App Review: Foody.vn (iOS, Android, Web)

Today let's look at Foody, an app/website that strives to be the 'Vietnamese Yelp' and is helping organize this city's wild and ever-changing mix of food and drink offerings.

First of all, let's note that I did not use the word 'restaurant' above. Holy schmoly, yes, people, this is an app that catalogues food stands! The future is here! And not only street food... as you'll see, the app lets you delve deep and get specific in describing your particular craving.

I have been using Foody daily for three weeks now and it's been an interesting, and informative, ride.

The app is packed with functionality, but, in general, it doesn't get in the way of the main tasks: discovering new places to eat and drink, documenting your visit there, and rating them.

Click through for screenshots and a tour, and see how I find new places to eat... or simply identify what's a restaurant, and what's someone's kitchen/living room (this can be tricky, seriously)!

App Review: Touchnote (iOS & Android)

In a nutshell, Touchnote allows you to mail a physical postcard of any photo/s you choose and personalized notes/captions to anyone in the world... in seconds, without going to the post office.

This app isn't strictly a travel app, but it has such a powerful real-world impact on people you love that I think I'd be remiss not to let more people know about it. It is certainly one of my favorites - of dozens of apps on my phone, this is one I consider indispensable, and would no matter where I lived.

It's so fantastic. Worth every penny, and one of the most fun apps I have on my iPhone. (There's also an Android version, but I haven't used it. Got notes? drop 'em in the comments, please!)

My Experience with Today's Training Course

This is on really nice paper - a good sign?

Job training consisted of a 2.5 hour presentation, mostly about management of classrooms with 40+ kids (yikes!!) and a little bit about ESL games, some popular ones, and how to vary them.

I guess it was pretty useful. It was interesting observing and talking to the other teachers. 16 (myself included) were there and most were newly hired to this company - one guy had been in the program last year, and several of the younger teachers knew each other socially or from previous networking.

I was by far the greenest of the team, both in teaching and in Vietnam. There were four Americans - the rest were Brits, some Scots, and some Aussies. For everyone but me, this was old hat - most were teaching already, had been to multiple countries, and were already situated in Vietnam for 6 or more weeks. Some had been teaching here for several years.

Facebook Woes

Just a quick update about Facebook.

I have discovered that the Vietnamese government sporadically blocks Facebook throughout the country. Surprise! I try every day to connect, so if I'm successful you'll see me posting. I am still going to be posting here on this blog, and maybe I'll try and wrap my brain around Twitter (if that's not blocked, too) in order to get updates out to people.

Just to let you know. :/ Hopefully it won't be full time, or I'll have to get a VPN service to get around it (and watch netflix, that would be a super duper bonus! If my internet speeds didn't suck so much).

EDIT: Back online! Thanks TOR Browser!

International Relations

We've all got our own 'Continuing Adventures' going on in our lives all the time, and I want to stay on top of all the important things going on in each of your lives. This post will be about the art of International Communication!

I like writing letters, and in recent years have even gotten better at reading and responding to them! (I know, it's such a novel concept.) But whether it's a letter or postcard in the mail, or a text, phone call, email, or video call, I want to hear from you, and I'll want to reach out, if for no other reason than using English words with other English speakers will keep me sane and grounded in an strange culture.

So here is a list of the various ways and methods you can get in touch with me. If you'd like to connect via any of them and don't know my details, use the contact form in the sidebar to send me an email and we can work it out.

In short... Let's be friends!