Day Twenty-One

Why hello Vietnam. I am officially in love with Saigon (which I prefer to HCMC, it sounds much more romantic). What an amazing place. Almost instantly you can feel the energy on the streets and it just makes you want to be out and about. I never really thought about it before, or I guess never realized it, but the population here is so incredibly young. Something like 70% of the population is under the age of 35, and nearly 95% under 65. As you can imagine this is highly influenced by the Vietnam War and the devastating effect it had on the population. More on that later.

Dinner in Saigon/HCMC at Pho 24

 The most important side note to this post, which I will express now, is that a Korean pop band, JYJ, is staying at our hotel. This most likely means nothing to you (let alone me) except that every time I come home or leave, there are about a thousand screaming girls lining the circle drive waiting to see them at any given time in the day. What was amusing at first is now fairly irritating as I can hear them yelling all the way up on the 10^th floor. Go here if you would like to see their debut US song. We also learned today that a soccer team is staying here for some charity event. Of this bunch is Ji-Sung Park who plays for Manchester United. I’m pretty sure he is the one everyone wants to see and is fawning over. 

Now the real stuff. Our first full day in Vietnam we heard from people from the U.S. Consulate – which I learned cannot be called an embassy since Saigon isn’t the capital of Vietnam. They gave us a brief overview on Vietnam and overall seemed to be quite optimistic about the direction that the country was headed in. What was most fascinating about all this talk is the amount of unreported wealth in Vietnam. Over 70% of the population is considered to be ‘unbanked’ and there is an overarching distrust of banks and financial centers. Because of this, people often hoard their money literally under the mattress or even more interesting keep it in gold still. Crazy. That afternoon we visited another company, Vinamilk, which is one of the top 5 largest private companies in Vietnam. As you can imagine they sell dairy products and were also a good example of having women in the workforce. One point for the females.

Monday night we had another UVA Reception event hosted by a woman named Lee Baker at the Temple Club. There were several fascinating people there and if I have gotten anything out of all of these receptions so far it’s that I need to move to Asia. A lot of these people I have met over the past few weeks have literally just packed up their entire lives and moved to Asia on a whim. I find that so admirable that they could just follow something they are passionate about like that and do it. I definitely have fleeting moments where I think I could move out here and do something different for a change. I especially feel that here in Saigon where it is just so lively yet still in need of a little help. Who says I have to sit at a desk in New York all day?

Cai Mep Port

Tuesday was a long day with a trip out to Cai Mep Port. This was about a 2.5 hour bus ride in which Maddy and I chose to watch ‘You’ve Got Mail’ while bumping down the sometimes paved/sometimes not highway. This port was pretty sorry looking compared to the one we saw in Singapore but none the less interesting. Greg Rake, the SVP of Supply Chain for Pier 1, led us around all day which was pretty amazing. We also went to Johnson Wood which is a factory that produces furniture for Pottery Barn, West Elm, Pier 1, etc. We walked through about 6 factory floors and watched people stain wood, assemble tables, cut shapes, and so on and so forth. It was weird to see all this happening and boxed up, most likely destined for some shelf in California or Ohio. 

Tuesday evening was one of the better night’s we have had so far. We took a dinner cruise on a junk boat where we dined on what I assume was traditional Vietnamese food and watched live performers. Unfortunately it rained off and on so we were confined to the interior cabin and forced to entertain ourselves through our classmates’ hidden musical talents. After this, we went to some place called Saloon 17 where we were expecting country music but instead got a Filipino band who loved to play rage against the machine and ac/dc. Quite the experience, I wish I had video.

Our dinner boat

Maddy and I up top on the deck

Saloon 17 Filipino Band

Wednesday started with a visit to P&G Vietnam where we learned a little bit about differences between the North and the South and how consumers behave in different ways. Most notably, people in Saigon tend to be more trendy and frivolous with their money yet people in Hanoi will buy higher prestige items and tend to be more formal and cautious. It has been really neat to learn about P&G really all year and how their products literally touch lives every single day. I encourage you to explore their website so you can really see just how large their brand portfolio is with Tide and Pampers and Charmin and so on. It is amazing the selection they have been able to build up and adapt to new markets.

Wednesday afternoon was a real learning moment for me. We visited the ‘War Remnants Museum’ which houses several photographs, stories, and artifacts from the Vietnam War. I also learned today that people in Vietnam often call it ‘The War of American Aggression.’ Walking through this museum is a truly emotional thing- I find that the Vietnam War is where history classes stop and that I have never actually learned about it before. Seeing it from the Vietnamese perspective was fascinating and it made me wonder how the United States could screw up for that long and that badly. As Kathryn and I walked through looking at pictures of Agent Orange casualties or some of the bombs that were used we just kept looking at each other saying who ever thought that this was the way to approach the issues? Definitely a once in lifetime experience I will most certainly never forget.

there were a lot of interesting signs around

Some Agent Orange aftermath

Really neat then and now photos

something known as tiger cages used during the war

 And finally, tonight we ate at a restaurant called ‘Nha Hang Ngon’ which was really good. We ordered about a million dishes and tried a little bit of everything. I definitely appreciate that type of eating style so you don’t get stuck with one massive plate you end up not liking. This way you can have so many different things and it’s not a waste of money. Although speaking of money, crazy cheap, got two full dishes of food and a bottle of water for less than 5 dollars. Inflation is crazy and $1USD=$20,400Dong give or take. As with Indonesia, we just laugh at how we have bills that say $500,000 (25 USD). It is unreal. The night finished with a dessert stop in our hotel lobby where we watched a member of JYJ eat some dinner as well as apparently famous soccer players. Wish I knew my Asian athletes. Until we meet again – Becca

P.S. There are few crosswalks/traffic lights in the city. Three rules to crossing streets in Saigon: 1. No fear 2. Walk at a steady pace 3. Do not stop or walk backwards

Day Eighteen

If you have never tried to fly with 27 people at one time, please do not start. Especially in foreign airports where there are no rules. I haven't talked much about the transit yet, aside from my disastrous arrival. Checking 27 bags is a challenge as is going through an average of 3 security check points per airport who all seem to have their own rules when it comes to what's allowed on a plane and what isn't. Language hasn't really been an issue as I find most people speak English and so far all flights have been successfully made with luggage in tow. I do miss jet bridges though- boarding from a tarmac when it's 90 degrees outside is less than desirable. I also have a newly developed hatred for budget airlines who feel beverages should be paid for and that legroom is optional.

Munchies at dinner

Today was no exception to the chaos of travel. We left the hotel at 6:30 am for our flight from Yogyakarta to kuala lumpur where we were supposed to have an 8 hour layover due to some flight cancellation issues. Somehow a flight magically appeared at 2:50 in the afternoon and before I know it 27 of us are trying to get re-checked in (had to uncheck our bags, don't ask) and back through immigration and security. 27 white people hauling ass through a Malaysian airport is in no way discrete. So, here I sit on my most hated Air Asia flight that feels like constantly driving over speed bumps with an estimated arrival in Vietnam in about 2 hours.

Allow me to back track through the last few days though as they were absolutely amazing. We sadly left the Ritz in Jakarta Friday morning to catch a flight to Yogyakarta for a cultural getaway. Upon arrival, we did our usual deep dive into action without first going to the hotel or anything sane people would do. Our first stop was the Prambayan temple where we were basically let loose for a few hours. Maddy and I found ourselves talking to these adorable school boys who were practicing their English with tourists as an assignment. We were then accosted by a mob of not so nice 13 year olds who wanted to take their picture with us because we were white. I find that is a trend everywhere we go, parents want to take their children's picture with us- I can only imagine where these pictures end up.

Prambayan Temple

Took a long time to figure out this timed shot, Julia, on the end had to be the runner

We then went to watch a traditional leather puppet show and had an amazing dinner back in this jungly mystical area which was absolutely fantastic. Once we finally got to our hotel, the Hyatt Regency, we were blown away. We figured it was only downhill from the Ritz but boy were we wrong. This hotel was absolutely beautiful and everyone should go when you decide to take your casual jaunt to Indonesia. It had a very natural feel with lots of water and stone and character. Pictures do not do it justice at all. It also had a pool that went on for days that we much enjoyed. We seem to be a pool crowd- choosing to spend our free time by the water since we can't quite go out in Indonesia like we could in Singapore. We also saw blue skies and stars for the first time in like 2 weeks. It was heaven.

Playing with leather puppets

Entrance to our hotel, beautiful

Part of the pool

Saturday was the real kicker. We all got up at 3:30am to board a bus to go out to Borobudur to watch the sunrise. One of the cooler things I've seen in my life. I'd guess the sun started to come up around 5? But I don't really know. We then wandered around the site taking pictures and being touristy. Naturally we were mobbed by school children before we could leave to be in even more pictures. I am successfully one of the whitest people in the bunch and with Julia's blonde hair we are a definite target. I remember writing a report on this monument several years back so it was really neat to actually see it in person. Definitely on the same impressive level as something like the Eiffel tower or the coliseum.

In front of Borobudur

Watching the sunrise while sitting on Borobudur

People storming my classmates/white people

From here, we went to watch how local Batik is made (which is basically wax-resist dyed cloth). This was pretty cool to walk around and see firsthand since I had personally learned about in during my undergrad. We then went to some local village where we rode Javanese horse carts through the streets. These were not particularly friendly to the boys- tight spaces and no leg room. Nonetheless very cool. It makes me happy to see the kids run out and say hello, I could do things like this every day. Lunch followed at some cool house and then we headed back to the hotel around 2 or so to rest. Some people took naps, I swam and powered through. We had big dinner/ballet plans for that evening which we scraped for lighter plans at the hotel so we wouldn't have to leave. That night most of the gang went to the hotel bar and danced to top 40 hits sang by a local band. I may or may not have embarrassed myself by dancing to 'only girl in the world' while surrounded by a circle of people. Scarlett was definitely out.

Batik demonstration

Countryside from the horse cart

anddd the horse cart

Last night in Indonesia

Today was another super early morning- Kathryn and I drug ourselves out of bed around 5:15 this morning and tried to pack which is getting more and more difficult every time. It was clear on the bus ride this morning that everyone was feeling delirious and had gone completely mad. There was some singing, clapping, and general hoopla on the way to the airport which brings me to now. We are all so excited for Ho Chi Minh city and cannot wait to see our friends in Hong Kong next week! Fatigue is kicking in but I'm hoping now that we have crossed the halfway mark we can all perk up and keep trucking along. Until next time- Becca

Day Fourteen

It makes me really happy to see that people are reading my blog. You should all know I have a stats page I can look at and while I don’t know you by name it gives me all kinds of fascinating statistics like what countries you are reading it from and which posts you seem to look at. I’m glad I could entertain you with my travels this summer so thanks :)

Indonesia has been amazing so far. I already filled you in on my remarkable first day where we toured the old town area, if you will, and got to see firsthand some of the issues that plague Indonesia every day. On Monday we began with a very long introduction to the financial markets of Indonesia. While necessary, it was rather unfortunate to sit in a conference room from 9-4:30. You know how speakers are- some of them have a captivating sense about them and some of them just seriously lack in charisma. We heard from a few people who work at the U.S. Embassy here in Indonesia who definitely had some interesting perspectives on how focus shifts between diplomacy, development, or defense. As you can imagine in the United States, serious funding gets allocated towards defense which has an incredible weakening effect on the other two. 

Jakarta

 

Some random interesting takeaways from this session include:

• 38% of the population earns $2-4 a day

• Bribery is incredibly rampant and well-known; it is not uncommon for citizens to bribe police officers instead of paying official tickets, etc.

• Out of the 240 million people, only 15 million pay taxes – very large ‘informal’ economy

• Obama has helped the image on the United States in Indonesia because citizens identify with him and feel he is a part of their culture as well since he lived there briefly

• Education is struggling, while systems are in place physically there is little focus on the actual teaching and instruction taking place

On Tuesday we went to visit btpn Bank which was founded in 1958. Today, it is known for its presence in what most people would refer to as micro-financing. Basically what this means is that people who cannot get loans or financing by traditional means you or I may have access to, can get small loans (roughly $200) that can help establish them as reputable business people in the local markets. People who are approved for loans are often already in business and need the extra capital to hold more inventory or expand. Now when I say ‘in business,’ what I really mean is that they probably own a small store front (think maybe 10x10) or some kind of mobile cart/location in a market. Very different world. The pay-back rates for these loans are surprisingly high and hover around 70% for this particular bank. The bank maintains a strong relationship with all of its customers and works with those who cannot pay to figure out a way to make it work for both of them. 

Typical market people work in

During this visit, we got to sit in on a class they offered some of their customers on personal finances. You can see that it is mostly women who attend these classes in place of their husbands so they can remain at work. It is still very much a male-dominated society, given that the overwhelming majority of the population is Muslim. While certainly a progressive nation with regards to the way women are treated, there are still some observable differences between men and women that you notice while walking down the street or through subtle behaviors like having specific parking places for women in public. At the end of the class, they asked everyone questions and gave out prizes for correct answers. They are so enthralled with Americans that they wanted a lot of us to hand them the prizes and give them hugs/kisses. Nothing like being a blonde haired, blue eyed girl in Indonesia. Or better yet, a 6ft tall white male. All kinds of attention.

attending class at a local btpn branch

Tuesday afternoon we visited P.T. Astra Honda Motor Manufacturing Plant which turned into a really fascinating experience. I wish I could have taken pictures! This particular plant manufactures about 3,000 motorbikes/scooters a day which works out to be one new, finished bike every 20 seconds. We got to walk through the entire process that included literally melting metal into parts, painting the bike casing, and the final complete assembly line that started with the engine and came out a completed bike at the end. I would guess this assembly line was around 60-70 yards long (could be way off) with a test drive station at the end. This was mesmerizing to watch as bikes were assembled in minutes. 

people love their motorbikes, affordable option

Tuesday evening we had some much-needed free time which consisted of an afternoon swim, some spa treatments, and room service. Staying at the Ritz certainly has its perks. We tried to go out that evening but most of us failed as we were very tired and needed some rest. We did manage to check out the club downstairs, Mystere, which proved to be less than thrilling.

random tools at Kawan Lama

Today, Wednesday, we had a late start (and a much-needed sleep in period) and went straight to a company called Kawan Lama. This company literally started out of a scruffy shop on the street in 1955 and today has grown to have approximately 3000 employees and is thriving in a variety of different business avenues. Translated to mean ‘old friend,’ Kawan Lama is a family owned company that includes various branches such as retail and manufacturing/engineering. With 23 different product categories and more than 300 brands, Kawan Lama sells through a variety of formats to both consumers and industrial users. They also have the rights to Ace Hardware in Indonesia. Now this is not your typical Ace layout- see pictures below. It is pretty much a fancy target with anything you could imagine being sold.

they love everything family style

fancy pants Ace store

This evening we had a cocktail reception for any UVA alumni living in Indonesia at a local Bistro. Guests included people who graduated as little as one year ago and as many as thirty years ago. It is always interesting to meet people around the world that you have somewhat of a connection with. Some alumni are originally from Indonesia while others simply moved here to explore new opportunities. Still feeling tired, I decided to go back to my room after the reception to take a bubble bath while looking out at the city lights. What a trip. - Becca

dealing with some serious seat recline issues

I fear for my life every time we enter traffic, there are no rules

Day Eleven

Wow. So much has happened since Wednesday! Let me try and remember everything…

Thursday. Class was structured around organizational behavior type topics and how as the world is becoming more condensed- therefore creating this new need to be a ‘global citizen’ if you will. As more people work abroad or their work at home simply required travel, it is becoming so important to understand other cultures and the proper way to do business, act socially, etc. The afternoon involved a visit to Temasek which was absolutely a once in a lifetime opportunity. Temasek is essentially a giant investment house with a portfolio of about $186 billion, one of the largest in the world. Usually a bit ‘closed doors’ they were surprisingly open to our visit and gave a nice presentation on what it means to work alongside the government and invest in so many different ventures.

Jenny, Julia, Me by the water

Thursday night Julia, Jenny, and I decided to go for a walk down Arab Street where we wandered in and out of shops. We had dinner on the water which was absolutely beautiful. Singapore is not cheap, as previously stated, and it’s funny how your bill adds up as we were charged for water, peanuts, and towelettes we didn’t even ask for. We also had our first ‘Singapore sling’ which was how the restaurant owner lured us into his space in the first place. Pretty sneaky.

Looking back at the new casino and the fullerton- an amazing hotel

Friday was our last day of official class where we looked at the battle between Sony and Samsung. Fun fact about Sony- apparently their last truly innovative product was the robo dog, Aibo, in 1999. Samsung is also about 5x the size of Sony which I did not know prior to this class. Friday afternoon we visited Ernst & Young Singapore where we were basically told over and over how they would love for us to come work with them. Wishful thinking E&Y, wishful thinking. It looked like a ‘high-tech sweatshop’ as one classmate lovingly put it. 

A smattering of food

Friday evening was pretty big – we ate dinner at Lau Pa Sat where it basically turned into an enormous family-style extravaganza with dishes appearing left and right. Knocked out several dishes I was told to try in one sitting including sting ray, chili crab, satay, and various other local favorites. After this, we went to an area known as St. James Power Station which is apparently a popular bar scene with the locals. We were pretty much the only white people there and continued to make a spectacle out of ourselves until about 3:30 in the morning when we decided we should gracefully bow out.

Pure chaos

Naturally everyone slept in on Saturday- our one free day this week. We all had big plans that slowly slipped away as it became clear how tired we were and how we needed to pack and be ready for our long Sunday. Julia and I went into town for a little while and browsed little India and some other shopping centers. We once again all had dinner at a Vietnamese restaurant and then headed to the Raffles Hotel to enjoy one last Singapore sling and some local music before heading back to the lodge to try and repack everything into our suitcases. Kermit is getting pretty full, hopefully he makes it until the end, might be buying another bag…

Lisa, Laura, me, and Amy drinking Singapore Slings at Raffles

So now we are up to today, Sunday. What an amazing, amazing day. After an early departure from the University, we boarded Air Asia for Jakarta. This is not an airline I ever care to fly again, except for the duration of this trip. I thought for a moment that a child was flying the aircraft and at one point in time steam was coming in through the overhead bins. Kind of alarming if you ask me. Once we got to Jakarta we herded 24 students and 3 professors through security and customs and we were off to our first stop- Sunda Kelapa. 

Ships waiting to either be loaded/unloaded

This place was really fascinating. It was originally a port circa 13^th century that was active particularly through the spice trade. A new port was built in the late 19^th century to deal with the increasing demand and size of ships while this one today is still used for sail ships. We wandered up and down the dock looking at boats for a while (side note- freakishly hot here) and a lot of students went aboard one of the ships. I did not partake in this event given my previously stated immense fear of drowning and the fact that you had to walk a gangplank over sewage filled water to get on the boat. Not for me.

I refused to board the boat this way

alarmingly tight squeeze

We then boarded some of the most rickety boats I think I have ever seen and paddled our way over to Kota. Somehow I had to be the first one to get in my boat which I was fairly certain was going to flip me into the water. Thankfully I survived after we played some serious bumper boats trying to get out. Once we crossed the water, we wandered through this village of people who live in fairly low levels of poverty. While most of these people do have some form of income, you can see from the pictures that the living conditions are left to be desired. The children were so happy to see us and loved to say hello back as we walked through the narrow, trash-filled alleyways. It is amazing to see places like this when you think about how we live back in the United States.

basically canoeing through sewage water

It's amazing how different some people's lives are

The kids are so happy to have their picture taken

We next went to a place called Batavia Square which is a central meeting area in Jakarta. This was a fairly lively space, located not too far away from the village we toured previously. By this point in time we were all covered in sweat and exhausted from the intense experiences we had already had that morning. We watched a few street performers and ducked in for an air conditioned lunch at a local café. It’s pretty tricky here because you cannot drink the water and we have been advised to be very careful of what food we choose to eat. Looks like nice restaurants and bottled water all week. Can't even drink the water at our hotel- or brush our teeth with it for that matter. Everything is crazy cheap though- to give you an idea, 1 US dollar is equal to about 9,000 rupiah. You can imagine how amused we were at the airport when we were all making withdraws of about $1.7 million rupiah (roughly 200 US dollars). Yikes.

Batavia Square

After all of this, we eventually checked into the Ritz Carlton (not complaining, but a bit strange after seeing the poor parts of town...) and all headed off to do our own things for the evening. A few girls and I decided to take full advantage of our access and hit the hot tub/steam room, took two showers to get clean from the day’s events, and had a fantastic dinner to top it all off inside our hotel. Starting tomorrow we will tour various companies throughout the week- no more class- and we will probably be spending most evenings here at the Ritz since it isn’t particularly safe to wander around Jakarta at night. 

I can safely say- I finally feel like I am in Asia. - Becca

Our welcome leis after a long day in the heat

Kathryn and I's home for the next week, doesn't even do it justice