Off Topic Posts - Whats on your mind?

Can you keep me posted if you used lard in the stories & oat cakes please & how it turned out.Also what's your way to do shortbread? I can do short bread using a very basic formula (3,2,1) but interested to hear your way.        -@goodolboy

(went out for a delicious pizza last night, so stovies got pushed back to lunch today)

No oatcakes, but the bannock buns are ready, and stovies is simmering as we speak. I'm using fried pork cubes (I wish I had roast beef) and the left-over pork drippings for the stock. The lard I used for frying the first layer (onions and meat), and the potatoes are now sitting atop while it all slowly simmers. I'll let you know how it goes.

Shortbread is much the same as your 3-2-1, but for the "2", I use 1/4 coconut oil, 3/4 butter. Texture is the same, with a little more than a hint of coconut (but not overwhelming).

    suppose Flora Margarine is out too then?         -@goodolboy

ANY margarine is terrible.
The artificially saturated (hydrogenated) fat in margarine is much more dangerous to the heart than the naturally occuring saturated fat found in butter, lard & various other animal sources when eaten WITHOUT carbs.

Best high saturated fat foods (as stand alone foods NOT combined with carbohydrates) are either palm kernal oil or coconut oil spreads (non-hydrogenated)
   

    -@OceanBeach92107

OFFS another health mistake by GOB. No more Flora for me then!! Here was me thinking I was spreading my toast with Flora & honey to be eating healthy! I am obviously totally out of touch cos back in the day Marge was supposed to be healthy & butter was a no no

    Yes, I 100% Agree with you on this.Margarine is the worst invention ever made and very unhealthy not to mention it taste like sh_t.        -@cougarcar20

"I can't believe it's not b̶u̶t̶t̶e̶r sh_t!"
   

    -@Aidan in HCMC

"No but,s it has to be butter"

    Yes, I 100% Agree with you on this.Margarine is the worst invention ever made and very unhealthy not to mention it taste like sh_t.        -@cougarcar20

"I can't believe it's not b̶u̶t̶t̶e̶r sh_t!"
   

    -@Aidan in HCMC

So it's stepping back in time & "no buts it has to be butter" & "drink a pint o milk a day"

    ANY margarine is terrible. The artificially saturated (hydrogenated) fat in margarine is much more dangerous to the heart than the naturally occuring saturated fat found in butter, lard & various other animal sources when eaten WITHOUT carbs.        -@OceanBeach92107

I am certainly in agreement about margerine but can't I have some bread with my butter? -@THIGV

Sure you can.

Fast ticket to a heart attack, but it tastes great

    Can you keep me posted if you used lard in the stories & oat cakes please & how it turned out.       -@goodolboy

Scrumpdillyicious!

Didn't realize how much I missed that dish.

Words to live by.

“If you think of this world as a place intended simply for our happiness, you'll find it quite intolerable: think of it as a place of training and correction and it’s not so bad.”

― C.S. Lewis

@Guest2023 I think because there are not enough women who are able to meet the needs of the company

@Lotusss

• Are you sure of that? André

@Lotusss

.

@Guest2023 I think because there are not enough women who are able to meet the needs of the company        -@Lotusss

And I think you should reread Guest2023's post again.

If women do the same job for less money, why do companies hire men to do the same job for more money?  -@Guest2023

    @Lotusss.@Guest2023 I think because there are not enough women who are able to meet the needs of the company        -@LotusssAnd I think you should reread Guest2023's post again. If women do the same job for less money, why do companies hire men to do the same job for more money?  -@Guest2023        -@Aidan in HCMC

Although this thread does seem to be somewhat immune to moderator interference in general foolishness, this conversation does seem to be barking up the wrong tree.  Guestposter2023 is probably long gone.  I sometimes can see value in bringing up old topics if they are still relevant, but this one never got off the ground.   My apologies for the colloquialisms.

Any other members notice how VN people tie their shoelaces differently than is done in the west, yet end up with the same knot?

First time I saw it, I was like, "what the heck are they doing?", but once tied it was identical to ours.

    Any other members notice how VN people tie their shoelaces differently than is done in the west, yet end up with the same knot?
First time I saw it, I was like, "what the heck are they doing?", but once tied it was identical to ours.
   

    -@Aidan in HCMC

Yes but I could never replicate the sequence.  It's one of those muscle memory things and it's maybe more deeply ingrained than most as we learn it before the age of 6-7, which maybe not coincidentally is when our first language is locked in.

    Do any members remember the tragic circumstances surrounding an expat.com member here, 2 or 3 years back I believe, where he succumbed after being airlifted back to his home (Australia?), to an infection he contracted here in VN? If I recall, he died due to sepsis, having delayed his departure too long. If memory serves me, it was an infection contracted through contact with soil containing a certain microorganism (not chemical).I wanted to do a little research on the matter. VN friends I've spoken to about it tell me they are familiar with this problem concerning soil. -@Aidan in HCMC

Please do, If I  may help let me know.MAc      -@Mac68

Right. This is the bacterial infection which had claimed his life.(Link to VNExpress)

Several cases reported in VN of late.

From the article;

"People contract the disease after coming into contact with soil or water contaminated with the bacteria and have open injuries on their skin.

The disease was first spotted in Vietnam in 1925.

There are around 10,000 cases worldwide every year, mostly during the rainy season, around half of which prove fatal. There is currently no vaccine against it."

Stay vigilant.

More on Whitmore's Disease in Vietnam, here.(Google Link)

This is the thread I had read a couple of years back.

See post #11.

https://www.expat.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=941799

Tragic.

    This is the thread I had read a couple of years back.See post #11.https://www.expat.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=941799Tragic.        -@Aidan in HCMC

Thank you Aidan in PQ for informative thread. I had few years ago in Europe Tetanus  infection through extremely tiny cut in my finger which was deep  and not possible to clean properly with rubber alchocol, and  thanks to my knowledge of that sort of  infection and symptoms I made doctor at emergency aware of  that possibility and while he was initially sceptic (Google diagnosing himself)  he called surgeon on duty who recommended him to give me antitetanus shots, and after 2 days it was much better for me, initially I could barely walk to toilet due to muscle pains, was in bed all the time. It is very important to know symptoms for different crap so we can react immediately and seek help -  not like this poor Australlian fellow ignoring that serious disease.

@narcrepellant2525

Good you took action, otherwise we might be referring to you as necro-pellant.

Yeah man, I went immediately to emergency after initial symptoms I guess I would be non recoverable if I waited few days. Many of the guys ignore symptoms, believing it will go away.

Testing a GIF file I created of Đà Nẵng Bay to see if it's possible to use here:

Speed was 2X because I wanted the file size to be as small as possible.

Some other time I'll use a 1X speed video clip.

Happy (?) World Depression Day (Link)

"It has been estimated that 25% of expats residing in VN are being prescribed medication for mental health issues.

This has me very much concerned. It means that 75% of us are running around untreated."

(repost from Jan 30/2023. I figure it's apropos)

    Happy (?) World Depression Day (Link)"It has been estimated that 25% of expats residing in VN are being prescribed medication for mental health issues.This has me very much concerned. It means that 75% of us are running around untreated."(repost from Jan 30/2023. I figure it's apropos)         -@Aidan in HCMC

Whats with the "running around" bit?? a brisk walk maybe but "running around"??

I'm going to go to bed just a little less stupid tonight. It happens occasionally when I learn something new.

I had always thought that the general term for a Vietnamese citizen or a person of Vietnamese descent who lives abroad was "việt kiều" (Link to Google Dịch).

I'm now told that việt kiều only applies to Vietnamese who were born in Vietnam but who currently live abroad. Once back in Vietnam they are no longer việt kiều.

The correct term, I'm told, for people of Vietnamese descent who were born/educated/raised abroad is "người gốc việt" (Link to Google Dịch). Người gốc việt is expressed colloquially simply as "gốc việt". Even if a người gốc việt (gốc việt) takes up permanent residence in Vietnam, speaks fluent Vietnamese, renounces their foreign citizenship and becomes a Vietnamese citizen, they will always be người gốc việt.

Thoughts?

    I'm going to go to bed just a little less stupid tonight. It happens occasionally when I learn something new.


Thoughts?
   

    -@Aidan in HCMC

Go to bed earlier...

        I'm going to go to bed just a little less stupid tonight. It happens occasionally when I learn something new.Thoughts?        -@Aidan in HCMC

Go to bed earlier...        -@OceanBeach92107

My! You're up early!

Thank you for your...thoughts?

very interesting

https://tuoitrenews.vn/news/business/20 … 0eL-IUlloo

    very interesting
https://tuoitrenews.vn/news/business/20 … 0eL-IUlloo-@goodolboy

Wow. Thank you for that, goodolboy

"The transaction point did not delay the interest payments intentionally, the representative added."

So here, delay = deny, and if it wasn't intentional then it must have been accidental(?).

Right, gotcha.

    very interesting



https://tuoitrenews.vn/news/business/20 … 0eL-IUlloo-@goodolboy

There are a couple of clues in the story:

~~~ quote ~~~

T. and his wife D.T.M., residing in Ngo Quyen District, deposited a combined VND900 million (US$36,697) at the bank’s Hai Dang transaction point in July 2019, with the interest rate of 7.7 percent for a two-year term, their adult child told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper.

One passbook, worth VND500 million ($20,387), is owned by the husband, while two others, worth VND200 million ($8,154) each, are owned by the wife.

These savings accounts matured in July 2021 and were then automatically renewed as the depositors did not come to finalize the accounts.

Until this year, when they sought to finalize the accounts, the transaction point said it would pay the principal but no interest for the period from July 2021 till now, as the depositors own foreign passports.

T. got the principal and interest payments over the course from 2019 to July 2021 for his VND500-million passbook, while M. received no interest on her deposits.

~~~ (end quote) ~~~

As background, there was a simple explanation about the difference between savings deposit accounts (passbook accounts) and term deposit accounts (CDs) in this article:

https://vietnamnews.vn/economy/522683/foreigners-still-permitted-to-make-term-deposits-at-vietnamese-banks.html

As understand it, anyone wanting to deposit any money into a Vietnam bank must first have a domestic deposit account.

From that, a Vietnamese citizen can fund a savings PASSBOOK account or a term deposit account (CD).

Under the law changes in 2019, foreigners are no longer allowed to open savings PASSBOOK accounts but they are allowed to open term deposit (CD) accounts within the date restrictions of their visa/TRC and their passport expiration.

It's difficult to understand exactly what happened in their case, because the article uses both descriptive words ("term" and "passbook").

But is seems a fair assumption that they were using savings passbooks and not CDs or term deposit accounts.

Or perhaps the husband had a CD and the wife had passbooks.

That might explain why he received interest from 2019 to 2021 but stopped receiving it because he must not have had auto renewal enabled. 

Her passbooks would have gotten snared by the 2019 law changes, perhaps after the fact, as there was some confusion (as I'm sure you recall) after the 2019 regs were rolled out, and an audit anytime afterward would have identified her foreigner passbooks as being ineligible to earn interest.

I didn't read the entire article, but based on their names, I'd guess they are overseas Vietnamese who figured they could park savings here for a long term.

If they don't live here, it would explain no contact from the bank.

Bad luck for them but a cautionary tale for anyone wanting to take advantage of higher interest rates here.

(NOTE: Just in case they were turning USD into VND for deposit, the exchange rate in July, 2019 was about ₫22,901 VNĐ and is currently ₫24,535 VNĐ, so if they planned to exchange back to dollars--a total supposition--they would have to eat that loss, plus whatever exchange & banking fees they incurred.)

TOTAL SWAG, but maybe...?

        very interestinghttps://tuoitrenews.vn/news/business/20 … 0eL-IUlloo-@goodolboy

Wow. Thank you for that, goodolboy
"The transaction point did not delay the interest payments intentionally, the representative added."

So here, delay = deny, and if it wasn't intentional then it must have been accidental(?).

Right, gotcha.
   

    -@Aidan in HCMC

@OceanBeach92107

This article is as confusing as all get-out.

Title states, "Vietnamese couple get no interest on bank deposits due to foreign passport".

Then, "...the depositors own foreign passports".

Does this mean that the couple aren't a "Vietnamese couple", or does it mean, as it implies, that they hold a second citizenship?

Later, "...foreign citizens are not allowed to open savings accounts...". So, not a VN couple after all, or...?

If the couple were originally citizens only of VN, and later attained a second citizenship, is this retribution for doing so?

I didn't read the entire article, but based on their names, I'd guess they are overseas Vietnamese who figured they could park savings here for a long term.
    -@OceanBeach92107

Names?

Aaaaaaand in other news.

Larry LaPrise would be so very proud of this aspiring dance student. The student is still working on the second half of that dance move.

If all else fails, he could always join a James Brown ensemble.

    I didn't read the entire article, but based on their names, I'd guess they are overseas Vietnamese who figured they could park savings here for a long term.     -@OceanBeach92107

Names?
   

    -@Aidan in HCMC

Oops.

A fast scan had me thinking I saw a Vietnamese name.

https://tuoitrenews.vn/news/society/202 … S44V4pyFuM

https://tuoitrenews.vn/news/society/202 … S44V4pyFuM-@goodolboy

I cannot believe how many snakes I've seen over the past 2 or 3 months here. The place is maggoty with them.

Fearless GF slays 'em dead, every time.

Me; "All clear? Did you get it?"

Her: "Yes dahlin', you come out now. Okay?"

    very interesting
https://tuoitrenews.vn/news/business/20 … 0eL-IUlloo-@goodolboy

Bwahahahahahaaaaa!

Well, that escalated quickly (Link).

Beautiful sunset Cai Be tonight.