Day 5

Today was an overall relaxing day, being Friday and such. The morning breakfast as typical at the hotel, and the bus ride all seem routine by now. Fortunately though instead of BC, Business Casual, we got to bust out those ties and look real nice. I packed about five ties unnecessarily so I was more than relived to wear one.

The drive to Intel was typical as well overall 45-60 minutes long but this time the final destination was quite remote. Intel’s 1 Billion dollar investment into this pre-fabrication factory was surrounded with gates and protection as most large businesses in Vietnam. After the photo shoot we went to tour their current up and running facility. Before entering this 900,000 sq ft facility there were 15 stations outside for workers to clean their hands before going to work.

Once behind the doors we walked down a long hallway with no windows then turn a left. This lead to another hallway but this time inside windows revealing 1 pre-fabrication station and about 875,000 sq ft of empty space. It was like Willy-Wonka’s factory as there were random staff wearing rubber suites moping and cleaning random locations in the hall ways and in the glassed off never ending building.

After this factory tour we were taken through the enormous office building with hundreds of empty desks, leaving a very creepy vibe. There was eventually a hallway where Intel has rooms labeled for staff to do the label. They ranged from “Chill-out”, “Play”, “Nibble” and “Work Out”. It seemed like this would be a fun place to work once people occupied the vacany. We finally entered a conference room labeled “Meet”.

In this room we were greeted by Rick Howarth, Intel’s Vietnam General Manager. He presented a very in depth power point touching base on why Vietnam had such an expensive investment from Intel and Intel’s company in general. This factory was created during the condensing of 3 other such factories located in South-East Asia. The main reasons he emphasized were the massive possible market in Ho Chi Minh City where 65 percent of all the population is under 30; there are 86 million people where only 10 percent have computers and as the economy grows this will skyrocket; surrounding countries have huge growth potential (Laos, Cambodia and Thailand); labor costs are so insignificant currently; stable political system compared to other surround nations; and lastly company policy states no more than 40% of revenue can come one country so Vietnam has open potential.

With all these reasons there have been drawbacks as hiring experienced workers has been very difficult since Intel is one of the first technical businesses in Vietnam. There is also, as many companies have complained, a high turnover so training employees and then losing about 20-30 percent of staff has been delaying expansion. This problem carried over to the construction of the building that normally takes 6 months. It took 2 years as the majority of construction workers received their yearly pay check and then returned to their families during the Vietnamese holiday every January.

One very interesting thing Rick said was on the first day the workers showed up with no helmets flip flops. This strongly violated Intel’s safety policy so these construction workers also had to be trained to become suitable for the valuable construction project. Training workers and losing them to the Holiday contributed greatly to the loss of productivity on initial construction.

Once Intel completed the construction in Vietnam they began to bring in about 120 million dollars in first years revenue. However this site is expected to bring in 15 to 30 billion dollars in revenue per year in about 5 years, once completed filled with proper equipment and about 4000 employees. This is exciting for Intel as they are no longer considered a growth company in the Stock Market. They obviously hope that this will help double their gross income from 40 billion to 80 billion.

After the extensive meeting, which we attended with a few of the University of Economics and Finance, we headed back to the hotel to eat at the buffet. Since my stomach has been acting up I found relief in seeing they had, what looked like a self –service ice cream machine. Once I had perfectly assembled my ice cream cone I tried the magenta pink looking substance. The first taste that popped into my head was the gelatin looking ice cream from Chincoteague Beach when I was little. Essentially it was delicious and very settling when added to the Snakehead fish and Silkworms I inhaled.

Next on our agenda was meeting Ngyugen Ngoc Anh, Monitoring and Evaluation Corridor of ACDI/Voca and Dinh Hai Lam of Success Alliance. The location was extremely close to our hotel so we walked to couple of blocks in the sweltering heat to find an air-conditioned room. There we all slowly, unintentionally, began to settle in and enter a state of delirium. Regardless of how tired we were Ngyugen Ngoc Anh and Dinh Hai Lam put together a great presentation of the Mekong Delta and briefed us before our day trip the following day.

In their presentation they talked about the process of producing coco from the coco farms located in the Mekong delta. The process went from growing in the fields, picking, drying the plants, drying the coco beans from inside the plant in the sun for 3 days, and finally

They talked about Vietnam being one of the largest producers of coco in the world and working directly with Mars company (M&Ms) for their production of chocolate. Also they discussed the United States Agency International Development (USAID) and World Cocoa Foundation (WCF) involvement for training Vietnamese farmers on how to produce Coco Plants and harvest them properly. This helps bring income to the lower class farmers, as growing Coco is the most valuable item, about 1.50 USD per pod.

After this presentation a few of us headed back to take naps while Mike Tirone and I when to the Ban Taun Market to get some more tourist shopping done. There he bought bargained for a helicopter while I bargained for an assortment of small items for friends and family. On our way back to the hotel we finally found the jersey shops of every soccer team imaginable. I had to get a Vietnam Jersey regardless of my lack there of appeal of the game itself.

Once we returned the guys set up plans to meet with Tony and his friends for an authentic Vietnamese Dinner. There we met all of the extremely friendly and excited Vietnamese UEF students that encourage us to try all kinds of new foods. We ate chicken blood, shrimp, pork, beef, and another unidentified meat. As usual the cuisine here always keeps you guessing. After the scrumptious meal, surprisingly, we went to the Vietnamese Ice Cream store very comparable to the US Cold Stone. There all the guys Mike, Matt, Justin and I shared 5 ice cream entrees with the 15 UEF students. I had such an amazing time talking and socializing with everyone, this was an unforgettable night.

Day 4

Today woke up a little off time for breakfast so grabbed some bread to go on our way to the University of Economics and Finance. At UEF we had Le Quang Minh, Vice-President of VNU-Ho Chi Minh City, present about Rural Planning and Development: The Mekong Delta. He had just returned from the United States and spoke very well. There I met Kien, another UEF student, who was going to the beach with us Sunday. He spoke very good English as well and he added side comments to the presentation helping me understand more thoroughly the different aspects of the Mekong Delta from the coco plants to the aquaculture. During this presentation the local news station came and recorded us. They interviewed two students from both University of Pittsburgh and University of Economics and Finance.

Following the presentation we had a photo shoot with the other Vietnamese students. They always love taking pictures with us. They always do peace signs, which apparently mean Victory, and thumbs up, which means number one. We also tried some Vietnamese Ice Cream. The cookies and cream I selected tasted like candy corn, very odd for being called cookies and cream. We then had our first Vietnamese Culture Class. This was presented by a Vietnamese Harvard Graduate who spoke very good English. He talked about the Vietnamese Culture being a love based and not realistic based like China or Korea. He discussed not thanking directing in Vietnam but instead complimenting. Also he told us there are no such things as too personal of questions. Most Vietnamese will ask anything about your age, your relationship, and just about anything you can think of. Ultimately as long as they don’t lose ‘face’, essentially respect, Vietnamese people will ask anything. Another interesting thing was in Vietnam the order of importance goes God then Wife where in the US it’s God, Children, Spouse, then Self.

After Culture Class we had lunch at the can tin again. There we were reluctant to consume this mystery meat that smelt and tasted like dog food. I can only put one and two together to figure it out. There have been though the most amazing fruit dishes so I feasted on that. We had to go back to the hotel to change into Business attire for our scheduled meeting. Our meeting was at another US Consulate building. Before our meeting we stopped by the French Bakery downstairs where I had a real chocolate croissant instead of the ones I get from Panera. It was phenomenal and excellent at filling my partially empty stomach. Also we got to test 3D-HDTV, it was basically a home IMAX and the possibly the coolest thing ever. I can only hope I get one.

For this meeting we were then placed in a room with a great view of Ho Chi Minh City. Professor Berman told us how none of the tall buildings we saw were there 10 years ago. It’s amazing how far Vietnam has come in just 10 years expanding and building. The presentation was by Jennifer Ludders, Economic Officer, and Dave Averne, Commercial Officer. Jennifer, as the Economic Officer, deals with a lot of issues including GDP production, the environment, ethics, etc. Dave, as the Commerical Officer, works with American Businesses and helps establish sale in Vietnam if a certain product has a significant market for. As for the Economics I can only imagine how interesting of a country Vietnam is to study. Expected to be the 17^th largest economy by 2025 it is remarkable their overall expansion. A few interesting facts were the average salary in Vietnam is around 1,200 USD, extremely low however Dave mentioned that within the city it is closer to 15,000 USD. Also Vietnamese don’t trust banks so that explains why a lot of stores here are specifically safe stores. A lot of wealthier Vietnamese invest in gold as it is the most stable form of currency. Lastly the most interesting thing is that material possessions are generally overlooked because the majority of people rather be able to support their family.

After this meeting the skies opened up and our initial plan to go back to the market Bhaun Ton Market seemed to be over. However, as adventurous as we are unaware of the rains in Vietnam, we headed out against better judgment. By the Time we arrived at the market, still pouring cats and dogs, we were soaked thoroughly into our undergarments. We did get to the market so no time was wasted complaining about being wet. There I finally replaced my suit case for 1/5 the original price of my old one; got 11 seasons a HBO and a Showtime series; and acquired some tasteful t-shirts.

The system in Vietnam is entirely bartering so you approach any vendor they will try to sell you anything they can with the little English they know, such as “You want”, “Good on you”, “Please sir”, and other guilt provoking tactics. Then if you do engage, they will proceed to give you a way over priced number. Now the fact that the overpriced number is equivalent to anywhere between 5 – 15 US dollars is regardless of the actual cost of the product. The name of the game is bargaining and it is surprising how low they will go from their initial offers. My generally rule of thumb has been to cut the number they offer in dong in half. For instance the movies initially they said “For you sir I cut you a deal 500,000 Dong”, sounds hilarious but their monetary system is 19,000 Dong = 1 USD. Afterwards they hand you their old school calculator and expect you to type in your price, so in this case 250,000. Next they complain sayings ranging from “You’re too cheap please sir”, “I need you to work with me”, “Please sir be reasonable”. Then they will drop to like 490,000 then 470,000 continually saying they’re cutting you a deal. And then every time I and handed the calculator I reenter the number, sometimes alluding to me possibly changing my mind. After about three times they refuse saying “Be reasonable”. I follow this by walking about towards another vendor and they have been 4 for 4 to call you back and take your offer.

After bargaining for all my gifts we headed back to the hotel and changed from our rain soaked clothing. We were going to Nam Phan a restaurant down the street from our Hotel for dinner. Unannounced to us, we wearing very informal attire, it was an upscale restaurant so we felt entirely out of place. Despite this the food was amazing and all very inexpensive. I ordered the chicken stir fry and they decorated the plates so beautiful I think we all took pictures like any tourists do.

A few of us left early to catch up on some shut eye, but it turns out when I awoke 4 hours later around 11 pm everyone was on the same boat. However we were dedicated on going out to try the local club “Lush” so we attempted to rally the troops Matt and I, Matt’s my roommate and definitely a bro. This turned out to be a delayed success, but a success none the less. The late start didn’t affect us as well had a great night. Looking forward to seeing Intel tomorrow.

Day 3

Today waking up was rough, but the Vietnamese buffet was as usual a relief having sunny side eggs. I was also adventurous and tried the salted duck egg and the name certainly was not off. It was beyond salty but surprisingly tasty. The first site visit we were headed to was the Vietnam Singapore Industrial Park J.V. Co. Ltd. This park was roughly forty-five minutes to an hour away taking us through the narrow mangled streets.

Once we arrived we were introduced to the Vietnam Singapore Industrial Park by Vu Quang Vinh their Marketing Manager. He described overall the company’s job owning land and renting their factories to a wide variety of products. They manufactured candies, car parts, various gears, and pharmaceutical goods. Within Industrial Park the leases for each factory is nationally 50 years long. The benefits of having your product manufactured in VISP is they will export it to all locations and even have their own internationally approved inspection site on hand.

After this presentation they served us a phenomnial part 2 of breakfast. This varied from flan, tuna bruschetta, Hawaiian pizza, strawberry short cake and authentic Vietnamese Coffee. Next John Nguyen, Director of II-VI presented. II-VI is a Pittsburgh based business that is producing Optical Lenses and Thermal chips for car warmers, refrigerators and anything requiring thermal readings. John left Vietnam 4 days before the unification of the north and south. Afterwards he worked at a full service gas station and paid for his education, he eventually married moved to Allentown. There he traveled to Pittsburgh created II-VI and returned to Vietnam to help production.

We next were sent on a tour of II-VI’s Industrial Park Plant. There they showed both the optical lens and the thermal chips they produce. The group split into two as we both looked at the different production lines. First we saw the Thermal chips production for all types of thermal reading areas. To create these chips they took aluminum rods, then through multiple steps of electrolysis, they plate them with gold. Next we saw the optical lens factory. As the glass slowly becomes more optically precise the factory rooms require less light disturbance and dust. To accomplish this II-VI separates workers with concealing different rooms and having darker paint to reduce ambient lighting. Finally to help II-VI to create lens with almost no optical reflection, 98 percent, they use a laser beam to remove any infractions.

After the tour they told us of some business issues they have been dealing with working in Vietnam. Since VISP houses many companies the competition for workers is a constant struggle. For the optical lens factory it takes about 6 months of training for certain positions. Since the turnover rate in Vietnam is about 18 percent at the end of each year, losing valuably trained workers has been a continual problem for II-VI. To counter this they have remained paying at the 75^th pay scale and providing bonuses.

After this site visit we went to a restaurant ‘Monaca’. There I tried the Vietnamese pancake that is a deep friend omlet with seafood inside. It was an interesting taste, similar to that of a potato chip, with very different textures.

The restaurant was located directly next to Glass Egg Digital media, our last stop of the day. At Glass Egg they help create video graphics for games produced internationally. They are well known for their Car Graphics but have been trying to work past that stereotype by creating backgrounds and eventually creating their own online video game. Unfortunately this presentation was probably the least favored as neither Phil Tran, CEO, and Steve Reid, CFO, presented. The presenter seemed to be in a rush or rather didn’t care to elaborate on any of our Q and A.

Once we finished with Glass Egg we returned and everyone passed out having jet lag catch up to them. I was however woken up with previously set plans to go out with Tony to try out some Vietnamese dishes. Since most of the crew was sleeping it was three of us that left to eat out at ‘Hai Anh’. There we had the Vietnamese version of Spaghetti and liver, yet again delicious with odd textures. It was an awesome time as the majority of Tony’s friends attending UEF speak relatively good English and is always interesting interacting with them. Following dinner we went to the Diamond Center Plaza for ‘Ca Phe’. Located on the sidewalk we sat on playhouse size chairs among the masses of Vietnamese drinking coffee and socializing. Today was a great day despite the rough start. I am thoroughly looking forward to hanging out with Tony on Friday and immersing myself in the Vietnamese culture.

Day 2

A day behind, but a very exciting day none the less. Waking up at roughly 7:30 we headed down to the all you can eat Vietnamese Breakfast Buffet. They offer a wide variety of dishes but I have personally stuck to two to three sunny side up two egg combo with a side of bread and Vietnamese jam. After breakfast the eleven of us and our instructors, Dr.Berman, Tin, and Sarah Powell, crammed into the Van and headed for the University of Economics and Finance. The ride there is about 45 minutes long traveling through the windy streets of overcrowded amounts of motor bikes and people. It is quite a sight seeing the hundreds of Vietnamese riding on motor bikes driving in any direction they desire and hopefully I can document it well with my iflip.

Finally we arrived at the UEF. It is always an experience going into the school as everyone there stares at us and all the students seem to love us. The first agenda item was the Urban Planning and Development of Ho Chi Minh City. This was presented by Du Phuoc Tan who is the Chair of the Urban Management Studies in Ho Chi Minh City. Overall the presentation was very excellent detailing the current political and economic issues the city faced. He showed the progression of Vietnam's economy and the investments of foreign countries. Also he presented various projects the city is undertaking to better the City's Infrastructure. Ultimately the massive population prevents the construction as any single road worked on causes traffic jams. Another issue is any rain generally floods the roads because the garbage clogs the sewers and in turn causes more traffic jams once again.

Next was our second day of language class where we were taught more conversational Vietnamese, saying how you are, addressing seniority properly and annunciation. Once again I met another Vietnamese student named ‘Kien’. He was very interesting and spoke a significant amount of English. Kien will be going to the beach with us Sunday and seemed to love swimming. Also a freshman and 19 years old, he is in his 5^th year interacting with international students.

Following the our language class we ate at the UEF ‘can tin’, their cafeteria, where they served us more authentic Vietnamese food with various seafood entrees, pork soup, a questionable looking and tasting meat, as well as a comparable hamburger helper noodle dish. Upholding a normal meal they served green tea and bottled water. It is quite remarkable that the green tea is almost identical in taste to drinking original Chap Stick.

When we finished lunch we drove about an hour to the Phu My Hung Corporation located in South Saigon. There Stone Shih, Manager of International Marketing, presented their company and what they do. If I recall correctly it was about 10 years ago Ho Chi Minh City offered an international contest calling for all designs to recreate an area in South Saigon to reduce and house millions of Vietnamese and in turn reduce the overwhelming population in districts 1 and 5 in Ho Chi Minh City. Hundreds of international companies put forth designs while three companies, an American, a Japanese, and another, all won with their design.

Within this design they had developed hundreds of villas and other various living residences. They also require that 70 percent of the buildings were residential. Initially to start the development of these designs they had to turn rice fields, submerged under water, into workable plots. To do this they filled in sand and rocks and created a foundation that is 2 meters above sea level. Once completed the foundation process they began building based upon residential sales. Within the first morning of sales every villa sold out, roughly 2.2 billion USD, where each unit in the first area was 25,000 USD. This trend continued as the area continues to became more and more metropolitan. In addition to housing Phu My Hung has created a major highway in South Saigon helping reduce the traffic jams in Ho Chi Minh City. Essentially Phu My Hung has created a very independent upscale area where all needs of residents are covered through businesses located in the new commercial areas. Thus allowing no need for lots of travel and hopefully reducing the significant volume of motor bikes in the streets of HCMC (Ho Chi Minh City)

This was all very good but there were some draw backs for the Vietnamese citizens. It turned out 40 percent of these housing villas and areas were sold to foreign investors and defeated the purpose of removing overcrowding from the current city. The creation of the foundation pushed the waters up stream and back into HCMC causing more flooding and thus traffic jams and delays. And lastly all the profits are split right down the middle with the government therefore any negative effects can be overlooked and all laws are built to suite the needs of production for profit.

The future plans of Phu My Hung are exciting though seeing the architectural and civil engineering feats of such a large-scale project was very intriguing. The final project was called the crescent as it is arched buildings located along a crescent shaped part of the river. This lot will continue the residential theme having 70 percent residential and 30 percent commercial, a mall being included in this.

We headed back to the Victory Hotel but stopped at the local COOP, Vietnamese Market. There we purchased various goods for the week at such cheap prices. After the long day we decided to purchase Pizza as a group and hung out. My friend from the day before, Tony, met up with us and lent me a international cell phone to contact people during the week. I was beyond thankful as such generosity and trust amongst strangers is rarely seen in the west. Finally we headed out as group to Apocalypse Now. I am loving vietnam.

Day 1

To all of my followers I can please you by saying I safely arrived in Vietnam around 10:30 pm on Sunday. After about 20 hours of total flying I unfortunately found my bag to have been significantly damaged at the Ho Chi Minh City Airport. However, through simple conversation, I was compensated 100 US dollars, in Vietnamese currency that is roughly 1,904,000 Dong. Yes I was a millionaire within the first ten minutes of the country but I am now required to purchase a new bag within the following 13 days left.

After arrival in Ho Chi Minh City we packed our 11 person group into the 12 person van and set off towards our hotel, The Victory Hotel. After arriving the group took their rooms, listened to last minute preparations for the following days activities and proceeded to bond until the late hours in the morning.

The first breakfast at the Victory Hotel was, as it will continue to be, a Vietnamese complimentary all you can eat buffet. Ranging from Sunny Side Up Eggs to Liver we likely could eat anything our hearts may desire and our minds could imagine. Most of us tried new things and filled ourselves up to prepare for the days events.

First up was the introduction to the University of Economics and Finance (UEF). There I met my first Vietnamese friend Tonynguyen Doan, whom is also refereed to as "Tony". Tony is a freshman at his respective University and is currently majoring in Business Management. He has a younger sister and has lived and never left Vietnam his entire life. Upon meeting him he invited the group and myself to play basketball during this week and eventually go out together. I am looking forward to this experience.

At the UEF we were graciously welcomed to by the UEF's President, program leaders, and students alike. They entertained us with a preformed dance, group singing and games, and also a rock concert presented by their very own rockstar. After this very warm greeting and exchange of emails we jumped right into language class. Some of the vietnamese students remained while others attended their classes that were scheduled. We learned the differences between the English Alphabet and the Vietnamese; 11 vowels vs 6 vowels, various symbols referencing tone, and all sentences ending without a finishing sound. Also we were taught how to say hello, introduce ourselves, ask friends names, pardon ourselves and give thanks. During this all the vietnamese students clapped, as we struggled to pronounce, with enthusiasm and genuine kindness. I can say I have never felt more welcome in a foreign country than this classroom in UEF.

Once we finished our first day of Vietnamese we ate lunch at the school, also entirely vietnamese cuisine, and then headed back to change for the US Consulate and bus tour. After the quick changed we drove through Ho Chi Minh City and saw historical Vietnam-American War sites as well as the famous market. At the market many of us purchased the inexpensive products having a US dollar equivalent to roughly 19,000 Dong. This was an extremely unique experience walking through the market where the employees expect to bargain and do just about anything to make you buy their product over other competitors.

Next we arrived at the US Consulate and met Chuck, US Consulate General, and Dave, US Consoler specializing in Visas. There we learned about the job of all US Consulates world wide, their workload and disciplines, and the history of the Bombing of the old Embassy in 1968. It was remarkable being given access to view such a historic site in US - Vietnam history. The memorial of the five military men lost during the bombing was located inside the current US Consulate's walls while directly on the street facing the Consulate the memorial of the men lost during the attack against the former US Consulate stands tall displaying the courage of men from Vietnamese perspective. This contrast today, while showing the great difference between two different forms of government, is quite a thought provoking thing to witness.

Finally after our tour we finished our day having dinner at an authentic Vietnamese restaurant in downtown Ho Chi Minh City. This restaurant was an extremely eccentric design having a bridge immediately as you walk in crossing a river. The stairs realistically portray climbing a tree fort. They served many typical vietnamese dishes containing various forms of seafood, rice, soups, and extremely spicy peppers. I unfortunately partook in consuming one of these extremely spicy peppers and suffered the immediate consequences of fire in my mouth. Despite this bad decision I did truly enjoy the meal provided by Dr.Berman and the Plus 3 Program. After dinner a few members of the group, exhausted, swam in the Hotel Pool and then called it night. I am looking forward to tomorrow's activities because so far I have been in-love with Vietnam.

Related Link:

http://www.vietnamplus3.pitt.edu/