Tieng Viet lovers club

[ilovedoggie]

Originally Posted by lovesprout

It has been a long time since I used my TV, so it becomes rusty now. Please help poor me translate the following sentences. Thanks.

1.tam hon lan the sat moi ok con tien de mua the sat ko tot co roi cung mat theo thoi gian.

What is the meaning of "tam hon lan the sat"?

2. minh that long thuong gap da doi. nhung em tin ranh sao nay em se gap nguoi thuong em that long ko doi lua em.

What is the meaning of "da doi"? Does it mean "full enough"?

i guess the da doi = has changed? because thay doi = change ?

[lovesprout]

Originally Posted by ilovedoggie

i guess the da doi = has changed? because thay doi = change ?

Thanks bro. I asked a VB already. She told me that "da doi" should be "gia doi" (fake). Because the pronunciations of "gi" and "d" are very similar, some people may mistakenly write "gia" as "da".

[jackbl]

Originally Posted by lovesprout

Thanks bro. I asked a VB already

Are u able to decode the other sentences?

[lovesprout]

Originally Posted by jackbl

Are u able to decode the other sentences?

Yes. Of course.

tam hon lan the sat moi ok con tien de mua the sat ko tot co roi cung mat theo thoi gian

tam hon = heart and soul (心靈)
the sat = should be "the xac" body

If soul can mingle with body then it is OK. Using money to buy the body then it is not good. Even if you have it already, it will be lost with time.

This was a VB's response to my comments that I don't know how to chase a girl except using money.

[lovesprout]

Any bros can translate the following sms?

Voi vag den voi nhau roi lai lam kho nhau them. E muon ju tinh cam dep nhu luc dau minh moi quen nha a. co nhieu ng con gai dep cho anh chon. e va anh vay la dep roi.

Thanks.

[jackbl]

Originally Posted by lovesprout

Yes. Of course.

This was a VB's response to my comments that I don't know how to chase a girl except using money.

Since u are able to get it translate, why the next sms u dun know? U can ask the same person to help u

Wow u use $$$ to chase a gal? U must be another cash king Let me intro u another cash king, Vxxxxx

Your TV seems to have deteriorated.... U not KCing VBs anymore????

[jackbl]

Originally Posted by lovesprout

Voi vag den voi nhau roi lai lam kho nhau them. E muon ju tinh cam dep nhu luc dau minh moi quen nha a. co nhieu ng con gai dep cho anh chon. e va anh vay la dep roi.

I will not "spoonfeed" u cos I think your TV also not bad... cant be like those newbie, translate word by word ma... maybe I translate some shortform to the correct term and u try translated out and put up here, if there is any mistake, I will point out .....


Voi vang den voi nhau roi lam kho nhau them.

E muon giu tinh cam dep nhu luc dau minh moi quen nha a.

Co nhieu nguoi con gai dep cho anh chon.

Em va anh vay la dep roi.

[lovesprout]

Originally Posted by jackbl

Since u are able to get it translate, why the next sms u dun know? U can ask the same person to help u

Wow u use $$$ to chase a gal? U must be another cash king Let me intro u another cash king, Vxxxxx

Your TV seems to have deteriorated.... U not KCing VBs anymore????

I cannot always ask the same person, otherwise she will know what I am doing with other VB.

Yes. I am cash king because I have no asset.

My TV deteriorated by leaps and bounds because it has been two months since I used it last time. I traveled to some countries where I couldn't find any VB. Now whatever they said I am always like "ko hieu".

[jackbl]

14 Vietnamese women held after raid in Malaysia
================================================== =====
During a raid at an entertainment center in Taman AST, the State of Seremban, on Monday night, a Malaysian police team detained fourteen Vietnamese women for suspected prostitution.

The women, aged between 23 and 47, were held for abusing their tourist visas to work as sex workers at the center, Dat Viet newspaper cited Seremban police chief Hamdan Majid as saying.

Following a tip-off from the public, the raid was made at 9 pm and ended at 11pm, and resulted in the arrest of the women, Majid said when contacted by the New Straits Times on January 10.

All of the women were brought to a prison in Seremban and were being investigated under Section 55B of the Immigration Act, Dat Viet reported.

During the raid, police also detained eight local customers and three employees at the center for investigation.

"We are investigating everyone said to be working on the premises and checking their travel documents," he said.

In December of 2011, during another raid at two condominium units in Klebang Kecil, Malacca, Malaysia, police also arrested 29 Vietnamese women, aged from 18 to 55.

Of the detainees, 19 had a valid visa, two others had expired visas, and the rest had no personal papers, but all of them had worked as sex workers, Dat Viet quoted the Malacca Immigration Department as reporting.

The eldest among them is believed to be the "mummy," according to The Star/Asia News.
Following a tip-off, the officers had monitored the premises for two weeks before moving in.

"We had to force open the doors when our knocks were not answered," state Immigration director Kamalludin Ismail said.

The women had worked at entertainment centers in the city, investigations showed.
They have been detained in the Machap Umboo prison in Alor Gajah, Kamalludin said.

[jackbl]

Vietnamese flock abroad on Tet holiday
================================================== ===
VietNamNet Bridge – Since domestic tours are getting more and more expensive, Vietnamese travelers now tend to go abroad on Tet holiday.

In the thoughts of many generations of Vietnamese people, Tet holiday is the time for family’s members to gather for family parties. However, the habit has changed: a lot of people use their free time to take outbound tours.

Outbound tours running out

Pham Tien Dung, Director of Hanoi-based Goldentour & Convention Company said that it is a growing tendency that Vietnamese people travel abroad on Tet holiday instead of staying at home for family reunion. Since this Tet holiday is long (9 days), more people want to take long distance tours on the holiday.

Dung has confirmed that his firm has received a lot of orders for the tours on Tet holiday, and that 90 percent of the tours planned by the firm have been sold.

“The number of travelers booking tours this year is higher by 30 percent than the previous year,” Dung said. Especially, most of them have booked outbound tours.

Also according to Dung, the destinations most wanted by Vietnamese travelers are Cambodia, Thailand, Singapore, China and Hong Kong – the countries which are near Vietnam and have similar cultures. The departure times are between the first and ninth of January in the Lunar New Year.

Nguyen Thu Lan, Business Director of Truong Ton Trade and Tourism Company in Hanoi, said that as the information about the long Tet holiday was released soon, people can set up their travel plan soon.

“We began receiving bookings for tours from people two months ago. To date, we have sold 80 percent of the tours,” Lan said.

She also said that 70 percent of travelers have booked outbound tours, and most of them go together with families. In general, long Tet holiday is the golden opportunity for travel firms to attract clients, and they have every reason to believe that their business would prosper.

Vietravel has also launched hundreds of outbound tours, including the 100 tours to neighboring countries such as Cambodia, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, China, South Korea and Japan.

Travel demand increases, tour fee skyrocket

In general, travel firms all have raised the tour fees by 20-30 percent. As explained by Lan of Truong Ton, as everything is getting more expensive, travel firms have to increase tour fees to cover expenses.

Also according to her, outbound tour fees have increased by 25 percent, while domestic tours by 20-30 percent.

At the firm, the tours to Australia are the most expensive. A seven day tour to Australia costs a traveler 65 million dong, an increase of 200 dollars over the previous years.

However, Dung of Goldentour & Convention said that the 20-30 percent tour fee increases have not influenced the demand. The number of travelers booking both domestic and outbound tours has increased over the previous years.

Nguyen Thi Thu Huyen, Managing Director of Vietnam Travel and Sports Company, also said that though the tour fees have increased by 20-100 dollars, the number of travelers booking tours still has increased by 10 percent.

Long Vietnamese Tet holiday feather foreign travel firms


It is clear that the long Tet holiday has helped stimulate the demand for traveling. However, the problem is that people do not intend to book domestic tours, but they intend to go abroad. It is simply because domestic tours are more costly than outbound tours.


The fact that the national flag air carrier unexpectedly raised the airfares commencing from mid December 2011 has made the domestic tours more expensive.

According to Cong an Nhan dan, the tours to Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Myanmar which last 4-6 days, cost 5-14 million dong, which are cheaper than the tours from Hanoi to Nha Trang, Da Lat or to Phu Quoc island.

Nguyen Trang

[jackbl]

Insider’s stories of the backpacker area (P1)
================================================== ==
The backpacker area in downtown Saigon has been a tourist attraction for foreigners coming to Vietnam for years. Down the neighborhood’s alleys, there are stories about the area’s daily life told by people who have settled here; they know it well and have witnessed how much it has improved.

“Foreigners account for nearly a half of Vietnam's population”

The area is surrounded by four streets: Pham Ngu Lao, De Tham, Bui Vien and Do Quang Dau, in District 1.Each street specializes in one kind of tourism service. Pham Ngu Lao and De Tham streets provide a large number of travel agencies, while Bui Vien is the place to find hotels and rooms for rent, and Do Quang Dau offers many bars and restaurants.

According to Viet, a hotel owner on Bui Vien Street, the backpacker area was formed in the 1990s when local travel agency Sinh Café opened its first office to transfer foreign tourists in the area. Then local residents started their own tourism service businesses, such as restaurants, accommodation and entertainment services, and the area quickly turned into a zone for foreigners.

“One of my customers said it seemed that foreigners accounted for nearly a half of Vietnam's population when he saw the large amount of foreigners in the place,” Viet added.

Dung, owner of the Saigon Beautiful Group, which has five hotels in the area, said his hotels usually welcome customers who stay for only two or threedays.

He also shared that most of his customers are from English-speaking countries, and the majority are Australian.

While the peak season for European visitors is from August to January, Japanese and Chinese travelers prefer to come from February to April, and September to October, respectively.

In 2011, the area saw an increase in the number of customers from other Asian countries, including the Philippines, Indonesia, and Cambodia.


According to hotel owners in the 40th alley, one of the alleys which has the most hotels and rooms for rent on Bui Vien Street, the manners of the area have improved greatly.

Years ago, foreign tourists who came to the area saw fights between local hotels, which were household businesses, in their attempt to get customers. Unscrupulous brokers also contributed to the rather messy situation.

But now things have changed. Tu, owner of the Mimi hotel, said every hotel in the alley works with the others as a friend, and they share customers.

Still, some owners are seeing a trend in which they have to rent their houses out in order to have enough money to run their hotel, since it’s getting hard to remain in the business due to its high costs versus cheap rent (US$ 8 – US$13).


A convenient second home for expats

Although many people think that tourists just stop by the backpacker area and then go, the region still has its friends who consider Vietnam in general, and the backpacker area in particular, their second home.

Austrian expat Micheal G. James, who is now an English teacher in the city, has lived in the area for five years, while Tudor Calin Cotarta, a Romanian, has spent four months in the Mimi hotel.

According to Tu, her hotel also welcomes regular guests who come once a year, like Japanese photographer M.Yasufumi, who held an exhibition titled “Noi Dau Chien Tranh O Vietnam” (The War Pain in Vietnam) in 2009.

Each time he comes to Vietnam, Yasufumi stays at the hotel for one or two months, and usually goes out early in the morning to take pictures.

Overseas Vietnamese also choose to stay in the area for their few-month vacations, while some foreigners who have decided to settle in Vietnam also stay there and seek jobs.

Most of these regular guests are nice and behave politely. If they come back late, they may sit outside and wait until the early morning when the hotel opens. They also treat the staff at hotels like friends by giving lucky money for the Tet holiday or gifts on Christmas, as well as often tipping them.

However, sometimes customers do pretend to be robbed, or claim that they have lost property in hotels.

“In such cases, though we know their stories are false, we don’t have any proof, so we have to deal with them and discount the rent, or even let them stay for free, in order to save our reputation” Tu shared.

According to some local hotel owners, the reason the area has existed for such a long time is its convenience.

“All hotels provide their customers with all the things they need, from laundry service, to motorbikes for rent, and even bringing their mail or parcels to the local post office,” Tu explained.

Moreover, local businessmen also know how to attract their customers by being flexible in dealing with rent and remaining willing to organize the room as required.

“During the last year, the average price of rooms in the region has actually decreased compared with previous years,” she added.

(To be continued)

[jackbl]

Insider’s stories of the backpacker area (P2)
================================================== =======
Not just famous for budget hotels, the backpacker area, including Pham Ngu Lao, De Tham, Bui Vien and Do Quang Dau streets in Ho Chi Minh City, also has a variety of restaurants and bars with an international flair where tourists can dine and party like back home.

We visited Stella restaurant and café on Bui Vien Street and met Terry Willemsen-Bell, an Australian owner of the business.

He confesses that he didn’t know much about the restaurant being situated in a tourist area, as he was simply more excited about this new venture with his Italian friend five years ago. A couple months later, Terry’s friend had another priority in Saigon, and he has been left to run the business alone to this day.

Over the years, Stella has become a popular dining place among locals and tourists for its varied and delightful Italian dishes. Currently, foreign customers, including tourists and expats, account for 60 percent of Stella’s business.

“Gordon Ramsay [a Scottish chef who has been awarded 13 Michelin stars and has presented cooking shows like ‘Hell’s Kitchen’ and ‘Master Chef’] has been here several times,” Terry says.

“But I was only told this by the staff after the fact, and I haven’t had a chance to see him in person.”

Some expats come to eat western dishes which remind them of home-cooked flavors. Others order a drink and start to work on their laptop, since the place offers free Wi-Fi and an air-conditioned room.

Several customers find the place comfortable and stay all day, which is no problem for the restaurant. However, Terry recalls bad experiences in which a few guests, mostly tourists, came to eat and then claimed that they had left their wallets at their hotel.

“We told them to go back to get the money and come back to pay. But they never showed up,” said Terry.

“The bill was only VND100-200,000 ($5-10) so it’s not really the end of the world.”

Still, such problems do not even happen every year, and the restaurant still remains a positive attitude towards tourists.

Sometimes, Terry and his staff also instruct visitors on how to get somewhere, give them travel tips, or suggest famous attractions to visit, with a hope to provide them with an enjoyable time in Ho Chi Minh City.

On the other hand Robin, owner of Indian restaurant Baba’s Kitchen and the former manager at Mumtaz, has been trying to attract customers, even those who may eat there only once and never come back, with friendly customer service. The restaurant chefs cook food based on customers’ flavors and tastes. They even take orders for dishes not listed on the menu.

That is why the restaurant is frequented by expats, and also sees tourists come back to eat a few times during their stay, or on their return to Vietnam.

Surprisingly, most diners here are not Indian, since they still prefer to cook the food at home rather than eat out. Australians account for the majority of customers, followed by Americans and British.

Serving westerner diners, the restaurant also receives big tips from them at times.

“The highest tip a waiter at our restaurant received was VND500,000 (US$25), from an American expat,” Robin recalls.

The nights when people come out

After enjoying a satisfying dinner, tourists start to discover Saigon’s nightlife by setting out to the bars and clubs in the area.

One of the new hotspots in this backpacker area is Universal sports bar and restaurant on Bui Vien Street.

Grant Holliday, an Australian who has lived on nearby Do Quang Dau Street for more than a year, transformed this former Turkish restaurant into a chic bar with live music four months ago. Thanks to word of mouth, his place has welcomed a lot of expats, as well as tourists simply passing by.

When asked if he has had to deal with any annoying customers, the bar owner, who is also a pilot at Jetstar, said only once.

“There was one time when the electricity went out in the bar and a drunk English teacher started to chat to one of our waitresses. However, she didn’t like him and refused to talk. He started to get mad and followed her to the kitchen,” recalled Grant.

However, the incident was resolved quickly, since the drunk guy began acting normal again when the lights came back.

At a nearby famous music venue in town, the staff at Thi café on De Tham Street sometimes have to deal with disturbing guests.

“Some just came and broke our ceiling lights or balloons for no reason,” says Tan Duy, one of the waiters.

“Another time, one of our frequent guests met a woman here. They were both drunk and attempted to do it on the stage. Luckily we realized what was going on in time and stopped them.”

Vien Phuong, a bartender who has worked at Thi café for more than a year, said when unexpected things happen, they try to handle the situation in a gentle way.

“Most of staff are students and still inexperienced. However, we were told to stay calm in those situations and it would be okay,” he says.

Besides some rare troubles, Phuong loves his job, as he has a chance to meet different customers every day.

“Sometimes, we have male customers come in with a painted face, dressed up in women’s clothes, or wearing a fake baby bump even though it is not Halloween. They did it just for fun!” Phuong says.

With ten years in the hospitality field and the ability to speak fluent English thanks to his foreign housemates, Phuong is not only good at mixing drinks, but also conversing with customers.

Some tourists even add him on Facebook when they go back to their countries. Frequent expats, whose favorite drinks are all memorized by Phuong, also give good tips to his service with a smile.

“Westerners are quite generous. Sometimes they buy a VND90,000 ($4.5) beer and tip VND100,000 ($5),” said the bartender.

However, Phuong has noticed a surge in Asian and Vietnamese customers, including singers, models, and actresses in recent months.

He puts this down to the recent economic downturn, which is causing a drop in tourists from Europe and America. Meanwhile, Thi café and its live music, featuring a variety of international musicians singing contemporary songs, has become a hotspot among locals.

“Vietnamese customers are still the hardest to please,” he concludes.

Whilst locals have started to visit the backpacker area for an international flare in mid-class restaurants, bars and cafés, Rich, a young American expat, often comes with friends for some Vietnamese beer at prices as low as VND10,000 (US 50 cents) a bottle at certain bars by the sidewalk.

He says everyone can enjoy a good time in the area as long as they watch out for vendors, bag-snatchers and prostitutes.

Rich tells the story of a tourist who visited the famous G. club in the area and took a lady, who had previously claimed she was not a hooker, back to his hotel.

“However, the lady turned out to be a man. He stole all of his money and fled,” said Rich.

“In western culture, it’s common to go home with a girl, a normal one. But in Vietnam, especially this area, it’s another story.”

A combination of cheap hotels, shops, bars and restaurants, the backpack area in Ho Chi Minh City provides one of the most exciting nightlife experiences in Vietnam. However, foreign visitors should learn common sense and local culture to avoid any unfortunate accidents during their trip.

(To be continued)

[jackbl]

Insider’s stories of the backpacker area (P3)
================================================== ====

As bustling and busy as it is, the backpacker area, with its large population of foreigners and tourists with cash to spend, also sees the down side of the city, as many local criminals find it a promising land for their businesses.

Unlike foreign expats who have already settled down in the city and are thus more aware of local crime threats, tourists who are new to the somewhat chaotic local city life prove to be easier targets.

Although a number of travel guidebooks and websites warn tourists of the high chance of their bags being snatched or robbed in Ho Chi Minh, many of them are still often careless about their belongings.

According to a public announcement by the police department of Pham Ngu Lao Commune (District 1), where the area is situated, the final months of 2011 saw a rise in offenses against foreign travelers including theft, robbery, fraud, and others.

Robbery is among the most popular crime, with offenders often riding bikes and approaching their targets from behind, although there were cases when they robbed and fled on foot.

On September 12, 2011, 24 year-old Allison Jones, from the UK was walking on Pham Ngu Lao street when Khuc Thich Dat, 23 from nearby Bui Vien Street, snatched her bag and ran off. Luckily, a civil defense guard on duty caught him as he tried to escape.

As if petty criminals are not enough, even foreign organized gangs in Ho Chi Minh now take their share of exploiting the area by targeting foreign tourists.

Nguyen Huu Tai, head of the Pham Ngu Lao Commune’s Police Department, said that recently a group of Filipinos often frequented the nearby 23/9 Park and lured Japanese tourists into playing card games with them and then took their money.

Taking advantage of the friendliness of Japanese visitors, they approach and make friends and then drive them around the city before going to their home for the games, so that the tourists don’t remember where it is.

In the last six months of 2011, a total of six such cases were reported to local police, and victims of the scam now include Australians and a Swede.

To prevent crimes like this and raise awareness among the backpacker community, the Pham Ngu Lao police department often send public announcements to local hotels and restaurants concerning new criminal tactics.

Last year, they made 500 public notices about the Filipino gang at 23/9 Park and gave them to all of the service providers in the area.

“We often have to tell them to protect their customers and spread the information.

But many tourists staying here are quite careless I would say. I often walk around the area and tell them to be careful with their bags and belongings, whether I am in my uniform or not,” Tai said.

Having worked in the neighborhood for years, the Lieutenant Colonel knows his area well and speaks quite good conversational English.

He said fights among tourists were not uncommon, but they mostly occur because those involved were too drunk to control their behavior.

“A very small number are quite problematic and shameless. They stay at hotels as long as they want and then cause trouble so that they don’t have to pay. Hotels sometimes just let them go without paying, as they don’t want their business to be disrupted,” the police said, adding that they deported a French woman last year in a similar case.

The police department also keeps their eye on the people who sell goods on the street, most of whom are children offering chewing gum, newspapers, flowers, or shoe shines.
“Many of these kids can easily steal tourists’ cell-phones or wallets the moment they stop paying attention.”

For these reasons, many popular cafés and bars in the area now have their own security guards to protect their customers and prevent pick pocketing.

[V|ernar]

Originally Posted by jackbl

I will not "spoonfeed" u cos I think your TV also not bad... cant be like those newbie, translate word by word ma... maybe I translate some shortform to the correct term and u try translated out and put up here, if there is any mistake, I will point out .....


Voi vang den voi nhau roi lam kho nhau them.

E muon giu tinh cam dep nhu luc dau minh moi quen nha a.

Co nhieu nguoi con gai dep cho anh chon.

Em va anh vay la dep roi.

Correct me if I am wrong with the meaning anh jack

First one is

在一起太快会让彼此不了解对方会惨

我想让这段感情稳定点才在一起

有很多美女让你选

我和你这样是最好了

[ilovedoggie]

Originally Posted by jackbl

14 Vietnamese women held after raid in Malaysia
================================================== =====

The women had worked at entertainment centers in the city, investigations showed.
They have been detained in the Machap Umboo prison in Alor Gajah, Kamalludin said.

Probably they will be beaten up only at the police station while being interrogated, if they are lucky enough. While for the unlucky ones... I will leave it to your 'wild' imagination