Stories about Vietnam from February, 2006
Vietnam: Visiting Pagodas
Our Vietnamese God describes visiting pagodas in Vietnam. “Food served at pagodas is usually good, really healthy but a wierd thing is that sometimes they make it into animal shapes, which I'm still confused about.”
Vietnam: Memories of Hanoi
Six Months in Hanoi, on his last night in Vietnam's capital city, shares three memories: a rain-soaked ride on the back of a motorcycle, approaching a temple altar, and waiting out a storm in an Internet cafe.
Vietnam: Planned City
Le Bao Tuan of Sticky Rice experiences “architecture shock” visiting Phu My Hung, a booming planned community built on a former swamp south of Saigon. He writes: “Phu My Hung is an evidence proves Vietnamese economy is developing quickly and Vietnamese people are trying to approach the more modern and...
Vietnam: Expats
Expatriate Mister Morris lists the reasons why he likes living in Vietnam, among them “a really really nice country club swimming pool nearby that is to die for.” Our Man in Hanoi sighs that in his mind, its people like Mister Morris who are “expats” — and that's why he...
Vietnam: Not Master of The Domain
Down And Out in Sài Gòn and diacritic.org comment on the Vietnam Internet Network Information Centre's refusal to grant a grapefruit wholesaler's application for the domain name “buoi.com.” Yes, bưởi means “grapefruit” in Vietnamese. But in North Vietnam, buồi is slang for “penis.”
Vietnam: Saigon Architecture
Our contributor Vietnamese God gives us a sampling of architecture in Ho Chi Minh City, a.k.a. Saigon.
Vietnam: Missing in Australia
Royby.com lists down the things he will miss about Vietnam when he returns to Australia.
Vietnam: Safety Precaution
Down and Out in Sài Gòn realizes that it was a very good idea to buy a helmet for driving or riding a motorbike in Vietnam: “People here may be driving slower than in western countries; 20-30 km/h is the norm in the cities. But it's the fall that makes...
Vietnam: Development Paradox
Our Man in Hanoi discusses his ambivalence at being a development worker, working to change a country they love just as it is: “A friend who worked with an ethnic group in a far flung corner of Vietnam told me that visiting tourists had started to complain that the traditional...
Vietnam: What is Literacy?
Việt Nam is famous for having extremely high literacy rates for a developing country. Down and Out in Sài Gòn observes that when it comes to foreign shows, many Vietnamese prefer listening to dubbed voices than reading subtitles.
Vietnam: Eulogy for a Mandarin
Virtual Doug writes a eulogy to Dr. Bưu Châu, a descendant of Vietnamese imperial mandarins who returned to Huê to live out his last days.
