vietnam 2012: day five.

shall keep this space as my travel blog (which are unfortunately, no fun to read as they are REALLY factual), for the only reason that most of my travel posts are much longer than usual :/

shall start with today's entry, and post the ones for the past four days tmr instead :D

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woke up early in the morning after a pretty long night of insanity playing bridge and ah daidee with the girls :D had to pack all our stuff, write my postcards and check out our room. after which we headed out to tous les jours for breakfast! 

tous les jours is this awesome french-inspired vietnamese home grown bakery, which is very beautifully designed in all aspects - the environment, the bread, and the entire feel to it. not to forget we've been very tempted by the yummy looking bread since the v first day! so we headed in, grabbed almost 15 different kinds of bread shared among the 6 of us, and ordered some coffee and juices. was actually pretty cheap considered the amount we all ate! but sadly, we concluded that the bread looked better than it tasted :( and breadtalk breads are seriously yummier!

it definitely looks better than it tastes.

but breakfast was still pretty awesome heehee. it's the company that matters, right? (:

headed to ben thanh market after and walked inside there for almost 3 hours, covering slightly less than half the entire area :/ bought many many many souvenirs there for our colleagues and friends, and some random things for ourselves. headed back to pham ngu lao after to collect our suits while yangying went to change more currency and look for a post office and zyang went to fill his stomach. within an hour, we all headed back to highlands and online checked-in before heading back to our hotel to drop our barang barang.

went to saigon square after to grab some of the things we spotted yesterday, and walked a little bit more before going to the adidas and puma factory outlet store, which lonely planet claimed to be one-fifth of the original prices. turned out to be really disappointing cos there were so little things there, plus many of the designs were terribly outdated! roars. and it wasn't even close to the one-fifth, if we could get the things at half the original price it would be considered a huge bargain already. lonely planet fail -___-

went back to the hotel again and packed our stuff, before crossing the road to get our nails trimmed and painted! i went to change the screen protector of my ipod as well cos i decided a matt protector would be much better for me to play games with haha. (previously the screen could get pretty oily. eew.)

so we spent another 2 hours in the salon, getting our well-deserved rest and treatment before getting back to our hotel to grab stuff, and cabbing to the airport.

after checking in our baggages (thankfully we did the online check-in, the priority queue was so much quicker!) ying and i went on a mission to look for a post office. after asking many many people, we found ourselves at this roadside stall selling sim cards, and decided to ask the lady at the counter for help. she didn't seem to understand what we were saying though, but when we asked for stamps she managed to sell us some! so ying2 and i decided to just get the stamps first before looking for the postbox.  meanwhile we continued to ask the lady questions regarding the post office.

and while we were sticking our stamps to the postcards, i turned my head and saw this sign - right at the table we were at, less than 20 cm away - a signboard that wrote POST OFFICE. ying2 and i looked at each other in disbelief and felt so stupid asking the lady all those funny questions. she must be thinking that we're such weirdos -___-

went back to the airport to meet the rest and we tried finding some pho for our very last meal in hcmc. turned out that the only thing available that was cheap enough was bk... SIGH. so in the end, all i had was three meals of pho ): sadded.

three hours later we found ourselves back on singapore land, on chieh's family car talking to his younger bro, after distributing our barang barang among ourselves. (to my horror i had an entire backpack full of things!! and most of it were like presents to others. EEKS)

so now i'm back at home, and its 3.30am. but i'm glad i unpacked most of my things and am more or less ready to watch some drama before sleeping in tomorrow. am intending to grab some chicken rice as well - definitely miss my favourite ga! (chicken in vietnamese heehee!) 

+ guaishou's! :D

vietnam 2012: day four.

Such a tiring day! Woke up early in the morning to catch the bus to cuchi tunnels, and grab breakfast along the way. Then we set off for a two hour ride to the tunnels, with a toilet stop at some handicraft shop. 

At the tunnels, we were briefed on the Vietnam war and watched this super propaganda video on the war created in the 1960s! Basically it was just talking about the "evil" things the "americans" did, and the content was basically pretty questionable haha. But then again, its a communist country after all. Haha.

After the video, we went around looking at some of the viet congs created, like secret entrances, air vents, booby traps etc. which I have to admit was pretty impressive! V simple solutions to the American's very complex weaponry and warfare. Hmmm.

Had a short walk in the tunnels which was pretty claustrophobic, but nothing too scary. Of cos its definitely made much nicer for tourists like us, but I guess I was expecting worse haha.

Had a few more stops here and there andden went back to the bus after buying some pins. The bus dropped us off at the war remnants museum in saigon two hours later. 

Decided to have our lunch at the Korean restaurant opposite, and omg the customer service was a little too impressive haha. We had a waiter serving every two people, but prob because there wasn't anyone else except two other tourists o.O haha. They even helped bbq our meat! OMG. 

But the meal was really good and cheap! Less than 7 bucks for the set. Really can live like a king LOL. Plus there was awesome WiFi in the restaurant too heehee. 

Went to the museum after, and the whole place screamed of anti American sentiments haha. Really had to take everything with a pinch of sodium chloride. Grace even pointed out that for the same photo, she saw a totally different caption in some other museum. hahaha. OMG totally.

But it was quite a sight and quite interesting to understand their perspectives on the Vietnam war. I think Pam brought up a great point - while everyone agrees on the atrocities that had been committed by the Americans then, by emphasizing too much on it really just makes people less sympathetic. When its so overdone we end up not being convinced ourselves. Cos we all know that there's the flip side of the same coin. 

But I would definitely want to find out the American version of the war :) 

We got chased out of the place eventually so we headed to pham ngu lao again to exchange more money andden went straight to saigon sq to check out the cheap stuff haha. walked for an hour or so and found a couple of things I wanted to get! But decided to save it for tmr instead once I have more insights to what is available in the nearby ben thanh market HEEHEE. 

Headed to ben thanh after and found a place for some Vietnamese cuisine. I ate my pho again, this time with fresh coconut juice! Literally mission accomplished! Haha wanted to drink it ever since I saw people drinking it the first day haha.

After the meal we walked over to Ben thanh, only to realise that it has been closed since 7! So decided to head to pham ngu lao to get our tailored stuff, and turned out that my pants were pretty badly done so I'd have to come back tmr noon roars. the dresses were much better alr, though could have been better but I can't be bothered alr. So tiring!!

So we visited the bag shops andden went back to the hotel to rest. 

+ guaishou's! :D

vietnam 2012: day three.

Didn't go for our tour in the end cos it was raining the entire night :( was looking forward to the sunrise, the fishing village, the sand dunes and the sand sledding. Ultimate disappointment :( the winds were super strong and the rain super heavy. Sadddd.

Went back to slp after and woke up at 10. After slacking in our rm quite a bit we checked out then went for lunch at this pretty awesome place called lam tong! Had to brave through the storms to get there though. But cos it was recommended by lonely planet so we decided to go ahead :D 

After lunch we went back and took the bus back to hcmc, and it was still raining super heavily!! Had to get ponchos... Went to try our tailored clothes too but mine turned out pretty disappointing :( super sad. Oh well. It took us a good two hours before we were all done cos there was these two nus exchange students from Sweden making a big fuss out of their tailored suits :/ and worst thing was that guy wore the nus jersey!!! Ultimate throw face roars.

Went for a super late dinner at a hostel nearby andden cabbed back to our hotel. Resting now! Somehow I'm v tired even though we didn't do much today. Oh well.

+ guaishou's! :D

vietnam 2012: day two.

Quite an amazing day. Woke up at 930 this morning andden went for an awesome brunch at a restaurant near our hostel. Ordered Vietnamese fried rice! And chicken kebabs haha. Super greedy but i just wanted to eat like a king. Super shiok! When we were done I realised that this was one of the featured restaurants in lonely planet! Super happy haha. No wonder the food was so good :D

Booked our tour to the sand dunes after and rented some bikes. Cycled ard the area, visited a few shops, attempted to head all the way to the town area, but got too tired and gave up. Oh yes we spent some time at the pretty pretty beach too!! Too bad it was raining. 

Came back after to clean up before heading to the spa next door for some massage :D so awkward cos it was my first time doing a back massage! HAHA. But it was pretty shiok and we came out happy :D 

Went to the seafood restaurant opp our hostel for dinner and had the bbq seafood set. SO WORTH IT. can really eat like a king here!! Haha. Had banana fritters w choc ice cream for dessert HEEHEE. 

Returned our bikes after and bought some food for our tour tmr morning. By the time we were back in our rooms its alr 8+! 

And so that was wad we did today. Need to wake up at 430 tmr so better go slp now!

+ guaishou's! :D

vietnam 2012: day one.

Left grace's home at 5 and headed for the airport! Once we got our boarding pass we headed in for breakfast andden went over to the gate. Boarded the a320 and less than two hours later we're here in hcmc!!! HEEHEE.

Just proves tt it really can be this easy to get out of sgp LOL. Took some time finding for a reliable cab to get to town, esp with so many ppl trying to overcharge us!! Thankfully we headed to the domestic terminal and it was so much better after. Met Pam at the hotel and left our stuff there before heading out again!

Walked all the way to pham ngu lao, supposedly the strip with the most hostels :) found a nice cafe selling pho so we headed in for lunch! Haha it was funny how well the owner kept treating zhiy! HAHA super awkward. Anw the pho was really yummy! True authentic Vietnamese food heehee. Not too ex too. Was especially thankful for the aircon esp with the 35deg forecasted weather. Haha.

After lunch we visited some travel agencies to find a bus that could get us to mui ne. Also to exchange our sing to dong. After some hard work we settled everything :D haha just happens that it was festival period (king's birthday) so the buses were all packed :/ 

Grace and I decided to go tailor our suits so we went to the pretty famous dung tailor (though the famous one had a diff address and i suspect it may be a fake haha) and i tailored a full suit plus a pair of pants! So happy! Less than 130 bucks HEEHEE. I hope it turns out well :) may want to tailor some shirts too. 

Ying grace and i were on our way back to the hotel to meet w the rest who went back earlier to check out, and along the way we found them in the cab along the roadside!! Omg so heng! So they got off and we went to a nearby cafe to rest and wait for our bus to muine. THE VIETNAMESE COFFEE WAS THE AWESOMEST! :D omg. 

After drinking the v delicious coffee ying Pam and i decided to head to another tailor to tailor some dresses which we printed out in sgp haha. Found one nearby the suit place and she was a v friendly lady who knows how to speak Cantonese!! Haha so awesome. Esp since Pam knew the dialect haha. 

So we ended up tailoring a total of 7 dresses HEEHEE. About 30 usd each! If it turns out well its gg to be so worth it :D looking forward to receiving it alr!

Went back to the travel agency and waited patiently for the bus to mui ne. Apparently the bus broke down so we had to wait another hour for another bus to come -__- after 6 long hours with two stops in between, we finally reached our hostel in mui ne!

And OMG. It was freaking awesome. Just at the beach, and you could hear the sound of the waves perpetually!! Super nice and loud! And definitely v peaceful :) super happy haha. 

After unpacking our stuff in the room we decided to grab some food. But turned out that all the restaurants in the area were closed so we settled for sandwiches from the 24h mart nearby. So sad. But it was 12 plus alr so I guess its inevitable. Not all places are like sgp haha. 

Went back to our room, showered, andden talked to Pam and ying until we started to fall asleep. Such a happy escapade :D

+ guaishou's! :D

moving.

ok, i'm shifting!

http://maydayed.tumblr.com/

will still use this place once in a while. but tumblr really makes sense now especially since i have no more bandwidth to type long posts like i used to. plus its extremely easy to post an entry on the moveeee. (:

thanks blogger for the past 9 years.

+ guaishou's! :D

2012.

finally decided to write something to mark the start of 2012, aka the supposed year that the world is going to end. (which to be frank, i don't really mind if it happens!)

to be frank, i can't remember what i resolved to do last new year's eve. come to think of it - maybe i didn't resolve to do anything, and it appears that even my blog has no trace of whatsoever sort of resolution. maybe i've grown out of it, or maybe i can no longer be bothered.

anyway, let's summarise all the key things that happened in 2011. in a nutshell, 2011 was a year of changes, a year of growing up, a year of experiences, and a year of unforeseen circumstances. i marked the end of 2011 being a very different person as compared to the year before, and probably the most different i could ever be within a span of a year. i can almost imagine how my next few new years would be like, probably a bunch of work-related accomplishments and resolutions.

but now that i've been through the year of transitions, time to jot them down before i ever forget them.

1. been through the last semester of school - which was nothing short of eventful. includes days and nights of doing fyp, many nightly gatherings at hall 14 making cheesecakes and eating ikea meatballs, movies, grad trip plannings etc. not to forget mugging with the same few people.
2. helped in the organising of two hall events - beach fiesta and paddles & logs! both teams were awesome - had so much fun in the preparation and was so glad that everything went well (with the exception of the heavy rain nearing the end of beach fiesta)
3. got into semis for my last bball ihg, and gold for darts
4. won the top prize of a lucky draw (hall 9 cny!)
5. danced like there's no tomorrow with all my awesome jiemeis for HOCC!
6. broke hearts and had my heart broken
7. moved out of hall for good (emo max!)
8. managed to get my basic open water cert for diving, and clocked 6 dives for 2011 in aur and nz!
9. had the most awesome grad trip ever full of many firsts in my life - too much i could say for this
10. GRADUATED. (successfully with a second upper honours!)
11. visited many many places in singapore while pretending to be a tourist
12. took many nice grad photos with the people i love!
13. made my first video
14. STARTED WORK, and accepted the life as it is
15. made new awesome friends in workplace
16. learnt to be frank to myself and others
17. changed my living space by swapping rooms with my brother
18. started singing classes just for fun
19. helped emcee my brother's wedding
20. visited nias again after 1.5 years 

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too many things happened in 2011, really. it was surprisingly good - except that part on work and ramping up stress. i would have done up a list of "firsts" if i could, but there's simply too many things on that list that it wouldn't make sense writing it all down.

i would say that i'm still pretty much the same huiwen as i was a year ago, just perhaps a little more practical, a little more down to earth, a little less happier, a little less friendly. i know all these "little" changes may sound a little negative, but i would like to think its for the better. proves that i'm really all grown up, and ready to face the world. now i'm out in the dog-eat-dog world, no longer sheltered from the world as i was back in school. but i do derive joy in knowing that despite how everything has changed since graduation, i still have that same constants in my life that wouldn't change, and there are always people who are there for me. it's just really comforting.

as for 2012, everything's pretty much uncertain. not sure whether i'll be able to find "my other half" as people say i should be doing (-___-), and not sure whether i'll end up changing my job. not sure whether i'll take that step to pursue my passions and dreams, or leave that up for another time. not sure whether i'll be good at doing what i'm supposed to do at work, not sure whether i'll become a little more intelligent. 

that element of "change" is longer as strong as it was in the beginning of 2011,  which sorta makes 2012 a little less exciting. but that's good - don't think i have the capacity to handle any more stress. 

really sound like a old hag. hahaha.

but i do have hopes for 2012. i hope for God to bring me wherever i should go, and i hope for relationships to bloom and prosper. i hope for good health for all the people i love, and i hope for joy and success in whatever i may do.

and most of all, i hope to remain that happy huiwen, and that i'll never lose that "bounce".

and yes, 2012. if it's really the end of the world, i just wanna make sure that i won't have any regrets. 

+ guaishou's! :D