Monday, March 24, 2014

Patrick and I were feeling inspired, so we made homemade smoothies (with frozen mango, banana, yogurt, milk and ice) for breakfast.  Then for lunch, we made a big open face baguette sandwich, lovingly put together with these undeniably delicious ingredients (it’s foolproof - how can they NOT taste good together?!):

-          Lightly toasted fresh baguette

-          Ripe avocado spread on

-          Poached eggs

-          Sharp white cheddar cheese

-          Sliced tomatoes

-          Poached egg

-          Salt/pepper to taste

-          Cucumbers/optional dip or condiment on the side

-          *At home in Canada, I would put this on a toasted bagel instead and would also have garlic hummus spread on!

I worked in the afternoon, conducting listening exams at my middle school, then chilled a while with Patrick when I got home, watching TV because my private student was sick and had to cancel.  Patrick and I ordered Indian food in (Curry Chicken Tikka Masala and a spinach curry with lamb and rice as well as veggie samosas and garlic naan bread!  It was a mouth-watering, delicious day!

Sunday, March 23, 2014

My morning started off just like any typical Sunday, teaching at my language school.  I was mostly conducting and evaluating oral/speaking exams for students though, since it’s the end of their term.

However... the afternoon arrived and something AMAZING happened – something that turned my day around.  While having a random French conversation with a Parisian-Vietnamese man over a lunch of com tam (rice dishes) at one of my favourite local vendors, I received some sudden, exciting news...

I found out that I was accepted into U of T!!  They must have thought I was a little crazy in the com tam restaurant – I jumped up and I couldn’t stop grinning.  I was itching to share the news with anyone who would listen, even a Vietnamese stranger! And as I walked home, I  felt a few refreshing raindrops that lasted for several minutes – the first refreshing rain I’ve ever seen since moving to hot Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam!

I was accepted into 2 Masters of Education programs at U of T! I ended up choosing the collaborative program: Comparative, International and Development Education (CIDE) + Curriculum Studies and Teacher Development. 

With a contagious vigour (my student seemed to feed off my enthusiasm and happiness!), I taught a 2 hour private lesson in the afternoon. – we went to “The Refinery”, which is a fancy French restaurant and Cafe in the ritzy area of district 1, close to the Opera House.  I tried a passion fruit, mango and lime smoothie.

To celebrate in the evening, Patrick and I went to Bobby Brewers on Bui Vien Street, D1 for dinner and a movie.  At Bobby Brewers, you can watch a movie for free if you order anything, be it a beer or drink or a full meal.  They have comfortable couches for sitting on while watching and despite being a small portion of food (I got a celebratory beer and a thin steak with fries and steamed veggies), it was pretty tasty.   The 8:30pm show was Evil Dead.  If you like gore, cheesy witchcraft and need your bi-annual, monthly (or however often you feel the need to watch them) horror fix, then check it out! 

Anyway, here is a non-traditional com tam meal from NowZone for my dish of the day: Beef with gravy sauce and garnished with cilantro, bean sprouts on fried rice, topped with a fried egg; and potato wedge fries on the side with a dipping sauce of the typical soy sauce+chili mixture.  Protein fix, indeed!

Saturday, March 22, 2014

After my morning classes, I met and taught a new private student for 2 hours in the afternoon.  He is a Real Estate Agent from Tokyo, Japan interested in improving his Business English.  It went really well and we plan to meet 2-4 hours per week. 

I walked around Ben Tanh market for an hour, bought nice fake Ray Banz that have the UV protection apparently (I tested out 2 – one with and one without) – haggling it down from 200,000 to 150,000VND (from about $10 to $7.50). Aw yeah. 

Yet, even after all that walking, I ended up “settling” for the banh seo across the street from me (where I ate on Thursday night!) I was craving it and it is definitely one of my new favourite foods!  Because of that, I don’t have a new dish to show you today. But cry not! ...

Today’s dish, banh chung comes from another Vietnamese day – a day filled with surprise and intrigue.  This  is one of Vietnam`s oldest foods and is very traditional, yet still very common to find.  On holidays, they make much larger ones, too! The Banh Chung dish looks like a beautifully-wrapped gift, complete with a bow.  The outside is made from banana leaf and on the inside is a sticky banh (“cake” – not actually cake in the English sense of the word).  I mostly see it is squares, rolls (oval) and triangles.  It is essentially sticky rice that has been compacted together and in the middle of the rice is a surprise: generally pork, egg and beans (beans that have been cooked and mashed into a dry paste). The mixture is all molded, compacted and wrapped up in the leaf! Sometimes the outside of the rice even takes on the colour of the leaf that it is wrapped in, like the pink-purple one down below:

Friday, March 21, 2014

I taught kindergarten in the afternoon and was utterly tuckered out again! I will never complain about sweating back home in Canada again!

Dinner was Bun Rieu Cua again (second time this week!) It’s close, plus I just loved the tomato broth.  Also, the ladies recognized me – It’s always nice to have local food joints where you get to know the cooks!  Afterwards, I taught a private class for 2 hours and we went to a hole-in-the wall Vietnamese fruit bar, where they had Vietnamese-style fruit platters and a lengthy menu of various freshly-made juices and smoothies.  I had a jackfruit smoothie and we shared a fruit platter of watermelon, papaya, dragon fruit, pineapple, guava, jackfruit, water apple and mango – Nom nom!

My dish of the day is a Vietnamese-style fruit platter.  Whenever you buy a fruit platter at local food stops and vendors, they will almost certainly serve it to you with a couple fistfuls of shaved ice to keep it nice and cool.  By the end, you’ve got a nice puddle on your dish.  Now, I challenge you – can you eat it all before your ice melts? ... In HCMC heat? Good luck :p

Thursday, March 20, 2014 - The Big 50!

My 50th Post! 50 dishes and 50 days! Today, we're celebrating with one of my new fav dishes from 'Nam!

Since neither Patrick nor I had to teach until late afternoon/evening, we went to Dam Sen water park for the day!  It was way better than I expected – full of fun water slides, a wave pool, a wandering/lazy river (actually not so lazy – it had a strong current that swept us along!), a small pool with jets and even another pool with a zipline over it!  It was my first zipline experience. It wasn’t huge, but it was really fun to ride it and then be dropped into the pool, dramatically plunging down into the water.  Some people were even able to do back-flips as they dove down.  They even had a “foreigner sunbathing area” for non-vietnamese! Although odd and slightly xenophobic, we decided to check it out – it was actually quite nice and quiet, away from the throngs of screaming children :p They had private lockers and showers as well as some English magazines available.  Not too bad! I was so surprised – I  ran into 2 people I know - a student of mine in the wave pool and then a new Welsh friend by the patio, drinking beer.  7 weeks into Vietnam and I’m already running into people I know around the city :0

After getting back home, I taught a private lesson to a Japanese woman and used the TV show, Friends! There were definitely some nostalgic moments as I used the opening scenes of season 1, episode 1 to teach her some new expressions and casual/everyday slang and vocabulary!  From there, I went to work at my language school and then grabbed dinner across the street from my house on the way back, pulled in by my curiosity and opting to try a new Vietnamese dish…!

My dish of the day is: Bánh Xèo (pronounced “bun seo”).  It hails from southern Vietnam, which is known for using more vegetables in its cooking. Essentially, it’s a Vietnamese-style crepe made from egg (like a really thin omelette) and it’s stuffed with a mixture of delicious ingredients (see captions below!) It’s served with a chili-oil dipping sauce (with shredded carrot in it) and a huge plate of lettuce leaves for wrapping, as well as assorted herbs (especially basil, a type of mild mint and some unknown herbs that I have yet to identify!)  Lettuce wraps on a whole new level!  This is definitely one of my new favourite Vietnamese dishes!

The ladies let me watch as the cooked - one pan with the pork and shrimp mixture and the other used for frying up the egg-like crepe with the fillings on top!

The various ingredients for the filling: bean sprouts, onions, carrots, mushrooms, green peas, ground beef and chili-oil (not shown: the pork and shrimp mixture)

The hugebanh xeo is served! On the side, the lettuce leaves, herbs and the chili-oil and carrot sauce.

The lettuce wrap, ready for chowing down!

In my amateur research search of this dish, I discovered that central Vietnam does this dish slightly differently: Check out the blog, The Hungry Asian

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Today, I want to wish a “Happy Birthday” to the purdiest “Diamond” ever!  You may be living 11 hours behind me and be more than a day of plane travel away, but you’ll never actually be far J

Wednesday morning was a lesson-planning one, getting myself prepared for a new teaching position at a Kindergarten.  Teaching 25+ energetic five-year-olds in a non-air conditioned classroom can be summed in a few words: Hot, tiring, dehydrating (my tongue and lips were literally sticking together and to the roof of my mouth, even though I guzzled loads of beautiful H20), musical (singing is the key to motivating a 5-year-old’s heart), active (the second key to motivating a 5-year-old), sweaty and actually... quite fun.  I felt like a celebrity (albeit afterwards, a celebrity in need of a nice cool bath, lemonade and a massage). 

Following work, I had about an hour to chill with Patrick before we left for work and in the evening, I met a new private student – a Vietnamese student studying medicine who wants to practice his English for personal/general conversation and for his medical career.   

Today’s foodie goodness comes from a Cambodian fruit juice vendor close to the public schools that I teach at – it’s one of the most interesting, odd, yet deliciously satisfying drinks I’ve ever tasted.  It’s made using the Cambodian sugar palm fruit (Thot not – haha I call it the thought-not fruit.  I “thought that it was not” a normal fruit…) It had a dense, pulpy (but not like the pulp of an orange) and thick texture that was very sweet.  Inside the juice, there were also chunks of jelly-like coconut, I believe.  It tasted like it was full of fiber and it was incredibly filling! The texture and taste somewhat reminded me of having a cold sweet potato latte, except with chunks inside.  How very odd, indeed. 

Here's some interesting info about the sugar palm fruit (aka Ice Apple) from Wiki that talks about the tree, Borassus and a site that talks about the Sugar Palm's Health Benefits and Uses.  I learned a lot!

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

I worked in the morning, preparing my middle school students for their listening and speaking exams. I had such a great conversation with a couple of my students after school – they were so sweet and told me that they really liked my teaching and thought that the previous teachers didn’t care at all about them or how much they learned – they would just play non-educational games, let them chat or would just distribute handouts and be on his phone or laptop while they “pretended to work” or outright chatted.  We talked a lot about cultural differences between countries, education, their goals/dreams in life, where they want to travel and they even gave me some advice for living in Vietnam! What wonderful students J I feel so lucky. 

Walking home, I had to stop and relax in the park for a bit because the midday sun was so strong.  I saw a man doing pushups, a woman in a traditional Vietnamese hat meditating in the gardens, couples chatting on benches and locals reading on their siesta lunch breaks.  I also watched as some Vietnamese visited the park’s Buddhist temple. 

Patrick and I made egg and sausage sandwiches for lunch and made our first Vietnamese iced coffee.  Nestle is the brand – and yes, it’s instant, but surprisingly good! It’s different here. Quite strong!  We played Monopoly during our siesta to avoid the heat and did a bit of lesson-planning and watched a neat tv documentary about Japan, reminiscing!  I also got another private student (a medical student who wants to learn English), so that’s good news!

In the evening, we both worked and then afterwards, I met a Vietnamese woman who owns a private English language centre... and... She has hired me to teach a few of her classes!: IELTS to high school/university students as well as  listening/speaking to grade 11s, 9s and 8s.

I spent the rest of the evening lesson-planning for my first Kindergarten classes (I start in a public kindergarten this week working 3 hours per week).  Talk about getting a variety of teaching experiences here! I also surprised my Grandma in Canada by calling her via Skype to catch-up with her!

...

But now for what you’ve been waiting for... Here’s my dish of the day: 

It’s called Bánh tráng trộn.  The best way to describe it is as a “Rice Paper Salad”.  It’s definitely one of the most unusual things I’ve tried here thus far.  It’s eaten out of a bag with chopsticks.  It’s basically a mix of:

-          Rice paper sheets that have been cut into strips

-          Cilantro and sometimes other herbs

-          Lots of peanuts

-          Julienned green mango (unripe)

-          Dried ingredients: fish flakes, dried shrimp, dried beef (think: shredded beef jerky)

-          Hot Chili oil/sauce

-          Shrimp sauce

-          A dark sauce made of: Soy sauce, sugar and vinegar

-          Quail eggs (I got 2!)

Monday, March 17, 2014

I woke up, thinking Patrick and I would go visit Reunification Palace, but then I was hit with a curveball – a last-minute email saying my middle school students start exams next week and that this week I must do exam review and preparation to get them ready.  So I had to scrap all the lesson plans I had made for Monday and Tuesday (on Monday, a few hours before teaching!) and figure out how the exams would be conducted and what I would have to do to review with them and to do their listening and speaking exams! Ugh! But it worked out fine and I had a great afternoon teaching.  One of my Vietnamese assistants actually came up to me afterwards and asked: “You love teaching, don’t you? ... I can tell.  And the students really like you.” It was so sweet of her to say!

Patrick picked me up (my private xe om driver haha) and brought me home because we were invited to have dinner and hang out with our house-mates again! The Vietnamese mother and her daughter in our house cooked up a Vietnamese dinner and invited us and a few of her new foreign (other expats) over, so it was great to meet some new people! We hung out having a couple drinks on our top floor balcony.   

We also got to learn how to put together Vietnamese spring rolls (fresh ones). Our Vietnamese friend (Let’s call her “T” J) prepared the ingredients beforehand, so it was quite simple. The key things to remember are: making sure you wet the rice paper sheet just enough, remembering all the ingredients (there are lots!) and wrapping it tightly enough without ripping the paper, so it stays together well.

Inside T's spring roll was: Rice noodles, lettuce/greens, herbs like cilantro and basil, green onion, tofu, carrot, cucumber and then the protein (pork and shrimp OR fried strips of fish). It’s not the typical spring roll – she said she doesn't use the same ingredients as many vendors and that she uses less noodles, because that’s how she prefers it.  They were actually my favourite spring rolls in Vietnam thus far!  We dipped it in a mixture of a thick sweet/soy dip with crushed peanuts inside.

My first (sad-looking) attempt at rolling a spring roll! Tasted great, though!

Spring roll assembly line

All rolled-up!

T cooked up a delicious Vietnamese meal – spring rolls with dip, a veggie, pork and tofu stir-fry and Vietnamese-style fried banana fritters. T is an excellent cook and so incredibly kind!

Dinner is served!

After eating, I had to dash out for my private lesson, which ended up being at a burger king haha! (My student hadn’t eaten dinner yet!) Did you know ice-cream cones at Burger King cost only 3,000vnd ($0.15) here?! They even topped it with rainbow sprinkles! Who knew?!

Sunday, March 16, 2014

After a full morning of teaching in the morning, I was trying to decide and plan out my afternoon: It was a toss-up between playing board games with a friend (and an opportunity to meet some new people) or finding a Vietnamese flea market to explore.  Weekends are always a good time for shopping and visiting markets – fruit/veggies/food markets, clothing and souvenir markets and flea markets.  In the end, the flea market won my heart.

A wonderful Vietnamese friend of mine who I work came with me and we perused the artsy multi-floor villa-style flea market. It was air-conditioned and had a variety of stalls with independent designers and sellers – sunglasses, clothes, accessories, make-up, hand-painted rocks and other trinkets.  On the top floor, we chowed down on some snacks and then I got my tarot card reading for 20,000VND ($1)! My friend translated for me as I received advice about the most harrowing thought on my mind – where will I be in the future? Where will my career and life take me – for travel and settling down in a permanent job? Eventually I’ll need to make some big decisions, but I’m excited for what the future brings.  I know that right now I need to enjoy the here and now. Experience what life is bringing me in Vietnam.  But I also have a lot to think about as I await a response about my Masters degree application...!

Anyway, in the here and now... my dish of the day! My friend and I shared a dish made from 6 quail eggs with dried fish, green onions and chili sauce.  And for a drink, some nuoc mia – freshly made sugar cane juice.  The egg dish cost 12,000vnd ($0.60) and the sugar cane juice cost 8,000 each ($0.40), but you can get it for half that cost elsewhere :p  Below is the stall that served us.  The quail egg dish is the one in the pan that is divided in 6 parts.  

Quail's egg snack in the small pan, alongside other treats: duck eggs, sausages, meat ball skewers and pasta for stir-fries

And here is the nuoc mia (sugar cane juice) machine.  I was quite amused watching the juiced sugar cane come out the other end.  I dared my friend to try the dried out sugar cane, but no luck! I wonder how it tastes to chew on?..

Sugar cane juicing machine!

Saturday, March 15, 2014

Saturday is my longest work day – language school all morning, then 4 hours of private split between the afternoon and evening.  I got a new private student today though (from Osaka, Japan), so it was really interesting. We’ll be meeting 2 hours each week. In the afternoon, I relaxed a bit at home, watched episode 20 of How I Met Your Mother, wrote my blog and hung out with Patrick for an hour (he also has a long Saturday work day L) Unfortunately, our shower sprung a leak, so there’s been a plumber hacking away in there for a while (so much for your afternoon siesta nap, Patrick! haha)

I tried out a new place for lunch today that is about 6 minutes walk from my house.  It was delicious and cheap and the lady there spoke excellent English.  Her customer service was amazing, too – she cooked this specially up for me – it wasn’t even on the menu!

I don’t know the Vietnamese name of it, but it is essentially fried flat noodles, pork, spinach and onions in a tamarind sauce, topped with cilantro. [NB: Tamarind is a common ingredient in Vietnam.  The fruit is in the form of a brown pod and tastes sour-sweet. It is full of vitamins and calcium.  See this blurb about tamarind.]  This dish had a large portion of pork meat and vegetables and was very tasty!  It didn’t even need the soy sauce on the side. It came with Vietnamese iced tea and cost 35,000VND, about $1.75!

In the evening, I taught my Taiwanese private student.  I wanted to go out to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day at “Cargo” afterwards, a place holding a St. Paddy’s event with live bands, but I finished work at 9pm and had to wake up on Sunday at 6:30am... so not the best idea! 

Friday, March 14, 2014

Scrabble, tea and a trip to the outdoor fruit/veggie/food market down the street filled my morning.  The afternoon’s ingredients included a few hours of lesson planning at home with Patrick to escape the heat and making a delicious lunch of baguette sandwiches with egg, olives, sausage, grilled tomatoes and mushrooms, cilantro, cucumber and other fixings.  Later we played Monopoly, trying not to move too much, yet still sweating profusely! I also caught up with my How I Met Your Mother (I can’t believe it’s almost over! *tear*) and cooked up some chicken, soy bean and veggie stew/soup to have for the weekend.

I tried out a new place for dinner in my area after Patrick left for work - a little street vendor set up with 3 of the classic silver tables and red and blue plastic chairs.  These 3 ladies (and a cute little girl, one of their daughters) were serving bún riêu cua, a type of Vietnamese noodle soup that comes from the Mekong Delta Province:

Bún means rice vermicelli noodles.  Cua refers to the place it comes from.  And riêu refers to the crab mixture.  The broth of the dish is tomato and crab-based (and reddened with annatto seeds) and is topped with some shrimp or crab paste. Inside the bowl, there are also delicious pieces of fried tofu, tomato, vegetarian sausage or a processed sausage, huyết (congealed pig's blood) and scallions.

It was served with lime, bean sprouts, split water spinach stems and shredded banana flower (which look like stringy green herbs) to put inside.  Of course I always like to add a touch of red chili! This hearty meal was only 20,000VND, $1.  Makes me wonder why I’m bothering to cook as much as I do haha. Guess I can’t quite reconcile giving it up :p

Here’s a YouTube link showing how to cook this delicious soup up!

How to cook bun rieu cua

Bún riêu cua

There’s also a type of soup called canh bún that is easy to mistake for bún riêu cua.  This blog talks about the differences and has a recipe! :

http://vietspices.blogspot.com/2010/12/canh-bun-morning-glory-noodle-soup.html

Thursday, March 13, 2014

Today was a gastronomical adventure: Korean at lunch and a large variety of Vietnamese dishes for dinner. So, instead of 1 dish, I’m treating you to a feast today – a feast of many food photos! But first, some Thursday updates...

I Skyped my family in the morning over tea, then planned my day’s lessons. For lunch, I had Korean Dolsot Bibimbap at my favourite little cafe nearby and I also met with my new private student there, a Japanese housewife whose husband was transferred to HCMC to work.  She’s very sweet and wants to use the tv show “Friends” to learn English, so our lessons will often centre around it!

I had an hour off to hang out with Patrick, then I worked in the evening.  Afterwards, I went out with 3 of the Vietnamese teachers who work at my language school and one of their boyfriends.  We’re all around the same age (actually ¾ of us are all ’89 babies!) so it’s fun to hang out with them.  We laughed a ton, ate delicious food and I learned some new Vietnamese words (i.e. ngon = delicious!)

We ate at an outdoor restaurant specializing in lẩu (hot pot).  It was hidden away within a quiet, but quaint and interesting neighbourhood of small streets that I never would have thought to visit otherwise! Dinner lasted a whole 2 hours, with 1 dish after another being brought out! It was all ngon! :D When we arrived, we had a bowl of peanuts and a bowl of Amberella fruit (with the usual chili salt to dip it in on the side).  

Sour-sweet Amberella fruit with a salt-chili "dip"

The first dish was a platter of pretty white clams that were grilled in butter, garlic, scallions and topped with peanuts.  Next we got thick, soft baguettes brought out and a piping hot dish covered in tin foil.  As you open the foil, the steam and delicious smell escapes.  Inside was fried tofu, veggies and assorted seafood in a thick tomato-chili broth - a bit sour, sweet, salty and spicy all at once.  We dipped the baguette in the saucy broth instead of eating it with rice. The third dish we were served was a whole fried white fish with flavourful seasoning.  We all picked through it with our chopsticks, not wanting to waste any of it! Apparently throughout many fishing villages in Vietnam, it’s taboo to flip the fish at the table to get more meat from the other side.  We didn’t care though :p It’s easier to flip and eat! Following that, we had a lull where we could digest a bit before the final main dish.  We were served a large chicken and vegetable hot pot (lẩu in Vietnamese) with rice noodles to share.  With 5 of us, the total was just 100,000VND each – about $5 each. 

Clams with butter, garlic, Vietnamese basil/herbs and peanuts

Baked and saucy seafood, tofu and vegetables in tin foil

Grilled fish

Chicken hot pot

Although I missed trivia night, it was still an epic-ly delicious evening, discovering a new spot in the city, trying new food and bonding with new friends <3 I drove back home with a Vietnamese friend, a “teacher by day, xe om driver by night” :p And just for the update, I'm now officially "wanted"... Kidnapped by my xe om!

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

My morning featured three great things:

1.       Skyping with a good friend from Uni and beyond!

2.       Meeting (and getting) a new private student – a Vietnamese man who owns a cafe nearby

3.       Making a delicious brunch with Patrick, featuring a warmed up baguette filled with scrambled eggs, sausage, grilled mushrooms and tomatoes, olives, cucumbers, mustard and sweet chili sauce. Mmm.

The rest of the day was also pretty awesome (albeit sweaty), too! Patrick and I went for a drive, picking up some of those fake water vapour electronic cigarettes that smell really nice (melon, USA mix and Red Bull flavours!) He showed me where he works and we drove along the canal, which is quite a nice drive compared to driving in the busier parts of the city. We stopped at a cafe and watched the canal while chatting and sipping on our drinks: iced coffee and for me, a yogurt, ice and strawberry blend. It was the first cafe we’ve been to that didn’t have a menu.  I pointed at ingredients and it worked out splendidly haha...

Here is my yogurt, ice and strawberry blend from our stop along the canal:

In the afternoon, we did some lesson planning for a bit and tried to cool down, sweating profusely from our drive. I think it went up to 38 degrees today! (Sorry, fam and friends back home! :p)

In the evening, I taught my first lesson at the primary school across the street from me! The Vietnamese teacher is asking me to teach her class of 16 students twice a month as a guest so the students have a chance to speak with a native English speaker.  Although it’s a primary school, these students are about 12-14 years old because it’s an extra class, held Wednesday evenings.  The first half hour was an ice-breaker and getting-to-know-each-other conversation activity using toilet paper. Yes, toilet paper. I went around, telling them to take however much they wanted and joking around with them.  “How much do you use? Really?! 6 pieces?!” and then once everyone had their share, I revealed that for each piece, they had to say one thing: either one thing about themselves or ask me one question.  They thought it was pretty hilarious, especially seeing who had only a few versus who had 6 or 7! To keep them all engaged while others spoke, I also quizzed them after every 4 students had spoken, asking them to recall their classmates’ answers for a candy prize. It was a great vibe, they spoke a ton and we laughed a lot. I also showed them a few pictures of me from home and from my travels abroad.  Then in the second half, I taught them how to describe, compare and contrast 2 pictures, as their teacher wants me to help them practice for their FCE, Cambridge speaking test.  I used a variety of pictures: funny, thought-provoking and interesting, such as ones of “extreme ironing” (google it, if you haven’t heard of it!), of me at the Korean trick-eye museum and ones from Hungry Planet’s “What the World Eats” photo series.  We used venn diagrams to describe and compare the photos and practiced useful expressions for comparing, followed by a race where 1 team had to say as many similarities as they could and the other team had to say all the differences.  The team to say the most (going back and forth) would win. They all did so well though, so I gave everyone a sticker at the end! Their teacher asked me to come teach her class twice a month and also s interested in having me teach some of her other classes if the schedule works out well!

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Although it was hard to get up for work today, at least I looked forward to the walk through the park, people-watching as everyone did their morning runs, exercises, tai chi and badminton competitions.  After work, I swung by Mach’s Gym to try it out. You can pay per day or per month. It’s 70,000VND (about $3.50) for one visit, so I gave it a shot. I haven’t been to the gym to work on my strength and weight-training since I left Canada, so I thought it was about time that I go! I do so much walking here, but I really need to pay attention to building muscle weight.  It was comfortable and just big enough.  It had all the types of strength machines I wanted, unlike another smaller gym I checked out close by.  I even met the owner/manager, Mach himself! He gave me some pointers as well.  I even met a Vietnamese student who is possibly interested in getting English speaking lessons from me. Productive day? Ah, yes! 

Lunch was some leftover pasta (bolognaise style) and lots of watermelon for dessert! We also went up to our rooftop and tanned for a bit, getting some reading in. The sun was pretty intense. Unfortunately, I don’t work tonight, so I’m lesson planning and blogging. And unfortunately X2, someone in the house completely mowed down half our tub of ice-cream we bought!! Definitely buying smaller tubs in the future so we can keep them in our own mini freezer!

My dish of the day comes from a street vendor set up a mere 2 minutes walk from my house.  This is called “chân gà”, meaning chicken wings.  It was one long piece that they grilled and cut into 3 pieces (see above). Back home, we’re usually used to seeing it already in pieces and usually the end bit isn’t included in the dish because there isn’t much meat on it and it’s more crunchy.  Next time I’d order more chicken because 1 was not enough – it’s too tasty not to have more!

 It was served with: pickled carrots and radishes, lots of thai basil, cucumbers (not shown), some chili, a pepper-salt and lime juice dipping sauce and toothpicks for eating it.  

They also had grilled “chân gà nướng” as well (chicken’s feet), but I’m not adventurous enough to try that yet. My goal is to try it before I leave though!

Monday, March 10, 2014

We slept in, recovering from a late night out, then had the best homemade tuna sandwiches (ever) for lunch.  After a quick hour of lesson-planning because of class schedule confusion (Note: having multiple teachers teaching a class and having to communicate to know where one person left off isn’t easy, especially when it goes off-schedule!), I worked 2-5pm at my public middle school.  Despite the earlier confusion, my 3 classes went swimmingly (I think that’s the first time I’ve ever used actually used that word. I guess I have swimming on my mind!) and a Vietnamese teacher assistant that actually showed up in 2 of the classes told me that he thought my classes were excellent and he was happy that I was there as their new teacher.  Confidence-boost, yay!

I got a surprise pick-up from Patrick and after a co-op grocery shop, we arrived at home and flew into the kitchen, hungry and ready to cook. We whipped up a big batch of bolognaise sauce and pasta and ate it with some fresh baguette! A chill night-in watching “12 Years a Slave”, paired with some cheesecake ice-cream? Yes, please!

This dish of the day comes from Saturday’s NowZone lunch trip – it resembled a Rainbow roll – containing the typical ingredients of a California roll, except with with sashimi on top. This maki however, seems to have had egg, a green vegetable (radish or a crunchier root vegetable) and crab and has been topped with raw salmon, fish eggs and mayo. And always served with soy sauce, ginger and a generous helping of wasabi, of course!

Sunday, March 9, 2014

My day involved: working at my language school in the morning and then relaxing at home for a bit on my rooftop with my new beach mat and my book to catch some rays! I also went for a short run in the park as the sun went down and did a short workout at home (short because I started sweating after only 1 minute!) 

When Patrick came home from work, we were too lazy to go out and were craving something big and yummy, so we ordered in Chinese food from Wok N’ Roll through “Vietnammm”. My dish of the day features our Chinese dinner: Egg Rolls (some of the best I’ve ever had),fried mixed rice, chicken/peppers/onion with black bean sauce and Kung Pao Beef.  We scarffed it down like nobody’s business.

Later at night, The Spotted Cow was a-calling... we went for the rugby match between Wales and England and to meet with some other HCMC expats (friends of a friend)! Following an entertaining game that incited much singing from the very British crowd (and the frowns of a Welsh friend), we all went to get drinks at Happy Life Bar around the corner from The Spotted Cow.  They had small buckets (or large jars?) of mixed drinks for only 50,000VND, 20,000VND basic mixed drinks and 20,000VND beers.  Apparently ladies get a free “bucket drink” during Tuesday’s Happy Hour. Sweet deal. See you again, vodka redbull.

Saturday, March 8, 2014

Happy International Women’s Day! In Vietnam, it is normal for women to be given flowers and sweets on Women’s Day (kind of like Valentine’s Day, except it’s not just for couples)! During our 15 minute break in the morning, the administration at my work treated us – I came up to the staff room to find a vase of pink roses and a huge jelly cake! It was so sweet of them J Although I’m not a huge fan of the cake (think: hard jelly, not nice and soft jello), it still made a nice morning snack.  Perhaps it’s more of a dessert, not a dish, but hey, I think some of those teachers ate it as breakfast, so I’ll count it!

After work, I walked the streets to explore the area where district 1 and district 5 meet, reveling in the street lined with flower vendors. They definitely love their flowers here in Vietnam. Even on Tet, there were flowers everywhere! I bought a rose for the lovely Vietnamese woman (and mother) who lives in my house and stumbled upon lots of interesting sights.  I was asked by a sweet young couple to take a picture of them with their bike covered with flowers – I also took one with my own camera:

For lunch, I had sushi at NowZone and then I explored The University of Pedagogy nearby.  I spoke with a few groups sitting at tables near a cafeteria, giving them my business card and hoping to get some more private students (1-on-1 and small groups).  I think I’ll go back during the week though – I’ll be able to reach more people.  Coming back, I bought a nice mat for sunbathing and picnicking on the rooftop/at the beach/pool/park and some groceries.  So I stumble up to my door, loaded with my bags and realize that I forgot my key! Thankfully someone was home and I got in, but I had to wait around in the living room/kitchen for Patrick to come home because my room key is also on that key-chain

I got to spend an hour with Patrick in the afternoon before we both went to work. I quickly dropped by my language school and found my keys (thank goodness!) and then I taught a 2 hour private lesson.  My student was so kind! For our lesson together, he took me to Fanny’s instead of us going to our usual coffee shop.  Fanny’s is the most popular ice-cream parlour in HCMC (and also incredibly delicious and fancy!) They have beautiful, artistically-executed ice-cream dishes and once a month they hold an ice-cream buffet that you have to reserve a spot for.  So, today, I have 2 dessert dishes to feature on my blog:

Jelly cake and Fanny’s Soursop fruit ice-cream topped with passion fruit sauce, a grape and a piece of a waffle cone.

Friday, March 7, 2014

We checked out 2 gyms in our area (much more affordable, albeit smaller than the first ones we went to!) We also walked around and drove a bit to explore and got some paperwork and banking errands out of the way.  With Patrick gone to work at night, I was just going to make something and chill at home for dinner, but then I decided to give a call to a couple new British friends/acquaintances that have been living in HCMC for about half a year already.  I needed to get out after all my lesson-planning I did in the afternoon to prepare for the weekend.  We went to a place on my street and got a smorgasbord of 4 different dishes to share. 

Below is my favourite one of the lot: Beef and veggie skewers (cilantro, peppers, onions and tomatoes) grilled to perfection with their secret sauce.  We would also dip the beef in the chili-lime-black pepper dip for an extra flavour kick.  We paired it with seafood fried rice, clam soup and a heaping mound of sautéed garlic and spinach! Aw yeah.  Here are the mouth-watering grilled skewers:

Thursday, March 6, 2014

In the morning, I skyped my family and caught up with them, then cut up the watermelon that Patrick and I bought from a woman who always walks down our side street calling out.  She sounds like tarzan actually.  And SERIOUSLY, the watermelon here is so cheap, delicious, sweet and juicy! I’m in heaven!   I got some com tam for Patrick and me for lunch.  We spent part of the afternoon lesson-planning and hanging out at our place.  After teaching my evening classes at the language school, I went straight to Chi’s Coffee to meet with my private student for 2 hours of conversational and pronunciation class. We ended up grabbing some food as well, since this cafe also has Korean food! I got a kimchi jjigae (stew) with tofu and of course, rice.  It tasted very good, but slightly different than it is in Korea – a bit more tomato-y. 

Since they closed at 9pm, we had to move to another cafe for the second hour.  We ended up at a local cafe called... (eek, the name escapes me! I’ll be back there though – the juices are great!) I got a passion fruit juice and it actually had the real bits of passion fruit still inside.  Freshly-juiced and oh-so-sweet! This is my new favourite drink, hands down!

Wednesday, March 5

Wednesday was an eventful day! It began with Patrick and I driving our motorbike to District 7 because I had an interview at the Canadian International School.  Unfortunately, they don’t offer short-term contracts (only for 2 years) and they don’t even offer supply positions. It was still great to visit though, and I got to learn a lot about how their international school functions. One day, I’d really like to work in an international school, but the time is not quite right.

Afterwards, we explored District 7 on our motorbike.  It was hard to believe that we were still in Vietnam (aside from the Vietnamese words on signs, of course!) It was open, green and clean, with wide streets, nice cars, a plethora of international schools and other elite learning centres and plenty of great food around.  We passed through Phu My Hung and saw Lamborghinis and beautiful villas. Parts of District 7 are like the Gangnam of Korea, the Beverly Hills of California.  We also found the grocery store/department store, Lottemart of HCMC – the only one here! We went inside and took a huge nostalgia trip back to our days in Korea when we’d frequently find ourselves in Lottemart.  We almost started speaking Korean by accident!

We drove back home and after some delicious homemade sandwiches that we made with the stash we bought at Lottemart, we hit a local pool for a while to catch some rays and cool down. 

In the evening, I went out with my Elle’s ESL posters and business cards, attempting to spread some business and get some more private students! I made a couple of partnerships with nearby coffee shops, including Chi’s Coffee and one across the street from me.  Essentially, they advertise for me and have my business cards out, and when I give lessons (for teenagers and adults, one-on-one or small groups), I come to their coffee shop and they get business from us as well, since we’ll be buying their drinks and food. Sounds like a good partnership, eh? J 

 I also randomly walked into the public elementary school across from our place, hoping to ask if I could put a poster up in a good area where parents pick up their children.  I didn’t expect much, but lo and behold, I ended up being introduced to 2 different English teachers (Vietnamese) who were each looking to hire a native English teacher to visit and guest-teach their classes occasionally, 2+ times per month. They even led me into their classrooms, introduced me to their students and had me speak with their students for a few minutes to introduce myself and to give them my business cards as well! (These were evening classes - One class had high school level students and the other was a conversational class for adults.) Who would have thought I could just waltz into a school and grab a few hours of teaching right off the bat?!

Before I went to teach my private lesson Wednesday night, I got some dinner - I wandered into a Japanese place off the beaten path, on a nearby side road.  Sometime soon I’d like to try their Octopus Balls, but this time I opted for a small bento box (for 39,000VND/$2) that included: 2 chicken/veggie skewers, sticky rice, some cucumber (“salad” apparently haha), and a side seaweed soup.  It was quite tasty, especially the chicken skewers.  Here’s a pic of my Japanese bento box dinner to go!:

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

My dish of the day is... drumroll... Cabbage! (?!) Cabbage, you ask? Yes. But it’s a perfectly steamed cabbage dish with bean sprouts and green onions and a very light oil and goes perfectly with meat dishes and rice. Everybody needs some greens! This is the equivalent of American picnicking coleslaw, of Korean kimchi and of Polish sauerkraut or kapusta.  It deserves a day, too.

6:30am on a Tuesday morning in Ho Chi Minh city looks much different than how one might expect.  As a rolled out of bed and got for work (at the new middle school I started at on Monday), I was not particularly thrilled. Having to dodge motorbikes and say “khong, cam uhrn” to xe om taxi drivers on every corner and hurry just enough to make good time while avoid sweating, are not things I like to do at 6:30am.  But I ended up trying out a new short-cut / detour through a park, cutting off an entire corner (which just so happens to be a very busy intersection).  The park was teeming with people jogging, exercising on the park’s exercise machines, stretching, playing badminton, walking their dogs and simply enjoying the outdoors.  I had never seen a Vietnamese park at 6:30am, but now I understand why they go.  It’s beautiful, de-stressing, much cooler than at 10am+ and is a great way to energize before a day of work.  I think I’ll be taking the “park” way every time.

After a morning of teaching, I enjoyed a great iced coffee at a street stall on my side street and went for chicken pho with Patrick nearby.  We checked out a nice salon and Patrick got a haircut for less than $5 (while I lesson planned and was entertained by a very adorable dog that seemed to bark at the air).

In the evening, we both taught lessons, but following work, I ended up going on a bit of a bus adventure.  Every Vietnamese person here tells me to avoid the bus and just take a motorbike (or xe om) to get anywhere. But no! I wanted to see if I could make it all the way up to the northern part of District 1 (to meet some friends at a bar/restaurant called Decibel), without even knowing the bus numbers I’d need.  SOMEHOW I made it! After 2 buses, only 11,000VND tons of confusing broken English and gestures, my 3G/google maps and almost falling off my seat from some really tight turns, I made it! I just had to walk 10 minutes from there to get to Decibel.  So, yes, it IS possible to take the bus in HCMC!

I recommend checking Decibel out – it’s a laidback bar/restaurant, popular with expats.  I got to meet some new people, enjoy good food/drinks and play Cards Against Humanity (the best way to get to know people!) Also, on Tuesday nights they serve you some free food if you order a drink (non-alcoholic or alcoholic). This time it was a tasty pesto pasta with shrimp and basil on top.  My photo ended up turning up fuzzy and un-usable because of the lighting, but next time I’ll try again, promise!

Monday, March 3, 2014

Today was my first day of teaching Middle School in Vietnam.  I went in to observe 2 classes in the morning run by another native English teacher.  Apparently this school used to be ranked as one of the best in the city, but this reputation was its own downfall, resulting in increased enrollment (more $) and it being understaffed.  My first impressions of Vietnamese public middle school?

-          The classes are huge (50+ students! Some even reach 60!)

-          The air conditioning is... well, non-existent. And the fans blow everything off the desks.

-          The technology includes a microphone (that doesn’t always sound clear) and dinosaur age CD players that somehow survived the meteor (but each one has their own finicky problem, i.e. not being able to skip or go back; not turning on...)

-          You get very chalky. I feel like I have chalk/dust particles in every pore on my face and hands. Being a teacher in this era has made me a marker/board and projector screen pro – definitely not used to chalk!

-          The students are very talkative and disruptive. 

-          The Vietnamese teacher assistants don’t generally stay in the room. Sometimes they’ll peek their head in or come for a few minutes, but most classes I’m on my own with the 50+ Vietnamese students. 

BUT, there are definitely positives.  The students are quite interested in English and also very keen to get to know native English speakers.  I’m impressed with the level of English compared to when I taught in Korea as well. I feel like I can have better conversations with the students without need for a Vietnamese assistant to translate anything.  It’s also nice to have freedom in the design of lessons (as long as objectives are reached), yet to also be able to fall back on the books if need be. Also, I look at this as being very good for my teaching experience.  I can really practice my class management/discipline methods – an area that I see as my biggest area for improvement! I already feel like I’ve improved tenfold in this area since I first did my practice teaching in uni.

After work, I had about an hour and a half to go home, freshen up, grab dinner, and then make it to the private lesson I teach from 6:30-8:30pm.  It was a new student – a Taiwanese businessman looking to improve his general speaking abilities in English.  Private lessons are so much less stressful than teaching 50+ middle school students! Definitely going to try to get more private students J

Today’s dish of the day features a dish served to me yesterday actually, on Sunday night as part of one big pre-set meal. I went with Patrick and some new friends :) They served a variety of dishes that we all split (homestyle! And in fact, the place looked like a house from the outside!) As we walked through the restaurant, we had to stay on the path, stepping on the stones to avoid landing in the indoor stream, full of swimming fish.  I wonder if we ate one of those fish...! Below is the fried fish dish we shared, which was absolutely flavourful, fresh and light, despite being fried.  

Sunday, March 2, 2014

Before the food!...

Shout-outs to my friend, Kirstie - Happy Birthday from the future! Sending my best wishes from Vietnam <3 Mwah!

After teaching on Sunday morning, I went out for lunch with a co-worker from my language school who has been teaching here for over a year now.  We went for a Mixed Hot Pot to share.  And this was no ordinary cheap hot pot – it was intense and also beautiful.   There were edible flowers, meats, seafoods and a variety of vegetables and greens/herbs around the circumference. As the pot heated up from underneath, the waitress lowered the poor, unsuspecting ingredients in to be cooked, then would scoop them back out and throw more inside until everything was all cooked.  In our small individual bowls, we were given some sticky rice noodles and then got to sift through the hot pot, fishing for all the ingredients we wanted to each try.  Each bowl can be completely different if you want, picking out the ingredients you want to eat with your noodles and broth.  Here’s a pic of our hot pot:

Saturday, March 1, 2014

After work in the morning at my language school, I then had to go to another campus for a meeting to learn about teaching in Vietnamese public schools, specifically in middle schools.  I begin teaching Middle School on Monday, so it was really useful, although my schedule was incredibly confusing. I’m sure I’ll eventually figure it all out!  I’m slightly nervous about teaching classes with 50-60 students in them though! :/

In the evening, I ended up meeting with a new Vietnamese friend who I met a couple weeks ago (her mom sold me banh mi sandwiches for Patrick and me).  We chilled in a cafe, had green tea strawberry and chocolate frappes (yum!) and got to know each other a bit.  She says she’ll introduce me to some good places in the city, including a good board game cafe!

My dish of the day comes from a local street vendor – Com tam: a rice (com) dish where you choose the proteins to go in it. I chose BBQ chicken and got it served with rice, bean sprouts, a chili-oil dip and a side chicken broth soup with potatoes and carrots.  The flavour of the soup reminded me of home – mom’s chicken soup :) Here’s a shot of my dish of the day: