Adel and Bryan star in the school musical "Grease"

After months of preparation and rehearsals, the night finally arrived when parents are more anxious and nervous than performing children!! What an outstanding performance - if I had not been watching them, I wouldn't know that those were my two kids singing. Joyce and I are so proud of them. 

1st Anniversary

It's been exactly one year since The Alpha International Kindergarten was opened. It's been a short, and yet long, year. We've been through so much - the worries of whether we'd be getting students, the problems with authorities, management of the school, the language etc etc...it's a wonder that we still have hair on our heads! It would have been a much, much easier process to just start a kindergarten in efficient and clean (in more than one aspect if you know what I mean) Singapore but we chose to venture out. So we have to be happy and live with our choice.

Today, we have 2 kindergartens with almost a hundred kids - guess it's not too bad a start after a year's work. There was a time when we worried whether we'd ever hit 10 students! We are thankful to God (who has seen to everything for us despite all our doubts), our families (for being so understanding), our partners and friends (for their very staunch support) and especially our 3 kids, Nicole, Adeline and Bryan for understanding despite the disruptions we brought to their lives with this shift.

Our plans for 2010 are to open at least another kindergarten and a primary school. We pray that God will continue to guide us and give us strength to face the new challenges ahead. It's very exhausting and frustrating at times, and we need to rely on more than just our own strength and effort to move on.

See what we bought

Went to Ben Thanh Market tonight - the kids had to do some shopping. This is what was bought :

2 Crumpler bags for 800k (S$60)

Socks @ 10k/pair (S$0.75)

Eagle long-sleeve Shirt @ 120k (S$9)

Bag @ 70k (S$5.20)

2 VN wallets @ 15k (S$1.20)

Bryan's boxers @ 35k (S$2.60)

10 Magnetic Necklace @ 30k (S$2.30); 35k if bought per piece

Adidas @ 50k (S$3.70) & 60k (S$4.50)

Long-sleeve shirts

Took a pix of this when I was walking past - Abercrombie slippers

Boxers @ 35k

Nicole buying magnetic necklaces (35k each)

This stall sells the cheapest Crumpler Bags

This money-changer (jewellery shop) gives good rate

--------------------------------------

More updates :

"Samsonite" bag - 200k

Metal Robot - 250k

Dragonfly (medium size) - 10 for 50k

Egg Lacquer coasters (pack of 6) - 65k

Lacquer box - 40k (Painted box), 50k (egg shell dragonfly), 60k (Painted box with eggshell)

Billabong Shirt - 60k

"Adidas" t-shirt - normal 55k; with printing 60k

"Levi's" bermudas - 90k; buy 2@80K

3m embroidered table cloth with 12 emb napkins @ 250k (Saigon Tax Trade Center)

"Saigon" emb t-shirt XXXXL @ 50k (Roadside)

Filigree picture @ 120k (Central Post Office)

2 Magnetic necklace @ 25k (Saigon Tax Trade Center)

 

Phu My Bridge & East-West Highway

Decided to recce the newest bridge across the Saigon River while waiting for Adel to finish at the hairdresser's. Had been wanting to do this since its opening on 2 Sep 2009, Vietnam's National Day. This cable-stayed bridge is about 2km long and connects Dist 7 to Dist 2. It is the 3rd bridge across the Saigon River. The road leading to the bridge is still under construction (from Dist 7 side). Access to the bridge is via the side roads for now. It is the world's most modern bridge in terms of suspension cable technology, so claims the project co-investor Phu My Bridge Corporation. (Note : If you want to see the bridge, better go now as it'll be open to big vehicles after Dec 09.)

A 4th crossing, the Thu Thiem Tunnel, is still under construction. This 1,490m tunnel will be the longest in SE Asia when completed, with 371m running under the Saigon River. I have already biked on the new East-West Highway that leads to the uncompleted Thu Thiem Tunnel. Originally slated to open in 2007, the highway was finally declared opened on 2 Sep 09 (auspicious date, huh?) and spans 8 districts...well, better late than never. It's a nice piece of work for Vietnamese standard; traffic is light along this stretch (about 14km for now) which is a blessing indeed. It links Binh Tan to Dist 1, passing Binh Chanh, Cho Lon (Dist 5), Dist 6, Dist 8 and Dist 4. Problem is that the bike lane gets flooded in heavy downpours - poor drainage again.






































































The new Phu My bridge is a place for lovers, vendors and sight-seeing - yes, you just park your bike at the side, buy a snack or just "makan angin" and enjoy the view ... until the police comes!!!

Ref : Baovietnam

It's that time of year again ... for visits

Let's count the visits for Nov and Dec 2009 :

David Kuoh - 9 Nov to ?

Nicole - 26 Nov to 1 Dec 

Roderick - 26 Nov to 7 Dec

Vincent Lee & Family - 26 Nov to 1 Dec

Raj - 1 Dec to ?

Fong & friends - 3 to 7 Dec

Chris & friends - 17 to 22 Dec

A warm welcome to everyone.

Vietnam's Teachers' Day

It's Vietnam's Teachers' Day today, and Vietnamese parents put their international counterparts to shame with the gifts and flowers that they send to the school and teachers. Even the principal gets flowers and gifts! In my school back home, I'll be in seventh heaven if 2 parents were to wish me a Happy Teacher's Day, let alone buy flowers and gifts. It's good to know that teachers are held in high regard here and that regard is outwardly expressed on Teachers' Day. No point having nation-wide surveys showing that teachers are highly regarded but everyone keeps mum about it. Keep it up, Vietnam!

Life and weather

Life is different in HCMC. There were floods here the last few days even though there was no rain. Strange phenomenon to a SIngaporean - but I've got used to it by now but no less frustrated. The tides were exceptionally high and broke the banks. Coupled with the backward drainage system of the city, many streets (and homes) flooded. Had to divert from my usual route to school yesterday (if I'm not to get my shoes and trousers wet) but unfortunately ran into an exceptionally dusty highway - still can't figure out why it was so dusty on Sat. As if that's not enough, there came a sudden 10-minute downpour at noon ... on a sunny afternoon ... just when I was all packed and ready to go home. That's life here.

Today's weather was hot and humid, no rain to cool down. But it can come anytime. There's a lovely sunset today, though ... will never have such views back home in Singapore - I appreciate that here.

... half an hour later

Purse picked @ LotteMart

Joyce had her purse picked last night - 2 VN women had her constantly sandwiched between them while she was buying vegetables at LotteMart, moving where she moved and picking the same vegetables. While waiting for the vegetables to be weighed, the 2 women left their vegetables and took off, with Joyce and the weighing staff shooting them dirty looks. It was only a while later that Joyce realized the 2 women had unzipped her purse and took off with her cash. Looks like they've been eyeing her for a while.

LotteMart is new and about 5 minute's walk from where we live. There's a huge supermarket on the ground floor, with shops, apparel outlets, food courts, a bookshop and cinemas on the 1st and 2nd floor. It's convenient for us as they have a free delivery service. So we just buy our groceries and they send it up - this is one good thing about VN supermarkets - they all have free delivery service. Prices are reasonable at some outlets although there are one or two expensive shops too.

Latest Shopping News

RUSSIAN MARKET

After weeks of procrastination, we finally "found" time to "find" the new Russian Market (RM), which is quite near to Pham Ngu Lau, the backpackers' area in District 1 (about 15 min walk). It is located at a block of pink apartments (Central Garden Complex) and can only be entered from the new East-West Highway. It's a far cry from it's original state - there were only a handful of shoppers on a Sunday morning. It's a smaller and poorer cousin to Saigon Square and the variety less than the old RM, which was recently reopened (in Lucky Plaza at Nguyen Hue Street) after some renovation works. The good thing was that it had good air-conditioning which unfortunately sent the vendors under their cloths and blankets after lunch (for their mandatory siesta). That didn't make for a good shopping experience; seems like the vendors are all in agreement not to serve the customers but to let them browse at their own time; good in a certain sense.

Russian Market

Central Garden Complex

225 Ben Chuong Duong

District 1

Banner outside RM

RM looking nice and colourful on the outside ...

...but empty inside

Came across a Bambo branch (a local t-shirt chain)

Had lunch at a Monaco cafe (2nd level)

SAIGON PARAGON SHOPPING MALL

(Update : The management of Saigon Paragon has been taken over by Parkson since Jan 2011)

This is one of the latest shopping centre to be opened (first half of 2009, I think) - in District 7, next to the new Saigon Exhibition and Convention Centre. Looks grand and has "Batman" spotlights spotting the sky. Very tempted to put a "Batman" logo there!! But it's as dead as a "ghost shopping centre" (adapted from "ghost town" ... get it?) can get.

Went for dinner at the basement foodcourt on a weekday - you could count the number of diners on your toes!!

There are 4 levels of shops (mostly branded, like Paragon in Singapore) but hardly any shoppers. Megastar Cineplex is located at the 5th level. Things are expensive here - and so not much fun shopping. My idea of great shopping is buying stuff at great discounts or bargain prices. In case you think I'm exaggerating about this ghost town, see the photos :

Nobody ...

and no body ...

Joyce browsing @ Esprit

If you are really desperate to get to this place, you'll have to take a cab from town - about 30-40 minutes from District 1 depending on the traffic.

It has a nice website though.

NOWZONE FASHION MALL

"Now", this is a much better shopping centre to go to, with 4 levels of shops. Each level has small individual outlets and so far, there seem to be quite a number of "sale" going on. Prices are more affordable, so for those who do not like shopping along the streets and at night markets, this is one place to go.

Daiso opened its first store here - everything goes for 30,000VND.

I bought an original Ecko jeans at a discounted price of about 200k (20% of the original price) - now that's a real bargain.

Joyce had a better time shopping along the street outside Nowzone, bought a decent blouse for 60k. T-shirts at the roadside go for about 50k. There's also a bookshop near Nowzone (can't remember the name now) - quite a big one and sells lots of other stuff apart from books and stationery. Mostly patronized by locals - so if you want a taste of local life, this is one place to go.

The food court at the top level serves quite good food - at SG prices. You'll have to buy a card, tell the staff how much you're buying (about 150,000VND is more than sufficient for 2 pax), and she'll add the value in the card for you - like our MRT top-up card. After your meal, you can get an instant refund of the remaining value - strange system to me.

NOWZONE

235 Nguyen Van Cu

District 1

Stairs or Escalator?

How do you get people to use the stairs and not the escalator? Think about it for a minute and then see one creative solution below - brilliantly creative or creatively brilliant?

A day in the life of an Industrial Zone worker

This is the story of an Industrial Zone worker in Vietnam - repeated millions of times over. It's a heart-wrenching tale of trying to improve one's lot - how does one get out of the vicious cycle of poverty? Compare this with Singapore, where many gripe and complain about the smallest of inconveniences ... it's a sin the way we take things for granted in SG!!!

Part 1

Part 2

 

Cai Be - Vinh Long Mekong Tour

Molly, Joyce and I departed nice and early at 7am with 9 TAIK staff. Took about 2 hours to reach Cai Be where Phu, our friend from Vinh Long (he owns a tour company there) personally took over the tour and led us through. Here's our itinerary :

Toilet break (no, not in the pond!!!)

Photo time with TAIK Staff

All set and ready to roll

First stop - Cai Be Floating Market

Coconut Candy Cottage Industry

Pop-rice is next

Flattening the caramel-coated pop-rice

Buying goodies

Row, row, row your own boat...

Trying hard to row without rolling over...

Lunch : Elephant Ear Fish - a Mekong Delta Speciality and lots of other Vietnamese cuisine. Thank you, Mrs Phu

And finally, kissing the orange at Vinh Long market

The trip back was delayed because of road works and jams. Took 3h 15m when it should be 2h 30m. And we left Vinh Long early - 2.35pm. If we had departed later, we would have taken even longer to reach back. Always be prepared to be stuck in jams when coming back from a tour anywhere in VN.

Molly's here

Molly's here with Nicole for a short visit from 19 to 22 Sep 09. Molly is Joyce's aunt. Booked the Cu Chi tour this evening and had a good dinner at Hai Lua Restaurant in Ben Thanh Market. Had a shopping good time, esp with the Crumpler bags. The backpack went for 500k, the camera bag for 350k and the 2 laptop bags for 390k/350k- the cost of all 4 bags is less than 1 in SG!!! 

Tomorrow, we're making a trip to Cai Be for our Mekong tour.

Pastor John's visit

Pastor brought along 2 new friends for me - Alan and Kian. It was great to share with them my experiences here and to learn about their experiences too. Pastor also introduced Fred Ong who has been here in HCMC for 19 years - sure have a lot to learn from him. Thank you, Pastor.

Kian, Pastor and Alan at TAIK

Raj's here ... again

This fellow loves HCMC - he should shift over. Thanks for the button mushrooms, mate. Raj thought someone was hoarding BMs here but the fact is that VNese do not take to BMs - they prefer straw mushrooms. Had a good time catching up over dinner. See you back here soon.

Visiting Time again

Mom and Dad came for a week's visit - dropped by to see the 2 kindys and went to Mui Ne too. Did quite a bit of shopping. Brought Dad to see Binh Dien Wholesale Market, the biggest wholesale market in SE Asia. Just dropped them off at the airport for their flight back.

In Sep 09, it'll be Raj, and then Pastor John and his friends before Nicole and Molly pops over. Wonder who'll be coming next?

Mum @ ASYC

Mum @ TAIK - helping Suri to colour

Dad saying hello to Yogurt

Dad @ Binh Dien Wholesale Market - the biggest in S E Asia.
In the background is one block - there are 6 of these. See plan on next pix.

No we didn't...

Yes we did ... and then, no, we didn't. That's the problem doing business in VN. It's hard to get them to keep their word. So there goes Kindy No 3. The excuse - they need to complete the toilets and need another 6-12 months!!! 12 months to complete a toilet??? I must say they totally and completely have no imagination - can anyone help them come up with a creative excuse not to rent to us?

Rambutan and Durian Season

It's the rambutan season now over in HCMC - or chom chom as they are known here in Vietnamese. There seems to be two varieties - the cheaper, bigger ones going at 3,500 (30cents) to 5,000VND (40cents)/kg (or sometimes 3kg for 10,000VND) and the smaller, sweeter but more expensive cousin at 15,000VND/kg. Wonder how much is a kg of rambutans in Singapore now?

Durians are also in season now, the ones I buy are 25,000VND/kg and they're good.

Yes, we got it ...

Yes, we got our third kindergarten at a reasonable rent today. Unless the owners change their minds tomorrow (which is highly common here), we will start our new school year on 7 Sep 09. Seems like the preparation time gets shorter with each kindergarten that we have. This 3rd one will be a real rush. We have barely 6 weeks to get everything in place and ready. The good thing, like I said earlier, is that it is in a move-in condition. So we only need to equip the place and clean it up. More updates later.

Third kindergarten?

This is a location recommended by one of our students' parents and so we went to take a look. It's a nice place tucked between 2 blocks of apartments, and there's a swimming pool. It's quite self-contained with a kitchen, classrooms and offices and definitely in a move-in condition. Problem with the place is that there are only 4 classrooms which means a limited number of students - quite a waste of space.
















































Indoor swimming pool















View from 2nd floor of kindergarten