Happy Birthday Simon!

Simon turned 17 years old this week.  We celebrated by going to the movie theatre to watch Rogue One with family and friends. 

Together for Christmas

Christmas is a time for families to be together and we are thrilled to be back in Canada and reunited with Max!  

Sights near our home

Phu My Hung in District 7 is the part of Ho Chi Minh City where we live. This area of land was created by reclaiming the swamp that was here. Special engineering is used to ensure that the buildings are stable. But the sidewalks need to be adjusted every couple of years as the stones settle and the swamp comes closer to the surface. Recently, this area of patio stones was lifted and returned to level the walking area.

This week we also witnessed a re-planting of the grass in the park next to our house. We are not sure of the entire process but it appeared that the old grass was rolled back, lots of top soil added, and blades of grass were removed from the "sod". Then individual clumps of grass were replanted by hand.

Frequently we see people carrying a variety of items on their heads. This man got our attention downtown.

Russian Trainer

Three mornings a week Lisa spends an hour with a Russian trainer, working on balance and toning. She is a tough one but there is also lots of laughing. She is a foodie too! The training is bearable because there is lots of discussion about local restaurants, new recipes, and delicious fruit!

Sneaker Fest

Earlier this month there was a gathering of sneakerheads in Ho Chi Minh City. We were there among hundreds of young people talking about creases, stitching, colourway, year of release, retros, tags, defining features, soles (transparent, icy blue, or gum), outsole softness,..... It is a fascinating piece of youth culture that exists even here in Vietnam.

We spent a couple of hours looking and talking and taking photos. We saw collector shoes on feet and on tables: Yeezy ; Kobe 8 'What The' ; Jordan 11 'Space Jam' ; NMD 'Human Race' ; Jordan 6 'Slam Dunk'. Some shoes were priced as high as $2500.

We met some wonderful teens and Simon felt that this was a "proper" sneakerfest.

Movember

Thank goodness December 1 is here and "Movember" is over! This year Tim participated in a mustache-growing competition at school. Lisa was not thrilled about this.




Tim chose to grow a full beard then trim it to a mustache for the final day.





At the end of the contest the students also participated in a video wearing mustaches.