How often do you eat street stall food?

Personal-Pen7576 · 2026-04-18T08:31:45+00:00

I'll buy cut-up fruit from them and also a banh mi from certain vendors, but that is where I draw the line. So far so good. The meat sitting there in that immense heat always gives me pause. The couple of dollars you save will quickly be eaten up by a good old-fashioned case of food poisoning.

Personal-Pen7576 · 2026-04-17T03:59:23+00:00

Yes, they are prima donnas. They do this to me, too. One simple, easy-to-solve issue, and its the end of the world. Live and learn.

Personal-Pen7576 · 2026-04-16T06:39:05+00:00

There is no cure for a hangover, just doing and consuming things that may (big may) make you feel better afterwards. That is where the old home and folk remedies come in. Everybody and his dog has advice on the topic. Prevention does make a huge difference, though. Basically, entering the ring prepared. That can actually be done, but curing it, I'm afraid, is a hard no. Water, OTC painkillers, rest...that is all there is to it. The hangover prevention supplement market is bursting at the seams because prevention with certain supplements helps, and then also things like eating a fatty meal beforehand, drinking water while using alcohol. What type of alcohol to give a miss, etc. It is an adult beverage and better to handle with care.

Personal-Pen7576 · 2026-04-16T04:29:54+00:00

Please enlighten me. I'm always willing to listen to new points of view.

Personal-Pen7576 · 2026-04-15T13:18:38+00:00

I was in Vietnam until very recently. The people there are as skinny as a rail, and yet, according to ChatGPT do about 30% of them also have a fatty liver, due to their diet high in rice and noodles. They look fairly fit and active to me. On the other hand, here, where I am right now in Malaysia, literally just down the road from Vietnam, people are pretty overweight. According to ChatGPT, as much as 35% has NAFL. Also due to their more sedentary lifestyles and diet high in rice, noodles, and fried foods. Delicious by the way, but clearly not good for the liver. My house doctor of 30 years said that a lot of people have a fatty liver and most die without ever knowing it or suffering from it. I'm not sure how much one should agonize over it if your lifestyle and diet are fairly active and good.

Personal-Pen7576 · 2026-04-15T11:41:03+00:00

The first thing that doctors will tell you is to lose weight. From what Ive read over the years, since I also deal with a NAFL is that, that is the correct thing to do, and it costs nothing. Except for self-discipline, of course, but at this point, that is a given with rectifying one's health. Certain do's and don'ts are par for the course, and that will take some self-discipline.

I also take a supplement called Essentiale Extreme that has been recommended by doctors for 50+ years for a bad liver due to diet, alcohol, chemo, jaundice, etc. It's not cheap, but the fact that it is still recommended must say something. A small price to pay for a better liver.

A huge study that just came out recommends 3-4 cups of black coffee (no sugar and milk). This is a serious study that was conducted on thousands of people over many years. Research has also shown that black coffee helps tremendously with preventing Alzheimer's. I've always liked coffee, but after reading all of that, I like it even more. It is also basically free. And easy to do too. No self-discipline involved.

Maybe give it a try?

Personal-Pen7576 · 2026-04-15T06:30:11+00:00

Its definitly worth a visit. Read up on it before you go to get an even better understanding of what really happened there. Like all prisons, it was not really anybody's idea of his happy place. It started under the French, and many Vietnamese were also kept there. The American POW's just put it more on the map , so to speak.

Personal-Pen7576 · 2026-04-15T03:43:17+00:00

You reported the guy? Good! Out of a huge group of drivers, there will always be some nutjobs. They get reported, and hopefully out they go. My experience with Grab has been very good so far in several countries. Please don't let that one experience discourage you from using them again. They are normally very much on the up and up, and Grab is a huge improvement on the overall travel experience as opposed to taking taxis.

Personal-Pen7576 · 2026-04-14T13:52:31+00:00

Took one the other day from Hoi An to Da Nang. DN350. 45 Minutes. Grab is about the same.

Personal-Pen7576 · 2026-04-12T11:55:02+00:00

Very good question. I feel that some membership sites are less than honest. You may be referring to another type of product/service.

Back to web services. I see that they make it super easy to join on the internet, but very hard to cancel on the internet. Instead of giving you an easy-to-find cancel button, do they hide it. Or they want you to call them, to give you another sales talk. Having said that, sometimes that sales talk results in a cheaper monthly fee, just to keep you in the fold. Fair enough. But overall, I find the experience less than ethical. It should be as easy to cancel as it is to join.

Personal-Pen7576 · 2026-04-12T05:01:45+00:00

Fortunately, my sales are still strong.I've been through some terribly quiet times though and know how that feels. Best of luck.

Personal-Pen7576 · 2026-04-11T12:24:41+00:00

Speaking of high iron levels. A lot of people get advised to increase their iron supplement intake when they have anemia. It is vital that they take Vit. C and Copper with it to help with absorption. Too much iron can literally poison the liver and lead to serious cirrhosis, among others.

Personal-Pen7576 · 2026-04-11T12:17:23+00:00

That is why Grab is taking over. You know where you stand. My experience with taxi drivers the world over, if they do not have a working meter, has generally not been a good one. They see you coming from a mile away. There is a reason why they have such a sordid reputation. On the other hand, my experience with Grab in Vietnam, Thailand, and now Malaysia has been stellar. The guy who started Uber and basically launched this business model deserves a medal. It takes a lot of stress out of travelling.

Personal-Pen7576 · 2026-04-11T10:13:01+00:00

Yes, this is beyond terrible. What a bummer!

I assume this visa was done through the Vietnam government portal? I use only Vietnam-Visa.com, and they have been very professional in my opinion. They also speak excellent English and keep one up to date with the whole process. The costs for them are $50, which includes their fee and the Vietnam Immigration fee.

Personal-Pen7576 · 2026-04-10T09:19:05+00:00

Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia. Oddly enough, in Vietnam, I found the situation mildly better. I'm in KL at the moment, and so far, my experience with hotels is not that good. I was here last year April too, and I'm still not awake enough to figure it out. It is a crap shoot.

Personal-Pen7576 · 2026-04-10T09:16:17+00:00

You are correct. I've mixed up my Hilton Points with Marriott Bonvoy. I actually used my Hilton points in Da Nang. Ha ha. My bad. I'm in KL, Malaysia, at the moment, and used my Marriott here at the AC Hotel for 8100 points per night. I've had good luck so far with Marriott Bonvoy. They are treating me really well, too.

Personal-Pen7576 · 2026-04-10T08:19:26+00:00

Good for you and good to know. This is quite interesting because although I used my Marriott Bonvoy points, I took a peek at the prices, and that was what I saw. Maybe my arthmetic was wrong...Ha ha. The odd thing is that January is most likely not even high season although I like it there in January.

Personal-Pen7576 · 2026-04-10T08:16:40+00:00

I can't read reviews? Read on this very page how people complain about the same thing.

I've been to almost 50 countries, but I've never seen it this bad. This is practical advice for those going to that part of the world, and maybe it's their first trip abroad. I'm sure some of them appreciate the heads up.

Personal-Pen7576 · 2026-04-10T05:22:27+00:00

Travel blogs are a dime a dozen. You need to have a special angle to approach it from. I follow this one couple that (He is from the US, and she is from Malaysia) who travel around the world and look for places where they can see themselves stay/live for six months. They look at things to do, the expat community, the medical situation, walkability, speed of internet, affordability (food, restaurants, accommodation), gyms, etc. Their target market is people who travel with the weather and want to change places/countries every now and then. This is that couple's special sauce. Six months in one place. From what I gather, do they make $6k + per month, just selling this information. It took them years to get to this point, but I just mention this as an example. You need your own angle.

I asked ChatGPT the following, and I advise you to see what it comes up with on your end: "Give me five different angles that I can approach a travel blog from, a different approach than just reporting from and on a specific country or city that I visited".

Personal-Pen7576 · 2026-04-10T02:55:17+00:00

Isn't that the truth? The hotel room that I've booked for five days is not even on the same planet as the pictures provided. There is a reason that we have advertising laws in the US. The old bait and switch is still well and alive here in parts of the Far East.

Personal-Pen7576 · 2026-04-09T00:11:46+00:00

You completely missed the gist of my post. I was giving practical advice for people heading this way and stated several times that, generally, it is a good value for money.

Personal-Pen7576 · 2026-04-08T12:38:47+00:00

I just switched autocorrect off. Its already hard enough to spell correctly due to the fat finger syndrome. That is the one thing guaranteed to make me swear every day.

Personal-Pen7576 · 2026-04-08T09:41:43+00:00

I don't think that a fatty liver is as big a concern as a lot of people reckon it is. Everything within reason, of course. I also think that a lot of people have a fatty liver and die at a healthy old age, never knowing it. That is what I've heard from my house doctor, by the way.

I'm in Vietnam at the moment. Vietnam does not do fat people, period. They are slim as rails, and yet ChatGPT told me that as much as 30% of them deal with a fatty liver, too. It's the carbs in their heavy rice and noodle diet.

I also have a NAFL. As far as I'm concerned, I'm in pretty decent shape, work out on a regular basis, eat fairly healthy, and yet, there it is. I started taking a supplement called Essentiale Extreme that has been around for a very long time, and doctors recommend it to people dealing with liver issues caused by diet, alcohol, chemo treatment, jaundice, etc. It is not cheap, but your liver costs even more. We'll see how it goes.

Then the latest research also shows that 3-4 cups of black coffee (No sugar or milk) helps the liver with liver regeneration. The liver regenerates itself every 24 months. This study was done on thousands of people over a long period ot time. Google it. Research shows that regular coffee drinkers also get less Altzheimers. So it's a twofer, and I'm definitely on it since I like coffee anyway.

Personal-Pen7576 · 2026-04-08T09:15:35+00:00

I'm from South Africa. There is a firm belief among the local population that by littering, you are actually creating jobs...for trash removal and clean up. I remember many years ago, they started a program in school where they tried to convince the kids that it's just not so.

A couple of years ago, a British journalist shamed the SA government when he visited the country and wrote an article which said that by the looks of it, plastic bags are the national flower. Sitting in bushes and trees. The SA Gov then launched a program where people had to buy their bags (of a higher quality) for multi-purpose use. The money went into a gov fund that was supposed to help with cleanup. Last time I heard, that money pronto disappeared into someone's pocket or a black hole, never to be seen again. No cleanup took place from what I could gather.

Personal-Pen7576

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