Going to Singapore tomorrow - hooray!
It rained nearly the whole time we were in Hoi An so for something to do I got lots of clothes made! Sadly there was no beach time as it's no fun on a beach in the pouring rain.
Now we're in HCMC. We went for a day cruise on the Mekong which was nice, mainly because there were very few motorbikes and trucks in the area beeping like crazy, and we also went to the tunnels from the war yesterday. Today the weather has been shockingly nice and we've just been taking in some of the sights in the city. Whilst we've been here I also caught up with some friends from Sussex who live here over a nice meal at a French restaurant.
Can't wait to get out to civilisation tomorrow!
Thursday, 26 November 2009
Wednesday, 18 November 2009
I've escaped from Hanoi!!!
Had a few days there with the parents and took them to see some of the sights and eat some of the local food. We then went on an overnight trip to Ha Long Bay and somehow ended up with our own personal boat! It was pretty luxurious and we had lots of good food - a couple of 7 course meals that were hard work to get to the end of. We did a bit of kayaking out to a random cave and we also went to one of the big cave systems that you can walk through. Went to a floating village too in the middle of the bay - I don't think I could live somewhere like that tho as it's far too far away from civilisation for my liking.
Suffered through the ordeal of the overnight train last night to get to Hue. The bunks aren't that big and as I was at the top I had a random metal bar poking into me some of the time. The train also featured a lovely squat toilet and a loudspeaker system that made announcements through the night. Not fun! It's been raining in a very English way for pretty much the whole day here. Have got used to short downpours living here, not the crappy day long drizzle that set in today. It's been chilly these past few days too, but at least I should be grateful that it's no longer really humid. Plus it gives me a chance to wear my pink kiwi hoodie, and an excuse to get a coat tailored in Hoi An! We're heading there in a couple of days and I'm hoping the weather is a bit better as I want to go to the beach!
Had a few days there with the parents and took them to see some of the sights and eat some of the local food. We then went on an overnight trip to Ha Long Bay and somehow ended up with our own personal boat! It was pretty luxurious and we had lots of good food - a couple of 7 course meals that were hard work to get to the end of. We did a bit of kayaking out to a random cave and we also went to one of the big cave systems that you can walk through. Went to a floating village too in the middle of the bay - I don't think I could live somewhere like that tho as it's far too far away from civilisation for my liking.
Suffered through the ordeal of the overnight train last night to get to Hue. The bunks aren't that big and as I was at the top I had a random metal bar poking into me some of the time. The train also featured a lovely squat toilet and a loudspeaker system that made announcements through the night. Not fun! It's been raining in a very English way for pretty much the whole day here. Have got used to short downpours living here, not the crappy day long drizzle that set in today. It's been chilly these past few days too, but at least I should be grateful that it's no longer really humid. Plus it gives me a chance to wear my pink kiwi hoodie, and an excuse to get a coat tailored in Hoi An! We're heading there in a couple of days and I'm hoping the weather is a bit better as I want to go to the beach!
Tuesday, 10 November 2009
Today I met Lan for an early lunch before work. We went to a nice place by the Temple of Literature and whilst waiting for food to arrive we faffed around with cameras taking photos of random things, including the Bun Cha man on the street below:
He's cooking up the pork which will then be added to a bowl of broth and served with noodls and some other veges. It's good stuff!
We started our meal with some Nem:
Otherwise known as spring rolls. They taste so much better here than the ones you can get back home at Chinese restaurants. You dip them into the sauce and eat them with noodles and a leafy herb of some description, or just eat them by themselves.
We then had an assortment of food
with some fried tofu action (the texture was a bit too weird for my liking) and some pho xa which consists of noodles with lots of garlic and green stuff. This place also offered a croque with FOUR!!! kinds of cheese so I had to have it as this is practically unheard of in Vietnam!
The place also had some nice looking cakes in the window but we were full from lunch so we didn't try any of them.
Tomorrow there is a teachers meeting at lunch time so we get fed with pizza and ribs, and then on Thursday it is exam day so I will have a longer lunch break than usual between my morning and afternoon classes and no lesson to prepare so shall no doubt end up going somewhere for lunch with other teachers in the same position.
After that the parents are here so there shall be lots of eating out. Yay!
He's cooking up the pork which will then be added to a bowl of broth and served with noodls and some other veges. It's good stuff!
We started our meal with some Nem:
Otherwise known as spring rolls. They taste so much better here than the ones you can get back home at Chinese restaurants. You dip them into the sauce and eat them with noodles and a leafy herb of some description, or just eat them by themselves.
We then had an assortment of food
with some fried tofu action (the texture was a bit too weird for my liking) and some pho xa which consists of noodles with lots of garlic and green stuff. This place also offered a croque with FOUR!!! kinds of cheese so I had to have it as this is practically unheard of in Vietnam!
The place also had some nice looking cakes in the window but we were full from lunch so we didn't try any of them.
Tomorrow there is a teachers meeting at lunch time so we get fed with pizza and ribs, and then on Thursday it is exam day so I will have a longer lunch break than usual between my morning and afternoon classes and no lesson to prepare so shall no doubt end up going somewhere for lunch with other teachers in the same position.
After that the parents are here so there shall be lots of eating out. Yay!
Sunday, 8 November 2009
This term has gone by pretty quick! I've not done a whole much else other than work and chill out at the weekends. I did go to the silk village last weekend with Minh and I managed not to buy quite so many scarves this time. I did see some awesome bags though and I couldn't leave the shop without buying one for me and one for Gem as they reminded me of our countless shopping trips! I've also managed to catch up with a few people on Skype the last few weekends. Last night I caught Gem and ended up scrapping my plans to mark assignments as we ended up chatting for over 4 hours. I did my marking today instead and it wasn't as painful as I thought it might be.
Today I've finally started booking some hotels for my trip - I have four more days of work, then the parents arrive and I have Stuff To Do! I found a couple of decent places in Macau and Hong Kong and have now booked some stuff. I had a look on some of the hostels websites for Macau but there was only one place that came up on the sites. Instead I found this place for around the same price as the dodge hostel place. It's right next to the ferry terminal to Hong Kong which is convenient (now I sound like one of my students - everything is convenient for them!)
I also booked my hotel in Hong Kong - I managed to get a decent price at the Ibis so get to stay in a real hotel. I looked for something cheaper but most of the cheap places were in that Chungking Mansions place which I don't really want to stay in. I then looked at some of the guesthouses around the city but most of them would say privates starting from a price like $20 but then once I looked into making a booking with them it would turn out that it was $20 per person in the room so most places would end up costing $40 just for me. In the end I was getting bored and frustrated with looking at all these small places in HK so just went for the Ibis as it was the same price pretty much as these guesthouses but much better quality - it's in a good location and as there is quite a bit I want to do in HK I think it's worth staying in a decent hotel rather than some crappy fire hazard so I can actually get some sleep at night.
I haven't got as far as looking for places in Malaysia but as I don't really know exactly where I'm gonna be and when there's no real need to book things now. Plus there is a lot more in the way of budget accommodation available there without resorting to a really bad place so it will be easier to find something closer to the time.
Most things are sorted for when the parents are in Vietnam, and they are trying to find a place in Singapore, but they leave Singapore the day before me so I'm trying to find a place to stay for one night. I have to be at the airport at like 4am the next day so I was hoping to find a place by the airport but all the places that I can find on the net are really expensive. I am bored of looking at hotels so have given up for the night and will just try and find something another time!
4 more days to go!
Today I've finally started booking some hotels for my trip - I have four more days of work, then the parents arrive and I have Stuff To Do! I found a couple of decent places in Macau and Hong Kong and have now booked some stuff. I had a look on some of the hostels websites for Macau but there was only one place that came up on the sites. Instead I found this place for around the same price as the dodge hostel place. It's right next to the ferry terminal to Hong Kong which is convenient (now I sound like one of my students - everything is convenient for them!)
I also booked my hotel in Hong Kong - I managed to get a decent price at the Ibis so get to stay in a real hotel. I looked for something cheaper but most of the cheap places were in that Chungking Mansions place which I don't really want to stay in. I then looked at some of the guesthouses around the city but most of them would say privates starting from a price like $20 but then once I looked into making a booking with them it would turn out that it was $20 per person in the room so most places would end up costing $40 just for me. In the end I was getting bored and frustrated with looking at all these small places in HK so just went for the Ibis as it was the same price pretty much as these guesthouses but much better quality - it's in a good location and as there is quite a bit I want to do in HK I think it's worth staying in a decent hotel rather than some crappy fire hazard so I can actually get some sleep at night.
I haven't got as far as looking for places in Malaysia but as I don't really know exactly where I'm gonna be and when there's no real need to book things now. Plus there is a lot more in the way of budget accommodation available there without resorting to a really bad place so it will be easier to find something closer to the time.
Most things are sorted for when the parents are in Vietnam, and they are trying to find a place in Singapore, but they leave Singapore the day before me so I'm trying to find a place to stay for one night. I have to be at the airport at like 4am the next day so I was hoping to find a place by the airport but all the places that I can find on the net are really expensive. I am bored of looking at hotels so have given up for the night and will just try and find something another time!
4 more days to go!
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