I finally stepped out of Malaysia for the first time in nearly three years. Dad's company has a factory in Vietnam and he thought it was a nice place to bring his family for a well deserved holiday.

My brother asked my dad on the plane, "Dad, does it snow in Vietnam?"

Dad was too embarrassed to admit that Mervyn was his son.

Hehe, actually cannot blame him also. I packed two jackets.

My brother and I don't suck at geography for nothing. :D

So anyway, Vietnam's freaking warm. But it rains alot! Which is quite nice. I have like 500 photos from the trip(entire memory card full liao )...so I'll be breaking it up into multiple entries.

An Introduction To Vietnam

The first Vietnamese faces to greet me.


The Airport at Saigon, Ho Chi Minh City.

The Australian man sitting next to me on the plane explained to me that the buildings here are very narrow because the tax they pay is according to the width of their doorway. Kesian...


There are absolutely NO rules when it comes to driving in Vietnam. They drive on the right side of the road and they honk all the time. it's like if they're bored, they drive on the left and when there's an on-coming car, no problem, just swerve back to the normal lane. AND MOTORBIKES BERLAMBAK. You just close your eyes and cross the roads... they will manoeuvre around you, no worries.


No iPods yet, but they enjoy music too:)


So cute!! Got Santa Claus there!


The hotel we stayed in was not extremely grand a hotel, but very well equipped and satisfying. :) As long as it has a long bath, a pretty bathroom, freezing airconditioning and a big nice window, I'm happy.
Here's one of my grandmother with the christmas tree and the interior.

I can't tell you the name of this hotel because I'm about to tell you about the massage parlour in the hotel. We thought it'd be cool to try out "authentic Vietnamese massage". But apparently they touch all the wrong places, and they ask the men, "Sir, you want extra services?" and they will elaborate further with a very rude hand sign.


I found a display case in the lobby and got my brother to take this shot. Beautiful lighting?:D


The view from my hotel room. :) Tee-hee. I know it doesn't look much, but that's the behind of the shoplots which stocks the funkiest bags and sandals.


Must camwhore, anywhere, anytme.

After resting at the hotel for awhile, we decided to check out the shops around the place. Since dad comes here so often, he knew where to bring us.


We went for heavenly beef noodles.. uhhhhh tasted SO great.


I don't know which part of the cow this is, but it sure as hell rocked.


A funny pic of my father and brother that my brother will surely want me to delete and it will be a request that I will coldly ignore.


My camera shy brother and the interior of the restaurant.


This is the front of the restaurant. It's pronounced as Fer 24. :D


One of those bags cost about slightly below RM35. Good right? Sandals about RM25-Rm30. Not ridiculously cheap, but satisfying la.


Should be traditional vietnamese footwear. Didn't get any though because I know I would not be able to find the perfect occasion to wear any of it.


There was this shop called Saigon Impression and it sells formal wear. I thought this outfit was quite special but the top cost about RM150. The pants was of a similiar value..so I only got the top. I mean, I know it's costly, but it's so special and unique!! You know the "got feel" attitude when it comes to shopping? It applies.

Problem is, I don't know where to wear it too. Someone get married and invite me please.


Another angle.


My brother was getting his prom suit done. I mean can you imagine? Prom is like a year away and he's making his suit already. Partly it's because it's about RM200 cheaper in Vietnam compared to the prices here. I like this picture though. Can see his naik syok face when the guy measured his underthighs. tee-hee.


My mum found something nice there as well!


I thought this photo of the Clarins' building looked pretty nice.

It rained alot in Vietnam. So it was very nice and cooling all the time.


Strolling along the streets.


A typical Vietnamese vendor.


There were tons of mini art galleries all along the streets. And they are all very nice paintings. But it's like one in every six shops is an art gallery.


That's me trying to act touristy.


Some of the more unique paintings available in the art galleries.


We went to this Ice-cream parlour and they served candies in the shape of spastic looking animals(think Happy Tree Friends) in a glass bowl. Quite cute lah.

Mum and I


The interior.


They sell these freaky snake wine. It's not advisable to drink it though. But some people do. I bought one for Chee Kiang and he said he got a shock when he opened it. hahahahaha.


I motioned to this vendor with my camera that I would like to snap a photo of her with her wares.. but she put her straw hat on my head and made me pose with her wares instead. LOL. Then my father had to buy some bananas from her as a payment. Smart cookie, this one.

More photos coming up... but we all like photos, no?:) I know I do.

My parents don't even take note of the Winter Solstice festival. It was different when my grandparents were around. They'd make cute round balls of white and pink in sugar water and we'd have bowls and bowls of it till we're so stuffed and hyper.

It's amazing that someone of my generation actually knows how to make these glutinous balls and she's pretty good at it too! Silly woman kept muttering, "Ngo hor yu kah chut ge la"(I can marry liao) over and over again as she 'chai'ed the pulut.

We invited the entire class over because it's nice to end the term with a little party. We thought we could bring the cliques in the class to form a tighter group, but in the end, there were still some boundaries that many could not cross.

But who cares.. it was the process of rolling them glutinous flour balls that maketh the spirit of Winter Solstice.

And in true Jolene spirit, I had to ruin it for Li Shen by making flower shape tong yuen, cube shaped tong yuen, snowman tongyuen(for Christmas!), Koala-Bear-NOT-PIG! tong yuen, boobies tong yuen and smiley face tong yuen! So pretty!!

Lie Yuen and Li Shen rolling the balls.


This is how she chais the pulut.


Skill wei..


See the cute cubes? Hehehe


She put me in charge of the soup. Gula Melaka with pandan leaves. Smelt absolutely heavenly. Mmmm.


Now, who would've thought?! PINK TONG YUEN!! YAYYY!!


Pink tong yuen stacked up.


I was just testing the soup, really.


Some of the other classmates arrived and helped to make somemore glutinous balls.
l-r: Narjit, Pei Zhi, Xin Yi, Chee Wen, Li Shen, Cze Yin and Lie Yuen


Me and my snowman!


Awwwwww.


It was in great demand,my pink flowers.


So nice and fluffy right??


I think they look especially cuter when they are in the water.


L-r: Li Shen and Josiah


My Snowman drowning in Gula Melaka water.


Love the texture!


More of the classmates.


l-r: Cze Yin, Lydia, Carol, Brenda and Me.


A cool photo of the classmates, taken from our staircase.


I bought a toy gun recently to shoot the cockroaces(a story for another day). Here's a pic of Sett trying to shoot Maxis' manhood.


Nipples are nice to shoot.


Desmond was trying to hold Magesh down while Yan Rui aims at his crotch.


Top l-r: Me, Lydia, Carol, Brenda, Wuan Phing, Lie Yuen, Jamie
Bottom l-r: Ee Chia, Cze Yin


We were so bored that we even played Happy Family. Remember the game? But we did not have any patience for it. A sign that we've really grown up since we last played Happy Family in kindergarten. :) In this picture you can see that the other classmates were playing a game and the girls were excluded. I suppose when you play kindergarten games, you gotta deal with kindergarten type of attitudes as well. ;

The Sweet Years

When I was 13,
Keying in data on the library computers,
I leant over and extorted your email address from you,
And you didn't even know my name.

When I was 14,
We were brought together,
By two people who broke our hearts.
And then you gave deriratives of my name,
From Joey to Jo,
To the new baby rabbits you found one morning.
I remember how you'd stop to talk,
Everyday after school.

When I was 15,
It was cold in the highlands,
So I grabbed on to your hands,
And you did not let me go.
I know you were watching me closely,
As I pretended to sleep that night.

When I was 16,
We danced in our own rhythm,
On the eve of my 17th birthday,
Which was our school prom.
The music got slower,
And our faces came closer,
In the dim of the light,
I broke the magic,
As I bent down,
To inspect some confetti.
I was too shy to kiss.

When I was 17,
I realised how much I missed you,
Letters came from across the causeway,
As we finalized our going-ons,
So that we can stop playing games,
And do it for real this time.

When I was 18,
You gave a trail of kisses across my cheek,
And it led on to my lips.
A kiss shared 33 stories above the city,
Oblivious to the glittering skyline,
A memory I will hold dear.

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