Lmst

I'll be 51 years old, on February 3rd, 2026. I don't feel my age 😆

Photo is of me, paralyzed at #RefugeesCamp & me as an adult, decades later.

#WarSurvivorsForPeace #BornInSaigon #TeochewViet #AsianMastodon #WarRefugee #WarChild #VietnamWarSurvivor #PeaceActivist #PeopleWithDisabilities #PolioChild #Survivor #monochrome #BWphotos #DisabledWomen #Empowerment #GenX #Antifascist #NotATerrorist #WomenOfTheResistance #anarchist #WeWillOvercome #PTSDAwareness #ChildrenOfWar #POCWomenFightBack

Split black and white image, left side a vintage photo of a me, in refugees camp, holding a chalkboard with my name, birthdate & refugee camp number, right side me as an adult at age 50 with mask, making peace sign.

#ThrowbackThursday
My backyard portrait shot with a #MinoltaX700.
2010.

#AsianMastodon #PeopleWithDisabilities #RiceHat #TeochewViet #PortraitsWithFilm #GenX #WarSurvivor #Activist #CreativeArtist #Photographer #NatureGuardian #portrait #BornInSaigon

A woman with long, auburn hair, wearing a wide-brimmed hat, a light-colored blouse, and a tiered skirt, stands next to a large tree. She looks upward with a contemplative expression, and her right hand gently touches the bark. A wind chime hangs in the background to the left. The image has a duotone effect, using red and blue hues.

Suggested accompanying #Vietnamese #music 🎶🎵

#SaigonSupersound Vol. 1
https://m.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_n_HSspuI9PGZnLQ11w5eqoOOfUByEmfPw

#Saigon #AsianMastodon #WorldMusic #MorningMusic #VietnameseSongs #SouthEastAsia #TootSEA #InternationalMusic #BornInSaigon #NowPlaying

Good morning, Vietnam(ese) diaspora 🇻🇳🫖🍵☕️

#AsianMastodon #BornInSaigon #TeochewViet #Vietnamese #coffee #tea #monochrome #BWphoto #SilentSunday #Morning #Bloomscrolling #flowers #VietStyle #TootSEA #SouthEastAsian

A black and white photo of a table setting with several items against a blurred, patterned background. A white, slender vase is centrally positioned holding a bouquet of roses and smaller daisy-like flowers. To the left of the vase, a dark-colored teapot with the words "KEEP CALM AND DRINK TEA." and a small teacup. To the right a white coffee cup sits in the middle of a Vietnamese coffee maker on top of a plain white saucer with a small spoon.

It took my grandparents over 12 years to be able to safely enter & start new lives in South Vietnam. My Dad was born in a refugees camp in Thailand. Then my 3 Aunties were born in Cambodia before they could resettle in Saigon. Unlike USA folks trying to leave - my grandparents & then my parents, decades after, faced live missile bombings & daily gunfire. We also didn't face crossing only land borders - we were at open seas for weeks. We fucking hunted for bugs & rats to eat at refugees camp. We are NOT the same. We understand your desperation. You(most Westerners) are choosing to place your white suffering over hundreds of years of POC sufferings, that are still ongoing.

When BIPOC people say - Check your fucking privilege! If you feel a tiny bit offended - you likely need to do several deeper checks with yourself.

#AsianMastodon #TootSEA #AsianDiaspora #WarSurvivors #GlobalSouth #BornInSaigon

#Vive le #Vietnam ✊️💐
Việt Nam #MuônNăm 💞

#AsianMastodon #ThrowbackThursday #VietnamForever #SaigonWarBaby #WarSurvivorsForPeace #BornInSaigon #AoDai #VietBorn #TeochewViet #monochrome #GenX #MyHeritage #AsianCulture

A monochrome, full-length shot shows a woman in a traditional white Vietnamese Ao Dai dress and a large conical hat, standing in a field of grass against a black background. The dress features delicate floral embroidery. She's holding the edge of her hat with one hand

Listening to:

https://trucmai.bandcamp.com/album/s-i-g-n?label=3187674626

Not many cities in the world are gifted with a timeless anthem of their own. We all know “New York, New York”, a song widely known across its city borders. For many Vietnamese, the beautiful Cha Cha Cha tune “Sài Gòn” has a similar reputation.

The tune was written by Hanoi-born composer Y-Van. Like many of his generation, he moved to the South in 1954 after The Geneva Accords partitioned Vietnam temporarily into two states. There he became one of the most famous and prolific songwriters in South Vietnamese pop music. His revered songs are still sung and covered to this day.

“Sài Gòn”, which he wrote in 1965, was recorded for the first time by Saigonese-born singer Trúc Mai for the Sóng Nhạc label. It is one of his most iconic compositions and has been recorded countless times since.

Trúc Mai rose to prominence during the late 1950s as a popular headliner in the cabaret circuit of Saigon, earning her the title, "Nữ Hoàng Mambo" (the Queen of the Mambo). Her reputation helped make the 1965 recording of “Sài Gòn” an instant hit. It was so successful that it was one of only a few songs to appear on multiple 7” vinyl releases.

However, that same year, Trúc Mai took a seven-year hiatus from the music industry to take care of her family. But she returned in 1972 to record “Sài Gòn” again, this time with another producer, Duy Khánh – also a successful singer and musician. They released this track on his “reel 2 reel” tape series, “Cỏ May”.

After the war ended in 1975, Trúc Mai and her family left Vietnam to begin their new lives in the United States, where she continued her successful music career with the overseas community.

The Sài Gòn sung about in the song refers geographically to today's Districts 1 & 3 in Ho Chi Minh City, the name given in 1975, after reunification. But colloquially, the city is still affectionately called Sài Gòn by many of its residents, and even the airport retains the ‘SGN’ designation as its abbreviation.

Despite being recorded over 55 years ago, the unbroken popularity of this life-affirming ode to the city is proven when, whether in Sài Gòn or Hanoi; the south or north; whether young or old, when the song plays, everyone immediately joins in to sing along to the chorus…Saigon đẹp lắm Saigon ơi! Saigon ơi! (Saigon is so beautiful! Saigon oi! Saigon oi!)

The two pre 75 mixes are supplemented with an edit by Saigon Supersound producer Jan Hagenkötter who tries to preserve the vibes of the original and at the same time to wrap it in a contemporary garment.

#Saigon #BornInSaigon #MyBirthplace #VivaVietnam #Vietnam #AsianMastodon #VietnameseMusic #Music

I had a wonderfully full day, with community. I have one last phone meeting today & am done.

#AsianMastodon #Teochew #CommunityWorker #PeopleWithDisabilities #KinViet #BornInSaigon #WarSurvivor #PolioSurvivor #ChineseVietnamese

#ThrowbackThursday
1996.
In #DaLat - central highlands area of #Vietnam.
With Mom & my 4th Auntie(one of Mom's younger sisters).
When we visited the Van Hanh Zen Monastery. It's home to the giant golden Buddha statue - the largest one in Da Lat - it is 50 feet tall.

#AsianMastodon #Teochew #VietnameseIndigenous #VietnamTrip #FamilyTrip #OverseasFamily #WarSurvivors #AsianDiaspora #FamilyMemories #FamilyPhotos #BornInSaigon #FamilyBonding #TootSEA #SouthEastAsia #GenX

My Mom, me & my 5th Auntie with an entertainer dressed up in a monkey costume.
There's a man in cowboy hat, leading a red saddled, white horse, in the background.

#BanhXeo #Vietnamese savoury stuffed #crepes. Filled with pork, prawns, mungbeans & bean sprouts. Eat them with fresh #vegetables, mint & #starfruit - drizzle all over with #NuocCham with chili sauce.

#AsianMastodon #FoodPics #CholonFood #FoodFromMyBirthplace #SaigonInfluence #BornInSaigon #Teochew #Gaginang #AsianDiaspora #AsianFood #VietFood #TootSEA #EggDishes #Homecooked #SouthEastAsianFood #EthnicEats #CulturalFood #FoodCulture #MadeFresh #POCfoods #Food #GlobalSouthFoods