Visitors

Managed to meet up with a couple of friends who came over for either holiday or work....it was really nice just going out for meals or shopping with them 'cos it was something that I usually do back home but don't do much here....no close friends yet mah!

Angie came over for a couple of days for a holiday with her boyfriend, Bryan and we had a lot of fun just going to try out the different types of food...some I haven't even ate before!

We went to eat at this restaurant famous for it's 'smashing and flying' rice in claypot! Yup..they cook the rice in this clay pot/bowl/container and then they smash the clay in front of you and then throw the rice to another waiter standing at the end of the room who catches the rice on a plate. Quite fun but then it happened so fast I didn't manage to take any pictures of it! Hehe...the rice was actually quite hard....so we ordered some spring onion oil sauce to dribble over it. Here's the picture but a kinda blur tho....

Went to another restaurant for more Vietnamese food...food from Hue, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh, 3 in 1 restaurant! It was bad! I mean the food tasted good but Angie and myself kenna msg attack! Both of us felt sick and tingly on our faces....so we had to down Coke to cure the situation! Phew.... thank God for Coke! I ate there a couple of times before but never had any problems...suspect it was the fish sauce 'cos I had more than usual that night...dipping with food like the picture below....cute huh?! hehe...

Ee Guan came over the next day and I brought him to eat at a local 'coffee shop' kinda place for some tang-hoon and sugarcane with strawberry juice...bez I tell you! It's one of my favourite places to eat!

And after that we went shopping at Ben Thanh Market and Saigon Square....so much to buy....and so hot! So we sat down for a drink...and Ee Guan had a local dessert....that kinda look like our Chendol....

It was really great to have friends over here....people who I can talk crap with and just hang out....so all of you who are reading this...COME!!! :)

Sick...

Still sick.... been coughing for quite a bit since before Chinese New Year.... not terrible cough but it's been getting worse....saw Western doctors twice already but still not any better....so had to go see the Eastern doctor to see if it helps....

Went to this chinese physician here in Vietnam and it was really quite ancient looking.... The apprentice was busy cutting up the herbs using a damn old-school looking cutter...

Doctor said that my lungs were heaty and that I was starting to get phlegm and also starting to get arthiritis! Damn.... all these problems sneak up on you! So here's my 3 packets of herbs that I have to drink twice a day for 3 days.... Bowl in in 4 bowls of water until 1 bowl of liquid is left....yucks!

Felt a little pukish already before I even drink the medicine...so was feeling a little down... Until I spotted my favourite snack on the road! It's called Bo Bia Ngot (Bor Bee Ngot), a po piah like wrap that has coconut shavings, sugar sticks and sesame seeds......The snack is only sold on bicycles....I spotted the guy cycling down the road and had my driver flag him down so that we can buy!

Here's what is looks like on the outside....



And here's what it looks like on the inside....

YUMMY!!! hhmmmm....felt so much better already....

Kuala Lumpur

Went to KL for a couple of days to meet the new guy from the Dermalogica Asia office who is looking after our Vietnam account....and at the same time to do some shopping! :)

They had a really huge building of their own but it's darn far out, near Shah Alam....so we had to sit in the taxi for over an hour before we got there....

But enough about the boring stuff! Let me show you what I ate... hehe...

Went to this dessert place on the first night 'cos my auntie wanted something sweet...so we headed to this place called The Fruitti Stall...

They had quite a big selection of desserts and snacks...but their specialty desserts were the ice-y type....like ice kachang but they use other toppings instead.

I had the Red Bean Ice dessert...

But they had this item on the menu that was really interesting....it's called 'Mat Toh Loh' where it basically means that they put everything on top! hehe...sounds like someone's name?? :)

After dessert, as we were walking towards the car, I noticed this pub had a high beam outside the shop that was lined with all kinds of alcohol bottles...quite cool!

The second night, we went for seafood at this place called King Crab!

The crabs were really quite big and they said that they were local crabs and not Sri Lankan. We had our crabs cooked with some kind of herbs and curry leaves so it tasted quite Indian-y...

And they had these snow crabs that were quite big and they sit funny in the tank...like they are really sitting on their asses...hehe...

And for the last night, we had the famous black Hokkien fried noodles.... was yummy but super greasy! Tried both the yellow noodles and bee hoon versions...

On the whole, I had a great time in KL....Other than eating, I did quite a bit of shopping too! But then too many to take any pictures of so I'll just leave it to your imagination...But then what else can I buy other than bags, shoes and more shoes?? :P

Jang Ji Hoon

That's Rain's true name...Jang Ji Hoon. Found out only at the concert when the throngs of girls from his fan club were screaming his name right from the start!

Yeap...went to Rain's concert....It was an experience I won't forget....

Started to get ready at around 5.30pm 'cos the concert was slated to start at 7.30pm and we didn't want to get caught in the jam so thought to set out early. Read the tickets and it said no cameras allowed...Alamak! How to take pictures and show you guys lah? Anyhows, the concert was in a track & field stadium so I thought to wear more 'cool' clothes and not bring a bag in case I get pick pocketed or something....

Left home at 6ish and reached the venue around 7pm. Lots of people and motorbikes around the stadium...was actually quite surprised to see lots of vietnamese there as I thought that the ticket prices would be a little costly for them.

There were many stalls set up selling stuff...and the wierdest thing was that there were like cosmetic counters, mobile phone counters etc....all selling Korean products! I guess there's that link... Finally found the merchandise counter to see what there were selling.....note pads, caps, t-shirts, programme book etc.....hhmmm...what to get...hard to decide when there were so many choices but they were freaking expensive! But whaddahell, since I'm already there, might as well get something! :P

Made our way into the stadium and discovered that our seats were about 11 rows from the front and to the left side....not great seats after all....sigh....and then....

I saw these people whipping out their cameras snapping away!!! Wah lao eh!! I damn loser lor! So 'guai' I was, scared that they would confiscate my camera if they checked my bag! But then they never even looked into the bags, just checked the ticket...I could have been carrying a bomb for all they cared! F**KERS!

Sigh...was damn upset...felt like such a loser...sigh... Ann Toh the loser.... so stupid! :(

But I guess I had to make do with my camera phone....tried taking a few pics but quality damn fail...sigh....fail lah! See...

So instead of dwelling on my stupidity, I looked around to observe my surroundings and saw some interesting things.... A few seats away from me was this old korean or jap lady, like in her 60s or 7os! Was already amazed that she made it to his concert...but the most amazing thing was that she was wearing his concert t-shirt, his concert dog-tag and his concert cap!! Also noticed quite a few middle-aged and elderly korean and jap ladies and men there as well! Didn't know that Rain's fan club also included such die hard aunties! hehe...

here's a pic of the old lady from the back...

The concert took a while to start and I noticed that there were many empty seats around us, especially in the centre section in front of the stage. And the back was rather empty too.... So we waited and waited....and this Phillippino girl started telling us how she is such a great fan, came all the way to Vietnam to attend Rain's concert and that she had already caught the concert the night before already but she was in the main stage standing area (there's like this sunken part in the centre of the stage where it's only standing area but you get up close and personal) so tonight she's out with the rest of the people to see the concert from the front! And there were all these girls from his fan club, waving styrofoam boards and neon signs and shouting his name. Sigh...those were the days when we were young and would subject ourselves to such embarassing behaviour! :)

8.30pm already.... 1 hr late... the stadium started to fill up....then the announcer spoke, saying the concert will begin shortly....and then chaos happened! People started rushing to the centre section of the seats as they were still empty... so we 'cheong' also lah! Wah lao...it was like running for your lives man! We cheong until we could reach the best seats available and plonked our asses down! And the security guards were like yelling and pulling people back and shining their torch lights at everyone....but nobody moved! We also stayed put and refused to budged! Exciting! hehe.... the view was tons better...sigh...at least now we can see his face without the help of the screen.

Lights dimmed and the stage burst into lights.....the concert has started....tried to take a couple of shots from the phone but it wasn't great so took some from the screens...not great either....

The concert was enjoyable, the stage set up was great, effects were wonderful and of course Rain's dancing was spectacular! He spoke mainly English but spoke a few Vietnamese phrases and sent the crowd wild! But I was actually a little disappointed with his dancers, expected them to be good but they really weren't, especially the female dancers, all lousy except for 1, and the was not a single good-looking male dancer either! Fail...

So after 2 hours, the concert finally came to a close...all his fans were yelling and screaming and crying....poor things....

..... people started clearing the stadium....

..... and the seats were left empty....

I truly enjoyed myself...although I didn't have any nice pictures, I had a great experience and these memorabilias to remind me of his concert...

Hmm....now that my blood is fired up.... which concert should I catch next?? :P

Bunta...

Found this new joint to have local noodles...it was called BUNTA! English version is 'Everything is Bun'....Bun is a type of noodle.

It's a really nice place....very chill and very modern cafe feel....

Food was pretty good too! Especially this crab spring roll noodle and the bbq beef noodle wrap...yummy!

But then again....the one thing that really caught my attention was the menu.... 'Stirved Bun/Noodle'...Whaddat? Simi lai??

:P

A cute little green scooter

During one of the Sundays when I was back in Singapore, I went for prawn mee noodle at Beach Road with my brother, sis-in-law and nephew.... and decided to check out Haji Lane as it was publicised as the new place for local designers and sold funky wares...but the shops were all closed...suspect it was because they don't open till like late afternoon...

But there was this lone, cute little green scooter that was parked along the lane....very very cute...I just had to take a picture of it....I think I can imagine myself driving this along the highway...wind blowing in my hair....(that is if I can drive!) :P

And the celebrations continues...back in S'pore

Back to Singapore I went to celebrate Chinese New Year with my family and friends....and I ate so much! Too much! All the pinapple tarts and bak gua...poo...ate until kenna sore throat! But I think the most I had must have been the 'Lou Hei Yu Sheng'. Almost every dinner I had with friends and family would include the yu sheng dish....think I can do without it for the rest of the year! hehe...

And one of the more interesting dish I had was this 'O-ni (yam)' with stewed mandarin orange. The whole orange was stewed or steamed until super soft before putting it into the o-ni...i must say that it has an interesting taste.....

I must say that I had loads of fun this trip back...other than the pigging out & gambling sessions, I had a great time catching up with friends and family.

Here's me and my bunch of girlfriends back from secondary school days....

And me with some of the ladies from my church small group....

I also caught up with my bunch of crazy buddies.....went to Ashley's new matrimonial abode to 'pai nian' as well as just hang out and spend time with each other....

Check out her shoe collection...

Here's Ash, Shaz and moi...just chilling...

And Rui and Ash....posing...:P

Sigh....and the good time had to come to an end....time to get back to work and back to reality... I guess it takes one to be away for some time to truly enjoy and treasure what one has back home.....Try not to miss me too much too when I'm gone....:P