Tag: Ho Chi Minh City

I lived in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) from 2004 – 2006. It was a wonderful time to be there. The economy was just beginning to open up, one could theoretically know every other foreigner and we were all big fish in a small pond. A historically significant city just starting to wake up.

Saigon Stories – Food Posion

Here in Saigon the food is excellent but one must be careful where one eats! A lot of foods have natural bacteria and most westerners are not accustomed to certain types of bacteria found in the food here. It sounds disgusting but every six months foreigners have to take some medicine to “de-worm” themselves because…… Continue reading Saigon Stories – Food Posion

Saigon Stories – Annoyances living in Saigon

Living in Saigon isn’t all flowers and fuzzy bunnies. Sometimes there are annoyances as well. Overall though, there is no violence and it is very peaceful here. But I’d like to list some of the things that can be annoying. 1. Police raids on bars – Sometimes the police will enter a bar and all…… Continue reading Saigon Stories – Annoyances living in Saigon

Saigon Stories – Thoughts on Poverty

For most of my life I had defined poverty as having little monetary means. I would look at how the “poor” lived in the ghettos and slums and the violence that raged there. However, speaking with a good Vietnamese friend yesterday at an extremely modest, (those in the west would say poor) beer hoi I…… Continue reading Saigon Stories – Thoughts on Poverty

Saigon Stories – Viet Kieu

Most recently there have been so many Viet Kieu or “Overseas Vietnamese” coming back to Vietnam. For the Tet holiday I think was the biggest single time of returning Vietnamese coming to visit their birthplace. I met so many of them going out and seeing people I know with Vietnamese I had never seen before…… Continue reading Saigon Stories – Viet Kieu