禁漫天堂

goodolboy wrote:

gobot wrote:

Maxep wrote:

French聽 colonists left Vietnam with at least three world-class treats you can鈥檛 find in Thailand, because Bangkok managed to avoid being absorbed into European or Japanese empires:
1. universally delicious bread (including crispy baguettes and mouth-watering croissants),

Stop right there.聽
I haven't had any bread made in Vietnam that wasn't average white bread.
Vietnamese copied the style not the quality or range of tastes. I am including the Viet bakeries with French names in expat areas.
They can't touch European, American independents in big cities, even Australia has better sandwich bread.
Tops supermarket in Bangkok, they had this dark chocolate bread, I made peanut butter sandwiches, ...聽

AEON Mall Tan Phu bakery have great sliced bread just like you buy in UK, makes great sandwich & toast & a fantastic range of other Western style products like croissants & today I had a really good Western style cinnamon roll with raisins in it today but no icing on top & they have also got great dough nuts.

Big C bakery do great thin crust pizza. 29K vnd a slice. I take it home, add some blue cheese & sliced sausage, cant beat it for me anyways.

I like raisins, I'll check that out.聽 聽 聽I'm not saying I don't go to the French-name bakeries. Paris Baguette in PMH has cinnamon things, like candy.

Pizza 馃崟 is ok here as long as there is no cheese 馃�� implants, or seafood 馃��, OMG .
And 4P is too weird.
Would you believe I actually put ketchup on pizza now? When in Rome 馃彌.

Get out and move to a big city! I've been in Saigon for 5 years and would never say its boring. contact me if you want a list of things to do.

total agree. if vietnam is boring, nowhere is good.

Variety of things to do is half the problem. Over time things will improve, outside of drinking,shopping and going out to eat, there isnt a lot to do in most cities.

joelteacher wrote:

Get out and move to a big city! I've been in Saigon for 5 years and would never say its boring. contact me if you want a list of things to do.

Just out of curiosity,聽 can you give us a couple of examples?

johnross23 wrote:

joelteacher wrote:

Get out and move to a big city! I've been in Saigon for 5 years and would never say its boring. contact me if you want a list of things to do.

Just out of curiosity,聽 can you give us a couple of examples?

Apocalypse Now Sai Gon, the zoo, AEON Mall, Big C, looking out my balcony from 6am to about 7am.

dionstravels wrote:

i don't know anyone who eats just com tam everyday 馃ぃ馃ぃ馃ぃ

I would eat that everyday if it's down to my only choice, it's not bad at all. When I was a kid I probably ate that 5 out 7 days of the week.

gobot wrote:

Maxep wrote:

French聽 colonists left Vietnam with at least three world-class treats you can鈥檛 find in Thailand, because Bangkok managed to avoid being absorbed into European or Japanese empires:
1. universally delicious bread (including crispy baguettes and mouth-watering croissants),

Stop right there.聽
I haven't had any bread made in Vietnam that wasn't average white bread.
Vietnamese copied the style not the quality or range of tastes. I am including the Viet bakeries with French names in expat areas.
They can't touch European, American independents in big cities, even Australia has better sandwich bread.
Tops supermarket in Bangkok, they had this dark chocolate bread, I made peanut butter sandwiches, ...聽

you must went to the wrong place, banh mi everywhere is good... lol.

goodolboy wrote:

johnross23 wrote:

joelteacher wrote:

Get out and move to a big city! I've been in Saigon for 5 years and would never say its boring. contact me if you want a list of things to do.

Just out of curiosity,聽 can you give us a couple of examples?

Apocalypse Now Sai Gon, the zoo, AEON Mall, Big C, looking out my balcony from 6am to about 7am.

Some more examples:
D7 Crescent lake + Crescent mall + the park across the bridge. Picnic in the park.

D1-D3-Tan Binh Long windy canal thru the heart of Saigon, paths and roads on both sides, cafes

Water taxi round trip, cheap. Tip: Get off at stop 10 and go to the cafe for 20 minutes, then re-board when the boat returns from stop 11 Linh Dong. The stretch to Linh Dong is boring.

D11 Dam Sen is a big park with lake, a bit shabby like all Viet parks, but interesting

Tan Son Nhat, Cafes overlooking the airport for plane spotting, or just park your motorbike under the flight path. Google for articles about it.

D5 Tool market, because I love tools and building materials! This is not Cho Lon wholesale market, it is the area around bridge Cau Cha Va. and southwest. Also the lantern, tarp, plastic markets, and the crazy traditional herb market east of the bridge, smells amazing.

D5 Jade and jewelry street An Binh at the river end. Also some antlers and horn stores.

D1 Bookstore lane across from Cathedral, good loitering and people watching cafes, get a burger at Hard Rock.

D1 Japantown, very unique hems, I need to explore more.

Clocky wrote:

you must went to the wrong place, banh mi everywhere is good... lol.

Um, have you been to France?聽 I have yet to find any baguette in Vietnam as good as I've had in France, or even in the US.聽 And have yet to find any other breads as good as those found in Europe.

Maxep wrote:

French聽 colonists left Vietnam with at least three world-class treats you can鈥檛 find in Thailand, because Bangkok managed to avoid being absorbed into European or Japanese empires:
1. universally delicious bread (including crispy baguettes and mouth-watering croissants),
2. R瓢峄�u s芒m banh (if you don鈥檛 know what this key pleasure is, try saying the last two words slowly with a French accent) 鈥� and
3. a real passion for football (4-0 win in the recent World Cup qualifier).聽

What more do you need?!!

bread, banh mi? yiou are kidding me? you might think so as the French were here a long time, and half the Vietnamese open bread shops when they migrate (and the other half open nail shops

but the bread generally is quite disgusting. too much sugar and poor quality flour, and poorly made. often tastes like soft cardboard.

telescopicPuma wrote:

I've been here 3 months in Binh Duong, just 20 km outside of the HCM city center.聽

There's almost no variety to life here.聽 Everything is the same.聽 聽Same food everywhere you go, every day.聽 Same boring boxed food products in every store.聽 There's no gourmet food.聽 No butter, no cheese, no greek yogurt.聽 Everything closes at 10pm.聽 In fact, the gates are already coming down in most businesses by 9PM.

I think part of the reason expats save so much money here is because there's nothing to spend your money on ;P

Obviously CV has made the situation worse, but I don't get the impression things were very lively even before that.

Of course, HCMC has a decent variety of international food, specialty stores, and even street vendors selling grass.聽 But all of that is closed now.聽 It's gonna be a LONG year...

MM MEGA MARKET B矛nh D瓢啤ng every MM has a HUGE selection of cheese, dairy, meat fresh frozen along with ham salami etc,,, and more canned western stuff, beer, wine and spirits you can shake a stick at,,,,, you can shop there cook your own meals and never eat local food again EVER!, plus any coop mart has the same,,, try google maps buddy your driving past MM to go to HCMC

I get where you're coming from. I spent five years in Saigon after five years in Kuala Lumpur, now I'm some two years back 'home' in Melbourne Aus. I preferred Saigon over KL (safer, friendlier people, no ethnic tensions, cheaper too -- bureaucracy just as infuriating, though). But yes, food-wise I soon learned that Vietnam only has about ten dishes. Every region or even family does them differently, but it's no match for the Malay/Chinese/Tamil variety of choice in KL. Mind you, the ingredients are usually fresh and healthy. That said, most of the phos I've had in Melbourne tasted better than the ones I had in Vietnam. Because of even fresher ingredients and cows/pigs/chickens raised on large, natural properties? Perhaps.

Re Western food, many respondents have already pointed out that you can buy your yoghurts, cheeses, salamis, pates etc etc at many places in Saigon and also in smaller cities (perhaps not the more remote towns). And as also was pointed out, the fresh baguettes are to die for.

As for booze, the ridiculously cheap Vodka Hanoi is perfectly drinkable, especially as a mixer. Beer is cheap too, but drinkable wine is expensive. Grass? Dunno. Didn't want to risk it. I have a wife and daughter to look after.

Er, where can I find Yorkshire pie in HCMC? Any leads?

Swee Loke wrote:

Er, where can I find Yorkshire pie in HCMC? Any leads?

yeah make it

Swee Loke wrote:

Er, where can I find Yorkshire pie in HCMC? Any leads?

Google Maps link

Swee Loke wrote:

Er, where can I find Yorkshire pie in HCMC? Any leads?

Similar pies.聽 Good sports pub.聽

Wednesday special any pie is 129,000 VND

***

Hmm, Enki, not a helpful response, is it? Newcomers often reach out for advice from those who came before, struggled with the same iissues and pulled through. "Go back to where you came from" has a nasty ring to it. I suspect you're just trolling.

yeah, and I'm getting ready to delete...my bad

Hi Enki,

Good for you to delete the "go back where you came from" comment. I'm sure I'm not the only one on this forum who doesn't know where that would be.

I was born in Singapore of Dutch parents when it was still a crown colony, so I ended up with Dutch and British passports. My dad worked for a Dutch bank with many offices around the world, and we got transferred to Jakarta, Nairobi (where my sister was born, again with Dutch and British passports), Hong Kong and Yokohama.

When Singapore got kicked out of the Malaysian Federation in 1965, I had to choose between Singaporean or Dutch -- Singapore didn't recognise British anymore and didn't recognise dual citizenship, but I didn't want to undergo compulsory military service there, so I became 'only' Dutch. My sister still has her Dutch and British 'identity' from Kenya to this day.

I finished high school in The Hague, where I had never lived before, and studied Southeast Asian History at the University of Amsterdam. I then rode my motorcycle across Asia to Australia, where I have spent more years than anywhere else. I have Dutch and Australian passports now. There were five years in Kuala Lumpur and five years in Saigon as well.

So, where should I go back to "where I came from"? My parents? My mother spent most of her younger years in the Dutch East Indies, my dad in Germany. It gets complicated.

SteinNebraska wrote:

Swee Loke wrote:

Er, where can I find Yorkshire pie in HCMC? Any leads?

Similar pies.聽 Good sports pub.聽

Wednesday special any pie is 129,000 VND

Union Jack's - Thao Dien

Op's right. I stayed in Thu dau mot for a week back in 2018 (pre-covid) as a trial. Was boring even then. Couldn't wait to get out.

If you're from UK, I'd say Thu dau mot was similar to Guildford (about 30 miles from central London).

Yes, there's AEON mall, which is so packed (especially on weekends) and so expensive. There's also working girls on the side of the main road (I believe it's the road that comes from S脿i G貌n).聽 Wonder what sorta clientele they attract? Truckers? Or locals living in that area.

Bread is terrible in Vietnam. Yet in Brisbane the best whole grain聽 bread in South Brisbane was from a Vietnamese owned bakery. Their meat pies were great also. Whole grain breead if you can find it in Vietnam is second rate. I think it is the flour here.
natural Yoghurt unsweetened Big c and some shops ifyou can find one. I make my own wih it.
Cheese cost more聽 same with wine.
Vietnamese women have the good looks but finding one who " does stuff like"going聽 surfing and not frightened of the sun.聽 that is the hard basket.

The best bread I've found is at Annam Gourmet Market and at Tartine.聽 Tartine's is sourdough.

I am in Nha trang and cannot change my profile from Da Nang. I click edit. change it save and it retains the original?

HenryJo wrote:

Op's right. I stayed in Thu dau mot for a week back in 2018 (pre-covid) as a trial. Was boring even then. Couldn't wait to get out.

Th峄� D岷�u M峄檛 is almost 40 km or an hour drive from Saigon on the best day.聽 If there's a list of boring towns, cities, and provinces, B矛nh D瓢啤ng where Th峄� D岷�u M峄檛 is the capital would be among the top.

I'm not saying most of VN is not boring, but Saigon and Hanoi, for instance, are not.聽 Pre- and even during the second phase of Covid, there were enough street activities from dawn to beyond midnight in Hanoi for everyone to enjoy.聽

The last time we were in Hanoi, 6 months ago, there were classical music, Vietnamese traditional music, Western folk music, Western country music, ballroom dancing, and line dancing on the streets in the Old Quarter.聽 In and out of Old Quarter, the eating and drinking and shopping and people watching went on until past 1AM (we left then, but the activities had not diminished).

Boring Cities? I'm so far out in the sticks guys, they don't roll the sidewalks up at night, because they don't have any sidewalks. My internet connection is two cans and a long string. I knew it would be like that when we were picking a nice peaceful place to retire. 15 years later, no regrets. Good bad or ugly your life is what you make of it.
Rick

Budman1 wrote:

Good bad or ugly your life is what you make of it.
Rick

Bravo.聽 聽

Big c bread I can only find crappy ultra refined gluey bread. the bread rolls are ok but no good for you,
Vietnam is only boring to a picky minority like me really.聽 There are some amazing places like Vinpearl Island in Nha trang and Ba Na Hills in Da Nang to name a few tourist drawcards.
All the plastic trash is a major bore.

telescopicPuma wrote:

I've been here 3 months in Binh Duong, just 20 km outside of the HCM city center.聽

There's almost no variety to life here.聽 Everything is the same.聽 聽Same food everywhere you go, every day.聽 Same boring boxed food products in every store.聽 There's no gourmet food.聽 No butter, no cheese, no greek yogurt.聽 Everything closes at 10pm.聽 In fact, the gates are already coming down in most businesses by 9PM.

I think part of the reason expats save so much money here is because there's nothing to spend your money on ;P

Obviously CV has made the situation worse, but I don't get the impression things were very lively even before that.

Of course, HCMC has a decent variety of international food, specialty stores, and even street vendors selling grass.聽 But all of that is closed now.聽 It's gonna be a LONG year...

How long is your apartment or house Contract? How long into it are you?

@Gobot and others,

Re things to see and do in Saigon:

-- Apocalypse Now bar? OK if you don't expect to hold a conversation. I used to work in a discotheque in Amsterdam that had the same problem, though there was a quieter bar upstairs. Showing my age perhaps :-)

-- The zoo? You must be joking. One of the most depressing zoos I've seen (though I must admit I don't like them, having spent much of my yoof in Kenya). The botanical garden is world-class, however, and that's its saving grace.

-- AEON Mall, Big C etc... I hate malls, especially the ones with their overpriced aspirational shops that no-one ever seems to visit. But some of the resident supermarkets do have the foreign food you might be looking for. For daily food, however, nothing beats a local market.

-- D7 Crescent Mall, bridge (nice lightshow indeed), park etc... Lots of overpriced but decent places to eat (Gauchos springs to mind, Boomarang too, though quality seemed to go backwards after ownership change when they corrected the spelling). Picnic in the park was a highlight when we settled onto a little hill to watch the moon eclipse a few years ago. I wouldn't give Crescent Mall more than a few visits, though. It's just that we lived down the road and did some of our shopping in the Giant supermarket in the basement, renamed to AEON (?) when it changed hands.

-- Water taxi round trip: Yes!!!

-- D5 tool market: perfect indeed if you're looking for parts for your Honda commuter. The one in Hanoi is even bigger. Looking for a second-hand engine? Give them 20 minutes and they'll come back with one that's still warm. For anything medical, go to the Medical Market, Ngyuen Gian Thanh in D10. Also try the Yersin Market at 104 Yersin in D1 for army gear, camping stuff and much more. You could spend hours in any of these.

-- D1 bookstore across from the cathedral? Hmmm, not much use if you don't read Vietnamese.

-- D1 Japantown, yep!

-- Also Google "walking tours" and "art tours". I had a wonderful experience with Sohpie's Art Tour but your mileage may vary.

And finally, a slight redux on Vietnamese baguettes: I agree that the 'proper' baguettes you buy at places like Annam are a bit soggy (though easily spruced up at home in the oven with a slight sprinkle of water), but for some reason the smaller banh mi rolls at roadside shops etc tend to be freshly (Frenchly?) crisp.

Well, have you thought about it this way: you are living in the middle of suburbia. Not New York city, but the suburbs; not the beach but a random suburb; not Beverly hills but a middle class suburb.
If you want exciting , decide what is exciting聽 for you and move accordingly. HCM has lots of night life and quality restaurants, etc... or Try Vung Tau or Nha Trang to enjoy the seaside; or Hoi An for the tourist amenities; or even Sa Pa for the mountains and hiking.
Do not judge a country by one suburb (I left the suburbs of America when i was 18 and never went back).

Every country has plus and minuses. I have lived or stayed in all the places you mentioned. US I liked the venues like jazz places etc can't stand music in Vietnam but feel safer here than the USA where I lived and travelled over a year. I knew bad tempered people who carried guns. Scary!
Vietnam has such beauty defaced by rubbish and over exploited waters as in marine life which seems common place in many DC's. Many tourists woul;d come back especially if the garbage problem was tackled like pay the poor more to clean it up.

If its just you personally, I suggest you write on pieces of paper : just Singapore, Netherlands and Australia. Then close your eyes, and pick ONE. Then go with that choice.. oh oh, not Singapore since you have given up citizenship, can be as tourist only..

We can open our eyes and select what works in other countries for your own country. Foreigners can often see opportunities for improvement locals are not aware of in their own country.

How can people be bored living here.??

We only live once & having the opportunity to see how other cultures go about their daily lives is a bonus.聽 聽Just walking the local neighbourhood, every house is a business of some sort鈥�.coffee,聽 foods,聽 bike repairs, clothing repairs etc and it is constantly changing.

What was there yesterday, may not be there today.聽 聽New shops open daily, others change hands.

I live in a 200 apartment complex that鈥檚 99% local VN people 鈥�.and just seeing how they go about their lives is amazing.聽 聽4.30 Am they鈥檙e up and about , banging dishes , lighting fires , cooking soup etc鈥�and they鈥檙e still going at 10pm at night鈥︹��I find it amusing that鈥檚 it鈥檚 only the women that do the work.聽 聽The men only appear when the foods ready to eat.

Everyday seems to throw up challenges , traffic hassles, , haggling at the markets etc鈥�it鈥檚 all part of the experience.聽

The foods Ok鈥�..seem to see plenty of people photographing their meals.聽 聽Seems odd to me鈥�..since I was born I鈥檝e probably eaten something on average 6 times a day鈥�.but I have started a trend with the fotos.聽 聽 I take a photo of the empty plate , with a broken toothpick & a serviette I鈥檝e blown my nose on鈥�..and send it to people to piss them off. 馃槅

For those that are supposedly bored鈥�try juggling two girlfriends & see how that works out.

There鈥檚 always ways to brighten up your day.

At last, someone with a sense of fun who realises this topic is a big wind-up.聽 The world is too dull for the jaded ? move to Mars with Bezos and Musk !

aushorseman wrote:

Every country has plus and minuses. I have lived or stayed in all the places you mentioned. US I liked the venues like jazz places etc can't stand music in Vietnam but feel safer here than the USA where I lived and travelled over a year. I knew bad tempered people who carried guns. Scary!
Vietnam has such beauty defaced by rubbish and over exploited waters as in marine life which seems common place in many DC's. Many tourists woul;d come back especially if the garbage problem was tackled like pay the poor more to clean it up.

DC's?