Saigoneer Trigger In 1996, she was working in the marketing department of Vietnam Investment Review, an English- language newspaper based in Hanoi. A childhood friend of hers happened to be working for ABN AMRO Bank, one of the funders for the first youth expedition to Antarctica led by the polar explorer Robert Swan. “An expedition will suit someone who is as crazy as me,” Hong said of her friend’s reason for pushing her to apply. She put in her successful application and set off to Antarctica the following year. “We had three weeks of training. I was like, ‘Oh my God, what did I get myself into?’ It was a real professional training for polar explorers. We were 35 young people from 25 different countries and we joined together in very harsh weather conditions.”