Re: All Vietnam Related TCSS / Info / Gatherings / Help Thread
 

Actually a lot depends on how close you are to your fren ;) if it is a Sinkie fren and you are taking the trouble to travel all the way there to attend his wedding this means you both should be quite close so allow him the benefit of a better ang pow standard (i.e. Sinkie standard) instead of using their local vietnam standards to decide :cool:

Cheerios......SS08 ^_^

Re: All Vietnam Related TCSS / Info / Gatherings / Help Thread
 

think I read in the other forums about this place...:)

Re: All Vietnam Related TCSS / Info / Gatherings / Help Thread
 

over there means ang pow kept by the bride...so give more for wat...:)

Re: All Vietnam Related TCSS / Info / Gatherings / Help Thread
 

how cum your tooth so expensive...:)

Re: All Vietnam Related TCSS / Info / Gatherings / Help Thread
 

Rare fruits in Vietnam’s An Giang Province

Jambolan and truong fruits

https://tuoitrenews.vn/news/video/20...nce/45405.html

Re: All Vietnam Related TCSS / Info / Gatherings / Help Thread
 

Here we go again...anyone explored this area yet...:)
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A Korean neighborhood in Saigon

The small area around Tan Son Nhat International Airport hosts dozens of Korean services

By Tien Bui/Tuoi Tre News Contributor Monday, May 7, 2018, 10:18 GMT+7



The Korean zone in Residential Unit 8, Ward 4, Tan Binh District, near Tan Son Nhat International Airport, is home to dozens of Korean food stores, convenience stores, supermarkets and massage houses.

It starts with a convenience store located at the Truong Son-Hau Giang junction in Ho Chi Minh City.

Within under 100m² in size, this store alone offers almost any kind of Korean product, ranging from fresh produce, packaged foods, to food seasoning, kitchenware, pastry and even cosmetics.

Going past this first premise, one should see a row of Korean restaurants with signage written in both Korean and Vietnamese.

It’s all Korean here!

Foods are the most outstanding products approachable in this area.

Eaters can easily find varied types of noodles and porridges, hotpots and barbecue. There are fried, stir-fried, steamed and mixed dishes as well.

Scattered amid these restaurants are grocers and minimarts selling Korean food seasoning and other stuff.

Looking to their sides, one should quickly catch sight of hotels, travel agencies, air ticket centers, barbers, massage services, or juice stalls.

Most signposts here are in Korean, as they cater primarily for Koreans dwelling in Ho Chi Minh City.

Your correspondent noticed a restaurant named ‘Banh gao Han Quoc,’ or Korean Tokpokki (a kind of rice dish made in small cylindrical bars served with a spicy sauce), at 49 Hau Giang Street.

This place sells cakes of different colors, shapes and sizes, all appetizing and attractive.

According to Huynh Van Quang, a salesman here, there are more than 40 types of rice cakes made in the traditional Korean style.

There are baram-tteok, a round-shaped muffin made from rice powder and black beans, modum-joen made from lotus seeds, apples, red beans and peanuts, and chapssal-tteok made from rice and vegetable powder.

Quang also says that the owners, Mr. and Mrs. Oh Eun Hwan, were originally from Seoul. They came to Ho Chi Minh City in 1993 and started selling cakes for a living.

At that time they opened a retail store for nearby residents, but sold products in large quantities for Korean restaurants around the city and some provinces nearby as well.



How it all came about

Dinh Thi Thang, head of Residential Unit 8, Ward 4, Tan Binh District, owns a hotel on Hau Giang Street.

She says that her business has taken up after the Koreans flocked to the area.

Thang knows the Korean zone like the back of her hand, as for decades she has lived here working in a military unit near the airport.

From her accounts, it can be understood that around the early 1990s, the state granted accommodation to many civil servants in this area.

This led to the rise of residential areas along Hau Giang, Thang Long, Nguyen Van Vinh or Nguyen Trong Loi Streets. These streets intersect each other in somewhat a closed circle.

Also at that time, the area around Pham Van Hai Market, located 3.2km southward, had already lured lots of Korean businesses.

However, after a decade or so, this first Korean zone gradually came to an end for no apparent reason.

Some people believed it was low quality road infrastructure that was to blame, while others reckoned it was unsuitable feng shui.

Whatever the reason, some stores moved to Districts 1, 2 and 7, while most ended up in Ward 4, Tan Binh District, forming the Korean zone as it is now.

At first the Koreans here only hired small-scale premises, selling mostly dog meat, steamed pork or barbecue.

As time went by, however, the Korean community employed in Ho Chi Minh City as well as Korean tourists increasingly came to this area, prompting its expansion to include bigger restaurants and supermarkets.

“This zone was almost empty before the Koreans arrived. Ever since their businesses sprang up, everything has seemed to fall into their lot!” said Thang, Residential Unit 8’s head.

She added an interesting note: Korean men seemingly have Vietnamese women as wives. She revealed that there are more or less 20 couples like that in Residential Unit 8.



Saigon as the haven for life

According to Thang, there is a married Korean couple who has grown especially fond of Vietnam. They have opened a big restaurant named Nhan Sam, or Ginseng, on Hau Giang Street.

As your correspondent arrived, Mr. and Mrs. Kim Jong Sun, the owners of Ginseng, were getting a long dining table ready for a large tourist group.

In utmost delight, they introduced each and every one of their delicacies, giving detailed explanations on the recipes, arrangement and how to enjoy them to the best.

The couple came to Ho Chi Minh City on December 12, 1993. The Kimchi land was harsh for the husband, as his illness takes over whenever the chill of winter sets in.

Taking recommendations from a friend, they came to Vietnam on vacation. After just a few days in this country, the husband was up and running.

They instantly made up their mind to settle down here.

Besides investing in a small hotel in Ho Chi Minh City, they opened the first Ginseng restaurant in District 1, and moved to the current location after several years.

“We only get back to Korea once a year, mostly to see relatives and get health check-ups,” said Mrs. Kim in her uncanny Vietnamese.

Her son has got married to a Vietnamese woman and the old couple now has a one-year-old grandson.

“Saigon is just the right place for a stable occupation. There’s easy traffic, ideal weather, so we’ve decided to live here permanently,” Mrs. Kim added.

Re: All Vietnam Related TCSS / Info / Gatherings / Help Thread
 

Malaysians should love this Saigon’s street

Nguyen An Ninh street in District 1 offers clothes, foods and other products in the style of Malaysian culture

By Tien Bui / Tuoi Tre News Contributor Tuesday, May 1, 2018, 19:26 GMT+7



First started around eight years ago, the Malaysian corner along 100m of Nguyen An Ninh Street in downtown Saigon has been luring Malaysians to its variety of foods, clothings and other Malaysian products.

Tourists can easily find purses, souvenirs and eateries here.

The street stands out with colorful signage in Malaysian language and mannequin wearing flamboyant Malaysian female clothes like tudung or baju kurung.

Dark-skinned Malaysian salesmen wearing the Malaysian round-shaped hat kopiah and baju melayu, Malaysian men’s costume, give greetings in their native language.

The whole street seems to be filled with a Malaysian aura.

In the beginning

According to a resident nearby, the Malaysians did enjoy big successes at first when they started selling clothes in 2010.

“Any Malaysian visiting Saigon will just drop by this area, but after some time they all moved out out business,” he added.

“I’ve no idea why they abandoned their shops. Perhaps they couldn’t compete against the local market.”

The Malaysian businesses were sold to the Islamic Chams living in Saigon. Chams, or Cham people, are a minority ethnic group bearing relation to Malays.

Every year as December approaches, this Malaysian street is more hustling than ever as this is the recession time for Malaysian students.

With Malaysian parents taking their kids to Vietnam on vacation, anything on the street can sell like hot cakes.

Dul Hamid’s mobile cake cart

Your correspondent came across a peddler selling cakes in the middle of a scorching hot afternoon.

He is Dul Hamid, a Muslim Cham person. He has been selling cakes on his mobile cart for the last five years.

Displayed on his carts are pastel goreng, or spiral curry puffs and cassava cakes beautifully arranged.

Observation Hamid for a while, your correspondent could see some customers even buy ten packages of pastel goreng at a time in Malaysian Ringgit.

“I’ve just delivered 20 lunch boxes for a Malaysian tourist group. I’ve got my own hotline, so whenever they call I’ll make the foods and package them for delivery,” he said.

“They especially like cassava cakes. Sometimes I have to wake up at 3am as there are too many orders.”

Telling about his job, he said that after doing business in Malaysia for several years, he and his Vietnamese wife came back to Saigon, where they have been selling cakes and lunch servings until now.

Dul Hamid also works as a motorbike driver.

The pioneer

Along this street, Basiroh is the most popular restaurant amongst the Malaysian community. It is named after its owner, a female Cham person living in Saigon.

When your correspondent arrived, Ms Basiroh was busying serving a tourist group from Kuala Lumpur and talking to them in Malaysian Malay.

“They came here after recommendations from my friends, so we actually consider each other on a friendly relationship,” she said.

Basiroh is proud to introduce herself as the first person to start this Malaysian street rolling.

“It all started near the end of the 1990s when I was a market researcher for a British corporation headquartered on Pasteur street, District 1,” she explained.

One day when she brought her foods down to eat on the facade of her office, a Malaysian tourist group saw her and asked: “Do you sell Muslim foods around here?”

Then they bombarded her with questions on where to find Malaysian clothes.

This gave her the idea of doing business in Malaysian clothes and foods.

For the next two years, Malaysians coming to Saigon were pleased at her service, and increased tourist influxes, Basiroh moved on to hire a place on Nguyen An Ninh street and opened a fashion boutique.

Malaysian customers coming to her clothes store often ask her for Muslim foods as well, and even ask her to cook for them.

From then on, she added foods to her services.

It was just a small kitchen at first with around three low stools by the road side, but then she turned it into a restaurant.

At one point she was owning three restaurants named Basiroh, the biggest success any businessman can see around this area.

“The Malaysians love pho. It’s weird really! They keep coming here thanks to word of mouth,” she commented on the Malaysian people’s taste.

Many of the Malaysian foods at her place also receive positive compliments from eaters.

To her, the key to success is the Vietnamese sauces of various types.

“At first I thought the Malaysians preferred bland taste, but after I added Vietnamese seasoning, especially fish sauce, they all take to it like ducks to water,” she shared.

Re: All Vietnam Related TCSS / Info / Gatherings / Help Thread
 

Good morning in Vietnam's Vung Tau with 3 must-try breakfasts

By Di Vy May 6, 2018 | 07:31 am GMT+7

From crispy to crunchy and a little thrilling, these are some best ways to start the day in the beach town.


Banh khot – Vietnamese mini savory pancakes



An important part of Vung Tau cuisine, banh khot is a famous savory dish that everyone has to try when they come to the beach town.

The tiny crispy pancake is cooked in small round molds, with other ingredients like pork, mung beans, shallots and coconut milk added on top. The rim should be slightly burnt to add flavor to the tasty treat. The cake is eaten by being rolled in fresh leaves and dunked in fish sauce.

The southern dish has at least two versions. The Mekong Delta’s banh khot is softer, thicker and usually more yellow due to the addition of turmeric powder. Vung Tau’s banh khot is flatter and crunchier and is white, with shrimps and shrimp powder on top.

Goc Vu Sua is a famous spot for banh khot in Vung Tau, particularly thanks to the unique way they make it, on a huge cast iron oven.

Pork knuckle noodle soup



This thick Vietnamese rice noodle soup has its own place in Vung Tau cuisine although the ingredients are pretty simple. The rice-based, soft and chewy noodle is served with seafood broth and some slices of pork knuckles will get you food-struck from the first try. One bowl of soup costs VND45,000 ($1.98).

The soup can be found in many places here, especially the Vung Tau market.


"Tossing" noodle soup

The famous tossing noodle restaurant Nghiep Ky on Ba Cu Street in Vung Tau is a family legacy that has won generations of tourists. The chef would be tossing noodles up in the air to dry them up before putting them into a bowl, which is fun to watch. Many people come to this address for the extra act.



The broth here is cooked with pork bones and ribs. The noodle is served with extra ribs or chewy beef meatballs. The noodles-wonton combination is the favorite of many.

Re: All Vietnam Related TCSS / Info / Gatherings / Help Thread
 

So was it a bad experience FR like this one???:confused:

Cheerios......SS08 ^_^

Re: All Vietnam Related TCSS / Info / Gatherings / Help Thread
 

You need to look deeper than just the face value ;)

For illustration sake (not saying it is going to happen) lets say you have a close Sinkie friend that travels with you all the time or you know for many years, you decided to get married to a VB and invited him to a wedding in Wetnam, this close friend then flew all the way from Sinkie and gave an ang pow of 200k (S$ 11.80) OR on the higher scale of 500k (S$ 29.40) for your wedding, your dearest wife or her family opened it up and discovered how "practical" their son-in-law's Sinkie friend is, worst so if open in front of you,

You then proceeded to jokingly ask your friend "eh bro why give this amount leh made me lose face", then your close friend replied "give more for what? the ang pow are going to your wife leh so why you want to make me waste $$$$???" :eek:

Ermmmm how would you feel??? Happy that you can have such a "practical" friend??? Or happy that your friend is so street smart and give your beloved wife lesser $$$???:confused:

Of course many facts or things may be different from what I have described above as its just 1 single example & doesn't covers all, but I think you catch my drift ;)

Cheerios......SS08 ^_^

Re: All Vietnam Related TCSS / Info / Gatherings / Help Thread
 

Its not expensive.......its priceless :D:D

Cheerios.....SS08 ^_^

Re: All Vietnam Related TCSS / Info / Gatherings / Help Thread
 

Including hosting those barber shops in close clusters........until one by one kena closed down......haiz.........:( now they are so sparsely spread all over Phu Nhuan liao.....:cool:

Cheerios......SS08 ^_^

Re: All Vietnam Related TCSS / Info / Gatherings / Help Thread
 

your case above noted...but then again will never happen to me...:)

Re: All Vietnam Related TCSS / Info / Gatherings / Help Thread
 

oh so you knew of these places recently...:)

Re: All Vietnam Related TCSS / Info / Gatherings / Help Thread
 

Cockroaches fighting really xia xui...better avoid Nha Trang...:)
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Chinese tourists fight restaurant staff over bill in Vietnam

The foreign visitors refused to pay as they supposed that they received an incorrect bill

By Thai Xuan / Tuoi Tre News Tuesday, May 8, 2018, 10:47 GMT+7



Violence broke out on Sunday between a group of Chinese tourists and several staff members of a restaurant in Nha Trang, as the former were loath to pay what they claimed was a wrong bill.

The incident occurred at night at Let’s Go, a seafood restaurant on Tran Phu Street in the city, Nguyen Hong Ky, the municipal police chief, confirmed on Monday.

About 15 Chinese tourists supposed that the restaurant had not calculated the cost of their meal based on the prices listed on the menu, according to preliminary investigation.

They therefore refused to pay, a decision which triggered an argument with some of the restaurant employees and a subsequent fight.

During the clash, a long wooden bar, plastic chairs and a knife were used as weapons.

The violence continued over a portion of the street.

Local authorities have brought in those involved in the case for a further probe.

It has not been clear who was to blame, said Nguyen Thi Le Thanh, deputy director of the Department of Tourism in Khanh Hoa Province, where Nha Trang is located.

But the violence was prejudicial to the image of local tourism, she added.