The week that was

Since we're working full time now, going to gym after work, and have still been teaching a couple of classes on the weekends, we haven't really had too much time on our hands to get up to too much. Here are a few snaps of the few things that we have managed to do:

One lunch time we decided that, instead of going for our usual coffee, we would go and sit on a bench outside. It was a lovely (aka hot but not rainy) day, but staying on the property made it feel like we didn't really have a break.

Friends of ours are moving back to America. Mike was given this bottle of whisky by one of his students so we cracked it open for a farewell dinner and drinks with them. We also played Monopoly Deal which was loads of fun!

We needed to pay the rent on our bikes so while we waited for the mechanic to check something on Ross's bike, we had a vanilla milkshake and some iced chocolate at the cafe across the road.

Every Saturday should officially be pancake day! We've been meaning to have these for ages but just haven't gotten around to making them, so last Saturday we did it! Honey, cinnamon and lime - deeeeelish!

Laaaast Sunday we had a little bit of time to kill after lunch and before Ross had to go back to work. So we decided that coffee was in order (also to give Ross the boost he needed to teach another class!). Mel had a cappuccino and Ross had an iced coffee.

During one of our lunch breaks, we had some errands to run and they went way quicker than we thought, so we decided that some pie and (you guessed it...) tea/coffee at one our favourite places (Master's Cup) was in order.

Chocolate pie and tea for Mel and pecan pie and iced coffee for Ross.

 Just as we left work the other evening (on our way to gym!), we got a flat tyre. Luckily it happened in a pretty convenient place, as there was a guy with a repair kit not too far down the road (we had to cross a very busy intersection by foot - which was rather scary). He had the tyre fixed in no time, and off to gym we went.

On Friday, lunch at school was rather average so, we decided to order some Chinese food with our work colleague / friend, Emily. We sat on benches in the school grounds and enjoyed some 'fresh' air.

Since we have been very good about going to gym, we decided to spoil ourselves with some new gym clothes. Ross went off to work on Saturday morning and Mel went shopping! Unfortunately she arrived at the market a little bit early and was not allowed to park outside. So down the road to a coffee shop she went (just for a change), to wait until opening time. Mel got some new (purple!) gym pants, as well as a very bright pink top, and Ross got a green workout shirt (not pictured).

In an effort to stay healthy, we are trying to eat as many meals as possible at home (as you can tell from this post alone, we have decided to ignore our caffine intake in this 'health drive'). Mel made this quiche, packed full of veggies, for lunch on Sunday.

The 'bell' at VStar is something quite unlike any bell that we've ever had in South Africa. One of the security guards smashes this drum as hard as he can, to signal the start amd end of the school day, and boy is it loud! Do not walk past it when it is being beaten, or risk rupturing an eardrum!

Saigon is hosting its annual Oktoberfest in a few weeks time and we've decided to go. We went in search of some outfits but first, we had to stop off and have huge fruit smoothies!

Mel and Emily with their smoothies.

An exciting development is that we have officially finished working at VUS, and will now have our weekends free to do with as we please. (We are RIDICULOUSLY excited about this!)

Bribery and teaching

One of the most successful forms of bribery at the Language Centre we work at is allowing the children to watch a music video if they work well (or if you have a few minutes at the end of class and you've finished everything that you need to). What does the fox say, Pharell's Happy and Let it go from Frozen (if you haven't watched this movie, then doooo it! It's so great) are the children who we teach's absolute favourite songs.

Here's a video of one of Ross's classes rocking out to 'What does the fox say'.

Street food

Weekends here are crazy as we both work all day Saturday and Sunday. We still only have one bike (we've been waiting for payday to get another one) and we both work at different campuses, so we have to arrange our schedules really well to make it work. This means that our lunch break is very short and we don't have too much time to try and organise food. We usually pick up a baguette or just have two minute noodles. This week, we saw the security guard at the one campus eating something that looked delicious! So we took a walk down the street and found two amazing food stalls!

First, we bought some triangle dough kind of things which could probably best be described as being like crumpets! They are all made and waiting to be eaten and when you purchase them, the man quickly fries them off in some butter so they are super healthy (haha), but man were they delicious!

Blurry photo but trust us, they were amazing!

Next we ordered a kind of wrap thing. The man put a rice paper kind of wrap onto his little fire. Next he added what we think was soya-mince, herbs and spices and then he cracked three little eggs onto it. When the egg was cooked he folded it in half and voila, delicious lunch! 

The finished product