Tieng Viet lovers club

[jackbl]

Tasty food, nasty chefs
==================================
It is said that the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. However, many Hanoi chefs break a customer’s heart before they gratify his palate.

One afternoon people fill up a food stall at 57 Ngo Sy Lien alley where a bowl of vermicelli soup with a lot of meat and a big trotter costs only VND30,000 (US$1.5). However, there is a price they have to pay: they have to put up with a grumpy owner and cook who flies off the handle at the slightest provocation.

“I told you I do not need that fatty stock,” one woman customer tells her.

“We only serve one kind of stock here; if you do not want to eat, go away to make space,” Thao snaps at her with a fierce look.

The customer does not dare talk back. She mumbles: “I paid for the food. Why do you treat me as if I am begging?”

It was not Thao’s first fracas with a guest. A few months ago a father and son came to eat at her place but wanted to sit by the street to keep an eye on their bike. Irritated, Thao shouted at them: “If you don’t want to come inside, just go away.”

A day earlier she had scolded two girls who asked for some iced tea. “It is crowded. You haven’t ordered anything but ask for water. Ok, no more food or drink … Just get out of my place.”

Thao has been running the place in Ngo Sy Liem market for 30 years, opening from 11.30 am to 7.30 pm every day. Her place is labeled “screaming place” by customers.

Thao admits to it but claims not to like doing it. “Shouting just makes me older. I’m doing business, working hard to earn money. I’m not begging from anyone. Everyone says customers are like gods and they spend money to be served well. I think differently. It’s okay to lose customers since I can’t satisfy all their silly demands. I’ll just ask arrogant customers to leave.”

At a pho (noodle soup) place in Bat Dan Street, the owner and cook asks customers to queue up, pick up their food, and find a seat by themselves.

A new customer came to the place one morning and said: “One bowl of pho, please!” He then waited for half an hour but nothing was served.

When he tried to order again, he was scolded by the owner: “If you want to eat, go line up and carry your own bowl. Who is there to serve you?”

The man was shocked but quietly got in line. After eating, he admitted the soup was good but vowed he would never return.

However, N., a regular at the place, had a different take on it: “What’s wrong with lining up for half an hour and carrying the food yourself? The point is whether the food is delicious. I’m afraid of places that pretend to act friendly and then serve bad food and rip me off.”


Vietnamese do not mind lining up for delicious meal

Near Saint Joseph’s Cathedral, a chicken porridge place run by M. is known as a “scolding place” since she is invariably rude to guests and staff.

There is a story that there was a guest from Ho Chi Minh City who came to eat at her place. He complained that the porridge was tasteless and asked for salt. M. got furious and yelled at the man: “Tasteless? Hundreds of people have eaten here and no one has ever complained. If you don’t want to eat, go away!”

Shocked to see her rudeness, the man threw her porridge down the drain and threw a VND50,000 note at her, leaving her speechless.

Another time, a group of young Vietnamese backpackers visited her place and asked for some Welsh onions but were rebuked by M. The young men got angry and began to break bowls and throw chairs around.

A chastened M. has since behaved with customers, reserving her ire for her staff.

For an obvious reason, Vietnamese usually prefer to go to crowded places to eat. Thus, to get cheap but good food, they occasionally have to put up with obnoxious owners.

Nguyen Vinh Phuc, a researcher on Hanoian culture, says: “Even if owners can’t express their gratitude to guests, why should they scold them?

“It is so uncultured. We should boycott these owners by not going to their places and spread the bad news to everyone.

“If we do just that, their service will improve.”

[Director]

em van khoe.em that may man da gap anh.cam on anh da giup do va doi xu tot voi em.dung tim hay lien lac voi em nua.em sap tro thanh nguoi xau roi.tam biet!

Hi folks,

Need some help with the above statement. I don't understand from the 'dung tim....' onwards. Thanks for your help.

[langthang2005]

Originally Posted by Director

em van khoe.em that may man da gap anh.cam on anh da giup do va doi xu tot voi em.dung tim hay lien lac voi em nua.em sap tro thanh nguoi xau roi.tam biet!

Hi folks,

Need some help with the above statement. I don't understand from the 'dung tim....' onwards. Thanks for your help.

FYI. "dung tim hay lien lac voi em nua.em sap tro thanh nguoi xau roi.tam biet!" means "don't find or contact me anymore. I'm becoming a bad person. Goodbye"

[KangTuo]

Originally Posted by Director

em van khoe.em that may man da gap anh.cam on anh da giup do va doi xu tot voi em.dung tim hay lien lac voi em nua.em sap tro thanh nguoi xau roi.tam biet!

Hi folks,

Need some help with the above statement. I don't understand from the 'dung tim....' onwards. Thanks for your help.

don't find or contact me. i am about to become an ugly person already. good bye

[deptrai4u]

Originally Posted by KangTuo

don't find or contact me. i am about to become an ugly person already. good bye

I think nguoi xau in this case means bad person resulting from doing bad things, e.g. going into prostitution to earn enough money in short time to pay for sick mother's medical bills.

Becareful, the message sounds like the beginning of a KC trap.

[Director]

Originally Posted by deptrai4u

I think nguoi xau in this case means bad person resulting from doing bad things, e.g. going into prostitution to earn enough money in short time to pay for sick mother's medical bills.

Becareful, the message sounds like the beginning of a KC trap.

Thanks a lot. I suspect also. Met a person on a flight recently. Very beautiful girl. Who approached me on a plane from Hanoi to hcm. Ask me out for dinner. Strangely she started crying in the middle of dinner. I asked her what happen and she did not want to tell. The suspicious part is that I wanted to take a picture of her and she refused. Next day we went out again and then she told me she is about to lose her house because of something and she needed 10000 usd. Luckily the big head was more aware and my initial suspicion came true.

I am now receiving a lot of SMS from her and I could only understand 50%. But from what I understand she is trying to trap me. Luckily for me, I did not fall for it.

[KangTuo]

Originally Posted by deptrai4u

I think nguoi xau in this case means bad person resulting from doing bad things, e.g. going into prostitution to earn enough money in short time to pay for sick mother's medical bills.

Becareful, the message sounds like the beginning of a KC trap.

deptrai kor kor, you are correct

[jackbl]

Originally Posted by Director

I am now receiving a lot of SMS from her and I could only understand 50%. But from what I understand she is trying to trap me. Luckily for me, I did not fall for it.

Lucky for you, you dun know much Tieng Viet So sometimes ignorance is good too

[jackbl]

A French intern in Vietnam
========================================
I am a student at the Institute of Telecom & Management SudParis in France. I decided to come to Vietnam and do a three-month internship to gain overseas work experience.
I worked for a Saigon-based French corporation to see how a foreign company operated in Vietnam. I also wanted to discover how a company in Asia operates and consider my chances of working abroad, especially Vietnam.

As a young intern, I received a warm welcome from my Vietnamese colleagues. My job was to manage the database, do customer satisfaction surveys, and update work contracts of foreign employees. In France, I would not have got the chance to do such important tasks. Companies in France hardly trust interns and usually give them unimportant tasks.

Earlier I used to intern in Luxembourg and the environment there was the opposite of that in Vietnam: Interns have to try and learn from people around. In Vietnam, I was appreciated by people at the workplace and able to take the initiative at work. Of course it made me feel more responsible towards the company. If I had any difficulty, my colleagues were always there to help me.

I loved the working environment in Vietnam: friendly, comfortable, and not so stressful. The work pace in Vietnam is quite slow compared to Europe. A project that is done in a few days in France may take a week or more in Vietnam.

One thing that surprised me was that Vietnamese employees went to work in jeans, T-shirt, and sneakers. At first I found it unusual because in France we usually wear uniforms or suits to work.

Here, I gradually adapted to the local style to mix easily with colleagues and keep myself cool during hot summer days.

I loved to talk to my Vietnamese colleagues to learn about different ways of thinking.

They were very friendly to me and considered me a co-worker rather than an intern. They tried to talk to me in English and share their experience and knowledge.

However, there was one instance when we had problems exchanging ideas. When I asked a colleague to help me search for information for a project, he kept saying “yes” and nodded his head as if he understood. When the deadline approached, I asked him about his progress only to find out that he had not even started. It was because he did not understand what I said!

I noticed that Vietnamese said “yes” to everything, even if they did not understand. Some foreign friends said they had the same experience. I think every foreigner in Vietnam should take care of this to avoid mistakes at work.
Except for that “lost-in-translation” incident, I have many good memories of my three months as an intern in Vietnam. Every day in Vietnam I learnt a new thing. I really want to return here to work after graduation as I can foresee many opportunities in career development in Vietnam.

Théo Falcoz (French student)

[jackbl]

The good and bad of Vietnamese employees
================================================

After a long time working with Vietnamese employees, I notice many of their good qualities:

They are hardworking, friendly, disciplined and have talents in technology and calculations. Half of the Vietnamese employees in my company study something after work to improve their skills although they are busy with family. Taking extra classes when you are employed full time is not common in my country.

I am touched to know some employees often get together to visit sick colleagues. This is a big plus because we hardly do that in the US, except if that person is very close.

Besides, I think Vietnamese are quite disciplined because I have never seen anyone smoking or chatting during work hours. I am also delighted to see them participating in all activities organized by the company. They have changed my old thinking that Asians did not like attending company events like Westerners.

On the other hand, I still have some concerns towards Vietnamese workers:

Many people have yet to set long-term plans in their life. They only work to fulfill small goals in life. Some employees have taken up foreign language or computer classes but soon gave up. Then when they feel like it, they would study from the beginning again. I think this is a waste of time and efforts.

Above all, I notice many people are nosy at work. I remember getting angry knowing that my employees use lunch breaks to spread rumors about someone, causing confusion in the company. This resulted in distraction at work and distrust among company members. In the West, people also talk behind your back in the office. However, they try to find a way to solve the problem by straightforward conversations.

Last but not least, Vietnamese often take their family members as an excuse for their mistakes or unpunctuality at work. An employee once told me that his son was sick and hospitalized, so he could not complete an assigned job on time. A month later, I talked to his wife at a party and learned that he had only one son who was studying in Singapore and only got back home once every summer. I was so shocked that he made up such a story and lied to me.

Vietnamese employees have both good and bad points. I hope they will continue their good points as well as improve from their bad points to make themselves a better person at work, especially in foreigners’ eyes.

Robert M. (American manager)

[jackbl]

Fake Apple stores mushroom in Vietnam
=============================================
Stores using the Apple logo or its look-alike to sell products without authorization have been mushrooming in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi.

In Ho Chi Minh City, there is a store called iShop on Nam Ky Khoi Nghia Street, Viscom and Fashion Mobi on Ba Thang Hai Street with sign boards, logos, shop decorations similar to an Apple store. However, they only import products and resell to buyers without any agreement with Apple.

Many stores claim they are Apple authorized agents but in fact their store names and addresses cannot be found on Apple’s website.

The iStore Premium (istorepremium.vn) in Ho Chi Minh City’s Vincom Center is not included in the list of Apple premium resellers. However, the Apple logo is used on their website (istorepremium.vn) and member cards.

Similarly in Hanoi, the iStore Care (istorevn.vn) chain with its shops on Nguyen Du, Kham Thien and Xa Dan streets is not authorized by Apple although they publicly announce they are the first standard Apple care center in Vietnam.

Trang Trung Tri, CEO of JEL Corp, a distributor for Apple in Vietnam said currently, there are 37 retailers and 7 service providers in Vietnam that have been listed on Apple’s website. However, only 12 among them are still in operation. There are four authorized premium resellers including iCenter and FutureWorld in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi.

Apple is now organizing and filtering resellers in Vietnam and will discontinue contracts of more than 20 resellers.

According to Tri, it is rather difficult to be authorized to sell Apple products. In addition, each reseller, either premium or not, has to sign a contract with Apple, which is controlled tightly and needs to be renewed yearly.

To check if a store is an authorized reseller or not, it is advisable to ask for Apple’s confirmation letter, Tri advised.

Tri also said Apple has a market survey team and holds a list of unauthorized resellers in Vietnam. Those stores in fact hardly affect the sales of Apple but can cause harm to customers.

[jackbl]

Originally Posted by langthang2005

FYI. "dung tim hay lien lac voi em nua.em sap tro thanh nguoi xau roi.tam biet!" means "don't find or contact me anymore. I'm becoming a bad person. Goodbye"

Though your post came late due to moderation but they are very accurate. Are you a Vietnamese or Viet Kieu???

[jackbl]

Low cost phones have many features, but cannot be used
================================================== =======

VietNamNet Bridge – A lot of low cost mobile phone models have been advertised as having been integrated with many modern features. However, in fact, the features of connecting the community cannot be used.

Low cost mobile phones are referred to the mobile phones with the sale prices of less than 1.5 million dong. The manufacturers commit that though the products are cheap, they still have integrated applications which can meet the requirements of modern people, such as searching on Google, chatting via Yahoo and sending and receiving mails.

Advertised features sound good

Not all low cost mobile phones have the above said integrated applications. Manufacturers will decide which applications to be integrated into their products which target different classes of customers. However, most low cost products by both foreign and domestic manufacturers have been advertised as having the capability to work on websites.

The cheapest mobile phone model which allows to access Facebook or Yahoo is Gionee N110, which has the sale price at 699,000 dong. MobiStar @83 has been introduced as allowing users to chat on Yahoo, Google Talk, Skype. It also has Opera mini website browser, sold at 990,000 dong.

Higher class models in the low cost product segment include the ones manufactured by Samsung and LG. Samsung C3303, for example, which is sold at 1.39 million dong; allows users to access Facebook and Google. Meanwhile, it is accessible to Facebook, Twitter with LG Wink C100 (1.35 million dong). The users of F-Mobile B750 (1.26 million dong) have been told that they can chat with Vitalk application (an application designed by FPT’s Visky). With Lenovo i350 (1.39 million dong), users can read ebooks and the documents with “.txt”.

…but cannot be used in reality

By launching the low cost models, manufacturers target the young clients, who want to surf on Internet, connect each other on social networks, or chat, but do not have much money to pay for high class products.

The problem is that while the products have tested before launching into the market, or when they perform before the audience, the applications can run well on low cost mobile phone models. However, in reality, very few people say they can use the introduced features.

Quang, a student of the HCM City University of Social Sciences and Humanity, who is using a Samsung C3303, said he can only use the mobile phone for receiving and making calls, sending SMS or listening to music. One time, Quang did not bring laptop with himself to the lecture hall, he tried to use the mobile phone to access to Google to seek documents, but he failed, even though he registered the GPRS (2,5G) service by VinaPhone.

Vinh from Gia Lai province also complained that though the MobiStar @83 he is using has Opera mini website browser, he has never been able to access websites. “The browser still runs, but when trying to access Google, the phone does not work. I cannot understand why manufacturers still try to integrate applications, even though they cannot be used,” he said.

FPT, when launching the first model which bears F99 brand, stated that the mobile phone allows to connect websites, but people say they cannot access to websites. The representative from P&T Mobile has confirmed that MobiStar @83 is only good at chatting, though with slow speed. The Opera mini browser also can work, but it can work only in some places and sometimes.

Meanwhile, Nguyen Quang Minh, Director of ABTel, which owns Q-Mobile brand, said that ABTel’s phones still can work well, but mobile network operators have blocked the access to some addresses.

“People should blame on “objective reasons”, not on the mobile phones,” he said.

NTB, an experienced person in the applications on mobile phones, said that manufacturers try to provide integrated applications simply because they want to boost sales. “They well understand that it is nearly impossible for the mobile phones with low configuration, small screen and low resolution to access to Facebook or websites,” B said.

Source: SGTT

[jackbl]

I dun know Hanoi also got so FUN things going on .....


Strippers fined for breaking fashion regulations
================================================== =
Three female strippers have been fined VND10 million (US$500) each for “violating regulations concerning artistic and fashion shows” when they performed a striptease inside a karaoke house in Hanoi two days ago.

The three women, from 19 to 21 years old, were busted performing the erotic show on two tables inside room 301 at 14 Phan Van Tri Street at 0:45 on August 6.

Two employees responsible for planning and choreographing the striptease - Ho Si Thang and Giap Van Vien - have been fined VND20 million each. The karaoke owner Giap Van Lam, 31 has also been fined.

The strippers told police they were instructed to carry out an “artistic performance” by Thang on the evening of August 5.

According to the women, each customer wanting to enjoy the show had to pay VND1.8 million but the dancers each received only VND500,000.

Local police have revoked the business license of the karaoke parlor and pulled down its sign.

[jackbl]

Be careful when you are travelling...

Robbers besiege Ho Chi Minh City
===============================================
Audacious robbery cases have taken place in Ho Chi Minh City center.

In Tan Phu District, Nguyen Duc Thang and his wife Nguyen Thi Ngoc Chau were on a motorbike one morning in June when a young man suddenly accosted them and snatched Chau’s gold chain.

Hearing their shouts for help, many people chased after the thief and caught him. But he drew a knife and stabbed Tran Van Thanh, one of them.

The local police came immediately to arrest the thief who was later identified as Nguyen Van Minh, 21, of Ward 14, District 11.

At dawn on June 24, NDD, a journalist, was riding his motorbike from Tan Son Nhat airport to the city center. Near Marie Curie High School on Nam Ky Khoi Nghia Street, a motorbike crashed into the back of his, throwing D sprawling on the road.

The two men who had crashed into him stopped and snatched his laptop and a bag. Two other motorbikes came up, pretended to help D, and seized his backpack.

At around noon on June 22, NVC of District 8 stopped his bike at the Hai Ba Trung-Vo Thi Sau intersection in district 1 when a group of men on motorbikes collided with him. After C fell, some women and children joined them to surround him and demand compensation. C was shocked and confused and did not know what to do. But after yelling for a while, the group suddenly left. They had stolen VND20 million (US$1,000) from his bag.

At the end of June, at a parking lot on Pasteur Street in District 1, a young man stole a motorbike and sped past the attendants and on to the road. People in the area say motorbikes are often stolen there, with the thieves breaking the steering column lock or making away with bikes in which their owners left the key.

Outskirts dangerous

One night in June, TTL was riding near the Binh Thai crossroads in Thu Duc District when a group of drug addicts on seven motorbikes confronted him. They forced him to stop, foraged his pocket for money, and were about to pull out the key of his motorbike when L acted quickly. He took the key himself, kicked the bike down and ran on the street shouting for help. Many people stopped to help and the thieves had to flee.

When L reached Rach Chiec Bridge, he came across a young man who had fallen victim to a similar gang and lost all his belongings.

Motorbike-taxi drivers say that after 10 pm there are many robberies and attacks in the area from Rach Chiec Bridge to the Saigon Hi-tech Industrial Park in District 9. The victims are mostly women or couples on motorcycles.

In many cases, young men were also robbed. The District 9 police have arrested six people who used knives, sticks, and electric rods to attack and rob people.

There have also been many attacks, even murders, by thieves in the Vinh Loc Industrial Zone.

In May, TTV, a student, was found lying dead in the zone in Binh Chanh District and his laptop had been stolen.

In June the local police arrested Tran Trung Duong, 26, of Nam Dinh Province and Nguyen Anh Kiet, 23, of District 12 when they forced a young man on their motorbike at knifepoint and took him to Vinh Loc to steal his belongings.

At the police station, the duo admitted to killing TTV to steal his laptop. They often wandered along National Road 1A to look for potential prey, slight young men or students with laptops.

They would approach a victim and ask him threateningly if he had just beaten their younger brother. Then they would force him to follow them to a deserted area in Vinh Loc and rob him, not hesitating to stab the victim if he resisted.

NDAK of District 8 was stabbed to death by three young men when he stopped at Vo Van Kiet Road in Binh Tan District. The murderers then stole his motorbike and escaped.

A reader wrote in to Tuoi Tre last month to say that on Hiep Binh Road in Thu Duc District there had been nearly 10 audacious robberies in just two weeks.

The city police say there have been 199 robberies this year. They claim to have solved 115 cases and arrested 224 people.

Colonel Mai Van Tan, chief of criminal investigation at the Social Order Department, said armed robberies and attacks are often committed by drug addicts.