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.

in Literature

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 Travel

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.

in Culture

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.

in Film & TV

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.

Back Arts & Culture

in Arts & Culture

Saigoneer Sunday Rewind

Saigoneer's staff highlights their favorite articles from the past week.

in Culture

Plus-Size Woman Sends Her Photos To Editors Across The Globe, Photoshop Hilarity Ensues

Back in June, an American blogger Esther Honig sent her photo to editors around the globe to be photoshopped. She found that each country (including Vietnam) projected their own cultural values and st...

in Music & Arts

These 8 Saigon Christmas Cinemagraphs Will Get You In The Christmas Spirit

Whether you enjoy Saigon’s frenetic Christmas energy or not, it’s impossible to escape the twinkling light shows in the city’s alleys, Santa impersonators and tinfoil snow.

in Music & Arts

All In: Vietnamese Artists Put A Beautiful Twist On Playing Cards

With an obsession for peace signs, adoration for the hippie lifestyle and an open mind, two young artists, Đinh Công Thành and Ngô Đình Lệ Thuỷ, have started a creative project called “Bài Ta” (Vietna...

in Music & Arts

Saigon Xưa: Young Artist Makes Incredible Drawings to Show Love of Old Saigon

Although born in Ninh Thuan province, Le Hung Trong has grown intimately attached to his second home, Saigon. Working as an architect for past three years, he has put together a collection of drawings...

in Culture

OMG: Use Of Online Acronyms By Vietnamese Youth Blurs Linguistic Lines

Across the globe, the internet has brought about new ways of thinking, interacting and communicating. The latter has been a cause of concern for some in Vietnam who worry about the impact of popular i...

in Culture

[Video] Pro Skateboarders Make an Epic Vietnam Road Trip

Back in 2012, Skateboarder Magazine sent a group of pro skaters on a motorbike journey from Hanoi to HCMC in a quest to find unseen skate spots throughout the country.

in Music & Arts

[Photos] Vietnam Through The Lens Of A Leica

There’s little doubt that Vietnam is one of the World’s most photogenic countries. No matter what camera one uses, you’re bound to have at least a few gems on your film roll or memory card. But what h...

in Culture

A Look At The Top Google Searches In Vietnam In 2014

On Tuesday, Google released its annual “A Year in Search” showing the most popular searches of the last year. To make it a bit more accessible, the search engine released localized versions in additio...

in Music & Arts

4 Awesome Animated Gifs Of Sleeping Saigon Cyclo Drivers

Maria Tran Larsen, a graphic designer with Vietnamese roots living in Copenhagen, Denmark has always been entranced by the sleeping cyclo drivers she came across on her trips to Vietnam.

in Music & Arts

Rolling The Dice With Old Saigon Monopoly

There’s something about inspired design mixed with nostalgia that always pulls on the heartstrings. We recently got wind of an old Saigon inspired game of Monopoly designed right here in Saigon.

in Music & Arts

Incredible Pointillism Pieces Show The Faces Of Vietnam

Out of all the many art forms, pointillism is one of the most impressive. Artists in this medium use millions of individual dots to compose their masterpieces that are packed with incredible detail.

in Arts & Culture

Saigoneer Sunday Rewind

Saigoneer's staff highlights their favorite articles from the past week.

in Music & Arts

[Photos] An Illustrated Guide to Vietnamese Motorbikers, Part 2

After we published the first edition of “An Illustrated Guide To Vietnamese Motorbikers,” we received an abundance of requests from users on Facebook, Twitter and a number of Vietnamese social network...

in Music & Arts

Artist Spotlight: Tonstartssbandht

Tonstartssbandht is one of those bands which occupy that very rare dimension in music defying categorization. Psychedelic-rock, pastoral vocals, pop undertones, rock-n-roll and lo-fi are all terms tha...

in Music & Arts

Amazing Vegetable Carvings In HCMC

When one thinks about materials artists use to make intricate carving, wood immediately comes to mind. But at the Taste of the World culinary festival which wrapped up last week, a group of talented c...

in Music & Arts

This Video Proves That Vietnam Is One of the Most Beautiful Places on Earth

"This Land", a short film by overseas Vietnamese filmmaker Arnaud Ly Van Manh takes viewers across Vietnam and focuses on the beautiful landscapes, people and tranquil moments one finds in t...

in Culture

19 Amazing Photos Of Animals In Vietnam

Whether you live in the city or the countryside, animals are a constant characteristic of life in Vietnam. These amazing photos sourced from one of our favorite Facebook pages, Another Side of Vietnam...

in Culture

The Highest Paying Jobs In Vietnam

Last month, Adecco released a report outlining the pay rates for the leading job titles in Vietnam. As recent years have shown us, those in finance and banking are taking the lion’s share when it come...

in Arts & Culture

Saigoneer Sunday Rewind

Saigoneer's staff highlights their favorite articles from the past week.