The to do, not to do and done list

Sooooo, all the tickets are booked. .. and by all the tickets I mean Hanoi/Bangkok/Dusseldorf/Zurich/Geneva/Jeddah(SAUDI ARABIA!)Johannesburg. Yes, stops in Jo’burg. Yes, leaving Vietnam in less than 2 months.

Despite living in Hanoi for the past 19 months, I still have a few things that I haven’t done that would be high on any three-day tourist’s list. Now, I have about month left in the city and then about three weeks on the road with Ben.

So, I’ve thought about a few things that I need to do before I leave:

-I’m still to visit Uncle Ho (Ho Chi Minh- National Hero), so an early morning trip to the Mausoleum should be in order. Apparently, it’s a rather interesting experience so make this official number one on the list.

-Cyclo, taking a cyclo tour around the touristy areas of Hanoi is about as popular a thing to do as a gondola ride in Venice, yet I have never taken that ride. Soon I’ll have to humble myself from my imaginary lofty expat status to become just another tourist in the city… will be time to whip out every single Vietnamese word I know to avoid a higher price.

-Buy a Good morning Vietnam T-shirt, obviously can’t wear it until I’m out of Asia. Speaking of touristy things to buy I’ll add a few propaganda posters to the cart. Not as cliché as a conical hat but not very groundbreaking either, but the pictures will work well on my ‘when I’m a grown up and have a big house’ wall one day.

-Need to take some ‘in the moment’ pictures of my school kids, I’m already getting a little teary thinking about saying good bye to those Grade one and two babies. Or am I trying too hard with this one?

-I’m yet to actually visit another pagoda, other than the one in Hoan Kiem Lake, they’re everywhere, I actually used to live with one on either side of my house a few months back and still lacked a proper visit. (I did however see the most interesting Catholic Church on drive out of the city yesterday)

-O and then there is this other minor thing I need to do; take a three week motorbike trip around Vietnam to bid my gorgeous home of almost two years good bye. I’ll be doing this trip with Ben through out the month of June, on his sexy gold and black and white and orange off road bike. Can’t wait, will surly blog my heart out about this.

-Get a picture of the goldfish man… if I get a picture of him it will be a post in itself. I always seem to spot him when I don’t have my camera.

-Pay at least two more visits to the Fantasy toys/Saigon Nails shop… Yes it’s a toy shop with princess and super hero outfits as well as a place to get a manicure and pedicure for 5USD. 7USD if you want nail art. I went with a cherry theme the last time.

Then there are a few things I feel I can skip:

-Eating: Dog or cat in any form whether it be hot pot of BBQ style, I don’t think it will deprive me in the slightest degree of my Vietnam experience. I know if I even thought about it my dog ‘Patches’ will know, even though Patches is long deaf and almost blind and hopefully still alive.

-While I’m on the eating topic, no snakes… no snake blood shots, no beating hearts. I’m good thanks.

- I think I might just make it through Vietnam without the conical hat pose.

-As elegant as the Ao Dai is I don’t think I need one to remember Hanoi by, I’m simply too tall and I think I’ll look a little odd. I do like seeing women wearing them but I’m not going to look good in another cultures clothes.


And then there is the been there done that list:

-Swan boats, on both West Lake and Truc Bac Lake. Fun.

-Walking on water in bubbles at the zoo. More fun than Swan boats.

-Museum of Ethnology, a worth while and colourful visit.

-Art Museum, a pleasant surprise.

-Ate uncountable bowls of Pho Bo

-Halong Bay and Catba Island, three times, so that’s a solid check next to that one.

-Wore the most ‘beautiful’ dress I could find.


-Celebrated something in Vietnam, like the 1000 year celebrations was a pretty big deal.


-Karaoke… although who gets tired of karaoke?

-Drives over Long Bien Bridge, built by Eiffel.

Ladee and the Lan

Spending my third day in bed with an ever growing danger of actually getting hooked on American Idol season 10 I realize that it’s time to update.

So here the post on how I turned cockney.

My Fair Lady, a classic in its purest form, loved by millions over generations it seems to be time proof. So HITS (Hanoi International Theater Society) thought, and well they were right. A decade of HITS is something of a big deal so the good theater people decided to go big, big as in My Fair Lady.

Thanks to my friend Dana, I was convinced to go to the auditions, not that it took much convincing… a musical? A musical! Of course I’ll try be a part of that. Hoping to satisfy that internal agony that wonders why life can’t be a musical, I found myself surrounded by drama people singing “A whole new world” and forgetting the words at the audition, this was end October last year.

Throw in some hard work over the following months, giving up at first Sunday nights then also Thursday nights, and then Tuesday nights and then in the last week just giving up sleep a group of dedicated, passionate, for the most part amateurs, Hanoians (expat and locals) put a damn fine show together. I’m a little bias.

Well many and I mean many a rehearsal later we performed to three sold out shows at the Hong Ha “retro” theater. I was a flower girl, with a few ‘cockney’ lines, as well as a snob at the Ascot races, and then also the Queens lady in waiting. Dancing some of the numbers was by far my personal highlight.

I woke up with songs like ‘Get me to the church on time’, hummed ‘With a little bit of luck’ all day through and went to sleep to ‘Wouldn’t it be loverly’. Even now a week later I can’t help but sing ‘I could have danced all night’ while driving.




For me the best part of being in this show was working with all the talented people, such a pleasure to be around creativity in motion. Hanging out with people who enjoy performing as a hobby, or for a living, means that there is hardly a dull moment.

This is something I would not easily be able to participate in back home. For the theater lover there’s plenty of option on any given weekend so not much demand for a couple of people to come together in their free time and put on show. In Hanoi however there is demand plenty, which explains why 450 seats per show was sold out days before opening night. Hmmm pressure was on.
It was also the first time that a show had Vietnamese subtitles, expanding the audience.

The Rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain

To round it all up, all proceeds where donated to HEDO, Highlands Education Development Organization, in keeping with the theme of education.

A well worth it experience!

Another one: Hoi An sublime

I know what this must look like… the second post in days about a recent holiday. I can only imagine the judgments and assumptions being formulated right now.

“Didn’t you just get back from Hong Kong a few weeks ago? What is this, 10 days in Hoi An- beach side, tourist heaven, spa and tailor filled town? Shun shun the holiday junkie”

Well, in my defense I was basically forced into taking these breaks okay. Could it be my fault that Christmas/New Year/ Visa Run and Tet are only separated by 4 weeks? No, right?

So yes, here with the post on my heavenly break away to charming Hoi An.

Like a sandwich with all the right topping but stale and tasteless bread on each side was our trip almost. Thanks to Jetstar. Both our going and returning flights were cancelled, and then the return flight we managed to get onto was delayed a spectacular 10 hours, resulting in a get into bed at 2am and work next day disaster.

People of the world listen up avoid Jetstar. They are bad and wrong and just (sigh) bad.

Hoi An seems to sell itself as a sleepy small port/town with interesting architecture and different specialized crafts, which it true enough ,but spending more than a week in such small town offers the visitor more than expected. We were simply taken by the true luxury of doing nothing without being bored.
The market is amusing, the restaurants are affordable, the shops though somewhat generic can be interesting… then there are the beaches, beautiful glorious beaches.

It really is one of the most touristy spots in Vietnam for good reason.

Other minor factors that contributed to a relaxing Tet was the fine weather from day 3, affordable Hoi An Day Spa, and cheesecake… daily amounts of perfect chocolate cheesecake. I know not exactly raving about the Cao Lau like any respectable traveler would. Not that it’s bad by any means.

Most Hanoi blogs updated during the month of January was filled with a good amount of complaining and sulking about the ridiculous cold weather we had been experiencing. It was freezing most days, horrible really. I work in a public primary school now and there were a few times that school was just out right cancelled for the day. Point I’m getting at is the dream green coat.
Dream? Green?
Yes.
A few years now, and people who know me can confirm, I have desired whole-heartedly to have a grass green fitted coat. So things seemed to fall in to place in Hoi An. Seeing as it was so insanely cold back in Hanoi, and I had a few days in affordable-to-tailor-make-just-about-anything town and I found a tailor with the exact right fabric and pattern. What’s a dreamer to do right?

All this made me in a scary way excited to get back to Hanoi so that I have reason to wear my new coat all the time (I suspect and hope that winter will only last a few more weeks). So, you can imagine my surprise to get back to Hanoi and step of the plane into a warm-1am-in-the-morning-Hanoi. My smug glances towards other passengers at the Hoi An airport with shorts and T-shirts had all been for nothing. O well, I didn’t have to wait long before yet another cold spell gripped the city, but at least now I feel pretty while I sulk.

I expected to have a bit better understanding with regards to Tet in Vietnam, seeing as last year I fled to Thailand, but apart from the small town constantly filled with the smell of incense I’m ashamed to say I didn’t really inquire deeper into the matter… must be all that cheesecake that clouded my sense of importance.

Well if there is to be another post about a break away it will have to wait a while, seems like it’s time to get back to work, so they say. They… what ever, right.

I’ll end this one off with this:
Go to Hoi An, it’s worth it
Avoid Jetstar, the cheaper tickets… so not worth it
And lastly thank goodness for a divine chocolate cheesecake free Hanoi.

The Hong Kong Escape

Tsk tsk, if only I had been a dutiful blogger like I thought I would be I would have written about my trip to Hong Kong long ago.

Anyhoo…

Nothing personal against Hanoi, but in the interest of sanity or some of version of it one needs to take a few time outs. As in get out far far away from the city. I’m not sure if it is just me but it seems the frequency of time outs increase along with the time spent here. We chose Hong Kong, partly because I had to leave the country to get my visa renewed and partly because it seemed like a good idea at the time. It was.

Arriving at a sleek and modern airport was enough to get me as excited about the rest of the trip as anything. I suddenly changed my personality from foreigner trying to fit in to wide eyed backpacker… the kind we so enjoy to make fun of here in Hanoi. Well that was up until we discovered H&M the next day and made some much needed style upgrades.

Speaking of H&M I remember Celine telling me she was close to tears when she discovered it in Seoul, I thought nothing of it, you know how the French can be. Well to my happy surprise I found myself rather emotional too when I stepped into the welcoming store of affordable lovely things. I’m sure Ben would not have me admit the unmentionable amount of hours we spent shopping… and even less the subject of Mc D and Starbucks.

Well now, it’s a month later and the best I can do is to upload few of my favorite photo’s from the magical trip… I don’t just mean the day spent at Hong Kong Disney land.

Bells Jingling in Hanoi

It is the season to be jolly… and well in Vietnam, a little perplexed. This is now my second Christmas here, and I’m convinced that this time round there are twice the amount of decorations up around the city. It’s strange, because Christmas is not really celebrated here. The big celebration is Tet, coming up end of January, however everywhere I turn I see Christmas trees, tinsel and babies dressed in Santa suites.

I understand all the shops that cater to foreigners dressing up for the occasion but not so much the rest of Hanoi. What is even more confusing is when I ask Vietnamese people what their plans are for Christmas they usually respond by saying that they will stay at home or go out with friends. For the most part, with exceptions of course Hanoians don’t seem to be too fussed about the whole thing at all. Almost to the extent that a single person could care less about Valentines day. Still, what is up with all the decorations?

Christmas time is however a time to whip out the old festive season classics… like the remixed (and o so remixed) versions of ‘Last Christmas’ and Abba’s ‘Happy New Year’. Ben and I actually heard the best one the other day while in the supermarket (on repeat), basically some strange techno version of ‘Last Christmas’ with baby sounds mixed in. So basically,

Last Christmas, I gave you my heart
(goo goo gaa gaa)
But the very next day you gave it away
(insert more strange baby ‘mixed’ sounds here)

Well it’s entertaining…. The first time round.

I have come to believe that there is some kind of rule in the world floating around, that states that if a person does not have their camera at hand they will see cooler things. For example, just two days ago I was driving on Au Co when suddenly I see a cool 25 Asian Santa Clauses on bikes just cruising along like it’s no big deal, they were advertising something, but I couldn’t really tell what. Random.

Or, like the guy I saw in traffic tonight dressed up in his Santa gear, beard and all, with the words Sun Flower sewn onto the back in miss-me-not yellow. He was not the only dressed up Santa I saw driving to and from work tonight. Yes, I had to work on Christmas eve, adding to my point that it’s not a big deal here. It’s better than having to work tomorrow like some teachers I know at other schools.

Then lastly keeping with the Father Christmas theme, I have to tell you (random reader) about my very own personal Santa encounter tonight. My absolute adorable and arguably favourite Beginner class had a little surprise waiting for me in class. I was taken by the hand and led into a dark classroom, all the while promising that my eyes are in deed shut when from behind the door a man in red suites jumps on me. So cute, one of my students had dressed up as Santa to present me with the class Christmas gift. It was a rather big and heavy painting of a Vietnamese village, I think. Nevertheless, I love that they did for me, sure does help to have stories like these to tell when you’re far away from family at Christmas time.

That’s all for now, Merry Christmas dear reader and the happiest of New Years to you!

a Tourist in my own Beautiful South Africa

Visiting South Africa a few months after the widely successful World Cup is like stumbling into a venue a few days after a major party or event. Instead of seeing empty champagne bottles strewn across the floor, bits of unfinished cake and sad balloons hovering under empty tables and chairs, I see soccer ball shaped lights, soccer themed adverts and more flags than I believed China could have produced for such an event. I was thankful to at least get a bit of the after taste of the biggest international event my country ever hosted and all together happy to find a South African flag wherever I look, in your face reminders that you are here. Lekker

Three weeks sounded like a lifetime of relaxation, social and all over refill of Africaness. This was not the case, reality in all its cruelness does allow time to fly when you are having fun. Three weeks was all I got though and I had to make it work. Can you say time management? Well I have never been good at that but I did somehow manage to hug some friends, sort out my banking, stare off into an African sunset with a Savannah dry, annoy my mother (the way she likes it), climb a mountain (range) and hang out with lions, rhinos and zebras ( Of course).




What surprised me the most is how normal everything felt, as if I never left Joburg. The experience of a year in Vietnam simply would not fit into the before and after of being home. I don’t know what I expected.

The benefit of visiting your own country is that you can go wild and act like a tourist while understanding the language and knowing about all those ‘not in the lonely planet’ places. That pretty much sums up my three-week experience actually. Between shopping in tacky touristy shops for beaded giraffe key chains, going to my favourite old coffee shops, and driving on the back roads to get there.

I love South Africa, I am confident that anybody that knows me beyond a hello can confirm this. There is so much I appreciate about the different cultures, there is so much to learn from the complex history, so much to experience and see and taste, there is so much on offer within my own unique Afrikaans culture. I miss it of course, yet there is a great peace within my heart to be away without any certain return date. Take it as it comes then…



Now I’m back in Hanoi, keeping on with keeping on. I missed the coffee and the traffic (yes the traffic she says with only a bit of sarcasm), missed my students and all these special people have somehow found while “getting ‘this’ out of my system”. I have the 1000 year Thang Long Hanoi celebrations to look forward to, in fact celebrating as I type this… great for photos, horrible for traffic. 1000 years! Now that is a long time, my own language (Afrikaans) is hardly 300 years old and my hometown (Johannesburg) is hardly 140 years old! (Don’t quote me on these numbers).

*** The big five: LION, RHINO, LEOPARD, ELEPHANT AND BUFFALO ... and side note on the side note I did manage to spot them all in one day at the Kruger National Park

An almost full year in VN, imaginary friends and general tips for staying alive

Well here we are, it’s today. I’m in the process of making my way home, after almost a whole year. The lead up to finally going home has almost convinced me that time does not fly but crawl. Now I have to reconsider this conviction.

As with lead up to New Years day, I find myself reflecting on the past few months that swear to be 11 months and one week, even if I don’t fully agree that it could have been that long. Really now, my first few days in Vietnam still rest fresh in my memory, not even to mention the nerves of facing my first class.

In my reflection, however I am once again convinced that making this decision more than a year ago has been the best one of my life. I have enjoyed this year like no other, learned so much, not just about Grammar and pronunciation rules but also about myself. Before my arrival, I didn’t know that I could teach never mind that I would actually love it as much as I do. I could go on and on about why I enjoy teaching and possibly write biographies about almost every class I have taught so far. I have a deep and sincere love for my students.

I think back on how I was so absolutely convinced that I would never ever be able to drive a motorbike in Hanoi, resolved to travel by xe om forever. This also changed and I now take great pleasure driving almost anywhere on ‘my-little-pony’, can’t believe I almost missed out on this experience. Don't dare think your living the good Hanoi expat life without a Honda wave, it's a total must have! (yes you Dana!)


This year also brought about the birth of my imaginary friend ‘Gramaal’.(Gramaal= Grammar + Taal [taal the Afrikaans word for Grammar]) He has proven himself a rather useful person when planning for lessons and good company in my nerdiness. You see, as language is now an important part of my job I find myself thinking about it a lot and I honestly think it very interesting. I do however have two full languages here in my brain so comparisons tend to surface every now and then… I then get to explain all of this to Gramaal as he really cares about this too. Nice guy that Gramaal.

ME "Hey Gramaal, did you know that there is no word for 'julle' in English, odd hey?"
GRAMAAL "What about all'yall as the English version?"
ME "I don't think so"
GRAMAAL "Okay then, thanks for that"


So as I’m going home there are a few things for me to keep in mind for personal safety and sanity (and some amusement)
-Honking here (in SA) is not a friendly and necessary way to create awareness of your existence on the road.
-Restaurant staff will not respond to “Em oi!”… pity that... or will they??
-Minor things like red lights really do mean that you have to stop the vehicle. (Ooo this one is important)
-Lock doors… all doors always.
-Accept that your next cup of truly satisfying perfect coffee will only be once your back in Hanoi. (I’m ruined to any coffee that is not super strong, iced and served with condensed milk)
-Almost everybody can understand what you are saying… do that whole “think before you speak thing” again.
-Flaunt your tan, dark and lovely here in Africa!
-Wrong side of the road is now the right side of the road.
-Nobody will get your lame ‘grammar teacher jokes’… unless you tell Gramaal or write it down to share with Ben later.
-There is nothing funny or exotic about your accent here. The way you say ‘yes’ is not that entertaining. (Tell that to Celine). You are also able to refer to ‘robots’ again without judgment.
-Bargaining... uhm, no.



*** So a few days later and I’m back in Johannesburg, was a safe and pleasant trip. I’m looking forward to my Africa refill, will be sure to update again soon.