October Ed Lessons, or How to Stay Out of Vietnamese Prisons

The October issue of AsiaLIFE is almost put to bed. But like a colicky child, it turns out that magazine work is most volatile right before bedtime. The good news is I’ll go forward next month much more capable of managing multiple deadlines. What else have we learned this month?
First off, staying out of jail [...]

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Jetstar to Launch Saigon - Darwin Route

Out with the old, in with the new. Jetstar is scrapping its thrice-weekly service between Ho Chi Minh City and Sydney, and replacing it with a new Ho Chi Minh City - Darwin route, which will operate five flights a week. The changes will take effect on September.
The schedule change is part of Jetstar’s bigger [...]

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Painting with Street Children

I stopped by a painting class for disadvantaged youth and street children run by Armed with a Paintbrush to research an article I’m writing about the American nonprofit for AsiaLife HCMC. The good folks at AWAP handed me a paintbrush and let me paint with a gaggle of pre-adolescent artists:
Friends from back home will recognize [...]

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Escape from Saigon: Dong Nay Province Swimming

I was hurtling down the rode in Dong Nay Province, past vast swaths of rice paddy, when it suddenly occurred to me. I  cocked my wrist to accelerate and pulled up alongside Tyler.
“I think I forgot what fresh air smells like.”
Add this experience to the “You know you’ve been in Saigon too long when … [...]

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New Beer Bar Quenches Saigon

Beer in Saigon now has its Graceland. While most bars serve the same range of regional beers, the Kool Beer Bar is stocked with over 100 beers from 13 countries.
Located just off the Ben Thanh Market traffic circle, this joint is the best a beer-drinker could hope for in hop-starved Saigon. Glass-doored coolers make it [...]

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Update Saigon: On the Palate

Yikes! This blog has gone bone dry as of late (I blame the Beginner 1 class I just started teaching). Here’s a quick blast to add some meat to my recently skeletal offerings.

Just days after I plugged the Vietnamese Vegetarian Restaurant in my Vegetarian Guide to Saigon, the joint assumed a dual identity. This Pham [...]

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News Bites: Vietnam Tourism Forecast Is Sunny

This week, Breaking Travel News reported on the growth of tourism in emerging markets, citing a 6-8% increase over the past ten years — a twofold upturn over tourist powerhouses like Europe.
China is fueling much of this tourism boom — Chinese tourists spent $30 billion abroad last year. And where are they going? Vietnam.
An article [...]

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Bobby Brewers: The Last Picture Show Has Cometh

Backpackers in Saigon have been packing Bobby Brewers‘ movie theater for years, but Vietnam’s lax copyright laws have tightened and put a stranglehold on this staple of the Bui Vien lifestyle.
Alas, at least for the time being, there shall be no more bootleg movies at Bobby Brewers’ Bui Vien outpost.
Two weeks ago, Bobby Brewers retracted [...]

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An Israeli Falafel in Saigon

Falafel enthusiasts and vegetarians rejoice! Falafellim is serving up meal-sized falafel pitas here in Saigon. Located on Pham Ngu Lao just off the traffic circle at Ben Thanh Market, this small, attractive falafel bar was opened a few months ago by an Israeli ex-pat. And while most of the foreign fare you sample in Saigon [...]

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British lend insight to Saigon Subway

The British came to town last week to pinpoint possible areas for cooperation on Saigon’s main railways and the future metro system, the Word HCMC reported in their latest issue. Turns out the Brits are on a public transportation world tour of sorts, stopping by developing nations to lend their rail expertise. Add the British [...]

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