SaigonNezumi.com

Well it is Christmas Eve in Saigon.  This will be my 5th Christmas in Saigon and probably my last one for several years.  A couple weeks ago I went with my Vietnamese friend and his wife to Cholon to look at the Christmas decorations.  I was surprised to see a whole street devoted to Christmas decorations.

After tomorrow, they will switch to New Year decorations followed by Tet decorations.

Cho Pham Van Hai is one of the biggest markets in the Tan Binh District.  In the last three and a half years I have lived here, I passed by the Pham Van Hai Market many times but I never went inside.

Last weekend I finally visited this market for the first time.  It reminded me of the bazaars back in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.

Prices here were significantly cheaper than at Big C or Co Op

Sorry, I thought I took more pictures than the ones below.  I will have to make another visit real soon…

(Cho Pham Van Hai)

(Crowded parking lot)

(Many shops)

Saigon has many boutiques for women.  They are spread across the city along Truong Dinh, Nguyen Trai and Le Van Si streets.  Many of the boutiques will have sister shops across the city as well.  If they do not have the size or style in stock, they just call another store.

Normally, for obvious reasons, I do not visit boutiques in Saigon.  I took a quick shot last night before anybody could catch me   This shot was taken at a popular boutique in District 3 on Truong Dinh opposite of Pinky Ice Cream and Goody Ice Cream.

I just want to put a word of warning about H.Nam Mobile, a popular mobile phone shop in Saigon.  I went there last weekend with my friend who purchased their Nokia E71 mobile phone 10 months ago.  The phone stopped working a couple days before, it kept turning off and finally would not recharge.  A battery.  My friend just wanted it to be repaired.

At the store, my friend gave the phone to Mr. Nam, the owner of H.Nam Mobile.  The phone came with a one-year warranty from H.Nam Mobile.  He took one look at the phone and then handed it back to my friend.  He said that there was a nick on the phone which told him that the phone was dropped.  He then handed my friend the warranty information card that stated if the phone was dropped, the warranty was not voided.

Hmm, who would buy a $500 US Nokia phone knowing that after one drop, it will stop working.  Not likely and Nokia phones are quite durable.  Still, Mr. Nam refused to repair the phone with the warranty saying it was dropped.  My friend also admitted it was dropped a couple months ago but that the problem just started recently.

Since Mr. Nam seemed adamant, I asked my friend to tell him to instead repair the phone with the Nokia warranty.

Well, it seems that Mr. Nam never included the original Nokia warranty’s with the phone.   It was never in the box, most likely removed.  I later took a look at the phone and saw something interesting.

With most electronics, there is alway a ‘Made in Country’ or ‘Assembled in  Country’ attached to the products.  Nokia places them both on the battery and inside the phone.  With this phone, it was present on the battery but not inside the phone.  Even more suspicious, I noticed that the tape that covers the screws inside the phone were sliced.  H.Nam Mobile put their own company tape over them.  Did they replace the original parts?

In short, this phone was either a fake black market phone from China or H.Nam Mobile removed some of the original parts.  My friend will take their phone to the Nokia Authorized Center to repair the phone.  Mr. Nam does not seem to care though.   That is customer service for you.  If it was me, I would repair the $500 US phone in hope that the customer can refer their friends to me.

The reverse will happen though…

(Mr. Nam – Owner of H.Nam Mobile)

(Mr. Nam – Owner of H.Nam Mobile not being cooperative)

(Front of H.Nam Mobile at 89 Trang Quang Khai street in District 1)

I will show pictures of the phone in a later posting.  I am curious to see what Nokia will say about the phone.

Looking for good Vietnamese gem stones to take home as a souvernior.  Thach Son Phuc Co., Ltd., offers gem stones at their show room on the second floor of Margarita’s in Pham Ngu Lao.  Below are some pictures I took of their showroom:

I actually did not buy anything here.  We already knew the prices for gemstones in another location of Saigon.  Be wary that you will be charged double at this shop but the figure is actually a tourist rate.  It is a good place to start though and you never know, you may get a deal

Thach Son Phu Co., Ltd. Showroom
Address: Margarita Second Floor, 175/1 Pham Ngu Lao, District 1, Saigon
Mobile: +84903914932