Update 1

Hello hello hello,

We are now near the end of our first week in Nam. So far things have been going really well. It has been quite quiet here over the last few days as it is Tet which is Vietnamese New Year which the Good Book (aka the Lonely Planet) describes as New Years, Christmas and Birthdays all rolled into one (we can see why).

The first couple days we were here we cruised around town seeing the many many sights and sounds that Sai Gon (Ho Chi Minh City) has to offer. It is, ummm, how to say this, ummmm, harrowing walking around the city here. People generally take traffic lights and foot paths as advice and then tend not to pay attention to them. General rule we learnt, walk slowly accross the road without stopping or slowing down, seems to work. We took a ride on a motor cycle (US$1 p/h!!) which was fun, sure got the blood pumping missing buses and cars by only centimetres.

We have been to several markets where there is super cheap stuff available. Louis Vuitton (?sp) handbags for US$40, CDs and DVDs for a couple bucks and western books (any you could want) for only a few bucks -> they are ALL authentic too which is ab fab!! ;-)

Beer is super cheap, we are now hooked on Saigon Green a very creamy lager which is just yummy and only US$0.70 for a 450 ml bottle. Liz is hooked on Da Lat wine, which I like to compare to a mix of toilet water and dish washing liquid - WUMMY.

Lots of westerners in our area as we are in the backpacker quarter. Heaps of Frenchies, Yanks and English and a couple random dutch people too. Lots of them are just transiting, some have been here a while and given us some very good advice on things to do around the country.

I (Greg) go in for my work orientation on Thursday and hopefully start early the week after. It should be good, my TESOL (teaching English) course is almost done now so I feel fully qualified to teach (or perhaps not, I am not sure). Ther'll be two teachers in the class room when I teach - A Vietnamese translator and myself so things should be pretty smooth going.
\n\u003cdiv\> \u003c/div\>\n\u003cdiv\>The hostel which we are staying in is right in the middle of the backpacker quarter. It is clean and staffed 24 hours a day, including selling Saigon Beer at NO extra premium. So when I (Greg) feel like a beer at 4:00 in the morning, I can have one!! Also get brekkie in the morning so Liz doesn't need to cook me my eggs and toast ;-).\n\u003c/div\>\n\u003cdiv\> \u003c/div\>\n\u003cdiv\>We've got a web page set up for all of our photos (\u003ca href\u003d\"http://picasaweb.google.com/greg.and.liz/SaiGon?authkey\u003dFb1xFG98lAw\" target\u003d\"_blank\" onclick\u003d\"return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)\"\>http://picasaweb.google.com\u003cWBR\>/greg.and.liz/SaiGon?authkey\u003cWBR\>\u003dFb1xFG98lAw\u003c/a\>). Check it out to see some of the sights that we've seen.\n\u003cbr clear\u003d\"all\"\>\u003c/div\>\n\u003cdiv\>Our new mobile numbers are:\u003c/div\>\n\u003cdiv\>Greg: +84 97 9458391\u003c/div\>\n\u003cdiv\>Liz: +84 97 8369252\u003c/div\>\n\u003cdiv\> \u003c/div\>\n\u003cdiv\>Hope things are all good with you and we both wish you a very Chum Mung Nam Moi (Happy New Year). oink oink\u003c/div\>\n\u003cdiv\> \u003c/div\>\n\u003cdiv\>Oh, and it is the middle of winter and 32 degrees at 8:00 at night!! GREAT after NZ.\u003c/div\>\n\u003cdiv\> \u003c/div\>\n\u003cdiv\>Byee\u003c/div\>",1]
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The hostel which we are staying in is right in the middle of the backpacker quarter. It is clean and staffed 24 hours a day, including selling Saigon Beer at NO extra premium. So when I (Greg) feel like a beer at 4:00 in the morning, I can have one!! Also get brekkie in the morning so Liz doesn't need to cook me my eggs and toast ;-).

We've got a web page set up for all of our photos (http://picasaweb.google.com/greg.and.liz/SaiGon?authkey=Fb1xFG98lAw). Check it out to see some of the sights that we've seen.
Our new mobile numbers are:
Greg: +84 97 9458391
Liz: +84 97 8369252

Hope things are all good with you and we both wish you a very Chum Mung Nam Moi (Happy New Year). oink oink

Oh, and it is the middle of winter and 32 degrees at 8:00 at night!! GREAT after NZ.

Byee