Cars and bikes I’ve come across in my travels

piranha-bro2 said:
Valid points, Alzero - it was odd coming from Vanuatu where the opposite seemed to be the case - very high (western) prices charged for very basic services, where there was no correlation with how the local economy works. The result is a tendency to dissuade return custom. I wasn't the only visitor who commented that it was one of the most expensive places to travel in. No idea what the solution would be.
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The haggle works. My wife is from the Middle East the haggle is compulsory. It's an insult not to haggle; 'never pay full price
' is her mantra.
 
78jotadave said:
The haggle works. My wife is from the Middle East the haggle is compulsory. It's an insult not to haggle; 'never pay full price
' is her mantra.
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Different cultures…. Vietnam is moving towards fixed prices. Modern supermarkets are replacing the old wet markets. It seems the growing middle class like to shop in sanitary, well lit stores with packaged fish and meat and à marked price with no flies!
 
Alzero said:
Different cultures…. Vietnam is moving towards fixed prices. Modern supermarkets are replacing the old wet markets. It seems the growing middle class like to shop in sanitary, well lit stores with packaged fish and meat and à marked price with no flies
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Different cultures- try telling that to my wife; she cannot help herself. Trader Joe's, Whole Foods- all are fair game to her; she is not simply shopping; she is on a mission. At street fairs, she is in her element and absolutely loves the challenge. I swear to God, she has drawn a crowd.
The 'Haggle' works best with vendors who are immigrants from another culture; my wife tells me it makes them (vendors) feel like they are back in the 'old country. She is happy to help!
 
78jotadave said:
Different cultures- try telling that to my wife; she cannot help herself. Trader Joe's, Whole Foods- all are fair game to her; she is not simply shopping; she is on a mission. At street fairs, she is in her element and absolutely loves the challenge. I swear to God, she has drawn a crowd.
The 'Haggle' works best with vendors who are immigrants from another culture; my wife tells me it makes them (vendors) feel like they are back in the 'old country. She is happy to help!
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James’ grandmother used to do that as Safeway! She would get the manager to come out and approve $50 for $56 of groceries! It was very embarrassing especially the comments from those behind us.
 
Alzero said:
Different cultures…. Vietnam is moving towards fixed prices. Modern supermarkets are replacing the old wet markets. It seems the growing middle class like to shop in sanitary, well lit stores with packaged fish and meat and à marked price with no flies!
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As living standards rise and "fabulous" globalization takes hold, capital fully intends to capture the money that used to go into the pockets of shopkeepers, farmers, fishermen, and the like, by peddling its crappy industrial food products that ruin people's health.
 
Mastroianni said:
As living standards rise and "fabulous" globalization takes hold, capital fully intends to capture the money that used to go into the pockets of shopkeepers, farmers, fishermen, and the like, by peddling its crappy industrial food products that ruin people's health.
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I’m glad you have been able to do a closer inspection of the fish and meat on offer in Vietnamese supermarkets than I have. Next time you are doing the rounds on another investigative trip to Vietnam, please look me up. I can obviously benefit from your superior knowledge of this subject and I am always willing to learn from an expert in the field.
 
Alzero said:
I’m glad you have been able to do a closer inspection of the fish and meat on offer in Vietnamese supermarkets than I have. Next time you are doing the rounds on another investigative trip to Vietnam, please look me up. I can obviously benefit from your superior knowledge of this subject and I am always willing to learn from an expert in the field.
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😡 Don’t get me started on industrial salt ….. I cringe when I see cooking shows doing an outdoor cook on the beach, then they add industrial salt…. I yell at the TV: FFS, how much salt is in the water behind you?
 
Alzero said:
I’m glad you have been able to do a closer inspection of the fish and meat on offer in Vietnamese supermarkets than I have. Next time you are doing the rounds on another investigative trip to Vietnam, please look me up. I can obviously benefit from your superior knowledge of this subject and I am always willing to learn from an expert in the field.
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I am not questioning your account or your personal experience; I am simply saying that, given Vietnam's rapid economic growth, the predatory globalized economic system will grab a huge slice of the pie and assert itself, crushing small-scale producers—the ones who make high-quality goods.
Quality products are likely too expensive for everyday consumption.
That is exactly what happened in France, a country renowned for agricultural and culinary excellence.
I live there, so I can speak from experience, and I see this model taking hold across Europe.
France went from 1.6 million farms to around 350,000 in the span of 50 years, and in the land of the *jambon-beurre* (ham and butter baguette), McDonald's has its second-largest presence after the US.
The Champs-Élysées restaurant is the highest-grossing in the world.
This industrial food model leads to many diseases—obesity, hypertension, and diabetes—which are often fatal.
I don't think Vietnam will escape this trend; while I have no doubt that products in Vietnamese supermarkets are fresh, I wonder about the long-term quality—because quality comes at a cost, and that cost has to be affordable for the masses with limited means.
That is precisely the point I wanted to make.
 
I've seen that happening in Thailand over the last 40 years that I've been traveling there. 7/11 and Lotus have popped up all over the place in smaller convenience stores but Lotus is also now a major super market along with other brand companies. The shit they sell in packaging is down right poison with sugars, sodium and too many numbers in the ingredients. This is all detrimental to the local village shops trying to make a living out of selling local stuffs like fried rice, noodles and soups. Now, mainly the younger generation just go to 7/11 or Lotus and buy 1 minute noodles or packaged rice dishes and use the available hot water or microwave. Kids have got fatter over the last 40 years is another thing I have noticed. My grand kids eat so much sugar even though I explain how bad it is for them. Even their baby teeth rot before falling out. My nieces have way more money in their pockets than their parents did. Social media is also to blame.
 
I was in a 7/11 in Thailand and was shocked to see individual corn cobs in vacuum bags, ready for the microwave. Go figure…. the pouches are probably more expensive than the corn
 
chrisk said:
I was in a 7/11 in Thailand and was shocked to see individual corn cobs in vacuum bags, ready for the microwave. Go figure…. the pouches are probably more expensive than the corn
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A local company has been manufacturing microwave corn for 25 years or more. Actually they sent the retorts (precooker for pouches) to China for a couple of years in the off season so it is probably a big gig up there now.
 
I understood what Mastroianni was getting at as I've seen first hand what he was saying from a Thailand perspective. It's been 30 years since my last trip to Vietnam but fairly certain the 2 countries are experiencing the same issues.
 
I was not commenting upon the rise in ultra processed foods, but rather upon the well deserved decline in fly infested unsanitary wet markets with filthy tables covered with uncooled meat and fish with flies crawling all over them. The vegetables are fine, easily washed. But the proteins are a real hazard to public health.

I’m really annoyed at those who say that one must shop there to “experience the true culture” when the first thing that local people do when entering the middle class is to shop in places with clean counters and floors, no insects, honest weight, sanitary packaging and fixed prices.

All things that are expected as the bare minimum in their home countries. Do not citizens of other countries deserve this too? I do agree that things are lost in the changeover. Like E-coli, salmonella and explosive diarrhea…..
 
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