Today is the day in which Vietnamese honour their teachers, both past and present as it is a day that is annually designated as “Teachers Day” nationwide. Yesterday students at RMIT were busy giving out Teachers Day greetings and gifts that included flowers, perfume and other cosmetics, alcohol and jewellery as most teachers will not be on campus today.

Last night, several of Lisa’s students invited us out to dinner at a restaurant on Vo Thi Sau Street where we ate Banh Khot (small corn pancakes with shrimp which you wrap up in salad and dip in a chilli oil) and also a type of noodle soup rich with fresh fish which was delicious. We could hardly move for being so full after this meal, however the night was still young.

After dinner we headed across town in a motorbike convoy to a large karaoke bar/resturaunt on Tran Hung Dao Street called Club 259. This place is very large with many private karaoke rooms which can be hired for the reasonable sum of VND40,000 per hour. Each room is decorated with a different theme, but the overall decor is as if you are walking into a submarine. Each private parlour has double doors to keep the sound inside, possibly a blessing in a lot of cases.

Our small private booth had a Japanese decor and we spent several hours drinking a few rum and orange juices and singing with these happy young Vietnamese people. It was a great night, singing together is always a good and bonding experience.

If you wish to view images from the evening click on a thumbnail and a larger colour image will open in a pop-up window.