Last week of this term tomorrow! Woohoo! Will be glad to see the back of my lame class who are incredibly unresponsive and make the lessons no fun at all. I'm also looking forward to having a prper weekend next weekend as I've had to teach the past two Saturdays to make up for having xmas day off. Lame!
Had another fun post office experience today trying to send a birthday pressie to my sister. The international part of the post office had no staff in it today so I went round to the main part of the post office. Ususally when I send things back to the UK I get them to wrap it for me in postal paper, but according to the woman in the main part of the post office stuff must be sent in boxes and paper can't be used. I suspect this is a ploy to charge me 90,000 dong for a crappy cardboard box (it wasn't like it was a proper postal box or anything) and a bit of tape, and I guarante that if I go to the usual part of the post office tomorrow to send something I'd be able to get it wrapped in paper there.
I am now starting to get things organised for my next holiday. In Feb I'm off to China for two weeks! Exciting!
Sunday, 17 January 2010
Friday, 1 January 2010
The trip!!! It's taken me a long time to get round to sorting the photos out from my trip but finally it's done and I have some time to spare. So this is what I did on my 5 weeks off.
I went out to the airport to meet the parents and tried to break them into life in Vietnam gently. The day after they arrived we went out to Co Loa, on the edge of the city, with Lan. She managed to negotiate a taxi for us so we got to ride out in relative luxury rather than having to brave the bus. We aquired a random Vietnamese girl on our way round Co Loa and spent a couple of hours checking out the temples and the lake.
It's got a small village vibe going on despite being pretty close to Hanoi so it was quite a nice way to escape the madness. That afternoon we went to the Temple of Literature and then walked to my house past some of Hanoi's exciting sights like the Lenin state, the flag tower, the mausoleum and the B-52 wreckage. Hanoi has a rather specific style of tourist attractions!
The next day we didn't do quite as much as the weather was a bit crap and we had brunch lined up at the Melia but it was a nice relaxing day.
The following day was my escape from Hanoi!! We went to Ha Long Bay where we somehow ended up on our own private boat!
It had a couple of nice cabins and a dining area where we spent most of our time. There was a sun deck but the lack of sun meant that we didn't really use it. There were several fancy meals on the trip!
We had a seven course meal soon after getting on the boat as we sailed out into the bay. We visited a floating village (like the one in the Top Gear Vietnam show where people live for all their life on the water) and sailed a bit more before having another 7 course meal. The next day we went kayaking to a cave and then had what was supposed to be a light breakfast but was prolly more food than I'd eat in a day before visiting one of the caves in the bay. We then got fed ANOTHER meal as we headed back to the main land. It was a nice trip tho and I'd definitely go back again with that same company.
Once we were back in Hanoi we had a few hours to kill then we got the crappy overnight train down to Hue. It rained pretty much the whole time we were in Hue but we still visited some of the sights. We went to the Citadel
and out to some pagoda by the river, and ate lots of nice food in the restaurant by the hotel.
Next stop after Hue was Hoi An. The weather was still bad so we didn't get to go over the pass and see the ace view. I'm gonna have to go back and do that another time! In Hoi An I got a lot of clothes made which filled some time, and we walked around the town in the rain. The river flooded evey evening which gives you an idea of how wet it was!
We went to My Son (the Cham ruins in the jungle)
but didn't bother with a wet beach.
The last place we went to in Vietnam was Ho Chi Minh City. It's like a more modern version of Hanoi and has a few things worth seeing in the city I guess. I was excited about all the international food that you could get there tho! We did a day trip to the Mekong which was nice - no motorbikes there!! -
and we also went to the tunnels from the war. Also managed to meet up with my friends Nick and Katherine for a nice French meal and now I can finally say that I've made it to Ho Chi Minh City.
The last stop of the trip with the parents was Singapore. I very much enjoyed my Subway meal for dinner the night we arrived! We walked around some of the touristy places of the city, like the Merlion and the Battle Box tunnels as well as doing a river cruise,
and we spent some time on Sentosa Island at the beach.
We also did the night safari which was kinda cool, apart from the walk-in bat cage. Did NOT like that! After the parents left I went on the Singapore Flyer (like the London Eye)
and then did some shopping. Singapore has some good shopping! There were also heaps of xmas displays and lights all over the city which was nice.
The next day I flew to Macau and checked into my fancy hotel - prolly the nicest hotel I've ever stayed in! Resisted the temptation to sleep in my nice big bed and headed out to explore the city. I wasn't that impressed at first at it seemed kinda industrial and the area by my hotel was full of casinoes and hotels. Once I got to the bottom of the peninsula tho I picked up the tourist trail through the city and it got a lot better. It's a strange place with Chinese and Portguese stuff side by side. All the street names are Portugese, and there would be a Portugese sign stuck to the side of a Chinese temple. It was a nice place to walk around tho. Lots of winding cobbled streets going up and down the hills and lots of churches hiding down side streets. It was nice and cool after the heat of Singapore and was a relatively easy place to walk around so I spent pretty much the entire day walking around the city. There was a fort on the top of a hill,
and the front piece of a massive cathedral that had somehow survived the bombing (?) that wiped out the rest of the building
and a whole bunch of other interesting places to check out. The next day I got a bus down to the southern part of the island and found a really nice cafe with ace jacket potatoes!! Walked along the coast for a bit, and looked across at the industruial greyness of China but then it got rather boring so I went back up to the main part of Macau and wandered around aimlessly til it was time to get my ferry over to Hong Kong.
On the first day in Hong Kong I went to Ocean Park - rollercoasters and animal stuff. It was pretty cool! Sadly the big loop the loop coaster wasn't working but there were some other good rides, including one of those things that drops you straight down from a great height. It was fun! In the evening I went across the harbour to watch the symphony of lights thing - a 15 minute display of lights from the buildings around the harbour, with the added bonus of some cheesy music to accompany it.
Once it ended there were a bunch of boats sailing past on the harbour - turns out it was a run through for the opening ceremony for the East Asia games that was happening the next night.
The next day I went up on the Peak Tram to get the typical tourist photo of Hong Kong.
Spent the rest of the day wandering around the city and doing the occasional bit of shopping before going back to the same place as the night before to watch the opening ceremony as it was free. Didn't have a such a great view of all the stuff on the water but I can't imagine the second time the boats sailed past was more interesing. The main reason I was there was because of the rumour of a firework display and at the end of the ceremony there was a good 15 minutes of fireworks. Yay!
On my last day in HK I went out to one of the outlying islands to go see a massive Buddha at the top of a hill. There is a big cable car to save your legs - it takes 30 minutes to sway and swing your way to the top of the hill,
then it's a short climb up some stairs to get to the Buddha.
It was nice to see a different side of the city.
I then hit my last country of the trip - Malaysia. I flew into Penang and stayed in the centre of Georgetown. It was quite a nice place with a fort and the usual Malaysian mix of cultures. It also had great Indian and Thai food and a chocolate shop that gave you free samples of pretty much everything when you went in. Outside of Georgetown was Penang Hill which didn't seem worth the effort to me. Unlike the Peak Tram in HK which runs pretty much constantly the one to the top of Penang Hill seemed to only run every half hour which meant I had to wait for ages to get to the top. Close to the hill is a massive temple complex
which was much more interesting than the hill with heaps of pagodas and prayer halls. There was also a beach, of course, that just had to be visited!
After a few days there I made my way to the Cameron Highlands. I went on a day tour in a 4 wheel drive which started with a crazy ride up a dirt track deep into the jungle to see a big flower.
The car in front got stuck
and we ended up having to nudge them with our car to get them going again. There was a crazy hike to get to the flower,
and then we had to make our way back down the steep muddy track in the car, getting a massive rock wedged under the car somewhere which then had to be bashed out at the side of the road, much to the amusement of a group of kids who were passing. The rest of the tour was a little more sedate, taking in the tea plantation (with a cafe selling scones!),
a butterfly and insect farm
and a strawberry farm.
The following day I went on a more relaxed tour to the top of a mountain. It was pretty misty at the top so the view wasn't great, but there was a short forest walk through a cloud forest at the top
with the occasional gap in the clouds to take in some of the view.
We also stopped at the tea plantations and strawberry farm again but I saw no problem with having another round of scones, jasmine tea and strawberries with honey! That afternoon I hired a motorbike and enjoyed riding on civilised roads out to a flower garden
and a couple of temples. People actually gave way to me when I was waiting to turn!!
The last place I visited was Kuala Lumpur, mainly to shop. I got there in the morning and had to wait a couple of hours before my room was ready - in that short space of time I aquired several bags! The next day I went to Little India and Chinatown but once it started to rain I gave in and went to the indoor market for some shopping and a foot massage. I had another day of shopping, then felt kinda guilty the next day so went out to the park to avoid spending money. Went past the National Mosque
and stopped in at the Islamic Arts museum, then went into the park. Took in the bird park which was pretty cool
and then went to the KL tower in the evening as I do like to watch the sun set over a big city.
Finished off my trip with another day of shopping!
All the albums are here if you're bored and fancy looking at some more photos! -
Vietnam
Singapore
Macau
Hong Kong
Malaysia
I went out to the airport to meet the parents and tried to break them into life in Vietnam gently. The day after they arrived we went out to Co Loa, on the edge of the city, with Lan. She managed to negotiate a taxi for us so we got to ride out in relative luxury rather than having to brave the bus. We aquired a random Vietnamese girl on our way round Co Loa and spent a couple of hours checking out the temples and the lake.
It's got a small village vibe going on despite being pretty close to Hanoi so it was quite a nice way to escape the madness. That afternoon we went to the Temple of Literature and then walked to my house past some of Hanoi's exciting sights like the Lenin state, the flag tower, the mausoleum and the B-52 wreckage. Hanoi has a rather specific style of tourist attractions!
The next day we didn't do quite as much as the weather was a bit crap and we had brunch lined up at the Melia but it was a nice relaxing day.
The following day was my escape from Hanoi!! We went to Ha Long Bay where we somehow ended up on our own private boat!
It had a couple of nice cabins and a dining area where we spent most of our time. There was a sun deck but the lack of sun meant that we didn't really use it. There were several fancy meals on the trip!
We had a seven course meal soon after getting on the boat as we sailed out into the bay. We visited a floating village (like the one in the Top Gear Vietnam show where people live for all their life on the water) and sailed a bit more before having another 7 course meal. The next day we went kayaking to a cave and then had what was supposed to be a light breakfast but was prolly more food than I'd eat in a day before visiting one of the caves in the bay. We then got fed ANOTHER meal as we headed back to the main land. It was a nice trip tho and I'd definitely go back again with that same company.
Once we were back in Hanoi we had a few hours to kill then we got the crappy overnight train down to Hue. It rained pretty much the whole time we were in Hue but we still visited some of the sights. We went to the Citadel
and out to some pagoda by the river, and ate lots of nice food in the restaurant by the hotel.
Next stop after Hue was Hoi An. The weather was still bad so we didn't get to go over the pass and see the ace view. I'm gonna have to go back and do that another time! In Hoi An I got a lot of clothes made which filled some time, and we walked around the town in the rain. The river flooded evey evening which gives you an idea of how wet it was!
We went to My Son (the Cham ruins in the jungle)
but didn't bother with a wet beach.
The last place we went to in Vietnam was Ho Chi Minh City. It's like a more modern version of Hanoi and has a few things worth seeing in the city I guess. I was excited about all the international food that you could get there tho! We did a day trip to the Mekong which was nice - no motorbikes there!! -
and we also went to the tunnels from the war. Also managed to meet up with my friends Nick and Katherine for a nice French meal and now I can finally say that I've made it to Ho Chi Minh City.
The last stop of the trip with the parents was Singapore. I very much enjoyed my Subway meal for dinner the night we arrived! We walked around some of the touristy places of the city, like the Merlion and the Battle Box tunnels as well as doing a river cruise,
and we spent some time on Sentosa Island at the beach.
We also did the night safari which was kinda cool, apart from the walk-in bat cage. Did NOT like that! After the parents left I went on the Singapore Flyer (like the London Eye)
and then did some shopping. Singapore has some good shopping! There were also heaps of xmas displays and lights all over the city which was nice.
The next day I flew to Macau and checked into my fancy hotel - prolly the nicest hotel I've ever stayed in! Resisted the temptation to sleep in my nice big bed and headed out to explore the city. I wasn't that impressed at first at it seemed kinda industrial and the area by my hotel was full of casinoes and hotels. Once I got to the bottom of the peninsula tho I picked up the tourist trail through the city and it got a lot better. It's a strange place with Chinese and Portguese stuff side by side. All the street names are Portugese, and there would be a Portugese sign stuck to the side of a Chinese temple. It was a nice place to walk around tho. Lots of winding cobbled streets going up and down the hills and lots of churches hiding down side streets. It was nice and cool after the heat of Singapore and was a relatively easy place to walk around so I spent pretty much the entire day walking around the city. There was a fort on the top of a hill,
and the front piece of a massive cathedral that had somehow survived the bombing (?) that wiped out the rest of the building
and a whole bunch of other interesting places to check out. The next day I got a bus down to the southern part of the island and found a really nice cafe with ace jacket potatoes!! Walked along the coast for a bit, and looked across at the industruial greyness of China but then it got rather boring so I went back up to the main part of Macau and wandered around aimlessly til it was time to get my ferry over to Hong Kong.
On the first day in Hong Kong I went to Ocean Park - rollercoasters and animal stuff. It was pretty cool! Sadly the big loop the loop coaster wasn't working but there were some other good rides, including one of those things that drops you straight down from a great height. It was fun! In the evening I went across the harbour to watch the symphony of lights thing - a 15 minute display of lights from the buildings around the harbour, with the added bonus of some cheesy music to accompany it.
Once it ended there were a bunch of boats sailing past on the harbour - turns out it was a run through for the opening ceremony for the East Asia games that was happening the next night.
The next day I went up on the Peak Tram to get the typical tourist photo of Hong Kong.
Spent the rest of the day wandering around the city and doing the occasional bit of shopping before going back to the same place as the night before to watch the opening ceremony as it was free. Didn't have a such a great view of all the stuff on the water but I can't imagine the second time the boats sailed past was more interesing. The main reason I was there was because of the rumour of a firework display and at the end of the ceremony there was a good 15 minutes of fireworks. Yay!
On my last day in HK I went out to one of the outlying islands to go see a massive Buddha at the top of a hill. There is a big cable car to save your legs - it takes 30 minutes to sway and swing your way to the top of the hill,
then it's a short climb up some stairs to get to the Buddha.
It was nice to see a different side of the city.
I then hit my last country of the trip - Malaysia. I flew into Penang and stayed in the centre of Georgetown. It was quite a nice place with a fort and the usual Malaysian mix of cultures. It also had great Indian and Thai food and a chocolate shop that gave you free samples of pretty much everything when you went in. Outside of Georgetown was Penang Hill which didn't seem worth the effort to me. Unlike the Peak Tram in HK which runs pretty much constantly the one to the top of Penang Hill seemed to only run every half hour which meant I had to wait for ages to get to the top. Close to the hill is a massive temple complex
which was much more interesting than the hill with heaps of pagodas and prayer halls. There was also a beach, of course, that just had to be visited!
After a few days there I made my way to the Cameron Highlands. I went on a day tour in a 4 wheel drive which started with a crazy ride up a dirt track deep into the jungle to see a big flower.
The car in front got stuck
and we ended up having to nudge them with our car to get them going again. There was a crazy hike to get to the flower,
and then we had to make our way back down the steep muddy track in the car, getting a massive rock wedged under the car somewhere which then had to be bashed out at the side of the road, much to the amusement of a group of kids who were passing. The rest of the tour was a little more sedate, taking in the tea plantation (with a cafe selling scones!),
a butterfly and insect farm
and a strawberry farm.
The following day I went on a more relaxed tour to the top of a mountain. It was pretty misty at the top so the view wasn't great, but there was a short forest walk through a cloud forest at the top
with the occasional gap in the clouds to take in some of the view.
We also stopped at the tea plantations and strawberry farm again but I saw no problem with having another round of scones, jasmine tea and strawberries with honey! That afternoon I hired a motorbike and enjoyed riding on civilised roads out to a flower garden
and a couple of temples. People actually gave way to me when I was waiting to turn!!
The last place I visited was Kuala Lumpur, mainly to shop. I got there in the morning and had to wait a couple of hours before my room was ready - in that short space of time I aquired several bags! The next day I went to Little India and Chinatown but once it started to rain I gave in and went to the indoor market for some shopping and a foot massage. I had another day of shopping, then felt kinda guilty the next day so went out to the park to avoid spending money. Went past the National Mosque
and stopped in at the Islamic Arts museum, then went into the park. Took in the bird park which was pretty cool
and then went to the KL tower in the evening as I do like to watch the sun set over a big city.
Finished off my trip with another day of shopping!
All the albums are here if you're bored and fancy looking at some more photos! -
Vietnam
Singapore
Macau
Hong Kong
Malaysia
Tuesday, 22 December 2009
Tuesday, 15 December 2009
Yay fireworks! There was some marching band thing going on in KL tonight and there were some fireworks to kick it all off! Didn't stick around for the band thing as I was hungry and it was raining, but fireworks!
Also saw an awesome display in Hong Kong. It was the opening of the East Asia Games when I was there and there was a big opening ceremony by the harbour that was free to watch. There was a light show, and a bunch of boats sailed past, then there was 15minutes of fireworks! Thats was pretty cool! I do like a good firework display but Vietnam doesn't seem to agree on that matter. It's probably a good thing tho - Vietnam is FULL of the sort of people who would go back to a lit firework and get their face blown off :o/
Have been doing lots of shopping Kuala Lumpur. Lots of new books and clothes! Am gonna take a break from the shopping centres tomorrow (provided it isn't raining) and go to Putrajaya to have a look around. Also intend to go to a museum or two at some point, and to the park to enjoy sitting on the grass before I get back to Vietnam where grass there is purely to be looked at, not walked on.
Love my flash hotel - it has the biggest, most comfortable bed in the world! It also has a decent bath so am using up all the bath bombs I somehow found myself buying in Lush in Hong Kong - I walked past and before I knew it I was walking out with a bag full of bath bombs! I would say that this will make my bag lighter for my return to Hanoi, but thats a lie given that I've bought 10 books in these past 2 days. Not looking forward to packing on friday and getting my bag to 20kgs or less.
Also saw an awesome display in Hong Kong. It was the opening of the East Asia Games when I was there and there was a big opening ceremony by the harbour that was free to watch. There was a light show, and a bunch of boats sailed past, then there was 15minutes of fireworks! Thats was pretty cool! I do like a good firework display but Vietnam doesn't seem to agree on that matter. It's probably a good thing tho - Vietnam is FULL of the sort of people who would go back to a lit firework and get their face blown off :o/
Have been doing lots of shopping Kuala Lumpur. Lots of new books and clothes! Am gonna take a break from the shopping centres tomorrow (provided it isn't raining) and go to Putrajaya to have a look around. Also intend to go to a museum or two at some point, and to the park to enjoy sitting on the grass before I get back to Vietnam where grass there is purely to be looked at, not walked on.
Love my flash hotel - it has the biggest, most comfortable bed in the world! It also has a decent bath so am using up all the bath bombs I somehow found myself buying in Lush in Hong Kong - I walked past and before I knew it I was walking out with a bag full of bath bombs! I would say that this will make my bag lighter for my return to Hanoi, but thats a lie given that I've bought 10 books in these past 2 days. Not looking forward to packing on friday and getting my bag to 20kgs or less.
Thursday, 10 December 2009
Figured I'll wait til I'm back in Hanoi to give you the mind-numbingly boring blow by blow account of all the things I've done with the added bonus of some pics. For now tho I'm in the Cameron Highlands and it's heaps cooler here than down in Penang, which is nice. I spent the day at the beach yesterday and ended up with a bright red face despite using heaps of suncream AND wearing a hat. Thankfully it faded overnight so I look less retarded today. Hoping to avoid major sunburn here by spending most of my time in the jungle! Walked out to a couple of waterfalls today and tomorrow I'm going on some tour to some of the sights in the area.The day after I'm thinking about hiring a motorbike to go to some other places but I've learnt my lesson from Laos and will be covered up to avoid getting horribly burnt!
In a couple of days I'm heading to Kuala Lumpur and I've booked myself into a fancy expensive hotel as now I have a Real Job I have money and so don't have to risk another bed bug infestation in a dodgy KL hostel! Can't wait for my bit of luxury.
In a couple of days I'm heading to Kuala Lumpur and I've booked myself into a fancy expensive hotel as now I have a Real Job I have money and so don't have to risk another bed bug infestation in a dodgy KL hostel! Can't wait for my bit of luxury.
Thursday, 3 December 2009
I want to tell you all the mundane things I have been doing recently but whilst I'm staying in classy joints in expensive cities I can't justify the internet costs! You will have to wait til I'm in Malaysia with lots of time on my hands and cheap net access for all the details, but right now I have just arrived in Hong Kong after a couple of days in Macau (strange place) and a few in Singapore (cool place).
Thursday, 26 November 2009
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!
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!
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!
Saturday, 24 October 2009
I have quite a busy term this term! I am mentoring a new teacher so I ahve to go and meet him Monday morning each week then I teach an afternoon class who I really like. They follow the rules and work hard, and they get really stuck into speaking activities and offer up millions of opinions which makes a nice change. The teacher I share the class with said "they practically teach themselves" and it is kinda true - there is no needto babysit them - you just give them a piece of work and they get on with it! I teach them on Tuesdays too, and then on Wednesdays I have a morning class with the new level I've not taught before. So far it's going pretty well and the book for this level isn't too bad, and they're another class who work well and are willing to share their opinions. I teach them on Thursday and Friday morning too, but on these days I also teach an afternoon class who are horrible! There are a group of boys who act like they are five years old. Thankfully they other teacher had already raised the issue so before I taught them for the first time last Thursday the manager went in and shouted at them, plus the naughty students got letters sent home threatening them wih expulsion. They're better behaved than before but they're still hard work, plus as they are a lower level I have to be really careful with how I speak to them otherwise I'm met with 17 blank faces. Doubles are a real killer - geting to work at 7am to get everything sorted, then teaching for 4 hours, a one hour break then another 4 hours until 5.15. I also have to keep the lower level class entertained - I can't set them up with a big academic writing and instead have to constantly give them things to do to keep them focused on English. Still, I'm earning a nice bit of money for my trip at least!
Other than work I've not done that much recently. Calder flew to America last week and then after a week with her parents here Alison flew there to join him yesterday, so I went to Derrys for a drink or two on Thursday. They're gone for 3 weeks so my partners in crime for Derrys are no longer in town :'o( I also went to a cool cinema to see some Mexican films a couple of weeks ago. It's the place we go at the end of each term to show the students a movie on the last day and as it's set up as a private members club it means they can avoid the censors and show films that mainstream cinemas just wouldn't (couldn't) show. There is a nice courtyard to sit in beforehand and inside the seats are really comfortable, plus you can take your drinks in to enjoy during the film. It's a nice place to go - far nicer than the regular cinema! I only go to see new films at the proper cinema if I can go to a lunch time showing in the middle of the week as then there are only a handful of other people in there, but at any other time the cinema will be full of people making as much noise as possible and making it really hard to actually watch the film. This members place is much nicer but tends not to show lots of new films. There is usually a theme for each week - Mexican, Vietnamese, art house, silent films - and some appeal more than others but as membership is something like £5 for a year, plus a donation per film it's not a bad place!
I only have three more weeks at work to get through and then its holiday time! I should really start to actually think about things I want to do I guess and start getting things sorted!
Other than work I've not done that much recently. Calder flew to America last week and then after a week with her parents here Alison flew there to join him yesterday, so I went to Derrys for a drink or two on Thursday. They're gone for 3 weeks so my partners in crime for Derrys are no longer in town :'o( I also went to a cool cinema to see some Mexican films a couple of weeks ago. It's the place we go at the end of each term to show the students a movie on the last day and as it's set up as a private members club it means they can avoid the censors and show films that mainstream cinemas just wouldn't (couldn't) show. There is a nice courtyard to sit in beforehand and inside the seats are really comfortable, plus you can take your drinks in to enjoy during the film. It's a nice place to go - far nicer than the regular cinema! I only go to see new films at the proper cinema if I can go to a lunch time showing in the middle of the week as then there are only a handful of other people in there, but at any other time the cinema will be full of people making as much noise as possible and making it really hard to actually watch the film. This members place is much nicer but tends not to show lots of new films. There is usually a theme for each week - Mexican, Vietnamese, art house, silent films - and some appeal more than others but as membership is something like £5 for a year, plus a donation per film it's not a bad place!
I only have three more weeks at work to get through and then its holiday time! I should really start to actually think about things I want to do I guess and start getting things sorted!
Sunday, 18 October 2009
Saturday, 10 October 2009
My kitchen floor is currently home to lots of dead and dying cockroaches. The bug killers came today and sprayed the house in chemicals and now all the roaches are crawling out of theih hidey holes to die. Nice!
Yesterday was the last day of term so was a cruisy day with a trip to the cinema and then back to the school to hand out certificates. All the students in my morning class passed which is always nice. I don't know about the afternoon or evening classes I had as I don't teach them in the second half of the week so I didn't mark their exams but hopefully they all passed. My afternoon class were nice - they kept giving me random gifts. Granted, not very nice gifts, but still! I got given mooncakes (last weekend was the mid-autumn festival and people go nuts over mooncakes for the festival) but don't let the word cake fool you. They look a little bit like pork pies but are filled with all sorts of random things like green sticky rice. After Alisons description of one - "if you're really lucky there's a duck foetus hiding inside" I decided to give them a miss. Still, that they liked me enough to give me things is good. I also covered a class the other week that had quite a few of my old students in it and they all cheered when I walked into the classroom. Always a good way to start a lesson!
The next term is the last one before the parents come out and I have a term off. I'm teaching a new level that I've not taught before so I have new stuff to teach and I'm also being a mentor for a new teacher who is starting this term. I even get paid for doing this - $50 at the end of the term! I do have morning classes three days a week which means early starts, and on two of these days I'm also working afternoons so I'm gonna be knackered by the end of the day but the money will cover lots of shopping in KL and HK!
Yesterday was the last day of term so was a cruisy day with a trip to the cinema and then back to the school to hand out certificates. All the students in my morning class passed which is always nice. I don't know about the afternoon or evening classes I had as I don't teach them in the second half of the week so I didn't mark their exams but hopefully they all passed. My afternoon class were nice - they kept giving me random gifts. Granted, not very nice gifts, but still! I got given mooncakes (last weekend was the mid-autumn festival and people go nuts over mooncakes for the festival) but don't let the word cake fool you. They look a little bit like pork pies but are filled with all sorts of random things like green sticky rice. After Alisons description of one - "if you're really lucky there's a duck foetus hiding inside" I decided to give them a miss. Still, that they liked me enough to give me things is good. I also covered a class the other week that had quite a few of my old students in it and they all cheered when I walked into the classroom. Always a good way to start a lesson!
The next term is the last one before the parents come out and I have a term off. I'm teaching a new level that I've not taught before so I have new stuff to teach and I'm also being a mentor for a new teacher who is starting this term. I even get paid for doing this - $50 at the end of the term! I do have morning classes three days a week which means early starts, and on two of these days I'm also working afternoons so I'm gonna be knackered by the end of the day but the money will cover lots of shopping in KL and HK!
Saturday, 26 September 2009
These past few days a friend's brother has been in town so I've been meeting up with him and giving him some advice about Hanoi and (more importantly I feel) taking him to good places to eat. There are some people in HCM City who went to Sussex Uni and studied on the same courses as me and one of then had a visit from her brother. After spending time with my friends in HCMC and Cambodia he flew to Hanoi for a couple of days and I offered to meet up with him here. He arrived on Thursday and we went for dinner (timed beautifully to avoid the worst of the torrential rain) and I gave him a few ideas of places he could go on Friday and Saturday and and then helped him find his way through the maze of the Old Quarter back to his hotel. I had to work on Friday but we arranged to meet in the evening for Indian food and then some drinks at Derry's. In the end I went to Derry's to wait for him to arrive as Alison and Calder were already there so we just ended up ordering Indian food into Derry's. As they are pretty much next to each other you can place and order and they just bring the food around on a tray - one of the good things about this country! We stayed there pretty late - well beyond curfew - so as we waved him off in a taxi at the end of the night I was concerned that he'd get back to a locked up hotel but thankfully there was still someone up to let him in. It probably wouldn't have been a great idea to end up getting him accidentally locked out of his hotel! Today we met up and went for lunch where we witnessed some responsible Australian parents letting their 2 year old kid drink beer - what?! - and after he got in some last minute shopping for gifts we parted ways and he went to the airport for a flight to Hong Kong and I went to the bookshop (AGAIN!).
It's always nice to meet up with random people in Hanoi. Usually if they are in some way connected to friends then they're good fun as we tend have things in common (as well as meeting Michael this week I've also met up with a friend of a friend from home, Rachel, which was cool). I've also met people occasionally in places like Hoi An and deemed them cool enough to meet up with them when they come through Hanoi which is nice. It gets me thinking about the positive things in this city rather than just the negative stuff I encounter all the time. It's also good to have some interesting people to talk to!
In the bookshop today I picked up a guide book to South Korea for £1. It's from 2005 but I tend to only use a guide book for ideas of places to visit and general info about travelling around a country, not to find places to stay so it's not so important if it's an old book. You can usually pick up guide books for places like Laos and Thailand pretty cheap as there are lots of second hand copies in this city but there aren't so many books for Korea, and those that I do see are usually pretty expensive so when i saw this one for the bargain price of 30,000 I had to buy it! I plan to go to Korea at some point so now I'm prepared with a guide book for the place! I did also buy yet more books despite the fact that I have plenty already that I've not yet read. Oops.
I have no plans for tomorrow aside for a trip to the gym and a bit of swimming. I'm gonna get that out of the way in the morning then I have the rest of the day to get reading some of my books! I might watch a film or two as well as next to my massive pile of unread books I have a stack of unwatched DVDs. I must stop buying books and DVDs!
Randomly this has entertained me greatly - how to fly in Vietnam!
It's always nice to meet up with random people in Hanoi. Usually if they are in some way connected to friends then they're good fun as we tend have things in common (as well as meeting Michael this week I've also met up with a friend of a friend from home, Rachel, which was cool). I've also met people occasionally in places like Hoi An and deemed them cool enough to meet up with them when they come through Hanoi which is nice. It gets me thinking about the positive things in this city rather than just the negative stuff I encounter all the time. It's also good to have some interesting people to talk to!
In the bookshop today I picked up a guide book to South Korea for £1. It's from 2005 but I tend to only use a guide book for ideas of places to visit and general info about travelling around a country, not to find places to stay so it's not so important if it's an old book. You can usually pick up guide books for places like Laos and Thailand pretty cheap as there are lots of second hand copies in this city but there aren't so many books for Korea, and those that I do see are usually pretty expensive so when i saw this one for the bargain price of 30,000 I had to buy it! I plan to go to Korea at some point so now I'm prepared with a guide book for the place! I did also buy yet more books despite the fact that I have plenty already that I've not yet read. Oops.
I have no plans for tomorrow aside for a trip to the gym and a bit of swimming. I'm gonna get that out of the way in the morning then I have the rest of the day to get reading some of my books! I might watch a film or two as well as next to my massive pile of unread books I have a stack of unwatched DVDs. I must stop buying books and DVDs!
Randomly this has entertained me greatly - how to fly in Vietnam!
Sunday, 20 September 2009
On Thursday I ventured to the dentists to get a filling sorted out. I decided against taking my chances with a cheaper Vietnamese dentist as the filling was behind my veneer so I didn't want them to make a mess of it and leave me needing a new veneer as I HATE having the old one and then the temporary drilled off. Instead I went to a modern foreign owned dental surgery with modern and hygienic equipment and got a good filling put on by a French dentist without damaging my veneer. It was expensive for Hanoi but still cheaper than a filling back home plus they gave me a free mug and were tripping over themselves to help me and offer me things in the waiting area beforehand - a much better experience overall than some of the horror stories I hear about Vina dentist destroying people's teeth or doing unnecessary work to rake in more money. Once feeling returned to my mouth that evening I got me a delivery of okonomiyaki-
Good stuff!
On Friday I went to the Old Quarter in an attempt to find string. I went to a massive stationers but they didn't have any and from the amused looks on their faces I think i was the first person to ever go there looking for string. It wasn't a total loss though as I got some cheapie books and a detailed road map of Vietnam for motorbike adventures. I then tried to get string at the post office but apparently they couldn't sell me a length of string - it seems it is reserved for wrapping packages only. I decided to go to some hardware stores but they had nothing of any use there either. Finally I walked past a paint shop where everything was hanging from the ceiling with red twine so I stopped and asked if they had any for sale. At first the woman thought I wanted to buy various assorted paint brushes but finally she understood my request. She pointed to a big roll of twine on the floor and sold me several meters for a few pence so I've finally been able to hide the dodgy paint job in my room with all my pretty scarves (you can also see my funky elephant throw thing I got in Laos!)-
I also learnt that string doesn't exist in Hanoi, or if it does it's kept in a top secret location that no foreigner has access to.
On Saturday it was really sunny and when driving past the temple near my house I saw that the gate was open - it's usually all locked up - so I went to have a quick look around
Also on Saturday our housekeeper Huong came and she bought us flowers!
She's much happier now our dirt-monster housemate has left - Huong felt really intimidated by her and was never sure what she could move after Fiona went crazy one time when Huong took some old beer bottles to the recycling place. Now Fiona's gone Mark and I have cleared out all the crap and we have a grown up house again with clear surfaces. This makes Huong's job much easier as she no longer had to clean around piles of crap and our house is now much nicer as there are no longer piles of paper all over the lounge and we can actually use the table in the kitchen for eating as it's no longer covered in bags and books and whatever else Fiona felt like leaving there.
My motorbike burn is finally getting better too which is nice. Fiona didn't bother using the kickstand on her motorbike and instead she just propped it against a step outside our house. One day I was putting my bike into the yard when I got home from work when hers fell over. I turned to catch it to try and stop it crashing into my bike and in doing so I ended up with my leg pushed up against the burning hot metal of my exhaust pipe. First my leg was all red and stingy-
Then after a few days it was covered in blisters and was really itchy-
then finally all the scabs fell off and I'm left with a strange patch of skin on my leg that's lighter than the rest around it-
Most people in Hanoi have a scar like this tho so now I'm part of the club!
As I'm going crazy uploading pics here is my pink sparkly Hoi An skirt (tho it's too blurry to see the sparkles!)
Good stuff!
On Friday I went to the Old Quarter in an attempt to find string. I went to a massive stationers but they didn't have any and from the amused looks on their faces I think i was the first person to ever go there looking for string. It wasn't a total loss though as I got some cheapie books and a detailed road map of Vietnam for motorbike adventures. I then tried to get string at the post office but apparently they couldn't sell me a length of string - it seems it is reserved for wrapping packages only. I decided to go to some hardware stores but they had nothing of any use there either. Finally I walked past a paint shop where everything was hanging from the ceiling with red twine so I stopped and asked if they had any for sale. At first the woman thought I wanted to buy various assorted paint brushes but finally she understood my request. She pointed to a big roll of twine on the floor and sold me several meters for a few pence so I've finally been able to hide the dodgy paint job in my room with all my pretty scarves (you can also see my funky elephant throw thing I got in Laos!)-
I also learnt that string doesn't exist in Hanoi, or if it does it's kept in a top secret location that no foreigner has access to.
On Saturday it was really sunny and when driving past the temple near my house I saw that the gate was open - it's usually all locked up - so I went to have a quick look around
Also on Saturday our housekeeper Huong came and she bought us flowers!
She's much happier now our dirt-monster housemate has left - Huong felt really intimidated by her and was never sure what she could move after Fiona went crazy one time when Huong took some old beer bottles to the recycling place. Now Fiona's gone Mark and I have cleared out all the crap and we have a grown up house again with clear surfaces. This makes Huong's job much easier as she no longer had to clean around piles of crap and our house is now much nicer as there are no longer piles of paper all over the lounge and we can actually use the table in the kitchen for eating as it's no longer covered in bags and books and whatever else Fiona felt like leaving there.
My motorbike burn is finally getting better too which is nice. Fiona didn't bother using the kickstand on her motorbike and instead she just propped it against a step outside our house. One day I was putting my bike into the yard when I got home from work when hers fell over. I turned to catch it to try and stop it crashing into my bike and in doing so I ended up with my leg pushed up against the burning hot metal of my exhaust pipe. First my leg was all red and stingy-
Then after a few days it was covered in blisters and was really itchy-
then finally all the scabs fell off and I'm left with a strange patch of skin on my leg that's lighter than the rest around it-
Most people in Hanoi have a scar like this tho so now I'm part of the club!
As I'm going crazy uploading pics here is my pink sparkly Hoi An skirt (tho it's too blurry to see the sparkles!)
Saturday, 12 September 2009
Got caught out in the rain THREE times today! At work all week Chad has been telling us a tropical storm was on the way in and it started raining last night whilst we were eating dinner (Japanese!! Salmon sushi, ebi tempura and okonomiyaki makes the best meal ever) so I got soaked riding over the Derry's after dinner for a drink or two with Alison and Calder (and some Germans) then it rained all night as far as I can tell. It was raining this morning but I dragged myself out in the rain to go to the gym as I figured if didn't go first thing in the morning I wouldn't go at all today.
The rain stopped later so I decided to go and find the fabled cross stitch shop in Hanoi so I have something to stop me fidgeting when watching my stack of DVDs. It's tucked away in a lane by the citadel area so round every corner there were soldiers with guns guarding army buildings but I found the place in the end and got some Vietnamese cross stitch - they're not bad actualy I guess. I then stopped in Bookworm on way back home and got some books - my punishment for buying books I don't need was to walk home in an absolute downpour that I would have missed if I'd gone straight home. I've just been out for dinner and when I came out of the place it was hammering down again and I'd left my wonderful poncho at home drying out after the afternoon soaking so I had nothing to keep me dry.
I now have various pairs of shoes and all sorts of clothes aroud the place drying after a tropical drenching. The rain is quite something!
The rain stopped later so I decided to go and find the fabled cross stitch shop in Hanoi so I have something to stop me fidgeting when watching my stack of DVDs. It's tucked away in a lane by the citadel area so round every corner there were soldiers with guns guarding army buildings but I found the place in the end and got some Vietnamese cross stitch - they're not bad actualy I guess. I then stopped in Bookworm on way back home and got some books - my punishment for buying books I don't need was to walk home in an absolute downpour that I would have missed if I'd gone straight home. I've just been out for dinner and when I came out of the place it was hammering down again and I'd left my wonderful poncho at home drying out after the afternoon soaking so I had nothing to keep me dry.
I now have various pairs of shoes and all sorts of clothes aroud the place drying after a tropical drenching. The rain is quite something!
Saturday, 5 September 2009
On Wednesday everyone went crazy celebrating independence day with a big traffic jam over pretty much the whole city. I had the day off work and went to the Old Quarter to meet Alison to pay bike rent. It took me forever to get there as my normal route takes me past the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum and I didn't take into account the fact that the entire population of Vietnam appeared to be making a pilgrimage there to celebrate independence day. People were ambling along in the middle of the road and all the intersections were a disaster with nobody obeying the traffic lights. Eventually I made it in and the Old Quarter was filled to bursting with tourist and locals getting in the way so we escaped to a nearby cafe to kill time til we could get the bikes back. We sat out on a balcony and watched a retarded tourist stand in the middle of the road to take a picture and nearly get mown down by a taxi - you can get just as good a pic from the pavement with a reduced risk of death so why stand in the middle of the road?! Was glad to get out of the melee once my bike was ready and I escaped to the gym - it was empty! I also went swimming in the fancy outdoor swimming pool and made use of the jacuzzi before heading back home. I contemplated heading out later on in the day to see what was happening for the celebrations but after the experience in the morning of all the crowds just milling around I decided instead to just stay home. From what I saw on TV I didn't miss a great deal and staying at home meant I managed to stay sane!
Thursday at work was exam day so it was a pretty easy morning, and then yesterday I went to watch a movie in the morning before going back to the school to give the students their results. I went back to the cinema in the afternoon but didn't fancy watching the movie for a second time so instead I went to the bank and then sat out in teh courtyard of teh cinema with some of the other teachers. Finally in the evening I had to teach for a couple of hours but I made the lesson pretty cruisy with a song, a game and then a timed writing so in the end although the day was long it wasn't too taxing!
Today I helped the housekeeper clean the kitchen and chucked out all the old food that's been there since before I moved in. I wan't much use when I opened one of the drawers to find some cockroahes but Huong set upon them with a rolled up newspaper and slaughtered them all. Unfortunately there is no air con in the kitchen so it was horribly sweaty work but at least our kitchen is clean now and there's no more mouldy food!
I've just been out for dinner at a Japanese restaurant as I was craving some okonomiyaki. I tried a different one to the usual and found a place that specialises in the pancakes so tried that one instead. The chef cooked it up on the hotplate right infront of me which was pretty cool! I was origianlly gonna go to the usual place with Calder and Alison but they are suffering this evening so instead I tried this new place and I'm glad that I did. It was so good! We have plans to go to the usual place later this week which will be nice as the place I went to tonight doesn't do sushi so later on in the week I'll be able to get my sushi fix. Good stuff!
Thursday at work was exam day so it was a pretty easy morning, and then yesterday I went to watch a movie in the morning before going back to the school to give the students their results. I went back to the cinema in the afternoon but didn't fancy watching the movie for a second time so instead I went to the bank and then sat out in teh courtyard of teh cinema with some of the other teachers. Finally in the evening I had to teach for a couple of hours but I made the lesson pretty cruisy with a song, a game and then a timed writing so in the end although the day was long it wasn't too taxing!
Today I helped the housekeeper clean the kitchen and chucked out all the old food that's been there since before I moved in. I wan't much use when I opened one of the drawers to find some cockroahes but Huong set upon them with a rolled up newspaper and slaughtered them all. Unfortunately there is no air con in the kitchen so it was horribly sweaty work but at least our kitchen is clean now and there's no more mouldy food!
I've just been out for dinner at a Japanese restaurant as I was craving some okonomiyaki. I tried a different one to the usual and found a place that specialises in the pancakes so tried that one instead. The chef cooked it up on the hotplate right infront of me which was pretty cool! I was origianlly gonna go to the usual place with Calder and Alison but they are suffering this evening so instead I tried this new place and I'm glad that I did. It was so good! We have plans to go to the usual place later this week which will be nice as the place I went to tonight doesn't do sushi so later on in the week I'll be able to get my sushi fix. Good stuff!
Monday, 31 August 2009
After finishing work on Friday I got a taxi to the airport and checked in for my flight to Hoi An. Was given this notice when I checked in -
Not what you wanna see before boarding a flight! As I didn't get one on the way back I presume it was because I was sitting in an exit row but at the time I had visions of someone opening the doors mid flight! The said, seconds after landing when the plane was still going at some speed people started standing up to get at their stuff so it's not too hard to imagine that someone was so desperate to get off the plane after lading that they made a dash for the doors before they were opened. It's quite entertaining to watch Vietnamese people being forced to wait to do something - they're not very good at it! They were all desperate to get onto the bus to the plane (maybe they thought it would go without them?!), then they pushed and shoved their way off the bus to try and get up the steps onto the plane as if they were racing against the clock, only to have to sit there waiting for the rest of us to get on. They were also itching to get off in Da Nang and were pushing and shoving to get off. I did notice though that all the exit rows were pretty much filled with foreigners, even those who didn't speak English as a first language and that each one of us read the card about the emrgency door and had a good look at the door itself. The only Vina who was in an exit row just put the card into the seat pocket without even looking at it!
I shared a taxi to Hoi An with a Canadian and checked into my fancy hotel before going down to the river. Last time I was in Hoi An I didn't get to see the place in the evening as I had to get transport back to my beach shack so it was nice to see it this time - it's quite a pretty place! There are lots of lanterns all over the place and everything is lit up. I also went to a tailors and got measured for a dress and a couple of skirts then went back to the hotel to collapse into bed.
On Saturday I briefly contemplated hiring a motorbike and driving out to some Cham ruins but it seemed like too much effort in the end so instead I had a lazy morning ambling around the town and getting measured for a pair of shoe and another skirt. I then hired a bicycle and cycled out of Hoi An. I came across a random Japanese grave
and a river
but it was a bit of a killer in the midday heat so I headed back into Hoi An to get something to eat. I picked up my new sparkly pink skirt (not as lame or childish as it sounds!) and then decied to cycle over to Cam Nam island to see what it's about. There's not a great deal there but it was a nice place to ride around for a bit, plus there is an ace bookshop where I was able to pick up another James Clavelle book. I went back to the hotel after that as I was a bit sunburnt and had a monster headache but after lots of water and a bit of time relaxing I went out to find some nice local food for dinner and caved in and got another dress made.
After breakfast yesterday I hired the bicycle again and cycled out to the beach-
It was pretty! The sand was pretty hot though and trying to walk across the sand burned my feet up, but apart from that it was a really nice place to spend a couple of hours, plus the ride there and back was nice.
I had to head back and check out of my hotel and then I went to collect my silk dress - not very practical for Vietnam but so pretty!
This week is the last week of term and there is a bonus day off on Weds for a public holiday so it's not too bad a week this week, apart from my 8 til 8 shift on Friday.
Rest of the pics here
Not what you wanna see before boarding a flight! As I didn't get one on the way back I presume it was because I was sitting in an exit row but at the time I had visions of someone opening the doors mid flight! The said, seconds after landing when the plane was still going at some speed people started standing up to get at their stuff so it's not too hard to imagine that someone was so desperate to get off the plane after lading that they made a dash for the doors before they were opened. It's quite entertaining to watch Vietnamese people being forced to wait to do something - they're not very good at it! They were all desperate to get onto the bus to the plane (maybe they thought it would go without them?!), then they pushed and shoved their way off the bus to try and get up the steps onto the plane as if they were racing against the clock, only to have to sit there waiting for the rest of us to get on. They were also itching to get off in Da Nang and were pushing and shoving to get off. I did notice though that all the exit rows were pretty much filled with foreigners, even those who didn't speak English as a first language and that each one of us read the card about the emrgency door and had a good look at the door itself. The only Vina who was in an exit row just put the card into the seat pocket without even looking at it!
I shared a taxi to Hoi An with a Canadian and checked into my fancy hotel before going down to the river. Last time I was in Hoi An I didn't get to see the place in the evening as I had to get transport back to my beach shack so it was nice to see it this time - it's quite a pretty place! There are lots of lanterns all over the place and everything is lit up. I also went to a tailors and got measured for a dress and a couple of skirts then went back to the hotel to collapse into bed.
On Saturday I briefly contemplated hiring a motorbike and driving out to some Cham ruins but it seemed like too much effort in the end so instead I had a lazy morning ambling around the town and getting measured for a pair of shoe and another skirt. I then hired a bicycle and cycled out of Hoi An. I came across a random Japanese grave
and a river
but it was a bit of a killer in the midday heat so I headed back into Hoi An to get something to eat. I picked up my new sparkly pink skirt (not as lame or childish as it sounds!) and then decied to cycle over to Cam Nam island to see what it's about. There's not a great deal there but it was a nice place to ride around for a bit, plus there is an ace bookshop where I was able to pick up another James Clavelle book. I went back to the hotel after that as I was a bit sunburnt and had a monster headache but after lots of water and a bit of time relaxing I went out to find some nice local food for dinner and caved in and got another dress made.
After breakfast yesterday I hired the bicycle again and cycled out to the beach-
It was pretty! The sand was pretty hot though and trying to walk across the sand burned my feet up, but apart from that it was a really nice place to spend a couple of hours, plus the ride there and back was nice.
I had to head back and check out of my hotel and then I went to collect my silk dress - not very practical for Vietnam but so pretty!
This week is the last week of term and there is a bonus day off on Weds for a public holiday so it's not too bad a week this week, apart from my 8 til 8 shift on Friday.
Rest of the pics here
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
