Essentials to live in Vietnam

amazed at the things you guys think you "need" - in reality, the only things you need to bring with you to Vietnam are enough currency to support yourself, the flexibility to adapt and an open mind.

..too late, zwets.   Self-evident truths don't work here.   Besides, where is your empathy..?

I'm willing to bet you have never suffered walnut withdrawal..?    .

zwetschgen wrote:

amazed at the things you guys think you "need" - in reality, the only things you need to bring with you to Vietnam are enough currency to support yourself, the flexibility to adapt and an open mind.

So sez the Intrepid World Explorer who relishes bush tucker with Aboriginals, travels in Roma caravans, and abandons all worldly possessions to ponder with monks in the Himalayas. Apologies from us neo-Colonial pansies who suffer horribly without that spot of cognac, filet mignon, and Havanas once in a fortnight!

Wait, where are you living now?
Ahh yes, first world metropolis, 'the easy life', armchair travel ...

cgtheisen wrote:

Some kind of borax-based ant bait/killer, although I bought borax at the local market and made my own with sugar.

A rechargeable or 220v bug zapper, the kind with the blue light. I dream of the day when I can unleash megawatts of hell on the flies and mosquitos around my house, particularly with all the pig farms here.

In that vein, a bug-a-salt 2.0 - bugasalt.com. Oh, that would be sweet.

Definitely bring sunglasses (and a backup pair when the first inevitably breaks).

Also bring some kind of clear goggles or clear safety glasses (or yellow tinted) to wear at night riding your scooter. Taking a fly in the eye at 40 kph really sucks. It can even be devastating at 8-10 kph on a bicycle.

A big bottle of sunscreen, like the highly-rated No-Ad, available on Amazon. About $8 for a huge bottle and it works really well. Otherwise you're going to spend a lot here for tiny bottles.

Clip-on headlight and taillight for a bicycle. Since buying mine in Singapore I won't go out in the dark without it. It definitely improves your survivability.

A couple of good kitchen knives, if you're really into cooking. High quality knives are very difficult to find here.

Kitchen knives..... METRO now has some quite good quality kitchen knifes these days.

Ralphnhatrang - FYI, I tried to buy Dipolac today but the box stated it also has an antibiotic (gentamicin) in it. Went ahead and bought the Canesten which is just 1% clotrimazole. Should keep the critters at bay when I go to the gym and shower there. 

Paid 120,000, which has to be the westerner price. I'll send my wife next time without me now that she knows what to buy.

"A couple of good kitchen knives, if you're really into cooking. High quality knives are very difficult to find here"

There is a place on Pasteur Street, across from the Rex Hotel called Premium Housewares that sell Zwilling Henckle knives.

77 Pasteur, Bến Nghé, Quận 1, Hồ Chí Minh, Vietnam
premiumhousewares.com.vn/
+84 8 3829 2063

Nice list, but given it's extensiveness not really sure why you left your lounge room.

rustyjarz wrote:

Nice list, but given it's extensiveness not really sure why you left your lounge room.

I for one spent many years living in tents and in some of the most horrible places on earth. Now that I am established here I want to be comfortable and healthy and I also want to have some familiar things around me. Pretending to be a local doesn't do it for me and my house is a fusion of east and west.

My wife also appreciates some western foods and the quality of the kitchen appliances and labour saving devices we have. We tend to share the cooking and she cooks Vietnamese  and I cook western. The Christmas dinners I cook are a great hit with all our Vietnamese friends. Likewise our European and American friends appreciate traditional Vietnamese foods at Tet and on special occasions.

I suppose we could go and live in a hut with earth floors and a banana leaf roof and cook over a coconut husk fire. But oddly enough just about all of the Vietnamese are trying to get away from all that.

Bazza139 wrote:

The thread count in cotton is paramount.  But Egyptian cotton is the world's best - the feel is closer to silk + the durability(!)   ..they last for years...   ..which is why the hospitality industry prefer the sheets, especially.

Enquire or make friends with (any) hotel management.    They will source them for you.

* They are always the larger sizes too...

My personal bugbear is walnuts.   ..but I'm working on it.   Any clues, anyone..?    .

I had to get walnuts from Hong Kong just before Christmas.Let me know if you manage to locate any?

I don't know if it's funny or sad that someone like rustyjarz would call out a guy with EOD in the front of his name for not "keeping it real enough".  Not many jobs more hazardous or real than explosive ordnance disposal, if that was the EOD you meant. If so, thank you for your service!

Thanx Matt.

..your wisdom is only exceeded by your copywriting skills...   You express our thoughts in your writing in a way we mere mortals could not come close to.   We (all?) appreciate being able to live clean + comfortable = quality of life.     No need to feel guilty for living well.

So consider yourself to be safe: NEVER reveal your whereabouts.  My desperation has its limits and I hate to think of having to hunt you down...  Would he for a Walnut..?   Yes.   

And why not Baz?, if you are going for Nuts then apparently the Walnut is the way to go, it is the healthiest. I will personally be packing a big bag of Aussie Walnuts for you on my next sojourn to VN, late May, early June when it gets cold in the Great Southern Land

Bless your cotton socks, Mike-of-the-Mac (!!!)

..at last!   Someone who can relate to good nutrition..?

I moonlight as a contract killer, so you now have three free bodies if you opt for my 5 for the price of 3...  (discounts!!)   Alternately, a regular(?) supply of the aforesaid nuts, will place you under my protection.  (like Lee Falk's Phantom)    Feel free to choose...

..but still, my own search for satisfaction remains in limbo.   Who cares about the blood of Virgins when Walnuts can tempt even Transylvanian Vamps..?   ..but I digress (yet again)

..and yes, the question begs.   Can I last that long..?   Possibly, since I gain some succour from baiting (former) friends who have to endure my constant complaints of the 23c coolness of Hanoi whilst they sweat it out with Brissie's humidity.  Yes, revenge is truly best eaten cold.

Dim memories of the (not-so) great southern suffering only serve to remind me how Heaven is indeed a place on Earth.   Right here.

You will be back.   Even without Arnie's accent...

cgtheisen wrote:

I don't know if it's funny or sad that someone like rustyjarz would call out a guy with EOD in the front of his name for not "keeping it real enough".  Not many jobs more hazardous or real than explosive ordnance disposal, if that was the EOD you meant. If so, thank you for your service!

Thanks! Yes EOD stands for explosive ordnance disposal, it's what I've done since 1973 and in many countries including Somalia, Angola, Iraq, Afghastlystan...... And Vietnam too, although the military here don't like people exercising QC over their work. 

Bazza139 wrote:

Thanx Matt.

..your wisdom is only exceeded by your copywriting skills...   You express our thoughts in your writing in a way we mere mortals could not come close to.   We (all?) appreciate being able to live clean + comfortable = quality of life.     No need to feel guilty for living well.

So consider yourself to be safe: NEVER reveal your whereabouts.  My desperation has its limits and I hate to think of having to hunt you down...  Would he for a Walnut..?   Yes.   

I'm in Q9 (but I ate all the walnuts). 

That's Ok.   ..we all have a dark side...         

No mooning in here, if you don't mind. 

QC here means "quickly completed"   

cgtheisen wrote:

QC here means "quickly completed"   

And leave no corner uncut.

CUC doesn't cut the custard.  ..and the bright side of the moon is reflection...

Should we keep this rolling and infer Mastered Art, Turkey Toes..?     

Bazza139 wrote:

CUC doesn't cut the custard.  ..and the bright side of the moon is reflection...

Should we keep this rolling and infer Mastered Art, Turkey Toes..?     

If you look up Cuc in Rogers Profanisaurus you will find an entirely different meaning. i wonder there is a Vietnamese equivalent of that August tome available online.

As this thread is heading off topic perhaps it would be better to open a new thread on what is being discussed here.

Why? I would have thought that if a Vietnamese equivalent to Rogers Profanisaurus exists in Vietnam, it would be essential reading for visitors coming here, surely. Especially if they are long term visitors.

Example: In English (convoluted English slang) "give it the Spanish archer" - meaning: "give it the elbow" -  Meaning: give it the El Bow (Spanish archer) or in plain English, leave it alone.

There must be similar slang in use in Vietnam.

Slang in Vietnam mostly revolves around very obscene spoonerisms. Two or more words are interchanged, usually leaving the original tone in the correct place. Usually, the slang words have their own meaning, but when used as slang they are unscambled to give the true meaning. Some allowance is made for slight changes in sound and tone.  For example, [Dear Moderator, we are talking linguistics here, so please allow].

Hoảng chưa - lit: startled yet?;  unscrambled - chửa hoang - to be pregnant and unmarried
cài dù - lit: umbrella;unscrambled - cu dài - long penis
đá cấm leo - lit: [If I] kick [you] don't climb; unscrambled - đéo cấm la - [If I] screw [you] don't scream

Examples are truly endless, limited only by the imagination of the speaker and the comprehension of the listeners. I once watched an uncle of my wife have an entire table full of ladies in stitches all afternoon, while I sat by not understanding anything he said.

So a book of Vietnamese slang and idioms translated to English is one of the items necessary for newbies to bring with them?

Sorry, I have never seen such a beast. You just have to learn them as you go along.

youswear.com/index.asp?language=Vietnamese

A whole lot of bad words...in any language....

ralphnhatrang wrote:

Slang in Vietnam mostly revolves around very obscene spoonerisms. Two or more words are interchanged, usually leaving the original tone in the correct place. Usually, the slang words have their own meaning, but when used as slang they are unscambled to give the true meaning. Some allowance is made for slight changes in sound and tone.  For example, [Dear Moderator, we are talking linguistics here, so please allow].

Hoảng chưa - lit: startled yet?;  unscrambled - chửa hoang - to be pregnant and unmarried
cài dù - lit: umbrella;unscrambled - cu dài - long penis
đá cấm leo - lit: [If I] kick [you] don't climb; unscrambled - đéo cấm la - [If I] screw [you] don't scream

Examples are truly endless, limited only by the imagination of the speaker and the comprehension of the listeners. I once watched an uncle of my wife have an entire table full of ladies in stitches all afternoon, while I sat by not understanding anything he said.

So time spent acquiring an understanding of the local language is never wasted! There are similar linguistic circumstances in Hong Kong where extremely rude phrases in Cantonese are substituted by similar sounding English phrases, so that for example, Du Ley Lo Mo (phonetic) which is about as rude as you can getting any language, is spoken as Delay No More. And they all chuckle.

In Vietnamese of course you have Ba Tau ..........

Hello everyone,

This is getting completely off topic. Please start a new topic on the Vietnam forum. https://www.expat.com/forum/viewforum.php?id=219 you just have to click on "post new topic".

Hi everyone,

After several reminders, please note that i have removed some off topic posts form this thread.

Thank you,

Priscilla