...
Saigoneer Sunday Rewind
Saigoneer's staff highlight their favorite articles from the past week.
Three Saigon-based Artists Bring Their Diverse Urban Art To Vin Gallery
This evening, American illustrator and street artist Kristopher Kotcher AKA Frenemy is bringing his work back to Vin Gallery with a new exhibition, Trialogue. It has been almost a year since his first...
This Is What A Mongolian Hip-Hop Video Looks Like
Tracing its roots back to the cities of the United States, Hip-Hop has since spread across the globe, penetrating even the farthest corners of human civilization.
S-A-I-G-O-N: Digital Pop Art Project Brings "Saigon" To Life
This incredibly detailed piece of digital pop art takes aim at Saigon's complex beauty.
[Photos] Vintage Vietnamese Lottery Tickets Are Works of Art
In contrast with the bright red colored, formulaic designs of today’s Vietnamese lottery tickets, those of the mid-twentieth century were more like postcards and graced with intricate artwork.
12 Of Saigon’s Best Parks And Open Spaces – Part 1
Though Saigon has lost quite a bit of its verdant luster over the years, there are still patches of green throughout the city that are worth checking out. Vietnam Coracle has made a handy guide to som...
Saigoneer Sunday Rewind
Saigoneer's staff highlights their favorite articles from the past week.
Saigon’s Own Suboi Making Headlines in America
Suboi, Saigon’s “Queen of Hip-Hop”, has been making international headlines this week in anticipation of her performance at one of America's largest music festivals.
[Video] This Vietnamese Coke Commercial Might The Best We’ve Ever Seen
Say what you will about Coca-Cola’s poor human rights record and shady promotional practices, but the soda giant sure seems to have its marketing executions figured out.
Infographic Shows The Most Popular Beers In The World By Country: Vietnam Confused
Vinepair, a website dedicated to all things alcohol, recently released a great infographic showing the most popular beers in the world by country. However, while the king of beers in most nations was ...
Vietnam Photo Tips: Aperture Is Your Best Friend
Vietnam, and more generally Southeast Asia, are full of visual pollution. We are surrounded by plastic bags, motorbikes, flashy karaoke signs and electric wires. As a result, there is often a need for...
