Computerized Street Maps, On the Street!

I was surprised to see a computerized street map on CMT8 the other day. It's amazing that they put computers out in these little bus shelter looking structures. I've only seen one. I didn't have time to try it out, but I'm impressed it exists at all.

Here is another advantage of a well behaved society. If you had one of these on the street in New York City or San Francisco, I'm guessing it would be destroyed or ravaged for parts very quickly. Hopefully this will last a while on the street here. I'll have to go by later this week and take another look.

HCMC Apple Store

When looking for some office furniture along Nguyen Thi Minh Khai in District 3 I ran across this sign saying iPhone Coming Soon. It turns out it was a good advertisement. We later returned to the store to buy a new MacBook for my daughter. I don't know if they are selling iPhones yet, but I think they may carry MacBook Air laptops...



Here's a picture of the storefront. Note all the crazy utility wires running down the street.




KTC Apple Store
384 Nguyen Thi Minh Khai
District 3

Ho Chi Minh City Maps

Here's a great site for HCMC street maps called DiaDiem. (Thanks Carey for the pointer.) It beats the crap out of Google Maps. It has the best collection actual street addresses that I have found in an online map for Vietnam.

Second runner up is Anan Vietnam, which mainly focuses on restaurants, but has a decent online mapping facility.

If you just want satellite maps, then you can stick with Google Maps or may want to go with Google Earth. But if you're trying to figure out where you're headed before getting into a taxi, Dia Diem is a great place to start.

It has an English version, but you'll still need to understand some Vietnamese if you're going to to search. All the categories are in Vietnamese, even after you switch to English. We all know Khach San means Hotel and Nha Hang means Restaurant right?

iPhones in Saigon

I'm the owner of a spanking new iPhone. Gotta love a market economy! (Thanks for the tip, Kevin.)


If you're in Ho Chi Minh City and looking for an iPhone that will work with the local carriers, drop by Tin Tuc Dien Thoi at 683 Tien Thanh in Quan 10. They have hardware unlocked phones, including TurboSIM hacks. The scary thing about TurboSIM is that they have to slice off the corner of your SIM card. Ok, maybe this is a drawback to the prepaid plans. I believe that if you hose your SIM you loose your funds.

They claim that they may be able to fix my poor dropped iPhone in the meantime. I'm going to drop it off and see what they can do. If they can fix it, the wife will have a nice new toy as well.

Schoolbus for One

This is how we get to school in Vietnam!

My Vietnamese language teacher calls my helmet a rice cooker (nồi nấu cơm). Most folks don't wear helmets in Vietnam. The thinking is that they cause accidents because they reduce your field of vision and impair your hearing. Given that most signaling is done with a horn and the top speed is 20 mph, there may be some truth to that.

BTW, the brand of bike is a SYM. I've never heard of them before but they seem to be pretty popular in Vietnam.