Tiny Dancer

Scarlett is really enjoying her ballet lessons.  Her teacher, Miss Tam, is a tiny little thing but boy does she have those kids sorted.  She is quite ruthless and blunt and takes no rubbish from the kids.  There are 12 girls in the class and to her credit, she manages to control them all.  No mean feat let me tell you.  I must admit at first I though she was a little too tough but watching the way the girls respond has made me realise that her methods are working. Interesting learning curve for me as I am used to the "Thats a really good try" school of thinking as opposed to the "no, thats not right" one.  I am surprised at how well Scarlett is listening and how long her attention span is lasting. The discipline is good for her and for now she is really loving it.  Still a bit shy but I'm sure that will pass.  It is also a bit strange that I am the only mum that sits and watches the class.  Joy of joys...last week I found out the WiiFi password so its time to take the iPad and have some quality mind numbing computer time, while watching my little ballerina of course!

 

Happy St Patricks Day

May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind always be at your back.

May the sun shine warm upon your face,

and rains fall soft upon your fields.

And until we meet again,

May God hold you in the palm of His hand.

International Womens Day

International Womens Day is a pretty big deal over here.  I was pleasantly surprised to receive gifts from the 2 most important men in my world.  Great to see the schools teaching the young boys how to appreciate the women in their lives. The little person in the bottom left corner is me and is not small, it is the heart that is huge Quiddy tells me, because it is full of love. Nawwww.  Thanks guys!

Just hangin' out on the weekend.

The dreaded dentist

Those who know me know just how much I hate the dentist.  I don't just hate the dentist...I am terrified of the dentist.  I am not going to tell you the last time I went as you will roll your eyes in horror.  Lets just say, um....primary school.  You will be please to know I was walking past Westcoast Dental the other day and on the spur of the moment, went in for a check up. I know you must think I am mad but if I had have made an appointment I would have made up an excuse to cancel again and again and again.  So spur of the moment it was and the results were surprisingly good.  She was lovely and even though I was nattering on like and old woman due to nerves, she was very understanding.  No filling required!  I have been wanting to get my old mercury fillings out for ages as I am sure they a slowly poisoning me and adding to my fatigue levels.  They can do some sleep dentistry here where they will knock me out for 2 hours, replace everything and also put a kind of seal over the tops of my wisdom teeth for an amazing price.  It is all legit and she is an Australian dentist and they use a proper anaesthetist. (Don't panic mum).  In fact she was so lovely I took the kids in for their first check up and polish.  I put on a happy face and pretended that I just LOVE going to the dentist and they actually enjoyed it.  Chair goes up...chair goes down.....chair goes up...chair goes down.....She had a kids DVD running on a screen just above their heads and they did not bat an eyelid.  Thank goodness they have not inherited my phobia.  As for Nick, well, he has always had great teeth and every dentist he sees exclaim they wish they had his teeth.  Not a filling in his head.....lucky beggar!

Very proud of them.  Just looking at these makes me break out in a cold sweat!

Intellectual Property Rights...Wrong!

You really do just have to laugh when you cruise around the city and see some of the blatant knock of shops that come and go over here.  Absolutely no attempt to cover the fact that they have "borrowed" someone else's name.  Even the fonts are the same. Here are 2 of the ones I have come across lately.  Honestly, some of these places have more front that Myer!

Selling, of all things, Australian wine!

Not a tarted up make up artist to be found in this place.  Just clothes.

Prima Donna!

The beginning of the end of the "Free Time" that I may have here!  Scarlett has just taken up ballet and there is now a new Prima Donna Ballerina in residence.  She really enjoyed her first class and we went out and she chose her new dance outfit.  She was quite decisive and knew exactly what she wanted.  Her lessons are on a Wednesday for one hour.  I must say last week was quite chaotic but it was a new class and the students and parents spoke no Vietnamese or English so the poor old teacher had a tough time keeping them under control.  When I told her this was not really a suitable learning environment for Scarlett she kindly offered to swap days and put her in an established class so we can see how she goes next week. I think the discipline will be good for Scarlett but it's up to her if she wishes to continue.  Meanwhile....how cute is she!!!!

This just in from HCMC Word Magazine!

DYLAN: COMING TO A PLACE NEAR YOU

The whispers have been increasing and it now appears that the legendary singer-songwriter and undisputed voice of a generation will indeed perform in Saigon next month. While the organisers remain tight lipped, the rumour mill has gone into overdrive.

This we know so far. Both the venue (RMIT) and date of the proposed gig (Apr. 10) have been announced via www.boblinks.com. Now word has it that ticket prices will be in the region of between US$40 and US$100 for standard and VIP tickets, respectively.

Fingers crossed this will all happen –no-one wants a repeat of the Leonard Cohen fiasco last year in Phnom Penh.

For more information watch this space.

I cannot tell you how excited I am about this! What an amazing opportunity to see and hear the voice of a generation in a place that is so important to him. I am a huge Dylan fan in case you could not guess. And those ticket prices! What a guy bringing music to the masses instead of 300 bucks al la Leonard Cohen in Cambodia (which got cancelled, go figure!) for 100 dollars it's VIP all the way for me baby! Who's in?

Buckle Up

Mmmmmm, when getting in the back of this taxi one might consider sticking your hand down the back of the seat amongst the crumbs and dirty tissues to retrieve the other half of the seat belt.  I bet this poor woman wishes she had.

Doh!

Canada Rocks

And indeed it did!  We spent a fantastic evening celebrating our northern cousins surrounded by the beauty that is "Jacks Garden".  Each year the Canadian Consulate put together a night of food and music with proceeds going to charitable organisations.  Looking back at my photos I am seeing a bit of a theme here....FOOD.  Sorry for all of the food shots but it was so good.  Yet again, White Palace catering have done an amazing job (Remember the white chocolate Mt Rushmore on July 4?)  So we stuffed ourselves silly on Canadian beef and anything else we could get our hands on.  Many people and companies donated both time and goods to make the night a success.  Well done Canada, you did yourself proud.

This beef was sooooo good.

Some liquid refreshments

Is it wrong that I just wanted to stick my head in it?

Even though I had pretty much eaten a whole cow, there was a little bit of room left for this.

Friends

2 mums out for a night on the tear, desperately trying not to remember that the kids will be up a 6.00am

The host with the most

Monkey business

This nightcap seemed like a good idea at the time.