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Articles by Pauline Vanbelle
The Latin Underground
Salsa is not new to Vietnam — it’s been here for almost a decade. But now this much-loved dance form is huge. Words by Emily Petsko and Siân Kavanagh . Photos by Julie Vola and Rodney Hughes Ballroom dancing has traditionally been the most popular form of recreational dance in Vietnam, but salsa is shimmying its way into parks, bars and studios in this country’s biggest cities.
A Kingdom for a Horse
Not far beyond the metro rail line and monolithic real estate projects under construction in Cau Giay District, there’s a narrow street that leads to a gravel path that leads to a dirt road and finally to a field. And inside the field? Horses. Roaming free, in the middle of Hanoi. I was just as surprised as anyone when I learned that Hanoi has a horse farm and foreign instructors that offer lessons in grooming, riding, trotting and jumping.
Happy Talk
What is happiness? It’s a question that philosophers, politicians and economists have struggled to answer for centuries. Well, according to the latest World Happiness Report — there are a few reports like this floating around— the personification of happiness is a country called Finland. It’s certainly not a country called Vietnam. Compiled by John F. Helliwell, Richard Layard, and Jeffrey D.
The Finals
Held in Standing Bar on Friday, Mar. 9, the finals of the Heart of Darkness Vietnam Amateur Comedy Competition decided who is the funniest comedian based in Vietnam. After the riotous heats in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City back in January — where more than a few people laughed themselves silly, and shreds of dignity were found scattered around each venue — it was decided that the Hanoi-based comedians couldn’t be bothered to fly to Ho Chi Minh City. So it was that the finals were held in the capital.
Makers and Shakers on the Comedy Scene
Makers and Shakers on the Comedy Scene The growth of the comedy scene comes down to the work of a number of individuals in both Hanoi and Saigon. Here are a few of them. Since settling in Hanoi 20 years ago, Dan Dockery has been prolific in bringing performers to the stage. From international musicians and DJs as a member of CAMA, to magicians and comics who performed House of Son Tinh, CAMA ATK and now Standing Bar. Here is a man who’s been nurturing Hanoi’s live entertainment two decades.
Deplasticize
In 2015, Vietnam was named as one of the five countries — alongside China, Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines — that dump more plastic into the ocean every year than the rest of the world combined. The rapid urbanization of Vietnam, combined with soaring GDP growth, has seen the amount of waste disposed every year skyrocket to 12 million tons in 2014. This is expected to reach 22 million tons by 2020. But while GDP grows, funding for waste management infrastructure struggles to keep up.
Ultra Running Machine
For most of us, just the thought of running 42.2km — the official length of a marathon — churns the stomach. It’s a long way to run, so it’s not uncommon for marathoners to suffer from heat stroke, dehydration and exhaustion. Some hit what is known in running as ‘the wall’, often at around the half-way mark when their bodies run out of carbohydrates and start burning fat just to keep going.
Ultra Running Machine
For most of us, just the thought of running 42.2km — the official length of a marathon — churns the stomach. It’s a long way to run, so it’s not uncommon for marathoners to suffer from heat stroke, dehydration and exhaustion. Some hit what is known in running as ‘the wall’, often at around the half-way mark when their bodies run out of carbohydrates and start burning fat just to keep going.
ROBO Café
Who needs real waiters when a robot will do instead? judgment Day is upon us, only instead of a T-1000, Hanoi’s tech-induced apocalypse is beginning with a robot waiter called Mortar. The robot is the newest employee at Robo Café and has been drawing in customers due to his charming pre-programmed voice clips, and his resemblance to something out of a 1960s sci-fi movie. The robot’s creators, also the proprietors of Robo café, are Nguyen Quoc Phi, and electrical engineer Do Trung Thanh.
Capturing Form
Like a military drill sergeant, Lilly Wong lets her charges know there is just 10 seconds left on the clock. Her charges, all 20 of them, an even split of male and female, have paid VND250,000 to participate in Lilly’s life drawing class called Capturing Form. They are sitting in a circle around Joy, their model for the evening, sketching her naked form.
Vietnam Balloons
As far as we know, just about every square inch of Vietnam has been documented by travel blogs and magazines like ours, with the lion’s share, of course, done by us. Just when we thought we had everything covered on the ground, something new above it has taken off — hot-air ballooning.
The Vietnam Amateur Comedy Competition
In early January, Heart of Darkness brewery sponsored the heats of the third annual Vietnam Amateur Comedy Competition. For the wider comedy scene, this year’s tournament marked a watershed. Words by Billy Gray and Nick Ross When Vietnamese comedian Uy Le came first in the 2018 Ho Chi Minh City heats of the Vietnam Amateur Comedy Competition in early January, there was a sense of jubilation. Uy had performed in the competition for two years running and had finished in the top three each time.
The HCMC Marathon
Held in its present form for just the second time, this year's marathon attracted more runners than ever before. Yet although running is booming, it wasn't always that way The route has been cleared, the podium put away. And runners in both Ho Chi Minh City and Vietnam as a whole are already filling their race calendars. Vietnamese runner Ngo Dung won the men’s professional 42km category of the Ho Chi Minh City International Marathon, with a time of two hours and 42 minutes.
From Behind The Iron Curtain
Collectors are insatiable. They don’t rest until they’ve got what they want. Once they’ve got it, the search begins again in earnest for the next thing on their list. Take the case of Linh Nguyen, a 39-year-old Hanoian who’s been living in Saigon since 2004.
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