Hanging on his bike a sign that reads “Xe om tay phuc vu” (motorbike taxi service offered by a Westerner), Zagrodski Adrian, a Polish student at Hanoi University, has caught the attention of local people.

You will never find it in a museum but phở is one of Vietnam’s most sacred and tantalizingly beautiful forms of art.

You will never find it in a museum but phở is one of Vietnam’s most sacred and tantalizingly beautiful forms of art.

During my trip to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, last November I got acquainted with a group of convivial Mong boys working on a labor contract. They had come from various villages scattered in Mường Lát, a remote mountainous district of Thanh Hóa province, central Vietnam.  

Carolyn Shine, an Australian musician who moved to Hanoi in 2002, has released a travel memoir entitled “Single White Female in Hanoi”, which has sold about 2500 copies, good for a small press publication.

A rap song produced for fun by a small coterie of music-loving expats has become an internet sensation since being posted on youtube.  

Vietnam is famous for its historic and cultural traditions. There are plenty of occasions to celebrate major events throughout the year. During the first three months of the lunar year, a lot of festivals take place across the country.

More and more foreigners have come to Vietnam to seek jobs or business opportunities. For 22-year-old French man, Theo Falcoz, Vietnam is the ‘land of opportunities’.

It might sound like whimsical fun for tourists when you read that Lonely Planet named the craft of making wooden stamps in Hanoi on its list of 266 things to do but this craft is much loved by locals, especially artists, who like to sign with custom made insignia or use Eastern symbols to add value to their creative works.

Sitting outside my favorite Bia Hoi (fresh beer) spot last night I caught sight of a funny trio.