Job Discussion Forums

[saigon cowboy]

Where do they get the water to make those blocks of ice used in every cafe, bar, and restaurant in the country ?

Is it from the city water supply ?

On rare occasions i drank tap water and didn't get sick, but i'm not sure about the ice.

Wouldn't it be too expensive to purify all that ice ?

[mach114]

When I lived in the ghetto of Le Thanh Ton - Thai Van Lung alleys years ago there was a block ice factory right across the street near the Tex-Mex restaurant. The guys would make big ice blocks and put them on the back of there motorbikes and speed off as fast as they could, presumably to sell it before it melted hehehe. Every once and a while a guy would get a in a little wreck or the ice would simply fall off the bike. It was slippery! Go Figure! Then they would wash it it off with tap water put it back on the bike and he would speed off again without looking. (Wearing shorts and sandals) It was entertaining with my coffee and bread in the morning sitting on a small plastic chair. To make a long story short, if the lady puts the ice in a dirty rag and then breaks it down with a rounded metal object this is block ice. Be careful with that, especially if your a new arrival. Have your cepro (powerful stomach antibiotic) ready to go. Round circular ice with the whole in middle is safer. Better yet drink bottled water. Ask for uop lanh! (cold in the refrigerator) Anyway, ice advice it melts in your mouth.

[Nexus II]