In Xanadu did Kubla Khan A stately pleasure dome decree Where Alph, the sacred river, ran Through caverns measureless to man Down to a sunless sea. Upon awakening from an unrestful sleep, perturbed by his ever roaming mind and a good hit of opium, Samuel Taylor Coleridge wrote these lines in a burst of creative […]
Through Caverns Measureless to Man: Exploring Quang Binh Read More »
For my first few months back in this long term stay in Vietnam, I tried my hand at writing articles and short pieces for whatever places wanted them. Most English media sites about Vietnam were online zines, and the pieces that were in demand told of the country’s developing future. Editors wanted reviews of new
No City for Old Men Read More »
S o a year of writing ends and a new year of teaching (my lucky 13th year) begins, for I’ve taken a position at Saigon South International School teaching I.B. English and 10th grade English. I will be driving every morning for 15 – 20 minutes from district 4 down to Phu My Hung, south
Adrenaline rush in a left turn: the morning motorbike commute Read More »
I like to visit 3A Station in the late afternoons, when visitors come to browse its galleries and shops, or take photos next to its graffiti covered walls. The exteriors of old colonial warehouses that used to be here are kept intact, extending to form colourful alleyways. Small trees, industrial art, and painted walls refract the late afternoon
The Short Happy Lives of Saigon’s Creative Spaces Read More »
W hen he first visited Saigon in the late 1940s, the writer Norman Lewis made this observation of the sidewalk life he saw here, after a short amble through the city: “It was clear from the first moment of picking my way through these crowded, torrid streets that the lives of the people of the
The changing lives of Saigon’s sidewalks Read More »
A short story Khanh got there early, as per his usual habit. Tien, the girl who made the banh mi, wasn’t awake yet, and he knew he’d have to wake her up. Saigon was in a rare silent moment of repose, the dimmest hour before dawn, too late for the night owls coming home from bars
The Viet Kieu and the Banh Mi Driver Read More »
C hu Hong works with his wife selling Banh Mi in district 4 in a hem next to my apartment complex. This morning he made a banh mi thit nguoi (cold cuts baguette sandwich) and fried me an egg to add to the filling. It was delicious and cost 75c, would have been about 60c, but
Humans of District 4 Read More »
2016 was… a sad year of losses. In music, in civility and grace, in sanity. 2017, may you be just a little bit kinder to this world. The flip side of this gruesome year in politics and the arts, is that I had a chance on my year off to be with family. I was able to hang with
The sabbatical year, half way finished Read More »
Absurd, crazy stories of love in the new Saigon provide inspiration for this short story: The Viet Kieu Casanova. This is a section of that story: Section 1: The Shopkeeper This Viet Kieu comes into my cafe and store usually three, four times a week. He’s in his 30s I think, and he brings with him
The Viet Kieu Casanova – a short story Read More »
I n my childhood, Saigon’s district 4 was dangerous, full of crime and violence. At least that’s what everyone tells me, from friends to family; I was too young to know much about it. My family lived on the other side of district 1, in Binh Thanh. District 4 happens to also be the area undergoing
Humans of Saigon’s district 4 Read More »