jestert79's profile
jestert79's Posts
96 reviews or comments posted; 14 questions asked; 17 answers given.
Reviews / Comments (96) see all
It's difficult to give a rating for a place where I just finished a year contract, but here goes...
I transferred to Apollo from a Polish school that's also in the "International House" chain. Initially, it was a bit difficult to get information about which documents I needed, but I got through it.
Most teachers do the bulk of their work at the weekends, teaching kids and teens. During the week I worked evenings/nights teaching adults. It was good teaching a variety - I had never taught young children and dreaded it, but discovered it isn't so bad.
Help was always available, and advancement as well - I moved up to senior teacher and enjoyed the new challenge. There are training sessions every week - some useful, others not so useful. I made enough money to end up saving about $9000 in a year, and this was without watching my spending at all and going on holidays.
Of course, it wasn't all perfect, but many of the problems I had have either improved or vanished. For example, my induction was very short and I wasn't given much help with finding housing, but now there's a teacher in place whose job is to help newbies with this info.
Another problem is class sizes - the sales staff are constantly sneaking people into your classes over the maximum.
(This is only about the Thai Ha location; the other ones may have a different situation.)
And this marks my final review for newhanoian - it's been fun!
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Amusingly, I think I'm staying here at the same time as the previous reviewer, but for the opposite reason: I needed a place to stay for a day or two after moving out of my flat.
Anyway, this is a really nice hotel, with a professional staff and a proper free breakfast - eggs, bacon, and bread or pho (some hotels say "Free breakfast!" and it means a baguette with some jam.)
So, it's a bit pricey but you get a nice room, aircon, comfy bed, and TV. Worth it if you're tired of doing the guesthouse thing...
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While I used an agent to find my apartment, this is the company that was the actual "landlord." My apartment was nice and modern - a gas stove and oven, fridge, a nice washer, air-con units in most rooms, DSL internet and cable TV. There was a security guard downstairs to let us in or out.
Mai, our actual landlady, was very nice. If we had any problems in the flat I could just text her and someone would usually come within a day or two and fix it.
The negatives: I think I was paying too much for electricity (see the question I posted.) Also, the rent was a bit much for the area away from the center, and on top of that all the little extra bills made the rent increase significantly. But if you actually had some negotiation skill (which I completely lacked when I first arrived) maybe you could haggle it down.
And I successfully received my deposit back without a hassle. Surprisingly, I paid it in dong and it was paid back in crisp $100 bills.
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I just closed my year-long account with this bank, since I'm leaving the country in a few days. My school set it up for me and overall I never had any big problems - its ATMs were plentiful throughout Vietnam, and I was successfully able to transfer my money home. Then again, I seldom had any reason to deal with the staff and I've heard from friends about all sorts of problems with their supposedly "international" visa card.
One problem I had was during that "dollar crisis" when everyone suddenly went crazy trying to cash in their dong for anything. I tried transferring money and they said I could only do $500.
Another problem was when I withdrew a significant sum of money, they gave me a 500,000 note that had been ripped in half and repaired so the damage wasn't readily apparent. But no one would take it. I finally had to use it to pay a bill in a dimly-lit restaurant and that was successful.
The staff doesn't seem too well-informed at times. Once I asked a guy about transferring money home and he said you could only do that if there was a family emergency! They're also neurotic about red tape - if your signature doesn't perfectly match your original they make you re-sign until it does. Also, when closing my account I had to fill in and sign about 3 million documents.
All in all, a tolerable bank if you're just going to be withdrawing from ATMs in Vietnam, but you might want to jump on the HSBC train that everyone's been raving about otherwise...
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This was my first market in Saigon. In Hanoi, I'm accustomed to wandering markets and being treated with indifference, mild curiosity, perhaps a half-assed motioning towards their wares.
We walked into this market and were immediately seized by girls saying "Hello! What are you looking for!?" and trying to pull us to their stall.
"Ah, must just be the crazy area of the market," we thought, shook them off, and moved on, only to be grabbed my more shop assistants.
So with a final lunge we escaped, never to return.
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Questions (14)
I've been here two weeks. Twice, I've been approached by a young-ish person who starts out with something like "Ah, hello, what are you doing in Hanoi?" They converse for 2-3 minutes and at first it seems like they just want to practice their English.
Then they pull out a plastic-wrapped sheet of paper and a vaguely official-looking badge and say they're from some kind of Red Cross. The paper, which I only skimmed, said something about helping disabled people. I just said "Sorry, can't help you," and they left without an argument.
So my question: Are these people legitimate, or is it just a con? I'm pretty sure it's the latter...
I've noticed two "strategies" used by taxi drivers:
The fairly obvious one is when they take a long, roundabout route to inflate the meter.
The one that happened to me recently shocked me with its blatantness. The bill was about 80k, I gave him 100. He showed me his wallet - wow, no change! My gf and I looked for smaller bills, but no deal. It was late and nothing was open to get change, so after awhile we just got frustrated and said "Ok, whatever, keep it," and left.
So I know the preventive tip of making sure you call a reputable company - though they've ripped us off too. So, what can you do, basically, once you've been ripped off?
Hmm, I tried this question unsuccessfully this morning - it didn't show up.
Problem - almost every bit of info about Vietnam says to get health insurance with Medevac.
My school will either give me a plan that doesn't have medevac (which only involves signing a paper) or they'll give an allowance towards a different plan (which involves me researching on my own and paying everything upfront and getting reimbursed later.)
So does anyone know of a good place to acquire insurance? And any price ranges? (This would be for a year.)
I have a friend arriving on a flight at 10:30 pm in a few months. I'm going to meet him at the airport. What are the best transport options to/from the airport?
I know I can take bus 7 or 17 there, but maybe a taxi would be better (but more expensive.)
I've heard there's a lot of ripping off with taxis from the airport, but also that there are some where you just pay a flat rate and they take you anywhere in the city for something like $10. Anyone know what these look like, what company they are, etc.?
This is half-question, half-gripe. My gf and I have been here for over months now, and we seem to be constantly afflicted with some annoying symptom or another. I've had colds, coughs, sore throats, feverish feelings, (possibly) a sinus infection, and a general feeling of weakness. I'll have a week or two where I'm fine, and then some symptom pops up.
I've heard from some people that they were just constantly sick for the first few months being here.
Anyone else have this problem? Any magical way to prevent this?
I'll be a Tet first-timer in February. I've heard from some colleagues that practically everything shuts down for the duration except for a small number of expat places.
So, is this true? Should I stockpile food/toilet paper/etc. beforehand?
Has anyone been to Le Mat (the snake village)? Is it cool? What's the best way to get there for a motorbikeless person? Would I need to hire a guide if my Vietnamese is dodgy, or is it the kind of place I can just show up at?
Are there any orthodontists around? My high-school-era "permanent" retainer is finally showing its age after 10+ years, and now I've got wires poking out and stuff. I might just have to get it removed.
We're a day away from leaving for Hue by train (wow, that rhymed!) Anyway, they were sold out of "soft sleeper" berths, so we got "hard sleeper." As someone who doesn't like associating the word "hard" with "sleep," what are we getting into? If I want any sort of comfort will I have to bring a duvet and pillow on board or do they sell stuff there?
Does anybody know an arcane ritual, occult ceremony, special dance, etc. that will make the sun actually come out for once during this dour, depressing winter?
When I was in Poland, the taxi companies had a service where you text the company with the address you're at and they send a taxi there.
Do they have any such service here? It would probably save me some grief, considering my Vietnamese pronunciation. I've had taxis going to 30 instead of 70 or vice-versa, or Ly Thai To instead of Le Thai To...
I know similar questions have been asked about this, but...
After living for 6 months in my flat, I've discovered that we're paying 3-5 times what most other people we know pay for electricity. The bill has us paying 2200 VND per unit.
I asked my landlord and she said it's because the government applies the rate for business and service to our building.
So, two questions:
1) Is 2200 per unit the business rate?
2) Our last bill had us paying for something like 600 units - is that normal? We've looked at the meter they assigned us and it seems to be going up much faster compared to all the other meters. (5 days out of the week we're gone most of the day, but we watch a fair amount of TV and use the AC occasionally.)
I've had a few students ask me the same general thing: Where can they go to meet and chat with foreigners? Some have offered a "language exchange" type thing as well. Obviously I don't want to tell them "Oh, go to Mao's or Funky Buddha, you'll meet plenty of foreigners!"
So, is there anything like this happening that I can point them to?
This is an odd thing I noticed in Vietnam. Many times, I've been waiting to go to an ATM behind a Vietnamese person who takes a VERY long time to finish what they're doing. I'm talking 10-15 minutes of putting in their card, pressing a bunch of buttons, taking out their card, and repeating. Once or twice I've walked away in frustration. It's too many times for them to be doing a cash withdrawal, unless they have multiple cards. Any idea what takes so long?
Answers (17)
Posted Saturday November 17th, 2007.
Agreed with Stoss about demand and the wage thing. I came to Vietnam as an experienced teacher having signed a year contract already, and I still have the "less desirable" job - 4 classes of young learners each day Saturday and Sunday, and night classes 3 times a week. I'm not really sure how I would do it if I were a 1st time teacher. Although I've heard that after you've put in some time you can change your timetable.
I know of some people who got some gig teaching only uni students during the week for really good pay, so you could always do the part-time thing (no major commitment) and then try to sidle into one of those jobs with some experience.
In response to the question: I am a native english speaker who is currently completing a TESOL course.I do not hold a degree. I will be arriving in Hanoi on Decemeber 7.I have see...
Posted Tuesday December 4th, 2007.
I lived in a smaller city before - Bydgoszcz, Poland, which also had a fair amount of pollution levels. But probably not as bad as here. On the way to and from work I walk by a canal which is basically (and smells like) an open sewer.
In response to the question: This is half-question, half-gripe. My gf and I have been here for over months now, and we seem to be constantly afflicted with some annoying symptom ...
Posted Saturday December 8th, 2007.
From what I've heard (I'm relatively new here) rental prices have skyrocketed compared to even a year or two ago. I know a couple that has just arrived that got a nice place in that area (2 bedrooms, rooftop terrace, etc.) where they asked $700/month. They managed to haggle it down to $600, I think, but they had to pay 6 months' rent up front. Youch.
In response to the question: Hello, I'm an American and I will be arriving in Hanoi on January 5. I will need an apartment or house for rent. I would prefer something with tw...
Posted Friday December 14th, 2007.
Well, you can always use the "search" option on this site - just type "Halal" in the "Search Hanoi" area. Or you can search in the restaurants section, I believe there's a "Halal" category.
But to answer your question, there's a restaurant called Tandoor that's Halal (they have the certificate in every table for you to see.) I'm sure there are more...
In response to the question: Are there any good Halal restaurants in Hanoi? I know Nisa Restaurant and Kharzaana are halal but wonder if there are other options to explore. Apprec...
Posted Tuesday December 18th, 2007.
I don't know about live music, but I think there are Christmas dinners going on at Finnegan's Irish Pub and Le Pub, for something like $30/person.
I went to Le Pub's Thanksgiving dinner. It was quite good, actually.
In response to the question: Hi, Does anyone know a nice place to have a Christmas Eve or Christmas dinner? We are searching for smth with live music and good food :) I checke...
Posted Wednesday January 2nd, 2008.
Yeah, Victory is a good shop. Of course, don't expect really amazing quality. I bought a series there, and it seemed fine, but then I got to the third episode; it was nearing the climax and suddenly it cut to the next episode. You get what you pay for, I suppose...
In response to the question: Anyone have any favorite places to buy DVD movies and TV shows? Just moved here for a couple of years and need a touch of home....
Posted Friday January 4th, 2008.
I'll answer this question with a question: where exactly is this? I'd be interested in seeing it.
In response to the question: Anyone know the story behind the B52 in the lake near Ngoc Ha. I pass it most days and think WOW, but no one can tell me if the area was residential ...
Posted Tuesday April 8th, 2008.
A) Yes, I love Mexican food.
B) Yes, I would. It's one "food nationality" that is underrepresented (sp) in Hanoi. My favorite Mexican food is at the R&R. There are other places that try, like Tex Mex (ugh) and Al Fresco's, but they don't quite cut it with flavor...
In response to the question: This is a survey i know it's not a place to do it but i really need your opinions, so the more answers you give, the better my survey is. Thank you in...
Posted Thursday May 22nd, 2008.
I think a black list would be a bit excessive. Reviews on their own can function as a black list anyway - if you're planning on going to a place and then read 3 1-star reviews, that'll make you less likely to go anyway. Places change also, so it wouldn't really be fair to the business to be put on a permanent "black list" just for one bad day.
That said, the Bobby Chinn's thing was pretty crazy. A place I would put on a blacklist is that karaoke joint I reviewed awhile ago: they basically refused to do business with us if they couldn't rip us off.
In response to the question: I've found a list of the top ranked spots in Hanoi but not a list of the ones to avoid like the plague ... and having read a recent review of Bobby Ch...
Posted Monday June 23rd, 2008.
I don't see the point in getting puritanical about businesses posting "fake" reviews. Whenever you read about a place you can usually spot them a mile away, so you can just ignore them, or if you're really fussed, mark it "Utter Rubbish."
As it was explained in the initial discussion, it was explained to Stones that they shouldn't post fake reviews and they said "Oh crap, delete it then!" If a business persists in repeatedly posting fake reviews, then that's another matter.
What matters is the venue itself. In the end it seems it wasn't necessary to make a fake review because it turned out to be a cool place - I've seen two very positive reviews from friends and colleagues.
In response to the question: I'm setting up this question so that we have a more effective venue for discussing some of the concerns "jimbo" has recently raised about how we've de...
Posted Thursday July 3rd, 2008.
Yeah, basically the same position, except no debt, but I'd really like to take the money I've earned home! I'm on my way out in September.
My problem is my school pays me through Vietcombank in VND. I went there to do a transfer to my US bank account and the woman (after checking with a supervisor) said I could only transfer $500. Confused, I just left. Maybe I should've asked more questions.
There's the extra problem of the language barrier - I'm not sure if she misunderstood me.
I have some other friends who tried transferring money and through some exchange rate horror they lost $2000, AND the money is now stranded at a bank in Germany. That bank won't talk to them because they said they only talk to other banks, but Vietcombank said they won't call them either.
I have other friends who said they've transferred money with no problem at all, so maybe it just depends on the individual teller...
In response to the question: Hello. I was wondering how people are dealing with the current dollar crisis here in Viet Nam. My situation is that I basically have student loans bac...
Posted Thursday July 3rd, 2008.
Wow, this question is still rockin' many months later.
I've learned how much it should cost from the Old Quarter to my place, and I always try the reputable taxis first. If I can't find one I use any ol' taxi but negotiate with the guy before I get in. If he wants more than my normal price, I just start walking away and 90% of the time they change their minds. I once had a guy agree on a price and then after we drove for 5 mins quickly said a price 10k higher and "OK!" We said no and started telling him to stop until he relented, but it's really annoying.
I've also befriended a local driver who I can call or text. No negotiation, but sometimes he's asleep or unavailable, and he sends a friend.
In amusing news, I had friends take a random taxi with a meter that went too fast. They just paid how much it should be, and the driver immediately got really aggressive and eventually shoved the girl, which made her boyfriend lose it and crack an umbrella over the driver's head. The driver spent a few hours outside the restaurant they went to, but they waited until he left.
In response to the question: I've noticed two "strategies" used by taxi drivers: The fairly obvious one is when they take a long, roundabout route to inflate the meter. T...
Posted Saturday July 5th, 2008.
Ha, and I thought I was immune to this. I just got home and got my "rent notice." For 9 months it's always said the USD, then how much in VND, but suddenly for our last three months' rent it says "1800 USD only."
Well, time to text the landlady and have the same problem as everyone else, I suppose...
In response to the question: My rent contract is in USD but I pay in VND, I think this is pretty standard and wasnt a problem at all until last month. At that time my landlord...
Posted Saturday July 5th, 2008.
Well, there's The Deli (NOT Oregano's, just "The Deli") which has a variety of food, but not terribly exciting. I sometimes use Pepperoni's or Al Fresco's. Sandwich maniacs like to order from No Noodles. For pizza I've been using Pizza Hoa Y (though their English isn't so good.) Hmm, I think that's it for my delivery experience...
In response to the question: Since I work from home, and often feel too busy with my work (or just to lazy) to venture out for dinner or lunch, I like having food delivered to my ...
Posted Friday August 15th, 2008.
Well, there is an office downstairs, so that could be it. I dunno. All I know is I'm outta here in a month and a half and it doesn't matter too much to me anymore. (Yeah, I know this attitude can encourage people to rip foreigners off.)
In response to the question: I know similar questions have been asked about this, but... After living for 6 months in my flat, I've discovered that we're paying 3-5 times what ...
Posted Thursday September 25th, 2008.
Another option, though it destroys your "day trip" idea, is to stay a night or two in Ninh Binh so you're not pressed for time. We spent two nights there and arranged various motorbike trips with the hotel - one to Tam Coc, one to Kenh Ga and Hoa Lu, and then a trip to Cuc Phuong.
I probably wouldn't recommend my hotel - the Thanh Thuy which shows up in Lonely Planet. They were too obviously money-grubbing. I actually wanted to do a bicycle trip to the nearby places and they were very discouraging about it (I now know it was because they'd make less money off me if I didn't pay for a guide and motorbike.)
As for Tam Coc, yeah it's nice. I think things were a bit easier because I spoke some Vietnamese and joked around with the ladies, though they are relentless with offering their embroidery.
In response to the question: Has anyone been to Tam Coc on a day trip? Is there something available that is in between a private tour (too expensive) and a "stuffed into the back...
Posted Friday September 26th, 2008.
This sounds like a classic scam, where you're told you'll make a fabulous amount of money if you only pay a little first. I'm pretty sure what you would find if you sent the $900 is you would never be contacted again, and any attempts to contact them would be unsuccessful. There's the saying "If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is."
Another version of this scam is the "Spanish Lottery" where you get an email or letter saying you've won millions of dollars, but to release the money you just have to pay a small percentage of the money for taxes. But the "big check" never arrives.
In response to the question: Does any body help me to explain the truth?. Did you see an ads about job offering on Jobs box. it's UK-craft and textiles co.lmt(its email:allprodu...
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Tim Langerholc
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In Hanoi SinceSunday September 16th, 2007
Here UntilSunday October 5th, 2008
New Hanoian Member SinceSunday September 30th, 2007
