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Saigon or Hanoi?

 
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eclectic



Joined: 09 Nov 2006
Posts: 1122

PostPosted: Wed Sep 05, 2007 5:14 pm    Post subject: Saigon or Hanoi? Reply with quote

Major difference between their atmospheres???
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ChuckECheese



Joined: 28 Jul 2006
Posts: 216

PostPosted: Wed Sep 05, 2007 9:56 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hanoi:

1. People are more conservative.
2. Hot but cooler climate and rains a lot more than HCM city.
3. Don't like Southern VNese.

Saigon:

1. People are more liberal.
2. Hotter/Warmer climate than Hanoi
3. Don't like Northern VNese.
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Mr Wind-up Bird



Joined: 22 Sep 2004
Posts: 196

PostPosted: Thu Sep 06, 2007 4:39 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

HCMC is the place to go if you want nightlife (of sorts), western-style comforts, and the full-on hectic Asia experience. It's a fairly charmless, unattractive city these days but a fun place to live most of the time.

Hanoi is a lot calmer, much more photogenic, and a more relaxing place for a night out. Personally I found the locals in Hanoi friendlier and less in-your-face than in HCMC but I've only been there for 5 days. Rents are cheaper as well. However there are fewer work opps in Hanoi than in HCMC, and the weather's not so good.

Generally, I find that young people in search of a good time prefer HCMC, older people or those with families who want a quieter life prefer Hanoi. I'm sticking with HCMC, for professional and climatic reasons!
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UpScope



Joined: 31 Jul 2007
Posts: 82

PostPosted: Thu Sep 06, 2007 3:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

working in a retirement home and a university

skateboarding Vs bowls

smiling Vs frowning

eating potato soup and eating seafood

being frowned at and being smiled at

throwing the discuss and doing a kartwheel

working for nasa and for J & B adhesives

John Howard and Paul Keating

Tony Blair and John Major

Tom Jones and Keith Richards

Oh, chalk and cheese by the way, is what i am trying to say. Saigon is there night and day.

Did i mention that i am a poet, Walt Whitman Vs Oscar Wilde. Take your pick and choose carefully, i really would have never guessed that the difference between the two cities would be so in your face.
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legaleagle



Joined: 08 Jul 2005
Posts: 59
Location: HCMC

PostPosted: Fri Sep 07, 2007 4:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I would say that Hanoians are much less used to seeing Foreigners. Or they are used to "seeing" them, but they've never spoken with any (because the Foreigners were diplomats driving past in the Benz).

I think Hanoians are friendly, they are just some time behind the Saigonese who are well-versed in Foreigners actually out in the street.
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blateson



Joined: 12 Mar 2006
Posts: 144

PostPosted: Sun Sep 09, 2007 5:00 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Per above, to say that Any place in Vietnam has any respectable nightlife or entertainment for singles would be, in the lightest, a failed joke.
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ChuckECheese



Joined: 28 Jul 2006
Posts: 216

PostPosted: Sun Sep 09, 2007 9:18 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

blateson wrote:
Per above, to say that Any place in Vietnam has any respectable nightlife or entertainment for singles would be, in the lightest, a failed joke.


What do you consider respectable nightlife or entertainment for singles?
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UpScope



Joined: 31 Jul 2007
Posts: 82

PostPosted: Sun Sep 09, 2007 4:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Blateson...... wow, words worthy of any play-station addict. Get out there and amongst it, you never know you might even meet someone and have a great night.

The nightlife in VN is what you make it and if you are willing to have some fun, meet some people and go to new places, you will have an absolute ball.

Unfortunately the people who do not have a good time socially here or anywhere are the people that expect to go out and be entertained rather than be entertaining.

Live a little and this place will keep you enthralled and challenged for a good while.
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ChuckECheese



Joined: 28 Jul 2006
Posts: 216

PostPosted: Mon Sep 10, 2007 5:20 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Maybe blateson can provide us with some different insight as to nightlife in HCM city and Hanoi that we are missing out on.
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blateson



Joined: 12 Mar 2006
Posts: 144

PostPosted: Wed Sep 12, 2007 9:33 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

ChuckECheese wrote:


What do you consider respectable nightlife or entertainment for singles?


Now now, the definition game? Please no.

Ability to take a seat for more than 7 minutes with no one approaching you on the grounds of panhandling.
Ability to talk to sincere women, who want to have fun, not move up a ladder.
Ability to talk to women without having people stare and point.
Ability to take a walk in the street without being crudely approached, hollared at, pestered for money.
A little peace and quiet, music not too loud.
A selection of bars or clubs that stay open past midnight without police shutting things down.
Allowed to freely sit and talk / relax at the establishment without being asked what my next order will be every 20 minutes.
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Henry_Cowell



Joined: 27 May 2005
Posts: 3352
Location: Berkeley

PostPosted: Wed Sep 12, 2007 1:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

blateson wrote:
Ability to talk to sincere women, who want to have fun, not move up a ladder.
Ability to talk to women without having people stare and point.

But what about very conservative men who don't go to bars or clubs because of the presence of alcohol and smoke and unaccompanied unmarried women? What can those men find to do in Vietnam?
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ChuckECheese



Joined: 28 Jul 2006
Posts: 216

PostPosted: Wed Sep 12, 2007 10:04 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Henry_Cowell wrote:
blateson wrote:
Ability to talk to sincere women, who want to have fun, not move up a ladder.
Ability to talk to women without having people stare and point.

But what about very conservative men who don't go to bars or clubs because of the presence of alcohol and smoke and unaccompanied unmarried women? What can those men find to do in Vietnam?


Go shopping and travel. Other than that, can't help them.
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ChuckECheese



Joined: 28 Jul 2006
Posts: 216

PostPosted: Wed Sep 12, 2007 10:13 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

blateson wrote:
ChuckECheese wrote:


What do you consider respectable nightlife or entertainment for singles?


Now now, the definition game? Please no.

Ability to take a seat for more than 7 minutes with no one approaching you on the grounds of panhandling.
Ability to talk to sincere women, who want to have fun, not move up a ladder.
Ability to talk to women without having people stare and point.
Ability to take a walk in the street without being crudely approached, hollared at, pestered for money.
A little peace and quiet, music not too loud.
A selection of bars or clubs that stay open past midnight without police shutting things down.
Allowed to freely sit and talk / relax at the establishment without being asked what my next order will be every 20 minutes.


Sounds like you like hanging out in the backpacker's area called Pham Ngu Lao.

Besides, aren't those points you brought out considered a joy of living in a third world country?

I used to be bothered/annoyed by some of the points you brought out when I was living and working in Vietnam for over two years. Since I moved on, I kind of miss it.

So I'm taking a week long vacation to revisit those things in Vietnam and see my old friends this month.
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si_in_edinburgh



Joined: 09 Oct 2006
Posts: 26
Location: Salamanca, Spain

PostPosted: Tue Oct 23, 2007 9:34 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I might be a bit late on posting, but I'm going to have to go with HaNoi on this one over HCM.

It depends what your after, but there is certainly a tangible difference between the two cities.
For me, HaNoi, had the more authentic feel to it, where as HCM was to me spoilt by too many Louis Vuttoin (or however you spell it) type shops and further symbols of westernization.

Don't get me wrong I loved HCM, and the two months I spent there were great, but personally I could never really live there. Whereas, for for the feeling of being in the true heart of Vietnam, I loved living in HaNoi and would recommend it to anyone!
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kneebarx



Joined: 25 Jun 2007
Posts: 3

PostPosted: Thu Oct 25, 2007 11:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

How about this analogy:

Hanoi - washington dc

HCM - New York city
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