Shake away the 赘肉

All my friends know that I am not a person in favor of sports and strenuous activities (mountain climbing, jogging etc.), and i tried to avoid any form of sport activities no matter how my friends sugarcoat it to tempt me to join them. The day when my ex-housemates (KY and JV) had given up in asking me to join them for badminton games every Monday, I know that I have totally mastered the Sun Tzu art of avoiding.

Well, not until i met the master of persuasion, my dear Peter. He will try to persuade me with all his might to join him for jogging on Saturday 8am in the morning, 'walk and less driving' movement, after dinner slow walk and etc., anything and everything he can think of so that both of us still can enjoy good food (we are pretty defenseless when it comes to food) without getting pot bellies.

To an extent i have to give credit to his persistence and patience cuz i dont think anyone can put up with my lame excuses and rejection for so long. He even manage to persuade me to join in 2 marathon/walkathon last year, and you know what i got a consolation medal for the 7km Insurance and Takaful walk! well, maybe i got hidden talent in this, who knows.

Terry Fox Charity Walk

My medal, no bluffing

Anyway, when i first decided to subscribe to the aerobic classes, no one is more happy than he was. When i break the news to him, seriously, he was in cloud 9. i can still remember that he held me close while looking into my eyes and said:

"i am so proud of you",
yeah, that's my dear.

Aerobic is definitely not an easy exercise. Every time after the 1 hour session, i'll be lying on the chair and felt like i have spent my last ounce of energy.

This is me before and after class, its not so visible from the photo, but i can tell you I am flushed and sweat like a pig in the 'after class' photo.

To be truth, aerobic is as strenuous as running 5 km non stop or climbing up and down 20 floors of staircases. Especially when it comes to those stretching exercises like legs split and push up, i can literally felt my muscle trembles while all the actin and myosin cells in my body are contracting. And the funny thing is, the instructor will try her best to motivate all the students during this moment of time by saying words like:

“加油！不要赘肉哦！把肚子的赘肉甩掉哦！”
(translation: throw away all the saggy fats around your waist!"

-________- thanks you, thats motivating, duhhhh....

Anyway, went for begger chicken dinner last week, have a look at the post by peter!

PHO noodles in 3 minutes!

I love instant noodles and yes i know its not good for health, but there are certain things in life which we just can't resist anyway. Some people cant overcome the urge to shop (shopaholic), to stores thing (hoarders), to eat or drink (binge eaters and drinkers) etc., For me, i cant resist instant noodle, ice cream, pork, moist chocolate cakes/fudge and the list go on, blame it on my sweet tooth. Well, as long the urge doesnt consume or cripple your life, i dont think its a big issue anyway.

Come back to instant noodle, there are so many flavors and variety of instant noodles nowadays, its easy to prepare, yummy and filling, who can resist a 3 minutes satisfying meal? Mind you, Instant noodle may not necessarally spell for cheap, I still remember there was one time when i ordered this soup noodle called 出前一丁 in a Hong Kong restaurant which cost like RM10++, and only realized later that the noodle was the instant mee noodle. At first i couldnt understand why is it named in such an alien way which confuse people, but if you think logically, 出前一丁means you just 'ding' before you left. I assume that the 'ding' refer to the usual microwave 'ding' sound, which implies fast and simple.

In my recent trip to Vietnam, one of the 'souveniers' i bought for myself are PHO INSTANT NOODLES!! It cost 3000 dong (which is around RM0.75) per pack, and i am amazed with the fact that there are so many different brands and varieties available in the mini mart.

Pho Bo typically means Beef noodles, and Pho Ga means chicken noodles. The dried rice noodles are thinner than the regular PHO rice noodle and i think thats why you can cook/microwave/boil the noodles in 3 minutes. Then they have this usual oil and MSG Pack which contains the granules and dehydrated vegetables, meats and FAT bits (no joking it was stated at the packing). The soup was thick and tasty (a bity oily though), and its taste like cheap vietnamese pho. of course real PHO with freshly prepared broth and nice thin beef slices is the best, but for RM0.75, Not bad at all.


These are two other types, namely stewed pork with mushroom flavor (yuhuuu, Pork instant noodle!) and Pepper beef flavor. Anyway, i have been restraining myself with max 1 pack of instant noodle per week, since i havent taken any this week so i will spoil myself with yummy instant pork noodle this saturday. Muahahahaha (*evil laugh)

一种心照不宣的感悟

刚刚到老友的部落格看了看她近期所写的这一篇"终于见到你了"
差点掉了眼泪呢
看来上了年纪的女人特别容易有所感触
这一阵子因为许多的离合，心情的波动很大
与一直以来同步同行的朋友分道扬镳，
同时间却与两位许久不曾联络的朋友重续旧缘
感觉真的很微妙
也许友情就真的如她在文章里写的这一句话：
“真实的友谊无须大费奏章刻意去做些什么，
只要心里一直挂念着，感觉就不会退色”

该如何为‘好’朋友定义呢？
经常联络？或兴趣相同？或滔滔不绝吗？
若是真的如此，我的好朋友真的少之又少了

也许朋友并没有‘好’与‘普通’之分
即使是泛泛之交，也会有某种层面上的联系
也许只是曾经说过一句话，见过一次面
然而，在那一刻，那一刹那，
我们俩的生命轨道交叉了

比起常年的相对却话不投机
我更喜欢许久不见后的一天
一封email，一句问候
或者是一个懒洋洋地的下午，两杯咖啡，
刹那间心情的交流，举手投足，一颦一笑
或(更抽象的)心有灵犀一点通
遥相晖映，可真不亦乐乎

朋友啊，是一种心照不宣的感悟！

Shake to Shape

I used to be pretty skinny when i was in Liverpool, but that's just my high metabolism at part time work. Trust me, working 3 hours a day in Marks and Spencer can burn off your fat like barbecue grill. However, a short 2 years of urban city lifestyle where wine and dine with customers are part of my job, i've gained nothing but extra lipid. Its not like i am paranoid over my increased weight and chubby face, but its more of an annoyance as some of my shirt/blouse are not really fitting anymore due to my increased waistline. Mind you all my clothes are in S size those days.

To be frank, I am a person who care the least about my external appearance. I've always think that external appearance isn't the most significant attribute of a person and paranoid over our look all the time is just lame and superficial. Its kinda annoys me when those skinny girls come and tell "oh, i am so fat" all the time, as if their life revolves around the 0.5mm extra lipid around their waist.

Well, i don't deny the fact that there are people who judge individual through the external appearance, and yes the first impression does carries weight, but fretting too much over those opinions are unnecessary as what is important in a person is beneath the surface, and only time can tells that. Of course that shouldnt be an excuse for a person to hide behind the term 'inner beauty' and to justify binge eating or unhealthy lifestyle either. This body is the home for our soul /spirit and its very much our responsibility to take care of it.

Anyway, come back to the whole weight issue, being cautious about how my body felt more heavier (maybe its just psychology) now compared to before, i decided to go for some healthy exercise regime. I dont really like the idea of gym as its repetitive and strenuous (and expensive as well), so the next is either Aerobic or Yoga. There is this great Aerobic centre near my place called Shake to Shape and it has been a month since i've started to attend the classes twice a week.

Beautiful Instructor, good motivation i guess

One thing which is good about the centre is that it allows people to subscribe to a plan of 5, 10, 12 or unlimited classes and choose from a range of different aerobic/Yoga class to attend. This includes Tight, butt and Tummy (for tummy, hips and thigh shaping), Hi/Lo, Dynamic (muscle building), Aero 1.2.3 (toning, weight losing), Yoga (ease muscle tension, stress, increase flexi) etc. I usually attend the first one and its consist of 10-15 mins warm up, 30 mins 'bar' exercise and 10-15 mins stretching. Its quite a balance exercise and involves alot of shaking as well. What i really like about the class is it's great ambiance and the fact that its a group exercise, you can see ladies from all works of life (from student to aunties) shaking their butt, sweating and dancing together to the music without any inhibition.

Hopefully i can maintain this as a routine and enjoy the shaking!

Affinity

Affinity is the invisible bonds which bind people together, to an extent you can think that as similar to gravitation. Some people claim the word to be attraction, but for me, attraction always refer to the opposite attraction or physical attraction. If someday a person of the same sex come and tell you that he/she feel attracted to you, i think you will dash off even before he/she finish the sentences.

Naturally, we do gravitates or have affinity towards certain group of people, we are bound to them and they to us as well. To some people we feel akin as if we had known them before. Its a mysterious affinity which immediately felt at the first meeting, the relationship blossom effortlessly, and the connection is always there no matter how long it has been since the last time we chat or met each other.

I dont really have many friends of that kind, but Bowl is definitely one of the few. Last Friday night is the first time we met after 8 years, she was my best mate in Form 2/3, and we used to do all sort of crazy things together such as being fanatic over Backstreet boys and Titanic. To my surprise, we felt no inhibition and the conversation flowed naturally like the old times. Its kinda funny that after exchanging a few words, she started to smile and told me: "You've never changed". Once i heard the line, there is this sudden warm feelings filled up my chest. All these years, i thought i have changed alot, but in front of my dear old friend, i am just the same person i was when i am 13-14.

The funny thing is she told me the same, when she heard me calling her name in the phone, it makes her felt kinda weird but excited at the same time, cuz no one really address her with that name anymore. She was giggling like a kiddie when she said that, which is exactly the same old expression that i'm so so used to. Time may flies, but i have to say old friends know each other the best, even to an extent that they know you better than you do.

Its really great to know that there is someone in this world that still have the image of the younger me imprinted in her mind when i myself had started to forget about the little girl in me. And you know that no matter what you've went through all these years, there will be always someone who know you for the person you were yesterday and the person you are today .

Those were the days

Acting like a sentimental fool lately.

One minute i was laughing so much watching the video of us (from Kohyee's blog) happily singing a Sunday school action song in winter 2006, the next minute my heart sank so low that i nearly shed a tear thinking back what we used to share together and finally realized that those moment were forever gone. This feeling keep coming back to me lately, that nothing ever really last. Its like the song from Kelly Clarkson

"You wonder what went wrong, Everything Changes, Happy then jaded, always a different song Playing in your head just when you think you've got it down Out of nowhere you realize its a different music playing now" ~One minute

All of us are singing a different song now, scattered all around the world, moving on with our own life. It makes me wonder do we still have the chance to sing together just like those days. Whenever Lorna plays a song in Chatham's living room on Sunday night, all of us will start to surround the old piano together and sang our hearts out. In between, door bell rang and someone will rush to get the door; more people will join in to sing, some were even humming together while preparing dinner in the kitchen.

This whole image was so vivid yet nostalgic in my mind.

Saying good bye was never easy, as i'm getting older, its getting harder and harder. cuz i know everytime i've spoken the two words, it takes away a piece of me together with the person. I am resolved to not saying the 'good bye' this time, instead i'll try my best to keep our relationship alive no matter how different is the song we sing and how far we are separated from each other.

Sorry for not able to say good bye, cuz you are too precious to let go.

An Animal Farm- the world we live in

"It was curious to think that the sky was the same for everybody,

in Eurasia or Eastasia as well as here.

And the people under the sky were also very much the same—everywhere, all over the world, hundreds or thousands of millions of people just like this,
people ignorant of one another's existence,
held apart by walls of hatred and lies,
and yet almost exactly the same—people who had never learned to think
but were storing up in their hearts and bellies and muscles the power that would one day overturn the world."
-George Orwell, 1984

Question: Do you sense the change of the political tranquility in Malaysia for the past one year ?

I can smell the change in the air. It puzzled me that people suddenly become so patriotic and worked up about the political movement in the past one year, and surprisingly those people includes my close friends and love one, who cant even spell correctly the full name of our Prime Minister before this. All of a sudden, politics become the hottest topic at mamak stalls, bloggers become verbal and aggressive when it came to political issue, even Oprah was openly supporting Obama on the tele.

I am really ignorant when it comes to politics. It was never a subject of interest to me, and in my whole life i've never recognized my role as a rightful citizen of this homeland. Its a shame to say that i've never even voted in any national election in my whole life. In my mind, this world of politics is always seen as detached with my 'personal' life, come rain or shine, Barison Nasional or Pakatan Rakyat, my life is still going on, i still need to go to pump petrol every week regardless how is the fuel price, i still need to go to work even though the state government was changed, i still need to pay tax no matter which party become the ruling government.

That was my mindset, at least until last year March election. How it slowly changed from there i am not sure, but what i'm sure that it was in certain ways triggered was by two books which i've read quite some time ago, namely "Animal Farm" by George Orwell and "Night" by Elie Wiesel.

Sister Angie lend me this book by Elie Wiesel last year, which talks about the autobiography of a young Jewish boy (Wiesel) who was send to the Germen concentration camps at Auschwitz (the holocaust) during Second World War. I was literally crying inside when i finished reading the novel. How can one person (Hitler) started a war and the genocide of 10 millions of Jews, Romanians, homosexuals, physically and mentally disabled, and intellectuals.

That led me to the realization of a fact, people suffers when a leader abuse the political power which he/she possessed.

Another extreme example is Joseph Stalin, the famous dictator of Soviet Union Communist Party, who had initiated the cult of personality movement to manipulate his own people into believe he is almost a god like man, but at the same time repress and persecute nearly 2 millions of people accused of corruption and treachery (Great Purge). The story of how the political ideology Communism which started as the ultimate salvation plan for the people of Soviets went wrong after Stalin came into power is described in the book by George Orwell.

Animal Farm was introduced to me by Kim. When i first look at the book's cover, i wondered why did he wanted me to read a children book. But heck, i was deeply impressed after i've finished reading it. It describes a bunch of barnyard animals who overthrow the 'evil' farm owner and then run their own society, just to realized in the end that they have created another human equivalently bad (or even worse) leader- the pigs. The story represent the human characteristic in an analogy of animal instincts, of course Stalin is THE pig in the story, and the way Orwell described the propaganda and the manipulation of the Piggy Stalin are so real and alarming. It describes the doomsday of a precipitated change in such a vivid manner.

Anyway, i plan to read Orwell's sequel to animal farm-"1984" next, which talk about similar manipulation and distortion of political ideology to implement dictatorship, and the interesting thing is the term BIG BROTHER (remember the stupid UK reality show?), thought police, room 101 were all coined by him in this book.

Anyway, anyone want to join me for a cuppa and a book on a lazy Saturday morning?

Hanoi Trip pt IV (Alfresco)

Located beside the Ho Kiem Lake at Hai Ba Trung Street, Alfresco is the perfect Western restaurant to go to in Hanoi if you are over saturated with Vietnamese food and hunger for some good carnivorous meal. It is the home to all western favorites from Pasta, pizza, mexican to burgers, and the self proclaimed 'best ribs in Vietnam'.

The environment inside is cozy and comfortable, with dim lights and warm tranquility. Big colorful menus hanging on the wall, bottles of 'today's special' wine seating on the bar, for westerern tourists , this is very much homey to them. However, for Malaysian like me, this smells of expensive dining and big dollars.

Me and my mates have ordered shop famous Junior Pork Ribs, Alfresco Special very thin crust pizza and apple crumbles. The Pork Ribs here are to die for, so succulent and delicious, even Toni Romas in Singapore cannot beat them. The dish come together with fresh salad roasted potatoes. They also have mini and Jumbo size to cater for the big eaters.

The pizza did not fail us either. The thin crusty pizza was fantastic, its as though you are biting a crunchy tin biscuit rather than the usual Pizza hut thick pizza bread, the topping are consist of Ham, pepperoni, chilli beef, bell peppers, onion, pineapple, mozzarella cheese. Its very fresh and with hot Tabasco oil (its like the chilli oil but not so pepperish, i was tempted to ask whether i can buy one bottle from Alfresco), its tasted perfectly.

Microscopic view

The entire meal cost us USD 18, i would say the price is fair, cuz it will cost around the same in similar restaurants in Malaysia. So for those who planned to travel to Hanoi, dont forget to drop by at:

Al Fresco's
23L Hai Ba Trung
Hoan Kiem, Hanoi
Tel: 04-826 7782

Only 1 will have higher education

If the population of the Earth was reduced to that of a small town with 100 people, it would look something like this:

57 Asians
21 Europeans
14 Americans (northern and southern)
8 Africans
52 women
48 men
70 coloured-skins
30 caucasians
6 people would own 59% of the whole world wealth and all of them will be from the United States of America
80 would have bad living conditions
70 would be uneducated
50 underfed
1 would die
2 would be born
1 would have a computer
1 (only one) will have higher education

I came across this passage from one of the forum just now and it reminded me of a person who i'd met during my Hanoi trip. I have the chance to met quite many people of different colors along this trip but there is this particular girl who had left a vivid impression in my mind. This young Hanoian girl is the tour guide for the Halong bay trip, i am not sure how old she is, judging from her appearance, she should be in early twenties maybe.

Although she carries the title of English speaking tour guide, but let just say her English fluency wasnt that great. However, with her charming (to an extend funny) Vietnamese English ascent and big warm smile, she doesnt seems to have much problem mixing around with the rest of foreign tourists with her broken English. Its very interesting that she speaks and smiles at the same time, you can literally 'see' her laughters radiating from her bright and cheerful expression whenever she spoke.

I had a long conversation with her during the drive back from Halong to Hanoi since both of us were sitting beside driver seat and we were very much immobile and have nothing to do during that 3 and half hours drive. I am surprised to find out that she has been working as a tour guide for 6 years now, and she has to travel back and forth from Hanoi-Halong everyday without failed. Gosh, thats a bloody 7 hours of drive everyday! She was surprised to know that i've been to quite a few European countries before and was bold enough to tell me that she wished she can do that too, but has no money. She told me further that the pay in Vietnam is very low and its quite impossible for them to think of travel outside the country.

I was quite sad when i listened to this. At that moment of time, i realized that i never really know this part of Vietnam before. I've see the beautiful culture and its fabulous tourist spots, but i never really comprehended the reality and hard life of the Vietnamese, of which some of them make their ends met through selling the street food, souveniers, handling hostel business to serve foreign tourists like me.

When you look at the world from this perspective, you can see how different a person can be just because he/she born in a different country and have the proper education opportunity. How lucky i am in the sense that i owned a computer, and i can express myself and writting freely a blog now, and i am the only 1 in the 100 people who had the chance of higher education.

I told Yen (the hanoian gal's name) to practice hard and master her English, as Vietnam is developing fast, there will be jobs which required English speaking, and when the opportunities open up in future, she will be ready for that. I dont know how much she absorbed imy words, but i really hoped she will experienced a more abundant and wider horizon in her life.

My very best wishes to you, Yen

Hanoi Trip pt III (Travel for Glutton)

Hanoi is indeed a pearl of heritage and culture. Although nowadays it is flooded by sea of foreign tourists (am in no position of complaining as I’m one of them as well), but the deep rooted culture and boundless spirit of the locals is still very much intact and preserved. This has been best portrayed through their culinary and local cuisine.

The food is definitely one big highlight of the trip. The local vietnamese cuisine is very much simple (fast to prepare) but absolutely delicious. On top of that, you have the privilege to share the table with the local vietnamese as well as the fellow tourists, very much like in the busy dim sum restaurant in Hongkong. The only thing is that the table and chair are much shorter. And its kinda funny to see the foreigners which is like 5 feet tall sitting on the short chair, its like the giant sitting on the midget chair.

PHO

Pho shop

Half of the Pho menu

Despite of all the stories of diarrhea threat, I have finally tried the famous hanoi street’s PHO at Cham ca street (mind you this is not the KLCC Vietnam Restaurant’s Pho which cost a bomb), of course with charcoal tablet ready in my bag. It’s a rice noodle which taste heavenly with the clear but tasty soup. For 18,000 dong (around RM4), I've tried tai chin, which means a mixed of half cooked and thoroughly cooked beef slices. I cant describe the different of the pho with Malaysian’s rice noodles soup but it just different. The beef was soft and tender, and if you have good toleration towards raw meat, half cooked is always a better choice. Well, not to say we didn’t eat raw food like sashimi and sushi in Malaysia.

The cooks prepare the pho behind the glass window (lots of corriander, yucks)The happy me with the yummy pho

Bun Cha

Bun cha is another great local dish, it’s a dish consist of barbeque pork cutlet, char siew like pork, fresh salad (mint leaves, salad leaves, coriander and some other herbs), rice noodle and a funny tasted soup (sweet and sour) which has pieces of vegetable (carrot, cucumber in it. The way to eat the dish is to mix everything in one small bowl and eat together in a mouthful. The pork comes with some fat and burned choacoal taste, exactly how i wanted it to be. yummy! Apart from that, i've also ordered 1 roll of nem (by showing '1' finger), which i have no idea why they have served me a plateful of at least 3 rolls of nem.

Bun Cha Dac Kim at Hang Manh street

Bun Cha
showing the nem

Aunty frying the nem

If you ask anyone what they know about vietnam cuisine, Nem is definitely in their list. Nem is like the veitnamese version of popiah, with pork, glass noodles and some vege in it. They have two types which is the grilled and non-grilled type. Well, unhealthy oily grilled food always tasted better, arent you agree?

Yummy nem served with pieces of tomato and salad leaves

More vieliscious food to come!

The Hanoi trip Pt 2 (Halong Bay)

The Ha long Bay trip was an unforgettable experience.

There are numerous travel packages around and for $25, it includes the transportation to HaLong Bay, cruise, lunch on the jung, kayaking and a visit to cave. And trust me, the experience worth every single penny. We were picked up by this small van at 830am in the morning with the rest of 10 other tourists from various countries such as US, Germany and UK. Travel in group is much more enjoying than traveling on our own as its really interesting to listen to the life and travel stories from all around the world, from different walks of life, and the best thing is when they are never stingy in sharing them.

Along the journey, I get to know this woderful lady named Emily (the one with white hair in the photo), she is one interesting lady with endless friendly aura radiating all over and very much down to earth. It come to me a surprise later the end of trip that she is actually a phD holder and an executive director. Thanks to her chattiness, the atmosphere in the van was light and easy, it really helped us endured the three and a half hours of boring journey in a cramp and stuffy van.

We were brought to the destination with a Oriental looking Sail ship called jung with dragon head and a nice open deck. I was wondering why on earth that all the jung have dragon head instead of you know mermaid head or other mystic creatures (i thought chinese are the only race that obsessed about dragon). Browsing through internet and i found the stories behind halong bay which is very much related to the dragons. Apparently, the legend tells a story of the Jade Emperor sending the mother dragon and her band of child dragons to help Viet people when they are attacked by invaders. The dragons descended in flocks from the sky, spat out immumerable pearls which changed into jade stone island the moment they touch the water, the islands linked together to form firm citadels that checked the enemy's advance and smashed their vessels to pieces. After the invaders were driven out, Mother Dragon and child dragons stayed on earth and soon landed on Ha Long and Bai Tu Long (from http://www.halongboat.com/halong/legend.htm)

At first we see nothing as the jung sailed into the wide open sea, however, in just a short 10 minutes, the jung entered into this mysterious path which was surrounded with more than 1800 limestone mountains dotting the sea scape. As the the Jung sailed through, the path just opened up and every island is very much beautiful by its own.

Emily and his husband, cant remember his name, but we secretively called him Albert Einstein (because of his white hair)

Finally we reached one of the island with the biggest limestone caves -Hang Sung Sot in which we were led by the tour guide to visit caves where the art was drawn by the hand of the nature. The stalactite/limestone formations was fascinating and vision to behold, hanging on the cave's ceiling, it forms various structure and statues, some looks like the mystic creatures of Vietnamese legend: turtle, dragon, phoenix and the unicorn, not exactly look-alike but well, sort of, according to our vibrant vietnamese tour guide. For a short (or petite) guy, he is full of vibe and zest. He spoke of the legend and the stories with so much of enthusiasm and pride, as if he live through the times itself.

After the cave visit, we went for Kayaking. It is not a new thing for me but was definitely a highlight of the entire Halong journey. I have tried kayaking in Lake district, UK and Permai beach, Kuching before, but kayaking in the middle of the wide open sea surrounded by limestone islands, that’s something new. Its pretty funny that the tour guide just throw us into this small kayak and expecting us to start kayak by our own. Well, I am not saying it’s a tough task, however, imagine the dunno-how-deep-is-the-water running underneath of you and once a while waves beating the kayak and threatened to turnover, and furthermore the only protection you had is the piece of life saving jacket which is hanging loosely on your body. It can be quite scary and real fun at the same time (once you get the hang of it of course).

In the middle of ocean, suddenly the sound of the crowd ceases, the whole world turned still, the sound of the waves, the buoyancy, the clear blue sky, its very much just nature and you.
Anyway to cut the story short, after the kayaking, we went back in a speed boat which cruise at 120km/hr speed. With the wind blowing so hard, my face nearly turn into plastic. So in one short day, i've experienced the jung cruise, kayak and speed boat, and Emily joked that maybe the next is life boat. -___-

The Hanoi trip Pt 1

I went for a backpack trip to Hanoi last weekend, it was short but really pleasant. When the wave of the hot air engulfed me the moment i stepped down from the plane embracing my home land again, the first thought that running through my mind was "sigh... i am back to the 30 degrees days again!". Back in the world of reality after being away for three days in a foreign land had really make my brain and my pace running slower, without my usual pre-planned and packed itinerary, i am sort of losing the track of time and it felt like the earth is rotating slower or even spinning in a totally different axis in Vietnam. For a second it makes me wonder whether did the weekend getaway really happened or it was just a dream.

Hallo Vietnam!!

Hanoi welcomed me with 18 degrees day the morning I reached the city, despite the pleasant chillness and the morning breeze, the tranquility of the morning was mixed with dust and endless honking sound. To be frank, the journey started and ended exactly with the honking sound. It’s such an annoyance that the drivers honked anytime and anywhere for no reason. I swear that even in the middle of night I can still heard someone honking on the street. Anyway, back to the first day morning. It was early, 8:30 am, but already i can see the amount of the vehicles lurking on the main road, motorbikes, bicycles, cyclos, taxis, and buses, rooming and honking their way through.Its pretty much unorganized and messy. However despite of how unorganized it was, at the same time, everything seems to fall in its places.

I am totally impressed with the Honoian women walking around the busy traffic with 10 kgs of goods in basket on both side, balanced deftly on a bambo lifter across their thin shoulders, with much ease. Now and then you can also see some motorcyclist stopped by the road side buying the freshly baked bread from the old ladies. The charm and the touch of the locals reminds me of those P Ramli's monochromatic movie of the olden days.

Anyway, that’s my first impression of the city.

In order to feel and experience the Hanoian life, I’ve decided to have my 3 days 3 night stays in the old quarters, beside the famous Ho Kiem Lake which is exactly in the middle of the heart of the city. I am very much against 5 star hotel and pre arranged city tour package, its not that i 'm defying myself from luxurious enjoyment, back packing has always been my preferences since I’ve first started my back packing journey to London 4 years back. To have the local experience is what makes the whole trip different, to eat what the local eat and to see what the local see. Yes, the budget hotel and the downtown street can be dirty, and yes, its El stinko, however, if i want to be pampered and enjoy the queen like service, i might as well checked myself into the Hilton in KL Central instead of coming all the way to Hanoi.

The City is a paradox.

The aftermath of French colonisation can be felt clearly in Hanoi. Being in the east and having influence from the west have made the city enjoy the best out of both. Artistic building in French Quarters makes you feel like in Paris, but 15 minutes away, you will also get the Old Quarters which was similar to Malaysia very own Petaling street. On one side of the road you will see the greenest and widest Paddy field that you have ever seen, and the other side, rows and rows of CANON/Panasonic factories are poisoning the view. Am enjoying the asean authentic cruisine a.k.a street food-pho (beef noodle) for lunch, and wine and dine in the finest French like restaurant at night.

Old quarterFrench quarter

Anyway this is just the opening to my series of flashbacks on Hanoi trip. All the photos above is courtesy of Google image. Am still waiting for my mate to transfer all the photos to me, once its done, i'll be back with a more visual description of my Hanoi moments.

Jason Mraz in the house

It was a total blast last night, Jason Mraz was in the house and gosh, he rocked the entire KL! Peter and I went to stadium Negara for the long awaited concert and he didn't fail us at all! He pulled a good show and the only flaw is that its too short! The show lasted for 1 and half hours, and throughout the whole period my senses was bombarded with euphoria of colors from the stage lightnings and melodies from trumpets, saxaphone, guitars, percussions etc.

Accompanied by his critically acclaimed live band which includes the very 'famous' percussionist Toca Revera (yes THE Toca!), Jason Mraz was stunning on the stage. I have to admit that his showman ship was perfect and he really had it all, the humor, the talent, the character, the skill etc. I have my goosebumps all over when thousands of audience sang in one voice when it comes to the chorus of "The remedy"

"I..... won't worry my life away.
I..... won't worry my life away"

Am totally blown away....

Before the concert started

During the concert

Anyway, Peter is a big fan of Jason Mraz since a good 5 years ago when he is still an unknown artist who sang in the pubs more frequent than getting his songs played over the radio. I'm very much influenced by him. In fact, Jason Mraz's catchy melody and reggae pop beat had very much accompanied us throughout our 4 years of coupling journey. Its awesome to finally see the Person in real singing in an actual concert.

Peter and I in Jason Mraz Concert!
(Dorcas, here comes the picture of us as promised)

P/s: Anyway, cut my hair, surprise? this is before and after... (ignore my bloated cheeks)