Tuesday, 30 April 2019

Coffee Museum, Buon Ma Thuot, Central Highlands

After I'd finishing examining on the Sunday we had a bit of spare time so the school took us all to a coffee museum.




It was a pretty funky building just outside the town.



There were lots of coffee related artifacts in the museum. It was okay. There was a nice view out the window.


Perhaps my favorite photo from the museum is below. It made me chuckle.


It was a really enjoyable trip and felt more like a holiday, not like work. I had a three day bank holiday after this so still felt refreshed when I went back to work on Thursday.

I have two more weeks at work then I have a week off teaching and will be returning to Taiwan!!!!!

Monday, 29 April 2019

Pictures from around Buon Ma Thuot town

On Sunday morning I had a little bit of time before the exams started so I took a few photos around the town. The main industry here is coffee so most of the shops are local coffee houses. The streets were very quiet compared with Saigon. 

View from my hotel room at sunset

View from the school

View from the school

The school where I worked


 

Saturday, 27 April 2019

Evening meal and karaoke in BMT, Vietnam

I was quite lucky I went this weekend as there was a training course at the school who looked after us really well. There were three people in my examining team but another 16 or so on a training course. Because of this the school had arranged an evening out for us. We went to this very nice restaurant in the town. 


It was very nicely decorated with a river running through it. 




I was with a really nice group of people.



After, we went to karaoke which is not normally my cup of tea but still a good fun.



It was a really enjoyable evening and I was lucky to come this weekend and have such a unique experience. There is more examining on the Sunday and then I fly back in the evening.




 

Friday, 26 April 2019

Examing Trip to Buon Ma Thuot, Central Highlands, Vietnam

This weekend I've volunteered to do some examining in a placed called Buon Ma Thuot in the central highlands of Vietnam. Its a place I've never been and probably would never have visited if I'd not been doing this job. Its a 35 minutes flight from Ho Chi Minh City.



As soon as I arrived it was noticeably cooler. A really nice 26 degrees at 8am. Much better than the 40 degrees we've been having in Saigon. The airport was tiny with only one other plane on the tarmac. We walked across this and left the airport very quickly. 



I was picked up by a driver from the school and taken to my hotel to get ready for hte examining in the afternoon. 

Tuesday, 16 April 2019

The hot weather, Ho Chi Minh City, 2019

It's time for my annual complaint about how to it is. Its the time of the year where it keeps getting hotter and hotter until rainy season arrives. The picture below sums up how it feels.


Although its in the mid-late 30s, it feels much hotter.


The real feel below is in the early 40s. I'm lucky that I'm in an air conditioned office most of the day but going outside is pretty unbearable. We just had a holiday weekend and it really limited what there was to do due to the heat. Really don't know how people coped without A/C.


Anyway, hoping it breaks soon and the rain arrives. We've not had any yet. Some good news is that in about 4 weeks we're off to Taiwan for a week. Not much else to report as I'm working hard and completing my masters.