vietnam, june 2010.

its 7.52pm.

i fired an M-16 today and it was the coolest ever. the noise was deafening, even with ear plugs and ear muffs on. the impact of every shot was so strong that it actually pushed my shoulders back. we were allowed to bring home an empty bullet case, however, we could not possibly get through the singapore customs with it in our luggage.

the experience at cu chi tunnels and war museum brought us to a historical stance during the vietnam war with america 43 years ago. we were exposed to the different tortures and living conditions the vietnamese had to go through in those gruelling 10 years.

i had a vietnamese custom made suit done and it would be sent to my hotel in 2 days time. i hope its pretty!

chúc ngủ ngon!

its 7.26pm here..

the first day at ho chi minh confirmed that the weather was indeed freezing cold at 35 degrees celcius. the traffic here is completely crazy, with 6 million motorbikes on the roads of the city! they apparently have no government, beat the lights and dont even adhere to pedestrians at the zebra crossing!

we nearly got hit by a motorcycle which was merely freaking 5 cm in front of us! the water puppet show was amusing as the puppeteers were moving those puppets while underwater. the food here is not that bad, we have been to the same restaurant twice.

we went bonkers trying to figure out the exchange rate while shopping at the supermarket. calculators are a must while shopping and it came down to dividing the vietnamese price by 12,500. we grabbed bottles of coke at merely 50 cents each!

the hotel is awesome, especially the clean toilets and free wireless internet surfing at the lobby. the only downside is that i have to challenge with the others on who gets to use the computers first. thank goodness, i have such lovely cousins who kindly let me use it. syahir is super glad that he can catch all 3 world cup matches on the screens.

till then, nhìn thấy bạn! (:

im leaving for ho chi minh, vietnam, in four hours time and im hardly done with packing. im not too keen with the physical structure of the city, the temperature of the place and the sights or attractions it has to offer. instead, i will be looking forward to learning more about the history of the country during the war, and not forgetting the shopping experience that it boasts of. i have gathered enough information to tell me that the north of vietnam is much more beautiful, with halong bay topping the list.

while planning for this trip, i thought i could squeeze in short getaways to the north, cambodia and laos. however, that meant more accumulates to added spenditure and days, which ibu could not afford to prolong, since she would start working on monday itself. she was already not too excited about reaching singapore on monday morning, at 0100 hours.

akmal managed to do up a beautiful drawing of me before he slept last night. and i could not believe that he could complete it so fast! i had no idea that guy could even draw! you might recognise the picture as the one i had posted a few months back. and of course, i love it! (:

Chúc ngủ ngon!

bapak told me to specifically keep my thursday free so that i could babysit these two and leave him to settle some stuff. and i have decided to bring them to the zoo tomorrow. i know that this is especially not a good time to be spending any money since my financial status badly needs a lifeline (it happens at the start of every month, at least till the twelfth) but the both of them have been really good over the holidays and i think they deserve it.

and im really looking forward to meet the girls this friday and just chill by the pool, as well as getting my new phone on saturday! im so sorry dear wall.e, you've been a really great substitute phone, but my reputation is at stake when i whip you out of my bag, you know? (:

this better work. cause i am the one who has got to make it work. everybody is counting on me and looking forward to it. who wouldnt? but its frustrating cause it involves the efficiency of another party. if it works on beautifully, thank God. and hopefully it turns out to be more than wonderful. and if it does not, i know that they'll be disappointed, really disappointed, especially me. and those luggages, they'll remain empty.

desaru, may, 2010

i enjoyed the very much needed rest which the quick family getaway offered us.

my very first kite flying experience left my left index with a nasty blister, otherwise it was so beautiful and so much fun! my kite flew so so high into the blue blue sky thanks to the seaside wind, that the entire how many yards of string was released from the reel. and there i was, chasing and running after it - the kite runner.

it jiggled and twirled and danced energetically in the wind, way over the treetops, past the beach volley court and swimming pool. i caught a glint of reds and yellows. my kite landed on one of the high treetops and seemed be stuck amongst the branches and leaves. i managed to find the other end of the string and started tugging hard - mind you, with everyone swimming in the pool, those sunbathing on the beach chairs under huge striped umbrellas and bored lifeguards looking at my little feat. the string seemed stuck on the highest branch, i tried lifting and bringing down the string, making a wave.

the string came loose and i smiled, as i saw my rainbow coloured kite, wriggling its way from the tree tops, through the tree branches, back to me.

and of course, walking by the beach while watching the sunset, was the strawberry on my vanilla ice cream (just because i dont like cherries).

last night, i came back from our awesome duo trip to kuala lumpur, nurul and i. there were so much binging, shopping, walking and deadly bargaining (on nurul's part). the best was the wonderful companionship i had for the entire of three days two nights.

i tried to keep track of what, where and how much i had spent eating while i was there by keeping the receipts but i guess i lost track of it. among the places we hit were carls' jr, food court @ pavillion, toast box, food court @ central market, subway, pepper lunch and baskins robbins. this experience had indeed proven me that carl's jr makes the best beef burgers, ever! we even came across the biggest onion ring we ever laid our eyes on - it was at least 12cm wide!

i managed to influence nurul on her spenditure and i am proud that she managed to spend less than she did last december, seeing that we paid much more for the hotel. however, that did not stop us from shopping too! i guess the best steals i got, thanks to nurul's superb bargaining skills, were the plentiful bottles of perfume from petaling street. we submerged ourselves in so much perfume that i got high! of course there was the usual hunt for wrapping papers for me - i guess there were at least 20 pieces! the sister said that these were in fact the prettiest papers she saw.

in addition, nurul found her favourite marks and spencer line a rival. ms. read carried really awesome, quality pieces with beautiful strong colours and some crazy prints, at affordable prices. i particularly loved the ambience they created in their boutique - the plush oversized sofas, magazines, comfortable fitting rooms and helpful staff made shopping in their store a wonderful experience.

of course there were a few incidents which added to make the trip more memorable.

our first fish spa experience ..

.. was indeed unforgettable. we decided to visit the hotel spa to rejuvenate our aching feet from all the shopping. the first few minutes were torturous as we tried to withstand the tickling sensation on our feet. as the time passed, we pretty much got used to the feeling. of course, we tried not to think about it. but the best part was that we got out of the spa with notably softer, smoother feet!

nurul's first henna experience ..

.. being a henna virgin, she decided to make a rash decision to get her hand henna-painted. this lovely lady from pakistan made some beautiful elaborate drawings on nurul's hand and i got my finger henna-painted for free! the henna dried up pretty quickly but unfortunately, it did not last that long.

daylight robbery ..

.. the robbers were non other than the taxi drivers. after our trip to central market, we decided to cab back to our hotel since it was already quite late. the signs on the taxis stating that they were metered cabs and that haggling was strictly prohibited, were way unnecessary. none of them suddenly decided to use the meter to charge the cab fare. all of them decided to quote a price of rm15, thrice the rm5 we were charged by an honest cab driver who had brought us to petaling street in the morning. their excuse was the jam they had to ram through to head towards the city at that hour. we finally made up our minds to just jump into a cab after nurul caught a freaky disheveled man staring at us. and yes, the traffic was smooth.

police raid ..

.. our bus got raided by the police and sniff dogs after they caught a man on board our coach bring in two cartons of cigarettes and another group not bringing along all their belongings for the immigration check. we were delayed because of this incident but it was quite a first hand experience. the suspected man was detained for further interrogation and our bus driver and guide were clearly annoyed.

and lastly, thanks to nurul for the most wonderful companionship and having to put up with me throughout the entire 3 days 2 nights, and boy, i know that it was not easy! (:

bapak decided to pull off an adrenaline stunt by announcing that he needed us to pack for a few days short getaway later in the afternoon. thank goodness half my stuff are strewn across the bedroom floor and the others are still in my luggage. away from the cosmopolitan cities, we'll be heading to desaru this time.

hello sun, sea and sand!

3 more hours and im not even halfway done.

the clothes i have specially chosen are catered to hide those times my stomach balloons every single time after a heavy meal. im still contemplating on the footwear, though i have not much of a choice from the mere number of shoes i have. most of them still leave me with freaking blisters even though i had tried to season them for a year. i thought of backpacking this time round but the only things that i managed to fit into my backpack were the clothes. so i have decided on the cabin bag instead, leaving me plenty of room for shopping items.

i hope i would be able to catch up on my sleep during the journey and hopefully not look like a complete mess when i wake up.

see you!

when he came after me as i walked away, and he told me with tears in his eyes, that he had never bothered to come after anyone else, i knew that he loved me more than i thought he ever did.

the boyfriend got himself a new bike, with almost the exact paintwork as his previous'. he never looked happier and i couldnt be prouder.

hopefully to wonderful new beginnings, and beautiful happy endings.