library cockroach

This is what I usually come back to when I walk into the school library after a break...

HCMC traffic...

Last week was our school's BOOK WEEK. That is a big week for me during the school year, as I organize and offer a variety of activities throughout the week.

One piece of Book Week was taking our 7th and 8th grade ESL students to the elementary campus to read with the 1st grade classes.

While on the AIS bus from the elementary campus in District 1 back to the middle school campus in the Binh Thanh District, I took the following photos of traffic in HCMC...

Side saddle...

As if the load weren't enough... he's texting too!

Smokin' and cruisin'

Tables on a bike!

Would you...

The door to the library opened and I was hit in the head with this paper airplane the day before our school's winter dance last month...

Hahahaha.

WTF shop, HCMC

This bubble tea shop is in my area of the city... 

...and I giggle a bit each time I drive by.

10 years front and back...

I picked up my new passport recently!

This was pretty exciting for me... as now I have a 52-page passport and it is one piece to cross off my list of to-do's before heading to ITALY.   :D

The most interesting... is to think back 10 years to when I got this first passport for myself...

I was going to ITALY!

During the summer between my sophomore and junior years at St. John Fisher College in Rochester, NY, I went abroad to Italy for the first time. I lived with a family in Florence for about a month and attended language classes near the Duomo.

I had scheduled an appointment at the post office to get the passport... and when I was leaving my college campus to drive over there, I had to brush off the snow from the car windows. WELL... (and thankfully this is the only time I have done this!) I left the car running with the defroster on high while scraping the snow off... BUT I also managed to lock the doors while doing so. Nice Stace. I had to then miss the passport appointment and call AAA for help.

Since getting that passport (I made another appointment and did manage to make it that time!) I have finished my undergraduate degree, moved across the country and completed a Masters program, began my career as a Teacher-Librarian, moved across the world to Vietnam... and now moving to ITALY! (And so much more in between... but that will do for now.)

Funny to think that this new passport now is also for ITALIA! This time my stay will be for a little longer than a month...

My first passport covered the last 10 years... this new passport will cover the next 10 years ...and then thinking to what the next 10 years can hold for me. I can only hope that the upcoming 10 years of my life are as awesome as the past 10.

I'm not sure where I'll be, come 2023 but I want to continue a focus of living life as it comes, challenging myself, adventuring, and living each day with a no-fear attitude. With that... I hope to become more patient, positive, open-minded, and flexible.

We'll see how many of these 52 pages I am able to fill up!

randoms from my NZ trip...

Some random photos that I like...

A bridge at the Lake Matheson walk around the lake...

Another part of the same bridge...

At the pier in Auckland...

A cool bench at the pier in Auckland...

stockin' up!

I did a GREAT job of stocking up on yummy chocolates while in New Zealand! Haha. I still have a bunch... although a good chunk of it IS already gone.

My brother and parents told me that these 'pies' from gas stations are surprisingly good... so I tried one while in Franz Josef and you know what? -- It was pretty good! The fat content is super high... but for a wrapped 'pie' as a meal, it was delicious. (But after having this... my mom told me that theirs weren't pre-packaged... haha, oh well.)

Returning to HCMC from spending the winter holidays in New Zealand, I had a package from my brother awaiting me on my desk at school -- sweet!

I literally laughed out loud as I opened the package and found inside: TWELVE boxes of macaroni and cheese... AND a bag of mixed chocolate bars - awesome! Hahaha.

Sean... thank you for this... I'm enjoying the goods and have plenty of mac and cheese for the rest of my time in Vietnam.  :P

around Bangkok for the day

I walked around a bit near the Grand Palace...

A favorite of mine...

And then I went back to the hotel, checked out, and went down the alley to a lovely wood oven pizza place. It was deeelicious.

Across the street from the pizza place... are more 'restaurants'...

taxis, oh taxis - Bangkok

When I decided to head to the Grand Palace in the morning, the hotel called a metered taxi for me. I have had some trouble with taxis in Bangkok before... most of them refuse to use the meter -- even though the top of their taxi has a big METER sign!

The lady at the hotel said that the taxis ride to the Grand Palace from the hotel should be between 70 and 90 baht (so... about $3USD).

I got into the taxi that she called... and the guy said, "300 baht to Grand Palace."

Uhhhhh, no. That's more than 3 times what she told me it should be!

He argued with me about it... stuck to his 300 baht and said that there was traffic (there is ALWAYS traffic in Bangkok)... OR he would charge me 100 baht to take me to a boat that would then take me to the Palace. Uhhhh, no thanks.

As I was getting out of his taxi, he then said... "Ok! ok! 100 baht to Grand Palace."

NO THANKS GUY. Sketch.

I went back into the hotel, the lady called another taxi, and I got this young girl driver...

She did laugh at me when I asked her to turn the meter on... but she did... and it was 80 baht to get to the Grand Palace... perrrrfect.

Grand Palace - Bangkok

I decided to try my luck at enjoying Bangkok more this time by going to one of the most popular tourist destinations (WHY did I think that was a good idea?!) -- the Grand Palace. To me, the Grand Palace is best known for housing the temple with the Emerald Buddha.

Below are some links to the Wikipedia links on these topics if you want to read more:
Grand Palace, Bangkok
Emerald Buddha, Bangkok

I made sure to wear a long skirt and had a scarf to put over my shoulders when going to the Palace... but still found that I was not to be let in. My scarf was not as nice as a T-shirt apparently... so I rented a T-shirt for about 50 cents.

The roundabout in front of the Grand Palace...

Palace grounds...

I decided to follow the crowd... and learned that I was heading to the temple that holds the Emerald Buddha (photo below). BUT... I was turned away at the door because apparently you need to buy a ticket beforehand... 

The tickets are from a window that also had a line... and a ticket is about $20 to get in! I decided to skip this, as I didn't really feel a huge need to see this Buddha (sorry, Buddha!). And since I was going back to Bangkok with family and friends in a few weeks, I figured I could go then with them if we all wanted.

I took a couple more photos and left. ...Well, I handed the T-shirt back in, got my deposit returned, and then found a motorbike to hop on and get back to the hotel.

hotel view, Bangkok

Below are some photos taken from the small balcony in my hotel room in Bangkok.

Boats went by every now and then!

Patumwan Hotel - Bangkok, Thailand

From a friend's recommendation, I stayed at the Patumwan House during my ~24 hour layover in Bangkok. It was very nice... with a huge room! I paid a bit extra to have a window to the outside in the room... and also had a lovely little balcony with a view overlooking the river.

The hotel is in a great location! It is very close to the huge shopping area of the city (MBK and all...) but is down a couple alleyways and in a quiet area... even a few cute restaurants nearby!

That big bed was bliss after the long flight from Auckland!

Even a little kitchen area!

the Auckland International Airport... NZ

I flew from Auckland to Bangkok, Thailand on my way back to Vietnam... arriving to the gate... I was a bit worried I was in the wrong place!

 Completely deserted...

Well, at least the plane was there...

No worries... people did show up and everything worked out on schedule.   : )

pretty buildings in Auckland, NZ

Walking around Auckland on a beautiful, sunny day... there are also many beautiful buildings!

Near the pier...

Auckland's Civic Theatre

The Auckland Art Gallery... gorgeous.

Sky Tower - Auckland, NZ

The Sky Tower is the tallest building in all of New Zealand.

I did not go up the Sky Tower but enjoyed seeing it peek out behind buildings through my walk in the city... and then finally walking to the block where it is located and looking straight up...

My first glimpse of the Sky Tower!

 The area of the city with the Sky Tower is called, Sky City...