*It's Kitchen God day, today. Can't remember what I'm supposed to do but it probably has something to do with the kitchen. Maybe cooking.

*What price would you put on being misdiagnosed as carrier of HIV? This dude got VND20 million out of a hospital, small change considering he spent seven years thinking he was HIV positive.

*"I didn't ask to be a millionaire so just leave me alone..." Vietnam's richest business people are miffed to be listed. Of course, don't they realise we can tell they're filthy rich? There are certain wee clues -- like living in enormous castles on the banks of West Lake is one way we know, driving a Hummer is a giveaway, as is pulling up outside a pho restaurant in a Lamborghini

* Speaking of millionaires: "The economy of Vietnam has been red hot in recent years and plenty of people have tapped different sectors to ride the created wave and make their riches. Tran Quang Thieu is one such man. This farmer from Van Binh Commune, Thuong Tin District of Ha Tay province which neighbours Hanoi, has become a billionaire, albeit in Vietnamese dong, thanks to his extraordinary ability to catch mice. That’s right – his company, the not so imaginatively named Quang Thieu’s Mice Killing Company, annihilates more than 2.5 million rodents on a yearly basis. This mass murder of mice as well as rats brings in a total revenue of over VND1 billion ($62,500). This lucrative business has grown from strength to strength and he now employs 30 people. The dynamic Thieu is also dabbling with consultancy and he has run workshops at plants, collective farms and airports across the land." Courtesy of Timeout's Hot Gossip.

*... "director Le Hoang’s film called Thu Thuong (Prime Minister), which is set to be released over Tet, is tipped to pull in a big slice at the box office, but rumour has it that the film about the romantic life of a fictional prime minister might have to be renamed Politician...."

I would have thought Da Vang, Prime Minister would have been the perfect title, but no one asked me.