Tag: street photography

SAIGON, VIETNAM 🇻🇳: THIS WEEK IN COFFEE ~ LITTLE THINGS THAT QUALIFY AS BIG

Published on by jacquelinemhadel1 Comment

Avocado 🥑 Smoothie

There are weeks when coffee is mostly about the coffee.

And then there are weeks when coffee becomes a way of measuring a life.

This was one of those weeks.

Nine coffees. A little over 347,000 Vietnamese đồng. A ridiculous range of prices, places, textures and moods. Everything from a 13,000₫ cà phê đen đá in a District 3 hẻm to an 89,000₫ coconut coffee at a retro bar. And somewhere in between, I had one of those small realizations that seem insignificant until you realize they aren’t.

But let’s start with the coffee.

My week began with a cà phê sữa with salted foam from Mê Trà on Nguyễn Thị Minh Khai – 25,000₫. Silky, thick foam. Sweet, creamy, indulgent. The kind of coffee that makes you stop pretending coffee is merely a beverage and admit that sometimes it’s dessert wearing a caffeine costume.

Then there was a 20,000₫ cà phê đen đá from YO Coffee, served from a little cart on Nguyễn Văn Tráng. Sitting outside, watching the street do what Saigon streets do, I was reminded again that some of my favorite coffees here cost less than a bottle of water in plenty of places.

I found another little street stand in a District 3 hẻm and had a 13,000₫ cà phê đen đá. Later, near Lê Thị Riêng, a graffiti-covered backdrop provided the setting for a 20,000₫ cà phê sữa đá.

And that’s one of the things I love about drinking coffee in Saigon.

The setting doesn’t have to be impressive.

Sometimes the setting is the point.

A plastic chair. A metal table. A wall covered in graffiti. A narrow hẻm. Motorbikes passing a few feet away. Someone sweeping the sidewalk. Someone else arguing cheerfully over something that sounds very important.

And suddenly you’re sitting in the middle of somebody else’s ordinary Tuesday. And it feels extraordinary.

Then came the hazelnut latte.

The day before, I had walked past an advertisement for a beautiful hazelnut latte. I remember thinking, I’ll be trying that soon.

And the next day, I did.

This may sound like a ridiculously minor thing. But lately I’ve been thinking about how much freedom is contained in that little sentence: I’ll try that.

And then actually doing it.

So there I was at Cheese Coffee on Lê Thị Riêng, drinking a 75,000₫ bạc xỉu hazelnut coffee, enjoying the hell out of it.

It was really good.

And I realized that I’m increasingly grateful for the freedom. And the means to build a life out of these little things.

Not the big things.

The little things.

A coffee because I saw an advertisement and became curious.

A book because I happened to have it with me.

A shady sidewalk because the breeze feels good.

A neighborhood because I wandered into it.

A conversation because somebody happened to sit nearby.

A day that doesn’t have to justify itself.

That particular afternoon was especially good. I was sitting in the shade with a light breeze, reading Fernando Pessoa’s The Book of Disquiet, and thinking that I could probably have stayed there all day.

Honestly, I could have.

There are worse ways to spend a life.

The next coffee took me to Phuong’s Retro Bar on Lý Tự Trọng, where I tried a coconut coffee for 89,000₫. Then another coconut coffee at Bò Cà Phê, a 60,000₫ phin dừa.

Because apparently this was the week I decided that coconut and coffee needed to become a major theme in my life.

I’m not complaining.

Sunday brought one of my favorite rituals: my neighborhood coffee.

I had started teaching online early, and afterward I wandered over to my usual spot. The guy who knows my order – or at least knows the general direction my order is headed, asked if I wanted more condensed milk.

“Yes.”

And on this particular Sunday morning, that was exactly right.

Rich. Sweet. Just the little kick in the ass I needed to start the day.

Monday morning, however, called for something different.

A 25,000₫ coffee at Passio on Bùi Thị Xuân, which I described in my notes as a “detox of sorts.”

After a week that included salted foam, hazelnut, coconut, condensed milk and enough sweetness to qualify as a minor health event, Monday’s coffee felt almost virtuous.

Almost.

Looking back at the week’s list, what strikes me isn’t really the coffee.

It’s the accumulation of small choices.

I can walk past a picture of a hazelnut latte and decide I want one.

I can sit in a hẻm for a 13,000₫ coffee.

I can spend 89,000₫ on something ridiculous and delicious.

I can take a book into the shade and disappear into it for an afternoon.

I can teach online in the morning and be sitting on a plastic chair drinking coffee in a neighborhood a few minutes later.

I can wander.

I can stop.

I can try things.

I can change my mind.

And I can build a life out of all those little things that, taken individually, don’t seem particularly important.

But that’s the trick.

The little things are the big things.

A life doesn’t have to be spectacular to be a good one.

Maybe it just has to contain enough moments when you look up from your coffee, feel the breeze, realize you’re exactly where you want to be, and think:

Yeah. This is pretty damn good.

And then take another sip.

August 2026

PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA 🇰🇭 GRAFFITI: MEKONG

Published on by jacquelinemhadelLeave a comment
This “5 Toes” piece is up all over the city

June 2026

PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA 🇰🇭: NEW KHMER ARCHITECTURE

Published on by jacquelinemhadel3 Comments

Quintessential example of New Khmer Architecture (often intertwined with mid-century modernist shophouse design), a transformative architectural movement that defined Cambodia—and particularly Phnom Penh—during the 1950s and 1960s.

Following Cambodia’s independence from France in 1953, King Norodom Sihanouk spearheaded a grand modernization program. This movement blended international modernist principles (like Bauhaus and the works of Le Corbusier) with traditional Khmer elements, motifs, and climate-conscious design.

True to the shophouse tradition, the ground floor serves as commercial space (shops, mechanics, cafes) with open storefronts and awnings, while the upper floors are dedicated to dense residential living.

Today, blocks like the ones here tell a vivid story of Phnom Penh’s layered history. They survived the evacuation of the city during the Khmer Rouge regime in the late 1970s. When residents returned in the 1980s, these structures were re-inhabited and organically modified.

June2026

PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA 🇰🇭: FRENCH COLONIAL POLICE COMMISSARIAT

Published on by jacquelinemhadelLeave a comment

The former French Colonial Police Commissariat, one of the most storied and deteriorating buildings on Post Office Square.
🇰🇭 It was originally built in 1892 and served as the colonial police force’s headquarters in Phnom Penh.

🇰🇭 Pop culture footnote: the building is widely known for its role as the guesthouse run by Jacques Depardieu’s character in Matt Dillon’s 2002 crime drama City of Ghosts.
🇰🇭 A recent 2026 report noted the building is still standing though its fate remains uncertain, as Phnom Penh continues racing toward modernization while many heritage buildings quietly disappear with little public debate or legal protection.

3june26

PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA 🇰🇭: HOTEL MANOLIS, 1910

Published on by jacquelinemhadel1 Comment

The building originated in the late 1890s under Huyn de Vernéville, France’s Résident Supérieur (the highest representative) in Cambodia.
🇰🇭 officially completed around 1910.
🇰🇭 In 1918, the property was purchased by Nicolas K. Manolis, a Greek immigrant.
🇰🇭 Under his ownership throughout the 1920s, it operated as the premier luxury hotel in Phnom Penh.

🇰🇭 The hotel’s most famous and scandalous slice of history belongs to André Malraux, the legendary French novelist, adventurer, and future first Minister of Cultural Affairs under Charles de Gaulle.
🇰🇭 The Heist: In 1923, a young Malraux traveled deep into the Cambodian jungle and hacked off valuable stone bas-reliefs from the ancient temple of Banteay Srei to sell on the Western art market.

🇰🇭 The House Arrest: He was caught by French colonial authorities. While awaiting his high-profile trial in Phnom Penh, he was placed under a form of comfortable house arrest at the Hotel Manolis, spending several months confined to his room here. Ironically, this “temple thief” would go on to lead France’s national architectural preservation and museum expansion drives decades later.

🇰🇭 Post-War Transition & The Squatter Era (1979–Present)
The Evacuation & Return: Like the rest of Phnom Penh, the building was completely abandoned in 1975 when the Khmer Rouge forcibly evacuated the city’s population.
🇰🇭 Following the fall of the regime in 1979, citizens returned to the ghost city and claimed shelter wherever they could. The grand hotel rooms were partitioned into small apartments. For decades, the upper levels of the building have been home to roughly 30 local Cambodian families.
🇰🇭 The corner space is occupied by Le Manolis, a French bistro and wine bar that deliberately preserved the building’s name and original architectural bones to honor its long, eccentric history.

3june2026

PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA 🇰🇭 STREET ART: BROS DAY AND NIGHT

Published on by jacquelinemhadelLeave a comment

June 2026

SAIGON, VIETNAM 🇻🇳 TO PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA 🇰🇭: BUS RIDE

Published on by jacquelinemhadel1 Comment

Highly recommend Giant Ibis Bus for this trek.

Starts with organizing with Henry at 303 Pham Ngu Lao and then our bus left right on time at 9:45am.

Immediately, the staff on the bus begins handing out the two cards (duplicates) that we need to fill out for Cambodian immigration. Then he takes our passports. That’s it. He organizes everything. It takes about 3 hours to get to the border (Moc Bai.) One ten-minute bathroom stop on the way. At the border, he carries everyone’s passports and has us follow him.

We had no lines, so literally, in like 2 mins, he handed me my passport to walk outside and get back on our bus that has crossed over to Cambodia, essentially. (In the same parking lot.) Once everyone is back on, they drive us about 5 mins to a sparkling clean Duty Free Plaza, where everyone eats lunch. (About 30 mins)

Then I think 🤔 after that, we follow him into the Cambodian immigration and then get back in the bus. I can’t remember which was first. Either way, we then had 4 more hours to get to Phnom Penh. 2 1/2 hours into that, there’s another bathroom break.

Then, about one more hour and a half, we’re in Phnom Penh. I hopped out and found a tuk tuk 🛺 to drive me to my hotel. 🏨 The End. 😊

The bus is clean, spacious, excellent WiFi and A/C. They provide water and some kind of bread roll.
$36 usd for the trip. Well worth it.

1june26

PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA 🇰🇭: CENTRAL MARKET

Published on by jacquelinemhadelLeave a comment

The Central Market, known in Khmer as Phsar Thmei (ផ្សារធំថ្មី, literally “New Grand Market”), is one of Phnom Penh’s most iconic landmarks and a stunning example of Art Deco architecture in Southeast Asia.

Built between 1935 and 1937 during the French colonial period, it was designed with a striking cruciform layout: four wings radiating out from a soaring central dome. That dome, painted a distinctive ochre-yellow, is one of the largest of its kind in Asia and was considered an architectural marvel when it opened.

The design is often credited to French architect Louis Chauchon, with engineering input from others, and it was reportedly the largest market in Asia at the time of its completion.

Inside and beneath that great dome, the market is a maze of vendors. The central hall is famous for gold, silver, jewelry, gemstones, and watches, while the four arms and the surrounding stalls spill over into everything else: fabrics, clothing, electronics, souvenirs, flowers, fresh produce, and food. The outer ring is where you’ll find some of the best cheap eats in the city, with stalls serving noodles, fresh fruit, and Khmer street food.

Most people go to the Central Market for the ‘chaotic market energy.’ Not me. I go for the silence and solitude in the early morning and to observe the architecture – the only foreigner in the beautiful building and maybe one of 5 souls in the whole thing as it began to wake up…

3june26

SAIGON, VIETNAM 🇻🇳: This Week in Coffee ~ Still Finding Small Moments in Saigon

Published on by jacquelinemhadel2 Comments

Some weeks are about discovering cafés. Others are about discovering me.

This week was a little of both.

I wandered through the hems of Saigon, coffees in hand, notebook in my pocket, following no real itinerary except curiosity. One street coffee became another. Twenty thousand đồng here. Forty thousand there. A modern café tucked inside an alley. An old apartment converted into an espresso bar. A coffee cart shaded by buildings instead of umbrellas. Each stop became less about the drink and more about the pause.

Latte Lounge

At FARO Café on Cao Thắng, the presentation was almost too beautiful to disturb. It was polished, contemporary, and elegant. Proof that Vietnamese coffee culture can be as refined as any specialty café in the world while still feeling unmistakably local.

Another day I found myself back where I often feel most at home: sitting on a tiny plastic stool in a hem, drinking a 20,000 đồng cà phê sữa đá while life flowed around me. Motorbikes squeezed past. Someone watered plants. Someone else swept the alley as if it were an extension of their living room.

It’s amazing how quickly an alley can begin to feel familiar.

One stop this week carried a different kind of weight.

I bought a street coffee on Lý Tự Trọng, just below the rooftop of the Pittman Apartments-the building that is forever linked to one of the defining images of the end of the Vietnam War. From the street, it’s an ordinary city building. People walk past without looking up. Laundry dries from balconies. Coffee is poured into plastic cups. Yet, above it sits the rooftop where, on April 29, 1975, a helicopter landed during Operation Frequent Wind to evacuate CIA personnel and a number of South Vietnamese civilians.

(Hubert van Es/Corbis)

History has a strange way of becoming ordinary. Especially in Ho Chi Minh City.

Sitting there with coffee in my hand, it struck me that places don’t remain frozen in time. They keep living. People move in. Cafés open. The extraordinary quietly becomes part of the everyday.

Maybe grief works that way too.

This was also the first full week after sharing the news of my dad’s passing with a much wider circle of friends, colleagues, and former students around the world. I wasn’t quite prepared for the sheer number of messages, comments, and little “grief” emojis that would appear. Hundreds of people took a moment to reach out.

I’ve found myself reading many of them more than once.

There’s something comforting about knowing your sadness is being witnessed by people spread across continents. Not because it makes the loss smaller. It doesn’t. But because it reminds you that kindness travels remarkably well.

As Fernando Pessoa writes in The Book of Disquiet, we carry entire inner worlds that rarely become visible. This week reminded me that, sometimes, they do.

The coffee continued.

An apartment café on Nguyen Van Trang celebrating vintage Saigon.

Three mildly indifferent cats at Nhà Chung who tolerated my presence just enough to make me smile.

Trạm on Công Quỳnh

More hidden alley coffees off Bùi Thị Xuân and Đề Thám, where weathered wooden doors and peeling paint somehow make the coffee taste even better.

The best cafés aren’t the expensive ones.

They’re the places that let me sit quietly for 20-30 minutes and let my thoughts catch up with my footsteps. They let me read the current novel I’m obsessed with. They let me write my field notes.

This week, the coffee was excellent.

The conversations were brief.

The streets continued to be endlessly interesting.

And somewhere between history, grief, and another glass of cà phê sữa đá, Saigon reminded me that healing rarely arrives all at once.

More often, it comes one cup at a time. One breath at a time.

August 2026

PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA 🇰🇭 STREET ART: NIGHT AND DAY POV by PHUCISME

Published on by jacquelinemhadel2 Comments


ℹ️ from website: PHUC VAN DANG

Phuc Van Dang (1972) was born in Vietnam 🇻🇳 and came to Denmark 🇩🇰 in 1981. He studied graphic design and has worked with design, concept- and product development. Today he utilizes this background in his diverse work as an artist, graphic designer, speaker and workshop-giver and in collaborations with i.a. clothing manufacturers and product designers, Phuc Van Dang explores themes such as identity, belonging, human nature and community engagement, and as a cultural facilitator he creates new connections between art, design and culture.

June 2026