Smiling As We Went – March 2019

Posted on by Susan

During our Vietnam journey we took photos of unexpected or humorous signs, menus, and labels. Some of the creative spellings may have been unintentional errors and the unusual wordings may have been the result of translating words into English. Sometimes we made incorrect assumptions about what a sign or label really said. The Pepsi sign above is in Vietnamese, but at first glance we thought the sign used colloquial English for “more Pepsi, more Tet.” The correct translation is “open Pepsi, open the New Year”

Below are some of our favorite signs, menus, and labels, which may put a smile on your face too!

Hanoi

  • It was quite chilly during our Hanoi visit so we were not inconvenienced by this regulation.
  • Such an apologetic road work sign.

Ninh Binh

  • We think this sign was for the tourist shop. We spend money => Happy sellers

Dong Hoi

  • No need to learn another language to understand this sign.
  • A very noisy hotel

Phong Nha

  • We decided against ordering the reused water at this cafe.

Hue

  • We didn’t find any shoes for sale at the Citadel entrance.
  • Should Jerry’s new shirt be washed or even worn outside? We ignored the label.

Hoi An

  • We noticed this box of poison at the reception desk when we checked into our hotel, the Rock Mouse Homestay.
  • One of these boys loved getting his picture taken. We did not go into the hospitable shop behind them.

Da Nang

  • The shower caps in this package might be dangerous!
  • Oh, the joys of autocorrect.
  • So many creative souvenir shirts for sale.
  • We observed that beach goers regularly ignored this sign.
  • Almost every eventuality is covered in this list of beach rules.

Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon)

  • Guys are so tall in HCM City.
  • Probably not a good idea to take this instruction literally.
  • Just in case customers want their comestibles manipulated.
  • So many prohibitions at our local coffee shop.

Phu Quoc Island

  • Fortunately starfish don’t need to read in order to get to their beach.
  • We did eventually find this bathroom.
  • Notice anything familiar about the castle in the Sunworld logo? Cinderella does not have a vacation home here, but her faux twin might.
  • Hmmmm. The shark in this mural at Sunworld looks an awful lot like Chum from the Pixar (Walt Disney Company) film Finding Nemo. We didn’t see a little clownfish painted on the walls, but we saw many familiar-looking ocean friends.

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