V-in-V (Indonesian Blogger in Saigon)

Tomorrow will be my 6th Tet (Vietnamese New Year) in Vietnam.  It is hard to believe I have lived in Vietnam for nearly 6 years (May 24, 2004, I arrived into Saigon).  I have a lot of goals for the Year of the Tiger.  Last year I did accomplish some goals such as setting up a business but the outcomes were different than I had expected.  Live and learn, you just got to move on.

For starters, I will not be making a move to Japan as I had intended.  Instead, the consensus of my advisors and friends is that I would be better off in an emerging economy such as Vietnam.  Thus, I will stay here for a couple more years.  I am still on track to start my Phd in the next couple of years.  I still haven’t decided which country; US, Singapore, Japan or even the UK.  I will make that decision in the next couple of months.

In the meantime I will continue teaching IT at an international school.  I really enjoy it and I know can contribute to Vietnam in that way, especially in regards to Linux and open source technology.  The Saigon Linux Group will be revived as a marketing tool to help the three to four companies that promote open source in Vietnam.  The new site will be launched in about a month or two (the old site is still up).  Saigon Linux Group has proved to be a great marketing tool in the past.

If possible, I hope to transfer the business license from SLG Vscapeone to Hakata Consulting.  My work permit and temporary resident card will be under SLGV so I want to simplify things instead of starting a new company.  This may not occur until June or July of this year.  If you guys do not know, I have been working on some WordPress projects for a couple NGOs and small companies through Hakata Consulting.  Of course, I will continue to help Leon out at MNG JVP.  I am learning a lot from Leon and have a place to refer large IT projects.

Outside of work, I hope to increase my strength at the gym.  I will decide which route to follow, bodybuilding, powerlifting, or strength training.  My student and I hope to launch a weightlifting portal this year for Saigon.  There are many inquiries from Expats on the locations of weightlifting gyms in the city.

I will continue in my Vietnamese lessons through the Vietnamese Language Center.  Ms. Thank Binh is so patient with me.  She expects to get me speaking correctly in a couple of months.  I got some of the pronunciations already.  She is a great Vietnamese language teacher.  I highly recommend her.

With SaigonNezumi.com, expect a new theme in a month or two.  I will be getting my Nokia N900 at the end of the month.  I want to do all my blogging from that phone if possible using the various social networking tools available.  I may even monetize it a little more as well.  I plan to add an eshop ecommerce component as well to sell coffee, sports supplements, and other items.  Why not?

So these are some of my goals for the year.   Happy Year of the Tiger 2010!!! 

(Nokia N900 – My next mobile phone)

Related posts:

1. Happy Japanese Year of the Tiger 2010 Happy New “Western” Year 2010 everybody.  Thanks to the Japan...
2. Happy New Year 2009 A Happy New Year 2009 from Saigon, Vietnam. Less than...
3. Year of the Dragon in Saigon (SaigonNezumi Redesigned) Today is Day 6 of the Tet, the Vietnamese New...
4. Year of the Nezumi (Rat) Tet is only 7 hours away. Saigon is very quiet...
5. How to get a 5 Year Visa Exemption – Saigon in a Cup If you are Viet Kieu (Abroad Vietnamese) and interested in...