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fancyandjoe - Joe Pompei

Denver CO residents traveling in SE Asia

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Joined on: January 7th 2009
Last Login: November 28th 2009

Blog Entries: 12
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By fancyandjoe
October 20th 2009
The New Hanoians Asia » Vietnam » Red River Delta » Hanoi
Apollo English
Apollo English
Miss Trang and Miss Hang pose under the Apollo sign at our new place of employment. Everyone there is lovely and very talented!
As I’m sure you’ve figured out by now, Joe and I have been pretty busy with our new lives as EFL teachers in Hanoi. Good teachers make it look easy, but we’ve found EFL to be full of hard work, endless hours of lesson preparation, screaming children running amok in the classroom, and teenagers who alternate between bored and bitter. We desperately want to be polished, effective, and loved teachers but right now we have to settle for making lots of mistakes and being mediocre language educators - at best. To catch you up on our unfolding adventure, you may recall [View Full Entry]

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1682 Words | 6 Comment(s) | 24 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s)
Published: November 24th 2009 | 62 Views | [diary=446674]

Minh and Duy
The happy couple!
Smile!

Mr. Joe in the elementary class
Mr. Joe in the elementary class
Leading a vocabulary game!
Well… after numerous sleepless nights, several really bad lessons, a few tears here and there, one stomach flu, a “gazillion” laughs, and about two dozen smiling, warm, loving, and most importantly - forgiving - Vietnamese students, JOE AND I PASSED OUR CELTA COURSE! We now hold a “Certificate in English Language Teaching for Adults” and are free to befuddle and perplex even the most talented Vietnamese student. We took the CELTA course at Apollo Education and Training Center in central Hanoi- just steps away from our apartment, and now the location of our [View Full Entry]

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1836 Words | 11 Comment(s) | 26 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s)
Published: September 11th 2009 | 201 Views | [diary=433793]

Nancy in the classroom
Our CELTA Cohort
Our students, hard at work

Hoan Kiem Lake, Hanoi
Hoan Kiem Lake, Hanoi
The jewel of Hanoi's old quarter. At dawn, you will find dozens of people walking, running, playing badminton, and practicing Tai Chai around the lake.
Joe and I are happy to report that Phase I of the Rehumanization tour was a resounding success. In just under two months, we traveled the length of Vietnam - from Ho Chi Minh City, the Mekong Delta, and Phu Quoc Island in the south to Hanoi, Sapa and Halong Bay in the north (see forthcoming blogs for stories and pictures from Sapa and Halong Bay). In between, we pedaled across the rolling hills of Dalat, drank beer on the beach in Nha Trang, swam in the still ocean waters off of Quy Nhon, shopped-till-we-dropped in the mercantile mecca of Hoi [View Full Entry]

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1591 Words | 14 Comment(s) | 15 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s)
Published: August 15th 2009 | 180 Views | [diary=428117]

Water Puppet Theater
Vietnam Museum of Ethnology, Hanoi
Bia Hoi Corner in the Old Quarter, Hanoi

We thought it was about time to catch you up on a few side trips we took when we first hit Hanoi way back in July. Wow- that seems like a life-time ago! Our first excursion out of the city was a 4-day jaunt, by overnight train, to Sapa in northwestern Vietnam. Not knowing any better, we purchased a finely organized but over-priced tour from our hotel. Our journey started at the train station at 9 p.m. where we jumped off platforms and walked through open railroad tracks to get to our train - chuckling all the way about how the [View Full Entry]

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1699 Words | 7 Comment(s) | 26 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s)
Published: October 26th 2009 | 109 Views | [diary=421994]

Overlooking the city of Sapa, VN
Black H'mong women in Sapa
Black H'mong woman and her baby

Vietnam, one spring roll at a time!
Vietnam, one spring roll at a time!
We are tasting the spring rolls on every stop we make from Saigon to Hanoi! They are often served with a stick of lemongrass to use as a handle and they always come with a peanut, vinegar, or other s... [more]
As many of you know, Joe and I are genuine foodies. Our love of travel has as much to do with all the wonderful food we get to sample as it does with seeing the world and learning about people in different cultures. Vietnam has not disappointed us in our quest to “eat our way around the world.” All of the food here has been exceptional - everything from the gently flavored Vietnamese tea (tra) and the country's bold coffee (ca phe) to the freshest of fresh fruit, vegetables, fish, tofu, chicken, and beef. Of course, I’d be remiss if I [View Full Entry]

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2477 Words | 6 Comment(s) | 26 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s)
Published: July 24th 2009 | 254 Views | [diary=417690]

Fresh grilled squid
Seafood hot pot !
Tuna steaks on the beach!

Hoi An, Vietnam
Hoi An, Vietnam
Colorful boats docked on the Thuy Bon River which forms the southern edge of the old town in Hoi An.
Xin Chao, friends! I got a little behind on our blogging, so it’s stretching my memory just a bit to tell you about the ancient city of Hoi An in central Vietnam. I’ll try my best. We were very excited to go to Hoi An because we heard from so many people that it was a very unique and beautiful city. We had a bit of a hellish ride - 7 hours in another cramped and airless mini-van sitting “skin to skin” with people whose body temperatures were so high I expected to see steam. We hadn’t booked a room beforehand, [View Full Entry]

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1969 Words | 10 Comment(s) | 17 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s)
Published: July 12th 2009 | 269 Views | [diary=417602]

Hoi An old town
Tran Family House and Chapel
Silk shop in Hoi An old town

Louisiane Brewhouse - Nha Trang, Vietnam
Louisiane Brewhouse - Nha Trang, Vietnam
Joe enjoys a microbrew at the Louisiane Brewhouse on the beach in Nha Trang. The beer (bia) is great and cheap all over Vietnam, but the "designer" beer at this New Zealand-owned microbrewery is a lo... [more]
As we continued our journey north, we visited two coastal areas in the central portion of Vietnam - first the very popular beach-party city of Nha Trang and then the much quieter, less touristy town of Quy Nhon. We only stayed in Nha Trang for one day, enough time to try the micro-brews at the New Zealand-owned “Louisiane Brew House” - the first microbrewery we’ve seen in Vietnam. For those of you who know Joe well, you won’t be surprised to hear that he was very happy about this particular stop, so much so that he tried nearly every beer on [View Full Entry]

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1898 Words | 6 Comment(s) | 11 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s)
Published: July 2nd 2009 | 166 Views | [diary=414114]

Town beach in Quy Nhon
Colorful fishing boats in Quy Nhon
Joe gets a ride to dinner in Quy Nhon

It is referred to as “Le Petit Paris” although we thought it looked much more like Switzerland. Regardless, Dalat is a little slice of Vietnamese Nirvana at 4,425 feet above sea level in the Central Highlands region of the country. It is refreshingly cool and dry, with average summer temperatures hovering around 70-80 degrees Fahrenheit. When we arrived in Dalat, we had an overwhelming sense of relief to be out of the oppressive heat and humidity of the lowlands. We were dumbstruck to see the locals in winter hats, gloves, and parkas at night when the temperature dropped to a c [View Full Entry]

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1751 Words | 3 Comment(s) | 17 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s)
Published: June 25th 2009 | 322 Views | [diary=412201]

Dalat Flower Park
Dalat Crazy House!
Pool Hall - Dalat

Cu Chi Tunnels
Cu Chi Tunnels
Tunnel opening
Note: We've had a little trouble getting our blog to everyone we wanted it to go to. Sorry if this is the first time you are receiving notification about our blog. We have two previous ones that can be viewed from this website. Our four day visit to Saigon included a visit to the Reunification Palace, which was the home of the South Vietnamese president until April 30, 1975 when Saigon fell to the North and the Liberation Army crashed through the gates with their tanks. We also toured the War Remnants museum where we saw pictures of the profound horrors [View Full Entry]

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1363 Words | 4 Comment(s) | 11 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s)
Published: June 16th 2009 | 327 Views | [diary=408437]

Cu Chi Tunnels
Sunrise on the Mekong River
Cai Rang Floating Market, Can Tho

Temple and Grounds
Temple and Grounds
Arriving at the temple
During our stay in Ho Chi Minh City, Joe and I visited the Cao Dai (pronounced “cow dye”) Great Temple in the city of Tay Ninh, located about 2 hours northwest of HCMC on the Cambodian border. The temple was an extraordinary experience of architecture, sculpture, color, sound, and spirit. Our small tour bus arrived at the Cao Dai Holy See (the complex which houses the temple, administrative offices, residences, and a well known hospital of traditional Vietnamese herbal medicine) around 11:30 a.m., just in time for us to observe the noon prayer session - one of 4 daily ceremonies [View Full Entry]

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693 Words | 4 Comment(s) | 7 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s)
Published: June 13th 2009 | 209 Views | [diary=408070]

The Third Eye
Inside the Cao Dai Temple
Temple Adornments



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