Decided to give 49 seats another chance, this time the service was better. The last time I went, they didn't have the food I want. Luckily they didn't disappoint me this time round, I finally get to eat it. Have free popcorn thanks to yx, watched insurgent. The first movie divergent was better. For those who didn't watch the first one, you might like this. While walking to the station, I became quite engrossed in what yx was telling me so we just stood somewhere in a corner and talked for a few hours. I'm glad that she didn't abandon me and let me go tw alone if not I'll be so sad.
First time going playnation, played my favourite street fighter. There's this thing about me, if I like someone or something, even if it's not the best or when better characters come out, my heart is still with the one I like initially. I don't care about other people, I just like ken. A bit stubborn here I know. I like mariokart but I suck at mario. I've no idea why but I'm not interested in playing that and I'm really lousy at it, totally don't know how to play. I don't mind going there again though.
Meet up with DBA01 for lunch, initially wanted to go supply and demand but Jeff never check the operating hours. It's only open at 6pm, plan 2 was a failure too. Walked all the way to esplanade and back, settled on marche. This outlet is different from other outlets, you don't walk around and choose the food you want. It's just like any other restaurant, you choose the food from the menu. Had Norwegian smoked salmon crepe and lemonade. I love it, it's delicious. Shared pizza among ourselves but by the time I finished my food I was too full to eat the pizza. I only managed to eat half a slice. Walked around suntec, wanted to sing k but no rooms were available. Sat down at mac and started reminiscing about our poly days. Did I mention we have one additional member joining our big family? She's quite friendly and nice, kept recommending me cafes in tw. Told her those funny and weird stuff that Jeff did. As usual we keep bullying him.
Watched avengers, I only watched it because of iron man. I think that it's worth watching, if you're not a fan of avengers then maybe you won't like it. I'm only a fan of iron man haha, very biased. I keep giving popcorn to you cause I'm worried that you didn't eat lunch and will be hungry, eating lesser popcorn doesn't matter to me. I love it when my favourite guy wears my favourite colour. Tried wheeler's yard, a bicycle-themed restaurant. I like the interior of the restaurant, the food was all right. Just wanted a change from the usual restaurants we go to. Thanks for sending us home, I really appreciate that, very happy too. A bit apologetic for making you go one big round and reached home so late.
如果你跟别人在一起他都不会吃醋不会介意，那就代表你在他心里面一点份量都没有。他在乎的人不是你，就算没有你也无所谓，他还是会照常的很开心的过着自己的生活。他才不要你对他好不要你喜欢他。他也没有对你很好也没有很疼你。你算什么？你什么都不是。你只会浪费他的时间和精力。快点离开让我伤心难过的人，去一个会让我开心的地方。
Sunday, May 3, 2015
Thursday, March 19, 2015
Gatherings
Our annual cny meetup was at jy's house this year, played street fighter. It's quite violent I know but I like this game. Too bad there's no ken for me to choose, all of them are new characters. It includes spiderman, ironman, hulk and many others that I don't even know. They started to gamble and I just watched them. I don't want to gamble because I don't want to lose money. Lohei was damn messy, all the food dropped onto the table. All of us were so focused on some exciting news that we don't even want to start dinner. Had steamboat dinner, I love steamboat. After dinner was gambling time again while waiting for yl's bf to drive us back.
Meet yx to discuss our tw trip, it's been very long since I brought a laptop out. Initially wanted to have dinner at mfm and discussed there. There's a long queue outside so after dinner we went to a dessert shop instead. I think we are halfway done for the hotels and itinerary already. Can't wait to go tw, I'm going to find my beloved guy. I'm getting more and more excited as the days get nearer.
Had our annual botanic gardens meetup sitting at our usual spot having our usual picnic. Lazy to prepare food so we bought 4 fingers crispy chicken & pizza there, that settles our lunch and dinner. The bus took a detour back to town because the road was blocked for some events. While they queued for llaollao, I went to get my vanilla ice cream. I've tried llaollao without any toppings before but I don't like, it's too sour for me. Went scape to look for screen protector and casing and we are done.
Meet up with ei8ht and jackie for korean bbq dinner at wang dae bak. We finally have full attendance after so long. The restaurant is situated at a corner just beside hong lim complex. The food is nice and delicious, especially kimchi and kimchi pancake. They used charcoal for the bbq. It seems like jackie didn't even eat anything. All he does is help us bbq our food, he's too nice. After dinner, we were sitting further away from the table because it's too warm. Most of the shops were closed for the day, had a hard time finding a place for dessert. It's really a dead town after 9 plus except for the bars. Tried different mixture of ice cream at cold stone creamery, some of them taste weird. I hope we have more of such gatherings where everyone is present.
Meet yx to discuss our tw trip, it's been very long since I brought a laptop out. Initially wanted to have dinner at mfm and discussed there. There's a long queue outside so after dinner we went to a dessert shop instead. I think we are halfway done for the hotels and itinerary already. Can't wait to go tw, I'm going to find my beloved guy. I'm getting more and more excited as the days get nearer.
Had our annual botanic gardens meetup sitting at our usual spot having our usual picnic. Lazy to prepare food so we bought 4 fingers crispy chicken & pizza there, that settles our lunch and dinner. The bus took a detour back to town because the road was blocked for some events. While they queued for llaollao, I went to get my vanilla ice cream. I've tried llaollao without any toppings before but I don't like, it's too sour for me. Went scape to look for screen protector and casing and we are done.
Meet up with ei8ht and jackie for korean bbq dinner at wang dae bak. We finally have full attendance after so long. The restaurant is situated at a corner just beside hong lim complex. The food is nice and delicious, especially kimchi and kimchi pancake. They used charcoal for the bbq. It seems like jackie didn't even eat anything. All he does is help us bbq our food, he's too nice. After dinner, we were sitting further away from the table because it's too warm. Most of the shops were closed for the day, had a hard time finding a place for dessert. It's really a dead town after 9 plus except for the bars. Tried different mixture of ice cream at cold stone creamery, some of them taste weird. I hope we have more of such gatherings where everyone is present.
Monday, February 9, 2015
ECP
It's been so long since I've been to ecp, the first thing I noticed is the sea colour. It's different from what I remember, it used to be quite dirty but now it's bluish-green. The weather was sunny and the sky has my favourite colour. I purposely wore blue shirt out haha. They prepared a special cake for me comprising of our picnic food and bakzhang but the wind was too strong, we failed to light up the candle. They told me to cut the bakzhang but the hungry me went to eat the hotdog instead haha. Yl's boyfriend 太贴心了！He thought we didn't have enough drinks cause he only saw 2 bottles but actually we had 3. We thought he has already drove home but he came back with 6-7 bottles of drinks! We told him we had 3 huge bottles already, he said cold one better. He didn't know what to buy so he bought a little of each - chrysanthemum tea, green tea and iced lemon tea. The weather was rather warm that day. He's really so thoughtful and considerate. All of us kept telling yl that she can marry him already. Not only does he treat yl very good, always driving her around, he also treats her friends very good. Thanks for driving me around too! Next time my boyfriend also must be like that. Luckily he bought iced lemon tea, if not I'd have disapproved haha. They let me bring back the huge bottle of iced lemon tea home, yay!
Played frisbee, after only a few minutes all of us can catch it using one hand already. Tried to fly kite but it's strongly dependent on wind, the wind direction keeps changing. The kite stayed in the sky for about few seconds/minutes before it came down, so sad, I want to fly kite :( Decided to give up on kite flying, went to take pictures instead. The wind was so strong, our hair kept flying everywhere, so messy! It even covered some of our faces. We love evil twin's gopro camera. Our outfit were inappropriate for town so after picking lays up from school, we drove to W39 cafe for dinner. We travelled from east coast to west coast, all the crazy stuff we do together. We were quite full from our picnic so we shared the food. They bought another cake for me to make a wish cause I forgot to make one on my birthday. So sweet~ I prefer my oreo cheesecake than rainbow cake. I wanted to know how blue taste like so I went to dig out a small piece of blue from the rainbow cake, nothing special actually. They treated me dinner too, so nice~ Birthday girl is very happy already :) I'm easily contented, if you know how to make me happy.
忘了就是忘了 :( 你在乎他，他却没有把你放在心上。两个字我也会很开心啊，明明就不会花掉太多时间，这样说也没错啊。每次都要我体谅你，为什么你不可以体谅我会因为这样而不开心？为什么不可以哄我，为什么一定要对我发脾气？并不觉得我的要求很过分。明明就是你忘了，为什么最后变成是我的错？永远都是你对我错，又不是无缘无故不开心。他的心里面没有你，所以他永远都不会记得。每次都是我比较在乎你。你不在乎那我也不要在乎你。
Played frisbee, after only a few minutes all of us can catch it using one hand already. Tried to fly kite but it's strongly dependent on wind, the wind direction keeps changing. The kite stayed in the sky for about few seconds/minutes before it came down, so sad, I want to fly kite :( Decided to give up on kite flying, went to take pictures instead. The wind was so strong, our hair kept flying everywhere, so messy! It even covered some of our faces. We love evil twin's gopro camera. Our outfit were inappropriate for town so after picking lays up from school, we drove to W39 cafe for dinner. We travelled from east coast to west coast, all the crazy stuff we do together. We were quite full from our picnic so we shared the food. They bought another cake for me to make a wish cause I forgot to make one on my birthday. So sweet~ I prefer my oreo cheesecake than rainbow cake. I wanted to know how blue taste like so I went to dig out a small piece of blue from the rainbow cake, nothing special actually. They treated me dinner too, so nice~ Birthday girl is very happy already :) I'm easily contented, if you know how to make me happy.
忘了就是忘了 :( 你在乎他，他却没有把你放在心上。两个字我也会很开心啊，明明就不会花掉太多时间，这样说也没错啊。每次都要我体谅你，为什么你不可以体谅我会因为这样而不开心？为什么不可以哄我，为什么一定要对我发脾气？并不觉得我的要求很过分。明明就是你忘了，为什么最后变成是我的错？永远都是你对我错，又不是无缘无故不开心。他的心里面没有你，所以他永远都不会记得。每次都是我比较在乎你。你不在乎那我也不要在乎你。
Tuesday, January 27, 2015
Teo heng + Chongqing steamboat
I was very late for teo heng cause I forgot something, so I went back to get it. Not exactly forgot, I remembered but I didn't realise that I didn't put both presents into the same bag. I only thought I did, it's only when I was in the train when I thought of this possibility. I was still thinking that it would be real stupid of me to bring one but not the other. I checked and my heart sank, I'm really stupid. I've no idea when will be the next time we meet, so I still think it's better to give it to you now. I hope you like them. Haven't tried being so late before, totally new experience for me. Rushed over there and I felt like my legs are going to break. After singing was my favourite steamboat at chongqing! The tomyam is still as spicy but I like, 吃久了就没那么辣了。 The price is considered cheap as compared to others. It's $22 nett, steamboat+BBQ cost the same too but there's only one soup base for BBQ. For our case, because one wants tomyam, another one doesn't really eat spicy stuff, so we can't order steamboat+BBQ. Now that I recall, I've tried 鲜得来，重庆 and 中华。 Can't remember if I tried 天天 before, maybe I did but I totally forgot. I always go back to 重庆, partly because it's cheaper and their tomyam is nice. 鲜得来's tomyam is not that good though. I want to eat steamboat again~
I want to go taiwan now~ Still haven't decided if I want to bring backpack or a small luggage over. Haven't even done any research yet, too lazy. If only you were going with us too. I can only wish...
别人的事的确不关我的事，我要不要问别人很多问题也不关你的事。对，我就是多管闲事，很八卦，什么都要知道。我又没有逼她一定要说，有给她选择如果不想说也没关系。告诉你也要被你讲，以后就算我知道也不要告诉你。问她问题有什么不对？我哪里得罪到你？我又没有要阻止还是什么。我又没有经历过，感受不到听一下也好啊。因为好奇，所以想知道是什么感觉。小气是我不对，我承认，可是就是不喜欢你一直讲我 :( 还好没有当场跟你发脾气，不然我又要闯大祸了。什么时候才会停止这么小气啊？因为男生大器才会原谅女生的小气。I still don't believe that all girls are petty, I still think that it's my problem. I have female friends who are not petty at all. If people meant most girls, maybe I'll agree too but definitely not all. Maybe this is just a preconceived notion that people have about girls.
这么多年了，还是学不会隐藏情绪。什么情绪都挂在脸上。这个笨蛋，在难过什么？一通电话而已就难过了，白痴。每次难过都不跟你说再见好像很坏，所以还是勉强说了。总觉得你好像要赶回家，我想吃甜品我也没说。有时候好像在和一面墙说话一样，得不到任何回应。可惜没如果，没有你和我。
我生病了，胃很痛，很久没胃痛了。看医生吃药了还是很痛，痛到流眼泪。吃东西很痛，睡觉很痛，喝很多水也痛。把昨晚的晚餐都吐出来了，这几天都要吃粥了。生病的时候最想要你的关心，可是我连说都没说你又怎么会来关心呢？只怕说了还是没回应，这样会更难过。
I want to go taiwan now~ Still haven't decided if I want to bring backpack or a small luggage over. Haven't even done any research yet, too lazy. If only you were going with us too. I can only wish...
别人的事的确不关我的事，我要不要问别人很多问题也不关你的事。对，我就是多管闲事，很八卦，什么都要知道。我又没有逼她一定要说，有给她选择如果不想说也没关系。告诉你也要被你讲，以后就算我知道也不要告诉你。问她问题有什么不对？我哪里得罪到你？我又没有要阻止还是什么。我又没有经历过，感受不到听一下也好啊。因为好奇，所以想知道是什么感觉。小气是我不对，我承认，可是就是不喜欢你一直讲我 :( 还好没有当场跟你发脾气，不然我又要闯大祸了。什么时候才会停止这么小气啊？因为男生大器才会原谅女生的小气。I still don't believe that all girls are petty, I still think that it's my problem. I have female friends who are not petty at all. If people meant most girls, maybe I'll agree too but definitely not all. Maybe this is just a preconceived notion that people have about girls.
这么多年了，还是学不会隐藏情绪。什么情绪都挂在脸上。这个笨蛋，在难过什么？一通电话而已就难过了，白痴。每次难过都不跟你说再见好像很坏，所以还是勉强说了。总觉得你好像要赶回家，我想吃甜品我也没说。有时候好像在和一面墙说话一样，得不到任何回应。可惜没如果，没有你和我。
我生病了，胃很痛，很久没胃痛了。看医生吃药了还是很痛，痛到流眼泪。吃东西很痛，睡觉很痛，喝很多水也痛。把昨晚的晚餐都吐出来了，这几天都要吃粥了。生病的时候最想要你的关心，可是我连说都没说你又怎么会来关心呢？只怕说了还是没回应，这样会更难过。
Sunday, January 18, 2015
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
I'm back from vietnam! For your information, vietnam is behind singapore time by an hour. I travel light, bringing only a backpack and small bag with me. I thought that ho chi minh is boring with nothing much to do so 5 days should be more than enough but I was wrong. It's a totally different experience from life in the cities. Throughout this trip, I've been sleeping on the bus once I sat down. They realised that I sleep like a log, didn't move much while sleeping. After this trip, yl was no longer afraid of cats, even evil twin also started eating fish. I was very tired on my way to work on Monday, didn't get sufficient rest for the whole week. I'm so glad that I finally had more than 8 hours of sleep yesterday. All right, let's refresh my memory on what we did there.
Day 1
Before we went there, we had already arranged for private tour and airport transfer. Accommodation, travel expenses and meals are included as well, total spending is about S$430 each. Upon reaching the airport, we were separated into 2 cars that drove us to Compass Parkview Hotel. It's an apartment suite, we had 2 extra single beds, 3 of us in 1 room, another 2 in the second room. Due to insufficient space in the rooms, they placed one of the single bed in the living room. Yl ended up sleeping in the living room because we don't want to sleep alone. After resting for a while, we decided to walk around before going to the restaurant for our free welcome dinner thrown in for us by the tour agent. We went to the banh mi store located near our hotel (recommended by the tour agent), it's similar to subway but this is way more delicious. We just walked and stopped to eat whenever we passed by any stores we wanted to try. Crossing the road for the first time in hcm scared me cause there's practically no traffic lights, you don't wait for them to stop because they won't. You have to pluck up your courage and just cross and they will automatically stop for you or avoid you. All you hear is the honking sound. Walked over to Notre Dame Cathedral, wanted to go inside but it's closed so we went to the post office nearby as well as Saigon Opera House. The sky became dark and seems like 8 plus when it's only 6 plus. Had drinks at L'usine, the ambience is good, you can choose to sit outside where you can get a view of the streets. Took a taxi to the chateau where we had our welcome dinner. I would recommend you to take the vinasun taxi to travel around. It's much cheaper, we only spent about S$1 each for the cab fare. Ordered saigon beer, I don't like the taste of beer, only managed to complete half the bottle. The food is like the zichar here, I thought it would be western food. The place seems rather high-class, almost all the people there were angmohs. After dinner we went to circle k mart to buy some snacks before going back to hotel.
Day 2
While bathing, I held onto the pole above the bathtub to prevent myself from slipping. When I leaned gently against it, it fell and I hit my kneecap against the bathtub. It had a huge bruise, quite painful. Had a very filling hotel breakfast before we checked out and set off with our tour guide. It requires a few hours to travel from place to place so I usually sleep on the bus ride there. We went to Cai Be, located in the Mekong Delta, for a boat trip on the river. The boat provides us with fruits and coconut drinks, they even allowed us to try and steer the boat. The boat ride is very relaxing, you don't have to think about anything, just sit there, enjoy the view and the cooling sea breeze. We visited the traditional workshops where they showed us how they make their local snacks. It looks easy but it's actually very difficult when we try it ourselves. We also had a short sampan boat ride along a little creek lined by water coconut trees. They had a restaurant situated behind the historic house where we had our lunch. Tried to make spring roll using rice paper but failed terribly. Just dip the rice paper into water, put all the ingredients inside and start wrapping. You got to do it fast if not the rice paper will stick onto your plate which makes it difficult to wrap. After that was free and easy, we went to hotel at Can Tho. Walked to ninh kieu night market near our hotel, shopped around for a while and had dinner nearby. Their food is really good, especially their noodle soup (example pho). Their rice comes in one big bowl, I ate 2 bowls of rice for every meal without fail. I didn't even know I can eat that much until I came here with them. Continued to walk around the night market and bought some finger food, I like their sotong with the special sauce, it's spicy but nice. Finally got a watch I like too :) Since we were separated into 2 rooms on different levels, jy, mag and lays came up to our room to talk for a while and eat the snacks bought earlier at the workshop.
Day 3
Every morning for breakfast, I'll eat omelette and their noodle soup. After breakfast, it's another boat trip to floating market. They sell fruits and drinks on their boat. When we stopped at one of the boats, some of the small boats will come near to ours and start to let us try their stuff and sell it to us. It's something different, quite an interesting experience. After that we went to see plantations and made our way to long an province and arrive at binh tien farmstay. Had lunch prepared by the host, they had vegetables for every meal. I don't eat raw ones, only cooked ones, now I see vegetables also scared. Rested for a while watching the ducks swimming in the pond, birds flying around, cows eating grass, meowmeow coming to disturb us every now and then. Those who are afraid of cats immediately sit with their legs on the chair/above ground whenever meowmeow came near. Luckily I'm not scared, I used to be scared when I was little. Don't know why when I grew up, somehow or another I'm not afraid anymore. Now they say I look like a chipmunk because of the way I eat guava, although they are still saying I look like chicken little. All right, I know I'm cute and chubby haha. Played card games, losers had penalties like shouting moooo to the cows until they looked up, saying quack quack and imitating how the ducks walked, dancing ballet, walked like a crab. Usually those who thought of the penalties will get karma. After that we went to fish in the pond, caught my first fish!! I'm the only one to catch it, so proud of myself, it's all beginner's luck haha. Went to fly kite after that, it's my first time too, very fun but neck and hands will be very tired and sore. Went back to fishing, they couldn't believe I dare to touch an earthworm. I dare to touch but still had to rely on mag to help me hook it onto the fishing rod. Our host prepared dinner for us, I didn't know that morning glory is actually kangkong until yl told us. They had a stereo bluetooth speaker, so we connected to it using one of the phone and enjoyed the music while having dinner. We sure know how to enjoy life. They even have karaoke system with english and chinese songs but all the songs are oldies. Don't even have my jay chou :( We don't even need aircon, it's very cold at night. Meowmeow was standing outside our room door purring, wanting us to let her in but I didn't hear it until jy told me. Their toilets are open-air, there's only window blinds to cover the open space area. I don't feel safe and there's no hot water. Bathing at night with cold water makes it even colder, can't stand the coldness. There were spiders, insects and mosquitoes around but luckily we have the nets over our beds where the mosquitoes can't fly in and sting us. I still got bitten before I went to bed.
Day 4
Early in the morning went cycling around the village after breakfast. Some paths were narrow, I can't cycle in a straight line haha. Cycled around to see how they make the fishing rods and visited vegetable farms. Due to time constraint, we had to cycle back at 9 plus. On the way back, I was turning round the corner before I realised I was cycling too fast and the path was narrow and curvy. I came to an abrupt halt and knocked my hand against the gate. Now I have a bruise on my hand, so accident-prone. Helped them to harvest the rice crops in the garden for a while before packing to leave. We noticed that meowmeow only responds to the owner's high-pitched "meowmeow", so we imitated the owner and the meowmeow was confused. So cute~ Bade farewell to the host and meowmeow, moving on to cu chi tunnels. Upon reaching there, we watched the video to have an overview of the whole thing. There are lots of underground tunnels connecting half or total covered hideouts, shelters, fighting bunkers, hospital, school, living rooms etc. It was built and used by vietnamese for resistance against their enemy during the French and American war. The tunnels were very small, had to either bend my body and walk or move forward in a squatting position. We were out of breath when we reached the surface, quite tiring even though it's only a short distance. Saw the traps set up by the guerrilla, all I can say is they are really smart. Even though they don't have sophisticated weapons/armouries like the US, they were able to outwit them using all those traps. Cu chi tunnels were a terror/living hell to the US army. Some of us had a chance to fire shots from AK47 guns, the sound is deafening. The sound is so loud that I was startled the first time I heard it. Had lunch at a restaurant opened by a singaporean, saw pictures of our esplanade and MBS on the wall, the food has the taste of our hometown haha. Bade farewell to our tour guide, she's a very nice and friendly person, accompanying us for 3 days to all the places of attraction. Back to the same hotel we had in ho chi minh city on day 1, went to diamond plaza. The things there are quite expensive. We went to ben thanh day market but almost all the stores are preparing to close already. We just went into a random cafe to have drinks before going to the seafood restaurant recommended by yl. Heard that it always has a long queue, luckily for us we managed to find seats when we got there and don't have to wait. Ordered scallops, crabs and giant tiger prawn which cost us a fortune but it's really good. Initially all of us had a lot of money left, after the dinner we almost went broke. Shopped at ben thanh night market, bought a lot of stuff there, we really bargained a lot. Even a few cents we also want to bargain, the shop owners all gave in to us in the end. Went back to hotel to put all the stuff we bought before going to heli rooftop bar at bitexco financial tower located at level 52. It has a breathtaking view of the city but the music is too loud and I hate the smell of cigarettes. Drank my expensive cocktail and watched people danced, felt a little dizzy when I left the place. Had heart-to-heart talk with the girls, surprised at hearing words of wisdom from yl, too bad those 2 sleepy pigs didn't join us. Slept at 3am and woke up at 6am, I couldn't open my eyes.
Day 5
Had breakfast at hotel and went to war remnants museum. Reading those stuff about what happened makes me think that the US were really cruel. The side effects of agent orange are horrible, I'm full of admiration for those who faced life with a positive attitude. They don't let this kind of things bring them down even though they are the ones who are suffering from it. Went back to ben thanh day market. After that was to co.op mart to buy instant noodle soup, bought lotteria chicken (beside our hotel) for lunch. Wanted to buy banh mi back but the store wasn't open for business, so sad :( After lunch, some of us went to the shops along the streets for some last minute shopping, it's almost the same price as singapore's. Took airport transfer and we were too early when we reached, had pizza before boarding the plane. Came back to singapore, continued to shop at duty free, had kimchi soup for dinner at airport before parting ways with them. Felt sad we had to come back, 5 days seem so short. Total expenses for this trip is about S$720 including air tickets, I think it's considered cheap already despite the fact that we ate tiger prawn, went to heli bar and got a private tour.
Day 1
Before we went there, we had already arranged for private tour and airport transfer. Accommodation, travel expenses and meals are included as well, total spending is about S$430 each. Upon reaching the airport, we were separated into 2 cars that drove us to Compass Parkview Hotel. It's an apartment suite, we had 2 extra single beds, 3 of us in 1 room, another 2 in the second room. Due to insufficient space in the rooms, they placed one of the single bed in the living room. Yl ended up sleeping in the living room because we don't want to sleep alone. After resting for a while, we decided to walk around before going to the restaurant for our free welcome dinner thrown in for us by the tour agent. We went to the banh mi store located near our hotel (recommended by the tour agent), it's similar to subway but this is way more delicious. We just walked and stopped to eat whenever we passed by any stores we wanted to try. Crossing the road for the first time in hcm scared me cause there's practically no traffic lights, you don't wait for them to stop because they won't. You have to pluck up your courage and just cross and they will automatically stop for you or avoid you. All you hear is the honking sound. Walked over to Notre Dame Cathedral, wanted to go inside but it's closed so we went to the post office nearby as well as Saigon Opera House. The sky became dark and seems like 8 plus when it's only 6 plus. Had drinks at L'usine, the ambience is good, you can choose to sit outside where you can get a view of the streets. Took a taxi to the chateau where we had our welcome dinner. I would recommend you to take the vinasun taxi to travel around. It's much cheaper, we only spent about S$1 each for the cab fare. Ordered saigon beer, I don't like the taste of beer, only managed to complete half the bottle. The food is like the zichar here, I thought it would be western food. The place seems rather high-class, almost all the people there were angmohs. After dinner we went to circle k mart to buy some snacks before going back to hotel.
At Changi Airport, before boarding
Xin chao (hello) from hcm!
Look at the traffic here!
Notre Dame Cathedral
Post office
Saigon Opera House
L'usine
Chateau
Day 2
While bathing, I held onto the pole above the bathtub to prevent myself from slipping. When I leaned gently against it, it fell and I hit my kneecap against the bathtub. It had a huge bruise, quite painful. Had a very filling hotel breakfast before we checked out and set off with our tour guide. It requires a few hours to travel from place to place so I usually sleep on the bus ride there. We went to Cai Be, located in the Mekong Delta, for a boat trip on the river. The boat provides us with fruits and coconut drinks, they even allowed us to try and steer the boat. The boat ride is very relaxing, you don't have to think about anything, just sit there, enjoy the view and the cooling sea breeze. We visited the traditional workshops where they showed us how they make their local snacks. It looks easy but it's actually very difficult when we try it ourselves. We also had a short sampan boat ride along a little creek lined by water coconut trees. They had a restaurant situated behind the historic house where we had our lunch. Tried to make spring roll using rice paper but failed terribly. Just dip the rice paper into water, put all the ingredients inside and start wrapping. You got to do it fast if not the rice paper will stick onto your plate which makes it difficult to wrap. After that was free and easy, we went to hotel at Can Tho. Walked to ninh kieu night market near our hotel, shopped around for a while and had dinner nearby. Their food is really good, especially their noodle soup (example pho). Their rice comes in one big bowl, I ate 2 bowls of rice for every meal without fail. I didn't even know I can eat that much until I came here with them. Continued to walk around the night market and bought some finger food, I like their sotong with the special sauce, it's spicy but nice. Finally got a watch I like too :) Since we were separated into 2 rooms on different levels, jy, mag and lays came up to our room to talk for a while and eat the snacks bought earlier at the workshop.
Boat ride and coconut drinks
In the process of making rice paper
Mekong Delta
Historic House
The view through our hotel's windows
Mr Ho Chi Minh! It's been very long since I did a jump shot
Ninh Kieu Night Market
Day 3
Every morning for breakfast, I'll eat omelette and their noodle soup. After breakfast, it's another boat trip to floating market. They sell fruits and drinks on their boat. When we stopped at one of the boats, some of the small boats will come near to ours and start to let us try their stuff and sell it to us. It's something different, quite an interesting experience. After that we went to see plantations and made our way to long an province and arrive at binh tien farmstay. Had lunch prepared by the host, they had vegetables for every meal. I don't eat raw ones, only cooked ones, now I see vegetables also scared. Rested for a while watching the ducks swimming in the pond, birds flying around, cows eating grass, meowmeow coming to disturb us every now and then. Those who are afraid of cats immediately sit with their legs on the chair/above ground whenever meowmeow came near. Luckily I'm not scared, I used to be scared when I was little. Don't know why when I grew up, somehow or another I'm not afraid anymore. Now they say I look like a chipmunk because of the way I eat guava, although they are still saying I look like chicken little. All right, I know I'm cute and chubby haha. Played card games, losers had penalties like shouting moooo to the cows until they looked up, saying quack quack and imitating how the ducks walked, dancing ballet, walked like a crab. Usually those who thought of the penalties will get karma. After that we went to fish in the pond, caught my first fish!! I'm the only one to catch it, so proud of myself, it's all beginner's luck haha. Went to fly kite after that, it's my first time too, very fun but neck and hands will be very tired and sore. Went back to fishing, they couldn't believe I dare to touch an earthworm. I dare to touch but still had to rely on mag to help me hook it onto the fishing rod. Our host prepared dinner for us, I didn't know that morning glory is actually kangkong until yl told us. They had a stereo bluetooth speaker, so we connected to it using one of the phone and enjoyed the music while having dinner. We sure know how to enjoy life. They even have karaoke system with english and chinese songs but all the songs are oldies. Don't even have my jay chou :( We don't even need aircon, it's very cold at night. Meowmeow was standing outside our room door purring, wanting us to let her in but I didn't hear it until jy told me. Their toilets are open-air, there's only window blinds to cover the open space area. I don't feel safe and there's no hot water. Bathing at night with cold water makes it even colder, can't stand the coldness. There were spiders, insects and mosquitoes around but luckily we have the nets over our beds where the mosquitoes can't fly in and sting us. I still got bitten before I went to bed.
Floating market and plantations
It doesn't have the handles at the sides initially so you have to cross while holding on to the log you are stepping on, thus the name Monkey Bridge
Binh Tien Farmstay
I caught my first fish!! Yay!!!
Day 4
Early in the morning went cycling around the village after breakfast. Some paths were narrow, I can't cycle in a straight line haha. Cycled around to see how they make the fishing rods and visited vegetable farms. Due to time constraint, we had to cycle back at 9 plus. On the way back, I was turning round the corner before I realised I was cycling too fast and the path was narrow and curvy. I came to an abrupt halt and knocked my hand against the gate. Now I have a bruise on my hand, so accident-prone. Helped them to harvest the rice crops in the garden for a while before packing to leave. We noticed that meowmeow only responds to the owner's high-pitched "meowmeow", so we imitated the owner and the meowmeow was confused. So cute~ Bade farewell to the host and meowmeow, moving on to cu chi tunnels. Upon reaching there, we watched the video to have an overview of the whole thing. There are lots of underground tunnels connecting half or total covered hideouts, shelters, fighting bunkers, hospital, school, living rooms etc. It was built and used by vietnamese for resistance against their enemy during the French and American war. The tunnels were very small, had to either bend my body and walk or move forward in a squatting position. We were out of breath when we reached the surface, quite tiring even though it's only a short distance. Saw the traps set up by the guerrilla, all I can say is they are really smart. Even though they don't have sophisticated weapons/armouries like the US, they were able to outwit them using all those traps. Cu chi tunnels were a terror/living hell to the US army. Some of us had a chance to fire shots from AK47 guns, the sound is deafening. The sound is so loud that I was startled the first time I heard it. Had lunch at a restaurant opened by a singaporean, saw pictures of our esplanade and MBS on the wall, the food has the taste of our hometown haha. Bade farewell to our tour guide, she's a very nice and friendly person, accompanying us for 3 days to all the places of attraction. Back to the same hotel we had in ho chi minh city on day 1, went to diamond plaza. The things there are quite expensive. We went to ben thanh day market but almost all the stores are preparing to close already. We just went into a random cafe to have drinks before going to the seafood restaurant recommended by yl. Heard that it always has a long queue, luckily for us we managed to find seats when we got there and don't have to wait. Ordered scallops, crabs and giant tiger prawn which cost us a fortune but it's really good. Initially all of us had a lot of money left, after the dinner we almost went broke. Shopped at ben thanh night market, bought a lot of stuff there, we really bargained a lot. Even a few cents we also want to bargain, the shop owners all gave in to us in the end. Went back to hotel to put all the stuff we bought before going to heli rooftop bar at bitexco financial tower located at level 52. It has a breathtaking view of the city but the music is too loud and I hate the smell of cigarettes. Drank my expensive cocktail and watched people danced, felt a little dizzy when I left the place. Had heart-to-heart talk with the girls, surprised at hearing words of wisdom from yl, too bad those 2 sleepy pigs didn't join us. Slept at 3am and woke up at 6am, I couldn't open my eyes.
Vegetables farm
Harvesting rice crops
Watching video before exploring the place
The entrance to the tunnel is very small, only slim people can go in
Exploring Cu Chi Tunnels
Shooting range
Late lunch! I just woke up from my sleep haha
Group photo with our nice and friendly tour guide, Ngon!
Nice but expensive seafood dinner
Nightview from Heli Rooftop Bar
Day 5
Had breakfast at hotel and went to war remnants museum. Reading those stuff about what happened makes me think that the US were really cruel. The side effects of agent orange are horrible, I'm full of admiration for those who faced life with a positive attitude. They don't let this kind of things bring them down even though they are the ones who are suffering from it. Went back to ben thanh day market. After that was to co.op mart to buy instant noodle soup, bought lotteria chicken (beside our hotel) for lunch. Wanted to buy banh mi back but the store wasn't open for business, so sad :( After lunch, some of us went to the shops along the streets for some last minute shopping, it's almost the same price as singapore's. Took airport transfer and we were too early when we reached, had pizza before boarding the plane. Came back to singapore, continued to shop at duty free, had kimchi soup for dinner at airport before parting ways with them. Felt sad we had to come back, 5 days seem so short. Total expenses for this trip is about S$720 including air tickets, I think it's considered cheap already despite the fact that we ate tiger prawn, went to heli bar and got a private tour.
War Remnants Museum
Co.op Mart and Ben Thanh Day Market
Feeling sad that we have to go back :(