tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-139695482008-07-04T17:19:51.256+07:00Jon Hoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15218703884601180050noreply@blogger.comBlogger198125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13969548.post-40679211669785549802008-06-23T13:44:00.003+07:002008-06-23T15:42:33.517+07:00

When my wife's brother was born, she was only nine years old. During the birth, Chi's mother had some complications (what exactly I can't gather) and her brain was starved of oxygen for a short time. Her recovery was long, spending a month in the HCMC woman's hospital before being moved to District 5's Cho Ray. Eventually she recovered to today being able to function normally, but was left

Jon Hoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15218703884601180050noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13969548.post-70881713982472727042008-06-16T22:37:00.001+07:002008-06-16T22:39:30.697+07:00

The weekend is over, a weekend which involved a long and emotional school closing ceremony. A weekend which preceded a long and emotional 5 days at school, where many goodbyes to students and fellow teachers were shared in the form of cards, gifts, photos, emails and probably to be broken promises. Sharing the same building with around 250 people for ten months straight can be an intense

Jon Hoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15218703884601180050noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13969548.post-86118376338490015082008-06-14T14:34:00.000+07:002008-06-15T08:17:27.374+07:00

Ahh, those of you who have haunted the streets of Pham Ngu Lao and De Tham, as most residents of HCMC have at some point, will recognise this corner. However, it is goodbye to Allez Boo which entertained pissed backpackers and English teachers for ten years. Although not a place I would go to often, it represented a multi-cultural part of the city in what is still a very homogeneous metropolis.

Jon Hoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15218703884601180050noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13969548.post-84496496983478375682008-06-04T21:24:00.000+07:002008-06-04T22:02:23.984+07:00

Today I happened to catch the BBC World News Business program, and they had a short but worrying analysis from the studios of the Asia Business Report program, also on the BBC. The fact that inflation up to 25% is no secret, but the report stated this was only matched or beaten in Asia by Sri Lanka and Burma...The report also suggested that Vietnam is in serious danger of having to revalue the

Jon Hoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15218703884601180050noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13969548.post-65882272206606349682008-05-30T22:22:00.002+07:002008-05-30T22:29:06.685+07:00

As with every expat, the time to move on has arrived. It may not be forever, but from June 30th TFW will be on holiday. To return, I am sure. When, I am not so sure. What with all this baby stuff (by stuff I mean having one), it seems a good a time as any to head home, spend time with family and finally get certified as a teacher. I will start a PGCE in IT at Southampton University in September,

Jon Hoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15218703884601180050noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13969548.post-82028384666130728662008-05-21T19:39:00.003+07:002008-05-21T20:06:50.042+07:00

Alas the trees. The only nice thing about the canal, that dirty, odious monstrosity that creeps around my apartment block, was the green grassy area shaded by trees adjacent to it. It was an oasis in the city, although barely three feet wide. I come home from work and they have been cut down in the prime of their oxygen giving life. Why I ask, why? No one seems to know why! The xe om drivers

Jon Hoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15218703884601180050noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13969548.post-69757513115144217202008-05-19T18:09:00.003+07:002008-05-19T18:32:36.759+07:00

Very interesting story today on Thanh Nien News today. This crazy ass kitschy fashion invading Hanoi, youths decorating their bikes : Teens have beautified small two-wheelers with glitter and plastic flowers, giant silk butterflies and teddy bears, Christmas tinsel and paper parasols and, yes, feather boas, in an anything-goes creative arms race. Youngsters have rigged blinking lights, MP3

Jon Hoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15218703884601180050noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13969548.post-81084358542291308882008-05-09T17:49:00.003+07:002008-05-10T17:28:11.000+07:00

When informed that he had gotten a girlfriend pregnant, George pondered for a minute, looking shocked, and then screamed 'I did it! My boys can swim!' as he ran down the hall in celebration. Whilst not quite my reaction, Chi is pregnant (3 months) and before Christmas (last week of November) we'll have a baby added to the family. As the weeks go by, my anticipation builds. Brief flashes of what

Jon Hoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15218703884601180050noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13969548.post-48657757886775000352008-04-24T20:23:00.002+07:002008-04-24T20:54:52.275+07:00

Here is a motorcycle car park from the center of town near the now infamous golden triangle that was recently auctioned off for 500 million dollars or something ridiculous (and that doesn't even buy the land, just the rights to use it...). This area of land adjacent to Pham Ngu Lao has been a 'hung' project since I arrived three and a half years ago...I just find it staggering considering the

Jon Hoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15218703884601180050noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13969548.post-7628418455672865412008-04-20T20:13:00.002+07:002008-04-20T20:33:07.615+07:00

Never again will I forget my camera. I may be a little over excited, but after the interest shown in the yellow Lambo I snapped a few weeks earlier, I was absolutely kicking myself yesterday afternoon. A posse consisting myself and Chi, a photographer and helper, a yogi and a driver left HCMC for Anoasis Beach Resort, Long Hai. Here Connections plan to start running short yoga breaks as a

Jon Hoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15218703884601180050noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13969548.post-70384647805043187082008-04-14T12:44:00.000+07:002008-04-14T12:45:00.878+07:00

Kevin has pointed out his 'Linux Lab' over at AIS. My 'Windows Lab' as I suppose it would be is next door. Here I teach Grades 6-9 about using technology to express themselves creatively (whenever possible). I started the AIS school blog near the beginning of the year to showcase student blogs which I had them set up on blogger, and also showcase some of their work they did using Adobe Photoshop

Jon Hoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15218703884601180050noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13969548.post-38512527598040562972008-03-29T15:48:00.000+07:002008-03-29T15:49:29.213+07:00

A while back a gent called Neil Fitzgerald wrote a piece in Thanh Nien called 'No Through Road'. The piece talked about solutions to HCMC's increasing traffic problems. I wanted to comment on his thoughts and add a few of my own, by no means written from any area of expertise, just my opinions. Sorry for the lack of pictures which I had intended to accompany this post. Maybe I will repost when I

Jon Hoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15218703884601180050noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13969548.post-77113943371797941162008-03-19T14:43:00.002+07:002008-03-19T15:01:09.035+07:00

Another day, more unabated madness. Reporting on Thanh Nien Online, Minh Duc's quote pretty much sums it up : "What the @#%&?!" said a foreigner unlucky enough to get stuck in a jam on Nam Ky Khoi Nghai Street in District 1, the city's main thoroughfare to the airport. Minh Duc is talking about everyone's favourite topic, the traffic. "Around 150 cars and 1,300 motorbikes are newly registered

Jon Hoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15218703884601180050noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13969548.post-30806077731080089322008-03-18T16:52:00.003+07:002008-03-18T17:28:45.150+07:00

Ok, some randomness here that has been captured on camera. First up, the yellow Ferrari. Spotted this baby around a few times. Saw an orange Porsche Boxter the other day on highway one. Next, a bizarre chunk of some part of the city floating down the canal. This is just plain odd. From Vung Tau. A quaint little picture also from Vung Tau. I missed photo opportunities of the garbage

Jon Hoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15218703884601180050noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13969548.post-32590912276489793412008-03-12T19:47:00.003+07:002008-03-12T20:12:12.406+07:00

Here I am reposting something from over a year ago. This piece will be published in an upcoming book called 'To Vietnam with Love', from the same people as 'To Asia With Love', due out 'early summer' 2008. I am not quite sure of the final edited version that will go to print, but I'll give you the closest I have. It is also a handy way of making an entry for this months $100 prize on the blog

Jon Hoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15218703884601180050noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13969548.post-75797965968704012162008-03-05T20:35:00.002+07:002008-03-05T20:54:13.557+07:00

Expat Advisory is a resource site for expats in Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and South Korea (so far). Great site for finding out what's going on where and when - updated daily. When I found out that Expat Advisory were running a monthly blog competition worth $100 to the winner, and with my reams of wonderful material (ahem), entering was a forgone conclusion. I entered my article Queuing. I had

Jon Hoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15218703884601180050noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13969548.post-44317243619924765102008-03-02T10:06:00.002+07:002008-03-02T11:05:18.744+07:00

The entrepreneurial spirit of my wife took us Saturday to Binh Duong, one of the outlying districts of the city to the north-west. The urban density of HCM slowly fades away yet civilization clings grimly to the highway through the heart of what is the production center of the region. Factories with their mysterious hanger like buildings line the road. It was off the highway and down a dirt track

Jon Hoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15218703884601180050noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13969548.post-37597190621670275872008-02-24T19:30:00.004+07:002008-02-24T22:14:29.997+07:00

As the city continues to demolish and build, changing it's face literally every month, I'll attempt to round up the latest developments. Nguyen Thi Minh Khai has suffered recently from the totally absurd story behind the Pacific building. WHAT a joke. Over in Phu My Hung, things have really gotten crazy. I am talking about the completion of the new highway which runs through the residential area

Jon Hoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15218703884601180050noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13969548.post-40859294703085930012008-02-13T19:49:00.003+07:002008-02-13T20:26:39.889+07:00

With the introduction of the helmet law, what I am about to show you was inevitably going to happen. Helmet fashion gone mad. Not happy with wearing a hat under the helmet, now we have to strap a good old sun visor around it, or a 'pretty' bonnet. Here they are, flapping in the wind. Ohh shall I, shan't I, HOW MUCH! 40,000 VND a piece actually. In action: In my opinion, I think they

Jon Hoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15218703884601180050noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13969548.post-59783081094558755242008-02-08T11:24:00.000+07:002008-02-08T11:47:51.269+07:00

Yesterday was spent in county Cu Chi, and it turns out that Grandma lives just a few kms down the road from the main tunnels site. The family (this is Chi's mum's side) have a good sized plot of land. Here you can see Grandma's newly built house and one of Chi's uncles lives in the house next door. Out back, a couple of huge pigs. Uncle rears and sells them, along with brewing wine and selling

Jon Hoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15218703884601180050noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13969548.post-70836798656020519422008-02-05T13:31:00.000+07:002008-02-05T15:07:55.118+07:00

It's that time of year again, and the buzz is palpable. Today, the shops are alive, the streets are bustling with shoppers. Today is the street traders bonanza, I noticed....(see previous post + comments). Finally, I had a morning totally dedicated to driving around the city, researching for three or four upcoming blog posts, and snapping the photographs. I saw before me the captivating scenes

Jon Hoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15218703884601180050noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13969548.post-44682167911530645232008-01-28T20:51:00.000+07:002008-01-28T21:55:38.337+07:00

The length of the country things are changing and quickly. Recent stories describe a number of dramatic changes, which if they are really enforced could impact on many low income workers. Firstly, the baffling ban on modified vehicles. Already delayed until June (as described here), the impending new rules mean one less obstruction on the busy streets, but a possible end to employment for many

Jon Hoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15218703884601180050noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13969548.post-48478202445879891452008-01-21T19:24:00.000+07:002008-01-21T19:53:25.232+07:00

Nothing more than a personal post, to show all my family and friends my new motorbike. I always remember a conversation with Jimmy Thong, who upon asking moi what kind of bike I guided around these uneven streets, seemed mortified when he found out it was a Nouvo, the same kind driven by none other than Linux-worshipping blog man Kevin Nezumi Miller. It struck me that of course those who drive

Jon Hoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15218703884601180050noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13969548.post-77899700312494185372008-01-16T20:21:00.000+07:002008-01-16T20:56:27.540+07:00

Cook is my company's cooking class in Saigon, and by far our most popular pursuit by hungry, knowledge thirsty tourists. They love the opportunity provided to them to be able to visit someone's house as well as have the cooking experience. Other classes offer the market shopping as do we, but we choose a local market near the chef's house. One local business woman who runs a successful cooking

Jon Hoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15218703884601180050noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13969548.post-27327519354726027692008-01-15T09:09:00.000+07:002008-01-15T10:42:27.574+07:00

In the search for potential venues for our Dine packages I finally managed to try some Bot Chien, a dish that always garnered my interest when I saw magazine columns regarding it. It looked Western to me, like fried squares of potato with fried egg on top. Mmmm just add a little salt and vinegar and tuck in, I thought. Here's a menu: Thanks to my wife for the translations. Bot Chien is fried

Jon Hoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15218703884601180050noreply@blogger.com