Archive for the ‘Only in Vietnam’ Category
My BCS ringtone for RMIT Vietnam
By Stephen McGrath | Blog, Only in VietnamAbout a month ago Quynh asked me if I would help her write and record a ringtone for her RMIT project. Of course, I said I would love to as I like to record short, fun tunes on the iPad. I imagined GarageBand would be perfect for such a venture. She came over one night to
Happiness or Happy New Year?
By Stephen McGrath | Blog, Only in VietnamVideo Blog – Watch on posterous (3993 KB) Anyone residing in Vietnam between December and February will know ABBA’s Happy New Year like their own hand. Every establishment with a sound system will play it or any number of the many covers on heavy rotation throughout the day. The only reason I can see for this is
Western bookseller on Pham Ngu Lao
By Stephen McGrath | Blog, Only in VietnamA 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
Vietnam News
By Stephen McGrath | Blog, Only in VietnamToxic 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
Corrupt cops in Vung Tau
By Stephen McGrath | Blog, Only in VietnamAre 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. OK, I know they’re probably the same all over Vietnam, but these two didn’t even bother trying
Construction worker dangers
By Stephen McGrath | Blog, Only in VietnamIn 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
Vietnam, the perfect place to ride out the recession – Travel – LATimes.com
By Stephen McGrath | Blog, Only in VietnamImage by Rock Portrait Photography via Flickr 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



