Sunny Phu Quoc - the perfect weekend beach break!

We just returned from a long weekend in Phu Quoc, an island only 35 minutes away from HCMC by plane.  Upon arrival at the new international airport on Phu Quoc, our group of 6 was picked up by our hotel's shuttle.  We were greeted by this lovely sign!

Our hotel cost $45 per night for a standard double room, including breakfast.  The place had a pool and was right on the beach.  Sweet deal!

Phu Quoc is apparently developing very quickly.  They just built a new international airport (but as of right now, they only have domestic flights).  There are new and huge resort hotels being built as we speak.  It's still not ridiculously over-run with tourists, but it's on its way there.  They are in the process of building a bunch of highways all over the island, but many roads are still just dirt.  I'm very curious to see what this place is like in 10 years!

Long Beach, Phu Quoc

We stayed on the very appropriately named Long Beach, the main beach on the island.  The water was very warm... we enjoyed swimming and playing frisbee on the beach.  We also met up with another group of teachers that were spending their long weekend on the island.  On our first night there, we ventured to the Night Market where some people (not me) ate some fresh seafood.  I had vegetarian spring rolls, chili lemongrass tofu, and a mango smoothie (yum)!
 

It was a great time and I would recommend anyone to spend a nice weekend there.  Mui Ne has been our destination of choice the past 2 years for our first school year long weekend (in August/September), but I think we might come back to Phu Quoc instead since it's so much more convenient (35 minute plane ride vs. 4-6 hour bus ride)!

 

Frisbee in the pool

Want some fresh fruit cut up for you on the beach?

Bye Phu Quoc!  See you again...

Life in Vietnam these days

Lately it's been HOT... highs of around 34 degrees Celsius every day.  Just when you think you can't get any sweatier, the weather of Ho Chi Minh City proves you wrong.  I guess I've gotten used to arriving at school with my shirt sticking to my back as a result of hot weather and wearing a backpack.  Our classroom is airconditioned but when you step outside it's back to the sticky, hot weather.  I'm not really complaining though... I'd rather be in this tropical weather than bracing for a snowstorm!

In other news, we have a long weekend this week and are going with a group of friends to Phu Quoc Island (less than 1 hour away by plane).  It is a small island that is part of Vietnam, and it was just on a Yahoo article this week about "Beautiful Hidden Beaches."  We are going there Friday morning and returning on Sunday.  Here's a pic from Google images...

Bring on the beaches!!!!!!!!!!!

Hidey... all grown up now!

Remember Hidey, Andy and Julia's cute puppy they got last year?  Well, she's all grown up now!  She is still very cute and a pretty good dog.  They definitely trained her well.  However, sometimes she gets so excited to see us though that she pees!  We still love her though!!

Slam Jam!

Last weekend a big group of us went to watch the Asia Basketball League Slam Jam.  It's basically just like an all-star skills competition with 3 point shooting, slam dunk contest, etc.  It was entertaining but unfortunately there were way too many terrible Vietnamese pop singers that made the evening drag by a bit.  I didn't have my camera with me, so the only shots I got were a bit blurry on my phone.  Here's the slam dunk contest:

If you had told me 2 years ago that I'd be sitting in Vietnam watching the "Saigon Slam Jam" I'd have thought you were crazy.  I guess you never know where you'll end up and what adventures will be in store for you year after year!!!

Monday, June 24th

So I just requested my flight HOME for the summer!!!!  I will be departing HCMC on Sunday, June 23rd, connecting in Seoul, and arriving in Toronto on Monday, June 24th!

At the moment, things have been busy with school.  It's hard to believe that the school year has gone by so fast.  It seems like this year has gone by much quicker than the last.  Looking forward to seeing everyone at home... see you in 104 days!!!!!!!!  :)

iPhone addiction

As you know, I bought my iPhone at a mall in Dubai.  It has been one of the best purchases I've made!  Even though it was expensive, it's worth the price since I use it all the time.  On my iPhone I can check e-mail, see the weather around the world, set an alarm clock, take photos and edit them, chat with friends and family, play games, surf the internet, basically anything...

Here are my favourite apps that I use:

-  What's App?  (Text people for free, using internet connection)
-  Instagram (Cool photo editing tool)
-  Google Maps (Where am I?  Google Maps will tell me...)
-  SoundHound (Ever hear a song and want to know what it is?  Just use this and it magically finds the song name and artist after a few seconds of "listening")
-  Songza (Music playlists for any time of day and any mood you're in)
-  Google Voice Phone (Call people using Google Voice, beats long distance rates on phone plans!)
-  Google Calendar (Mark down important dates and receive reminders)
-  Weather (Add your favourite cities and compare - ie. snow in Windsor, sunshine in HCMC)
-  MyFitnessPal (Track calories and exercise to stay healthy)
-  RunKeeper (Track how far/fast you walk or run, and it maps your route)

And of course, there are the games...
-  Fruit Ninja
-  Race Penguin
-  4 Pics 1 Word

What are your favourite apps?

Fit for life

In January I joined a gym called Fit 24... the slogan is "fit for life."  I've never had a gym membership in Canada so I can't compare Vietnamese gyms to Canadian gyms, but this one seems pretty good.  The only downside is that sometimes they play bad Vietnamese dance music (I have yet to hear any good Vietnamese music since moving here). 

The gym is 15 minutes away on foot, straight down the road.  It's on the second floor of a multi-level building.  Inside the building there is also an English academy.  They have some interesting posters...

Cameron Diaz... picture taken from the movie "Bad Teacher"... not the best choice for an English school!

Obama likes English too

Superman Obama still needs English

"Happy woman day"

Today (March 8th) is International Women's Day.  While I had never heard of it until going to Vietnam, it is supposedly an international day celebrating women.  It's pretty big here!!!  I got flowers and cards at work, along with 200,000 VND (around $10 cash) from the Board of Directors.  Then, I went to dinner and all the ladies got 1 free drink of their choice.  After dinner, my friends and I went to the mall.  Our taxi driver told us, in broken English, "happy woman day."  At the mall, there were Women's Day sales everywhere.  We saw a movie and had a random Vietnamese man at the concession line let us go ahead of him "because it is Women's Day!"  Not bad... why don't we celebrate this in Canada?!