Slightly more furnishings. ^-^

The table is here!!

Yerp, it's that coffee table on the left; I still prefer to sit on the floor than to get a proper desk. :) I went to get a folded mattress as well, hehe. It serves as cushion and day bed. Haaaa. It's not classy, but it's functional and sure beats hunching over the laptop on bare floor. :P

Hmm, might need a shelf or rattan chest to keep other knick knacks. -.- Haiz, hate shopping for bulky stuffs. Heh, alright, corrections, hate shopping. :]

Edited Pics... Love technology for this. :P

I need some of those eyes. -.-

It takes a lot of gumption and thickened skin to get good shots. Realised that I am too considerate to go get the people's shots. Don't feel comfortable shooting at people. Hahaa... so that is also a reason why I am not a photographer. Thank goodness for better editing technology and landscapes and seascapes. Heheheee...

Has been yet another eventful mixed up weekend. ^_^.

Soon school will start. Hehee... got to really prepare some stuffs. Primary school kids are a whole new ballgame for me. Haaaa...

Randoms

Think I am in a stocking up mode, ate more than what I would have usually eat today. Especially lunch, it is only after 2 bowls of rice noodle-ly kind of food that I feel full. Then again the colleague who brought me to the cafe did warn that the portions were smaller than the usual place where we had meals at. But the rice and meats at the usual place is huge! Haha... now I just had some really decent burger and chilling at a wifi resturant/cafe.


It is a pity that I do not like taking pictures of my food and posting it up on blogs... too much of a hassle. :P Eating out in this city is really affordable in comparison, and the quality is often really good, if not better. I will be spoilt by the pricing here after I return back to Singapore. Hehehee... No wonder people eat when they feel down, food does make one feel better at times. Just hope that the trend won't continue for me; I still want my relatively hourglass figure to remain the way it is.


Haha! I know, bhb. Alright, will have to jog for tomorrow to get endorphines in my bloodstreams by other ways. (No. Do not think of chocolates! Do not think of chocolates!!) I too just realised that the humidity here is lower, resulting to me drinking more but still suffering from dried up lips and looking dehydrated. It is also probably a reason why I find it more tedious to jog here too. :P Must. Drink. Water. Remember. To. Drink. Water!!



Oh wells, life goes on despite some situations being less than ideal. Things can be better but it could have been worse too. This is afterall earth, neither hell nor heaven. Hahahahaaaa...

Alright, here begins some literal LS-ing. :] Random thoughts. I really need to take up meditation or yoga to silent mental chatter. hahaha...

To rock climb or not to this weekend...

Diving at Nha Trang over next long weekend. ^o^

Found a travelling partner to Nha trang! And she speaks both eng and vietnamese! Cool. :]

Bus ride to town is just 30cents!! Woot!!!

To all who have responded to my SOS appeal; THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! Food and meetups on me either here or back home, the former being preferred. :P jkjk meet up! must meet up year end. :P

The bread tastes so good here!

House warming this saturday!

The humidity is lower (yah i know, it's been mentioned previously), less laundry to do. :P

But on the other hand it is dustier to. Hahahahaaa.

The start to the school year will be pretty chaotic.

Parents have weird perceptions of teachers! Hahaaahaaa...

Don't waste my time in telling me that is is a waste of time and energy to tell me something that you don't want to tell but still feel that I need to know the broad outline of it.

I am being domesticated, taking out the trash, cleaning, ironing, washing. hur hur...

My priority is not to find a guy here, so, stop commenting. Am getting a little sick of the 'concerns'. Haha.

I AM FADING IN COLOUR!!! :[

I MISS WAKEBOARDING N SAILING N BOAT DRIVING!

Have a sudden craving to sink my teeth into Lai Lai's hunches. Hehe... or ah joy's, or ah wang's for the matter.

Forget it, life goes on. Lalalalalaaaaala...

None of my business, but can't help but feel...

The surface looks good, but the inside's beginning to decay. While the crowning glory's attracting all the praises and admiration, the roots are beginning to be shaky but no one's paying attention to it.

It is always like that, things can be better, the people involved in the everyday runnings of it know it but are limited in their ability to bring about changes. The people who can really call the shots are just there twittering their fingers, or making unwise choices. Or one thing is said and then another is being practised. Ridiculous and utterly frustrating.

Instant results. That is the coverted goal. A born loser like me will never understand that philosophy of modern life and instant gratification.

It's all part of HCMC.

After a week of getting around and getting used to things, finally got my act together to pose some pictures on my blog... :]



This is where I stay... Swoons... it could not have been better, seriously... ok lah, it could have been more furnished, but it's really good already!!



The all so important wireless. Heheheeeheee...


My bedroom cum 'floor office' Hahaaa... this space is now a little bit messier. Ok, a lot more messier. :P Had a custom made table coming in 2 week's time...



Garden within the Villa

Jogging path just behind the villa. I tell you this is so rare in the city. It is almost a sin if I don't utilise this path. Hahahaaa... More pics of the park below... you can see all the construction coming along too. HCMC is really rapidly developing, it has so much potential and energy waiting to be tapped.



Now below resembles the more typical HCM city and roads.

Outside Ben Thanh Market, one of the largest indoor market that sells almost everything. Got to bargain! Bargain! Bargain!! :P

Below, the communist party building I think... majestic looking, possibly the most photographed monument in the city centre too...


Hmm... the realities of life and... human nature. Prevention is better than cure? Really like the juxaposition of this photo with the eariler one on the communist building and all that the ideology theorically empitomises. Feel the irony...

A typical shophouse downtown, traffic seems less crazy on a saturday night.


Below's my housemate and her friend. :] We should really get out of the country more often, there are so many interesting people out there to be met. I really felt like a frog in the well, listening to their stories and personal experiences, ranging from living through aparthied, escaping to America from Vietnam in the 70s and 80s and coming back etc etc etc. I had it too easy back home, so no stories to tell them. Hehehe...

It is heartbreaking to see children out on the streets close to midnight, trying to sell their stuffs to clubbers and getting chased away by the bouncers. In our standards, they should be resting at home and not peddling out in the streets. Before we accuse them of being money grabbers and cheats, ask again, which parent who has the means will want their children to peddle goods among drunken tourists in the middle of the night??

We hear stories and anecdotes of tourists and expatriates being ripped off by the stallholders and motor drivers. We tend to be wary of the locals because of that. But if the disparity between our income and theirs are not large, will they charge sky high prices and get away from it so much so that it becomes normalised? Is it because of some double standards that churned out other sets of double standards, and invaribly becomes a vicious cycle that breeds mistrust and jealousy in both parties?

These are social issues that I am part of it and cannot change. I can only try not to aggravate it and try to be in their shoes time and again while attempt to not get too ripped off. Wake up gal, welcome to the real world... I think...

The Chicken-and-egg question comes in all forms

Different people have got different coping mechanisms and preferences it seems. For some, they tend to reach out for comfort food when they are stressed up, for others, they literally eschew eating completely. Their appetites are just completely gone.

Likewise while well trodden colleagues of mine are very comfortable wandering and exploring out in a foreign country without knowing the local language, depending solely on body language and gesturing, I want the language before I feel comfortable to venture out and explore. One colleague was telling me that no matter how well I think I am speaking the language, I will not be one of the locals. But that is missing the point completely. It will be a feather on my cap if I could deceive the locals and speak like them. But my main purpose is not so much to speak their language like them but more of me being able to understand what is going around me better. Of course I had better start going out and venturing more, now that I know of some of the very basic basics, so that as time goes by it becomes easier and the learning curve steepens. It's also a cycle whereby with more interactions out there, the faster one learns...

Heeeh... breathes in and chokes on the fumes...

Out of the sheltered little red dot.

Heeheeheee... so after months of talking and anticipation and what nots, I am finally out of the little red dot, on the verge of embarking on a new stage of my working life in Ho Chi Minh City. Thank goodness for a friend who is there showing me stuff and giving out timely advices. While much venturing still has to be done on my own, a few tips or two help miles in not getting myself ripped off as much or stranded helpless. Of course things could have been slightly easier if I had diligently picked up more of the language before my arrival, or have a much better sense of direction, but so far so good, it's the second day and I think I am beginning to like the youthful, organised chaos kind of vibes the city is giving out; my resolution to pick up the language is stronger now with the pure necessity of it to be able to venture out more. But I am not going to stress myself that much, am happy to pick up one or 2 phrases a day, to get me by, for now.

My senses are overwhelmed and knocked out literally, but what impresses most are the motorbikes and the riders. They are so skilful that similar to the mongolian herdsmen who were born horsemen, the Vietnamese appear to be born scooter riders. You can find them snaking and squeezing into the smallest spaces conceivable on the roads like human sardines, horning and yet avoiding the pedestrians and the cars, chatting on the hp while riding, or the pillion would use the rider's back as a table and scribble some stuff on a piece of paper... It is also not uncommon to find an entire family of 5 travelling on a scooter, or riders doing acrobatic balancing acts riding with all sorts of merchandise ranging from recycled bottles to wreathes to signages to ironing boards, pipes and Tvs. My friend commented, if they can fit their house behind the scooter, they will.

Hahaahaa, it really is a sight that is imaginable, and helmets seem to be a luxury item here,it is rare. That doesn't seem to bother the locals though I counted at least 3 ambulances zipping by on the first day on the roads. Seems the helmet wearing will be compulsory by november, and as it is the third attempt the government was trying to implement it, they vowed to make it successful this time round. Hmm... alright, to play safe, I should invest in a helmet too. Heheheee... laalaaalaaaa, yes, the trips I made on the xe oms (motor cabs) just make me more religious and thankful after each ride. Shhh....

It is kind of surreal as I am housed at this quiet suburb for expats and that rich that is away from the hustle and bustle of real HCMC life just 15 minutes ride away, I was amazed by the atas-ness of it all. Heheehee... the lush landscaped areas, vigilant security, nice straight roads and clean air makes it harder for me to find excuses not to jog. :P Lalala...

Heh oh and I am really happy to find out that there is a rockclimbing facility within the city!! Heeheeheheeeee landbound I may be, and it may probably be a sign that it is time for me to finally take up rockclimbing!

But well, that can wait. There are so many things to settle and get used to. First, it will be to get my lazy bum out of the bed to go jogging, soon. Hahahahaahaa... it is not all a bed of roses, but it could have been worse. Just keep breathing and learning, it should be fine. (Had a duh moment when the blogger homepage was set at vietnamese as default, it bothered me a little till I found the botton to switch after I signed in...) lalalalaaa...

Breakie, almost over but...

Here's slices of my break pieced together. I have been lazy on other occasions and therefore they are not recorded pictorally. But the memories will be there.

Heheeheee... thanks people for the meals and well wishes. ^_^