Galle is a city on the coast of southwest Sri Lanka and is most famous for its fort. The Galle fort is the largest remaining European-built fortress in Asia and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The old colonial buildings and little lanes are utterly charming, even if it has calcified into a full-blown tourist […]
Propaganda posters and a parade – the 40th Anniversary of the reunification of Vietnam
April 30, 2015 marks the 40th anniversary of the day the North Vietnamese Army arrived in Saigon and ended the war. The day is known in Vietnam as liberation day, in the US as the fall of Saigon, and to overseas Vietnamese as Black April. In Ho Chi Minh City (or Saigon) there are hardly […]
Notes on Phu Quoc Island – Southeast Asia’s next big thing
Phu Quoc is an island of Vietnam in the deep south of the country, off the coast of Cambodia. I had never heard of it until I came to Vietnam, and having been in Vietnam for much of the past two years I’ve since heard varying opinions about it. For my first visit, I combined […]
Telok Ayer Market – The historic hawker centre in downtown Singapore
One of my favourite hawker centres in Singapore is the Telok Ayer Market. This food court – also known as Lau Pa Sat – is in a heritage building that is worth a visit in its own right. While a Singapore foodie might tell you there are a dozen other hawker centres that are better, […]
Notes on Colombo: Colonial remnants, cricket, and crows
Reading up on Sri Lanka’s capital city I kept seeing the words “hectic”, “chaotic”, and “bustling” to describe the city, followed tips on how to get out of the city as soon as possible. They write that like it’s a bad thing. To me that sounds like a place I want to visit. I’m drawn […]
My best ever airport immigration experience
There are so many stories online of horror airport immigration experiences that you could start a Tumblr and never run out material (http://shittyairportexperiences.tumblr.com/ is free if you want to be the person to start that Tumblr). In my years of international travel I’ve had some memorably bad border control experiences (some of which were my […]
A tale of two My Tho’s: The tour and independent version of the Mekong
After spending so much time in Saigon I figured it was time to see more of the country before going on my next trip. I’ve been to the Mekong Delta before but there is so much to see, so I made a plan to travel through the Delta by bus, get the ferry to Phu […]
Notes on Ho Chi Minh City – things I love about life in Saigon
I’ve been coming to and from Saigon for over two years now. It has become so familiar to me that I haven’t thought to do a big write up. I did a cost of living summary for my first full month here, and I also maintain a cafe list, so now it’s time to post […]
Ben Thanh Market, Ho Chi Minh City – Vietnam
Saigon is collecting a fair selection of rooftop bars, and one of the best views of the city can be found at OMG, next to the Ben Thanh Market. Get here around 5pm for happy hour and you can watch the skyline light up as the evening approaches. It’s also a good spot to do […]
The changing face of Saigon
[Old and new Saigon: Bitexco Financial Tower and a French colonial-era building.] I’ve been basing myself in Saigon off-and-on for the past two years, and my first visit here was in 2005. In this time I’ve been watching the city transform as it catches up from decades of underinvestment. It’s an interesting time to be […]
