Be careful, tourists ;-)

An interesting television program named "Camera Giau Kin" (Hidden camera) shows some examples of how foreign (in fact also national) tourists may be cheated by taxi drivers or "xe ôm" (rental motobiker) in Ha Noi, Vietnam.

You might not understand Vietnamese, but watching this video you can still understand the situations with their clear graphic illustration. The 'foreigners' in the video in fact are very fluent at Vietnamese but they pretend as new comers. All of the random taxi drivers and 'xe ôm' riders in this video took them around further than the actually necessary distance.

At the end of the video, they suggest tourists using Xich Lô (Cyclo) for affordable rates and convenience while sightseeing the city. In reality, I don't trust either. There are always good and bad drivers in every type of vehicles. So tourists should always need to watch out.

C'mon, it's not that bad. We do 'watch out' everytime we travel, rite?

school gate (2) - Mother's day

This is an MV with the soundtrack re-written from the popular children's song "Ngay dau tien di hoc" (The first day going to school) in a new title "Ngay nop don xin hoc" (The day of school application), depicting a mother has to overcome many obstacles to apply a seat in school for her's child. The MV using footage captured parents waiting, elbowing, attacking, running,... during application time at an elementary school, which was said to be where Professor Ngo Bao Chau - the recent idol of Vietnam's Mathematics - used to go to school.

I just have three questions:

1- Does Hanoi, the capital, really lack of good school ?
2- Does studying in the same school with a well-known genius makes a child a genius?
3- Is that a proper behavior of a capital's citizen?

sigh ...

school gate

These people had been waiting from the night before the day the elementary school sold application documents for 1st class. This seems to have become an usual scene in Hanoi at several well-known elementary schools every summer. 

(images by Nam Khanh and Nguyen Khanh , from TuoiTre online) 

You buy bread? You get yelled!

The video captures a woman selling bread at Giap Bat bus station in Ha Noi and a female student (in blue).

Just because the student bargained a 2000 VND cheaper price of 5 loaves of breads, Mrs."Vendor " got mad and continually yelled at the girl. 

People call this a "Banh my chui" ( Yelling Bread), which means "You buy bread and you get yelled". There are similar service like "Pho chui" , "Bun chui" (yelling noodles)... Recently I heard "Xoi chui" (Yelling steamed rice) appeared in Ho Chi Minh city and no surprise the seller was a man from the North. It is a fact that people in the North of Vietnam, though best at charisma in the whole country, may be excellent administrators but surely not the best service workers. Going to restaurants in Hanoi and Saigon will prove it. 

However, I still can't understand why there are such yelling seller?!

what the f**k ?

is happening at Van Mieu Quoc Tu Giam, Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam.

These people are ruining!

source: http://www.ngoisao.net/tin-tuc/24h/2012/01/rai-tien-so-dau-rua-o-van-mieu-189698/

stuck!

Hanoi is raising the fee of car's number plate to 10 times.

The parking fee is also being raised.

There is 1 car license per 13 people, and 1 motorbike license per 3.5 people in The Capitol.

There are debates between people suggesting cars should be limited and people suggesting motorbikes should be reduced. Everybody, I think, knows it's not about cars or motorbikes but about infrastructural upgrading.

Stuck!

Vietnam in the paintings by Direk Kingnok

see more at: ashui.com magazine or the artist's Facebook

big big Hanoi

"The Prime Minister has recently approved the Hà Nội’s master plan until 2030 with a vision toward 2050 to convert the city into a sustainable development capital with synchronous and modern infrastructure system, harmonious cultural values, economic growth, and environmental protection.   

The capital in 2030 will have an administrative borderline of around 3,344 km2 with its center – the old Hà Nội – surrounded by satellite cities, towns and countryside"

read more in Ashui.com 

Such an ambitious plan, but who get benefited?