New World is a 5 star hotel with a casino. Just ask them where the casino is and anyone will point it out.

http://www.saigon.newworldhotels.com/#/en_US/welcome/

-Game is played on 9 handed electronic table, produced by Alfament(?)
-Blinds are 2-4 USD
-Rake is 3% and is uncapped. ~ Lulz
-Min buy in 200, Max 2000
-No Vietnamese can play there only those holding foreign passports

Thanks for the info. I look forward to playing there sometime later in the week.

"One more week of ****ty internet." One good thing about all this is that peak poker time is night time in Vietnam and speeds/ping are much better during that time.

http://www.tuoitrenews.vn/cmlink/tuo...ietnam-1.90192

Dinner wednesday 8pm at "Trois Gourmands", the adress is 18 Tong Huu Dinh Street, Thao Dien Ward, District 2.
Song, Gerald, Don and I are going so far. If anybody here wants to join us, you are most welcomed.

They have a website if you want to check the place, http://3gourmandsaigon.com/

Hey guys,

Just found a nice apartment that I'll be moving into, feel committed to staying here until May when I head to Vegas for the series again (I wanna be Greg Merson).

Sorry I missed the dinner, I would have liked to have met some of the poker guys here. Plus that place looks like it had nice food.

Anyhow, I should be hosting a breaking in party at my place pretty soon as I'd still like to meet you all. Should be a pretty fun time, I'll let you know the details as it gets closer. Maybe next Friday or something.

One thing I had a question with for those Ho Chi Minh vets. Do you know of any good websites where there's listed things like concerts and other such events here?

Any other good online resources to get to know the city better that you guys recommend?

The biggest thing to come to Vietnam were the Backstreet Boys.

www.anyarena.com is a good source for events.

search "expats in Ho Chi Minh City" on FB.

GL

grandmaster flash would have something to say about the backstreet boys being the biggest try and get your hands on the word magazine. not sure where you pick it up but they were always lying around in peoples houses and was a good source for current affairs, new restaurants and events etc

Thank you, amigos

good morning VIETNAM

i guess i scared em all
INCOMING

Hey guys. Im coming to Vietnam for a week or so (havent booked flights back yet so flexible), flying into HCM. Main purpose of visit is to get new thai visa and to see a little bit of the country. Google hasnt been a whole lot of help for me, I was just wondering are there touristy things around worth visiting? What other parts of the country are most worth going to on a short time span? Any other random bits of info would help me. Thanks a lot.

i would miss out on the beache areas nha trang and mui ne unless you are into kite surfing as beaches are nicer in thailand. i would recommend checking out dalat or hoi an. dalat has some beautiful scenery with nice mountains, waterfalls etc and its good for downhill biking. hoi an is a beautiful city which also has a beach nearby. it is also renonwned for its tailors if you need some clothing made up. in ho chi minh you could visit the war tunnels and there are a few war related museums in the city. you could also visit the mekong delta, i would recommend if you do that make your own way there as the organised tours are a bit ****e

a few questions

What the differences between HCM and hanoi?

How easy are the girls?

what the lowest budget one could do vietnam for? Im spending around £700~ in bkk

how much could you get a basic 35-40sq meter stuido for $/month

HCM and Hanoi are quite different, from climate (HCM is tropical with rainy and dry seasons, Hanoi has mild winters) and the food and even the dialect is different.

I personally prefer HCM but opinions differ. Still, HCM seems to be more popular among westerners.

Earth Girls are Easy. (*starring Jim Carey and Jeff Goldblum*)

You can live cheaply. A hotel including electricity, laundry, maid service, internet can be found for 200$ total per month. Food can be quite cheap.

Plus donks at the local casino like to give away $$$. If you have tilt control and good strategy it's tough to lose despite the high rake.

I will point out that I think the girls here are beautiful. I'm not sure what it is about them. But they're gorgeous.

Too bad there's such a language barrier. I'm working on learning Vietnamese atm, though it's a very difficult language for most westerners (it's tonal).

Hope this helps. If you have any other questions feel free to ask.

hmm $200 a month all in, do you have any links to what I could get.

hows the transportation system in Vietnam, i mean for HMC/Hanoi. Bkk is very good has metros and easy to get to places.

How are westerners treated, I have not been to nam, but from backpackers i here they are always trying too rep them off, same with expats?

How big are HMC/Hanoi, I mean bkk is freaking huge but least it has a very good transport system to get around.


thanks sorry for the newb questions, i have done 0 research at the moment but thinking maybe coming over for 1-2months in late jan when my thailand visa runs out.

I have also heard that the girls over there are really hot

in all honesty hanoi is a boring city in my opinion. it is more picturesque than hcm with the lake etc but in terms of nightlife its very poor with everything closing down at about 11pm. with that said though i have met people that live there are rave about it so maybe i am missing something.

in terms of accomodation we had a 3 bedroom in hcm which was $650 a month for a house with a large garden massive living room kitchen and 3 massive bedrooms. for $2/$300 a month you will get a very good standard of accomodation.

westerners are treated well, obviously there are cases where the locals dont take to the westerners or a moto may try and get a price which is hyper inflated of what the actual cost should be as is the same almost everywhere in asia but in general there are no issues and the vietnamese are lovely people.

the inner city of hcm is pretty small and tiny in relation to bkk. modes of transport are taxis and motos which are really cheap but most people just either rent or buy a bike and drive themselves. a semi automatic bike will set you back around $50 per month. they are in the process of building an undeground as far as i believe but i think its a good way off.

in terms of women they are stunning. there is something about the way they dress and present themselves which makes look classy and beatuiful. there is no better site than stopping at a traffic light and looking across at a girl on the back of a bike next to you sitting side on with her legs crossed in a nice tight dress

ezyano i can pass on details of free vietnamese teachers which i used to study with. they are all english literature students and doing it for their cv's so the level of teaching is excellent and you can have as many lessons as you want.

read through this thread recently here are the questions i didnt find answers to wondering if anyone can help



someone said they needed a birth certificate to open a bank account, how could you get that if you are already in vietnam and dont have it with you? not possible?


for visas, is this correct: you get a 3 month tourist visa, then you can extend for 3 months twice more if you are in HCM, average cost is $35 a month, then what happens after those 9 months? border run time and start over?


seems about a year ago there was lots of bitching about power outtages, are they still as big of an issue? how much would a UPS cost?


what banks work with moneybookers over there? seems HSBC and ANZ are the two best right? expect to pay fees on any transfers or withdrawals with the poker sites? what about with moneybookers?



someone (think djle) mentioned "zadez" for backup internet, still working good for you? how much did it cost and would you consider it the best option a year later?

Dante - Don't need a birth certificate to open a bank account. You need 2 forms of ID, passport and drivers license is fine.

HSBC is considered the best bank by everyone I've talked to. I have an account there and it seems fine.

thank you guys for the info, will be doing a bit more myself in the future.

How is the expat/2p2 community in Saigon?

whats the best way to find month to month rentals? internet or just go out on foot and look?


what are the prices for short time/long time etc. (hookers)

Hi guys I will be in HCMC tonight, where is the busy bar area and which clubs are good/full on a Tuesday night?

Thanks

Hands down is Lush club on Tues.

As for hookers, cheapest price is around 300k for moto hookers or girls waiting on the street and goes up from there depending where you go. Must warn you though, you won't find this price unless you know where to go and most expats wouldn't.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/expatshcmc/

I didnt mention the "zadez" but it sounds great and from what he wrote, he said it worked fine in many countries.

I bought a cheap ups for 800k. it gives my desktop dual monitors about 10 minutes run time for me to run my generator. To me a ups is a necessity just because you hook up your internet modem to it. VN has a lot of very quick power interruptions so unless you want to wait for your modem to reboot when you have pocket aces, get one.

You can also just depend on a 3g stick instead. I have Viettel and have no complaints what so ever. Doesnt cost anything at all for usage for PS.

I suggest you rent a moto bike right away and buy a used Honda soon if you plan to stay for any length of time. Renting should cost you around 50 bucks for a nice ride.

cheapest living would be renting a old but easily livable room for 100-125 usd a month. maybe 25 bucks utilities. Cheapest reasonably healthy food would cost like 1.25 a meal so 100 usd a month. So cheapest living is essentially 300 usd month all in. There is cheaper living accomodations but that goes into the semi bad living conditions. Better/cheaper living can be found the further out you go from the main area. A nice room in a nice place can be found for 100 usd month for a 10 minute drive.

if you wanted to spend about $500 a month on all essentials (rent, utilities, internet, food, visas) would you be able to live in a somewhat nice furnished apt in district 1 and eat pretty good food?


you mention we wont get that price ($15ish if my math is right) if we dont know where to go for girls


would these be some of the places to look?


Xo Viet Nghe Tinh street in Binh Thanh
Nguyen Thi Minh Khai in District 1
Nguyen Binh Khiem in District 1
Tu xuong near the round about beginning of 3 thang 2
Best is Nguyen binh Khiem border of the city. Best looking girls and busiest.


are there a lot of working girls around or is there not much variety?


how much would the working girls at the bars/clubs be asking for? possible to negotiate it down to the $20 range?

I haven't lived in Saigon for a year so any info I give is still relevant just may be out dated.

It is possible to spend 500/month all in a nice furnished place and eat good food but only after you get familiar with Saigon which isn't really that easy to do if you aren't adventurous. I say expect to spend more when you first arrive and as you get more familiar with good value places to eat and do you'll drop to that amount. In time you will be able to find a nice furnished place to live for low cost. They are getting more harder to find but still possible if you really do try to look.

Every one will get the 15 dollar price as its the normal price for these girls in those locations. They don't have the mentality there to scam foreigners since they don't see many which doesn't mean it doesn't happen. Once you say 300k, they will just agree.

I travel around Saigon visually and don't go by names to much so naming streets won't be familiar to me although they are names of bigger streets. I do know Tu Xuong though and its a street where low end hookers [average/below looking girls] stand around. The last one by the description I assume is the same as the one I know. Probably the best place for the best low price looking girls. They run back and forth on mopeds there. But than again, I havent seen that place for a year so no idea if any of these places are still there or changed locations.

Theres plenty of working girls. Every girl in Vn is a working girl to some degree. Essentially there are many girls who are willing to sleep with you esp if white if they find you safe/funny/etc to make extra income or possible boyfriend.

Very unlikely you will be able to get girls at bars/clubs at that price unless they like you. They will prob laugh at you. Def not in the popular places that many expats would frequent. Again, there are locations where they are filled with locals which would work. If you are budget minded, I would just stay away from these places because the mentality behind these places are elitist. Customers who enter these places are expected to spend. Of course there are many bars/clubs in Vietnam but this is a true generalization for them however.

Here is a great website for great local and local pricing foods. http://www.eatingsaigon.com/

ayt thanks man

so the hotter girls, would like $30 be able to get them? i dont mean at the fancy girly bar places ive read about there, just like freelancers at a bar/club


i know its not an easy question to answer and it all depends....... but like some of the time would it be possible?


and would i just be able to lead with "hey you wanna come back to my room"? or would i actually try to like "game" them?

u literally have no shame eh