Thursday, November 02, 2006
knock.
I'm back from Vietnam.
It didn't captivate me as much as the first time i was there. I guess 4 hours of climbing could not leave a less than memorable experience. In a bid to recall the 9 days i spent in that land, i shall attempt writing in good English in case our meagre population of 4 million pick up bad English from me and I become responsible for being a bad ambassador of Singapore. (actually I couldn't care less. I merely miss writing in proper English and would like to see how far i can go before reverting to my usual style of "writing".)
Before I start my verbal diarrhoea once again. Kindly allow me to update on the recent developments in my life. After a week of mourning due to the disappearance of my illicit song library, I have began picking up the pieces by indulging in obsessive CD acquisition. As a model citizen, I urge all to borrow CDs from me instead of downloading from illegal sites. Another note for music lovers - it is more economical to make online purchases for CDs that are not widely available in the mainstream CD stores. H*V sells them at exhorbitant prices. Apple music stores must claim responsibility for illegal downloads as well because they restrict music buyers from more than a hundred nations. I beseech the Apple management to seriously consider expanding their music store accessibility. You are causing irreparable damage to my wallet.
After addressing some life-changing issues, it is time to explore the last week of my life in Vietnam.
This year's incentive trip was switched from Hongkong to Vietnam as it was simply too expensive and unwise to spend close to S$1000 on a trip to the Pearl of Orient. If not for my boss' wish to spend bonding time as a company, SC and I would agree not to have an outing at all this year. In the end, Ho Chi Minh was the city we chose.
As other Singaporeans celebrated their Deepavali holiday by munching on Indian sweets and savouries, 6 of us were onboard a flight to HCMC where we would spend our time crunching fresh greens and battling chaotic traffic conditions. I was thrilled to know that The Devil Wears Prada was one of the inflight movie that was showing. I have missed the last 15 minutes of the movie to go back to work one evening and I finally had the chance to pick up from where I left. Thankfully, the movie ended just 5 minutes before they turned off the entertainment system.
At the HCM airport, the queue was slow moving and one of my colleague's queue came to a standstill when an African man encountered difficulties with an immigration officer. He was stalled for a good half hour without a good explanation as to why he was not granted admission to the country as swiftly as the other travellers. In the end, the customs officer gave up trying to find the English words to explain and allowed him to pass.
We went to a posh Chinese-Vietnamese restaurant called Maxim's along Dong Khoi street which was lined with tourist-centric shops and restaurants. The restaurant was immaculately done up in an orient theme with ancient Chinese panel doors for their private room. In the common dining area, there were little cubicles separated by pavilions for a more intimate setting especially suited for couples on romantic dates. Much thought was also put into their restroom decor - the walls were lined with maroon tiles of flower motifs and the dressing table had an aged elegant feel to it. If not for the lavatory seats, it would have been mistaken for a young Chinese lady's room.
The food was as good as the interior design of the establishment. We had our first taste of Vietnamese spring rolls made up of locally grown vegetables and shrimps. There was also a dish that was like the steamboats that we have back home. We were also introduced to a snail food item that taste similar to the Thai pandan chicken. Their fried tofu did not surprise us too much as well. All in all, the food was pretty similar to what we have tasted in Singapore. The dinner was accompanied with a Vietnamese soda - a concoction of lime juice, syrup and soda water. Lotus tea was also served with the meal. I did not appreciate this as much because it smelled like paint to me.
After our dinner, we had a cheese cake to celebrate our boss' birthday. It became the subject of laughter for the night because the waiter had unknowingly omitted the bottom-most layer of the oreo crust, to the dismay of SC's sister. He caused so much damaged to the pretty cake that more attention was on him rather than on the birthday star. The cake still tasted good nevertheless. This is the first slice of cheesecake I have ever finished. Credit goes to the pastry chef who made a cheesecake with little hint of the fermented milk.
Following the light moments at dinner, we had an operations-cum-performance meeting to hi-light one another's performance. I had dreaded this moment for I was to be the bearer of unpleasant news. It seemed to take forever but at the end of it, we retired to our rooms and if anyone had cursed me after it. It must be for me to put on weight and I did!
My eyes are protesting from this prolonged fixation to the computer screen. I shall stop sharing on my trip for now and continue when time permits.
(pssstt... I am gonnna watch tv now. gosh!!!! so tiring to write in proper standard english!!! and i am only done with the first day?!?!?!?!?!)
8:20 PM
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