March 2026
SAIGON, VIETNAM 🇻🇳 STREET ART: FOUR EYES by ALEX PAWSON
March 2026
Category: SAIGON
SAIGON, VIETNAM 🇻🇳 STREET ART: SMILING PEZ PAID A VISIT
March2026
SAIGON, VIETNAM 🇻🇳: Chùa Linh Sơn Temple
Chùa Linh Sơn is a Buddhist pagoda in District 1, built over 200 years ago, making it one of the oldest temples in the district. It also has a significant role in modern Vietnamese Buddhist history. The Southern Association of Buddhist Research, founded in 1931, had its office at Linh Son Temple , which made it a center of the Buddhist reform movement in colonial-era Saigon. So this wasn’t just a prayer hall. It was where Vietnamese Buddhists organized intellectually under French rule.
Though small and relatively simple in its architecture, the main hall is adorned with statues of Buddha, Bodhisattvas, and other deities. Outside, lush gardens and quiet courtyards provide a peaceful environment to meditate. Despite being in the heart of District 1, it retains its timeless charm.
SAIGON, VIETNAM 🇻🇳: Chùa Lâm Tế Temple
Chùa Lâm Tế. 212A Nguyen Trai Street, Nguyen Cu Trinh Ward, District 1.
Named after the Lâm Tế (Linji) school of Zen Buddhism, the dominant Buddhist lineage in southern Vietnam. The Linji school originated in 9th century Tang Dynasty China and came to Vietnam through Chinese monks. It teaches sudden enlightenment over gradual study, direct experience over scripture.
The location matters. Nguyen Trai is the main road running through Cholon, Saigon’s Chinatown. The Lam Te lineage arrived in the south largely through the Chinese community. The oldest temple in Saigon, Giac Lam Pagoda from 1744, became a Lam Te temple when Zen Master Vien Quang of the Lam Te lineage became its abbot in 1772. So this isn’t just a neighborhood pagoda. It carries the name of the root lineage that shaped how Buddhism spread across southern Vietnam.
24march26
SAIGON, VIETNAM 🇻🇳 STREET ART: MISS SAIGON by AREK
March 2026
SAIGON, VIETNAM 🇻🇳 STREET ART: SAVE RHINOS
March 2026
SAIGON, VIETNAM 🇻🇳: THIS WEEK IN COFFEE
This week in coffee felt less like hunting for caffeine and more like wandering into tiny human moments scattered around Saigon before the city fully wakes up.
Before 6am one morning, I found a coffee lady tucked into a little hem off Lê Thị Riêng. She was the only one operating for blocks.
A nice dark iced milk coffee. I love that first violent hit of iced milk coffee. 😆 But after days of it, I started craving the cleaner intensity of cà phê đen đá — straight black Vietnamese coffee over ice. There’s a focused kind of energy in it that feels almost medicinal. Sharp. Motivated. Slightly concerning. Probably unhealthy in quantities I’m currently exploring.
One morning I walked out with no destination at all. Just the intention of letting coffee find me. After wandering through streets I’m fairly certain I was never meant to be on, under brutal heat, I ended up at another completely unassuming stand on Bùi Viện.
I ordered in Vietnamese and her entire expression changed. Suddenly there was smiling, correcting my pronunciation of “Bùi Viện” while I filmed, asking if I wanted the coffee in a glass mug instead of takeaway plastic. Yes. Absolutely yes. That tiny gesture somehow said everything. Respect given, respect returned. I love a glass mug!
What struck me this week was how quickly attitudes soften when people realize you are trying — even badly — to meet their culture where it lives instead of demanding it come to you.
I never see any foreigners sitting at these tiny sidewalk coffee stands. They stay inside cafes with air conditioning and playlists curated in Stockholm or Melbourne. Meanwhile, the real pulse of Saigon is sitting six inches above the pavement on a blue plastic chair while scooters scream past your knees.
And honestly? That is the only way I want to experience this city.
Straight Black Coffee
One stand gave me the exact opposite of what I ordered — black coffee arrived sweetened with sugar and no ice. Did I complain? Of course not. I know I’m lucky to even be sitting on a sidewalk in Saigon drinking coffee in the first place.
May 2026
SAIGON, VIETNAM 🇻🇳 STREET ART: 🦄 INSTAGLOENN
21march26
HO CHI MINH CITY / SAIGON, VIETNAM 🇻🇳: HUYEN SY CHURCH
Nhà Thờ Huyện Sỹ (Huyen Sy Church), on Ton That Tung Street in District 1. Built between 1902 and 1905, it was funded entirely by Lê Phát Đạt, one of the wealthiest landowners in colonial Cochinchina and one of the first Vietnamese to be granted the French noble title “Huyện Sỹ.”
He and his wife are buried inside the church.
The architecture is Gothic Revival, built with granite brought from Biên Hòa, and the steeple rises about 57 meters. It’s one of the oldest Catholic churches in Saigon still holding active Mass. The pigeons on the gate angels are a permanent fixture.
21march26
SAIGON, VIETNAM 🇻🇳: THE FIRST WEEK OF MAY IN COFFEE
A cà phê sữa đá on a busy median.
Traffic whizzing by, but somehow, sitting on a tiny red stool with sweet coffee in my hand became the only thing I noticed. The coffee lady looked lonely out there in the middle of the chaos — cars, trucks, motorbikes rushing past with no pause, her little cart full of drinks waiting for customers. So I stayed a while. Maybe made her day a little less lonely. Maybe she did the same for me.
On Monday mornings, I wake up before the church bells, before the roosters, and certainly before any coffee ladies. So, on those mornings, I have a canned coffee waiting in the wings of my arsenal (you may call it a mini fridge.)
This brand happens to be deeply tied to the “First Lady of Coffee” in Vietnam, Le Hoang Diep Thao.
To understand King Coffee, you have to look back at Trung Nguyen, the powerhouse brand founded in 1996 by Le Hoang Diep Thao and her then-husband, Dang Le Nguyen Vu.
• TNI Label: Notice the “TNI” logo at the top, which stands for Trung Nguyen International—the entity Thao managed.
• The Flavor Profile: It is designed to mimic the “Vietnamese Bold Style,” which typically uses Robusta beans for a high caffeine content and a distinct, smoky bitterness. Hello!
• Cultural Iconography: The design featuring a woman in an Áo dài and a Nón lá (conical hat) is a deliberate choice to brand the coffee as an authentic cultural export of Vietnam. 🇻🇳
One of this week’s specialty coffees was at Café Linh, tucked around Trương Định and Phạm Hồng Thái. Coffee with lime zest — sharp, bitter, refreshing all at once. Vietnam never runs out of ways to reinvent coffee without ruining it! Holla!
Another stop was a mild but tasty cà phê sữa đá on Đỗ Quang Đẩu Street. The young staff guy there had the kind of genuine smile that makes decisions for me. The café next door wanted my business more aggressively, but this place earned it quietly. 😊
The flavor logic is straightforward. Mint cools. Vietnamese coffee is dark, bitter, and heavy. The mint lifts it, adds a cold brightness that hits your nose before it hits your tongue. 😛
One of my favorite moments this week came before 8am on Đỗ Quang Đẩu. Sitting with a ca Phe den đá, watching the city wake itself up in real time. Motorbikes flowing toward school drop-offs and office jobs. Street vendors emerging from narrow hẻms, deciding where to set up for the day. Women carrying boards of sunglasses and lighters trying to sell me shades while I’m already wearing prescription Ray-Bans. You have to respect the hustle.
Between about 7:00 and 7:40 there’s this brief window where Saigon feels almost gentle. A little breeze moving through the streets before the sun fully takes over. The more pleasant the weather, the longer I sit and read. Currently reading “A Naked Singularity” by Sergio De La Pava.
But eventually the heat wins.
That’s usually when I go searching for my breakfast bánh mì from my favorite lady — the one who adds tomatoes without charging extra, then refuses to accept the extra 5,000 đồng tip I want to give her because I appreciate the gesture. It’s become our daily little battle. One I eventually win. 😊
Vietnam keeps giving. And I keep receiving with gratitude. 🙏
May 2026