Saturday, August 19, 2017

coffee shop

The weekend of August 19th.  Our fridge is not working well and so with little food in the fridge we need to go out to eat:) Friday night we got our motor scooters downtown to a Mediterranean  restaurant - great lamb kabobs and French fries washed down with a Sangria.  Followed by chocolate mousse.
Along the route we pass the post office.  It used to be a train station done in the French colonial era. 

For a change we took bikes downtown Sunday morning at 7am to a local coffee shop that served warm croissants.
After, we scootered over to the bird park and noticed that there were also many groups of scout groups doing exercises and other drills.


The repair person is arriving soon for our fridge .  After a nap we will head over to our favourite nail place and get a mani and pedicure.  Tonight we have a tennis court booked for 7 and that should wrap up our day/weekend.



Sunday, August 6, 2017

first weekend- August 5/6, 2017

It is the now the rainy seasoning Ho Chi Minh.  A reminder of what rain can be like.  Saturday I met up with Franca and 2 others (new teachers) and we went downtown to a fabric district. It is also where the 'pink' church is located. By the time we arrived the rains had started and lasted for the rest of the day.  We stopped for a coffee and found the floor interesting as it was covered in sand and one could take off shoes and curl your toes in the fine white beach sand.
Sunday I actually slept through the night for the first time since arriving over a week ago.  I met a colleague from last year who picked me up on her motor bike and we headed to a favourite cafe of hers.  It is a local hangout with a lot of character.
It was an old wooden boat on the river and along the banks were many of the shacks so common along the sides.  lots of garbage and people peeing over the side of their homes into the river.

On our ride back the rain started and within a minute it was coming in sheets - not drops.  I was soaked as if standing in a shower.  My concern was whether I could keep my bag dry enough to protect my iPhone.  I managed somehow.  It was also my first experience riding on a motor bike with water everywhere - fun times:)