A Trip to Vietnam - Part 1

We decided to chill out for a few days after school before we headed off to Vietnam. Our plan was to spend two nights in Saigon before heading up to Hoi An via Da Nang. It was exciting to go back to Vietnam after three and a half years. Mel and Tilda hadn't been before so it was exciting for them too.

The flight to Saigon is only an hour and a half which is cool. It was good to get out of Singapore for a bit because the smog was getting worse each day. The smog was being caused by bush fires in Sumatra and unfortunately the wind direction meant that the smoke was being blown directly over southern Malaysia and Singapore. I felt for those who were stuck there because it got really bad while we were away. We were keeping an eye on the situation online and the pictures we saw were pretty bad. According to the National Environment Agency the PSI reading was over 400 which meant it was hazardous to health.

The other thing about clear air was it made for good photography. I love photography and I love taking photos from planes because it gives you a perspective you don't usually get to see. I guess it looks like a really big map, which feeds my other passion, geography. Although it was a little cloudy but I managed to get a couple of good, geogeeky shots:)

Smog at Changi as we taxi to the runway

New motorway being built through rice padis

Confluence & meander in the Mekong Delta

I was going to write more and put in some more photos but I can't do what I want and I'm getting pissed off so I'm going to leave it there for the moment. I will try to add more tomorrow.

Later

Tone

It's the end of the year!

I can't believe that the school year is done, but I'm glad it is. Term Four was a bit of an epic at 11 weeks long. It was quite different to last term in NZ. In NZ, once the senior kids had left everything wound down nicely until the last day which was the highlight of the year. It was always a teacher only day. BBQ bacon & eggs for brekky, washed down with a cold ale or 10. Faculties put on skits to mock each other and senior management, which was always fun. Here, things actually seemed to ramp up as we moved through May into June. I'm not used to writing reports in Term Four! I'm fairly sure that I have never been this tired before. We finished the year with a free-flow beer & wine/bbq buffet night at the Hyatt. Funny night. Some people were feeling seedier than others in the morning:) I should point out that it wasn't me as I had to take Tilda to gymnastics in the morning.

Mel, Nat & me at the Hyatt. Good night!

The year has been pretty hard in lots of ways. I guess moving your family from one country to another is always going to be challenging. However, I've really enjoyed it. School here is easier in most ways compared with Fraser. I loved working at Fraser but the challenging kids there were on a whole other level compared to the kids I work with now. And I just saw a good example of this on Facebook. A colleague at Fraser posted that he had confiscated a ladder off a kid at school today! Made me giggle:)

Even though the holidays have just started, I'm actually excited for the next academic year. I really think we're on the verge of something very good and this coming year will make or break us. A little daunting to be sure, but I'm looking forward to it. I'll be teaching all the Geography classes which is cool.

But back to the holidays! We are heading off to Vietnam tomorrow afternoon which is exciting for Mel as she's not been before. We're looking forward to some time by the beach and checking out the old town of Hoi An.

Hopefully I will have more to say when we get back.

Tone

Christmas Holidays - actually it's March now! And now it's June!

16/6/13

Third time lucky:) I'm not going write much as I don't seem to be able to finish this post as it's been going for 6 months! I've just added dates to the bits I wrote at different times. There will be another soon.

24/3/13

I started writing this in Bangkok just before Christmas. Obviously, I never finished at that time. At the moment, we're in New Zealand at Mel's mum & dad's place after spending a couple nights in Hamilton. We needed to sort some stuff out and it was a good opportunity to catch up with some of friends & colleagues. We had lunch with some of Mel's former colleagues on Thursday which was nice. On Friday morning, I went into my old school (Fraser High). It was really cool to see the people I worked with for 5 years. It was awesome to sit in on 13Geo with Nicole. Most of the kids in the class had taught at some point in my time at Fraser. It was a very chilly 8 degrees when I drove into school. I don't miss the cold. At all!

22/12/12

I meant to write this a week ago but never quite got there. Mel & I have been on holidays for a week now. Although last term was only eight weeks it felt a lot longer and the last day of term was a very welcome sight. I was really looking forward to a few quite cold beers but both James & Shaun (my usual drinking mates) were off home for the holidays the next day. As luck would have it, as I was walking out the gate rather forlornly I ran into three of my colleagues who were heading to Holland Rd for some drinks.

It was really cool to dissect the year so far with people I don't usually have a lot to do with. The beer was cold and flowed freely! And expensively. Check out our bill.

The week end was a quiet one at home. We chilled out and got our gear ready for a short trip to Bangkok. It was great to go back to Bangkok after 3 years. We were last there before all the riots in 2010. It was good to see that the city was energetic as ever. As we drove in from Don Mueang (the old airport) we were surprised to see a lot of construction going, which I guess is a sign of prosperity to an extent.

We were staying at a hotel in Siam Square which is the centre of Bangkok. We didn't really have any major plans except to visit a couple of restaurants we like. The first place we went to was Le Buchon. This restaurant is down one of the seedy Soi's in Patpong and is full of girly bars. The staff looked somewhat bemused when we walked in with Tilda:) The food was as great as the last time we went. The next day we went to Gianni's, which isn't in such a seedy location. The food was brilliant and the staff were all taken with Tilda. One of the waiters was quite enthralled because he has a daughter about the same age.