5 Things To Do In Ho Chi Minh

I visited Ho Chi Minh in mid May and the deal we got was a freakin cheap one! 5 Days 4 nights in Ho Chi Minh, flights + 3 star hotel accommodation was only Rm500+ per person! No tours included of course but it's really easy to explore Ho Chi Minh on your own and it's less tiring than if you book a guided tour for your entire trip.

However, if you really want to book a tour to, say, Cu Chi Tunnels or Mekong Delta like we did for 2 days of our trip, you can always book at the hotel or at the numerous travel agencies in the city. Each day tour cost us around Rm30+.

Boring details aside, I decided to write a post on the 5 things you should do when in Ho Chi Minh..

NUMBER 1: Cross the road fearlessly.
Note: fearlessly. This is VERY important in Ho Chi Minh. In a small city with a population of 13 million people and 8 million motorcycles, if you wanna cross the road, just do it, don't hesitate. Of course I don't mean dash across the road even though there are 100 motorcycles speeding towards you like you're the prize at the finish line. It's just that if you're too dependent on pedestrian traffic lights from wherever you come from, or if you've only crossed roads when the oncoming vehicle is 1 mile away, then you can just camp out on the side of the road cos in Ho Chi Minh, that's never gonna happen.

Here's a tip when crossing roads:DO NOT DASH ACROSS. Walk at a constant pace so motorcyclists can estimate their distance/speed/time..haha sounds nerdy..but it's true! I was looking at some motorcyclists when crossing the road and I realised that they just glanced at me, then continued on because they already know I'm there. Imagine if I suddenly hesitated and turned back! I might've been hit by a bike!

The motorcyclists won't sound their horns at you if they know they can avoid you cos they're all really good at swerving around cos traffic in Ho Chi Minh involves lots of swerving around and non-stop beeping of cars. If you ride on a taxi while you're there, your first experience might be kinda scary. Trust me. No one wanted to sit at the front.

On main roads, just wait for the traffic lights.

NUMBER 2: Drink Coffee.
I was never a fan of coffee but Vietnam is famous for its coffee and not drinking coffee in Vietnam is equivalent to not gargling after you brush your teeth. Ok bad example but you get what I mean.

We met up with a close friend of a relative in Ho Chi Minh. He's actually a Vietnamese tour guide and his hospitality was fabulous. Oh did I mention that service in Vietnam is really good? Anyway, he treated us like family when we were there and brought us to try local food at places that the typical tourist wouldn't go.  We had this awesome seafood hotpot on our first night there and it was great even though we felt like melting in the restaurant.

Anything to do with soup in Vietnam tastes really good. In my opinion of course.

Then he brought us to this coffee house which was hiding somewhere behind some old shops. I'm sorry the only thing I remember about the location is that it is near a railway track where vehicles can pass when no train is near. So old skool..we don't have that in Malaysia. :( 

Had previously only seen something like this in the movies. Cue: thought of trapped car in the middle of train tracks with oncoming train.

So this is the name of the place. I think. Unless it says something like "No Smoking Please", I'm pretty sure this is the name of the place. You could try your luck and show this to your taxi driver. It's really worth visiting.

Cafe. Mien Dong Thao should be the name.

Why is this place so awesome? It is a really large area with small sections in every corner giving you a cosy feeling. You'll have lots of privacy too and won't feel that 50 people are eavesdropping behind you and 20 people are staring at your laptop screen. Oh how I wish there was a place like this near where I live!

Oh did I mention that there is a pond in the middle of the cafe?

This is not under-aged drinking. Everyone gets a bottomless iced tea.

I know, I know, this point should be speaking of drinking coffee and why am I going on and on about the cafe?! You should just visit it for its atmosphere. I don't know about the price and taste of food though. I hope you find this place with the little information I give you. Also, this is the place where I changed my opinion on coffee. This is where I tasted the best coffee in my life! Ok my statement is not very credible cos I'm not a coffee drinker but there were a few coffee drinkers who said the same. hah!

Vietnamese coffee with their coffee dripper. It has to be this way. Not good if you're impatient. 

I don't mean that the best coffee can only be found in this cafe but also in other coffee shops in the city. Just like this place in District 1 with it's tiny table and chairs (We didn't find out why many restaurants use short tables and chairs).

Small tables/chairs.

Yum.

The complimentary iced tea.

NUMBER 3: Eat Vietnam "Subway"

No not the subway sandwich you're thinking about but their Vietnamese sandwich which looks like a subway sandwich. Not sure what their called. Their made with French loaves. I heard that the reason they eat French bread is because they were once occupied by the French a long long time ago. Don't know if that's true but they taste really good. You can't choose flavours though and you just tell them how many you want. It has minced meat, veggies, sauce etc in it. Honestly, I don't know what meat is used. It could very well be dog meat and I wouldn't know. Hahaha 

The sandwich from some stalls taste better than others but that's where all the fun in trying new food is. :D

This is what I call the Vietnamese "Subway".

NUMBER 4: Eat Pho everywhere you go.

I love soup. That's why I love Pho. Pho is practically everywhere in Ho Chi Minh. It's actually noodles in soup with beef/chicken..The soup is the most important part of Pho and every Pho I've tasted in Ho Chi Minh tastes good! There are many Pho restaurants around like Pho 2000, Pho(insert no. here), etc.

We tried Pho at the market, Pho at Pho 2000, etc and I loved it each time! Apparently Pho 2000 is where Bill Clinton once visited...One thing funny about Pho 2000 is if you need your dose of Malaysian slang you can definitely find it in Pho 2000. It surprised me to find so many Malaysians eating there! If you're Malaysian, you can identify them once you hear them speak. Hahaha..

Pho 2000 menu.

Big bowl of Pho.

Chicken Pho.

Beef Pho.

Trying to eat the bowl.

NUMBER 5: Bargain!!
If you visit Ho Chi Minh, I'm pretty sure you'll visit Ben Thanh market. There are MANY things sold there like clothes, bags, souvenirs, shoes, etc. and they are cheap! However, you must BARGAIN! If they refuse to lower down the price for you, WALK AWAY. They'll most probably call out to you with a lower price and the further you walk, the lower the price goes. If it doesn't go to as low as you want it to be, or they still refuse to give you a better offer, don't worry. They're like 100 other stalls selling the exact same things.

There is a night market outside the Ben Thanh market every night when the day market closes. Tip: The night market sells the same things sold in the day market and are generally 3 TIMES more EXPENSIVE!

We had shopped the whole day in Ben Thanh market during the day and went to check out the prices in the night market. The price of almost everything was 3 times higher!

However, do go to the night market as it would be a good place for you to explore and get an idea of the price of things you wanna buy the next day at the day market.

For example, I asked for the price of a pair of batik pants. The girl said 300,000 Dong. I walked away because it was too expensive(and wasn't really interested in the designs she had anyway). At every step I took, her price kept going down. The last price she shouted to me was 120, 000 Dong. I still didn't buy it. I went to the Ben Thanh day market the next day and told the salesgirl from another stall selling the same pants that I would buy it for 100,000 Dong. She gave in after I started walking away.

Haha I think I sound very cheapskate telling people how I bargained but that's how you make your shopping money stretch!

Some pics of the Ben Thanh market:

If you wanna buy bags, head to stall number 627. The lady is really nice and her price is really good.

If you don't like to shop, The Ben Thanh market is a good place to admire all the colourful stalls and take awesome pictures.

Plastic Bag.

Feelings Unfelt

She feels disappointment.

She feels abandoned.

She feels discarded.

She thinks it's silly.

But she feels used.

She feels disposed.

She feels oppressed.

So many feelings but yet her feelings suppressed. 

A true pretender or a born actor? 

She feels so much but yet doesn't know how to feel. 

New Immigration Office at Sentul

Today, we went to the Immigration at Jalan Duta to renew our passports. By the way, the Duta Immigration is called Jabatan Imigresen Wpkl on the GPS which made me a bit confused when I tried searching for it on the GPS.

We planned to have our photos taken there so when we found the place, we went to get our photos taken first. Then at the photo taking shop, I wanted to photocopy my IC but the photographer was so honest she informed me that for renewing passport we don't have to give any photocopies of our IC. She could have charged me RM1 for photocopying and I would have paid but I guess there are still honest people in this world. hehe :) oh ya, and you don't even need to fill in any forms for renewing your passport. I don't know about new applications though. But the website still says you need to so my mum printed some forms and I filled them up at midnight last night only to have them thrown away today. boo.

Anyway, we were kinda surprised to see the immigration office full of people cos we heard some people say that very few people know about this one here cos it's relatively new but i guess we were a bit late..by the time we went to get a number, the officer said that they only give out 200 numbers a day and that there are no more numbers to give out. She told us that we could go to the one at Sentul which opens till 10pm EVERY single day.

We were told to look out for the Sentul LRT station and UTC Sentul. I didn't bother to ask what UTC stands for. We couldn't find any UTC signs but luckily there were a few policemen in a van outside the station so I got down to ask them.

The policemen said look out for UTC too. So we finally managed to get there and it turns out that UTC Sentul is a Pusat Transformasi Bandar. The immigration is in the building itself. It's called Jabatan Imigresen Cawangan UTC Sentul.

This is how the building looks like from the outside:

It is situated opposite some apartment flats.

This UTC is actually like an indoor pasar pagi with shops and stalls selling all sorts of things. When you walk in, I suggest you look for the escalator somewhere in the middle and head to the first floor. 

Escalator at 1st floor

When you reach the first floor, you'll see a mini balai polis in front of you.

Police Station

When you reach the 1st floor, just turn to your left and walk towards the back. The immigration office is just there. By the way, it is situated on the same floor as the food court.

I really suggest you go to this immigration for a few reasons. Firstly, it's new (opened only about a month ago, meaning Mar 2013) so not many people know about this place and there was practically only 4 people ahead of us when we got a number. Secondly, you won't be bored cos you can go jalan-jalan around the place and eat from the wide selection of stalls both halal and non-halal. Thirdly, it opens till 10pm every day. Yes even Sunday. Not sure bout public holidays though.

It was actually a blessing in disguise that we didn't get a number at Duta cos if we did, we wouldn't have gotten out passports renewed as fast as we did even though we had to go to Sentul instead. They told us we needed to wait 1 hour but we received our new passports in about 45 minutes!

Therefore, if you need the exact GPS coordinates to get to this Jabatan Imigresen Sentul, here they are! :

N 03°10'52.0"   E101°41'52.8"

Here's the phone number in case you need to ask anything:

03-4040 0108 / 0643

I would love to hear from you if you go to this Immigration to get your passport done after reading this post. Let me know how long it took to get it done. :)

Tata :)
ps: Sorry I don't have the address. Only the GPS coordinates. :)

Can't Change Things

There are some things in life you can't change. It's only human nature to question why some things should happen to you. And sometimes you can be too sucked in to these negative thoughts which may overcome you. Before you know it, a tsunami of sad thoughts come into your mind and you find yourself being sad again.

I sometimes question if that happened to bring me good in some way or was it to punish me?
I'm a believer of "everything that happens is good" because I believe that we can derive some good from almost everything that happens. But it is difficult sometimes as I am only human.

What would you do if someone scarred you for life?
What if they said it was unintentional but you found out that they could have prevented it but chose to turn a blind eye instead?

Would you take revenge?
Would you make sure they learned their lesson?
Would you do all you can to make sure they don't ever let others be a victim of your same fate?
Would you just keep on burying yourself in thoughts and wishes of turning back time?


We all know deep inside that some things just cannot be changed and we must move on. But do we really move on when we decide to? CAN we really? YES we CAN but can anything that person EVER do make it up to you?
Can anything they give you actually take your sadness away?
Can a thousand apologies help you forget?
Can you or maybe WILL you ever be the same person before it happened?

You say you can move on. You say it's probably no big deal and you don't care. But somewhere deep inside, you do care! You know it's horrible! You know they have caused you to view the world differently! and the world to view YOU differently! They have let something happen to you that has changed you as a person fprever! They have changed you without your permission!

It's hard. I know. But we should ALWAYS TRY. Try to make the best out of everything. Definitely easier said than done. I'm no fool. But is there a chance of moving on if we don't at least try?

Now the question is. Should you accept their sincere or even insincere apology and move on? They obviously try to make amends for their own selfish reasons but should you bother about their true selfs?
Should you just take it and move on for your own benefit? For your sanity?

An apology is never enough. It can never fix things because sometimes we don't want things fixed. We just want them to never have happened. But no one can really do that can they?

I read a very motivational email today from TUT. It went like this:

It's as if everyone has a built-in, happiness-now button, which can instantly change how they feel, no matter what's going on in their lives.  But for many, most of the time, they prefer not to push it.  Go on, push it real good -      The Universe

Good thing, huh, since we never could get the do-over button to work.


So we should ALL push our happiness-button now! Because we can never ever 'do things over'.


I hope everyone suffering on the inside gets to push their happiness-now button.
Love you all. :)
Have a good night's sleep world. :)
-Evie

The last days leading to my Final Year Project

After a long long long wait..it was time for us to present our final year project. Yeap a long long wait and yet we have lots to finish up at the last minute..hahaha normal human nature..really if we couldn't complete something in our project because there was "not enough time", we really have only ourselves to blame...
I for one, kept procrastinating and left ALL my project documentation work until it was announced that our presentation would be in two weeks time..even then I doubted that this time it would be real because we had been waiting for quite some time and were told many times that it would be in "two weeks"

I even left all the parts in the project that my academic supervisor told me to improve on until the last week! I was so confident that the documentation would be a piece of cake and I would be able to complete it in 2-3 days tops but I WAS WRONG. The reason I was so sure of myself was because I almost always only took 1 full day in front of the computer to complete my assignments for the past 4 YEARS. But this documentation was no joke. Only when I really started doing it that I realised that I would need much more time than expected.

Besides the documentation, I had the improvements to make in my project remember? So at one point I said to myself, SCREW YOU DOCUMENTATION! Let me work on my project first.

Then there was all this misinformation/miscommunication about needing to hand in the documentation to the panel of lecturers during our presentation and then when some students presented, they didnt ask to see it..I guess I was kinda lucky that I was the LAST in the list to present. Therefore, I had the advantage of an extra 3 days to be mentally prepared for my presentation. It was kind of a blessing but it also had its downside...

My group of friends had presented on the very first day and even though they were super stressed and strapped up for time to complete, they were very relaxed after their presentation which then left me with 3 days of anticipation. I stayed up till 3.30 am the night before my friends' presentation day to provide help and went to college on that day to provide moral and technical support..lol

I kept asking everyone how their presentation was and who they got as their panel of examiners, did they ask many questions?, how long was your presentation?, were the lecturers really scary?, etc..

I heard success stories and then I heard horror stories..It really got to me the day before my presentation. I was so nervous I felt my stomach flipping around..lol The words of encouragement from friends who had done theirs really did help alot..

A dear friend of mine ended her presentation in tears because she lost the completed softcopy of her project cos she didnt have a laptop so she saved it in a pendrive and planned to use my netbook for her presentation. Right before the presentation, she had plugged her pendrive into the college's computer to print the presentation slide handouts and when she plugged it back into my netbook, virus alarms kept popping up and her files were gone. Not all her files were gone..the unimportant stuff were all still there but the stuff she needed were gone. See how fate screws you up sometimes? She thought nothing of it as she had a copy saved in another friend's laptop. So we transferred those files to my netbook and she went straight for her presentation cos she was already late as it was.

We peeped through the door and thought she was doing fine but when she came out, she was in tears. The copy she saved in my friend's laptop which she used for her presentation somehow was the incomplete version of her project. There were parts where she couldn't show and the lecturer didn't quite believe her explanation...poor thing..pity her..but then I believe that everything happens for a reason and sometimes we might not be able to figure out why something happens but in the future, one day we will know. So i hope that this mishap somehow or another will bring good things for my friend in different ways. God works in truly mysterious ways. :)

This post was just describing the experience of the days before MY presentation and hopefully I will write another post to tell you about my final year project presentation experience..

I'm kinda typing all this in the dark now cos there is a baby sleeping next to me and I don't want to switch the lights on which might wake him up cos when he wakes up he won't go back to sleep no matter how hard you try to get him to! He hates sleep! He's a fast charger!  baby baby, you will know how much you love sleep when you're grown up..lol

toodles!
tata!

Ps: ALWAYS ALWAYS double, triple, quadruple a most updated copy of your important project or assignment in different storage methods.
Tip: I always email myself a copy of my assignment just in case all hardware fails me at the most crucial time then I can always download the copy from my email.

Now you know where they got the idea from?

Let me introduce to you a new member of the family...well not so new...in fact, already 7 months old but this is the first time I'm posting bout this little guy on this blog so he's new to the blog...hehehe

His name is Jun Hong and he's my cousin's baby..

This is him playing the piano:

I'd say he's pretty good at playing the piano..hehehe

And here he is being originally cute:

Now you know why they think it's cute and where they got the idea from? ;D

 And hey, you guys ever seen this famous pic of a baby's squeezed face?

Why did I ask? Cozzz....

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I have a Jun Hong version!!!

heeheehee

that's all about little Mr Jun Hong in this post...

toodles~ have an awesome day everyone!
loves~~~

Diaper Cakes Promotion!

Hey everyone! Do you know what diaper cakes are? A diaper cake is not actually edible..it is actually many pieces of baby disposable diapers and other baby essentials put together to look like a cake!

What are they for?
Diaper cakes make wonderful gifts for newborn babies/full moon babies or baby showers! They'll most definitely be the center of attention on a gift table and the mummy of the baby will be VERY VERY happy as  all items on a diaper cake can be used for the baby! Especially the diapers inside!

A diaper cake I gave to a dear cousin of mine

Don't you notice that the baby gift hampers you see in departmental stores are only full of unnecessary packaging and card boards? Well NOT a DIAPER CAKE! A diaper cake is filled with useful items and are definitely unique!

By 'unique', we actually mean that no two diapers cakes are ever exactly the same! This means that no one will ever be giving the baby mummy the same gift as yours! Awesome right?? hehe

I have started this hobby/tiny business of mine a little over a year ago and only making/selling them to friends and family. I have decided to make my tiny business a little bigger since I have a little more time in my hands now.

Another diaper cake I've made

Please go check out my Facebook page here: Cheery Baby Diaper Cakes
LIKE my page to keep updated too!

I'm currently offering a special price for my diaper cakes so you can check out the diaper cakes that I have  on sale now! Click here: Diaper Cakes in Stock

You may also check out the past diaper cakes I have made here: Diaper Cakes Sold

Don't forget to LIKE Cheery Baby Diaper Cakes ya! I might be organizing a mini contest in the near future on my Facebook page so like it to keep updated! Thanks!

Tata and have an awesome day!

Ps: For other instructions, click here: Order Instructions
pps: Let me leave you with a question to ponder: Is anyone you know going to give birth soon? heeheehee

Happy Mooncake Festival 2012

Hey everyone...it's been a long time since I last blogged...by the way, Happy Mooncake Festival! Did you eat lots of mooncakes this year?

Anyway, I would just like to share this peculiar little food that can only be found during mooncake festival season.

It's this thing here:

Water Caltrop

It's called a water caltrop cos I think it grows underwater..(ask Mr Google for more info..heehee)

To eat it, I think we must boil it to cook it first then use a hammer(Yes, a hammer) to break the shell.

Then, remove the flaky insides and insert into mouth. lol. It's like eating chestnuts plus a hammer..more fun right? hheh

I'm pretty sure many have not seen this odd thing that looks like bull horns..am I right?

Anyway, I actually wanted to share with you one other thing that can be done with this odd "plant?"...

My grandmother used to make these into spinning toys for us..

Here's how it looks like:

I don't exactly know how to make this but I know how to play with it...hehehe

All I know is that you dig out part of the insides of the water caltrops to fit a stick in. The stick is actually from the giant incense.

Then, attach a string. (very informative right? hahha)

How to play?

Just hold the lower water caltrop and pull the string fast. The upper watter caltrop will spin really fast and the string will retract.(if you pull properly. I must say it requires some practice and 'skills' ehem.)


Okay okay I know my explanation is not really clear so here's a video of my ugly hand playing with it.. I tied the end of the string to a paper clip. Actually it's tied to a little stick to prevent the string going all the way in when retracting but the nearest to me was a paper clip at that time so I just used it..heehehe

Note: Becareful when the water caltrop is spinning as the pointy edges are VERY VERY sharp.

Why did I blog about this toy? Cos my grandmother tells us every year to learn how to make it so the skill/tradition doesn't die off..and I still have not tried making one...heheh I figured that it's fairly simple to make and if I really wanted to make one, I would be able to. My cousin knows how to make them so there's a representative from my generation right? hee hee lazy me.

Okay, that's all folks!
Tata!
Ps:  Despite being told by certain people never to stop blogging, I havent blogged in a while. I wanted to blog about my  trip to Kuching for the Rainforest World Music Festival recently...but I can't bring myself to. Too many things have happened and are happening lately. Pening kepala. smh.

Have great day everyone! Loves.

Oh, why?

Why do we do the things we do? 

Why do we like the things we like?

Why do we say the things we say?

Do these questions even sound right?

Why do we wonder what we wonder?

Why don't we ponder when we should ponder?

Can't we step over when we're trapped under?

Too much pressure, starting to smother?

Maybe the answer is to wander?

Wander in thoughts, wander in wonder.

Maybe the answer is also to saunter?

Saunter in steps, forever in leisure. 

-Evie-

-thoughts of a sleepy mind-

Review: PaperMate Pens

I got picked to review some Paper Mate pens I won in a lucky draw contest thingy so here's my honest review..

but first, let's take a look at all the pens I received! 

They came by courier mail in a bundle like this.
It kinda surprised me cos I didn't expect to receive so many pens...

Here they are all lined up!

They really came at a right time cos I was having my semester final exams...i used them to write my exam notes and to write during the exam.. 

You see, I have habit of just using any pen during an exam...and by "any" pen, I mean looking around the house for stray ownerless pens and kidnapping them to become my exam slave...muahaha! I guess i've never really put any importance in pen brand name..come to think of it, I've never actually bought a pen for God knows HOW long!!

wait... my pens do have brand names, but they're names of companies who don't make pens! beer company, construction company, shopping mall, even funeral home! heheheh I was an ignorant pen user..

Therefore, receiving this bunch of PaperMate pens and using them for my exam this time around was quite an eye opener.. I have entered into the world of good pens! lol..

Here is an example of a free pen I've been using quite awhile:

 Let's just call him Jenama X

So here's what I think about PaperMate pens after using them..

I personally prefer the non-clickety click pens aka the pens wearing a cap..these ones:

Why?

Cos when I write with the clicking pens(honestly I don't know what you call them), I find them a little shaky..especially the ones with a fine tip...therefore, I prefer writing with 0.7 and 1.0 tips. But of course, that is only MY preference..I'm sure many people love writing with the Extra Fine Tips.. This just means that PaperMate really caters to the wide needs of pen users.. =)

Nevertheless, they are ALL better to write with than the pens I previously use! Much smoother and I guess more reliable cos they don't suddenly "pretend" to run out of ink when they're actually full of ink and then you'll have to find a nearby piece of paper to be a victim of :

This crime.

I have now realised that writing with a good pen during exam makes your handwriting neater and cleaner..my paper looks clearer and my answers look more confident. I can imagine them screaming to the lecturer, "Hey! You see the neat handwriting with no mistakes?? This means the answers were written in confidence and they're all correct!" Maybe I'll get more A's this time? hehehhe

They're also not like those overly emotional pens who cry out blobs of ink when you make them work for too long..don't you just hate it when that happens? your hands get all dirty with ink!

                                       
Crybaby

My hand used to be so tired and my finger would feel sore and grow a blister like bump on the side when I used Jenama X pens..but when I used the PaperMate pens, I didn't experience any of it! 

Therefore, I shall conclude that Ignorance is not bliss. In this case, Ignorance is blisters!

I "InkJoy" writing with PaperMate pens and I'm sure everyone will too.

Tata!

My unique identifier code is: y7z9a303

Lately...

Havent been blogging properly in a while so i've decided to do a post on what has been going on lately..

About a month ago, on the 20th Nov 2011, I was admitted into the hospital cos I was having signs of dengue. My lymph node on the back of my back was also VERY swollen...

Then it turns out I was tested negative for dengue, salmonella, typhoid, etc so the doctor diagnosed me with Kikuchi disease. It is a very rare disease but not dangerous. He said that 97% of doctors have never heard of this disease..He said, it's like I kena the Jackpot...haha

My hospital stay wasnt that bad cos I didnt feel really sick when I was put on drips...AND I could see real flamingos by the river from my room window..It was a double bedded room but I had the room to myself which was good...hehe

Anyway, I was discharged on the 3rd day and went for a follow up 1 week later. All in all, I had 8 needle holes in both my hands in less than 12 days.. :(

I took what i thought was my last blood test on the day of follow up but i was wrong. Today, I went to see doctor again because I had terrible sore throat for the last few days and got to know that my Antistreptolysin level form the last blood test was higher than the normal level.

The doc said to take another blood test today to see if it went up again..boo..kena cucuk with needle again..

What I understood from his explanation today is that i kena another jackpot. He said that if my  Antistreptolysin level goes very high, it can affect the heart and kidneys..he said that the rise in the  Antistreptolysin level is an immune reaction to Streptococcal sorethroat. This sorethroat is very common but what is uncommon is that only 4% of people will have a rise in their Antistreptolysin level. I kena jackpot again. =_=

My test results come out tomorrow i think. I hope and pray that the level didnt rise, cos if it did, I would have to be on long term oral penicillin to prevent streptococcal sorethroat.

I believe all will be well.. :)

anyway, after the hospital visit today, I brought Vivian to a Christmas celebration with friends at Sogo...it was her first time on the train and EXCITED was she! heheh
She had lotso fun but didnt quite like waiting for the bus on the way back. We waited quite long for the bus and when it came, it was partly full...everyone was crowding to go into the bus and a very nice gentlemen blocked the crowd behind him to let me and Vivian up first..All thanks to him, we both got the LAST two seats in the bus...he had to stand and so I told Vivian that because of that kind man, we got to sit...

i asked her, why not she sit on my lap, and we give one seat to the man...what she replied was very sweet, she said yeah okay, cos he was the one who let us up the bus first..

so i told her to ask the man to sit and the man said "no,no, its okay" I insisted and then he sat and said thank you very much like I was doing him a favour. I thanked him in return for letting us in first and he said "no problem". I believe it was a right thing to do even though it was slightly uncomfortable for a 7 year old to be sitting on your lap but w/o his first gesture of politeness, we would both have had to stand all the way home instead..

you see? There ARE still many good ppl around..

anyway, its getting late, gotta teach tomorrow...

tata!!!!

All Is Good!!!!

I won!!!!!!!!

I won 2 preview passes to the big bad wolf book sale!!!! Awesome sh*t!!!!! I feel so so so so blessed! That's cos I joined a few of their contests trying to win passes but didn't and this was the last contest! Not only that but this contests includes a skin food gift set too! So, double yays!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It feels like the Universe planned it for me this way....to win the passes in the last contest so I get something extra too! weeeee......


tata!!! =)

ps. why is it awesome to go to the book sale one day earlier than others? So i get to grab the good books first!! crap. i sound like a nerd. trust me, it isn't how it sounds like.  hahahah

Ladies Fingers

I so need longer fingers!!! Is there such thing as a finger extension??? I need one!
Playing four note chords on my right hand is killing my wrist...ouch... :'( yaya..i need more practice..if lefty can do it, why cant righty?? hehehe


ohhhhhhhhhhh so much to do so little time!!!! this weekend is the craziest! assignment due and exam on Monday and another assignment due on Tuesday. WHY?!!?!?!?!? 


If I have so much things to do, what am I doing here blogging? Well, I need to do this to keep my sanity. You don't see me blogging lately do you? Well if I stop all things to write this post...I must be on the brink of losing it. 


Time.Please.Pause.For.Me.But dont pause me.


Each time I think of all the things I have in line for me to do...I don't feel more alive.boo.


piano.assignments.exams.diaper cakes.piano.assignments.exams.diaper cakes.piano.assignments.exams.diaper cakes.piano.assignments.exams.diaper cakes.piano.assignments.exams.diaper cakes.piano.assignments.exams.diaper cakes.


Gaaaaaaaahhh! Feck it. I'm hungry. What's for dinner?


Toodles.

Laps

30 laps and I start to feel it in my arms and legs...hmmm...need more work. =)

Tata

Hachiko - The Loyal Dog

Have you heard of Hachiko, the Akita who was so loyal to his owner even after the owner's death?

This is a true stroy. Hachiko, an Akita(a dog breed)  was adopted by a Japanese professor when he was just a little puupy. If I'm not mistaken, he was given the name Hachiko because he was the eighth puppy in the litter and Hachi means Eight in Japanese.

Every morning, Hachiko would send the professor off at the Shibuya train station and he would come back and wait for the professor's return in the evening. People who were frequently at that train station would recognise the professor and his dog who comes to greet him everyday.

One day, the professor died and didn't make it back to the train station. Hachiko waited and never gave up. He waited for the next 9 years (wow). He was given away to different families to be taken care of but he often escaped to wait at the station.  People who knew Hachiko would sometimes give him food and treats.

To know more of this amazing dog, go here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hachik%C5%8D
Or you can just ask Mr Google.

Hollywood made this story into a movie but they changed some things here and there. Its a really touching movie it'll make you  ='(  !! The movie stars the super good looking Richard Gere. heehee
I watched the whole movie on youtube. :)

This is why I love doggies so so much. They give you so much unconditional love!! That's why it is so sad to hear of abandoned family dogs. Its sad to think that the abandoned dogs didn't even know that the family would do such a thing to them because they would never have done that to their families.

Hachiko wasn't abandoned though, he just didn't understand how or why his owner left him.

I hope Hachiko has been reunited with the Professor somewhere up above now....I hope he got his wish...

This is an Akita (not Hachiko)