Things are not good here at the moment. We have had a week of turmoil and demonstrations with reports there is to be a large demonstration/protest tomorrow. It all started with problems between Vietnam and China and the territorial disputes in the South China Sea, bought to a head by China putting an oil rig in the disputed area. This has led to a strong anti-China feeling within Vietnam. At least 20 factories have been vandalised or destroyed by demonstrators this week in the industrial park about 10 minutes from where I live. 2 Chinese have been killed and 2 Taiwanese injured as far as I know. Many families of Asian origin have been targeted as people fail to differentiate between countries - Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Taiwanese and even Malaysians apparently. It is sad to see the hatred emerging so strongly. Some families who lived in my apartment block have just packed up and left the country in fear of their lives. We have been advised to be careful as feeling run high and the resentment against all foreigners seems to be building up. A couple of the teachers have been harassed by gangs of men on motorbikes and one female teacher was assaulted when out running (which may be unrelated to the current situation and just the timing). .As we cannot get accurate news reports here I have been checking my email regularly to see if there are any updates from the Australian DFAT.....so far they are just advising us to take normal precautions.....hopefully it will soon settle down but in the meantime I am just being very careful and keeping my head down


Prior to this happening I have spent a few weekends in Saigon. Was lucky enough to catch up with some Tasmanian friends as they started their holiday in Vietnam.....it was so good to see some familiar faces but our time together was all too short. Not letting it get me down as I will be home in 4 months and will hopefully have plenty of time to catch up with everyone.


Also spent a weekend staying in District 7 for a change. This is a modern area of Saigon and has quite a different feel than the infamous District 1 (which is where most tourists go). District & is a leafy residential area with some lovely restaurant around and near the lake. We even found an Australian bistro!!! Unbeknownst to us at the time this is the area where the giant duck stopped off for the Vietnam leg of its world travels and boy oh boy did duck mania ht **********g the lakeside there were temporary stall holders set up selling everything related to big yellow ducks - balloons, hats etc. It was a huge hot with the locals....although I fail to see what is interesting about a big plastic yellow duck and would not go out of my way to see it....there were even couples having their wedding photos taken in front of the duck!!!!


For your interest here is an excerpt from the papers about it.....
The giant Rubber Duck, the work of internationally-acclaimed Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman, is on show at the foreigner-packed Phu My Hung residential area in Ho Chi Minh City.The iconic duck, which is the stylized, huge version of kids’ yellow toy duck,entertains spectators, particularly children, at Ban Nguyet (Crescent) Lake in District 7.The duck, the world’s largest of its kind, boasts different dimensions each time it arrives in a new venue.For the duck’s appearance in Vietnam, technicians spent one month building the 25m x 18m x 18m, 600kg duck, which is positioned on a specifically-designed 15m pontoon. The item was built from over 200 pieces of PVC (polyvinyl chloride) and has an opening at the back so that thorough checks can be performed.The duck also has an electric fanning system, which is connected to main electric currents beneath the lake surface, allowing it to be inflated at any time and in all kinds of weather.The cute icon’s father, Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman, tried to entertain the world with a tour called “Spreading joy around the world” in 2007. He shared in an interview that he aimed to recall everyone’s fond childhood memories by showcasing the duck in 14 cities around the world, starting in his hometown, Amsterdam.The adorable duck has since been exhibited in such cities like Belgium’s Lommel, Japan’s Osaka, Australia’s Sydney and Hong Kong.During its trip to HCMC, the Giant Rubber Duck will be the spotlight of a five-week fest at Ban Nguyet (Crescent) Lake in district 7. Activities at the fest include taking fun, creative photos with the duck, dance and rock shows, acoustic concerts, performances of Vietnam’s water puppetry, book fairs and souvenir booths.
The rest of my life has been rather mundane...working 40 hours a week then returning each evening to the isolation of the apartments. We are heading into the wet season so are having storms many afternoons which means I have had to cut out my nightly walks on several occasions. Still going swimming at the weekends but other than that life is relatively boring.


No more holidays till September so it will be just the semi-regular trips into Saigon to keep my sanity !!!

Bye for now. xx.