in Sports

Ward off Your Monday Blues by Joining Me on Beginners' Skateboard Night

Usually in life, niche topics are commonly associated with unpleasant stigmas and misunderstandings — skateboarding in Vietnam is no exception. Once, I admittedly was influenced by such one-sided assumptions.

in Environment

Pure Passion Turns Dark: The Unexpected Dangers of the Wild Turtle Trade

Seeking a companion during quarantine, Khánh*, a 25-year-old Hanoian, bought a baby turtle through a Facebook group. 

Khôi Phạm

in Natural Selection

A Case for the Sweet-and-Sour Tamarind as Saigon's Official Municipal Tree

What is the municipal tree of Saigon? In popular culture, Hanoi is perhaps intricately linked with the paralyzing but often romanticized aroma of hoa sữa, while just over a hundred kilometers to the east, Hải Phòng proudly brandishes the name “the city of red phượng flowers.” Đà Lạt has too many flower varieties to choose just one, and settles for “the city of a thousand flowers.” Down south, Bến Tre’s abundance of coconut trees is famous nationwide. Ask any Saigoneer this question, and you’re likely to get one of two answers: chò nâu (dipterocarp) or me (tamarind).

in Environment

Requiem for a Bàng Tree That Was Cut Down in Front of My Home

Curiosity drove me downstairs into the downpour. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted the municipal workers — clad in orange-and-green uniforms, their clothes soaked — gathering around a crane. Their attention was focused upward. Following their gaze, I looked up, and froze.

in Environment

How the Ghosts of iPhones Past Haunt Vietnam's Low-Income Communities

The current e-waste crisis in Vietnam is one example of global environmental apartheid.

in Architecture

Keeping Cool in Thủ Đức With This Humble Abode’s Well-Ventilated Design

Thick multi-layer brick walls, shaded areas, water features, and natural ventilation allow this private home to stay cool amidst the city's stifling heat.

in Architecture

Saigon's VOH Radio Building, a Marvel of Architect Lê Văn Lắm's Modernist Intuition

In the middle of the 20th century, Vietnam grew to become one of the world’s prominent centers of modernist architecture. Saigon at the time was an economic and cultural heart of the region, with many official government structures constructed and designed in the style of modernist architecture. They were created with aesthetics and form in mind, laying the groundwork to usher in a new period of growth for Vietnamese creative independence.

in Environment

Waste-to-Energy Plants Might Be the Remedy for Vietnam's Struggling Landfills

Lam Van Quyet lives three kilometers from the Tây Bắc waste facility in Ho Chi Minh City, but he knows exactly what time the garbage trucks arrive there.

Back Society

in Architecture

2 Vietnamese Designs Take Home Top Awards at International Architecture Festival

A21 Studio’s “The Chapel” and Vo Trong Nghia Architect’s “House For Trees” both took home top awards at last week’s World Architecture Festival (WAF) in Singapore.

in Development

Saigon’s Metro Line 2 $784 Million More Than Expected And Delayed 2 Years

Due to inflation and an improved design which calls for the use of more expensive materials, HCMC’s metro line 2 (that will run from Bến Thành to Tham Lương) may be $784 million more than expected, ra...

Brian Letwin

in Health

You Won’t Believe How Many Packs Of Instant Noodles Vietnamese Consume Each Year

Given that Vietnamese munch on 2 billon Choco Pies each year, it may come as no surprise that another mass-produced “food,” instant noodles, are also consumed at an astronomical rate.

in Development

Trees On Tôn Đức Thắng Street To Be Cut Down For Bridge To Thủ Thiêm

There’s a price for progress and in Saigon it seems to be trees that are called upon to make the ultimate sacrifice in the name of infrastructure development.

in Tech

3 Reasons Why Wind Power Has A Strong Future In Vietnam

Not long ago, I traveled to Vietnam’s countryside, mainly in the Mekong Delta provinces. Along the way, I stumbled upon a number of churning wind turbines, showing that the Vietnamese people are becom...

in Development

Prime Minister Signs Off On Phan Thiet Airport

Saigon might not be the only one who’s getting a shiny new airport.

in Sports

Young H’mong Boy Steals The Show At Sapa Mountain Marathon

The second Vietnam Mountain Marathon took place over the weekend of 20-21 September, with almost 400 runners from 40 nations descending on the mountains of Sapa to take on trails of 10, 21, 42 and a m...

in Development

Tân Bình Market Set To Be Demolished, Rebuilt

Despite protests from traders, The administration of Ho Chi Minh City’s Tân Bình District plans to move forward with a plan to replace the 50-year-old Tân Bình Market with “a six-story traditional, ci...

in Development

Traffic Jams Cost HCMC $1.2bn Each Year: Expert

We knew traffic was getting worse in HCMC, but we had no idea it was this expensive.

in Development

Vietnam Pushes Back Construction Of First Nuclear Power Plant

At a meeting of the Science, Technology, and Environmental Committee of the National Assembly last Thursday, Deputy Trade Minister Cao Quoc Hung said that the construction of Vietnam’s first nuclear p...

in Tech

iPhone 6 Arrives In Hanoi With VND40 Million Price Tag

The new iPhones have arrived in Vietnam, Apple’s hottest market, with some pretty hefty price tags.

in Development

Detailed Map Of The Entire HCMC Metro System

Saigon’s Bến Thành–Suối Tiên metro line is something of a teaser, the first of 6 that will serve the sprawling metropolis. While it's hard to say how accurate it is given a lack of official infor...

in Health

HCMC Moves To Cut Plastic Bag Use

Following in the footsteps of other large cities around the world, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment is pushing HCMC to reduce its reliance on plastic bags, reports Vietnam News.

in Development

Future Saigon: Thủ Thiêm’s Đại Quang Minh Project

The Đại Quang Minh Real Estate Corporation’s project in Thủ Thiêm is a mixed development of high-rise apartment buildings and villas that will include schools, shopping centers, cinemas, sports center...

in Development

[Video] Take A Virtual Ride On Saigon’s First Metro

Saigon’s metro system won’t be inaugurated for another 4 years or so, but while you wait, take a virtual ride on the Bến Thành–Suối Tiên line.

Brian Letwin

in Architecture

[Photos] A Look At The Bygone Era Of “New” Cambodian Architecture

In the 1950s and 60s, Cambodia was developing a unique architectural style, one which blended aspects of the Modern Movement with traditional features found at Angkor. This movement, known as “New Khm...

in Development

Nguyen Hue Street To Add Massive Pedestrian-Only Promenade

It may be hard to believe given the current state of the area, but Nguyen Hue Street’s future is paved with granite sidewalks, 3D art and electric trams.

in Architecture

2 Slim Vietnamese Homes Featured In British Architecture Magazine

2 Vietnamese homes designed by Vietnamese architects have made Deezen Magazine’s list of “10 Super Skinny Houses.”

in Development

Saigon’s Bus Rapid Transit System Set To Launch In 2018

Along with a new metro, Saigon has launched a project to build a $155 million, 6-line bus rapid transit (BRT) system, with the first to be completed by 2018.

in Health

Final Trials Find Dengue Vaccine to Be Highly Effective

Death from dengue fever, which plagues Vietnam and other tropical regions across the globe, may soon be a thing of the past after French drug maker, Sanofi, announced that it had achieved high su...