The Coconut Monk

His bizarre life on Phoenix Island remains his most enduring legacy On a sliver of island in the wash of the Mekong, just outside of My Tho, sits the obscure remains of one of the more bizarre chapters in Vietnamese history. The island is Con Phung, Phoenix Island, and the man at the center of … Read more

Ride In Style, Safely

Meet the man on a mission to create the ultimate motorcycle jacket Thomas Grové, amongst other things, is a video game publisher, design consultant, cyberpunk aesthete, climbing enthusiast, and most recently, a man on a crusade to change the way people dress and protect themselves while riding their motorbikes. Not content with the poor choice … Read more

Black Soldier Flies

Saving the world through craft beer and soldier flies In the back lots of Thu Duc’s sprawling university campus, one man and his hand-built fly farm is on a mission to save the world’s oceans. It’s a quest that involves the unlikely combination of craft beer, an endangered anteater and an over-sized tropical fly, and Nick Piggott … Read more

Restaurant Review: Casa Italia

A Melbourne laneway-style trattoria in the heart of the city An unlikely visage of a Melbourne-styled Italian restaurant, complete with Monty Python and Fawlty Towers iconography and a line-up of Australian beer brands, greets diners as they enter Casa Italia (86 Le Loi, D1), located right in the beating heart of downtown Saigon. The impression … Read more

La Isla Bonita

Welcome to the beach capital of the Philippines There’s oohing and ahhing as the island comes into view from the windows of our twin-prop plane swooping in to land. We pass wind turbines and postcard- perfect waters. “Mate, that’s beautiful, that’s beautiful,” comes the broad-accented affirmation from one surfer to another in the seat behind … Read more