Vietnam

13/05/2026 - 18/05/2026

Hoang had helped kick start my search for a place to live, but we soon discovered it was difficult for locals to rent to a foreigners due to reporting and business requirements. I was avoiding Facebook groups because I wanted local prices, but it turned out this is really the only option I had. I contacted several agents and was soon shown a number of avaliable places. The only real issue is they wanted me to move in now, and I wanted 1st June which no one would hold for me.

I watched several videos on how cheap renting in DaNang is, but in truth if you want something that doesn't look like scum lived in it, has some space, or is in a good location then you are going to pay. Sure you can probably get something for $AUD400 per month but it's going to be nothing short of a run down hotel room. After narrowing the list down, their were 3 place I liked. The place with a pool ($VND14000000), the cool place ($VND13000000) but shit building, and the quiet place with the location I wanted (VND$12000000).

I chose location, but the only problem was the bed. Yeap, one of those! It was a brand new mattress and the owner was bamboozled when I asked if it could be removed. However, for now I ended up with a $AUD165 topper. It's ok, and I'm currently conflicted how much I should invest. I could probably store the topper with Donkey, but a mattress is getting serious.

The contract was signed for the 18/5/26 as the move in day and I had to pay $AUD634 for one months rent in advance and $AUD634 for the bond. The first thing I did was head towards Con Markets where I had seen rows of shops selling fans. I stopped at the first one and chose two fans. He would only give me $VND20000 discount and I had no idea if I was being ripped off or not, but I couldn't be bothered shopping around. His wife tied both the fans to the bike and I was off. It was only when I made it back to the appartment did I have a chuckle because I discovered she had tied them to the springs on the rear shockers.

It's funny because some Vietnamese people are unbelievable with their "she'll be right" attitude. Australians like to think they have such an attitude, but in such an over regulated and controlled country they truly don't. Looking at this woman's handy work made me realise why Vietnam is growing on me in such a big way. It's like being in the wild west where rules and governance are yet to dominate society. As I've said before, it SO liberating and refreshing, and I just hope it stays like this in Vietnam.

But it's easy to find places where dickheads are trying their best to ruin the place. One such place is Facebook where some idiot likes to take pictures of people riding around the streets without a helmet and then post it on Facebook. Why? Just why? This type of shit is exactly why the Western countries have become totally over regulated, stifling fuck ups. If some person decides to ride around without a helmet and have his head splattered everywhere then I surely that's upto him/her. What is wrong with people being responsible for their own decisions, not the state? Australia is such a nany state, and lack of such enforcement is Vietnam's most endearing quality.

19/05/2026 - 27/05/2026

The next job was to convert a table into my water holder and get a 20L water container. This was all relatively easy and I opted for a swap bottle system which is remarkably cheep. I was paying $VND35000 for a 5L bottle and now for 20L I'm paying $VND40000.

I also questioned if I should do any cooking, and went to MM Mega Market. Here I found western type food including Bega cheese and Roast Lamb from SA cheaper than you could buy it in Australia. For now, I decided to stick to eating out for $VND400000 a day, but who knows what the future holds.

Finally I spent a bit of money on adaptors and connectors to get the tablet hooked up to the TV. I also set up a VPN on the TV so I can get all the Australian channels, but Kayo is such a bastard.

It's yet just another example of Australian over regulation with rules, and licencing rights. When you dig into it, it's mental the complexity of Australia broadcasting licencing. What's even crazier with all this bullshit, is that technology gives us work around like VPNs and I can spoof the GPS location on the tablet to be wherever I choose. Thus, I can make Kayo work on the tablet, but direct on the TV is a bigger challenge.

However, to add some balance to the conversation it is also worth noting that in Vietnam I basically cant go anywhere on the Internet to the US or Europe, and I definately cannot surf porn or run torrents. So a VPN is also a mandatory requirement here. Which brings me to another thought.

Recently the Australian Govt bought in age identification requirements for adult sites. If they used a two factor authentication system then they would have made it impossible for any under age person to gain access to any such a site. But instead they used a basic location service that any kid with a basic VPN can bypass. There implementation of "child protection" is a completely ineffective smoke and mirrors con that cost billions with the only real outcome being users of the internet now pay more for a needed VPN service. Meanwhile they bullshit the public telling them they have got their kids covered. Yeap, welcome to Australia, the land of smoke and mirrors!