There’s 3 things that really stand out for me that I would say made a massive difference to my life:
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Cordless screw driver. Bought the day after building a flat pack bed with a crappy screw.driver that just shredded my hand. Thought it was frivolous at the time, but I’ve used it so much since. It’s light, small enough to fit in my pocket and good for 90% of DIY tasks.
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Tassimo coffee machine. Bought it 9 years ago, use it every day. Nice quick easy coffee. What’s not to like.
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My first DSLR camera. It was a Nikon D50 back in 2005/6 and it sparked my interest in photography to this day. It gave me a hobby I can take lots of places and do it alone or with others. I never loved the D50 camera itself, but I did get some really nice shots with it
Oh damn, yeah thats a lot different here. Especially the monsoons. This may sound dumb, but how does the bikes hold up in that weather condition? And another dumb one, how do you get burnt by the exhausts?
Thay sounds peaceful though, with the bus. Especially compared to the bike.
Bikes are just wonderful, stay safe, man.
Well, we don’t have winter – so very well! It’s not unusual for bikes to last 15 years or more. In the big cities, the condition of the roads is also surprisingly good in Viet Nam (countryside…depends). Road work is bizarrely efficient and happens overnight, only closing as much of the road as they need to work on in 1 night, then opening it up again in the morning. So my bike doesn’t accumulate much wear and tear.
We also get floods. Driving some bikes in 40cm of flowing water is possible, but difficult. Sometimes there is no choice. If the water blocks the exhaust that’s obviously not going to function, but barring that you can slowly drive. It doesn’t wear down the bikes much either though, surprisingly!
The exhausts have a metal radiator that gets very hot, especially in traffic when there’s little airflow and you’re not using your engine efficiently (accelerate, stop, repeat) . Usually there is a temperature resistant plastic shield to stop inadvertent contact. However many people remove it, or it breaks and they don’t replace it (…pretty universally regarded as a dick move). The traffic is so dense, you’re physically pressed up against all the other bikes. So if someone decides to be a jerk and muscle through, they will burn many of the people they pass as their exhaust pipe presses against their legs. Feels easily over 100 degrees and will sear your flesh in an impressive manner. Like, you can hear it before you feel it.
Most people are not jerks, but due to population density, there’s always a jerk present. So we all have 3-4cm oval scars on our legs, unless we are ultra rich so don’t need to drive a bike – these are the scars of the working class. Colloquially, it’s known as a “Saigon Kiss”. Although you’ll get them easily in Ha Noi too, haha.
On the bright side, nearly everyone obeys the speed limit, which is 50km/hr, and the majority of the people drive on the correct side of the road and wear a helmet. On the other hand, there’s always someone doing none of these things. Impacting the road hurt less than I thought it would, I’m thankful for the low speed limit. Although I still very much do not recommend it getting in a motorbike accident here. The number of tourists with no license on the road is an increasing problem, too. They also tend to run home when they hit someone.