Eucalyptus Oil

Who needs medicine when you have Eucalyptus Oil.

The Vietnamese will use the Eucalyptus oil to treat almost all kind of ailments. Feeling sick? Apply some oil and start coining. You’re getting a cold? Apply some oil and start coining. By the way, coining is a process of using a coin (such as a quarter) with pressure on your back or neck and create a very red streak that looks like you’ve got beaten down with no mercy.

Here’s another true story, I was at a party and people were discussing about toothache and different kind of remedies for it. One guy said, “I used Eucalyptus Oil to sooth my toothache.” All I can say, damn… this oil is the shit :).

Common Ailments

All ailments are classified as: “Trúng Gió”

Cold, flu, sudden death, feeling sick, body ache, etc… and etc are all classified as “Trúng Gió.” No one I’ve asked was able to explain what exactly that is, but it seems that whatever sickness that you’ve got will be attribute to that special category.  Here’s a true story. A friend of mine went and have some drink, when he got home and went to sleep… he never woke up. He died in his sleep.  Since he was in Vietnam and there wasn’t any explanation for why he died… when I asked, the answer was: “trúng gio'”.

Official Beer

Heineken is the official Vietnamese beer.

At any Vietnamese party or event, Heineken is the official beer.  They won’t go explore other billion types of beer that are available for consumption and if anyone’s suggesting otherwise, they’ll get the “wtf are you talking about look.”

Third One

Paris By Night, Asia, and Van Son are religion.

The Vietnamese watch these music video show compulsively and religiously.  It’d be hard-pressed to find a family without at least a few volumes of each type.  Regardless of the quality of each, the fans of each production defend it with their life. So don’t go bad mouthing any of the “singers.”