Nguyen Thi Kim Phuong is 42 and she fears what middle age will do to her face. Like many of her friends, she sees cosmetic surgery as a way to extend her youthful looks. Phuong originally planned to undergo a face-lift procedure and nose job at a beauty clinic in Saigon's District 10 next month that would cost her more than VND80 million ($3,438). But she's changed her decision, fearing for her life after a series of plastic surgeries went fatally wrong at private clinics in Vietnam's southern metropolis. "I want to look younger and more beautiful as the Lunar New Year is coming near. But I'm afraid of dying and I don't dare to risk my life," the grocery store owner said. "They (beauty clinic consultant staff) guaranteed that the surgery would be 100 percent successful and advised me to keep an optimistic mind. "But these recent deaths and accidents from plastic surgery in private clinics have really scared me. It seems that going under the plastic surgeon's knife in Vietnam is … [Read more...] about For better or worse: botched plastic surgeries scare Vietnamese women
North carolina fatal car accident
Working the graveyard shift in Hanoi
At midnight on a weekday a couple walks out of a convenience store on Hang Bong Street in Hanoi’s Old Quarter. Nearby, three people are eating ice cream and yogurt they had just bought at the store. Hang Bong is one of the capital’s most crowded shopping streets, but at midnight, when it is time for businesses to shut down, it goes quiet. Only three 24/7 convenience stores and a few hotels remain open afterward. Some 200 meters from the convenience store, Quoc Huy, a hotel receptionist is at his desk waiting for two Filipino guests. The hotel car has picked them up at the airport and is headed back. Huy will help them check in at around 3 a.m. Guests arriving at 2 or 3 a.m. is pretty common in October, the peak tourist season. "It’s like we don’t want our guests if we close at midnight," the 24-year-old said. Working along with Huy are three other receptionists of similar age. The bar where Masayoshi Kimoto works continues to take orders from customers at … [Read more...] about Working the graveyard shift in Hanoi
Youth throng to experience virtual reality of Son Doong Cave in Saigon
This event represents the desire to preserve the natural wonder for posterity A great number of enthusiasts flocked to the General Science Library of Ho Chi Minh City on the weekend in order to relish a first-time virtual tour through Son Doong Cave, the world’s largest known underground passage. More than 1,800 people in Ho Chi Minh City had registered via Facebook for this adventure, which lasted 30-35 minutes. This virtual reality tour, taking place in a 100m² room of the building, was organized on Saturday and Sunday by Save Son Dong, a group formed by young Vietnamese people in an effort to protest against the proposed construction of a cable car system through the cave. The virtual trip was aimed at raising public awareness of the value of Son Doong and alerting people to a glimpse of the nightmare scenario of tourists overrunning this place, according to Le Nguyen Thien Huong, 31, the group’s founder. Son Doong, located in Quang Binh Province in … [Read more...] about Youth throng to experience virtual reality of Son Doong Cave in Saigon