Vietnam Trip 10th Dec 2006 - Day 7... Last Day...

10/12/06 (Sun)
The last day!! We haven had the Bun Cha and Hu Tiu!!

BUN CHA!!

So off we went to have Bun Cha for breakfast and then we went to Highlands Coffee.. It was so darn COLD and we chose to sit at the open area on the 2nd floor!!! 自作孽！！haha.. But the weather is really shiok ah!! The best cake was the Vietnamese Coffee Cheesecake.. The Opera and Chocolate wasnt that good..

Our tea-break!!

I had to get Tung to take pictures for me while they settled the bill.. Hahaha.. We even finished the last VND!! We took a lot of pictures here and we made Tung the permanent fixture at the table and took pics with him..

Acting Cute!!

Hee hee.. I tink we were running up and down the steps too many times (to take pics) that the manager got fed up and told us that it's the company policy that we cant take the signboard.. HUH!?? hahaha.. but never mind, we already taken tonnes of pictures le!! Too bad!! We couldn't finish the other 2 cakes. So we played games to clear it.. hee hee.. Poor XY and Tung are the only 2 eating it.. hahaha..

After that, we dragged Tung to go opposite the road to take photos of him.. hee.. XY is the cheorographer, Mich is the photographer and me the personal assistant, to help him carry his jacket.. hahaha.. We took so many pics of him but he didn't get angry.. phew..

Tung's "Makeover" pics..

Our turn to take nice nice pics..

hee hee.. Along the way, he told me that when we transfer the pictures to his computer, he don't want his personal pictures.. He just want the group pictures.. hahaha.. When we are having fun, time always pass by so quickly!!! I already starting to miss VN and him even before we left for the airport!!

Back at his house, we were doing the final packing and we decided to go to Bong's mum salon to do pedicure..

Bong with me.. I tied her hair for her.. hee hee.. Nice right??

So at the saloon, Mich and me did pedicure and XY did manicure.. It's so cheap there lor.. It's only 20,000VND (S$2!!!) We were taking pictures for them and there's a shampoo gal who is so pretty!! Tung said that she liked him before but cuz he already got a gf.. So he didn't go out with her.. Wah.. Seems like Tung's got a lot of admirers.. hee hee.. When we wanted to pay, they refused to take!! AHH!! We tried so hard but they keep saying that it's souvenir for us.. Ok then.. Next time when we go to VN, we will get some presents for them then..

A happy shot!!

This shot is so funny!! Bong's mum was actually blowing dry a customer's hair.. But when we were taking this shot, she actually threw down the hair dryer and rushed over to take the pics.. hee hee..

When i said byebye to Tung's grandma, I was controlling my tears.. I cant bear to leave!!

Hu Tiu (Something like wanton mee)

We took a cab to eat Hu Tiu.. Guess it's cuz i am so sad, i didn't finish the food.. When we were at the cab, we were very quiet.. And Tung was sleeping on the way.. Guess he is too tired le.. At the airport, we checked in the luggage and went to the minimart to get some 3in1 coffee.. We bought the Sua Chua!! And got Tung's gf a bar of dark chocolate..

Our last Sua Chua at the airport..

At the departure gate, though i controlled very hard, me and mich's tears just flowed down... XY was trying so hard to control her tears.. I am so sad.. I miss Tung, I miss everything in VN..

On the plane, i tried to write the journal entries but i can only finish till day 2.. Hahhaa..So finally this marks the end of the daily entries for the trip to VN..

There's a couple of things that i missed out.. Like how we tried to pronounce Tung's name.. We never got it correct and esp me, "never correct"(tung say one) so when XY told him not to answer us if we pronounce his name wrongly, he immediately say if that's the case, he will never respond to us le!! hee hee..

And of course, there were a numerous 第一次 for us...

比如：

第一次乘搭廉价航空飞机

第一次到Budget Terminal

第一次到越南，但不是working trip， 纯粹游玩

第一次到胡志明

第一次到了目的地后才定火车票和酒店

第一次背包旅行（虽然只是小型的）

第一次到Cuchi Tunnel 和 Mekong River

第一次睡觉时有人帮我盖被（谢谢秀月！）

第一次去了六天的旅行，吃了五天的霸王餐！

第一次做免费的Pedicure

第一次帮Tung拍了他的个人专辑

第一次拍这么多自拍照

第一次没有坐Xe' Om (Motor Taxi)

第一次从Dong Xuan 走回 Tung 的家

第一次旅行袋少过25公斤

第一次只带了两个包包回去

第一次不住酒店

第一次旅行只顾探望朋友，没有到处逛逛/观光

第一次吃Banh Duc Nong (like muah chee in soup)

第一次去旅行认识了这么多不同国籍的朋友

第一次一趟旅行，就乘坐了海、陆、空三种交通工具

第一次玩 Sam Chi Gi

第一次知道“大老二”有这么多不同的玩法

这次的旅行充满了无数的“第一次”，充满了愉快地回忆，完全没有一刻是无聊的。真好...

Vietnam Trip 9th Dec 2006 - Day 6

9/12/06 (Sat)
The weather is getting colder!! Shiok siah!!

At the Banh Cuon stall

Banh Cuon!!

We had Banh Cuon again in the morning and went to the stadium to get the badminton rackets for the 3 freaks and my nephew.. The shopkeeper still remembered me.. Cuz when we went into the shop, he immediately showed me to the badminton rackets!! Wah!! Didn't know that we leave such a strong impression woh.. Haha.. He remembered us cuz i bought the rackets 2 yrs back and he had to send the rackets to the hotel i am staying at.. Hahaha. No wonder.. I chose 4 rackets and we took a cab to the restaurant where Tung's gf is working at..

Us with Tung and his gf.. Do they look like newly-weds?? haha..

Tung is so sweet to his gf.. They look good together.. If her mum would agree to the two of them being together, it would be all the more better..

Self-made Strawberry Yoghurt..

We bought some strawberries along the way and then when the Sua Chua (Yoghurt) came, we added in the strawberries and yummy!!! It's GREAT (jus ignore the way we made it.. hee hee)!! The Lua (Steamboat) is not bad..

Had the Kem at Trang Tien again.. hee hee..

We went to the Old quarters again to get the Ao Dai.. On the way, all 3 of us bought another backpack again!! Haha.. Whenever we go to Vn, it seems that we will at least get a backpack.. hee hee.. This time round, i manage to meet Diep.. The baby is already abt to due in 3 weeks time.. Wow.. A baby boy.. SO the next time i go to VN, i might be able to see him if she brings him to the Ao Dai shop..
I saw the traffic and think that if we take a cab back to Tung's hse, we might be caught in the jam.. So i asked Tung if it's far to walk back to his hse.. He told me ard 20 mins.. Wah!!! He's a bad estimator!! I think we took ard 40 mins lor..

We taking stupid pics again..

By the time we reached his hse, the sun already set le lor!!! And our legs almost broke!! Mich and XY rested at home whilst Tung and me went to collect the badminton rackets.. Finally, i managed to ride on a bike!!! But hor, i still didn't manage to ride it on my own this time round!! Sad!

We went to the Ngon Restaurant (Hanoi Branch).. Before leaving, we agreed that we will pay for the dinner and Tung insisted that he will pay for the cab fare.. Haiz.. Tung's manager was supposed to join us for the dinner but she didn't turn up.. All the calls were not answered so we jus continued with our dinner lor.. There were 3 viets beside us, 1 guy and 2 gals.. Initially, we didn't pay much attention to them until they started to order the food.. Tung turned to me and said," when the gals are ordering the food, the guy keep saying this food is not good, u must wash yr hands after eating.. Don't want this.. He even told the waiter to cancel the orders.." hahaha.. I burst out laughing and i told Mich that i will tell them after the dinner.. Hahah.. Tung has this funny look that makes me laugh lor..

I like this dessert.. It taste like Muah Chee in Soup..

We asked the 2 gals to help us to take pictures but they refused.. So we jus placed the camera at a ledge and use timer lor.. I tink we took better (and more) shots!! hahaha..

The look on our faces tells u all abt the food there..

喜、怒、哀、乐照

When we left the restaurant, Tung was telling us what the guy said.. We just couldn't control ourselves anymore.. But we guess the gals doesn't like the guy that much lor.. They order all the expensive dishes.. So mean.. But the guy managed to cancel all the orders and only order the cheaper food.. So petty.. hee hee..

We visited the Night market at Hang Gai and Dong Xuan.. I bought so many stickers!!! I bought a sticker book for Bong too.. (Bong is Tung cousin's daughter.. 6 yrs old already and she's so pretty!!) Argh.. So many ppl and the things that were on sale were so much different from 2 yrs back.. The things are more modern now.. Bags are no longer the beaded bags and all.. Lesser handicrafts.. Tung bought a massager cushion for his grandmother.. So fillial and sweet of him.. I always see him spending money on others except himself.. Anyway, we cleared the basket of the coin pouches.. haha..

We actually wanted to take a cab back.. But along the way, we couldn't hail a cab so we walked all the way back to Tung's Hse.. And at a small road, suddenly a couple pop up from behind mich and gave us a big scare.. They were actually asking for directions back to Ho Tay.. ERR!! But no need to scare us from behind right?? phew.. But the man was so straight forward, he kept asking us questions.. Where we are from, occupation, how we know tung etc etc.. Eh.. Even if i am a person who can chat but he's probing too much le lor.. And from his eyes, i tink he must be thinking how come we are staying at Tung's hse lor.. I don't like his eyes.. ANyway, they are from Nepal.. Ah ya.. He even asked me a very bold qn.. He asked how is the sexual life in S'pore?? Duh!! Do u ask this kind of qn when u jus met a person less than 5 mins ago??? HUH!! But i answered him that everyone got different views on it.. Conservative and open.. So can't comment on that!! Wat the HEck was he thinking???!!! EEKS!!! But i didn't tell Tung abt this question.. I only told Mich and XY on the flight back..

This day, i tink we walked a lot lor... hahaha..

Vietnam Trip 8th Dec 2006 - Day 5

8/12/06 (Friday)
We reached HN at ard 4.45am.. We exchanged addresses with Ming and Son..

With Ming in our cabin

Son was so nice, he told us where to take the cab before the train stopped.. At the train station, we were trying to locate Fortuna Hotel on the map.. Son saw us and he helped us to find a taxi driver.. However, when we went out, we realised that he drives a van, not a taxi.. He wanted to charge us 100,000VND, we managed to cut it to 70,000VND.. And at the last minute, Mich managed to remember the crucial vnese words!! "DA GUA!!" (TOO Expensive) Guess the driver was so shocked that we know vnese.. So when another driver came ard, we stood to 70,000VND.. Think it's cuz we know how to speak a bit of Vnese, they said ok.. And in the van, it suddenly dawned on me that we haven taken a pic at the train station!! So we quickly stopped the driver and came down to take a pic.. hee hee..

Took a quick pic in front of the train station

We reached the hotel ard 5am.. I was so excited to see Tung!!! He still looked the same and we sat at the lobby waiting for him.. We showed him the pics we took at HCM, he was so amused that we could take so many pictures for the past 4 days.. Hee hee.. And this smart guy hid behind the table to look at the pictures.. hahaha..

Too free.. So took a pic in Fortuna Hotel..

We were so hungry by 6am, Mich went to buy some cookies.. I miss the cookies there but i din buy it back cuz i had to keep in mind that the max luggage weight is only 15kg.. Haiz.. So sad..

At 7am sharp, Tung hailed a cab for us to his hse and he went to change and get his bike.. In the cab, i told them that he might reach earlier than us but they dun believe me.. Hee hee..

True enough, he was already waiting for us at the door when we reached his hse.. His grandma is also waiting for us and she is so happy to see us again.. We left our luggage and went out for breakfast.. Banh Cuon (Something like Chee Cheong Fun)!! Wah!! I miss this!! Yummy!! As we passed by the Bun Cha's stall, the owner was asking us to eat there and tung told her we will eat it tmr morning.. Hee hee.. So surprised that she still remembered us..

Finally we can bathe!! We asked Tung to go and sleep as he had been working through the nite and he needs the sleep.. When he's sleeping, we were transferring the pictures we took in HCM and preparing the pics to be developed..

Tung woke up about 11 plus and we showed him the pictures we took.. Lunch was ready and we went down to have lunch with his family.. NIce!! The Toufu and the soup is FANTASTIC!! Yummy.. And his grandmother keeps forcing us to eat more rice.. hahaha.. Poor XY got scolded for eating too little.. Hee hee..

Lunch at Tung's House!

After lunch, we were playing the games XY brought.. As usual, i tink Tung is better than us in this.. hee hee..

We went to the Old Quarters to get the things we need.. I went to make the Ao Dai for Shar and Maria and Diep was not there.. Her mum said that she's pregnant with her second child that's y she is not there.. Wow...

Mich and XY went to Youth Hotel to see if we can see anyone familiar there.. But they couldn't find anyone.. They went to ask the next day and found out that they are not working there anymore.. Ooh.. So sad..

We went to the photo shop to develop the photos.. We were developing so many photos that the hard disk of the computer was full and the person had to delete some folders to accomodate ours.. Hahaha.. So Funny.. There was a GRAND TOTAL OF 714 photos!! WAH!! I tink the person was so shocked and when we told Tung, he was so shocked too!! hee hee..

We miss the Kem (ice-cream) at Trang Tien.. So we went over there to get it.. I called thanh ard 4 plus to tell him where we are.. He came over while we are shopping at Trang Tien for the perfume... He was handsome as usual.. However, his American accent is getting worse and his behaviour seemed more frivolous.. Hmm.. The influence of the tourists he meet?? We arranged to meet him for a drink after visiting Trang cuz he didn't want to go with us to Trang's house. He said he will feel very awkward as he doesn't know her..

We bought the Miss Saigon and Miss Hanoi perfume for ourselves.. It's cheap and the bottle is very nice.. It's in the shape of a Vietnamese lady.. For Tung, we asked him for the opinion of the perfume.. He told us everything smells the same... Hahaha..

After collecting the photos, we hailed a cab to Trang's house.. Along the way, there was a massive jam and we were stuck in it for at least for half an hour.. In the end, we went another way and we passed Tung mother's restaurant.. We stopped there for a while to get some fruits for Trang's family and said hi to Tung's mum.. Trang got home the same time as we reached.. We were so happy to see her!!

The 2nd Minh

Her son, Bob, is already a big boy.. 2 yrs old.. He now look so much like his dad, Minh.. Like a stamp chop( Tung said that).. How time flies.. He now can walk and play with us.. He's a very sweet boy who cares for others.. We told Trang that we will be meeting Thanh at 9pm.. She immediately said no.. We are not to leave at least until 11pm.. hahaha.. She asked Thanh to go over to her house.. But Thanh didn't want to come.. SO too bad, we cancelled the meeting with him...

We had steamboat and spring rolls at her house.. Minh came back ard 9plus.. I could see that he really loved Bob and he's very proud of him.. He is showing off Bob like a prized possesion.. So cute.. We chatted till ard 11 plus.. And i told Tu (Trang's Brother) that i will add him on my Yahoo Mess so that i can chat with him and get him to remember me.. haha..

Vietnam Trip 7th Dec 2006 - Day 4

7/12/06 (Thursday)

The next morning at 6am, I was awakened by the loud speakers in the room.. So early wake up for wat???!! ARgh.. so I layed on the bed till 10 plus.. Breakfast was already served.. It's instant Pho Bo (Instant Beef Noodles).. Not bad.. The uncle taught us how to eat it.. hee hee.. Along the way, he told us where the places were, where the nice scenery will be.. Though he couldn't speak much English, he tried his best to help us along the way.. The grandmother of the little girl i met at the train station came looking for us at the cabin.. I guessed she might have opened every single cabin door to look for us!! We played with the little girl and took lots of pics of her again.. hahaha.. Her grandmother gave us oranges to eat.... So nice of her..

XY taught her how to act cute!! haha..

Lunch was served.. And i dun like the bamboo shoots.. Not very nice.. Son (the uncle's name) peeled the oranges for us to eat.. Nice of him..

Our packed lunch!!

He's good at this!! Nice right??

Along the coastline of the South China Sea, he opened the door for us to see the scenery.. It was then we met another vietnamese, Ming who stayed in the next cabin.. He spoke to mich while she was taking pictures.. He speaks good English and he became the translator for us.. Hee hee.. He could even speak Cantonese.. The little girl came again and we played together.. Nothing to do after that, we siesta.. Slept for ard an hour or so.. The little girl came again and left before dinner is served..

After dinner, we invited Ming to come over and play games (at the same time be our translator!! hee hee..) XY die die also must ask us to play the games, it'if not, she would have brought it for nothing.. hahaha.. So we had a great time playing the games.. I tink we are real slow in reaction, they are so fast and good! Then after laughing for a good 1 hour or so, we started to play Dai Di.. Hey.. There's a difference ok?!! Between North and South Vietnam and between VN and S'pore.. Haha.. But we still manage to play a few rounds.. Then it was time to turn in.. We were really too noisy.. The rest of the ppl were already sleeping by 9 plus.. Cuz the train will be reaching HN soon..

Vietnam Trip 6th Dec 2006 - Day 3

6/12/06 (Wed)
Yawnz!!! Woke up again at 6am.. Argh.. So early.. Had to rush down to the recep to pay for the hotel bills and the train tickets.. We checked out the hotel and left out luggage at the hotel.. After which, we once again gobbled down our breakfast and rushed to Kim's Travel for the day tour to Mekong Delta.. It was a 6 hrs boat trip!!! There's nothing much to see at the Mekong Delta.. With nothing to do, we self entertained ourselves with the camera!

Our bums hurt and the weather's quite warm.. I tink it cant compare to Halong Bay. And we are thinking where we can bathe after this!! The typhoon destroyed some houses along the Mekong.. So we didn't manage to have our bicycle ride.. We visited the Unicorn Island, and a coconut candy factory.. Got 6 pkts of coconut candy for frenz in HN.. When the tourguide said that we can visit a small market at the town while waiting for the bus, we didn't expect that the market is really a MARKET!! Where the locals buy their food stuff.. Well, at least, XY got her lock (and in any case, she then tried the lock and found out that the key is universal!! hahaha.. Faint lor!!)

Back at the city, we went to Remember Hotel where the koreans stayed to pass a birthday card (eh.. actually it's a piece of note and we wrote birthday wishes for her) to Hye Yun.. Surprise!!! We saw Se Jin at the recep and they just came back from their golf!! Wah!! Such a coincidence!! We din expect to see them again.. But Hye Yun is not back yet.. So we saw the other 2 fellows again!! wow.. happy to meet them again.. Then mich and me had an evil thought!! Ding Ding!! We had no place to take a shower and were wondering if we could borrow their hotel room to bathe!! Hee hee.. So i asked Se Jin, he graciously agreed to lend us their room!! So the next person to ask is the recep.. Cuz it's quite strict in VN that other than guests at the hotel, no one else is not allowed in the room! But in the end, the recep still reluctantly agreed to let us go into the room!! Wah!! Fantastic!! We immediately went back to our hotel to get our luggage and we went back to their hotel.. We climbed the stairs up to the 5th floor!! A killer.. Mun Soo was packing their room and then he gentlemenly left us on our own to bathe.. Before he left the room, he told us to be fast cuz he's very hungry.. hee hee.. I was down in 15 mins.. And by 7.30pm, we were out for dinner!! We carried our luggages to a kebab restaurant down the street.. The kebab is so nicez!! Mun Soo ordered 2 bottles of Tiger cuz he said the fruit juice opp is cheap and nice.. (The beer in VN is the cheapest drink in any case).. Here, we had another free dinner.. When we are walking to the fruit stall, they helped us with the luggage.. So nice of them.. But we felt so bad cuz our bags are real heavy.. We ordered some fruit juices.. Each glass is only 6000 VND (60 cents).. So i immediately pay for it before Mun soo takes out his wallet.. hahaha.. cuz i am nearer to the owner.. We could see that they were really very tired.. Guess it's cuz we all slept late the other nite.. and they woke up at 5am.. And we had some sleep on the boat whereas they were playing golf for the whole day.. WE left early for the train station.. Mun Soo was very nice, he helped us to hail a cab and we bade our goodbye once again! Hope to see them again.. Either in Korea or in Singapore..

I am so excited at the train station!! It's a first time experience for both me and XY.. So both of us are super excited abt it.. Never mind that it's gonna be a 29 hours train ride...

And we are already sympathising with the person who is going to share the cabin with us, hopefully he/she will not go crazy!!! hahaha.. While waiting for the train, I played with a Vnese little girl.. She is so CUTE!!! I took a lot of pics of her.. Her grandmother was so nice, she brought her up to the train and changed her into an Ao Dai, she looked so pretty in it!

We board the train and we chose our beds.. Then in came an UNCLE!!! OOhh.. He's our roommate!! ahh.. hahaha.. But his family or friends who were sending him off were laughing that he's gonna share the cabin with 3 ladies.. Hmm.. Hopefully we will have a nice train trip.. We saw him making his bed and bringing out his face towel, tucking his luggage under the bed.. He looked like a seasoned traveller and a perfectionist.. Just looking at his bed, ours looked horrible!! hee.. but who cares!!? At night, I couldn't sleep cuz i was so afraid.. I think it's raining heavily outside and the rain sounds so scary.. I am worried that accident might happen.. SO whilst they are sleeping so soundly, i was awake.. So sad..