Community Service in the Delta

It is very nice to announce that I am on holidays after completing my first semester at AIS. What a whirlwind it has been and more demands lie in store as I will mentor a new English teacher and also take on the role of Assessment Coordinator! Never a dull moment!

Term ended a little differently as I accompanied 5 girls on a 24 hour trip to the Mekong Delta, where we linked up with an organisation called Aid for Kids, with which one of our parents is associated. A group of doctors and medical students from Florida had been doing an outreach program for a week and we joined them in hosting a Christmas party for a local orphanage.

It was great to see our students interact with these kids, acting as translators, game organisers and Santa's helpers, as they delivered presents. This was the first time AIS has been involved, so let's hope that it is the start of many more activities.

The following morning we had a tour of the region which is famous for its coconut plantations. It was fascinating witness the life of the locals and their sustainable farming practices. Every aspect of each coconut is accounted for, with much sweat, and just remember that you too could earn $10 a day for shelling 1,800 - 2,000 coconuts!

The honeymoon is over

The shine has unfortunately been taken off my adventure in Saigon and a great weekend in Hoi An, as my laptop was stolen on Monday night from my desk at home, whilst I was asleep in another room!

I was completely baffled when I first realised it was gone as nothing else had been touched. There was no evidence of a break in and all the doors were still locked. So, it turns out they climbed on to the balcony and reached through a slightly ajar but locked window. My desk is a good 2 metres from the window so it would have been a mighty scoop of some sort that they used to pull it out. 

Where there is a will there is a way, it seems!! I have certainly learned my lesson about home security and being alert but not alarmed as to what can happen. I am yet to replace it but I believe I am well backed up. Time will soon tell!

And now to Hoi An - it is beautiful! Yes, it is now a tourist haven, but it is clinging to its old town charm and it's authenticity remains. It was also nice to feel cold and to actually wear a cardigan.

The market is a bustling hive of activity, as is the river and the number of shops is simply extraordinary. I did give my wardrobe quite a boost as there are some funky local designers as well as the myriad of tailors and I also had a ring made. I was a little nervous with this purchase and the 24 hour turn around, but I am very happy with the result.

 

As usual I had some great food experiences - from the buffet at the hotel, to the local street vendors 

and the restaurants that had been recommended. My favourites were the shrimp mousse cooked on sugarcane  and the local specialty Cao Lau - pork with noodles and vegetables.

As well as strolling the streets and sitting and watching, I hired a bike for a day - costing me all of $1. I headed to the beach, and it was certainly nice to see the sea but it was rather windy and choppy, so not overly pleasant. The highlight was watching the fishermen in their little round baskets contending with the surf!

What was more enjoyable was when
I ventured off the main road and found myself in the midst an authentic rural scene. Plenty of rice paddies, vegetable patches, chickens, buffaloes and haystacks. This was again repeated when I took a local taxi boat to a nearby island. The concrete and then muddy paths took me through fields and villages and across bridges. Another relaxing ride, albeit in the rain. There  were lots of 'hellos' but other stints of silence were just broken by the tones of very bad Sunday afternoon karaoke.

My late flight back to Saigon allowed me to enjoy another evening in the town and what better way to finish than in a wine bar, watching the world go by.

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?!

A Day in the Delta

I enjoyed being a tourist again yesterday - a day trip to the Mekong Delta by speedboat.
I went on this trip with a couple of friends and some of their friends, so there was a nice little group of us and it was especially nice to be collected and dropped off at our front doors!

We were very lucky with the weather as there was a sky of blue - not a cloud or drop of rain, nor was there any evident smog. It was lovely to be by the water again and see life on the river as it really is. It was also great to see parts of Saigon from the river. There really is a lot of poverty and so much action on the river. Boats of all sizes were making their way up and down the river, dodging the clumps of water hyacinth and some of the loads were massive!

We visited a couple of temples, a market, a lovely little village where we encountered the pythons that they were breeding and sampled some of their home brew! This was where we also saw them loading a sugar cane barge -  a mere 90kg per load! Lunch was a 5 course feast in a temple/orphanage complex and then it was back to town.

It was so peaceful and everyone enjoyed lots of waves and smiles with the locals. I will certainly be making more weekend trips.

Next weekend I am heading off to Hoi An for a little mid-term treat, but I have three evenings of Parent-Teacher interviews to get through first!!

More photos of the Delta

A lovely little break

I have had a distinct change of place this week and enjoyed some much needed rest and relaxation.

For the first few days of the break, the country was in mourning for the 103 year independence hero, General Vo Nguyen Giap. As a mark if respect, all entertainment was cancelled. This meant restaurants, bars, sport, cinemas and other special events as well as most tv stations were out of action. It didn't worry me too much, apart from a futile trip to the tailors.

I then spent 5 nights on the lovely Phu Quoc island which is off the coast of Vietnam and Cambodia.

 The weather was overcast for the first few days of my stay at a resort out of town, but that also did not worry me, as I was just pleased to be by the sea, with nothing to do except eat, drink, read, walk, lounge and sleep.Even the rain did not dampen my spirits, as I just lounged on my balcony instead of by the beach.

On my walks out from the resort, the first thing that hit me was the sense of jungle. It was so quiet apart from the sounds of the birds and the more domestic chickens and cows. Then when passing by the odd dwelling, there was also the sounds of men playing pool and cards,  a mother singing her baby to sleep, as well as children reciting their daily lessons.

Once I moved close to town, there was a little more action to view.

The higlight one morning was watching a group of locals drag fishing from the beach. They put out enormous nets; two people were in charge of winding them in until it became a whole team effort including some of the tourists to haul in this heavy load. The fish were tiny but there were thousands of them, plus numerous jellyfish.   

                

I also thoroughly enjoyed a hot and sweaty walk around the harbour and through a very local section of town. I merely followed the pathway of the motorbikes and made my way down little alleyways. The people were so friendly and were in fact asking me to take their photos. I loved the guy, who like many others had his whole business set up on his bike, but his involved shaving blocks of ice into a cup,then pour on flavourings, topped off with condensed milk. Delicious I am sure, but I didn't put it to the test!

Google maps then came in handy to get me back to the main drag!

Apart from that little adventure, there was more reading, lounging and swimming!

I now feel like a new person!

               

More photos of Phu Quoc

Once back in Saigon, I made my trip to the tailors, had my first pizza which was absolutely delicious, went to the cinema for the first time and enjoyed 'Gravity', went to a flea market and the flash mall, just like Chadstone!

So, I think you could say it was a successful holiday!