Paul Christiansen in Music & Arts
Art Exhibition 'Ngẫu Biến' Invites Viewers to Find Their Own Meaning
“When you write, you go inside yourself, when you paint, you go outside,” said poet and painter ng. anhan.
Filmmakers Trần Anh Hùng, Phạm Thiên Ân Win Awards at Cannes Film Festival
At the 76th Cannes International Film Festival, Phạm Thiên Ân's Bên trong vỏ kén vàng (Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell) was awarded the Camera D'or while Vietnamese-born French filmmaker Trần Anh Hùng won the best director prize for The Pot-au-Feu.
In Hanoi, the Vietnam Museum of Nature Is an Inquisitive Child's Heaven
Amidst the dull, grey buildings of the Hanoi University of Science and Technology, a giant dinosaur model stands out. The T-Rex was guarding the entrance to the Vietnam National Museum of Nature (Bảo tàng Thiên nhiên Việt Nam), and as I approached it I felt a sense of childlike wonder wash over me. I thought I would learn much about Vietnam’s natural history; I was wrong.
La Petite Ecole’s French Curriculum Benefits Families Well Beyond Saigon’s French Community
“When you learn a language, you don’t just learn the language, you learn new attitudes, ways of thinking, culture and history,” explains Aline Nguyen, the Principal of La Petite Ecole Ho Chi Minh.
Khôi Phạm in Film & TV
Review: Wow! This Brochure for Vietnam Tourism Has a Plot and a Romance.
I was prepared to hate A Tourist’s Guide to Love on sight. As a movie setting, Vietnam has been burned by foreign productions one too many times, so I often find myself dry-heaving whenever any international project announces its intention of portraying Vietnam on screen.
Paul Christiansen in In Plain Sight
An Ode to Saigon’s Chò Nâu Trees
It’s too cold for chò nâu to grow where I’m from, but we still gave it an English name: dipterocarp.
Paul Christiansen in Loạt Soạt
A Memoir Ruminates on Saigon in the Now and via Childhood Memories
Born in Saigon in 1977, Tuan Phan and his parents left for America via boat in 1986. Remembering Water includes depictions of the voyage including lengthy stops in refugee camps followed by acclimation to a new country and culture. It articulates struggles of exile and assimilation similar to many other diaspora experiences, but his story is unique because Tuan returns to live in Saigon as an adult and encounters a place significantly different from his childhood recollections. The memoir concerns itself not just with the changing city and his relationship with it, but also with more illusive ideas regarding the fallibility of memory and if one can feel more at home in the past than the present.
What Leadership Means to Walter Power, Grand Ho Tram’s CEO
While Vietnam has resorts of every kind, one particular property’s dizzying array of offerings and guest profiles may make you wonder: “How does this all work?” The Grand Ho Tram works in large part due to the leadership of its CEO, Walter Power.
How to Draw Buddha, the Right Way
During the Golden Age of Tibetan Gupta rule, strict guidelines were created for how one should draw Buddha. And they’re insanely specific.
[Video] Hilariously Awesome Vietnamese Remix of The Avengers/Unstoppable
In Vietnam, where the concept of ‘copyright’ is as foreign as queuing in line, we’re bombarded by faux Western products on a daily basis. While these knock-offs generally carry a reputation for cheap ...
[Video] American Shows off Impressive Vietnamese Skills in Trinh Cong Son Tribute
While most foreigners in Vietnam seem to be intimidated by the tonal nuances of Vietnamese, Kyo York, an American expat living in Vietnam for over 4 years, seems to have the language down pat.
[Slideshow] Motorbikes Can Carry Anything and Everything
In many developing countries, motorbikes are the main method of transportation for not only people but also, well, everything else. To illustrate this, the Global Post recently published an article, “...
Beautiful Origami Street Art in Hue
French street artist, Mademoiselle Maurice, learned the art of origami when living in Japan in 2011. After mastering the craft, she began a quest to stimulate positive emotions by adding some color to...
International Pillow Fight Day @ 23/9 Park
From the organizer: Wake Up Saigon brings you our city's participation in this international day of fun for the 3rd straight year! Join us as we pummel each other with pillows joining over 120 cities...
Expats and #SAIGONISHAPPY
Everyone should, at least once, climb to a high rooftop in Saigon. On most days, the subtle fog on the horizon recedes just far enough to let you glimpse a motley patchwork of aquamarines, drab and pa...
[Video] Presenting: Grand Theft Auto Saigon
As if driving in Saigon weren’t close enough to a videogame, a group of enterprising gaming enthusiasts have created a seemingly Vietnamese mod of the popular title, Grand Theft Auto 3.
[Video] In the Ruins of a Hue Temple
From 1802 – 1945, Hue was the imperial capital of the Nguyen Dynasty. Buildings from this period have become popular tourist attractions and many, such as the city’s famous citadel, have been painstak...
[Video] Saigon Is Happy
You've probably seen the video for the hit song Anh Không Đòi Quà where a women is stripped (literally) of the gifts given to her by her ex-boyfriend. While there have been dozens of remakes of this v...
The Brains Behind Vietnam’s Meme Explosion
Vietnamese netizens have embraced internet memes which employ a mix of humour and satire to create a new lens with which to view everything from daily life to pop culture. In a recent interview, Vietm...
Apocalaughs Now @ Cargo
From the organizer: You've seen the amateurs, now it's time to see the pros.
The Second Portion 'Red' Opens at the Observatory
Upon entering the gallery section, visitors find themselves in a dark space lit only by Le Brothers’ video installations on the wall and by the shiny red reflections coming from the two cage-like scul...
How to Approach People When Taking Photos in SE Asia
I’ve wanted to write something on this topic for ages. To be honest, this is probably the question that I hear most from my students: how should I approach people to take their photos?
Tropicaliente Returns to Saigon Outcast
From the organizer: We invite all our latin "panas", local friends, lovers and curious of the latinamerican culture to our second TROPICALIENTE night!
[Slideshow] Propaganda Art of Vietnam
“All Art Is Propaganda” – George Orwell Propaganda art serves as a rallying call for the defense of both ideas and nations; a colorful and static reminder of the things we should strive to cherish a...
Photography/Digital Editing Courses with Quinn Ryan Mattingly
From the organizer: Do you have a great camera or editing software but not sure how to get the most from it? Saigon School of Imaging is here to help. With current courses in Lightroom, Photoshop and...
3 Vietnamese Women Make Forbes 'Asia's Power Businesswomen' List
Forbes recently released their 2014 list of the most powerful Asian businesswomen which included 3 Vietnamese – the CEOs of Vinamilk and REE, along with the chairwoman of SeABank.
[Video] Vietnamese Students Create Epic Fight Sequence
When kids have too much time on their hands, it often results in toilet papered houses and/or motorbike racing. But for some, free time allows for imaginations to run free, which was clearly the case ...
Brian Letwin in Culture
Homecoming: Bandit9 Custom Bikes Lands in Saigon
Daryl Villanueva moved to Saigon in 2011 on a 1-year contract for an international advertising agency. A week into his stay, he bought his first motorbike, a Honda Super Cub. A week later, he painted ...
