r/hanoi

https://x.com/ajplus/status/2073086186961436991

I need help finding a dog I saw today near Đền Thái Vi (Thai Vi Temple) in Ninh Binh, Vietnam.

He came running toward me while I was on my motorcycle, clearly terrified, and jumped right onto the bike with me.

He had burn marks on him and I have a horrible feeling someone did this to him on purpose. I tried asking a few locals nearby if they could help but nobody wanted to get involved.

I drove to a rescue/cat cafe close by hoping someone there could take him in, but before I could get help he jumped off and ran, first toward the town center, then back out into the fields.

I tried to follow but couldn't catch up to him, and I lost track of where he went.

If anyone lives in or near this area, or knows a local rescue group who could go look for him, please reach out. He's scared, hurt, and alone out there, and I keep thinking about him.

Any help, even just sharing this post so it reaches someone nearby, would mean a lot.

I just wanna walk on the sidewalk sometimes 😂

I'd just arrived back in Vietnam to call it home for the next few months. One thing I always try to do when I travel is connect with both locals and other foreigners. I've also made it a bit of a personal motto to try and find positive stories hidden inside negative ones.

>I made a little video from our ride around Hanoi. Keeping up with everyone on scooters while filming was definitely a challenge 😅, but I hope it gives you a little glimpse into what these Friday food runs are like.

>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Dsh9nRjNuM

A few days after arriving, I came across a Facebook post from a young woman from Burkina Faso. She shared the first bad experience she'd had after living in Vietnam for two years. Thankfully, the overwhelming majority of people responded with compassion and sympathy, but as with most things online, there were also plenty of trolls and hateful comments. After spending months riding across West Africa, where I was shown incredible kindness everywhere I went, I genuinely felt bad reading it. Honestly, I don't think I could have crossed West Africa without the generosity of the people there. Seeing the negativity directed towards someone who was simply sharing her experience was what prompted me to reach out. So I sent her a message and invited her for a coffee. I simply wanted to hear her story and learn about her life in Vietnam.

What happened next was something I never expected.

Her name is Farida. She speaks Vietnamese fluently, has built a strong local community, and works with Vietnamese businesses exporting Yamaha motorbikes to Burkina Faso. Instead of letting me buy her a coffee, she invited me to her Vietnamese business partner's café, where they ended up buying me coffee instead. As we chatted about my journey across Africa, she introduced me to some connections at Yamaha Vietnam, who were kind enough to pass my story crossing Africa with my XMAX on to Yamaha Japan. Afterwards, her Vietnamese friends insisted on taking all of us out for lunch and wouldn't let me pay for that either. I honestly came thinking I might brighten someone else's day, but somehow I walked away having received far more kindness than I intended to give, along with an amazing connection I never expected. It also reminded me that one bad experience doesn't define a person or a country. Farida contributes to the local economy, respects Vietnamese culture, speaks the language fluently, and gives back to the community.

Before we left, she told me about a volunteer group led by Ms. Pham Thuy from Global Language Centre (GLC). Every Friday evening, they ride scooters around Hanoi delivering food, clothing, and other essentials to people in need using donations from local businesses and supporters. She asked if I'd like to come along the following Friday, and of course I said yes.

I didn't do much besides contribute a little, ride along, and film some of the evening, but it was one of those experiences that reminds you how much kindness happens quietly in the background every single week. You could really see how much people care about looking after those less fortunate here in Vietnam.

One thing that really stood out to me was that they even stopped to bring food and clothing to a British man who has been living in Vietnam for years and had fallen on difficult times. Nobody cared where he came from or what his story was. If someone needed help, they were included. That really stuck with me because it reflected exactly the kind of generosity I experienced while travelling across Africa. Kindness didn't have borders there, and it didn't seem to have borders here either.

Sometimes social media feels full of negativity, but this entire experience only happened because I decided to send one message to someone I'd never met. That single message led to a new friendship, introduced me to an incredible volunteer group, connected me with Yamaha Vietnam, and gave me another reminder of why I love travelling. So often the best experiences aren't the ones you plan.

Only in Vietnam could one small negative moment lead to so many positive ones. 🇻🇳

>Ps: I recommend looking Ms Pham Thuy and her organization Global languages center GLC up on Facebook, it's a fun evening if you would like to join.

https://www.ndtv.com/feature/viral-video-indian-family-accused-of-vandalising-restaurant-in-vietnam-after-dispute-over-childrens-behaviour-11706361

I'm curious what both Vietnamese people and expats think about this.

For some context, I have a friend from West Africa who has been legally living in Vietnam for the past two years on an investment visa. She works with a Vietnamese company exporting products back to her family's business, speaks fluent Vietnamese, has built a really supportive local community, and volunteers every week with a charity that distributes food to people in need. (I'm actually joining them tonight.)

Recently she had a bad experience while travelling in Vietnam. It may well have been a misunderstanding, but it was the first negative interaction she'd had in two years here, so she shared the experience on Facebook.

What surprised me wasn't the incident itself. It was the comments that followed.

Most online trolls are easy enough to ignore, but one person in particular stood out. He's an American from North Carolina who runs what appears to be a legitimate racing media business and YouTube channel called Johnson Racing Media. He lives in Vietnam with his Vietnamese girlfriend, yet spends his time posting hateful comments, telling other foreigners to leave Vietnam, and according to several other people, has also sent them abusive private messages.

>Here's his YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@JohnsonRacingMedia/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JohnsonRacingMedia

Everyone is entitled to their own political opinions, including views on immigration in their own country. That's not really what bothered me.

What I found strange was the hypocrisy. He regularly posts about how much he loves living in Vietnam because it's "safe" and because there are supposedly "no Muslims here" (which isn't even true, as Vietnam has Muslim communities and mosques). At the same time, he's telling other foreigners they don't belong here.

It just seems odd to me that someone who has chosen to build a life as a guest in another country would spend so much energy attacking other foreigners and spreading hate online.

I'm genuinely curious how Vietnamese people see this. Does this kind of behaviour stand out to you, or is it something you mostly ignore? And for other expats living here, have you come across people like this before?