Global Consultancy- HCMC, Vietnam

Angkor Wat, Cambodia

vandamn2 — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 02:41:45 +0000

This weekend Jon Kroeger and I hopped a flight to Siem Reap, Cambodia and toured the famous temples and ruins of Angkor Wat. Actually, Angkor Wat is only one of roughly thirty temples in the vicinity, but certainly the most famous. In our short stay there we were able to see five or so. We hired two motorbike drivers for the entire day at a cost of only $10, which we found well worth the price, despite the fact that helmets are only for drivers apparently. The tourist crowd at the temples was surprisingly small, which could be attributed to the 115 degree weather. At times, we were the only humans in sight at the temples of Angkor Wat, Angkor Tom, or Ta Prom, which was very satisfying. Ta Prom is the temple where the jungle trees are beginning to reclaim the structure, but is best known as the film site for some Tomb Raider movies. That night Kroeger and I went around Siem Reap and found that Cambodian real is not nearly as accepted as US dollars. There is truly no need to exchange money if going there. We saw the classic Anspara dancers and noticed a lot of fish massages available. This is where you place your hand or feet into a tank and small fish nibble at them giving you a weird and, to some people, desireable sensation. Overall, not much to the town itself, but the temple complex of Angkor Wat is one of the more amazing cultural sites in the world.

-J. Vanzant

Depressing Sightseeing in HCMC

vandamn2 — Sun, 30 May 2010 12:56:15 +0000

Today we went to see two of the more famous tourist sites here in Ho Chi Minh City: the War Remnants Museum and the Reunification Palace. The War Remnants Museum used to be called the American and Chinese War Crimes Museum but changed its name several years back. Still, the exhibits focus on the tribulations and devastation the Vietnamese people experienced throughout the Vietnam War (here called the American War). Regardless of your political thoughts on the war, it is certainly no fun to look at thousands of photographs of violence and suffering. The pictures of the children disfigured by Agent Orange are particularly horrific. After that, we went to the Reunification Palace, the former executive office of the South Vietnamese government. It has been kept as it was in 1975 when the North claimed victory over the South. It is a relic of fallen power and gives the visitor a sense of defeat and sorrow. In total, a memorable but not joyful Sunday afternoon of sightseeing.

-J. Vanzant

Power Outages, Beer Gardens, and Karaoke – The HCMC Nightlife

vandamn2 — Sat, 29 May 2010 14:15:58 +0000

We went out onto the Saigon Scene this week at two separate events. On Wednesday, we went to a networking event sponsored by the American Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam at the Hard Rock Cafe. I’m sure it would have been delightful, had the power not gone out in the building. During our maybe two hours drinking and socializing with expats in the dark, the temperature probably reached 95 degrees. Now that’s commitment to getting your cover charge’s worth.

On Friday, the three of us, our sponsor, and most all of our Vietnamese colleagues went out to dinner and drinks. Trace chose a Czech beer garden, the antithesis of Vietnamese cuisine, as the dinner venue. I have to say, I was quite pleased from the respite from Pho. Maybe not as much as Kroeger though, he is still talking about the food. After dinner we went to sing karaoke and were successful in thoroughly embarrassing ourselves. Somewhere out there is a video of yours truly singing some Right Said Fred. And yes folks, even Mr. Luke got on the microphone briefly. Jon Kroeger’s strange and violent dancing/motioning to implore others to join him up front was unfortunately not caught on camera. Add the fact that the three Americans were the only ones drinking at the karaoke bar (out of 13), and it makes for a great night of awkward entertainment.

-J. Vanzant

Cu Chi Tunnels

vandamn2 — Mon, 24 May 2010 11:20:30 +0000

On Sunday, our sole off-day, we ventured to the Cu Chi tunnels that lie about 30 miles outside of Ho Chi Minh City. Although many of them were built before the Vietnam War, the complex was used as a covert base of the Viet Cong during the war. Because of this, the US aggressively attacked the area and it became the “most bombed, shelled, gassed, defoliated, and generally devastated area in the history of warfare.” (My travel book quote) The history and displays were very propaganda-ish, but the above quote gives some reasoning behind this. Our tour guide, Mr. Drum was very informative, for good reason – he was a former VC fighter from Cu Chi and had first-hand experience living and fighting in the tunnels, with bullet wounds to prove it. And he even sang his own tourism songs. We only walked (sort of) through the tunnels for a few minutes and that was enough for me. I don’t know how anyone could live there. I guess avoiding bombs is a good impetus. Overall, it was a great tour and experience.

-J. Vanzant

Factory Tour

jonkmu2001 — Mon, 24 May 2010 10:52:47 +0000

Luke, Josh and I went on a tour of several of our client’s manufacturing facilities on Tuesday. The heat index was about 110 degrees on Tuesday so you can imagine how hot it was in the various factories. For example, in touring a facility that manufactures jeans, one division of the operations was on lunch hour and we noticed that all lights were turned off to cool things down a bit. We saw Express jeans, a brand sold in the U.S., being manufactured. We also visited facilities that manufactured yarn, thread, and towels.

After a tasty lunch in the company cafeteria we headed out to several stores throughout the HCMC region to learn more about the retail environment for our projects.

Our Daily Death-Defying Commute in HCMC

vandamn2 — Wed, 19 May 2010 14:10:08 +0000

On our way to a mid-morning meeting at the office, Jon Kroeger and I caught the commute on video…and all without getting hit by a scooter. This is indeed harder than it may sound, as you will see below.

-J. Vanzant

Our Living Quarters in HCMC

vandamn2 — Wed, 19 May 2010 10:37:16 +0000

Take a look at our accommodations via this cribs-style tour.

Phu Quoc

jonkmu2001 — Mon, 17 May 2010 14:18:30 +0000

The four of us made it into HCMC, Vietnam early in the morning Sat am. After getting last minute clearance from our sponsor, Trace, to allow Audrey and I to make a beach trip to Phu Quoc, we rushed to the airport. We went outside at 9:40am with a flight scheduled for 10:40am, found ourselves negotiating with 4 aggressive Vietnamese for payment fee of our taxi fare. After finally reaching an agreement on fare price and being assured that our driver would get us to the airport at 10:00am we were on the road. To be conservative, the taxi driver was very slow, maybe the thousands of motor scooters to compete with may have had something to do with that, but finally arrived at the airport @ 10:20am and ran (Home Alone style) to see if we could make the flight in time. Luckily, we got to our gate about 10:30am, two minutes before the flight boarded. After a 50 min flight, Audrey and I successfully arrived in Phu Quoc, a little known beautiful and exotic beach south of Cambodia. I would speculate that Audrey and I were the only two Americans on the island. We met several Europeans and Australians. We had a great one day trip and enjoyed the beautiful and isolated beach. Rumor has it that an international airport will eventually be placed on the island in the near future creating an opportunity to commercialize the hidden gem and destroy the relaxing ambiance that we got to enjoy. We met some very nice Vietnamese people and enjoyed some tasty local cooking. Pictures to follow.

-J. Kroeger

Arriving in Saigon

vandamn2 — Mon, 17 May 2010 09:33:03 +0000

We arrived in Vietnam about 2AM and got to our apartment a little before 4. Because of the early morning time of our drive, we missed the hectic and (at least to me) frightening traffic of the city. Our accommodations are incredibly spacious, far superior to my expectations. We went to lunch with Trace, our sponsor, the next day in the upscale expat area of the city. No matter where you are or what time it is, you can’t escape the heat and humidity. We started work today and really seem to have some actual influence in strategic decisions…at least on day one. I am just glad to be able to use the internet in the office and get away from the internet cafe/butcher’s shop that I’ve been using…we are still waiting for the internet to be fixed in our apartment.

-J. Vanzant

Hong Kong, Days 2 & 3

vandamn2 — Fri, 14 May 2010 14:58:30 +0000

We took to Hong Kong by the air on Thursday, riding a glass-bottom cable car up to the top of a mountain. Everyone loved the adventurous experience of having nothing between them and the water 1500 ft below save for a piece of glass, except the author here. What a pansy. After hiking even a bit further up the mountain, we marvelled at the huge Buddha statue and Buddhist monastery at the summit. In the evening some of us went to Lan Kwai Fong and drank with seemingly every other American and Brit in Hong Kong.

Today we checked out the Mid-Level Escalator, which is an elaborate series of stairs and escalators almost a mile long that connects the residences on the mountainside to the commerical buildings on the waterfront. We also went to Stanley Market, the quaint beach village on the other side of Hong Kong Island, where I endured an open-air chotchkie market. And now we are experiencing one of the well-known wonders of traveling – waiting in the airport for delay flights. Next post from ‘Nam.

-J. Vanzant