Vietnam 17-21Dec

*WARNING* *super long winded post*

well well.. after 11 years, i finally got a chance to go overseas again. (Sabah last year doesnt count, dats just over the sea but not overseas~) it was a last minute decision..well the trip was planned early, but Chyn n me joining the trip was really a last minute thing. the original plan was that Gong, Po, Meeyi, uncleMeng, Shawn n Yuan go together. but coz of Gong's leg injury, he had to stay back, Po followed. so..

4/12/09 FRI

(sms: Meeyi, me to Meeyi, Chyn, me to Chyn)

Hi, wanna go vietnam on dec 17 for 5 days?

YES!!! 17till 21 right?

Yes, i have 2 seats. Sure or not u, replacement for kong2 n Poh2

Yes sure.

U wanna look for a partner? Also, go ask ur mom 1st ;)

Hey Meeyi ask us 17-21 wanna go vietnam anot? replace gong n po~ fast fast tell me~~

Mum say ok. Yeah~ if air ticket can be chged

Confirm ya..i tell meeyi de la..

Yes yes

I asked ah chyn..she wants also..my mum n her mum also say ok liao..

Ok. I'd need to do the tranfer of names. hopefully successful. :)

there~ really last minute.

i wasn't actually like VERY excited about the trip. but i DO wanna go for a trip. i DO wanna go overseas. n most of all, i DO wanna see Syn.

8/12/09 TUE

Chyn n me woke up at 6am to make our passports.. mum fetch *THANKS mum =D* we used about 4 or 5 hours to finish.. we were actually REALLY lucky coz after that i found out that their system was down on the day before n after this day. so we chose a correct day~ lucky us =D

9/12/09 WED

woke up at 6 again to take our passports.. mum fetched again *THX once more*

when we got it i texted Meeyi.. she mailed AirAsia n we waited for the good news to come..

we waited...

and waited.....

argh come on.......

15/12/09 TUE

cant wait no more. flight's in 2 days for goodness sake! Meeyi went to KL Sentral AirAsia office in the morning..n it was all such a troublesome process to change the ticket names..they needed our photostat IC omg..Chyn went to her dad's office to fax it to Lehyi..n me, luckily i had a photostat copy already, but not lucky scanner wasn't working, i took a photo of it n mailed to Lehyi..then she faxed to AirAsia office where Meeyi is at..freaking troublesome.. *Thanks so so so much Meeyi n Lehyi*

By 12.32pm, Meeyi texted me.

Seats confirmed. Chyn, pls email itinenary to min. Both of u need to thank ley yi for all the trouble. ;)

Yeah! Thanks to u also! Big kiss for u on thursday! (which erm.. i forgot to give =P)

OH YEAHHH~ OH LA LAA~

Chyn..it's confirmed! =DDDDD

WAYYYYYY(WEEE+ YAYYY..i invented it)~

16/12/09 WED

pack pack pack~~~ n by midnight i remembered i had to finish up the sewing of the strawberry ice cream to bring over for Syn =) Xmas present? or bday? ahh i noe.. it's for Valentines next year lol =D

i finished it by 5am. good night. or maybe good morning. nevermind..

17/12/09 THU

this is THE DAY!! but it started kind of errrr.. weird?

woke by mum at 11.30am, shouting a string of words at me, from my room door..

"喂还不要醒啊你飞机几点我要出去了等下你们两个自己搞定啦ok.."

"o ok...(mum went out n shut my door) ................................ Huh?!"

O_o?! 昨天又讲宝姨帮我们买车票..什么鬼.........

aihz..继续睡.....

12pm woke up, bathed.. n out we go~ poor Chyn n me under the noon sun, wearing long pants n carrying luggage, walking out to 1u new wing.. thennnn...

*BLING* we saw a 1u trolley!! (normally i'd curse those ppl who bring the trolley in here..but today i say GOD BLESS U!) in the luggage go~ WAYYYY~~~~~

all the way out there's this noise coming from Chyn keep saying "可怜啊没有人送机自己出门自己锁门自己搭巴士去搭飞机" LOL~

we were at the bus station by 1pm..rapidkl U82 was here not long after but..==..did not stop..ISHHH.. oh well guess we still have time to wait for the next bus..1.30pm next bus came, phew..off we go to klsentral~~ reached bout 2.20pm..once we get off the bus, there was this uncle shouting "LCCT ar 8 linggit mali mali" n grabbed our luggage n put into the bus.. huh..o~kay~ aerobus rm8.. not skybus rm9 which we checked online..no difference i guess..

3.40pm, we reached lcct..like..finally~ pheww.. met Meeyi, uncleMeng, Shawn n Yuan =D checked in our luggage n went to mcd.. hungry hungry..its 4pm n we had no breakfast n lunch yet..(okay cut the breakfast part..we had no morning anyway~) Shawn n Yuan had french fries with ice cream..lol~ 5.15pm we were told the plane was delayed..ISHHH!!! from 5.45pm delayed to 6.15pm..haiz okay okay be positive, half an hour is still fine.. Yuan was very excited when we finally boarded.. it was his first time taking an aeroplane~ (Shawn took a plane to Johor once~)

forgot what time we reached Vietnam..around 9.30pm Vietnam time i think (equals to 8.30pm Msia time)..Syn was here to meet us!!! =DDD (Chyn: 还好啦至少有人接机~haha)

the road from the airport to Syn's apartment was so very bumpy that we all got car sick.. n OMG the traffic scared the hell out of us..its like thr's no traffic rules so u find ur own way~ n thr were a whole LDP's motorbikes on 1 street.. Syn said that it's already not as much as usual.. hmm..

we reached their apartment in District 7 Phu My Hung - My Phuc bout an hour later~ met Ahkim, WeiQing & WeiHong! The apartment was at 16th floor (the highest) n it was nice n cosy~ little living room with big tv, comfortable sofa n a Xmas tree! 2 rooms, toilet, kitchen, dining place n balcony on the 1st floor; n 2 rooms, 2 toilets, small living room n balcony with swing on the 2nd floor..lovely~ =)

Ahkim made fried spaghetti for us..=) she wanted to fry eggs but there were no eggs left so Syn went down to HiMart to buy some..Chyn n me tagged along~ n we went a big round to look at the neighborhood n then the apartment pool~ 5minutes thing became 15minutes~hehe..

Syn said District 7 is safe to walk around, n it seemed so too.. quite a lovely neighboorhood..n very convenient with shops n restaurants within short walking distance, so near u wont even sweat.. oh n their school is also just across the road..how nice~

later, Ahkim n family had planned a small birthday celebration for Yuan's 6th.. they bought a yummy yummy Chocolate cake.. WeiQing n WeiHong duet-ed a happy birthday song using a normal guitar n an electric guitar..sooo cool~~

18/12/09 FRI

started with a breakfast at PHO24 - we had "pho" (pronounce as "fer2") its a kind of vietnamese noodle.. heard Syn talk bout it so many times, n finally can try it.. taste wise..hmm..like 清汤面? well,i never was much of a noodles fan..so.. yea.. the spring roll not bad though..oh and i found out they have avocado shake in Vietnam too! so miss it since Sabah..=)

after breakfast, Shawn, Yuan n uncleMeng went swimming.. Chyn n me were too lazy to bath so we didnt wanna swim.. though it's a big sunny day, the water is cold..just like my SA home, the pool water is icy even in summer..i wonder why..

bout 11+am, Ahkim brought me n Chyn to SSIS to meet Syn, Qing n Hong after school (it's their last day of school)~ i wanted to c the sch for so long d.. =) we saw their library, gym, pool, canteen, auditorium, classrooms etc.. it's just like those schools u c in movies..quote Chyn, just like Seventeen Again. lol~ it was nice n big~

but if compared to Crawford Prep in SA, i think i prefer Crawford.. more grassy n spacious i think.. n i love the wooden classrooms.. i miss our Tuck Shop too (it's like a tiny shop selling junk food)~

okay back to SSIS.. we also met Joseph (i recognized straight away =D) n Phil (who i imagined was much taller =P *高五!* haha) n some others.. =D

when we crossed the road to go back home, i was freaked out by the crazy cars..==..geezzz~

lunch dat day was at another vietnamese restaurant.. the name was erm.. Quan An Ngon? im not even sure if that's the restaurant name..it's a very beautiful restaurant n very vietnamese.. quote Phil, "this place is really famous (:"

the kitchen is just beside the seating place.. few stretches of low tables n they just sit there n prepare the food..special ey~? food was nice~ Chyn loved the rice paper thingy..lol..it was like plastic..hehe..

next, we went to visit the War Remnants Museum..if u like history u would love this place..but well for a never-ever-passed-history-tests-person like me..u noe~ n those photos of people being treated so cruelly during war, they just make me 反胃.. how can?how can thr be such cruelty?why is human hearts so ugly?why war?ughh.. we're so lucky to be safe, to have a place to stay n have enough to eat..n im so lucky to be blogging here..sigh~

we lazed at home in the evening n went for mushroom hotpot for dinner later then..at Ashima. it was yumm yumm yummmm~~n the service was GOOD! Shawn must've loved it, he's a super mushroom fan =)

after that we went to Saigon Square to walk around n shop..Chyn n me didnt buy anything in the end.. she wanted to get a sweater n i wanted to get a LeSportsac bag for my sis but we didnt manage to get a good price~ Shawn n Yuan both got a watch each..Yuan's 1 is soo cute, it's ultraman..lol~

when we went back we had a walk in the neighborhood..n my god those ppl really take alot of effort n $$ to decorate their houses..

i mean how many ppl in Msia would hang lights on their house walls, fence n trees? how many would put reindeers n santa with his sleigh outside their house?

they do that there~ no kidding! n it wasn't 1 house..it was like 4? or 5? just in one small neighborhood..

Tek Gu came home that night~ =)

19/12/09 SAT

next morning's activity was to go to Ben Thanh (pronounce as sth like "bien2 tan3"). again, i heard this name many times from Syn n i finally get to go~ b4 that we went for breakfast at Nam Giao, a small vietnamese restaurant in one of the alleys. food err... i dun rmb much ehehe.. at Ben Thanh, we all bought some stuff, souvenirs for JM, Wen, n frens.. the place is like Msia's chee cheong gai..lol..

we all went back home except Meeyi n Unc Meng, they wanted to shop more~ thr was a few hours with nth to do so we went swimming. the pool is deep everywhere, not a spot we can touch the bottom..gosh..luckily Syn had the swimming board for me..if not i'll just end up holding the sides like Chyn..haha..at least i still can move around as long as i have the board..=P

for lunch we went to The Gourmet Shop. i had spaghetti with oven dried tomatoes, Syn had spaghetti with mushroom sauce, Chyn had..haha..lemon sauce chicken with "very potato de mash potatoes" haha..it was all yumyum yummm~!

after that Syn n me walked to the nearby Annam Gourmet Market, which had alot of french stuff..they had MACARONS..yiiiieeerrrr i wannnnnnnnnn~~~ 50,000VND/RM10 per 100g..how much is 100g anyway?

after that i followed Ahkim n TekGu to Fivimart while others went home.. it's just a minimarket but i was curious with every little thing from the ice cream, the eggs, the cereals to the instant noodles etc.. haha..

there was this very long ice cream like cornetto but really long..n they sell instant noodles by individual packets only..hmm..

Syn had a piano performance at Erato, her music school, n we all went to support~ she was the 2nd last performer, so while we waited we watched the others play.. there wasn't only piano.. violin, cello, singing as well..

-violin duet, piano (Syn), piano (Syn), singing+piano, piano+cello-

a little vietnamese girl which looks about 7 years old sang Mama n Without You, her voice was soo beautiful n strong.. n so touching it made 3 silly girls cry.. i thought of Connie Talbot when i saw her sing.. Syn played a christmas song. it was great =D she said she made a mistake but none of us noticed..here's a video of Syn n the little girl~

we had korean delivery for dinner. we ordered at the shop n it was delivered to the apartment. they didn't use tupperwares or polyfoam boxes, it all came on their plates wrapped with cling film..n they'd come n collect the plates after that..funny ey~

we had kimbab, kimchi fried rice, teok bokki, ramyeon, bibimbab, japchae n pa jeon~ my favourite? kimbab! n kimchi fried rice n ramyeon~ =)

Except Shawn, Yuan n Meeyi, we went to watch Avatar in Lotte Cinema, which is inside Lotte Mart. sounds familiar? yea thr is Lotte Mart in Msia, but they're not malls here..the one in 1u is a korean food shop, n the one in Hartamas is like a korean minimarket..

(thr's actually a joke about Syn calling to ask the show time, but it's difficult to tell in words..ask me, i'll tell u in person =D)

the cinema there..hmm.. it was really warm, no jacket needed~ no air con at all..save costs maybe? lol..n there's not much commercials n movie trailers b4 the movie started.. in fact it was like playing a DVD, there's the "choose language" thing when it started..LOL

oh n there's this korean movie i wish to watch, dont think they have it in Msia.. i can't read the Korean words n Vietnamese words so i still dunno wad movie it is..lol.. but the posters look cute~

20/12/09 SUN

4th day~ we woke up REALLY early to go to Cu Chi Tunnel~ Ahkim made breakfast, but i just ate half an egg n a sausage..too early to eat..lol~

we took a taxi to a place where we waited for the bus to take us to Cu Chi Tunnel.. the tour guide (Tam? was it?) explained bout Vietnam history n war on the way~ i listened half of it but then...zzzZZZ~~~ hehe..

when we reached he explained some more n let us watched a video..then off we go to c the actual Cu Chi Tunnel, which was the tunnels that Vietnam ppl used to hide during war..

we saw the entrance which was just a small hole (Chyn n me tried getting in..hehe..), the traps, weapons, n went through a 30 meter tunnel (it was dark n dirty n so low we had to squad n walk at some points, but was fun =D)..thr was a place whr u can try shooting with real guns like M16 n AK47 but... u need to buy the bullets urself ==! "CEHHHH~~~ make me excited tim~"

anyway, i really enjoyed visiting CuChiTunnel~ n i wanna go again..=)

our late late lunch at Quan An Ngon again~ food was nice like the day b4.. ohh n i had a very strawberry de strawberry shake, not like Msia using syrup or artificial flavouring yuckkz..

we took these 2 photos in the restaurant, n i used my not-so-good skills to edit it to make a complete group photo since we dont have 1..hehe~ =)

we lazed around at home after lunch, nth much to do already..Meeyi n family went to Lotte Mart to walk around n shop..

in the evening, Syn, Chyn, Qing n me walked to the park near Citimart..n to our surprise there were ALOT of christmas deco there.. good thing i had my phone with me *snap snap snap* ^^ i really love that set of photos..lovely colourful xmas deco with the green grass n crazy us..haha~ =DDDDD

on the way back we saw Phil's brothers, Daniel n Joey..lol.. n i recognize Daniel from the video..haha!

for dinner we had buffet in a restaurant inside Parkson in District 1.. the ppl there were like soo kiasu, it was really difficult taking food..lol.. no comments on the food...hmm.. eh?no.. i wanna comment on the kimchi! it was SUPER DUPER HOT!!! crazy! WeiQing n me were like omg..so tak boleh tahan.. guess what we ate to 解辣? haha.. dragonfruit..lol..it realy does help~ i suffered from kimchi phobia after that..*sobs*..haha.. uncleMeng tried almost all the bbq food..some were really weird looking but he said "如果在Msia我就不吃啦,可是外国mar..ok la..什么都试一下mar.." lol~~

we took a night walk in District 1 after eating~ there were quite alot of christmas decos.. n i duno y but balloons were sold like everywhere..haha..santa shaped, doraemon shaped, hello kitty shaped, etc etc etc.. after that we went to Saigon Paragon.. their deco was amazing too~~ Shawn n Yuan kept playing with the fake snow until the security came..haha.. =D

then, we went back to the park near Citimart~ n all of us except the adults (im considered kid here although im 21 i dont care) ran around the place..n i really mean RAN.. haha.. it was the CLIMAX of this trip.. we all had SO MUCH FUN~~~ i can never forget running up n down those "hills" chasing Shawn, Yuan n WeiHong.. n 背着 Shawn n Yuan to run up n down.. =DDDDD

b4 going back home, we were all exhausted n sitting on a platform there.. n Meeyi asked us to put on our funniest face while she held the camera.. i really really love that 2 photos she took.. it was ugly n funny n sooo..us..sooo..our family =)

21/12/09 MON

last day if the trip.. we went to have dim sum in Cat Tuong/吉祥..the servers speak Cantonese.. haha..u know the familiar feeling when u're at a foreign place? =) it wasn't the best dim sum but it was nice enough =D dunno y i can forget to take any photos though..arghh.. =(

after eating, Chyn, Syn, Qing, Hong n me went to Lotte Cinema again to watch New Moon~ (it's my 3rd time n their 2nd..hehe) Jake Jake Jake~!!!

Meeyi n uncleMeng went out to buy something when we came back.. so for lunch, Ahkim cooked korean~ kimbab n teok bokki~ kimbab was YUMMY!!! Shawn n Yuan loved it alot too~^^~ i dont like eating teok bokki so i didnt try, but Chyn said the taste was better than the delivery we had.. =) after lunch, it was time to pack up our stuff..T_T.. *i dun wanna go back yet*

at 3pm, we went to meet Phil at Cream & Fudge Factory.. it's an ice cream shop just beside the apartment.. y did we meet Phil? hehe i dunno~ for fun..? lol~ he's a nice kid (kid? yea he's 6 years younger than me..lol~) n very easy to talk to~

last hug n thanks to TekGu, Ahkim, Syn, Qing n Hong.. n we're off to the airport~ T.T

the flight supposed to be 7.05pm, but it delayed AGAIN!!! n not half an hour this time.. it's TWO HOURS!! 8.55pm!! 


so NOT cool!!

so..what did we do for 2 hours? we sat down, we played with the trolleys, we sat down, we walked around souvenir shops, we sat down, we went to see chocolates, we sat down, we ate a super expensive meal, we sat down, we watched tv, we sat down, we listened to mp3, we sat down, we talked, we sat down, we almost dozed off, and we sat down.. FINALLY 2 hours was over.. can u feel the boredom??? damn AirAsia..see the sleepy face?

oh bout the super expensive meal, yea it was REALLY omg..it's almost rm100 for 2 plates of plain chicken rice (with "plain" i mean chicken plus rice only, no cucumber or anything), 1 bowl of instant noodles (use plastic bowl somemore..) and 2 breads (no filling 1, just croissant-shaped bread but not like danish type croissant, maybe some butter as filling ba ==)..haiz.. we didnt even dare to waste 1 biji of rice.. 1 bite of bread is like 50 sens..==.. after that uncleMeng bought a bottle of 500ml mineral water..he used vietnam money,which after converted equals to rm7.50..really omg..better i buy Evian lar..

when we finally reached Msia, it was already about 12am..*big long HAIZZZZZZZZZZZZ*

Overall

haha "Overall"~ like im writing essay.. but this post is really long.. "cheong-hei-ness"~ hehe..

oh here are some interesting photos of the 天线 at the streets in Vietnam..they're not like a few in Msia, but a bunch..everywhere is the same~ it's so messy n all tangled up.. lol~

about motorbikes, if u ask anyone who's been there, they'd tell u they have the whole world of motorbikes in Vietnam.. (haha okay im exaggerating..a little) u noe like at traffic lights, there's always a few motorbikes in front f the cars rite? but in Vietnam, at traffic lights, the amount of motorbikes there is like they're going to 示威 or something..terrifying.. i didnt manage to take a photo of that kind of situation though.. try imagine~

well overall, i really enjoyed this trip.. =) well i wouldn't say Vietnam is a place i love, bcoz it is very obviously not so civilised yet, with its crazy traffic n err..not so polite people? yea.. only District 7 was considered quite okay..so actually the trip wasnt so fun at 1st, but im glad it turned out to be very VERY nice n memorable~ it's all because of and depends on the people u're with.. n with my family, it's always the best time for me =)

big THANK YOU to Ahkim, Tekgu, Syn, Qing n Hong for having us stay thr, n showing us around, n just by accompanying us =D Thanks again to Meeyi for changing thoseplane tickets names for Chyn n me~ oh n THANKS TekGu n uncleMeng for treating Chyn n me all those meals..hehe..

TekGu, Ahkim, uncleMeng, Meeyi, Chyn, Syn, Qing, Hong, Shawn, Yuan.. 11 of us make a good trip group~ i really loved it much =)

ohhh one last thing! how can i forget~ i fell in love in Vietnam..with..TOFU!!! No, not the one you eat.. here, meet my darling Tofu..keke.. ^^ (it's a birthday gift for Syn from Hain, handmade!)

p/s: Syn, thx ya, for refreshing me all those names of places.. u noe it's almost impossible for a person so 路痴 n blur like me to rmb them all..hehe~