Awesome wedding video

Wind power in Vietnam

Just got this news:

Binh Thuan and the German agency will set a plan to develop wind power in the province from now until 2010, with a vision for 2020.
GTZ will supply equipment and management software as well as train technical experts for the province.

Binh Thuan is the first among Vietnam’s provinces with potential for developing wind power to sign such an agreement with GTZ.

Last Tuesday, the Ministry of Industry and Trade and GTZ had signed an agreement worth 1 million euros (US$1.4 million) to develop wind power in Vietnam.

What I am wondering about is, that I know at least two companies trying to establish wind energy in Vietnam and one failed already. There is apparently no real interest in supporting alternative energy. And why the hell GTZ needs one year to develop a PLAN instead of just building a wind park?

La Veranda on Phu Quoc Island

I am writing this blogpost while sitting in a white bamboostyle plastic chair, having a cappucino and enjoying the sea view. I am at the La Veranda Resort and Spa on Phu Quoc Island. Nearly everyone I know told me to go to Phu Quoc now, because in a few years the beauty of this island might be gone. So we took the plane (one hour flight) from Saigon to Duong Dong, landed smoothly with this old, but still well doing ATR planes.

La Veranda might be one of the most expensive hotels on the island, but we a0 had a package price and b)like to have some comfort (yes, we aren't backpackers anymore). The resorts is worth the money. Beautifully designed as a garden with bungalows hidden between all kind of tropical flowers, this place is exactly the kind of hotel we like for a short vaccation.




What we like:
- the design of all the buildings and rooms is awesome. It's french colonial style, but ant it's best. Colors fitting as well as the smallest details like the elephant faces on the wall lights, the fresh flowers on the tables or he lemongrass smell in the toilet.

- the staff. If I would open a hotel on Phu Quoc, I would try to hire the La Verandas stuff. Overwhelming friendly and helpful, with good english skills and well trained. Nothing to complain about.

- the beach: its clean, safe, quiet (at least when we were there and the neighboring Eden bar was closed), the sea is not to roug and you habe a wonderful sunset.

- food: the prices are reasonable, that's what we were surprised of. 2 Dollars for a coffee is actually low for a hotel like this. The vietnamese food we had was delicious (Nuong Xo Ot). The breakfast buffet is good, nothing to omplain.

- the spa: .. we had several treatments. one hour body massage was included in the package and we had chosen the Vietnamese massage. One the next day we had a hot stone massage for my wife and a indian head massage and facial for me. The massage itself was ok, the stone were not too hot, the pressure was fine, nice ambient music (although it comes from a gettoblaster. The a/c was on, a bit too cold for me. The facial treatment feels good in general, you also get a arm massage and the upper part of your breast.


What we don't like:
There was only one thing we didn't like: We had a package price including a dinner, an one hour spa treatment and a half day excursion. The excursion was interesting and well operated. The spa treatment was good. The dinner was (under)average. Because my wife is a vegetarian, we asked for dishes without beef or pork, but all kind of fish and seafood is fine. What we got was a pineapple-squid salad as starter and 4 shrimps in tamarind sauce. We were a bit disappointed about the quality and taste. It was not but, but, as I said, just average, and we know they can do better.

Spa: Although the spa treatment was ok, it was not special. In the brochure they offer different types of oil, but ever asked us to choose. When I had my second treatment (the one I was extra paying for) they did not ask for anything, skin type, allergies, any special requests. The indian head massage wasn't better: I felt very uncomfortable sitting on the massage table getting a back massage instead of laying(I have some back pain, so sitting in a position like this is actually hurting me).


Summary: La Veranda is a beautiful place to stay, with a wonderful layout, nice rooms, delicious food for reasonable prices. The spa management has to improve, and even if you sell a package with a set menu you should not offer a lower quality of food for a included dinner.

Farming in phu my hung

farming in phu my hung
Originally uploaded by thomaswanhoff

recession even in vietnam: people start farming in phu my hung

Solar Eclipse in Vietnam

Solar Eclipse in Vietnam
Originally uploaded by thomaswanhoff

Partial solar eclipse watched in Ho Chi Minh City

Zing Promotion girls

Zing Promotion girls
Originally uploaded by thomaswanhoff

The Expo was ok. A lot of gadgets, TVs, some hard disks and even raids., usb-sticks and laptops. Zing.vn had a huge space there and made a lot of promotion. Most impressive was Vision Global, they showed a learning screen. Look at www.mamnon.com for more.

SOLD!!! Canon XM2 Videocamera

For sale: Canon XM2 Videocamera<
Originally uploaded by thomaswanhoff

For Sale: Canon DM-XM2 Mini-DV Camcorder, ¼″ 470K pixel 3CCD with pixel shift, Canon Professional L-Series Fluorite Lens, 20x optical zoom/100x digital zoom,
Optical image stabiliser, Direction accurate stereo microphone, Two-channel audio level manual control with VU meter, 2.5″ 200K colour LCD screen,
Sockets Include; Lanc, Headphone, Dc In, Microphone, Dv in/out, Av in/out/, USB, S-Video.
Accessories: extra battery pack, extra rhode microfon, Lowe Pro Camera Bag, XLR-adapter, used DV-tapes.

The camera is 2 years old and was used just ten times. I sell it because I don't use it anymore. It's not HD, but the XM2 makes great quality pictures, with great sound. You want a camera for semi-pro use? Then take the XM2.

Price: 700USD

Pay cash on delivery. I deliver for free in Ho Chi Minh City

Contact me 01223504593 or thomas.wanhoff@gmail.com

Accessories: