Factory Opens on Bao Khanh
“Workers of The World, Unite” reads the red banner in four languages at the entrance to Factory. And while this extravagant but surprisingly tasteful addition to Hanoi’s former Pub Street is hardly a working man’s bar, the labour, socialist theme runs through the whole space.
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Corpse shakedown
A family says bad cops and shakedowns kept them from recovering the body of a deceased loved-one for five days.
Relatives of a deceased Vietnamese-Canadian have accused a policeman and several others of attempting to extort money from them as they struggled to recover his body.
For refusing to pay kickbacks, the family said they endured a five-day nightmare before picking up the body at a hospital in District 7. The saga concluded with them discovering that the body had been autopsied without their consent.
The Value of Tour Operators
Since the advent of online travel, observers have been making doomy predictions about the travel agent/tour operator sector, assuming that now consumers can make all their tour bookings online, they no longer need to go via agents such as ourselves.
There are several reasons why this hasn’t happened and probably won’t happen for a long time - one of them being that tour operators still get better rates from suppliers than direct customers ever could - but the chief reason was summed up neatly in an email we had from a recent customer.
Vietnam in Germany
The Mirror, Vol. 14, No. 683
There are at present two issues which dominate the media in Germany since my arrival 10 days ago: the decision not to phase out the use of nuclear energy in a couple of years – as had been decided by the former government – a decision now reversed during a high level meeting between the head of government with representatives of the energy industry, but surprisingly enough without the participation of the Minister of the Environment. The other issue is a broad and emotional discussion about the role of migrants from other countries.
Foreigners Share VN Tales on Telly
A reality travel show hosted by foreigners fluent in Vietnamese debuted on Ho Chi Minh City Television last month.
Each episode of Viet Nam — Dat nuoc toi yeu (Vietnam — The country I love) features several 10-minute short stories narrated by foreigners who discuss their favourite things about Vietnam: the society, landscapes, culture, arts and entertainment, lifestyle, tourism and sport.
The series aims to provide local viewers with unique views of their home country, as told by foreigners studying and working in Vietnam.
Avoiding Restaurant Rip-offs
A great and very useful feature on the excellent Travel Rants website about how to avoid being ripped off in tourist restaurants. Personally I would go even further and advise people to avoid tourist restaurants altogether, especially in Vietnam where tourist restaurant = same food you would get in a local restaurant, only with aircon, nicer chairs and and plenty of extra $$$ on the bill.
24 Hours in Hanoi
The Vietnamese capital has long been on my destination shortlist and when the boyfriend came to visit I didn’t think twice about telling him how vital a visit to Hanoi was on his first trip to Asia. (After a visit to Angkor Wat first- of course). On the 10th of October this year Hanoi will be turning 1000, it’s a good thing cities don’t get cakes with candles them. Having spent 5 days getting to grips with it, I have taken the highlights and compiled the ideal day in Hanoi.
A new breeze
“If I have tourist friends come to visit me, I always have to take them to see the water puppets; that’s all I can do. But they don’t really understand what’s going on. Now I can take them to something like this. It is such a wonderful opportunity for tourists to gain an understanding of Vietnamese culture. The play is hilarious, funny and they can understand what happening, without having someone Vietnamese to explain the concept or what the story about.
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Dental Program Celebrates Milestone of 50,000th patient treated
Da Nang: The East Meets West Dental Program celebrated a major program milestone over a decade in the making. Le Thi Yen Nhi, a 12-year old girl from Que Son District, Quang Nam Province was the 50,000th patient to receive treatment from EMW's dental team. Served on January 15, 2008, her treatment represents the tremendous growth and success this program has achieved. During its 12-year history, the Dental Program has provided over 175,000 dental services worth an estimated value of $8.5 million USD.
The name game
Giving names to children has never been so fraught with difficulties, as Vietnamese parents are bombarded with advice on tones, meanings, lucky numbers, family traditions and the pressures of adapting to increased use of English.
Names in Vietnam are heavy with meaning. Parents think that a child’s name plays a key role in the destiny of their children. Often names and derivative meanings of names are passed down through generations, partially as a way of paying respect to their ancestors.
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