My latest essay will take you back to a recurring New Year's Eve party held in #Saigon at a splendid villa where a bunch of young Americans lived in the late 60s. Their “Light at the End of the Tunnel” parties became the stuff of legend. Read on: connla.substack.com/p/the-light-...

My latest essay will take you back to a recurring New Year's Eve party held in #Saigon at a splendid villa where a bunch of young Americans lived in the late 60s. Their “Light at the End of the Tunnel” parties became the stuff of legend. Read on: connla.substack.com/p/the-light-...

And if you prefer to watch Andy, Una, Robert and Louie talking about Asterix, well tonight thank God it’s them instead of you. MERRY CHRISTMAS, BY TOUTATIS! youtu.be/3toO3fAYPlw?...

And some more here. 2/2

1/2 A wee end of year display of some essays I wrote this year on my Substack — they’re all up here: connla.substack.com. Most of them dig into forgotten histories in #Saigon and Vietnam. Please consider having a read, liking, sharing, subscribing, etc etc —and have yourself a very Merry Christmas

1/2 A wee end of year display of some essays I wrote this year on my Substack — they’re all up here: connla.substack.com. Most of them dig into forgotten histories in #Saigon and Vietnam. Please consider having a read, liking, sharing, subscribing, etc etc —and have yourself a very Merry Christmas

Quite a career in journalism this man had. apnews.com/article/pete...

Come to think of it, the Metropole in #Hanoi should really have a room named after Harrison Salisbury—he deserves it more than that tiresome old whinger Somerset Maugham. Anyway, my latest essay on Harrison's historic visit to Hanoi in 1966 is below... please consider reading it before #Christmas.

Some great pix of Saigon and others parts Vietnam from 1989 by a German photographer — the dudes on their bicycles in Hue being the pick of the bunch for me. saigoneer.com/vietnam-heri...

Come to think of it, the Metropole in #Hanoi should really have a room named after Harrison Salisbury—he deserves it more than that tiresome old whinger Somerset Maugham. Anyway, my latest essay on Harrison's historic visit to Hanoi in 1966 is below... please consider reading it before #Christmas.

I have a new essay up. It's a reconstructed narrative based on the reporting of Harrison Salisbury who audaciously visited #Hanoi in December 1966, just 9 days after it had been bombed by American planes. connla.substack.com/p/an-america...

I have a new essay up. It's a reconstructed narrative based on the reporting of Harrison Salisbury who audaciously visited #Hanoi in December 1966, just 9 days after it had been bombed by American planes. connla.substack.com/p/an-america...

I knew nothing about this when I picked it up a short while ago. A gentle tale of a damaged man looking back to a golden period in his life, seemed like it would be the perfect read at the moment and so it has proved. I've not read much of it but I'm already lost in the landscape it recreates.

Always love looking at these photos of #Saigon taken by Doi Kuro who visited in late 1989 / early 1990. There are many beautiful, tender portraits amongst them but they also serve as a reminder that #HCMC was a shabby place where everyone was scraping a living. redsvn.net/100-buc-anh-...

When does a person die? We know when the body dies--but when does one's identity die? This little novel is Jules Romain's attempt to answer those questions. neglectedbooks.com/?...

Some cool looking indie bookstores in #Bangkok — bookmarking for my next visit. www.lifestyleasia.com/bk/travel/as... #bookstores #indiebookstores #booksky

If anyone on here happens to be in the Hoi An / #Danang area and wants a copy of my book, Good Pages — a cosy little cafe - bakery - bookstore — just got a bunch of copies. #hoian #booksky ADD: 303 Cua Đai Road

Dusting off this old book as I am writing some new pieces about hanoi “back in the day” (in my case that means 1999 and the early 2000s). Sheehan (best known for his book Bright Shining Lie) returned to Vietnam in 1989. He wrote two short essays to form this short book.

"Rainy seasons tended to be long and tedious, but they did end eventually. The sun would come out and turn the world idyllic again, rekindling the hopes any of us held for the future." ~ Bao Ninh, "Farewell to a Soldier's Life' — the first tale in this collection....

Catstanbul: Inside the city where cats rule the streets www.bbc.com/travel/artic...

"Rainy seasons tended to be long and tedious, but they did end eventually. The sun would come out and turn the world idyllic again, rekindling the hopes any of us held for the future." ~ Bao Ninh, "Farewell to a Soldier's Life' — the first tale in this collection....

A short piece of prose written in memory of the power cuts that were frequent in #Hanoi over 20 years ago. And if one happened in the middle of the night, and in the middle of summer, what did we do? connla.substack.com/p/in-a-black...

A short piece of prose written in memory of the power cuts that were frequent in #Hanoi over 20 years ago. And if one happened in the middle of the night, and in the middle of summer, what did we do? connla.substack.com/p/in-a-black...

Spotted a few copies of my book Falling for Saigon at Old Compass Cafe — for those that don’t know its a cosy third floor cafe on Pasteur street in Ho Chi Minh City (right by Liberty Central Hotel), and my book is a collection of essays about moving to (and falling for) #Saigon/ Ho Chi Minh City.

Celebrate 10 years of inspirational Asian literature by supporting us with an annual subscription! The code MR10 is valid until November 30 so act fast. mekongreview.com/sub...

A profile I wrote about the Vietnamese-American short story writer Andrew Lam. It originally appeared in Mekong Review in May 2025. Re-posting here on Substack for those that didn't get to see it. connla.substack.com/p/far-and-aw...

A profile I wrote about the Vietnamese-American short story writer Andrew Lam. It originally appeared in Mekong Review in May 2025. Re-posting here on Substack for those that didn't get to see it. connla.substack.com/p/far-and-aw...

REPOST: A very short memoir piece about one of my many poorly executed motorbike expeditions for which, as always, I – the hapless traveller – relied heavily on the kindness of strangers. And drank too much. connla.substack.com/p/postcards-... #VIETNAM #Dalat #motorbikediaries #memoir

Repost: A comic piece of memoir writing about the storied two-for-one Visa-Whopper runs from Hanoi to the Thai capital back in the days of yore. connla.substack.com/p/hanoi-expa... #hanoi #bangkok #visaruns

Repost: A comic piece of memoir writing about the storied two-for-one Visa-Whopper runs from Hanoi to the Thai capital back in the days of yore. connla.substack.com/p/hanoi-expa... #hanoi #bangkok #visaruns

Repost of an essay about the time I went in search of a bookstore in #HCMC called Kafka but before I even got there I was sidetracked by a story about a far-out mystic who believed he could overthrow the French in #Saigon and become the ruler of Heaven and Earth. connla.substack.com/p/phan-xich-...

Repost of an essay about the time I went in search of a bookstore in #HCMC called Kafka but before I even got there I was sidetracked by a story about a far-out mystic who believed he could overthrow the French in #Saigon and become the ruler of Heaven and Earth. connla.substack.com/p/phan-xich-...

There’s another wave of author impersonators offering consultations/mentoring for a price. (I got one from “Claire Keegan” telling me I’m very promising!) I’m sure you are great, but I didn’t email to tell you how swell you are. Here’s info on book scams: www.penguinrandomhouse.com/prh-fraud/

Pictures in post below are by Eddie Adams, I have been kindly informed elsewhere. And these two are by Thomas Southall — taken in 1967. #saigon #rainydays #floodseason

A few pictures of a rainy #Saigon for another rainy day in Ho Chi Minh City. Not sure what year or what the source — please let me know if anyone knows!

#booksky Must track this down… “This book follows a first-person narrator as he takes a walk through an unnamed Brazilian city. It depicts the narrator's wandering both physically and mentally through an unfamiliar environment that reminds him of other walks he has taken in other cities.”

Besides the grub, it's clear that having spaces to play their own music was also part of the appeal to the bars / restos that Black soldiers visited. Here's a Spotify playlist with some of the tunes that I mentioned in the essay (w/ a few others) from that period: open.spotify.com/playlist/34U...

Unfortunately I couldn't find Heat Wave by Ahmad Jamal on Spotify but here's a YouTube version: www.youtube.com/watch?v=klm3... Love the thought of some dudes (high as kites) bopping around in a bar (in the middle of the day) over in Saigon's 'Soulsville" in 1970 listening to this...

And also came across this gem — wish I knew which bar this was taken in.

And also came across this gem — wish I knew which bar this was taken in.

A few pictures I sourced when researching my latest story for Substack — it's about Soul Food in wartime Saigon and the racial division that made 'Soul Alley' (in all of its manifestations) such a refuge for Black soldiers in #Saigon. Story is here: connla.substack.com/p/a-history-...

Where were the soul food Restos and soul brother bars of #Saigon? And what can they tell us about the men who frequented them and the #racism they experienced when serving in the US Army in Vietnam? Quite a lot, I’d argue! My latest long read on Substack is here: connla.substack.com/p/a-history-...

Where were the soul food Restos and soul brother bars of #Saigon? And what can they tell us about the men who frequented them and the #racism they experienced when serving in the US Army in Vietnam? Quite a lot, I’d argue! My latest long read on Substack is here: connla.substack.com/p/a-history-...

“Paris Dreambook: An unconventional guide to the splendor and squalor of the city.” An out of print book (published in 1990) by Lawrence Osborne. I snagged it online. Love the idea of an “unconventional guide” — are there others like this out there that anyone would recommend?

[𝐍𝐄𝐖 @asiancha.bsky.social 𝐄𝐗𝐂𝐋𝐔𝐒𝐈𝐕𝐄] Zalman S. Davis’s piece portrays Wong Bar Wine in Hanoi as a cinematic refuge inspired by Wong Kar-Wai. "The tribute to Wong Kar-Wai is unmistakable. [A] three-dimensional cinematic moment brought to life." ⧉ 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝: chajournal.blog/2025/11/04/w... 。。。。。