Vietnam Trip - Day 1

I'm back from my Vietnam Ho Chi Minh adventure~

A short 4 days trip.. but it was jam-packed with loads of fun and memories.. It was indeed eventful with alot of walking, climbing, photo-taking, eating, shopping & bargaining, raining, falling sick on the 2nd day, and not forgetting falling down on the last day.. hahhaa.. It was nonetheless, very enjoyable!

Day 1 started pretty early, with daddy sending me and Mr Koh to the airport in the wee hours of the morning.. coz our flight was at 7.25am =)

I couldnt really sleep the night before coz I was too excited~ haha..

we're flying off lo!

and in less than 2 hrs, we arrived at Vietnam's newly built international airport =)

taken from the plane.. hee!

We have landed onto the land of 'Pho'.. hahaha.. we can't wait to explore and get lost in the city...

We exited the arrival hall, and what greeted us were colourful taxis of different sizes, awaiting to 'dok' tourists like us.. haha.. I did some research on how much taxi fare would cost from the airport to the city, but in the end, we still got 'dok'.. haiz.. long story.. haha.. but wells, it was infuriating yet funny thinking back.. we paid a few bucks more just to watch and participate in the 'show of dok'....

In less than 30 mins, we reached our hotel! :D

We deposited our luggages inside before heading out! we've got no time to waste.. hee...

go buy 4D!

My first few shots with the areas near our hotel.. can't wait, I just love taking pictures.. haha!

can you see what's above our heads? it's BARCOOK! haha.. something familiar.. they do sell the raisin cream cheese we can find in Singapore, but we didnt buy any when we were there.. haha..

and we began roaming the streets.. we had wanted to go to the numerous attractions in town that day, but coz our friendly hotel recep had helped us book a city tour + Cu Chi tunnel tour the next day (day 2), day 1 would be pretty free for us! therefore, we decided to go to some of the marked places which we want to go, but would not be covered by the package city tour.. anyway, the package tour was so cheap! 8 USD only~

free and easy day =)

Ben Thanh market is just ard the corner!~ yippee...

we caught an ah pek catching an afternoon nap on the streets.. haha..

My fav shopping haunt... haha.. for dri-fit clothings...

However, we delayed shopping plans, and decided to go for our well deserved lunch first...

our first meal in vietnam! =)

I had some rice noodles, not sure if it's pho.. coz all noodle soup tastes abt the same leh.. HAHA.. but well, you get what I mean.. Mr Koh ordered his rice with meat and the very nice avocado drink (which I kapo alot from).. and I regretted my choice of pennyworth drink.. tasted very much like grass =P

After lunch, we slowly made our way to the Fine Art Museum where we appreciated (or pretended to appreciate) some local art work... haha.. quite an old building though.. I hope they do some repainting soon~

posing at the entrance.. with eyes looking elsewhere.. haha..

we proceeded into the museum.. and it was indeed vintage and nostalgic..

Posing with the vintage windows... haha.. quite different from the museums in Singapore..

The insides of the museum is pretty deserted, with occasional visitors (mostly tourists).. haha.. it's not air-conditioned also.. so everything is pretty much simple~

A final shot with the museum before we depart.. hmmmm... an educational hr~ haha!

Next up... we headed back to Ben Thanh market for our shopping spree.. haha! it's a tourist trap I agree, but where else can we find english-speaking vendors other than this place? hahaha... Not easy to buy things when the vendor doesnt speak english I realised~

It's a crowded market.. a colourful one too!

me with the coffee beans behind.. and beside is another shop selling dried fruits and nuts! haha.. nice~ =) We walked around the market and bought quite a number of dri-fit tops and polo t-shirts.. haha.. quite a good market to shop for guys' stuff! so unfair~~ hahaha...

to pamper our weary legs, we stopped over at the nearby Highlands Coffee chain (equivalent to our coffee bean or starbucks) to have a cup of beverage to recharge us.. haha...

Soon.. it was dinner time! =)

We went to another vietnamese restaurant.. and I had my noodle soup again... HAHA! mine's chicken and his's duck.. we're on a healthy vietnamese diet with alot of greens.. but I don't like their tau gey.. it has a grassy smell and taste again =P

We headed to the night market beside Ben Thanh market after dinner to continue our shopping.. =) these pasar malam look-alike stalls sprouted very quickly (they are vv well trained) and they are ready for business~ haha.. once again, we bought alot of dri-fit that night...

It was a shopping feast for him~ and me (bought some dri-fit for my dad).. haha.. We dragged out tired legs back to hotel and recharged for another exciting day ahead on day 2!...

 

off to the land of 'PHO'

As im typing this... Im abt to board the plane to the land of PHO!

hahahaha...
till then!

My 2nd New Paper Big Walk!

Thanks to Huixian and Weiting, Mr Koh and I had another chance to attend the New Paper Big Walk! =) hahaha...

We had to wake up pretty early that day~ coz we were supposed to meet them at esplanade at ard 6am... which means.. we had to wake up at 5 (or even earlier) that morning.. haha.. which due to some miscomm (or my ears/eyes didn't hear/see correctly), I thought Mr Koh had arranged to pick me up at 6am.. which in fact was wrong =P it was supposed to be 5.30am instead...

So long story short, i woke up at 530am... hahahaha.. and got a shock of my life to wake up seeing the sms Mr Koh had sent, which made me realise that I got the timing wrong.. HAHA! so I scrambled and got ready in 12mins... bravo! I washed up, changed, packed bag, wore shoes... I'm ready for the army training (or part of it) =P

Ok, met the couple at the carpark and we strolled to the Flyer (place to gather/flag off) to redeem our goodie bag.. and found it pretty heavy to be lugged all the way throughout the big walk.. so we decided to bring the goodie bags back to the bikes again, just to drop them off~ This will free our hands during the walk.. haha...

And as usual, like most events... the big walk started late for most.. =P walk was suppoed to start at 630am, guess most were strolling in at 630am, or some might still be on their way.. but nevertheless... we started our walk! =)



All in! =)

It was a colourful walk.... and a scenic one indeed...






we were surrounded by the new landmarks around marina bay and it was definitely a walk for the body, mind, soul and EYES~ so much to see and enjoy!



All charging towards the ‘deck of cards’

After a surprisingly relaxing stroll, we ended our walk at the newly built marina promenade =) Weather was cooling, and it was perfect for the mini carnival which was held at the vicinity~



Yay! we made it~

Throngs of people and families gathered for some simple and enjoyable fun~ I couldnt remember much of the games, but it was surely colourful... it immediately brightened my day.. hahaha..

We took pictures with the beautiful skyline.. the ground which we were standing on used to be a patch of grass.. now it’s all developed, into a lovely promenade…

After the big walk, we met the rest of COKTY and gfs for dinner… meaning the four of us had loitered around Marina Square area the entire morning & afternoon.. hahaha.. we wore the hippest T-Shirt that day =P looked like couple tees too.. hee!

I pray for free tix next yr too… hahaha…

Fireworks!

How can we not love fireworks?... esp when viewed from the roof top of the esplanade, and when you have the beautiful MBS as the backdrop.. I must admit Singapore's skyline is becoming more and more impressive..

Our future generations have big hats to fill.. Mr Koh and I happened to be around city hall area one fine Saturday, and knowing that there would be NDP rehearsal that evening, we decided to try our luck and find a decent place to enjoy the beautiful display~

We thought we were early, but nope.. we were super punctual, lucky I would say coz I really thought the fireworks wouldnt start that early.. any minute later and we would have missed it =P

BOOM!

and I was in awe.. and so were people around me.. =)

Fireworks of different colours lit the mysterious dark sky... I bet the view from the sky deck at MBS must be breath-taking..

My favourite colour green~

The long streaky kind.. haha..

and last but not least my personal favourite.. not because of the colour (coz my fav colour is green =p), but coz the pic was the clearest! haha...

feel free to fall onto me...... =)

Meet up with COKTY+

Met up with COKTY+ last week for a nice weekday dinner =) We had a nice sumptuous dinner with great company at Thai Express.. haha.. When 5 girls come together, it becomes a market.. haha! But well, this is an interesting market =P Though we are 5 girls with starkly different characters and interests, there was never a moment of silence.. Yak Yak Yak through the night.. had initially wanted to have dinner at some place, then move over to a coffee house to continue our Yaks.. but it seemed like we were too engrossed chatting that we stayed on till pretty late.. we were the last to settle the bill I think~

Cheryl brought along her Polaroid and gifts for us from London~ very nice of her! Haha…

After settling dinner, the 5 grown ups went out and made ourselves comfortable at the benches outside the restaurant and randomly asked a stranger ah beng to take group shots for us using the Polaroid.. the thing about Polaroid is that it cannot be converted to soft copy, and when each of wanted to take home a Polaroid pic, the poor ah beng stranger would have to take 5 shots for us! =P

Very silly.. hahhaa.. but very funny!

The masterpiece~ =)

KTV with colleagues~ on a Tuesday night..

Realised my posts are getting more and more back-dated, and that the frequency of posts have decreased over the months.. haha.. blame it on work and World  Cup.. HAHA... =P

But I've not given up on blogging yet, just that perhaps one/two posts per week would be good.. hee.. just to keep the momentum going~

Attended a company event and I got a pretty flower... from an admirer.... Heee...

and you believed? I wish =P

Haha... Went for a KTV session with my colleagues... hee! The younger ones.. so our selection of songs are more or less the same, or at least not unheard of.. =P

Singing to the awesome tunes of my dearest Jay Chou! =) Can you see him on screen? Guess the song title.. HAHA..

From left: Lay May, Yew Fai and Weiliang..

And yes, we went to Teo Heng! on a Tuesday night.. haha.. Total bill was super cheap.. rawks socks! hee... We sang for 3 hrs, with drinks and inclusive of cab fare, it was only less than 10 bucks! How can I not love Teo Heng =)

Introducing Chika, Jasmine and me... I tell you, Jasmine is arguably one of the best female singer friends I have.. haha.. Power, I mean really POWER! haha...

Jasmine is our 张惠妹, while me and Chika waved our hands in the air like fans in her concert.. hahaha..

All in! =)

Danny (extreme right in the picture) entertained us with his half memorised Lee Hom's 唯一... and half looking at the 汉语拼音 lyrics on his hp while singing.. how creative =P for an ang moh kentang.. haha..

Night ended not too late, coz we still had work the next day.... my throat is itching for another session! soooonnnn.... pls~

Happy Father's Day!

It was Father's Day 2 weeks ago... haha.. With all the hype about Mother's Day a month back, it would be nice to bring daddy out for a nice meal too! haha... (if not daddy will get jealous =P) hahaha... All Daddys deserve a nice treat from his little ones (ok, not very little anymore) on that special day...

and therefore we brought dearest Daddy to our favourite Zhi Char place at Towner rd for a nice dinner... haha.. it was a small and cosy affair, with quite alot of food actually.. coz we had CRABS! imagine the sauce swimming in your mouth... woo~

haha... we were not very kind to Mr Crabs that day... =P

The food... taken when we were halfway done.. haha.. coz I was too engrossed, such that I almost forgot to take some pictures of the foodies..

Mummy was too busy tearing the crab apart.. haha.. Look at her greedy face!.. They say like mother like daughter.. I totally agree... =)

While Daddy was trying to shun away from my merciless camera! haha.. Gotcha~

Crabs................... *drools* we had 2 small crabs which weighed a little more than 1kg together... =)

and crabs again... from another angle.. haha...... sedap!

It was a nice dinner... and we dashed home soon after (to a Singapore Pools betting outlet near our place actually).. coz we wanted to catch the World Cup matches and most importantly.. BET! heee........

Waka waka!

Happy Father's Day dear Papa......... =)