SaigonNezumi.com

Today, I attended Thang and his brides’ wedding party at the Rex Hotel.  Thang is a former student and colleague of mine from Indochina Capital.  It was one of the best wedding parties I ever attended in Vietnam.  The food was great.  It was also nice to meet the gang from Indochina Capital and Mekong Securities again.  It has been a long time since I have seen most of them.

I decided to take some pictures of the meals.  We had a 7 course meal today that was quite tasty:

(We were the first to arrive at the Rex Hotel)

(Nice preparation)

(Menu)

(3 Dishes of Appetizers)

(Sweet corn soup with crab meat)

(Bowl of sweet corn soup with crab meat)

(Fried Shrimp with Orange Sauce)

(My Fried Shrimp with Orange Sauce)

(Steamed Garoupe with soya sauce)

(Bride, Groom, and their Parents)

(BBQ Pork Suckling – Chinese Bun)

(Braised Duck with Salted Lemon)

(Lotus Seed Compote)

(Parting Chocolate Candy)

Mekong Securities, run by Indochina Capital, closed it’s office in Hanoi last week.  The surprise announcement was made to the Hanoi staff about a month ago. Operations will be moved down to the Ho Chi Minh City office.

Though some could blame the current stock market situation for the closure of the Hanoi office.  the reality is that Mekong Securities was hit hard before the stock market fell in Vietnam when some of it’s best and brightest staff left the company to form their own private equity and/or consulting firms.  A trend that has/will follow other security and equity firms in this country.

Rumors are flying that Mekong Securities will shut down even in Ho Chi Minh city though this will be highly unlikely.  Indochina Capital will still need them to trade stocks in both exchanges.

Two weeks ago from today, I was heading to Indochina Capital’s office at the Saigon Financial Centre in District 1.  My normal route from the Phu Nhuan District to Indochina Capital was from Huynh Van Banh to Phan Dinh Phuong (becoming Hai Ba Trung) and then a left turn unto Trang Quang Khai street.  Well, that was a bad mistake on my part.

I happened to leave my house right before a rainstorm at the beginning of rush hour.  For those who have lived in Saigon long enough, who are the people who tend to direct traffic during rush hour?  Yep, the traffic police.  When it rains, who tends to disappear from the posts for the coffeeshops?  Yes, you guessed it again, the traffic police.

I came to about 100 meters from the intersection of Hai Ba Trung and Trang Quang Khai at about 4:45 PM.  I would be stuck in the same exact spot for 45 minutes.  Due to the absence of the traffic police, motorbikes and cars on all four intersections lined up side by side with each other against the oncoming traffic.  The traffic was moving no where.

At about 5 PM, the dry traffic police finally came.  They had to be nearby since their uniforms were dry and they did not wear rain coats.  The had to push the traffic back in their proper lanes.  It took 30 minutes before I finally started up my motorbike.

I could not turn left at Trang Quang Khai street so I headed to Dien Bien Phu instead.  I got to Indochina Capital at around 6:00 PM.

Saigon Traffic Jam (Looking towards Trang Quang Khai Street)

Saigon Traffic Jam to my right

Saigon Traffic Jam looking behind me

Saigon Traffic Jam further down Ha Bai Trung

The traffic police were responsible for this traffic jam.  If they had been at their posts, the people would have abided by their rules, especially during rush hour.  They paid the price, though.  They ended up being soaked since their motorcycles were further down the road.

Finally, I got about 30 seconds of the traffic jam on video.  I could not record any more since it was raining.

A new great tool for those interested in investing in Vietnam.  This website was created by the Foreign Investment Agency of Vietnam to make investment procedures in Vietnam easier for investors.

Visit the website at this web address: http://vietnam.investway.info/ 

Darn, I had to spend another weekend at home working on my Laptop again. I really hit geek mode since I returned from the US. I am still not sure if I truly recovered from my trip yet.

One thing is for sure, I am ready for a short trip out of Saigon really soon. I am thinking about flying back up to Hanoi to meet a couple of friends and go over some legal matters in regards to forming a business in Vietnam.

Teaching is going okay this semester though I am getting burned out at SaigonTech now. Next semester I will either reduce the hours or take a one semester Leave of Absence to rest. I really like my IT class at the American International School. Bright kids, some of the best I have ever had all with bright futures.

My second stench with Indochina Capital is going very well. My teaching methodology has improved since my last batch of students.

IT is my realm though. No, I will not pursue the Unix SysAdmin position with Google. I want to stay in Vietnam and turn the Saigon Linux Group into something. First, though, I am thinking that maybe it is time that I do something with my IT skills. Everytime I walk away from IT, I seem to come right back. Maybe I should stay this time…

Cross-posted at:  Yahoo 360 – AmerasianKevin