Non-Stop Gorging

Ever since I returned to the country, I've been eating for most of my waking time. Think I must have put on a few kilograms since. When I first arrived in Singapore, I went to eat chicken rice! Hee..... Imagine 3 months without chicken rice! Don't say chicken rice, I didn't even have chicken!

Now that it's the festive season, I can't help but eat all the pineapple tarts, bak kwa, kueh lapis, cuttlefish, peanuts, cookies of all forms, etc..... Sometimes, during visiting, it gets so boring that the only thing to do other than stare at the television, is to put something into the mouth and let it exercise a bit.....

I think I need to get the U Zap now...... But my aunt insists that the OTO one is better.....

New Plans

This is what has happened or is going to happen to me:

26 Jan: Tendered my resignation with RV Nam Viet. But I'm still with the head office in Singapore. Things are just too chaotic in the office in Vietnam and I do not want to be caught in an awkward position in a foreign land.
2 Feb: Return to Vietnam to pack my stuff
3 Feb: Mad rush to meet all my students and friends in Vietnam and say goodbye to them. Hopefully I'll see them in Singapore soon!
4 Feb: Return to Singapore
5 Feb: Wee hours of the day, I'll fly to Shandong, China, for a 2-week crash course to prepare the students for an entrance exam to Singapore Poly. Looking forward to this as it's my first time to China!
20 Feb: Return to Singapore
23 Feb: Tentatively on this date, I'll fly off to Mandalay, Myanmar for my new posting for the remaining 9 months of my contract. I'm quite looking forward to it as the living conditions and security there are better. But perhaps minus the shopping....

To all my friends who wanted to visit me in Vietnam, I'm afraid there's no more chance to do so! Even I myself have not travelled out of HCMC! But you guys can always come to Myanmar!

Friends in JWSS

It was good to meet up with my former colleagues from JWSS and to see that those who have left the school are now looking more refreshed and happy! As for those still there, at least they are surviving! Just hang in there guys! I also met my students...... Didn't realise how much I missed Singapore and everyone back home till I saw them!

I was especially happy to see three of my students from my form class. While waiting for their 'O' Levels results, they are now working at this gelato counter outside of Shaw Centre. (I missed another 2 of them as they were not on duty at that time) You will surely see the counter if you come out from the escalator through the underpass. Fatimah, Diniy and Nasrullah seemed to have grown up within the short span of 3 months. They exuded confidence and maturity! Plus such excellent service they were providing to their customers! If you ever decide to get an ice-cream there, maybe you can tell them you are Miss Sng's friend and they will give you a bigger scoop!

New Year, New Hair

I've got a new haircut. Very cheap to get it done in Vietnam! I can't even begin to think what's expensive there! So just in case I don't get to meet you while I'm back in Singapore, here's a glimpse of what I look like now.... Nothing drastic!

Rebonding = $40 (Wow!)
Pedicure & manicure = $4 (Where to find in Singapore?!)
Eyebrow shaping = $1 (OMG!)
Haircut = free! (Special service!)
Cute hairstylist (rare) who speaks english (very important!) = priceless!
New Korean friends / bosses of salon = priceless!

Off I Go!

In a few hours time, I'll be back in Singapore! I'll see everyone back in the country! Funny.... As much as I am excited about going home, I suddenly feel that I would miss my brothers, sisters and students in Vietnam!

Woof Woof

To usher in the lunar new year (or the locals call it the Tet holidays) are these 4 dogs made from some kind of orange - lemon - like fruit. Cute!

The Vietnamese are really creative. Their pussy willows are dyed in various colours..... I feel happy just looking at the bright colours!

Look at the way the pussy willows are arranged! They all converge towards the centre.... Very interesting!

Their 'mei hua' is also different from ours! It is bright yellow in colour! I felt like a suaku when I first saw it and exclaimed! Can't blame me.... All my 26 years, I've only seen pink and white mei huas......

Banh Xeo

I finally had a taste of banh xeo. We used it to celebrate An's birthday because banh = cake, so this food is quite appropriate for the occasion. This dish is different from the other banhs as it is crispy on the outside with bean sprouts, meat and shrimp on the inside. The similarity this has with other food is that you eat it with fish sauce. About 2 people can share one, but I suppose if you are super hungry or eating this as a meal, then you can easily devour one by yourself!

Perfect Match

I've never liked eating yam.... I cringe everytime my family celebrates a birthday at a chinese restaurant and they serve the yam basket..... Ulgh! How can anyone bear to put the vile thing into their mouths?! Funny thing is, I love eating the yam dessert or what we usually call orh nee.... It's like hot ice-cream! So yummy! Or maybe it's because they cook it with so much lard that it becomes so tasty!

An and Hanh brought me to eat taro (khoai mon) noodles some time ago.... It's known as bun quang, (sidetrack a little..... I've just realised that banh does not mean rice but cake.) and the noodle (bun) is pinkish-purple in colour! I think the colour makes the meal more appetising! But I can't really make out any difference in taste..... I've also had taro chips and taro ice-cream. I don't usually eat yam flavoured ice-cream in Singapore, but it is really starting to grow on me over here. A scoop of taro ice-cream together with a scoop of coconut ice-cream are the best flavours I can ask for..... Ahhh..... Heaven!

Round 1

Round 1 of the entrance exams for Ngee Ann Polytechnic is over..... I'm quite pleased with the results! Out of 27 students who registered for the exams, only 2 failed..... That's a 92.6% passing rate..... Excellent! The two who failed.... well..... one of them had only joined my class for about a month, so there's limited help I could give him..... I didn't expect the other student to fail though..... He was quite a consistent worker.... Maybe the nerves got the better of him. Anyway, he applied for another polytechnic, so hopefully he gets in! Next would be two rounds of interview..... Most of them should be able to make it..... I hope!

Crunch Time

Very busy these few days.... Busy preparing for my trip back home.... Have to think of things and gifts to buy and stuff to bring home..... Plus my baggage is so limited! So must really maximise the space! I think my luggage will just be filled with things for my family and friends! But I really want to buy all the 'mei mei' shoes and bags and clothes back home!

Plus, my students are taking the entrance exams this week, so I'm busy helping out with the whole process.... Feel really worried for them.... It's like how I felt when my students were taking the O Levels. But some of my students here have made so many sacrifices that I do not know what will happen to them if they do not pass the test. There is one student who stopped studying in high school just so that she could concentrate on passing the entrance exams. Her parents even sold their house and moved to a smaller one in order to pay for her school fees! Even though I'm not the one taking the entrance exams, I'm feeling terribly nervous for them!

Speak Good English

Ever since I came over, I've had many encounters with bad english.... I've been trying to keep a mental note of them so that I can have a good laugh whenever I feel bored or unhappy. But I think I shall share it with everyone to spread the joy a little!

Can you help me repair my english?
Yes, and I'll help repair your motorcycle along the way too.

Vietnam exploded 3 records in the SEA Games.
So are the sportsmen who exploded the records still in one piece?

Are you fear when u ride the motorcycle?
I turn into this scary monster known as FEAR when I ride the motorcycle!

I'm going Batam.
Oh you mean Vietnamese know about Batam? I thought it was more of a Singaporean destination. Apparently, the sentence should read: I'm going part-time.

Do you have fruit milk in Singapore?
My reply: Of course! We have strawberry milk, banana milk, and many others.....
Turns out that my friend was asking if I have ever eaten this local fruit known as a milk fruit (bu sua).

I want to down my trash!
Eh?! You want to throw your rubbish downstairs?
What he really was trying to say was: I want to reduce my stress.....

The next sentence was from an email. I still have no idea what my friend is trying to say to me..... I have not met him yet, so I can't ask him about it.
untill that time, i think ultimate girf not late.
At the end of it, he wished me a marry christmas.

No More Brother

Even though Dung is now studying in Hawaii, we still often chat on YM. He's the skinny boy in the centre of the photograph, which was taken on his first day there. Dung says he doesn't want me to be his sister because he already has an older sister. He doesn't want to be taken care of by others. Although I only taught him for a short time of about 2 months, he says he still considers me to be his teacher. He quoted a Vietnamese saying that goes something like this: If a person taught you one word, he is your teacher. Even if the person only taught you half a word, he is still your teacher.

On Saturday night, he gave me a surprise telephone call! At 12 midnight! (That is about 7 am in Hawaii) He said he waited on purpose to call that time just so that he could wake me up! What a naughty boy! Teacher me should have given him a good scolding! But how could I bear to...... He did call with good intentions afterall..... And a surprise it was indeed!

Little Korea

Other than getting to know more Vietnamese friends, I have just gotten to know a Korean couple. The area that I'm living in has many Korean restaurants and grocery shops and is known as a Korean town. I actually got to know Ivy and her husband, Clan, about one month ago when I went to their salon for a haircut. Ivy speaks good english as she had lived in the Philippines for 15 years. I had a good chat with her that time and she invited me to return to her salon anytime to just chat with her. Which was what I did last night.......

The couple invited me for dinner and they introduced me to bibimbap. It's a korean dish of mixed vegetables, egg and meat over rice with spicy sauce. While eating and chatting, I realised why they were so nice to me (other then them being friendly folks)! On that fateful day last month when I stepped into their salon, they had just taken over the business and it was their opening day. And I was their very first customer! What luck!

Home Sweet Home

I'll be coming home for the Chinese New Year holidays! I'll be in sunny Singapore from 24 January till 4 February. I actually managed to get on an earlier flight so I now get to stay in Singapore for a longer time! I want to meet up with all of you when I get back! I should start making plans and drawing up a schedule to meet up with all the different groups of people! I don't want to miss out anyone! I miss everyone!!!

Hairy Issues

I've come to notice that most girls in Vietnam have long hair. I think the ratio of girls with long hair to those with short hair is about 20:1. I asked An and Tuan Anh separately why long hair is so popular here and both gave me the same answer: They like girls with long hair because it makes a girl more attractive and feminine. Eh? What era are they still living in? How can you judge a girl by her hair? Even though I have long hair myself, I don't think it makes me more attractive than any other girl with short hair!

Let's have a poll! Sorry, this one's just for the guys!

I would date a girl who has:

1. long hair, because ..........

2. any length of hair, because ..........

Walk Walk

When I'm not too busy or too tired or simply when I am in the mood, I would wake up early and go for a walk in the park. I usually walk 10 times round this pond. I'm not sure how far that is, but my whole exercise regime including warming up and cooling down can take about 1 hour. So I think that is good enough for exercise right?

Good Student

This gentle-looking girl is Thao. She is my student and a good friend of Chan, one of my sisters. She is such a good girl that I would say she is a model student. She always does her assignments and always comes to class prepared with questions. The study materials that I give her will always be highlighted and has her own notes and Vietnamese translations by the side.

While Chan was away in Singapore taking the entrance exams to the polys, Thao was entrusted the task of 'looking after' me! Thao said that I look thinner than when I first came to Vietnam (which I think is good!), and so she has been feeding me all kinds of Vietnamese food everytime she comes to class. She brings all kinds of banhs (rice cakes), buns (rice noodles) and ches (sweet soups) for me.... Her mother even prepares herbal cum fruit drink for me! (It's like those kind of 'liang teh' sold in the chinese medicinal shops.) The latest thing she gave me was a packet of Kopiko sweets. She says this sweet helps her to stay awake when she is studying and thought that perhaps I need it too!

Unforgetable

For the past 3 years, only one thing was on my mind at the beginning of the year: Footdrill Competition. I'm sure my cadets are now training very hard for this year's competition. To all Red Cross Youth cadets, winning the footdrill competition is the most prestigious thing that could ever happen. Of course I wanted that for my unit. It would be the best thing I could do for my cadets and the school. After two previous futile attempts, we finally did it last year!

The events of the footdrill competition on 26 February 2005 are still vivid in my mind..... It was one of my best days in JWSS! My girls were the 1st runners-up for the West District Competition and emerged as the 2nd runners-up in the National Competition! Imagine we were placed behind schools such as RGS and CHIJ.... Woohoo! Look at the two trophies held by Fatimah (commander of the squad) and Sylvia (chairperson)! And look at all the happy smiles on the faces of the cadets..... Each of them deserved the award! My only regret is that Fatimah did not get the 'Best Commander' award. Nonetheless, she is the best commander ever in my heart. I could still remember the cadets and I crying and hugging together after the presentation of the award..... It was such an emotional and momentous day! I would liken that day to 14 July 1997 (My gawd! Has it really been that long?!) when ACJC was the Best Band of the Year!

If my cadets are reading this, I hope that those of you involved in this year's footdrill competition would work hard and maintain the standard and results that the seniors had tried so hard to achieve. Of course the going would not be easy. In fact, it would be tough and full of ups and downs. But that makes winning even sweeter at the end of the day! Good luck to JWSS RCY!

Fish In Heaven

This post looks suspiciously like an earlier posting that I had. But if you look closely at this photograph and compare it with the previous one, you would know why this is different. I came back one day after lunch and looked at the fish bowl..... To my horror, the orange fish had its belly facing me! I do not mind rearing fishes or washing the fish bowl, but to pick up a dead fish? No way!!! It sounds really silly and perhaps it's just a mental block, but I do not dare to put my hand in to scoop the fish up. In the end, it was my student, Vu, to the rescue!

Vu, come come....

Vu struts obediently towards me.

Are you afraid of dead fish?

Vu gives me a blur look. (Their listening skills are not too good.....)

You know fish? Ca? (in Vietnamese)

Vu nods his head.

My fish is dead.... Die, you know?

Vu nods again.

Help me!

I pointed frantically at my fish bowl. He peered in and looked back at me. I think he was trying very hard to suppress a laughter then. So off we went to the toilet with the fish bowl and he picked up the orange fish and flushed it down the toilet bowl..... Throughout this whole episode, I don't think Vu said a single word!

Byebye fish......

Open Coffeeshop

Today is the opening of my brother's coffeeshop.... So how can the sister not go and support? The concept and decoration of this new coffeeshop is the same as the first one..... It's so that the customers will get the same feeling when they enter. The name of this family-run chain of coffeeshops when translated is Relaxing Tea Shop. So now they have Relaxing Tea Shop 1 and 2. It's ironic how the name of the shop has the word tea in it, but they call it a coffeeshop..... Just in case you are wondering, they serve coffee too!

One thing that I've come to notice about the coffeeshops here is that they are always dimly lit...... The only source of light would be from the candle on the table..... It's so dark that one can hardly see the menu, let alone the other person at the other end of table! I cannot stand the darkness, but Tuan Anh says it allows people to shed all inhibitions and chat freely when they are here..... Ok..... Think I'll eat more carrots so that I can see better next time I go to the coffeeshop at night......

So it's true....

Tuan Anh was really not pulling my leg when he said he got his name from a chocolate! I did my own little research and this was what I found.....

Does anyone know where I can buy some? I want to give my brother a surprise....

Tan Dinh Catholic Church

Have passed by this church numerous times and almost everytime, I would exclaim "Cake Church!" as we ride past it! Haha.... The cake church! I think my brother guessed that I liked it and so he brought me there to take some pictures. It really looks delicious! So pretty and pink! Very matching with my blog!

Quiet Kitty

Received many lovely Christmas presents from my friends by post! They were meant for christmas but they ended up as new year gifts instead.... So much for efficiency! One of the gifts I received was a Hello Kitty keychain from Hello Kitty Land itself! So cute!

Was having a conversation with Son last time about Hello Kitty and he gave me his account of why Hello Kitty has no mouth. Hello Kitty used to have a mouth and she was a talkative young girl. That was until her grandmother died. She was so upset that she never spoke again after that..... Hmm..... I told him that his story was not possible as Hello Kitty's grandmother is still well and alive! I told him my version: Kitty's non-mouth creates a tabula rosa that one could project onto whatever one is feeling. If you feel happy, you would see a smile on Kitty's face. If you feel sad, then you would imagine a frown. My fondness for this feline creature has lead to one of my students calling me Miss Kitty.... Sylvia, are you reading this? Unfortunately, there are very few kitties around here in Vietnam..... Maybe it's because Hello Kitty is too fat for the tight-fitting ao dai.....

Banh Banh...

The other day, Dung and Tyna brought me to eat banh beo. It is the food that is in tiny plates on the left. It is actually like our zui gui, but minus the cai poh and oil. The dish next to it is a combination of banh beo and banh nam. Banh nam looks different as it is a flat, rectangular piece of rice cake. I like banh nam better as it has meat in it, so it's not so bland. Needless to say, we eat all these different banhs with fish sauce..... Is there anything that they do not eat fish sauce with? I can't think of anything! There is bound to be a bowl of fish sauce during every meal!

Look at the mess we created from our meal! But it sure was satisfying! The ba zhang looking food is just meat wrapped inside the leaf.

On the left is banh it. I can't describe it..... It's just like a kind of rice cake with meat fillings. On the right is nem nuong. It is a local food from Nah Thrang, Dung's province. We had to wrap it inside the rice paper together with fresh vegatables. The sausage-like stuff you see on the plate are actually made from pork.

In case you haven't noticed, alot of food here has the word banh in it. This means that the food is made from rice..... For example, banh trang = rice paper, banh hoi = rice cake roll, banh beo = rice cake in tiny plates, banh nam = flat, rectangular rice cake with meat, banh it = rice cake with meat fiilings . The list does not end here.... Ironically, rice = com (read: kerm) , and not banh.

Post Office

Even if you are not going to post a letter, you should drop by this post office..... Nice nostalgic feeling when you step into it..... I feel like I have gone back in time!

Coming Home!

I would be returning to Singapore for Chinese New Year! Yippee!!! So I am now starting to shop for souvenirs for my family, friends and supporters of my blog! Was out shopping this morning with my brother at a local wholesale market and I had a great time! To put it simply, I have not spent so much money since I came here...... I have surpressed the shopping urge for so long! The feeling of buying things is so good!

After our shopping trip, we went back to his home for lunch. I think I shall try to pick up some cooking skills from his sister-in-law and mother! The food they prepare is not oily and simply delicious! Tuan Anh's nephew, Quang Long, is so cute! We pretty much talk kid language but I know he is calling for my attention when he calls me teacher in Vietnamese! I shall attempt to make him speak english!

New Year Lunch

I had a beef hot pot for lunch today with Tuan Anh's family to celebrate the new year. It was super yummy! I wished I could try the soup in the hot pot too, but their practice is only to cook the beef in it, not to drink the soup. I'm sure it would be extremely tasty!!!

Since his mum is so nice to always invite me for meals, I gave her a bottle of axe oil! Haha.... My mummy gave me a whole stash of it when she visited me, and it's now coming in handy! They call it yau as well, just like how it sounds in cantonese. In fact, many Vietnamese words are derived from cantonese.

Tuan Anh has a dog..... It's a chihuahua right? It's name is Fox.... It's chained near the front door as it will chew everything in sight if they let it out.... Poor thing..... But at least it got to eat the yummy stuff that we had for lunch too!

When I was about to get on the motorcycle to go home, I could not help but notice that the Vietnam flag was flying from all houses. Apparently, each house MUST fly the flag on new year's day if not the leader of their district would knock on their door and question them! Gosh....

Brothers and Sisters

I'm beginning to amass a little family over here with many brothers and sisters.... Among my brothers are Tuan Anh, Son, Dung and An. Tuan Anh is so polite that he has never called me by my name before. He says that it is disrespectful to call his sister by name. He calls me sister or teacher or Sandra sister or teacher sister or miss, but never my name. It just struck me that I have never called my own sister by name before too....

If you are an ardent supporter of my blog, you would have realised that I mention Son very frequently too. The reason is very simple..... He's the only decent form of human interaction that I have over here at the centre..... I usually only say 'Good Morning' or 'Hello' to the other staff and we all get on with our work. But with Son, I have more time to talk to him when he sends me to school. We basically talk about anything under the sun..... I think if not for the fact that we talk along the way to school, I wouldn't be talking much to anyone at all! But very soon, I will not be going to the primary school anymore.... So that means no more talking..... He cheers me up when I'm feeling down and he practically helps me out with anything and everything!

My sisters are Hanh and Chan. Hanh is a sweet and pretty girl who is a friend of Dung. We like talking about girly stuff like shopping and jewellery. The fish she's holding belongs to Dung or rather, it will soon belong to Dung's nephew. The little blue pig in my hands was a gift from them from the UFO catcher in the arcade!

Chan is my student and she has stopped coming for lessons because she is in Singapore now for the entrance examinations to Singapore Polytechnic. She says that I am just like her sister and she has started calling me ji. On the last day of class with her, she came up to me and asked, "Sister, can I hug you?" Awww...... She sometimes brings me food so that I can eat after classes when it's too late to go out for dinner.....