Christmas Eve

We spent some of the day shopping.  Our gift to each other was a deluxe hand blender and food processor attachment. A stop at a gourmet shop enticed us to buy some good quality olives and cheeses as we lingered over the great selection of French wines.  We picked up a bottle of bubbly for our visit tomorrow to Colin's place. For the evening we had reservations at KOTO.  Duck Confit was our choice - excellent.

Our table and a view of the traffic below.  It was busier than usual on the roads and many folks and kids were dressed in Santa suits.  Kind of cute.

A sample of street traffic that you need to cross to get to the other side - just step into it and keep walking and the scooters just go around you!!  We also picked up a Yule log  for dessert and after coming home we enjoyed a glass of Scotch and the delicious chocolate/raspberry log.

The evening ended with National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.

Park and Towers

A slow start to the day.  Decided to visit a park in the morning.  We stopped at the Islamic Art Museum but decided to visit the bird park first.

It was a very humid and hot day and after touring the bird park decided to head back to our apartment.  There were many peacocks, flamingoes, parrots to name a few.

Shortly after returning from the park a thunder storm rolled through.  When it was over we took a short cab ride to the Petronas Twin Towers.  For a few years it was the highest tower.  The entire facade looks like brushed nickel and so reflects light in an interesting way.

Since our apartment comes fully equipped, we picked up some nice steaks and veggies to cook and enjoy a quieter evening with our great views.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

We left Phu Quoc Tuesday around noon - after another swim -  and spent the rest of the day traveling to Kuala Lumpur.  Both flights were on time and we arrived around 7:30pm.  There was an efficient express train to the centre of the city and then a short cab ride to our apartment/hotel.  The Lanson has efficiency rooms.  Our spot is very spacious with a modern kitchen (includes washer/dryer), a bathroom with more shower heads than I know what to do with, a living room with corner glass windows and a bedroom with a kingsize bed.  All on the 42nd floor overlooking the Petronas Towers.

Our rooms and views from our windows.

Breakfast was on the top floor and it was stunning - the view and the food.  All this is costing $356 Canadian for 3 nights.  We got a deal since it is usually twice that.  I keep wondering if that is the price per night since this is such a find.  After breakfast we visited the National Mosque.  60 - 65% of the population are Muslim and the Mosque usually has 1000-2000 worshippers at this one mosque each Friday. I was required to wear full dress for women.

We were given a short history of the mosque and of the muslim faith.  This building is quite new.

We then visited China town.  It was OK but not note worthy in my opinion.  

We managed to find our way back to the hotel and Frank is out now trying to rustle up some lunch to bring back:)

Phu Quoc Island

Holidays have started and after a 7am tennis game we packed for our short flight to PhuQuoc.  The island is a beautiful spot which only recently has direct flights from Saigon.  Unfortunately that is also affecting the pristine aspect.  As we heard and learned , tourism is now a big business here and to our surprise, there is construction next to our idyllic, rustic spot.  Bamboo cottages is off the grid and relies on solar power, so there are no TVs or radios and limited power for WiFi.

View from our room and a view from the toilet (it is an open air washroom).  Frank wonders what happens when we get a big rain.  I guess you get a shower as a bonus:)

Right now there is a yoga class in progress on the beach in front of our cottage.  All part of the package.  

Breakfast this morning.  Now I think I will spend some time in the hammock before going for a swim.  Need to digest the meal first.

Couldn't resist a swing first.

getting in the spirit

Other than the constant Christmas jiggles played everywhere , it is different trying to get into the Christmas mood.  We took a stroll down 'fashion' alley.  Streets downtown seem to each have a speciality.  There is shoe street, sports street, fabric street... and so on.  For part of these streets every store sells the specific items.  We went to fashion street and found many stores giving 50% sales - end of 'winter ' sale.  What winter!!!! The signs actually said 'End of Winter Sale'.
Frank got a pair of Doc Martin shoes at half price and I found a pair of black silk pants.

We stopped for lunch at a favourite place that Frank goes to when downtown - Kafé.

Here he is showing off our purchases.  That evening was the staff party.  An enjoyable affair with everyone dressing up.

I was pretty tired Sunday and so we kept it simple.  There was a guitar concert downtown but instead we did a long walk and then put up our few decorations.

Fire in the TV and a few lights and candles as well as some tunes and wine.

I have my last week at school and hope to get my Residency card tomorrow so that we can head out to Phu Quoc Island on Saturday.

Weekend getaway

Reports are done and so we decided to get away for Saturday ad Sunday.  As usual we woke up early and had a tennis game and quick dip in the pool before breakfast.  By 8am we were looking online for an escape.  WE decided on Vung Tau.  There is a hydrofoil boat that gets you there in 75 minutes.  It is a small city - about 400,000 just north of Saigon.  We arrived at 2.

WE found an authentic French restaurant and I ordered the Rose and a ravioli dish.  They had a small wine cellar and I found a bottle of 2010 Grand Cru Saint Emilion.  The price was about $40 Canadian.  A nice find here but I realized as we were coming home that it will not keep well here in the apartment due to the heat.  I was hoping to save it for a while but we may need to open it sooner.

There is long promenade along the sea shore that goes for many km.  The walkway is a beautiful marble.  In the evening the ledges were filled with people eating and visiting.

Getting ready to go out and fish.  There is a huge statue of Christ on a small mountain.  It is suppose to rival the one in Brazil.. It is 32m high and the arms stretch out to 18m.  In the photo you might notice the people on top along the arm.  That gives you a sense of how big it is.  We need to get ready to return and so did not have time to climb the 900 steps up to the statue.

This monetary is accessible during low tide.  We were back home by 4:30.  Great getaway.

Choir

Friday night, Dec. 2nd, we attended a concert at a convent in downtown. Some of the staff are involved either in the choir or the chamber orchestra.  It was a moving evening of beautiful Christmas  music both classic, jazz, French and one Vietnamese piece.

Afterwards we headed towards a bar for refreshments - about 8 of us.  It was down a small ally with lovely ladies lined up outside some of the establishment - massage anyone!  Our spot was an urban/western type bar.

Judith Fox and Me

Before the run, Judith Fox, Terry's younger sister, stopped for a photo opportunity.

Frank was busy taking photos of the runners.  There was an estimated 14,000 - 16,000.

The line of runners goes around the corner.

The guy on the scooter didn't get the message about the run but was determined to go against the flow anyway.  

Post Terry Fox run

We arrived for the Terry Fox run at 7am.  It was a very impressive crowd.  I have not been able to jog/run for the last year due to something I did to my back but I managed to run most of  3km which I was thrilled about.  The run was only a 5km distance but I wanted to get back in time for our cleaner who was arriving soon.

I will send more photos on my next blog.

After a short nap Frank and I went to the school since I had work to do on reports.  We then treated ourselves to a bookstore and cafe downtown.

One of my favourite places.  In the background they were quietly playing some jazzy Christmas tunes - but tastefully done. Our last stop before heading home was a large mall with a French bakery - we need some good bread for breakfast tomorrow.  Inside they had a small skating rink.

Our Place

Once again a couple of photos from my walk home.

Some grounds keepers at our place. 

There is a large apartment just below us and they have a large tank/pool that they fill with an assortment of koi.  We can view them from our balcony.

Yesterday Judith Fox - Terry Fox's younger sister came to the school to accept a cheque from donations from our school.  It was quite a stirring reception we gave her.  Tomorrow is the city run and it is expected that around 19,000 will come for a 5km run/walk/crawl.  Frank and I will show up for the 8am start.

Mui Ne

On Friday 18th after early dismissal at noon, we caught a bus to the seaside north of Saigon.  It was a 4 1/2 ride with a 20 minute stop.  We arrived at 6:30 to Grace Boutique hotel in Mui Ne.  It is a small family run hotel with about 15 units right on the beach.

fresh fruit each morning

An early morning view from our room.

After a magnificent breakfast we spent all of Saturday on these lounges and swimming.  The water was so warm that Frank just ran in without stopping.  Something I have never seen him do.  WE would then rinse the salt water off with a quick shower by the pool and then go for a dip in the pool.

The pool was always empty as there were only a few other couples at the hotel. 

There were fishermen that would also be working the beach. As we relaxed, the host of the hotel brought us fresh watermelon juice and thinly rolled sugar cookies as a snack, followed by two aloe vera leaves cut open for us to rub on our sun drenched skins.  

Some of the round fishing boats coming back after a morning of work.  

On Sunday we were booked to catch a 1 pm train back.  Our hosts offered us a lunch and beverage in honour of it being Teacher's Day.  There was a big cake as well but we had to leave and so the other guests were able to enjoy it. It was a rainy arrival back in Saigon and few cabs were available but after about 20 minutes we were able to find an available one but the driver was quite young and needed a lot of help to understand where we needed to go.  Now that we know some of the landmarks we were able to help him find our location.