After preludes of pestering, and while waiting for the Actified I just swallowed to take effect, I finally have the patience to sit and blog about our Vietnam trip.
If there's one thing I learned from the trip, it's that the number of motorcycles they have are twice the population of Singapore. From a distance, it looks like millions of lemmings jumping off a cliff. Only difference is that these lemmings emit pollutive exhaust from their behinds.
The streets hosts a constant flow rate of approximately 5 motorcycles/second. Unlike the plagues of personal belonging security faced in other countries, over here, you'd care less about your belongings and more about not getting knocked down. One advice a friend gave me was "Stop only when you see a car coming... when you see motorbikes, walk straight, and don't stop... they will avoid you like fish". Took his advice seriously, but we did stop in the middle of a road a couple of times.
Another thing we learned, was that blue was their color of marriage. Every corner we turned to, there were buildings or tents draped with blue cloth, indicating that someone was getting married. It gives me the impression that Vietnam is a very fertile country.
Of course, the conversation with the guide always go a full circle from marriage to death. And he has to elaborate, in great details, the burial and embalming rituals of each tribe, which I'd have forgotten and conveniently left out of this review.
One place everyone visits when you go to Vietnam is Halong Bay. We took a private boat in and had lunch catered for with the boat ride. Seafood there must've been really cheap.
We got fresh prawns for a start....
Followed by stuffed crabs, fries and vegetables.....
sotong, popiah, mixed vegetables and fish ...
I'm quite sure I missed quite a number of some dishes.
The scenery on the boat was nice. It's always nice enjoying the breeze while looking at rock formations. Guess which one is the leaping dragon, the big dog and the puppy. (Don't ask me.. I only know which one is the puppy)
We stopped the boat and went into some caves.
The cave we went to was named after a fisherman who accidently stumbled upon this cave while trying to find a place to rest. The government paid the fisherman a hefty sum for finding the place.
The guide mentioned about Tran Hung Dao, the national hero who led the Vietnamese people to victory over Mongolian in the 13 century by stocking up bamboo spikes at the cave, and using these spikes to impale the Mongolian fleet in shallow waters.
After a couple of hours of mountain trekking, we headed back to the hotel. Didn't know what to have for dinner, so we decided to try local cuisine and go for 'Cha Ca' (fish fried dipped in tumerine scented cooking oil) at 'Cha Ca La Vong'. I'd have to admit, the 'Cha Ca' was quite tasty albeit being guilty of high colesterol.
Ok..it's 1.15 and the Actified is kicking in... good night!!
To be continued.....
"Sleeping sickness or human African trypanosomiasis is a parasitic disease of people and animals, caused by protozoa of species Trypanosoma brucei and transmitted by the tsetse fly. Besides confusion and reduced coordination, the sleep cycle is disturbed with bouts of fatigue punctuated with manic periods progressing to daytime slumber and nighttime insomnia." Source: Wiki
Walked over to Liang Court after lunch and a colleague treated us to Vietnamese Coffee. Having taken coffee at the joints in Vietnam, was half expecting it to be mildly stronger than local coffee. Ends up, we took half an hour to finish up that half cup of coffee!! (And I had to add 3 packs of sugar and dilute it with water, just to make it drinkable!!) Considering that I take 8 cups of coffee a day, this is serious stuff man. I had XX 2... and they have like 6 levels of coffee. I can't imagine whats in XX 6... U'd probably be drinking acid...
This is the latest addition to my collection of dying plants.... hope what they say about these plants being hardy is true.
Ever seen an embarassing moment and wonder what u would do if u were in it? Sometimes I really wonder if what I'm doing is the right thing.
Before getting the car, someone told me that the new Vios had a really loud engine sound. Got the car, and sure thing, there was this loud rumbling noise everytime I drove to about 80 - 100. It came to a point that the sound was really quite bad, and we even contemplated on getting sound proofing for the car. The auto gear comes in a kinda wierd shaped configuration with P, R, N, D-3, 2, L.
Wishing everyone a joyous and wonderful Christmas... may all your wishes come true, may you have good health and wealth, may all your close ones and friends stay near and dear, may you have a successful career and a good year ahead, may everything and everyone go your way, may your problems and difficulties dissappear, and may you be blessed in love, life and soul... 
These guys came over to the office for christmas carolling. They were dem cute. Sang Jingle Bells in Mandarin and a whole load of other songs. Best part was the donations, these guys are trained I tell you.. they have the makings of top sales persons. I ended up donating 3 times.. its tantamount to extortion by being adorable!!
The streets hosts a constant flow rate of approximately 5 motorcycles/second. Unlike the plagues of personal belonging security faced in other countries, over here, you'd care less about your belongings and more about not getting knocked down. One advice a friend gave me was "Stop only when you see a car coming... when you see motorbikes, walk straight, and don't stop... they will avoid you like fish". Took his advice seriously, but we did stop in the middle of a road a couple of times.
Another thing we learned, was that blue was their color of marriage. Every corner we turned to, there were buildings or tents draped with blue cloth, indicating that someone was getting married. It gives me the impression that Vietnam is a very fertile country.
Didn't really feel that packed when I got there. Was actually quite surprised that the queue was only till about 5-10 customers. A moment later, while I was in the queue, another 5-10 people turned up and a longer queue started to form. An Ang Mo lady queued behind me and asked me if it was really free. I told her, 'Yes, it's free, but it's also for a good cause. You can make a donation to the Salvation Army if you wanted to. Of course, it's entirely voluntary.' When I reached the donation box, I emptied whatever coins I had. Should be anywhere around $3-$4. The lady saw me doing that and took out a couple of dollars. Happily reaching the front of the queue, I got my tall latte, and started moving out of Starbucks. An attendant smiled and asked if I'd like a straw. I declined, but I have to say that it does feel good to have good service even though free drinks were being served.
