What are /r/VietNam's favorite Products & Services?

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This is a book written by a famous vietnamese monk: https://www.amazon.com/Dragon-Prince-Stories-Legends-Vietnam/dp/1888375744/ . They have been changed slightly to reflect his perspective - the foreword of the book provides some context into this. I would recommend the book!

Ahh that is the interesting part and a lot of what the show is about. There are some good English translations (and some poor ones). All were from Quốc Ngữ to English though.

There are very few English speaking Nôm scholars. The only ones I know are too busy (or to old) to do it. They have their research agendas.

What’s nuts is even from Chữ Nôm to Quốc Ngữ a lot is lost. Nguyễn Du was being so clever, skillful and cautious with what he wrote. Puns. Sexual innuendo. Political stuff that could have got him killed. He was hiding that in the specific Chữ he chose. Totally brilliant.

By far very best English translation is this one.

https://www.amazon.com/Tale-Kiêu-bilingual-Nguyen-Truyên/dp/0300040512/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?keywords=the+tale+of+kieu+english&qid=1570958407&sprefix=the+tale+of+kieu+&sr=8-1

This one is good too but simplified and outdated. Still a classic and beautifully illustrated in its original editions.

https://www.amazon.com/Soul-Poetry-Inside-Kim-Van-Kieu-ebook/dp/B079333VPT/ref=mp_s_a_1_9?keywords=the+tale+of+kieu+english&qid=1570958574&sprefix=the+tale+of+kieu+&sr=8-9

Cheers !!!

You can get round trip for $68USD. It is from Kuala Lumpur to HCMC, with one day between flights in November. But since you neither specified where you are coming from or what city you are going to, or dates of travel, I assume you just want any round trip flight from anywhere on any date.

https://tiemchungcovid19.gov.vn/portal

Switch to English (top right), and then scroll down, you can find the vaccination site (and you can sort by province/city, district, ward...)

Note: due to... stuff, you cannot walk to a vaccination site and ask for a vaccine (at least, no one has tried that). So it is mostly a case by case (though these cases would be living in the same area or working in the same building). You can search for your registration status by going to the same site, go for Search > Search for your registration reference number.

Another option is to use [Electronic healthbook] phone app. Below is the link for Android. For Apple, Search cor Sổ sức khỏe điện tử. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mohviettel.sskdt

I think the most famous Vietnamese text is "Truyện Kiều" (The Tale of Kiều)

However, since you take "Book of Five Rings" and "The Art of War" as example, I would personally chose "Bình Ngô Đại Cáo" (Great Proclamation upon the Pacification of the Wu).

The audio for Colloquial Vietnamese is southern dialect. I also came across the YouTube channels "Learn Vietnamese with Annie" and "Learn Vietnamese with SVFF" when I was looking for northern dialect resources. They looked decent.

Mui Ne is my favorite beach area. Secluded, quiet, relaxing beach with some good western food. If you go, theres an excellent greek restaurant there called Sindbad you should try.

Well, here are a bunch of them.

• Bun cha.
• Cha ca la vong.
• Banh tom.
• Banh cuon.
• They have stores for "mut"s - they are basically sweets made from fruits and sugar. There are hundreds of them. Try them all if you can.
• Bun oc.
• Nem nuong.
• Banh da cua.
• Banh khuc.
• Mien luon.
• Mien ngan.
• Bun dau.
• Banh gio
• Banh cay.
• Nom bo kho.
• Be thui.
• Oc - they are snails. Trust me, they are delicious.
• Che - they are sweet soup, or puddings -ish.
• Ice cream. - Local, e.g Trang Tien ice cream
• Dude, if you like alcohol, try Ruou Nep - They are Vietnamese Sake http://my.opera.com/kimy0y0/blog/dia-chi-cac-mon-an-ngon-o-ha-noi Translate it into Vietnamese, they have both the food and the restaurants' addresses. It could be a bit much for 3 weeks, but you can use the addresses.

Looks like some knock off brands. Try Trung Nguyen Trung Nguyen - G7 3 In 1 Instant Coffee - 100 Packets | Roasted Ground Coffee Blend with Creamer and Sugar, Suitable for Most Coffee Brewing Methods, (16gr/stick) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HMCMADE/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_SWS830RKK3GCN03J7VSF

Hanoi for sure. I was in Hanoi for a week in early December 2014 and spent one night on a boat in Ha Long Bay.

It's about a 3-hour trip by minibus to Ha Long Bay. It's pretty, and the caves are awesome, but no way would I blow a whole day of your short trip to do Ha Long Bay. That's craziness.

Explore Hanoi. It's the most visually stimulating place I've ever seen. You could walk around for hours and not be the slightest bit bored. The people are great and the food is better.

Check out Bun Bo Nam Bo, a restaurant named after the dish it sells. Also consider Bun Cha Nem Cua Be Dac Kim Both are awesome.

Do Hanoi for sure. You'll be glad you didn't try to go to Ha Long Bay, I guarantee it.

If you got the income to buy the airplane tickets, spending 5 days in Saigon and 5 days in Hanoi wouldn't be too bad. There's a huge difference between the 2, a huge clash of culture that you must see for yourself if you're not planning on coming back anytime soon.

As soon as you land, book it for the south and live it up. Go play and explore the city for 3 days, then make a trip out to Vung Tau for 2 days. After, head back to Hanoi and slowly unwind the first day, catch a breather. Make a day trip to Sapa the next day, and a day trip to Ha Long bay the day after. Spend the next 2 days walking around and visitng the site and you're done.

Check out this Trip Advisor article. Lots of great info. Bottom line is it's cheap! You'll need an unlocked smartphone of course.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g293921-c187446/Vietnam:Sim.Cards.html

Watch out for the rain in Central Vietnam..

It's really not the best time of year for beaches anywhere in Vietnam...

Great advice! You seem to have everything down so I bet it'll be very helpful for OP. Btw, what app(s) are you using to track your budget? I started tracking my expenses with money lover but it has gotten to buggy.

I thought the banh canh at this place was really good, probably some of the best I've had: http://www.foody.vn/lam-dong/xuan-an-banh-canh-bun-bo-hue

This place was really good, too: http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g293922-d6276324-Reviews-Quan_An_Cu_Duc-Dalat_Lam_Dong_Province.html

I've been to the other places others have mentioned and they're alright. Dalat's loaded with parks you pay to get into that have a bunch of corny shit and sometimes lots of Chinese and Russian tour groups. Whichever one it is that has the roller coaster thingy is worth it, but otherwise, I think I enjoyed just aimlessly driving around out in the countryside more. I guess your enjoyment of the parks would depend on how many other places you've been to in Vietnam though. I got a kick out of shitty taxidermy and "alligator fishing" the first few times. I thought Prenn Park had some wonderfully shitty taxidermy.

But you should go to the train station and ride the train.

Yeah, that was fun. Also, check out the "valley of love" (google it), and this place: http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g293922-d451015-Reviews-Hang_Nga_Guest_House_and_Art_Gallery-Dalat_Lam_Dong_Province.html

Both were fun to check out.

I used the instructions in this and it worked, and I'm on the computer in Ho Chi Minh city right now. I used different DNS numbers though (8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4)

I was first looking at the wiki and it said a taxi would cost about $22 USD, and that a private car would be $17 USD. I went to the web site it mentioned, filled out the form, and received a quote of $22 USD. So, it looks like it's about the same price as a taxi, give or take a few dollars.

Try out cao lau at some point; it's a Hoi An staple and you can find it pretty much anywhere. Also, for street food, you have to get a Banh Mi. This one particular stand is the best in the country and was on No Reservations with Anthony Bourdain. I pretty much ate the entire menu during the time I was there.

If you're looking for a nicer dining experience, I went to Morning Glory with some friends for New Years. It's just a little bit pricier and nicer than a lot of places, but we all really enjoyed it.

For dinner, go here: Ut Ut BBQ. http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g293925-d6478802-Reviews-Quan_Ut_Ut-Ho_Chi_Minh_City.html

Then for fun, go here: Emergency Room Bar. http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g293925-d6654331-Reviews-Emergency_Room-Ho_Chi_Minh_City.html

I am ordering using a Microsoft form to one of the supporters that was found by my fiance. They have lots of vegetables and you can choose things separately too, there is also a space at the bottom to add extra things if not on the list. This is for Tan Phu Ward District 7, I don't know if it's for all districts :/

https://forms.office.com/pages/responsepage.aspx?id=HVN-gRsZ9UyIEvAGHYm1PRnVPheTz89HhK54ufrgoHRURTBGSjlNTkROTDRVTUUxOFhYQjhERkI3QS4u

You basically become an exit node, which can be a big issue. It's free because YOU become the product. If you're ok with that, then Hola is a good option, but i personally think the risk is not worth it.

> If your computer is being used as an exit node, it is your IP address that webmasters, law enforcement or rights holders see when they check server logs. If it is used in attacks or malicious activity, it is you who will be contacted by the authorities or site owners.

src: http://www.ghacks.net/2015/05/28/beware-hola-vpn-turns-your-pc-into-an-exit-node-and-sells-your-traffic/

You can land in Hanoi airport, then head up to Sapa right away on the overnight train (though can also drive as the roads have improved a lot). Spend a few days up there, quite lovely. Then Hanoi for city stuff. Then Halong Bay for Karst/boat scenery. If you want to do an AirBNB, check out Dong and Narelle who have several rental options and can help with planning and booking. They were lovely hosts for me and my wife last year: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/255694

Sapa in November Trust me. It can be pretty cold in the north in Winter. And I live in Scotland.

It can snow when winter comes, but you're probably fine in November.

summer is good. end of school year (early june) is more $$ people with children or students will go home for the summer. also sep will be busy as well people will be going back to the states for school. check this site out. https://matrix.itasoftware.com/ you can enter a range of dates and it will give you starting prices.

Did you check Amazon? Idk if they're large enough for your needs but there were results when I searched it.

Edit: this one does 12

M.V. Trading M410644V Cast Iron Takoyaki/Aebleskiver Pan with Stainless Steel Takoyaki Pick, 12 Molds, 8.25 Inches (L) x 7.25 Inches (W) x 1.25 Inches (H), Overall with Handle 14.25 Inches, Black https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0006FLNDM/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_C1VUBbW1QTSZW

"The real issue here is probably transparency. NordVPN admits that it learned of the attack in April 2019, but the company only went public some six months later, after details were exposed on Twitter."

This is the part that concerns me, it seems like Nord had no intention of telling anyone until they were called out on it.

I think you're a bit confused there.

Swiss - Switzerland

Swede - Sweden

Proton Technologies is based in Switzerland, not Sweden.

As for the 14 eyes network, ProtonVPN actually has a blog post about it here:

And for my situations, I mainly use VPN as a privacy tool and to bypass my school and workplace firewall and other restrictions.

Speed has been really good. I used it for torrents a couple times before I got a seedbox and it was great. I also use it for streaming video with BBC's iPlayer, and it rarely hangs up or gives me any trouble.

TorrentFreak did an overview of a few VPN services and how they are with privacy and anonymity, and it might give you some ideas of other good VPN services. The only two in that list I've tried are BlackVPN and Private Internet Access. PVA worked well enough, but I don't remember whether I had any issues with bandwidth on it.

maps.me with Vietnam maps downloaded for off-line use. This has come in very handy when traveling with no simcard/data.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mapswithme.maps.pro&hl=en

If you have an android device, try using the microphone for speech translation with this app. It tends to work quite well on a basic level and you can have him just speak into the phone rather than have to type everything out. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.apps.translate&hl=en

You could try using starter apps like Beginner Vietnamese to learn some of the common Vietnamese words and phrases from scratch.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.shex.beginnervietnamese

Doesn't matter where you live, you can online/Skype/Zoom with teachers from anywhere in the world. If you can't find any teachers in Hoa Binh, easy enough to find someone in Hanoi to do it.

The best book for learning Vietnamese I've found is

https://www.amazon.com/Elementary-Vietnamese-tieng-Vietnamese-Included/dp/0804845328

Not sure how easy it is to get in Vietnam, though. It's the only one I've seen that has good technical explanations.

Get her this one.

If your mom is from the South, she will cry while reading it.

Vietnam network is fine, you don't need to have VPN there. If you still want to use VPN I'd recommend 1.1.1.1 on smartphone and NordVPN on laptop/PC. For new smartphone I'd recommend going to a store close to where you live and not Vietnam, because of the language barrier.

yes, two different browsers on two different computers, including trying NordVPN connected to a Vietnamese node.

I get an ERR_CONNECTION_RESET

for

*redacted*

You should look for Vietnamese Dictionary written by Pro.Hoang Phe. Pretty sure it is the most prestigious one after 1975.

Still, it is worth noting that Pro. Hoang Phe died in 2005, so latter editions might be altered by others. I only have the first edition so I can not attest for those editions though.

Also, I found this link that sell his dictionary on Amazone.

Thanks to everyone that has responded! I've received some PM's as well. Seems like there might be 4-5 folks that could join. Any recommendations in the Pham Ngu Lao area? We could meet there and see where things go and maybe move venues if folks are up for it. Meet say at 8 PM? Any bar recommendations in that area? Thanks! EDIT: Confirmed. Let's meet at Broma (Address: 41 Nguyen Hue Street, Ben Nghe Ward, District 1) at 8 PM.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g293925-d7704159-Reviews-Pasteur_Street_Brewing_Company-Ho_Chi_Minh_City.html

I should've been more detailed but here's the link to the address and details of the bar. Another bar I liked is biacraft in D2, it's kind of a far drive though

There's a clean massage place in D1. I've been there and I recommend it. I wrote about it on TripAdvisor:

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g293925-d6498863-Reviews-AAA_Spa-Ho_Chi_Minh_City.html

I wrote about a couple of other places to check out in HCMC here:

http://www.tripadvisor.com/members/onwithsean#CITY_TILES

If you want a view of all of Hanoi, and particularly of Tay Ho, then the Sofitel is good (though a cocktail runs you about $13). It is a bit of a remote view, and though you can see the scale of the city, you don't really get a sense of it.

If you want a view of the center of Hanoi, Cau Go is the probably the best. It sits on top of Hoan Kiem lake. Make a reservation for just before dusk and you can get day and night scenes of the city. Call ahead to the restaurant as soon as you can (which has moderately priced food and drinks) and reserve a table that is outside next to the railing.

Xiaomi phone, but that's not the problem. Do you know that you can check if an app is available in a certain country by changing the URL? If I access this URL `https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.nianticlabs.pokemongo&gl=vn\` then it says "We're sorry, the requested URL was not found on this server.". If I access `https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.nianticlabs.pokemongo&gl=us\`, then it shows the device incompatible message.
This proves that the Pokemon Go app is completely removed from the Vietnam Play Store.

Last time i travelled they took away my elephant shaped kid-friendly scissors and then played with it. (i kinda forgot it was in my pencil case)

They laughed in my face when i took it out. A minute later as i collected my stuff i saw him spinning the scissors like a kid. I felt quite devastated about it as it was a childhood favorite so i had to take a video about them even though there was a huge sign saying NO VIDEOS….

I haven't heard of VN doing any of the CCP style blocking.

So anything should work.

I of course always recommend against Nord after trying to hide from its 2019 hack.

"NordVPN said it found out about the breach a “few months ago,” but the spokesperson said the breach was not disclosed until today because the company wanted to be “100% sure that each component within our infrastructure is secure.”"

I saw the one on your blog I like it for fish sauce since it gives nice and strong flavour, for dipping things raw i use red boat fish sauce https://www.amazon.com.au/Red-Boat-Premium-Fish-Sauce/dp/B07WCMLSQ2, the flavour is a lot more mild.

The summary of this fantastic scholarly work on the last 100 years of Europe is essentially "look at all of these great positive developments in all aspects of culture and human endeavor, most of which never happened in the Communist Bloc".

This thread explains it.

Often there are a set of codes you have to enter so that the service knows what type of phone you are on and all that, followed by a restart. I assume your hotel concierge did that for you though.

Get a few 100,000 dong phone cards and carry them around for when you do eventually run out of minutes or data.

Bà Nà Hills, Đà Lạt (central VietNam) http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g298085-d2255351-Reviews-Ba_Na_Hills-Da_Nang_Quang_Nam_Province.html

Wine Castle, Mũi Né, Cà Mau (furthest south of Vietnam). http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g1009804-d7089203-Reviews-RD_Wine_Castle-Mui_Ne_Phan_Thiet_Binh_Thuan_Province.html

There are hundreds if not thousands throughout the country, certainly up north as the Chinese have a nasty habit of invading the North.

Ask your hotel's fixer (concierge type, most have them, someone who can arrange transport and whatnot).

Sapa is pretty much pure hell these days, there are more hotels under construction than already exist to help serve the Chinese that are now allowed to drive over the border. There are a few more rural homestays outside of Sapa that would be better to stay at and fly from. https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/13269869 As an example. You could probly trade some shots for a free night or some free meals from your hosts.

Good luck! Fly safe.

It might come from his knowledge of French over English, the polite term to ask for something is “je vous prie de” which doesn’t mean I beg you to but if translated word by word could become it. I have checked with Google translate and that’s exactly what it gives: I beg you to A better translation from French to English would be just “please” https://www.linguee.com/french-english/translation/je+vous+prie.html

I have no idea about the weather in Danang + Hoi An in October. If you check the weather history of the city in 2018, 2017, and 2016 it was mostly fair. https://www.wunderground.com/history/daily/vn/hai-chau/VVDN/date/2017-10-18

Do note that this is time is storm season however. As I noticed, u/ingosama123 is in Danang so maybe you can seek help from him/her? :)

A multitude of tour buses leave Ho Chi Minh City for the Cu Chi tunnels daily and can be booked by any tourist office. Expect to pay around US$5 (as of October 2014) for a half day guided trip to the Ben Dinh site (not including admission to the tunnels), with 90-120 minutes travel and about 90 min touring the area. Buses mostly leave around 8:00, so consider a private car if this isn't suitable or if you want to go to Ben Duoc instead. Tour operators on Pham Ngu Lao will quote from $45-75 return by private car, or possibly lower -- don't be afraid to shop around.You can read more at: http://wikitravel.org/en/Cu_Chi. Other ways, visiting Vietnam Tour Booking agency to book Cu Chi tunnel tour

Always a good idea to use the internet for stuff like this. I like tripadvisor for restaurant and things-to-do in cities I visit. Another possibility is to use AirBnB and communicate via email to the person renting out the room or apartment - I've found they always know interesting and cool local venues. I think it's District 1 that's the most interesting part of the city??? Wikitravel: http://wikitravel.org/en/Ho_Chi_Minh_City

Since your wife is physically inactive, be very careful crossing the streets. There is a certain method used in Vietnam that is different from other countries. Something like - start walking at a decent pace, and don't change it as the vehicles will see you and drive around you. Watch how the locals do it, but you might want to have your wife use a very big cane, and possibly an orange-safety vest...

Have a great trip (I'm going to HCMC in January for the first time).

You can get it at Tram Chim Restaurant.

However, it's not cheap. And you will be harassed to within an inch of your life by girls asking for tips and pressuring you to give them money - regardless of whether they even came near your table.

Be warned of hepatitis if drinking the raw blood.

Its been 10 years since I've been to Vietnam so my memory of these places aren't exactly ideal (sorry). How long were you planning on staying in Can Tho and Tay Ninh?

• In Can Tho there's a few temples, but I distinctly remember going to Ong Temple. It's actually really nice and it has a nice Chinese Architect vibe to it. It literally reminds me of visiting some buildings in the Chinatown located in Chicago, haha. I also remember it being located near a body of water. Lake perhaps?
• You could also visit the floating market. There's a few of them in Can Tho. I've never been to them, but I've always admired seeing them when I was there. It's actually on my bucket list for this trip!
• Luu Huu Phuoc entertainment park is also nice, but I feel like it’s the hotspot for senior citizen, lol. And they usually blast really shitty muffled music.

Sapa trekking is as long as you want, up to a week even. Most do 2 days 1 night, I did a 3 days, 2 nights which I thought was a great move. It is further away from Hanoi, but everybody gets there via overnight train so there is no daytime lost. There is absolutely no night life. You're trekking in between very small rural villages and most lodging is done as a "homestay" so it's usually lights out by 9-10pm. We went with this awesome group that supports the locals through education programs if you're interested.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g311304-d4481507-Reviews-Sapa_O_Chau_Trekking_Private_Day_Tours-Sapa_Lao_Cai_Province.html

How long a visit, where will you be? I suggest something like Airbnb but it depends on budget and location. I was in Vietnam last year and did Airbnb in Hanoi, and the people whom we stayed with made arrangements for us in Sapa and Halong Bay, so everything was very convenient. https://www.airbnb.com/users/show/1337687 Dong and Narelle.

My wife and I did exactly this Hanoi-Sapa-HalongBay itinerary last year in May. June is going to be hot, but that is why Sapa is an important part, cool and beautiful mountain scenery. Also can get great walking shoes and other outdoor gear in Sapa. Very lovely. An overnight Halong Bay is nice. If you are an early morning person, don't forget going to Lenin Park before sunrise for a great walk and exercise with Hanoians! Water puppets were fun to see, as well as Ho Chi Minh mausoleum.

My wife and I booked everything through Dung at Dung's Tours and also stayed with her and Narelle in her house in Hanoi, through AirBnB. They really helped make everything easy and I recommend this if you don't want to make all the plans/details yourself. See: https://www.airbnb.com/users/show/1337687

Enjoy!

I use Proton VPN. It's free (if you are not toreenting), and has a good reputation in the security space. https://protonvpn.com It was very useful when I needed to connect to Apple services, and despite the free plan being "medium speed", I found it sped most internet access up when in Vietnam.

As far as i know VTVgo is on Amazon too and you can install on your Fire Stick. I haven’t used it on a fire stick before so I’m not sure about the flipping through channel like you normally would, but you sure can change channels!

Also it’s free so you don’t have to worry about subscription or anything. And yes it’s live, just a few secs later :)

There’s also some other apps from FPT or Vtc but personally i think VTVgo is the best choice.

What time of year? Can be a bit wet Not a great fan of Danang, but if you stay between the places you've heard of you can find places to chill out away from the tourist hordes (assuming Vietnam starts letting tourists back in).

> Would potentially wanna look into moving there as well.

What sort of visa would you be getting? They've tightened up on long term 'tourists' so you now need to extend your visa every 30 days and do a border run every 90.

Weatherspark will tell you what to expect anywhere in Vietnam. It's usually the humidity that makes it unpleasant rather then heat or rain.

May is OK. There is no time when it's the perfect time for everywhere in Vietnam. You just have to suck it up.

It's usually the humidity that gets me. Wear a sunhat and avoid being out in the hottest part of the day, Stay hydrated.

The word Indochina makes me sick.

Frenchman #1 "Hey luc athat... euhr...euhr... La Chine..

Frenchman#2 "Non, eez non La Chine.Eez La Inde...

Frenchman#3 "Non! Non! , Eez La Indo-Chine

Frenchmen#1,#2,#3 "Hohohoho!! "MDR"!!!

https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=zrpvyrp8U02GgaBihPf_RpKjIT6yQCZAuB6MlYSkg65UOU0wMTRDVUs5NVhOTFpUSVpLODZDR1hGUi4u

https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=zrpvyrp8U02GgaBihPf_RuSbuPvzx2pHpg7Nfgu7G7dUMzNDVDRIWVNBTFQ1UTcxM1lMVlBVTk5EQi4u

windy.com will show you the general "smoke burden" of the area. It's better than it was yesterday, but we're definitely still getting hit by smoke due to the prevailing winds.

I read that the train line was stopped but has already been repaired a few days ago. But still, the forecast doesn't look too good the next days:

https://www.windy.com/?rain,12.972,107.974,6

I'm still in Europe at the moment and not sure what to think about it, but I'd like to know as well because I planned to go in a week...

Thank you for the input folks! I will contact a couple bike shops before hand. Ultimately I will decide closer to the date since weather is a major factor. I see routes like this https://www.bikemap.net/en/route/3785851-hanoi-ninh-binh/ I also see the day rides mentioned above and those look great!

This was a thread posted yesterday about how to find cheap flights

https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/5dfesh/i_am_a_uk_cheap_flight_hacker_here_to_help_you/

One of the suggestions was using this website:

https://matrix.itasoftware.com/

Another suggestion was to clear your cookies or use a vpn because the price comparison sites can tell if you are returning and will raise their prices. You can also sometimes get a better deal if it appears that you are buying from a different country.

I'm Hanoi native, but currently overseas. AFAIK, a decent AirBnB is priced at least similarly to a 3-star hotel, I would pick the hotel for other services they offer.

This hotel seems decent, poppy villa hotel, it doesn't have website but there's phone number.

Btw, a quick check confirmed that all booking sites have a 30-day limit.

Is this for first class or something? or a return trip? Google flights has tickets on that same day for $75USD (on an airline that includes free check-in baggage), or leaving 2 days later you can get for $49 USD...

There are direct flights from Hanoi where is about 2 hours away from Hai Phong to Tokyo. I don't think there's any direct flight from Hai Phong.
Google flight or Skyscanner is your friend when looking for flights.

Photo books in Vietnam?

Hi, I wanted to do and ship a photo book in HCMC to my fiancée, which service would you recommend? This is the type of thing I used to do in the past, but unfortunately Apple doesn’t offer that service anymore.

Do you know some service like that? I would prefer PayPal, since other paying method are a hit or miss for me....

If you want to learn pronunciation and aren't afraid of rather boring lessons, take a look at the FSI Vietnamese course. It's pretty nice, because it explains a lot of "rules" in the beginning.

You could check out my memrise course: https://www.memrise.com/course/561054/vietnamese-for-fun-beginner-intermediate/ :))

Nope. And my Chromebook just got wet yesterday :( Last time I had someone carry it over.

One time I tried to get Asus to bring in a bunch of Chromeboxes for the office and they were so clueless about it, and after much harassment up the chain they came up with an absurd price for their own peoduxt which can be had for quite little elsewhere. That's just to indicate how little is going on here with it. I don't understand why Google doesn't promote it in poorer countries, but then Google is often bizarrely dumb in the middle of something brilliant.

What you could do if you find a cheap laptop here, especially if selling because sluggish, is put this on it which is almost identical to google's version of Chrome OS: https://www.neverware.com/freedownload

I have it on a crappy old PC with maybe 4mb of ram and works wonderfully though did add a tiny ssd. Highly recommend it for any old piece de poop. Infinitely better than Windows on it and I doubt even the lightest Linux can match it. ( various boot options too.) They have an official compatibility list but it works on much more. A laptop with touchscreen can be harder to get fully working so be sure to ask on the forum there. If you find any good cheap touchscreen laptops that work, pm me please :) I wanted to put it on a xiaomi air but last time I checked the track pad wouldn't work.

Personally I do clinical work remotely through my own business so technically I'm independent contracting, but there's quite a bit of development available to me depending on what you mean (management positions, increased salary, etc.). I've been offered a job where I'll move away from clinical work and purely do clinical supervision and mentoring, and while the pay isn't significantly better than what I'm getting now, the additional planning and paperwork is far less.

I got that salary from the first result on this page:

https://www.careerbuilder.com/jobs-work-from-home-customer-service?keywords=work+from+home+customer+service&pay=40

My point is less to take that kind of job, and more that one can set things up so they can live where they want (for me, Vietnam) while being financially independent of the local wages.

Before the age of VoIP, I use to buy those prepaid international calling cards where it was like $20 for 300-500 minutes, they vary from brand to brand the price per minute and are usually sold at your local Vietnamese supermarket/convenience store. If you can't find one, PAYG on Skype is like 9 cents a minute which doesn't seem too bad, and you don't have to go anywhere either.

Aaah I'm planning the same trip to Vietnam for 3 weeks! You can check it out here: https://listium.com/nhahan92/45355/vietnam-travel-in-3-weeks
Haven't done with the North part, but Da Nang-Hoi An, Hue and Nha Trang are mostly completed. Feel free to use it for your own purpose, or I can also add you to be Contributor if you want. I'm super happy with the food part cuz I got lots of recommendations from Viet friends!
Good luck and have fun!

I assume you are talking about this https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B000SOJXGA/

Just remember to clean it between use and really dry your ears. Otherwise, you are asking for fungal/bacteria infection (dont ask me why I know)

Shipping issue a side, if your mom still insists on sending the package, here are my thought:

Its not worth it to send canned food. They are essentially salted water with preservatives and a little bit of food. They dont have a lot of nutitional values. My wife sent a bunch of them over before the lockdown and it costed $100+ in shipping for like a week worth of food.

If shipping cost is your main concern, i would recommended freeze dried food like Mountain House. They are a bit on the expensive side. The other option is dried food in #10 can. Augason farm has a bunch of different type on Amazon: powdered milk, eggs,... They have 5-25yrs shelf life. Since they are dried, you dont waste a lot of money sending over water

Pro tip: also put can opener in the package. My wife forgot to put them in and MIL had to use the old method of knife and hammer to open them

Augason Farms Dried Whole Egg Product 2 lbs 1 oz No. 10 Can https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B0096I5DJU/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glt_fabc_Z80PW55NFMH5PMQE6H1M

Morning Moo's Low Fat Milk Alternative 3 lbs 8 oz No. 10 Can https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B00LBGOW2Y/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glt_fabc_TVFMDDXRC0V97A98P66T

Hello, also a viet kieu. If you are on android try those for

Vocabulary : https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.languagecourse.vt.vi

Tone (ear training): https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.iggy.vietnamesetones

All free, no ads, no in-app purchase.

Also another commenter said that they would like to learn German, could be an nice trade, don't pass on that !

Chúc may mắn in your learning, mein Freund !

I have started to learn Southern Vietnamese myself but there are not many resources available compared to Northern Vietnamese. I am using this book “Southern Vietnamese for beginners” https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08CM89MNF/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_imm_3ZC8ZQ1ZBA6Y1QDZC9MK which includes instructions in the front for downloading the audio files and a link to their private youtube channel where they go through all of vowels and consonants with example words. They also describe the differences between the accents. Just be aware its not just accent but word choice differences, sort of like how soda and pop have regional preferences. I have taken the audio dialogues and broke them down to individual words and put them in Anki WITHOUT the enlish. So like the word em, i would associate to a picture of a child on my flashcard thereby removing the translation part which hinders fluency. I have found very few language apps provide Southern Vietnamese but Glossika is web based only and at least to me, they speak very fast so I am thinking I might use them after I finish the book. They will be coming out with a mobile app in the “future” https://ai.glossika.com/app/progress

Best of luck

TDS meters are cheap and usable for years. But really don't tell you much about how "safe" water is.

There are 'consumable' type kits for bacteria

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B084CZTX16/ref=sspa_mw_detail_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&pd_rd_i=B084CZTX16p13NParams

And chemicals

https://www.amazon.com/Watersafe-WS425W-Well-Water-Test/dp/B00028PDO8/ref=mp_s_a_1_1_sspa?dchild=1&keywords=water+testing+kit&qid=1615905437&sr=8-1-spons&psc=1&smid=A19IYI1PT1X65Q&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEyMTFNMDdBTU...

Of course getting in VN may be a challenge.

Leaking pipes or bad tanks might mean that one end of a city has 'clean' water and another side dirty. So best bet is to test your own tap.

If your bf is a coffee guy get him this. It's on Amazon so I guess it should ship to the US. If this is actually his go-to coffee brand, he'd marry you for this. No need to thank me.

I could imagine a political science university doing such a thing. I can imagine graduate students at such a university doing something like that, under supervision.

However, they are not likely to provide a grant, scholarship, or resources to someone to come do it from overseas -- in practice there are many students here who need those resources, and already understand how local government works. Public university resources are also already stretched very thin. Moreover, I'm not aware of any universities offering political programs in non-Vietnamese language, which would present a challenge too. Ironically, you'd perhaps have better luck seeking a grant in your home country for this.

What you're proposing is likely impractical for the above reasons, in addition to simply being an uncommon request. If you were to approach a political university offering them a fully funded grant out of your pocket to make such a documentary, there's a chance they agree to allow you to contribute in some aspect and handle the paperwork for you. There's even a chance it would see the light of day. Sadly, that's all I can think of off the top of my head.

I do appreciate and share your interest though! I want to live in a world where more people are open to understanding and appreciating the ideological diversity that exists in the world, instead of creating false 'us-them' dichotomies.

On that topic, I read a book recently filled with interviews about everyday life here, and found it not terrible. It reminded me of people I knew during harder times. Perhaps you would enjoy it:

https://www.amazon.com/Its-Living-Work-Vietnam-Today/dp/9971696983

There's no one-size-fits-all experience for Vietnamese people with the government. It depends on your socio-econimic status, which province you're living in, etc. You might be interested in this book: Speaking out in Vietnam :public political criticism in a communist party-ruled nation. I'll come back and give my thoughts when I'm able to think about it more thoroughly, but off the top of my head I'd say life in Vietnam is comfortable for me, I just wish the government could be more efficient with infrastructure projects. I'm middle class, living in a city, just for context.

Exactly, for those interested in more detail about the times and his thought process should checkout From Third to First World: The Singapore Story It covers his and Singapore's struggle with Communism in Singapore and Malaysia as well as perceived and real threats through out the East-SouthEast Asian region. The climate back then stoked violence and war. Things are very different today.

If you prefer to read instead of going to the temple, then I recommend getting

Mahayana Buddhism: The Doctrinal Foundations

Direct message me if you want an electronic copy.

I found this app that teaches both Southern and Northern Vietnamese. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=simply.learn.vietnamese

I VPN (I use NordVPN) back to the States and Western Union to myself, or xoom/transferwise/remitly. They can deliver you the cash or you come and pick it up. Some service will have partner with bank so you can come and pick up at the bank. If you have account with a local bank, transfer into the bank is easier and you just go cash out at the bank. If you have someone in the States, they can physically go to the local Vietnamese money transfer service.

https://www.amazon.com/Postcolonial-Vietnam-Histories-National-Franklin-ebook/dp/B00EFVLLYE

You might want to read this book to understand that anti-China is essential to post-colonial Vietnamese identity.

I give you a short passage I wrote: "the immediate goal of anti-colonialism in Vietnam was to get rid of the French. But the vaster process of decolonization – reauthenticating the nation – was as much about China as it was about France. For thousand years, Vietnamese cultural heritage has been influenced by China – to be cultural and educated, one must be knowledgeable of classical Chinese culture, especially the language. Most of the nation’s most famous literature were written in classical Chinese; others were either an adaptation of Chinese texts or a direct translation from Chinese. Most importantly, classical Chinese culture in Vietnam flourished within the elite stratum of society. Therefore, for party historians, an authentic Vietnamese culture has to be found outside the court. With this in mind, these scholars switched their focus to the daily lives in rural areas where Chinese cultural influence was minimal – to find a “representative folk culture” or a “national culture” of Vietnam."

I've studied extensively about this topic so if you want to learn more. Send me a PM.

I'm going to go with not likely for the gradeschool books.

But the Vietnamese-as-a-second-language books maybe. The ones that seem good to me are the ones from 123Vietnamese.

Here's an Amazon link for it to get you started.

If he likes stuff directly from Vietnam then I would recommend the VOV (Voice of Vietnam) app on Android & Apple. Link to the one on the Google Playstore is here https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.vinisoft.vovmedia

If he's been away from Vietnam for long, he would even find the sporadic propaganda on VOV charming. However, there are enough channels on that app for him to switch away from if he can't stand them.

I've been to Vietnam and one of the best things I remember about Vietnam was the food. So, I recommend looking up any cookbook on Vietnamese cuisine.

The pictures always gives me the urge to just fly to Vietnam and eat

This is one of my favorite books about Vietnamese food

I can recommend some other great plugin called Hotspot Shield Free VPN Proxy – Unblock Sites

https://www.amazon.com/ProArt-27-Inch-LED-Lit-Monitor-PA27AC/dp/B078S2YHHN, same monitor on Amazon isn't too far off. No idea why I'm defending them, I have no connection to the store at all. You're right though stuff is cheaper in the uk. During the great gpu shortage of 2017, it was just straight up silly

Thank you! Do you think they would like Marzipan? It's an almond paste candy that is typically made to look like fruit but is easier to transport. I think it's less sweet than some other candies.

​

https://www.amazon.com/Oh-Marzipan-Marzipans-Christmas-Thanksgiving/dp/B01E9HQX7S/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1535640712&sr=8-1-spons&keywords=marzipan&psc=1

Had the same problem as you. Just got this on audiobook, but haven't listened to it yet. https://www.amazon.com/Vietnam-New-History-Christopher-Goscha/dp/0465094368/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1524615036&sr=1-1