Mummy?

Tis few months, everyone's been askin rachel to open her golden mouth to learn hw to say papa or mummy but each time, she js kept her mouth shut. She undertsands wat she has been told, knows hw to point at things dat she wants or places dat she wanna goes but simply refuse to say words.

2 days ago, i thot i might hv heard wrongly but i clearly heard rachel mumbling " me". Tis was after i ask her to say " mummy" over & over again.

me: rachel, say mummy. mummy
rach: kept quiet
me: say mummy. ma mi. or pa pa.
rach: still quiet
me: ma..
rach: me!
me: ??? did i hear correctly?
me: clever girl. say mummy. ma mi!
rach: looks at me with her mouth shut.

No more "me" from her liao.

My Concert Rehersal

Today, we are having our concert rehersal at Toa Payoh HDB Hub Auditorium. Mummy & some others helped out in sch like assisting to helped dressed us up & applying make up. The rehersal will start ard 9.30am till abt 1.30pm. Food & drinks will be provided. Parents are not allowed to follow, therefore, Mummy & Daddy will watch the actual concert on 21 Nov 2008. It is also the graduation ceremony for the K2s.

Before make up..

With make up...

Do we look like a couple? 金童玉女！My gal fren, or galfren, Chervon.

Nose Bleeding

Tis month has not been a smooth month for me. First i was down with rashes. i missed my 1st lesson for term 6 with GUG. Next, i developed a fever since Sat. (so 2nd lesson with GUG misssed again). Mummy tinks dat my fever was due to the MMR jab i gt last week cos the nurse told mummy the fever wld developed within a week. But ah ma tinks otherwise. She claims its due to me teething again as i was beginning to drool.

And tis morning, mummy didnt realise yet but it was Lionel who told mummy dat i was bleeding from the nose. Mummy gt a shock & hastily looked at me. True enuff, i was bleeding from the nose. Mummy hurriedly took a tissue & dabbed at my nose. But on the way to the shop, my nose started to bleed again.

The neighbourhood clinics were all closed today as it was Deepavali, PH. HOW? Luckily, another clinic further down the block was opened. The doc gave me another bottle of paracetomol, anitibiotics & nasal drip for my nose. I am suppose to do the drip 3 times a day. Ah ma has the priviledged of doing the 1st drip for me. Hahaha. After awhile, the bleeding stopped. Hopefully, the bleeding will stop permanently.

** Mummy was a little surprised dat ah ma & shu gong did nt jumped high when she told them i gt a nose bleed. Mummy sort of expected them to panic & u know, like question mummy like wat happen, why bleed, dat kind.

But no leh, ah ma just say: " aiyo, jua xuan too heaty lor, see, ur nose bleeding already" Shu gong also very calm:" did jia xuan fall down & hit her nose or something? poor gal, never mind. the bleeding will soon stopped. dun scare, ok?"

Above conversation directed to Rachel, not me ar (mummy).

Outing

Being Sunday, you wld tink ney, its just another ordinary sunday ya? No wor, today, its my day's out with mummy & daddy. Though i am down with fever, i am still active, hence mummy & daddy feels dat its ok to bring me out.

Tis time, Lionel didnt come along as he went with ah ma to a wedding dinner @ OCC. (he prefers to eat shark fins). So i went with mummy & daddy to Orchard CineLeisure for dinner & shopping. Prior to my outing, mummy & daddy has already gone on an outing of their own. They went, let's see, Funan IT Mall, Esplanade, Jalan Besar, Novena Sq then back to Yishun where they picked me up.

Seafood Steamboat. See the little fishcake with the little face? Cute rite.

Ohhh...i am sooooooo hungry.

Daddy, quick. what are u doing? i want dat fishball.

I manage half a bowl of porridge (rice with soup) with a mixture of fish, fishball, egg & corn. After dat, we went to CentrePoint for some window shopping. I ran around while Daddy browse thru some stuff. Mummy chase me all ard the mall. Haha.

I KO inside the car as i was so tired. But once we reach home, i woke up, asking for milk. Lionel returned home at tis moment & we played for a little while first b4 both of us really KO.

Another birthday

Just now, we celebrated ah ma's bday. Just a mini celebration at home with myself & rachel, mummy & daddy, ah ma & ah gong, lay kian gu gu & lay kee gu gu. They bot a durian flavor cake from Bake Inc.

Durian favor bday cake

"Happy Birthday to You...Happy Birthday to You"

Ah Ma cutting the bday cake

Nice foto..

eating the cake

Heat Rashes

See my rashes? They developed since last week, startin from behind my ears till yesterday, right up to my sides & forehead. It all started with redness, & then slowly swelling up into tiny bums, like mozzie bites.

Mummy bot me to the doc tis morning as she cant bear to see me enduring all tis rashes. Though i am not really affected by it but mummy says she heart pain to see me like dat. The doc prescribed an anti itch medication (syrup form) & cream to apply on my rashes. Hopefully, i recover soon.

Term 6 - GUG lesson 1 - Missed

i did not attend my 1st lesson of term 6 today due to 2 main reasons. Mummy says the rain was gettin heavier every min since it started at abt 2.30pm tis afternoon. We will defintely get wet if we go out in this rain. Secondly, due to the rashes on me, Mummy wld rather not bring me to attend the lesson as she is scared wait the teachers & classmates will wonder wat is happening to me.

Due to the heat tis few days, i developed rashes easily. Some of the rashes developed into bums, like mozzie bites. Though tis time, the rashes only seems more dense on my head & behind my ears. My hands & feet are okay. My back only hv 1 or 2 small bums.

Gu gu says to use chinese tea to bath my body as tea leaves can 肖毒 & they are very cooling as well. True enuff, my rashes sort of heal & the bums disappear, only the redness still persist but mr sun dun wanna admit he is the loser. The rays are gettin even stronger & i perspire much more. Ah ma cant be using tea leaves to rub on me every hr right? An old aunty advise ah ma to use 花露水 to apply on my rashes. But Mummys feels dat my rashes seems to develop even more after applying the 花露水. So mummy told ah ma to stop using it. She will bring me to see the doc 2moro.

Mummys say since she is not working currently, maybe she shd bring me home for my morning & afternoon nap as the shop area can be quite crowded at times & definitely hot too. At least at home, it is cooling. Too bad we do not have air con. (actually hv la but spoil le; uncle air con is old & doesnt emit cold air at all & can be very grumpy (noisy), so mummy dun wanna switch on)

The Kids @ 1 Years of Age

Do they strike a resemblance?

MMR VS Check Up

Today, we went to Yishun Polyclinic; Me for my delayed 3 years old assessment & rachel for her MMR jab.

Why i said mine was a delayed 3 years old assessment leh? Cos Mummy was suppose to make the appt for me early year but she has forgotten to do so, so the nurse make an appt for mummy on the spot when i went for my ROTA assessment in April tis year.

Rachel was due for her MMR jab ( 15 - 18 months). MMR stands for Measles, Mumps & Rubella. Mummy went in with Rachel & Daddy went in with me. You see, we are in different rooms.

Rachel: The nurse checked my height ~ 76cm, my weight ~ 8.24kg & my head circumference ~ 46cm. Mummy asked the nurse if i am considered light weight for my age but the nurse says its ok. I am slightly below avrg only. I am tall though. Keke...

The nurse did some checks on me like asking me to say bye bye, clap hands. I can do it very well. The nurse praised me, saying i am a clever little gal. I gave her my sweetest smile.

Then i gt a jab on my left arm. Ouch! It hurts. I cried for a few secs but with my mummy hugging me, i stopped crying soon. The nurse told me Mummy i might or might not develop a fever. It depends on the individual. Usually, the fever, if any, will develop within a week after the jab. The nurse gave mummy some paracetomol (tablets form).

As for Lionel, becos Daddy went in with him, mummy is not sure wat conversation went on inside the room. Mummy asked Daddy if the nurse say anything negative abt Lionel but he say nothing, everything ok. Haiz! Dads....they just cant be bothered to elaborate further.

My next appt is Feb 2009 - 18 months for my 1st booster of the 6 in 1 pkg. I hv already completed the 1st 3 doses within the 1st 5 months since i stepped into tis world. Lionel's next appt is April 2009 - 4 years old assessment.

Rachel turns 15

I am 15 months old with effect from today. I can:

~ walk quite steadily though the adts sometimes say i walked like i am drunk.
keke.
~ clap my hands when i am asked to or when someone praised me.
~ say bye bye ( wave action) when i wanna go somewhere or when someone
says bye bye to me as well.
~ shake my head / hands when i had enuff food or when i dun want something.
~ nod my head when i love something
~ points to a certain direction which i wanna go.
~ can recognise animals such as fish, rabbit, cat, birds though i dunno hw to
say the words.
~ mumbles mamamama & papapapa. Mummy wonders if i am actually saying
mama & papa. Only i know. Haha...
~ comb my hair every morning when i wake up.

There are many more things which i can do & still learning. To see me progressing so well every day is something Mummy & Daddy are happy & proud of.

Mummy & Daddy: Happy 15 Months Old Darling!

Job interview

Mummy went for an interview with XXX company yesterday and she said its a disaster. Mummy was asked to do a test on the spot whereby she has to translate a text into both the english & mandarin version as well as hanyu pinyin. The interviewer told Mummy cannot use her hp to help. Mummy says she can translate verbally but a little difficult to write them down in words, especially in chinese as mummy has forgotten hw to write certain words. Haha..

Mummy says she dun tink she is up for this position as doing translation is a chore for mummy & she does not like to wear uniform either. Get the hint wat job position was mummy applying for?

GUG lesson 9

Today is our last lesson for term 5. Next Sun onwards, we will start term 6. Uh oh...i heard from teacher Devi dat some of my frens will not be continuing term 6 anymore. Tis means today is the last day i will be seeing them. Hmm...i wonder who will i see next sun.

For today's lesson, we learnt the no. 10. Teacher Devi drew 10 ice creams on the board. For alphabets, we learnt the letter O - Olive Octopus, together with orange, on n off , omelette & organ. We sang a song abt the orange to the tune of B.I.N.G.O. & another song abt the organ which mummy is not sure wat tune is dat.

We had water play today; we were each given a little rubber duckie which we put into a pail of water & we sang a song to the tune of: The wheels on the bus goes round & round... so tis song is: The litte duck goes quack quack quack, swim swim swim & splash splash splash. Boy! All of us got wet, very wet as we um...not being gentle & either we splash really hard or we throw the duck into the water & the water splashed out. Hee hee...we had a really great time.

After dat, Mummy changed me out of my wet clothes into a dry one, otherwise, i might catch a cold.

We were told the story abt "The 3 Little Pigs" where the wolf huff & puff & blew down the house of the 1st 2 little pigs. I'm ure many of u noe tis story la. :)

For craft work, we did HI 5. Keke...Mummy traced my fingers on a piece of already cut out finger shape & we all decorate the paper with colourful dots. We then had our break where i had my alphabets biscuits & water. Today, i behaved very well cos i did not go ard taking other people's food. :)

No music lessons today cos i tink teacher Fazrus is on leave to celebrate her Hari Raya. Oh ya! Teacher Aze also not ard. Teacher Lafa relief her for today's lessons.

We sang our Zoophonics & also Old Macdonalds Had a Zoo. And not forgetting my favourite bubbles session too.

Goodbye to my frens who will not be continuing term 6. I dunno who but all the best in watever u do. Be good & take care. And yes, i am eager to see who my new classmates are.

姑婆's birthday

Today is Gu Po's (姑婆) bday. Me & Rachel were at ah ma's hse when daddy called, asking us to go up to eat cake. Yeah! We get to eat cake again.

When we were all ready to sing the bday song, we realised nobody gt a camera. Haha...mummy went back home to take her camera & she was the cameraman for tonight. Not much fotos taken though.

Gu Po cutting her bday cake.

The cake

During the bday song session. Its actually pitch darkness. But tks to mummy's camera, you can see wat the kids are doing. Ahem! Tong Shuian kor kor, wat are u doing? Where r u looking?

Rachel struggling to be freed. Haha... i am eyeing at the cake already, mouth drooling...

Lay Gim Gu Gu preparing to cut the cake. You see, i cant wait to eat the cake.

Hum Bao

Mummy: Lionel has been becoming more & more like a "hum bao". Tis means cry baby. He can cry the moment he wakes up in the morning, crys for no reason during the day & at nite when he sleeps. I dunno wat's wrong with him.

dun wanna brush his teeth ~ crys.

refusal to carry him from the bed to the bathroom; short walk only. ~crys.

milk leaking out from his bottle & wets his clothes ~ crys

cannot find his clothes/wears his favourite ~ crys

knows dat its sch days ~ crys

dun give him sweets ~ crys

do homework ~ crys

cousin snatches toys away ~ crys

dun let him watch vcd/dvd ~ crys

switch channel on TV (when he is not able to watch his favourite channel) ~ crys

The list goes on ; no matter how u explain the situation to him, all he does is cry. Crying has become his hobby now. At the slightest irritation, he screams. Tok to him nicely doesnt work, flare up also useless. All he tells u is that he will be good; he is good but the next day, the same mistakes will repeat. Haiz.

I feel hopeless; dunno wat to do. My temper rises easily & i defintely shouted at him more times than trying to talk nicely to him.

Just last night, hb rcv a call from a fren saying some electrical works dat hb has been fixing on has gone haywire & nids hb to come down to fix it. Dat was abt 10pm plus. I told hb to better inform his son, otherwise, lionel will start yelling for his dad. He has been veyr very very sticky to his dad. Hb told Lionel dat he nids to do some work & wants lionel to sleep first. Lionel was well, i suppose, deep in his concentration on his drawing dat i guess he did not hear his daddy toking to him. So i close the door once hb left the house.

And immediately, Lionel yells for his dad: " i want daddy. i want daddy. daddy go where? i want daddy. With a monkey Rachel ard, i tried explaining things to Lionel. "Daddy has gone to do some work. He told u just now rite? Were u not listening? " " No no, i dun want. i want daddy. Why he still nid to work? Its late already...daddy" (yelling away).

Head spinning, i tried to console him & told him: "Look, Daddy will come back in a little while okay? U go sleep first. Later daddy come back, i wake u up, alright?" No do...all reasoning, all consoling failed. I gt fed up & raised my voice: " If u wanna cry, u go out & cry (opening the door & gesturing him to go out). I dun wan a notty boy inside the hse. "

Still sobbing, he crept onto the bed. I put Rachel to sleep at the same time. I told Lionel: 妈咪很累了。你都不听话的, 只会哭。好好的跟你讲也没有用, 每次都哭到吐. 跟你说不可以, 没有, 等一下, 你就是不听. 妈咪不想讲你了, 讲一次, 两次，三次也没有用. 以后, 我不讲了. 我叫藤条跟你讲.

Next year, Lionel will be 4 years old already. Will he ever grow up?

A joke for all

Nothing special but a joke for all to read & laugh abt.

Subject: BEFORE & AFTER MARRIAGE

Before Marriage

He: Yes. At last. It was so hard to wait.
She: Do you want me to leave?
He: NO! Don't even think about it.
She: Do you love me?
He: Of course! Over and over!
She: Have you ever cheated on me?
He: NO! Why are you even asking?
She: Will you kiss me?
He: Every chance I get!
She: Will you hit me?
He: Are you crazy! I'm not that kind of person!
She: Can I trust you?
He: Yes.
She: Darling!

After marriage - - - simply read from bottom to top

GUG lesson 8

Teacher Aze is reliefing another class so we have another teacher besides teacher Devi. She is teacher Jas. We have Nigel Night Owl with us today; the letter N. Nose, Nest & Net are words we learnt too. We also learnt the # 6 cos initially only 6 of us at the start of the lessson. Then the no became 7 then 8...

No music but we sang Old MacDonalds had a zoo. Bubbles & Zoophonics are nt to be missed. For craft, we tooks the wheels of diff types of transportation, dipped them in a mixture of paint & rolled over a piece of paper. We shared between aeroplanes, boats & trucks.

For story telling, the title for today is " The Monster's Pet". It abt a pet who hasnt hv breakfast & hw each of the little monsters fed it. Then he hasnt has its lunch & the lil monsters couldnt find their belongings. (i guess the pet ate those)
Then the pet hasnt has its dinner & it started chasing the lil monsters. As the pet ate & ate, it grew bigger & bigger so in the end the pet is even bigger then all those lil monsters. For dinner, it gave chase lor...to eat them la.

During break time, Mummy says i was very naughty. I grab Ashlyn Jie Jie's food which she was holding in her hand. Mummy gave me a stern look & say NO. I didnt listen to Mummy & grab a 2nd time. Luckily, Ashlyn's Mummy was very nice. Mummy says i gt to buy another bottle & return to Ashlyn next week. Her mummy says its ok la....dun nid la. So Mummy, dun hv to buy la cos i tink i only ate a little, nt much rite?

During bubbles session, one big bubble landed right on my head without popping. Jing Rong Kor Kor "slapped" my head, meaning to burst the bubble. I blur blur look at him, tinking wat the heck he whack my head for. Then i realised he meant to pop the bubble on my head. I didnt cry. Mummy pat me & told me its ok. Jing Rong Kor Kor meant no harm. His aunty also gave him a warning; cannot like dat whack people's head one. After the session, Mummy took a wet tissue & clean off the soappy water on my head & also clean my face & hands.

Teacher Devi says i am the youngest in the class, being only 14 mths plus. The rest of my frens are like 15, 17 -1 8 mths. And u can see from my build, i am the smallest in size too. Haha...

=========================================

Mummy: In the evening, we were at Ah Ma's hse. I wanted Rachel to put her toys away. So i initially ask Lionel to help but he argue dat its Rachel who took out the toys so she shd be the one keeping it away. Okay, so i told Rachel to keep the toys. Rachel look at me with a blur look till i sang: "Toys away, toys away, its time to keep the toys away". (Song i learnt @ GUG). Rachel recognises the song & immediately keeps her toys. Haha....

Rachel is walking...

As promised, here are 2 videos showing Rachel's walking...steady la. Enjoy. :)

HCM Holiday Day 1 - 29 Sep 2008

At the Budget Terminal after checking in... i bo liao.

Elios Hotel - we got the highest floor - 11 floor. Pathetic small window

A View of Ho Chi Minh City

Outside Ben Thanh Market

Brrrriiinnngggg (the alarm clock sounded)...yawn! Its 0430hrs on 29 Sep 2008. Dragged myself to the bathroom for a bath....Yeowwww! Its cold. Stupid me. I forgot to switch on the water heater. Well, the cold shower DID woke me up. haha... trying hard nt to scream as its early in the morning.

Refreshed! Wide awake! Packed some last min essentials into the luggage. Woke hb up. Did some memory counting...did i missed out anything? Passports? Checked! Air Tickets? Checked! Hotel Vouchers? Checked! Money? Checked! Clothings? Checked! Toiletries? Checked! Personal undergarments & stuff? Checked!

Shut the windows, checked all electrical appliances shut except for the fridge & fish tank. Make sure the cat is fed.

Reached airport at abt 0545hrs. Goodness! Long queue. Saw the queue for TR 326 to Ho Chi Minh & assume dat the q next to it is also for HCM, though there were no indications. Finally, its our turn.

" Can i have 2 window seats?"
" i'm sorry miss, the flights fully booked!"

" oh... er...tks "

" you shd hv pre booked ur seats thru the online booking.." (ya, as if i didnt know that)

" miss, u are gg to ho chi minh?"

" yes.."

" but this is the check in counter for Bangkok..."

" wat ?!?!? "

" the q for ho chi minh is at this counter .."(pointing to the next counter)

See la ...act smart! No indication. Assumed somemore la... Went to join the even longer q. Haiz! The clock's ticking.....finally they woke up their ideas to open another counter. Hopped over hurriedly...haha....we are now nearer to the counter.

" Can i have 2 window seats? " (hoping & praying its still available)

" Sure mam "

" Thank you " ( like a kid who gt her lollipop)

We are off...........

Arrival into Ho Chi Minh City - Tan Sonh Nat International Airport (did i get the correct spelling?). We booked for a cab at the taxi limousine counter, costing abt USD 8 to Elios Hotel. The internet reviews say its only 10 mins from the airport to the city. Nay....to me, its abt 0.5 hrs at least becos of the jam.

At long last, we arrived at Elios Hotel. Hmmm...nt bad. We gt a welcome drink, immediate check in & all mine request(s) met - high floor & double bed. We did a racky ard the hotel, went to Sinh Cafe to book tours and gt stuck. Now, where to go?

We heard of Ben Thanh Market. So following the directions given to me by an idiotic ex colleague of mine (the imperfect p), we went ahead.

hb: u sure we are walking the correct way?"

me: tink so

hb: where gt wat market? or is this the one? ( pointing to a wet market)

me: no la. Ben Thanh market is very big one leh.

hb: hw abt dat? (pointing to a building dat looks like the one drawn on the map)

me: let's go see

Walk....

me: tis one looks like a church leh

hb: so where is tis market then?

me: dunno (shaking my head)

hb: where else to go?

me: chinatown?

hb: where

me: must take a cab, too far to walk.

hb: hw far?

me: its in dist 5. we are in dist 1 (pointing out on the map)

hb: wa liao

We hailed a cab ( Vinasun - reputable taxi company which runs by meter). From then on, we always ony hail taxis under Vinasun. The name of the taxi can be seen on the top as well as the sides of the cab. Starting with 12,000D, we paid abt $80,000D upon reaching Chinatown. Err...no specific destination, raining somemore, we passed by a restaurant selling Hong Kong Roast Food. So we thot might as well go in for lunch & avoid the rain.

Big mistake! Taste horrible & we paid $300,000D. Waste $$. We asked the waitress to recommend shopping centers & she say we can go An Dong Market. So we took another cab, costing $16,400D. An Dong market is something like our lucky Plaza. But we bot nothing. Hb say take a cab go back Ben Thanh market. Another trip back. Realise Ben Thanh market is the same direction as Sinh Cafe if we walked from our hotel. Bloody P. Gave wrong directions. To hell with her! Couldnt find anything to buy. ( my cousin says alot of things to buy - bags, shoes, clothes...etc) Bo leh.

I ask hb if he wanna go casino. He was surprised; didnt know HCM is open to gambling. So we went to one casino at Caravelle Hotel. Only open to foreigners, locals are nt allowed in. Dat's when we finished all our USD; within mins. :(.

End up in a massage parlour. Too tired to walk already. I chose the aroma therapy & hv took up the full body massage. Mine cost USD13 & hb;s USD20 ~ 561,000D. Good service - Queen Beauty Salon 1st Floor 83 Nguyen Hue St, Dist 1, HCMC.

Its abt 5pm plus. Went to KFC for a light meal. Funny they do not have MacDonalds. After walking along the whole stretch of shops, we went into a shopping mall. Tis is where we bot Rachel's Vietnam National Costume. Haha... only 48,000D ~ SGD $4.80. Then we bot a giant jar of mineral water to last us for the the 4 days or so. Went back to a cafe cum pub restaurant for our dinner. Name of restaurant - Saigon. Food we ordered is nt nice. Maybe we are nt used to their style of cooking. Dragged tired body back to hotel room, bath & slept. We are doing our 1 day city tour the next day. YAWN!

Day 2 - 30 Sep 2008

Ho Chi Minh 1 Day City Tour - Giac Lam Pagoda, China Town, Binh Tay Market, Thein Hau Temple, Nha Rong Wharf, Reunification Palace, Notre Dame Cathedral, General Post Office & War Remnants Museum. Cost 112,000D per person.

I did not take much fotos of some for this city tour. Especially the War Remnants Museum... the scenes & fotos are too heart breaking for memories. Just imagine during war period, the bloody scenes, dead bodies & explosions....

And the torture scenes of the prisoners - cruel, damn cruel. I teared when i see & read the sad stories following each of the pics, especially the fotos of those dead babies & children. God!

No fotos for the Temple & Pagoda too...as hb & me are busy praying. :). Binh Tay Market is a wholesale market selling stuff such as clothes, bags, shoes, toys, watches & dry products such as shrimps, cuttlefish, pickled & preserved veggies, etc...

Handicapped Hadicrafts by handicapped people of cos la..

Empty Egg Shells

Art work done by all this handicapped people, from design, to washing to polishing, to waxing...

End products - for sale

The General Post Office

Telephone booths

Helloooo..

Notre Dame Cathedral

Inside

Pics from Reunification Palace.

Since the last stop of the tour was the Notre Dame Cathedral, most of us told the guide we will move ard on our own. So hb & myself, after we left the cathedral, bot 2 coconuts to drink. 1 thing i forgot to note in tis blog, the traffic in Ho Chi Minh is terrible. Beijing is covered with bicycles; Ho Chi Minh is covered with......yes...motorbikes. I tell you hor....the % of the motorbikes are more than the people walking on the streets. AND there are no traffic lights on the roads or rather, very few. You gt to zig zag ur way ard the traffic. Dun expect them to stop for you cos they will nvr. The trick to crossing the road is: just walk...the vehicles will avoid u.

And the whole of Ho Chi Minh does nt hv Pizza Hut either. We came across one outlet & saw written on their name card dat some other outlets are opening soon, so currently theirs is the only one. Cool! No MacDonalds,1 Pizza Hut & plenty of KFCs. So we had our dinner at Pizza Hut dat evening.

Day 3 - 01 Oct 2008

Mekong Delta. We depart at 0800hrs from Sinh Cafe. There are 2 different kinds of delta tour - My Tho & Ben Tre n Cai Be & Vinh Long. Both are 1 day tour. We chose the latter - Cai Be & Vinh Long. From the city to the delta, the bus journey takes abt 3 hrs. We went to Cai Be Floating Market first. Ya, you are right; something like the floating market in Bangkok. But not much marketing people leh, in fact, dun hv anyone doing buying & selling. Maybe the market "opens" at dawn cos when we reach the so call floating market, its already abt 11am. No more activities.

Delta scenaries

Market People - 水上人家

Pumpkins

Coconuts

Coconut Candy Production

Rice Paper Making Process - Popiah Skin - Vietnam Style

Rice Popping

Separating the rice from the husk

Rice Crackers - Finish Product

Our lunch @ Vinh Long

A place for relaxation

2 little pomelos hanging from a tree, 1 name peter, 1 name paul...

The tour overall is somehow boring, nt much of an interest & sleepy in fact. After visiting the Coconut & Rice Paper Processing Factory, it was literally cruising all the way to Vinh long for like almost 2 hours. Its true. The boat was cruising ever so slowly & under the hot sun, everyone fell asleep. The tour description: Boat through a village to see peaceful tranquil life of the villagers, admire marvelous natural settings of the Mekong Delta Region... Ya sure....

After lunch, we cruise for like another 10 mins & we arrive at Vinh Long market. I was tinking wat will be the speciality of this market......chey....its just like any other wet market where they sell veges, meat, spices, flowers, noodles, fish, prawns, drinks, cooked food, etc... 真是无聊！

The tour cost 176,000D per person. Not worth the $$. Pls dun booked tis tour. (personal opinion only - no offence) Try the 1st one instead - My Tho & Ben Tre. Might be better.