12 Mar 2014

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.


No comments:

Post a Comment