250607 – 270607 Days 23, 24 & 25
The buffet breakfast at the hotel is fantastic. Im very satisfied with it. In the morning we went for a boring talk, then followed by a walk around the city area. We saw a famous cathedral called the Notre Dame, went to visit the French-styled Municipal post office and I managed to get my postcards finally. In the afternoon, we visited the History Museum and the Unification Palace, which were all very boring. In the evening, we went to Ben Thanh Market for awhile. I will definitely go back there again to get my stuff. Dinner was fabulous as we had steamboat, a room with all of us. After dinner, some of us went to the night market and I managed to get 2 board shorts at a very cheap price. We even had supper there before going back.
@Ice Cream Parlour
Wednesday morning we had a meeting with the Consulate of Spore and had a talk with the consulate general. I was damn sleepy, dozed off many times. I was only alert when the pastry was served at the end of it. Lunch was buffet again, at a very posh place and the food is superb. I ate many clams, which I used to dislike last time but the clams really tasted very good. Pizza was nice, fried rice, fried pancake… and there was Siew Mai! I just ate till I’m very full. In the afternoon. we had another talk. Then we went to a shopping complex which is something like People’s Park Complex. It is very cramp and there was nothing much for me to buy. After that, we had a super nice Singapore dinner owned by a Singaporean. We had sweet sour pork, fried chicken, kangkong, curry chicken… made us all salivate manz! After dinner, some of us went to this street to shop where I bought a tie, a top and a berms. And I went to trim my hair at a barber! I couldn’t communicate with the barber so just have to tell him through actions but overall, I was quite satisfied with it. The trim cost me $2. It is indeed a fruitful day :)Spore DInner
Woke up damn early to go to Ho Chin Minh Masoleum, where his body is resting. Admission is free and the queue is super super long. We queued for about 1 hr before getting to see his body for about 30seconds. But I must say it’s truly amazing how they managed to preserve the body till today.
Then we had lunch and it was one of the worst lunch I had here. I was quite irritated by everything. Anyway, some of us took a walk to West Lake after eating. The lake is big and scenic. 8 of us took the Swans, with 2 people in each Swan and we can paddle together to move around the lake in the swan for an hour. Me and Jasmine paddled together but we damn slack, paddled awhile then just slack in the lake. It was breezy and cooling as there is shelter, and we even bought a coconut to drink.
Serene West Lake, Happy Swaning
Then we decided to proceed to Old Quarters again but we rested in a 5 star hotel on our way to use their toilet and enjoy the air con. But it turned out we attracted a lot of attention in the hotel and our intruder status was discovered after some time and we decided to leave, after making a scene there for like 45 min. We took bus to Old quarters and we splitted into smaller groups to walk around. So me, Jamine, Xinyi and Siya took bus to this shopping centre to walk but there’s nothing for me to buy. They did not buy anything too. It’s the 1st shopping mall I stepped in Hanoi. Saw the usual labels like Giodarno, Bossini, Nike, Reebok… which are all expensive.We shopped along the street but it is more like a gals street as it’s mainly gals shops. We had KFC for dinner then made our way to this club called TOILET bar. Weird name they have but it sounds funky. We entered this shop to see and the salesgirl was quite friendly so I just had a causal chat with her. And she told us TOILET is closed at the moment. I was so sianz, cos that’s what we were looking forward to and it’s not opened. In the end, after a lot of discussion, we decided to return to dorm.
But guessed what? There was a 3rd blackout!!! WTF! And it’s the worst one ever. Up till now, it lasted for like 18 hours already. It’s like the primitive times, we had candles on every floor, and every source of light is precious. Our fans, air cons, lights are all not working. The air is still and humid. The gals had to bathe with candles and torch lights. We had to fan ourselves. Some of them even had the thought of checking into a motel for the night but it did not materialize. Some people still tried to sleep, but I wondered if they really slept. I ended up playing card games with Xinyi, Michelle, Xuan Ting and Jasmine, till like 4 plus then we decided to try sleeping.
SIAN BlackOut!
I woke up at around 8am and I had many mosquito bites throughout the short sleep I had. Really reminds me of my army outfield periods. It is our last night here in dorm and there has to be a blackout. Well, how nice if only it’s delayed for one more day. But I guessed it’s a memorable night we will all remember.
We are gonna fly to Ho Chin Minh is about 6 hrs time. I’m looking forward to going there as we will be checking into hotel and I think it’s a more exciting city. And having being in Hanoi for 3 weeks, I think I had explored enough of this place.
Hanoi Airport
I sat on the plane with Zi Liang but think we slept for most part of the flight. The flight is surprisingly good, smooth flight and nice food. The weather when we touch down is great, so much less humid than Hanoi and much cooler. We went to a restaurant for dinner and there was a NTU banner at the entrance to welcome us. We felt like VIPs surely. Dinner Restaurant with Zi Liang & Shu Shan
After dinner, we proceeded to hotel which is damn shoik and comfortable. We have nice rooms, wi-fi in hotel, thats why I can blog now, and the hotel is near to the night market, pubs and fast food restaurants. Finally, we all begin to feel where the money we paid are spent on. Nice sleep after such a long time :)
Woke up damn late on Thursday morning cos there’s no lesson. Went for lunch when I woke up and then in the afternoon we had a trip to this industrial park in another province. The meeting was damn boring. That’s all. After that, we went for a beer session with the Dean and had lots of food and beer at this coffeeshop near the school. We went for dinner after the drinking session and we returned to dorm and prepared for clubbing at night with some Vietnamese gals. And 18 of us went together, a big group and we went to Funky Monkey again. We opened a bottle of Chivas and played Indian poker with drinks as forfeit. I felt that it was more fun compared to the previous day as there are more people this time and I got quite high after so long. I have not felt so high such a long time manz. Enjoyed dancing with everyone, taking pics, drinking… Michelle was super drunk and uttered a lot of nonsense back in dorm. She was making a scene in our room. And I was K.O after bathing.
Today morning went for breakfast at a roadside stall with Xinyi, Phung, Siya and Kui Bao. After that, we went to a KTV which is very sucky. Outdated songs, no food, rundown room, poor mike with a loud echo and bad sound system. It’s not even a proper KTV. It’s just a karaoke room in a shophouse. It gave me the chance to sing all the old songs again. And someone said I got the Andy Lau feel, damn flattered. LOL. Then we went to meet the others to go to Pepperonis for pasta buffet. We had damn nice ice-cream before walking to the place for buffet. The buffet sux however, very little choice and it’s so warm in the restaurant. It’s only 3.20 per pax so it’s fine la.
After eating, we splited into small groups to walk around old quarters. I bought 2 shirts and had 2 scoops of Hazelnut gelato which is heavenly in the damn hot weather. We took bus back for dinner before we went out for a KTV session with the Vietnamese people. I took bike there with Ziliang. I must say that the Vietnamese people are really hospitable. It’s a fun KTV session with a big group but no Chinese songs to choose. I can only sing a few old English songs. Damn sianz. If only there’s Chinese songs to choose. But there are lots of tidbits, fruits and beer to drink. We sang till around 1130pm then cabbed to dorm.
@KTV with Vietnamese Peeps + Us
Lectures are damn boring, and the presenters sux. It’s not that they don’t have knowledge, but they really can’t present well. Maybe they should attend AB114 or AB214. Monday afternoon was a visit to the ceramic village. It’s basically this area that sells a lot of ceramic stuff, and I really did not expect myself to buy any stuff there. And in the end, I bought many things! Bought a Tea Set, some cartoon ornaments… Actually some of us wanted to go for massage at night but in the end, because Jasmine wasn’t feeling very well so in the end, me Bao Chern and Pei Shan went to have dessert after dinner and shopped at the supermart after that. I bought a bottle of Vodka for S$4 to bring back to drink with the rest.
@Ceramic Village
At night we played bridge and Indian Poker with Vodka. It was a damn fun and hilarious night. Indian Poker got very bored after some time, so we played another game we played before. And it’s so interesting to see the effect of alcohol on people, esp XIn Yi, Si Ya and Bao Chern, they can’t think properly after drinking a few cups of Vodka with Fanta. For me, I guess Im not that bad cos I did not forfeit a lot so did not end up drinking a lot of Vodka. We will play that again one of the nights :)Tuesday afternoon was a visit to a street which sells many silk products. I bought a tie for about S$1.50. The cheapest tie I ever bought, though I only bought 3 ties before in my life. Bought some other stuff also, and the biggest winner of the trip has to be Bao Chern. She bought a silk suit for sleeping, 7m of silk to bring home cos her mum can make clothes, 2 shawls, purses, wallets… Really like a concubine life. And Im like her servant, following her around. LoL.
At night we took bus to the KFC to eat. KFC is damn posh here. It’s really a restaurant. The waiters take the orders, serve the food to us, and they even have a KFC ambassador at the doorstep to welcome people. We were so happy to have our 1st fast mood meal here, though I dun think the Vietnamese consider it a Fast food place cos it’s somparable to Swensons in Spore. Though the chicken is excessively oily, I enjoyed the meal a lot. After the meal we went to old quarters but as it was too late, we couldn’t go massage so ended up walking around while before we cabbed back to Dorm.
Wednesday morning was a meeting with a representative from the spore embassy here. It wasn’t very interesting, quite boring in fact. In the afternoon we met up with the Vietnam students here who gave us a welcome party kinda thingy. We played some games, sang songs, had a short bamboo dance… They were very sincere in the event and we did not really prepare any item for them.At night we went Old quarters again to shop around but I did not get anything. Im already very sick of the place and there’s nothing that really catches my eyes. So Jasmine they all suggested going to this pub called Funky Monkey for drinks and so me, Jasmine, Chenghao and Boa Zhen went there for drinks. We ordered cocktail, beers and played finger guessing games with drinks as forfeit. Bao Zhen was very drunk! Oh my, she damn high that night. The people we saw in the club was damn hip manz, very good looking guys and gals I saw. And we ordered like two plates of fries cos it’s super nice! The nicest fries I have eaten here so far. We danced a little, as the dancefloor was cramp and the music was not very nice. Then as we were about to leave, Amanda and Chris came in so we stayed on and drank some more. Left the club around 1130 to go back cos we already past the time we are supposed to return.
I have been blogging about daily stuff here, never really wrote a reflective entry yet. Well it's only about 13 days left in Vietnam. I must say time kind of flies here, I dunno if it's crawling in Spore or not, but life here so far has been so carefree and simple, except occasional moments when we discuss project stuff, every other moment is stressless. I will miss this place when I get back for sure, for the happy moments it has brought me so far. And the people here are generally nice, people whom I can foresee keeping in touch with when we return to Spore. There are rare moody moments of course, which I get over quite quickly. I guess I just have to get used to this kind of life overseas, as this one month is merely a preclude of my 4 months stint in Swiss later this year. Im sad I won't be doing the modules with the rest of u, sad that I can't plan my timetable this sem with u guys, sad that I can't see this group of Viet Peeps in NTU next sem, sad Im leaving home yet again... But everything comes with a trade-off :) I never know who I will meet, what I will encounter for my exchange. Just hope for the best :) And I must lower my expectataions so I won't be disappointed easily, which I did for this trip, and it all turned out well for me.
Oh I did not mention that Im known as MAX to everyone here. No one calls me Desmond. QUite weird initially hearing people call me MAX, but I have gotten used to it already. And somehow I illogically feel that the name Max improves my affinity with people. Dun ask me why but this is the feeling I get. Perhaps Desmond is just not for me, and I already complained before it's not my ideal name. Im happy being MAx. ANd got people mistake me for Vietnamese, Korean... Dunno to be happy or :( Anw quite hilarious incidents happen. To end with a narcissitc note, some people said I got nice eyes and features. LOL. I dun tink my features are nice, if I were to choose the nicest, it will be the eyes :)
And I miss the outings in SPore... Miss the BFG supper, Nuan's Bday celebration, and I wanna go Kbox so badly even before coming here. Im gonna try out the KTV here soon, hopefully they have chinese songs. I dun really miss other stuff apart from people in Singapore, not even food or TV or shopping or the place. Perhaps my adaptability is not that low afterall.
Woke up at 6am to get ready for our trip to Hoa Binh province. The bus ride took about 2 hrs and we first went to explore a hydroelectric plant, which is kind of magnificent to me as I have not seen such a plant before. Then we went to visit the gigantic Ho Chin Minh statue and took many pics there as the scenery is very nice due to the mountainous surroundings. Our lunch was at a resort-styled hotel but we only had lunch there. A special feature of the lunch had to be the bamboo rice, which is quite tasty when ate together with the peanut.
The Guys acting Cute
After lunch was another hour of bus ride to the village we are supposed to spend a night. The house we stayed in is called a still-house, which is the type of house the ethnic minority still stays in. The still-house is mainly made of wood materials, and its structure is such that it keeps the interior cool though the weather is so warm. We played bridge in the house for about one hour before deciding to move our butts to explore the village.
The Village
7 of us walked together around the village. Scenery was nice as we see clouds within mountains, fields where the farmers worked, pond, cows & chickens… and it’s fun to take pics along the way. Then it started to rain so we took refuge under one of the still house. Then a guy came over to offer us chairs to sit. We were thinking that’s so nice of him since we kind of intruded their place. He then gave us many corns and we started to help him peel off the corns. Accordingly, the corns are used to feed the pigs they rear. And we thought it’s so fun peeling the corns while waiting for the rain to stop. And we took pics too! After peeling many corns, the rain stopped and he invited us to enter his house. And I was shocked to see a hi-fi set and a Sanyo fridge. Haha. They are very hospitable, made me feel ashamed that such hospitality will not be experienced in Spore. He offered us wine to drink and tidbits to eat, even on the fan for us, and we kind of chatted with him and had a great time there! It’s one of the best unexpected adventure I have experienced here so far.
We went back for dinner and we had a campfire after dinner. It’s a night where we enjoy the traditional dance and music of the ethnic minority, followed by a Bamboo dance which is the highlight of the night. It’s fun to catch the rhythm of the bamboo to avoid the feet being caught by it. Then we had some games which reminded me of NBS camp and our team lost! But it’s fun though, and some of the guys imcluding me kena flagpoled. Ouch!
After campfire, it’s a free night for all and we basically played games among our groups. So the group of us played some games and there was forfeit of course. Jasmine and Adelyn are the most sway ones, they did like 3 or 4 forfeits, until we cant think of any for them to do. Then after being tired and sian of games, it’s ghost story time. We went to a dark corner to share stories. But I was really very very tired, basically not listening attentively to them, so I went to sleep halfway. Zzz.
Sunday morning we had a visit to the local wet market. Then we returned to our house and the group of u went to find the villager again as we wanted to give him a bottle of wine in return as we finished up his wine yesterday. And this time we met his sister and mother. They are so nice. Took some pics at his house again.
With Villager, his Mum & Sis
Went back for lunch, took some final pics around the house and we left around noon to go back to Hanoi. We had a hellish bus ride, one of the worst I experienced which made me carsick, and really sick throughout the ride, and some of them had the same nauseous feeling. It’s so nice to be back in our air-con dorm :)
Love this Pic Alotz
Lectures ended quite early for these 3 days. YAY! Got a lot of spare time to do other stuff. After lesson today, me, Zi Liang and Bao Chern went to walk around the streets and the Bao Chern damn greedy. She wanna try every kind of food so we stopped over to try breads, rice dumpling, visited a small bookshop which sells only Vietnamese books, and I bought bubble tea again. It’s nice walking and eating when we got free time. Anw once I got back to dorm, I went to play bridge with the others till lunch time. Bridge is so fun to play during spare time.
We have been visiting this orphanage called Friendship Village these 3 days. Unlike the name, it’s not literally a village place, nor does it look like the typical village image we have. It’s nicely constructed place I would say, and the director said we are not the first Singaporean batch to visit the place. The kids there are mentally challenged, some physically disabled also. We have been helping out with the embroidery, some of them played with them, and the gals are really good in chatting with them. I feel that social work makes me feel very helpless. Im around yet I dunno what I can really do. Though people often say its meaningful, but really, what have we really done? I really did not do much at all to help.
Friendship Village
On Wednesday evening, me, Jasmine, Siya and Pei Shan decided to take their bus the first time to a street to walk around cos we did not want to stay in dorm. It’s so exciting to try taking the bus cos we gotta find out where the bus stop is, where to alight etc. And their bus system is damn antique. U have to pay a guy on the bus the bus fare, someone like a conductor. And Im surprised that the ride was quite comfortable as it’s an air con bus also. It’s a nice shopping experience with them though it’s just the 4 of us. And we only bought groceries from the super mart.Since we are free after dinner time, I actually went to this pub called Lipton Café yesterday nite and just now to chill out and drink. Yesterday we had 6 people who went, and we had a good time eating their ice-cream, drinking and gossiping. Today we had 8 people. We went for dessert first nearby, it’s a coconut jelly thingy which is great. Then we went to Lipton to drink and thanks to Kai Xiang who bought 2 packets of French fries for us to munch also. Then some of us went to play pool. The pool tables are within the pub so it’s very convenient and it’s dirt cheap. Our pool skills damn rusty manz, but I managed to do a few beautiful shots. Haha. I also managed to have a nice chat with some of them. Actually it’s more like a gossiping session again. I get to know every one better each time after such chats, and the impression they gave me since day one had changed 180 degrees for some people, mostly for the better. So never judge a person by his looks!
This week's lecture will be dealing with doing business in Vietnam and some of their business laws, which really pretty reminds me of AB103 as there are many similarities. We were made to discuss in groups and present some questions to the class for the first time.
In the afternoons, we went to Bo De Pagoda for some social work. It’s actually a monastery which takes in some orphans and there are only nuns around. The condition the kids live in are really dilapidated. We can see flies in their room, bad kitchen condition, and I think at least 5 or 6 kids have to squeeze a room. But yet they are living so simply. Simple kampong games we played with them like skipping rope, badminton, japteh, soccer can just make them so happy. And they are damn hyper too. Some people taught them songs, how to read ABC, and the girls can really carry babies damn well. They are all so ready to be mothers. Lol. I told them I got no affinity with babies. And true enough, when Jasmine passed the baby to me, the baby wanted to get out of my arms within like 10 seconds. Resigned to it manz. But anw, hope the kids do enjoy the happy moments these 2 days of our short visit. We cant do much seriously, but even if it's a few moments of happiness, they shd be contented.
The Gals displaying a motherly portrait
And our Prof J.Lo actually met us there today, so unexpected to see him there and my group asked him some stuff regarding out upcoming project. Gonna be a lot of work into this project but I think it should be very fun doing it. There are 4 people in my group, Phung, a Vietnamese from CS, Zi Liang from CS and Bao Chern from ACC also. And last night, I went Zi Liang's room and we had some really fun game of Bridge. Damn hilarious and fun playing cards before we got down to some discussions on our project theme.We had our dinner at the monastery and suddenly it got super stormy and damn windy. I haven experienced such weather for so long. The rainwater kept splashing into our dining area while we were eating and we had to shift to a safer place. A stormy and wet vegetarian dinner indeed. Tmr to friday we are going to this place called Friendship Village to do social work. Hope it will be fun and meaningful. It’s still pouring now while Im in my room. Gonna be a nice night to sleep in again :)
Playing wif Kids + Photo taking
Finally its the weekend and we set off for Halong Bay early sat morning, which took us a bus ride of 4 hrs. Weather was scorching hot. There were many tourists at Halong City, waiting to board their boats. Upon arrival, we took a small boat to our ship, reminds me of Pirates of the Carribean, luxurious and comfy looking. We were greeted with lunch when we boared the ship and also checked in to our cabin, which is 2 to a room.
The luxurious Ship
Lunch was sumptuous seafood which includes clams, prawns, fish, crab, sotong... Never eaten such a meal for so long but it got a little sick after some time. Anw We took alot of pics while on the ship, scenery was splendid!Halong Bay Mesmerising Scenery
In the afternoon, we had a Cave tour. The cave is damn huge, and the thing is it feels like air con when u stepped inside. How amazing the natural structure of caves to keep the temperature so cooling compared to outside. It's very spectacular. But we really walked and climbed alot, sweated like mad too.
After the cave tour, we returned to ship awhile to get ready for water activities at the beach area. WHen we arrived at the beach, we climbed hundreds of steps to reach this Pagoda like place, which I believe offers the best view of the whole Halong Bay. It's worth the climb and the gals r all complaining. The pending sunset was awesome.Group Pic at the summit
After that, some people went swimming while 7 of us decided to try the banana boat, 4 guys and 3 gals. Damn fun manz, esp when its flipped and we tried to hang on. But only one round of it, so short. And we had a dispute with the local guy over the price. Haiz long story. But it's fun! Dinner was another round of sumptuous seafood, more fried stuff this time round. AFter dinner, majority of us went to chill out at the top deck, chatted and we actually had a singing thingy going on so most of us did sing a song. Damn Ma Lu, I sang HOME and I think it so sux. I shd sing some chinese song instead. We stayed there till 12am then went back to the comfy cabin for the best nite I had so far here.Banana Peeps
Breakfast was bread and juices. Then we boarded a sampan alike boat for a tour around the bay, with a closer view of the cliffs and water. I even videoed it. Then it was back to cabin to slack before checking out at 1030. Lunch was good, and I felt kinda lethargic, think it's becos its too comfy here, dun feel like going back to dorm.Took another 4 hrs bus ride back to Hanoi. Majority of us had dinner at this place near the dorm and I bought bubble tea also. Damn nice. Then we cabbed to a shopping street, a more high end place. Me, Zi Liang and Kai Xiang shopped together and me and ZL bought a berms for 11.50. Our bargaining skills sux manz, can't even reduce by 50 cents. We shd just knock ourselves. We damn satisfied with it manz. Cabbed back around 945.
Tmr will begin another week of lecture. But this is an exciting week. We going to do social work at villages, and will be going to a province during the weekend. Looking forward to it :) Meeanwhile, take care guys :) Love ya all
My Poses
Woke up feeling damn tired. I was the only one at the breakfast area so I ate myself first while waiting for more people to come. Finally I saw Zi Liang and Kai Xiang, then more people started coming later. I won’t go for breakfast so early anymore, cos we are getting lazier everyday to wake up so early.
The new lecturer was very engaging, shared a lot of life cases with us with regards to political and legal system here and though she’s a Vietnamese, she speaks very good English having being in Australia before. Lunch was great!
Afternoon we went to the new urban area in Hanoi, which includes the Trung Hoa Nhan Chinh area, My Dinh area, and the Manor. We met around 2pm and at night it was free and easy for all. We saw some high rise apartments still in the process of being built, saw the national stadium in Hanoi, saw a local university and saw the famous bridge. Took some pics only.
Wats up there?
Posing Time!
Anw the weekend is here! No lectures! It's gonna be very fun I guess, we are all going Halong Bay, a very famous attraction here, and we r spending the night on a cruise, having some seafodd dinner, hopefully can watch the beautiful sunset. Somehow I dun feel like Im here to study. LOL. Im having a long holiday!!! Although it's barely a week, I feel like im here for damn long, kinda adapted to the traffic, food and life here already. And there r nice people around, not so sucky as my NBS camp last time. And it's great to interact with people from other facs :) Looking forward to getting a nice tan and taking loads of great pics wif everyone :)
Woke up in the morning feeling drowsy. Breakfast was bread with beef curry, totally unfilling. Today’s lesson is more interesting at least, as we are able to do some discussions among ourselves. And it was Prof Jon last lecture before we see another one tomorrow. Finally went to an internet place after lunch which is damn sucky. I cant get into blogspot, can’t see my blog, can’t upload pics to friendster, can’t do much at all, just can access the stupid NTU website. Sigh.
We went to Hoa Lo prison first, which isn’t as interesting as I expected. Then we were off to the Ho Chi Minh Museum, which is surprisingly more interesting. The air con is such a great relief. We passed the Ho Chin Minh Moseleum, where his body is preserved inside but it was closed today, so probably we will visit it another day.
@Hoa Lo Prison
Dinner was at a supposedly high class Marche like place to celebrate the two girls birthdays. We ordered food by table. Food is not that great I feel, maybe I’m still not accustomed to their taste. Me and Zi Liang each ordered a bottle of Ha Noi beer, and the rest were kind of like seeing whose face will be redder. Okay apparently it was his. Each person amounted to about 6.50, fairly cheap for such a place.After dinner 15 of us walked to old quarters again, majority went to catch the water puppet show, while me, Zi Liang and Jessica went for the foot massage. Their service is damn good, each person has a free drink and they really made you feel comfortable. I just felt like sleeping on, as they made it a point to massage the head, hands, neck and body. And it only cost 10 bucks. Very worth it. Hopefully for the next 3 weeks I will go for such massages again.
We R VIETNAM ARMY :)
We met up with the rest after that and shopped for hats for some time. Yeah I bought 2 hats for 6 bucks only! Very satisfied. All thanks to Phung for bargaining for me. Then we splitted into 2 cabs back to dorm. I intended to have an early night initially and get up early for a morning jog the next day but ultimately it didn’t happen becos everyone was so hyped up over the results release. I wasn’t planning to check at all but seeing that majority checked, I tried logging in too. My first time here I am able to log in successfully to MSN. I tried using Kai Xiang’s lappy to check but gave up after waiting for it to load for about 30 minutes. So I went over to Phung’s room to use their lappy and in the end I stayed there till 2plus just to check cos I tried logging in for umpteen times but it was unsuccessful. I think the people around me more anxious to see how I fare. And we ended up gossiping about people, girls really like to gossip a lot, and it’s interesting to hear the kind of stuff they gossip about. Overall result, quite satisfactory, I can’t complain much I guess, must learn to be contented :)
Lecture ended earlier today J Went for lunch after that and we are going to the Vietnamese museum of Ethnology. We took many pics there, to the point where I was tired of taking further, as the weather is damn humid. I bet it’s 36 degrees at least. Gonna get tanned when I come back.
Then a big group of us went to BIG C supermart after the museum to stock up on food and drinks. And 9 of us shared a mega cab back to have dinner at the canteen. Great experience shopping there, and I bought a pair of nice berms for 15 bucks only :)
I tried the internet badly again but to no avail. Then heard some of them going night market so I decided to join them. In the end, Jasmine, Chenghao, Bao Chern, Adeline, Shu Jun, Kaixing, Zi Liang and me took the motorbikes there. Me and Shu Jun shared a bike. Super fun! Though I can feel sand getting into my eyes but the wind and the speed was damn shoik. As we were about to reach it started to rain and soon the rain got heavy. Then we all waited under a flyover first to wait for the rain to subside. And we saw an accident! Two bikes collided! And the amazing thing was that they both looked okay. And the sad thing was that no one bothered to help them at all. Then as the rain doesn’t really subside, seven of us got under Zi Liang’s poncho (the SAF type) and cross the road together, got wet and dirty on feet but damn funny la the experience. We like a super chui mega lion dance troupe.Nothing much to buy there. I just bought a pair of flops and a beachy shorts, total for 5 bucks. We tried bargaining further but they were very insistent. The clothes they sell sux, like those behind time for 20 years. We then cabbed back around 10 plus and had some drinks( beer and fruit juice) at this non aircon bar.
While back at the dorm they wanted to spring a surprise for Siya and Dilys as it’s their birthday. So we just fake an excuse for everyone to go to the rooftop and we sang their birthday song there, for like 5 times I think. I didn’t expect the rooftop to be so huge. Anw my face was super red from the beer, I think Im seriously allegic to beer. Haiz. Heck. Slept damn well as the rain was cooling :)
Day 2 of lecture in the morning. Oh we finally had the French bread for breakfast instead. Not too bad. Lesson was on the Vietnam War stuff. In the afternoon, we went to a museum to learn more about the Vietnam history and historical persons. Took quite a number of pics there, but mainly of the statues, relics etc, not myself. Again, it’s damn humid and warm. It’s a luxury to stand under the aircon. After the museum we took a damn long to decide where to go. Some suggested a seafood restaurant, and in the end almost all of us went there. The food was not bad but it wasn’t filling. Managed to find out shu shan, kai xiang and bao chern are all in Group B but I never see them in lectures before. Oh well. And Adelyn was from Rigel, my sister OG in NBS.
@Museum, Big Group enjoying the aircon
After eating, we separated into 2 groups so the six of us took the motorbike ride to town area. And it’s me, Jessica and the biker on a bike. Damn thrilling! Riding a bike without helmets. We bought the tickets for the water puppet show, 1st class seats for all of us at $4 sing. While waiting for the show, we went for another round of Vietnamese dinner which tasted great.
Then we went for the show which was interesting the 1st 15 min, okay the next 15 min and boring the last 30 min cos it was entirely in Vietnamese. But not too bad overall, at least I enjoyed the music. Then the 6 of us squeezed a cab back to dorm. The Internet sux again… damn Sucky la!!! Trying so hard just to get connected.
030607 - Day 1
The Vietnam Airline left me quite amazed as though it’s a commercial airline, the size of the plane is like Jetstar, no inflight entertainment also. There’s food though. Journey was about 3 hrs plus. We finally arrived in Hanoi around 6plus local time.We had a traditional Vietnamese dinner on arrival at a restaurant, the representative Pho(Vietnamese Noodles). It’s actually like kway teow soup with beef, quite tasty. After dinner, we proceeded to our dormitory, in this outskirt part near the Hanoi University.
First impression: Quite rundown, olden looking 1940s kind of building. I’m sharing room with 3 other guys at level 1, all 3 from Sociology, me the only NBS. Our room sux! The only room with spoilt aircon, and the internet is down. Anw Prof London brought us for a walk around the vicinity and we tried the Vietnamese dessert which came at the right time as we were all so thirsty. After that all of us were in need of mineral water and we all mobbed the provision shop asking for water. So all of us bought like a box of water, the largest size being 5 litres. Back to dorm, and retired in humid and warm environment with just the small fan working.
040607 - Day 2Morning assembly at 7am. Went for breakfast at a place near our dorm. We all had Pho again : Then it was a History lecture at the Uni by this US Prof. Damn boring. My mind drifted for very long. Lucky there was a coffee break and we all walked to the shophouse for coffee. Vietnam is kind of famous for its coffee, and though the size was pathetic, it really tasted not bad, thicker than those in Spore. And I heard the mentoes cost 25 cents Sing only. Lesson ended around 11 plus and it was then lunch at the same place. Food was good :)
We went to this oldest University site in Hanoi and a local guide brought us around. The place look more like a temple than a previous school. After that. We proceeded to town area, called Old Quarter, which sells many different products, like a Pasar Malem. J Lo walked us around, and I just just amazed how come the people here do not get into accidents on road as their driving is really beyond your imagination unless u see it yourself. They are really very skilful! And honing is customary here. 
Then we all split into small groups to walk around. So me, Zi Liang, Kai Xiang, Seng Keat, Bao Chern, Pei Shan and Phung went to Hoan Kiem lake to tour. Quite a scenic lake in Hanoi. Then it was basically roaming around the streets, and Phung brought us to have Vietnamese ice cream, which is damn popular. And we saw the opera house! Nice French Architecture. And we actually went to Hilton Hotel just to use the 5 star toilet. The aircon is a luxury as the weather is even more humid than Spore. Buay Ta Han lor.And after a long walk, we managed to have a roadside dinner, Vietnamese noodle. I became a Panda again when I ate the Bamboo in the noodle soup. Well didn’t know bamboo can taste so normal, like other vegetable. After dinner was another round of shopping in Old Quarters. We didn’t buy much, cos it’s just the 2nd day. And some of the stall vendors were quite unfriendly. We cabbed back around 9 plus as our legs were aching.
We shared the lychee we brought at the dorm and while savoring it, there was a blackout! It was damn dramatic! Some of us saw the sparks in the cable box which lasted a few seconds before the whole floor turned black. Then everyone started to come out of their room and just hanged out together. Phung’s sudden scream was another dramatic event as we thought she saw something dirty. The electricity was restored about 30 min later then I heard from the rest there was a 2nd blackout. Oh well. Tried reading the lecture readings before sleeping and it truly served as a bedtime story book :\The internet is really bad, using internet from a internet cafe now.
