fReNLy fR3aK

its been a long time since i last updated my blog. no particular reasons for that just .. lazy..and encuontered a number of problems when trying to save my post. so, in summary of everything that i wanna put in words..

yes, i had loads of fun in Hanoi, Vietnam! there are tough moments where i really really miss home, family, friends, YC n my soft-toys alot !!thats because i havent been away from home that long before..to add to it, its my first time not celebrating Christmas with my family n friends.sigh! YC RALLY also i missed it man!! ishh….!!sobs! but i heard bout the many girls Aaron sat with, the amazing dance YC performed, and also the one-on-one outtings with girls (ahem!) by someone, u know who you are..dont deny it!oh man! wish i was there to witness everything!!oh well! i came back with a cold, terrible cough, a lil sorethroat and MORE VOLCANOES on my face..thats because the air in Hanoi wasnt good..yea, it was winter but its super hazy, dusty and..umm..basically, the air isnt that good n clear as Malaysia’s. Matt said my voice changed when he heard my over the phone.sighh….!

31st december 2006 : went to 1st service in church. sat with Matt, my bro, Aaron and their friend, Julian..oh yes!my mom was there too.after service, i received a suprise call from Leighanne informing me that there was a meeting with Judah.rushed to the office right away for the meeting. after it, one of the leaders sent me home.yes, the meeting was a suprising one for me because i didnt expect the special announcement Judah told the 10 of us there.seriously, what he said was mind-blowing!!expecially for me. oh well!

for these few weeks of January, i have spent my everyday doing house chores! argh..yes, im getting sick of it. sorry mum! neway, i just got back from  YC  leaders retreat 07 in MBS Recreation and Training Centre in Rawang. Thats the place SU was suppose to have their outting last year but it didnt work out because the fees charged was way over the budget. The place was SUPERB !! it was GREAT !!there’s rock climbing(but no safety ropes), reflexology foot path, NS-like-obstacles, skating rings,golf course, SWIMMING POOL, gym, squash court(under renovation), cycling path, chalets(which look like dog kennel, thats wat ppl say), indoor basketball court, indoor badminton court, ping pong court etc. my point is the place is beautiful! all the leaders were suppose to leave at bout 7pm but they left at 8pm.i followed in Rose’s van which left church at 5pm.we arrived there earlier and guess what we saw? 2 RAINBOWS!! its was so pretty!!! the 3 guys went to play basketball and the 5 girls played UNO in the dorm (40girls to 1 bathroom in the dorm).in the third round of UNO, the funny thing is i owe Rose an apology!! so sorry Rose!!(i kept on putting draw Fours and Draw Twos for her! and she didnt have cards to defend herself..)sobs! SO SORRY ROSE!while playing, i was eatting this fruity chocolate when i suddenly got the heart shaped chocolate! yea..took a pic of it adi.hehe.

basically the whole retreat was great..it was on video too. Marcel explained the vision for YC 2007..Rose spoke on Sunday morning(21/1).hmmmm…did i mention that i had to use my handphone torchlight for the 4 guys who played basketball till 12.30am(the time i left earlier) in the super dark indoor basketball court? my battery kong out! sobs!the switch box was locked apparently. sigh.oh yes! during relax-n-rest time, alot of leaders played CaptainBall in the swimming pool in the RAIN!had loads of fun i guess coz some girls managed to push Ailleen and the guys threw Marcel into the pool..haha! 21/1 was Rose’s birthday..all of us prayed for her..when some girl leaders wiped whipped cream all over her..oh yea! that was a great movie to watch..poor Rose.. haha! i actually video-ed it but i pressed the wrong button..and so, i didnt save to video!! argh!!!! wasted !! sobs…

sorry daddy, brainwash project didnt work..i kena ‘attack’ back from her. sobs!

yes, im having the exam this Fri..hopefully i pass it because i dont wanna resit or pay to resit it !! pls pray for me..im scared and nervous!!

well, more things to come in the next update!c ya peeps around..

-mel-

Day 1 (

23/10/2006

)

Boarded Airasia plane in LCC Terminal at

3pm

to

Hanoi

,

Vietnam

. Arrived at about

6.30pm

(

5.30pm

:

hanoi

’s time) . the tour bus came to pick the 20 of us ..there were 3 familes ;my uncle’s, Aunt Fiona’s and Aunt Cam’s family. We went straight to the city to have our first Vietnamese dinner ! yippee..i tell you..the food there is totally different and their normal chilli is cili padi!! (according to my bro n uncle who are chilli lovers!)our first dinner consist of fried fish, lotsa raw vege with rice noodles ! the whole thing is cooked right in front of you on d table! Ahhh! I couldn’t forget the taste of it man!On our way back to the bus, we had to cross many busy roads where the traffic is also TOTALLY DIFFERENT from malaysia’s!Our tour guide, Mr.Dao told us that if we ever want to cross the roads of Vietnam, we MUSTN’T LOOK LEFT OR RIGHT to cross it !! believe it or not ! im serious!! No kidding..!but we mustn’t run either..just cross and act as if the road belongs to you !! cars, vans n motorbikes will know how to avoid you..and u don’t have to avoid them ..!therefore, in my own words. “CLOSE YOUR EYES AND CROSS THE ROADS!” ahahaha !it’s our first time getting ourselves lost in the city because the 20 of us were spilt to 10-10..so, I was left in the 2^nd half of the group where we had difficulty crossing the road n the next thing we knew,the other group n Mr.Dao was no where to be seen. So, we stood where we were hoping that the rest are aware of our absence n come find us soon..because we don’t wanna be lost on our first day in

Vietnam

!!

Next, the bus (only 25seater + driver) took us to the train station for a transfer to

Sa

 

Pa

mountain. We were all suppose to sleep in the cabins in the train the whole night ! It’s a 6 hour journey up the mountains !each cabin had 4 beds (crampy but still comfy..)and there were only 1 basin for simple clean-ups and the toilet is locked till morning!!did I mention that the basin was stucked, water cant flow smoothly and there were nearly 30 – 35 ppl waiting to use the basin before they could sleep ? ? yes.. that was the first night of our holidays. I slept with Aunt Karen ( from fga also), my bro n my cousin(Khang Yeon). To make others jealous, Josh( my genius bro) turned on music from his phone n put the volume to the max !seriously, other parent and children were wondering, “Why their cabin got free music wan ?? how come my cabin don’t have wan? ? “ the four of us had a good laugh !! I kinda like my bed.. hehe J

Day 2(24/12/2006)

We arrived at Sa Pa mountain at 5am (6am M’sia) and another bus took us straight to the Love Market to have our breakfast there..i had ( pancake with choc and Vietnamese fried rice). Then, we walked thru the whole market and guess what I saw ? PIGS !! yes..u read that right.. they sold animals there and they way they treat those animals are just so inhumane! They pull its legs n forced open its mouth  etc for checking..those pigs were crying man !! they look so sad !!! poor pigs ! btw, those pigs weren’t so big la ..n they don’t stink! n they aren’t pink in colour..they are in black! I even shot their  pic! Wanna see ? ? hehe! After that, we went straight to our hotel , Bamboo Sa Pa hotel to wash up. ( FINALLY!!) its because all of us haven’t had a bath for 1 ½ day ! n obviously we all stink !we all had our FIRST shower in Vietnam n the heater isn’t working well because its dependant on burning coal in a small container.but im glad the heater worked well when I was bathing (hehe)..u need special techniques to operate the shower +heater..and only smart ppl like me n my bro can do it ! ahahahah ! no la .. JUST KIDDING!

The whole afternoon was free for leisure and all of us decided to take a long walk around the whole town ( it’s kinda big for a town..but not so high tech like the city wan..).The traffic there were much safer!(Thank God!).did I mention that it was WINTER TIME  in Vietnam now ?? hehe ..lovely winter..but no snow wan.. the temperature there was about 15.8celcius on a daily basis.but up in the mountain,it was 5 – 10 celcius. I didn’t feel really cold la …till night time !oh yes! We had tea time at Victoria Hotel..(I had hot choc!perfecto!)..

Night came n all of us had our Christmas eve dinner at Victoria Hotel because there was a buffet dinner there..Rachel,Josh,Khang Yeon n I had the craziest dinner ever! Why ? because we had at least 3 rounds of food! I took some pic of the food we had..we tried their mushroom soup n it was so diff from our normal Campbell soup..i prefer Campbell soup btw(more creamy n thicker). Here’s something to be shocked at:if u ever notice..there are sections of various food during buffet (soup, rice, noodles, desserts, drinks..etc) right ? well, there was this particular section where they had LOTS N LOTS N LOTS of chocolate based desserts!there was this cottage made of chocolate (I hav d pic!) n a big long log-shaped choc cake ! n around that cake was easter-egg-chocs, santa-like-choc  n Christmas-tree-choc! N when EVERYONE  were looking at me,my bro, Khang Yeon n Rachel…we happily SAPU ALL THOSE CHOC DECORATIONS which weren’t meant to be eaten because it was suppose to be a DECORATION! The chef there was laughing at us man ! ahahahah ! I snapped a pic of the santa-like choc my bro took ..it was about 1 feet tall..hahaha! after dinner, the adults stayed back for Vietnamese coffee and chat…other kids played Uno..i,on the other hand, took a stroll by myself outside the hotel because the feeling of MISSING MY FRIENDS is very strong..seriously, I never felt this homesick before!!i stood at the balcony, had a view overlooking the beautifully decorated Victoria Church, listened to the song “Tonight” and had my first look up in the sky..the stars were beautiful!! It was stupendous….astounding! that whole scenario made me think of my friends more because of the stars which fitted the song “Tonight”.

Walked back to our hotel after realizing that Victoria Hotel don’t have a countdown to Christmas..sigh..it was chilly! N freezing for me …!it was around 3celcius that night !!!! super cool wei !! my bro n my cousin like to act macho only.. no jacket wan ! ishhh !

Day 3, (25/12/2006), Christmas Day !!

Rachel and I shared a room…n we both fell in love with the song ‘Tonight’. We woke up at 5am ( 6am M’sia). The sun is already shinning brightly..had breakfast at the hotel’s restaurant..everyone wore back their dirty clothes..that includes me..y ? because we were suppose to be trekking down the mountain, thru the villages,cross a wooden bridge to a waterfall, and back up the mountain to the bus waiting at the end of our trek..yup! that’s what we did the whole morning..we were expected to finish trekking in 2 hours but we finished 30mins earlier..its not simple trekking because there were A LOT OF STAIRS EVERYWHERE …up n down , up n down , up n down !! my leg’s muscle sore a lil.i was getting a lil pening lalat cos there were STAIRS EVERYWHERE ! WINDING STAIRS with cow/pig/buffalo/goat dunk everywhere ! ahaha..had a good time avoiding those stuff..lol! I have a video of the waterfall we stopped at..it was BEAUTIFUL  I tell u !! With the sun rays and the rainbow n the waterfall..it was seriously AWESOME…God’s creation is really very good I say .. VERY VERY VERY VERY GOOD! After trekking, the bus took us back near our hotel for lunch..where we had spring rolls n other food la .. the spring rolls in Vietnam is very famous actually.n their Rice Noodles, pho ( pronounced as fur) is seriously my FAVOURITE !!after lunch, we went back to the hotel to wash up where the 20 of us shared 2 bathrooms! We had to check out before we finish trekking. Bath time was long (u understand why rite?)..left Sa Pa mountain at around 5pm ( 6pm M’sia) for our train departure down the mountain at 9pm(10pm M’sia). The journey down the mountain took us 3 hours..we had dinner near the station at Emotion Café  where I started feeling drowsy and had motion sickness because of the rocky n unstable winding mud roads for 3 hours..here’s another ‘good’ story I have.. I ordered ‘bbq pork chop with fries and salad’(something diff this time I thought…), n my food came in last ! but nevermind , I don’t mind. However, I didn’t get what I ordered…because they gave me Pork Ribs!where I couldn’t bite the meat because its ribs n mostly had tendon ..(im not a ribs lover btw…) n my braces is as usual giving me problems!..kesimpulannya, my dinner wasn’t really pleasant..!

Day 4, (26/12/2006)

to be continued…

sorry that i post this late..but ya la ..mission tergendala because of the earthquake in taiwan which affected the telecommunication system in our nation. fyi, i went to Hanoi for 8 days with my uncle’s family.. n yes, my brother is there. i truly enjoyed myself although it was hard for me because i miss my family n friends ALOT, i never missed celebrating Christmas away from home, family, yc n friends n of course, i never been away from home for so long !so..yea la..enjoy reading although its a long post …

Day 1 (

23/10/2006

)

Boarded Airasia plane in LCC Terminal at

3pm

to

Hanoi

,

Vietnam

. Arrived at about

6.30pm

(

5.30pm

:

hanoi

’s time) . the tour bus came to pick the 20 of us ..there were 3 familes ;my uncle’s, Aunt Fiona’s and Aunt Cam’s family. We went straight to the city to have our first Vietnamese dinner ! yippee..i tell you..the food there is totally different and their normal chilli is cili padi!! (according to my bro n uncle who are chilli lovers!)our first dinner consist of fried fish, lotsa raw vege with rice noodles ! the whole thing is cooked right in front of you on d table! Ahhh! I couldn’t forget the taste of it man!On our way back to the bus, we had to cross many busy roads where the traffic is also TOTALLY DIFFERENT from malaysia’s!Our tour guide, Mr.Dao told us that if we ever want to cross the roads of Vietnam, we MUSTN’T LOOK LEFT OR RIGHT to cross it !! believe it or not ! im serious!! No kidding..!but we mustn’t run either..just cross and act as if the road belongs to you !! cars, vans n motorbikes will know how to avoid you..and u don’t have to avoid them ..!therefore, in my own words. “CLOSE YOUR EYES AND CROSS THE ROADS!” ahahaha !it’s our first time getting ourselves lost in the city because the 20 of us were spilt to 10-10..so, I was left in the 2^nd half of the group where we had difficulty crossing the road n the next thing we knew,the other group n Mr.Dao was no where to be seen. So, we stood where we were hoping that the rest are aware of our absence n come find us soon..because we don’t wanna be lost on our first day in

Vietnam

!!

Next, the bus (only 25seater + driver) took us to the train station for a transfer to

Sa

 

Pa

mountain. We were all suppose to sleep in the cabins in the train the whole night ! It’s a 6 hour journey up the mountains !each cabin had 4 beds (crampy but still comfy..)and there were only 1 basin for simple clean-ups and the toilet is locked till morning!!did I mention that the basin was stucked, water cant flow smoothly and there were nearly 30 – 35 ppl waiting to use the basin before they could sleep ? ? yes.. that was the first night of our holidays. I slept with Aunt Karen ( from fga also), my bro n my cousin(Khang Yeon). To make others jealous, Josh( my genius bro) turned on music from his phone n put the volume to the max !seriously, other parent and children were wondering, “Why their cabin got free music wan ?? how come my cabin don’t have wan? ? “ the four of us had a good laugh !! I kinda like my bed.. hehe J

Day 2(

24/12/2006

)

We arrived at

Sa

 

Pa

mountain at

5am

(6am M’sia) and another bus took us straight to the Love Market to have our breakfast there..i had ( pancake with choc and Vietnamese fried rice). Then, we walked thru the whole market and guess what I saw ? PIGS !! yes..u read that right.. they sold animals there and they way they treat those animals are just so inhumane! They pull its legs n forced open its mouth  etc for checking..those pigs were crying man !! they look so sad !!! poor pigs ! btw, those pigs weren’t so big la ..n they don’t stink! n they aren’t pink in colour..they are in black! I even shot their  pic! Wanna see ? ? hehe! After that, we went straight to our hotel , Bamboo Sa Pa hotel to wash up. ( FINALLY!!) its because all of us haven’t had a bath for 1 ½ day ! n obviously we all stink !we all had our FIRST shower in Vietnam n the heater isn’t working well because its dependant on burning coal in a small container.but im glad the heater worked well when I was bathing (hehe)..u need special techniques to operate the shower +heater..and only smart ppl like me n my bro can do it ! ahahahah ! no la .. JUST KIDDING!

The whole afternoon was free for leisure and all of us decided to take a long walk around the whole town ( it’s kinda big for a town..but not so high tech like the city wan..).The traffic there were much safer!(Thank God!).did I mention that it was WINTER TIME  in

Vietnam

now ?? hehe ..lovely winter..but no snow wan.. the temperature there was about 15.8celcius on a daily basis.but up in the mountain,it was 5 – 10 celcius. I didn’t feel really cold la …till night time !oh yes! We had tea time at

Victoria

 

Hotel

..(I had hot choc!perfecto!)..

Night came n all of us had our Christmas eve dinner at

Victoria

 

Hotel

because there was a buffet dinner there..Rachel,Josh,Khang Yeon n I had the craziest dinner ever! Why ? because we had at least 3 rounds of food! I took some pic of the food we had..we tried their mushroom soup n it was so diff from our normal

Campbell

soup..i prefer

Campbell

soup btw(more creamy n thicker). Here’s something to be shocked at:if u ever notice..there are sections of various food during buffet (soup, rice, noodles, desserts, drinks..etc) right ? well, there was this particular section where they had LOTS N LOTS N LOTS of chocolate based desserts!there was this cottage made of chocolate (I hav d pic!) n a big long log-shaped choc cake ! n around that cake was easter-egg-chocs, santa-like-choc  n Christmas-tree-choc! N when EVERYONE  were looking at me,my bro, Khang Yeon n Rachel…we happily SAPU ALL THOSE CHOC DECORATIONS which weren’t meant to be eaten because it was suppose to be a DECORATION! The chef there was laughing at us man ! ahahahah ! I snapped a pic of the santa-like choc my bro took ..it was about 1 feet tall..hahaha! after dinner, the adults stayed back for Vietnamese coffee and chat…other kids played Uno..i,on the other hand, took a stroll by myself outside the hotel because the feeling of MISSING MY FRIENDS is very strong..seriously, I never felt this homesick before!!i stood at the balcony, had a view overlooking the beautifully decorated Victoria Church, listened to the song “Tonight” and had my first look up in the sky..the stars were beautiful!! It was stupendous….astounding! that whole scenario made me think of my friends more because of the stars which fitted the song “Tonight”.

Walked back to our hotel after realizing that

Victoria

 

Hotel

don’t have a countdown to Christmas..sigh..it was chilly! N freezing for me …!it was around 3celcius that night !!!! super cool wei !! my bro n my cousin like to act macho only.. no jacket wan ! ishhh !

Day 3, (

25/12/2006

), Christmas Day !!

Rachel and I shared a room…n we both fell in love with the song ‘Tonight’. We woke up at

5am

( 6am M’sia). The sun is already shinning brightly..had breakfast at the hotel’s restaurant..everyone wore back their dirty clothes..that includes me..y ? because we were suppose to be trekking down the mountain, thru the villages,cross a wooden bridge to a waterfall, and back up the mountain to the bus waiting at the end of our trek..yup! that’s what we did the whole morning..we were expected to finish trekking in 2 hours but we finished 30mins earlier..its not simple trekking because there were A LOT OF STAIRS EVERYWHERE …up n down , up n down , up n down !! my leg’s muscle sore a lil.i was getting a lil pening lalat cos there were STAIRS EVERYWHERE ! WINDING STAIRS with cow/pig/buffalo/goat dunk everywhere ! ahaha..had a good time avoiding those stuff..lol! I have a video of the waterfall we stopped at..it was BEAUTIFUL  I tell u !! With the sun rays and the rainbow n the waterfall..it was seriously AWESOME…God’s creation is really very good I say .. VERY VERY VERY VERY GOOD! After trekking, the bus took us back near our hotel for lunch..where we had spring rolls n other food la .. the spring rolls in

Vietnam

is very famous actually.n their Rice Noodles, pho ( pronounced as fur) is seriously my FAVOURITE !!after lunch, we went back to the hotel to wash up where the 20 of us shared 2 bathrooms! We had to check out before we finish trekking.

Bath

time was long (u understand why rite?)..left

Sa

 

Pa

mountain at around

5pm

(

6pm

M’sia) for our train departure down the mountain at

9pm

(

10pm

M’sia). The journey down the mountain took us 3 hours..we had dinner near the station at Emotion Café  where I started feeling drowsy and had motion sickness because of the rocky n unstable winding mud roads for 3 hours..here’s another ‘good’ story I have.. I ordered ‘bbq pork chop with fries and salad’(something diff this time I thought…), n my food came in last ! but nevermind , I don’t mind. However, I didn’t get what I ordered…because they gave me Pork Ribs!where I couldn’t bite the meat because its ribs n mostly had tendon ..(im not a ribs lover btw…) n my braces is as usual giving me problems!..kesimpulannya, my dinner wasn’t really pleasant..!

Day 4, (

26/12/2006

)

-to be continued in the next post-

remember to drop a comment ! thank you peeps ! hugx ! take care !^^ lalalalalalala………