Touch Rugby tournament

So anyone who kind of know Ross will know that he LOVES rugby! Since he doesn't play contact rugby any more, he lives for touch rugby. Last Saturday he played in a tournament and his team won!!! It's such a super achievement since the Anzack's usually win it and they've been undefeated for the last 6 tournaments. The entire crowd was supporting Ross's team and the vibe in the stands was awesome! The match was extremely close and intense but the Harry Casual Barbarians managed to win 3-2.

Ross in action

 

Goooo Craig!

A VERY happy face!

Life Lately

Craig convinced us to do a 'fun' run the other weekend at one of the local universities. We had to be there at 7am. On a Sunday. In classic Vietnam style, we were treated to some entertainment before the race started. The RMIT cheerleaders performed for us and we didn't really have high hopes for them but they were surprisingly good! We then did a 'fun' warm-up and then of course the race started late and by that time it was HOT! 

Warming up!

Smiling but I can guarantee you I wasn't happy! haha!

After the race, we all decided that a good breakfast was needed. We went to a place in Phu My Hung called 'Eden' and it was so great! A gym who was one of the race sponsors was handing out vouchers for free juices at their cafe. They were only valid for that day so we had to make use of them. After a mandatory gym viewing we had our rasberry, mango smoothies and they were great! That followed by a Skype session with Lyndall and Mila made for an awesome Sunday!

So we've been doing shoe testing for Adidas for quite a few months now. We've received two pairs of casual shoes each and Mel has received a pair of running shoes. Ross was finally brought his pair of running shoes. They're very yellow but very cool! We're excited to get our next pair of free shoes in the next few days.

We were invited to a restaurant in District 1 called '5KU'. It's restaurant where you barbeque your own meat at the table. First, Google Maps took us to the wrong place which was also happened to be a barbeque place. We were at 127 instead of 27! When we eventually figured out that we were at the wrong place, we wound our way through the maze of one-way streets that is District 1 and found the restaurant. By then we were starving so we ordered ostrich, octopus and okra. The meat comes deliciously prepared and marinated so all you need to do is chuck it on the braai.

Ostrich and some ocotopus tentacles on the braai.

Okra with chilli sauce

Saturday is usually our errand day. We finished everything on our to-do list early and we had some time to kill before Mel started her tutoring job. We ordered some delicious passion-fruit and yogurt drinks at one of the restaurants at the base of the apartment block.

While most people were enjoying Easter eggs, hot-cross buns, and most importantly, spending time with family, we were doing a race! We had to get there bright and early (5.30am!) and we were greeted by a really long line to check in. When we eventually got to the front, it was almost time for us to start. We quickly checked our bags in and ran to the start line. After a quick warm up we were sent off. The first obstacle was the “human barbecue”. It was basically a teeny tiny line of fire that we had to jump over! We then made our way through the 5km course, conquering as many obstacles as we could. If one member of our team couldn’t complete a task then the entire team had to do 20 burbees each. Luckily, there were only three obstacles that we all couldn’t complete (crossing a very thin balance beam, monkey bars, and ringing a bell at the top of a very high rope). We were battered and bruised (well I was) at the end of the course. It was great fun and Ross, Craig, and Michael are absolute champs for literally pulling and pushing me through the race. 

Before... still clean and un-bruised.

The best teammates ever!!!

After the race, we had an amazing braai with Criag, Abby (an American girl who lives on our floor), and Stacey and Tom (two of Craig's friends who have just moved here and are staying with him). We were joined later by two of our other friends Nix and Steve. They brought milk tart for dessert and it was amazing!

Life lately

So, life lately hasn't been too exciting. We've cut down on the amount of doughnuts that we eat in aid of our waistlines so no fun doughnut pics, and we aren't doing too much on weekends in a bid to save a little bit of cash where we can. We also forget to take pics when we do, do things! Mel has started tutoring a little girl on Saturday mornings. She's in Grade One at an international school and she speaks English fluently. So far the tutoring has been really easy as it's basically just chatting and facilitating homework, definitely worth the extra money!

Mel loves making breakfasts on weekends, as there isn't much time to do anything of significance before work. She usually makes eggs in some form, or banana pancakes! These have become a firm favourite in the Goldstone Jr. household. We love carbs in this household, so there's definitely flour in them, no banting here! Pair them with honey, peanut butter, and bacon and you have a winner!

We had a super lazy day last Sunday, and we literally didn't leave the house once! By the time dinner rolled around we were still lazy, so we decided to order in rather than cook. We tried out a restaurant called Tango Juice and it was amazing! Ross ordered a 'build-it-yourself' sandwich, where there are lots of options of toppings to choose from. Mel got the lamb pita with tzatziki which was incredible. They'll definitely be top of our list next time we order some food.

Mel is busy teaching her kiddos about food at the moment, so in a bid to get them interested, she took some pictures of her school lunch - foods that the students can recognise. The lunch below was a really good one, as often the soup isn't to our liking and cucumber and tomato aren't the norm. We are very lucky as foreigners, that we can request trays to be made up for us of the foods that we like, as often the choices aren't great.

Top Left: Broccoli, green beans, onion and tofu.
Top middle: Cucumber and tomato.
Top right: Pork chop.
Bottom left: Veg soup.
Middle: Pineapple.
Bottom right: Rice with soya sauce.