Perspectives

Every city has a color scheme. You hear the name, you imagine the colors.

Why silence is the truest sign of living like royalty.

In the lush Đà Lạt hillsides you may find yourself wandering around in the cool, early morning in desperate need of a pick me up. One of the seemingly peculiar solutions to that is to grab a crisp, refreshing cup of weasel coffee.

What happens in Vietnam stays in Vietnam. At least until you write about it.

Maybe we don’t need to be in a different place to experience something new.

I remember being a teenager and having those conversations with friends, trying to guess which one out of us would be the first to get married or have kids. It’s funny how looking back as a twenty-seven year old, the predictions we made were, for the most part, accurate.

A poem

Coming to Saigon made me realise a few things. The fact that most of us either have more money or more time was one—Which one do you have?

To be or not to be. To be in the moment, or to not be in the moment. To take a picture, or to not take a picture.

I started watching Bourdain in high school. Finding him made as much of an immediate impression on me as did the day my dad first played Misty Mountain Hop by Led Zeppelin on the drive to school, or when I picked up Hunter Thompson’s Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas after an especially long reading slump.

A few weeks ago, the license plate to my bike was hanging on by a thread. And by a thread, I mean a small collection of rubber bands wrapped around in all directions.

Saigon is that magical place for me, once I’m back here I get to meet that little girl full of hope again. And I hold on to those pieces of memories tight to my chest, especially when it’s time for me to go back to my second life in America.

Who knows how it came to pass that I ended up with two cats. It wasn’t like I’d planned on adopting one before moving to Vietnam. Growing up, I had a dog.

The process is simple.

It was that morning I realised: 30/4 is not only a celebration of reunification, independence, and victory, but a testament to the beauty of peace.

How Bourdain’s 1999 New Yorker Essay Changed Everything

It’s one of the best ways to escape.

Who knew rolling around trying not to get choked out could be so therapeutic? Learn more about Liam's jiu jitsu journey in this essay.

Every once in a while you'll move someplace new, but at what point does that place become home?

No time limit set. Nowhere to be. Nowhere to go. Just get on your bike and wander.

The French have a saying worth remembering: “prends le temps de vivre”

It’s now well past my bedtime. Feet heavy, mouth dry, and bar tab now closed, but I’m still seeking.

From the lady on the sidewalk with the sweetest fruit smoothies to the weekend Van Gogh selling all kinds of paintings, everyone in Vietnam's an entrepreneur.