Vietnam – Minh Quang Duong

What I eat in Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City), Vietnam

March 8, 2022by MQDuong1 Comment

Here is a collection of what I have eaten so far since landing in Saigon 3 weeks ago. I know that travel during Covid is tricky and exhausting as I experienced it first hand in, but if you can make it to my country and city, I hope this will help you get to know our cuisine. I don’t claim that the list below is the best in class. I visited some shops after some quick Google search while others were just sheer coincidence. Since most of them offer street food, always remember to ask for prices or a menu before making an order to avoid being ripped off.

Broken Rice

If you visit Vietnam, this is one dish that you have to eat. You can have it outside Vietnam, but it’s the most authentic and tasty here. Where to eat: Cay Diep: 58D Cao Thang, Ward 2, District 3. Price: 50,000 VND a plate or Mai: 129 Doan Van Bo, Ward 12, District 4. Around 50,000 VND/plate

Bún Bò Huế – Vietnamese Spicy Beef Noodle Soup

A very traditional dish in Vietnam that originates from Hue, our old capital. There are plenty of options in Saigon. The shop where I had the above bowl is right at the corner of Phan Boi Chau and Le Loi in District 1. It’s pretty convenient if you wander around Ben Thanh market. Price is about 40,000k a bowl.

Súp Cua – Crab Soup

Easy to eat and delicious. Beware that if you are not used to having an empty stomach, you may need to eat again 1-2 hours after the soup. Sup Cua Doanh: 75 Nguyen Thi Minh Khai, District 1. Around 50,000 to 60,000 VND a small bowl

Súp Cua Sò Điệp - Crab Soup — Figure 4 – Súp Cua Sò Điệp – Crab Soup

Noodle Soup – My Tho Style

This shop is small and looks rugged on Tôn Thất Thiệp street in District 1, near Bitexco Tower, but the food is just excellent and not pricey at all for its quality and location.

Hủ Tiếu Mì Mỹ Tho - Noodle Soup Mỹ Tho — Figure 5 – Hủ Tiếu Mì Mỹ Tho – Noodle Soup Mỹ Tho

Laairai Restaurant

This one is a bit biased because the owner is my close friend. Nonetheless, the food is really excellent and the ambience is nice. The prices are a bit high, but understandable if you want to be positioned as an upper market eatery place.

Laairai: 98 Nguyen Dinh Chieu, Da Kao Ward, District 1.

Bột Chiên – Fried Rice Flour Cakes

It’s a small cart on Su Van Hanh Street, District 10. You can see what the cart looks like in the video below. The food is tasty and affordable at only 25,000 VND for a plate

Dumpling

A popular snack here in Vietnam that originates from our annoying neighbor, China. This small cart is located on Co Giang Street in District 1. It doesn’t have a business sign and I forgot to film where it was. But just go to Co Giang Street, near Nguyen Thai Hoc Street and you should see it. Each dumpling costs 4,000 and there is a good variety for you to choose from.

Sticky Rice

This snack is not healthy as it has a lot of carb, but boy, does it taste good! I miss it tremendously as you can’t find the authentic version in Nebraska. There are countless shops in Saigon, but I got the below from Minh Phung Street, District 6. Only 20,000 VND for a portion like below

Bún Riêu

Bún Riêu Gánh: 163 Le Thanh Ton, District 1. At the corner of Le Thanh Ton and Nguyen Trung Truc. Price: about 50,000 VND a bowl

Smoothie Phố

This shop is very near and dear to me. It operates from 6pm to midnight 6 days a week. Customers are loyal and love what the shop has to offer: affordable but great smoothie. Don’t take my words for it. Just visit it between 8pm and 10pm and you’ll see a crowd on the pavement and the street. Address: 119 Nguyen Van Cu, District 5.

Business, Technology, Travel, Vietnam

QR Codes’ popularity in Vietnam

March 1, 2022by MQDuong1 Comment

The perks of living in the States as a Vietnam is that I get to see the differences between the two countries in several aspects. One of them is payments. If contactless and tap-to-pay is more common and popular in the US, QR Codes are much more ubiquitous in Vietnam, at least in the big cities. What you see below is in Ho Chi Minh City, the biggest economic hub in Vietnam. When you venture out to smaller and poorer provinces, things may change significantly.

This is how we paid at a convenience store. The cashier scanned the QR code on a phone to process payments.

In the below clip, we were at a local bakery named Tous Les Jours. You can see different QR Codes for different mobile wallets. Consumers can just scan one and make payments. The nature of the transaction requires immediate confirmation since nobody is going to wait 5′ for a payment to go through.

Even mom-and-pop stores like a sugar cane shop and a photocopy shop below allow payments via QR Codes

A sugar cane shop in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) accepts payments via QR Codes

A local photocopy shop in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) accepts payments via QR Codes

Mobile wallets like Momo strive to acquire and retain users. When we paid for our drinks at the sugar cane shop, we got 50% discount out of nowhere even though the transaction amount was only $1.2.

Momo gives users 50% discount on transactions out of nowhere

Travel, Vietnam

National Geographic’s virtual tour of Son Doong Cave

October 14, 2021by MQDuong1 Comment

Located in Quang Binh Province, Vietnam, Son Doong is one of the world’s largest natural caves and has arguably the largest cave passage by volume. It was first discovered by a local in 1991 before it rose in world wide fame when a group of British cavers did a survey of the cave in 2009. Since then, tourist permits have been issued on a limited basis to preserve the natural and pristine state of the cave. There was some discussion on creating a cable car for tourist purposes, but due to pressure from environmentalists and locals, the plan was scrapped.

National Geographic's virtual tour of Son Doong Cave — A photo from National Geographic‘s virtual tour of Son Doong Cave

Not many people will be lucky enough to access such a wonder. Hence, I am very appreciative of National Geographic for creating an outstanding virtual tour of the cave, bringing it to everyone with Internet around the world. As a Vietnamese, I am very proud of my country and the gifts that Mother Nature gave us. I hope even if you may not afford a trip to Son Doong nor secure a permit, you can still learn a bit about my country or feel more motivated to visit us and see what else we have to offer. I assure you that we have plenty to satisfy your curiosity.

The enormity, beauty, size, sophistication and age (2-5 million years old) of Son Doong makes me awed of Mother Nature and feel small. Grounded. Credit to National Geographic

Vietnam

Violence against women in Vietnam

July 15, 2020July 16, 2020by MQDuongLeave a Comment

Vietnam has progressed a lot for the last few decades, both economically and socially. Nonetheless, there are still major issues that we have to face and violence against women is one of them. A recently published study shed light on this particular issue and some of the findings are both horrifying and embarrassing to me. I want to share them here because I believe in the transparency and in the fact that we can’t advance as a nation without looking squarely at our problems.

What is this study about? How was it organized?

The 2019 study consists of three parts: the quantitative study; the qualitative study; and economic costing of violence against women.
The quantitative component of the study (the “survey”) was conducted by the General Statistics Office at the request of the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA). This included reviewing and testing questionnaires, interviewer training, fieldwork and data processing. The quantitative study is a household survey covering all six regions of Viet Nam and is nationally representative. A multistage sample design was used to select a sample of 6,000 households. A total of 5,976 women aged between 15 and 64 completed a face-to-face interview with a trained female interviewer.The qualitative component of the study was conducted by the Centre for Creative Initiatives in Health and Population (CCIHP).
The qualitative study aimed to: provide a context for violence against women by intimate partners; triangulate the quantitative results; gain insights and explanations for quantitative data that are unexplained; and explore related issues that by their nature could not be studied through a quantitative survey. Data was gathered through in-depth interviews, key informant interviews and focus-group discussions. A total of 269 participants, including women with disabilities and from ethnic minorities, as well as 11 key informants, provided information and shared their experiences for the qualitative research.
Lastly, the study component on economic costing of violence against women was carried out by UNFPA Viet Nam in cooperation with several local and international consultants.UNFPA Viet Nam managed the overall process with technical assistance from the kNOwVAWdata Initiative (a partnership between the UNFPA Asia and the Pacific Regional Office and the Australian Government). The entire study was technically and financially supported by the Government of Australia through the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) and UNFPA.
Source: United Nations Population Fund

At least 6 out of 10 women in Vietnam experienced violence at least once in their life time. More than 3 out of 10 experienced violence in the last 12 months

Figure 1 – Source: United Nations Population Fund

More than 1 out of 4 women in Vietnam agreed with this statement: “A good wife obeys her husband even if she disagrees”

Figure 2 – Source: United Nations Population Fund

More than half of the women in Vietnam think that there are good reasons for their husbands/partners to hit them

Figure 3 – Source: United Nations Population Fund

Half of the women who experienced violence didn’t tell anyone about it

Figure 4 – Source: United Nations Population Fund

More than 30% of working women experienced violence in their lifetime, a disturbing figure that signals even employment and some economic independence cannot save women

Figure 5 – Source: United Nations Population Fund

Compared to 2010, drunkenness became a more common trigger of physical violence against women in Vietnam

Figure 6 – Source: United Nations Population Fund

As a Vietnamese guy, I am really ashamed and embarrassed when I read this report. We still have so much to go as a nation. I don’t really care what the percentages are for other countries. This is not a competition. We have to be better than this. At least, I would love to see a few things:

There needs to be education to women on their rights. They don’t have to think that there are good reasons to be hit or that they have to obey to be called “a good wife”
We also must educate the men that it’s uncivil, reprehensible and awful to exert violence on women
As a society, we need to have a shaming culture on violence against women and call out terrible cases
There must be more organizations or groups that can protect women’s rights

Vietnam

Vietnam’s success and continued effort in handling Covid-19

June 23, 2020June 23, 2020by MQDuongLeave a Comment

Vietnam has gone for more than 2 months without any community transmission. The only new cases we have seen are from repatriation flights which carried Vietnamese nationals back home overseas. As of this writing, we haven’t had a single death from Covid-19. The record looks to be intact after the most serious case of all, patient #91, has recovered miraculously after being close to death a few times. Exemplars Health had an article that covers it pretty well why Vietnam has been successful so far in dealing with the pandemic.

Certain aspects of Vietnam’s response to COVID-19 may not be replicable in other countries. Its experience with past epidemics encouraged citizens to take significant steps to slow the spread of the virus. Because Vietnam features a one- party government with a chain of command reaching from the national level down to the village level, it is particularly suited to mobilizing resources, implementing public health strategies, and ensuring consistent messages while enforcing regulations stringently.
– Investment in a public health infrastructure (e.g., emergency operations centers and surveillance systems) enables countries to have a head start in managing public health crises effectively. Vietnam learned lessons from SARS and avian influenza, and other countries can learn those same lessons from COVID-19.
– Early action, ranging from border closures to testing to lockdowns, can curb community spread before it gets out of control.
– Thorough contact tracing can help facilitate a targeted containment strategy.
– Quarantines based on possible exposure, rather than symptoms only, can reduce asymptomatic and presymptomatic transmission.
– Clear communication is crucial. A clear, consistent, and serious narrative is important throughout the crisis.
– A strong whole-of-society approach engages multi-sectoral stakeholders in decision-making process and activate cohesive participation of appropriate measures

One of the things that I think we did very well is contact tracing. The authority in Vietnam demands that every patient provide detailed information on where and when they had been in the few days prior and whom they had been in contact with. From there, the authority will reach out to those F1 and F2 cases and take appropriate actions. Below is the general idea how it works

Life is almost back to normal in Vietnam, to some extent. Domestic flights have resumed, people have gone back to office and establishments have been reopened. However, the borders still remain closed to international flights, despite no new community transmission over two months. According to a new report, it is almost impossible to expect any commercial international flights before August. The earliest estimate is September, yet the situation remains fluid. There will be flights between Japan and Vietnam in the next coming days, but those flights are restricted to only businesspeople and come with enhanced security measures. Some may regard this policy as “draconian” or “extreme”, but if you look at countries and cities that have reopened, the results are mixed. Some saw only a few new cases while others like Arizona or Florida have seen new daily record number of cases also every week for the past two weeks. Folks have different preferences and agendas. Some prioritize the economy’s health while others put safety on top of the list. Personally, I am just glad I don’t have to make such decisions. But I will say this: seeing foreigners stuck in Vietnam express their gratitude to Vietnam for saving their lives during the pandemic is heart-warming and makes me proud. To me, that’s more important than some economic salvation.

Wow…just wow…perfect choice of words about how we foreigners felt about Vietnam during this Covid19 pandemic crisis
It’s definitely very true about how we owe Vietnam and how grateful we are they protect us so well
— Loco in Saigon 🇻🇳🇪🇺🇫🇷🇺🇸🤪 (@LocoInSaigon) June 21, 2020

I’m immensely grateful to the government of Vietnam for the privilege of being here, and for their smart and fast action — in such contrast to my own government. People here say to me, “Oh you’re American? I’m so sorry.”
Source: Business Insider

Before closing this entry, I want to speak a bit about how some media outlets cover countries that have been successful in handling this pandemic. Time.com ran a piece labeled “The Best Global Responses to COVID-19 Pandemic“. To my and others’ surprise, the article doesn’t mention a whiff about Vietnam, Uruguay or Mongolia.

Mongolia: 215 confirmed cases, 158 recovered and 0 deaths
Vietnam: 349 confirmed cases, 328 recovered and 0 deaths
Uruguay: 885 confirmed cases, 815 recovered and 25 deaths (though there seems to be a spike recently)

I get that these countries’ brand names may not be as well-known as those such as European Union or New Zealand. I believe there is a sentiment among folks in developed countries that if the situation is bad where they live, it must be a catastrophe in developing countries. It’s annoying to see this kind of reporting. Articles like the one by Time.com only add to the aforementioned sentiment that don’t give developing countries enough credit. Individuals have our own strengths and weaknesses, and so do countries. Vietnam may not have a shiny record on a lot of things, but we can be very capable in other areas. Our success in handling Covid-19 and SARS before that is an example.

Vietnam

Vietnam’s success in fighting against Covid, so far

April 23, 2020by MQDuongLeave a Comment

From Agence Francaisse de Developpement, translation by Google

Vietnam, with its 96 million inhabitants and despite its proximity to China, is today an example of good management of the Covid-19 crisis: the country has only 268 cases, 214 cures and no deaths in the April 21, 2020
Despite sharing a 1,000 kilometer border with China, Vietnam is one of the countries least affected by Covid-19 in Southeast Asia. A performance that is talked about and which has been set as an example in several countries.
However, the ratio of the number of hospital beds per 1,000 inhabitants is lower than in European countries : 3.2 in 2018, compared to 6 in France for example. The key to success is therefore not found here in the health infrastructures themselves, but in the anticipation shown by the government, based on the lessons learned from the SARS crisis in 2003, and in the preventive measures implemented. artwork
When a person is tested positive (called F0), a list is made of all the people he has met. The latter (called F1), are sent immediately in fortnight to closed centers – barracks, hotels and collective buildings requisitioned for this purpose – or to their own accommodation if possible. They are systematically tested and must in turn notify the people with whom they have been in contact. The latter (F2) must respect social distancing and if possible confine themselves to their home 14 days. If one of the F1s is tested positive, it becomes F0, and the process is repeated : the F2s become F1 and the search for new F2s is launched, etc.
The advantage of this system : even people who are potentially asymptomatic or have negative tests (the test failure rate is around 30 %) are confined when they have been in contact with a proven case. This system has need to date that the use of about 120 000 tests, targeted to those at risk of returning pandemic zones or neighborhoods was identified early community transmission. It made it possible to contain the epidemic without congesting hospitals and without having to carry out major screening campaigns.
Source: AfD

Not only did the country take early measures to prevent a widespread, but it also implemented policies to support businesses and citizens such as deferred tax payment, free treatments and tests, etc…

Even though I don’t think we can dispute the role of luck in having zero deaths so far, the low number of cases, especially when we are China’s neighbor, is excellent. But the war against the virus is not over yet. The lockdown that kept citizens at home was lifted yesterday. Businesses are itching to resume operations. I do hope that we will continue to be vigilant and careful and that no spread will take place.

In addition to the uncharacteristically successful campaign to keep Covid-19 contained, my home country has also increased our international standing with support to Western allies.

From Asia Times

Vietnam has recently ramped up medical equipment production and made related donations to countries in Covid-19 need, including to the United States, Russia, Spain, Italy, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom.
Vietnam has also donated face masks, hand sanitizers and other Covid-19 containing supplies to medical services in neighboring Cambodian and Laos, countries with which Vietnam shares special relations and where China has recently made inroads and gains
Source: Asia Times

Vietnam needs international coalition more than ever. We have had recently a couple of concerning incidents involving China. Our powerful neighbor stopped the water in upper Mekong, causing a tremendous drought in the Mekong Delta. Also, China sunk our fishing boats and built infrastructure in contested seas between the two countries. We are small and poor compared to China. To fight against the injustice and bullying behavior, we need the support from allies and the actions lately are a great first step towards such support.

That being said, we cannot rely entirely on others for our fate. We need to take matters into our own hands. We have been independent for almost 50 years. It took South Korea and Singapore roughly the same time to grow from poor countries to two of the most developed in the world. There is no excuse for us. In addition to having international support, we need to build our own core strengths and competitiveness.

Vietnam

Vietnam’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic so far

March 16, 2020March 20, 2020by MQDuongLeave a Comment

After confirming 16 Covid-19 cases in Feb, Vietnam quickly took actions to quarantine the whole village where the 16 patients resided. The quick action stopped the spread and even earned a global recognition after the comedian John Oliver praised my country’s effort and an incredibly catchy song used to increase hygiene awareness.

Just as the country was one week away from declaring safe from virus, the 17th case appeared. A young woman returned home from a trip to Italy without informing the authority or going into self-isolation. The number of cases rose steadily, reaching 61 as of now and potentially going higher in the near future. It is worth noting that Vietnam has had no casualties so far and 16 recoveries. Overall, I have been quite pleased with how my country handled this pandemic.

As mentioned above, the authority successfully isolated the first 16 cases and stopped the spread. If there was a positive case, the government locked down the whole street or area to prevent spread. Furthermore, it was announced that citizens would receive tests and treatment of the Coronavirus for free.

The head of the Health Ministry’s Planning-Finance Department, Nguyen Nam Lien, confirmed that individuals will receive free treatment and testing for the viral disease, Saigon Times reports.
A Vietnam Social Security official, Le Van Phuc, explained that the entire medical bill will be covered by the national health insurance fund for patients suspected of having the novel virus, but tested negative. Those who test positive for the virus will have their tests and treatment covered by the state budget.
Those who are put into mandatory quarantine will also not be charged any fees for their medical care and stay. Within isolation wards, those quarantined will receive drinking water, towels, and mouthwash for free, as well as medically prescribed cautionary items such as face masks and hand sanitizer.
Source: Saigoneer

Flights to and from China were already banned in Vietnam as of Feb 1, 2020, a swift action given that the outbreak was going to worsen in China. Three days ago, the country banned visitors from UK and Schengen Nations as the number of cases in Europe keeps increasing at an alarming rate.

There are also disinfection cabins set up in the capital – Hanoi. To be clear, whether this initiative is truly effective can be challenged, but it’s still a step into the right direction, given what is going on here in the US

Disinfection cabins set up in #Hanoi #Vietnam amid #coronavirus outbreak pic.twitter.com/DdyPt7QX6g
— Ruptly (@Ruptly) March 14, 2020

Travel, Vietnam

Colors of Vietnam

January 13, 2020by MQDuongLeave a Comment

I came across arguably the best promotional video about my country I have ever seen. The video was excellently filmed and edited to capture some of the best that my country can offer. Hope you will enjoy it as much as I did. Thanks a lot to Pau Garcia for the great video.

Source: Pau Garcia

I truly wish Vietnam can produce more of these videos to advertise the country to our international friends

Business, Travel, Vietnam

How Vietnam fares in terms of inbound travel, compared to its peers

December 8, 2019December 9, 2019by MQDuongLeave a Comment

In this post, I will do a quick comparison in terms of inbound travel between Vietnam and other Asian neighboring countries. Data is from United Nations World Tourism Organization. To simplify the calculations, I used a static exchange rate of 23,100 VND/USD.

I was a bit skeptical about my country’s appeal to international guests, but as it turned out, Vietnam does pull in more than 15 million international visitors in 2018, a quite respectable.

However, we slip backwards on the receipt scoreboard, behind countries that have fewer visitors.

As a consequence, among the 12 countries surveyed, we pull the third smallest receipt per arrival.

It’s quite disappointing to see the receipt figures. Vietnam has a lot to offer. We have an amazing cuisine that was revered by the late great Anthony Bourdain. We have beaches throughout the country and untouched mountainous areas, including some famous sites.

Ma Pi Leng Pass (Source: Indochinatravel)

We should develop our service offerings even more to increase the receipts. We already manage to pull in a lot of visitors. Now, it is a matter of making those visitors come back and/or spend more money while in Vietnam.

Travel, Vietnam

Travel to Trang An in Ninh Binh, Vietnam

December 6, 2019by MQDuongLeave a Comment

Trang An is where the movie Kong was shot. I had long been interested in seeing the place in person, but could only do so this year. Below is my experience in this largely untouched and breathtakingly beautiful place

I had limited time left in Vietnam. So I only did a day trip to Ninh Binh which could only allow me to visit Dance Cave and Trang An. If you want to visit Bai Dinh and Tam Coc, 2 days will be a better choice.

I took a limousine to Ninh Binh and a train back to Hanoi. The limousine ride was comfortable and the trip took 1.5 hours. If you intend to ride a limousine back to Hanoi, it’s highly recommended that you make a reservation in advance. My friend and I couldn’t find any available seats on our way back so we decided to go by train. A limousine seat for one person on way is around 130,000 VND.

The train takes around 2 hours and 15 minutes from the gas station in Ninh Binh to Hanoi, a bit longer than a limousine ride. The ticket is more or less at the same price. The train wasn’t the best in my opinion, but it did the job.

Dance Cave

The attraction is a cave called Dance. However, the main point is the 400-something-step climb to a small mountain that stands next the cave. It’s highly recommended that you go there early in the morning to avoid the heat, wear sports clothes for easy movement and bring water!

Trang An

Our next stop was Trang An. If you are not with a tour operator, you can go from the cave to Trang An by taxi. It cost us 80,000 VND. Do bargain to avoid being ripped off.

Trang An is a marvelous place. It looks surreal and untouched. Just like Halong Bay, Trang An is proof of how remarkable Mother Nature is with her creativity and patience to produce such a beautiful painting over thousands of years.

A boat ride lasts 3 hours and costs around 200,000 VND per person. There are three different routes to experience Trang An. Route #3 is the latest one. The construction for Kong movie was removed in September 2019. So don’t expect to see any of it.

I learned from the trip that local farmers were allowed by the government to carry passengers on boats once every two days in addition to their farming work. They are paid a meager amount of 200,000 VND for their ride, a ridiculous sum for 3 hours of physical work and some more idly waiting time. As a consequence, it’s expected that passengers tip the women around 50,000 VND per person.

Entrance to a pagoda in the middle of Trang An

Right at the exit of another cave, to the eagle-shaped moutain

My photos don’t do Ninh Binh enough justice, not even close. I urge that you visit the place soon as it is still in an excellent shape with little human impact. To feel the might of nature and the beauty that it brings. To feel humbled. To feel alive. I never got enough of that green color on top of the grey of the rocks.