I passed my tp today!! Just scrapped through with 18 demerit points. Super duper happy. It's really a huge burden relieved! Driving lessons are fun but up to a certain point, I start to feel restless and found it more of a chore than fun to be travelling to and fro bbdc for practices. So now that I don't have to do it anymore, I feel sooo happy!
Anyway, I had the best of luck today. Really.
Firstly, I got a super nice and friendly instructor to lead me for warmup. He really calmed me down alot. He told me to take more mentos from the counter and eat them because they would bring me luck. Lol! So I ate 4 of them within 15mins.
Secondly, I got Mr Hussein as my tester!? I was arm-chioing inside cos I remember him as the tester who passed tingtong and fabian on their first attempt! Anyway he was lenient with me, I was feeling jittery at first and made some mistakes here and there in the circuit. I think he did give chance! Hussein is my favourite malay name from now on. He gave me the idea that I failed at first! While waiting for him to give me my results, he let out looud sighs and kept shaking his head!! I wanted to cry already then he passed me the result slip and I saw the word 'PASSED'. HAHAHA.
Thirdly, I got test route 7! To me, it's one of the easier test routes. If I get route 8, I confirm die.
I'm so thankful for this license, this is the best advance christmas cum birthday present ever!:) Thanks to all who msged and called to wish me luck and calm me down. Like I promised myself, I'll start going to church once I clear driving. So, keep your promise, chia yilin!
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
IBSM Day 9 & 10
Day 9
(Ok it feels totally retarded to be still blogging about the vietnam trip now but nvm, it's the last entry already!)
Good morning sunshines, rise and shine! That was what our tour guide Long say to us on some mornings. So sweet right.
Morning seaview from lynette's room
First visit of the day: Cassarado Furniture. The general manager there was a singaporean and he speaks singlish fluently like most of us do. It was nice meeting someone familiar overseas.
Basically the factory manufactures furniture, mainly sofa i think. We were shown around the factory where we got to witness how they make the foam-like sponge found inside our cushions and sofas. It is liquid hardened into one big rectangular form in colors like pink and green. Resembles strawberry and peppermint ice cream.
Ho Chi Minh university of economics visit. After a short presentation about our respective countries, one of their students sang us 'the climb' by miley cryus. We sang 'home' as a group and danced to the tunes of the korean song 'gee'. Some balloon game after that and when darren and his vietnamese partner lost, they had to do chicken dance as forfeit. Darren's movement is super funny!! I laughed till I almost did a somersault.
On our way for dinner on the cruise!
Dinner on a cruise... There were live instrumental performances involving a flute and guitar. Niceeeeee
Day 10
Bye bye Tan Hai Long!
At the Ho Chi Minh Airport which is way way way better than Hanoi's airport.
In summary, I enjoyed myself very much throughout the 10 days in Vietnam. I'm glad that everyone became very good friends with one another and even continued to hang out tgt after the trip. So far we've been to johore tgt, went on a night cycling trip , had a picnic at barrage, visited fish's place, shuwen's place etc. More about that soon! Oh ya we even met up for a test. Our post trip test. Ok not quite funny...
Thank you very much thanks(Canh-inspired), I've officially finished blogging about the Vietnam trip!! Can treat me a bowl of white rice as a token of appreciation?
Thursday, November 5, 2009
IBSM Day 8
It has been almost one month since we came back from Vietnam and I am still stuck at day 8!! Seriously don't feel like blogging about it anymore, but I don't want to stop halfway. So... here we go, day 8!
Visit to Vung Tau investment and promotion center in the morning, the presentation was pretty boring. The video they showed us used 'crazy frog'(is it? the techno ah lian music) as its background music. Lol. Terrible mismatch of music, but at least it helped in keeping me awake!
JUMP SHOTS! Who says you can't do jump shots in formal wear?! Who who who!
Anyway, Vung tau is a province located away from the city of Ho Chi Minh. Due to the fact that it is strategically located near many beaches and mountains, tourism is one of their core income generators. There are many hotels, resorts, nice restaurants in the vicinity.
Usual zhi-char lunch. First time I had zhi-char for soooo many consecutive meals :(
After that we went to Dic Star Hotel! It was an impromptu visit I think. Cos one of the companies on our itinerary got cancelled. Anyway the visit was good. The person in charge who attended to us was a humble man with a good sense of humour! But still, I almost fell asleep during the talk...
He brought us around the hotel and showed us the rooms too. Intereeesting.
Public accounting firm up next. IT WAS REALLY VERY BORING. The accountants there couldn't converse fluently in english so it was kind of hard getting the Q and A session going and everyone were getting super restless already.
We returned to Sammy hotel after that. We were staying there for a night cos we wouldn't be travelling back to Tan Hai Long that day. Kind of expected our rooms to be more grand and posh cos the exterior outlook of the hotel looked so good! Then again, that was just the EXTERIOR. The interior design of the hotel is so so only, our rooms were similar to a coasta sands chalet unit. Just that it's much cleaner :)
Located right next to our hotel, Imperial plaza! The entire shopping mall is SUPER empty. So we sort of had the whole place to ourselves. New zealand naturals ice cream before dinner!!
Lynette and her zha jiang mian. Haha!
Ice cream ice cream! Wherever I go, no matter how hard I try to be different, I always end up choosing the strawberry flavor. Hahaha
Dinner was at this restaurant facing the sea. Nice ambience.
We got soooo excited and happy when we saw 'Stingray' on the menu. But when it's served... Look what's on the plate. STEAMED stingray with no sambal chilli at all!:(
Me and jeanie jean jean! Everyone had coffee at the famous Highlands coffee house before going up to the arcade to play the 20cents-per-game basketball!
Sammy hotel :(
Sidetrack a little, I did my napfa with lynnie and jojo today!! For the first time in my life, I managed to stretch till 47cm for sit and reach! Usually I'll always stop at 36cm cos my legs will feel as though it's breaking into 2 already. My 2.4 timing is damn xia suay. But it's ok! I still got gold for overall. Yay!
Visit to Vung Tau investment and promotion center in the morning, the presentation was pretty boring. The video they showed us used 'crazy frog'(is it? the techno ah lian music) as its background music. Lol. Terrible mismatch of music, but at least it helped in keeping me awake!
JUMP SHOTS! Who says you can't do jump shots in formal wear?! Who who who!
Anyway, Vung tau is a province located away from the city of Ho Chi Minh. Due to the fact that it is strategically located near many beaches and mountains, tourism is one of their core income generators. There are many hotels, resorts, nice restaurants in the vicinity.
Usual zhi-char lunch. First time I had zhi-char for soooo many consecutive meals :(
After that we went to Dic Star Hotel! It was an impromptu visit I think. Cos one of the companies on our itinerary got cancelled. Anyway the visit was good. The person in charge who attended to us was a humble man with a good sense of humour! But still, I almost fell asleep during the talk...
He brought us around the hotel and showed us the rooms too. Intereeesting.
Public accounting firm up next. IT WAS REALLY VERY BORING. The accountants there couldn't converse fluently in english so it was kind of hard getting the Q and A session going and everyone were getting super restless already.
We returned to Sammy hotel after that. We were staying there for a night cos we wouldn't be travelling back to Tan Hai Long that day. Kind of expected our rooms to be more grand and posh cos the exterior outlook of the hotel looked so good! Then again, that was just the EXTERIOR. The interior design of the hotel is so so only, our rooms were similar to a coasta sands chalet unit. Just that it's much cleaner :)
Located right next to our hotel, Imperial plaza! The entire shopping mall is SUPER empty. So we sort of had the whole place to ourselves. New zealand naturals ice cream before dinner!!
Dinner was at this restaurant facing the sea. Nice ambience.
We got soooo excited and happy when we saw 'Stingray' on the menu. But when it's served... Look what's on the plate. STEAMED stingray with no sambal chilli at all!:(
Me and jeanie jean jean! Everyone had coffee at the famous Highlands coffee house before going up to the arcade to play the 20cents-per-game basketball!
Sidetrack a little, I did my napfa with lynnie and jojo today!! For the first time in my life, I managed to stretch till 47cm for sit and reach! Usually I'll always stop at 36cm cos my legs will feel as though it's breaking into 2 already. My 2.4 timing is damn xia suay. But it's ok! I still got gold for overall. Yay!
Sunday, October 25, 2009
IBSM Day 7
Visit to Phu My Hung, a well established Taiwanese-founded architecture company.
Some of their end products...
Pho 24, the largest 'fastfood' chain in Vietnam serving their staple dish 'Pho'. Pho is beef noodles soup. The one we had at Pho24 is reaaally yummy!!
We were very privileged to be able to meet up with the managing director of SACOMM Bank, a big local bank in Vietnam. He is a true veteran in the banking sector with maaaany years of experience. From the way he speaks, you can really feel that he has got the substance and very good foresight. He is a member of UN and even played a role in helping East timor to set up their government. Powerful or not?!
View from the bank building!
Impromptu snapshots? Ever ready!!
Actually I think their bank looks so much better than ours...
Trying to act like we just ended work! Hahahahaha
Rule #101: Always remember to take a picture when you meet up with big shots
Networking dinner was lengthy and information overload as usual, in a way it was good cos we got the opportunity to collect info for our project directly. That evening, I remember all of us feeling supeeeer hungry and yet we had to keep our composure and wait for all 6 panelists to finish talking!! So miserable. Lol. The session ended around 10 plus, which is sing time 11 plus. Super long day!
Some of their end products...
Pho 24, the largest 'fastfood' chain in Vietnam serving their staple dish 'Pho'. Pho is beef noodles soup. The one we had at Pho24 is reaaally yummy!!
We were very privileged to be able to meet up with the managing director of SACOMM Bank, a big local bank in Vietnam. He is a true veteran in the banking sector with maaaany years of experience. From the way he speaks, you can really feel that he has got the substance and very good foresight. He is a member of UN and even played a role in helping East timor to set up their government. Powerful or not?!
Impromptu snapshots? Ever ready!!
Trying to act like we just ended work! Hahahahaha
Rule #101: Always remember to take a picture when you meet up with big shots
Networking dinner was lengthy and information overload as usual, in a way it was good cos we got the opportunity to collect info for our project directly. That evening, I remember all of us feeling supeeeer hungry and yet we had to keep our composure and wait for all 6 panelists to finish talking!! So miserable. Lol. The session ended around 10 plus, which is sing time 11 plus. Super long day!
Friday, October 23, 2009
IBSM Day 6
Early in the morning, we set off on a long bus ride to visit the famous landmark of Vietnam- Cuchi Tunnel, in our 'BOOMZ I AM A TOURIST' Vietnam flag tee shirt. Before Cuchi Tunnel, we dropped by a rubber tree plantation.
When we arrived at Cuchi Tunnel, we were shown a video and map to give us a brief introduction of the entire place. The video was quite funny cos it was so biased!! The Vietnamese really disliked the Americans for invading their country and fighting them in a war, so they used terms like "crazy little devils" to address the Americans. Propaganda to the max!
See this small little hole here? The Vietnamese hide themselves underneath during wartime! Siao man, it's super duper small and cramped!! And look at the man wearing green. It really sucks to be him. He climbed in and out for don't know how many thousand times just to demonstrate to tourists like us how the tunnel thing works! Hope he gets a pay raise soon...
See pictures of the traps below. I think it is during times of war that the evil-est and ugliest side of mankind reveals. I don't understand how human beings are able to think of such SICK methods to trap/torture fellow human beings. Saw such stuff in Cambodia too. *Goosebumps*
My awesome groupmates! Goo-girls. Hahaha!
At the shooting range. We paid 2 SGD each to shoot one bullet using AK47! The bang sound was DAMN LOUD. Wearing the protective ear muffs was as good as not wearing. It's useless!! I was quite scared of the loud bang, especially when there are so many others shooting around us. (There's one rich and crazy ah moh beside us who shoot at least 5 bullets at one go!) So being the kanchiong spider that I am, I just pulled the trigger anyhow without aiming... Hahaha!
The highlight of the day was the climb in the real tunnel!! The Vietnamese people who survived living in these tunnels totally deserve our salute! THE TUNNELS WERE EXTREMELY SMALL, CRAMPED AND DARK. You can't even stand straight, you got to duck walk throughout and even crawl at some parts. And you won't be able to see what's ahead of you at all, it was THAT dark. I literally felt like dying when I was inside. If I were a soldier back then... I would happily exit the tunnel and surrender to the crazy little devils! Hahaha!
The Vietnamese people then were really hardcore. They lived in these tunnels for months and some even years. And you imagine living underground everyday, with no aircon/fan, moving around in darkness? And our tourguide Ah Long told us if a soldier is badly injured he would be moved around on a stretcher INSIDE THE TUNNEL. W T H?! Meaning the paramedics would have to move him in the tunnel, duckwalking all the way?? We only stayed inside for less than 30mins and we had muscle aches for the next few days!! Lol.
Anw, the way the tunnels were planned and built is really impressive. These tunnels were a few kilometres long, way way longer than our expressway tunnels!! Cu Chi Tunnel is definitely a MUST visit if you go to Vietnam.
Some random bombshells
Lunch was at KFC. I think their chickens suffered from malnutrition...
After that, we went for a water puppet show. We couldn't get the storyline at all. Lol
Jumpshots outside their post office or sth.
Dinner at a local restaurant as usual.
When we arrived at Cuchi Tunnel, we were shown a video and map to give us a brief introduction of the entire place. The video was quite funny cos it was so biased!! The Vietnamese really disliked the Americans for invading their country and fighting them in a war, so they used terms like "crazy little devils" to address the Americans. Propaganda to the max!
See this small little hole here? The Vietnamese hide themselves underneath during wartime! Siao man, it's super duper small and cramped!! And look at the man wearing green. It really sucks to be him. He climbed in and out for don't know how many thousand times just to demonstrate to tourists like us how the tunnel thing works! Hope he gets a pay raise soon...
See pictures of the traps below. I think it is during times of war that the evil-est and ugliest side of mankind reveals. I don't understand how human beings are able to think of such SICK methods to trap/torture fellow human beings. Saw such stuff in Cambodia too. *Goosebumps*
My awesome groupmates! Goo-girls. Hahaha!
At the shooting range. We paid 2 SGD each to shoot one bullet using AK47! The bang sound was DAMN LOUD. Wearing the protective ear muffs was as good as not wearing. It's useless!! I was quite scared of the loud bang, especially when there are so many others shooting around us. (There's one rich and crazy ah moh beside us who shoot at least 5 bullets at one go!) So being the kanchiong spider that I am, I just pulled the trigger anyhow without aiming... Hahaha!
The highlight of the day was the climb in the real tunnel!! The Vietnamese people who survived living in these tunnels totally deserve our salute! THE TUNNELS WERE EXTREMELY SMALL, CRAMPED AND DARK. You can't even stand straight, you got to duck walk throughout and even crawl at some parts. And you won't be able to see what's ahead of you at all, it was THAT dark. I literally felt like dying when I was inside. If I were a soldier back then... I would happily exit the tunnel and surrender to the crazy little devils! Hahaha!
The Vietnamese people then were really hardcore. They lived in these tunnels for months and some even years. And you imagine living underground everyday, with no aircon/fan, moving around in darkness? And our tourguide Ah Long told us if a soldier is badly injured he would be moved around on a stretcher INSIDE THE TUNNEL. W T H?! Meaning the paramedics would have to move him in the tunnel, duckwalking all the way?? We only stayed inside for less than 30mins and we had muscle aches for the next few days!! Lol.
Anw, the way the tunnels were planned and built is really impressive. These tunnels were a few kilometres long, way way longer than our expressway tunnels!! Cu Chi Tunnel is definitely a MUST visit if you go to Vietnam.
Some random bombshells
Lunch was at KFC. I think their chickens suffered from malnutrition...
After that, we went for a water puppet show. We couldn't get the storyline at all. Lol
Jumpshots outside their post office or sth.
Dinner at a local restaurant as usual.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
IBSM Day 5
At this rate I'm blogging about my Vietnam trip, I think I will only cover everything next year.
Anyway, Day 5 officially marks the start of our Ho Chi Minh City tour! Day 5 and 6 were a weekend and it was arranged to be R & R. No company visits, yay!
Breakfast at Tan Hai Long Hotel. Xinying and I hardly wake up on time for breakfast, so this was one of the rare mornings where we really woke up early to enjoy the buffet breakfast! Yumyum.
Land of motorbikes
Trip to Mekong Delta. I thought the water would be very clear and blue, but when we reached there, the color was tehsi-like.
We took picture with a 'block' of REAL bees and sampled their local products. I think the tea set looks pretty :)
And tadah! *Drumrolls please* Probably one of the biggest highlights of the trip for me, I carried a SNAKE around my neck, on my shoulders! I was hesitating at first cos I really couldn't pluck up enough courage to even touch it!! In the end, I did. Thank god I did, cos I know I would definitely regret big time if I didn't do it. Hehe. I carried the head and the tail of the snake damn far apart cos I was afraid that it would kiss me!! The siao snake almost kissed Clarence.
I love Karen so much! She was like our mother throughout the trip. Always there for us, so caring and attentive!
We took all kinds of boat at Mekong Delta. There's big boat, medium boat and river boat aka sampan! Xinying and I shared a sampan with Rastus and Rasmus. It was fun cos we got to row the boat ourselves and got to wear the funny looking triangular straw hat! Lol
With Uncle kangjie!
We visited the coconut factory where we got to see how coconut candies are made from scratch! The Vietnamese ladies there wrap the candies one by one manually and they do it damn fast and systematically! Feels like they are working with mahjong tiles.
During lunch we finally tried something different besides the usual springrolls(gags). Look at the pictures below, the lady cuts chunks of fried fish and wrap them into the traditional rice paper for us to dip into the special sauce and eat! Uber(omg vanessa?) delicious!
We came by a buffalo that was lazing around in the river right next to where we were having our lunch. Poor thing cos it had ropes tied through its nostrils(?) to the nearby tree. Ouch ouch ouch.
Happy people :)
More boat pics!
Should I dye my hair brown?! Give me your opinion!
And more boat pics...
That evening, Uncle Thomas and family came to fetch me from the hotel for dinner at Sushi Bar! So glad to be able to meet up with them in Vietnam! They are like the real 'pros' cos Uncle Thomas has been working there for more than 10 years! After that, Uncle thomas got the chauffeur to drive us to Nic and Nat's school for me to take a look and then we went back to their apartment. They have so many facilities within the estate and even have their own private ferry to take them to the city!!
We webcammed with Xuannie and Bea using Uncle Thomas's laptop and bea was shocked to see me with Nic and Nat! Lol. After awhile, the chauffeur sent me back to the hotel. I must say it is freaking shiok to have a chauffeur!! Having someone to open your door for you, adjust your seat for you, ready 24/7 to drive you anywhere, is just plain AWESOME!
I met up with the rest for shopping at Ben Thanh market after that!! Our hotel is less than 5 mins' walk away from the market! So we practically went over to shop and bargain every night. No pictures taken, too busy shopping! Hahaha. I must talk about the bargaining tactics though. I think we're so thick skinned and in a way, cute to have come up with all these shameless lines to help us get our desired price! Who doesn't like things cheap! Hehe
1. "Please please I flying back to Singapore tmr already. No chance buy anymore"
( We say this everyday. Thank god the shopkeepers can't recognise us, lol)
2. "Student student, no more money! Please la sister, you so pretty"
3. "Other shop sell the same piece for 70000 only! You sell 100000! Cannot like that"
( Most of the time we make up all these prices on our own, lol)
4. "Aiya nvm la nvm lor" and WALK AWAY
( Most of the time they will pull us back and give us the price we want!!)
Anyway, Day 5 officially marks the start of our Ho Chi Minh City tour! Day 5 and 6 were a weekend and it was arranged to be R & R. No company visits, yay!
Breakfast at Tan Hai Long Hotel. Xinying and I hardly wake up on time for breakfast, so this was one of the rare mornings where we really woke up early to enjoy the buffet breakfast! Yumyum.
Trip to Mekong Delta. I thought the water would be very clear and blue, but when we reached there, the color was tehsi-like.
We took picture with a 'block' of REAL bees and sampled their local products. I think the tea set looks pretty :)
And tadah! *Drumrolls please* Probably one of the biggest highlights of the trip for me, I carried a SNAKE around my neck, on my shoulders! I was hesitating at first cos I really couldn't pluck up enough courage to even touch it!! In the end, I did. Thank god I did, cos I know I would definitely regret big time if I didn't do it. Hehe. I carried the head and the tail of the snake damn far apart cos I was afraid that it would kiss me!! The siao snake almost kissed Clarence.
We took all kinds of boat at Mekong Delta. There's big boat, medium boat and river boat aka sampan! Xinying and I shared a sampan with Rastus and Rasmus. It was fun cos we got to row the boat ourselves and got to wear the funny looking triangular straw hat! Lol
We visited the coconut factory where we got to see how coconut candies are made from scratch! The Vietnamese ladies there wrap the candies one by one manually and they do it damn fast and systematically! Feels like they are working with mahjong tiles.
During lunch we finally tried something different besides the usual springrolls(gags). Look at the pictures below, the lady cuts chunks of fried fish and wrap them into the traditional rice paper for us to dip into the special sauce and eat! Uber(omg vanessa?) delicious!
We came by a buffalo that was lazing around in the river right next to where we were having our lunch. Poor thing cos it had ropes tied through its nostrils(?) to the nearby tree. Ouch ouch ouch.
Happy people :)
More boat pics!
Should I dye my hair brown?! Give me your opinion!
And more boat pics...
That evening, Uncle Thomas and family came to fetch me from the hotel for dinner at Sushi Bar! So glad to be able to meet up with them in Vietnam! They are like the real 'pros' cos Uncle Thomas has been working there for more than 10 years! After that, Uncle thomas got the chauffeur to drive us to Nic and Nat's school for me to take a look and then we went back to their apartment. They have so many facilities within the estate and even have their own private ferry to take them to the city!!
We webcammed with Xuannie and Bea using Uncle Thomas's laptop and bea was shocked to see me with Nic and Nat! Lol. After awhile, the chauffeur sent me back to the hotel. I must say it is freaking shiok to have a chauffeur!! Having someone to open your door for you, adjust your seat for you, ready 24/7 to drive you anywhere, is just plain AWESOME!
I met up with the rest for shopping at Ben Thanh market after that!! Our hotel is less than 5 mins' walk away from the market! So we practically went over to shop and bargain every night. No pictures taken, too busy shopping! Hahaha. I must talk about the bargaining tactics though. I think we're so thick skinned and in a way, cute to have come up with all these shameless lines to help us get our desired price! Who doesn't like things cheap! Hehe
1. "Please please I flying back to Singapore tmr already. No chance buy anymore"
( We say this everyday. Thank god the shopkeepers can't recognise us, lol)
2. "Student student, no more money! Please la sister, you so pretty"
3. "Other shop sell the same piece for 70000 only! You sell 100000! Cannot like that"
( Most of the time we make up all these prices on our own, lol)
4. "Aiya nvm la nvm lor" and WALK AWAY
( Most of the time they will pull us back and give us the price we want!!)
Thursday, October 8, 2009
IBSM Day 4
Lunch at a authentic Vietnamese cuisine restaurant. I like the setup of this place!
Food, food and more food.
We visited Hoa Lo prison, the largest prison in Vietnam afterwards. If I remember correctly, it was built by the French when Vietnam was under the colonial rule. The French used it to imprison political figures who try to overturn the government during that period of time. I didn't take much pictures cos the weather was bloody hot that afternoon and I was busy looking out for fans. One big problem with their tourist attractions, museums especially, always NOT air-conditioned!! All of us were sweating like mad.
Anyway the methods they use to torture prisoners are very very sick. Similar to those used in Cambodia during the Khmer Rouge. Really sucks to be a prisoner in the past. Hahaha!
We went to the Standard Chartered bank after that and met the CEO, Mr Ashook! We were all quite stressed and afraid to ask questions cos he looked and sounded very intelligent. He speaks in depth about the banking sector of Vietnam, without refering to any guidelines and answer our questions like ABC. Our group was on duty that day so we had to lead the discussion and stuff. I took Toyota in the morning already so Xinying did this one. See the picture! She seldom look so serious ok! Hahaha!!
Bidding farewell to Canh in ths bus. Right after our visit to Standard Chart we left for the Hanoi Airport. During the bus ride, Canh gave his farewell speech and sang us two songs! It was very touching and being the loserish me who cannot stand farewells, I cried. Hahaha.
I had my worst airport experience ever at the Hanoi airport where our plane got delayed for two hours!! We reached the airport at around 5 and the checking in process alone took us more than 2 hours!! Apparently(shit i hate to use this word), their data system or sth broke down and everything had to be done manually. We STOOD there waiting with our luggages throughout and the counter staff just keep walking away to clear his doubts or sth. We waited for damn long, standing there totally clueless of what's happening and when we can board the plane. No explanation no apology, nothing.
Eventually 6 of us had to take a different flight from the rest and we were all assigned seats far away from one another. Same for the rest who were on another plane. AND they just had to put me all alone RIGHT in front of the TOILET where people kept walking in and out, especially after dinner was served. Omg. Needless to say, there was a unpleasant smell and some weird Vietnamese uncle JUST had to laosai or vomit and dirty the toilet. Even the air steward himself got pissed. Under that kind of environment, I had to EAT, write my journal(due for grading the next day) and rest!! Seriously "FML" for that 1 hour flight to Ho Chi Minh!
Saturday, October 3, 2009
IBSM Day 3
In the morning, we visited the Vinh Phuc department of planning and investment. It was boring yet funny because the officials there could only speak fluently in Vietnamese, so our tour guide acted as the translator. Some parts we got it, some parts we didn't.
One SUPER funny translation when one of the officials had to leave earlier, our guide Canh said "let's all feel sorry for him". HAHAHA!! What he was trying to say was that the official is sorry cos he has to leave earlier. But his translation totally off la! Hahahaha. We had a hard time suppressing our laughter!
Honda factory was next. Quite an interesting visit. We got to tour the manufacturing factory when we could see the spare parts, paint etc all fixed to the frame from scratch! No phototaking allowed, so no pictures to illustrate. We got a red Honda cap each! Hahaha.
With our guide Canh. He's the bessst tour guide I've ever met! SUPER funny and fun to be with. He's actually a lawyer in Vietnam, tour guiding(lol) is his interest. But he says he won't be taking anymore batches in future cos he's too busy at his law firm! :(
Lunch! See that plate of yellow corn in front of me? We loved it! Instead of having it steamed or boiled the usual way, they serve it fried! It tastes good, very addictive.
We went to this huge brewery owned by Asia pacific breweries limited in the province of Ha Tay. Familiar brands of beer like Tiger and Heinkein could be found there. The angmoh brewing manager brought us around the brewery and explained to us about the brewing process along the way... The weather was HOT.
Followed by the tour, the CEO of the company Mr Larry Lee, gave us a presentation and after the usual Q & A session we got to drink any kind of beer available at the bar, free flow! He gave us each a Tiger tshirt too. Xinying and I thought it looked fine, but when we put it on back in our hotel, we realised it's NOT. Hahaha!
One SUPER funny translation when one of the officials had to leave earlier, our guide Canh said "let's all feel sorry for him". HAHAHA!! What he was trying to say was that the official is sorry cos he has to leave earlier. But his translation totally off la! Hahahaha. We had a hard time suppressing our laughter!
Honda factory was next. Quite an interesting visit. We got to tour the manufacturing factory when we could see the spare parts, paint etc all fixed to the frame from scratch! No phototaking allowed, so no pictures to illustrate. We got a red Honda cap each! Hahaha.
We went to this huge brewery owned by Asia pacific breweries limited in the province of Ha Tay. Familiar brands of beer like Tiger and Heinkein could be found there. The angmoh brewing manager brought us around the brewery and explained to us about the brewing process along the way... The weather was HOT.
Followed by the tour, the CEO of the company Mr Larry Lee, gave us a presentation and after the usual Q & A session we got to drink any kind of beer available at the bar, free flow! He gave us each a Tiger tshirt too. Xinying and I thought it looked fine, but when we put it on back in our hotel, we realised it's NOT. Hahaha!
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