大咖福利影院

Vette Moto wrote:

I've heard the officers look for money within the pages of the passport, which I have never done, so that may be the reason why they are giving me a tough time in hopes I would pay my way out of the inconvenience. Any truth to that?

That practice has been gone for about 20 years now.听 A woman of my acquaintance left some money (I don't know the amount) in her passport, and the agent handed it back to her, "Aunt, don't leave money in the passport, it's against the law."

Bazza139 wrote:

..of course, being a top CIA operative doesn't help here...

Yeah they didn't take too kindly when I tried to convince them I was mi6 and that was the reason I was in the diplomats queue

Ciambella wrote:

One agent wrote down addresses of places where I could get my visa stamped (he did it without my asking, using his own notebook paper) while advising me not to waste money on visa run to Cambodia.

Wouldn't happen to still have that, would you?

1312j wrote:

Bazza139 wrote:

..of course, being a top CIA operative doesn't help here...

Yeah they didn't take too kindly when I tried to convince them I was mi6 and that was the reason I was in the diplomats queue

Should have told them that you were a member of DAESH, that would have got you through quickly.

1312j wrote:

Wouldn't happen to still have that, would you?

It's Ph貌ng Qu岷�n L媒 Xu岷�t Nh岷璸 C岷�nh, 196 Nguy峄卬 Th峄� Minh Khai, P6, Q3
We haven't needed a stamp from that office yet since our visa has been reset every time we went on a trip out of the country.

gobot wrote:

I've been thru T芒n S啤n Nh岷�t immigration a dozen times, never stopped, never inspected bags. I guess I look like someone not to mess with.听

I almost messed up at US immigration last summer though. I am a US citizen with US passport, yet I am wary of the agents, they always look you over. When he simply said "Welcome Home" I was so confused I didn't know what to say. I've been living in Vietnam for a couple years, I was only going to the states to see family for 3 weeks. A reverse vacation. I'll be prepared next time. The agent was the nicest guy too.

Last gime I arrived in the US, the immigration guy said "Happy Birthday Sir" (it was my birthday) and "what time did you start drinking?". I replied that I had my first drink on the flight after take-off from London and had been imbibing steadily since then. He asked me if I had anyone meeting me and I said that there was someone waiting for me outside arrivals. His final words as he handed me back my (UK) passport were: "Welcome to America and take care"

At around 04:30 in my friends house as we were steadily getting down a bottle of Bourbon there was a tremendous racket at the front door and upon opening it we found a girl of about 19 sobbing hysterically and covered in blood. She said had been beaten up by her boyfriend and locked in a room from which she had escaped through a window.She was terrified that her boyfriend would kill her.

My friend called 911 and two BFO huge policemen arrived armed to the teeth with handguns, a shot gun, tasers, batons.

They interviewed the girl and one of the policeman turned to me and asked "Sir, whats your part in all this?"

I responded that I had arrived a few hours earlier from UK and had never met the girl or seen her before she banged on my friends door.

Ahh, said the policeman "welcome to America"听 听

Texan71 wrote:

Interesting thread
I will be visiting HCMC soon and wonder if they will give me any grief at customs. I am a 6鈥�1鈥� 250 pound white American from Texas. Do they only try and shake down VK, or also maybe me

Maybe, maybe not but your physical attributes will make it difficult for you to mingle with the crowd so be prepared for people staring at you.

Texan71 wrote:

Not sure why the stares at me

People stare at subjects that are unfamiliar to them.听 The American rule and admonition of "Do not stare" doesn't exist in every culture.听

My spouse was stared at in the beginning, but since he has become a familiar face in the area, no one pays special attention to him anymore.听 They also no longer see him as someone who doesn't speak Vietnamese, so they call out whenever he wanders by, "Ch煤! Ch煤 c岷�n g矛?" (Uncle! What do you need?) the same way they would call out to me.听 His Vietnamese at this point is halfway decent in understanding but still very limited in responding, so it's often a one-way conversation.听 In places where he spends more than a few minutes at a time (coffee shops, pastry shops, bookstores, restaurants), no one bothers him.听

The local behaviour is different in neighbourhoods with 99% - 100% Vietnamese than in tourist and expat areas.听
听
Note on the "uncle":听 We're honorary aunt and uncle to every adult (55 and under) and honorary grandparents to all young children.

gobot wrote:

I think I would like hem ("alley") life. So far have only lived in high rises on busy streets. Disconnected in a box. Hems are like villages in the city. Everyone knows each other. And yeah they stare at outsiders but that doesn't bother me.

My wife's family house is in a warren of narrow hems in D8. Two motorbikes bump handlebars to pass. Doors on houses are always open. Imagine walking through a hotel corridor with all the rooms open and full of people coming and going. Kids of all ages, ladies selling food, old people watching, vendors on bicycles calling out, stray cats. Riding a motorbike, you have to be careful not to run over a kid, day-old rice laid out on mats, and flip-flops.

Unfortunately this hem is not a romantic place. D8 is poor Saigon. Her family knows few neighbors and worry about criminals. There have been thefts and drug use. I don't know that many men actually work. Then there are the cockfights, gambling, and occasional karaoke (so loud) that draw huge crowds. Oh yeah, roosters and crying babies.

I'm pretty sure there are better hems.

Sorry - strayed again.

Still off topic ... we lived in Q8 - good house tower. Nice apartment block not a good area. Local cop called in to tell me to be careful as the streets around the block were not safe for foreigners.

Uffe Pettersson wrote:

Once I even had a Kenwood/Audio Pro ministereo equipment in an extra baggage!

It's Bose in our check luggage the last time, and a bottle of 25 YO Highland Park.听 At least some of Bose products are available in Saigon, while Highland Park 25 cannot be found in most of Asia for love or money.听

I was so astonishingly happy when all suitcases came off the conveyor belt without a sign of being opened and checked.

听 ETA:听 Correction on the statement re: the availability of Highland Park 25.听 Just found a website indicating that's it's available at publishing date in Hanoi and Da Nang for 15.4M.听 That's more than my rent.