Saigon Sports Club

In August I joined a new gym called Saigon Sports Club.  A lot of teachers on staff go here.  They have a variety of classes and a large outdoor swimming pool.  My friends and I have been going to a class called "Crossfit" which is pretty intense.  Last weekend one of the trainers had a birthday pool party after her class.  We went swimming and had some delicious Italian food by the pool.  Instead of having a regular class that day, we had a competition with two teams, with points awarded for winning various challenges.  It was a very close match-up that came down to the final challenge - tug of war.  Our team won!

Dinner boat cruise!

Last weekend it was Jenny's birthday so I joined some friends on a dinner boat cruise.  The wooden-looking ship was lit with colourful decorations and lanterns with cozy lighting.  Shortly after boarding, we were given a welcome drink and then we set sail!  After a bit of song and dance entertainment from the ship's performers, they came around to give everyone a small keychain as a souvenir before the buffet dinner began.  The food was both western and Vietnamese.  It was really good!  I even got fresh spaghetti made to order.  The dessert table was awesome too - apple streudel, crepes, pastries, fruit, and many different kinds of mousse served in little cups.  During dinner, there were musicians and dancers performing, and a magician even came around to each table to do some cool tricks.  The boat sailed around the waterways of the city, and we had great views of the Saigon skyline.

The boat

The dinner boat cruise cost around 800,000 vnd (about $40) but I think it was worth it for the ambiance, food, and experience.  I'd recommend it for anyone visiting, or for people living here who want to experience the city from a different point of view.

Moon cake madness

It's that time of year again... the Mid-Autumn Festival is upon us, also known as the Moon Festival where it is custom to give/eat moon cakes out.  In Vietnam, this festival is known as "Tet Trung Thu."  This week at school we will be celebrating again with a dragon dance and moon cakes for snack.

Surprisingly, a large number of hits on my blog from Google have to do with people searching for moon cakes!  You may remember last year's post.  Moon cakes usually contain some kind of egg yolk inside (representing "the moon").  They often contain red bean paste or lotus seed paste.

This year I've received some moon cakes, but luckily for me they were actually good flavours with nothing too funky in them (green tea, coffee, tiramisu) and they came wrapped very nicely.  There's always a chance you open it and then find some random meat mixed with vegetables or fruit (or even weird stuff like shark).  Moon cakes are so popular at this time of year that there are many roadside stands set up selling boxes of them.

 My friend Greg even got Starbucks moon cakes!!!  Vietnam opened up its first Starbucks in HCMC this year and it seems like they have gotten on board with the local traditions.  The flavours he received were:  green tea, tiramisu, white lotus, and mixed nuts which all sound pretty safe/good!  Let's hope that if we receive any more moon cakes, that they are actually edible flavours like these ones!

Ridiculous rain

It's rainy season in Vietnam and that means regular downpours.  It's been particularly crazy lately, with heavy rainstorms in the late afternoon/evening which usually cause the streets to flood.  The other night my friend/new housemate Jess and I had to navigate our way to the corner of the road to meet friends for a cab to take us to the movies.  The streets were flooded due to heavy rain, and we found ourselves walking on curbs, walking up roads that had "higher ground" (aka, not higher than ankle-deep water), just to get onto sidewalks.  Of course, this was all done wearing ridiculous plastic rain ponchos!  At the moment, my footwear of choice is always plastic (regular shoes don't cut it in the rainy season because the glue comes off and the soles start coming apart).

I whipped out my phone to take a short video of the flooded streets, but luckily our friends came to our rescue in a cab shortly!  As I type this, it's 4pm and it just started pouring AGAIN!  A few more months of this and rainy season will be over...

Back to school means back to Mui Ne!

For the past 2 years we have enjoyed a long weekend near the beginning of the school year for Vietnamese National Day.  We spent it at Mui Ne, a coastal town in Vietnam.  This year was no different!  Unfortunately, visiting Mui Ne on a holiday weekend always means a long bus ride.  Even though Mui Ne is only around 215 km from here, the ride took 8 hours!!!  That included a stop of around 20-30 minutes.  I swear the bus ride gets longer every year!

Anyway, we went back to the very same hotel we've been going to... rooms were $30 per night the first two nights, then $40 the last night (increase due to the holiday).  We got free breakfast and the place had a small pool also, right by the beach.

This year we didn't venture out to the famous dunes of Mui Ne since we've seen them twice already.  I did however go to the Fairy Stream again with some friends who were visiting for the first time.  It was beautiful weather the whole weekend.  Aside from the Fairy Stream, the rest of the weekend was spent in the pool, sleeping, reading, and eating at the cheap restaurants in town.  Our favourite lunch spot was a tiny place called Sindbad's that served delicious hummus, shawarma, doner kebabs, etc.  YUM!  Everything was so cheap ($2-4).  It was also our friend Jess' birthday so we went out one night to a seafood restaurant on the beach.  It also had very cheap food, and lots of non-seafood options too.  I had 2 iced teas, veggie spring rolls, tofu with lemongrass and chili, all for around $6 I think.  I also got a massage for one hour which cost $12!  Life is rough here.

Me at the Fairy Stream

Playing around with my camera colours

Hummus and orange/strawberry smoothie from Sindbad's