totlanh

As some of you may know my wife is from Vietnam and we have a 4 year old daughter both of whom live here with me in Northern Ireland.We have just returned home from a 5 week trip to Vietnam and i must confess to being totally depressed about being back.I am seriously considering uprooting and bringing my family to live full time in Vietnam.I can see many advantages of doing this but of course i can also see many hazzards as well and most of the most serious concerns relate to my daughter.These primarily revolve around her education and the fact that im not particuarly happy about the satandard of the educational system in Vietnam(mind you with my spelling i would,nt exactly be a glowing example for schools here either )also and this is my BIG worry is the fact that my daughter does not speak any Vietnamee and showed little( if any)inclination to learn any whilst being away this year.My first question therefore is thus:Does anyone have any experience of bringing a child to Thailand or any other foreign country to live where that child did not speak nor understand the local language??If so did that said child eventually learn the lingo??Did the fact that she did,nt initially speak the local language cause any emotional upheval at all?/Basically without churning out to many questions could anyone with experience of this tell me how their child adapted.

I know a lot of you reading this will think that this is a knee jerk reaction on my part.By this i mean it may look like that ive got a case of the blues following a holiday and where there may be a slight element of that i am happy to concede however it is something always not to far from my thoughts.I honestly believe Vietnam would allow us a better quality of life.My wife has never been particuarly happy here in the UK and nor am i truth been told and perhaps now is the time to make the break.My plan is to sell our house where i expect to clear 100k+profit and teach English whilst my wife could easily find a job in the hospitality area.In Vietnam you can get up to 9.2%interest if you deposit money in the bank for over 3 years so that would also prove to be a healthy return and thus i forsee no problems regarding financing our life.My concern is therefore again my daughter and really she is the only one who counts in this and i want to ensure i do the right thing by her.I do believe Vietnam would be a better place for her to grow up in but i worry about the fact she does not speak Vietnamee and whether or not i can provide a good education for her.I am aware that there is an International school in nearby Danang but how good that is i dont know.Anyway,ive outlined the gist of my concerns and any views or advise on any of the above would be greatly appreciated.

What a difference a new manager and a few new players can make eh?Ever since Svens arrival a new feeling of confidence appears to have set in at City and that permeated itself onto the pitch on Saturday and i must confess i have not seen a more assured 30 minutes football from a City side for a long long time!!All players looked good but i was particuarly excited by Elano and maybe he is going to be the new Kinky eh??Lets not get carried away though its only 1 game but a very encouraging one.GET IN THERE CITY!!!!!

According to my Thai lady white skin is seen as attractive by Thai men when they look at women which is why so many Thai ladies hide from the sun and buy these creams,there is a big existing demand which is being exploited by the manufacturers but they did not create it in the first place albeit they now reinforce it.

Thai men however do not care what shade their own skin is since it is the girls job to be beautiful and she should be grateful that she has a man at all.

The social reasons for these views are clearly related to status and wealth in the past in Asian countries (only the poor have to work out in the sun etc).

Since my own skin in the sun changes from pale blue to offwhite and then screaming crimson I can usually be found under the shade with the Thai ladies (that's my story and I am sticking to it).

Its really sad that these women have to be made to feel inferior merely because of dark skin.Its the same in Vietnam infact i suspect worse.Myself and my wife(who is vietnamee)go back there once a year and always the first thing that is commented on is the fact that she still is "black"as if by living in the west she is going to experience a miracle and turn white.I really feel for my wife in these occassions as she too appears to experience mildly delusional thoughts relating to her skin colour and attempts to convince herself over the year that she is going lighter.Even if she has gone "slightly"lighter within a day back in the sun(despite wearing multiple layering of clothing and covering her face scarily resembling some sort of crazed gangster)she is back to her normal colour.Despite now living in the west and thus being exposed to the reverse opinion amongst women pertaining to their skin colour ie:dark is beautiful she remains as deeply convinced that she is "ugly"merely because she is dark.

Recieved predictions

Jockstar

Markr

OneeyedJohn

Chonabot

Lampard10

LiteBeer

Muckypups

JacknDanny

Toasted

Magroot

HappyHammer

Oldfield

Mossfinn

eddie11

BelfastBoy

mrbojangles

HarryHacker

32x

Seapok

Neeranam

Calibanjr

mrtoad

ThaiPauly

game4shame

Spit The Dog

tom yum goong

britmaveric

binnsy

Still waiting on!!

scousemouse

redrus

totster

totlanh(late addition)

Dont forget about the midweek predictions for next Tuesday and Wednesday!!

Sorry mate im a bit thick(im Irish what do you expect!),but how do i get my predictions to you i keep hearing about something at the start of the thread but im buggered if i can locate it!

Whilst being in Vietnam i caught most of the asia cup and i concur with Bred,no Thai players were remotely impressive.Whats your prediction guys for the West Sham game?

Does your daughter speak Thai,out of interest?

Hey Mr Bo,I would have thought Svens decission regarding Mills should have been his easiest!!!

Whichever moron allowed Weaver to move on should be shot! Prefer him to the Swede as well.

Hi Bred,

Totally agree with your sentiments there and to be honest what i have seen thus far of isakson(or however the hel_l you spell his name)i have not been overly impressed and i think Nicky was very unlucky to lose his position.A decission now City may well rue....

A complete travesty of supposed justice IMHO.I jusat hope Leeds answer by securing promotion this season,but it will be very difficult.Good luck anyhow chaps....

Cute boy Garro!!!Congrats!!Now just wait and see how your life changes

Does anyone have any personal experience of hotels that are not more than 10 mins walk from BTS or MRT and not too expensive to use as a base whilst in Bangkok. Doesn't need to be too central, but don't really want a crappy area as the people coming are a bit older.

The Rembrandt,Sukumvit Soi 18 is a nice hotel in a good location

Hi,

I'm looking at flying Etihad from BKK to Europe. When I arrive in Abu Dhabi I have approximately 2 hours wait until the flight from Abu Dhabi departs to my European destination. Does anybody know if I have to check-in in Abu Dhabi for my second flight or do I just hang around in the connecting flights area? Basically, I'm worried that I might miss my connecting flight. Any advice or experiences of Etihad and Abu Dhabi airport would be most welcome please?

Regards,

Hill16

I suspect that when you check in at BKK you will be checked in all the way to your destination in Europe at least that usually is how it works.When i flew with Ethihad from London last year i know i checked in just once.

Just tried the Indian restaurant on top of the Rembrandt hotel(sorry i forget its name!)but seriously good food i would recomend to all you lovers of Indian food

Emirates are the best imo followed by ethihad.Have just flown with Qatar and on both flights i have never encountered more surly air crew .....will not be flying with them again

Just see now MCFC.CO.UK are reporting we have signed Valeri Bojinov

Do you never read my posts? Look at post 1121. Jeez i don't know i bother

You just answered your own question there Mr Bo

With the utmost respect i think you are all talking twaddle!!The new airport surpasses DM in all areas i just cant understand how you can think different.

Tots, where have you been mate?

Yeah where you been Tots? You don't seem to have been around much since the close of last season. Same same with JackNDanny.

I tend to agree about SGE.

Seconded

I can't wait for him to prove the critics wrong but we might have to wait a while.

Ive just got back from Vietnam/Thailand and the only thing that is keeping my spirits up is this great news .Just see now MCFC.CO.UK are reporting we have signed Valeri Bojinov ,happy days this guy is just superb!!!

Hi All

Well i can not recall more activity surrounding this club in my 30 years+as a Ccity fan.To say that quiet confidence is excuding from City now is an understatement!!I am so excited about this new season it really is going to be fascinating!!However,im not deluding myself as a lot of my City brothers and Sisters appear to be that we are going to win this and that and qualify for Europe which is patent nonscense.Nno this season is about building a BRAND NEW team and as the old saying goes @Rome was,nt built in a day'.Its going to take at least 2 seasons IMO for us long suffering fans to see sucess but should SGE and Frank remain at the healm i think this is what we are going to at long last get!!!

I think SGE is pure class and i challenge anyone to show me a manager who has achieved what he has at club level in 3 countries.Sure he has got his detractors but that obviously comes from his time as Eenglih manager and without disrespecting England (too much 0come on he did as well as he could given the over-rated players he had to work with.I am sure he is the man to lead City forward and am very impressed in the quiet manner he has conducted himself thus far and am pleased with his signings especially Petrov!!Lets hope we can get one more decent striker and we need more cover in defense and defo need to get rid of the two muppets that are Mills!!Also bye bye to Didi methins as well.So as i say exciting times are on the way and bring on the new season,COME ON CITY!!!

I passed through the airport on the 28th June and to be honest i have never heard such twaddle talked i would go as far as to suggest some people who claimed to have come through have not!!

Firstly this airport is FAR SUPERIOR to DM in every aspect.

Secondadly,we cleared immigration in record time i would say no longer than 10 minute

and lastly we WERE NOT asked for proof of onward travel and that included my wife who is travelling on a Vietnam passport.

Hi All,

Me and my family will be stopping off in BKK for a couple of days(Late June) on route back to my wifes family in Vietnam.We are bringing my mother back this year and i thought a nice river cruise/Dinner may be nice for her.Can anyone kindly recommend any that are good??

Cheers

Championship here we come.Its a fxxking joke!!!!!!!

Blimey Tot, we haven't even started the season yet. At the moment we are on the same points as United, Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal etc. Glass half full and all that

Perhaps a tad melo dramatic ,however,you have to conceed it aint looking good.No manager,2 of our best players sold,no money,need i go on ...................

Fellow Blues should understand and get a laugh out of this!

City circus act is no fun for board

Crisis is a relative term at Manchester City. Nine summers ago, their pre-season friendlies were against Torpoint Athletic and Newquay; their second-biggest transfer was £10,000 to Port Melbourne Sharks for the not-entirely-successful services of Danny Allsopp and the kit launch had to be cancelled due to an absence of shirts.

Yet this has been a bewildering close season. Conveniently for satirists, there has been a circus parked outside Eastlands, and with less than a month to go until the start of training, Manchester City have no manager, have made no signings and have lost two of their best players. Yesterday, the board were coming to terms with the fact that the takeover bid from the former Thai prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, was dead in the water.

Shinawatra's lawyer, Noppadol Pattama, said the freezing of 21 bank accounts, containing £830 million, by the military junta that replaced him might "delay any investment" while his advisors thought it was "50-50" whether the deal could be salvaged. Most analysts believe Manchester City's statement to the Stock Exchange on Monday, that they were awaiting "the implications" of the latest move against Shinawatra, signalled the end of the courtship.

The City board are almost out of patience. Chief executive Alistair Mackintosh has already turned his attention from overseeing a takeover to appointing a manager to succeed Stuart Pearce, who was sacked 28 days ago. Although initial plans to appoint Claudio Ranieri were hamstrung by the constant delays waiting for Shinawatra to make his move, it is thought a successor to Pearce could be appointed next week.

After an emergency board meeting yesterday, chairman John Wardle addressed a supporters group inside Eastlands. Although Wardle and his business partner, David Makin, were keen to sell their investment in the club which, including loans, amount to £50 million, Wardle is likely to lead City into the new season. He said he would keep to his pledge, made in April, to provide "substantial funding" to his manager, whether or not the Shinawatra takeover materialised.

Despite demands from the Newcastle manager, Sam Allardyce, and an intervention by the Professional Footballers' Association, City are expected to resist any demand to give Joey Barton a "loyalty payment" of £300,000 because the midfielder did not ask for his transfer to St James' Park.

While it could be said that Barton asked for a transfer the moment he attacked team-mate Ousmane Dabo in training, Mackintosh will argue that agent Willie McKay alerted other clubs to the £5.5 million release clause Barton's in his contract, thereby requesting a transfer by default.

This is unlikely to sway Allardyce, who was at his impassioned best yesterday. "Manchester City are out of order," he said. "I am flabbergasted and I want the situation resolved as soon as possible. I cannot understand it, because City did not pay anything for this player as he came through their youth system, and they are selling him for more than £5 million."

With Sylvain Distin already gone, City supporters who gathered at Eastlands were understandably anxious. "Manchester City are not in limbo," said one source close to the board. "People say that because we don't have a manager we have missed out on transfer targets, and we have. We have missed out on Titus Bramble, Gavin McCann and Antoine Sibierski. None of those would have interested Manchester City.

"We are well on the way to appointing a manager long before the planes carrying the players back from holiday touch the tarmac. Manchester City may be in hospital but it is sitting up and taking hot food. It is not in a coma."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtm...13/sfnmac13.xml

Championship here we come.Its a fxxking joke!!!!!!!

I bought the book and finished it this weekend. I am on day 3 now and looking forward to establishing myself as a non-smoker.

18 years of second hand smoke because of my mom.

20 years of off and on chewing tobacco

5 years of off and on smoking

Now 3 days as a non smoker in training for the second half of my life.

I'd say the book does very well to give you the tools to make the right decisions and choices.

Sorry,but you will NEVER be as you call it a 'non-smoker'.There are 3 typrs pf smokers.

1-Smoker

2-Non Smoker

3-EX-Smoker(this is what you will be should you stay off them,good luck btw!!

To me there is no great secret in giving up,if you want to stop and i mean WANT to stop you will,simple as end of...

Another homophobe dies - good riddance! (my comment) - Peter

I agree---the world is a little better off today in the absence of such a poisonous person.

Neil

Personally i think it is disgustring celebrating anyones death you should be ashamed of yourself

Do you really mean anyone's?

Hitler?

Pol Pot?

To many people, myself included, Jerry Falwell was a force of hatred, ignorance, and evil. For many of us, it is only human to certainly not be at all sad about his death.

Not all of us can be Mother Theresa, you know.

What part of anyone do you not understand?As to his viewpoints i confess im not entirely sure off however and i repeat you come across as being a nasty mean little man wishing death upon anyone

Another homophobe dies - good riddance! (my comment) - Peter

I agree---the world is a little better off today in the absence of such a poisonous person.

Neil

Personally i think it is disgustring celebrating anyones death you should be ashamed of yourself