SPECTACULAR!
Had a once-in-a-lifetime trek.
Up the moutains, down the slopes,
Down the rivers, cross the bridges,
Dipped into the mud, stepped the rocks
washed the shoes by the waterfall overlooking other beautiful padi terraces.
tasted the wild berries which stains the teeth blue.
trekked the muddy slippery steep mountain slops,
Sweat all over, rain all over.
Still, smiles all over.
This is my closest to an adventurous experience.
Everyone should come here at least once in a lifetime.
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Greetings from Sapa!!
yes, Vietnam is very well connected, mind you!
many hotels and guesthouses offer free wireless services.
and internet cafes along the streets are a common sight.
oOoO... in Sapa, according to our guides,
the guys are too shy to come outta of their houses.
haha... so no luck at bridegroom selection.
However, it's really a good place for the scenery and the weather.
Helps us escape the heat from Hanoi.
It's a mountaineous region up north,
with many terraced padi fields as we took our bus up the mountains.
like a walking tour into geography text books.
We arrived at Lao Cai 5am in the morning and the sun's already up
and the streets buzzling.
Sapa is a good place to meet new people.
We've met a Canadian whom we shared dinner and lunch with.
He uses a chopstick for lunch, and
they (my aunt and Evon) exchanged their experiences of other travelling trips.
It's amazing! and we also bumped into a cheekyIndonesian man
travelling with his family who initially thought that Peter (the canadian)
is one of our husband. heh...
back to the trip,
we were attached to a tour guide from the H'mong tribe.
she's 19, one year younger than me!
and while we singaporeans are bilingual,
she's effectively multi lingual,
speaks h'mong languange, Vietnamese, English (very good command!),
a bit of Spanish and Franch. Amazing girl.
guided us on a 3 hour trek,
carefully elaborating on the interesting elements of the sights,
patiently waiting for us taking photos.
it was an enriching exchange.
i think this is the best time to visit sapa.
before it becomes too heavily commercialized.
it's a wonderful experience immersing in the cool weather,
get in touch with nature, walk along the padi fields, see cow dungs of various shapes and sizes,
animals roaming around the village, enagaging the friendly folks
it's not a clique comment, they are really friendly!
they maintained plastered with a one million mega watt smile
even if you reject buying their goods.
but the small little annonyance is that little girls as young as 10
will tag along tourists trying to persude you to buy their bags.
and they'd pop the questions like 10 times along the trek.
it's good in a way, that they are not begging but earning their keep.
the girls here are beautiful,
innocent with a tinge of weariness.
as if they've been through really hard life,
but they Lambe (the guide) says it's only because of the eye-blinding sunshine.
Ohh... and this old hardy lady tagged behind and beside me thoughout the whole trek,
trying to persude me to buy her bags.
i feel awkard and didn't make any promises.
because she isn't as "adorable" as they kids,
it's probaly harder to sell her bags compared to the girls.
and the kids who comes in swamps.
so she probably have to follow the tourists along to earn her keep.
she offered me umbrella in the latter part of the trip,
and i offered to carry the umbrella for her.
and to make up for my guilt, i offered her my cold mineral water too.
bought a pencil case from her after my return to the hotel for s$4.
i didn't want anything
because i know they natural dye used is not set and will stain our hands and clothes.
i suggested giving her the money.
my aunt objected because it not only diminishes any sense of self worth
but also reduces them to mere begging.
she is so right.
To conclude, this stop is a MUST in Vietnam,
and i'm already looking forward to the 5 hour trek and homestay tomorrow!
keep you guys updated! :)
yes, Vietnam is very well connected, mind you!
many hotels and guesthouses offer free wireless services.
and internet cafes along the streets are a common sight.
oOoO... in Sapa, according to our guides,
the guys are too shy to come outta of their houses.
haha... so no luck at bridegroom selection.
However, it's really a good place for the scenery and the weather.
Helps us escape the heat from Hanoi.
It's a mountaineous region up north,
with many terraced padi fields as we took our bus up the mountains.
like a walking tour into geography text books.
We arrived at Lao Cai 5am in the morning and the sun's already up
and the streets buzzling.
Sapa is a good place to meet new people.
We've met a Canadian whom we shared dinner and lunch with.
He uses a chopstick for lunch, and
they (my aunt and Evon) exchanged their experiences of other travelling trips.
It's amazing! and we also bumped into a cheekyIndonesian man
travelling with his family who initially thought that Peter (the canadian)
is one of our husband. heh...
back to the trip,
we were attached to a tour guide from the H'mong tribe.
she's 19, one year younger than me!
and while we singaporeans are bilingual,
she's effectively multi lingual,
speaks h'mong languange, Vietnamese, English (very good command!),
a bit of Spanish and Franch. Amazing girl.
guided us on a 3 hour trek,
carefully elaborating on the interesting elements of the sights,
patiently waiting for us taking photos.
it was an enriching exchange.
i think this is the best time to visit sapa.
before it becomes too heavily commercialized.
it's a wonderful experience immersing in the cool weather,
get in touch with nature, walk along the padi fields, see cow dungs of various shapes and sizes,
animals roaming around the village, enagaging the friendly folks
it's not a clique comment, they are really friendly!
they maintained plastered with a one million mega watt smile
even if you reject buying their goods.
but the small little annonyance is that little girls as young as 10
will tag along tourists trying to persude you to buy their bags.
and they'd pop the questions like 10 times along the trek.
it's good in a way, that they are not begging but earning their keep.
the girls here are beautiful,
innocent with a tinge of weariness.
as if they've been through really hard life,
but they Lambe (the guide) says it's only because of the eye-blinding sunshine.
Ohh... and this old hardy lady tagged behind and beside me thoughout the whole trek,
trying to persude me to buy her bags.
i feel awkard and didn't make any promises.
because she isn't as "adorable" as they kids,
it's probaly harder to sell her bags compared to the girls.
and the kids who comes in swamps.
so she probably have to follow the tourists along to earn her keep.
she offered me umbrella in the latter part of the trip,
and i offered to carry the umbrella for her.
and to make up for my guilt, i offered her my cold mineral water too.
bought a pencil case from her after my return to the hotel for s$4.
i didn't want anything
because i know they natural dye used is not set and will stain our hands and clothes.
i suggested giving her the money.
my aunt objected because it not only diminishes any sense of self worth
but also reduces them to mere begging.
she is so right.
To conclude, this stop is a MUST in Vietnam,
and i'm already looking forward to the 5 hour trek and homestay tomorrow!
keep you guys updated! :)
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Greetings from Hanoi!!!
Leaving for Sapa tomorrow.
The traffic at Hanoi is crazy!
it's an exciting experience just crossing the road.
And the funny thing is, you'd never get knocked down,
just honked at.
beep beep! Boo Boo! Ba Ba!
relentless honking!
Just look straight, take a deep breath,
ignore the traffic and walk at a constant velocity.
that's the trick.
haha... even the old folks do it better than we do.
(we got laughed at trying to tag along an old lady while crossing)
the weather is... unpredictable,
raining and stopping as and when the sky please.
quite an experience.
the water puppet show is a MUST catch.
s$4 for a one hour show.
the plot is simple, but the music is catchy,
which lightens one's day.
performed with a tinge of child like humour.
had a good 2 days.
and nope, i didn't attempt stealing Ho Chi Minh's statue.
Leaving for Sapa tomorrow.
The traffic at Hanoi is crazy!
it's an exciting experience just crossing the road.
And the funny thing is, you'd never get knocked down,
just honked at.
beep beep! Boo Boo! Ba Ba!
relentless honking!
Just look straight, take a deep breath,
ignore the traffic and walk at a constant velocity.
that's the trick.
haha... even the old folks do it better than we do.
(we got laughed at trying to tag along an old lady while crossing)
the weather is... unpredictable,
raining and stopping as and when the sky please.
quite an experience.
the water puppet show is a MUST catch.
s$4 for a one hour show.
the plot is simple, but the music is catchy,
which lightens one's day.
performed with a tinge of child like humour.
had a good 2 days.
and nope, i didn't attempt stealing Ho Chi Minh's statue.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Monday, June 16, 2008
感动+感慨
嘿嘿。。。这个题目让我联想到美酒加咖啡。
感动是因为收到蓝广峰送的lonely planet 的 旅游记事簿。
以他败家子的一贯作风，因该不算“贵”。
或者“贵”这个字从来就不存在于他的字典中。
谢谢你那“非常不便宜”的记事簿！
我还特地买了一个夹子以确保它不会着凉呢！
感慨是因为，我见证了。。。 第nth 个老师流泪。
这第nth 个老师是我的同事。
可能太过劳累了吧，
可能给自己太大的压力，
而导致自卑感。
我能体会她的感受。
也许，那就是每个人学习过程中闭经的阶段。
日子真的会
越来越好。
oh, and just to add another 感慨。
i don't understand why those kids i'm teaching are flying
Rome, Paris, Thailand and Hongkong at such young age...
RAH!!!! 为什么我没有这种命？？？？！！！！ RAH。。。
嘿嘿。。。这个题目让我联想到美酒加咖啡。
感动是因为收到蓝广峰送的lonely planet 的 旅游记事簿。
以他败家子的一贯作风，因该不算“贵”。
或者“贵”这个字从来就不存在于他的字典中。
谢谢你那“非常不便宜”的记事簿！
我还特地买了一个夹子以确保它不会着凉呢！
感慨是因为，我见证了。。。 第nth 个老师流泪。
这第nth 个老师是我的同事。
可能太过劳累了吧，
可能给自己太大的压力，
而导致自卑感。
我能体会她的感受。
也许，那就是每个人学习过程中闭经的阶段。
日子真的会
越来越好。
oh, and just to add another 感慨。
i don't understand why those kids i'm teaching are flying
Rome, Paris, Thailand and Hongkong at such young age...
RAH!!!! 为什么我没有这种命？？？？！！！！ RAH。。。
Thursday, June 05, 2008
笑话+梦想
那天在吃午餐时，也不懂怎么扯呀扯，
扯到了我和广峰可以一起去拍《色、诫》。（诙谐版）
然后光峰就很快的加了一句：
“如果我们一起拍色诫，去看的人一定会从此戒色了！”
————————————————————————————
今天妹妹在超市看到玩具球，就跟妈妈说想买。
于是，妈妈有意假装训责般地骂道：
“玩玩玩！玩你自己那两粒啦！”
有够黄，果然保留了妈仔本色。
--------------------------------------------------------
在车子川流不息的city area火速地冲过马路，
林先生说：“woah, 浪漫的逃亡。”
可是从他嘴里讲出来的东西，对不起，修饰一下，
从他嘴里吐出来的粪便，
每每不是带有讽刺的基调，
就是有嘲弄的意思。
但我还是高度配合。
“可惜我没穿裙。”
“你以为你是玛丽莲梦露啊？裙子向上飞也没有人要看。”
“我指的是裙子侧边飞。”
————————————————————
看了蓝广峰介绍的Singapore Dreaming (美满人生），
觉得真的蛮不错的，
里头的一些情节，人物的一些对白，
虽然很生活化，但却充满了人生智慧。
What is a Singapore dream?
Cash Money Good Job Promotion Clothes High End Luxuries
Why such homogeneity in our pursuit?
What was a Singapore dream?
Have we forgotten about dreaming at all?
The characters were in one way or another bounded by the "singapore dream".
Imposed upon them. success, material wealth, degree
“If you want to make it, you have to look like you've already made it!"
what's the difference between singaporeans and foreigners here?
"大家都一样，要赚钱。”
“不一样！你们是为了赚钱放弃理想。我们是太穷了，要赚钱来实现理想。”
出发点不一样。
理想的素质和性质不一样。
人家的理想是坚不可摧的。
我们的理想呢？
什么狗屁理想？！金钱至上。
the ultimate consequence of a capitalist society.
爸爸死了，要风封光光的葬礼，
定做的纸屋，“豪华奢侈”
“这个是不是最好的？”
“当然！有汽车，里面还有driver。有cd player, dvd player, plasma tv。
只是怕你老爸不会用。你要不要定做一个swimming pool?"
生不带来死不带去，孩子还是无法领悟钱是身外物。
and there was this scene where ah seng watches solemnly when the luxurius paper house was burnt, where the rattan sticks collapsed, ultimately leaving only smothering ashes.
it was well contrasted with the next scene where irene, giving up hope on ah seng (who abides by the material success, yet is unrealistic and money driven), burning away their memory scapbook.
Money is something tangible, yet never lasting, reduced to ashes as one enters the afterlife.. Such luxurious pursuit is as fragile as the paper house.
Memories are intangible keepsafes, living within, transcending life and death. Which explains why it still hurts as irene tries in vain to erase her memories of the times she shared with ah seng . Who failed her. Who also failed to understand that love, not money, precedes all.
Why "Singapore dreaming"? because most of us have not woken up from all the unrealistic fantasies. The inherent grammar mistake in the verb is also suggestive of the fallious nature of the Singaporeans' pursuit.
All in all, a good piece of work, prompts thinking and re-evalutating the ultimate worth of our Singapore Dream.
Monday, June 02, 2008
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