Summer Scent

Summer is here. I know it. I feel it. I smell it.

The temperature in Hanoi soared to a high 37 degrees in the late morning while I was in the study room chatting with my mum. My mood was at the lowest ebb being encompassed by the endless scalding heat waves. I looked longingly at the air-conditioner but willed myself against it. Too much air-con is bad for one's health, I read somewhere. Since I am a spoilt brat who MUST sleep in an air-conditioned room at night, I reckoned I should make do with the ever-reliable fans in the day. To my disappointment, my fans failed me. The simple logic of warm air = warm winds struck me plainly.

Moodily, I had lunch with H, my helper. The heat did not dampen her cheerfulness and she happily chatted with me while we ate and watched TV. At this point, I recalled that she told me once she does not have air-con at home, so she learnt to sleep in the heat, claiming that it's actually better for her body. Better? I thought to myself. Well, maybe. Perhaps I could shed a few pounds this summer since I am constantly in a sauna?

On a more positive note, it turned cooly windy in the evening (phew..) when M and I went for a quick golf practice at Hanoi Club. We had to perfect our full swing. Hit about 50 balls and was proud to say that I did fairly well, though my furthest ball was only *shyly* 75 metres away. After hitting my last ball, I realised I was was perspiring slightly despite the strong winds. There was only one conclusion to make. Summer is definitely here.

Am I a Tim Sum Fan or Something?

Guess what I had for lunch today? Aarrgh... it's tim sum again! Sigh.. I told myself on Sunday that I will detox and avoid the delicious yet oily snacks for at least a month. But I succumbed today during lunch with my Indonesian Chinese friend, Ing. Initially, we were planning to go to Quan An Ngon (translated from Vietnamese means "a place where you can find a collection of delicious food") but had to make do with a nearby place since there was time constraint. When she suggested Sofitel Plaza Ming Palace Restaurant tim sum buffet.. I felt my willpower melting. This was my favourite tim sum place! And I happily agreed...

I ordered the famous fish congee together with my usual favourites e.g. char siew bao, har kow, an assortment of steamed and fried dumplings, chee cheong fun and stir fried vegetables. Dessert was fruits and egg tarts for me. The food was nicely presented in the bamboo containers and served warm, much to my liking. I definitely rate this place 4 thumbs up though there is a close contender at Hanoi Hotel (which lacks in the ambience but has equally tasty food).

After lunch, Ing and I decided to go shopping as we were both in the mood. She brought me to a place called "Euro Shoes" near Hanoi Towers, which (based on what the owner claimed) exports shoes for brands such as Mark and Spencer, Nine West, Next, etc to Europe. Well, we suspected that the shoes could be rejects (for minor defaults) because only one pair was available for each design. It very much depends on your luck whether you can find a pair that you like and of the right size. The prices were reasonable though. Ing found a pair of Nine West heels that cost VND 300,000 (SGD 30) that looked quite good on her! She didn't buy it eventually though...

Of course, just shopping around for shoes was not enough. Our next stop was Mango (the Spanish fashion brand) in Hanoi! Surprise, surprise! The Mango shop here is 3 storeys high and fairly well-stocked. I liked the summer collection a lot, as the colours were bright and cheery. The prices of Mango clothes in Hanoi are the same as Singapore (unlike Espirt where the prices in Hanoi are exorbitant!). Ing got two tops while I resisted. For someone who is not working, splurging on a top that costs SGD 60 is just not practical. But it was fun browsing and looking around. A few Singaporean suggested that I could bring the catalogue to a local tailor and ask them to make a dress or pants for me with a similar design. Well, I tried it once but failed. I was told to try the same tailor at least twice because the workmanship will be better the second time. Maybe... I guess I just enjoy the thrill of trying on clothes, hoping that they fit snugly, and buying those that fit immediately! Claps... Cheap thrill... In any case, if I ever succeed in getting a locally made Mango lookalike, I will definitely highlight it in my blog.. so keep your fingers crossed for me!

Election Day

It was the Election Day in Hanoi yesterday. We could see our neighbours putting up flags around their houses. Our friends told us that the grassroots leaders in each district would go around each house as early as 7am on Election Day to remind the residents to cast their votes. And there was a sense of pride if the community was the first to cast all their votes in the district! I was initially quite worried that the grassroots leaders would knock on my house and ask me to vote but I was assured by my friends that this would not happen because there are clear records of the foreigners staying in the district. True to what they said, I slept in peacefully yesterday morning.

I woke up at around 9.30am and was quite happy because the weather was good and we were finally going to try the tim sum buffet at Tao Li Restaurant, Nikko Hotel. While I am fond of tim sum, the high calories hidden in the small portions of har kow, siew mai, etc do put me off a little. But M and I went ahead anyway. The variety of the tim sum at Nikko was quite limited and I was disappointed (there was no porridge offered!) plus the atmosphere was not like the usual tim sum restaurants with push carts and lots of shouting "Har Kow Siew Mai Char Siew Bao!" from waitresses (P.S. 2 thumbs down!). But the quality and taste of the tim sum was above my expectations (P.S. 1 thumb up!). There was a "La Mian" promotion going on at the restaurant at the same time, so we go to see two Chinese chefs kneading and tossing the long strands of noodles. I vaguely missed Crystal Jade at that point in time. :)

It's quite funny I had two coincidental meetings with my friend, L, last weekend! The first was on Friday night, when we had dinner with M's colleagues at a Chinese Restaurant in Vincom Towers. Just when we were about to start, we saw L and her hubby walking into the same restaurant. The second time was yesterday during our tim sum lunch when L came with her hubby and friends to enjoy the last day of the "La Mian" special! We went like "ahhhhh" when we saw each other... and started laughing. Two coincidences in a weekend! Can you believe that? :)

母亲节之感

对妈妈的思念

（记：本想在母亲节当天写这篇感想，但电脑却不合作，所以便拖到今日。）

对妈妈的思念，来到异乡更加的深切。

记得小时候，对妈妈有许多误会。总爱说她偏心，因为家里还有位挺乖的大姐，和一位讨人喜欢的小弟。我常觉得自卑，埋怨妈妈为何不把我生得象姐姐那么高挑，象弟弟那么可爱。有时也怪妈妈为何没把我生得美一点，瘦一点，聪明一点，妈妈总笑着不答话。或许是因为妈妈从不责骂我，只是在一旁温和的开解我，让我变本加厉。当然，我根本听不进她所说的话，只一味的觉得她在为自己申辩。

但内心底，我是敬爱我妈妈的。或许因为太想像妈妈（又美丽，又温和，又和蔼可亲），但又不可能 （因为自己的性格差太远了！），所以性格变得很暴躁，又没信心，常怨天尤人。在学业和生活上，一旦碰到不如意的事，我就会把责任推到别人身上，从不自我反省。例如：数学成绩不及格是老师教得不好；同学们不同我说话是她们小心眼。妈妈看在眼里，十分担心，常常劝我要先检讨自己，而不是一味的说是别人的错，可我并不了解，还把她的善意误会成对我的偏见。所谓忠言逆耳，这句话是一点儿都没错。妈妈在我身上下了不少心思。当我对她埋怨，哭闹，或发脾气时，她总在一旁默默聆听，不啃声，也没显出一副不耐烦的表情。过后，她便一直鼓励我，开解我。有一次，我放学后，又对妈妈哭着说同学们笑我又笨又肥。妈妈立刻对我说了一句话：“就算全世界的人都觉得你很丑，你在妈妈的心目中永远是最美，最可爱的。＂我听了，便不哭了。我想，妈妈是厉害的。她知道我最大的问题是自卑心作祟，而唯一能医好我的，只有父母的认同和关怀。

长大后，终于了解妈妈的苦心。

从弟弟的成长过程，我看到了我自己。他的一举一动，时而任性，时而暴躁，时而好玩，时而胡闹，简直就象一面镜子摆放在我面前。看到妈妈对他心疼，担忧，生气，无助等种种心情，以及对小弟又劝，又教，又谈，又骂的各种行为，我方能了解为人父母的困难。当弟弟象我以前那样指责母亲偏心，不公平时，我看见妈妈的眼神闪过几分无奈和心痛，泪水也在眼眶中徘徊。很快的，她恢复了以往平静的心态，开始苦口婆心的劝我小弟。这时，我的心情很复杂。原来我以前也是如此的不懂事，如此得让妈妈难过。但是，我从不怪弟弟惹妈妈生气，因为这是他的成长过程。我怪的只是自己为何过了那么久才体会妈妈的苦心，而过去为什么对她有那么多不必要的误会和不公平的指责。我想，我开始开窍了。

踏入社会之后，我每天放工回家做的第一件事就是对妈妈叙说上班遇到的烦恼和问题，并征求她的意见。妈妈是聪明的。虽然她的工作经验不多，但时常通过书籍和报纸进修，因此对人对事的见解往往一针见血。有时，我也把工作上新鲜有趣的事情说给她听，让她回味一下年轻时工作的欢乐时光。就这样，妈妈从一位导师渐渐的成为我的知心好友。

记得有一次，我对妈妈说，我很开心，因为她是我最好的朋友。妈妈露出灿烂的笑容，对我说，她也把我当成很谈得来的忘年之交。我们俩便象小孩子那样，戏弄对方说 "You are my best friend"。现在想起来，觉得又好笑，又温馨。

今年的母亲节，我人在河内，无法同母亲庆祝。若是从前，早就耿耿于怀。但现在，我并不放在心上。对妈妈的好，不只是在母亲节方能表达。只要有那份心意，天天都是母亲节。身为我 "best friend"　的妈妈，又怎能不知我的想法呢？

P.S. 借这篇博客抒发对母亲的思念，并祝她身体健康，永远开心！

重温三国演义的日子

Haven't been updating my blog for the last 3 weeks as I was back in Singapore. Spent lots of time with my family, esp my dearest mum, and had lots of fun. This was the longest time that M and I spent in Singapore together, so we went furniture shopping and food exploring. He was really gorging down the local delicacies such as chilli crab, prata, satay and char kway teow while I ate almost fish soup every meal because I missed it SOOOOO MUCH! It's my favourite dish in Singapore! Am also very proud because I managed to find the Pontian Wan Ton Mee at Heeren. Read about it in the newspapers but have not been able to find it. Finally, my mum and I chanced upon Graffiti Cafe on the 5th floor and ta-dah, we found the noodles. It tasted pretty good at a low cost of $2.80. Thumbs Up!

Came back to Hanoi on 10 May and the weather has been quite erratic (what's new?). Fluctuates between scorching hotness, damp rains and cool breezes. Well, if I were ever given a choice to design my weather for the day, it would be damp rains at night (so that I can sleep well), cool breezes in the morning (as I am home most of the time) and heat waves in the afternoon (as I hide myself in the gym).

Anyway, M managed to find the latest version of DVDs for 三国演义 (Romance of the Three Kingdoms) so we have been huddling up watching the disc after disc. It's our favourite TV series and book of all times but M is definitely a crazier fan. The story engages me because there's so much intelligence and wit displayed in the conversations, characters and plots. M's favourite character is 周瑜 while I struggle between 赵云 and 诸葛亮. I admire 赵云 for his courage while for 诸葛亮, it is his ability to devise impressive strategies within the shortest possible time and willingness to serve his master 刘备 (whom I feel is far inferior to him in the story) that touches me.

My RTK craze is hitting me again......"出师未捷身先死，常使英雄泪满襟。" See what I mean?