Scribbles in my Moleskin

The following are just some observations I wrote down in my Moleskin notebook (every traveler should have a Moleskin) while in Vietnam.

• Beware of what restaurants serve; they'll put extra food out on the table. Patrons will think it comes with the meal but when the bill comes they charge you a lot extra.
• Everyone in Hoi An leaves their doors open at night
• Don't bring books. Buy a copied one here. Lots of Lonely Planets for a couple of dollars but be careful because some pages may be missing.
• Many, many old ladies but not many old men
• Tourists always get charged for at least double the price of goods
• So many flies in Cambodian markets but not many in Vietnam
• Vietnam cyclos: 1 passenger in front, driver in back. Cambodian tuk tuks: 2 passengers in back driver in front
• Very few street lights in Ho Chi Minh City. Lots of traffic circles but people don't follow the rules and make right and left turns at them.
  
• Beeping without abandon
• No McDonalds or big fast food chains. No Starbucks but there is a large coffee chain called Trung Nguyen which Starbucks tried to buy
• Almost everyone has a lean or slender body type
• The currency is very inefficient. They don't use coins. They use both USD and Vietnamese Dong. There's almost always trouble getting change for 50,000 dong which is about 3 USD.
• There are lots of humanitarian non profit organizations/schools for underprivileged youth
• Lots of seedy businesses: never know who to trust. No copyright laws so if one company does well, others will copy the name. Example: 50 Sinh Cafes, which one was the original?
• Very few dairy products because refrigeration is not common. Ice is delivered to restaurants on motorcycles
• restaurants often buy food from other vendor to sell at their restaurants instead of cooking it themselves.
• Locals drop human waste into Halong Bay.