TET 2019 is here!!!

TET 2019 has arrived. This is the big annual holiday in Vietnam. It's like their Christmas. The best news is I get 5 days off in a row and my university is closed. This year I'm returning to Bali, Indonesia to attend my mates wedding. We leave tomorrow for a week. Below is the tree in the garden of my apartment complex.

 

The Top 5 TET Displays at my gym

Having blogged about the TET displays at my gym for the past 5 years, it feels right that i should do a run down on the top 5. Below are the links to all 5 years.

TET 2019 - Two lucky money trees with overhead lanterns display at my gym

TET 2018 - Watermelons with green roped wall display at my gym

TET 2017 - Wishing wall display at my gym

TET 2016 - Farming themed display at my gym

TET 2015 - Lucky money tree display at my gym

I've had a nice long look at these photos and will put them in reverse order. from last place to the best display. 

5TH PLACE - TET 2019 - Two lucky money trees with overhead lanterns display at my gym.

Not really a tough choice. These two trees looked out of place and they were involved in many of the other displays except the other displays had much more to offer. This years effort was pretty disappointing.

4TH PLACE - TET 2015 - Lucky money tree display at my gym.

Its the tree from 2015. I've nothing against trees. This one is much better than the 2019 tree display but doesn't offer as much as the other three years. Its actually really nice. i like the size and watermelons underneath. 

3RD PLACE - TET 2018 - Watermelons with green roped wall display at my gym

All of the top three are pretty good and I like the green roped wall form last year (2018). I like the detail of the straw, presents and watermelons. It also has the three from 2019 at the side. so 2018s effort gets 3rd place.

2ND PLACE - TET 2017 - Wishing wall display at my gym

Narrowly missing out on 1st place is the wishing wall from 2017. I liked this as its creative and offers something different. However, it was originally a Christmas wishing wall that was converted to a TET wishing wall during January. it was nice that the students could interact with this display and its a very close second place to the winner below!!! 

1ST PLACE - TET 2016 - Farming themed display at my gym

So the winner is the farming themed display from 2016. I really like this. I think its the level of detail that went into it. 

Not only do you have the tree but you got the stove, watermelons and the stick that they use to carry baskets. The straw give it a really nice look and there are even some mangoes and corn in the display. This will take some beating in future years. lets hope 2020s effort is a contender.

The Resolution Run 2019

Building on the Angkor Watt Half Marathon last December and to keep up the running, this past weekend I took part in the Resolution Run in Ho Chi Minh City. This was a 10k run and took place a couple of miles form my house. I've not done as much running as I'd have wanted to since I did the half marathon in December, but this was a nice way to get back into it. 

I had to be there at about 6:00am and it was still getting light. We all got a nice yellow shirt but I didn't wear mine. There were a lot of people taking part. My guess was many of them have never ran before.

I was pretty pleased with my performance and as I finished quite far head of the majority of people I got to watch lots cross the line at the end.

 

 And at the end they gave me a nice heavy medal!!!

 

TET 2019 - Two lucky money trees with overhead lanterns display at my gym

Here it is! Back for the 5th year! The annual blog for the 'TET display at my gym'. I now have enough for a 'top 5 displays at my gym'. Below are quick links to the previous four years!!!

TET 2018 - Watermelons with green roped wall display at my gym

TET 2017 - Wishing wall display at my gym

TET 2016 - Farming themed display at my gym

TET 2015 - Lucky money tree display at my gym

So this years effort has been titled 'Two lucky money trees with overhead lanterns'. And as you can see from the pictures below,  the title of 'two lucky money trees with overhead lanterns' pretty much sums it up.

In all honestly, the two trees look a little lost in the middle of the entrance. The lanterns were a nice touch but the two trees are the same ones from 2016 except that there was a really big display with it. I'm not sure what happened to the creativity department this year. Perhaps they went on holiday early. Below are some closer pictures of the display.

I'm not sure these two pictures add much. It's nice but when compared with previous years, its not that special.

Museum of Worldwide Arms, Vung Tau

As I mentioned in the previous post, I got up early whilst everyone slept off their hangovers and went for a walk. There are not many sites in Vung Tau but one thing that came up on my quick online search was the Museum of Worldwide Arms. 

The museum entry was 100,000VND or about three English pounds. It was a pretty interesting museum, it had lots of weapons but also uniforms from all the different armies throughout history. Below are just a few of the hundreds on show.

I was particularly pleased to see a special section on the Zulu war in 1879 and the battle of Rorke's Drift.

 If you're in Vung Tau and this is your thing, I'd definitely recommend it.

Stag party - Vung Tau

This past weekend i went on a friends stag party to Vung Tau. One of my friends I've gotten to know while in Vietnam is getting married this year! Vung Tau is a couple of hours drive from Ho Chi Minh City.

This is my third trip to Vung Tau and my second stag party here. We broke up the journey by doing some paintball then after settling in went to the dog racing in the early evening before moving onto some bars for refreshments.

Since I quit drinking I got up earlier than everyone else the next day and went for a walk along the coast.

 
I was a beautiful morning and really nice to see Vung Tau in nice weather.