16 Jul 09

Had a funny encounter today. Was seated beside 2 fellow male Singaporeans at the restaurant and there and then, I decided to pretend to be a Vietnamese and not let my Singlish come to light to see what I can observe.

Firstly they didn’t seem to look at me as though they know I’m a fellow Singaporean. After I placed my order in Vietnamese, they started talking between themselves, about work, about the food they are eating, about their wives etc etc. They were the typical middle-aged, maybe manager-level or businessmen Singaporean ‘uncles’ and I realized many of such characters seem to talk in a similar kind-of arrogant manner, loud and full of himself. Oh my goodness, is that how our fellow Singaporeans appear to foreigners?

When my food arrived on the table, one of them looked at my food and said “Wow, that looks nice!” Typical Singaporean again.. haha! He then asked me, “What is this called?” to which I replied the name of the dish in Vietnamese and the question “Are you a Singaporean too?” still didn’t pop up, haha. 

Actually nothing much; it was just a short encounter. But I guess looking like a local does have its element of fun =)

Doing the last bit of packing in my room now and there are still a lot of stuff yet to be squeezed in *pulls hair*

Bye bye Hanoi. Bye bye Vietnam. See you again, maybe for holiday, haha! SQ 175, see you tmr!

11 July 09

Went to Nghe An Province over the weekend to visit the hometown of the late President Ho Chi Minh. The 6-hour journey by minivan made me all groggy and conclude that I can’t travel long distances by land cuz I can do nothing but sleep, sleep and sleep. I think that’s the logic (or physics) behind why babies sleep in those hammock thingy.

Seemingly Mr Ho Chi Minh’s hometown is much more popular with domestic tourists rather than foreign tourists. The late president came from a humble background and when everyone (ie. the massive crowd) squeezed into the small house to listen to the guide, I felt like I’ve lost a few kgs just by perspiring alone.

The afternoon was spent at Cua Lo Beach, which was cleaner and not as crowded as what I had expected. Did nothing much there though, no picnic, no volleyball, no swimming; just walking in the water and enjoying the cool sea breeze.

12 July 09

Travelled back to Hanoi by minivan and almost died again, from constantly being in a semi-conscious state. Trip back took even longer because it rained heavily. I think the last similar one was during the FYP period when we took the SUPER DUPER SLOW train from Hua Hin to Bangkok. Almost died then too, especially with the perpendicular seats. Debbie and Xiaoni, we have been through life and death together man (at least to me)! LOL~

13 July 09

今天我真的是名副其实地处在 “河内”。一整天不停下大雨， 路上淹水淹到小腿之上。奇怪的是，我不但没有埋怨，还觉得满有趣的。有些骑电单车的， 不得不下车推车，走路的也得卷起裤管， 在水中“漫步”。我也有样学样，卷起牛仔裤， 脱去凉鞋， 双脚浸在水中，慢慢地走在“河内”。毕竟在新加坡是不可能做这样的事情的。

6 July 09

Kim Ma has a stretch of Japanese restaurant which serves very good and most importantly, cheap Jap food. For about S$10, one can get a full set. Worth trying!

 

7 July 09

Period. Cramps. Period. (T_T)

8 July 09

1 July 09

I came to Hanoi in April and wow, look at the date now… It’s July!

2 July 09

Was organizing the stuff in my laptop when I chanced upon some documents from final-year project work during university times. In those, many a times, I mentioned that I had very bad sense of direction because ours was an offsite project.

If that was true at that time, I can only say that my sense of direction has improved leaps and bounds over the course of this trip, so much so I’m a little impressed with myself, haha! I remember road names, I make use of landmarks, I’m comfortable with using the bus guide and I don’t even need the map most of the time anymore.

23 June 09

Adapted from Elizabeth Gilbert’s “Eat, pray, love”:

            “Be a scientist of your own experience. You’re not here as a tourist; you’re here as a seeker. So explore it.”

24 June 09

Had a cashew nut crème brulee today. It was just right; not too sweet, not too soft, not too expensive, haha. Do we have that in Singapore?

26 June 09

A local asked a foreigner which bus to take to her destination. The foreigner answered her and gave her the directions, in the native language. For a brief moment, it was kind of funny.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Got news of Michael Jackson’s death this morning, in Hanoi, from CNN, on tv.

I’m not a big fan, but still… the demise of yet another big pop star. And I must say I did like a few of his MTVs a lot.

27 June 09

I think it’s rude if someone is eating and while you’re not, you make comments about how unappetitizing the person’s food looks and when the other person already agrees that the food is indeed not as nice as expected, either truth or out of politeness, you continue to say things like ‘Yeah, I don’t have the slightest interest in eating that just by looking at it’. I think that’s just being plain impolite and insensitive. I don’t like that behavior. 

16 June 09

I am pleased to announce that I’ve passed my 1^st Vietnamese exam with a score of 93%, haha!

 

   1st test

  1st exam

From Book 1   to Book 2...

17 June 09

You know what these are?




Tomatoes!!!

Even I am surprised by myself that I’m eating so many tomatoes. Not that I hate tomatoes, but the tomatoes I get are always ‘nua-nua’ or sour. The cherry tomatoes here are amazingly sweet and nice. I’m popping them like I’m having snacks, healthy snacks. I certainly hope good skin follows that.

18 June 09

Other interesting observations I’ve made:

1. On the roads in Hanoi, you can see motorcyclists riding side by side, just so that they can talk to each other, WHILE RIDING! And they can go on like this for the longest time imaginable.

2. The traffic lights are there for a reason: for people to beat the red light and to ignore the green light.

3. Confectioneries are not common here, that’s why I’m missing the waffle/red-bean/kaya/chocolate breads that are aplenty in Singapore. I suppose it’s also because their breakfast item here is pho (rice noodles), and not so much of confectionery.

4. Contrary to what I’ve thought before, Vietnamese aren’t exactly shy people. They do aerobics out in the open; they sing while on the bus, they have their pictures taken anywhere and everywhere and they even kiss in public, etc.

5. And may I repeat if I have not mentioned this, there are extremely few fat people in Vietnam.

11 June 09

I think the wisest choice which I’ve made so far is to take a cab back from Old Quarters after dinner just now because shortly after we came back, a thunderstorm ensued. We would not have made it back so early if we had decided to take the bus instead and we would then have had to walk in from the main road. That could mean getting stuck out there in the thunderstorm. Phew!

And for the first time, I’m seeing a thunderstorm. As I am writing now, the wind is still howling, the rain is still pouring and the lightning-thunder combination is occurring at one cycle per 10 seconds. It’s kind of scary actually.

12 June 09

Was asking A on her hobbies and what she usually does back in Singapore during the weekends. Apparently she was very much an outdoor person back in school, doing things like trekking, netball and water sports, etc. I couldn’t tell because she’s like so petite (she’s shorter than me) and fair-skinned. So when I asked her if she was still doing all these, she replied no and said that now that everyone has gotten busy with their own lives, marriage, work and all, so when her friends want to just slack at home during the weekends, she does the same too.

This brought me to think, what will happen to me and my groups of friends in a few year’s time? I wonder. 

15 June 09

再过一个月就回家了。是该时刻提醒自己好好把握在这里的时间， 享受悠哉闲哉，毕竟领着薪水忙里偷闲的机会， 一辈子应该不多吧。

心里面是想回家了。纵然家人不是把爱表达出来的人，但至少我知道他们是不会伤害我的人。 我想回到他们的身边。。。

3 June 09

The bus conductors in Hanoi are an amazing phenomenon! Background: a bus ticket in Hanoi costs 3,000 VND per trip, regardless of distance; passengers who carry the concession pass need not pay cash while those who do not pay the bus conductor and he’ll hand you your ticket. So, why are they amazing?

Because they have superb eyesight and memory power. What happens is at almost every bus stop, passengers will rush up the bus, at both front and back doors, and all will head straight for seats with some flashing the concession passes and some don’t. Then, the bus conductor will have to identify who the boarding passengers are, who the concession pass holders are, who the paying passengers are, collect money from those who should be paying, hand out tickets, all while the bus is on the move. Sounds easy? Think: 10 people boarding from the front, 10 people boarding from the back, a few gotta pay while the rest don’t, outstanding payments from the previous stop. Think: peak period madness.

Now, who’s the one who came up with the ezlink reader idea? ;p

4 June 09

I rode pillion today without a helmet, woohoo~ uh-huh it’s wrong but the rider forgot to bring an extra helmet so yeah, I went without a helmet. Worry not, because the riding speed here is much much slower than that in Singapore.

I wonder if it’s the hot summer here that’s sucking the energy out of me? The day before and today, I had 4-hour naps in the afternoon. Plus my regular 7-hour sleep at night, I slept 11 hours in one day! That’s like almost half a day spent on sleeping! And I’m supposed to be working 12-hour shift when I’m at work!!! And I don’t usually take naps. Intolerable, at least according to my protocols on sleeping.

6 June 09

Went to the Ethnology Museum today. Had 2nd thoughts at first, you know, museums.. but it turned out to be quite an interesting place.

They had replicas of the structures found in some minority villages and in one, they greatly advocate fertility and hence, check out the ornaments around one of the tombs!




   

Open and uncensored! Haha.


Did my first marketing in Hanoi. Not the usual tourist market type of marketing but actual buy-fish-buy-veg kind of marketing. The Vietnamese girl who stays nearby had invited us to her house for dinner. However, not wanting to seem too ‘buay hiao paiseh’, we offered to go to the market to buy the ingredients for dinner together. So yup, off to the market to buy fish, veggies and eggs. The fish was live fish and the fish head only costs about S$2 only.

Although her place was quite shabby (she’s a undergrad who’s staying in a rented room of a hut, so you get how small that is), which means there wasn’t exactly a proper kitchen but the dinner turned out to be quite tasty; at least better than the so-called cookhouse downstairs where I normally DON’T eat.

I do have my reservations about the level of cleanliness though, which I shall not elaborate. Can only bear what people always say in mind: ‘la sap jia, la sap tua’. I hope our stomachs will be able to withstand the challenge. That phrase was in hokkien by the way, not Vietnamese, haha!

7 June 09

Please tell me it’s not so hot in Singapore now because it’s 35 deg in Hanoi today and the heat is already quite uncomfortable. In fact, other than the heat, I think the sunlight here is so powerful that I’ve probably become 2 shades darker over the past few days.
 

Something struck me today. I think I would like to have an apartment that comes with a balcony in future. This came to me because here in Hanoi, I have a balcony and even though the view is not spectacular, it’s still nonetheless a balcony with a view. Although the view doesn’t change every now and then but I realize I do like to stand at the balcony and stare into the distance; sometimes to do some reflection, sometimes to soak in the sounds and images, sometimes just doing nothing at all. It’s slightly therapeutic and reassuring. So yeah, I think a balcony with a view would be nice.

29 May 09

Woke up to a cold and rainy morning (despite it being summer here now). Supposed to have morning class but the rain makes it difficult to get to school (read: no cycling and muddy roads) so LC and I decided to call the teacher to change it to afternoon class instead and she agreed.

I think the last time I had the luxury to skip class (or for that matter now, work) was back in Uni days. I shouldn’t be declaring this but yeah, you know there are times when you wake up in the morning and the weather is bad (or in another sense, good for sleeping in, heehee) or when you foresee a boring lecture and then at that instance, you make the ‘critical’ decision of not going to school? Haven’t really done that since Uni; not during my 1^st job, not possible during training days and definitely not now as a team supervisor.

What have you NOT done in a while?

30 May 09

There is one thing that can be done here but can never apply in Singapore: wake up and then decide what you want to do for the day. Like I told A, in Singapore, you probably have to plan what you wanna do the next day before you go to sleep the night before; probably plan your schedule for the next next day as well; oh did I say maybe plan the following week too?   

I realized I am getting better at recognizing and remembering the roads now. Armed with a map and a bus guide, I could find all the places I want to go to today, sometimes even without using the map =) So I had a late breakfast at a café in Old Quarters for a start to the day; had Belgian waffles since I haven’t had anything western in a while (minus KFC, that’s not really counted, is it?). That was nice except that the waffles came with raisins in them, yikes… so I had to take extra time to remove them.

After breakfast, I went to Dong Xuan Market, which is a 3-storeyed market that sells almost everything. Bought some souvenirs there but shall not disclose yet, heehee. I especially like this photo which I took cuz it has the symbolic conical hat. If only the man was not in the background. 

                                                  

Then I had a late lunch (read: ripple effect) where I had soup noodles, and steamed banana in coconut milk for dessert, which I quite like. After this late lunch, the timing was neither here nor there so I walked and walked before I settled down in yet another café for a lazy afternoon of coffee and storybook reading.

Finally the day ended with calling A and meeting up with her for a vegetarian dinner before coming back home. So you see, it was all an unplanned and yet quite eventful day.

Long day… tiredness’s setting in…

2 June 09

Highlight of the day: I sent 2 smses in VIETNAMESE! One to ask someone to help me buy something, one to fix up a lunch appointment. Both were understood.

There, learning progress updated =)

21 May 09

Went to KOTO restaurant on Van Mieu today. KOTO stands for ‘ Know one, Teach one’. It’s a not-for-profit organization where the proceeds go towards developing young trainees for the hospitality industry and it’s said to have gained 100% success rate in emplacing their trainees in their 1^st job so far. Eating with a cause, hee.

Anyway have been pondering over a question: why is it that so far, the responses that I get regarding my trip are ‘good for you, you must be having fun’, ‘lucky you’, ‘so envious of you’ etc? Does it mean that no one actually stops for a moment and think that it might actually be difficult for someone to be away from home and adapt to a totally foreign environment? Throw in the zero knowledge of the language to begin with. No?

23 – 24 May 09

The Vietnamese hosts arranged a Halong Bay trip for us over the weekend, which, is good, cuz Halong Bay is one of the contenders for one of the seven wonders of the world, with its acclaimed beautiful scenery. Set off on Sat morning for our destination, which is about 3 hours’ drive away from Hanoi.

 

How should I describe Halong Bay? It is beautiful no doubt, with all the natural waters and caves but somehow, it didn’t have the WOW effect on me. I thought Maya Bay of Phuket had that WOW factor more. But Halong Bay was indeed a good break away from the dusty roads and constant horning of the vehicles.

   

We explored one of the Thien Cung Cave, which had those naturally-formed stalagmites. Other than that, there was nothing much in the caves actually. See the pics for yourselves.

   


At night, we went to Tuan Chau Island for a water music show, which is largely similar to the musical fountain at Sentosa. But one part I found quite creative was they combined a legendary romance story with the water effects and that turned out pretty interesting.

Another observation made was despite Halong Bay drawing in such a great number of tourists, the city is extremely under-developed. Come night, the town was so dead-quiet. I think more should be done, maybe developing a seafood village or something?

Another week has passed…