2 min readLife
Views: 1Making a small room feel like home
Students and researchers abroad often live in small, temporary rooms. Some thoughts on why a few deliberate details matter more than space.
Writing
Journal entries, notes, travel and places, newest first.
2 min readVietnam
Views: 1Thinking of Vietnam from abroad
Living away from home changes how a country looks. A short reflection on what a Vietnamese student abroad comes to see in the places he has known.
1 min readNotes
Views: 2A note about the photos on this site
Most images here right now are by other photographers. Here is where they come from and how they are credited.
2 min readTaiwan
Views: 1Taiwan, seen from Vietnam
Close on the map and familiar in many ways, Taiwan still surprises Vietnamese visitors. A look at the island through a Vietnamese lens: what feels like home, and what does not.
1 min readThoughts
Views: 0Learning to look slowly
Research and photography look like opposite habits. Both turn out to be training in attention.
1 min readLife
Views: 1Peach blossom season
In northern Vietnam, Tết does not really begin until the peach branches arrive.
1 min readTravel
Views: 4Hà Giang: notes for a first trip north
Vietnam's northernmost province is all limestone, switchbacks and river canyons. A few things worth knowing before you go.
2 min readThoughts
Views: 0Being a foreign student, again
An MBA and now a PhD in Taiwan, with work in between. Some thoughts on what it means to keep choosing to be the newcomer.
2 min readTravel
Views: 1Transport cards in Taiwan and Japan: the one thing to buy first
A rechargeable transport card saves time on trains, buses and even at the convenience store. A quick explainer for Taiwan and Japan.
2 min readTaiwan
Views: 0Taitung and Sanxiantai: Taiwan facing the Pacific
Far from the western cities, Taitung County is a long strip of coast, valley and mountain, home to many Indigenous communities and some of the earliest sunrises in Taiwan.
2 min readNotes
Views: 1Seeing in black and white
Removing colour is not just a filter. It changes what a photograph is about: light, shape, texture and contrast.
2 min readThoughts
Views: 0Working with data honestly
Most dishonesty with data is not dramatic. It is a series of small, convenient choices that nobody else sees.
2 min readLife
Views: 0In praise of the morning market
Supermarkets are convenient, but the traditional market is where a city shows what it eats and how it lives. A reflection on chợ in Vietnam and morning markets in Taiwan.
2 min readJapan
Views: 0Japan's four seasons as a travel calendar
In Japan the seasons are not just weather; they shape festivals, food and where people travel. A season-by-season way of thinking about when to go, from plum blossoms in late winter to snow in temple yards.
2 min readVietnam
Views: 0Saigon street life: sidewalks, alleys and Phạm Ngũ Lão
Vietnam's largest city lives on its sidewalks. A profile of Saigon's street culture, from plastic stools and alley kitchens to the backpacker streets around Phạm Ngũ Lão.
2 min readTravel
Views: 0A slow walk around Hoàn Kiếm Lake
The small lake at the heart of Hanoi is the easiest way into the city: a legend, a temple, an old quarter next door, and a walk anyone can do.