Babes, gowns, charity and handbags

This year, Auscham's "Big Day Out" was a lot of fun - again. Lots of people, sponsorship, food, fun, music, modelling, socialising, money-raising,.... Did I mention modelling? Oops.

As it turned out, a few of us hardcore cant-say-noers were asked to help model clothing and stuff by various designers trying to sell in to this fashion-conscious market. Okay, I admit that looks had very little to do with the selection process. The main criteria was that you wanted to have some fun!

And that's exactly what we did. Mind you, me and Nigel ended up parading handbags only, leaving the funky shirts to the young bucks. But it was fun.




This happened to be Jenna and Jess's last night in HCMC before returning to Perth. Kinda sad, but a big night was had by all - so it was a good way to go out! This is Jess and Miki posing - as usual!



! Ready to strut !



Not too sure how Duane managed to avoid the catwalk, but he did. But he did manage to drink a few beers - as you would hope the CFO of a beer company would do!



...the model family...


Just so happens that Libby, Thom and Ed were in town. Not too sure what they made of all this, but Lib managed to get dragged up to dance more than once!



Looking good Nigel.

Messing about in Mui Ne

Tet is the biggest holiday here - the celebration of a new Lunar New Year commencing. Hilly missed out last year, but this time around we managed to book ourselves in to a resort in Mui Ne. You diligent bloggers have already travelled there vicariously with Hilly, but this was my first time. The beach areas have been developed pretty vigourously, with resorts built right along the beach. And at this time of the year, the beach is great - white sand and hot sun.







The massage villa was right on the beach, so you could loose your thoughts watching the waves while the girls worked their magic. Bit different to HCM!



About 1100am each day, the wind springs up to the delight of many windsurfers and kite-surfers. We both decided to take lessons and managed to master flying these big kites (awesome feeling!) on the beach and in the water. The next step of mastering hopping on the board while trying to cope with the kite and the waves will have to wait until our next episode.



Check out the air-time the guy below was getting - this is the extreme part of the sport!



But for all our fun and games, and all the swish resorts, we do need to think about the price. The fisherman below is probably doing okay since there are now so many more restaurants in the area, but things have certainly changed.

R&R - fun in Oz

So, we headed for home at Christmas for a quick respite from Vietnam. A three weeks that was needed and appreciated - filled with family and friends. The following images are just a few favs from the files to remind of those good times.

The fam met up at Belmont Road on Christmas Day. It was a time of food and fun - and Tess led us all through the machinations of 'Extreme Christmas' present giving. H ended up with the final choice of all the pressies - she picked the ice-cream scooper!



Glen Maggie was fantastic, of course. It is just amazing to sit in peace and quiet, see nature and see the stars!

However, top of mind for me was getting down to Paynesville and reclaiming Stampede from James and Co. The boat looked beautiful and felt like a dream on the water. Big thanks to Donald for keeping an eye on things through the year! Once at the lake, we were a bit worried about all the floating logs, but we finally cracked and just had to put it in. We managed to enjoy some skiing without mishap - thank goodness.

The rather swish looking table that Gab is sitting on is the result of our latest team effort - our version of a table spotted in Millenium Park, Chicago a few years back. Kelv drove up on the weekend with a boot-load of equipment, good advice and a helpful hand - absolute champion.



Our new creation quickly became a part of the furniture - and was the centre of attention at Tess's 25th.



.........mmmmmmmmmmmmm.........boat



Sally came up for a bit of R&R for a few daze, and a few of us ended up on top of Mt Bradley. Tess and Greg were behind both of the shadowy shots.



But the best night of all was our blast-from-the-past get together. Fritz and Donald were up from the Island for a few nights and we feasted on a rather nice BBQ, Glen Maggie style. Flames, floating tables and perfect views - very conducive for Donald and Mick to solve the problems of the world!

Anyway, Sue and Ros arrived after grub, Graham rolled up with a few drinks after the chores were done and then it was on for young(er) and old(er). The reminiscing was full throttle for hours - yep it was great to see all these old friends re-united.





Yet another classic sunset over our favourite place in the world.



After a few Crownies at Tulla, Tess, Sime, Jeffo and Glen headed over to Perth for Hailey's wedding. More family times that turned in to family gold. Julie and Rod were wonderful hosts and everyone had a great time. And the wedding was in a park beside the beach down near Margaret River. It went really well, right down to the butterflies coming back to life in time to fly off when the envelopes opened.




But the best part of the three weeks was hanging out with Sime and Tess. And the sooner we get that chance again, the better.

Turmoil

Fortunately, Glen doesn't drive to work in the morning!

This roundabout is a few kms away from us - it is infamous. This picture was scanned in from a newspaper recently, which was lamenting the dramatic increase of vehicles on the roads of HCMC.

Tess in town

Tess and Greg came to visit the digs in November. It was Tess's first time in Vietnam and it was Greg's first time outside of Oz! After a quick stay in HCMC with us, they headed off north for about a week before coming back down.

They certainly fitted in to the environment quickly! The night that Greg convinced a cyclo driver to let him commandeer his wheels was quite a sight!



Hurry back you two - you're kinda crazy, but you're a lot of fun!

Pagoda kids

Hilly has been going along to an orphanage here in HCMC each week to visit with the kids and try to bring a little cheer in to some otherwise mundane living conditions.

But last month, she went to a different orphanage that is run by some Buddist monks at Dieu Phap Pagoda, about an hour out of Saigon. Since it is a temple, it receives no government funding and relies on donations and help from the community. It is also not a registered orphanage so no adoptions are organised. Old people, disabled, teenagers, children and babies live here, in very basic conditions, but are safe and do go to school if they are able to.

Through fundraising by Brighton Grammer in Victoria, and local groups here, a playground has recently been built in the dusty, but shaded yard. Plans are in progress to pave the dining area, extend the babies room, put ceiling fans in the concrete dormitories, extend and revamp the kitchen and do some outdoor paving.



Children with special needs, such as a deaf teenage girl who had never talked or been to school, are now receiving funding to go to special schools. This is just a drop in the ocean - but everything helps a little.

Now, being an art teacher, Hillary offered to do some painting with the kids. This went pretty well - up to a point!









There are endless charities in Vietnam all worthwhile and very neccessary.

Tonight we are going along to a big concert which is being run to raise money for a small NGO called Loretto. Trish, an Aussie lady who has lived here for years, and has given so much to under-privileged children, is being unofficially supported by the Australian Embassy and AusCham to organise what will be a great out-door bash. But we'll report on that soon!