Rene's Saigon is our mother's story

Our family arrived in Manila in the mid-1970s. In the late '70s our mother started selling noodles at the first Vietnamese refugee center, the Jose Fabella Center in Mandaluyong. She later became one of the chief cooks at the Phở Vietnamese Restaurant in the Bataan Refugee Centre.

When the Vietnamese Refugee Centre opened in Palawan in the late '80s, she moved with it. After the camp closed, she opened her own shop right across from it, selling phở and mì noodle soups to Puerto Princesa. Other Vietnamese families soon opened shops of their own, and noodle soup became a part of everyday life in the city.

Her eldest son, Rene, learned to make bánh mì in the camp under Mr. Xuan, the best bánh mì maker there. It took him more than a year to learn. We still judge our bread by his test: crumbs that fall as you bite, and a crunch you can hear.