One of the things that I love about Saigon is that fashion seems to be governed by the individual. No perceptible rules. In any given group of people I see everything from shorts with T-shirts and spiked heels, to skirts, business suits, or frilly dresses with flip flops or gym …
The 2024 Lunar New Year, known as “Tết in Vietnam, began on Saturday, February 10. Tết is short for Tết Nguyên Đán” which, translates as, “Festival of the First Day” One of the prettiest traditions for celebrating the Lunar New Year in Saigon is the proliferation of flower markets. All over …
At midnight on February 10, 2024, countries celebrating the Lunar New Year said goodbye to the Year of the Rabbit and hello to the Year of the Dragon. The sign of the Dragon is considered auspicious. Birthrates spike in dragon years, as babies born in these years are said to …
We set aside at least one day a week (usually Friday) to find and explore new neighborhoods in our adopted hometown of Saigon. Some of our favorite finds are the museums, temples, street fairs, shops, and other sites that wouldn’t have been on our radar if not digging a bit. …
There’s a popular Vietnamese dish that, at its base, is a food that was once considered “not good enough to sell.” It’s called Cơm Tấm, which translates as “broken rice”. Broken rice are fragments of rice grains that have broken off during handling. In earlier times, it was considered inferior …
When Mark and I arrived in Saigon we quickly embraced the transportation norm of riding on the back of a motorbike to get around town. Using Grab (Vietnam’s version of Uber), the app gives us the option of either a motorbike or car. There are 2 reasons that we almost always opt …
My husband (Mark) and I love to travel and were excited to think about how we could do more once we retired. While on walk one evening, we started talking about not just traveling to, but actually living in a different country for about a year at a time for …
