well hey its me again... hols are over and i really feel that my hols have been really well spent... there is not a minute of it that i regret... well i have been going out with my cute little piggy... hehehe... well we went out last friday... hmph we were suppose to go out with SOMEONE i dont know who BUT MAYBE HIS INITIALS IS CCC... o well.. so we decided to take a little strol down taka... talked abit... irritated each other a bit...hehehe... well then we sorta found this little nice shop...
quite quiet and nice... staff looked kinda pleasant... wooooooot and IT ROCKED.... I LOVE LEVIS... BUT HATE THE ONE IN MARINA SQUARE!!! ARGH!!! well ok some past history... i was in marina square and i saw this really cool pair of their engineered jeans... was really nice... but the normal size 29 i wear was extremely huge for the engineered jeans... either that or i turned from nutty professor to stup0id little scronny kid... ok ok now that wasnt a question... do not say anything just listen... so i had to dump it... sigh...
well so here i was in taka and i went to levis and i saw the pair of jeans i wanted... i was kinda reminesing on my past short but sweet date with the jeans of my dreams back in marina square... and then i realised that it was erm a bit smaller than the last one... THEN THERE I SAW IT... those magical numbers just hit me... 27... WOOOOT.... i was so happy... well actually i dont know which one i was... happy that i found it or pissed because some dumb @^$ sales ASSistant in marina square was too lazy to serve me... (sorry about the language... love evokes emotions) well so i tried it on and it was a perfect fit... and well as they say the rest was history... next thing i know there went half my IMF salary in one outting...well here is wat it looks like... woot my love at first sight...
introducing the front
now this is where my sexy ass would be...
it is plain yet nice and sexy...well sadly i wont be wearing it too soon... haha... cant wait till it is time for its first debute...
well sadly just after that joyous note came a saddening note... my tortoise wasnt feeling too good recently so we sent her to the vet... so i kinda called my mom about the jeans and she told me that the tortoise had some miscarriage and the egg shells are still inside... so i am kinda worried about the egg shells i hope it all comes out fast... well then just today i found out that she has nyhmonia (not sure how to spell)... well so now we have to inject her everyday... all we can do now is pray i guess... and the next blow came that now my male tortoise is missing... kinda worried where he is... so ya... well thats life isnt it... taking one tablespoon of salt after a teaspoon of sugar...
well some of us went to watch a movie today also... it was about global warming... basically some speach made by AL Gore... i kinda felt it was a real eye opener... eventhough it was kind of like a speech or rather it was... it was really interesting and really shocking at the same time...
well ya so thats me for now... see ya...
friends always care
22:15
Sienzzzzzzz..... Ahhhhhhh..... School has started already and the holidays are over. Sigh, what's is even worse is when i caught a glimpse of my "nice" timetable. I found out that now everyday i have classes, not a single off day which i had the semmester before. Monday i got lessons till 10 pm!! Oh my goodness... Stupid part time lecturers, haha joking. but at least thank goodness the next day's lesson is not at 8am if not i go jump down already.
Work has been the usual, some of my friends are leaving already and going back to their countries as they have completed their attachment here already. I guess i will miss them alot. One more thing. i realise that i been getting lesser and lesser hours to work.. sob... are they trying to tell me that they want me to leave or am i thinking to much. Haiz
Haha its weird right i actually took iniative to blog without joel's "gentle" reminders. Well the reason is that i am doing written communication this semmester and i found out that the english that i wrinting is now singlish and MSNglish. SO i am trying to force myself to get back to proper english yup. Common mistakes such as "tat" "m" "bak"... mus Jiayou!! opps "Must" lol edited*
Haha the subjects i am doing now will be Principle of Management, Accounting for Assets, Microeconomics, Statistics methods for business and so on
friends always care
00:16
ill be there when you are down
ill be there when you frown
ill be there to hold your hand
ill be there no matter when
ill be there to lift you up
ill be there to fill your cup
ill be there to show you care
ill be there with you to share
ill be there to help you through
ill be there when times are blue
ill be there to tease you around
ill be there without a sound
ill be there to give advice
ill be there through your life
friends always care
17:09
friends always care
00:37
leave me alone i need some space to breathe MOVE OUT OF THE WAY!!! i need some privacy cant you understand that? cant you just give me space to grow, make errors, make success... why must you stifle me... how can a plant grow if it is shielded from the harsh sun rays... WHY CANT I HAVE SOME SORT OF SPACE?? i aint no small kid anymore i am not asking to vanish away into the abyss of time i am just asking to be given a bit of space....
haiz... well i have not been at all too happy today... today kinda started out normal like any other day... but some how it just got sour in the middle... i dont know whether there is something wrong with me or what but i just seem to have gotten really irritated today... i dont know but it seems that my every move is chained down by this short little leash of mine... and when i dont conform to every call of 'request' i am tugged at as hard and as mercilessly as possible...
hey i mean i do have a life i do have commitments to fulfil... i know sometimes i may stray away from the important things in life but hey stop yanking already.... come on!!!! argh..... i have a few things that i feel i must hold true to as hard as possible... and one of them is my word... i am willing to change plans and commitments when given prior notice but not at the last minute... and hey if you tell me something last minute i expect you to understand even if i say no, and not run me down all the way... hey i feel bad already and i dont need anyone to make me feel worse... well yea so today was kinda pissy for me....well at least i let it all out....
friends always care
23:12
well i am starting to get used to the lifestyle back here in singapore hahhaa... but still find it difficult to get used to the extreme pricing back here... however i have seemed to get used to comparing items... ie... o these shoes are so ex here in viet...blah blah blah.... well yea thats life after coming back from a 3rd world nation... OK OK!!! i know alot of you just want me to shut up about viet but hey it is really difficult... i mean just think about the food and how.... o there... see here i go again... WELL I AM TRYING....
well other than that i am starting to really like the books written by mitch albom... what really caught my attention was his second book ( 5 people you meet in heaven) and after that book i was on the prowl for his other 2 books... AND I FINALLY GOT THEM TODAY ALLL OF THEM... YAY... ok now many of you would go... hey this is not the Joel i know... well... the stress that comes from being too relaxed is forcing me to resort to being a book worm... hey but it is kinda cool so far... i dun mind being a book worm for a while... but seriously i have not met anyone that does not like his books... they all love it...
well thats all for now... i may or may not blog for a while i have been really busy... with suntec and changi airport calling me constantly for a part time job... hey but it is seriously very fun.... well see ya...
friends always care
22:36
well i have just landed last night and here i was once again entering a foregin land... suddenly there was extreme cleanliness as the floors only presented sparkling reflections... the air had lost the smell of cigerrette smoke and a lingering aroma of perfume filled the place... the doors of the airport opened and there was no sound of the cacophony that filled the air of loud horns... the taxis were clean... however, fare prices have seemed to rocket up tremendously... suddenly hand gestures were no longer needed as the taxi driver knew every word i said... the roads boasted of discipline and order as traffic went and came in one direction... then finally i reached my destination... back 'home' back to an empty house... then i sit down and wonder... is this a home or is this a house that i just merely live in... has my home shifted over to vietnam???
friends always care
12:07
last night in vietnam...
last night in this wonderful city of culture...
to the country where distribution of alchohol and cigrettes are just as lawful as traffic...
to the city where there are as many great restaurants as there are people living off scraps...
to the country full of warmth everywhere you go...
to the country with millions of unsung heros of who face adversity everyday...
to the country where little things become a well of joy...
to the country that has taught me much...
and with this i say goodbye to vietnam with love...
ill be arriving at 8.10pm on tues... see ya guys.... really miss everyone deeply.... but i think ill miss vietnam and the people here too....
friends always care
01:25
hey yo.... guess whos back wooooooooooot.... back from the little village of mui ne.... WOOPIE... had a lot of fun there EATING!!!!!! WAHAHAHHAHA....
haha... when we first arrived in mui ne we were went on the impression of it having edmerald green waters and pristine beaches.... WELL I GUESS SOMEONE GOT IT WRONG!!! instead we were welcomed by the pundgent aroma of SALTED FISH... and greeted by the brownish waters together with it's fellow welcome party of dead sea life littered across the entire cost line... hmmmm.... dots....
hahaha.... doesnt sound much like a sea resort to you eh... well i had the same impression at first... but suprisingly my impression was changed prob bec i was expecting something that was really appealing the eyes in which my mom btw mixed up the location with another village far up north.... sigh... well but after i got over the shock i began to see something appealing to the heart which made it all meaningful to me...this was not a village of splendorish beaches but a village of unsung heros that risk their lives everyday for us... this is the village of fishermen...
just this morning we were just captivated by the fishermen trying with pure brute strength to pull a whole fishing net back to shore... and the net alone was probably 1km long... it was a really huge net... to see these men laboriously pulling in these nets and to see them manually hoist up boats from the water really made me feel greatful... these men come out to work so early and yet what they yield is so little and yet you do not see a face of complains but a face of determination...
well apart from that we had some really great seafood that was really really cheap... the seafood restaurants just petrol the entire shore line... for lunch that day we had two big flower crabs that were really really meaty as compared to those in singapore, 1kg of prawns, 0.7kg of fish... add on the few bottles of beer drinks a heap full of fried rice and vegetables... it all totaled to 46 sing.... WOOOT... IT WAS REALLY REALLY GOOD...well hahha thats all iam going to tell you about the food hahaha... just enought to weit your appetite...
well something else of interest...
i found out that our hotel was right next to a gigantic sand dune... cool eh??? 
hahaha... i always had the impression that sand dunes were only found in the dessert but hey what do you know guess i was wrong there... haha... but i didnt really really like going to see the dunes... it is nice and all but there was a really strong wind that day... so we were basically unable to see the dunes for ever time we looked up our eyes were stung by the fine grains of sand...o but the stinging did not only hit the eyes... it got us everywhere... my legs feflt like as if a few razors were cutting me... it was really painful... but i must say it was an experience... actually we are able to slide down the dunes like snow sledges and stuff i guess it would have been fun... want to know why i didnt do it??? yes??? well there were about 40 kids down there waiting to ambush our car to let us use their sledge for 5000 dong (50cents) and these kids are really poor so it was not really a matter of getting money but more of getting food for them... but if we were to give to one we would have to give to the rest... so we decided to drive on down futher away from the frantic mob... we were walking around the dunes for a while before we realised that about 6 of the kids actually came to hunt us out... i would have actually tried however at that point in time the wind was really too strong and we were left with no choice... however eventhough we said no they were still really nice, using their sledges as a shield for us against the millions of sand grains trying to attack us... well hey but since there were only a few of them there we decided to give them a few thousand dong each before we departed...
well that was my trip to mui ne... hahaha... some thing turned positive from negative...hahaha...CYA... will see ya guys real soon....
friends always care
22:34
Haha its time for me to save you guys ( and girls ) from the evil Joel! Getting bored from reading his posts time and time again?...*say yes*... not to worry because i am here to help!! ( Heroic music starts playing~~ )
Just joking, actuall i enjoyed reading his posts about his holiday in Vietnam which makes me so jealous because the furthurest i went was only Thailand and Malaysia sigh*. Hmm i think Joel has a bright future of becoming a journalist, haha heck care about your course in poly.Well i expect soveniors from you when you come back ah ( and i mean a lot) lol.
Well nothing much has happened to me doing the holidays except work, work AND MORE WORK! Sienz... Well i have no choice because the second payment of my braces which is $700 is coming, i can sense it. Thus i got to work more hours to earn enough dough, unless someone is kind enough to donate to me HInt* then i will be eternally grateful haha. So many of my good friends had left Cathay and so many are planning too, i am going to be so lonely again. With 12 new people being hired, i guess i have to make new friends again.
Haha i have been watching many movies lately, don't know why also, waste money again haha. Rob B Hood is a must watch ya!! Its so funny la, especially the cute baby ( looks like me dun u think? ) *say yes* . i m surprised that Louis Khoo and Jackie Chan can actuall have such good chemistry especially the part where they act as a couple. So better catch the movie fast if u haven't! Signing out XD
friends always care
01:58
well today is my last day in this wonderful city of HCM... tomorrow ill be moving up north to mui neh supposedly a really nice beach resort... i wont be able to update my blog when i go over there so today should be the last post till i get back which is on monday...
well here are just some of the things and reccomendations i have for HCMC... when you walk around HCMC dont be too afraid to slash down prices of the goods by at least 40%-60% the store vendors are only too happy most of the time to entertain you... the service that they provide here totally overshadows what is found in singapore... for example staff from one particular shop would only be too happy to go all the way to get you what you want... even if it means travelling down from district 5 all the way to district 1 which is about 20km apart... or going to another branch and bring back the good you specially request for... service in singapore is really dwarfed by the service found here in HCMC... other than service found at the shops, taxis would also be willing to wait for you at a location for a few hours with no extra charge... and you can ask any service staff at a restraunt and they would be glad to help you call for a taxi...
for shopping i highly reccomend the markets... forget about the shopping centres... the shopping centres are really too expensive and are not really fun as in the market you would be allowed to bargain... and hey everyone loves to bargain right?
as for the markets themselves there are 3 main ones that i reccomend but all for different purposes:
SAIGON SQUARE
saigon square is probably the smallest market in the whole of HCMC... however, the shops here offer a great variety of goods... most of the goods here are of better quality than compared to the other markets... most of the goods here esp all the shoes are originals... however, due to the fact that they are originals and a lower competition from other stalls, you as the customer do not comand a high bargaining power.... you would probably be able to get about a maximum of 30% off the goods... store vendors may at times be abit arrogant...
BEN TAI (district 1)
Ben tai market is a really big market... it really host a lot of goods... the quality of the goods here are not as good as compared to saigon square however due to the large number of stalls selling identical goods do not be afraid to slash prices down by up to 60%... a shirt here would roughly go for 100 000 dong from 450 000dong thats for the kind of addidas shirts... vietnamese souvenir shirts can go as low as 20 000 dong from 40 000 dong... vendors maybe a bit stick however threaten to move away and they would pull you back after a long time of bargaining they would most likely give in... however, due to stiff competition, vendors would literally try to pull you into their shop so it maybe a little irritating at times...
BEN TAY (china town)
it is a really large whole sale market... it is famous for the selling of materials... i would not really reccomend this place for shopping... however, the sight of the quantity of goods and the hustle and bustle of the market is a must see... as it is a whole sale area do not count your luck on getting much of a discount off a good if you are only buying one or two... if you were to go there do keep in mind your pockets and bags as there is a high rate of sntch thieves and pick pockets in that area...
generally HCMC is a really great place to visit... when travelling to a location the worst thing you can ever do is to fall asleep because everything from the traffic which seems to have some sort of order in the disorder to the people is an attraction to view... so far HCMC has been one of my favourite destinations to be...
well thats all i have or rather i dont want to bore you guys with any more info... hahaha... just come to HCMC and see it for yourself i really love this place...
friends always care
17:30
wooooooot.... yet another day in this fantastic place called vietnam...
today my mom and i made our way to china town to the largest market in HCMC called ben tay market.... this is different from the one in district 1 (ben tan) dont get mixed up... it was a really mad house there at ben tan market... it was so crowded... once entering the market you would be constantly bumped around whilst balancing on that small little path way wedged inbetween the towering goods...
ever gone shopping but dont feel like shopping just because there was too much to scan through? well here we were facing that exact dilema... the goods were really pilled up so high and they only left one small opening just enough for one person to walk through...
cant believe it? it is crazy... what ever you see here are shoes... and this is only 3 stalls selling shoes.... there has to be about 20 other stalls selling these shoes... but i must say one thing good about this place is that the shop keepers dont play tug of war with you like the way they do in ben tan market...
well after going to ben tay... we decided to buy back some seafood from the wet market for dinner... it is really cool... everything here in the wet market comes alive... every thing... crabs prawns fish... we bought back some cute little soft shell crabs and river prawns.....
i do pitty those little crabs... so poor thing leh.... imagine you have just molted your shell and they put you on this gigantic tray... and now and then people just walk buy and the next thing you know you are being poked at and picked up and thrown all over the place... and you realise that you do not have any defence at all... really pittyful...
well due to my deprived childhood i felt like making them feel at home... so ya... i started talking to them... making them feel at home... then when i felt we were getting somewhere i started to play with them... hey i bet they enjoyed it.... OK FINE I WAS TORTURING THEM IF YOU WANNA PUT IT THAT WAY....GEEEEES.... hey i only picked them up and inverted them... i thought they were tired from the journey and needed a rest... so much for being a good smaritan... FINE IM GONE...
friends always care
20:56
i wait every night to talk to you
i count everyday to the day when i can see your face
at night you assure me in my dreams
at day i feel an empty seat beside me
i wish to just hear your voice
i wish to just see your face
if only for just a while ill do anything to hold you in my arms
the look you give me
the words you wisper into my ears
i miss them all
i miss you dear....
friends always care
15:08
well here is a little warning that goes out to all you guys out there.... never never never and i mean NEVER say that you are willing to do anything in order to have your wife on your wedding day... and more so never say you dont mind doing anything before that just as long as not on the wedding day itself.... THATS SUICCIDE.... because you get crazy people like ME thinking....
well.... yesterday i didnt blog.... and no it wasnt because i didnt feel well and not because my cousin or anyone at that was using the com.... I was purely too lazy... I ADMIT.... well... yea hey i need a break... well but yesterday nothin much happened.... but i went for foot reflexiology.... it was kinda nice... but at times a bit painful... but i beared with it... o and you know what mr smarty over here had the great idea of wearing shoes to the massage.... GUYS NEVER DO THAT TOO IT IS JUST GROSSSSSSSSS.... i mean after the massage you are all nice and fine feeling good eh? well now think about your legs all smelling nice and clean... then think harder.... how bout the oil ON YOUR LEGS THAT MAKE YOU SMELL NICE AND CLEAN... then think about your socks and shoes that you have to put on.... not a good idea eh? well i had to live through that really urking feeling throughout the rest of the day....
well as for today didnt do much either.... haha poor thing eh?? nah.... hahaha... my brain was at work... thinkin of the best way to saboh my dear friend davin who is gettin married soon near the end of the year... well just before sending my bro off to the airport to fly back home we decided to walk around town... walked into a few shops and POOOM!!! it hit me... sounds like one of those old superman comics eh....POOF! POW! SMACK! haha ok enough... well i saw this little sinister bottle that could only carry 50ml... and it had the name davin written all over it.... WAHHAHAHAHA.... well still dont know what i am talking about??? have a look...
well cant make it out? introducing you to the revolutionary drink in all wedding torture sessions....... SNAKE WINE.... in there you would find a full cobra in a defensive posture.... it is really cool... i thought that was all there was to the wine till i looked closer and i saw.... a cute little fly.... awwww.... man i am sorry bro but erm WAHAHAHHAHA.... you would do anything right???? hahahahhaha sorrryyyyy... no hard feelings ok? wahahahhaa....BOTTOMS UP... my father has tried this before and he described it as a musky taste that stays in your mouth... so well... lets think ok is she worth all this??? well if she is you know what to do...CYA....
friends always care
00:36
hey you know wat... as for today i think i didnt do much....but here goes... today was the last day for my bro's gf and concidentally for my cousins too... they were all heading off to different parts of S.E.A.... my bros gf was heading home whilst my cousins were off to cambodia... cool eh.... still cant believe it 6mnth holiday sigh.... o well after sending them off we went on a wild goose chase for some stuff and finally we ended up in this giant mega mart come whole sale outlet.... we bought alot of stuff there.... basically grabbed anything that is everything that came into our path sight... party because they were so cheap but also because the food here including knick nacks were so good... after which we made our way back just to go out for italian dinner 2 hours later... see... nothing much eh... well that was today for me... nice and lazy... if you want something more fun read what happened to me yesterday... CYA...
friends always care
22:39
hey its me AGAIN... yea yesterday i was a bit pissed off with my com... i wanted to update the post... but my com just didnt allow me to put up any pics... so here i am to do some late posting....
well yesterday we went out of the main city center and out into the provincial areas of cuching... we went on the intention of seeing the vietcong tunnels... the weather was threatening as there was a constant lingering threat of rain... but nevertheless we still went on a small step of faith that the sky would hold...
on our journey to cuching we saw this interesting scene of 4 motorbikes filled with lanterns all geared up for the up coming lantern festival....
people around here really use their motorbikes to carry all sorts of things... yesterday itself i saw another guy carrying this huge store signage the is prob 10ft in length and 4 ft in breath... my cousin even said she saw this guy carry dragon fruits up to 10m high... it is really amazing here... these motorist could be attractions by themselves performing really unusually dangerous yet skillful balancing acts on their little 100cc motorbikes...
upon arrival at the cuching tunnels we saw the various boobie traps land mines and more importantly the tunnels themselves...
here is the common boobie trap they had... it comprises of a trap door where by is step upon its victim would fall on to a merciless bed of spikes... but not all victims were this lucky to step on to this particular kind of traps... there were other traps that came in the form of bear traps that clamp your leg impaling great pain.... others had a single spike go from heel all the way up to your knee cap... it was really grusome...
then came the most ingenuous contraption made by the vietnamese that spread out to a total of 200milles across the country and close to a hundred meters deep... this was their tunnels... it was this that lead to the defeat for the americans...
now look carefully... this is what a tunnel enterance would have looked like during war time...
this is what the tunnels inside the base looks like.... the tunnels were split up into 3 levels... the first level being the escape route from the ground level second level being the holding quaters and planning quaters and the last level is where 1000 men stayed in during the war in just the small section of cuching... the top level tunnels are the cramiest of all... they are so small that they are just nice for a vietnamese to squartdown and duck walk his way through... once inside they would not even have space to turn... they had widened a small part of the tunnels for us to enter... already after widening, clastrophobia still sets in... one really wonders how they could survive with during the war... o and you may be asking... how do they get air??? well walk around the camp with sparodic signs of bomb craters and you would see a few termite nest here and there... but are you sure they are termite nest???
well as you can see they had no advance for of weaponary but they still managed to beat the americans... they were largy out numbered in both man power and technology... but they still won... doesnt that say alot about its people...
oooo now on the topic of food... i finally managed to try the local vietnamese food for lunch and dinner... lunch wasnt to my liking... i felt that the dishes were a bit too heavy on spices... but i think it would be quite nice for people who love the taste of peppermint basil, etc...
for dinner we had something like steamboat...the steamboat was really nice... but i really pitty the seafood down here.... the prawns were so poor thing... they were scewered from their rear stopping just before their head... they were still like jumping around and crawling all over the place... i really pitty them... and then a few mintues later they were dumped into a pot of boiling water still alive... sigh... sad isnt it... well thats the life of a prawn... well ill post the rest of todays happenings later on at night.... CYA...
friends always care
17:53
