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.

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:)

Year #2

Just arrived in Ho Chi Minh a few days ago and had my first day of work.  It looks like there will be a lot of changes from last year and I am ready.
The time back at the lake was as good as it gets.

Here we go!

Jazz, May

Frank is wrapping up his stay for now and heading home on Monday, 22nd.  Last weekend I went to high tea downtown.  Quite a fancy place - very Victorian.  From a return trip to the tailors we stopped at a Kashmir rug store.  The all silk rug I bought is such a treat to put bare feet on.

Just what I need - another carpet.  But it is a small one:)

There are so many place we still have not visited but we did make it to a jazz club we heard about.  It was perfect to end a Friday night out.

After getting home around 1am, Frank got up at 4am to go with some of the ladies from work to check out the flower market - a warehouse where all the shops come to get their produce for the day.  I declined to tag along.  They then went to a 'bird park'.  An open air park where people bring their caged birds and sit with their coffees and visit.  It is like bringing your dog to the dog park.  People come and look at your bird(s) and ask about them. By 6:30 am the park is full of folks having their coffee and visiting - with their pet birds. I wonder if this will catch on at home?

Deserted Resort

For the last weekend of Hayley's visit we decided to explore a remote resort 40km north of VungTau. We took the speed boat to Vung Tau and then ordered a cab for the next part of the drive.  There was confusion about how to get there and Frank and the cabbie got into a bit of an argument.  It was when Frank slapped the dash board and demanded he stop in order to clarify our situation that we knew it would be an interesting ride.  On line this resort reported that it was busy and we had few choices of accommodation left.  When we arrived we were upgraded to a villa on the ocean - but the entire place was deserted.

View from our villa balcony

 
It was clean but the bathroom could have used an upgrade.  It felt very eery because there was NOBODY around except a few staff who just sat and watched TV in the lounge.  The pool was lovely and again all to ourselves.

AT the restaurant we were quickly told there was almost no selection to choose from (probably because there were no guests)  But what they did have was good and so we had it for dinner as well as there was nothing else close by.  The next day the rains started again and so we left early and had a lovely lunch at our favourite French Bistro in Vung Tau before our ferry was due.

We did get a few swims in before leaving and the water was almost too warm.  The last few days the rains have started and there have been a couple of thunderous storms followed by super rainbows.

It was a strange weekend.  How a place that accommodates well over 100 guests can be deserted on a weekend and with virtually no staff in sight can be a little weird. Oh well, they still only charged me for the discount rooms I booked because the website claimed all else were booked????

SUPing

I had a long weekend and with Hayley and Lila here, we headed off to Mui Ne.  For 3 days we had nothing but sunshine and ocean breezes. We did not plan much other than swimming in the sea and pool  and lounging.

A long 4 hour drive but Lila slept  most of the way :)

The sea water was so warm.

Early morning stroll along the beach.

Sampling the local beer.  A grandpa's duty.

The fishing boats.  They are round in order to avoid being swamped by the waves.

Just before he fell.  It looks calm but the water was choppy and some waves were 1/2 m high.

I paddled most of the time on knees but I did make it up a few times and I also did a dive in the sea.  Lots of fun and a good workout trying to stay balanced on the moving water.

Another weekend outing

April 21-22nd.
Frank has been nursing a bad cold/flu and so a friend of mine convinced me to go out Friday night.  The bookstore was closed so we then had our dinner in a small alley sitting on small metal stools surrounded by all the locals enjoying their food.  We shared a large paper thin crepe filled with egg, pork,shrimp greens and bean sprouts.  On the side was a platter of large lettuce leaves.  You put a helping of the mix on the leaf and roll it up and dip in the sauce.  Quite tasty.  After sitting in a park for a bit with an ice cream we headed to a bar that was featuring a Vietnamese teacher that we work with who is also in a band.

The warm up band  - Punk Rock Vietnamese style.

It was a small venue and smoking is allowed.  The table next to us had a regular sized bottle of Scotch as their beverage for the evening.  The music was incredible loud - actually ear splitting.  I cannot believe that this is actually fun.  My companion for the evening is of my generation and so I guess it cannot be my age that resulted in my  not really enjoying this.

Anyway it was a good night anyway.

Next morning we Scootered to district 2 - Frank feeling better - to view a charity bazaar.  It was in a very wealthy compound by the river.  The Crafts were high quality and the scenery very nice.

I went to the hospital Friday afternoon to have my Achilles tendon examined.  It has been swollen and at times painful.  The doctor recommended an MRI.  I began to tell him that I would be leaving in 5 weeks and so I may have to have it done when I return.  He looked blankly at me as if my story was of little concern and asked if I was available later that afternoon for the MRI.  OK, I guess they do things quickly here.