Amazing Vietnam - Day 4 (9 Dec 08)

Day 4 – Taking A Break

Today, Bob is meeting his client and I do not wish to follow. So I decided to stay in the hotel to take a break and do my work. Yes, I have lots of work to do ranging from my own study, office work, blogging etc. Actual there is one “most go” place in Ha Noi – the Halong Bay. Unfortunately we need at least two days to visit Halong Bay but we are flying off Ha Noi in 2 days time. Plus the fact that Bob still has business appointments, so we have to give it a miss. But mark my word – “I’ll Be Back”!

After Bob left, I climbed down the stairs to the reception to send in my laundry. The friendly receptionist Van Anh was at the counter. I chatted with her and asked if I can order for lunch. It is a budget hotel so there is no room service. Van Anh replied that she could help me to order for lunch. I asked her whether if she is ordering from a restaurant. She nodded. I was a bit puzzled as I don’t recall any decent restaurant nearby except those located along Hoan Kiem Lake. But those restaurants are not cheap. Apparently, the hotel staffs also order their meal from the same source. Then I asked whether if it is ok for me to dine with the hotel staff. I mean come on, what’s the point of eating in my room alone. I should mingle around, networking and understand people’s culture. Van Anh invited me to join them with delight. I was in the mood and so I told Van Anh to order for more food like fish, pork, chicken and everything and it’s on the house.

At around 12:20pm, I got a call from the reception “sir, your lunch is ready”. I walked down the stairs again and jokingly reminded Van Anh that my name is "James", not “sir”. There is a table in font of the hotel reception and I saw three lunch boxes. When Van Anh opens it up, oh gosh it was just three simple lunch boxes – rice with meat plus vegetable. That’s all. Each box came with different selection of meat. And you can tell that the food was prepared by certain “household” and it was very cheap - 15,000 Dong per box, equivalent to around S$1.50. Actually my intention was to order for many dishes and we (hotel staff and myself) can all share the dishes together. Then came in another young and humble chap by the name of Yog (I don’t know the exact spelling). I invited him to sit down to eat together. A bit of intro – Van Anh speaks good English, the best I encountered so far in Vietnam. That probably explain why she is hotel line. She attends the language class after work. She joined the hotel for couple of months whilst Yog had joined for at least a year. Of course they asked about my job, my holiday here, my feedback and all the usual stuff.

After the lunch, Van Anh said that she wish to give me a treat for the lunch. I rejected the offer. I replied that I am on holiday and she is working so I can’t possibly let her buy me lunch. Instead I paid for all the lunch boxes.

Meeting The Accountants

In the evening, Bob’s group of friends came to invite us for dinner. All these people are accounts professional including a senior management accountant. One thing about Vietnam hotel you need to know is that Vietnamese girls are not allow to enter into the hotel room. This is especially so for 3-stars and above hotels. Foreign girls are ok but not Vietnamese girls. I’m sure you know why. Prostitution is strongly prohibited in most hotels, if not all. Vietnamese government spare no effort in fighting against HIV. If you brought along a Vietnamese wife, then I suppose you need to produce your marriage cert. Vietnamese girls know the rules; they hardly enter into the hotel room unless there is very good reason to do so. So Bob’s friends waited for us at the reception. As usual, we always let the local friends decide the venue since we were still new to this place. We hired a cab and so the ladies brought us to a famous place to eat. It was the same place (quan an ngon) that we had our dinner the night before (with Son). But we have no problem going into the same restaurant since there are many other dishes that we have yet to try. When I look around, there were indeed many foreigners dining inside the restaurant. And many of them look like some big shots to me. I chatted with one of the lady (Lan) who is a senior management accountant. She does budget/forecast for her company and managed a group of accounts personnel. And guess what! I am also doing budget/forecast for my company! But, I don’t do accounts and I don’t have any accounts staff. I felt so small!!!!

And so we ended the night early as we (or Bob) have an early appointment next morning.

Amazing Vietnam - Day 3 (8 Dec 08)

Day 3 – Ha Noi

We woke up early in the morning and booked a cab to the domestic airport. Similarly, the traffic in the morning was hectic – massive bikes and thunderous honking. Fortunately we were inside a cab. And indeed you must take heavy traffic into consideration while planning your travel in Vietnam. Inside the airport, after we checked in, we were waiting for the bus to transport us to Jetstar. We asked the airport staff at the holding area whether if we could take pictures. She obliged. We were surprised and delighted as this is not allowed in Singapore. So we took lots of pictures during boarding and alighting at every Vietnam airport. After we boarded, again I asked an air stewardess if I could take picture of her. She replied that it’s ok to take picture but not on her. Well, I had been naughty and discreetly took pictures of her…. heehee!

When we disembarked at Ha Noi airport, the temperature was totally different from Ho Chi Minh. It was cold with temperature of around 24 degree but still bearable to us. We were still able to walk around in our T-shirt without coat/jacket. I went to ANZ Bank counter in the airport to change for more Dongs. The rate wasn’t that fantastic as compared to HCM and they charged me 3% commission in US$!!! Crap! Ended up I got about 980,000 Dong for S$100; slightly lesser then what I got at HCM airport. Then we approached the airport staff to get us a meter taxi. But after we boarded, damn the meter wasn’t running. Bob asked the taxi driver to turn on the meter but the driver uttered some craps that we don’t understand. Or should I say we actually understand – he intends to crop us like carrot cake. And indeed, he charged me 350,000 Dong when it should be 250,000 Dong (Bob checked with the tourist information centre subsequently). Bob requested for receipt but on the receipt, the driver dare not write down 350,000 Dong. But I decided to rest the matter.

Our hotel (Hanoi Lucky Hotel, No.47, Ngo Huyen Hoan Kiem) is located along a narrow street, so narrow that our taxi couldn’t go in. The hotel was quite cosy and we were allotted the highest floor – level four! There is no lift so we need to climb the stairs. After we unpacked and sent in our laundry, we decided to roam around the nearby area. Along the street of Ha Noi, there are numerous hawkers beside the road. Locals just sit around on small stools to have their meal. I bet no Singaporean dare to try the food due to (presumbly) undesirable hygiene. But surprisingly, the “ang mohs” dare to eat along the roadside. The traffic of Ha Noi is similar to that of HCM except that the road is narrower. IMHO, it’s just as bad. But there again, people drive slowly, honk frequently, and will give way. There is no vulgarity or road-bully.

We visited a big old church before we reach “Hoan Kiem” lake (还剑湖). From the street directory, it seems that Ha Noi has many lakes. Hoan Kiem lake is beautiful and I just love walking along the lake under cold weather…. It would be perfect if my companion is a lady. We went into a few banks to enquire on money changing service but were told that they only accept US$. Damn, should have change for more Dongs at HCM! Then we had our late lunch at a restaurant beside the lake. The scenery was fantastic with cool weather. There are two unique things about Vietnamese food:

1) Vietnamese love to eat vegetable uncooked.
2) Vietnamese love to eat spring roll. They have various types of spring roll, not just the fried one.

After our late lunch, we continued to walk along the lake and visited the Ngoc Son Temple. Nothing impressive to the two men and after that, we decided to bash through the streets. We dare not buy anything as we were supposed to be “carrot” in the eyes of locals. Many mobile hawkers were trying to sell goods such as lighters, wallet and food to us. Then came a smart girl selling a few bananas and pineapples. She let us take pictures of her. We were interested as she was wearing Vietnamese hat (I don’t know what they call in Vietnam). It was fun and so we were obliged to buy bananas and pineapple from her. Good marketing approach and I granted her wish.

Ha Noi’s Night

After we wash up in our hotel, Bob’s friend Son came to pick us up in his big Honda. Not many people in Vietnam can own a car, let along a big car. This man is a CFO of a company. The usual corporate rank in Singapore context should be a Vice President. He brought us to a popular restaurant in Ha Noi – “Quan An Ngon”. And indeed, the place was cosy and there were many foreigners eating inside. Again, we had different spring rolls and our rice or noodles came with raw vegetables.

After our dinner, Son drove us around before bringing us to the Ho Chi Minh museum. There were soldiers guarding the whole compound. Son told us that Ho Chi Minh’s body is still lying inside museum for public viewing but only during daytime. The weather then was very cold, below 20 degree I think. Initially we wanted to wait for the last parade (flag lowering) at 9pm but we still have half an hour to go. No choice we gave up the idea and proceed to a pub for a drink to warm ourselves. One last thing to mention, Vietnamese really love to honk while driving, with or without traffic. IMHO, it’s more of a habit than safety consciousness. Son honk at least once every minute even at late night (clear road) while sending us back to our hotel. I kept quiet for courtesy. Anyway, I did not give Son my blog address so it’s ok I share here. Also CFO has no time to read my crap.

Amazing Vietnam - Day 2 (7 Dec 08)

Day 2

Xuan and Tien scheduled to pick me up for breakfast at 9am while Bob has meeting with his client. The ladies were late and coincidentally, Bob’s morning appointment with his client was also cancelled last minute. So four of us rode off to a popular restaurant named “Pho 24” for our breakfast. Another thing to highlight on Vietnamese restaurants is that they are usually “heavily staffed”. You can see many waiters or waitresses standing by to assist anytime. And many of them are really really polite. It’s like as if they had attended special training on customer service.

During the breakfast, Tien tell us that she needs to rush for her part time job in the afternoon. She works part time as Master of Ceremony (impressive!). She added that she is an MC for a wedding ceremony around noon. I casually asked if I could observe her performance. I mean excuse me, you think it’s easy to be an MC? Surprisingly, she obliged. So we rode off again to Tien’s workplace. I didn't expect that this ultimately ended up to be one of the most memorable event. It took us quite a while on the bike to reach the location. The temperature then was rather hot and the traffic was magnificent. It was heavy flooded with bikes and honk. Unlike Singapore where traffic is well regulated, traffic in Vietnam is very challenging and “lively”. Vietnamese drive slowly at an average speed of around 40km/h. A driver must really find opportunity and take initiative if he/she wants to make a turn. Waiting for traffic clearance is not the way to drive on Vietnam road. It was a bit scary initially but after a while, I get use to it because of:

1) confidence on my driver
2) people driving at slow speed and do give way to each other
3) There is no road-bullies, no vulgarity

In addition, you need a mask when you drive as the pollution level is quite bad. There are lots of uneven ground, still water and sands along the roadside. So if you ride your bike behind a big vehicle, your nose will have to work hard to filter out dirt.

Four Weddings

And finally we reached Tien’s workplace. It was a stretch of restaurants that looks more like a community centre in Singapore. And lucky us, there were altogether four wedding ceremonies that afternoon. Tien was MCing for one of the ceremonies. Outside the main entrance to the building, there were two rows of beautiful young ladies in pink welcoming the guests. It was unique and special and I was very tempted to take pictures of them. As Tien had left us to prepare herself for the event, I asked one of the guys in smart attire whether if I could take pictures. I am not familiar with the country’s culture and certainly I don’t want to get wallop or arrested by communists police for “undesirable character”. He nodded. We took a few pictures and many people were looking at us as if we were “star searching” (or maybe we look like clown). But there again, Vietnamese are really friendly. And since we really look like tourists, I guess they understand.

I also took pictures on the poster of one of the couples. It caught my attention because the bride is very pretty and the groom was smarting handsome (resembles the late Leslie Cheung). Then we saw Tien again outside one of the restaurant entrance briefing the groom on the process. She was on traditional Vietnamese costume and, oh man, she was gorgeous. I asked her whether if I could stay in the restaurant to observe the ceremony. She made the arrangement and so Bob, Xuan and myself entered and stood near the entrance to video the event. And oh my god, they had fantastic performance before the ceremony. I’ll put it on You-Tube to share with all. The performance was excellent, sweet and the song was really romantic.

And Vietnamese toasting method is also different from Singapore Chinese style also. We usually shout “yam seng” but Vietnamese will shout “mot-hai-ba-yo!” (1-2-3-cheers!).

(Subsequently Bob and myself frequently use Vietnamese toasting style when drinking with Vietnamese friends. They were delighted.)

I asked Xuan whether I if can bless the couple with an “ang bao”. I felt that it’s rude for us to just went in and video cam. I mean so what if we were tourists. This is not a zoo! Xuan replied that it’s ok if I felt obliged and 200,000 Dong will do since I am just an outsider. Usually friends and relative will bless with at least 300,000 Dong per head. As I was a bit shy so Bob helped me to explain, delivered the “ang bao” and blessed the newly wedded. The groom was honoured and invited us to dine with them. But that would be a problem as we will need to prepare more “ang baos” for another three headcounts. In any case we have itinerary to follow so we excused ourselves.

We walked back to the public "bike-park" to get the bikes. I felt so good and proud that I asked to observe the ceremony. That’s the way to go for holiday; understanding local culture and tradition. We then rode off to Chinatown to buy souvenirs. I’ll skip the boring shopping details. We also went to Windsor Hotel to change currency. There were beautiful x’mas décor everywhere and the ladies spare no effort to photo down everything. After our shopping, we departed and Bob continued with his business appointment.

Around 9pm, the ladies pick us up again for a drink. And my dear friend Bob selected the Sheraton Hotel. It was a high-class hotel including the bill but still affordable to us. We went to the highest level for a drink. There was live band and the drink was expensive. The price is about the same if you drink in Singapore. Bob pulled Tien into the dance floor and let their hair down. Me? I’m shy, remember?

Amazing Vietnam - Day 1 (6 Dec 08)

Truly Amazing Vietnam (6 – 14 Dec 2008)

If you ask me to summarise my impression on the Vietnamese with one word, then it has to be that the Vietnamese are very, very, very friendly. Why repeated adverbs? I’m sure that Singaporeans are friendly too, well at least most of them, and the Americans, and the Australians, Chinese etc. But IMHO, comparatively, the Vietnamese are really super duper friendly. Perhaps you will understand better after I shared my amazing experience each day at various Vietnam cities. Actually two friends invited me to tag along for holiday this December. One is going to L.A., US and the other one (Bob) to Vietnam. I chose the latter and I think I made the right choice.

Itinerary

Bob is going to Vietnam for his business trip while I tagged along for holiday. He promised to make time for my holiday purpose. And this trip will cover two main cities (Ho Chi Minh and Ha Noi) and another town (Da Nang) located just around the centre of the vertical land. Just for your info, Ho Chi Minh is the economic capital whereas Ha Noi is the country’s capital. Altogether, we need to fly five times in order to cover all these locations. We decided to plan for a budget trip since we are going to many locations but I’ll skip the finance details. Our itinerary as follow:

6 – 8 Dec – Ho Chi Minh

8 – 11 Dec – Ha Noi

11 – 13 Dec – Da Nang

13 – 14 Dec – Ho Chi Minh

14 Dec – back to Singapore

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奇妙越南旅就此开始

D-Day

On 6 Dec 2008, we flew to Ho Chi Minh (HCM) by Tiger Airway. We reached the city in the evening. The weather is similar to Singapore. At HCM international airport, Bob told me to ignore any cab driver offering us a service. This is because these cab drivers wanted to negotiate and fix a (high) price. We should look for a meter-cab. The best carrot is none other than the tourists isn’t it? It is the same situation in any country. We don’t blame them. We hired a meter cab and it took us about half an hour to reach our hotel. The traffic was massive and messy. When I got out of the cab, the kind driver carried our luggage, crossed the road and put it at the hotel entrance (hotel is on the other side of the road). I was like “how the hell am I going to cross?”. Then the hotel staff, apparently understand their customers’ concerns, came to help us to cross the massive traffic.

After checking into our hotel (Spring House Hotel, 221 Pham Ngu Lao street, District 1), we decide to walk around and ended in a restaurant for coffee. The restaurant’s staffs were very polite and humble. We ordered french fries and Vietnamese “drip coffee”. This is very common in Vietnam. What they do is that they have some sort of coffee container on top of the cup to drip down the coffee. The taste or the fragrance is a bit different from the usual coffee in Singapore. The only thing is Vietnamese coffee is very thick and concentrated. I don’t think Singaporeans can get used to it so Bob and myself always ask for extra cup of hot water - to add onto the coffee. They sell Tiger beer too. APB has been very aggressive in expanding their position and fight for bigger market share in Vietnam. Within a few years, you can see Tiger beer and its poster almost everywhere.

Another interesting thing to highlight is the Vietnamese building. Most of the buildings are quite narrow and usually built up to level four. Take a look at some of my pictures and you’ll understand what I mean. Perhaps it is expensive to expand a building horizontally. So the alternative is to build it tall. However, the local authority controls the height of their buildings so usually people built it up to four levels. Anyway, we are not very sure.

My First Motor Bike Ride

After the coffee, we proceed to Bob’s business office. I will not talk about his business in my blog. After that, Bob’s ex-colleague, Xuan came with her roommate Tien to pick us up – with their bikes. Most of my friends and colleagues know that I don’t ride bike and that applies to many Singaporeans. But in Vietnam, this is just the other way round. Most Vietnamese own a bike as not many can afford a car. Well, I don’t have much choice then since I need to behave like a man in front of two young ladies. I told Tien that I had never ride a bike before so to pardon me if I look stupid. The traffic was massive even at night. We proceed to a restaurant for dinner but along way, we met with heavy downpour. Bob was lucky as there was extra raincoat for him. Tien took out her one and only raincoat and wanted me to “hide inside her rain coat” behind her. It’s like hiding inside Superman’s cape. I was extremely uneasy because:

1) that is rude to do that to a lady and can amounts to molest
2) it is dangerous as I will be blind to the traffic

So I got out of the bike and found a shelter. Tien was polite and she understands. She drove off to buy a raincoat for me.

(Later after the end of our holiday, then I realized that in Vietnam, it is always man driving and lady sitting behind. And only lady covers herself inside the man’s raincoat from the back seat. I was given special treatment as I am a foreigner and do not understand their culture).

A little bit of intro here - Tien is an undergrad doing her last year marketing degree. Both ladies are able to communicate in English although we need to speak slowly in order to understand each other. In fact, when you converse with Vietnamese, try not to “sing” or slang like “ang mohs”. It makes communication difficult. Xuan was previously working for APB (Tiger Beer) in Vietnam and that’s where she gets to know Bob. Bob was the internal auditor then. Both ladies are staying in a rented unit and must be back before 11:30pm otherwise they will be lockout.

After we departed, Bob and myself went to a pub for a drink. It was a very small pub with a couple of tables. There are many such small pubs at HCM. And lucky for the lady boss that I was in the mood that night so I ordered lot of drinks. I spent about 500,000 VND (equivalent to S$50).

S'pore PMI shrinks in Nov

Singapore's manufacturing industry shrank for the third consecutive month in November as new export orders slipped and the tech sector contracted on the back of a worsening global economy.

The Singapore Institute of Purchasing & Materials Management said on Tuesday its purchasing managers' index - a leading indicator for the manufacturing industry - stood at 44.3 in November, down from 45.8 in October.

A reading below 50 points indicates that the manufacturing sector is contracting.

The contraction was due to a fall in overall new orders and new export orders, as well as declining levels in production output, imports and employment.
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(Source: BT 2 Dec 08)

US manufacturing index falls in Nov

US factory activity fell in November to its weakest since 1982, according to an industry report released on Monday.

The Institute for Supply Management said its index of national factory activity fell to 36.2 in November from 38.9 in October, below economists' median forecast for a reading of 37.0.
A reading below 50 indicates contraction in the sector.

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(Source: BT 1 Dec 08)