Stories

Fresh from Saigon: notes and photos from a local

A local in Ho Chi Minh City who eats, walks and photographs the city, mostly around Cholon. Real photos from the street, the market and the table, posted as they happen.

9 November 2026Đèn Năm Ngọn at night: Saigon's biggest fabric market, asleepAfter closing time at the Five-Lamp roundabout, where Soái Kình Lâm, Saigon's largest wholesale fabric market, sits behind rows of teal shutters.

8 November 2026Two old faces of District 11: a Trần Quý shophouse and the Phú Thọ grandstandA weathered 1960s-style family shophouse and the 1930s racecourse grandstand that may be kept as heritage, a few minutes apart in old District 11.

31 October 2026Bún bò Phú Bình: a gentle bowl of Hue beef noodlesA morning-only Hue-style beef noodle shop in Phú Bình with a clean, sweet, spicy broth that is easy on first-timers. 50,000 dong a bowl.

30 October 2026Hỷ Ký: chicken noodles with xá kén in Phú BìnhA morning-only chicken noodle shop in a Phú Bình alley, where the dipping bowl of xá kén is the real star. 50,000 dong a bowl.