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docwood

@docwood

Active member

Canadian looking for information about Vietnam

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57 posts

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4

About me

Canadian

Speaks French

Registration: 27 November 2009

Activity

docwood replied to a thread
8 years ago
divedog49

Living with Vietnamese girlfriend....what problems may I encounter? by divedog49

I am thinking of living with my Vietnamese girlfriend for one year in the Hoi an area . I am American and she is a citizen of Vietnam. Will it be problematic to live together there ? I would appreciate any advice.

docwood

"Tien Cafe", about the cost of a Starbucks latte, will put a quick smile on the green guy's face. It's not just a cultural courtesy for them, but it works 99.9% of the time. Tien means money and cafe means coffee. handing it ... Read More

docwood replied to a thread
8 years ago
JenneSaisQuoi

Dogs deterrent by JenneSaisQuoi

i got a problem with a neighbor who lets her dogs run wild pooping and pissing all over in front of my door. I'm tired of being diplomatic. Is there a shop in HCMC that sells a deterrent spray or something that keeps these dogs from coming over ...

docwood

i got a problem with a neighbor who lets her dogs run wild pooping and pissing all over in front of my door. I'm tired of being diplomatic. Is there a shop in HCMC that sells a deterrent spray or something that keeps these dogs from coming over ... Read More

docwood replied to a thread
8 years ago
Tiennguyen2582

What concern you the most to live and do business in Vietnam? by Tiennguyen2582

Being a Vietnamese , I welcome all of expats to come and live in our country. I think that you have been helping us a lot to improve ourselves. Thanks to all of you. However, living in a foreign country may cause you some difficulties. If you do ...

docwood

What's happening is not rants or whining as suggested. It proves the point of what you guys are dealing with. If the guys don't care about sweeping garbage into the gutter or people drown in flood water and other stuff (the list is ... Read More

docwood replied to a thread
8 years ago
Tiennguyen2582

What concern you the most to live and do business in Vietnam? by Tiennguyen2582

Being a Vietnamese , I welcome all of expats to come and live in our country. I think that you have been helping us a lot to improve ourselves. Thanks to all of you. However, living in a foreign country may cause you some difficulties. If you do ...

docwood

There were also a number of canals (Thank goodness not all of them) filled with dirt and turned into homes. Canals are even better to hold rain water. Besides holding water, it serves to filter out toxic and retain good ground water to support a ... Read More

docwood replied to a thread
8 years ago
Tiennguyen2582

What concern you the most to live and do business in Vietnam? by Tiennguyen2582

Being a Vietnamese , I welcome all of expats to come and live in our country. I think that you have been helping us a lot to improve ourselves. Thanks to all of you. However, living in a foreign country may cause you some difficulties. If you do ...

docwood

The street sweepers sweep trash into the street gutters right before dusk. This is obviously sanctioned by big brother (Out of Sight, Out of Mind). Lands are valuable in HCMC, so most of the water ponds were filled with soil to be sold for ... Read More

docwood replied to a thread
8 years ago
Tiennguyen2582

What concern you the most to live and do business in Vietnam? by Tiennguyen2582

Being a Vietnamese , I welcome all of expats to come and live in our country. I think that you have been helping us a lot to improve ourselves. Thanks to all of you. However, living in a foreign country may cause you some difficulties. If you do ...

docwood

If they just band the used item street vendors and waste material peddlers and the waste material processors that buy from the peddlers, they can cut down a bit on social common-good problems. The whole country is a garbage can because, there are ... Read More

docwood replied to a thread
8 years ago
Tiennguyen2582

What concern you the most to live and do business in Vietnam? by Tiennguyen2582

Being a Vietnamese , I welcome all of expats to come and live in our country. I think that you have been helping us a lot to improve ourselves. Thanks to all of you. However, living in a foreign country may cause you some difficulties. If you do ...

docwood

So this alley is wide enough for cars like the ones nearby Le Van Sy street. I have seen problems with a 1.5 meter wide alley leading to a dead-end, that a bully resident actually blocks the whole alley with his stuff in the middle of the alley, so ... Read More

docwood replied to a thread
8 years ago
Tiennguyen2582

What concern you the most to live and do business in Vietnam? by Tiennguyen2582

Being a Vietnamese , I welcome all of expats to come and live in our country. I think that you have been helping us a lot to improve ourselves. Thanks to all of you. However, living in a foreign country may cause you some difficulties. If you do ...

docwood

The motorbikes parking at right angles to the house in tiny alleys (hem in Vietnamese), have nothing to do with common sense in VN. It’s done on purpose. Corruption trickles down to every problem in society. The Hem is “free ... Read More

docwood replied to a thread
8 years ago
Tiennguyen2582

What concern you the most to live and do business in Vietnam? by Tiennguyen2582

Being a Vietnamese , I welcome all of expats to come and live in our country. I think that you have been helping us a lot to improve ourselves. Thanks to all of you. However, living in a foreign country may cause you some difficulties. If you do ...

docwood

I believe all your comments above are candid and correct. Most problems in VN will never be learnt and fixed unless corruption is eradicated. We are all powerless to the 1 party-rule which maintains the corruption process in tack. Corruption ... Read More

docwood replied to a thread
9 years ago
I do believe

Why don't Vietnamese understand Vietnamese spoken by a foreigner? by I do believe

Having lived in Vietnam for 6 years and studied Vietnamese at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities it never ceases to amaze me that if I speak and pronounce a Vietnamese phrase perfectly to most Vietnamese, they don't understand me. ...

docwood

MatthiasB wrote: It's not just the northern/southern/central sounds, nor the accents. It's the cadence of the language. Without a natural flow (as emmy.vn points out, the gaps), it's difficult for native speakers to properly identify the ... Read More

docwood replied to a thread
10 years ago
CapturingPenang

Chinese New Year in Penang by CapturingPenang

Great time to head up to Penang for a long weekend. Just a couple tips - Be sure to head to the Chew Jetty in George Town on Thursday night, Feb 10th, for Thni Kong Seh (Jade Emperor’s birthday). One of the highlights of Chinese New Year in ...

docwood

It's good to know. I am planning on going there for a week in the next Chinese New Year! I am assuming that there are many Teo Chew folks living there. Read More

docwood replied to a thread
10 years ago
My-tranle

Walkside Foodcart business in HCMC by My-tranle

HI Everyone, My friend who is living in the US does not believe me when I told him that walkside foodcart business ( hawker ) is not legal in HCMC and also in VN. He told me that he saw thousand of people is doing this business in the street and he ...

docwood

Well all the above comments have some truth to it more or less. It's all about making a living from all sides. In VN the cops usually don't put in much effort if there is no money involved. Their gov salary is not enough to catch up with ... Read More

docwood replied to a thread
12 years ago
j.keats

Coffee peculator by j.keats

Hi all, I'm living in Saigon but I want to buy a coffee perculator so I can make my own good - and strong - coffee. Do you know where I can buy one? They look like this http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/de/Moka2.jpg And what about ...

docwood

Unei_Nguyen wrote a few months ago . . . I believe what u mean is "Cafe Chon"!! "Chon" (which means "weasel") is a kind of animal who eat coffee beans and, therefore, have coffee beans in their poo. People realize that the very special coffee in ... Read More

docwood replied to a thread
12 years ago
vicci0606

Recommend a good hotel (3/4 star) in vung tau by vicci0606

hi all, i am planning to visit vung tau for a couple of days next month. i checked several websites and i found the same 4-5 names. i am planning to stay on the back beach (thuy van st.). can anybody recommend any good 3/4 star hotel? (from your ...

docwood

Vicci, Like ScamBuster said, you should come and look around to see what's up. The only thing good about Back Beach is easy accessibility to the beach. I would not swim in any water near Back Beach. If you come out right before dawn and observe, ... Read More

docwood replied to a thread
12 years ago
Olin

Teaching in Ho Chi Minh, with a CELTA, but no degree by Olin

Hello, I'm Oli 32, from London. I have recently passed my CELTA, and I really want to teach in Ho Chi Minh, for about a year. I love Vietnamese culture and the food! My one problem is that I don't have a degree...yet! Is it possible to find ...

docwood

Hi Dan, Actually there are many age discrimination for both blue and white collars in Vietnam but Teaching English seems to be an exception. Teachers are revere here. Vietnam is one of a few Asian countries that still honor Confucius Teachings. Read More