Ho Chi Minh City– tag –

Starbucks opened its first alley store in Ho Chi Minh City on September 8 — Vietnam's first Signing Store, with half the staff deaf or hard of hearing. A look at hem café culture, employment for people with disabilities, and what it suggests for Japan.

A GrabBike ride of 18.5km brought a take-home of 46,900 dong. We break down the September 12–13 app-off call and how fares are split, Grab's response that “operations are normal,” and how residents can prepare their travel, using the numbers as reported.

Long-established Ho Chi Minh City shop Nguyen Sinh Bistro serves a pan-fried beef banh mi for 345,000 dong (about 2,030 yen) a plate. Here’s why the lines never stop despite the price being 6 to 10 times the street-stall rate, plus practical info for travelers who want to try it themselves.

The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism (Sở Du lịch TP.HCM) launched a public design competition on August 21 to find new souvenir concepts for the city. Under the theme "Sáng tạo bừng sáng - Lan tỏa bản sắc" (Let Creativity Shine — Spread Our Identity), the total prize pool in cash and goods is approximately 850 million VND (around 4.86 million yen / 1 yen ≈ 175 VND)...

In Ho Chi Minh City's Tan Hung district, there is a banh mi stall where you have to queue for two hours from the morning to get your hands on one. It sells just one item — banh mi with charcoal-grilled pork — priced at 88,000 dong (approximately 500 yen) each. American chef Chad Kubanoff opened the small street stall in front of his home on August 3. In Saigon...

Noong Oi, a large café in Ho Chi Minh City's Hiep Binh district that had been praised as "paradise-like," reopened on August 17 under the new name "Thien Canh Vien" (Garden of Heavenly Scenery). The venue had been closed for around half a year following a fire on February 22, the sixth day of Tet (Lunar New Year), and the site covers approximately 2...

Ho Chi Minh City is distributing transit cards that allow free 100% travel on 134 city bus routes and Metro Line 1 (Ben Thanh–Suoi Tien) to people aged 60 and over, people with disabilities, contributors to the revolution (such as veterans), and children under 6. Distribution began on August 4, and by mid-August...

The hu tieu sold for 30,000 dong (approximately 170 yen; 1 yen ≈ 175 dong; same below) per bowl by Mr. Mai Van Liem and his wife from the garden of their Ho Chi Minh City home — a business they have run for 36 years — temporarily closed in August. The reason was not poor business. A customer's TikTok video suddenly brought a surge of visitors, and the queue became unmanageable...

In an alley in Ho Chi Minh City's District 1, within walking distance of Ben Thanh Market, there is a shop that translates the aromas of fish sauce, pho, and bun bo Hue directly into cold gelato. It's "Sugar Daddy Eatery," run by a husband-and-wife team. Travelers tired of purely sweet desserts in Saigon, and those looking to discover local ingredients from a different angle...

The price of a household LPG cylinder (12 kg) rose in the August 1 revision to 552,000 VND in Ho Chi Minh City and 518,400 VND in Hanoi. A resident's guide to how the cylinder-exchange system works, how prices track import CP prices, the added cost for those who cook at home, and the practicalities of exchanging cylinders.