Profil de NickinNam
NickinNam's Posts
5 reviews or comments posted; 1 questions posées; 16 réponses donées.
Commentaires (5)
posté il y a environ 3 semaines par NickinNam
à propos de l'endroit: Asia Injury Prevention Foundation
I bought my Protec Helmet at this store and a kiddie sized one for a friends little boy. Now he thinks he's a space man. He loves it.
I will be picking up some more kiddie sized Protec helmets for my other Vietnamese friends with kids who just don't seem to GET IT!
I've given up trying to convince them that kids don't bounce harmlessly in accidents and I just buy the damned helmets myself when a new little kid enters my social circle.
Merry Christmas. Buy kids helmets here for your Vietnamese friends.
Support Protec Helmets. They do good work--and I'm thankful we have a source for hemets we can count on in the traffic jungle that is Hanoi.
I have one beef: not with the company, not with the helmet, but with this ad. Yes, Protec Helmets is a project of the Asia Injury Prevention Foundation.
But when I was looking for a helmet (and a the right place on the New Hanoian to review the helmet), silly me--I kept looking for PROTEC!
Maybe that's why there is only one other review preceding mine? Nobody looking for the Protec Helmet is looking for the Asia Injury Preven..........too long. Has nothing to do with helmets. Or motorbikes. Or anything remotely occurring to the normal person performing a Boolean search...
I'd be willing to bet ya a dozen kiddie sized helmets for my neighborhood that if you changed the name of this business entry to "Protec Helmets"--you'd get a lot more reviews. I know a lot of expats wear these.
5 stars minus one star for being difficult to find.
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Everyone around me is getting a Karibon mask this year for the holidays.
The little flimsy cotton polyester whatevers that most people so stylishly wear on the streets here do absolutely nothing except decorate Hanoi's traffic jams and bring a little color into all of our lives.
I couldn't find these for a while after discovering them on the Internet, and was pleased when I found them sold by Andrew at VIP bikes. Karibon will be a wild success once they work on their distribution model. We should be able to buy these at any corner store.
They should be ubiquitous.
Karibon masks are a GREAT product. You can scoot behind a bus all afternoon and smell NOTHING. So something in the magic activated charcoal stuff must be working.
When you buy 'em, buy 'em for everyone you like. I do.
Our wonderful housekeeper, Lan, said a polite "Thanks" when I gave her one for a little gift other day.
Today, when she returned, it was obvious that she understood why I gave her this and was so grateful after wearing her brand new orange one on the road for a few days. She was very excited and thanking me over and over again, this time with FEELING! She got it.
Buy this for you. Buy this for anyone you care about.
I'd give it a 5, but they lose one point for distribution. Get at their address, or get at VIP Bikes. Those are the only places I know of.
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I got one of those brand new Honda Waves. Impeccable. Andrew provides that standard Aussie bloke common sense good service that makes dealing with this necessity of Hanoi life too easy.
I'll eventually buy a bike, and will have it serviced here.
I've bought a half dozen Karibon face masks so far, as they make great little gifts for anyone this time of the year and I will be picking up some more kiddie sized Protec helmets for my Vietnamese friends with kids who just don't seem to GET IT!
I've given up trying to convince them that kids don't bounce harmlessly in accidents and I just buy the damned helmets myself when a new little kid enters my social circle.
Merry Christmas. Buy kids helmets here for your Vietnamese friends.
Support VIP. They do good work--and I'm thankful they have a good bloke like Andrew in charge.
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posté il y a environ 3 semaines par NickinNam
à propos de l'évènement: TNH Photography Xmas BBQ by Hanoi Photography @ Tsc Tempest Photography
Thanks to Tsc and Family for welcoming us into their home and providing awesome tucker and hospitality. It was nice to meet you all for the first time and I hope to become a regular at the outings. I'm brushing off the camera stuff for the first time in 25 years (used to be a USAF Photographer) and it will be great to do it in such nice company.
Looking forward to seeing you all again.
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I credit Lora at Companion Travel as being among the first people I could trust in Vietnam. I met her at a Cafe in PhuongMai street, near my hotel and she began eagerly practicing her rapid fire English on me. I explained I had just arrived and wanted to stay and find work. She told me that for a few dollars, Companion Travel could handle all the details of getting me a one year working visa.
I trusted her--and it was the first good decision I made here in Hanoi. Just like she said, I returned to her office exactly 12 days after our meeting in the cafe and my passport was waiting with a shiny new one year working Visa.
This was six months ago. Since that time, Lora pops me an occasional email or Skype message just to say "hi"! No pitch. No hard sell.
She is very proud of where she works, and the adventures she has sent many foreigners on. Their entire staff is multilingual and friendly and go out of their way to make your travel adventures come off without a hitch.
I've been working hard for the last six months on various projects and after the Tet holidays will be planning a trip somewhere. I will not be banging my head against the wall trying to figure out who to go to or who to trust--
I'll just skype Lora at Companion Travel and let her take care of it all for me. No worries.
Companion Travel is just friendly and efficient and after haggling and bickering for everything else in life you need in Hanoi, it's nice to have a friend like Lora that takes the BS out of planning a trip or handling the Visa authorities.
I really cannot recommend them enough! There are plenty of other travel agencies in Hanoi, but why not deal with people who become your friends long after your trip is a fond memory?
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Questions (1)
I got here a few months ago. I've been using ebay for years. I wanted some old camera equipment--50 year old cheap Russian cameras and 30 year old Nikons, lenses and filters.
I ordered about 10 different things, to the tune of about $350 7 weeks ago.
One camera and one lens arrived from the Ukraine and Russia after only 3 weeks.
The packages had been opened and resealed by the Vietnamese Post office, but the equipment was unscathed.
The rest of it, I haven't seen yet--7 weeks down the road.
Should I be worried? Does it just take a long time? Or do Post Office Employees go "shopping" in our parcels? I mean, none of this stuff is very attractive--really old cameras and lenses that look it. Not spiffy new digital things...
What is your experience?
Any advice? Should I quit my ebay habit? Should I pay for Federal Express?
Réponses (16)
Posted Saturday August 9th, 2008.
Hi. I just arrived 6 weeks ago and I used Companion Travel, in Phuong Mai. Speak to Lora, who speaks excellent English. They were able to get me a one year business visa for $250 cash, all visa fees, bribes, and their profit included. email lora@companiontravel.com.vn or call (84-4) 577 1557 and ask for Lora.
It took 12 days. No hassles. No photos, no nothing. Just give her your passport and $250 in cash and wait 12 days. I'm already working.
Tell her Nick the American sent you.
en réponse à la question: Does anyone know of any agents in Hanoi who can sort out a business visa...
Posted Saturday August 9th, 2008.
Inflation in Vietnam is 25% annual this year alone. Which means that the $100 you paid your housekeeper last year only buys her $75 worth of food, rent, petrol etc. compared to last year. You should have been giving her raises all along, indexed to the inflation rate here.
That said, we are 5 expats sharing a large house. We pay our woman 1.2 million per month ($72) for 2 days a week which is VND 160,000 or about $9 per day for about 4 1/2-5 hours per day. She cleans and does laundry/ironing and little errands (dropping off dry cleaning etc...) for 5 of us. No cooking.
So my housekeeper works 8 days a month for $72 and yours works 20 days a month (AND cooks you dinner) for $100.
By equivilance, we pay ours $181 per month if she worked as much as yours did.
I think you are a cheap SOB. I think this woman should tell you where to stick it.
I also think I'm going to suggest to the housemates we give our woman, who is wonderful, a $1 a day raise to round it out to $10 per day. I think you should pay $10 per day too.
en réponse à la question: THis may be a question more for older hanoians than younger hanoians... Or at least ones who have been here longer. When I first arrived i hired a...
Posted Monday August 18th, 2008.
I bought mine at Borders in Brisbane Australia before coming. They are available on ebay, but a bit pricey. Hope that helps.
en réponse à la question: Does anyone know if it's possible to buy Moleskine notebooks in Hanoi? Or perhaps some other notebooks of similar design and quality (sturdy oilcloth ...
Posted Monday August 18th, 2008.
"Our chick?" "Our girl?" "Our maid?" "Our housekeeper?" "Cleaning lady" "Household Hygiene Engineer?".
Ya just can't please the politically correct folks anymore.
No offense intended to any genders, races, professions or other subdivisions of humanity. I really don't know what to say here other than to say that Lan is a wonderful woman for whose services I am grateful and I hope what we pay her buys a relatively comfortable life and we have begun to discuss it among the roomates, and a raise is definitely in her future, and linked to inflation with regular reviews.
Or was that "whom's" services? I don't want the grammer police on my ass now!
It's only fair folks. You can't make these wonderful people trade in the hours of their lives for a handful of dimes and laugh about it like your station in life wasn't just the luck of the "where you were born and the opportunities you had" lottery.
You and I are in the relatively lucky sperm club. You could have just as easily have been shot out here, needing a raise to buy rice for your family.
'Nuff said.
Nick-in-Nam
en réponse à la question: THis may be a question more for older hanoians than younger hanoians... Or at least ones who have been here longer. When I first arrived i hired a...
Posted Thursday August 21st, 2008.
Dear Sam,
At least in Korea, according to the pilot episode of "M*A*S*H", my only point of reference, the term is "house boy". As in Ho-Jon the house boy from the original book, the movie, and the pilot episode, summarized here:
#01 – Pilot
At the 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (M.A.S.H) unit in Korea, two army doctors by the names of Hawkeye Pierce and Trapper John McIntyre receive some exciting news in the mail. Their Korean house boy, Ho-John got accepted into Hawkeye's old college. Hawkeye and Trapper decide to hold a party filled with music, dancing, and alcohol to raise money for Ho-John's plane trip to the U.S. (http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showthread.php?p=3603453)
So here's a suggestion, you could send your housekeeper to your old college! You could pay her tuition like Hawkye, and we could all have a fundraiser for her at one of the many expensive restaurants you regularly review on this site!
When I eat (rarely) at one of these places, I often drop more than 1.2 million VND for a freakin meal for me and a friend or two. That's why I don't begrudge our Local Household Hygiene and Organizational Engineer a few more dong.
Who ARE you Sam? I'm sorry, but you reek of privilege and condescension. Did you make fun of the kids at school who didn't have the cool clothes and sneakers that you did?
Always remember, "there but for the grace of God go I". Unless you are very rich, and covered by your parent's wealth, you are but one economic ripple away from working for minimum wage, washing other peoples knickers, and praying you'll be able to feed yourself and your progeny.
This is no longer about your housekeeper, it is about your sense of humanity.
My fondest wish is that we don't run into each other in common circles. It wont be pretty.
Regards,
Nick
en réponse à la question: THis may be a question more for older hanoians than younger hanoians... Or at least ones who have been here longer. When I first arrived i hired a...
Posted Saturday August 30th, 2008.
You're joking, right?
Why would someone who speaks English, Chinese and German in addition to Vietnamese be willing to work for $100 a month doing anything--much less cook you weiner-snitzel chow-mein, bangers and mash for dinner and wash your knickers?
You're havin' a larf mate!
For a $100 a month, you can get a fine housekeeper. Why do you need to talk to her so much? She'll see what needs to be done. I just smile and grunt and give pantomime shows to ours--she gets it-and she's great.
That said, ha ha, pretty funny. You are quite the joker.
Nick-in-Nam
en réponse à la question: Hi, I'm having trouble finding a part-time, Vietnamese House Keeper who, can cook, shop, clean, speaks English, German and Chinese (max. sal. USD1...
Posted Sunday September 21st, 2008.
Hi Cresent,
I would have thought that nobody does this anymore with the proliferation of Audio books for the mainstream and computers that can read any text loaded into it.
I used to do it in Paris years ago at the English Language Library for the Blind in the rue Lemercier, 9eme. When I Googled them just now, to see if they still exist, I came accross this list of places around the world that still do it:
http://blindreaders.info/forlibs.html
So I guess people still do it. There doesn't seem to be any listings for Vietnam, but you might be able to contact one of them and see if you can help them remotely, recording on your computer and shipping them a file. When I used to do it, it was reel to reel and cassettes.
It must have at least moved to MP3 by now!
Hope that helps.
Cheers,
NickinNam
en réponse à la question: Does anyone happen to know where I can volunteer to record books for the blind? I can read both in English and Vietnamese....
Posted Wednesday September 24th, 2008.
As I write this, 165 people have read it and I have only 5 stories? Come on people--I need some closure here! Did I get suckered believing "rain, sleet nor snow" applied here or do I have a hope that the people in the Post Office are as good and honest as 99.99% of the people I've meet here?
Fess up. What's happened to you. Does Ebay work here or not?
Thanks to those who have frightened me so far.
Nick
en réponse à la question: I got here a few months ago. I've been using ebay for years. I wanted some old camera equipment--50 year old cheap Russian cameras and 30 year old N...
Posted Wednesday October 8th, 2008.
Telephone? What's a telephone? Why don't you use Skype? Or have your friend call your mobile phone? I receive international calls on my mobile all the time.
en réponse à la question: Hello, Do the telephones in post offices accept incoming calls? That is, can I receive a call from China from one? Any suggestions on how to go abo...
Posted Thursday October 16th, 2008.
Here we are about 75 days down the road. Still no sight of my two cameras: one from Israel and one from Colorado. However, a small cause for hope: the box of filters has arrived from Las Vegas and an envelope with a light seal kit for a Canonet has arrived from Texas! 75 days down the road. Will keep you posted. The expensive, semi valuable stuff, still has yet to arrive ($75 Russian Camera from Israel and $60 Canonet from Denver). I decided to have the Nikon stuff sent to a friend in Boston who will FEDEX it to me.
Keep those stories coming!
en réponse à la question: I got here a few months ago. I've been using ebay for years. I wanted some old camera equipment--50 year old cheap Russian cameras and 30 year old N...
Posted Friday October 24th, 2008.
OK Gang, here is an update on one of my camera's (well, the camera that was supposed to be mine!). This is a note from the guy in Colorado who sold it to me:
Nick - Well, I guess you can forget about receiving the camera. The post office has returned the package to me,with apologies. apparently the package was torn open and "rifled" (that was the term used in the accompanying letter of explanation). the International Air Mail Records Unit in Daly City, CA forwarded a four page "Cargo Irregularities Report" from Ho Chi Minh,Vietnam with the comment that the package and the form was to be delivered to me, as it had been rifled and that the Postal Inspectors have been notified. Sorry 'bout dat. Do you want me to mail the "report" to you? Let me know.
The Vietnam Post Office is filled with scoundrels and theives. Beware.
en réponse à la question: I got here a few months ago. I've been using ebay for years. I wanted some old camera equipment--50 year old cheap Russian cameras and 30 year old N...
Posted Thursday November 6th, 2008.
MattandAnh: You must read Candide carefully and thoughtfully before responding with unreflected bile. Our friend Candide like Voltaire before him, uses subtle judo arguments to point out the incongruous logic the simple minded use to sort out their place in the world and reaction to it. Much like an episode of the Simpsons, children and idiots will get only some of the jokes, while Rhodes Scholars, Mensa Members and the well read get an entire other level of enjoyment.
In other words, it's a joke dude. Candide agrees with you and you were just a tad too much of a, shall we say, "speed reader" to "get it".
I believe, at this point, the consensus seems to be that wherever you go, people are people and some of them are assholes but most of them are as afraid of you as you are of them. Peace, Love and Jerry Garcia.
en réponse à la question: A person I know complained that she cannot trust ANY local people because she has enough bad experiences about Vietnamese people during her 2 years st...
Posted Sunday December 14th, 2008.
I believe this issue comes down to a question Semantics. The word "Elite", as has been pointed out above, is an emotionally charged word.
This site is an empty vessel. Those who contribute are content providers--the authors who make the place interesting to visit for the rest of us. Your desire to reward your most prolific content providers is both laudable and understandable.
This is a marketing question. While the selection process and rewards system should absolutely remain the same (although I'm too busy to stay here and write for you all the time...and hence, I shall never benefit...), perhaps some thought should be put into what you call the prolific contributors and the rewards in order to avoid the emotional charge and accompanying resentment of the "E" word.
Once, before I got cynical many years ago, I was "Airman of the Month" on my Air Force Base. I was not an "Elite Airman". The fast food joints always have an "Employee of the Month"--not an "Elite Burger Flipper".
May I suggest you simply tone down the name of the award to "Contributors of the Month" and the rewards "Contributor Appreciation Gifts" or some other such mundane appellation?
Words mean things. Hope that helps, Alpha.
en réponse à la question: How does the TNH community feel about our designation of Elite Users? I'm asking because there seems to be some bitterness toward it, and I think it ...
Posted Sunday December 14th, 2008.
Dear Gilad,
I am a former stockbroker, CFO and currently a Business Finance teacher here in Hanoi. I have extensively examined this issue both from the small business point of view, and the large, corporate listed point of view. I would like to address your questions concisely, to save you time, but, when you reference the resources listed above, you will find I'm right.
1. Can such a business be 100% foreign owned?
NO WAY! The Vietnamese are not going to let you own an entire business and not cut in a Vietnamese citizen. We are luck that the Government has relinquished the desire to own everything themselves, and actually allow private citizens to own things. On the stock market, foreign investment is limited to 30% in some industries, 40% in others. They actually list foreign owned percentage of the equity in each day's trading.
2. What are the actual costs of registering a 100% foreign owned business (real world costs including "unofficial costs") and how long does it take?
Irrelevant. You will not be able to register a 100% foreign owned business. You must give your girlfriend's family more than half. Or your "business partner" should you find one that you can trust.
3. Are there any restrictions on the type of businesses that could be 100% foreign owned?
Covered above. 100% of businesses MAY NOT be 100% foreign owned.
4. What about police and general corruption issues?
Yes, there are "police etiquette" issues and "general rules for gift giving"--that are best left to your Vietnamese partner. A young man in one of my classes pays VND 6 million per month to the local police for each construction site his family's construction business is working on. Cuts down on disappearing building materials and things "breaking" in the middle of the night.
At the school where I teach, one of the secretaries visits the police station monthly with a basket of fruit and VND 1 million, just to show our appreciation...
At a bar I frequent, since it is loud rock and roll, a monthly cut is given to the police, and the neighbors on both sides of the building are paid around VND 300,000 every evening that there is a show.
You'd need a Vietnamese partner to guide you though the subtilities of these types of issues.
5. Tax issues?
Yes. There are taxes to pay. Hire a good, local accountant, along with a good local lawyer.
In short, NO. You can not own a business 100% here. If Morgan Stanley, HSBC, ANZ Bank, KFC and other fortune 500 companies cannot own their businesses 100% here, why do you think you should be able to?
You will, of course, have to provide 100% of the investment, but your local partner will earn their keep by navigating the intricacies outlined above.
And again, why would you want to own it 100%? You will need a local to figure out who to pay, how much, and then bring the money, because someone with a Vietnamese face will pay less than someone with a foreign face. It's obvious. They may not have money, but they have the cultural indoctrination that you could never acquire for any number of years or dollars.
Good luck in your new joint venture.
Cheers,
Nick-in-Nam
en réponse à la question: I need advice/info regarding forms of ownership of a small business in Vietnam. I have been looking into this for some time now and it seems that all ...
Posted Monday December 15th, 2008.
Well said, Alpha.
It was only two cents.
That said, I had a great time at the Photography group Xmas party tonight.
This is, as a Elite or proletariat member, a great hang out. You are, (in case your Mom, or anyone else asks), successful.
Good Holiday Whatevers,
NickinNam
en réponse à la question: How does the TNH community feel about our designation of Elite Users? I'm asking because there seems to be some bitterness toward it, and I think it ...
Posted Sunday December 21st, 2008.
Teacher_Ed is right on the mark, perhaps on the large side (which is the conservative way to estimate unknowns in financial planning). I'd like to add my 2 dong to what he's already eloquently stated:
You can spend a bit less than Ed on the living front for example: I live in a shared house with other expats for $200 per month including all utilities and niceties. The rent breaks out to about $160 for the rent and another $40 for internet, electricity, housekeeper who does the laundry and irons for all of us etc...By far, the largest part of the utilities is the electric bill in summer and heat in the winter.
A shared house brings the advantage of being in the company of people who have done it before you and will be able to advise you and help you with all the little stuff as you acclimate. Questions like how do I get my cell phone to work? Where can I get X?
In my case, I found my first job within a week of trying (here on the site!). I obtained subsequent work and freelance work through my housemates and their pre-established contacts and network.
So in my humble opinion, a share house is the way to go--and there are many listed here on New Hanoian.
Some specifics to add to Ed's response: I smoke. A pack of Marlboro's is 16,000 dong. I smoke two packs a day: about $1.88 total.
Drinking depends entirely, as Ed says, on how you roll. I'm cheap and love dive bars. The local bia hoi fits this bill for me perfectly. 5 beers at the bia hoi on an average day: $2.18 total. 5 bottles of Bia Hanoi for while I'm home writing at my desk: 7,000 dong each, 35,000 total, or another $2.18. 10 beers a day for less than $5.
The minute you start hanging out in Expat land, the prices of everything goes up exponentially, hence the "how you roll" caveat from Ed. A bottle of beer in a local neighborhood place is 11,000 dong or so. In an upscale or "Western" place, you are paying triple that or 5 times that.
Food: You can live on a bowl of Pho a day for about 65 cents, or you can bask in the comfort food pleasure of a Bacon Cheeseburger at the R&R Tavern for 8 bucks or you can survive luxuriously on French cuisine for breakfast lunch and dinner at the Sofitel Metropole for more than $100 a day. Depends on how you roll.
On average, I spend 60,000-100,000 dong on dinner at one of my local places here in Dong Da everyday for dinner. That's $3-$6 for dinner. Lunch cheaper if you like lunch. A glass of cafe sua da (cold coffee with milk) is 10,000 dong outside of the touristy areas, or about 59 cents. Black coffee about the same or less.
Until you get a motorbike, you will need to travel by Xe Om. About 20,000 dong gets you where you need to go and another 20,000 back. Budget that in.
You will eventually rent a motorbike. Figure $40 for a tourist-beaten piece of crap Honda Wave per month or up to $70 per month for a nicer bike.
So in total, my monthly budget is:
Fixed Costs:
Rent and Utilities: $200
Motorbike Rental: $ 55.88 (950,000 dong) (Brand new Honda Wave from VIP)
My variable costs (smokes, beer, food) Total: $13.88 per day or $416 per month. This includes 10 beers (5 in, 5 out), 2 packs of smokes, a 100,000 dong good dinner in a local place, xe om for short hops and an cup of coffee sometime during the day.
My total must make for the month: $22.61 per day or $678.24 per month.
I am cheap. But this can be done. Note that 22.61 per day is a little more than one hour average wages for an ESL teacher. So living is easy here. Once you are working, that super-tight budget loosens up and you can have that cheesburger or satisfy that foie gras craving at the Metropole, or start saving to buy your motorbike.
I came with $1400 in my pocket and started working about 6 weeks after I arrived (I teach Finance--does it show?)
I got really sick about my 3rd week here. A flu that made me feel like I'd been thrown down a flight of stairs, run over by a hundred motorbikes and set on fire put me down for about 10 days.
I sweat it out and squeezed oranges for the Vitamin C and liquids. What are the doctors going to do?
It reduced food costs for that time, so, financial bonus!
Got food poisoning a few weeks later. Same deal. A week in bed, no productivity, but the food bill goes down, right?
You'll get sick when you get here.
There are a bagillion new germs and microbes that your body will meet for the very first time upon your arrival. Until you build up immunity, I think getting sick and building new immunity muscles is part of the adaptation process here.
Have a budget for the doctor if you like that sort of thing, or be ready to sweat out some seriously new forms of body malfunction of an intensity you've never quite encountered before.
Hope that helps. This is a great experience and well worth it. Life is cheap here (in all senses of that phrase: not expensive to live, and nobody cares if you die by the side of the road like a dog).
Vietnam is the place to be. If you are already in a 3rd world country, what can the financial crisis really do to you?
Welcome to it. Questions? The New Hanoian is the place to be. Get involved.
en réponse à la question: I am thinking about coming to Vietnam in the next couple of months. I do not have a job lined up or anything like that so I will be flying by the seat...
"Before you criticize anyone, always walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you do criticize them, you'll be a mile away. And you'll have their shoes."
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Nick Innam
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New Hanoian Member SinceSaturday August 9th, 2008
