Take Me to the River

The gentle ‘put-put’ of a single- cylinder Chinese diesel engine is the soundtrack to the waterways of Vietnam. While large, modern, metal-hulled freighters and sand barges have taken over much of the heavy lifting required for Vietnam’s rapid modernization and industrial development, the more traditional wooden boats, skiffs, barges and coracles still ply their trade … Read more

Restaurant Review: Bollywood

Bollywood turns up the heat at its second location in District 1 It’s said that variety is the spice of life. The spices do just fine on their own. India’s southwest coast, Kerala in particular, established itself as a major center for the spice trade as far back as 3000BC and came to be known … Read more

Supertuscans

Plenty to discover with Italian wines Italy is paradise for wine lovers. Like France or Spain, virtually every single Italian region and province, including the islands, produces wine. The country also has over 400 autochtone grapes (rising to over 2,000 if you include sub-varieties). A few decades ago, Italy was famous for producing large amounts … Read more

Page One

No two persons ever read the same book While there is a wealth of street traders selling dog-eared copies of classics and shiny sensational paperbacks, many of these are poorly translated, missing pages, or badly printed. More solid bookstores in Saigon have improved, but demand for English language books is still low, and finding a … Read more