The Myth: Is it true that there are right and wrong ways to use your chopsticks at the dining table? While this is true, some of the customs are no longer practiced in the city. The following is a list of things you should never do with chopsticks in the presence of Vietnamese people: 1) Never use them to drum on the table, … Read more
Is it true that you have to pay them first before they will put out the fire for you? If so, how much? There are lots of rumors on firefighting practices in Vietnam and whether or not firefighting is under the ‘money-first-service-later’ procedure that is an all too common practice here. I’ve actually never thought of it myself or what I would … Read more
The Myth: As all motorbike drivers are required to buy motorbike insurance, does the insurance actually protect you? According to Regulation No.126/2008/TT-BTC from the Ministry of Finance, all motorbike drivers are required to purchase civil liability insurance for their motorbikes. The mandatory civil liability insurance is priced at VND66,000 (inclusive of VAT) and is valid for one year. This is, however, not to … Read more
This is unfortunately not only true, it’s considered de rigueur within the Vietnamese coffee industry, and it has been for some time. Back in the old days when locally-based Chinese traders started to realize that this new ‘coffee’ thing that the French were growing on their plantations was something not unlike tea and could potentially … Read more
The simple answer is yes. Nguyen Trong Tan, a university student in District 10, personally witnessed the shocking practice. After purchasing an ‘extremely’ white coconut from his school’s cafeteria he forgot about it and left it in his desk overnight. The following day in class upon rediscovering the abandoned coconut Tan and his fellow classmates … Read more
THE MYTH: Do motorbike tire repair places put nails out on the road to get more customers? The short and simple answer is yes, they do. Tire repair shops along various streets have gained a reputation for their willingness to do just about anything to get more customers. Local Vietnamese have taken to calling them … Read more
Did turtles really use to live in the water there? THERE WERE NEVER live turtles in Turtle Lake. That’s not even its official name, but rather, the folk name for the artificial pond built between 1965 and 1967 at the junction of Vo Van Tan, Pham Ngoc Thach, and Tran Cao Van in D1. The … Read more
THE MYTH: I’ve lived here for some odd years and have never once seen a helicopter anywhere close to the helicopter pad at Bitexco financial Tower. I was told that helicopters are banned from the skies over downtown HCMC. If this is true, why did Bitexco financial Tower outfit its flagship building with a helicopter pad … Read more
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