|
glad my FR was of help to you BMs...
To add to that,my advise would also include a simple measure....keep small US $ notes ($1/2 dollars notes) handly and plenty cos most traders and retailers love to quote in USD...the green buck still rules here...usually it starts off with negotiations in USD then when a figure is sort of agreed upon try ask how much in Dong and get a bargain on it cos they have a bad incling of the exchange rate...the result: a round-off figure in Dong,which is usually lower in exchange!...try it ...they value the USD but don't exactly know how much it is in Dong...so carry lots of small USD if the Dong thing doesn't work and quickly close a deal with small loose change....most retailers do not have USD in stock so when the price is say 1.5 USD they will give back the change in Dong and here's where the exchange rate is rounded way off...interesting..
btw ,there are two big casinos in Hanoi...open only to turists and foreigners such as expats...locals are not allowed.They are situated about 200m up the same row /road as the famed Fortuna Hotel...too bad did not have time to check both out...
for those interested on the real estate side of the city...well,lots of local high rise condos/apartments in the so called new city area around the government complex or new senate building.Most are by local developers and quality is sub standard.The others are by Indonesian and Malaysian developers and are massive in comparison in terms of scope and pricing.The Manor,The Citputra(Indon dev.)...US$1,800 - 2,000 per sq.m...way above Bangkok price!..The Manor is a beautiful French style,Parisian complex..the Citputra is mixed condo and semi-d villas...next to a UN international College and unfortunately close to a local cemetary...part of it reclaimed for this project...!Nevertheless..impressive contrast to the landscape of Hanoi...I see more and more to come very soon...god time to do business now or invest..there is always the risk though...politically i mean...remember it is a socialist republic still...
A word about the locals ...the act dumb !...but i guess they have thus cunning look that my gut feel says be careful..our local counterpart(Asian) are quite stern with the locals...ask and u might not get the message into their head,instead insist and they will comply...basically,i feel the locals are facing a culture shock too,i mean not knowing about how to deal with foreigners be it tourists from all over or business people...i have been told that even restaurants try often to add nonsense into customers' bills...especially places where business people eat..that will surely be a growing phenom in years to come...
These are my thoughts...hope you like the assistance...
Next trip,HCMC...and i hope a FR will follow..cheers fellow BM wherever you are..
|