Annie's Spankin' New Glasses

Check out my spankin' new glasses. One's for teaching and the other is for outside the classroom. Which one do you like best?

Lotus, lotus, lotus...and more lotuses

I love lotuses!!!

Buddha's Birthday

To celebrate Buddha's birthday my friends and I went to two of the largest pagodas in Saigon. The first pagoda that we went to is called Vinh Nghiem, and that's where i bought my lotus flowers. The second pagoda is called VietNam Quoc Tu in district 10.

Rain, Sick, Poor Me....

Trudging in the heavy rain for hours in the past two days has left me sick and weak. The rain is so erratic, deviating from its usual trend, sunny in the morning and a quick shower in the evening. For some reason, prolly a storm, it rained the whole afternoon into late evening. Many areas of Saigon were flooded especially in part of District 1 (at the intersection of Le Thanh Ton and Nam Ky Khoi Nghia and beyond).

In addition to that misery, i haven't had a good nite's sleep for awhile. If this keeps up i'll dig myself a hole like a Prairie Dog and hibernate until the rain season passes.

Anyway, gonna find myself areally sandals to walk in the rain...anyone wants to join???

Swing Class

Two words, swing dancing. La Fenetre Soleil holds swing dancing class every Wednesdays for dancers of all level. The first hour is for beginners and the second or third hour is for, well, everyone. Lessons are free so if you find yourself free at 8 on Wednesdays then come have some fun.

Yes, i've recruited Mr. Shaun (LAXtoSGN) to be my partner for the class. He will be arriving to VN on June 5th. Let's give Shaun a big Welcome hug ;-).

Unlucky

Did i mention how unlucky the past couple of weeks have been? First, i lost my glasses somewhere in the streets of Saigon; and because of that i have gone many days without reading my book and currently displaying signs of withdrawal: seizures, yawns, dullness, and boredome. Second, i broke my precious lil cheap phone this past Sunday. But thanks to Mr. Saigon Nezumi, i've got a new awesomely wicked-cool Motorola SLVR L7i phone.

Here's my old phone:

Here's my sexy lil cellie:

Don't cha wish your cellie was hot like mine?

I'm gonna get off topic here and introduce Wrap & Roll, a restaurant on 62 Hai Ba Trung. I think this place is spankin' good. The place is clean, aery and comfortable. The service is friendly, and the food caters to both western and local palettes. It's not supercheap eats, but it won't leave a hole in your pocket either. So check it out!!!!

A Day at the Zoo

Spent 26/04 at Thao Cam Vien, a mini zoo, on Nguyen Thi Minh Khai/Xo Viet Nghe Tinh Street.
Aww...i love you too, mama

Desert in Saigon?

Pink Flamingo (hmm...minus the Pink)

Albino Peacock??

I think this is Paper Flower (Hoa Giay)

Lotus in big vats :-P

Path of falling leaves...reminds me of the US during the Autumn.

Lotus flowers in an iron/bronze pot.

Water puppet inside Museum of Natural Science/Anthropology

A performance in Thao Cam Vien to celebrate Death Anniversary of Vietnam's ancestral King Hung Vuong (women in traditional Ao Dai doing the fan dance)

Pictures Galore

Some eye candies for y'all :-D

@ TEFL Graduation Dinner: (Lovely classmates, i'll miss all of you)

@ Ty and Tony's Wedding: (Lovely couple...and a dish of peanuts for dinner :-D)

@ Manna: (two hot transvestites)

Birthday

It was a really fun birthday. Thanks for coming, everyone. Sushi was good and music at YoKo was pretty awesome too. The band was excellent.

Okay, back to more homework. Just kill me now!!!!!

TEFL International

I've been terribly busy with school that i haven't much time to update this blog...thus, many apologies to my (imaginary) readers :-). To make that up, i will post some pictures of my classmates at TEFL International.

Here we are standing in front of V.U.S. on Nam Ky Khoi Nghia Street. (Back Row Left to Right: Chris from Canada, Tom from England, Abby from U.S.A., Tom W. from England, Nick [Instructor] from Philliphines. Middle row: Sarah from New Zealand, Dorette from U.S.A., Susan from Canada, James from U.S.A., Chris from Australia. Front row: Diem [TEFL Trainer from VN], Mel from England, Me, Suzanne from England, Diana from Australia, Amy from U.S.A., Vu from U.S.A., and Geoff from Australia).




Making weird faces


Big westerners crammed into a small Vietnamese elevator (capacity: 8 Vietnamese people = 5.5 Westerners)

View From Above

Since i couldn't sleep and was already up so decided to take pictures of Saigon. This is looking from my apartment in Binh Thanh.

This was taken a few mins later...

And this is a very fuzzy picture of Saigon at night.

Saigon, Home Sweet Home

Phewww....i've made it to Saigon despite the long flight and the horrendous10-hour delay. China Air suckssssssss. There are so many things that went wrong with its airline but here are just a few that i find lacking/inadequate, the quality of service, the meals and the small seats. Remind me to flight Continental next time please...

Anyway, here i am in Saigon in my huge apartment all by myself. I haven't been out exploring the city coz of the stupid jetlag. I find myself sleeping at 7 pm and waking up at 3 am. I need to get my equilibrium back, seriously. Despite my sleepiness, i have planned several trips before class starts. I am leaving Saigon to go on a tour of the southern provinces for a week then off to Danang to visit friends, and finally to Nha Trang.

Okay, enough update for today, so hungry now. Gonna go grab something downstairs to satiate this hungry girl. OHHHH, friends and strangers who want to meet feel free to email me. I would love to sit down, drink some cafe sua da' and get to know one another.

P.S. I'll post some pictures when i have them uploaded :-D.

Okay, off i go........

Sorting My Life

I have started sorting, prioritizing and categorizing all of my belongings. I have separated everything i have into two piles: the leave 'em behind and the take 'em with you. It's so hard to decide which beloved items to leave behind and which to take. There are so many sentimental valuables such as albums, books and people that i will have to leave behind. Sigh! I am starting to miss all of them already. I have 10 photo albums filled with precious memories of the people i have met and known all of my life. It's going to be a teary goodbye, i just know it. I will balling on departure day for sure and no amount of hanky will suffice wiping away overflowing river of tears.

I still can't believe i am about to embark on this wondrous life altering journey. But i know it's going to be a marvelment of a trip. There are many exciting places to see, many reverable people to meet, and many non-humdrum things to do.

Anyway, enough reminiscing and musing and back to packing i must be.

Until we meet again, full speed ahead mate!!!

Texas People Can't Drive

Yeah, that's right! Texans can't drive PERIOD. Now, i want to see one drive during a winter blizzard up north. It's gonna be something like in this video here.

Just this morning there was a 25-car pileup. Crazy Texas people driving 75-85 mph on an icy overpass (i reckon they've got a few loose bolts bouncing around upstairs). Thank Buddha i haven't been a Texan for too long....don't hate coz i am a yankee at heart :-P.

One Step Closer

One step closer to be where i want to be...

Background Check

I am going to the local enforcement agency tomorrow to get fingerprinted and to request a background check. I am getting these because for an American to work overseas I need to have an FBI Identification Record Request (aka Criminal Record History). This is to assure potential employers that I am not a felon or a convicted criminal working for them. Oy, I hope this is not a painful process.

This is good to have because employers will need to have this record to give me a work permit. Well, let's hope that I can find a teaching job in VN...*fingers crossed*. This will be a complete career change for me. And after tomorrow, I will be one step closer to my goal of living and teaching in Vietnam.