A day in Taipei

We arrived yesterday evening and today have been scouting out the place where we will see the fireworks later this evening. There will be a a lot of people but fortunately because it is a big building, you can see it from many places in the city. 

We opted for the above location, a place called Sun Yat Sen memorial hall, which ash a big park. After agreeing on the location we visited the memorial hall.

They had a changing of the guard thing going on, which was quite interesting and some other  background information in a museum inside the memorial hall. The rest of the day we spent chilling out and shopping. We're looking forward to the fireworks tonight!!!

Return to Taiwan

I managed to get some time off after Christmas and we've decided to go back to Taiwan for New Year. There are a few places we want to go and we also want to see the fireworks off Taipei 101.

We are here for just over a week and in addition to see the fireworks, we'll be visiting Sun-Moon lake and Aowanda national park.

The Shopping Centre at Christmas

A year or so back they opened a big shopping centre at the end of the road and as the Vietnamese people are being brainwashed into liking Christmas so companies can convince them to buy lots of stuff they don't need, this shopping centre is helping them along by decking itself out with lots of nice Christmas decorations. 

As you can see, its always busy but it is also very festive. In addition they have an enormous Christmas tree which kids can pay to go inside.

So, Christmas is nearly here. Im going out for a nice dinner with friends on Christmas eve, then keeping my options open. There is an open house party with a friend from work and lots of other will be in the Tavern so will see how it goes. We will see what happens on Christmas day. No doubt I'll go out but with work the next day I'll be keeping the drinking to a minimum. So, last thing to say is Happy Christmas!!!!

Christmas Party Season in Ho Chi Minh City

Its the Christmas party season at the moment, last weekend we had our works party and my end of seasons darts party.

On the Friday we had our works party which we had on campus. This is better than it sounds, we have this great outdoor area, got some caterers in and gave us loads of free booze. There was also some other activities and music which was great. It was a great night and a good time was had by all. After the party we headed back to the Tavern (the local pub) and the party continued. Pubs stay open here until everyone leaves and by all accounts people were there until 4am then carried on drinking at the circle K. I went home at midnight.

On the Saturday was our end of season darts party at a new Belgium beer place. This dart season didn't go to well so the less said the better. However, the party was good fun. It was a free bar and free food.

Sadly, we don't get any additional time off over Christmas so its back to work on boxing day. The good news is we have a four day weekend over new year and the better news is I'll be off to Taiwan for a week!!!

I also went to see the new starwars film which was pretty cool and becoming a Christmas tradition. They have some cool promotional stuff here which is where this picture was taken.

Christmas 2016 is coming to Ho Chi Minh City

Here is my annual post which shows off the Christmas tree at my University Gym. Its not very exciting and I just noticed from my Christmas post in December 2014 its the same tree as it was that year.

However, more excitingly the gym staff have made a good 'joy' display in the reception area of the gym. It's pretty big and people are aloud to post wishes on the 'wishing wall' to show the world what they would like for Christmas. I've not read them yet but my have a read in the next few days. 

Not much else to report. We have our work Christmas party next Friday. As Vietnam doesn't really celebrate Christmas we only get Xmas day off then its back to work on boxing day. It's also the start of a very busy exam week so I'll be very busy. 

I'm looking forward to a trip to Taiwan again on 30th December! A nice way to start the new year. Also the new year brings the build up to TET. I will be getting two weeks off at the end of January. At the moment I'm planning to go to Myamar.

Takapuna Beach, New Zealand

As my flight was not until the afternoon, I had time to go for a walk in Takapuna to a place that was recommended to us. It was the local beach in Takapuna.

It was a nice spring morning and there were lots of people out walking their dogs and exercising. 

Apart from proper beer, this is one of the other things I miss about living in Vietnam, being able to go for nice walks. As anyone who has been to Ho Chi Minh City knows, its not really a place for walking.

So, this is the end of my New Zealand trip! I can't believe I got to go here with work. I've learnt a lot and had a great time. Although I've not really got to see anything its been great nevertheless. I arrive back in Ho Chi Minh City (after 14 hours of flying) just after midnight and have to be at work at 7:30am as its an assessment week. It's not going to be easy but the tradfe off was worth it.

Night out in Auckland

I've not come on my own to New Zealand but with a colleague who works in the Hanoi office. Also we work closely with an assessment team in Australia who I'd never met before but who were attending the conference. 

On the last night we went out for some refreshments in the city centre. It was nothing messy but just a really nice evening getting to know people while having a few drinks. 

It felt very similar to going out in the UK and it was nice to have the choice of some nice real ales, one of the biggest things I miss from home. 

Its been a fantastic trip and a great conference. 

Auckland City Centre

As I previously said, we are staying in a town just outside the city centre but we still get to walk through and look around the centre on our way to and after the conference.

Sky tower

The main centre, a place called Queen street, is where all the shops are bars are located. 

Queen Street

Christmas in Queen Street

There is also a harbour and some really nice buildings at the end of the main shopping street.

Finally, I said we get to drive over the harbour bridge on our way to and from the conference. This gives us a fantastic view of the city centre.

View from the bus

View from the bus

The conference at Auckland University

The ALTAANZ conference has been held over three days from Thursday to Saturday at Auckland University. The University is in the middle of the city and a really nice modern campus. The facilities are fantastic and we have been well looked after. 

The conference has been hosted by ALTAANZ - the association for language testing and assessment for Australia and New Zealand. 

The workshops and presentations have been very good and very useful for the project we are working on at the moment.  

 

Takapuna, New Zealand

Because we booked our trip very late, all of the hotels were booked in Auckland city center. The closest place we could find were some apartments in a place called Takapuna, about 10km from Auckland centre.

See Takapuna above Auckland

This sounded like a lot of work but because buses are so good in New Zealand, the commute was really nice. Also We got to drive over the harbor bridge every day which gave us a great view of the city. 

What has immediately struck me about Auckland is how similar the climate and look for the place is to England. Takapuna is a really nice, quite suburb. Staying here has been great as you get a feel for how local people live. 

As you can see, its a lot like England. Its very clean and fresh. The weather has been a bit mixed. Its late spring here so we've has some wet days and sunny days. The cool weather has been a refreshing change from the heat of Vietnam.