Holy crap!
UPDATE #4: A new water heater has been put in. I was told that the only way to hold the damn thing up was to hang it by the “cables” and “wire” in the the manner you see in the photos. It had to be done this way because I’m on the top floor and they can’t secure it to the cement wall??? OK?
Today I came home to see how they repaired the roof. Essentially, they just slapped A LOT of plaster over the bad patchwork they did last week. And tomorrow they will paint. And then it’s a done deal.
I just hope when that thing snaps, I’m not in the shower!
UPDATE #3: Oh, I forgot to mention that I now get only 4 minutes of hot water. Yeah. That’s just not going to work…
UPDATE #2: Not only is the roof a mess, but my bathroom has a sweaty smell to it that is reminding me of the Seinfeld episode where he gets a smelly car back from the valet…remember that one? Yea, not so funny when that’s what your bathroom (the one next to your bedroom) smells like!
UPDATE: Round one of “Let’s fix the heater” is finished. This is the condition the heater and the roof was left in. The manager will come by my apartment tomorrow morning (or so he says) at 9am. Let’s see what happens next. I’m all for adventure, but this is not the fun kind, ne?
Original Story…
So….I’ve been working from home during Tet and at about 1pm, thought I would take a quick stroll around the neighborhood to see what people were up to and to see if the little market had opened yet.
Did see much of the neighbors, but scored with the market! Yes! The couple who runs it are super nice people.
I came home, put down by bag of goods, went into my room to put away my purse and noticed white little rocks on the floor, coming from the bathroom…and then all over the bathroom. And then I looked up and saw the heater coming out of the roof.
What the hell happened? The water heater just fell down? It didn’t burst because there is no water spouting out. It just looks like it tried to escape out the roof panel but got stuck! Yikes!
I’ve called the manager and sent him a photo from my phone. I’m waiting for someone to come fix it. Thank goodness I wasn’t IN the shower when this happened! Holy crap! I don’t even want to go anywhere near this thing, and I’m usually pretty good at fixing stuff!
I hope he/they/someone can come soon…..
On the Bright Side,
Shanna
Happy New Year and Helloooo!
I’m such a dork! – I have no idea why the Press Club photographer thought this was an opportune time to take a photo, but it actually is fitting for the swirl of emotions of the past 1.5 months.
There is no question I have been a busy little bee since arriving in Hanoi. I used this really dorky photo of me for this post, because that kind of sums up how I feel at certain moments. It’s a combination actually of surprise, joy, misunderstanding and happiness. It’s bizarre at moments, frustrating in others, and amazingly wonderful in most.
It must be the same everywhere in the world – when you start a new job, you are bit consumed for a good month or two, yes? And so I have fallen into this phenomenon for the past 6 weeks. Mostly I have been at work, attending work functions, meeting people through work and have had work on the brain for most of every day. It’s a big job ahead of me, a good challenge, and I love it. A little hard work never killed me!
Yet I’ve still had a few moments here and there to observe life in Vietnam, to laugh at a situation, to take in a new culture and to attempt getting cozy in a new apartment (even though I haven’t been home so much!). Here are some notes I’ve taken as I’ve been blazing through each day here:
At Work
- At Christmas time, we had the local orphanage as our guest choir. They (mostly girls) came dresses up like little Christmas princesses, complete with tiaras and sang all sorts of songs…just no Christmas carols!
- For New Year’s Eve, we had a huge party on The Terrace. Indeed, we were THE party in town! I really didn’t know what to wear, with trying to mix business and pleasure, so I opted for a (big surprise here) black shirt with my black pants (the outfit in this photo). Not bad except that what all our waiters and bartenders were wearing, too.
- No matter, I met a very cute Austrian boy who was in Hanoi on vacation who didn’t seem to mind the all black attire. He arrived a bit after midnight, but I got my NYE kisses in after all. Yum.
- I get e-mails addressed to “Shanna oi”
- Some of my co-workers don’t close the door to their bathroom stall and think it’s OK to pee when talking to me.
- On the way back to work one afternoon, I saw a very large, very pink and very dead pig in a trash can, feet sticking straight up in the air.
- I caught a bad cold just before the big trade event in town. I met some key players in the company with my stuffy nose and a voice like a toad. Great first impression! And also on all the new contacts at the trade event!
- Vietnam hosted the Asean Travel Forum for the first time. It was a very poorly organized event (but that was done my folks from Singapore), and at the end of the event, when all of the exhibitors had left, a gang of thieves came and stole all the furniture from the booths. This does not fare well for Vietnam. It’s bad on so many levels. What’s worse is that one week later, the event organizers have yet to contact us and we have been unable to get help from the police. Toto, we are not in Kansas anymore!!!
- I just have to say this, and it is not very nice, but at the trade event the weirdest people I met happened to be American. Why do we feel the need to talk so much? And what’s with all the catch phrases and corporate lingo? We really need to relax a bit and learn how to just sit down with someone, relax and just have a normal conversation. Please.
At Home
- In finally moved into my apartment on December 28th. I have a long way to go before it feels cozy and mine, but I am happy to finally have a place to call home. Living out of a hotel is simply not fun at all.
- In the beginning, the manager said that 4 single men who worked for Ericsson were moving into the building. I could only dream and hope. In reality, 6 men and 1 woman, all Phillipino and doing IT work for Ericsson moved in. All very nice, but no hot single studs like I was hoping. Is that so wrong?
- It’s totally normal in Vietnamese culture to go into a tenant’s home when they are not there and have not set an appointment or invited you in. I’ve had several discussions with my manager and am two seconds away from changing the locks. You see, I booby trap my apartment everyday, with a simple piece of black paper in the door jam. So I know exactly when someone has been in my apartment. You, too, would be disturbed if you saw how often this happens.
- On one occasion when I was home and had the “security” man and the maintenance man here to fix my water heater (I was getting only 4 minutes of hot water), the “security” man thought it was ok to make himself at home and take an empty bottle from my cupboard, open the windows and water the plants in the window box. Since he couldn’t understand me and wouldn’t listen, I finally grabbed the bottle from him and said, “No!” He just smiled back at me.
- Now that the water heater is fixed, I get a whopping 7.5 – 8 minutes of hot water from the 30L tank. Boys, that may be plenty of time for you, but for us girls, it’s nearly impossible to wash/condition our hair and shave our armpits and legs and bikini lines in 8 minutes.
In General
- The current exchange rate is 17,500 VND to US $1.00. Even so, there are 500, 1000 and 2000 VND notes. However at the grocery store, when they are out of 1000 VND notes, they give you this change in the form of candy.
- On that ‘note’ the Vietnamese currency is called Dong. Dong. Dong. Dong. How can you not laugh?
- Mr. Thanh (pronounced like Tang), is my motorbike driver and now pipcks me up everyday from my house to take me to work. I SMS him something like… 15.1.09 7:30am ok? …and get a response “OK”. That’s about as much communicating as we can do for now! But it works!
- Until I get my own motorbike, I am also taking taxis to get around. These are more expensive than motorbikes and I hate the fact that the drivers never seem to have change. So when your meter says 20,000 and all you have is a 50,000 note, you have to argue with the driver a bit to get your change.
- I finally bought a vietnamese phrase book, but haven’t the faintest clue how to pronounce anything in it! And for some reason, Japanese doesn’t work in this country!
- I can see a lot fromt he back of the motorbike on the way to work. One of my favorite sights is men getting a haircut from the barber. A barber who has hung a mirror from a tree trunk and plopped a chair on the sidewalk. These stations are everywhere!
- I’ve had two suits made by my new tailor. Good looking suits. In V-style, the suits are very form fitting. In fact, when I lift my arms, the suit jacket goes up with ’em! I’ll have to work with them on that. My suits look nice, though when I’m not moving too much!
- There are plenty of places to find amusing forms of ENGRISH. I like the menus in particular. At the City View Cafe you can get a “Generous turnip with tomatoes.”
- We Americans haven’t played too nicely in SE Asia. I had to pay $10 more for my visa to Laos than my buddy Kurt. He’s Swiss. The Swiss know how to play nice.
And on that note, I’m off to Laos tomorrow! I’ll visit our two properties there and get to know Luang Prabang as a destination. Since I didn’t get to visit Laos this past spring, I am more than eager to visit now. After Laos, my schedule is a bit more calm and I hope to fall into a MUCH better routine of updating the blog and photos. You can see there are a few updates below…especially one on my boxes! Thanks for keeping in touch and tuned in. Check back soon!
On the Bright Side,
Shanna
Ace Ventura is My Mailman
So the epic story of my boxes continues. I last wrote on December 20th, a month after I had mailed them from the US. At that time there was no sign at all that the boxes would ever arrive.
Shortly after the New Year, I randomly received a notice one day. The ladies in the office got excited, as it was clearly from the post office. It asked me to send a copy of my passport, my visa and then the original customs form. So we messengered that along to the main post office, somewhere in the heart of Hanoi.
About a week later, I got another letter which said that boxes had arrived at the local post office and were ready for pick up. It also informed me I needed to pay a customs fee – 30,000 VND. Equivalent of about $2.00.
So with Ms. Linh, I headed to the post office with all my papers. When we arrived, the woman behind the counter and pull out a huge stack of papers, held together with one butterfly clip. She flipped through the papers until she found my sheets. And then a few people began retrieving my boxes from the back of the room.
The sight of the first box made my heart stop for just a moment. And then one after another, torn, squished and lifeless boxes came out from behind the counter. I kid you not – they truly looked like Ace Ventura had gotten a hold with them and played a few games of soccer. This photo does not lie.
IN the end, 9 of my 10 boxes arrived, the missing one being my box of CDs. That was not surprising to me. And after surveying the boxes, the damage and wondering the state of the contents inside, the woman asked for my 30,000 VND. I laughed. I asked her who would pay me for all of the damage they had done to my things. I asked her about the value of the missing box and who would pay me. She didn’t find this funny. But I put my foot down. I told them that when my 10th box arrived, I would happily pay the 30,000 VND. The women sounded like clucking chickens as they argued about why I need to pay the money.
Ms. Linh was good at standing firm, too. She understood my emotions and my reasoning completely. She said she was also worried about the contents inside and the arrival of the 10th box. The ladies wanted me to sign paperwork and pay the money, but I refused. I figured it gave them incentive for getting that 10th box. (Everyone who lives in Vietnam is laughing at that statement right now. Still, I like to give people the benefit of the doubt.)
Once home, I took photos of all my boxes in their horrid state and then began the process of unwrapping everything. All of my boxes had been opened and much of the contents had been unwrapped. Although in one box, I think they gave up because I wrapped everything so ridiculously much that it must have taken to long to cut the tape and layers of newspaper. I was particularly pissed when I realized that instead of just cutting the one piece of scotch tape to open the lovely wooden boxes containing Japanese pottery, they pried open the boxes, breaking them in the process. Can I hear a collective, “$%&!@”!!!
Only a few items ended up being broken, precious though they were. The long-stem martini glasses I bought in Kamakura at 5,000 yen a glass is not a set of one. Five sake glasses bought in Fuji are now three. The bowl which Daisuke and Miyako gave all their wedding guests was too fragile to withstand the pressure of the beating those boxes took. And really, I could have moved anywhere in the world and lost those items, so I’m quite fortunate, really.
And what do you know. Two days after I picked up nine boxes and refused to pay the customs fee until the tenth box arrived, I received a notice that my tenth box was on its way from customs. I have sent off my customs form and copies of my passport and visa. Now I will wait until I hear notice that the box has arrived at the local post office. I wonder if all of the CDs will be in the box? And I really wonder what fee they will try to charge me.
How would you react after you paid $1300 for 10 day service and received your belongings 2 months later in this condition (minus one box)???
On the Bright Side,
Shanna
Season’s Greetings from Hanoi
Hellooooo! It’s Sunday afternoon and I am sitting in the Tamarind Cafe, a favorite vegetarian restaurant I discovered when I was in Hanoi in May (Sara – You’d love it!). I’m working on my second cup of coffee (delicious) and I am hoping to meet up in a bit with my friend Pete who runs the hotel I stayed in in Sapa. He’s in town for the weekend opening a cafe with his business partner. I’ll probably take a long walk around the lake at some point today, too. I have refused to even look at work stuff today – I need a mental break.
I spent yesterday at the office and last night at Kurt and Anna’s home watching a movie. Kurt and I haven’t really seen each other for almost two weeks. He was at a luxury travel trade event in Cannes (lucky bastard!) and I was in Saigon and Hue this past week. So it was good to catch up and hang out. Kurt also asked if I was still happy to be here in Vietnam, if I still feel like I’m doing the right thing. And you know what? I really am.
The past three weeks have been a whirlwind for sure. I am meeting new people left and right. I’m soaking in all sorts of information about my new company, new job and the tasks in front of me. I looked for and found my new home; a lovely apartment in Tay Ho District. Hopefully I will be getting settled in my new place next weekend – I can’t wait!!! I will have to discover where to buy linens, housewares and even furniture, as the apartment is sparsely furnished. I’ll need to buy motorbike (and helmet!) and find some time somewhere in my busy schedule to get more and more familiar with Hanoi. It’s all very exciting, but taxing at the same time. In some moments, my head feels like it will burst!
I spent the last week in the Southern part of Vietnam…Saigon and Hue. In Saigon or Ho Chi Minh City, take your pick, is where you’ll find the main Apple Tree offices. I flew in for a visit with the owners, the CFO and the IT Director, among other key people. Then I was off to the ancient city of Hue, the home of our very stylish and popular hotel, La Residence. Here, I became familiar with every aspect of the hotel and much to my delight, even the spa! Fabulous! I was also keen to explore the other hotels in the city, to check out the competition, so to speak. But I can honestly tell you that La Residence is one of a kind. The history of the property, combined with the art deco style and richly appointed rooms, sets it far apart from the other hotels in town. It is a unique property, indeed, and I can’t see how I would have any trouble selling.
I was also able to take a private tour of the Citadel and Forbidden Purple City. Hue is the city in which all of the Emperors of vietnam resided. You can tour the grounds of the royal palace, visit tombs of three famous Emperors and take in numerous other points of interest. The cuisine in Hue is some of the finest, as the Emperors demanded their meals never be repeated within a calendar year. This forced immense creativity in ingredients and presentation. La Parfum Restaurant, named after the Perfume River (another story), has an extensive Vietnamese menu. I love that my job requires me to try numerous items so I can speak of the Chef’s talents when I am selling the hotel! I learned a lot about Hue, and especially the Emperors, and fell in love with La Residence.
The holidays are approaching and I while I do feel a little sad that I won’t be home to celebrate Christmas, it’s not the first time, so I’m ok with that. I can SKYPE my parents, and be there through cyberspace! Plus we have lots of celebrations at the Press Club and I am very excited for the New Year’s Eve Party on the Terrace. Should be a good time! That Terrace sees a lot of terrific parties!
I hope you have a very festive holiday week. I’ll post again once I’ve moved into my home and have some more stories to share. I’m sure there will never be a shortage in Vietnam!!!
On the Bright Side,
Shanna
Where ARE they?
November 25th, Dad and I went to the US Post Office with 10, perfectly wrapped and labeled boxes. Inside were some clothes, my CDs, household stuff and many of the gifts I received from my friends in Japan. We anticipated sending the boxes via surface mail, which usually takes a couple of months. But upon arrival at the post office, we were told that that surface has been canceled. So we opted for the cheapest – 10 day priority mail. And paid on average $130 per box. Ouch.
I don’t have much in life – in terms of ‘things’ anyway. In fact, aside from what you see in this photo, I have an antique dresser and table, and 8 plastic bins in storage, mostly filled with childhood mementos and oodles of photos. Oh – and I refuse to throw away my high school and college formal dresses. Just can’t do it! But that’s it. Before I left for Japan, I had a huge yard sale and felt so liberated in getting rid of my ‘stuff’. And I lived pretty simply in Japan. I like to keep it that way. I did manage to collect a few things in Japan, and certainly was given a number of beautiful gifts upon my departure. I also packed up keepsakes from my travels, college and more. The items in the boxes are my favorite treasures.
In the suitcases were all of the things I felt that I would need sooner rather than later. And I packed so that all of my business clothes and shoes were in the blue suitcase, so that I could have easy access. Good plan. The suitcase system has worked out well, since in my dinky hotel room, I have no space to open all three suitcases.
As I am moving into my new apartment later this week – I am looking forward to spreading out and unpacking. Except that my boxes have still not arrived. It’s been nearly a month. And I am trying to stay calm and not panic, but I’ve heard too many horror stories now. A large part of me will be devastated (not to mention angry) if I never see these boxes, if the contents have been invasively examined/unwrapped, stolen or damaged. I am also afraid of what taxes I may have to pay, simply because it’s a good chance to make some money, not because I am actually brining anything new or valuable to the country. I also have to laugh because I hope they don’t open the two vacuum bags of clothes – won’t that be a shock for them when the stack magically poofs up to 4x the size! How will they get those clothes back in the box?
I’m not holding my breath, but I will hold out hope that these boxes arrive soon. I’m having Dad check with the US Post Office to see if they were logged in in Vietnam. After that, there’s really nothing else for me to do but wait. Patiently. Please. Toto, we are SO not in Kansas anymore!
My worldly possessions – My suitcases and boxes, safe and sound in my parents’ living room. Can you guess which four items have made it to Vietnam and which ten haven’t?
On the Bright Side,
Shanna
Gotta love it!
A quick hello and a note to let you know that things are going well in Hanoi. I hope to negotiate a contract on my apartment tomorrow, a huge task which I will be very glad to get out of the way. I now have a cell phone and am starting to feel a bit more settled. Not 100%, mind you, but closer.
On my way back from apartment hunting today, I just had to pull out my camera and take this photo. Mind you, I was on the back of a motorbike, so it is not the clearest photo in the world, but you get the idea. I don’t think I will ever tire of seeing what the Vietnamese can carry on a motorbike!
I hope to continue to post snapshots like this. Stay tuned.
And when I get a break this weekend, I will continue my story from home hunting. You would not even believe…
On the Bright Side,
Shanna
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