Shadowing Practice: First Impressions Saigon, Vietnam 🇻🇳 NOT What I Expected! - Learn English Speaking with Video

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good morning from the airport here it is bright and early and me

and iv are about to board a flight to ho chi minh city vietnam

it's going to be a brand new country for the channel we are

so excited we're going to be here for about two weeks

and we've got lots of time to explore

and i cannot wait to get some local food today

i want to eat the vietnamese food oh it's it's going to be good it's going to be

so good we've got a lot of really really exciting things planned

and we're also going to be finding out if vietnam is quite as affordable as what everybody says it

So, let's go to Vietnam!

Welcome to Vietnam!

We've got our bags, so we're just going to go straight to our accommodation.

I'm calling a grab, but first I'm connected to the airport Wi -Fi.

I would only do this

if you have a VPN we're using apex guard at the moment

so I think the car is gonna take about half an hour to get to the center

and how much is that saying 124 thousand thousand dong yeah what is

that three pounds oh my three pounds for it now damn nice

that's good make sure you're always tip in your drive drivers yes

because they work hard wow i can't believe it's

that cheap right ride hailing oh it's a sad day when we have to ditch the trolley oh that's very sad

jordan never gets any easier does it i know i'm really thinking that we should get suitcases soon

right so we have got very clear instructions of how to find the grab we've got to go down

to the first floor turn right look for pillar 35a so hopefully that's going to be pretty simple

well

if you did need a taxi it's bloody easy to get one here yeah you could definitely get a taxi

so this was 14a what are we looking for 35 oh lord

so maybe it was

that oh it's this way ride hailing okay turned the wrong way after

we got off yesterday we'll get there we'll get there

so we've followed these signs to e -hailing

and we've come to what looks like the grab pickup point i've never seen this before

but it's sort of in a circle and the pillars are numbered

so it's really easy to find your driver like this here's 36

and there's places for the cars to park that is really easy

and convenient so we're looking for oh this one 70

well it was really sunny as we landed on the plane but we've not been blessed with the best weather

absolutely throwing it down

thank you so we've just been dropped off and it looks like our taxi can't go down

where we're staying

so we're having to walk the rain's not too bad at the moment

i'm glad the rain's not too bad oh yeah

i can see why he didn't drop us off yeah fair enough

but this kind of feels like we're getting a taste of the real vietnam already a little alleyway loads of bikes

just want to get in and drop our bags off so we can explore properly

okay i think this is the place no way there's a motorbike inside yeah hey

yeah let's get out of that rain do you know though area wise it looks like there's actually quite a lot around.

Yeah, it looks really nice.

Right, your room is on 2A, second floor.

So, as we've got our bags, let's take the lift.

2A.

Oh, straight out the lift.

Okay.

Maybe tap your whole hand on the screen.

Oh dear.

right let me try read the read the code hang on i think what i didn't even press

i i literally just pressed unlock right i hope

that locks do you think this is going to be safe are we going to get trapped out of it

oh okay right let's take a look at where we're staying oh this is cute

so we've got like a studio apartment kind of style thing beds up here

which is really nice i've never had this in a i mean to be honest

i don't think we've actually ever stayed in a studio apartment before

but it's kind this yeah it's cute and then tv

that comes off the walls so i think we can like turn

that oh okay to watch

and bed yeah the only thing is there's like all this window space

which is great because there's a lot of natural light

but then you need to have the curtains closed otherwise everyone can see you oh

you you make a good point yeah

you make a good point fully equipped kitchen though i like this i mean

i think we're going to be eating

but it's nice to have a bit of space yeah oh yeah look vm coffee wow i love it

when you get an airbnb or an apartment or something

and they actually equip it as like an actual house like that's that's awesome yeah it's good yeah

and i think that you can drink this water as well this one's filtered oh okay

so that's really good

that's good long mirror yeah always good especially for you should

we take a look the bathroom what have we got oh this is really nice yeah look at

that decent shower should we try the should try the water pressure yeah yeah she's she's strong she's strong oh

i like that

yeah that's good that's gonna be good we paid uh about 27 pounds a night for this place so it's not

super super cheap

but i think that's good yeah 27 pounds in the uk

you'd not get anything you'd get like a bed in a dormitory for this

and i think area is good as well yes we're very central

location i think cool right shall we should we go yeah should we go let's go outside

oh actually mate we might have to wait for it to stop raining first

yeah i don't i don't think the rain's gonna last much longer i think it's basically done

One slightly ridiculous thing about travelling like this is

that we're booking the next part of the trip while we're still on this one.

Flights, hotels, trains, sometimes hundreds or even thousands of pounds worth of bookings.

And where are we doing all of that?

In hotel rooms like this, in airports or cafes, on somebody else's internet connection.

We're either booking flights, checking banking

or doing the most important things whilst being connected to networks that we've never even used before.

And that is why when we travel, we use ApexGuard, who are sponsoring today's video.

If we're booking something or logging into an important account on a network that we don't control, we'll switch it on.

ApexGuard encrypts the connection between our device and its VPN server, masking our normal IP.

It doesn't magically make every website safe,

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but it gives us an extra privacy layer when we're doing things we'd rather not do completely exposed on a random network.

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And if you've got a trip coming up, this is the best time to try it.

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There's no auto renewal and you only pay later if you choose a paid plan.

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So you could book a trip, go on the trip, use ApexGuard the whole time and still not pay for anything.

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There's literally nothing stopping you giving it a try risk -free and every sign up helps support the channel.

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the rain has stopped and we're out on the streets of Ho Chi Minh the first thing

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that I'm noticing is just how many bikes there are here look at all these motorbikes

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and you would be surprised what some people can carry on the back of them

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it's absolutely crazy it's one of the key features of vietnam i think like all these bikes coming past

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so despite hanoi being the capital ho chi min is actually the biggest city in vietnam

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it's got about 10 million people and it was formerly called saigon

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and i can see on this billboard up here that face

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that is the ho chi min

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that is the uh the ho chi min of ho chi min city

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so we're on our way to get some food now yes we're on our way to get some food

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but we forgot to get cash out at the airport

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so first job find an atm get some money

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and then buy some food yeah we're not exactly sure oh

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we got we got a green man we got a green man a green man

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but the cars have still come in how bizarre

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so we're not sure exactly how cashless it's going to be here

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i think we'll be able to pay on card for quite a lot of things

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but for street food and that kind of stuff we're definitely going to need cash

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so that's the first tour of the day yeah i love looking at all these bikes look there is

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so many well unfortunately

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dry spell didn't actually last the rain is coming the rain

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is coming oh my god oh my oh my goodness right let's just let's just shelter under here

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i can literally see two atms over there

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but we're on the wrong side of the road

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and it's pouring down now do you know i i really don't know why we do this

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but it was throwing it down as we got out of the airport

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and we still decided not to bring any coat or any umbrella.

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Right, rule number one.

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Maybe we can head to a market and find a poncho.

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Thank you so much.

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Thank you. That was so cute.

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He saw us sheltering from the rain and brought us a little bit.

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A little tiny plastic stool.

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I feel like authentic Vietnam already.

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I know.

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We're being looked after.

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yeah thank you bye bye right let's go let's make the rain looks like it is just about stopped

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honestly that security guard was

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so lovely there one thing

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i've actually noticed since leaving the airbnb is every single place

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even like a starbucks seems to have a security guard

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and they all seem to be around about the same age

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and quite honestly not doing an awful lot i'm just really interested

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because i know vietnam is actually a very safe country

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so i'm interested to know like why they're there

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or whether they act as like i don't know to help people with parking

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or i don't know

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if you know let us know in the comments yeah

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i think it's probably more to do with parking

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you know yeah right in those like 10 minutes we had wait for the rain i did manage to search

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and find somewhere for food

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so i'm really hungry now we just need to get the cash

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and then this video is back contract yeah oh no right right yeah hey right

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so how much cash do we actually want to get out

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do you think maybe about 50 pounds worth of vietnamese pounds

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is about 1 .7 million vietnamese dog maybe do 1 .5 we have lots of issues with atms

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so yeah oh your transaction has been declined please take your card

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i jinxed it by saying we have issues with atms

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i'm gonna try a different card no okay oh

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it's the atm right it's the atm let's try find another atm the quest continues

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and i'm getting more and more hungry public bank vietnam atm 24 7.

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let's go i've literally just seen it says here visa master overseas not accepted try it anyway

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so we're currently just left with this screen here well done though eve i didn't actually notice

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that yeah i saw it over your shoulder god

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this isn't looking good right no joy god

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we always have acm problems whenever we travel anywhere yeah right

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you're gonna see me hangry in a minute also bear with me

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because i've got a cold as well you can probably tell

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so things are not going well right now right fourth time lucky

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atm number five yeah so i seem to be getting the impression

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that a lot of the atms around here in the city don't take foreign cards annoyingly

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we really should have done this at the airport

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because they 100 would have done but we've tried multiple cards we've tried multiple atms

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and basically i just want some money so i can eat something same i'm

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so hungry i won't be at the meat food wait it didn't work i don't know oh my god

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honestly i've never been so happy however i don't know how useful this is going to be we have four

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500 000 notes so that's quite a lot of money in one day plastic plastic nose that's

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so good and with the huchi min on him

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so oh god i'm so happy right let's go get food oh let's get food

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that is such a relief so i think this is the place

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thank you thank you it's so nice and air -conditioned yeah thank you it's

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so cute in here look it's like a little um

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it's like the inside of someone's house

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it kind of has like a French feel baguettes in the

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window yeah can i please have one uh grilled pork one special charm okay one fresh coconut

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and one three three three there okay okay come on thank you thank you

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so much thank you wow these look so big

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so she put them in half and half for us so we can try both

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oh my god that is so packed i don't think i've ever seen a sandwich this full before wow

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that looks crazy it was worth the wait it was worth walking around

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this is so cute but it's just in the way

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oh it smells good from here i just want to eat it crispy pate with a local beer look at the way

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Eve's coconut was served

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it's got like cucumber, lettuce,

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carrot, onion big sandwich for a small girl it's got a really delicious sauce so good

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so we've been here about 10 minutes i've finished mine

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and eve i haven't even been still on the first half in fact yeah the only bite out of the second half

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It's the one that I had when I tried your sandwich, this is so good though it's like actual roast pork

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that was so good I so full now and also lucky time for you

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Lily oh thank you what's your name

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Lily oh that's a nice name with you happy because you like

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Albany oh I loved it it's so good oh no thank you

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so much that's so sweet it's got a little special is it just you

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that works here you're very busy just one person yeah I think we have more

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because this woman is not enough stuff okay it's not

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so many customers like normal like so that's why if

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when we have some customer men like and they

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so mock oh okay thank you well hopefully with my good review

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we can let people know to come here as well thank you

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so much thank you you worked very hard then yeah

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super cute yeah i just 200 is okay really really yeah yeah please have this for you

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thank you so much thank you thank you bye

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oh that was so cute we got a little charm bracelet yeah

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so that place

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if anybody else wants to come here is delicious banh mi ngon

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it's called charm bakery to google maps it's really close to where we're staying

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we're in district one like the main area ah right should

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we do want to go for a little explore yeah let's go explore

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so come on down to this place here this

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is a market called bentian

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and it's over a hundred years old i think it sells more

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or less everything

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so it's going to be a great indication for us to have a little shop get some souvenirs

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and see quite how affordable this country is i have actually read online

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that they will hit you with some tourist prices

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so we're gonna have to get our bargain on eve that's okay i'm pretty good at

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that yeah thank you wow

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it's in this really beautiful colonial style building should we should we go in the front way

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i've seen more tourists just here in these like

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two minutes we've been here than anywhere else today

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this is obviously the tourist we are entering the market looks like we've got loads of vietnam souvenirs vietnam t -shirts

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hello yeah loads of little souvenirs what are this like little abubu things

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some lacoste so it looks like a lot of kind of accessories

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and bags and clothing and that kind of thing maybe something like this okay we've got

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that one and that one and that one

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i actually kind of like

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that what do you think i mean it kind of suits

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you really it looks quite tight though i know

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it's i always have a problem buying caps I think she's gonna help you

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yes good good okay all right the magic question how much is this 150 150 what is that

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so i know never to go this is bob's excellent

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150 very expensive no we do oh i don't know i think we can do better than

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that we do we do 75

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i don't know it's four pounds 25 i feel like that's quite a lot for a cat what do you think

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150 what do you think 425 yeah i think that's lucky i think that's too much i'll do 100.

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okay okay 140.

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i don't know i feel like i don't want to spend

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that much on a cat but no it's okay it's okay thank you okay 120 120

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but help me please 100 the the maximum for this one really 100.

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okay in

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that case i'll keep it on the edge thank you yeah

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i learned i came in ready for you thank you thank

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you very much thank you thank you how do i say handsome

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normally i actually wouldn't be too worried about bargaining like a couple of pounds of a hat however

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i know specifically this is like tourist central

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and these are like way way inflated prices what you should be paying

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so i think i did quite good

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there he did really good also the other thing is like us as westerners

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we find it really difficult to bargain it's not something we're used to

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but here like that is the cultural norm so it's okay

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and that's like what you should do it's how things work

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but it takes a bit of getting used to yeah also this market is

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so big you can see here there's like north gate south gate

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and then east and west up here pointing you

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which way to go i like the lights it's kind of chic

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it's actually very vietnam very vietnam you can see just how busy

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it is as we're walking down the streets here this smells good

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we've got a whole load of things here coffee coffee coconut coffee hazelnut

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i'm seeing a whole load of these signs here make a

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dress in one day make suits in one day Vietnam is very famous for tailoring

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so it looks like in this market if you want you can come

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and choose what materials you want what style you want

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and they will actually make you a custom suit or dress

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or whatever else you want obviously we've got a lot of travel ahead of us

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so we can't carry like a suit around but I just think

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that that is something really crazy

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that you can do here do you think

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i'd be a good grab driver no

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i'm not very good for funny just for funny i feel like one for you

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and one for him

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so he could be like a grab couple

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this is waterproof yeah really yes okay hilarious i'm not this one right side for him

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and i give you one side yeah try one on eve try one on I think

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you need a jacket more than me we'll try one for one for the lady

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you actually don't have a waterproof jacket

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I think

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I'd look good I don't know can try it on please

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i'm gonna try it on yeah let's see oh she really came out of nowhere yeah it's also it's

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so hot in here yeah it's warm oh that looks kind of hard you know that looks good

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yeah i needed this earlier when it was raining yeah i actually really like

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that i don't think i'm gonna get the grab can i can i try one sure yeah

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i try the try the boy's size

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is that how things work boy size and girl size imagine with the vietnam hat and my grab jacket

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bigger size thank you yeah yeah they're actually quite thick just for like a rain jacket

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can you imagine turning up to like a uk festival in a grab jacket there

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that would be

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so fun oh my god all right are you from my friend from the uk

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i mean no from from vietnam yeah yeah

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lady can you stay here please oh for me okay second time today thank you

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yeah we've done lots of walking today

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I think the fact that

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Bob's in a 3XL shows the size difference between Vietnam and UK small size

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You work for Greb?

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How did you know?

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But it's very cheap to get around with Greb It's difficult to make a living with the fares being so cheap

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How about for you sir?

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No no no, I like the grab car, I never use motorbikes anyway

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Well if you change your mind I'll give you a good price I've got enough stuff, I just did my teeth,

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it's worth doing dental work here Oh yeah?

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Nice 800 ,000 for cleaning teeth, that's about 40 Australian dollars

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Oh really nice

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Very good And then I bought this bag, I bought sunglasses, I bought this for 900 ,000 dong okay got five pairs of underpants

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and and very cool for summer in Australia shorts

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which the material is soft

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and it's thin oh yeah yeah you know like this stuff is heavy

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and you know

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when you do a little bush walking like I do yeah

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you don't need something to weigh you down yeah yeah definitely something

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that can dry off quite quick as well this I bought a few months in Thailand yeah we made a new friend, Australian friend

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what are you looking for? no I'm not looking at nothing it's dangerous to stay still here for too long

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okay what do you think of this just wondering what the purpose of having

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this is the magic question again

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if it's a good price out I will get it

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that it is you are right it is a silly purchase but it is funny

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anything else uh really just just this i've already bought this hat as well

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so that'll be enough i give you for one just like this

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and then you buy two who buy two uh depends depends what the price is for two

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i give you just this one okay so 450 for one yeah

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or two for 900 that's a good deal yes i'll just buy the one

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but i don't think 450 is it's too high not too high

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it's too high it's too high for me it's too high about like this right high

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but i give you only this right before i really want to pay

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it right 450 is about 12 pounds she's gonna be not very happy with me

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i spend all our money on on silly things

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we need a uh i need a we need a good price we do 300

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300 is about 10 pounds you buy two right just a one just one

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she doesn't want to work for grab 300 is 308 pound 50 oh well

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that's okay that's a bit better wait how much is 450 bob 450 is 12 pounds

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i really oh god i could go to what about really

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it's okay it's okay it's very funny for two could we can we do

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that 450 for two no he said like this right for one

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and then two like this right for two okay can you give me

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this right happy two um i don't really want to do that

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can you give me a little bit more happy can you give me your maximum one more okay

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okay okay 700 for two yeah should we do it yeah okay okay okay okay

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we're happy we're all happy there okay thank you all right i've got a full backpack

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and two more things to put in actually i think

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i'll uh i'll keep it on i like it i like it very much

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you want to keep

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it on it's boiling in here give me two of this i can oh okay yeah

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that's good then perfect thank you how about shop my friend i know really really can you buy one t -shirt

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no really it's okay no no no no i don't need

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but thank you come on you gotta i respect the hustle genuine respect the hustle

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thank you i don't think your um your joke hit with that guy where you said good price

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oh i look i'm looking i'm looking nice you know oh

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i feel like we are having like a really good day

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if you are coming to vietnam like this is a very good bit of fun thank you what was your name

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My name is G.

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G. Nice to meet you.

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I'm Bob.

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Nice to meet you, too.

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Kamun, how are you doing business with you?

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Nice to meet you.

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Thank you very much.

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Have a nice day.

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Thank you.

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Bye.

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Thank you, Kamun.

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Bye.

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Oh no, they're trying to they're trying to sell you more grub stuff.

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I think we've we've got to leave the market now yeah man

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you wearing your grub stuff is apparently you recommend apparently it's waterproof

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are we on tick tock right now hey you're on youtube

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i need to see what's your youtube yeah

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i've traveled these travelers beef troubles travel the uk the uk

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we paid um 700 000 for two for two

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she got one yeah yeah yeah i got scammed yeah

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i got this for 500 000 oh really i mean to be fair

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it's like it's ferrari yeah i know they went from one million to 500.

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wow okay have a good time guys nice to meet you take care nice to meet you brother enjoy

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that was sweet we're meeting locals we're meeting tourists

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it's great people love the grab jacket i know you know it's

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so fun i would really recommend coming here

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i've had this has been fun

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it's been a fun first day do you know what i think we need now though coffee we need

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vietnamese coffee that is the one thing that's going to make this day better

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do you want a lift actually he offered me a lift

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but maybe i could give one to him wow

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so this building here looks incredible it's got

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that really old kind of colonial style obviously vietnam was colonized by the french

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and you can see these awesome looking shutters here it kind of looks a little bit derelict

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but it does have a really nice vibe and another thing

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that i've honestly never seen anywhere else before is

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if you look just here over the road sorry i hope

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you can hear me

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i don't quite know what this shop is you'll see this

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is like oh let's go let's cross over this is like a pavement over here

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but this is kind of just where the the bikes kind of pull

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and fill up i think that's

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so good obviously you got the umbrellas isn't it like they come up here fill up

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and then oh yeah umbrellas to keep the sun and the

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and the rain off you that's awesome seen a petrol station

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that looks like that before no just things

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that just make sense this is where we're heading for coffee this is a place called kong cafe

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and it's a vietnamese chain it's kind got like a military sort of theme to it

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and you'll find loads of them around vietnam i'm gonna fit in with my cap you fit in with

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so much love ah i love the theme and decoration in here it's so nice

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oh look at this we've got the stars red stars like this one

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and all the workers are wearing like they're like almost like military uniforms yeah

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um two is it

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baksu baksu ice uh hot hot two

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and then can i get one coconut coffee one hot box

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and one coconut coffee yes coconut coffee maybe add a topping on coconut chip uh yeah perfect anything else

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we have moon cake uh no that's everything

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perfect thank you thank you so there's really nice area out here to sit

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but i think we're gonna go upstairs here as it's nicely air conditioned inside wow guys look at this building

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this is incredible it's like such an old style building this is actually really steep as well walking up here

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carrying too many things oh wow that's nice

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hi babe am i fitting it yeah you look great how nice is this i love these

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bricks and the books it's very old theme and old style but super cute come on thank you so much Wow.

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Eve picked the wrong time to go to the toilet.

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Look at this.

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So this is the hot Baksu and this is the Kong coconut coffee.

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Are they coconut shavings on the top?

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Oh wow.

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Here she is.

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Yay!

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And the coffees have arrived.

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Oh my god.

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So this is actually a really special moment for me

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and Bob because the first time we visited vietnam was about six years ago maybe

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and we were in hanoi and we tried cong coffee for the first time

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and it was like nothing we were like the best thing ever

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And this little coffee here, which is a Baksu, was my favourite thing in the whole world.

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So I am so excited to have it again.

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Eve literally had a picture of this coffee on her phone

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and she would look at it like all the years that had passed.

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That sounds sad, but it's true.

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So we got that and then we also got this, which I've already said is a coconut coffee,

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which I think is, you can only get ice.

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Could you get this hot?

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No, I didn't.

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Wow.

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All right, I'm going to go first with this one because I'm going to get hot.

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wow i don't know what it is vietnamese coffee just hits different oh vietnamese coffee is

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so good this needed a little a little mix i don't want to ruin the star on the top though

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so a black soup is obviously vietnamese coffee like an espresso

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and then it has condensed milk and also fresh milk does it mean he said white coffee when he put it down

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It just means white coffee.

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Yeah, I think maybe that's what it is.

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Oh my god, that is so good.

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Thanks, honey.

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It's just so good.

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I don't know what it is.

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Usually, neither of us are like a drinker of like a sweet coffee but in Vietnam we just can't get enough.

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We just can't really get enough.

463

It's so good.

464

I'm going to try the cake for that one.

465

oh that's really good as well so both of these coffees came to 133 000

466

which is about three pound 77 so in the uk to put

467

that into perspective one you probably get one normal coffee for

468

that whereas you've got this huge coffee and just a standard coffee for half the price

469

so it's a little bit later on now me

470

and eve have had a chance to go back to the hotel

471

and kind of freshen up a little bit

472

and we're on the hunt now for some dinner we know we want to eat very local

473

and obviously street food is a big thing here in vietnam

474

so we're going to try

475

and find some ideally we're looking for some authentic kind of roadside stall

476

i can smell some smoke coming from here yeah like look

477

there's now we haven't actually got a place in mind

478

because there's so many different food places oh my word oh these look like uh like pork chops or something

479

come on right eve i look like we're going here is it a build your own table job yeah

480

right let's have a look at the menu so what were they at the front were they were they pork chops

481

we need to ask someone really they weren't like the most forthcoming about what was cooking

482

but there is a lot of people sat here

483

so yeah it's a busy spot okay special combination broken rice oh yeah

484

they were pork chops pork chop pork chop pork chop pork chop okay

485

it looks like we're having pork chop to you okay

486

bestseller is the bestseller okay and is

487

that a pork chop yeah okay I do one

488

and then maybe i'll try something different um should i do this shredded pork okay yeah

489

i'll do this one yeah

490

and do we have a drink could i do a beer

491

saigon yes okay cool let's see what this is like i can see some smoke coming from where

492

that barbecue was earlier i think this could be our pork cooking oh my god guys look at

493

that that looks amazing looks so good is this tasty this pork it's good

494

it smells

495

so good honestly they must be marinated in something they come out of this sort of box there

496

and they cook straight on the street which is exactly what we wanted so

497

i'm excited to try

498

this is like what you have to do in vietnam oh my god did it look good yeah

499

i can smell it it smells really like it smells really smoky

500

now yeah it does it smells it this looks like an egg

501

this is the pork chop a bit of salad i'm not sure what this is

502

so this was called pork loaf

503

and this is what i could see on the menu and i thought i don't know if i want I need that.

504

Like a luncheon, meaty.. type thing no idea to be honest

505

honestly i have no idea it tastes like meat with like bits of like cabbage and things

506

and they're kind of like a sausage -y type thing yeah maybe a bit like an omelette then maybe

507

but i think

508

that this is going to be the star of the show isn't it this is the pork chop

509

that pork chop they look so good cooking on the grill that's fire that is fire god give it a go

510

also my first beer saigon in saigon is going down very well i don't know

511

if you've noticed but this is actually the market

512

that we were at earlier we've kind of come back down to this area oh this looks

513

so good it's so like crispy on the outside

514

oh my god

515

that is amazing good isn't

516

it it has kind of like a sweet taste yeah like an umami taste yep at first

517

i thought it was this but actually it tastes good banging so good

518

this is called like calm something i think calm is rice oh maybe because i know is chicken rice

519

and they obviously support it's been so nice to sit here

520

and just sort of watch the world go by like this

521

guy here who knows what he's doing selling his goods

522

I feel like you get like an idea of the local life there

523

and I was really impressed because my coconut was cold and

524

so was the beer so you might not think eating street food

525

that you'd have cold drinks but you very much do so good

526

good experience all around let's find out how much

527

this food came to then eaten on the street in vietnam thank you amazing

528

so that was 200k i think that's like all

529

that food five quid

530

if you want to eat here just as a rule of thumb

531

i don't know what this name was we kind of just stumbled across it

532

com tam 182 com tam 182 i'd reckon or something along those lines

533

but it's right by the market that that was good

534

that was some fire food so good i'm

535

so satisfied right i think we're going to leave this video here it's been a long

536

but really exciting day we have got so much planned

537

while we're here in vietnam

538

so make sure you subscribe to see the rest of our series and we'll see you next time bye

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This speaking lesson is built on the video “First Impressions Saigon, Vietnam 🇻🇳 NOT What I Expected!”. This video has 538 sentences and 6261 words to shadow. The speech runs for 42:58. The speaker talks at a steady 146 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. 86% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English; the rest is worth studying before you start.

Key vocabulary in this video

15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
chop verb	/t͡ʃɑp/	To cut into pieces with short, vigorous cutting motions.
coconut noun	/ˈkəʊ.kə.nʌt/	A fruit of the coconut palm (not a true nut), Cocos nucifera, having a fibrous husk surrounding a large seed.
jacket noun	/ˈd͡ʒæk.ɪt/	A piece of clothing worn on the upper body outside a shirt or blouse, often waist length to thigh length.
explore verb	/ɪkˈsploɹ/	To examine or investigate something systematically.
hungry adjective	/ˈhʌŋ.ɡɹi/	Affected by hunger; having the physical need for food.
taxi noun	/ˈtæksi/	A vehicle that may be hired for single journeys by members of the public, particularly one with an automated meter to calculate the fare.
sandwich noun	/ˈsæn(d).wɪd͡ʒ/	A dish or foodstuff where at least one piece, but typically two or more pieces, of bread serves as the wrapper or container of some other food.
charm noun	/t͡ʃɑɹm/	An object, act or words believed to have magic power (usually carries a positive connotation).
bargain noun	/ˈbɑːɹɡən/	An agreement between parties concerning the sale of property; or a contract by which one party binds themself to transfer the right to some property for a…
hail noun	/heɪl/	Balls or pieces of ice falling as precipitation, often in connection with a thunderstorm.
umbrella noun	/ʌmˈbɹɛl.ə/	A cloth-covered frame used for protection against rain or sun.
waterproof adjective	/ˈwɔt̬ɚˌpruf/	Resistant to the effects of water.
gate noun	/ˈɡeɪ̯t/	A doorlike structure outside a house.
silly adjective	/ˈsɪl.i/	Laughable or amusing through foolishness or a foolish appearance.
delicious adjective	/dɪˈlɪ.ʃəs/	Pleasing to the sense of taste; tasty.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Word	Meaning
go down verb	To descend; to move from a higher place to a lower one.
come up verb	To emerge or become known, especially unexpectedly.
fill up verb	To make (something) completely full.
find out verb	To discover, as by asking or investigating.
get out of verb	To leave, exit or escape from; to become free of.
come back verb	To return to a place.
come off verb	To become detached.
drop off verb	To fall asleep.

Sentences worth repeating

Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:

How did you know?
How about for you sir?
Kamun, how are you doing business with you?
Could you get this hot?
I don't know what it is.

Grammar in this video

The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:

Structure	In the video
Conditional sentences if + clause, will/would + verb — a condition and its result	if you change your mind I'll give
Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now	we've followed · we've come · we've not been blessed
Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it	we've not been blessed · been dropped · being connected
Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing	here, which is · street which is

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 215 contractions and reduced forms, such as we're, don't, I'm. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

The “th” sounds: authentic /ɔˈθɛn.tɪk/, clothing /ˈkloʊðɪŋ/, thin /ˈθɪn/, thick /θɪk/, thumb /ˈθʌm/
The “sh” and “zh” sounds: delicious /dɪˈlɪ.ʃəs/, impression /ɪmˈpɹɛʃn̩/, shelter /ˈʃɛltə/, transaction /tɹænˈzækʃən/, instruction /ɪnˈstɹʌkʃən/
Long words — get the stress right: affordable /əˈfɔɹ.də.bəl/, ridiculous /ɹɪˈdɪk.jə.ləs/, hilarious /hɪˈlɛə.ɹi.əs/, accommodation /əˌkɒm.əˈdeɪ.ʃən/, indication /ɪndɪˈkeɪʃən/

How to practise with this video

Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
Shadow it sentence by sentence at normal speed, repeating each one until your rhythm matches the speaker.
Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like chop, coconut, jacket.

What is the Shadowing Technique?

Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.

Shadowing technique: read the full step-by-step guide →

Shadowing Practice: First Impressions Saigon, Vietnam 🇻🇳 NOT What I Expected! - Learn English Speaking with Video

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

Key vocabulary in this video

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Sentences worth repeating

Grammar in this video

Pronunciation to watch

How to practise with this video

What is the Shadowing Technique?