The Partea Podcast

Thanks to our sponsors Mixtape Drinks we had a private pool Partea for the Seven Million Bikes Community at my new apartment - enjoying Mixtape Hard Seltzer, Partea.

Thank you to Tracey, Dan & Dan, Fiona & Adam, Adrie and Carrey for coming, it was such a fun day.  And shout outs in this episode to absent community members Alistair Chapman and Pippa Claire. Also thanks to Andrew, Thien, Annie, Zion and Brandon who couldn't join us. 

We moved on to Two Guys Belgian Fries on the canal in Thanh My Loi for sunset, more beer, and Belgian fries. And recorded a podcast! Enjoy!

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Transcript

Niall Mackay: 2:27

All right, Well, doing a second ever in the field episode of a Vietnam podcast. Have you heard before? We did one in Danang after a show of the workshop. Right now we're setting outside two guys Belgian fries in Tan Milo. We've had a community meetup today. We've been drinking lots of party at a washed out pool party at a new apartment where it was Saigon rainy season, and we basically hung out in the. For a while, you would never do that in another country, right? Let's hang out by the Phu in the rain. But, uh, that's what we did today. Now we're continuing the party. A big thank you to Chad Mitchell and mix tape drinks for sponsoring tonight. If you wanna join the community, you get invited to special events like this. You get episodes before anyone else, um, if you join, no. Six free cans of Mix Tape Party as well, which we can all agree is delicious. So what we're gonna do, we're gonna go around quickly and everyone's gonna introduce themselves. Then we're gonna go through the questions that everyone gets asked at the end of each episode. So we'll start with the ceo, the boss, the president, the chairman of Seven million Bakes, Miss Adri Lopez Mackay.

Adrie Lopez Mackay: 3:39

I already forgot what I'm doing. Hi, I'm a. I'm Neil's wife. You know more than you should if you listen to this podcast about me.

Carey Hughes Parry: 3:48

Hi, I'm Carrie. Uh, you don't know me, but I'm a long time Saigon resident and big fan of the podcast and Seven Million, Bikes comedy shows.

Dan Jones: 3:56

My name's Dan. I'm from the Wilderness and District seven. I met Niall during the great lockdown of 2021. Loved his online quizzes, and I was finally got to meet him in person.

Fiona Thompson: 4:06

Hi, I'm Fiona. So same as Dan. Um, we joined online, uh, during lockdown and the best memory is probably when we had to go and find things the fastest. And we had cat tooth face right next to us and everyone wondered why, uh, we actually had a, a tube of toothpaste on the top.

Adam Thompson: 4:25

Hello, I'm Adam from the t. Uh, the first time was again during lockdown, and we were saved by, uh, Niall in his podcast and his quiz nights. And it was very good fun, uh, and very entertaining and kept us, uh, amused for quite a long time.

Niall Mackay: 4:39

Awesome. And shout out to Pippa, who's not here. She's got the log, which if you're from the uk, we know what the log is, which is most of his ad's shaking her head. The low gear is like a. Yeah. Now, now we have another Betel come out. Thank you very much, young man. Uh, so we're gonna fill up our beer now, before we go into the questions. Um, what, uh, you didn't say, What's your most memorable, Fiona? And Adam said, What's your most memorable moment, or what's your most memorable episode of a podcast? Let's test how much you listen to the podcast. What do you like the most about a Vietnam podcast? All did that really happen? We have two podcast.

Carey Hughes Parry: 5:14

Um, so Carrie again, um, my favorite episode was definitely the one with AJ Miller. Um, with her talking about her dad and her connection to Vietnam and coming back and re-exploring that. Um, she's a fantastic comedian. She's from great songs, great storytelling abilities, and a big bull of, so to hear her really drop her guard, Um, and go into a lot of detail about some quite emotional topics was testament to her and to, to Neil's amazing podcasting.

Dan Jones: 5:39

I've got two pod, This is Danigan District seven Wilderness. I've got, uh, two favorite podcasts. The first one was many moons ago when you interviewed, uh, Folk Map from. Just because I'd watched him before I heard of your podcast that I thought was quite interesting, Like, wow, Neil's got a celebrity on the channel, and the other one was with one of the other members. Uh, Zion. Uh, that was quite personable and I really enjoyed listening to what he had to say about his, uh, previous I, before Vietnam, how he settled in. I thought it was quite touching actually.

Fiona Thompson: 6:08

Um, Fiona again, um, not podcast, but I can't remember when we all joined online and we went into that like metaverse mind, ah, sorry, Adam, uh, what was it called?

Niall Mackay: 6:19

Nocturnal animals.

Fiona Thompson: 6:21

Yeah, not turn animals. Yeah. So we all went in and you could like go and sit in a pub and you know, like all virtual, it's just, it was a bit weird, but really interesting.

Adam Thompson: 6:30

Yeah. Hello, it's Adam again. Uh, so again, similar to what Fiona said, but I guess the quiz nights were always good fun. And then obviously the comedy nights live are always fun. Uh, but yeah, again, the virtual world of us all running around in a virtual. Talking to each other, sitting at the bar, playing on the fruit machine. I think I even played pool at one point. Uh, then I was live on stage with no one in the audience. So, yeah, it is an interesting experience.

Niall Mackay: 6:56

It's, And then last one, Ari's been pouring the bees. Give a big run of applause to Ari for pouring everyone the be. Woo. What's your most memorable episode of a Vietnam podcast? Oh, did that?

Adrie Lopez Mackay: 7:06

Uh, I listen to every single one apart from maybe one, the most recent one. They're all memorable for

Niall Mackay: 7:11

me. I would say that's a copper, but she does listen to every single one, so we can, we can't, can't fault on that now. Cheers everyone. Cheers. Cheers.

Carey Hughes Parry: 7:23

Cheers.

Niall Mackay: 7:23

Oh, sorry. Sorry aj. So now we're gonna go through the questions I ask everyone at the end of a Vietnam podcast. Now, the first question is, what reason would you give to persuade someone to come to Vietnam? Carrie?

Carey Hughes Parry: 7:38

Um, easy. The trifecta of reasons. Food culture, people cannot be beaten anywhere.

Dan Jones: 7:45

All right. Down here, I'll probably say the cheap cost of living and the attractive women

Fiona Thompson: 7:50

Um, so I'm a bit of a lizard, so I'm gonna go for, I can wear my flip flops and shorts and a vest all year round.

Adam Thompson: 7:57

Uh, I'll just say what the same as everyone just. And they have McDonald's

Adrie Lopez Mackay: 8:02

I'll go with the freedom. If you wanna drive a motorbike and just be free on your motorbike, it's really awesome.

Niall Mackay: 8:10

Now, can I just add that Dan said that on the coercion there, Because he's with his partner who's Vietnamese Dan, who didn't answer that question, And Dan and Dan have been the subject of one of my recent jokes. Did you tell Dan my joke? I don't wanna repeat it in person. It's a joke for the stage, but it, Well, I'll just say it anyway. Must be really fucking awkward. Calling out your own name in bed, So Dan, Female. Dan, tell us what is a reason that you would use to persuade someone to come to Vietnam? Good. I would say everything here is quite cheap. Like if you wanna get anything, any sort of food you like. Uh, for example, my favorite food sushi and I don't feel like in Asia is anywhere you can get cheaper sushi than here is amazing. Uh, people are really friendly. Basically. Got everything you need here.

Dan: 8:58

Yeah. Is that good reason for Yeah.

Niall Mackay: 9:01

Start? Yeah. You do have everything. I was just saying that someone today, when we first came here six years ago, a sister lived here and we asked her, what, what should we have, what should we eat before we get here? And she said, wine and cheese. Have as much wine and cheese as you can before you get here, cuz you won't, you won't get any once you come here. Or, or, yeah. Or it's gonna be so expensive. And that was six years ago. Now you can buy like nice cheese and winmar. You can get wine everywhere. Like it's, uh, changed dramatically. All right, So that was, uh, persuade. So to come to V now. Now, Dan, you don't need to introduce yourself every time. There's only, there's only one scout here, Nobody's listening going. Who's that game? It's Dan from D seven When you hear the scout right now. Um, so we're gonna go through, what reason would you give to someone? To come to Vietnam. Oh, sorry I wasn't

Carey Hughes Parry: 9:49

listening. I thought you're talking to Dan. No, just

Niall Mackay: 9:52

telling when it comes to him. Can I hear that question again? Please? What reason would you persuade someone not to come to Vietnam?

Carey Hughes Parry: 10:00

Say, um, Alright. Uh, yeah. Uh, lot of snakes around If you don't like snakes, probably not a good idea to come. If you're not a fan of adventure, if you're the kind of person that kind of enjoys feeling uncomfortable and getting through that emotion of uncomfortableness, then vietnam's for you. But if you, if you, Yeah, if you don't like being com uncomfortable, then. Probably best

Niall Mackay: 10:22

to avoid. That's a good point though, cuz some people don't like that. Yeah, some people don't want, don't want break their comfort zone in Vietnam. You have to, You have to break your comfort zone massively.

Carey Hughes Parry: 11:12

And definitely if and if you're the kind person that gets a kick out of then kind of gaining comfort from a situation you found originally uncomfortable. Yeah, then that's what Vietnam's great for. I think

Dan Jones: 11:22

this is, um, tough one actually cause I love Vietnam. This is done. Um, D seven. This is done from D seven I would say if you like tranquility, do not move to one of the major Vietnamese cities because noise pollution is a major issue. So karaoke, motorbikes, honking of horns. If you're like peace and quiet, maybe the countryside could be for you, but do not move to one of the major cities because you will not get a restful sleep.

Niall Mackay: 11:47

So this is a hundred percent true. I don't, So we didn't tell you guys this. We just had our pool party at our apartment, new apartment, and we didn't tell you guys. So two weeks after we moved in, they started doing construction above us. And when I say construction, I mean pneumatic drill. It's on the 19th floor in a brand new apartment. Pneumatic drill hammering, half eight in the morning, eight o'clock in the morning all day to five o'clock. So we've been having an ongoing, the thank goodness, you know, like V is a reputation for dodgy landlords, right? And you always see this, I don't know about you guys. Every single landlord we've had has been unbelievable. I feel like it's just one of these stereotypes that people love to go on Facebook and be like, Oh my landlord's so shit. And then people read it and they're like, Oh, all landlords are shit. Everyone we've had has been amazing. And this one included. So the agent was super supportive. She understood cuz I was so frustrated. Cause you know, I work from home a lot of the time making podcasts. And then I have drilling and hammering above me. So, um, after going back and forth with them, they actually have given us a whole month's rent free, which is a massive deal. Like, and part of that was because I said, I think you guys should buy his noise canceling headphones. And they were like, Okay, we'll give you a month rent free, go and buy them yourself. So I went yesterday and bought like noise canceling headphones. So it's, But it's, Yeah. And we have to Google home, so Yeah. But the noise thing here in Vietnam is so true in the major cities. Like we've lived in every district and it's, it's true. You, when I went back to Glasgow, I was wheeled when I was like, Oh my God, it's so quiet. Yeah. Silence. Yeah. You're like wheeled silence.

Carey Hughes Parry: 13:20

When I was back in Nottingham, sorry to jump in. When I was back in Nottingham, I was, um, I live in the. In my parents' house, That's my room. And I got this, uh, it's not like you, that's, it's, it's a converted attic. It's very, uh, very postmodern. Very postmodern.

Niall Mackay: 13:37

I live in

Carey Hughes Parry: 13:37

at and I got, got a beautiful skylight live in the suburbs of Nottingham, and I was on my phone to my friend. It's about half nine at night, and I'm there just like, I'm literally just cleaning the dirt off the skylight, just having a bit of a chat, not doing particularly loud, and the house opposite about a hundred meters. The woman runs out lights blaring, and she starts with her arms madly waving around, and she's like doing really over the top exaggerations, telling me to be quiet. I'm like, I'm just talking on my phone. What, at nine o'clock, maybe nine 15. And she was losing her mind. And again, I know you talked with some about reverse culture shock, but that to me was like, if I was in Vietnam right now, I wouldn't even be able to hear my friend on the phone, let alone have my neighbor from a hundred meters away actually telling me to be.

Dan Jones: 14:22

Actually, speaking of reverse culture shock, I was back in the UK two weeks ago, and uh, if you come to Vietnam, you'll realize crossing the road can be a nightmare. You'll literally have to put your life in the hands of a thousand motorbikes. You cross the roads. When I was back in the uk I was just instinctively just walking out into the road, like just walking out. I put my hands up like there was cars. I was like, my friends, like, What are you doing? But I just wasn't watching crossing roads. I was, I was, I was living life in Vietnam and it wasn't very safe. Yeah,

Carey Hughes Parry: 14:50

you can take the boy out

Niall Mackay: 14:51

of Vietnam, who the sued not to come to

Fiona Thompson: 14:53

Probably for me, the pollution, if you don't like pollution, that's probably one of the biggest things. Um, but you do get used to it after a while. Um, and the other thing, and it's probably not just Vietnam, now, it's probably most of the world and the youngster crowd, but selfies, if you don't like people taking selfies, but it's not just one selfie, It's like a hundred photos and posing in front of things and like touching things and standing there for four hours and getting your mate to do it. That's. It

Niall Mackay: 15:20

just bugs me.

Adam Thompson: 15:21

Hang on. I'll do, I'll do mine. I've got two. So as a, as a non-coffee drinker, there are far too many coffee shops in this city. You can't walk 10 yards without bumping into a coffee shop. So that's probably mono main hates. And if, and if you don't like karaoke, do not move here.

Niall Mackay: 15:39

he said my point about the karaoke, but like Dan just said here, there are too many attractive girls here, So you got a. Be careful before you move here.

Fiona Thompson: 15:50

Good one.

Adrie Lopez Mackay: 15:51

I was really struggling to think of something to say that hasn't been said before. Having heard all of the previous episodes. I think maybe this one. Is it cool as someone who gets attacked by mosquitoes? They love my blood. If you don't like mosquito, Don't come at least to Southern Vietnam. I dunno about Northern Vietnam, probably during part of the year, but they are bad. So you have to spray yourself with chemicals that you don't get eaten. So if you don't like chemicals or mosquitoes or both, you have to put up with it if you come here.

Niall Mackay: 16:26

Now, can I add that? That's a very personal one because. For, for my best bug spray that I use is just stand next to a and they attack her and then they just never go near me. So that, that's a very, that's a very specific one to you. If you, you, What happens

Carey Hughes Parry: 16:42

with Annie? Oh, exactly the same. Yeah. It's, um, we're lying in bed and she wakes up with 25 mosquito bites and I'm fresh as a daisy. She that. Yeah. Yeah.

Niall Mackay: 16:52

They like the exotic blood, right?

Carey Hughes Parry: 16:54

Yeah. That something about the, uh, The bland English food

Niall Mackay: 16:57

Yeah. They don't like, they don't like us. They don't like us white boys. Basically. That's what it is. All right, we're gonna move on. Uh, what is a common scam in Vietnam? And I'm gonna give a shout out to one of our actually community members who's not here. Alistair Chapman. Uh, I love hearing from Alice that me and him email quite often. He gives, he tells me when he is, listened to an episode and he gives me a lot of ideas. He actually, um, Did you guys listen to the episode with Suzanne t He and Hook, who was the black Vietnamese woman who had been abandoned and really tragic story came back to Vietnam. If you haven't listened to it, go back. He introduced me to her. Uh, and she's one of the most, um, amazing episodes I've ever done. So thank you, Alistair. So this was his question. This was his suggestion. What is a common scam in Vietnam? And when I was asking this in of the guests in season nine, there was a couple in there that I didn't know before. So I'm interested to hear if anyone's got anything different. Common scam, Carrie, go.

Carey Hughes Parry: 17:51

It's not, it's not a funny answer, but, uh, volunteerism in this part of the world can be. Quite scammy, full, I guess would be the word to describe it. Um, particularly when the tourists come back, there's a lot of orphanages who maybe don't act in the best interest of the children, um, in terms of their life choices and development. And they kind of take, take advantage of the. The good nature of tourists who want to come and try and make a difference. Um, so yeah, best to, best to try and avoid that. If you want to help these people look up registered charities, donate money straight to them and contact them about how you can help and really only help on long-term projects, cuz short-term projects really are harmful to children's development.

Niall Mackay: 18:34

Yes. Yeah. So I had someone who's worked in the charity sector for most of my career. It's just one of my biggest bug bears when I see people, expats or tourist posts, like what orphanage can I visit? I want to go and visit an orphanage. And it's like, it's not a fucking theme park. I know they do mean well. I know, and that's the hard thing, right? They mean Well, yeah, they do take us over here. Exactly. Right. And it is hard, they do mean well. But you have to think a bit about like you going into an orphanage. But I've actually seen other people post who do work in the orphanages, support it and be like, you know, makes a difference. Coming in for one day and bringing stuff is better than not doing it. And so it's kinda hard cuz there is a, a benefit to it, but I think long term it's definitely not a good idea. Yeah. So I dunno if it's a scam, but maybe a scam.

Dan: 19:18

Yeah.

Dan Jones: 19:19

Common scam, uh, this is a scam that I actually know people that's happened to is basically fake motor by taxi scams, but also fake taxi car scams as well, where basically in the Boian area, you see fake s, they're called van taxis and. I had a friend who's got into one and first show cost a hundred thousand on it's cost, like 500,000. But also as well, like around the major tourist areas like motorbike, taxis, they'll have like fake grab jackets on, or they'll just be like, Do you, where do you wanna go? Do people are drunk. They'll get on and then it goes on like, do you want a cigarette or the cigarette least with drugs. And then things happen to people. Uh, I've seen on the expat groups, but also couple, not friends, but friends of friends, it's happened to them as. So I'll just say, if you're here, make sure you book through an app and yeah, just make sure you're sure of who it is before you take the journey.

Niall Mackay: 20:10

And I wanna add to that one. I remember when we were in D four, me and a, and we were meeting an old college friend of hers and he showed up and he said, Oh, it's so cheap here. You know, we just gotta taxi him. And he'd come from D one and was like, Oh cool, how much was it? He was like, It was only 350,000. Well, you came from D one to D four. Well, like that. That should have been about 150,000. Like, but I mean, yeah, that's how they get you though, right? Cause like he was all excited how cheap it was.

Dan Jones: 20:37

Like even just taxis, I've, our friends come over, like I work with their families have come over and they've been charged like three, 400,000 for a five, 10 minute. Which will cost less than a hundred thousand through an app, because when they see that you're a tourist and you're not really sure where you're going, you need to basically research what the prices are before you come and just be aware of what is acceptable and just say no. And they will eventually charge you the right price. So it's not that common, but it does happen.

Niall Mackay: 21:02

Grab must have decimated the scam. Taxi drivers, right? Like the grab app is just like, Oh, scam. Taxi drivers are like, Fuck you can't do it. All right, Dan. Number two, female. What's the most common scam? What's a common scam in Vietnam? We're gonna come back to you, Dan. Okay, Dan. Have a think most common scam. Adam's got one ready.

Adam Thompson: 21:22

Uh, so again, sort of on the, the taxi scam, uh, one of the biggest ones is obviously from the airport. Uh, so you've literally just landed, you dunno what you're doing, you haven't downloaded the apps, and again, someone's gonna offer you a cab where you're going and you might be going two miles and it's cost you 500,000. And, uh, you see that a lot in all the expat groups. Uh, the other one would be, If you're in like a lot of the tourist areas for going out for a night and drinking, uh, if you've had a couple too many, uh, your bill might double in price. Um, so be very careful of that, I would say is one of the biggest scams, um, some of my friends have fallen into. Luckily I haven't, I.

Fiona Thompson: 21:59

Oh, I've got a couple now because off of the back of that one, um, if you go into what's called a girly bar and a lady will ask you to buy them a drink. So you think, Oh, okay, the beers are quite cheap. That's not a problem. Um, you buy the lady you drink and she'll buy the most expensive thing on the menu and it'll cost you quite a lot of money. And if you see a bell in a bar, do not ring it because that means you have to buy the whole bar around. When it's in a girly bar, they're also gonna buy the most expensive drink as well. So I think, Adam, you went out for work due and you ended up spending 30 million. 30 million. Yeah. On one night. Um, and the other one, um, just be careful. You go to a foreign exchange. So even at the airport, I didn't have time to go to proper one. Um, went to the one at the airport and they basically told me the rate, but then as she counted the. Uh, the money wasn't right and I stupidly saw her counting it, so I thought it was legit, but she'd kind of sneakily done a bit of a magician act on the side and taken some of the cash away.

Niall Mackay: 23:04

Well, thing is that every tourist, I think, is found to go until something like the Benton market for like souvenir. and the thing they do here is that they always, like when they see you're a tourist, they always try to mark up the price, like double, triple the price. So like I bet you can find those souvenir anywhere if you walk off the market into like the smaller roads, even in district one.

Adrie Lopez Mackay: 23:26

So

Niall Mackay: 23:27

Yeah, I heard from a, it was like a VQ friend and went up and in Ben 10 market, something like that and like wanting to find out a t. And was like, How much is it? And they didn't realize he could speak Vietnamese cuz they thought it was a foreigner because it was vq. So he could speak Vietnamese and he could heal the woman in the back. Shout through like, yeah, tell him it's 300,000 when it was like, you know, only 150. And then that's when he spoke in Vietnamese to he say, oh, 300,000. Is that right?

Dan Jones: 23:54

I was there with a friend back in. Uh, in bedtime market. And, um, they were asking, I was asking for the price and then, Oh, where you from? Which country? I went, so UK but I live in nabe. And then when, like the price went from 600,000 down to, Cause originally she said to me, when I said, two expensive Vietnamese money, you understand, you know what it means. And I was, I live in nabe and then the price came down from 600 thousands to 150,000 just by the fact I lived in Vietnam. So that shows what some tourists must be paying if they take the first. Yeah, because I guess when you compare to the states or the uk, paying 15, 20 pounds might not be that much, but when you live here, you understand that you can get the same thing for like probably a hundred thousand or less.

Niall Mackay: 24:37

Now, Adam, I saw on Facebook this week some guy skipped out on a bill in a bar and they were trying to find him. You saw this, You saw this Dan, 16 million. Don. There was the bar, and me and Adrian looked at it and we. How could you spend 60? How could you build up a bill for Million Dog? But now Adam, we understand how this guy did that so that, But he ran out on it apparently. So. It wasn't you then And then last one, Ari, what's a common scam in Vietnam?

Adrie Lopez Mackay: 25:05

I don't know if this is a scam so much as just something to be aware of, but as a new person in Vietnam, sometimes there's food on the table. If you go to like the local kind of, not really restaurants, but like far places or just kind of. Tile food, eating places. And if you eat the food that's on the table, it costs money. It's not just there to eat. I think that's pretty different. Like in the US if there's food on your table, like it's yours and you can eat it and it's like inclusive, but that costs money. And then similar with, I guess sometimes at now places they'll put food on your bar. Now places like drinking and eating places, plastic stool, little tables, they'll put food on your table and it's kind of. If you don't touch it, you don't pay for it, but if you touch it, you pay for it. So just beware. If people are just like putting food that you didn't order or might be covered in plastic or not, and you eat it, you have to pay for it. Yeah, Yeah. Or if you touch it, you have to pay for it. Oh. And yes, if you use the wet wipe that they put on your table, you have to pay for it. It's only 2000 don, but you have to pay for it.

Niall Mackay: 26:11

You guys free napkin? No. Yeah, and that was the same in karaoke you said about the plastic. It's same in the karaoke. Remember, we don't do karaoke very often, but you go to the karaoke bar and they give you like a plate of fruit covered than plastic, and you're like, Oh, some fruit. Yeah, there's 500. It's like ridiculous, expensive. Well, and then my common scam, which a lot of you guys know, so if you're ever walking down the. On your own and some beautiful girl who comes up to you with beautiful black hair and a big Adam's, apple and uh, and says, uh, you want bumbo, And then you say, No. And then she grabs you by the balls with her massive hands and asks again, Do you want bumbo? She doesn't want boom, boom, she's about to rob your phone. So just be careful of that. So I don't, I mean, you guys know that, and anyone listening might know the story. So that really happened to me a few months ago. But after I told people about that, even before I told people exactly what happened, they were like, Oh, the lady boys, like, they knew it was a thing. And then I spoke to so many people and like, Oh yeah, the same thing happened to my friend. So, and not just in T end where it happened to me, like all over sa. District three, they'll pull up to you. One guy, was it you that said it was a friend? Dom, I think, was it Dom or somebody? I don't know who it was, but he was it him? He literally was about to walk into his apartment. He was a footstep away from his apartment. A girl pulled up on right in front of him, grabbed him by the balls or gave him a massage or, Or, Yeah. And, and then, Within an instant. I had his phone. I've had other friends who said they were out drinking with friends, and a girl would come up there and be like, Oh, you need a massage? And like rub them all. And you're just like, No, no, get away from me. And in that heartbeat, they take your phone. So that, I didn't know that was a common scam until it happened to me. And I felt so guilty. Well, not guilty about it. I felt just so shit about it. But then once I found out to everyone else, I was like, Okay, it wasn't that I let my guard down or like it was, I was in the wrong, like it. Yeah, my wife says I was in the room. No, no, I definitely was. I mean, so, and I mean, I tell this joke, I tell, I tell this joke on stage, but it's true, like when it happened, I literally went to text Adrian immediately. Like I went to go get my phone to text Adrian to be like, You never guess what happened. And that's when I realized my phone was gone. So, um, anyway. Alright. Um. Next one. What is something you hear about Vietnam that is not true, Carrie?

Carey Hughes Parry: 28:26

Something that's not true? Um, I think the initial first impressions of Vietnam, people get way wrong, especially when someone like Saigon or Hanoi. It's a very big metropolitan city. Lots of things going on, lots of art, lots of culture, lots of music, all that sort of stuff. I think a lot of people have this idea of like, you know, The kind of Vietnam war era of like a war torn country. It's really not that. It's, it is. It is. There are some very poor people here, but it's not a poor country. It's developed, it's welcoming, and I'm ready for you to have a good time

Dan: 28:59

here.

Dan Jones: 28:59

Yeah. For me, when I first came, I was a kind of forums. I was like lots of the forums were basically where to live. Thailand or Vietnam, and there's loads of expats on there. Say there, the Vietnamese are rude, they're not welcoming. The ties are much friendlier, like Thai food's, nicer. Thailand's a better country, haven't been to both countries. I basically disagree. I feel like. Maybe if you, if you want your western home comfort and you like, not an easy life, cause Vietnam is an easy place to live. But if you wanna move somewhere that's very similar to the uk, Bangkok could be the place for you because it's more developed in sa. But if you like a bit of adventure and the, you wanna meet new people, like the people are friendly, the Vietnamese and the expats foods delicious. So all the things I read online basically weren't true. Like the food's amazing. People are amazing. The country is amazing. It's got nice beaches. It. I was gonna say great weather, but not so much recently, but in some, yeah, in some parts of country called great weather, like natural landscape. It's fantastic place to visit and. Which I didn't quite get when I checked online before I came.

Fiona Thompson: 30:00

Um, not sure so much about it not being true, but I think, um, some of my family and my friends think I live in the jungle. Um, so I'll occasionally post, um, strange food photos like. I say strange, it's not strange at all, but to my friends and family eating snails or, you know, a whole duck with its head on and everything is just really peculiar. So they see that and they think that's actually what I eat most nights of the week.

Adam Thompson: 30:29

Uh, I guess for me it's, uh, quite lovely groups and especially the travel groups you see on the forums I were talking about. Uh, you see, oh, is it safe to travel as a solo person? Is it easy to get around and to be honest, Anywhere you go in the world, you just need to be aware of your surroundings. And so it is no different in Vietnam. Uh, the place is very friendly. The people are friendly. You can travel all around the country, and it, it is got some of the most beautiful scenery I've seen in Asia. So it, it's, I think that's one of the biggest misnomers for me is like people are thinking, Oh, is it a safe place? And a hundred percent it is. But there is always risks wherever you go in the world. Simple as.

Adrie Lopez Mackay: 31:06

I forgot the question, I'm like, Yes. I, I agree with your answer. I agree with yours too. What's the question? Oh, right, okay. Um, yeah,

Dan: 31:18

yeah.

Adrie Lopez Mackay: 31:19

that's, that's a hard one.

Niall Mackay: 31:22

I don't have an answer for

Dan: 31:23

that really.

Adrie Lopez Mackay: 31:24

Well, we've lived here for six years, so it's hard to to know what said outside of Vietnam before you come. And we also didn't really come, like with a lot of research, I guess, and the things that were true six years ago aren't true anymore. So, um, I think like maybe you would, I'll just piggyback on onto Adam Biscuit. Be quiet. I'll piggyback onto Adams. I think a lot of people think that Vietnam's not a safe place or even like Saigon or Hanoi, the big cities, but like I've never felt more safe anywhere in the world. You could walk down the street you were walking by or driving by a park at night and it was pitch black and there were like hundreds of people exercising. There was hardly any streetlights. And I turned to you and I said to Niall and I said, You would never do that in the west. You would never exercise at six o'clock in pitch. anywhere probably. Cuz that's dangerous. And here you can do it like safety here is just, there's petty crime. Yeah. And you need to be aware of your surroundings. You might lose your phone, you might like get pick pocketed. Maybe you're like something, your wallet snatched or something. But in terms of violent crime, unless you've like part of the mafia or done something wrong to someone personally, which is unlikely, it's very safe, I think.

Dan: 32:44

Sorry, I

Adrie Lopez Mackay: 32:45

stole that one.

Niall Mackay: 32:47

Well, I was just thinking, um, we'll go back to that one. I was thinking about, uh, we're talking about how long we've been here, so I remember, I don't know about you guys cause we've all been here. Oh, we've all been here. Similar lengths. But when we first came here, there was this big thing cuz it'd been an article in Saer and there'd been, uh, a few other articles about. The coffee was unsafe and had they made fake coffee and when I, Yeah, so Dan hasn't had this moment. So when, when we first came here, that was like a big thing. Um, and it's slightly true cuz there was one thing where the woman was making or selling coffee using old batteries. She was opening up old batteries and, and making it into coffee. But there was this thing. So I think what the, the truth of it was if you go to a street seller and you get a coffee for like 10,000 don. Maybe it will be fake. And I think that that was the kinda worry is don't don't buy like the cheapest coffee on the street, on the street. It might be fake. And so we were like really worried in the beginning about buying this fake coffee. But the longer you're here and like you mentioned Adam, there's this coffee on every street corner. There's coffee everywhere. There's no way it's all fake. They produce the second most amount of coffee in the world, I think here after Brazil like. The coffee he received. But that was one in the beginning was a bit of a skill thing, right? Like, don't buy the coffee, The coffee is tainted, it's poison, like blah, blah, blah. If Fiona's gonna add something, I think Carrie wants to, Carrie wants to add to that. Then I got something. Just

Carey Hughes Parry: 34:06

to add to that each, remind me of something, particularly in Hanoi. Um, I hear a lot of foreigners, a lot of tourists worried about if you go to the cheap street food places and like what if it's. Now I wanna dispel this straight away. Dog is more expensive than other meat here. If you go to the north, so they're not gonna feed you dog wax and you're not gonna get all these mystery meats. If it says it's pork, it's probably pork as

Dan Jones: 34:29

well. Another one, which is quite common for people that like come to South Asia for the first time, is the ice. Like people are really worried about the ice, but is it tap water? Is it not safe? But I, I have. Yeah, I have never had a beat. I've had 10 thousands on coffee. I've been to a lot of places. I've never had dodgy ice anywhere. You can tell obviously the, the Vietnamese will get sick if they had dodgy ice. So why would they serve it all day every day? It doesn't make sense. So unless you get very unlucky, you're not gonna encounter dodgy ice at a restaurant or a coffee shop or a street zone.

Dan: 35:00

You.

Fiona Thompson: 35:01

Uh, so yeah, another one about the food. So whenever I tell my mom, Mo, it's a really nice, um, street food. We have this, that and the other. Um, she just assumes I'm gonna get instant food poisoning from every single thing that I eat from a street cell. Um, it's probably the opposite cuz I think they're probably only getting enough food to sell for that day. Um, therefore it's actually possibly more fresh than you can get in some re.

Niall Mackay: 35:24

It is so funny cuz even not just in Vietnam, there was another country, I can't remember who I was talking to about like, you get food poisoning from like the last time I, one, I won't say the name of the hotel, but it was a well known international hotel here in Saigon. And they're like, then they got, we got food poisoning from it. Like anyone who I ever hear got food poisoning. It is normally they trace it back to like either a western place or like, Or, um, What's that, Kerry? I think, I guess the hotel Oh yeah, yeah. No, no, not that one. Uh, I'll tell no. I'll, I'll tell you after, but, so, yeah. Yeah. That, uh, I feel like, Yeah, that's a good point though, cuz you get it fresh for the day, right? Like, so. Yeah. Anyway, right. Now last question. It is my favorite question. In nine seasons I've ever asked if Vietnam was a person. How would you describe all them? Or they, whatever pronoun you want to use. All right. Give it a pronoun. Yeah. So, um, if you have been listening to the last two seasons, you will have some ideals cuz everyone give an answer. So, if Vietnam was a person, How would you describe them? Carry up First

Carey Hughes Parry: 36:32

I would say Vietnam is a, a couple of twins and it's, uh, it's, they, they're the Australian couple of twins to people, um, and they, uh, they're the Australia of Asia, basically. They're the, they're the no worries culture. Now you got the, the northern half that's kind of like the older, slightly older twin, bit more academic, and you got the younger half. Couple of seconds later, Saigon, and they're a bit more artsy and musically, and a bit more, uh, a bit more rebellious. Um, both are very easygoing. Both are very happy unless you piss'em off the wrong way. And, um, both of them will welcome you with open arms and show you a good time. So, yeah,

Dan Jones: 37:13

I'm gonna compare Vietnam to a football player. Vietnam is a tenacious, tenacious, defensive midfielder, hardworking toughing to tackle. Uh, not very, uh, don't express their creative player too much, but like simple, get the job done, uh, reliable and just a great place, great person to be around. Which I'm thinking, um, Evan. Gar Gay Everett and Legend Arisa. Gay. Went to psg, came back hard working. Toughing to tackle. Could play a simple five yard ball, but can't go. Can't go forward. Like not going forward too much, but still does the job.

Dan: 37:56

I'm gonna go niche now.

Fiona Thompson: 37:58

Uh oh. Hard question.

Dan: 38:00

It.

Fiona Thompson: 38:01

Describe your number. Yeah, I'm thinking it would be someone with multiple personalities, Um, sometimes they're just, you know, quite quiet. Sometimes they're a little bit crazy. Um, sometimes they're hilarious, sometimes they're quite angry. Um, Just, just, yeah, just it's disparity between lots of different things. So that's, that's what I'm going for.

Adam Thompson: 38:25

Uh, I'm gonna go for Mary Barry, because you feel very homely and mothered and good food. Who's Mary Barry? You dunno who? Mary. Oh my God. Oh my God. Sorry. Uh, we are gonna have to cut this podcast short because Neil's gonna be thrown in the river for not knowing who Mary Barry is. Oh my God, the

Dan: 38:46

mono. I'm

Adrie Lopez Mackay: 38:48

my turn. Now, I'm gonna go a little bit negative in, in light of recent conversations and memes that Niall has created. Not, not for lack of unt. Vietnam's a bit of a procrastinator, The metro should be done like 10 years ago, and it's still going and it's gonna be done in like 20 years. So a bit of a procrastinator. Some things take longer than they should.

Niall Mackay: 39:15

That's my God. That's how she go. Guys, thank you very much. Thank you for being bought up. Part of the Seven Million Bikes community a doesn't have a choice. She's, she's born into it. And before we go quickly, uh, give, what would you like to ask a future guest? Oh, there's Luke's are only right.

Dan: 39:34

Carrie, go. You can cut

Carey Hughes Parry: 39:36

these silences out, can't you? Yeah, we'll cut sound. Alright. Um,

Niall Mackay: 39:39

yeah, we'll cut this out. Thank you. What did we say the seafood was? Me. Pineapple. I think we said pineapple. Pineapple. Fuck.

Carey Hughes Parry: 39:47

Um, alright, Uh, what was the

Adam Thompson: 39:49

question? Yeah, what was the question again? I

Carey Hughes Parry: 39:51

forgot. What question would I ask? I got into introduce there now.

Fiona Thompson: 39:55

Uh, the question would be, why haven't you joined earlier?

Dan Jones: 39:59

What unique circumstance in your life brought you to Vietnam? That's what I would ask. Is it a positive story, a negative story, emotional story? Are you escaping something back home? Is it an adventure? Are you running away? Uh, why did you come here? Fugitive? Are you a fugitive interal after you, or is it just something. And

Carey Hughes Parry: 40:22

you just outlined a whole podcast,

Niall Mackay: 40:24

Well, so I did a podcast with a guy called Andrew Dunning, Andrew Show, Scottish guy based in Glasgow. And when he found out I was in Vietnam, the first question he asked, he said, Sorry, look, I've gotta ask you a question. Are you a sex offender? I was like, Jesus, how did you know? Um, ad question

Adrie Lopez Mackay: 40:44

does it have to be related to Vietnam? If Vietnam was a dog breed, what would it be?

Niall Mackay: 40:50

Okay. Carrie's last. Adam says he doesn't have one. Carrie,

Dan: 40:54

sorry. I'm,

Carey Hughes Parry: 40:56

The world is full of many different types of cheeses, but if you were stranded on a desert island in tropical weather, what one cheese would you eat for the rest of your life? Only cheese. Nothing else.

Niall Mackay: 41:10

All right. Thank you, Carrie, for those insights. Adam, you got a question yet? Adam, who's won the World Cup? Do we know yet? He's been, Oh shit. He's looking now. Let's find out. Live on the podcast. The Cricket World Cup, Pakistan versus England. What's the score? Did they get? How many runs did you need? 138. How many? Oh God. The worst thing about English is that English? Is that English? Uh, better actually. At Scotland? Yeah. Yeah. Right. How many run, how many runs did you get? We've gone by five Wickeds. Wait, I don't know what a wicked is, but it sounds good. So it's in willow. Guys, thank you very much. Thank you very much. Two guys, Belgian fries. We're here making a podcast. We're getting the bills. We had some delicious be. Join the community. Come and hang out at our special events. Support the podcast. Thank you so much, guys, for being here. Cannot do without you. Uh, I maybe alluded to a couple of times or sometimes I want to give up and I literally keep going just because there's people like you guys that are helping keep it going. So fuck you guys. Cuz sometimes I'm like, I just just wanna stop this thing. But all these guys, all these guys like the podcast and they even contribute to keep it going. So I guess I better keep it going now, but I'm seriously, Yeah, no, thank you so much. It was nice to have so much support and do something that people enjoy and love. So thank you so much. So guys, goodnight. Thank you for coming. Chills.