Colour Me Run!

Last weekend my friends and I did the "Colour Me Run" - the first ever event in HCMC.  It took place near where we live, and over 5000 people came out to participate!  The run had a bunch of "colour stations" where you go through and are hit with a specific colour.  Some of the stations had coloured powder, and others had foam.  The powder is made of cornstarch and non-toxic dye... even if you breathe it in the worst thing is you'll blow rainbow snot the next day.

After the event we gathered near a big stage where there was a countdown and everyone through their colour packet from their race package up in the air.  Some singers came on to perform - the biggest name was Kelly Rowland, a former member of Destiny's Child.  Some of my friends and I pushed our way to one of the first rows of the stage... it was a lot of fun!

We got some strange looks walking home in the evening since we were totally covered in colour.  It took me a lot of scrubbing to get the colour off but everything seemed to wash out.  Good times!

Let's play ball!

This weekend John's softball team was up in a playoff game against the top team.  It was a close one the entire game and they even had the lead going into the final inning, but unfortunately the other team scored a walk off and won the game.  It was a real heart breaker, but overall they played very well.  Despite their elimination, I think the Jays (former "Aguilas") are looking forward to the summer league which starts in a few more weeks.

Fabric shopping

Vietnam is famous for its tailors, so before I leave this place I think I should take advantage of some custom-made clothing!  This past week we had a random holiday on a Wednesday (Hung King Day) so my friend Angela and I went to Tan Dinh Market to buy some fabric.  This was the first time I visited Tan Dinh.  It is similar to Ben Thanh Market (the famous one in District 1), but is not crowded with tourists.  This means the prices are lower - you don't even have to bargain!  You can get 1 metre of fabric for 60,000 VND ($3), which is enough material to make a shirt or a regular length skirt.

At the market, there are tons of fabrics to choose from.  It can be overwhelming!  Like Ben Thanh, Tan Dinh is crowded with people, and is a bit hot and stuffy.  You can feel claustrophobic walking in some of the narrow aisles, and it can be annoying having to push your way through.  If you have time to sort through the densely packed piles of folded fabric, you can find some cool stuff.

After buying a bunch of fabric, we went to the tailor and placed our orders.  I brought some of my own clothing along to have copied, and they also took my measurements for some new items.  I ordered 3 shirts 2 skirts, and brought in a dress to be altered.  The cost was around $60.  I can pick them up this week.  If I'm happy with the way they turned out, I'll order more from this tailor.  Will do an update after the clothes are ready to be picked up!

The Next Destination: Revealed!

If you haven't guessed by the clues last time, our Next Destination is TAIWAN!

Here's a pic of the former world's tallest building (Taipei 101).  I'm hoping to visit the top!  On our trip I hope we can spend a bit of time in Taipei (the biggest city on the island), and then head out to the hot springs in the mountains to enjoy some nature.  There is some debate over whether Taiwan is to be considered a country or not, as it still has ties to mainland China and is regarded as a State.  However, Taiwan maintains its own government, military, and currency.  You be the judge!

The good thing is that we can fly to Taipei directly from HCMC and it will take less than 3.5 hours.  That will be a nice change since we usually have to connect through Kuala Lumpur or Bangkok to go places.  The countdown to Taiwan is on...

Birthday in Vietnam

Another year older and another birthday in Vietnam.  This year I went for a sushi dinner on April 8 with friends - it was sort of a joint birthday dinner for my friend Angela and I who have birthdays 2 days apart.  On my actual birthday at school some of my students gave me gifts and cards, and after work I had dinner at NYDC (New York Dessert Cafe) with a smaller group.  They have the best desserts there!

It was nice because the day before my birthday was a holiday in Vietnam, so we got the day off work... sweet!  Thanks for the birthday present, Vietnam!

The Next Destination

Our last week-long holiday of the school year is coming up at the end of April, and we finally booked our tickets.  We've been busy with things lately, so we didn't really put in a lot of research time.  We just booked on a whim yesterday and even though I don't know very much about this destination, I feel that it will be a great trip.

Clues:
1.  We have never been there before.
2.  It's an island.
3.  Mountains, hot springs, tall buildings.

Can you guess?

Clap along if you feel like a room without a roof...

Can't stop listening to this song...

Pharrell definitely has some catchy tunes... :)

Are you happy today?

Phu Quoc Revisited

At the end of March we enjoyed a 3 day long weekend - the last long weekend for us in Vietnam!  We flew to Phu Quoc Island, as we did last March, to enjoy some sand, sea, and sun!

Phu Quoc is a great getaway since it's less than 1 hour away by plane from Saigon, and the flights are reasonably priced.  The beaches are nice, stuff is still cheap, and you can get in some quality relaxing time before heading back to the big city.

For some reason this year there were many jellyfish in the sea, so we didn't swim much at Long Beach this time around.  The weather was sweltering which made the sand burning hot, but luckily our hotel had a pool for us to jump in and cool off in.

This year we ended up being more adventurous and explored the island on motorbikes.  It only cost $8 for the day to rent one fully automatic bike.  We got a bit lost at first, but the highways in Phu Quoc are brand new and pretty much empty except for some cows wandering onto the road.  However, the smaller roads are not in the greatest condition - bumpy and not paved!  The roads were made of red dirt, it was kind of like PEI but with palm trees and less potatoes.

We spent around one hour driving with our friends to the north part of the island where we did a "forest walk" which was a bit disappointing since we only saw a few salamanders and a bunch of trees.  Fortunately the motorbike trip was not a waste since we ran into some other travellers at the forest walk who recommended that we eat lunch at a place called Peppercorn Beach Resort down the road.  Only a few more kilometres and we ended up at the small boutique hotel, ready for lunch on their lovely veranda overlooking beautiful Ganh Dau Beach.

For lunch I ordered a coconut, fresh from their garden, and banh xeo (Vietnamese rice-flour pancake which had sprouts, chicken, vegetables, and fresh herbs), served with the famous Phu Quoc fish sauce which actually doesn't taste very fishy at all.  We could see the cooks in the kitchen preparing our food with all the fresh ingredients.  Everything was very tasty!

After our lunch, we walked down to Ganh Dau Beach to go swimming.  The water was so clear, calm, warm, and shallow.  There were reflections of the palm trees in the water and the whole beach was very peaceful.  There were a few people from the resort hanging out, but we mostly had the place to ourselves.  There were a few cute dogs wandering around, very interested in our frisbee game.  I discovered later that one of them buried my shoe in the sand... luckily I found it or I would have been without one shoe for the ride home!

In the distance we could see some land formations which I later found out were Cambodian islands.  It says that you can even swim to them.  Pretty neat!  Ganh Dau Beach was a place that we discovered by chance, and we are very lucky that we did.  Our afternoon there was perfect - such a great place with great company.  It was sad to say goodbye to Phu Quoc since we may not be there again for a long time, but we did not leave without lots of fun memories that will stay with us for a long while!