Christmas in Ho Chi Minh City

Christmas lunch

Last week I got to experience my first Christmas away from England. I went to the New World hotel in the centre of Ho Chi Minh City along with about 40 other teachers from ILA, the school where I work. I was an ‘all you can eat and drink’ lunch from 11am – 3pm. There was a great selection of food including roast turkey, roast potatoes and a great selection of cheeses.

Christmas in the evening

It was nice to be able to dress up and socialize with the other teachers in a nice hotel. After the dinner I went to a house party for some more drinks. It was a very nice day. Apart from being with the western people you would not have noticed it was Christmas. I don’t think the locals really celebrate it and on the way over to the hotel everyone was just going about their usual daily routines.

Cake with a snowman

Since Christmas I've been working hard. I've now got a few days off for New Year but at the end of next week I’ve got about two weeks away from work as my school closes for the Vietnamese holiday of TET. I’m hoping to go away for this time but so far have not made my mind where. Cambodia is probably going to be the best option as there are still some places I want to see.

Christmas dinner

Some good news which everyone is excited about is that after TET the darts season will start again so ill have something else to talk about. I need to get practicing again. Darts are hard to come by in Vietnam and as far as I know there is only one chap who sells them. He gets them imported from England. I've arranged to meet him in the New Year to get some more flights and stuff so I can be ready for the new season.

My picture of the week this week is one I took of a taxi driver... It made me laugh!!! - see below.

Taxi driver hard at work.



2 days till Christmas

A Christmas decorated restaurant

I've been working hard over the past few weeks but its nearly Christmas and I've now got 4 days off work which I'm very much looking forward to. On Christmas eve im going to a secret Santa party and on Christmas day lots of us are going to a hotel for Christmas dinner then in the evening we are going for a house party at one of my work colleagues houses.

There are alot of decorations up around the city and this week I went out and took a few photos. They seem to be also putting alot of new year decorations up. Im not sure what happens here at New Year so will try and find out.

Shopping centre decorated... big time

I have some other good news.. One of my cover classes won the Christmas Tree poster competition!! The teacher who I was covering for only told me yesterday. There prize is a KFC on the school. As I was covering the class I'm not invited to the party but I was told I would be saved a piece of chicken. Im all honesty I was in it for the glory and as KFCs aren't that great here im not fussed about the chicken.

Snowman, its not real snow

Ive also just realised I can add video footage to my blog. This has alot of potential and will improve my blog going into 2012. I will dig through my video achieve in the next few weeks to see what good video I have from my travels.... It could be like a review of the year thing.....

Diamond Plaza with snow.. again, its not real snow

ILA Christmas party.

My favourite Pho Bo restaurant

This past Tuesday evening was the ILA Christmas party. It was held at a posh hotel called the ‘ice palace’ which despite the name was not made of ice, or a palace. It was free to go and there were free drinks all night. Sadly I had to work at my other school the next day so had to exert self control at the free bar which I successfully managed. The only disappointing thing was that they didn’t play any Christmas music but opted for dance music instead. I requested some from the DJ but he looked at me like I was mad. I kid you not, he then asked me ‘why do you want Christmas music?’ to which my reply was…… ‘It’s a Christmas party!?’

Market, 2 minutes walk from my house

It was nice to see everyone dressed up though. Sadly I forgot to take my camera so don’t have any pictures. I will try and pester some people for some in the next few weeks as it was pretty impressive.

I needed to get a suit made for the party. Although I have had some trousers and shirts made before I don’t have a jacket. I went on Sunday to a shop where the tailor measured me up. I got to choose the material, style and lining.  I picked the suit up two days later and it fitted perfectly! All this cost $110 (70 pounds!) for the jacket and trousers.

The river north of my house - words can't describe how bad it smells

As I've said before I’m doing more hours at my new school so have been pretty busy all week. I’ve not been doing any other fun stuff. I’m looking forward to Christmas! There are 35 of us going to a posh hotel for Christmas lunch then were going to a house party in the evening.

I can’t believe it’s only 10 days until Christmas! It seems even stranger that it was May, seven months ago, that I left England! At the moment the plan is to come back to England next November / December. I’m not sure if this will be for a visit or for longer. I’m still liking the teaching and being in a different country.

Some other good news is that it’s getting cooler! The mornings feel fresh on occasions but putting it into perspective its only cooler compared to the usual relentless heat. It’s still 20 plus degrees and still rises to at least 30 most days. The heat doesn’t bother me as much as it used to. I’m not sure if this is because I’m getting used to it or because im used to being hot and sweaty.

Football tournament and disappointment in the Xmas poster competition

The infamous HCMC traffic

I started working more hours at the ERC – the business school this week which has been going well. My work schedule is changing now so from January I will be working Monday – Thursdays then having Friday, Saturday and Sunday off work. It will be nice to have three days off in a row which will also mean I’ll be able to go away for a few days to places like Dalat and the Mekong Delta.

View from the ILA cafe on the 9th floor

I've also got nearly three weeks off mid January for the annual Vietnamese holiday called TET which will be cool. Unfortunately everything stops in Vietnam so travelling around might be difficult so at the moment I’m thinking of going back to Cambodia to do the places I missed earlier this year.

I took part in an ILA football tournament this week which was fun. It’s amazing how my fitness has deteriorated since I’ve been away but I was still comparatively better than my team mates.

My team - no one got the email about what colour to wear

Our team performed ok but our results didn’t match this so we crashed out in the group phase after 4 games. We only scored 3 goals (I got 2) drew 2 games and lost 2. We lost to a Vietnamese team who were good but one of the guys was wearing bare feet!? As they were short on referees I volunteered to referee a game between two Vietnamese teams who were both pretty good. It was quite nice to do some ref’in again.

Me in the middle - Referring the all Vietnamese match

I’m disappointed to report we didn’t win the poster competition. Not only did we not win but our art work has not even made it onto the wall in the school reception. Not sure why it’s not there, one theory I have is that it’s been put forward for the turner prize but that’s unlikely. When I heard the news I challenged one of the judges who used phrases like “It was good…. but not that good” and “too much glitter”. I shall be using these quotes when I to break the sad news to the children next week.

Enjoying playing football again

Apart from this I’ve not been doing much fun stuff. Found a shop that sells all the latest films on DVD for 50 cents each (about 30p) which is exciting. I watched a film last week and it was just like being in the cinema, since this is the place it was filmed. It even had someone’s head in front of the camera at the bottom of the screen - but then what do you expect for 50 cents.

Christmas poster competition

My teaching assistant - aka 'assistant project manager'

As I’ve previously mentioned I’m working part time at two schools at the moment, ILA and ERC. ILA is the school where I teach lots of young learners and ERC is where I lecture e-commerce. ERC, the business school, has asked me to work more hours and as my cover classes finished at ILA this past weekend, I’ve agreed. This mean I will only be at ILA 8 hours a week whilst doing a lot more at ERC. I will be teaching English to BBA students who are young adults (18-24), it should be good experience and good to get some adult teaching on my CV.



Glitter-tastic

It was a fun week at ILA this week. With Christmas around the corner I got to spend my time making and decorating Christmas posters with my junior classes. After bombing out of the Halloween poster competition I wanted to win this one. As you can see it was great fun. We were short on time so had to rush it which meant the classroom was a mess at the end of the lesson, there was glitter, paper, glue and paint everywhere.

Finishing the artwork

There were three cleaners waiting outside when I left. One had obviously taken a peek into the classroom and seen what was going on and called for reinforcements, they didn’t look impressed when I left the classroom. I got to play some Christmas hits whilst making this poster too. It was if Shakin, Mariah, Wizard and Cliff were in the room with us.

There are quite a few Christmas lights up now. There is a place near the park I go to which I've dubbed ‘Christmas corner’, it looks pretty cool. I will get a photo of it for next week.

Hoping to win the competiton with this!

I’ve been taking Vietnamese lessons provided by ILA for the past two weeks. It’s been good fun but tough. So far we’ve learnt the usual stuff, like saying ‘hello’, ‘my name is Joel, what’s your name?’ and the numbers 1-100. We also learnt some countries which was fun. Sadly I’m not sure if I’m going to be able to keep it going with my new schedule at ERC, If I can’t I’d like to get some lessons elsewhere.

Happy Christmas

It’s still very hot here. I’m told December gets cooler but I have my doubts. I went out with a friend last night. We were on a bike, it was 9:30pm and it felt slightly cooler than usual. I looked up at one of the buildings which displayed the temperature…. 27 degrees. It makes me wonder how hot it normally is. I saw a teaching job advertised on the Internet a few days ago in Siberia, it’s tempting at times.

Pub quiz and my first 'thanksgiving'



Glorious scenes at Traders bar



With darts season well and truely over I thought it would be a while before a got that high feeling of success again, however glory was just around the corner in the form of the ILA pub quiz at traders bar in downtown HCMC District 1.

Last Sunday was our works charity pub quiz and out of the 7 teams that entered we came first. It was a great achievment and as you can see we enjoyed the moment. Getting presented with a nice trophy made it even better.

I was thinking about an open top bus to parade the trophy round the city but it would take far too long with all the traffic and would probably break down anyway.

Roast Turkey

This week was 'Thanksgiving' in America and as 60% of my household are American we ordered a delivery thanksgiving meal from one of the restaurants in the city. It was just like having a Sunday roast but with different side dishes to usual. The side dishes included sweet potatoe with cinnemon, corn and sesame carrots which is basically carrots smothered in spicy tomato sauce with sesame seeds thrown in. The turkey was great and perfectly cooked – this was made even better by the fact that I’ve not had a roast in at least 6 months. The only thing that was missing was a Yorkshire pudding.

carrot cake and pumkin pie

For desert we had carrot cake and pumkin pie. This is another first, although im very familiar with carrot cake pumkin pie is new to me and was quite nice.

Work is going well but still very busy. Not seen SCM for a long time. I want to get a photo of one of the retail outlets he delivers to where they make the sugar cane drink. I’ll try and sort this out during the week. I brought a laptop last week as my last one died about 3 months ago.

Pork won-ton noodle soup

Lots of the shops are selling Christmas decorations now and at night if you can forget about the heat it actually feels somewhat Christmassy when looking at the lights.

I’ve attached a photo of the won-ton pork noodle bar in the city. The won-tons are really something special. This dish cost about $2.50!

Unfortunatly this won-ton shop is the other side of the city where I used to live so I don't get to goto it that often.




A night to remember



Winning team photo



Darts season finishes and a visit to Ho Chi Minh City zoo

HCMC Zoo and gardens

Darts this week was a home fixture at the Blue Gecko and I’m sad to report was the last match of my first rollercoaster season. I didn’t know darts leagues had seasons but they do. It might be a bit late for me to make it to the lakeside this year but there’s always next year. Our opponents were bottom of the league and had only won one game this season so we were expecting an early Christmas present by giving them a whooping. Sadly they didn’t turn up so we won via a walk over.

Museum in the gardens. I didn't go in

The new season starts in February which gives me plenty of time to practice. I’ve no idea what I’m going to be writing about on my blog now darts season is over.

I had planned to go on a trip this week but due to having too much e-commerce work to do I’m not going to be able to. I think my next holiday won’t be until mid-January which seems like a long time away I’m sure it will come around quickly. I‘ll be able to have a good break then.

Grumpy white tiger

I went to HCMC botanical gardens and zoo this week. I can’t remember the last time I went to a zoo so wanted to go and see some animals despite being a bit uneasy about how they might be being looked after. Overall it was pretty good. They had a nice variety of animals like rhinos, giraffes, elephants, crocodiles, tigers, hippos, pythons. Also the gardens were nice to walk around. It was good to get away from the city.

 

Lazy crocs - not very entertaining



I haven’t seen swearing man since last week. I did go for a run in the park but he wasn’t there which is unusual for him. I hope he’s ok.

There are a lot of shops selling Christmas decorations now which is strange to see as I walk down the road sweating. I did chuckle at the ‘let it snow’ sign – I’m thinking that might be asking a bit much. At the moment id settle for ‘let the temperature drop under 20 degrees’, doesn’t really roll off the tongue though.

Lady cleaner at the gardens

Also just realised today is 6 months to the day since I flew from London to Bangkok (May 17th). I can't believe its been that long! Looking back its been quite an amazing 6 months. Ive seen and done so much as well as learning new skills and more about myself.

I'm still enjoying what im doing and still have lots to learn. I'm starting Vietnamese lessons next week which im looking forward to. It will be great to try and learn the local language.

Rhino at the zoo - he seemed happy

Views of our house, the talented local and darts.



The dart board installed on the 7th floor of out house



The Stella bar on Bui Vien in the heart of the backpacker area was the next stop for my darts rollercoaster adventure. This team are third in the league so it would be a tough evening. I didn’t arrive in time for a doubles match due to work but was put into the singles matches.  After the high of last week I’m pleased to report that I won again!!!! the dream continues!!!!! It was a 2-1 victory after being 1-0 down. Sadly our team took a bit of a pasting and we lost 10-2.



HCMC from our roof garden. Bitexico tower in the distance.



Some more good news is that we have a dart board installed on the 7^th floor at our house so I’ll be able to get some more practice in – see the attached pictures!

Still working hard but the business school I work at is closed next week so I’ve applied for some time off from ILA to go on a 3 day road trip. The options at the moment are the Mekong Delta, Dalat or the beach. I’m going to look into this more towards the end of the week. It will be nice to write something different from the darts, SW and SCM.



The very talented local.



I went on a night out this weekend with my teacher buddies. We went to a restaurant where one of the locals showed us his talent (see picture). He could play the harmonica but not just that, he could play it through his nose whilst drinking a glass of beer. If ‘Vietnams got talent’ rolls into town  think he could get on their show, however I fear its one of those acts which is amusing for a minute then it gets a bit samey.

Looking down our house staircase - 7 floors!

I’ve not been to the park for a week or so but  bumped into swearing man (SM) hanging out on our street a few days back. He said he had not seen me for a while and asked if it was because he talks to me too much!!! I was shocked and re-assured him it was because I was busy and will make more effort to come down in the mornings.

Keeping good on my promise I went to the park yesterday and SM was there as usual. It turns out he wants to try and set me up on a date with an Amercan woman he knows who belongs to the martial arts group that trains in the park. Not sure how to handle that one. He was in good spirits though and was pleased to see me; we had a chat and went our separate ways.



My favourite VN food Pho Bo - beef noodle soup

Dart board view from our rooftop garden



A night to remember at the Blue Gecko

Victory at last!

1^st November 2011 at the Blue Gecko will be a night to remember. It was the night it happened; I finally won my first singles darts match. I beat the guy 2-0 – it was a pretty comfortable win too. I checked out on the 3^rd dart in the first leg (double 16) and in the second leg he’d only just got to an out shot when I finished (double 2).  Unfortunately as a team we didn’t do very well and lost the match 9-2, our opponents were pretty good and third in the league, but as you can imagine, I was pretty happy.

ILA Halloween party at Traders bar

All that practice at the Boston bar has started paying dividends – something I’ve not seem from my RBS shares in a while.

I went to a Halloween party last Sunday night. As my hair style resembles the grim reapers I decided it would be best to go as him. I managed to get some death robes, a scythe and some face paints at a shop that had set up outside the school. It was a good party and there were some very creative costumes. It was strange having a Halloween party when it’s really hot. This caused a few problems with the face paint running but it was still a good night.

A hard day at work - I'm not sure but think he repairs bikes

I’m still working very hard so not much fun things to report. I went for a coffee the other day which gave me a good view of the traffic. I took the attached pictures which may be of interest. It shows some of the things people carry on the back of their bikes. I’m starting to meet a few other characters in and around the place I live. I’ve noticed there is a lady who walks around in her pyjamas (a lot of the women do this) but this one is always carrying a briefcase. I’m not sure why or where she’s going but it might be worth following her one day.

Mr clean is not Mr safety

I should have a bit more free time towards the end of the week so will go and see swearing man in the park tomorrow or Friday. I’ll let you know what he’s been doing.

Rice man

Some of the people you see.

HCMC, new job and darts



Darts night.... the high and low point of my week



Had another darts match this past tuesday, it was an away fixture at the M52 bar in downtown HCMC and in my singles match I was matched against another lady...... This was my chance to restore some male pride after my defeat a few weeks back. However there are no fairytails in Saigon league darts and I'm sad to report I lost again.

The small piece of good news was that did win one leg and she checked out on her first and second darts in the games she won so I shouldn't be too down. The bar was also well decked out in halloween stuff which would have made Ted Hanky feel welcome.

The night got worse though when after the matches the bar girl who was scoring my match earlier that evening challenged me to a game and proceeded to kick my butt 4-1. You can be pretty sure happy hours over when even the bar girl beats you. The only way the night could have got worse was if I was mugged on the way home by a girl. Not wanting to tempt fate, I took a taxi. Ladys 3, Me 0.



M52 bar in HCMC



Apart from this ive been working pretty hard. I started my new job which is going well but very time consuming. Ive not had any time to go running in the park and chat to swearing man. I will try and do this next week. It will be good to here what he's been up to and see how his swearing vocabs coming along.

I do have some good news to finish the blog. I had a drink brought for me the other day which was made from sugar cane! which solves the mystery of exactly who buys SCMs sugar cane. 

What they do is crush the sugar cane and it comes out as a white liquid. I tried it and it tasted like orange juice.... I pointed this fact out to the person who brought it for me who said that its because they orange juice in it, which begs the question, why not just drink orange juice?

Despite SCMs hostility towards me last time I saw him I don't want to put him out of business so will keep that to myself.

Working in HCMC.... a second job....... and darts



HCMC



So, Im now well into working in HCMC and teaching English. As I was only on a part time contract at my school ive been looking at getting some additional work and this week I got a second job at a business school called ERC http://erci.edu.vn/en.html

They have offered me the opportunity to teach some business English and e-commerce and e-business to the under graduates for the next semester. This will be great experience for me and something to add to the CV in addition to the teaching English to young learners.



My juniors class with their poster



I was pretty pleased that one of the reason I got the job at the new school was because of the Banking qualifications I'd taken at RBS.

Working at ILA is good fun. I didn't realise how popular halloween is here. This past week we have been making posters about halloween which is a pretty good way to spend a few hours. There is a competition and I think all the teachers want their class to win.

As my art skills are not that great there is not much I can do to help except go and schmooze with the judges.



Our Halloween poster



I have some more fantastic news. I won my first darts match, albeit not in the way I wanted. I was in two games last week. A doubles and a singles. We comfortably won our doubles game and in my single match the chap I was due to play was not registered so got disqualified so I won by disqualification.. You've got to start somewhere!!!

Apart from that ive been working hard most of the time. Ive been going to the cinema which is nice and cheap and running in the park. Swearing man clocks me whenever I go there now and talks to me for as long as I let him.

Me with sugar cane man

However he's a nice guy and its quite nice to have a chat with the locals. Most mornings now I see people working out with swords... Yep, full on swords, swinging them around and doing all sorts of moves. This beats the fan dancers as my new favourite workout.

My 'picture of the week' this week is this one I got my mate to snap with sugar cane man. SKM saw what I was up to and said something angrily to me in Vietnamese, he didn't look to happy so I smiled and walked away. I don't think I'll be trying that again.