The Bureau Asia Podcast

After five big news stories that hit the headlines in Vietnam this past week or so, I interview Joleena Seah who hasn't stopped travelling since travel restrictions were eased post-Covid. To wrap up the episode, I review three of the four stunning Bill Bensley-designed luxury resorts in Vietnam. Follow Joleena's travels on Instagram: www.instagram.com/joleenaseah Follow Joleena's PR work on Linked...

I'm back this season all on my lonesome without Mel and Andy to hold my hand nor (more importantly) to stuff things up or get into arguments! First up in this episode, some Vietnam news, followed by an interview with a fellow who's been living out of a suitcase for the past 20 years as he follows his digital nomadic life across Asia and the rest of the world. To close out the episode, I review a n...

Get a taste of what's in store during this Ho Chi Minh City Audio Trail Preview in which your guide, Matt, introduces some of the highlights of his audio walk through the Nguyen Thai Binh neighbourhood of Ho Chi Minh City, which just so happens to be the city's first Chinatown!

Your guide, Matt, has been living in Ho Chi Minh City since 2010 and calls Vietnam home. He'll guide you through one of his favourite neighbourhoods – the tasty and very historic Nguyen Thai Binh in District 1 named after a South Vietnamese anti-war activist who was posthumously conferred national hero status after his premature death. The neighbourhood is also home to the city's oldest Cantonese...

In this episode, our first for 2022, we unpack some Vietnam news stories that have caught our attention over the past week, we deep dive into the Vietnamese bride trade to South Korea, after which we take a look at what fascinates YouTubers about our city, Ho Chi Minh, and Vietnam, and how their videos sometimes annoy us. Then to wrap up what is a funny, irreverent, but at times, serious episode,...

I hope you enjoy the teaser for my first self-guided audio walking experience of Ho Chi Minh City. The full episode is still in production, but should be ready to go pretty soon! Please give it a listen and I invite you to comment, share, like and give feedback so that I can incorporate your ideas into the first episode before I publish it. Thanks in advance – and keep walking! Matt

This sporty episode is on-location at Baseball Cage in District 7, a bar with four batting cages, beers and fun vibes. We talk Vietnamese sports and our own tragic sporting careers, followed by an interesting interview with Australian pro-triathlete, Tim Van Berkel, who is one of the world's top athletes in the sport of triathlon. All that and more on Vietnam's award-winning podcast. Also on: Face...

Vietnam's Civil Aviation Authority has submitted a 4-phase plan for the resumption of international flights to Vietnam, and in the meantime, recommends travellers from 15 countries be allowed to holiday here, including those from China, Russia, Cambodia and Thailand, among others.  So our China expert, Andy, reveals what Chinese travellers will be looking for in their travel experience to Vie...

Bars and restaurants are beginning to reopen in Ho Chi Minh City, so Matt, Mel & Andy discuss what it will take for establishments to entice them out of their homes. Also, Facebook and Instagram are tweaking vanity metrics, so what does this mean for influencers and content creators? Then, food trends in Ho Chi Minh City over the past couple of years – which ones are legit and which ones are s...

Now that Ho Chi Minh City has slowly begun to open up allowing double-vaxed citizens to leave their homes and travel across districts, we finally get to have co-host Andy Tran in the room for the first time ever! We talk about Ho Chi Minh City's remarkable Covid-19 turnaround that's seen it go from hard lockdown with a 24/7 curfew one week, to bars and restaurants being allowed to open in District...

The hard social distancing measures that have kept Ho Chi Minh City residents confined to their homes for the past two months have finally been lifted. Matt, Mel and Andy talk about what they can and can't do until the next directive. Meanwhile, the private company that manages Saigon Zoo has asked both the public and the local government for funding to keep one of the world's oldest zoos open. Th...

A recent online magazine ranking of the best cities in the world inspires Matt, Mel & Andy to come up with a list of 9 Best Streets in Ho Chi Minh City to visit, which is then followed by a wide-ranging discussion on the value of backpackers in Vietnam and whether they should be encouraged to return as soon as travel restrictions ease. A highlight is the expert comments and opinion by Dr Nuno...

Our resident Milliennial Andy gives Gen-Xers Matt and Mel a quick lesson on language they're clearly too old for in a lighthearted segment that includes their suggestions for 2021's Word of the Year before they tone things down to remember the tragedy of 9/11 – 20 years on since the terrorist attacks in the US that shook the world. In this segment they recall what they were doing at the very momen...

Vietnam remains under 24/7 curfew, and with caseloads increasing, there appears to be no end in sight for the pandemic. Yet, amid this gloomy forecast, some hope for those of us confined to our homes has emerged as the Prime Minister implies via the media that lockdowns can't go on forever and that the country needs to move on. We also interview Dr Nuno Ribeiro, a senior lecturer and leading resea...

While US Vice President Kamala Harris visited Hanoi this week with very little fanfare, the same can't be said of Vietnam's military who landed in Ho Chi Minh City to manage the city's Covid-19 crisis. In a true act of winning the hearts and minds of the citizens – especially the hearts – the boys in green lit up social media in Vietnam's biggest town with steaming images of them topless sorting o...

Matt, Mel & Andy provide fresh updates on Ho Chi Minh City's increasing Covid-19 caseload, how the current curfew from 6pm to 6am is affecting the city, and what can be expected with the latest announcement that from August 23, the city will be under curfew 24/7 indefinitely with the military in place to ensure everything goes to plan. Despite arguably the strictest lockdown on the planet, Vie...

Join Matt, Mel & Andy talking superstitions, Pizza Hut and Vietnam's own Pizza 4Ps in Cambodia, the Nas Daily backlash in the Philippines, and what it's like trying to make a living in Vietnam as an influencer or content creator. All that and more on Vietnam's award-winning podcast. Also on:  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thebureauasia Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/...

Some restaurants and bars in Ho Chi Minh City are offering vouchers as an alternative form of cash flow during forced closures - good idea or not? Meanwhile, one of our favourite neighbourhoods in District 1 is but a shadow of its former self. Our new co-host AT has flip flops on the ground there and he provides a grim-looking snapshot of the alleyway in which he lives. As this is all going on, Au...

The history of Vietnam's largest city has had as many twists and turns as a best-selling thriller. The truth it seems really is stranger than fiction. How did a small group of river pirates led by a man who would become a national hero, emerge from the swamps south of Saigon to become a fully-fledged army fighting for independence against the French? For more information and stories about Vietnam,...

The history of Vietnam's largest city has had as many twists and turns as a best-selling thriller. The truth it seems really is stranger than fiction. How did a small group of river pirates led by a man who would become a national hero, emerge from the swamps south of Saigon to become a fully-fledged army fighting for independence against the French?     For more information and sto...

This is my entry for the 2021 My RODE Cast competition! It's a 2-minute teaser for my Blood Debt episode about the legend of a small neighbourhood in central Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam Give it a listen, and if you like it, support me by voting for it at myrodecast.com/listen The full episode can be found HERE Wish me luck!

1975 and Vietnam was finally at peace and reunified after centuries of fighting for its independence. The victors set about renaming every street and neighbourhood in the former South after national heroes and significant others who helped create and defend the nation. This is how Ho Chi Minh City got its name. Today, in the city centre, there's a small neighbourhood named after a young South Viet...

The charming seaside town of Vung Tau is just a 2-hour drive or ferry ride from Ho Chi Minh City and is typically regarded as a place just to get away from the city for the weekend to enjoy the fresh sea breeze and ocean views. But, in fact, it's little known that Vung Tau is actually one of the best destinations in Vietnam for foodies.  In this episode, your host, Matt, introduces you to 5 o...

Vũng Tàu, a beachside town approximately 100km southeast of Hồ Chí Minh City (Vietnam's biggest city), is often left off the itineraries of international travellers and dismissed by expats as a seedy getaway for men wanting to escape the city to get up to no good behind closed doors.  But as Matt and Mel discuss, Vũng Tàu deserves more respect. It's long been loved by the Vietnamese for beach...

In this long-awaited return of The Bureau Podcast after a lengthy hiatus, The Chief (Matt Cowan) gets Harper’s Bazaar Vietnam editor-at-large Chris Thompson on the blower who tells us whether or not his predictions came true for Vietnam hospitality trends during this weird and unpredictable era of COVID-19. Chris also reveals what F&B trends are emerging and are likely to become a “thing” movi...