Haven't written anything for a few weeks. Still getting settled into a new country. Got taken to the bank to open our bank accounts...what a strange place....there is a giant teapot outside and when you walk in there is a cafe and shops.....where was the actual bank???......several floors up in a glass elevator......I would never have found it on my own!!!! Got the account opened, set up internet banking and made sure my ATM card would work as the bank is a far way out of the city centre and I don't want to return unless absolutely necessary. With no motorbike it would entail a taxi and I hate wasting money on taxis!!! Last time I wrote I was looking forward to finally getting paid... however pay day came and went and no money was to be seen!!!! Turns out someone in HR did not manage to write our names correctly so our money bounced between the bank and the company for several days. To say we were annoyed and frustrated would be an understatement. To top it off we were also waiting to be reimbursed for our health checks and visas so money was tight which meant no traveling :(

Working at the University is settling into a rhythm now so am ready to start exploring a bit further afield than the local area BUT of course one needs money to do that!!!. Maybe it was providence because I ended up sick last weekend from some dodgy food so could not have gone anywhere anyway!!!! Looking at my photos one would be forgiven if you all thought I did was drink cocktails but truly I am doing more....just not getting the photos to show it.

All is well now, we finally got paid on Tuesday and got some of our reimbursement money on Wednesday so quickly planned a weekend trip into Saigon. Left work on Friday afternoon on the company bus which dropped us into the centre of Saigon. Unfortunately it was in the middle of a tropical downpour and we had no idea which way to head to our hotel. Retreated to a nearby cafe to dry off and try to find our bearings. Thought we had it sorted but still ended up walking in circles around Turtle Lake.......clearly I am not good at map reading!!! Once I finally worked out which road to head down it turned out our hotel was only about a 10 minute walk away even though we had been walking in the dark for about 40 minutes!!!

Got to our hotel, freshened up and headed out for dinner. Tanya had a recommendation for a Czech restaurant for us to try so we went there for dinner. Turned out that the restaurant also had a micro brewery attached where they brew their own beer. Needless to say we had to sample the local product and of course it took more than one to be sure!!! Food was great but we were disappointed in the decor - we had checked out their website and it looked wonderful with painted frescos on the ceiling and tablecloths on the table giving a very European look but in reality we had a wooden table and bare ceilings. The novelty was getting tot eh restaurant. We had walked there from our hotel and once we found the laneway we were met by a man who told us to wait.......????? what was going on???? Next thing a little golf cart came driving up to pick us up and drive us to the restaurant......we assumed it must be some distance away but turned out to be only 200 metres which we could have walked quite easily!!!! Oh well go with the flow.

Got up Saturday morning ready to do some serious shopping!!! After a hearty breakfast at our hotel we headed out. First stop was "shoe" street where we went from shop to shop trying on a multitude of shoes. I was very proud of myself for remaining contained and only purchased one pair!!!!! We then headed down various streets to see what else we could find and ended up finding a local clothing market.......no tourist prices for us......ended up buying 2 new dresses for next to nothing. Even found a bag spa......seriously it was a spa for handbags!!! Guess if you are spending thousands of $$$$ on a Prada, Gucci or whatever then it probably deserves a spa pampering!!!

Mid afternoon after dropping our purchases at our hotel it was time for some sightseeing. Tanya has not been to Saigon before so we headed to the iconic central post office and Notre Dame Cathedral. First time all day that we had seen another foreigner and suddenly we were surrounded by them. It felt bizarre having the local street sellers trying to flog us cheap trinkets like we were visiting tourists..... suddenly it feels real that I am really living here not a visitor, not a tourist but truly a resident!!!

That evening we decided to wear our new purchases and headed to District 1 for dinner at a very disappointing ( and expensive!) Mediterranean restaurant which only redeemed itself slightly by having a decent Australian sauvignon blanc before I took Tanya to the infamous Saigon Saigon Bar on the rooftop of the Caravelle Hotel. We spent far too many hours drinking cocktails, listening to the band and watching the lights of the city......after paying our several million dong bill we decided that 3am was time to head back to our hotel.

Got up this morning with a heavy head, crawled down to breakfast which revived us slightly but decided we would check out and head down to get the bus back to Thu Dau Mot. Turned out that out hotel was really well located as the bus station was also within walking distance for us. Arrived back early afternoon when it was time for nap...... clearly I am not as young as I like to think I am and cannot survive on 4 hours sleep anymore!!!

All in all we had a fantastic weekend. Managed to keep away from the usual tourist haunts of the infamous "backpacker" area, got to eat a range of different cuisines, shopping, sightseeing and enjoying the Saigon Saigon cocktails.

Back to work tomorrow but no teaching this week as our students have mid-quarter exams. Will be spending the week invigilating exams and marking papers as well as spending hours listening to students in their speaking tests.

Got some brochures while in Saigon so we can start planning some more weekend adventures.

Bye for now. xxx