Hello Vietnam!
6 04 2007
I depart on a new adventure for Vietnam, the land where i hear 60% are below 24 years old which means I should be considered a middle-aged expat when I arrive. Lets hope the kids in Ho Chi Minh City will be kind to the elderly. 
If all things work out, I will be helping a friend in a venture cap firm that is working on a new fund for digital media investments. It will be interesting to cross the fence and look through the lens from different perspectives on how startups are funded within the trenches of the VCs. I will be entering this short stint with no high expectations but only to get some good exposure of the Vietnamese startup scene plus some cheap beer in an exotic land 2 hours away from Singapore.
Having never been to Vietnam, I have miraculously worked closely with quite a number of Vietnamese in my course of work in the SF Bay Area. I also hear much of Vietnam’s investment potential and booming economy but this being an Easter Friday holiday, I shouldn’t bore with your dry economics… WHO also seems to be giving Vietnam pressure for their bird flu cases which brings me to thank concerned friends and family who had prepared me with their doomsday prophecies.. Of course, Russell Peters also provide more comedic views of the place which had really psyched me about visiting this place some time back, such as how motorbikes are used as vans there..
Boy, I can’t wait.. 
Good stuff! Enjoy your work there bro!
Michael
Have a safe trip Bjorn
How on earth do 5 people balance themselves on a motorcycle like that?! But be a man! Be. A Man!
thanks marina and michael for your kind comments!
Have fun Bjorn! Btw we used to do that motorbike thing in India all the time (but the max no. of people I’ve done it with is 4 and one of them was a small kid). The Viets I guess perfected the art
It is very interesting, you don’t see that in Indian cities anymore…people have become rich enough to afford more than one motorcycle per family these days and also a bit safety conscious. But if you drive into rural parts, you see amazing things…farmers carrying goats, produce, entire families on motor-cycles, all thanks to Bajaj and Honda!
yea, harish.. bajaj was everywhere man, so were those tata motorbikes in india.. yea, there’s too many cars in india but well, i only went to bombay and didn;t have much of a chance to go into really rural parts..
lets see what i can find in rural vietnam, since they r the experts in motorbike usage..
Bro,
How’s your visit to Vietnam? I can’t recall but someone told me she is working in Vietnam during the “The Digital Movement” conference?
Is this the same lady? Sorry, forgot her name
Cheers,
Suraj Luke
wow… great for u, bjorn. Vietnam is a great place. A motorbike ride in Ho Chi Minh city is an unforgetable experience…
I had a great fun in Vietnam when I went with BINGO for the Mekong trip in dec 2006.
Definitely a great place for you to explore.
Keep in touch. All the best.
Hi Bjorn,
It’s almost a week. How’s life over at Vietnam?
Well, hope that all are well.
Take care.:)