The new normal ..

It has been a very interesting few weeks, but I suspect that this is the way life in Saigon will continue!

We had storms and flooding; which caused two nights of Parent Teacher interviews to be postponed. The school days continued as normal but we had to leave school by 3pm to avoid the worst of the traffic and there were announcements over the suburban PA alert system - I assume to tell us to get home!

Then we had Typhoon Haiyan, approaching from the Philippines. This did not impact Saigon at all, but I did cancel my weekend trip to Hoi An as it was en route for a direct hit. Typically, the trajectory changed and moved further up north giving Hanoi a severe lashing, but I think it was the right decision to make.

Bun Cha Ha Noi

Adventures of a culinary nature then took precedence! Via an awesome blog, here in Saigon, I had made contact with Barbara Adam who runs Saigon Street Eats tours http://saigonstreeteats.com with her husband. She directed me to a local shop that sells amazing Bun Cha Ha Noi (noodle soup with pork and spring rolls). 

Through this contact she kindly invited me to road test their new tour, Southern Trail. This was a great evening, seeing and learning about a new area of Saigon, tasting some amazing food, learning more about the ingredients and experiencing a truly authentic Saigon. So, I gave the tour the thumbs up, and I will be highly recommending all of their tours!

Banh Xeo - crispy pancake

 Rice, pork, egg roll and vegetables

Creme Caramel

I then had another four days of extravagent eating and drinking as I proudly showed my first guest, Samantha Murray around town.

We had cocktails at The Deck - a local restaurant on the river:

A three course lunch at the award winning French restaurant La Villa:

             

Drinks on my rooftop admiring the full moon and an electrical storm in the distance:

Caramelised pork salad at L'Uisine:  

                                   

We admired the view, and enjoyed a glass of wine at the Chill Bar:

And, had amazing Tofu with lemongrass, prawns with tamarind, eggplant and pork, and green mango juice at the funky Cuc Gach Quan ..http://www.cucgachquan.com.vn/en

Amongst all this, yes, I have been teaching and dealing with the sudden departure of our senior Literature teacher. So, I have also been in recruitment mode, calling and Skyping candidates before and after school, and learning a great deal about the A level and the IB Diploma courses, so that I could at least sound like I know what I am doing!! I think we are now sorted, but this was certainly an extra challenge that I did not need to experience at this stage.

This past week also had the extra delight of Vietnamese Teacher's Day - a day that is set aside to celebrate the work of teachers, current and past. We were showered with flowers and food and some were lucky enough to receive meal vouchers and designer clothing!! A nice tradition me thinks!!

I should also mention the puncture on the way to school with my regular XE Om driver! Just a 15 minute delay ..

What adventures will the next three weeks hold - apart from marking, setting exams, writing reports, and the postponed trip to Hoi An?!