The Bureau Asia Podcast The Bureau Asia

We've heard it all before. Vietnam's cheap. The beer's cheap. The food's cheap. And the people are so nice! BUT is everything in Vietnam really as good as everyone says it is? In this episode I give you The Good, The Bad & The Phởgly provide an example of each so that you can plan better and hopefully your Vietnam trip WON'T. GET. RUINED!

Big thanks to Ollie Woods for taking time out to chat to me! Check out all the craft beer stuff he's associated with:

Brew Asia ⁠https://www.brew-asia.com⁠
Asia Brewers Network ⁠https://asiabrewersnetwork.com⁠
Beer Asia ⁠https://beerasia.net

My favourite craft breweries & pubs you can't miss in Ho Chi Minh City:
1. Heart of Darkness Craft Brewery 31D Lý Tự Trọng St., District 1
2. East West Brewing Co. 181-185 Lý Tự Trọng St., District 1
3. Pasteur Street Brewing Co. Cnr. Lý Tự Trọng & Thủ Khoa Huân Sts., District 1
4. 7 Bridges Brewing Co. 15B/12 Lê Thánh Tôn St., District 1
5. Malt 46-48 Mạc Thị Bưởi St., District 1
6. Rehab Station 27/6 Nguyễn Bỉnh Khiêm St., District 1
7. BiaCraft 1 Lê Ngô Cát St., District 3
8. Belgo 29 - 31 Tôn Thất Thiệp St., District 1
9. Saigon Craft 68 Lý Long Tường St., District 7
10. MixTape Drinks 40 Đặng Thị Nhu St., District 1
11. Rooster Beers 40 Bùi Viện St., Phạm Ngũ Lão, District 1
12. Mr Craft 24 Cao Triều Phát St., District 7
If you find yourself in District 7 some day around lunch time, be sure to give Cơm Tấm 169 a go at No.169 Street 79, Tân Quy, District 7

Wanna sleep in the capsule featured in this episode? Knock yourself out at The Arrivals Hotel 302 Võ Văn Kiệt Street, District 1

Got lucky and need a short-time hotel for a roll around? Try these two out (I've personally inspected them)!
Cupid Hotel 2 Bis Nam Quốc Cang St., Phạm Ngũ Lão, District 1
Bonita Grand Hotel 118 Bùi Thị Xuân St., Phạm Ngũ Lão, District 1

Got ca$hola to splurge? Stay at The Reverie 22-36 Nguyễn Huệ St., District 1

We're back on the poddie train after a 2 month break that included a trip to Cambodia, a flu here and there, a trip home to the Philippines and some family visits here to Ho Chi Minh City.

In this episode we catch up on travel news to Vietnam, including the new visa extensions, and we learn about the matchmaker in Singapore hooking up lonely Singaporean men looking for long-time love with Vietnamese ladies.

Then our "cover story" reveals 5 dark locations in Saigon where some really bad sh*t has gone down throughout its history, including a couple well and truly off the tourist trail.

Be sure to comment and get in touch if you need more details about the locations featured in this episode!



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In this sizzling hot episode coming from a sweltering Thành Phố HCM, we unpack 5 news items that riled us up and got us hot under the collar this week, including a polarising review of Saigon's nightlife, the revelation (or not) that sugar babies are artfully using social media to snare their sugar daddies, and the release of an English-language song by mega-Vietnamese pop star Song Tung M-TP that requires captions for us to understand. Wrapping the episode up, we get our red flags out and give our avid listeners a list of 5 things they should look out for when choosing street food vendors in Saigon.



Follow Matt on Instagram at www.instagram.com/mattcowanasia

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In this Reunification Day long weekend episode in Vietnam, we share a carefully-curated a list of lists sourced from the past week's news and social media that our loyal listeners will either love or – quite possibly – hate! Everybody loves a good list, so we're pretty confident you'll like ours! Then we review this month's much-anticipated Netflix release A Tourist's Guide to Love that was filmed in Vietnam last year. Be sure to hang around to find out how many 'banh mis' out of 5 we give this sappy rom-com that was pretty much universally panned on social media in Vietnam upon its release.



Whenever you visit Vung Tau for a short break, be sure to stay at Coco Homestay:

https://www.facebook.com/homestayhotelcoco66halong



Looking for a love hotel? Check these out. Just don't tell them Matt sent you!

https://thebureauasia.com/2018/09/01/bonita-signature-hotel/

https://thebureauasia.com/2018/05/06/playing-cupid/

https://thebureauasia.com/2018/01/06/the-love-den/



Watch Matt's short video 'Vietnam's Bali?'

https://www.facebook.com/reel/995225138520892



Follow Matt on Instagram at www.instagram.com/mattcowanasia

Follow Mel on Instagram at www.instagram.com/melaniecasul

Follow The Bureau Asia on Instagram at www.instagram.com/thebureauasia

Like The Bureau Asia Facebook Page at www.facebook.com/thebureauasia

Join The Bureau Asia Facebook Group at www.facebook.com/groups/thebureauasiagroup

Subscribe to The Bureau Asia YouTube Channel at www.youtube.com/@TheBureauAsia/videos

Check out The Bureau Asia Website at www.thebureauasia.com

We recap what we got up to this past week, then in response to a recent listicle in the Australian media, we create our own "6 Things Vietnam Does Better Than Australia" list followed by a handful of other news items that caught our attention this week. The highlight of the episode (39'00) however, is guest Michael Brosowski who's the founder of Hanoi-based Blue Dragon Children's Foundation, an NGO that's been fighting slavery and human trafficking for the past two decades.



Follow Michael on Linkedin at www.linkedin.com/in/michael-brosowski

Learn more about Blue Dragon Children's Foundation www.linkedin.com/company/blue-dragon-children's-foundation

Check out the Blue Dragon Children's Foundation website www.bluedragon.org

Read Micheal's blog lifeisalongstory.com/about-me-about-this-blog

Watch Matt's REEL from his visit to see the "Pope Mobile" in Las Pinas, Manila https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cmds_O5jyaP/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Watch Matt riding shotgun in a jeepney in Manila https://www.instagram.com/reel/CmbWIqtjSb-/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Listen to Matt's "Vietnamese food" episode https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/vietnamese-food-isnt-actually-healthy/id1669942888?i=1000598022808

Follow Matt on Instagram at www.instagram.com/mattcowanasia

Follow Mel on Instagram at www.instagram.com/melaniecasul

Follow The Bureau Asia on Instagram at www.instagram.com/thebureauasia

Like The Bureau Asia Facebook Page at www.facebook.com/thebureauasia

Join The Bureau Asia Facebook Group at www.facebook.com/groups/thebureauasiagroup

Subscribe to The Bureau Asia YouTube Channel at www.youtube.com/@TheBureauAsia/videos

Check out The Bureau Asia Website at www.thebureauasia.com

As usual, Mel joins me to discuss the news and happenings for the week in Vietnam and the region, and then we call in Saigon-based hospitality guru and communications consultant, Chris Thompson, who helps us get our head around why just one restaurant in Vietnam made it into this year's Asia's 50 Best Restaurant list.



Connect with Chris on Linkedin at www.linkedin.com/in/chris-thompson-079a88223/

Follow Chris on Instagram at www.instagram.com/ctsaigon06/

Follow Matt on Instagram at www.instagram.com/mattcowanasia

Follow Mel on Instagram at www.instagram.com/melaniecasul

Follow The Bureau Asia on Instagram at www.instagram.com/thebureauasia

Like The Bureau Asia Facebook Page at www.facebook.com/thebureauasia

Join The Bureau Asia Facebook Group at www.facebook.com/groups/thebureauasiagroup

Subscribe to The Bureau Asia YouTube Channel at www.youtube.com/@TheBureauAsia/videos

Check out The Bureau Asia Website at www.thebureauasia.com