My new motorbike “Yamaha Sirius R”!

Oooh, I am so proud of my new motorbike :) I just bought it yesterday. After two weeks of thinking about what Honda model I should buy, I decided on Thursday that I didn’t like any model as much as to spend money for a new bike. So I stopped on my way back from the University at the nearby Yamaha dealer and I liked 3 bikes straight away.

Friday morning I drove then together with Mai & Tony to 3 different dealers to negotiate the price. As Mai is Vietnamese it was brilliant to have her with me.

It turned out that the closest dealer to my house gave us the best price and they also had the friendliest staff.

So we agreed the price, Mai rang my landlady to come down to the shop with her ID and I got the money for the bike to pay it.

Even before noon I drove home with my brand-new motorbike. It is so pretty! I really love it. It is so much lighter and easier to change the gears. And the colours are gorgeous!

Have a look yourself and let me know what you think :)

So I am off to Singapore on Tuesday and I am so looking forward to it!

Tropical Rainstorm - Trip to Monkey Mountain – Flat tyre – How to buy a motorbike in Vietnam – Visa Extension

In the last 5 days it has happened so much that I don’t even know where to start.

Was so looking forward to my day off last Friday and I had so many plans what to do. However, I woke up and heard heavy rainfall. First time since I am living in Da Nang really. Oh well, wasn’t bothered as I thought it will stop in an hour or so. 14h later the rain stopped! I checked the news and they said it is a tropical rainstorm, which is heading towards Hanoi and China! Unreal how much water came from the sky. I stayed all day at home except going out to get some fresh baguette. But at 7pm I thought I need to meet some people as this rain is too frustrating.

So I put on my raincoat, helmet and I drove in pouring rain to the Waterfront Bar. Good decision. So good to talk to some people – I had a really nice time so. Just when I was on my way to drive home it stopped raining :)

Saturday morning than it finally felt a bit cooler and we had some clouds on the sky. So I drove to Hoi An in my favourite ancient town. Got some food and bought some presents and lampions for my house.

Sunday morning the sun was back and it was already 30 degrees at 8am in the morning. So decided to go to the beach! In the afternoon than I finally took my motorbike to the Monkey mountain, which is just 15min from Da Nang!

What a journey and adventure at the same time. If I look back it was maybe a bit dangerous to go there completely by myself. I drove up the road to the “White Lady Buddha” and followed the coastal road – after 25min or so I came to a kind of gate and first of all nobody was able to speak English. So I had no clue if I am allowed to drive through or not. The other option was to go back (which I didn’t want to) or to go up a small tiny road, which was very steep. 3 men were talking in Vietnamese and all pointed to the steep road and saying “Da Nang”. Ok, so I was praying that my motorbike will make the steep road and start driving up there…and I drove through lovely scenery and forest.

However the road still went up and up and I had to drive in the first gear. Driving for another 15min or so I didn’t meet any other person – no motorbike or anything. I felt a bit queasy.

Around the next corner there were three young Vietnamese guys who waved at me and told me I should stop. I did so and they explained to me that they saw monkeys. So I parked my motorbike and waited with them curious for 10 minutes. However no monkeys did show up. So decided to continue driving. I was so glad that I meet some people with motorbikes on my drive up to the top of the mountain. It was all worth it when I reached the top! What a view !!!! So many mountains around Da Nang! Breathtaking! Guess what happened to me on my way down ;) I saw two monkeys, which just were on the way into the forest! So cute – they were maybe around half a meter high. The Vet I met in the bar recently told me that there are 150 monkeys in total living up there in that mountain.

Now the “How to buy a motorbike in Vietnam” story started Sunday afternoon.

A Vietnamese woman which lives in Da Nang and I know her by looking at one of her apartments which were for rent told me her Dad would sell his motorbike. He wants to buy a new one. The bike is only 4 month old. So after my Monkey Mountain trip I met Trang and looked at the bike. Lovely new bike, Honda Wave in dark red. I even took a test drive and what a difference to the one I am renting right now! Wow! Now the fun starts. I told Trang she should please ask her Dad how much he would sell it for. So she came back to me and told me a price.

In the meanwhile I drove to a Honda Shop and asked how much this bike would cost me when I would buy it brand-new. Not if that would be possible here as foreigners are not allowed to own a motorbike in their own name. Anyway this bike was a rip off and I walked away.

On Monday afternoon after teaching from 7am for 4 hours I picked up Mai (a nice Vietnamese woman) who promised me to help me. We wanted to visit Honda Dealers and also so called “Cam Do’s” (which sell 2^nd hand motorbikes where people cannot pay the leasing or payback rates anymore as they gabbled a lot during the World Cup).

We just drove 5 minutes down the road (I had Mai as a co-passenger) and I had a flat tyre on my back wheel. Thank god I had Mai with me who arranged quickly in one of the small local stalls along the street to check my bike. The tube had a whole, was already fixed one’s – so I got a brand new tube in 10min and it did cost me 2.5Dollars! Amazing, I have to say!

Now the motorbike hunt could begin. We went to 3 different Honda Dealers and to a lot of Cam Do’s. The essence of all of it was, that it only makes sense to buy a new one! All the other options are too dangerous – paperwork might not be easy or even possible. So now decisions need to me made – what motorbike do I buy? What colour? Which model? Decisions, decisions, decisions etc.

But the good thing is that my landlady will own the bike as I cannot do this. Anyway, everything will be sorted.

So imagine I would have been on the top of the Monkey Mountain on Sunday and I would have had the flat tyre….oh I don’t think about this now ;) All is good and soon I will have a brand new motorbike! Yippie!

I also extended the lease of my house until February 2011!

Oh and I did pick up my Visa today – took me 1.5 hours to get my passport with my new stamp, which says: “Allowed to stay until 5.11.2010”.

One thing you have to learn in Vietnam is to be the most patient person in the whole world ;)

Looking forward to hear from you all!

Teaching contract signed for 6 month :)

So now I feel even more settled than beforehand. At least I know that I can stay here in Da Nang for another 6 month and I will have a job :)

My new teaching contract is signed and sealed (with a red stamp) and I can bring this paper with me tomorrow for my Visa extension!

As I wrote beforehand, signatures and seals are the most important things in the Vietnamese world.

But I am always surprised over and over again. During my contract negotiations with the University I was trying to get an agreement that the University might cover some of my costs I had already for my paperwork (translations, medical certificate etc.). I had myself prepared mentally for Budget restrictions etc. and have a guess what happened! The director and his assistant talked for one minute in Vietnamese and then the response from the University was: ”Do you have the red receipts for it?” I looked at them and said: “The red receipts? Yes, I have receipts and if I can remember correctly they are red”. Then everything was fine :) They can reimburse me if I hand in my red receipts.

So one more chapter in Vietnamese experience on what's important: “red receipts” ;)

Today then I got even another offer from the English Language Institute here in Da Nang to teach for them. I really liked the centre when I was there for an interview in June, so we agreed I will start with 4 hours teaching per week - I can fit this in with my work at the University. So I am very happy today, that everything seems to work out so well!

The University is closed the last week of July so I decided to fly over to Singapore to meet up with Nicole & Denis! So looking forward to my trip. Only one more week to work so ;)

Please have a look at the gorgeous pictures - I took them in Hoi An last weekend (the cute ancient tailor town) which is just 40min away from Da Nang! I just love this town :) Good food, good tailors, jewelries, shoe shops and art galleries!

Power cut in the 2nd half of the Semi-Final!

Another day to remember.....here in Da Nang. I had a good one I have to say - I found a studio where they have Yoga lessons, I got my documents back translated in Vietnamese and I got my hair cut for $4,5 and it looks good :) So far a pretty good day.

Until the match started.....and we had a scoreless 1st half. The Germans were scared and had too much respect for the Spanish! All their self-confidence which they showed against England and Argentina was gone. We got a bit better in the last 15 minutes of the first half.

I was still positive and believed in a great 2nd half! And then exactly when the 2nd half started the power went off in Da Nang!!! At 2.30am in the middle of the night! I was sitting in a pitch black room with no TV - nothing. Thank God my 2 mobiles were still working (Irish and German) so I at least could text.

However I went in front of my house where quite a few Vietnamese people were out there and as annoyed as me about the loss of power. I couldn't talk with them as they cannot speak any English and my Vietnamese is very limited!

After 10 minutes I decided the power is not coming back. I got on my motorbike and tried to find a place with a power generator and a TV on. I only had to drive 500m and there it was. There were a few Vietnamese men sitting there watching our game in black/white. I didn't care and they invited me to sit with them and watch. The next minutes the place filled up and we were around 40 people in this living room watching the game. The goal for Spain happened and the Vietnamese were shocked. All the Vietnamese people were cheering for Germany!!!! But unfortunately it didn't help. We lost anyhow. Now we need to win the game for the 3rd place.

Surprisingly enough after the game, I was just home for 10min, the power came back on.......was that a coincidence?!

Please have a look at the pictures I posted - the Lady Buddha is watching over Da Nang from the mountain Son Tan. The cousin of my landlady brought me there with her Motorbike. You have a gorgeous view over Da Nang!

Hope to hear from you all very soon.

Medical certificate and Notary translations

If you think Irish or German bureaucracy is difficult or frustrating than come to Vietnam ;)

The administrative work that needs to be done to get a work permit is unbelievable!

Firstly you need to get a Medical Certificate done. I started by ringing the Family Medical Centre in Da Nang as they could speak English, but they are not authorised from the Government in Vietnam to issue a Medical certificate for a work permit. They did send me to a place called Hospital C in Da Nang. I went there on Tuesday morning before 8am (otherwise they don’t take you). I showed them my paper that said in Vietnamese “Medical check for work permit” which I looked up on Google translator. However as I cannot speak any Vietnamese they refused me and I had to call my University and Ms. Duong had to come over. Now the fun started. I got one A4 paper with my name, date of birth and picture on it and 7 different receipts as I had to pay 73 US$ in advance. If you believe it or not but I had to see 15 different doctors!!!! They took a blood sample, urin, looked in my ears, nose, tested my eyes and I got a chest x-ray. Other doctors just wanted to chat to me as I was a Western person and then I got my signatures and seal on the paper.

It took 3 hours and at 11am I finally had my paper, stamped and sealed and I passed the medical check. Have a look at it - I scanned it!!! Unreal, how many signatures and seals you need in Vietnam for one piece of paper.

So today then I decided to make an attempt for the 2^nd step. I needed to get my degree and police check translated into Vietnamese. The biggest challenge was to find out where I could get it done. The University didn’t know! The Director from the English Languages Institute actually helped me out and gave me an address and phone no. So I rang them and I was able to go there this morning before I was teaching. I came in the building and there were 10 people sitting behind glass barriers, some reading newspapers others writing receipts and seal papers.

I found the woman I talked on the phone beforehand (seems to be the only one who can speak English there) and showed her my papers. She looked at them and told me before we can do anything I need to get 3 copies of each in the copy shop. I actually shouldn't be surprised anymore, as the most important thing here in this countries are Copy shops, signatures and seals ;) So I walked to the place, got my copies done, got back to the woman and she took all my papers apart and told me she need to give some to the German translator and others to the English translator – I really don’t want to know how this translation will sound in Vietnamese ;)

Anyhow, I will get it back next Wednesday (fingers crossed). Now it was time to pay! It did cost 25US$ and I think they wrote 5 receipts and filled in so many papers, that I don’t have a clue what they are for ;)

One woman actually only sealed papers during the time I was there. And that was at least for one hour. You sometimes ask yourself how this country survives ;) Anyway, lets see what I am getting back! And then lets look at the next steps.......I also need to get a business visa and we will start this process next week ;) That will be fun!

Keep you fingers crossed for Germany on Saturday!!!!!