I am not Juan

2009-05-22T00:39:00.002+08:00

OFFICIALLY 2 WEEKS LEFT.

i wanna get out of this country!

And im getting a 2 weeks break once i return back to Singapore!

Hanoi beauty: #1

2 bikes collide. No insurance forms, no quarrels.
Pick up the bike, start engine, ride away.

Hanoi beauty #2

Cross one of the LARGEST cross junction diagonally without getting hit. As easy as killing an Ant.

Hanoi beauty #3

Taxi drivers understand my vietnamese.

Nothing much has been happening. The last Singaporean(Jimmy) has already informed his resignation and is leaving on e same date as us on the flight back to Singapore. ROCKS.

Let RV! be dominated by Pinoys.

CIAO.

2009-05-17T22:08:00.003+08:00

2 weeks 5 days to Singapore!

Been a really tiring week for me. Had been going to the other centre i was originally planned to be assigned to but was scrapped bcos i was too valuable at the main centre =X.

So anyway, i was at MyDinh(the other centre) to invigilate a whole week's of final exams at some apparently pretty respectful school called Lomonoxop High.

Funny name right.

LOMO!

Wake up at 6:30, end work at 4. CUI. 5 days straight, one day i was so tired i just fell aslp while talking to Jimmy.

But it was there i managed to really know Jovan, Santiago, Jennifer, Elizabeth and Thuy. Was treated to stuffs and was well taken care off.

Invigilation was very tiring, it was boring most of the time and the students loved to talk. It was easy to threaten them but they were stubborn. The taxi fare for the whole week was $91. And does not include my own personal cab fare back home....Claims ftw.

Im gonna miss the students that apparently look up to me judging by all the "thanks" I got, particularly from the Primary 5 and 6s students. Theres also the kebab bread =) SHIOK. $1 and its settled. Mr, Breakfast is served!!!

I was taking the cab alone on Friday to MyDinh when i realized that im taking a cab all alone in a foreign country! I suddenly felt so scared but yet I already had the experience to handle the drivers(touts were everywhere) and i knew the directions from a place to another already so I managed to somehow calm myself down.

Went back to PNT(main centre) daily to catch up and was totally beaten by then.

Seeing familiar and welcoming faces really does help in making your day not suck more than what it could.

Finally saw the country manager today and he looked as Singaporean as any Singaporean can be. Despite being in the country for like 6 years or smth and learning the vietnamese language proficiently, he dresses in berms and slippers.

thing is, YOU DON'T SEE VIETNAMESE IN BERMS AND SLIPPERS here, EVER.

Gonna get started on MP already, no time to lose. tsk.

Today, a cab driver knew i was a foreigner(YES!) and greeted me, and funny thing, he asked me if i wanted to go to the airport -.-. Joker.

Time is passing super slowly as the date to return draws closer. I want to see the country with

1) Roads dominated by cars.
2) Traffic lights that are actually prominently located.
3) Food that doesn't actually touch bare hands.
4) Taxis that actually on aircon the bulk of the time.
5) Pathways that are actually flat and not filled with dried mud.

arghh.

The night before my flight. im so NOT gonna sleep, im gonna count the minutes and i will purposely reach the airport early so i can smell the jet engines spooling up the dust on the runway. Singapore Singapore Singapore Singapore Singapore.

10am flight, report 2.5hrs before, thats....7:30 -.-.

45mins to airport that is over 50km away, thats like 6:50 g2g.

doesnt that mean waking up at like 6am? WTF.

arghh.

Time please past fast.

2009-05-10T16:41:00.003+08:00

I don't like countries with 6 day work weeks. I don't like countries where students study 7 days a week.

Counting down has started and is getting LOUDER.

2009-05-08T13:48:00.003+08:00

Epic rain last night. It was the first time i thanked my parents for choosing to live in a HDB flat.

I'm currently staying in a semi-detached kinda house and i live on the 3rd floor with the roof being a storey higher. I swear the rain droplets are SO freaking heavy that it was a constant drum kind of beating on the roof. It was epic-ly loud.

Woke up to minor floods that are WOW and trees that were uprooted.

Hanoi is at the mercy of the weather god.

So i completed my 3days of relief teaching with the arrival of the new teachers.

The relief, is relieved!

I gave out a Mathematics Exam paper for the students to do. It wasn't a mock test.It was a REAL test. And the students told me they had no idea they had a test.

I thought they were joking.....

They were NOT.

They claimed they did not know how to do a few questions because they haven't learned them. I asked them to skip it if they didn't know.

When i was marking their paper yesterday...turns out it wasn't that new to them afterall. A few of them got full marks for that question.

Vietnamese, are liars.

Scammers.
Fakers.
Retards.

They claim they don't understand factorise. But they could do it.

Liars,
Losers,
Asses.

Hanoi, the cultured but uncivilized city.

Way to go Hanoi!

Hanoi is everything between China and Malaysia. Basically, NOTHING.

China = Not a wannabe.
Vietnam = Malaysia/Singapore/China/Thailand/French wannabe.
Malaysia = Singapore wannabe.
Singapore = USA wannabe.

Singapore, Im coming back for you! Fiona Xie too!

Overlaying clouds aplenty. Whole city is in darkness. Remember the last time Singapore was that dark due to thunderstorms?

multiply that by about 1.5x.

There you go, Hanoi.

2009-05-05T00:17:00.011+08:00

Hohoho.

Been an enjoyable-to-some-extent 4-day holiday here in Vietnam. Celebrated their liberation day from the French. 30th April. Then next day is 1st of May, Labour day. ooooownage.

Pictures aplenty.

On the day i knocked off for the Holidays, there was a "company function" by the Country Manager at some apparently very famous KTV called X-Men. Reached there at like 9:30pm and then we planned to leave at like 11odd because there was gonna be a visit to the Ho Chi Minh Masoleum to see his corpse there at like 7am.

Not only we dragged till 12am, Me and Jimmy had to represent the whole of Pham Ngoch Thach branch against the MyDinh branch in the drinking challenge. First 3 cups of hennesy. Then 2 bottles of Heineken followed by what seemed like endless drinking challenges. I was kinda appointed the drinker of the branch because i was able to gulp down the beer with no effort at all. Must be the work of Hennesy cos it basically made me almost immune to the horrible taste of beer i once and will always hate.

Got drunk, Gwen(the other branch's manager) was chionging the beer with us. CRAZYYYYY. I was so drunk i was like crazy? But the logic that being drunk simply means knowing what you are doing and able to control it but it makes one more susceptible to crazy stuff like what i did; laughing crazily like some mad dog.

Hang over the next day. Tak Boleh Wake up for the masoleum. Only managed to join them at like 12pm at Hoan Kiem Lake. Went for a 1hr little Boaty Paddle ride thing.

$5 per hour. CHEAP DOG.

Shahirah, Jimmy, Juan, Kent, KimLan

Perfectly balanced swanny. :P

Epic wind. Check out the hair.

Then headed over to the oldest(i think) temple in Vietnam on some little island on its own. Quite cool.

Shirt was extremely creased. It was drizzling hard and the position to cycle was not helping. Behind the picture was lots of ang mo looking at us taking a picture. Damn extra like that. hah

Yuwen, KimLan, Shahirah, Kent, Juan, Jimmy

Some mai siao siao pagoda thing.

The temple was littered with many of such walls.

Then we headed over to get some ice cream before heading back home for dinner. But just a few pictures of the roads...

For the 2nd day we visited the Temple of Literature then out to do some shopping at Hoan Kiem lake. I think its called the old quarters im not sure followed by extreme non-picturesque picture taking.

some big ass huge drum that everyone hits for fun.

Middle of the temple leading to even deeper parts of the temple. Definitely smaller than what China has.

One of the many ponds in the middle of the temple.

Pillar hugging. Not only in Singapore. Bollywood actors hug trees. I hug temple pillars.

Then after temple we decided to walk a good 45mins to Hoan Kiem Lake. It was good exercise. I totally enjoyed the walk. We saw things I could have never saw. We managed to try desserts I would never have tried if we ever took a cab there. But not everyone liked the walk. Too bad.

Was at Dong Xuan market. Famous for selling wholesale goods. Considered a day market thing, I was all out to hunt for a new luggage. Naturally choosing luggage is part of the image proccess, i took my time. But too bad the shop attendants found this attitude a chore. I spotted them gossiping me about being so choosy. I stared back and walked away. 800,000DONG gone asses. Stare somemore lah. Selling China products somemore. TSK.

Then headed over to Hoan Kiem Lake after some shopping and took some pictures.

By some statue of a king. Instead of a place of respect, kids roll around on their scooters and fly kites and blow bubbles. Epic failure.
Candid FTW.
Experienced the night market. Nothing much. Everyone concluded that Hanoi was a fail city. Not worth going. Its basically a failed version of China.

Headed home for the next day.

For the 3rd day we decided to visit the Museum of ethanology aka the Minority museum that showcases the different ethnic or tribes that once or still lives in Vietnam.

Indoor showcase is FAIL. We got SO bored that we just gave up looking at the exhibit altogether. Me and Jimmy wanted the museum to prove us wrong by going a complete round around. But it failed. FAILED.

Luckily there was an outdoor museum showing real-life sizes ethnic housing.

Big ass house.Time past fast at the outdoor section. I drowned some red ants and we were off for dinner! We settled for BBQ Chicken nearby to our next location; A karaoke session to send Kent off. Singing was what he liked and he was gonna get that.

Shagggggg.

KTV time. Me ishh proo at cr8tiNg a neWw s0nG. Alot of my pictures. Somehow im always in it. Most are candid or im invited to take. Im so cool. LOL.

Accidental art piece.
Disgust.
DONE.
BACK TO WORK.

Taught/Relief teach a secondary 1 level class. GOSH. they gotta learn how to concentrate. Chit Chatting is their favourite thing.

Gonna be another english class tmr again. sigh.

32days more. Singapore still pwns Hanoi deep deep.

CIAO.

2009-04-27T19:31:00.003+08:00

i think im falling sick soon. I've been having this annoying sleepy pangs happening. But i do get sufficient sleep every night.

Air con has been on every night since the fan broke down. I seriously prefer fan then aircon the whole night. Aircon should be used to cool the room only! I need the circulation more than the cold air.

Anyway, the house's internet is FINALLY fixed. Had to ask the technician down and reset the bloody modem. 9am somemore. Disturb my beauty sleep. MSN at night. wo lai le!

Been extremely uneventful. I want to explore vietnam the proper way. But it has been 3weeks here. I know theres more to vietnam, but seriously, im bored of this city. Its not even like a city in the first place. gosh. I miss roads dominated by cars.

Anyway, call me the road crossing pro. I'm proud of it. haha.

Knowing im only 150km away from the border to China, I want to head over to China! grrrr.

Im still puzzled by the fact that the fare difference between SIA and Vietnam Airlines for a return ticket to Hanoi from Singapore is only $50. How can VN charge $550 to Hanoi when SIA only charges $600?

Weird.

Smaller plane, no personal entertainment, suckier food and lousy english speaking flight attendants, i really don't get it.

Anyway, been big drops in temperatures lately here in Hanoi. 3 days ago it was at about 38degrees. 2days ago it dropped to 20-24, Today is about 25. Cooling, but the sun is still a merciless killer.

6 weeks more before i can leave this place! I surely won't miss it. Singapore pwns Hanoi any time on any day. this week theres gonna be a 4 day long holiday. A much needed one. Been working on a 6day work week for the past 3 weeks. Haven't got a chance to visit, or even rest as a matter of fact.

I will take pictures. I want to TRY to capture Hanoi in its most simplified state, the hustle of the city, the freakishly polluted air and the really non-scenic lakes.

I will make do if the camera i brought. Its not that bad, but olympus should really get a life and change their team. Not only are the cameras ugly, its definitely NOT even comparable with other brands.

Hope it proves me wrong this weekend when im out visiting.

And i have a non-local look! YEAH. Vietnamese can immediately identify me as a foreigner. I like that. Singaporean got status one okay. Mai siao siao.

To vietnamese,

Soup = water
Gravy = Soup

I got nothing to say...
Tried most of the food this country is famous for.

Pho bor, mee sau, bun cha, that rice roll thing, larvae, mien chok(?). Nothing much! But damn, its really really really delicious.

Still waiting for this country to surprise me.

Will post again once i have pictures! Definitely a looker i promise. no more act arty farty slanted shots. The camera xiaxue posted on her website thats black in colour was once a camera i really liked. Tried to get my brother to buy it as a replacement but nahhh.

thats damn nice.

2009-04-18T21:58:00.008+08:00

Internet is back and im so happy!

No more watching repeat shows and being able to update myself with the latest episodes of the best shows simply ROCKS MY SOCKS.

Today is an off day. Basically just stoned in the house and just watch Friends and then stone abit more and ironed all my freaking clothes.

Shahirah fell sick. What a chore.

Finally whipped out the camera and took some pictures that are not exactly professional but not too bad.

Blank bullet casing from the magazine of an M1 rifle right here in Vietnam.

My old razer mouse rofl. No more rubbery pad thing. Scrapped it off!!

The hype of the spiral staircase:

During the first lunch buffet thing. Last picture!:

bahhhhhhhhhhh

2009-04-16T17:38:00.005+08:00

Kinda cool to know that there are people as irritating as me last time by "advising" you to put pictures into your blog.

Err HELLO. Im not pointing fingers here, but seriously, telling somehow HOW to blog is crossing the line. Telling someone to update is okay. But if I was interested in the trouble to actually post some pictures, I WILL do it. But if i don't, just read. If its too wordy, the big fat red cross on the top right hand corner of the window isn't there for fun. CLICK IT.

Left, for the mac users. But if u didnt know that and u thought i was WRONG for assuming that all the big fat red crosses are at the top right, u can EAT SHIT.

SCREW YOU. I like it wordy. My pictures are considered gifts, they come when they come. Dont expect any. Im the kind of person that reads anything even its too wordy. If you can't, then LEARN to. duhhhhh

But since im SO free now because everyone is slacking, here are some of the pictures that i might or might not have stolen from someone else. TEHEHE.

Here is the inside view of the living room with the 4 stories high spiral staircase that has a really suspicious support structure. On the left is all the teak-y furniture with cable TV.

Discovery and National Geographic Channel FTW. HBO too. Star Movies do help sometimes.3

Some random pictures while out on a little lunch organized by the company out to steal my very first day off. Kena sai!

Some stupid lake. It looks cold, and misty. HELL NO. Its just SOOT and just HEAT. The subsequent rain did clear the skies abit, but the road got real dirty.

hmmmmmmm....yellow umbrella..shahirah fails at colour matching...
But as you can see, im the most dashing of them all. HAHAA

Im obviously not bothered...In this picture is a couple and 2 lesbians and one completely straight guy.

Before lunch. Must wait for dua pai CEO. Reached at 1030. they arrive at 11:30 instead of the planned 11am and they blame us for being 2mins late for the subsequent mini meeting cum training. HAHAHAHH HELLO! Be fair dude. At least we arrived and we were waiting downstairs because none of us knew what to do. BAHHHH. Bullshit.

The CEO had a great speech on timeliness. It was pretty cool. Learned some new stuff. I like him. He doesn't exude the kind of ranking barrier although to tell u the truth, i didn't even know his name. HA!

But still, he was late for lunch... about his timeliness...i've got...no comments. Its just irony. Pure plain irony.

CEO: Yes, i agree with Allan how important time is. One shouldn't be late bla bla bla. Im now 65 and I bla bla bla
Juan: err OKAY NOTED.

Somehow his speech was about timeliness. So i guess we actually helped make his lesson work out just fine. Nv thank me. basket.

The barley minty sweet he gave did help soothe everything out abit!

Something interesting is that the main office of the company is in a highly regarded hotel called the Horison Hotel that once hosted the Asean Summit in 1996 but the actual operation center is err....improvement needed much?

Vietnam's national day is coming. Its gonna be a full 4 days off from work! yay!

And i still dont know when im gonna start teaching Mathematics. Not so soon they say...

Shahirah bought a full 10 original seasons of FRIENDS. Yes!

Gonna leech off her.

Me ishhh genius w0rhx. muawahhahahaheheherofllmaowtflol

2009-04-15T15:07:00.001+08:00

GRRRR. Vietnamese!

Whats up with all the streeet stalls having all the weird and really really low and miniature furnitures. The tables are SO SMALL. Chairs are even lower!

DUMB DUMB DUMB!

2009-04-13T17:22:00.003+08:00

HAHA!

yesterday the taxi to work cost only SGD1 ! HAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHA. But the trip back was $4.60 -.-. Thats the thing about Hanoi.

Hanoi has a million and one shortcuts. But the traffic is SO messy and SO unorganized that turning or missing a turn isn't something shocking. The trip to work costs only $1 because it was a shortcut. It isn't even a proper road. But its vietnam, no roads are improper for even the biggest cars. Thats kinda like a beauty of Vietnam. Very flexible.

Shahirah beat me to it. We took a cab today and it cost only 90cents cos it was her turn to pay. ZZZZ.

Didn't have a proper lunch today. The girls went to change money and the guys thought i was with the girls cos they saw the girls left. But i was all alone in the room doing my work! So the guys went to have lunch without me! HURRR. So in the end there was no one that could speaking vietnamese and i knew ordering vietnamese food is gonna be a HUGE challenge. Furthermore the 2 girls are not taking meat which means they basically cannot eat anything other than seafood. TSK.

Settled my lunch with cup noodles and chewing gum. LOL.

Today in the change i got back, was a 2000dong coin, equivalent to 20cents SGD, approx. I coincidentally had 4 pieces of SGD1 coins in the pouchy section. and the 2000dong coin was the same shade of colour. So i braved up and did the ULTIMATE hand signal to get it changed to a note so that i wont be confused. And i cant believe it...I MADE IT! HAHAHAHAHA

And yes, i fell a few days back. It was funny, so i laughed. Its been some time since i last fell. Since like primary 6? I remember i fell once in primary 6 while training for a sports day event. I had to juggle a ball with my legs through a series of cones ( i know, lame sport) and i accidentally stepped on the ball and fell.

I think i fell on my spinal cord or something and i was in shock. Not the frightened kind of shock. My shock was the MUTED kind. I could not speak or make any noise for a few minutes and that seriously scared my teacher. Considering the fact that i fell in P5 too during PE on the field, effectively scarring my hands and legs which bled a considerably bit, he got alittle worried.

Plus i hated to take part in sports day, so i kept telling him i dont want to take part anymore, and somehow, he agreed! Not that because i was lousy okay. haha.

Been marking the Pre-iPSLE papers for the vietnamese on both days. Im quite shocked at their level of competency. Its BAD. real BAD. The simplest of Mathematics Volume question that involves only ONE step and they can get it wrong.

someone thats of sec 3 level doing a PSLE paper and not be able to do it. sigh...

Been told that i would be teaching Pri 5/6 Mathematics too. I'm quite excited! I want to do it! I want to see if i can change someone's life. HAHA. But i need to warm up, need to start to recover back some of my lost skills. Mai siao siao.

Weather has been warming up gradually, today is slightly cooler than yesterday. Its just the air. Its extremely polluted. GOSH. I cant wait to get indoors just to get out of the carbon monoxide filled air. The air is always effectively GREY. Never once clear. I remember when we landed in Hanoi, the plane's TV system showed that we were about 300m above sea level. And when we looked out of the window, we saw NOTHING. THATS HOW GREY THE FREAKING SKY IS.

And a bottle cap just kinda exploded on me. It was filled with coke and i was shaking it to get the gas out cos coke doesn't taste as good as pepsi when filled with gas. THATS MY OPINION. So i was shaking and i swear i opened it slowly. For some reason, the cap decided to burst out with alot of force. Shocking everyone. Had a great laugh. lol

Then I accidentally knocked over a 1.5L bottle of coke and it got so hard and filled with CO2. I swear i was seriously scared cos i was afraid it would explode on me. And i was alone in the room. haha. Again, i manned up. I DID IT! I released it real slowly and then half way the sizzling of the air coming out just stopped. LOL. i backed off and then waited for awhile. Luckily it sizzled again. if not, wish me luck.

Haven't been taking any pictures so far. No point leh. Go around taking pictures. haha. I always find taking pictures really lame unless its for art. I just dont like the idea of concentrating on taking pictures and capturing the scenery to show others than to actually take the time wasted to experience what u should actually be experiencing.

Even so if u take pictures only after u've experienced it, you would have wasted far too much time. let the girls take the pictures of me. HAH! im genius. I know that.

Been spending fast because of home cooked dinner. I don't get why its so expensive but its gotta stop. I'd rather not eat or just eat vegetables then to let money flow out of my pocket so easily.

Gonna sit in in suzzana's class today. Gotta see how she teachers so i can pattern pattern in class when its my turn too. ha!

CYA. Im fine, btw. Im used to Hanoi already. Singapore is still the best.

Hanoi!

2009-04-10T14:38:00.002+08:00

Long post alert.

So anyway, Im in Hanoi now. Its in Vietnam for you retards that don't know where it is.

Its been quite an adventure since i arrived. Many things have already happened. LOTS of things.

Okay, let me start from the departure date.

I arrived at the airport, waited 1hr for the girls to arrive and checked in. I was not abit excited at all for what that is coming up for me. I was not eager to go to Hanoi for the internship. 2months isn't a short time and I had absolutely no information on what im going to do over there. I don't even know what the people are like there. The only exciting thing that actually makes me look forward to that day is the plane ride!

Its been 2 years since i had a plane ride and im darn excited. I've also grown to like the liveries aka colour scheme of Vietnam Airlines. I was also excited to take the best of the small-classed planes - the Airbus A321. It met my expectations very well. I was amazed at the seat pitch available. It was very very good. I loved it. It was quite an enjoyable ride. Best part was the ride in the air.

The engines were thrusted to such force i thought i was sitting beside a thunder as the plane roared down the runway. SHIOK feeling. How many times do you get to speed down somewhere in Singapore so fast and so smooth? I just love the feeling of the G force as it speeds up for take off.

I also felt the most amount of turbulence ever. It was extremely bumpy. Constantly in fact. Once we crossed KL and above the South China Sea, the air got really bumpy. It was on and off which was fine. But from the route from Ho Chin Minh to hanoi, it was the bumpiest. Fun. The seatbelt light came on for about a good 30mins.

Food sucked, btw.

Arrived in Hanoi on time. Loved the landing. Exited the plane and was amazed at what i saw. Right in the transit area, directly after the aerobridge linking the plane and the terminal, was a guy holding a card seeking attention of one of the passengers. I mean, how did someone enter the air-side like this?! Interesting sight.

It was a small airport. Basic. Extremely basic. I don't know about the departure hall, but the arrival hall was mediocre. One duty free shop and a little bar plus some money changer and thats all you get. Swatting flies with the electrical net thing was apparently a past time there. Sparks flew around as those buggers get electrocuted. It was a sight.

Somehow when i exited the airport, there were lots of taxi drivers waiting to fetch passengers. Its as if they knew that I wasn't local. Im quite happy I dont look local. The vietnamese guys are really a bunch of ugly freaks. The girls are a mile from the guy's looks.

So currently my apartment is about 4 stories high, completely dedicated the 7 people. It was comfortable and cozy. Just that i had no pillow. I miss my pillow and bolster.

Best part is that the wireless connection is finally settled! So i can use the internet 24/7. HAHA.

Adventures have also been a common thing here now. From the most basic of crossing the road to the most crazy thing of actually being locked out outside of the terrace house all because there was a bolt that no one could reach. Received lots of stares, but i think because we were all well dressed and we had lots of groceries and probably because of my TIMBUK2 bag so they knew we were not burglars. haha. It was done in the end after about 15mins of tugging here and there on the big metal gate.

Taking taxis in Hanoi is easy, but not cheap. A typical ride of about 3 to 4km can cost about $3.50? Been taking it for 2 days already. Money is gonna flow out fast. Singapore's taxi costs about $4+for about the same distance? Food isn't cheap too cos im living and working in an area where its considered alittle "up-market", supermarkets are quite common, not a difficult sight. Been on a chocolate milk and redbull rampage. SHIOK. Water here is dirt cheap. Really dirt cheap. A 5L tub of mineral water costs SGD1.50. YAY. But because of all my rampages, i hardly ever touched mineral water.

Food wise its awesome, selectively.

Have you eaten something thats considered like an intestine kind of dish that has pig blood? in it. It was cold, tasted raw and bloody. I spat it out immediately. I was completely disgusted at it. I had to drown myself in rice to remove the taste. I was told it was very popular among the vietnamese. CRAZY ASS. 3 meat 1 veg for SGD1.50 =))).

Also tried the famous vietnamese sauce made up of 100% fermented anchovies. The anchovies are mixed with salt and put in a tub to ferment for a few months to form a clear brownish liquid. Honestly, it tasted just like vinegar. Don't know whats the hype about it.

Tried Pho aka beef horfun. IT ROCKS LIKE HELL! I've never tasted something so delicious before. It was inexpensive and it had a really great taste to it. Filled with tons of onions and beef with the sweetest natural tasting soup. Its no wonder its the most popular dish in Vietnam and the equivalent popularity of Singapore's efficiency. Approx SGD2. Coke was 50cents for 300ml=)

Its the original vietnamese dish thats cheap. Other food prices are comparable with Singapore's. Vietnam's food is really good.

I miss home alot. I knew im gonna miss home before im leaving. But last night i really missed home so much. Home is so much more comfortable. I was so adamant that i refused to call where im living now home. The girls do that, but i don't. You can only have one family, one home.

The weather has been increasingly warm. It isn't gradual at all. The day i arrived it was as cold at night as hell. The next day, it was still cold. But for the 3rd day, GOSH. It was warm already. Not singapore's warm, but still warm. Today is ULTIMATE warm. I really hope the next day will help us to cool off.

Life isn't cheap here. I did not even splurge or spend on anything other than necessities and im already $50 poorer. Real fast. Im gonna have to control myself if i want to survive without withdrawing more money.

And im called cute! HA!

So other than the food here, i've been looking forward to looking around. I was invited by the guys to go to Halong Bay for a day. I WANT TO! But it was a rush. We had to go and come back in a single day. I don't want to rush an enjoyment. Might go visiting around tmr instead with the staff, mostly females.

And i saw something i've always wanted to see. A 3/4 developed chick in an egg. HAHA! It was OMG AWESOME. Our staff in the apartment was cooking it and peeled the shell off infront of me. I could identify everything! From the head to the tail, the beak, eyes, nostrils, everything! I was offered a taste of it and OMG. It tastes just like egg yolk LOL.

Now whats left is the fried insects. i HAVE to try it. I don't care.

On a side note, i've already had my first fall in Hanoi. LOL. The kerbs here are different from the ones in Singapore. The kerbs here are slopy and meant for bikes to go up and mark along the pavements. So i was trying to board a taxi i just flagged and i lost my footing and fell down right on my butt. I thought it was quite funny and turns out everyone laughed with me. Even the taxi driver. haha. He was kind, he tried to help me up.

My brother also told me about the uses of sidewalks here. The sidewalks here so far from what i've seen, is for playing badminton, sitting down to have a meal, chit chatting by squatting and for stall owners to spit their tea around. Interesting culture...

Crossing the roads have also been fun. Not scary at all. Just walk normally and you will get past just fine. Its like water in a river, the water will just take another route to avoid the rock in it's path. me, being the rock and the bikes being the water.

Im counting down till the days i leave Hanoi. I want Singapore.

Im contactable at 01672314420 if you want. Charges is your tai ji. I dont know about your charges. HAHA.

CIAO

2009-03-31T11:50:00.003+08:00

Finally I have time to type something.

First things first. I passed my FTT! haha. Is it me, or does the chinese nationals always fail their theory tests? I always see them complete the tests first, only to receive the FAIL screen. Their loud sighs and the disappointed looks in their face simply brightens my day. hahaha.

Poor thing. I still remember when I was in Shanghai, the drivers in order to cut the queue and the traffic jam, drove onto the pavements where pedestrians are walking. Not one car. But vans and buses too. Totally scary. But who cares. It was fun.

And I think I'm totally gonna melt down with anger. Till now I still haven't receive a confirm date for departure for my OSIP. I mean, how can something so simple take so long?! I'm supposed to fly off on 1st March. Till now, its not even settled!

Then my parents will keep complaining to me why is Angelina(the trip coordinator) so inefficient. I think so too. But considering that she is the sole coordinator for all the trips, I kinda just let it go. Its not an easy job either. I'm not going OSIP again next semester either, so I don't really have to care about what she does for the other groups next time.

^^

Aiya, so anyway, i've been in the ultimate dilemma. Its over something extremely basic. A sweater. I currently do not have a proper one, cos well, Singapore's weather condition doesn't command for one. I do have one sweater though, but its made of wool and it totally looks like what you would wear in winter. It was fine, i wore it in China back then when the temperatures were about 13degrees.

But this time, Hanoi is averaging between 20 to 27degrees. With winds, it can easily be much lower. I was scared of the wind. And i don't know how cold 20degrees is in outside conditions. It isn't easy! Theres humidity and all. But then again, I was so super lazy to go out to get one, even though I've been going out quite abit.

I'm still in a dilemma. But i don't think I will go out to get it. Screw it, I will just freeze in the cold.

Then theres the packing part. I don't know what to pack. I made up a list already, but the list is FWAH. Shirts alone i can easily fill up 20, including formal and sleep wear. Thats quite alot. I'm just cracking my head on which shirts to NOT bring. I can't squeeze every damn thing into the luggage. I'm not interested in getting a bigger one. Cos if i do that, i will totally look like im migrating. Its damn exaggerative.

So everyday now, every say, 2hours. Every 2hours I will log into my Email, hoping for a reply from Angelina about the trip. I'm totally fed up and going crazy over that single email. I can't wait for it to arrive. Why is the Vietnam embassy so freaking slow?

A typical visa application takes about 5days.
I was told to expect a 10 to 14days wait.

I smell inefficiency.

assholes.

2009-03-19T06:59:00.002+08:00

Foreigners! Enough already!

We all know that there are many, and i really mean MANY, as many as 1/4 of the people here in Singapore are foreigners.

China, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thai, Indians, Caucasians...

Every now and then we will chance upon the unsightly act done by one of those mentioned. I don't know about you guys, but i like to be fair. And by fair, i mean i am not quick to generalize people purely based on the black sheeps that are among them.

1) Spitting.
I don't know what is wrong with these people, but obviously spitting is WRONG. Its not purely just Singapore's culture that teaches us Spitting is wrong. Its universal. Its ok if they spit onto the grass when they really have to, or if a dustbin is not in reach, i can understand.

But those that spit onto the concrete pavements when the grasses are nicely lined along it, are just being too much. People walk on it for goodness sake. Are they retarded or what? Just because it isn't their country, they can treat it as if they shouldn't give a shit? Even some Singaporeans are really retarded. Spitting on their homeland. So not cool.

2) Littering.
Just yesterday when i was on my way home, the bus had to travel past a temporary dormitory built just beside Paya Lebar Air Base, its pretty secluded so chances are that you've never seen it before.

Anyway, being secluded, one would expect the place to be automatically be clean simply because its so secluded that if they didn't take care of the place themselves, no one would! NOT HERE.
These dumb asses littered like nobody's business. And its not the tissue here and there kind of litter. Its Bottles, Cartons, Food Packets, u name it, its all there. Right smack along the whole stretch of road, lined up nicely as if hoping there would be a wind there to pick everything up.

Then theres Little India's little green fields where they gather after a week's of hard work on Sunday to chill with their own peeps. Thats fine right? I'm cool with them gathering. Infact, I welcome them to gather, theres absolutely no problem at all. Whats not cool, is after they left, well, you know what to expect.

You know teenagers always like to call our Indian foreigners as Bangla? I think its really uncalled for. Because the worst nationality ever to reach our shores, are from China.

No, I'm not gonna blame them for coming to Singapore for prostitution or what. I welcome them, they are the blue-collared workers that help our economy survive. They are the ones willing to do the work Singaporeans don't want to do.

But what i'm not happy is, is that they seem to be invading our country, slowly. Not far much away from recently, China's President Hu actually offered the USA to employ some of their China's citizens. They were simply too over populated. They had to "clear stock", if u may.
Singapore basically decided to be kind, we employed these chinese nationals to our country to give them a lease of life, to be given the opportunity to live a life. I'm sure they were appreciative; at least most of them were.

Slowly by slowly, 7-11 stores start to have these chinese nationals doing the night shift, speaking english so basic i want to strangle them. Even some petrol kiosks are fully managed(operationally) by these Chinese nationals. What country they came from doesn't matter to me. Its their attitude that totally sucks.

Imagine walking into a store, to see these chinese nationals chatting amongst themselves, oblivious to you. Sometimes during the night shift, you see their friends popping by to chat with them over the counter. Singaporeans do have friends popping by to chat at their work place too. But that is occasionally. But what the chinese nationals are doing, are just too much! They would LOVE to finish their chat first before attending to you. And when they attend to you, their accent is OMFG. You sometimes don't even get what they are saying. Is it english? Is it mandarin? Or is it their dialect?

Even bus drivers positions are being taken by them. Imagine someone who doesn't speak chinese boards the bus, asking these dumb faggots who don't speak english at all for directions or if a bus stopped at a particular location only to receive a HUH? as a reply.

Singapore being the aspiring toursim hub, this isn't beneficial at all. What most tourists cannot do is to distinguish the non-Singaporean asians. Basically who they see, are considered Singaporeans. So if they ever board such a bus with a chinese faggot that cannot speak English, Singapore 0, China 1.

As a matter of fact, there is a taiwan show that actually had a topic for the show using Singaporean's english. One woman particularly commented on how intriguing a custom officer's english was when she was getting through the customs at Woodlands from Msia. She actually had the balls to comment on the standard of english of these custom officers. She happily generalized these officers as Singaporeans. Best part was she was commenting on the pronounciation, not the Singlish used by us. For goodness sake, there are quite a number of malaysians working in our police force. Reason being why...read:

Tell me, how many true bred Singaporeans do you know actually can't speak english properly? The qualifications needed to be a police officer definitely proves that true bred Singaporeans are capable and adequate in pronouncing english words effectively. And being born into an english speaking society, even in a non-english speaking family, the exposure to standard english is definitely adequate to not be considered as lousy.

Singapore -1, Malaysia 1.

I have nothing against malaysians. Only for their inherent obsession with wanting to go to war with Singapore. Did you guys even know Singapore was on Orange Alert for military in 2002 about the threats by the msia govt over the cancellation of water supply to Singapore? Back then water from msia was the main source, now, Singapore don't give a shit.

Orange alert was on for 3 weeks, which simply meant that tanks were already being moved to the causeway for war. Red would simply mean ongoing war. It is true.

Ok off topic.

Other than how some Indians really stink, and im not saying that their coconut oil on the hair thing, its their culture, i accept it. But the majority of them don't seem to be a fan of baths. Can anyone care to enlighten me on it? I really want to know. Singaporean Indians are fine. We all form to one Singapore, we are Singaporeans(saying this so i won't be classified as a racist and be charged in court).

Indian nationals in general dress up well, or at least to their best when they go out for their meetings with their peeps. Which is really nice. But the chinese nationals. OMG. Those kind of cheap white slippers with blue straps kind, army pants from dont know where, singlets and all. Stinky breaths, ugly faces, loud voices and their really unhygienic habit.

Spitting seems to be their sport. Littering too. So to be fair, when i was in Shanghai in 2007, i decided to adhere to a saying . I didn't spit, but i definitely littered. It was gratifying. Eat that bitches! And i wasn't merciful in the littering part. I ate while walking their night market and i just ate and threw it on the floor. Much to the delight of seeing what the chinese nationals are doing over there in their own country. There seemed to be also some unity among our Singaporean tour grp mates, we all littered!

I'm sure none of us are expecting much, what we want is that these Foreigners attend to their behaviours well. When in Singapore, do what the Singaporeans do. And if you are one of these foreigners, here are some guidelines:

1) SHUT UP
2) If you can't cook, don't work at my kopitiam stall selling ban mian!
3) Dont spit
4) Don't litter
5) Don't walk in large groups.

I so wanna tag these people and differentiate them from Singaporeans to the other foreigners. Like in dubai, the citizens will usually wear their headdress thing while foreigners don't. At least people know who is who. But in Singapore, omg.

Once i starred at a china national for spitting when he was at a loading bay near my block loading off some cartons. He went to hide in his truck after he saw me. Even saw him looking back at me using his wing mirror. Basket.

2009-03-16T09:31:00.000+08:00

Wazzzzzzup.

My identity is to be kept a secret. I'm so not telling anyone I'm Juan and I'm currently studying in Temasek Poly. I'm not.

So, been out of this whole blogging scene for quite a few months le. 3months or so i guess. I had this LING GAN to post or create something new because:

1) Howaboutsomething.com COSTS to maintain. Annually though =).
2) Qtothewerty.bs sounded damn copycat.
3) I wanna tell more ppl abt my so not exciting life.
4) Practice this freaking language.

Got lots of things to post, so to those who actually know who have read my blog before(simply all), you will know i love to write long posts with minimum pictures. Added in with the occasional lame joke, thats about all you get kiddos.

Ok. First stuff first.

Exams over, Holidays arrived like half a month ago +-abit. Don't so stingy. (I know im like supposed to practice English, but i'm still typing in singlish. screw it.)

Ever since the chalet for P02 ended, i've basically been sleeping at 0530 and waking at any time from 1445 to 1531. Not seen the morning for ages. Will get to the part as to how i actually manage to type this post at9:36am.

So anyway, results came out already, was PLEASANTLY surprised at the grades i got. 2As, 1B+, 3Bs. Usually was like D+,C. Now, huge jump. Vivian assured me the results would be out on that day, but i just stoned on my bed, holding on to my phone, waiting for the results to be sent to me via sms. But it didn't happen. I waited and waited. I smsed a few ppl to ask if they recevied theirs, all replied none.

And then, as if it was a stroke of coincidence(wrong expression), suddenly smses poured in, telling me they've received their results! haha. Mine too. Was so happy i just hopped out of bed, trying to call someone. Haziq's number was first cos i apparently hung up on him accidentally. Don't QQ.

yeah, so anyway, told my mom about my results so she wouldn't bug me for it. Done.

Next!

I followed my neighbour, named Edwin. The infamous irritating immature kid. Apparently he used to play bball downstairs, getting to know some girls in the process. ALL of which, i swear i've not seen before in my 10years living just beside the bball court.

So anyway, he bugged me to follow him to meet up with these girls for supper. Gosh, it turned out to be bloooody fun event. I shall NOT include the contents because it might be too sexual for kids reading. They shall remain innocent as to what they usually claim. hah.

Then on the walk back from supper home, Edwin started questioning me as to what are girls thinking when they are out there choosing a life partner for themselves. He has been whining as to why are all the pretty girls attached to low-level educated men.

One thing lead to another with him insulting their simple mindedness of these men that they are unable to provide a certain and comfortable future for their wives/mate which will inadvertantly lead to an unhappy marriage because someone with a low-level education simply will not earn enough of the big bucks to give his family a proper life. A family if god allowed(i will allow, cos im god).

Yes, most of you will say that even lowly educated people can start big businesses and earn bigger bucks, much much bigger than even a masters degree holder can earn. But the percentage of that happening is so low you'd better dismiss it as that guy being a pure genius, or he is just dirt rich from what his Dad left him.

But then i remembered watching an episode on Chn U(i suppose) featuring Dong Fang Billy who has leukemia interview some final stage cancerous patients i think, there was an old couple that stood out. They were poor, but they obviously still showed that they still really love each other.

That was admirable, but that really wasn't enough. So I got no comments on that, but to let things flow naturally.

ANYWAY, on the topic of lowly educated people, I'm starting to find the importance and fun of communicating with someone intellectual. By now everyone knows the best jokes are always the intellectuals one. Its always the dumb ones that will not catch it. And that sucks.

For me, the best jokes are the kind that is very much pun intended. just like this one:

I'm not saying I'm intellectually inclined, but I'm fine. So people, if you are intellectually disabled, please direct yourself to the GO AWAY sign pointed off the 15th floor of any high rise building. FOllow the sign, do NOT stop.

I'm not elaborating much now. I'm just on my first obligatory post. Details of future happenings will be included next time.

Right now, i need to catch some sleep. As mentioned before, I'm sleeping at like 0530 and waking only at abt 1500. Its so NOT good. So I kinda made a dumb decision. That is to ton all night and day till the next 12am, hopefully I would have been so tired I might very well get that insomnia cured and fall asleep and get to wake up again just like any other normal person.

But its not gonna be feasible. My eyelids are as heavy as, well, how much eyelids weigh. I need to catch some sleep. Screw the insomnia, I will cure it some other day. Right now, I just want a rifle to gun down those pinoys and kids making a bloody ruckus downstairs at the bball court, playing their damn pathetic skilled bball and the kids from the day care centre running around, just creating noise.

I'd so rather listen to the roar of aeroplanes. Please.

TTYAL! Talk to ya all later!