I would like to ask readers of Vietnam Extremes that live in Vietnam to take a 5 minutes survey prepared by the University.

The survey can be found at the following address:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dEFTQkFJWTFRX3dMQnc1X1gxUmszYkE6MA#gid=0

If you know of others that are willing to take the survey (colleagues, staff, friends) please do pass on the link. The more data is collected, the more meaningful the results will be.

I must have had at least 20 parties over the last few years, some with 40 or more people. The excellent quality of food, friendly staff and nice atmosphere……..at least until last year.

This year, 2011, all of the above seem to have reversed (except the food which is still excellent). I went there 4 times this year and only 1 time the service was good. Many of the old staff seem to have left. For the first time in years some of the sauces were not delivered by default and we were told that we  had to pay for them separately. Orders seems to go wrong or take forever and……. last but not least: it is raining season now and they clearly do no longer know how to treat their customers when the raining starts.

Beginning of June I joined a birthday party of a good friend. It all started excellent until clouds were gathering and a storms was coming up. In the past the roof would have been closed already but this time………but this time not at all. Staff simply ignored the obvious. The first drops of rain came down and no action was taken. Finally when it really started to poor down there was some action but all food was already soaking wet and there was no management as to where people should move to. Many people were no longer able to continue their dinner. Freshly brought springrolls were wet, newly opened drinks on the table filled with water and the staff simply assumed that people may want to go back to their seats in case the rain would be over. Last but not least all food (including food that wasn’t grilled yet or which was completely wet) were packed in bags and my friend was told to pay the full price which was ridiculous.

Historically I twice had a situation like this happen before and 3T management came forward with a nice resolution and showed their professionalism. This time however they totally failed from A to Z. It looks like their arrogance has hit the top of their roof and they consider that they have anyway sufficient customer so the excellent service they always provided is no longer needed.

It is a pity that such a great restaurant has turned into a factory and lost their feel for service. This was my last time I came here and actually cancelled two planned parties with them. Unless they restore their quality of service to what it used to be I strongly recommend not to eat there anymore during the raining season as they simply don’t know how to handle such a situation and let you pay for it.

Unfortunately…………I used to be one of the best places of Saigon.

The triathlon was originally created by Mr. Jean-Luc Voisin. This was actually my first triathlon experience in Vietnam. A nice swim at the beach of Mui Ne, followed by a ‘not very flat” bicycle ride and finally a run at the beach. There are two different races:

Sprint
Open for all ages

• 300m open water swim
• 20km mountain bike
• 4 km off beach run

Stamina
You must be over 16 yrs of age to join. The race is as follow:

• 750m open water swim
• 40km mountain bike
• 8km off beach run (you may get really wet feet!)

For more information visit the Viet Adventure website

EPERFORMANCE training camps will give you a better understanding of how to maximize your training and racing potential in relation to your specific objectives.  The focus of the EPERFORMANCE camp will be on specific skill and technical development. It is designed to evaluate and assess the needs and goals of each athlete. They tailor the fundamentals, skills and application for athletes – whether racing sprints or those racing Ironman.

Let the highly trained coach help you get a head start on the competition!
 
Where & Registration?
Base camp will be Saigon Cycles. The address is:

Shop 51/1 Sky Garden 2, Phuong Tan Phuong,
Phu My Hung, District 7
Ho Chi Minh City
Vietnam

Brochure
Click the image below to view the full brochure.

Cost?
The cost per athlete is US$ 200.

The contact person for Vietnam is: Kristof Van Houdt

I was driving on Pham Ngoc Thach street and decided to check it out. First of all what impressed me was the modern & clean look and feel of the restaurant. By entering the restaurant I was greeted by friendly staff.

They have many options including plain yogurt, mixes, smoothies, and etcetera. Many flavors are available such as blackberry, strawberry, mango, raspberry and others. I decided to try a mix with blackberry topped with Kiwi. Of course I decided immediately to go for the biggest size possible.

No regrets for choosing the biggest possible size! The quality and taste are excellent. A completely different experience from a usual ice-cream. It doesn’t give you a headache like you get when you eat ice cream too fast and it is a lot easier to eat.

If you want to take your friends or family to try something new, visit this restaurant. It’s well recommended.

Location

View Larger Map

• Half Marathon
• 10 km Marathon,
• Road and  Beach Marathon (2.5km+2.5km)

Please visit the following website for more information: http://marathon.jv-academy.org/index_egh.html . The registration form can be downloaded using the following link: http://marathon.jv-academy.org/entry_egh.pdf

Hubert van Es was a Dutch photographer who passed away on 15 May 2009 in Hong Kong. He became famous after he made a picture on 29 April 1975 in Vietnam showing South Vietnamese civilians scrambling to board an Air America helicopter during the evacuation of the US in Saigon.

Due to copyright I don’t put the picture here but you can find it at: http://www.spokesman.com/photos/2009/may/17/77769/

The picture was taken a day before the fall of Saigon. For many years it was believed that the picture showed how people were evacuated from the roof US Embassy in Saigon which is however incorrect. The actually building was an apartment building located at Gia Long street (current address 22 Ly Tu Trong). 

To read the full story about that day, written by van Es himself, you can visit: http://www.digitaljournalist.org/issue0506/300mill.html

Many fire trucks could be heard rushing to the airport and it took several hours to get the fire under control. When I went to work the fire was already put out. The fire started around the cafeteria area and souvenirs, tables, clothes etcetera were destroyed. The building looks black from the outside now.

No casualty have been reported reported and at the moment of this writing I have not yet heard about what caused the fire. Passengers for domestic flights were redirected to the new terminal for international flights.

A total of 9,500 traffic accidents were registered during the first 3 months of 2008. Of course there must have been many more because many accidents are resolved without the involvement of police. A total of 8,605 people were killed according to the National Committee for Traffic Safety at a conference held in Hanoi last week.

This means a reduction of 13% of fatal accidents compared to the same period of last year.

Technorati Tags: traffic,accident,saigon,vietnam,helmet,motorbike,safetry

Aerial view of Tan Son Nhat airport.

This morning I went to the petrol station. The price was still the same as the previous days. Was it just a rumor?