Saigon versus Hanoi

Finally 3 months have passed and having spent 2 years in the capital I have noticed profound differences as its almost living in 2 different countries..so here is an excerpt..i got this from an expat run group of facebook

CAFES
Hanoi: Jam packed, with two couples sharing one table
Saigon: Chairs in rows like bus seats

NOODLES
Hanoi: Brought to you with the waitress’s thumb as a free extra
Saigon: A bowl of noodles comes on a plate

PHO
Hanoi: Seldom without MSG and bread
Saigon: Must include herbs, bean sprouts, and red (or black) chilli

STICKY RICE
Hanoi: Good and sticky, wrapped in banana leaves
Saigon: Terribly dry, sold in boxes or nylon bags

GOING FOR A BEER
Hanoi: Bia hoi (local draught beer) with peanuts, back home by 9pm
Saigon: Bottled beer with lots of ice, a hot pot, home after midnight

SNACKS
Hanoi: Not much choice, but tasty
Saigon: Good variety, cheap and acceptable but nothing special

SET LUNCH
Hanoi: Small pieces of sweet and sour stir-fried pork ribs
Saigon: Giant lumps of unskillfully grilled pork ribs

DRESS
Hanoi: Xe om drivers around Hoan Kiem lake wear suits
Saigon: People go to the best hotels wearing shorts and sandals

SHOE AND SOCKS
Hanoi: Men can wear shoes without socks
Saigon: Women can wear socks without shoes

TRAFFIC
Hanoi: You can cut across a car, but make sure to turn right only on a green light
Saigon: You can ignore red lights – but don’t stray into the car lane

WHEN THE LIGHT IS RED
Hanoi: You can’t turn right
Saigon: You can even turn left
PARKING AT SHOPS AND RESTAURANTS
Hanoi: Free
Saigon: “VND 2,000, please”

VEHICLES
Hanoi: Obsolete models rarely seen
Saigon: Like a museum, where ancient models are still going

SAVOIR FAIRE
Hanoi: You are shocked if someone says “thank you”
Saigon: It’s normal for a receptionist to bow when you walk in

TWO WOMEN CHOOSE THE SAME PRODUCT
Hanoi: “Let’s get one each”
Saigon: “If you take it, I’ll go for something else”

A MAN ASKS A WOMAN IF SHE LOVES HIM. SHE ANSWERS:
Hanoi: “What if I say no?”
Saigon: “Why not?”

YOU ARE RICH
Hanoi: If you have a lot of money
Saigon: If you spend a lot of money

MOBILE PHONE RINGS ON STREETS
Hanoi: Stop and chat in the middle of a busy intersection to let the whole world know how important you are
Saigon: Stop, get onto the pavement, and keep a look-out in all directions in case someone tries to steal your phone

RAIN
Hanoi: Similar to its females – smoldering and persistent
Saigon: Like its girls – attractive but soon over

BOOKSHOPS
Hanoi: The staff are rude and surly
Saigon: A comfortable place for a free read, especially for kids

PAGODAS
Hanoi: A quiet and uplifting place where you leave daily concerns behind
Saigon: Noisy and secular

LAKES
Hanoi: Immense and romantic
Saigon: No bigger than a pond

STUDENTS AND CALL GIRLS
Hanoi: Prostitutes pretend to be students
Saigon: Students dress like prostitutes

inspirations

hello world,

took some time to post a thing or two here, as I also have set up an other blog for the school as the current site does not live to the expectation being on line at all.

whilst discovering the world of blogging, I stumble upon on some sites which champions the social entrepreneurships..like what I do and did at Hoa Sua and Sesame. Two great initiatives to sustain lives by providing free education to impoverished youth and at the same time providing jobs for social workers in Vietnam, a feat quite in its infancy.

One of the thing I got was the micro finance projects set up by professor Yunus, A Bengali from a water pestered country reliefed hundreds of enslaved people in his country with his micor lending projects

to see more and learn how we can make a small amount can make a huge difference

Tet escape 09

so there you go another posting after a brief pause. So Tet has finished for around 2 weeks now. Tet the VN new year where 90 million people will follow a thousand year ritual of clebrating the new zodiak calendar year. This year it will be the year of the buffalo, it means the buffalo meat will soar..hic hic my favorite meat.

One of the features of Tet its family based so being a Tay or foreigner its not applicable at all to sit around and clean the house , pray to the ancestors and eating Banh Chung, a reasy sticky rice cake filled with undefined meat and green bean.I ll leave that to them to galvanise..

Here you see the break out of Tet country and went to lovely Cambodia to enjoy the south coast with Sihanoukville , the Rabbit Island and Kep,the Khmer Rouge devastated French resort town.

Another lovely town is Hoi An, surely a rare highlight of beautiful architecture and Chinese preserved culture.

not too far away from Hoi An is the My Son. the capital of the Cham people who used to rule the Central and parts of the south of Vietnam. They flourished from the 7 th century till the 13th century when wars with the Khmer and Dai Viet proved too much.Sadly the masterful architecture has been destroyed by the invading Viets and from the few legacies you really can enjoy is this site.

Work is evolving at the moment and plans are to set up another blog to promote the school and inform our supporters.A facebook site has been created to reach out to the increasing popular social network site.Join our support network on facebook if you have an account of course.

To wrap things up , when i came back the Tet sphere was still around.it meant that shops were still closed.Awaiting the lucky date assigned by the fortuneteller. others took their chance or risks and opened up a week after Tet.Still they could get away with a drum band banging a beat like Timbaland!!AHA!

Tet 09