Second year of teaching in Vietnam complete!

This week we finished up another year of teaching in Vietnam.  It's crazy how fast this year went by.  It seemed like this year went much faster than last year.  Although it was sad to say goodbye to some great friends, I know that we will see each other again some day.

On the last day of school I got some presents from a few students - Chinese flower pastries, 3 jars of delicious Korean tea, and a lovely Elizabeth Arden eau de toilette spray.  It's always fun getting presents when you're a teacher!

The last day of school was spent playing games outside and signing "autographs" for each other in the classroom.  I had a really great class this year and I will miss my students for sure!  It was also time for me to say goodbye to grade 1 since I will be teaching grade 5 next year.  It's going to be weird teaching another grade since I've gotten so used to grade 1s and grade 1 problems, haha.  New challenges are ahead but I'm looking forward to them.

With the school year complete, I can finally prepare to go home!  I'm leaving tomorrow night and will arrive in Toronto on Monday morning.  See you soon, Canada!!!!!!!!  :)

Chillin' at Chill Bar

This week I went to Chill Bar, on the 26th/27th floors of the AB Tower in HCMC for a happy hour drink.  This place has a dress code (no shorts for guys, no flip flops, etc.) and a bit of a sophisticated air, but it definitely also has the best view of the city that I've seen thus far.  From here you can see pretty much everything.  It's amazing!  Unfortunately John was sick that night so he couldn't go.  I guess we'll have to go again!

Here are some pics taken there:

 

AO Show

On Sunday night a large group of teachers from school went to the "A O" show at the Saigon Opera House.  Tickets were around $25 for a 1 hour show that was filled with music, dancing, and acrobatic moves (I've been told which are similar to Cirque de Soleil).  The performance showcased Vietnamese culture - old and new.  I wasn't able to take any photos during the performance, but click here for a link that kind of explains it.  I read somewhere online that the "A" is from the word lang (village) and the "O" is from pho (city).  The show gives us a glimpse of daily life in both.

The show centred around Vietnamese woven baskets as a prop - the baskets were spun, thrown, balanced upon, stacked, you name it.  In the entrance of the opera house there was a decorative display of baskets too, and outside near the road there was a huge basket in front of the stairs.

After the amazing show, several teachers went to the Caravelle Hotel which is right across the street from the opera house.  We went up to the rooftop bar to have a drink there.  It was way overpriced but I guess you're paying for the view.  The Bitexco Tower (tallest building in the city) is in the background of our photo below.  I have really come to appreciate this city, as it has a lot to offer in terms of entertainment and culture - way more than I expected.  As a tourist visiting the city several years ago, I found it an ok place but not too exciting and lacking in "touristy" things.  Now that I've been living here and getting to know the city on a different level, I realize that there is so much more to discover and appreciate.  Once you get past the intial shock of crazy traffic, I think anyone would find Saigon a pretty good place to hang out for a while! 

The Architect's House

This weekend I went for dinner at a place called Cuc Gach Quan, also known as "The Architect's House."  It is actually a house (apparently owned by an architect I'm guessing?) that has been transformed into a restaurant.  It's kind of famous - Brangelina ate there when they came to Vietnam.  We went there last year and ate upstairs in the attic area, near the "bedroom" (a table set up under a canopy and inside a bed frame).  The restaurant serves Vietnamese food.  The menu is huge and a bit overwhelming.  Both times I ate there I got the fried tofu with lemongrass and chili.  It's delicious!  I also tried sauteed zucchini flower this time which didn't look like I expected, but was tasty.

My tofu with sauteed zucchini flower and green tea to drink

 The Architect's House is a pretty cozy place.  People eat in rooms throughout the house, which has a winding staircase up to the top level, with low doorways that you have to duck to go through.  As you go up the stairs, you pass a koi fish pond.  The pottery dishes they serve food on look like they've been around for years, with dents and chips in them.  Due to the popularity of the restaurant, the place has opened up another location directly across the street.  It looks almost identical from the outside, but the inside is modern.  It's called Cuc Gach Party or something.  While it's very nice, it doesn't have the cozy house-like atmosphere of the other place.  Another fun restaurant that I'd recommend in HCMC!

A day at the Saigon Zoo

Today our grade went on a field trip to the zoo.  It was bigger and better than I expected, but not the best zoo I've been to.  John and I have gone to a lot of cool open-air zoos but this one had lots of animals behind glass.  However, there was a pretty good variety of animals that I did not expect... giraffes, elephants, zebras, hippos, rhinos, crocodiles, big snakes, monkeys, tigers, lions... to name a few!  I guess if you're a big fan of zoos or have time to kill in this city, then the zoo is an option.  The kids had a lot of fun though despite the sticky weather.

Impasto painting

Last night I went to the other end of the city to take part in another evening of wine and painting.  This time, we were doing the impasto technique - textured painting.  I don't know if it was the kind of art I'm really into, but it was still a lot of fun.

Is this Naples? No, it's Saigon!

Last night I went with my friends to an awesome pizza place called Pizza 4 P's.  Some of our friends (Tanya, Julia, Andy) are leaving Vietnam after this school year so we wanted to have a nice dinner there.

John and I ordered the tomato spaghetti with house-made mascarpone, the prosciutto margherita pizza, and the raspberry macaroon for dessert.  We also got a carafe of house wine.  This was an expensive meal for us by Vietnam standards.  Including tax we paid around $40 total for our meal, but it was all delicious and not a bad price at all considering what meals cost in Canada.  The pizza had so much prosciutto on it and was the most expensive thing (about $16)... it was so good!  All the pizzas are made fresh to order at a big table in the middle of the restaurant.  People can even eat around the table watching the chef make the pizzas!

There are a variety of pizzas to choose from at this restaurant, and you can even get them made half and half.  Greg got half of his pizza as "salmon sashimi" pizza.  It came with slices of salmon to put on top.  Interesting!  Julia and Andy tried an appetizer - mozzarella sushi - that looked interesting as well.  Many of the items on the menu were like an Italian-Japanese fusion.  This was one of the best places I have eaten so far in this city... highly recommended!

Tomato spaghetti with house-made mascarpone

Proscuitto margherita pizza

Raspberry macaroon

Pro nails

I have never had a manicure or pedicure in Canada since it's a bit pricy.  In Vietnam, you can go for a basic one for around $5.  A "deluxe" pedicure which also includes a foot/leg massage is about $10.  That also includes nail polish!  Crazy...

Anyway, last week I went with some friends to a salon nearby where we were all able to get manicures and pedicures for cheap.  Like I told you before, the cost of living in Vietnam is very low.  I guess I better take advantage of it while I can!!!

Breakfast on the go

Last week Tanya visited the new "Paris Baguette" that opened down the road (it's actually a popular Korean bakery chain).  She found something that looked intriguing and brought us home some to try...

It's egg wrapped in bread, wrapped in bacon.  Delicious but not exactly something you'd eat every day!

These Koreans know how to do things efficiently.  Why eat all these foods separately if you can just roll it all up and have it on the go?  Yum!

Seoul Timelapse

I saw this posted on a friend's Facebook page, and I thought I would share...

Amazing timelapse video of Seoul, South Korea.  I miss this place!!!

Memories of Grade 1

Today we had our grade 1 year-end assembly and it went really well!  We sang 2 group songs:  "We're Going To Be Friends" by the White Stripes, and "Waving Flag" by K'Naan.  We also did a poem and had a slideshow.  I made this slideshow using Animoto, it's free and super easy to use.  The songs are from music class this year.  My friend Jess also put together this video that we did during her Sign Language club.

Another year of grade 1 has come and (almost) gone... now that our assembly is finished we can focus on getting report cards done.  Only a few more weeks to go!

So long, farewell...

Last night we had our end of the year staff party.  It's a chance to celebrate surviving another year of teaching and to say goodbye to some friends who will be shortly leaving Vietnam.

The event was a lot of fun and included free sangria upon arrival, lots of tasty finger food, music, a staff trivia contest, and goodbye speeches to those moving on next year.

I wrote a speech for our housemate Tanya, who is moving back to Canada in the summer to go back to her job teaching in the Ottawa area.  Tanya was a lot of fun to live with this year and we will miss her a lot!  She was a really funny, honest, and generous person and a great teacher.  It's going to be sad to see her move out!  :(

Penthouse roomies!

A lot of our friends renewed their contracts for a third year like us, so we can look forward to seeing them again, but of course we will have to say goodbye to several others who are leaving.  It's hard to believe that there are only a few more weeks left of the school year, and then we'll be headed back to Canada for the summer.  The countdown is on... June 24th is fast approaching!

Fresh flowers for cheap!

I'm not one to usually buy fresh flowers, but today these beautiful lotus flowers were being sold on the side of the road for only 40,000 VND ($2)!  The lotus is the national flower of Vietnam.  At our school we have some lotus flowers growing in the pond near the parking lot.  When the flowers open they look like the painting in the background of the last photo!

Celebrating the arts!

Last week we held an event at our school to celebrate the arts and raise money for charity.  There was singing, instrumental music, a high school rock band, and student art on display.  There was also a face painting station set up along with a merchandise table where you could purchase hand-made art items and photography.  It was great to be a part of organizing this event.  Here are some photos from the evening: