Channel Steve

A month or so ago I was eating a late breakfast at Allez Boo on Pham Ngu Lao when a long streak of pelican – well you get the idea – wandered over with a stack of books. It was pretty obvious he’d either lost a bet or was researching for an article.

After chatting briefly with him, & apologizing to him for not buying as I’d already bought four the night before, I took a snap on my iPhone as he talked to the next diner (first pic).

Today I flicked through the April edition of The Word, and there he is, along with a little paragraph dedicated to me.

I was wearing my suit so not sure how I looked like a tourist, but all his other facts are right. Pretty impressive memory given the length of his stint and that I didn’t see him taking any notes. Also didn’t see the accompanying photographer.

All this reminds me – I must do something about getting into photojournalism some day.

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Toxic Swimming Pools

Swimming pools anywhere have never appealed to me, but even less so in Ho Chi Minh City. Many students and friends of mine like to go swimming but they always use the popular pools, risking illness every time.

My preference, on the rare occasion I swim at a man-made location, is to use a hotel pool during a quiet period, or the local Conic pool which is brand new and almost always empty.

http://www.lookatvietnam.com/2010/03/overcrowded-pools-putting-swimmers-at-risk-of-illness.html

Toxic Lollipops

The Chinese are not known for their adherence to safe manufacturing laws, and here’s another example of a stupid idea allowed to hit the market. Despite the fact that not many Vietnamese parents can afford dental services, many kids suck on “chupa chup” clones, often bringing them out during class. They are horrified when I tell them to throw it away, and some will even wrap the half-sucked lolly in something so they can keep it for later.

I’ll have to watch out for glowing sticks now.

http://www.lookatvietnam.com/2010/03/health-ministry-orders-seizure-destruction-of-toxic-candy.html

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Are cops sometimes known as ‘pigs’ in your country? Well, these two certainly fit the bill in both behaviour and eating habits. I wonder how often they need new uniforms?  And the amount of gold dripping off them was disgusting.

Vung Tau cops

OK, I know they’re probably the same all over Vietnam, but these two didn’t even bother trying to come up with a remotely believable reason to rob us on Saturday, so I’m leaving Vung Tau thinking their cops are worse than those in HCMC.

We were travelling down a three lane road with each lane clearly marked as to which type of traffic should be in it.
We were in the middle lane the entire time and never strayed out.

Vung Tau road sign

Thu was pulled over and asked to hand over her papers. The reason for selecting her was almost definitely because I was on the back – a ‘rich’ tourist. To their surprise she had her licence, insurance and bike ownership papers intact (many Vietnamese don’t have licences). So their next trick was a rather pathetic claim that she had been in the car lane. When she explained that the middle lane was not the car lane (we read the sign) they told her that the part of the road we were on was not covered by that particular sign. This has got to be one of the most pathetic attempts at highway robbery I can imagine, and when she remonstrated Thu was told that they could either take her licence or she could cough up VND200,000.

I’ve heard a few people say that cops are on such a meagre wage that they have to take personal payments to survive. Garbage! Many own multiple apartments for rent, and as you can see from these two they’re eating better than I am.

Absolutely disgraceful that ‘men’ like these can be in a position of responsibility and power. If any Vietnamese local reading this knows someone high up the tree, I have the number plate of this unit.

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In the last year I’ve uploaded quite a number of photos of construction workers doing crazy things in Vietnam, the Philippines and Thailand.

Today an article was posted exposing those very dangers.

http://www.lookatvietnam.com/2009/11/deaths-increase-at-building-sites.html

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Found this relatively dry, but pretty accurate and detailed description of life in Saigon. It’s from the LA Times, and crams a lot of daily life into three pages. My home life is not like this at all, as I’ve chosen to live away from the busiest parts of the city, however much of the article rings true for me.

Vietnam, the perfect place to ride out the recession

The cost of living is cheap, the people are extremely friendly, and the country is beautiful. It’s a great spot to ride out the recession.

By Karin Esterhammer, Reporting from Ho Chi Minh City

12:46 PM PDT, September 11, 2009

via Vietnam, the perfect place to ride out the recession – Travel – LATimes.com.