Office Fun

Every day at work my friend and I take a break from marking essays or planning lessons, or drinking coffee to snap a quick & quirky shot of ourselves. Usually we then upload it to FB via instagram and my friend makes his his profile picture (one new one each day) while I occasionally make my photo, depending how much I like it, my profile picture. These are just a fun collection of them so far:

 

doing a Bonnie & Clyde moment with a toy lighter/gun

 

A close up with soctopus

  

My normal Monday attitude

 

Stuffing Rambutan's in my face.

 

Trying to look insanely pouty with Boo Boo the Bear

 

Pink with cherry candy

 

hiding behind a toy that apparently gets rid of bad luck ... 

I wanted it desperately to work the day this way taken.

 

MONEY!! (not really tho...)

 

 

today's silly portrait.

Taking creative and fun photos is a much needed 10 minute break from working, and I usually like the pics, even though they might be quite silly: just the way I am.

Thanks to S.P for being my snapping partner in crime :)

 

 

Green Joy: OOTD

One of the things I got made recently from my tailor were two romper suits/jumpsuits, I got a longer one, and this shorter one.

I like it, but I'm not used to wearing things that are so short, and I own like 1 pair of shorts in my life, so the jumpsuit seems so weird, but, the more I wore it on Saturday, the more I realized that I don't mind showing this much leg, and that if I pair it with heels and a belt, that it looks okay.

 

Thanks to R.A for taking these pics and inviting me to the Chula Fashion event. It was great. 

Chula Fashion

 

This weekend my friend Rose and I attended Chula's open house and fashion show.

Chula is a Spanish fashion brand that was created in Hanoi, their focus is on creating individual, colorful  and geometric design.

 ''Chula developed a personal and unique style, distancing itself from catwalk trends in favour of connecting with a different kind of customer - one who wants to wear fresh new ideas''

Chula's workshop is in a beautiful house in West Lake, and coupled with Sangria, nibbles and ability to look at the beautifully decorated house made it an amazing morning.

 

After looking around the house, we settled into watching the amazing clothes.  My photos aren't that great, but you can always check out Chula's website: http://www.chula.es/ for more information and better pictures, and stockist lists if you're outside of Hanoi.

aren't the pirate and giraffe dress cute??

 One of my favorite dresses of the day, also, this model stood out the most because of her beautiful smile and enthusiasm.

 

This dress and embroidery is so intricate, but my favorite dress of the day is:

Woo Hoo -- Toucans! 

Overall it was a fun and interesting morning, and if I ever win the lotto I'd buy some Chula threads.

Simplicity Rules

 

 I wore this to work on Friday, which could have been cheeky if we are not supposed to wear denim, but no one told me off...

 

Both pieces of clothing are made by Red Pearl, I have several tops like this in the same design that I love and chose because I can wear them to work, or for playing on the weekends. The skirt is new and I adore it! Obviously it's part of my ever evolving high-waisted fetish, but I also think it's the first denim skirt I've ever owned...in my life! (İ dunno why, perhaps I used to dislike denim??)

 

I've started catching a xe-om to the pool very early in the morning and swimming laps before work, then going to work straight after the pool. This is why I wore denim to work to begin with, but since I didn't get in trouble for it, I may do it again...

 

 

These insanely badly painted nails are another reason I am wearing such muted colors, I realized that I had limited clothing choices while wearing such bright nail varnish.

 

Hooray for starting the day swimming and sun-baking! Hooray for the weekend and relaxing!

 Thanks to Willy B for taking these photos.

Top 5: Turkish foods I'm going to overindulge in.

In about 5 weeks time I am going on holiday to Istanbul for a month, leaving Hanoi in the heat of summer and going to İstanbul in the heat of summer. I haven't really organized what I'm going to do there, aside from seeing old friends and playing backgammon, but I prefer not to organize trips and  just go with the flow when I get there. One thing I have started thinking about is the food. This list is Turkish food that I am desperately craving and will eat many many times in the one month period in Istanbul...and then go on a diet. Haha.I also have just completed avoided desserts in this list, because the desserts deserve a list of their own.

5: Vişne Suyu.
I am going to chug so much sour cherry juice when I get to İstanbul. I love the stuff, the fruit it okay, but the juice is amazing! Very rarely, you can get it in shops here which is why it comes in a number 5, because I have actually had some pretty recently, but my gosh it is so delicious, especially when it's ice cold.

4: Menemen
I had menemen so so so many times for breakfast in İstanbul, either at a famous menemen shop in Taksim, or home-cooked by a certain talented housemate. It is such a good combination of flavours and textures and tastes so amazing with fresh bread and feta cheese. The reason it only comes in at number 4 is because I managed to eat some shakshouka at a cafe in Laos, which of course wasn't the same but at least kicked my craving back a couple of notches.

3: Sucuklu Yumurta
I know this is like the simplest breakfast meal ever, but it strongly relies on Sucuk, which is, obviously, rather hard to get outside Turkey. Man, thinking about this with fresh bread, olives, cucumber and cheese for breakfast is making me drool.

2: Börek
I love all variety of Börek, but I am particularly craving sü böreği. There's a Börek shop in Taksim that was really close to my first house, I plan on attacking them regularly when I go back, because as well as having delicious pide, they have great different types of börek. Phyllo pastry is extremely expensive here so any chances of having a steady supply of börek is never gonna happen, but, By Jove, when I get to İstanbul, İ will be scoffing börek!

1: Mantı
Dear God. Mantı. I need it. I want it. It's so simple yet so so delicious. 36 days!

So, these are the top 5 foods that I miss from Turkey and will be chowing down as soon as I land.

Candy Stripes: OOTD

Whoa, back at work! Full day, teaching and then Vietnamese class.

 

Got a mega delivery of clothes from my darling tailor, Red Pearl, so you'll be seeing some new outfits over the next couple of weeks. 

 

I've got a bit of fetish for high waists at the moment, so I got some high waisted trousers made and found this delicious striped fabric and decided to get a work top made.

 It's getting a bit too hot for trousers in Hanoi now, but thankfully this delightful candy-colored top is made from quite a lightweight fabric so I'll be able to wear it without dying of heat.

I've been slightly addicted to Game of Thrones and Daenerys Targaryen-- cos she's bloody HOT, but also because her hair and braids are awesome, so I tried a couple on myself...if I had longer hair dammit, it would work fine! :(

 

Thanks to S.G for taking these snappity snaps on our lunch break, and, guess what...tomorrow is FRİDAY!!!!!!

Top 5: favourite Vietnamese words

Still trapped at home cos of the doctor's order- cabin fever has well and truly kicked in now, and I'm excited about going to work tomorrow! I missed my Vietnamese class yesterday, so, as review today I thought about all the Vietnamese words I know and which ones are my favorite to say. This is a purely linguistically/pronunciation based Top 5, these words have no connection to me in any other way except that I find them amusing to say in Vietnamese, obviously, for my readers who can't speak Vietnamese, I will try to tell you how to say them with dodgy pronunciation instructions,but probably unsuccessfully.




5: ếch Yes, one of my favorite Vietnamese words is frog. My way of saying it would be ''eck?'' I like the up-tone which makes it sound like a question or an excited statement, and just the simplicity of it. Obviously I don't get a lot of chances to say 'frog', unless I got to eat frog hotpot...

4: ô You gotta love a word that is only one letter... I also like the way the hat on top of the o makes me think of an umbrella, which in turn makes me never forget this word. At Vietnamese class, this is my go-to word. If I can't think of a noun to throw at the end of a sentence or question, I usually go with umbrella...or monkey. This usually results in ridiculous questions like ''Do you want an umbrella?'' or '' How much is the monkey?''

3: hấp the only word on my list that isn't a noun! I would pronounce this word like ''hop?'' and, my picture is a bit rubbish, but this word means 'steamed'. We learnt it not very long ago at class when we were learning foods, and I love it.

 
2:Úc This is one of the first Vietnamese words I learnt because it means 'Australia', so it's an answer I give a lot to taxi drivers and other curious people. The 'c' is said as a 'p' in a way that makes you look like you're storing nuts for winter in your mouth like a squirrel...(can't explain the puff face sound any clearer) Also, there is the ever present up-tone which means it's gotta sound like you are unsure of yourself. 

 
1: chôm chôm This is a new word to my vocabulary that I learnt while playing my SmartKids VE app, again, my picture is rubbish, but it means rambutan and is similar to a lychee, but hairy. The fruit is delicious and this word is also delicious! It sounds like the word in a video game that a pac-man-esque character would say while eating cake...actually...rambutans kinda look like hairy pacmen when you break them in half to eat them...hmmm...that could be the fever talking.

So, these are my favorite Vietnamese words to say at the moment, surely I will learn more as time goes by, but, now... I am going to brainstorm a way to say ALL 5 in one sentence!!! (I'll get back to you if I ever get it done)