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Creator

Dana Filek-Gibson

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Dana Filek-Gibson is a writer, editor, and communicator based in Brooklyn, New York. She previously lived in Saigon and misses Vietnam — and cà phê sữa đá — every single day.

Stories by Dana Filek-Gibson

108 stories

Hẻm Gems: Chị Hiền's Cơm Sườn and the Single Greatest Fish Sauce of All Time

Saigon Hẻm Gems

Hẻm Gems: Chị Hiền's Cơm Sườn and the Single Greatest Fish Sauce of All Time

As an accomplished eater and failed cook, I spend a lot of time scouting street food venues.

Dana Filek-GibsonJan 1, 2016
Check out the New Street Food Mecca Behind Ben Thanh Market

Saigon Hẻm Gems

Check out the New Street Food Mecca Behind Ben Thanh Market

Barely more than a week old, Ben Thanh's brand-new street food market is already turning heads with its souped-up version of the standard roadside dining experience.

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Dana Filek-Gibson
Dec 29, 2015
Hẻm Gems: The Universal Truth of Fish Sauce Fried Chicken

Saigon Hẻm Gems

Hẻm Gems: The Universal Truth of Fish Sauce Fried Chicken

There are few indisputable facts upon which good, reasonable people the world over can agree. Here are three: the sky is blue, the earth is round and fried chicken, in any form, is delicious.

Dana Filek-GibsonDec 18, 2015
Inside Award-Winning Vietnamese Children's Book 'The First Journey'

Music & Arts

Inside Award-Winning Vietnamese Children's Book 'The First Journey'

A couple months back, we wrote about Phung Nguyen Quang and Huynh Kim Lien , a pair of Vietnamese children's book authors who took the top prize at this year's Asia-wide Scholastic Picture Book Award competition. Their beautifully illustrated story, The First Journey , follows An, a young boy who crosses the Mekong Delta for the first time on his way to school, encountering floods, snakes and a mysterious forest with a giant crocodile.

Dana Filek-GibsonDec 9, 2015
Hẻm Gems: District 1's Delightfully Decrepit Bia Hơi

Saigon Hẻm Gems

Hẻm Gems: District 1's Delightfully Decrepit Bia Hơi

UPDATE: It is with heavy hearts that we inform our readers that the Thi Sach bia hơi has permanently closed. We will miss its regular crowd and grimy, beer-stained walls. In a city that pretty much runs on beer, the ancient bia hơi on Thi Sach is a trip. Whether you turn up at the crack of dawn or in the thick of the evening rush, the pajama-clad ladies up front are always serving at least one grisly, middle-aged, red-faced Vietnamese man and the beer never seems to run out. On the wall, two paintings that have seen all manner of abuse – heat, water damage, dubious stains, mishandling – seem to barely cling to the wall, while the tiny mezzanine at the back looks like all it would take is one portly patron to send the whole thing to ground level.

Dana Filek-GibsonNov 20, 2015
Hẻm Gems: Bánh Căn and the Elixir of Life

Saigon Hẻm Gems

Hẻm Gems: Bánh Căn and the Elixir of Life

In the world of hẻm gems, gritty is a good thing. The more battered the tables, the more precarious the seating, the more dubious the location, the more we feel at one with the chaos of Saigon street life.

Dana Filek-GibsonNov 13, 2015
The Story Behind Google's First-Ever Made-in-Vietnam Ad

Tech

The Story Behind Google's First-Ever Made-in-Vietnam Ad

Director Bao Nguyen explains the story behind Google's first-ever TV commercial made for Vietnamese audiences.

Dana Filek-GibsonOct 26, 2015
Pham Ngu Lao Looks Downright Whimsical in This Travel Video

Travel

Pham Ngu Lao Looks Downright Whimsical in This Travel Video

There are a lot of mixed feelings when it comes to Pham Ngu Lao. Some see it as a haven for cheap beer and wild nights; others avoid Bui Vien like the plague.

Dana Filek-GibsonOct 23, 2015
The Music Man: Mark Gergis' Old-School Saigon Soul

Music & Arts

The Music Man: Mark Gergis' Old-School Saigon Soul

When he was young, Mark Gergis – like most American teenagers – spent a lot of time sifting through records (or cassettes or CDs or iTunes...whatever your generation did). It was the 1980s, and there was a plethora of good American music available, from 60s garage bands to punk rock, psychedelia, experimental and new wave.

Dana Filek-GibsonOct 22, 2015
Hẻm Gems: The Lunch Lady You Haven't Met

Saigon Hẻm Gems

Hẻm Gems: The Lunch Lady You Haven't Met

In Saigon, there is no such thing as a one-stop shop. It's part of the city's charm: coffee in one place, lunch in another, dessert three blocks down and two alleys away. You can turn a single outing into a full day's adventure, provided you know where to go.

Dana Filek-GibsonSep 25, 2015
[Infographics] Vietnam's Mobile Games Are Taking the World by Storm

Tech

[Infographics] Vietnam's Mobile Games Are Taking the World by Storm

Whether you're reading this on a smartphone or tablet, a desktop or a laptop, look up: chances are at least a few other people are also deeply engrossed in a screen of some kind.

Dana Filek-GibsonSep 21, 2015
What Happened When the South Korean Government Invested in K-Pop

Asia

What Happened When the South Korean Government Invested in K-Pop

Long before Psy sang about 'Gangnam Style', K-Pop was spreading like wildfire across Asia and around the world.

Dana Filek-GibsonAug 25, 2015
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