Good Morning, Vietnam

I thought this break was never going to come. I was up to my eyeballs in marking exams, recording class marks and preparing all my lesson plans for the first half of the semester; so much so I had to recruit my colleagues to give me a helping hand. The Thai teachers has decided not to give any of my classes answer sheets for their exams (their tests are all multiple choice) which meant that I would have had to hand mark all 379 (to be exact) papers by hand in two days...that just wasn't going to happen. So, by the time the annual staff Christmas party came around, I definitely breathed a huge sigh of relief. Once again, I did perform at the party with my colleagues and it was so much fun! Kharen and I had been working for weeks choreographing and teaching the 8 minute routine and the 9 of us that performed all worked our butts off, and boy did it pay off! It was a great showcase and if you're reading this, I can't thank you enough for putting up with me and for dancing your little tooshes off ;)

Dancing in the Christmas show was so much fun.

As Christmas eve rolled around, I headed down to Bangkok to start off my winter break. My friend Wut let me spend Christmas eve with him and we decided to go to DJ station (the biggest gay bar in Bangkok) to ring in Christmas Day. We got there around 11:30pm and arrived to a pack dancefloor and a multitude of Drag Queen/Lady boys singing the gayest of Christmas songs. It was fabulous haha. Christmas Day was perhaps the most relaxing Christmas I've ever had. Granted, it didn't feel a lot like Christmas due to being so far away from home, but in comparison to last year, where I spent my Christmas Day in a tiny mini bus in Cambodia, it definitely came as a welcome change. I met up with Marisa that evening to go to an Irish Pub for Christmas Dinner. However, before all that excitement, we were crushed to find out that Marisa couldn't procure her visa to Vietnam in time for our trip the next morning. Both of us were under the impression that you could get your visa on arrival. That, in essence, is true however you have to get a confirmation letter from a governing body in Vietnam to accept your visa application which Marisa was unable to get in time. So that meant I would have to travel to Hanoi alone whereas Marisa decided to fly to Singapore early and spend the holidays at her sister's house.

My first time in Vietnam. A great way to end 2015.

The next afternoon, I left the scorching heat of Bangkok and landed in chilly Hanoi. Now for a regular Brit, the temperature in Hanoi would be considered rather mild; but after living in Thailand for over a year where I now consider 25C to be cold, arriving in Hanoi on a Saturday evening with a low of 12C, it was a fair to say I wasn't that prepared nor was I the biggest fan of it. Feeling rather disorientated after what was a pretty sketchy taxi ride to my hotel, I decided to play it safe, get a SIM card and find some 'western' food to eat. However, that was much harder than first predicted. One of the hotel staff took me to a little shop where I purchased a SIM off a dude that could barely speak any English. He even had to cut the SIM card with SCISSORS so it would fit in my phone...! And for finding western food, the hotel staff led me in the completely wrong direction so I ended up grabbing a motorcycle taxi for 50,000d (80B) to a KFC (surprise surprise...) (oh, and KFC vietnam isn't great FYI) and then tried to get one back where this old pervert of a driver tried to charge me TRIPLE on the way back, thinking I was completely oblivious. The whole ride home, he kept telling me about the sexy massages and strip clubs of Hanoi which clearly I wanted to stay well away from. And the best part? He didn't even take me back to my hotel. He didn't know where it was so he just gave up -- so I just gave him 100,000d (that's the smallest note I had) and walked back. So overall, my first night in Vietnam wasn't the greatest...

Trấn Quốc Pagoda. The first landmark on my first day exploring Hanoi.

The next day I decided to go out and explore the wonders of the city. Luckily for me, I had met a guy named Apollo, who had offered to take me to all the landmarks on Hanoi on the back of his motorcycle which would a) save a lot of time, b) save money by not getting ripped off by taxi drivers and c) get a different experience of Hanoi from a local. Apollo is originally from Hanoi, but had spent most of his life living in Canada and Switzerland, so he had a superb level of English as well as a great love of culture and arts -- which fared well when showing me around the landmarks as he was able to explain the history behind each place that we visited. Our first stop was the oldest Buddhist temple in Hanoi, Trấn Quốc Pagoda. It is located near the west lake in Hanoi and is believed to be around 1500 years old. There were many visitors to the small temple that was there and we roamed around the grounds just before the morning prayer. It was interesting to view the Buddhist practices and architecture of Vietnam in comparison to Thailand. 

Inside the grounds of the Temple of Literature.

Secondly, we visited the Temple of Literature, which is host to Vietnam’s first university, the Imperial Academy. We began exploring the landmark at the lake of literature which was to the south of the compound, before walking through the main gate and entering the first of many courtyards within the attraction. The main courtyard had a small pond in the middle of it. At the time, many university students were taking their graduation shots there. Around the corners there stood many tombstones with alumnae’s names carved on it. I was curious to know why the tombs were stood upon turtles; Apollo had told me that it is because the turtle represents wisdom and longevity, as well as being one of Vietnam’s four holy creatures (the others being the dragon, the phoenix and the unicorn). After roaming the grounds some more, we headed to lunch where I got a taste of my first Vietnamese food. And let me tell you, I was not disappointed! Apollo took me to this very small little restaurant called on Hang Manh street where we ate ‘bún chả’ which is essentially vermicelli noodles with grilled beef in a broth in addition to some spring rolls which had crab inside them. It was absolutely delicious and the bill only came to 60000d (90B) per person…so cheap!

So glad to have my own personal tour guide to show me around Hanoi!

After lunch, we visited perhaps what is known as the hub of Hanoi, Hoàn Kiếm Lake. In the centre of a lake stood what looked to be a small temple, known as the Turtle tower. Apollo explained the story behind the temple and the lake and how according to the legend, the emperor at the time, Lê Lợi came across the turtle god who had asked to return the magic sword he had found. It is claimed that the sword was owned by the Dragon King and was used during a war against the Ming Dynasty of China. As we walked around the lake, some local students stopped us and asked the practice their English with us. This turned into a half hour conversation about what I was doing in Hanoi, where I came from, and how much I love Taylor Swift (one of the students was a fellow swiftie). To conclude our day exploring, Apollo and I reunited that evening for dinner (which was another amazing Vietnamese dish named Bánh mì thịt xiên which is essentially a french baguette with meat and cheese inside it). We walked around the old quarter and purchased tickets to see the infamous Water Puppet Show for the following evening.

These University students were so keen to talk to me and practice their English.

Missing Marisa and feeling that I had explored all I could from Hanoi, I decided to cut my trip short by one day and head back  to Bangkok on the 29^th instead of the 30^th. So on my final day in Hanoi, I rested for most of the morning (as I was coming down with a cold), managed to then walk around the old quarter alone and find myself back at the lake, where I was ripped off for some donuts by an old Vietnamese woman. As she helped me across the road, she handed me a bag donuts and almost (before I cottoned on to what she was doing) charged me around 450,000d (720B) but by making a scene I managed to get most of money back but still ended up paying around 150,000d (240B) which was still a ridiculous price. Nevertheless, I tried to not let those bad experiences cloud my judgement too much on a city/country that in all fairness I had only visited for 48 hours. Like I said, that evening I met with Apollo and we visited the world famous water puppet show at the Thăng Long theatre. Known as Múa rối nước, the water puppet show dates back to the 11^th century as is a comical and fun display of the culture and history of Vietnam – it was a thoroughly enjoyable show. It was a great way to wrap up what had been a short and sweet trip to Hanoi. Like I said, I felt that with just exploring Hanoi, two days was enough. However, I would to travel back and really dedicate a good chunk of time to explore the whole of Vietnam because I've heard such great things.

Preview of the famous water puppet show.

A giant thanks to Apollo for being such an amazing tour guide and I'm very happy to say I've made a new friend on my travels. Now, roll on Singapore for New Years!

Roll on Singapore with this one!

Bangkok for Drinks and Bike For Dad

After working for 12 days straight, it was finally time for a little weekend break. With the King's Birthday falling on Saturday December 5th, we were lucky enough to be given a 3 day weekend to make the most of. Whilst my friends either chose to stay in Korat or head to the beaches of Koh Chang, I decided to venture to Bangkok with Marisa and Georgia for a weekend of shopping, drinks, and good food. To utilise my weekend to the max, I headed down Friday night after school. Expectations of arriving in Bangkok at a decent hour were pretty low due to my 6 hour bus ride to the capital this time last year; and I was right to have those doubts. I didn't reach Bangkok until 11pm and didn't get to my friend until almost midnight. We decided to still head out for a few drinks (with my holdall and backpack still with me...) before calling it a night.

Getting our long weekend off to a great start!

My girlfriends didn't arrive in Bangkok until late afternoon the next day so I decided to meet up with some other farang friends, Phoebe and Elena. We grabbed some early dinner together before getting the party started at Charley Brown's -- a really cool Mexican restaurant/bar on Sukhumvit Soi 11. Considering my usual hang out spot in Bangkok is Silom, it came as a nice change to explore a different part of Bangkok's nightlife that wasn't a trashy as Khaosan...(no offense...). After many a passionfruit margarita, Georgia, Marisa and I made our way to a really cool Australian bar for the rest of the night. When we first arrived, no one was on the dance floor so being in the merry states that we were, we felt obliged to get it going (which was appreciated by the band haha). Like I had said, this was the first time going on in this area and I thoroughly enjoyed it (well, what I can remember of it anyways) and this bar had a really cool live band that played pop hit after pop hit all night.

Marisa, Myself, Georgia, Elena and Phoebe at Charley Brown's

The next day, I was very excited to venture to IKEA and Cotton On at Mega BangNa. Now for those of you that don't know what Cotton On is, think of it like an Australian Primark, yet the stuff is even cuter! Whereas Marisa and I were veterans of the wonders of this store, Georgia had never been before ; I don't think she quite knew what she let herself in for. This store in Bangkok was by far the biggest Cotton On store I had visited and all three of us were lost in there for well over an hour. Collectively, we must have spent close to B7000 on items so it was well worth the visit. Later that evening, we went to the EM district to check one of Bangkok's most up and coming night markets; ArtBox. I had visited twice before when they were based at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre, so I was excited to see what new things they had to accompany their move. This night market felt like hipster central; there were lots of little stands to satisfy any foodie, experimental drinks to satisfy any party-goer, and tons of art and fashion stalls to satisfy every Bangkok hipster there was.
Before we knew it, the three day break had come to an end (ironic how the longer breaks seem to go quicker than our regular weekends off...) and back to Korat we went to begin my last week of teaching. Well, I would say 'last week of teaching', but with already having Monday off thanks to the long weekend, as well as having the upcoming Thursday off too (due to Constitution Day) AND a half day on Friday due to Bike for Dad (more about that in a bit), it only turned into two days of teaching or as I made it, two days of making Christmas cards with my classes (it was definitely one way of keeping them occupied and quiet!)

ArtBox Night Market at Phrom Phong BTS

On Friday, we were initially told we would have the entire day off due to the Bike for Dad event, but it ended up us leaving at 2pm. Those who had registered for the event, which is a huge cycling event in honour of the King (who had just celebrated his 88th birthday the Saturday before) were able to attend. Just like for Bike for Mom, the event saw thousands of participates ride around a 29km route of Korat in honour of the royals. For the Bike for Dad event, the turn out was even bigger than Bike for Mom, plus there were events held not just in Thailand, but across practically every major city in the world. Archna, Shubhu, Grace and myself went over with Shubhu and I cycling together and Grace and Archna further behind us. I felt the route wasn't as long as Bike for Mom, considering the finish was about 2km shy of where Bike for Mom finished however the atmosphere was just as electric. With Korat being so flat, it makes the route super easy to ride and Shubhu and I were done in just over 90 minutes. I had hoped the event began slightly earlier as by the time we were done, it had gone dark which, seeing some of the cyclists participating, would cause hazard to the roads! But, it was a great event and nice way to end what felt like an incredibly short week.

Bike for Dad 2015

Next week are Midterms followed by the Christmas fair and parties. Unfortunately I have to teach next Monday and Tuesday and I have NO clue what I'm going to do as I've covered everything...maybe more Christmas cards? haha.