. i m . f r e e . t o . f l y . . .

I'm home...

2007-01-07T17:53:00.000+11:00

The remaining leg of my trip to Asia has been postponed and instead it will take place at the end of this year with my family. So! My solo travelling experience more or less stops here- after 11months of travelling around the world I am home.

T .. H .. E ... E .. N .. D .

HAPPY BDAY NINA!

2007-01-04T13:32:00.000+11:00

Happy 23rd Birthday sis!!!

I hope you had a lovely day yesterday with our family & friends. May this New Year bring you lots of good luck, adventures in life and success to your career. I'll see you soon

=)

BANGKOK

2007-01-04T12:15:00.000+11:00

Just to assure those that MAY be worried (since I don't have phone connection)... I arrived in Bangkok yesterday safe and sound and am staying at The Pathumwan Hotel, on top of the MBK shopping dept =)

TO BORA & ANNIE:

2007-01-03T00:17:00.000+11:00

MY LAST DAY!

BORA & ANNIE: I surely will miss the two of you! Gosh, us 3 got along so well together, we had so much fun it's unbelievable and I'm so sad to let it all go!! All the travelling... clubbing... eating out... eatin in... movie marathons... strange cooking... all the laughs and tears that we all shared together...... awwwwwwwww I surely will miss it all!! Best of luck with all the new adventures you guys will come across in this New Year, do keep me posted! Love you guys!

xxx

xx NYC xx

2006-12-31T15:12:00.000+11:00

NYC is simply all about ENTERTAINMENT and my friends and I certainly got a real taste of it all within the 15days we were there! They are very big on the nightclubs which actually don't start until 12am (no complaints from us!!) , the shopping such as Macy's, Daffy's and souvenir shopping in Chinatown!!!!! and of course the touristy hotspots such as the Empire State Building, Guggenheim Museum, Wall Street + Ground Zero, Rockfeller Center, Grimaldi pizzas (mmmmmm) across the Brooklyn Bridge, the Brooklyn Bridge itself, Iceskating at Central Park, Little Italy and the Museum of Natural History (the virtual tour of how Earth was created within the massive dome at the centre of the building is higly recommended to everyone!! Trust me, it ain't "geeky"!).

A policeman on training at the Brooklyn Bridge.. view towards the East side of NYC from Brooklyn Bridge.. and from across the Brooklyn Bridge

Iceskating at Central Park... Rockfeller Center train station (eww).. at a 3hr riverside cruise (last hour = zzzzzzz)

Museum of Natural History (awesome!) ... at the Theatre District after a full day of shopping!

Twin Towers tribute...a dog walker near Tom's Restaurant from Seinfield.. (Keo this one's for you)- having my first hot dog at a corner stand in Times Square

Interior of the Guggenheim Museum

If only us girls had looked into staying there for the New Years it would've been crazy!!!!!ahhhhhhhhhh!!!

TO PHUONG:

2006-12-30T14:42:00.000+11:00

HAPPY17th BIRTHDAY my darling sis!!

-Hope you had fun baking the cake and cooking all sorts of yummy appertisers with all your friends last night. Love you, and see you soon! =)

xxx

Photos Galore

2006-12-11T02:17:00.000+11:00

My Bday Pjs Party... thanks guys for making it all so special for me =)

[Vladamir, Suzy, Annie, Yen, Bora, Abraham, me, Robin & Luis]

Switzerland... paragliding on my 25th- wow!
[Bora, Yen, Robin and I]

Italy...
[Bora and I]

Scotland...
[Yen, Bora, Suzy and I]

TO NINA:

2006-11-10T01:14:00.000+11:00

CONGRATULATIONS ON FINISHING ALL YOUR UNI EXAMS SIS =)

Lancashire

2006-11-07T06:23:00.000+11:00

Thanks Tom and Bei for your hospitality in having me over at your place over the weekend- it was such a lovely and relaxing time away from London for me! Guys, all the best with all that will come your way *fingers crossed* it's a girl for you Bei (sorry Tom)! ;) At least now I know that the baby will be due late next year and not in 2 months time!!! hahaha See you guys some time next year with something little for me to hold, back in the warm Sydney sunshine!!

xxx

P.S. I miss your lovely red bathroom!! =)

Work

2006-11-05T22:22:00.000+11:00

---------

I've been working at Stefan Zins Associates (http://www.szal.co.uk/) since June this year and I find myself still enjoy working for them. Although work can seem tedious at times (e.g. you can work on a certain part of the project for a whole week and then find yourself fixing everything back to the way it was because the client had a "change of mind"), the staff and the whole work environment actually makes up for it all. Our office consists of a vast number of nationalities and if you actually had a chance to sit at my desk you would've found that at one stage, apart from the wall on my left, directly in front of me (which let's say is the North direction) sits a South African guy and beyond him sits a South American guy, North East of me sits a Japanese guy, North East East sits a Spanish lady (my Associate), East sits an American lady (my highly regarded mentor), South East East sits an Indian lady, South East sits a Greek lady and to my South which is directly behind me sits a German guy (beyond him sits a Scottish guy). Isn't that interesting? It's a very good thing also that everyone comes from around the world because they seem to travel occasionally and they usually bring back some sweets or treats for the office! I think I can gain a lot of weight if I ended up working here longer!! However, I'm still quite the quiet character that I am and no difference to the uni days, I'm still completely immersed in my work and don't talk much. Fortunately I get to listen to my Ipod at work which helps get me through the looooong days of constantly punching the keyboard with my left hand and clicking away at my mouse with the right hand. I've recently tuned myself into 2dayfm and mix106.5 online which makes me feel slightly closer to home again... oh what a feeling that is.

With all the different nationalities in the workplace we've planned to have cultural dinners on an occasional basis so we can all go out together and try a new national cuisine that we've either never tried before or not used to eating. Several weeks back we went to Parsons Green down South West of London on the district line to try a Bolivian cuisine as introduced by our South American workmate Luis. We all had a lovely time with the very filling and delicious foods served whilst we all got a chance to mingle with one another out of the office scene. I invited my two friends Abraham and Suzy to come along and they also had an interesting time with my workmates. The next one up is German food and since I'm still single as ever, Stella will be accompanying me to this dinner which is happening next Wednesday.

About 2 weeks ago one of our team member named Marcella decided to leave the company and prior to her leaving, most people in the office got together and had lunch at a Thai restaurant called Addies down the road as a sort of farewell tradition that happens in the office. It followed by some farewell cakes and drinks towards the end of the day with a farewell present given to Marcella as contributed by everyone in the office. Honestly, the people in my office are all really nice people and they're all very enjoyable to work with in particular is Marcella who I have high regards for and had considered her as my Mentor during her time in the office. Because it was my first ever proper architectural work in an office Marcella had guided me through everything since day 1 and she actually made everything that little bit easier for me. She would always have the time not only to answer my questions but also to go over things or explain things if ever I'm unsure. I always found it difficult to open up to strangers but Marcella seemed to break that barrier as I started to open up and talked to her about certain situations regarding my travelling, family, friends and studying again. I really didn't want her to leave!

---------

-Marcella, I surely miss your company at work.
Good luck with your studies & may the best ALWAYS be with you! xxx

Contentment

2006-11-03T00:53:00.000+11:00

So it's a Thursday and I'm having one of my once again cheap lunches. On Monday I spoiled myself and had a Salsa Toasted Twister from KFC (no chips, no drinks) only because we went to Scotland over the weekend and I didn't have time to do grocery shopping for the week, Tuesday I brought into work a filling "bap" (a burger like sandwich) stuffed with roasted pork, mature cheese, lettuce and tomatoes. Yum. Wednesday (yesterday) was the same lunch but subtract the tomatoes. Today is the same as yesterday but subtract the lettuce! hehe Yes, so it's just cheese and roasted pork in a bap right now. I got desert though- a 49p hazelnut & chocolate mousse =)

Over the weekend us girls went to Scotland which was a very pleasant and relaxing trip. We accomplished our goal of doing a road trip from Glasgow to the Loch Ness region which is up North via Fort William and Glen Coe although we managed to get there 2hours behind schedule due to the difficulty of getting out of the Glasgow city centre (too many motorways and too few road signs) and got there at 7:30pm! *NOTE: Loch = Lake. It was completely dark by that time so there were no monsters to be seen but instead we took hilarious photos with the moon and outside the Loch Ness Exhibition Centre. We took the scenic route up North and my fav. drive by area is Glen Coe. Such a shame we didn't stop to take some pics though. The area is very green and hilly and you always see small streams of water running through the crests of the mountains. Beautiful! We got back to Glasgow 3hrs behind schedule and to our accomodation after midnight. Sunday we drove to Edinburgh and checked out the famous castle before having lunch and heading back to Glasgow Prestwick Airport. Driving around with a hard-to-read zoomed out map was difficult! But we all managed.

I'm leaving for Lancashire after work today (located up North, 1hr drive away from Manchester) to visit Keo's cousin Bei and her English husband Tom and staying til Sunday. I don't know Bei that well but the occasional times that I've seen her back in Australia, we seem to have got along well which is just great. I'm expecting a very lovely relaxing weekend away from the hustling and bustling London lifestyle. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE LONDON but I do find that you can easily get hyped up with all the "happenings" going on and it can get a little tiring and of course expensive. Even though 1 night out in town may work out cheap, add several nights to that and the expenses simply climbs. But then again, I won't be here for long and should make the most out of everything.. right?! I even have this diary that has never been filled up with so many days of people and places to see than right now. Wow!

What's going on?

2006-10-19T22:53:00.000+10:00

So what has been happening with me since my last blog?

After coming back from my spectacular trips to Spain, Amsterdam and Paris I had to recalculate my budget for my remaining stay in London and for my future trips since I had realised how expensive travelling overall costs! I have put down a budget for all my other trips around Europe and U.S. and unfortunately I'm left with not much to spend in London. So! I've resorted to making sandwiches everyday for lunch, am working 1- 1 1/2hrs overtime everyday to make up for the days I'll take off to travel, am buying frozen foods for some of my dinners (this reminds me of the uni days) and I'm literally hiding at home on the weekends watching Bollywood movies that makes me cry my eyes out and Audrey Hepburn classic movies. I've been doing this for the last 2weeks now and it's so sad! There are times where I can't help it and join my friends in checking out things I've never tried before e.g. Roller Disco near Kings Cross St Pancras last Friday, Salsa classes every Thursday night at Bar Salsa, 100% Design Exhibition at Earl's Court a few weeks back and The Vegemite Tales theatre show last Saturday. It's a little hard for me at the moment but I believe it will be all worth it since my whole aim of my stay in London is to work, save and to be able to travel abroad. My living status in London is now CRAP but the holidays that I am saving up for will make up for it all!

It's all on a count down now- I have exactly 12weeks remaining in London before I'm off to Asia and then home!!! Time is moving way too quickly and I really don't know if I'm ready to move on yet. Though, responsibilities awaits at home and I soon need to face the reality again. London definitely offers you the pass to escape from reality and it certainly puts a stop on everything but YOU. You get to be selfish for once and just think for yourself and it's so interesting to see what mess and fun you can get yourself into. Surely at the same time it is helping me to grow as a person and understanding my own self a little more. It's so great to feel as though you're FREE TO FLY breaking away from all the pressures and responsbilities that comes with your life. Of course it can't last forever (and of course you start missing all the good things happening back home) but to at least experience this feeling once in a lifetime is just "pure bliss". Though, as the saying goes: Beautiful bliss, too beautiful to last....

Unfortunately, I won't be travelling to Burma anymore due to several reasons but have compromised myself to reach my goals in Vietnam instead whilst visiting my relatives again (since I promised my grandparents I will return after leaving London). It's all in the process right now. Naing, sadly enough this means I won't be seeing you, your family or Kyaikasan Paya anytime soon and it's very disappointing because I had made all these plans for when I'm there again however I hope to see you, your family and the kids once again maybe at the end of 2007. Fingers crossed. Hope you all are well and happy over there =)

Due to household conflicts, my room-mate moved out over a week ago. There was much tension in the flat for some time before things blew out of proportion and sadly it had resulted to this. By the end we had all wanted her out for the sake of a better and comfortable living standard within the place. What a stressful and "bitching" time it was all back then. Ouch and ugh! I guess everything happens for a reason and for the better I believe. Abraham had moved in earlier this week to be the 4th flatmate in the place and Annie switched over to my room to be my new (and happier) room-mate. As this English guy I met would put it- "Happy Days!"

Ok, time to Salsa away.

P.S. My workplace had offered me a Permanent role! I had to turn it down but instead I will work up until I leave for New York. Oh, and I got the pay rise ;)

PARIS

2006-09-23T11:10:00.000+10:00

PARIS

16TH - 17TH SEPT

Linda's, Bora's & Annie's itinery

SATURDAY:

-Breaksfast @ 8am

-The Louvre (we stayed a good 3 hours in and around this amazing place)

-Hotel check-in + quick rest

-Shopping

-Dinner @ 7pm (approx)

-Back to hotel to rest

-Caught the tube to the Red Light District and walked up to Sacre Ceour Cathedral... back on the tube to The Louvre to check out its night view... then caught the tube again to the Eiffel Tower before making our way to Arc De Tiumphe... then strolled (more like struggled to walk) through the famous strip Champs Elysees before making it back to the Hotel for a well deserved good-night's rest!

We all couldn't get enough of the Louvre!

Sacre Ceour- who could miss this one??? ... the Eiffel tower at its glittering moment

us again at The Louvre!

SUNDAY:
Woke up at 9:30am and had gourmet breakfast in the Hotel ... got back upstairs and got changed to check out the boat cruise through the many touristy attractions... had pancakes with their favourite topping Nutella! ... went up the Eiffel Tower to the very top level for 11.00pounds... had a cheap lunch... went to check out the Notre Dame Cathedral... went back to the Hotel to check out.. then we were off to fly back to London (with a 45mins delay at the airport!)!

Eiffel Tower moments..

Bora & I posing in front of The Notre Dame Cathedral.. me being silly pretending to be someone's top half

AMSTERDAM

2006-09-23T09:34:00.000+10:00

AMSTERDAM

9TH - 10TH SEPT

Houseboat Cecilia

Yen's, Beriah's, Linda's, Bora's, Suzy's & Annie's itinery

SATURDAY:

The girls stayed over at our place the night before so we can all conveniently get up at 3am (yes, 3am!!) to catch a cab-ride to Gatwick airport and fly to Amsterdam altogether. We got into Amsterdam at around 8am and already had no intentions of finding accommodation for that first night to come as we planned to live it up rough on the streets of Amsterdam on a Saturday night! With the exception of Yen and Beriah though- they were determined to have a proper bed to sleep on and found accommodation 40mins train ride away in Rotterdam.

Firstly we checked out the Van Gogh Musuem. Afterwards we decided to take a nap in the beautiful park nearby since we were still lacking several hours of sleep the night before and only to be woken up by the cold breeze blowing onto us.

We later had dinner and afterwards made our way to The Bulldog, one of the well-known “coffee shops” in Amsterdam. Beriah and Yen soon left to head to their hotel whilst us 4 girls continued with the attempt of smoking 4 “joints” between the 4 of us for the first time in our entire life! It was hard work I tell ya! When the thing came into effect, it hit me real hard. Let’s just say I’ve never felt so lost and out of control ever! When I was“tripping" my brain was actually doing all the talking and I had to try really hard to refrain myself from talking because I had absolutely no idea what was coming out of my mouth! And to make it worse, I practically forgot every word that had slipped out! My friends had a good laugh at me after that night but at the time…my gosh, were we all packing it?! It was awful I tell ya, just awful! I was so paranoid I was scaring them and myself! At one point I was so certain I needed to go to the hospital and demanded the girls to take me and apparently they were worried about me but realized that how I was feeling was normal and tried to calm me down. It took a lot of convincing from them and I managed to sit there for some time with my eyes shut trying to take in deep breaths whilst my leg was bopping uncontrollably to the fast beat of the music that was playing in the background. Ahhhhhh it was soooo horrible!! I was even afraid to go to the toilet because I was so certain I would forget where to walk and would collapse, or that someone would try to grab me and I wouldn’t be able to run-away and the worst of worst things that I had thought of was... that I wouldnt remember how to use the toilet! Ahhhhh the things I think of! I was so busting to go at the time but I just couldn’t . I waited and waited and waited until I can picture the whole scene in my head as to how to get to the toilet, use the toilet and where to come back to. Oh it was just awful, awful awful awful! Well, just like I had mentioned about La Tomatina Day in Spain, this goes for smoking also- Ive been there, done that (with no regrets!) and I dont need to do it again! Yay!

Dinner before Disaster... eeek!

hehe.. but look how I hold the thing.. don't I just look graceful? ;) Don't worry mummy, it was my first and definitely my last time trying the god damn disgusting thing. It was Amsterdam- I just HAD to try it!

After I had managed to slightly calm down from the effect we made our way through the Red Light District and everything was a haze for me. By 2am we were all extremely tired and had wished we had accommodation to crash back at. We went to any hotels that we happened to see along our walk and everything was unfortunately full! We came the wrong weekend I tell ya! There happened to be an International Business Conference (IBC) held that weekend in Amsterdam where 40000ppl had flown in from around the world to attend the damn thing which left us with no last minute accommodation. This reception desk guy felt quite sorry for us and had allowed us 4 girls to crash in the hallway on one of the top floors. We were so grateful to him!! We got up at 6:30am though to avoid any guests coming out of their room at anytime whilst we were still sleeping and find 4 snoring girls at their doorsteps hehe. Whatta crazy night!!!! Everything surprisingly worked out for us though. It wasn't the best but we all managed- and all stuck together. Wow! I was so proud of us all! BUT... never again I tell ya, never ever again!

We can't be anymore thankful to the hotel reception guy Lekdar. This is us getting out even before the sun's up and us with our backpacks ready for another day of mission!

SUNDAY:

I still wasn't feeling 100% but had enough energy and enthusiasm to go visit my relos for YumCha the following morning! The girls on the other hand made their way to the boathouse that I had booked for us (it surely made up for the lack of accom. we had the night before) after we checked out The Anne Frank Museum. My relos and I later took a stroll back to the BoatHouse before they left me to snooze with the other girls. Lunch soon came around, same goes to shopping, then dinner, then a good night's rest before catching a cab at 3am once again to head to Schipol Airport to fly back to London.

http://www.vrbo.com/66984

-Oh what a weekend!

SPAIN

2006-09-22T22:17:00.001+10:00

SPAIN

29th AUG - 3rd SEPT

Annie's, Linda's & Bora's itinery

Days 1-3: VALENCIA

Arrived in Valencia airport on a late Tuesday night with no confirmed accomodation booking! We were fortunate enough to have met these 3 fellow Japanese guys who were also there for the Tomato Festival and they offered us 1 out of the 2 hotel rooms they had booked since one of their friends had pulled out at the last minute. Yay for us I'd say!

The following morning was La Tomatina Day and we got up bright and early at 6am, met up with the Jap guys in the lobby and off we went to Bunol, 45mins drive away where the event is held, on a yearly basis. We were there quite early and got to see the whole preparation of the festival from putting up scaffolds over the residential flats, putting disgusting fatty white grease onto the famous pole before attaching a bag of ham on the tip of it which would in fact initiate the whole festival tradition of people trying to climb up the pole with the aim of getting the ham down so we can start the tomato fight! The climb took a good two hours from 9am- 11am before someone actually got the ham down and seriously, towards the end of it all I had lost all hope in thinking the damn ham would ever come down!! People tried to climb up in groups and they tried to build a pyramid structure so one could be on the very top to reach the ham but they didn't get it right and hilariously they would always collapse and tumble down on one another hehe. In the end they all resorted to trying to climb up by themselves and one guy eventually got it- right on time at 11am!

The tomato fight then began by the sound of a loud horn and several trucks slowly drove by with people in it throwing tomatoes down at you. It was awesome!! We stayed in the main square where it all happens and it was unbelievably crowded. On one side of the square you had people on a stage holding massive and powerful hoses and constantly pouring it over the crowd (possibly a way of cleaning off the tomatoes on us) whilst we all were picking up the tomatoes and chucking it at eachother! It was sooooooo fun!! The ground soon became flooded with the water, tomatoes, ripped shirts and the dirt that's usually on the road- eeew that was disgusting! The only downside to it all was that the Spainsh local guys would try to rip off girl's shirts. Yes, they don't have any respect for us girls- especially those that aen't local! They would pick a girl, circle her and try to rip her shirt off. It is awful as it sounds but apparently it's some sort of tradition. They go abit too far though (possibly because they're drunk) and they'd even try to rip off whatever's under the shirt! I got surrounded by them several times but I managed to escape from them but my friend was unlucky and got her shirt ripped off from the front and one of her cossie straps got pulled off too! She ended up wearing her shirt back to front to cover more of herself. Towards the end I got pretty paranoid and couldn't wait for the whole festival to end. The throwing of tomatoes had gone on for a good two hours!!

The event was definitely a crazy experience for us girls and we have no regrets being there (even with the ripped shirt and paranoia)- I'm happy to say that I've been here, done that and I don't need to do it again! =)

Us girls with the Japanese guys during the traditonal climb... right before the party began

Ahhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!

Days 3-5: BARCELONA

I simply love this city and would love to come back! It's an amazing city with so much to do from checking out the Gothic buildings with all thanks to the Architect Antonio Gaudi with his famous Sagrada Familiar and Parc Quell... the shopping which has endless numbers of stores to check out and they all don't close til 9pm every day-ahh! ... the many different tours to go on.. the food.. the strolls esp. down the famous strip The Rambla... the museums and exhibitions.. ahh! The list goes on! We all loved it here and wished we could've stayed here longer because we couldn't do as much as we had planned. Though, with all our mighty energy and endurance we surely did make the most of the 3 days we were here!

What a walk it was up to Parc Quell!

Breakfast in Barcelona.. ooh la la!

me at Spain's Arc De Triumphe.. me at Gaudi's Sagrada Familiar

Day 6: MADRID

Well, we knew there wasn't much to check out in Madrid but since our flight back to London departs at Madrid Airport on the Sunday, we gave Madrid that one day to check out. The Picasso Museum located in this city is opened free for the public on the first Sunday of every month and what do you know.. we were right on time! It was a long queue but it was all worth it. This is my favourite painting..

Update?

2006-09-22T07:33:00.000+10:00

Yes.. I will update this page soon!

So much has been happening lately I haven't really found the time to just sit in front of the computer and type away. Travelling on one weekend with a jam packed itinery then returning to London to work on the weekdays before travelling again and again the next few weekends with other jam packed itineries is absolutely tiring- but it's all worth it, I'd say! I had a blast! Pictures of my trip to Spain, Amsterdam and Paris will be uploaded soon. Perhaps no typing will be necessary since a picture tells a thousand words? ;)

Out and about..

2006-08-13T03:59:00.000+10:00

So in the last week we had two lovely guests staying at our place. Yen (my good friend's sister) and her friend Suzy arrived in London last Friday and dossed at our place up until yesterday when they had found themselves a nice cozy place just 10mins away from where we live. Irene and I met up with the two girls today for breakfast/lunch at a chinese buffet and my gosh, we were stuffed! At £5.50 you just can't go wrong! There were all these chinese dishes to select from and to name a few: seafood n sweet corn soup, sweet n sour chicken, fried rice, peking chicken (they've replaced the duck), noodles, the Japanese bar where you select from a range of vegies and noodles and they'd cook it up for you instantly (I had vegetable yakisoba, yum!), deserts such as fruit salad, longan, watermelon, pineapples, banana fritters and icecream! My gosh, was that a Brunch or what?!! I think Sydneysiders will see a fat Linda next year!!! Well afterwards we took a walk back to the girls' place to check out their comfy place just 5mins from where we were before going off to do our own things. Now is 7:20pm and the two girls will come over in an hour or so to have a few cocktails and get ready with us to go out and celebrate Burieh's 25th at club Capisce! Oh what a night it'll be!

So last Saturday I cooked my specialty spaghetti for dinner where Abraham and Marco joined us. Our flat was completely packed out with people but we all had a good time sitting around talking and laughing. The night was still young so we soon decided to head down to the bar just down the street from where we live to have a few more drinks and dance away. We all had a great time including the 2 guests staying with us! (as shown in pics below, in particular Yen and her bright blue tongue!)

The following day Sunday I finally met up with Stella for the very first time since she arrived in London and it was great seeing another familiar face over here. She'll be moving to the lovely area Angel/Islington soon which means it'll be easier for us to meet up as she won't be living so far away. We met up and had Yum Cha (here they call it Dim Sum) with Suzy, Yen, David, Abraham and my flatmates. Sunday was all about eating for us really. Kyne came over in the evening to cook us his supposedly killer risotto which turned out to be abit too runny but the 5 of us girls+him managed to have a grand time sitting around talking and laughing and going through 6 wine bottles! Wow! He's in the Alps hiking right now so we'll all catch up with him when he gets back.

Oh yes, I found out that my workplace has extended my contract but only for 3weeks. For now. The director informed me that when the time comes close to the end again I may be asked to stay a little longer depending on the amount of work available. I really like this place but I don't want to sit around and wonder exactly how long I'll be working here so in a few weeks time I'm going to start to look for a new job with hopefully better pay!!!

More to look forward to I'd say! =)

Marco entertains us with his singing

Walking towards the bar from our place

Woohoo!

Chef Kyne and his assistants (ooh la la)

...the beautiful Stella and I in Chinatown

Travelling bug

2006-08-02T22:42:00.000+10:00

Oh yes, the travelling bug has really gotten to me.

Golly Gosh guess where I'll be during this Christmas?? NEW YORK CITY!!! ahhhhhh I can't believe it! My flatmates and I have made the booking and we'll be going to America for 2wks!!! Cool bananas!

I miss Burma quite abit especially the kids there so I've decided to leave London a week earlier than intended to spend the week in this beautiful country. I have a photo of the lovely kids beside my bed and everytime I look at them they make me feel really happy... I can't wait to see them again! Nina, I really do hope you can get registered to become the Great Pharmacist you'll be by this time as it'll be great if you can join me on this adventure in Burma! You'll love the kids too sis!

Naing- this means that I'll be seeing you and your beautiful family again! Oh I miss Bey Bey! Also, I can buy your Gemology set in London too!

Oh I can't wait to travel!

Oh and we're looking at travelling to Amsterdam some time soon for some space cookies! ;)

M.I.L.K

2006-07-31T06:16:00.000+10:00

If anyone's bored, can spare 12mins and have their speakers on, do check out this clip by clicking on the [PLAY] symbol from this website:

http://www.milkphotos.com/milkav2.htm

It's an inspiration and will certainly bring a smile to anyone's face. I love it!

It's the weekend!

2006-07-29T23:32:00.000+10:00

- My friends and I have just booked our next trip... PARIS!!!!!! We've booked it almost 2mnths in advance because it's cheaper. Woohoo! Since we're all currently working we can only find the time to travel during the weekends but that should be sufficient. Fly out early Sat morning and arrive back in London on Sunday night. Can't wait!

- My workplace has asked me to stay longer. My contract will now be extended (not sure for how long yet but I'm hoping til January, the end of my stay in London) and I'm hoping to get a little bit of a pay rise *fingers crossed*. I've been working an extra hour each day which works out to be 45hrs/wk, in order to make up the week that I'll be in Spain!! It's a little tiring but I'm enjoying the work I'm doing. Architecture's not so bad after all!

- My time in London has become a routine now so there is not much "excitement". I simply can't wait to travel! The weekend is all about relaxing and I just looooove Sundays!! I do nothing! We usually go out on Saturday night and Sunday becomes our lazy day where we wind down by sleeping a lot and become couch potatoes in front of the telly all day. I love it!

- Thanks to Beriah, we went to see another 3pound theatre show the other night. I liked it! We went to see The RatPack on Wednesday night at The Savoy Hotel and it was really enjoyable!! Its a re-enactment of Frank Sinatra, Dean and Sammy who used to play shows together in the past. I'm starting to enjoy what London has to offer. Can't wait for more theatre shows!!

- It's Saturday 2:45pm now and my friends wants to go shopping . I need to buy foundation and moisturising cream. Time to go!

***UPDATE***

It's now 12:26am and I'm finally home after a looooooong day of shopping with Annie and Bora. We've assured ourselves that we're not shopping again until Winter hits us! It's the last day of the half yearly sale in London and so all shops were opened to 8pm and not surprisingly we all stayed til the shops were closed! We're all allowed to shop anyways, we're on holiday!! On the way home on the tube, we got chatting with a Melbourne guy named Kyne who has been here for a year and we all ended up having a loooooooong dinner together... all four of us at a Thai restaurant near our place. He turned out to be pretty nice and have agreed to come over to our place some time to cook a killer risotto (yummo!) and Bora will be the assistant in order to learn how to cook proper risotto for us all!!!

Photos of us girls today making the most of the last day sale....

Us girls with our shopping bags... me showing off my Harrods bag where I bought my MAC foundation

And a few other photos of my time in London so far..

Same setting, different occasion: Getting ready to go out on Bora's bday... A night in playing Charades..

On the tube, ready for a girls night out... In Trafalgar Square (no, the guy hugging me is not my new bf. That's Irene's brother Darrio who is known to be quite affectionate to everyone simply because he's Italian! He's harmless hehe)..

Our place on top of the Kebab n Red Cross shop, the very top with the window open.. Inside Kew Gardens.. ..and me somewhere in London!

I wish for everyone I know in the world are all well and happy!
=)

I finally had PHO!

2006-07-19T06:29:00.000+10:00

I had been craving for the Vietnamese dish Pho for quite some time now after my sister mentioned that she had it in Cabramatta back home and how delicious it was (thanks Phuong!) and so I got the girls to go with me to eat it over the weekend. It took us 1 1/2hours by train to get to the Vietnamese district Hackney to have the Pho! Unbelievable! And to think that it only takes me 5-10mins to travel to have Pho back home, I surely took it for granted. Well! The pho just doesn't compare to the ones I've had back home but it's "good enough" =)

Bora, me, Annie & Beriah @ Tre Viet having our first bowl of Pho in London!

------

Today London reached 34 degrees celcius and it is The hottest day that London has ever experienced. The bad thing is, it'll be hotter for the next few days! My place is not made for hot weathers especially when it's small and there are 4 people living in it. Forecast shows that tomorrow will hit around 38degrees (ouch!) and so it will be a boiler and I will definitely sweat like I had sweat in Burma when I'm out playing softball after work!! This is definitely not what I expected of London. I've always heard it's a cold and dreary place but right now it is not the case... I guess everyone here is trying to make the most out of the sun-rays and sun baking as much as they can. I find it way too hot and I can't even sleep well at night!

-----

Guess where I'm flying to next?? Bora, Annie and I are going to Spain!! We're going for 6days and we'll be hitting La Tomatina Day (throwing of tomatoes) on 30th August in Bunol, staying there for 2 days before heading to Barcelona to check out the unique gothic buildings by Gaudi and then spending our last 2 days in Madrid! Woohoo!!!!

-----

Oanhsta, hope you and Craig have a blast in Vietnam!!! All the best! xxx

Exactly 5months since I left...

2006-07-16T02:48:00.000+10:00

So I've been away from home for exactly 5months now and my time in London seems to be flying by very quickly!

Here, by category is how I perceive London so far...

[Transport]

Everyone here mainly uses a travel pass called an Oyster card in which you would've registered for it before using and you can forever hold onto it as you simply top it up whenever necessary. Getting a weekly travel pass to get around London via trains and buses is an absolute must! I pay £22.20 to get into zones 1 & 2 and and that covers the central London area and its peripheries which is where I live. I can really go by with a £14.00 pass and travel only in zone2 which is where I work and live and top up £1.00 each time I travel to central London.. so I might do that next week. It only takes me 15-20mins to actually get from my place to anywhere in central London so everything is nice and close and it is the only way to get around London unless you want to lose an arm and a leg for a cab-ride! I didn't mention this but going back to my very first day in London when I arrived at Heathrow airport and had to catch a cab to my friend's place in East Acton due to a misunderstanding (really, it wasn't my fault), I was absolutely shocked with how much I had to fork out for the cab-ride! I only had $200AUD on me and I changed $100 thinking that it would be more than enough to cover a cab-ride but I was so so wrong! $100AUD converted to £39 and my cab-ride was £45!!!!! I was in total shock and since I had been stuck at Terminal 4 airport for quite some time late that evening, I was determined to get out of there and so I changed the remaining $100AUD I had, got in the black cab and 1/2hr later I got to my friend's place. Sadly enough, my friend wasn't even there! Well, it's all in the past now and it's best to leave it there. SOOOOOO don't ever catch a black-cab but if you really really must then go through a mini-cab company who would charge you less!

Going back to trains and buses.. so it's very convenient to get from place to place. The train station is known as the TUBE and the system here works much differently than back home (it's way better over here). Whether you love or hate the system, you got to live with it if you're to stay in London. I especially hate catching public transport in the middle of the night when you're on your way home from after clubbing. The trains stops working at 1am so you literally have to find the appropriate buses on the streets to get you back home. Sometimes it entails you catching more than 1 bus! Ugh, oh how I miss being in the comfort of a car back home!!!

[Shopping]

Primark is the best store for any girl to shop at who is on a budget at any level. It's in comparison to Target back home only better because everything is more cheap, more fashionable and surprisingly sooooo many people go here! It's the best place to get manchester goods also. Example, if you don't convert the cost back to AUD but consider it as the same dollar value, you can get a nice V-neck cotton jumper for £5, a bra for £4, a pair of flats for £10, a towel for £3.50, a pillow for £5, a pair of grey work pants for £10, a business skirt for £5, and plain t-shirts for £2.50. I actually bought a whole set of business clothes in here and it was all under £25! Don't forget- DO NOT CONVERT! That is the rule over here, never ever convert back to AUD currency or else you're in for a shock. To make it all better, once you find work over here everything becomes reasonably affordable. Yay!

"Vintage" shopping is also great! Although some clothes maybe second hand, they are unique especially the accessories such as bags and belts. You can get really good bargains in stores like Oxfam, Traid and The Red Cross. I recently got another pair of lovely high heel boots (which I wore to clubbing) for only £2!!!! And it looks great on me too!!! =)

My all time favourite store: ZARA!!!! I love this place!!

[Entertainment]

I went to a theatre show the other evening for only £3! I went to see Whistle down the Wind, a small show and it was pretty interesting. Our friend tends to buy cheap tickets at work through a charity organisation and we get to benefit from it! Maybe one day she'll have cheap tickets to Les Miserables because I really want to see the show as I've heard nothing but great things about this show. There are quite a few theatres in London and it's great entertainment to get into!

I've been clubbing a few times and the scenes are great! Obviously you're not bound to meet anyone from back home and it's great that way as it allows you to not care what others think so you can do whatever you want! Nothing naughty of course ;) There are always a good mixture of people in the crowd also.

Hyde Park is a really nice place to be at on a lovely day. The place is so massive and lots of people go here to play sports and sun-bake. I've been here a few times to play softball and had a picnic the other day with my flatmates. There is also a man-made lake in the middle of the park where everyone tends to sit around. Just beautiful!

[Food]

Simply eat in! When you've got housemates it's ideal to eat in because everyone can take turn cooking and cleaning up and you save money to spend on better things like travelling!!! A home cooked meal costs anywhere between £4-10 for a very decent meal and it can be slightly higher if you want to have a feast and to split that amongst 3 ppl, it's not even £4 per person for a dinner meal! We average about £7 per meal for the 3 of us so far and once all 4 of us housemates are finally under the same roof we can either save a little more or have a bigger feast! =p

Eating out can be a little costly, depending on where you go. An average meal (without a drink) is about £6 per person and to eat out for lunch and dinner frequently can be costly. Basically, cooking at home and sharing it around is ideal in London!

I've been craving for Pho badly in the last few days and my friends and I have planned to go have it soon in Hackney, a district of mainly vietnamese people -can't wait!

[Working]

I'm enjoying it! Well, so far that is. I work in Earl's Court, only 2 stations away from where I live and it only takes me 15-20 mins to get there!! I work 9am-6pm, 40hrs a week and the pay rate is just OK. I can't complain since it's my first proper Architectural job in an office! And it's in London too! Woo hoo! =) I'm on a 6-8wks rolling contract and I've been here for a good 3 weeks now. I have a huge feeling that they will ask me to stay longer and if they do, *fingers crossed* I can ask for a pay rise. I'm working on a large residential project of 600 houses and I've got the role of taking care of one the blocks. At the moment I'm basically bringing all the drawings up to date like all the other blocks and I'm even allowed to do a little bit of decision making in the project! Cool ay?! It's a pretty interesting project I must say and let's hope I can work on it for all the time I'm here in London!

[Renting]

We all found a place where us 4 can live comfortably and can still save money to travel around Europe. We pay a total of £280/wk for rent and council tax between the 4 of us and it works out very very reasonable when we divide the cost between us all. We pay extra for hot water and electricity but the cost all depends on how much electricity we end up using. We have a thing we regard as an Electricity Key and we simply go out to a store to top up (usually £5/person) and we hold onto the key until the electricity we've been using runs out. When it's low (it never runs out as there is always emergency credit provided for us to use), we take this key to the electric box and insert it to re-top our electricity availabilty. We go out to the store some time later again to re-top the key for the next round. £20 electricity covers us for a good 2-3wks. Not bad!

Sharing a flat/house with others could be a little difficult if everyone is quite different to one another and aren't willing to compromise.. however I'm quite fortunate in this aspect. I've met these girls from the old house (thanks to David) and we all know how to give and take a little and be considerate for eachother's sake. We're all happy girls and we all go out together, cook and clean in turn aswell. It's great to have such company in London because it could get a little lonely otherwise. London can get a little expensive if you go out all the time so there are times when it's best to stay indoors and having good company allows everyone to simply enjoy eachother's company through watching a good dvd movie after having a nice dinner together, then having some drinks and maybe play some games like Charades and Monopoly! ..which is what we've done!

-------

Some ridiculous things to mention about London..
- a land-line to land-line call is not charged as 1 local call but it's charged by the minute!!
- you are required to get a TV license if you intend to watch TV in your own home!! And it doesn't come cheap... £126.50 per year!!!!
- if you travel by car into the city during the peak hours, you have to pay a congestion charge of £8 simply to enter the zone each day! That's just ridicuolous!
- you have to swipe your oyster card (travel pass) upon entering and exiting the platform whether the gates are widely open or not or else you will automatically be charged an extra £5 on your card!!!

1wk into my first job in London

2006-07-03T22:40:00.000+10:00

Wow, I started last Monday and prior to entering the office I was extremely nervous! Why?! Obvious reason: I've never worked in a proper Architectural firm before. And to make it more nerve-racking, it's a med-large scale firm! Ahhh! BUT BUT BUT.. after an hour or two into the project (I'm working on the project: FENGATE in Peterborough where we're designing several new blocks of residential flats that will take over an existing brownfield site) ,I found myself at ease and comfortable in this role. It feels like the uni-days all over again with the constant CADDING throughout my time here but fortunately the difference here to Uni is that I'm not cadding 24/7 and having allnighters to get my project done. I'm so relieved this is not the case and that my skin's not constantly breaking out and I'm losing weight due to sleepless nights, not eating right and simply just under stress. Here, I work 9am-6pm with an hour lunch-break, and if our work's not finished by "home-time" we don't have to stay back to complete it- we can simply work on it the following day. Yay!

My company plays Softball with other professional companies every Wednesday after work at Hyde Park and I joined in last week and it was great! I love softball way back since the highschool days so I'll be joining in every week from now on. It's quite laid back and no one takes the game so seriously. All the guys are leniant towards the girls so we don't get out as much hehe. A lady at work took some pictures of us whilst we were on the field so I can attach it to my blog.

The weather's been quite hot over here- 30degrees and above! My housemates and I went to Hyde Park over the weekend to have a picnic whilst gawking at the guys playing sports and checking out the girls in bikini which is very common over here and unusual for us to see because it's a park and there are no beaches around!

Everything has been working out very well for me over here. So far, that is. Who knows what tomorrow will bring. *fingers crossed* though that everything will stay almost just the way it is.

I've been missing home very much and recently we got a phone line installed at our place so I can make frequent and cheap calls home. However, did you know that London charges calls INCLUDING land-line to land-line by the minute? That's just ridiculous! It'll be cheaper for people in Australia to call me than me calling them. We'll be getting broadband soon which will make life a little easier and cheaper for the 4 of us here.

Home phone number: +442032660143; Mobile number +447900531477

I cooked Lasagna the other night!!! My uncle in Holland should be so proud of me because I learnt to cook the dish from him! It was quite easy actually. David came over to eat including Katie and Thomas who I know back in Australia and it was the first time I met them here in London. She was so surprised to see me here! hehe

Time to leave work now. It's 7:15pm!!

I got a job!!!

2006-06-23T22:33:00.000+10:00

Well I went to my first ever job interview in London yesterday and an hour later I got a call from the job agency who gave me the good news!! Ahhhh I got the job!!! The pay is a little lower than expected but quite reasonable for a starting role and a step in the door within the Architectural industry for me!

I'll be working on a rolling contracting min. 6-8wks in a med-large Architectural practice called Stefan Zins where my role will be as an Architectural Assistant/ Technician. (http://www.szal.co.uk/ ) I'm a little nervous because I havent touched AUTOCAD for a good year now so I'll need to brush up on my skills before starting on Monday! I can't believe I actually got a foot in the door- it will be a great challenge for me, I can't wait! And then.... I can't wait to finish the contract so I can go travelling again!! =D

-yay!!!

Still looking...

2006-06-19T19:26:00.000+10:00

- So we've finally moved out-yay! And there were new duvets, bed sheets and quilt covers so I didn't have to go out and buy them!! I've finally got my own bed and am sharing a room with Irene whilst Bora has her own room until Annie comes back from her tour around Europe.
- Still unemployed... =( BUT I've got the patience to wait!
- I'm spending quite abit when I shouldn't be!
- We never reached Scotland the other weekend but instead we travelled to Leeds, York Castle, The Roman Baths and to Stonehenge. It was one uncomfortable sleep for the 4 of us in the car! Never again I tell ya.. never again!
- Last night in the old house: the crazy guy spat beer at Bora and never admitted to it! -even when we all saw it!!! He's crazy I tell ya!
- Went clubbing at poshy Capisce and saw lots of Sydney-siders there. We even got our photo taken at the club!
- I'm cooking tonite... I think I'll make Bruschetta as entree and Spaghetti as the main. We're all trying to eat healthy so I don't know if I should buy Icecream for dessert. We all really need to work out. There's a park directly across the road from where we live and Bora intends for us all to go jogging there every arvo... hmmmmz I don't know about that! Though, I do still look pregnantish- ahhhh!

- Oanhsta- I went to Camden Town yesterday!!! Not for dnb though, just to check out the massive market. I'm so sure that it's your kind of place missy!! =) Man, I'm really starting to miss all you guys!!!

- Jimmy- I knew I left my Burmese purse behind! Im sure you'll take good care of it for me -even if you don't like it! hehe

Having breakfast in front of the Abbey Church... York Castle

At the beautiful Roman Bath..... drinking water from the fountain of youth (yeh right!)

Our new living area WITH sofas! .... Bora, myself and Irene at club Capisce

What's been happening..

2006-06-10T02:08:00.000+10:00

- Am still looking for a new place for us 4 girls to move into. There is one potential flat in Brook Green that I checked out today- 2 double bedroom (big enough for storage space and to fit 2 single beds), a separate dining and living space (with a TV!), lots of sunlight and ventilation, washer AND dryer, close to Hammersmith station, convenient to shops and small restaurants nearby, clean kitchen (with HOTPLATES!), and a very clean bathroom. We're viewing the place again this evening and if the girls like it, we're putting down a deposit immediately and can move in MONDAY!!

- Currently living with a "crazy" 30yr old house mate who talks to himself when no one is around. He's starting to scare us girls in the house a lot with the Italian words that comes out of his mouth (one of the girl's Italian so she can understand him)... "I want to eat those girls".... " How can I deal with those bitches"... and Irene offered him ice-cream last night and he turned around and said to her "Put it up your ass". Ahhhhhh!! Since last night, I really want to move out ASAP!

- Have got my FIRST interview with an Architectural company on Monday. I'm a little nervous atm... *fingers crossed also!* Have been a little stressed out from applying for so many jobs and looking for a new place to stay since I got back from Holland. I only recently registered with some agencies who specifies in Architecture to look for work for me and it's so much easier to let them handle it all than having me go to the internet cafe everyday and surf for jobs. If only I had done it sooner!

- Went to an interesting photo shoot with David the other day. Amongst a few other asians we wore all black with our hair tied and slicked back to look "sheek" and "professional" and we stood behind the female singer in the photo shoots. Her name's China and she's an upcoming singer here in the UK-the photo shoots were for her promotional advertisements and her album cover. I got to be in two different photo shoots, it was fun!!

- Have been convinced to go to Scotland this weekend with other housemates (not the crazy dude!) because it is cheap. David has rented a car for us and according to his words, "I'll tie you up and throw you in the boot" if I don't go! -hehe only joking that is!

- Still getting used to settling into the London lifestyle. It's not easy when you're unsettled with no proper place to stay or even have a job. I give myself another week or two for it to all work out...

*fingers crossed*

P.S. My cousin Jimmy, you were wrong!! In regards to soccer, Australia ain't sh** at all!!! 1-1 for Australia vs Netherlands! Hah! :)

TRINH'S 25TH!

2006-06-07T01:38:00.000+10:00

Happy "quarter of a century" my dear friend!!! =)

I hear you'll be having a spectacular celebration with the girls at Thanh's place and I hope you have the best of time on this special night of yours... "my lady" ;)

All the best to you in the next quarter to come and may all your plans in life be fulfilled by then!

Sending you lotsa love and hugs all the way from London.....

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxooxoxox

P.S. Just in case, I didn't miss your bday! Today's 06/06/06 however the date is showing up as the 7th!! Hmmmz :/

P.S.S. I am sooooo sorry Trinhy!!!!!!!!!! (we both know why :/)

Time to settle in London

2006-05-30T23:25:00.000+10:00

Well I'm back in London. I managed to lug my 23kg suitcase and an 8kg backpack alongside a little side bag onto 3 trains before walking around the corner to get to the place I'm staying at! My biggest fear was arriving at the place and finding out that out of the 14 ppl staying there, no one would be home since it's a weekday and all may be at work. Well what do you know, that was the case!!! Grrrrr! I emailed my friends when I would arrive but silly me, I emailed them too late to hear a reply- typical me. Not to worry, the landlord dropped by so I managed to leave my luggage inside.

It's amazing what 1mnth stay at a place can do for you as compared to 1week stay. I'm so happy I unexpectedly stayed with my relatives in Holland for this long because it gave me the chance to know them all the more better and to learn from them also. This trip further confirmed how important family is for me and I can get so emotional from just thinking about it! Thank you all for taking care of me when I was there!! xxx

Well, it is time for me to settle in London and find work. I am dreading the fact that I'm going to attempt to find architectural work here when I don't have a portfolio or much of my architectural works with me (thanks again for sending them over William!). I originally planned to take a year off from the field since studying the course for 5 1/2yrs had really got to me. But, it would be advantageous and easier to find work back home if I have the practical experience from another country. Not that I want to, but I should do what's good for me, right? I may not even be able to get any job within the field here due to my lack of preparation BUT I will give it a go!! *fingers crossed*

I'll be moving out of this place I'm staying at hopefully soon with 3 other girls who also lives here. It's much more comfortable living with less people and with all girls. I so hope we'll move out soon... somewhere that's cleaner and with a better bathroom, that's all I want!

I am starting to miss home a lot but I try not to think of it too much. There is still so much ahead to experience before I can say I'm ready to go home.

Time to settle in London...

TOMMY'S BDAY

2006-05-27T09:04:00.000+10:00

Happy Belated birthday my friend!!! -At least better than never yeah? :}

Well, I hope you had a lovely day on the 25th, have a lovely dinner tonight with the others and good luck in finding a more satisfying and less-stressful firm to work for!

Sending you best wishes all the way from Holland...

xox

Almost 3wks in Holland and still counting!

2006-05-19T20:39:00.000+10:00

WEIGHT: 54kg!!

It's a very cloudy and windy day today so I decided to postpone my cheese market visit hopefully til next Friday and laze about indoors all day today whilst my relos are all at work or at school.

Well, my original plan was to visit my relos for 1 wk here in Holland and then go back to London to work but its way off the charts now! There are still lots of small events I want to attend to (such as my cousin's final soccer match, selling spring rolls in front of my relos store during art week, checking out Madurodam a miniature city of Holland and checking out some interesting houses and buildings around the cities) SO we've decided, and as much as I NEED to go back to London t work and save up, I'll leave here on the 29th/30th, after the Long Weekend.

I've been practicing and have improved on riding the bike, yay! I can even ride with one hand!- but just for a short while though ;)

Ooh! The other day my cousins insisted that I go outside and play soccer with them after dinner. I really didn't want to play at all but they kept on insisting and I ended up giving in and giving the sport a go. You know what they taught me?!!! To kick the ball with my forehead! At first I was reluctant to do such a thing but they kept on pushing me to give it a go and so I did- It really hurts! It was hilarious. We decided to take a pic and capture the moment of me jumping up and whacking the ball with my head. My elder cousin had the camera and was ready to take the pic after my other cousin had thrown the ball at me to whack BUT my cousin could never take the pic in time and kept capturing the moment just before or after I whack it (Can't blame him, I gave it a go myself later and it's just impossible)! I had to whack the ball with my head over and over again so he can get it right but it never worked out and so after like the 10th go, I gave up! It was probably a good thing that the pic never worked out because looking at the pics of me after I had whacked the ball, it ain't pretty!! But i'll share it anyways...hehe

SNACKS SNACKS SNACKS: This is mainly where I gained my 1.5kg from!! I don't think I've ever loved french fries as much as I love it here!! They call it "patat" and it's sold for approx. 1.80Euros and it's wrapped in paper, in a cone-like shape and it's just delicious! They use mayo instead of ketchup here but it's not the like the mayo we have back home- it's less sweet which makes it easier to eat with the patat. I've practically had it every day I've been here except for the days I never went out. Yummo! I gave their specialty snack "Frikandel" a go (sounds like Freaking hell!) and I didn't like it. It's a big sausage made up of horse, pig and chicken meat! yeah... not too appetising hehe. I tried their pancake as a snack and it was just delicious! I had the one with syrup in it but you can choose toppings of jam, chocolate, cinnamon and all these other flavours! I'm starting to get those ulsers inside my mouth from eating too much junk.... but I can't help eating 'em all!! =)

I've been to my relos delicatessen a few times and helped out a little (mainly with the dishes which is the one thing I can do well). It's a food chain-store and it has a range of cold food that had been cooked prior (e.g. fried rice, meat balls in some special sauce, a range of noodles, marinated chickens etc) where the customers just needs to buy, bring home and heat up before serving (saves them time from cooking dinner). So I'll be here at their store on Sunday 28th to help fry and sell spring rolls in front of their store where the art event is held. Should be fun!

6 years ago when I was first here we visited Amsterdam so my relos decided for me to check out ROTTERDAM this time round. I don't remember much of Amsterdam just that many of their buildings were historical and here in Rotterdam it is quite the contrast. More contemporary buildings because of the restoration of the city after WWII. Well, as usual we went shopping!! I think I saw more of the insides of the shops than the city of Rotterdam! heheh I managed to take photos between the going outs and going ins of stores and walking to and fro from the car to the shops and to the restaurants. It's really beautiful here.

It's Women's Week this week and with my aunty and her 2 best friends, we had a day out at a festival held specifically for women. It was jam packed and you just knew it was going to be sofrom seeing all the parked cars at the entrance- though it was beautiful It was a very looooong day but very pleasant since the event was held beside the beach. It was overwhelming to see so many women at one place and so tiring to check out any clothing store since ALL the women are looking at the same thing you are! Anyway, I so envy my aunty's friendship with her 2 close friends. It made me think of us girls and I so hope we'll grow and stick together when we're older just like them!

ALKMAAR: The area where my relos lives in is just beautiful. There are lots of canals/rivers around the area and some houses are lucky to have it connected to their backyard. You can see people canoeing through these rivers and people bike-riding at the side of it. Wow, it really makes you want to join in and be active! No wonder my cousins are always wanting to DO something. Jimmy, my elder cousin here plays Soccer whereas Danny plays tennis. It's so great to see people be so energetic because they encourage you to be the same!

**Ooh.. my aunty's not feeling so well today (food poisoning from the dinner we had after the women's week festival) so I'm going out to help at their shop. Time to get ready...

To Wil/Yud/Johnny/Socks

2006-05-12T23:35:00.000+10:00

Woohoo Woohoo Woohoo!! Congratulations to William, Yudhi, Johnny & Sock Mui on Graduating today!!! =)

I'm so happy that you guys have made it and now we have all jumped over that loooooooong and challenging hurdle known as UNI and are far away from all those excruciating all-nighters and stressful presentations! Well, not exactly "far" away from it all but you know what I mean ;) ... it's time to party!!!!!!

Darn I wish I could be there and celebrate this special day with you all but we'll all celebrate again when I get back ok?!! Don't forget to email me some of the graduation pics in the meantime!!

Well, I hope you guys all had a lovely day today with your family and friends... CONGRATULATIONS once again!!! =)

10th day in Holland

2006-05-10T03:39:00.000+10:00

Weight: 51.5kg (it's actually short 1kg so I'm really 52.5kg!)

Well, I've extended my stay in Holland! I was meant to leave here last Sunday 7th but my relos made me realise that I might aswell stay here for an extra week or so (in comfort and free from expenses) and apply for jobs in London online through their PC rather than having to go to the Internet Cafe everyday in London and pay for it and pay for food etc for the week- yeah yeah! =P So i had to let go of my return ticket and will have to buy a one way ticket back to London... when I'm ready =)

I just updated my resumes for different job categories which hopefully I'll look into tomorrow. Remember that live-in carer job? Well, I tried to fill in an online application form for a company/agency associated to the field the other day and I typed in all the information they wanted including my height, weight etc and guess what? I was rejected even before I finished completing the form! I clicked on "under 55kg" as my weight and was then rejected!!! They say I'm underweight! Ahhhh! I guess they do have a point though.. how am I meant to carry an old lady from her bed to a wheelchair if I'm stick thin ay?! I might injure her and myself at the same time! hehehe Anyways, I'm not too worried... lots of other jobs are out there for me (i think!). THOUGH my relos are happy to take on the job of fattening me up over here before sending me back to London to work. I have been eating a lot (and yes, that spaghetti shown on the dining table was cooked by me, yes me!!!!) but it all seems to go to my stomach... which looks disgusting since the rest of me is stick thin! =O I'm expected to drink milk nightly and this special milk daily by my aunty... ugh how I hate milk! BUT I'm up for it all- just give me an extra 4kg in the next week (or so) and I'll be over the moon! Oanh, maybe I will get to be the same weight as you soon!!!!!!!

Yes, my aunty makes some killer salads. She loves salads and I love it too- yay!!! They know that I love cheese and have been bringing home all sorts of cheese for me to taste. Fortunately the suburb that they live in (Alkmaar) is famous for their cheese!! I'm gonna check out the cheese factory this Friday... woo hoo!

Another blooper: whilst riding my aunty's bike the other day with my cousins down to the fields to watch one of them play a soccer match, I managed to ride INTO the entrance gate instead of through it! And it's embarrassing because you can see all these little kids around you who can ride with only one hand and gliding through the gate with ease whereas I can barely ride with both my hands!!! Man, I can be such a clutz! I'm so not good on a bike.. I constantly shake and can't even ride in a straight line without shrieking every minute without thinking I'll fall (especially onto a curb like you Oanh!! hehe) Eek! BUT I'll try to get into it here and practice before coming home and ride a bike around town with you girls!!! ;)

It's so great to be able to access Hotmail again and to join in all the girly convos!!! Though yes I know... I need to have my say in the emails too ;) ..soon! I've just been overwhelmed and have taken my time to read all the emails that I missed out on!!!

Oanhsta, Kaz & Trinh- you know how much I don't understand drum'n'bass but for you girls, I will give it one more go and this time in its hometown, London!! Maybe the scene here is heaps better? I'll try to find people who are interested in these gigs and tag along with them in the hope that their love for d'n'b will rub off on me! *fingers crossed*

Stella & Kaz- I can't believe I will one day see you on this side of the world- ahhh!!

Okiez, so wish me luck with my job hunting.. *fingers crossed*

***My darling sister Phuong- I hope you are doing your best to study at home. Please don't go out too much, help more around the house and be good to mum and Nina, ok?!!!!! Now that I'm gone you've got the room to yourself but don't abuse it... study darling, it's only 2 years and you're free!! You can do it! =)

Days in Holland...

2006-05-04T17:09:00.000+10:00

Sheesh, can you believe that I just managed to let the smoke alarm go off at my relos place?- from cooking 2 small buns for breakfast?!!!! Aahhhh!!! New technology these days, sheesh! You see... I turned their oven to the desired temperature as stated on the pack and put the timer on for 5mins only to realise AFTERWARDS that the timer is not a timer but a microwave instead!! You're suppose to use one or the other but I shockingly cooked (and burnt) my 2 buns in both the oven & microwave- hmph! The alarm woke up my uncle and now he's heating up some new ones for me :{

It's my 4th day here in Holland and I purposely came over during my cousin's 1 week school break...

Yesterday I went with my relos to Walibi World, an amusement park similar to Australia's Wonderland but only heaps better!!! The've got 5 different rollercoaster rides amongst other cool rides and my cousins and I managed to go on most of the crazy rides within 6hrs!!!- though most of the time was dedicated to waiting in the queue. Oh how I love rollercoaster rides!!! The biggest rollercoaster ride here is called The Goliath and it is apparently the biggest rollercoaster ride throughout Holland and Germany, awesome!!!!! It's steep, fast and extremely high!!! It takes you on loops, upside down, to the left, to the right... woohoo!!!! I felt like a kid all over again yesterday as I wondered through the park with my 14yrs old and 10yrs old cousins =)

The day prior we went to Keukenhof, a massive flower park/festival consisting of a whole range of tulips (though I'm yet to see a blue tulip!) amongst other amazing flowers and plants. It's opened only during April & May each year, the time of year that tulips only blossom and I took soooo many pictures (mainly of the flowers and not myself, of course!) and managed to drain the whole battery of my camera! The scenery was so beautiful and so peaceful.. if only we had something of the likes back home.

It feels really comfy being in my relos place, everyone is so nice and inviting =) And their house is so nice!! Everything is all close to white- including the bathroom! My lil cousin is kind enough to give up his room to me for the week, my aunty laid out several winter clothes on the bed since she knew I didn't bring much over, they all gave me a really generous graduation gift and they've been taking time off work to take us all out, yay! My relos own a little take-away store very similar to a delicatessen store back home with asian groceries on the side. I've decided, I'll spend time with my relos on this trip and will come back again during Summer with my housemates only then to stay in Amsterdam (my relos lives in Alkmaar, 40km out of Ams.) to experience the other side of Holland ;)

*** So I've spoken briefly to my mum and according to my future plans, I won't come home in September anymore but will come home in February next year, before the Chinese New Year and before my sister's Graduation (wouldn't miss it for the world, sis!). I'm not sure if my mum's really OK with it but I think she understands why. I've made a lot of plans whilst my sty is in London.. hope it all works out well, fingers crossed! ***

5 days in TURKEY

2006-04-29T02:10:00.000+10:00

*******UPDATE********
-It's photo-time!!

The Blue Mosque... on a Bosphurus Cruise.... City of Istanbul... Alice, myself & David

the Aqueduct... Alice & the Grand Bazaar... checking out a carpet shop...

inside Hagia Sophia... am obelisk in Hippodrome

The remains of the City of Troy... in the first pic, all that land shown beyond the fence was once covered by sea.... the trojan horse, not the original!

at Anzac Cove... Chunkun Bair (where the NZ service was held)... David in one of the trenches

...at Lone Pine where the Australian service was held... camping in the freezing cold....

*********************

I'm baaaaaack!!!!

I came back from Turkey late last night and what can I say about the place.... it was just OK. Not so bad... not so great (the tour company we went through were mainly to be blamed). I went on a Superior 5day tour around Turkey with two friends who got me intrigued in going to check out a whole new world and in particular to celebrate Anzac Day in Gallipoli. From the moment we arrived at the Airport and saw our tour guides, all went down hill. There was no greeting of "HELLO, WELCOME TO TURKEY!!!" or the likes but a hand gesture from one guide pointing us to make our way to the right to meet some other tour guides. No smile, no nothing. Funny enough, our names weren't even on the list and they didnt know which hotel we were meant to go to!!! After waiting and waiting whilst they called the company and waiting for more Aussies to arrive, we finally got to our Hotel only to have to wait several more hours for more people to arrive. The whole journey was definitely about testing our patience with all the waiting we had to do. Waiting for our guide.... our bus... the next service.... the next site visit.... our hotel.... ahhhh!!! We spent more time travelling around (even by foot!) than getting to see the landmarks of Turkey. Oh how the tour company needs to step up on their whole tour organisation process- all was just disappointing.

ANYHOW, the site visits were beautiful, I must say. We visited the Blue Mosque, the amazing Hagia Sophia Mosque that was once a church, Hippodrome and in particular Troy where you see the Trojan Horse. We checked out a carpet shop (it's amazing how many people on the street try to sell you carpets!!!) and we camped overnight at Anzac Cove, where the Australians and NZ troops landed. It was freezing cold that night and everyone was cuddled up in their sleeping bag on the grassy site. It was unbelievably cold!!! I felt so sorry for those who came late and had to sit and sleep up in the spectator seats because there were no rooms below on the grass where we all were lying down. There were so many Aussies, it felt like I was back home!! Well, sort of anywayz. Can you believe that my two friends and I were practically the ONLY asians on the whole tour??? There were probably one or two more people from other tours but that was it! We stood out like a sore thumb. The Turkish people would often come up to us and say "Konichiwa"- hmph! At one stage I even got photographed by a local girl whilst putting on my shoes to go to the toilet at Anzac Cove! And then one guy would ask to take a photo with me! Strange ay?!! We attended the Dawn Service early next morning and slowly made our way to Lone Pine for the Australian Service before going to Chunuk Bair to have a glance at the NZ service. Oh what a long and tiring night and day it all was!!

Turkey is not as cheap as what people have told me and it's practially dollar to dollar with the Australian currency. We went to a club one night and can you believe my so-called "vodka & orange" drink was charged at 18Lira?!!! Which is more or less equivalent to $18AUD!! Sheesh!!!! They ripped us off coz initially we asked them how much and the dude wrote down 10.00TYL and we were happy with that price and went along ordering about 2 drinks each. Sheesh!!! What a mistake ay?! -Thats Turkey for ya, they just love to rip you off. A dude on the street once tried to sell me an Istanbul book for 27Lira and slowly his price dropped all the way down to 7Lira!!! I didn't buy it though. All is such a shocker for me. Turkish people aren't happy people also (well, to all those I met on this trip that is). They don't smile. Or maybe they just don't like to smile. No one seems nice at all and I really think they need some Customer Service skills taught to them. The only thing I liked about Turkey were the amazing historical sites. Wow! I took sooooooooo many pictures but will have to upload it another time.

I didn't have any expectations of Turkey and the tour (mainly because I didn't have much time to think about the whole thing) and I'm glad I didn't! I know for sure now that I am NOT a tour-kind of girl and would rather hop on a "Bus About" and travel from one place to another at my own pace than go in a tour group and feel the need to have to talk to people only because everyone else around me is talking. Hmmm... yes sadly enough, I'm definitely not a tour kind-of-girl. At least I gave it a go right?! It's all great and all, but it's just not me. I like to get to know people also, but I like to do it all at my own pace.... and with fewer people at a time ;) I'm sure my girlfriends back home know that already!!! -especially you Oanhsta!

Gosh girls, you sure know how to get a girl all teary here!! I was reading through your emails today and I'm missing you guys heaps!! Looking at the photos from Lan's websites, I could only wish that I was there to enjoy Huey and Bunnary's special moment together with the whole lot of you. AHHHH! These days I've been really wanting to have some D&Ms with you guys but thats just impossible. It's not the same but luckily I have people here who I can talk to =)

My plans for the next few weeks....
- Amsterdam for a week from Sunday 30th
- Then find work!!! I have plans to give a whole new career a go. I don't know how it will all turn out but I'm giving the job as a Carer a go. Hopefully a live-in carer where I get to live with the people who I work for. I want to look after the elderly or the young with disability and I've spoken to several people on the trip in Turkey and they told me experience is not really essential. Even some ads I've seen states EXPERIENCE NOT ESSENTIAL. TRAINING WILL BE PROVIDED. So all that gives me hope to try something I've been wanting to try for some time now. This journey i'm on is definitely an exciting one I just don't know the outcome!
- Work for several months and then I have plans to travel to Switzerland, France, Italy, Egypt and the Greek Islands. Working in London definitely gives you a better opportunity to check out Europe and make the most out of everything! I can't wait to work!

Scary thing is, people have been telling me I will definitely stay longer than I've intended, ahhhh!!! Mum's gonna kill me if that is so!!

:O

PORTOBELLO MARKET

2006-04-23T01:05:00.000+10:00

My all time favourite movie is Notting Hill and I was so excited to be in the scene where it was all filmed!!! Bora, Irene and I met up with one of Bora's friend today and we walked through the lovely Portobello Market in Notting Hill. Ohh la la!

Me, Bora & Irene

So this is where we live.... not!!! ;)

*We're having a little drink up tonight as a small welcoming party for me -yay! BUT I hope that they will let Alice, David and myself sleep a little early tonight considering we have to leave for Turkey tomorrow at 4am!!!! Ahhh! So exciting!!!

UPDATE: Drink-up never happened- hmph!

3rd day in London

2006-04-21T22:24:00.000+10:00

18th- TODAY:-

It's been 3 days in London and everything is getting better by the day. From being in Asia to coming over here, obviously everything from the lifestyle, to the people, to the food and more just had to be different. BUT in a positive way of course because I get to learn new things. I must admit that once I landed in London I got a little scared because I was not prepared for it. All I knew was that I was coming here to definitely travel, then work and earn money to travel again. I didn't think of how living would be like, who I'd meet, what I'd need to do to get by the day but fortunately, everything worked out well for me. Luckily I have my friend David and his 2 friends Bora and Annie from back home all here to get me settled in London. We are all staying under the same roof and I've gotten to know the 2 girls which is great! They're really nice and helpful and I'm staying in the same room with Bora and David whereas Annie has her own room. The house also consists of about 5-6 Italian guys (yes, guys!!!!) and a lovely Italian girl Irene. They are all pretty friendly which means we all can get along well and that makes staying in London even more better!! This is definitely a change for me and it's all pretty exciting!

Here is a picture taken earlier of us today just after finishing our lunch at an Italian Restaurant. Bora and I met up with the guys during their lunch break. That's David beside me, then Bora and one of their friend Abraham. Lovely lunch I must say! I better eat more over here or else David and Bora will constantly lecture me and literally force food down my throat- eeek!!! And now, they're making me learn how to cook also- double eeek!!!! =I

In the last week of Burma:-

Oh how I miss that place already!! It is a certainty that I will be back there again and again and again. I simply cannot thank my second family Naing, OhnMar & Bey Bey enough for taking me in as part of their family. I am very touched by their love and I am so fortunate to have a second family to cherish! In the last week we all went on a 14hr drive to Mandalay for a little break during the Water Festival. It was extremely hot in Mandalay and I just baked, even when I was indoors! There is such a bad supply of power over there that half the time I couldn't even use the Air-Con in the hotel! I had to resort to fans and they surely didn't help much. We all burned in Mandalay and were very happy to get back to Yangon after the 3 days of visiting their friends and many Pagodas there.

Me, Bey Bey, Dr Ohn Mar & Naing at Naing's Gem & Jewellery store in Bogyoke Market

Though not everything on the trip was bad. The Water Festival was surely an enjoyment to watch ONLY when you're in the car with all the windows up. I surely got saturated at one point on the street. All these kids saw me from afar as I walked with Ohnmar from a pagoda back to the car and were ready to pour buckets (yes, buckets!!) and lots of cups of water on me!!! I begged them not to but of course it didnt stop them because any1 who is on the street during this time of year, is expected to get wet!!! hehehe I was definitely a main target since I'm a foreigner, a girl and am usually on my own!

The other day, whilst waiting for Naing in a car, I was watching some kids throwing water on people on the street and they busted me watching them and came up to the car with their buckets and cups of water and tried to convince me to come out!!! hehe It was such a funny moment I continually shook my head and they continually used hand gestures to tell me to come out. I didn't know what to do but whip out my camera and take a pic of that lovely site:- what do you think?? =)

Other pics of the Water Festival and Mandalay:

The famous Schwedagon Pagoda in the evening; me in a longyhi!!! Can you believe I didn't pay the $5USD foreigner fee to get in here? Ahhh!

So I organised the farewell party for myself at the orphanage and the kids really enjoyed it. I bought yummy birthday-like cakes, jellies, biscuits, lollies, chips, bananas, and drinks for them to dive into and I gave them each a toy gun and mask to play during the Water Festival!! Woohoo! I took a group photo with most of them towards the end of the party and I love the pic! Oh how I miss them all already!

And finally, saying goodbye to Pyin Oo Lwin Guesthouse II, located on the 3rd floor with the red railings. The entry is through the arch door shown on the bottom left corner of the pic. I will definitely come back!!!!

1st day in London!

2006-04-19T23:14:00.000+10:00

.. I AM STILL ALIVE!! - for all those that care of course ;)

I arrived here last night and due to a misunderstanding, I caught a 'cute' taxi to where my friend's staying and I can definitely quote that it costed me "an arm and a leg"!!!! It is extremely expensive over here that I really have to budget. Thankfully the people who I'm staying with can cook (since I can't but to compensate that I will clean hehe) and that will save us heaps rather than going out to eat. I will go on my travelling to Turkey and Holland in the next 2wks and when I get back here I will be ready to find work and settle in abit before I can make any more adventures.

Can you believe that I got confused between the weather in UK for Europe??!! Europe will warm up in the following months to come but here in the UK, it is always cold!! I lugged more shirts, singlets, skirts and dresses than I did for winter clothes and now I have to fork out money to buy a warm coat and some jumpers. Oh well, the price to pay to experience something new :)

Back in Myanmar/Burma, everything including the Internet Cafe was closed and I couldn't do any update in the last week due to the Water Festival and the Burmese New Year. There is so much to update in that last week including how saturated I got from the Water Festival but I will update it all hopefully tomorrow. I was in need of internet access prior to my arrival here in London in order to confirm all the details with my friend but that was all impossible which meant that there was great confusion last night when I arrived. Oh well, all is good now... have got my much needed rest today... will do abit of shopping tomorrow and pick up my sim-card and have my UK bank a/c all in order.

By tomorrow evening, my sim should be activated and my mobile number will be: +447900531477 (I should then finally be able to call home to let them know personally that I am well!)

I'll update the rest hopefully tomorrow

=)

KAZ'S & WILLIAM'S BDAY

2006-04-11T19:45:00.000+10:00

HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY KAZ!

Sorry it's a day late but I couldn't help it. I've been quite busy over here with the preparation for the kid's party (which went extremely well today) that by the time I got back to the Guesthouse, I'm simply exhausted (mainly due to the crazy heat over here) so I'm sorry Kaz! BUT... I hope you had a lovely day yesterday and I send you lotsa hugs all the way from Asia ;)

and...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY WILLIAM!!!

I'm sorry it's late also but please forgive me! Though I hope you celebrated this day very well with your family considering they hardly come over from Indonesia in time for your Bday!! It should be a great year for you Mr since it will start off well with you graduating!!! Yay, we all finally made it!!!! Happy Birthday again William!!

=)

=)

2006-04-02T15:47:00.000+10:00

-- Let's pass on our smile to others --

Almost 3 weeks into Burma, ahhhhh!

2006-04-01T20:19:00.000+11:00

Wow, time surely flies.

I've had an amazing time within the last week and I've got pics to prove it!!! =)

MON to THURS- I went to the monastery as mentioned and taught my first lessons to the kids. I was soooooooo nervous prior to the first day but all that died out when I got there and got right into the lessons. I must say, i love it!! =) The kids are extremely obedient and are very willing to learn and I can see that they enjoy it also, yay! And they are oh-so-cute too!!! So now I've taught all 70 kids. The others are older and have done their examinations and were allowed to go back home. Apparently not all are orphans- some stay at the orphanage because their family are not wealthy enough to have a home closer to the school and so therefore the kids are allowed to stay at the monastery. I am there from 11am to 4pm and I've taught them how to greet one another, say What is your name, How are you, I am good/not good/happy/sad etc., and I'm glad to meet you whilst shaking hands. I had to learn Burmese in order to translate it but it is all ok if I don't get it right because there is a teacher there who can help me out when it's needed since she can speak little English. I've taught the kids colours also and we've played games such as SNAP (but using the colours which I call out for them to snap) , something similar to "duck duck goose" which they all love and I can't help but allow all other kids to join in every time we play it hehehe. This week I spoilt the kids a little and spent more on them than I had intended. Even with the snacks I brought for each class, I still bought lotsa lil chocolates and biscuits to reward those who gets something right. A little too much money this week so a little less will be spent next week =I. I have all these other plans for the kids whilst my stay is in Myanmar and it's all very exciting!!!! But I will have to wait and see if it all pans out as I expect it.

....teaching them colours and then playing SNAP

... can you see why I just HAD to let the other kids join in? hehehe

... "I'm glad to meet you"
..... I was showing them a pic I took of them earlier on on my camera and since so many of them wanted to see, I had to put the camera up in the air so that they can all see. It was such a lovely site I had to turn the camera around and take this pic of them! They were oh-so-happy =)

FRI- I went to Aung Ko Myint's Kindergarten School to read some English books to the children. The kids are extremely adorable and are all so tiny!!! I read them SPOT =) I visited 3 classes and in every class I walked in they would all stand on their chair and say "Good Morning teacher" kekekekekke After reading to them, they came up to me one by one and introduced themselves. I introduced myself also and I shook their hands and said "nice to meet you" and surprisingly they said the same!!! Awwwwwwwwww

Yesterday the manageress and her sisters from the Guesthouse brought in a famous Myanmar dish called Moun Hin Ga from home for me to have for Breakfast!! I got to try a home-cooked meal, one of the privileges for a foreigner yay!!!! =) ------>

Well, I am going to Schwedagon Paya (the biggest monastery in Myanmar) tomorrow evening and Ohn Mar is kind enough to go with me! I will wear my longhyi and maybe apply some thanakha and hopefully I will get mistaken for a local and go in for free! -foreigners unfortunately have to pay $5USD. I will definitely take pics!!! =)

Once again, I am really liking it here!!!!! This week I have been quite tired but gladly I can rest today and tomorrow morning. Burmese New Year and it's traditional water festival is just around the corner and I'm afraid that unwillingly I will get wet!!! Nooooo!

2 weeks into Burma

2006-03-26T15:52:00.000+11:00

I am really liking Burma!!!

- Visited a Blind's Home yesterday and that was an experience I cannot forget!
- Bought my first longhyi!!
- Have extended my stay here so I won't be leaving until 18th April (which means I won't go into Thailand anymore and will go straight to London after here). I now have the chance to experience Burmese New Year and their 4day Water Festival (13th-17th April) during THE hottest month of the year-ahhh!!
- Have been invited to go with Naing's family to Mandalay (second largest city) during the water festival where the event held there is much more spectacular than Yangon.
- Have been invited by Bebe's principal to come to the Kindergarten school and read to the children, yay!
- Was brave enough to accept the invite and have lunch with an American man. It was a good decision because we talked hours about our travelling experiences (he has been backpacking for 1 1/2yrs!) and we happily left it at that. Just the company I needed =)
- Got to know Khatta (waitress at the Mandarin restaurant whom I gave a book to) and found out she is the same age as me, has got a husband and two children!!!! What a b**** her owner is, she won't let Khatta have anything that customers give her (i.e. gifts, tips etc) and takes it from her! The owner is now demanding Khatta to bring in the book that I gave her!!! Khatta bursted into tears last night =( She needs to work another 12days to get her 1mnth salary before she can quit. Poor girl. She only gets 1000kyats/day and already her total bus fare for the day is 200kyats(...and to think I tipped a little girl 1000kyats the other day). I wish I can just give her money so she'd quit but I know she won't accept.
- Khatta has kindly invited me to visit her home (it's a priviledge to try any home-cooked food!).
- Have been brave enough to start conversations with fellow foreigners =)
- Am starting my lessons for the orphans tomorrow, ahhh!

OANH'S BDAY

2006-03-23T22:20:00.000+11:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY OANH!!!

I hope you had a lovely day today miss, sending you best wishes and lotsa hugs all the way from Asia ;)

xxx

8th day in Burma

2006-03-21T21:04:00.000+11:00

Plans have changed and I will visit the Blind's Home on Saturday.

I just bought an Origami book for 8500Kyats which is about $10! It's quite expensive but I couldn't be bothered sweating any longer to find a cheaper book elsewhere. I've spoken to Naing about my plans at the orphanage and he is happy with it all. I've decided to teach at the second orphanage I visited and it will go on for 3wks, starting next Monday 27th March (which means I will extend my stay in Myanmar). I'm off to the monastery tomorrow evening to inform the monk of my plans and to get the green light before I get everything prepared for the first lesson (yay! I get to be a teacher!!). I will still need to work on my Burmese. So far I can only say the basic.

I pray I pray that I can do this and that my plan will work out well

PLAN:
There will be about 100 orphans to teach and I will teach 20 orphans/day from 10am-4pm, MON-FRI for 3 weeks (I will have the weekend off).

10am-12pm: Activity
12pm-1pm: I will provide them their lunch and a soccer ball to play =)
1pm-3pm: Activity
3pm-4pm: Origami / Games / Colouring in / Painting?

These 2hr activities will include teaching them how to say "Hello, what is your name? My name is.....", Colours, Numbers and Facial features including little games and rewards in between. That is probably all I can teach considering each kid can only have 3 lessons! Still, all is very exciting!!!

I went to the Post Office the other day and I asked 2 cute guys for help in sending a letter away since the place was extremely confusing! Luckily they can speak English and ended up buying me the stamp (only 50Kyats!) and sending it off for me! How cool is that?! They were very helpful (as compared to others who just stared at me) and I really wanted to invite them to coffee or something but I thought twice and I didn't ask. What were they to think of me?! I wouldn't mind the company though... am getting a little bored with just reading my book, practising my burmese and trying to figure out where to have my 3 meals everday. But then again, it is safer this way and my boredom will end soon. So I simply said thank you to them both and waved goodbye. I went to eat at a Chinese restaurant the other day and the waitress Khatta was also very kind. She can speak little English (she's a university student) and since her owner couldn't speak it at all, she told me not to tip her as her boss will take it. She spoke to me most of the time I was there and I just had to come back the next day to give her an english book (Alice in Wonderland) since I couldn't tip her. She was very happy and I guess we became 'friends'. I will take her to eat pizza one day as she has never had it before. And also, the company would be nice. People here are pretty friendly but I always think twice if they have a second motive e.g. money. Once, a man personally walked me to where I wanted to go and asked for 1000Kyats afterwards for his help but I told him No and that I would've found the place myself if he didn't volunteer to help. He nodded and left ;) But a man today accompanied me wherever I went (he too was a university student) and helped direct me from place to place but didn't ask for money ever. Instead, he gave me his email address and told me that he is in the period of exams but wishes to accompany me again in a months time if I wish. Is that friendly or what? I have no thoughts about the whole thing though...

Remember the "i-love-you" girl? Well, I told Yadahna (manageress at the Guesthouse I'm staying at) about it and she laughed but said not to worry. The sales assistant basically wanted to be my friend =) Phew! Here, they are not accustomed to gays & lesbians and that is such a relief! - not that I have anything against it but it's comforting to know that they just want to be my friend, and nothing more! Terry, you are right-people here are very friendly and a lot of them like to chat, thank you for the great advice =)

I cannot access Hotmail but I can access MSN-Web Messenger. I have created an email address as follows:

kll_huynh@sailormoon.com (yes sailormoon, don't ask!)

so please please, if you need to email me, email me at this address whilst my stay is in Myanmar. Oanh and David- I really need you guys to email me with what I need! Thank you!!!

Did you know that I can pass as someone from Myanmar? Someone from the chinese region. Unfortunately though I still get a lot of staring eyes and I just hate it!

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I hope everyone is well =)

Keo- How was your first day at your new job?
David- I can't access my Hotmail so I don't know what flight to book to Turkey! Can you TRY to book for me first and I'll pay you later? If it is not possible, how about you email me your CC details and I will forward money into your bank account so you can do the booking? OR email me the itinery again and I will try my best to book it myself. Ta!
Oanhsta- Please please email me what I want to my new email address, thank you!! =)

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It's 6pm, time to eat (again)!

MUM'S BDAY

2006-03-18T22:54:00.000+11:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MUMMY! xxx

=)

5th day in Burma

2006-03-18T21:12:00.000+11:00

Wow, my dream came true when I visited the orphanages 2 days ago! There are about 150 orphans at each of the monastery compound I visited and to see the number in person it was simply overwhelming. The evening had given me such bliss I can only put the evening down on paper as there was just so much to write about. I managed to write over 10pages the day after into the journal that Trinh and Oanh had kindly given me for this trip- thanks babes! =) I will therefore only keep it short in this blog.

Prior to visiting the orphans we went and bought 360 bags of pudding cakes (each bag containing 2 pudding cakes) and it was packed away into 6 large bags where Naing, his friend and myself carried 2 bags each to the car where Naing's wife Ohm and daughter Bebe were waiting for us. Afterwards we went to buy bananas and I must say, I never knew there is such a thing as a banana store and so I just had to take a picture! We bought 20 bundles, each containing 10 bananas. We bought extra food because there are monks also. Anyway, first monastery we went to and there were a lot of monks (about 100) whereas the second only has 1 monk. We talked about what I can do (there isn't much-it is abit hard as no one can speak English, even the monks) before distributing the food to the orphans. Naing told me that the kid's daily meals are "miserable" and whatever we give, they are very thankful. At the second monastery I thought the kids were preaching whilst waiting in line for their food but they were actually thanking me and well-wishing me =) The kids were so thankful each and everyone bowed to me when I gave them their portion. It was the kids lucky day as they were all earlier invited to a local's house who cooked them all dinner! We waited around 15mins for them to come back and when they did, we distributed the food to them- my food became their "dessert" =) I felt extremely happy about myself and could only smile and bow with them. It definitely reminded me of my mum when she kindly distributed a few kilos of ricegrains to each and every household in my grandfather's community several years back in Vietnam. What a feeling.

On Monday evening I will be going with Ohm to a Blind's Home. Her brother is blind and he teaches there and Ohm is kind enough to take me there to see what they do. It will be very interesting.

I am interested in helping out at the second monastery I came across as there are a few females here as compared to none at the other monastery. One of the buildings here was actually built through a $70,000USD donation given by a Vietnamese monk who lives in Canada! If I can do it, there are 150 orphans to teach and so little time... I've been racking my brains for the last two days as to what I can teach and I'm still racking to get it all right, for all the ages. A lot of plans are in the air and if all goes accordingly, I may extend my stay here. We will have to see. In the meantime, I will work on my Burmese language.

I now know that anything can be accomplished.. if you set your mind to it. You just have to be brave!!! - I'm still trying to get there.. slowly.

1. Taking pudding cakes out of crates and into large bags
2. Banana Store in front of the owners house

3. Orphans waiting patiently for the food distribution. Some are praying.

4. With the help of Ohm, Naing and his friend I distribute a pack of 2 pudding cakes + banana to each and every orphan at the monastery.

5. To make sure everyone gets to eat their share, we made them eat on the spot =)
6. Food donation to the monks (they will save it for breakfast since they cannot eat after midday)

2nd day in Burma

2006-03-15T20:57:00.000+11:00

I'm in Burma (Myanmar)!!!!!!! Ahhhh!!

I arrived last night and this place is definitely a culture shock! Luckily I bought the Myanmar Lonely Planet (Trinh, you're gonna kill me because I didn't bother to get the extremely cheap version in Vietnam so it costed me 1700BAHTS at the airport!- but it is sooooooooooooooo worth it coz I go everywhere with it-it's a must! I had to transit for 5hrs at Bangkok Airport before getting to Myanmar and I I managed to spend over $100USD! I bought this lovely MAC eyeshadow kit for just under $45 and i love it!!!- not that I will wear it here in Myanmar though. A little expensive but I just couldn't resist! Can you believe Cosmopolitan magazine costed me 545BAHTS which is approx. $13?!!! Sheesh! I bought it coz I was extremely happy to see something in English and I've been missing these magazines badly!!

Well, I am staying at a Guesthouse (PYIN OO LWIN GUESTHOUSE II, RANGON) as introduced by Terry and the place has JUST the basic neccessities with a very much needed air con. It is on level 3 and it is such a walk! I felt sorry for the boy downstairs who helped lug my 30kg luggage up those stairs.. i gave him 1000KHATS as a tip (which is a lot- enough for a very decent meal) since I had no change on me and the poor boy deserved something for that great effort. There is no TV in the room so i will be able to get some reading done (I am lugging around 3 x Lord of The Rings and am determined to read it all on my trip!)

Everyone here wears this "sarong/skirt-like" piece called a Longyi with any type of shirt.... even the men! Apparently it is one (or the only) asian country that doesn't conform to western-style clothing. So you can imagine me in any sort of pants is out of the ordinary! The weather is extremely hot over here and the longyi actually relieves people from such heat. I might just get one tomorrow..... I've been sweating profusely here in my long pants (tailored in Vietnam for hot weathers) and short sleeved t-shirts. I have so many singlets but only wear it in my room because no one here wears it outside... not even in such heat! It's apparently regarded inappropriate and too revealing. So I'm ok with it... i'll just sweat away here in Burma and let the world see my shiny face everyday. There are fans in many restaurants but I don't know why they don't turn them on!

Oh, the other interesting thing is their sunscreen. It is a combination of sunscreen, moisturiser and perfume. It is a light soft-yellow colour paste called Thanakha and some of the women (and men) apply it to their face and it is very noticeable (think of geishas, but only it is yellow paste and much lighte). Some apply it to their whole face whilst others apply it in a more interesting way and only on their cheeks. The most unusual I've seen are people who have it in a round circle shape (up to 4cm diameter!) just on the cheeks- it is as though they lightly stamped the paste on either side of their cheeks with a sponge or something- very unusual, i might just give it a go hehe

I have been cautioned not to smile too much when I'm travelling on my own from people back home so I haven't done much of that here. But today, when i thought it was "OK" to smile and say thankyou to a sales assistant who helped me when I was in a supermarket, she then followed me abit in the store before coming up to me to say "you're beautful".... followed by "I love you" whilst holding onto my arm! What the?!! I was so shocked I didn't know how to respond but to kind of nod and HALF-smile and quickly got what I needed and went to the check-out desk. Ugh!

SO Burma is a 1/2hr behind Vietnam which means its 3 1/2hrs behind Australia. I called my relos in Vietnam so that they can know I'm safe (my grandpa got a little angry with me before when I didn't call him to let him know I was fine on my Vietnam tour) and it costed me $3USD/min! Sheesh!

Oh yes, one more thing... I met one of Terry's friend named Naing at his gem/stone jewellery store to exchange some money and we've organised for me to go with his family to two orphanages tomorrow. Him and his family come to these orphanages with food once every two weeks and he says the children here are ecstatic to see them even when their car just pulls into the place! I'm so excited!!! I've bought quite abit of children's books back home (and some kindly donated from Keo, thank you mr!) so I'll bring a few first tomorrow and distribute it out. I'm also forking out $50USD tomorrow to buy a large batch of small pudding cakes (almost 700 in total!) and bananas (with the help from Naing) to split amongst the two orphanages. At each hold approx. 120 children and I will check out both places before deciding where and what I would like to do over here. I am so excited and am so happy to have met a family who does this sort of work in their own time that I could just cry! Seriously! Tomorrow is a day that I've been dreaming of... wow!

Well it is now 6:15pm and I'm gonna have Indian tonight (I see Burmese people as a cross between Thai and Indian) at Golden Chetty just down the road before checking out the Sule Paya Pagoda. I hope they have a picture menu coz there is one dish I just love to eat and I hope they have it! (I should've wrote the name down when I ate with you and Nina, Terry!)

The sun has set so I'm now happy to leave this air-conned Internet Cafe..

=)

Oh by the way, due to security reasons over here Hotmail, Msn and Yahoo cannot be accessed...ugh

4 days remaining... (Ba Ria)

2006-03-11T11:44:00.000+11:00

Yes you guys may as well kick me up the ass coz I ended up being on a drip yesterday for 2 hours. It was nothing major, I sort of voluntary asked to be on it coz I was feeling slightly weak (it is most likely due to all the constant mini-travellings i've been doing here and all the rice ive been eating!) but never realised my mum would take me seriously coz I've never been on it before! And within an hours time a doctor came around, checked my blood pressure and hooked me onto the drip! I slept throughout the 2 hrs and when i awoke and the drip finished, I was feeling well again. I am feeling a lot better now but I MAY be on another drip today for 4 hours when my uncle (who is also a doctor) from Bien Hoa comes down here to my grandparent's place. I've tried assuring everyone here that I am feeling 100% but since i'll be travelling around still, they want me to be on the safe side just in case! So I can't complain.. we can only wait and see... Ugh!

Well, at least my sniffles has stopped- yay! Since yesterday though, but that that is only because I didn't step out of the house! Mum keeps making me wear that awful sheet to cover my face whenever I'm on the road to prevent dust (plus the sun!!!) from getting in contact with my skin but it's so ugly and uncomfortable!!! Double ugh!

Anyways, Ill be heading into Saigon on Sunday evening with my mum to rest up and relax at a hotel again before I fly off to Myanmar on Tuesday- i'm so excited!!!!!! =)

Oh, I've decided to shorten my stay in Thailand (that is after Myanamar and before hitting the UK) from 10 days to 3 days now just to do abit of shopping and that will mean that I will be in UK earlier than expected! Better email my friend now....

3 weeks into Vietnam, 1 week remaining!

2006-03-09T19:31:00.000+11:00

Holler!!! hehhehe

Man, I really have a sinus problem... I'm getting into this really bad habit of taking medication everyday!! I take Claratyne daily and Polaramine nightly! (thank you for organising the meds sis!) There is not much I can do when I've already been told that I'm allergic to dust... hmph! But yesterday I bought some fresh leaves to make Green Tea (as tasted in Hue) and I'm loving it! I'm hoping that it can replace all my medication and so when I'm feeling sick, I'll just drink the tea (add some ginger in it) and all will be good! -therefore Eucalyptus can be my last option ;)

SO the last weekend i went to Chau Doc (Kent, i totally forgot you were born in Vietnam!) and the travelling is such a bugger. A 9hr drive to just visit a temple is not worth it in my eyes.The road is simply crap- it is so bumpy I could hardly keep my eyes closed and get some rest!- though it was really overwhelming to see so many ppl from all over Vietnam come to one spot! It is overly crowded- much more than what you would normally see at our temples during the Chinese New Year!

Well, my mum is now in Vietnam with me (yay!) and she's here to stay for 10days (everyone here were spewing coz i didn't tell them!) I'll be leaving here next Tuesday to Myanmar and she'll be leaving 2days after me and heading back to AUST. It was so hard to hide the fact that my mum was coming to Vietnam from her sisters when I was with them 24/7 on the Chau Doc trip!!! hehehe I had to lie to them so many times and in the end they were suss that something was up but were never certain hhehehe Well, Mum and I had 2 relaxing days in Saigon when I got back from Chau Doc. There in Saigon we went for a 1hr body-massage at Dermalogica (which was muchly needed) and costed us each 140,000VND which works out to be about $12AUS!!I'll probably go back for a 1hr facial before I head off. Everything is soooooo cheap here I've been spending so much!!! BUT so far, i'm within budget =)

I've been pretty well lately... I've been sick a few times but nothing major. All I can say though is that I'm really sick of rice. I've had it for almost every single meal and yesterday and the day before I swear, i wanted to throw up after every meal! At first I didn't know what it was that was giving me the stomach pains until I thought about rice and ugh, i felt even worst!! So since then I've been steering clear of rice and all is well =)

Billy- yes I went to visit the tombs and some of the kings' palaces back in the ancient days but unfortunately I didn't understand much coz my tour guide was vietnamese. But the palaces are crazy! It is somewhat like in the chinese movies we see. In Hoi An i didn't get anything tailored but I probably will get a tailored suit in Thailand when I get there.

What I realise in Vietnam is that ppl love to eat! And I know back home a lot of ppl do also ( for sure my girlfriends back home do!!) but here ppl go out purposely to buy food to eat and bring home to cook! When I went to Chau Doc i swear my relos kept on stopping along the way to buy food to eat in the van!! Throughout the whole journey they ate ate ate whereas i tried to sleep sleep sleep. The food they were eating just didn't appeal to me.... it required peeling or cutting which means you have to get your hands dirty to dig into the food and I didn't want to do that. I can't stand to have sticky hands on the trip (or even the slightest!) If there is water closeby, maybe that's another story =) But overall, the food really just didn't appeal to me. Whilst they all looked around for food to buy at Chau Doc I was looking for something else to buy.. something to use or wear! hehe but there was no luck of that. Whereever I go ppl are always buying food. I would love to get accustomed to it and know how it feels to eat like there is no tomorrow (I'm sure both Trinh and Oanh would love it if I do hehe) but since schooling days my motto has always been "I eat to LIVE" and not "I Live to EAT" hehehehe- if only!!!!

I went to Cho Ba Ria today to buy some materials to make some long pants to wear in Myanmar since there are no pants over here that is regarded as long on me. Their long pants become my 3/4 length pants and as my sisters always tease me, i definitely look "dorky" in them hehe! So i went to buy materials to purposely have some long cool pants to wear in Myanmar where the weather can get really hot. Apparently ppl in Myanmar cover up quite abit also so that's another reason for the long pants. I can't wait to hit Myanmar... there it will definitely be a culture-shock for me (not like Vietnam as this is my 4th time being here) and I'll definitely be on my own for a good month without knowing anyone or having anyone to rely on. I've got a luggage load of warm clothes for when I hit the UK after Myanmar and Thailand and unfortunately I will have to lug it up 3 levels to this Guesthouse that Terry has organised for me to stay at in Myanmar! There are no lifts so I'll have to ask the taxi driver to help me lug it up. So i should stop my shopping in Vietnam now before my luggage gets too heavy for the taxi driver to lug it up 3 levels!- and worst, i then wouldnt be able to buy anything else in other countries!!!

My sinus is really driving me crazy. Last night I slept in one room with a fan whilst 6ppl (including my mum) had to sleep in the next room with the aircon on. I feel really bad for hogging the room but it is better that I have one room to myself because throughout the night i sneeze, blow my nose, cough and toss n turn. Anyone who sleeps beside me will definitely won't be able to sleep! There are nights when I sleep soundly but as long as there are dust and an air-con around, i can't guarantee when those days are.... ahhhh!

Anywayz, I have 1 week remaining in Vietnam so I'll make the most of it. A few more days stay at my grandparents place beforeI spend the last 2 nights in Saigon.

Time to go and eat another meal...

P.S. Girls- hope you all have a blast at Bunnary's hen's night!!!!! Shame I have to miss out but continue to keep me updated with those emails- have fun!!!

2 weeks into Vietnam

2006-03-03T23:55:00.000+11:00

Wow, I just got a call from my mum and she just landed in Ho Chi Minh City!!! heheh I can't wait to see her! Unfortunately she doesn't want any of our relos to know that she is here just as yet. My mum wants me to go to "Chau Doc" with my aunties this weekend to do some praying at some very highly regarded temple whilst she stays in Saigon to do her own things and then Sunday evening on our return trip she wants me to ask my aunty to drop me off in Saigon to meet a "friend" for a few days. There I'll meet my mum and stay in Saigon for a few days before we both go surprise our grandparents in Ba Ria- can't wait! [Jimmy, if you are reading this, don't tell your dad ok???!!!!! Because if it manages to get to grandma or grandpa, you'll get in trouble from my mum! and you'll get in trouble from me also when I hit Holland! =) ]

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Well! I just came back from a 5day tour to Hoi An-Danang-Hue-Phong Nha (up to the centre of Vietnam) and it was OK (just OK). I had to go by myself because my cousins had to work and study which would've been fine with me if I didn't let my aunty do the booking. She managed to book me into a tour of only 10ppl of which all are vietnamese including the tour guide!! It wasn't my idea of a tour really because I didn't understand half the things the tour guide said so half of the historical stories and facts I had to miss out on! I thought my vietnamese was alright but going on this tour made me realise otherwise. A lot of the vietnamese vocabs I don't understand and they have a lot of slang words which made it even more difficult. The tour guide tried to be as helpful as possible by trying to use different words to replace the words I don't understand but there was no point- I didn't understand them also! It didn't matter whether I ask them where we are going or not because I wouldn't even know what or where it is so I just had to wait til we got there hehe I slept in the tour bus several times to save them from trying to explain it to me! The ppl on the tour were quite nice and it was my very first time using the words "anh, chi and EM"!!! hehehe That was a big change. My favourite place is Hoi An because its so peaceful there its just lovely. No wonder there are so many tourists staying around there and freely riding bicycles around. It isn't hectic like Saigon at all where you constantly here cars and bikes beeping or having people dragging you by the arm into their store to buy stuff. Here you don't need to bargain as prices are pretty much set and its pretty cheap. A Highly recommended place to visit in Hoi An is Pho Co, a town that remains ancient. I love it there!! This will be the first (and last) experience being with a bunch of vietstas as the next trip I'm on there will definitely be foreigners just like me AND an english tour guide! The good thing out of this tour though is that it allowed me to see how beautiful Vietnam is. The scenery is absolutely amazing!!! - and the rest, I can only laugh it all off =)

Pho Co ; An ancient palace
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Im hungry.. not long til I go eat KFC with my aunty, uncle and their kids. Apparently it's OK to eat chicken over here if it's cooked well and with the chicken at KFC, it's just that (so I hear)! We'll just have to see tomorrow.... ;)

I was out with my aunty earlier on and I bought myself a white-gold ring for the very first time! I bought it so it would go nicely with my recently manicured hands, Ooh la la!

Time to eat!

PICS

2006-02-24T13:50:00.000+11:00

Mum, at your request =)

My little black bear

One of the 6:30am-7:00am breakfasts with my grandpa

Hanging with my grandma

My grandma & my cousins Loi and Y

My aunty and my two cousins Quang & Minh at a Medical Convention in Saigon

The Bad / The Good

2006-02-24T11:55:00.000+11:00

THE BAD

DOGS: Why is it that every dog I have seen over here are oh-so-ugly? I've always thought they were cute to look at (but not touch) but over here it's a different story! Their bottom side is so big and saggy and almost all of them look like thin ill sausage dogs (yuk!) It makes me think, are all the cute and healthy dogs butchered and this is what remains?! Hmmmz... Ugh I get the shivers from looking at them long but you can't help but look because they're everywhere.. they're around your table when you eat out (breafast, lunch and dinner!), they're on the streets as you walk or ride by, they're everywhere! Even my grandparents has two as pets! Ugh!

MOSQUITOES: They are everywhere. "Aeroguard Tropical Strength" is a MUST!!!

TOILETS (double yuk!): How can I forget. Luckily my grandparents has got the western style toilet but even with it, you still have to throw away the used toilet paper in the waste bin provided. Of course I often forget and throw it down the toilet by mistake and some time last week I managed to clog up my aunty's toilet :[

DIRT: You can't hide from it

*just yesterday*
PERMANENTLY STRAIGHTENING HAIR: It kills! I never knew they would pull your hair with the straightener that badly! I think they managed to stretch my hair an extra 1cm or so!! I'm serious! I don't know if that's the standard way of straightening someone's hair or they sinply have bad quality hair straighteners but either way, it was 4hrs of pain. And now, i have to leave my hair unwashed for 3days!! In asia ahh!! :{

THE GOOD

MOSQUITO ZAPPERS: It was once shown on Rove and it's such a kool device! It looks like a tennis racquet (only the wires are charged up) and by pressing the button on its side, you zap every mozzie you whack! I bring it into the toilet with me hehehe coz it's crazy how many mozzies you see in the toilets and bathrooms here.

FOOD: The portion over here is just perfect for me and I can finish the whole bowl! Every soup I've tasted is yum-yum-yum! From Bo Kho to Pho to Hu Tieu, yummy! I also love the Bo La Lop (beef wrapped in leaves). Somehow the food over here just doesn't compare to AUS (except for my mum's cooking of course)-it's so much better here!. David- I'll do my best to eat all the yummy food over here on your behalf!!! -anything BUT dog meat ok!

PENNYWORT DRINK: yummy! I love it! As cheap as it is, I try not to drink too much of it because then i'll need to go to the toilet and as mentioned, I HATE using the toilets!! =/

1 week into Vietnam (Ba Ria)

2006-02-22T17:10:00.000+11:00

WEIGHT: 51.5kg (yes Oanh & Dave- I will do my best to eat as much as I can and gain some weight over here. I already have this huge hunch that by the time I hit UK, i'll lose it all again! So I'd rather come back to AUST looking the same than scrawny than before hehe)

I just got my hair and face washed for $10000 which is equivalent to $1! I might as well go back tomorrow and get my hair straightened (for $20) considering there is not much to do down here at my grandparents place. My uncle & aunt has a store down in the markets and across it there is this Internet Cafe which I go to whenever I've had enough of sleeping hehe

SCHEDULE IN BA RIA: Wake up at 7am, go out to have breakfast with my grandpa, then go back to nap til 11am, wake up to have lunch with my grandparents (there are only them two and a housekeeper in the house), hang with my grandma abit (she can't move around much), nap again and don't wake up until around 4pm, hang with my grandma again before having dinner at 5pm, then go out for abit with my uncle and aunty and am back in bed by 10pm!hehe I really don't mind it though, I'm glad to finally be able to REST and I'm really down in ba Ria to hang with my grandparents for a few days before I move off to my other relo's places. In the weekend coming, Ill be going down South to Mekong Delta to visit a temple and do abit of praying with my aunties and the following week hopefully I would've booked a tour to travel up North of Vietnam to check out the beautiful sites.

I still have the sniffles... it comes and goes as it pleases and it's a real bugger!!! =(

Guess what I ate yesterday??? Well, you know how I LOVE eating duck's blood?hehehe (sorry Terry, you can skip this whole paragraph if you are reading it) Well, it ain't suitable eating this in Asia so my uncle and I went to eat Pig's blood instead! Dun worry, it looks and tastes quite the same =) I was afraid to eat it at first in case I would get an upset stomach (and already I had just had Bo Kho for breakfast with my grandpa) but... I ate it anyways and all was good! I planned to eat it again with my uncle this morning for breakfast (yes, breakfast!!) but after talking to my mum last night on the phone, she told me not to eat it again!!! hehe even after I had convinced her that I was fine from the first round, she said NO NO NO! So.. I wasn't allowed to eat it... and instead I had Pho with my grandpa this morning hehe BUT just to say.. the pig's blood was Deeeeeeeeeeeeeelicious!!!! hehehe no complaints ;)

Darling sisters... hope you both are behaving yourselves over there and am looking after each other and mummy! (I'm sure you are) Yes, don't miss me too much now!! =) Oh Phuong! I accidentally took your brown thongs by mistake! I will do my best not to scrape it :I

PICS

2006-02-20T22:12:00.000+11:00

SYD AIRPORT: Don't worry mummy, i'll see you again!!!

BIEN HOA: After spending a luxurious day in Saigon, we got dropped off at Bien Hoa and had to find our own way to my grandparent's place in Ba Ria, an hours drive away. We stand on the side of the road in the crazy heat to find and catch public transport i.e. a van with no air con and with a lot of ppl!

VIETNAM AIRPORT: Dropping my uncle, aunt and their kids off at the airport to fly back to AUST. I regard my little cousin Y (the one next to me) as my cute little black bear hehe coz she is so black(she looks Indian) and is soooo round! =)

5th day in Vietnam (Ba Ria)

2006-02-20T20:58:00.000+11:00

Thank you thank you thank you!!! I finally got some sleep!!!

Last night I couldn't sleep at all and it was dreadful! I seriously can't stand really cold or hot conditions and last night I experienced them both! I slept in my grandma's room with the air-con on right and I began with the sneezing and sniffling. I really wanted to turn the air-con off and turn on the fan but couldn't coz there were others sleeping in the room and I didn't want to be a nuisance. SO I continued with the sniffling, sneezing and coughing one after the other until i couldn't stand it and went outside to sleep. I made sure to spray on the Aeroguard before I slept outside coz there were no mosquito nets so I was basically sleeping on a rock-hard bed with no covers. Since I couldn't spray the Aeroguard on my face, i was so paranoid that I'd wake up with bites all over my face so I couldn't really sleep. I was feeling a little better to be away from the air-con until it got really hot (coz I didn't turn the fan on) and ended up with a runny nose!!! Grrrrrr!!! I began to sweat so I ran back in the room. What do you know... runny nose turned into the sniffles and coughing again until it woke up my uncle and he turned off the air-con for me BUT didn't turn on the fan (probably coz it was directly above him and it would've been blowing on his face). Far out, i got a little better until it started to get really hot without the fan or air-con and by then I had rubbed my eyes so badly it had began to swell up. I ended up getting up and going straight outside to the living room and turned the fan on and sat right in front of it. I swear I couldve just slept-sitting right then and there until I saw the hammock behind me and laid on it. By then it was 5:30am and i managed to rest my eyes for half an hour before my cousin was up for school and my grandpa was up for his morning jog. Vietnam awoke whilst I ran back into the room, turned on the fan and went to sleep!!!! I managed to sleep for a few hours before my grandpa came in and told me to eat. At first I said no but after his second attempt, I decided to wake up but PRAYED that i could get back to sleep after breakfast.

After breakfast, I took a shower to refresh myself from last night's mess, took some medication and went back into my grandma's room to sleep but the sniffles and sneezing returned!!!! Ahhhh!!! I finally decided to go into my grandpa's room this time to sleep and there... with the fan on and no noise, I finally slept safe and sound until 4:30pm, yay!!!!!!!!

Since my uncle and aunt have returned to AUS yesterday, I can now have my grandpa's room to myself! YAY!!!

2nd day in Vietnam (Bien Hoa)

2006-02-17T14:10:00.000+11:00

Holler!

Thanks for all the well-wishes in the comments ppl! I will do my very best to stay safe on this trip, not to worry =) Oh and thanks to all those who called or msged me prior to my departure- I'm sorry if I didn't reply or return the calls, I had no credit left!! =D

Well, after a transit at both Melbourne Airport and Bangkok Airport, I finally got into Vietnam 16hrs later (yes, 16hrs!!!), all safe and sound! But then we went to eat in Saigon and abit of shopping before taking a 1 1/2hr drive to my grandparent's place in BA RIA. I was quite buggered by then but I just couldn't rest my eyes (I still can't)!! I won't forget the moment when I stepped into the house to greet my grandma- she was oh-so-happy to see me I came to give her a BIG hug and in return she hugged and kissed me all over my face i didn't think she'd stop! But then again, I think she was really kissing my mum (through me if you know what I mean) because my mum lives on the other side of the world to them and I know my grandma misses her heaps! So I got a little teary when she constantly kissed me hehe

So it's almost 10am in Vietnam right now and I just had coffee with my cousin at some "fancy" cafe and am now at an Internet cafe resting abit. I had to get up at 5am (yes, 5am!!!) this morning to shift from one relo's place to another. Everything happens so early over here. Everyone goes to work/school around 6-7am and they don't finish until around midday or just after. My cousins and I will be going on a tour up North in 2wks time but for now, I've made no plans so I'll just take things as it comes!

I have plans to gain some weight over here and my relos are telling me to follow and eat whatever my little cousin Y (pronounced "e") eats because she's a little round girl who eats A LOT!! I saw her eat and I don't think I can do it!!!!

Well, time to visit some more cousins now

I will try to post some pics along the way...

It's almost time...

2006-02-11T18:59:00.000+11:00

Wow, the day is almost near! Only a few more days remaining before I venture out into this Great Big World!! I've waited for this day soooo long now and I'm so grateful that nothing has got in the way of my plans. I have studied and worked hard already so now it's time for me to equally PLAY as hard!! hehe but within budget of course.

This trip is anticipated to be a personal one, a journey of self-discovery through travelling the world (or half of it), taking on roles that I may never be able to do again and definitely meeting interesting people along the way. It has been planned to be a long adventure only because I don't know if I'll ever have this opportunity again. I have no real thing holding me back right now so I'll take it as an advantage and travel about since I know that when I do return, I'll have committments to fulfill (which is all to be another exciting chapter in my life). For now, my travelling is what I look forward to most and I will definitely make the most out of it!

I surely will miss my family and friends back here but I know i WILL see all the beautiful faces again but for this trip, I may never see the world like this ever again. SO it is my time now to fly, because I can! =)

Now, it is time for the preparation... there is still so much to do in so little time!!