Thread: Hello from Micro67 in Vietnam

Hello All -- the forum looks great. A few notes about myself:

1. Have been living in Vietnam for about 4 years (and remain one of a very few people that actually have a work permit).
2. I own MekongESL and a few other sites in development.
3. I went to the University of Alabama and may well be the biggest Crimson Tide fan in Asia.
4. I am an avid Hash House Harrier and have hashed in Guam, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and the U.S..
5. I have bungy jumped, sky dived and scuba dove (dived? diven?).
6. I have seen sporting events in over 20 countries and on 4 continents.

Anyway, the board looks great.

hi Micro67 welcome to TD and Micro hrrrmm


























If I were you I'd get my arse back to your forum
since some armenian/turkish mothafucka just hacked into it


http://www.mekongesl.com/forum/

Originally Posted by in4zip

If I were you I'd get my arse back to your forum
since some armenian/turkish mothafucka just hacked into it


http://www.mekongesl.com/forum/

I know it. We should have that fixed today and I've learned at least one lesson about security the hard way

just out of curiosity... what didn't you do security wise.. i.e. how the foks got in (good useful info/warning perhaps for future aspiring web masters yes?)

anyway good luck and will be over at yer place a.s.a.p. to take a looksee, that is if ya don't mind

I found your site months ago, Micro, while looking for the fresh news from esl teachers about the tension in Cambodia over the reliquishment of territory. I never did find much discussion of the topic on either Cambodian esl sites or your site but I did spend quite a bit of time reading through your forums. I enjoyed it. Hope you get it back up and running.

are you in hanoi or HCMC?

Hi Micro - Good to see you again.

Originally Posted by Micro67

2. I own MekongESL and a few other sites in development.

5. I have bungy jumped, sky dived and scuba dove (dived? diven?).

It's scuba-dived. What business do you have owning an ESL website when you can't even write English properly!

I am just joking and having a laugh. Welcome aboard sir!

Originally Posted by in4zip

just out of curiosity... what didn't you do security wise.. i.e. how the foks got in (good useful info/warning perhaps for future aspiring web masters yes?)

A few things ... mostly timidity. There are mods that would have prevented this, but getting into an https: can be tricky and mistakes costly.

Originally Posted by in4zip

anyway good luck and will be over at yer place a.s.a.p. to take a looksee, that is if ya don't mind

Give us a holler.

Originally Posted by BreadFan

It's scuba-dived. What business do you have owning an ESL website when you can't even write English properly!

... much less the dangers of scuba-diving.

Originally Posted by BreadFan

I am just joking and having a laugh. Welcome aboard sir!

Thanks.

Originally Posted by Marmite the Dog

Hi Micro - Good to see you again.

Appreciated.

Originally Posted by Blake7

are you in hanoi or HCMC?

HCMC

Originally Posted by attaboy

I found your site months ago, Micro, while looking for the fresh news from esl teachers about the tension in Cambodia over the reliquishment of territory. I never did find much discussion of the topic on either Cambodian esl sites or your site but I did spend quite a bit of time reading through your forums. I enjoyed it. Hope you get it back up and running.

We appreciate it. I haven't seen anyone start a thread on that, but I live in Vietnam as does my partner so we won't be touching internal politics. It's a small site mostly just for the exchange of info about teaching in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos.

I'm in HCMC for one night next month. Is Hai Ba Trung still a fun place to go at night?????

Welcome to our humble home and please tell us about VN.

Originally Posted by Blake7

I'm in HCMC for one night next month. Is Hai Ba Trung still a fun place to go at night?????

Hai Ba Trung still has a lot of bars. Unfortunately, the new Hyatt has led to a move to clean it up. The Funky Monkey is gone, #76 and Paradise have both been turned into boutiques.

Depending on what kind of partying you are up for -- Turtle Lake is becoming more tourist friendly, but it is also known for quite a few snatch and run thefts and the cigarette sellers are selling something even less healthy.

Le Than Ton is also feeling the crunch as new, high-end apartments are crowding out old faves -- Tex Mex and some others have already gone the way of the DoDo.

Originally Posted by hillbilly

Welcome to our humble home and please tell us about VN

The times they are achangin'. I hope to have my board up later today. You will see that teachers are having a hard time getting work permits, local scandals have felled some schools where there were always hours available and miscreants have entered the ESL game and caused a good bit of hardship for poor, honest souls just trying to live out their lives.

Originally Posted by Micro67

4. I am an avid Hash House Harrier and have hashed in Guam, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and the U.S..

i've hashed in Vietnam, Indonesia, Kiribati, Australia & Thailand!

Originally Posted by Micro67

5. I have bungy jumped, sky dived and scuba dove (dived? diven?).

Ok i've dived a bit - but yet to do the other 2!

Originally Posted by Micro67

6. I have seen sporting events in over 20 countries and on 4 continents.

Holy Moly - thats pretty good going......

but WHAT sporting events ?? (this is the real catch ! )

Hello nice to have you here on the Forum enjoy yourself

came across your site some months ago. enjoyed it. welcome.

Welcome.I think i read something about hash,what was it??

Originally Posted by kingwillyhggtb

Holy Moly - thats pretty good going......

but WHAT sporting events ?? (this is the real catch ! )

I'll try to list as many as I can remember here:

Philippines - Baskeball (Hot Dogs v. Beermen) - 2002
Vietnam - Many: soccer/proper football, boxing, badmington, SEA games.
New Zealand - Wellington Hurricanes (with Jon Lomeu) v. Christchurch Crusaders - 2001
USA - Multipe. Most recently Georgia Force v. Tampa Bay Storm (Arena League Football), River City Rage v. Billings Outlaws (National Indoor Football League), River City Otters v. Rockport (I forgot some sort of angry looking red pig) Hockey.
Canada - Hockey - Maple Leafs v. Blackhawks (I think, this would have been around 1978).
Nogales Mexico - Football
Netherlands - Amsterdam Admirals v. Rhine Fire 2000 (NFL Europe)
Germany - I saw a soccer game, but I don't remember what exactly. Pretty much a club league.
Saudi Arabia - Didn't actually see a game but went to King Fahd Stadium 1991.
England - British League Basketball. I think it was the South London Bulldogs. I don't remember it too well, but I did get a photo of me with the mascot. 1996.
Cambodia - club league football.
Laos - Cock Fighting
Micronesia - Cock Fighting, also formed and served as ref for Flag Football.
Guam - Basketball
Australia - Cricket. Just some people out in a field.
Singapore - Football. My house was right by the Ferrer Park team and I could see a game for S$5.
Malaysia - Field Hockey

A big one for me is to see the Grand Final of Aussie Rules Football.

Originally Posted by Mhz

Welcome.I think i read something about hash,what was it??

Where are you? I'm sure there is a Hash somewhere close. Check out Saigon Hash House Harriers for more information, but basically it's a drinking club with a running problem. I would say it's best to just go out one day and do it and decide if you like it. Get your worst pair of trainers and some gym gear you don't mind getting dirty and meet up with your local group.

If anyone is going to be in Saigon (or actually Phan Thiet) the Nash Hash for Vietnam will be on the weekend of the 12th and there should be a good turnout. I'd be disappointed if there were less than 200 runners.

Welcome Micro.

Originally Posted by Micro67

Check out Saigon Hash House Harriers

Are all of those guys runners ? Some kinda look like chunky butts to be running.

Originally Posted by Storekeeper

Are all of those guys runners ? Some kinda look like chunky butts to be running.

There is always a running Hash and a walking Hash. Usually there is a stop at about the mid-point where you get water and, should you choose, switch from one to the other.

There are a few real-hard core runners; Paddle File comes to mind, but most are somewhere between casual exercise enthusiast and reluctant couch potatos.

Originally Posted by Milkman

Welcome Micro.

Danka

Welcome to you Micro. Hope Vietnam is treating you well.

By the way Micro ... is your first link active ? I can't get it to open but it's possible my server is blocking it.

Originally Posted by Micro67

The times they are achangin'. I hope to have my board up later today. You will see that teachers are having a hard time getting work permits, local scandals have felled some schools where there were always hours available and miscreants have entered the ESL game and caused a good bit of hardship for poor, honest souls just trying to live out their lives.

well i guess its always the same story as elsewhere in SEA, once charlie's English tuition fees go up because of the lower influx of cheap white native engrish speaking labourers due to restrictive laws, then it seems that the rules tend to relax a bit.. or at least in the LoS they do. The somchais here are wallet pragmatists. Are the vn charlies the same? or has marx, stalin and mao's for better communal living recipies , immunized them against the magnetic call of the $$$

me no think so!

Originally Posted by Storekeeper

By the way Micro ... is your first link active ? I can't get it to open but it's possible my server is blocking it.

This is frustrating. In a nutshell, we've added some new programs to the site that should make it much more useful.

In two completely unrelated turnings our forum got hacked and we've had some serious problems with our host. It's frustrating, but I know when everything is working as it should MekongESL will be infinitely closer to the vision my partner and I have than it was before.

Please take a look at the site again in a few days. Pay particular notice to the Jobs section which has gone through an overhaul that I think will be useful for teachers, parents, students and schools.

Originally Posted by inforzip

well i guess its always the same story as elsewhere in SEA, once charlie's English tuition fees go up because of the lower influx of cheap white native engrish speaking labourers due to restrictive laws, then it seems that the rules tend to relax a bit.. or at least in the LoS they do. The somchais here are wallet pragmatists. Are the vn charlies the same? or has marx, stalin and mao's for better communal living recipies , immunized them against the magnetic call of the $$$

me no think so!

There is actually a lot happening with respect to what you said here in Vietnam. I'll post more on that in a bit.

For the potential Hash enthusiasts, I'll be in Phnom Penh this weekend and a coldie on me awaits anyone who mentions this, or really anything that makes my laugh. I guess what I'm saying is that I'm buying the beer.