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Tech head, camera lover, professional food chewer, right-to-repair advocate.
45 stories
Saigon Hẻm Gems
Historically, District 4 has been known for snail and barbecue restaurants. As a long-term resident, I suggest it should also be famous for having the most delicious bò né place as Bò Né Thanh Tuyền draws me back every time I try to leave.
How would you feel if everything about your favorite spot suddenly changed one day? Would the same attachment still stand? Those were the questions that popped into my head the afternoon I paid my visit to cafe Nhà Phạm’s new home.
Saigon Hẻm Gems
Unlike a normal human, there is a chance that my body is not 70% water, but 70% curry; and a good 50% of that might actually be Japanese curry.
Saigon Hẻm Gems
In the Huế dialect, mô rứa is a phrase one might encounter often in daily conversation. When a Huế resident asks “Mi đi mô rứa?” they might be wondering where you’re heading.
Saigon Hẻm Gems
Pick your favorite cupcake flavor; perhaps a pitcher of hot fragrant tea too. Ascend the dizzyingly steep flight of stairs. Mind your head. Tread gently on the wooden attic floor. There your friends are. They’re giggling over a joke. Their faces light up in the warm golden ambiance. Let’s have a blast.
Saigon Hẻm Gems
“He was a bold man that first ate an oyster,” satirist Jonathan Swift wrote in the 1700s. Famously fearful of the now-prized bivalves, Swift eventually grew to appreciate their briny, ocean-forward essence, going as far as writing oyster-gathering and -consuming into Gulliver’s Travels .
Snack Attack
While Tết is filled with many traditions, perhaps nothing is more central to the holiday than the food that families prepare and share together.
Music & Arts
On display at Thảo Điền’s Ngõ Art Gallery last year, the watercolor painting exhibition “ Dream ” is the conclusion of a decades-long artistic journey that has led a French national to learn more about both his motherland and himself.
Music & Arts
“There’s nothing much to say of Ươm except for the fact that it’s a collective of zany 20-somethings aspiring to do something that one might sort of categorize as ‘creative.’” — This is how Ươm Art Hub , Saigon’s brand-new creative commune, describes themselves.
Parks & Rec
Contrary to popular belief, Dungeons and Dragons isn’t just a geeky hobby, to me, it's a form of “group therapy” that is slowly taking shape in Vietnam, bringing fun and memorable bonding moments to the tabletop.
Saigon Hẻm Gems
On the slope connecting Binh Thanh and Phu Nhuan districts lives a small pocket of Quang Nam culinary spirits — in the form of “two-in-one” noodles.
Parks & Rec
Laser-focused gazes, shiny bows, colorful targets, and looking cool as hell: these are the components of a picture-perfect post one might find on the Instagram of any budding archer. But social media clout aside, there are other reasons why outdoor archery is slowly becoming a favorite pastime of some Saigoneers in the “new normal.”
Film & TV
Challenging the negative stereotypes surrounding the animation industry, Nam Hai Art opens a route for many passionate animators to pursue both passion and stable income.
Parks & Rec
Bonsai has often been regarded as an activity for the elderly, but the local bonsai community is experiencing an unprecedented renewal thanks to the participation of an unexpected demographic: young people.
Saigon Hẻm Gems
Having ventured into Saigon's food scene for a while, I have one guiding principle: the best spots are always the ones circulating via word of mouth. Quiet corners, culinary rarities and communities that have their own niches — you simply don’t find these things on the search bar of an average food review channel.
Parks & Rec
It’s a Tuesday night in Binh Quoi, and a group is lacing up their skates at a skating rink next to a football pitch.
Saigon Hẻm Gems
As I gaze at the glorious eight-dish Malaysian banquet on our table at Makiucha, perfectly spaced by our photographer, popping with colors and wafting off aromas of rich spices, it becomes apparent to me how much I’ve missed hawker centers.
Saigon Hẻm Gems
I first found out about khâu nhục where I find all my Saigon information: Facebook.
Saigon Hẻm Gems
With only three dishes on the menu, this hủ tiếu spot has been running for more than five decades.
Saigon Hẻm Gems
A highlight of my last visit to Phở Lạc Việt was a special moment when I reached out and the tips of my fingers touched a warm bowl inside the heating cabinet.
Music & Arts
In Saigon, the sweltering heat of March and April usually drives city-dwellers to take refuge in air-conditioned coffee shops and seek out refreshing thirst-quenchers like đá me and sugarcane juice — rarely does it inspire new desk calendar purchases.
