Paddy in Vietnam

Two weeks of networking events and meeting headhunters in Hong Kong has been interesting but the outlook is still pretty bleak. I think the tone of the last post ended up being more morbid than I intended so rest assured I am anything but depressed. I may have to reinvent myself in order to succeed in re-entry into the employment rat race and so I'm looking on that as a bit of an adventure in itself. Fellow Irish blogger Thriftcriminal has the right attitude. People should try and be a bit more constructive in the midst of this economic crisis.

It's very easy and very Irish to bitch and moan and complain but in the end do nothing about it. We're a pretty resilient bunch if history is anything to go by but how the frik we just shrug off decades of political and corporate corruption is beyond me. The politicians and big businessmen made out like bandits in the bad times. They made out like super frikkin' bandits during the good times and they ran the country with one of the strongest economies in Europe into the ground as they flew around on their private jets and lined their pockets with taxpayers money with scam after scam. Somebody should be held to account but more chance of me going to Lourdes on a pilgrimage than that happening. End of rant - I promised you positivity after all.

Since I'm out this direction and the job market is what it is, I figured I'd take a little diversionary side trip. A friend is visiting from New York so we've got a few weekend trips planned starting with Ho Chi Min City (formerly Saigon) Vietnam.
The visa process was somewhat chaotic on arrival and the taxi ride from the airport was the stuff made of legend. I think the driver had rally car aspirations or wanted to get back to the airport rank as quickly as possible so he was honking the horn and flashing the high beams and veering into on coming traffic while weaving and dodging between the hundreds of scooters and motorbike drivers that swarm around the streets here. Crossing the road as a pedestrian is not for the faint hearted.

One of the big attractions is the Mekong Delta boat trips and the floating markets shown below.
Another attraction is visiting the old Viet Cong tunnels and shooting an AK47 for a few dollars

It's not recommended to brush your teeth with regular tap water out here but out of habit and sleepiness we both did it so let the good times roll ...... outta the bottom of our world - or not ....time will tell!!!

Tags: ..Irish Vietnam..

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