Job Discussion Forums

[gth1]

. . . from a friend and born and bred Vnese native and lifetime (42 years) resident of HCMC.

All FWIW. General info follows:

I gave you incomplete information of telephone service providers. There are at least 5 companies. The 3 left are Viettel, HT Mobile and S-phone. To me, they are the same, but, HT Mobile and S-phone have some attractive programs to draw customers from other old Telephone companies. For example, you can register 2 sims and buy 2 nice telephones at cheap price, then you (2 sims) can call each others free of charge in 6 first months. I've heard so, but I don't like any promotion programs in VNese, they are all tricky, cheating...

I think you will need a computer at home too. With it, you can communicate with your friends in the whole world, even with your VNese friends in VN. You have more opportunities to make friends, practise VNese ect... I can't bear a day without internet now (except Sunday ). You will also need to connect the computer to the internet. It's easy and cheap. With a call, people will come to your house, and make all things for you. (But you should ask the hostess to do it for you. NOTE: gth does not know what that means.). I only have to pay about 6 USD/month for it. (The installation fee - including cost for wireless equipment - is about 60 USD)

It's better if you buy a notebook/laptop in US (it's better and cheaper than in VN) at the price of 300 - 700 USD (Sony or Dell are good brands). When leaving VN, you can resell it or bring it home. Buying a desktop in VN is more expensive. Desktops are also bulky, taking place and hard to move. You can connect to internet with laptops (with wireless card for connecting to the internet) everywhere: in a cafeteria (they are plenty in Saigon), or on your bed. You don't have to stick to the network cord all the time.

You certainly will need a motobike. You have to get a driving certificate and enjoy your driving in the crowded city. Do not be scared, if I can drive, you can too hehe. Which kind of motobike do you prefer: throttle grip or gear ones? The Chinese ones are must cheaper but they are not good, you would get many problems with them. You should buy a used good Japanese motobike at the price of about 3200-4000 USD. You can resell it at good price when you don't want it anymore.

The other important thing is you want to take care of your room/house or you want other to make the room for you? I think if you're not very busy, you should do it yourself. (gth thinks the reference is a maid/housekeeper.)



That's it. Good luck to us all.

gth

[gth1]

Cool. Thanks!

gth

[Teejay]

My landlady is charging me 200dong per minute for the internet:(

[Phinaes Gage]

Some decent info given by the OP, I might question the pricing for the motobike. A brand new Honda Wave costs about $1000 US and is pretty much the standard bike in HCMC. They seem to be quite reliable and easy to fix. The info about Chinese bikes above I'd say is spot on, they are unreliable and not worth the cheap price. One problem with buying a new bike though is that the ownership papers must be in a Vietnamese person's name. Also, if buying a second hand bike, make sure you get the original and correct ownership papers. I've heard stories of foreigners buying bikes second hand with incorrect papers, later to be stopped by the police for driving a "stolen" motorbike. In the end, just be wary and get a Vietnamese friend (who you trust) to help you out.

As for the internet, I use FPT and pay 300,000 a month for unlimited downoads. My old house we got surprised with a massive bill (more than 600,000) due to the amount of information we had downloaded the previous month. It was all a little "big brother" for me, but FPT are good. You will have to have the contract in the landlady's (hostess's) name.

I hope this can help any newbs out there, if anyone has any questions feel free to PM me.

PG

[gth1]

[gth1]

[gth1]

[Teejay]

Teejay wrote:
My landlady is charging me 200dong per minute for the internet:(


Which is what? ~ $0.0125/min, ~ $0.75USD/hour? I understand I-Cafes charge ~ $0.50/hour. If that's correct I think/guess it's worth the extra $0.25/hour . . . to not have to leave home and 'get out in it'.

Good to know the option's probably available.

Thanks.

gth

My friend pays 80,000 dong for unlimited use of his wifi. That's why i thought, my landlady is charging me much. But it's still ok though

[gth1]

I also posted this mssg uder the topic, RE: FBI Background Checks as an update but am posting here as well because apparently if you want a WP you have to have a FBI BC and as a newbie, well, I'm thinking you've got enough stuff making you too crazy already to deal with something else.

But maybe it isn't as daunting a task as you think . . .


This is hard to believe but it 'tis what it 'tis . . .

I mailed my FBI BC request on 01/29/08 and, including regular snail mail transit, rec'd the completed BC back on 02/14/08, or, in seventeen (17!) days!

Don't know if it helped any but here is what I did:
� FBI Request Form: From the FBI site you need to print and fill out a request form. On this form is a place for asking that you app be expedited. They guarantee nothing but you can ask. They ask for a reason why. They give you about 15 spaces to state the reason so I just put 'see attachment' and stated my reason on a separate sheet. I didn't try to BS them. First of all I told them, "Until 6-8 days ago I didn't even know I needed a BC and commented, 'Shame on me but there it is.'. Then I told them after receiving the BC back it had to wind its way through three other bureaucracies (State, Federal and Foreign) and hopefully returned to me by May 1, '08.
� Fingerprints: I printed three (3) forms from the FBI site and took it to my local police sub station. Of the three forms I sent in the best two. On the fingerprint form I had to 'fill in the blanks' with information. I did-not-do-this-freehand; I used a ruler. Makes everything crisp and easy to read. Strategy? If something 'hard to read' its easy put off dealing with it.
� Documents List: This was not requested/required but when dealing with a bureaucracy, in writing, I always make up a 'documents list', which informs the reader, item by item, of what is included in the package. Below is my documents list:

FBI CJIS Division � Record Request
1000 Custer Hollow Road
Clarksburg, West Virginia 26306

Re: Documents List

January 29, 2008

Dear Sir or Madam:

Enclosed please find the following:
� Cover letter with attachment
� Money order in the amount of eighteen dollars
� Two (2) completed fingerprint forms
� A request for a 'Letter of Procedure' regarding the FBI's policy to not notarize.

Thank you for your time and courtesy.

Sincerely,

Etc., etc., etc.

That's it. Hope it helps.

gth

PS � Just wish getting my dup University diploma was so efficient.