Comments for Saigon in a Cup http://www.saigoninacup.com The life of a Vietnamese American Expat living in Saigon Thu, 09 Sep 2010 12:02:53 +0700 hourly 1 Comment on How to get a 5 Year Visa Exemption by nachos http://www.saigoninacup.com/?p=982&cpage=1#comment-984 nachos Thu, 09 Sep 2010 12:02:53 +0000 http://www.saigoninacup.com/?p=982#comment-984 what are the requirement to obtain the 5 Year Visa, im a vietkieu myself and i do speak the language, i was born in HCMC back in the days, one of the requirement is a birth certificate which i don't have, can one get a 5 Year Visa without a birth certificate. what are the requirement to obtain the 5 Year Visa, im a vietkieu myself and i do speak the language, i was born in HCMC back in the days, one of the requirement is a birth certificate which i don’t have, can one get a 5 Year Visa without a birth certificate.

]]> Comment on Road Rage in Vietnam by Craig N http://www.saigoninacup.com/?p=1965&cpage=1#comment-972 Craig N Tue, 07 Sep 2010 23:12:26 +0000 http://www.saigoninacup.com/?p=1965#comment-972 Sadly, I do not live in Vietnam. I only visit every few years. My wife is from Saigon, and my mother-in-law and her family live in QTB. I wish I could live there, but alas, I only speak English, and we have lots of roots here in the United States. If you know anyone who wants to pay an English speaking Windows Server Engineer lots and lots of money to come to Vietnam, let me know! Sadly, I do not live in Vietnam. I only visit every few years. My wife is from Saigon, and my mother-in-law and her family live in QTB. I wish I could live there, but alas, I only speak English, and we have lots of roots here in the United States. If you know anyone who wants to pay an English speaking Windows Server Engineer lots and lots of money to come to Vietnam, let me know!

]]> Comment on Road Rage in Vietnam by Anh Dang http://www.saigoninacup.com/?p=1965&cpage=1#comment-970 Anh Dang Tue, 07 Sep 2010 15:11:13 +0000 http://www.saigoninacup.com/?p=1965#comment-970 Craig N, I'll be taking a position as creative director with Ringier - a Swiss media publishing firm. We do magazines Thoi Trang Tre, Bep Gia Dinh, and Elle.....more international titles to come. Odgnut Craig N, what do you do in VN? I'm always wanting to add to my network and meet new friends everywhere. Craig N, I’ll be taking a position as creative director with Ringier – a Swiss media publishing firm. We do magazines Thoi Trang Tre, Bep Gia Dinh, and Elle…..more international titles to come.

Odgnut Craig N, what do you do in VN? I’m always wanting to add to my network and meet new friends everywhere.

]]> Comment on Road Rage in Vietnam by odgnut http://www.saigoninacup.com/?p=1965&cpage=1#comment-966 odgnut Mon, 06 Sep 2010 17:18:02 +0000 http://www.saigoninacup.com/?p=1965#comment-966 Don't stress out too much about this one incident Anh Dang. I think it was even shocking for the locals that something so minor as a traffic incident could turn into murder. Violence against foreigners is still pretty rare in Vietnam. I would just be more careful about petty crime, ie. thefts and burglary. I've been in VN for almost 9 months now and I haven't had any incidents with the locals even though I've been in 3 traffic accidents. Don’t stress out too much about this one incident Anh Dang. I think it was even shocking for the locals that something so minor as a traffic incident could turn into murder. Violence against foreigners is still pretty rare in Vietnam. I would just be more careful about petty crime, ie. thefts and burglary. I’ve been in VN for almost 9 months now and I haven’t had any incidents with the locals even though I’ve been in 3 traffic accidents.

]]> Comment on Road Rage in Vietnam by Craig N http://www.saigoninacup.com/?p=1965&cpage=1#comment-965 Craig N Mon, 06 Sep 2010 13:10:04 +0000 http://www.saigoninacup.com/?p=1965#comment-965 Anh Dang, what is your work? Anh Dang, what is your work?

]]> Comment on Road Rage in Vietnam by Anh Dang http://www.saigoninacup.com/?p=1965&cpage=1#comment-963 Anh Dang Sun, 05 Sep 2010 23:32:14 +0000 http://www.saigoninacup.com/?p=1965#comment-963 Yikes! This post makes me a bit apprehensive about relocating to Saigon in October for my job. My uncle, who left VN after '75 says "Don't go, you'll hate it...there are now laws over there...its JUNGLE LAW!" hahahaha. Your posts are amusing and super-informative as I prepare for my move. Keep up the awesomeness!!!! Yikes! This post makes me a bit apprehensive about relocating to Saigon in October for my job. My uncle, who left VN after ’75 says “Don’t go, you’ll hate it…there are now laws over there…its JUNGLE LAW!” hahahaha. Your posts are amusing and super-informative as I prepare for my move. Keep up the awesomeness!!!!

]]> Comment on The ‘POST’ post office by Benny http://www.saigoninacup.com/?p=1974&cpage=1#comment-942 Benny Sat, 28 Aug 2010 00:41:38 +0000 http://www.saigoninacup.com/?p=1974#comment-942 My experience has been as follows: 1. Important business documents - Please use private courier services such as DHL, FedEx or UPS. Using the US Post Office, and delivery will invariably take longer regardless of what US postal clerk may advise. 2. Care packages - Again please use private services similar to the one mentioned above. The USPS uses its Vietnamese counterpart, and therein lies the horror. How the private services can deliver a care package to a Vietnamese resident's doorstep and bypass customs and/or other bureaucrats is not easily explained. I suspect it has to do with the almighty buck changing hands. Like many services, stick with the private enterprises as often as one can. The public servants, in my personal opinion, do not necessarily serve the public as efficiently as desired. My experience has been as follows:

1. Important business documents – Please use private courier services such as DHL, FedEx or UPS. Using the US Post Office, and delivery will invariably take longer regardless of what US postal clerk may advise.

2. Care packages – Again please use private services similar to the one mentioned above. The USPS uses its Vietnamese counterpart, and therein lies the horror. How the private services can deliver a care package to a Vietnamese resident’s doorstep and bypass customs and/or other bureaucrats is not easily explained. I suspect it has to do with the almighty buck changing hands.

Like many services, stick with the private enterprises as often as one can. The public servants, in my personal opinion, do not necessarily serve the public as efficiently as desired.

]]> Comment on The ‘POST’ post office by Long Nguyen http://www.saigoninacup.com/?p=1974&cpage=1#comment-937 Long Nguyen Fri, 27 Aug 2010 03:52:09 +0000 http://www.saigoninacup.com/?p=1974#comment-937 Here's the delivery service that my girlfriend used to send me the package from Vietnam to USA: http://www.vietlinkglobal.com/eng/home.asp You can send packages from VN to USA or vice versa. I think a lot of Vietnamese stores in the USA that accept packages to be sent to VN eventually go through this company because they all seem to quote me the same price as this company. As I mentioned, you can send things back to VN on the cheap if someone in Vietnam is willing to go to the airport and pick the package up instead of the door-to-door service. Considering a taxi ride from District 1 to the airport costs between 80,000-100,000 Dong, it may cost less to pay for taxi to go to the airport and pick up the package there. Here’s the delivery service that my girlfriend used to send me the package from Vietnam to USA:

http://www.vietlinkglobal.com/eng/home.asp

You can send packages from VN to USA or vice versa. I think a lot of Vietnamese stores in the USA that accept packages to be sent to VN eventually go through this company because they all seem to quote me the same price as this company.

As I mentioned, you can send things back to VN on the cheap if someone in Vietnam is willing to go to the airport and pick the package up instead of the door-to-door service. Considering a taxi ride from District 1 to the airport costs between 80,000-100,000 Dong, it may cost less to pay for taxi to go to the airport and pick up the package there.

]]> Comment on The ‘POST’ post office by odgnut http://www.saigoninacup.com/?p=1974&cpage=1#comment-936 odgnut Fri, 27 Aug 2010 02:54:19 +0000 http://www.saigoninacup.com/?p=1974#comment-936 4 Days from Vietnam?!! Wow! If you can recall the name of that service let me know. Do you know if there's any kind of insurance that you can buy when you ship using that service? One nice thing about the USPS is that your package is automatically insured for $100 (they won't let you buy additional insurance) so I think that is a little bit of a theft deterrent. Tuna's family sent her a package from The States via the USPS and she got it in about 10 days all the way up in Phuoc Tinh...so the speed of delivery definitely varies greatly here in Vietnam. 4 Days from Vietnam?!! Wow! If you can recall the name of that service let me know. Do you know if there’s any kind of insurance that you can buy when you ship using that service? One nice thing about the USPS is that your package is automatically insured for $100 (they won’t let you buy additional insurance) so I think that is a little bit of a theft deterrent.

Tuna’s family sent her a package from The States via the USPS and she got it in about 10 days all the way up in Phuoc Tinh…so the speed of delivery definitely varies greatly here in Vietnam.

]]> Comment on I can’t believe I ate the whole thing Part Deux by vincent chua http://www.saigoninacup.com/?p=160&cpage=1#comment-934 vincent chua Fri, 27 Aug 2010 01:32:33 +0000 http://www.saigoninacup.com/?p=160#comment-934 Try it. You will be in for a good surprise as there are many other side dishes which you can savour. Anyway, I understand they have moved out of their Le Thanh Ton outlet and they are now in 52A Nguyen Binh Khiem street, district 1. Try it. You will be in for a good surprise as there are many other side dishes which you can savour. Anyway, I understand they have moved out of their Le Thanh Ton outlet and they are now in 52A Nguyen Binh Khiem street, district 1.

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