I was suppose to pop out from my mummy's tummy tomorrow (18/05), 23 years ago.. But I refused to, until I was forced to leave my comfy water bed 3 days later! Hmmph!
To think I was already stubborn as a fetus! Fancy that~! It's true what they say.. "Bad Habits Die Hard".. Or in this case.. Attitude! LOLS!
Thank you, dear, for the wonderful birthday card you sent! I was really surprised to get it in the mail today! I expected Engmin's card (coz I reminded her to send one LOLS) but I never expected to get yours!! I love it so very much! And I really love what you wrote in the card! Thank you so, so much! *Muaks*
---With Love, Jo---
Happy Birthday!! (7 days early! Hehe)
"Continue to be the Jojo that we all love and continue to bring loads of laughter and warmth into everybody's life" (OMG how sweet is that?? *Tears*)
Both cards sent by Engmin and Chia Ling were from Carte Blanche lols~! And they aren't in the same state even! What can I say? Great minds think alike! And this is why they're two of my bestest friends in the world!! *Grins*
This is also the day of my JOB INTERVIEW!!! (Wish me luck! I'll need a lot of it!)
P/S: Mailmen are my new best friends! And Pos Malaysia rocks!! Haha!
I was reading my old posts back from when I first started blogging with this URL back in November 2005. I was amazed to see how much I had transformed, how much I had grown, how much I had changed these past few years. Even my style of writing has matured in ways I had not known! Of course, this means I use fewer analogies and flowery sentences to convey my messages across..
I'm amazed at how much laughter I've shared with my closest and dearest friends, and even more so with the sea of tears I've cried because of broken dreams, hopes, and mostly of a broken heart. I had lost so much, yet gained much more over the past few years! And thinking back, I don't think I would have gotten this far if it weren't for the endless support and constant motivation from my very supportive and loving family, and my wonderful and understanding group of friends whom I share a strong bond with..
I wouldn't say I had that good a start this 2008 and I wouldn't say this half a year had been smooth sailing for me, but I've a lot to be grateful for because I have people I can turn to, and memories as my lifelong companion.. And these memories I refresh as I click through the archives of my life written in my blog - the good ones that make life so much more meaningful, the bad ones that I thank helped make me a stronger individual!
In exactly 7 days from now, I will step into yet another year of my existence here on earth. And I thank God for having guide me through my 23 years of life, and my loved ones for always being there to cushion my every fall. It's been a wonderful though confusingly rough journey and I'm proud to say I've made it so far and there's no stopping me from going further just yet!
What a nice surprise I got in the mail this morning~ Thank you so much, Engmin dear! *Muaks*
"Happy Graduation.."
".. and Happy 23rd Birthday!"
And isn't my nephew, Aidan, just adorable?? This picture was taken when he just woke up.. You should see him smile.. Angelic~!!! I LOVE KIDS!! They really make your life whole, don't they? =)
I took care of him when he was barely a month old.. Haven't seen him for a year but he still remembers his aunty Jojo~!! *Heart melts*
That was the last day we spent in Hanoi city. The next morning we flew off pretty early in the morning.. To think, just being at the airport, waiting to in line at the immigration counter and waiting to board the plane was eventful in Hanoi.. Well, I'll talk about that later..
Bright and early on Day 4, we followed a City Tour conducted by the same company as that of our Ha Long bay cruise.. It was ok at first, visiting various temples and pagodas.. then it became disturbing when we visited Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum, where his dead body is preserved in probably wax.. and later it became boring with our visit to a pottery factory.. Snoozesville!!
The first Buddhist temple/pagoda we visited.. There were statues of Buddha of the past, the present and the future..
The Temple of Literature.. Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism all in one temple..
The tour guide said a Chinese movie was filmed here.. Anyone know which film? None of us could figure it out! Crouching tiger, hidden dragon perhaps??
Confucious' teachings carved into stone tablets carried by stone turtles..
Statue of the great man himself! My first time seeing Confucious' statue too!
Golden Sword Lake Temple.. Do you see the preserved turtle in the left bottom picture? The water puppet show tells of the story of the turtle and a king who owned the Golden Sword.. It is believed that the turtle took the sword from the king and brought it down into the lake and thus the lake was called Ho Kiem (Golden Sword) lake and the temple by the lake is the Golden Sword Lake Temple!
Ho Chi Minh's final resting place.. There were guards all around the mausoleum asking us to keep quiet as we walked into the "grave".. I was kinda shocked when I saw Ho Chi Minh's dead, preserved (I told you they like preserving stuff!!) body and four guards were guarding that body like someone would steal it if they had the chance.. Interesting, but freaky! They even had a museum built just to store his documents and stuff.. Imagine having a museum that featured just YOU!
And see the middle picture right at the bottom? That shrine is supported by just one pole. Legend has it, a king wanted a son so he prayed hard to a Diety and one night he dreamt of that one poled shrine and soon after, he had a son.. So he built that as a sign of gratitute to the Diety.
Pottery factory - total waste of time!! And it took us quite a while to get there too coz it's on the outskirts of Hanoi..
The only interesting sight we saw at the pottery place.. BTW, just like Hanoi city and it's division of goods sold at designated streets, this place sold nothing but pottery!!
Cruelty to animals!! Poor bull.. *Tears*
After our so-called city tour ended, we were sent back to our hotel. From there, we walked around Hanoi to get our long awaited shopping spree done! Also, to find more food! *Grins* We bought a whole lot of stuff ranging from silk to handmade jewellery for ourselves, our families, and our closest friends! Everything was just CHEAP, CHEAP, CHEAP!!!
It was terribly cold that day.. Like being at Genting at 3am in the morning!! So glad we managed to experience Hanoi's funny summer/winter weather~!! BTW, when we wore sweaters, Cindy didn't.. And when she did, we didn't! LOL! Her homeostatic balance a bit off already I think *grins*
We came across this urm.. I dunno what to call it coz it's not even a roadside stall as you can see.. It was actually a back-alley.. And decided to eat whatever the locals were eating.. The picture below shows what we ate at that urm.. place..
Wonderful and cheap porridge with "yu char ke"!! And when I mean cheap, I mean the locals pay VND 3000 (RM 0.60) and we (though cheated) paid twice the amount which is RM 1.20!! For a friggin' bowl of porridge with "yu char ke"!! CHEAP SIAL~!!!
Yucky, longkang water tasting, and CRAZY expensive chicken soup noodles!! Anthing above VND 5000 (RM 1) is considered expensive there!
We bought a whole lot of stuff from this shop coz the lil boy could speak perfect English (finally!!) and he was just TOO CUTE!!! Btw, would you believe his sister (the girl in green t-shirt) is SIXTEEN???
Went to this cafe to try Vietnam coffee and eat some corn we bought earlier.. OMG, the corn was sooo sweet and tasty!! And the best thing about it was.. there was NO added whatsoever!! No salt, no butter, NOTHING!! BTW, I tried their cocoa milk.. My advice to anyone who's going there, DON'T order cocoa milk!! Tasted like PERFUME!! *Gak!* (But although it tasted horrible and was stinging to the throat, it was kinda addictive! Boggles the mind!)
Hanoi beer.. Tasted just ok.. Nothing to shout about.. We played "Bullshit" again and drinking a sip of that was the punishment.. Magdalene just drank it, punishment or not! LOLS!
Hanoi Vodka.. Tasted more like surgical spirit cum thinner than anything else! The vodka in Malaysia tastes so much better!
And here is our final picture in the hotel we stayed at, taken with the manager, Ms. Thien, who was of great help to us (plus, she was the one who arranged our "upgrade"!!) Thanks loads, Ms. Thien!!
Hotel Phoenix rocks!! Free publicity man~!!
Now, about the eventful stuff that happened at the airport.. while we were lining up at the immigration counter, this one Vietnamese woman just came charging up in front and cutting the line!! She literally pushed everyone to get in front, only to be told to go behind and line up by the customs officer! LOLS! Then, she tried inching her way through to the front a lil while later.. So what we did was this; we stood side-by-side, me on the left, and a friend on the right.. I was blocking the woman.. So my friends kept going and going from the right while I blocked her from cutting queue! It was quite "kiasu" and bitchy of us but who can stand such a character??
Then later while queing up to board the plane, a whole bunch of Vietnamese workers (probably housekeepers) went out of their line to try to cut in front, pushing their way through! Then they were told to go behind by the airport staff.. So instead of going to the end of the line, they tried to nudge their way back into our line and since we were already pissed off by the woman earlier, we refused to let them cut in and closed whatever gap there was between us! Gosh!
But on the whole, I have to admit, I did enjoy Vietnam, not because I liked the place coz I didn't! But because of the company I went with.. And that made the trip worthwhile~! (Plus, we spent less than RM 1000 and that included the air fare, accomodation, and transportation!!) END!
