Deepavali Weekend

The weekend that just past was pretty much enjoyable. I had a yummy meal with my parents and little brother on Friday at Vivo City. Was in a very good mood because of the upcoming long weekend then. We ate at Dian Xiao Er (with the famous duck) and toasted ourselves to cups of tea at Toast Box. I reached home at 10+pm, much to the dismay of M, who was hoping that I would be back earlier to accompany him. (He has decided not to join me and my family on Friday nights for dinners as he was shocked by how much I talk non-stop to my mum!)

Saturday morning was ruined as the Singtel vendor came early at 8.50am to install our modem. I continued to doze around lazily while M enthusiastically entertained him (M has been yearning for internet access at our house for AGES). We had breakfast at Beo Crescent (our food hunting adventure) where M tried the famous (with no signboard) curry rice while I stuck to my safe choice of wanton noodles. I thought the curry rice was so-so but M enjoyed it very much. I was planning to complete some household chores in the afternoon but felt so lazy. Luckily, mum and dad called in the afternoon to give me a ride home and I perked up immediately. It was great to see them and I was spending the night at home too (thanks to M!). I chatted non-stop with my mum the whole afternoon.. buzzing around her like a bee.. much to her amusement. Dinner was at East Coast as I wanted to find Werner's Oven (a German bakery shop) but failed. We ended up at this coffee toast shop for a simple fare of noodle soup and bread.

Sunday was breakfast at West Coast with my parents, followed by lunch with M. The poor boy waited for me to come home to dine with him till 12pm, much to my shock! We had a quick meal downstairs as it was raining. When I reached home, it was housework time! We had wanted to go out for a good meal at night before M rushes back for his beloved Liverpool match but there was not much time left. So we had to make our way back to Beo Crescent for teochew porridge. It was decent but not fantastic. M enjoyed it though.. strangely. I was dead beat when I reached home and fell asleep pretty fast.

Monday was shopping day for us! We had tim sum breakfast at a coffee shop nearby, before making our way to M's niece's birthday party. She's really adorable and loves Winnie the Pooh. I had fun watching her play and smile throughout the afternoon. :) Kids are so adorable! Then we made our way to Plaza Singapore for a shopping expedition, at my request. I didn't get anything there but it's fun to see how much shopping malls have changed in the last 2 years. We ventured out to The Cathay for dinner and ate at Nihon Mura. It was ok.. experience was fun but food was so-so.

Just thought it would be fun to jot down what I did for my first long weekend in Singapore. Sounds pretty boring, doesn't it? But somehow these are little things that I yearned to do when I was in Hanoi. And I find them not the least bit boring. :)

Journey to the Gym

My typical morning in Hanoi begins with a hearty breakfast and some news watch before I go to the gym. It's one of my favourite daily activity though I am not a gym freak at all! So here, I present.. my journey to the gym...

As I step out of my house, I turn right...

I see another narrow lane, typical in Hanoi, which leads to the main road...


This is a "community centre" near my house, where gym facilities are provided for members...


Finally I reach this slope which brings me to the main road (I took the picture at the top of the slope)...


On my right is Tay Ho, or West Lake of Hanoi...


I walk past a popular pizza eatery, Al Fresco's, located along Xuan Dieu Road...


Looking right ahead, this is the bustling street scene that faces me every day...


Here are lake facing serviced apartments at exorbitant rental rates...


Presenting the West Lake again...


The locals fish in the lake quite often and sometimes they bring big catches home!


Taxis are commonly found parked outside hotels or eateries, awaiting for business...


A popular but expensive hotel along West Lake - Dragon Hotel...


Street peddlers selling fruits or foodstuffs along the road.. a common sight...


Busy busy road...


And the Sheraton signboard tells me that my gym is nearing!


Directly opposite Sheraton is a newly opened Brazilian coffee joint..


Presenting the Sheraton Hotel!


A little stream outside Sheraton.. where you can see Sofitel Plaza...


A walkway is being built around the West Lake... where Sheraton is located...


Nearing the gym...


The small beautiful garden...


Tadah! The kiddy pool...


And the adult version...


Here I am!


I didn't take any pictures inside the gym as there were a few members inside.. and I thought it was quite rude to snap while they were sweating away... It's a small gym and nowhere comparable in size to Planet Fitness or California Fitness in Singapore.. But the environment is pleasant.. with adequate machines and friendly, enthusiastic staff who make an effort to get to know you by name and extend you a helping hand... I remember there was once I was sick for a month and when I went back to the gym, the staff kept asking whether I felt better.. I was really touched by this gesture.

That's the main reason why I go to the gym almost every day. It makes me feel like home. :)

The Darkest Hours in Hanoi

I went through the darkest moments of my stay in Hanoi in the past 3 days. Literally.

Power shortage has been a serious problem plaguing Vietnam. Due the the limited supply and overwhelming demand, especially in summer, the government had to come up with a series of intiatives to overcome this issue. One tried and tested method was to rotate the supply of electricity amongst various areas. And the area where my house was located happened to be the "chosen" one for the last 3 days.

Typically, the government will send a letter of notification to all households in that area before cutting off the power supply for the entire day. By night, the power supply normally resumes. However, we were quite unfortunate as this round, there was no prior notice given. What made it worse was the supply was cut for most periods in the day and night. On the first night, we were left "powerless". With no aircon, no fan and no wind, it was really a mission impossible to fall asleep. We opened all the windows and kicked away our blankets. But with the summer heat lingering, we got all sweaty and uncomfortable. The amazing thing was I still managed to fall asleep! I don't know how I did that.. but by 11pm.. I was dozing off in bed. M didn't sleep well until the power supply came back at 4am in the morning.

On the second day, this pattern repeated itself. Desperate for a good bath (the water tank in my house runs on power so when there is no electricity, I can only get a trickling shower), I headed over to Sheraton Hotel to use the gym and shower facilities there. At night, we experienced a blackout again. :( Luckily, M's friend, A, was really nice and offered to let us stay in his apartment (quite near to where we live) for a night.

By the third day, our patience had run dry and we demanded for a back-up generator from our housing agent. It did arrive in the afternoon but I could tell that it was fairly old and worn out. Well well.. can't really complain here as this is how things work here. After some massive installation effort, it was finally in working condition in the evening.

So far, things have been working so I am quite thankful for it. Really hate to go through another hot, humid and sleepless night. At least there's some consolation now as there is this old and noisy back-up generator in my backyard. But hopefully, I won't need to use it. Keeping my fingers crossed...

Finally.. a Clear Dip...

I am so pleased with the state of my swimming pool these days. It's crystal clear! Typically, it's murky and dirty. Well, there's a maintenance guy who comes in to clean the pool twice a week but so far, he has not been doing a good job. When I insist that the pool is not clean, he will just smile and nod before walking around. Duh!

This week, the pool has been amazingly clean. I am not sure what he's doing but I just hope he will continue to keep it this way. It's refreshing to see a clean pool of water when I look out of the window. Couldn't resist taking a picture today. These moments don't last. :)

I WON!

I finally won a Domination Victory and according to the game, displayed the qualities of "Augustus Caesar"!

Introduced by M, I am currently hooked to a game called "Civilisation". It's a strategy game where you take on the role of a warlord and start your own civilisation. You begin building your empire by learning technologies such as agriculture, mining and animal husbandry; finding a religion e.g. Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, Christianity; and establishing diplomatic relations with your neighbours.

There are several ways of winning this game:
1. Diplomatic victory i.e. gaining points through building close ties with other warlords;
2. Domination victory i.e. conquering or eliminating other civilisations;
3. Cultural victory i.e. having strong cultural influence through religion or arts; and
4. Space victory i.e. being the first to launch the space shuttle in your time!

The game is quite tricky because it simulates real life scenarios. For instance, when I was engaged in pursuing a domination victory, I worked my civilians hard in increasing the military buildup. As I neglected the other aspects of their health and education, they became very unhappy and went on strike! Also, if you have business trading with another civilisation, you will be financially impacted when you wage a war on them, thus causing you to slow down in the churn of war equipment.

For this victorious game, I chose to be "Kublai Khan" and my Mongolian empire expanded till it took up 64% of the total land population. I can't believe I am so proud for nothing!

A Moment to Remember

M went for a 2-day regional meeting in Bangkok so I am home alone in Hanoi. I kind of understand how he feels now when he's alone here. There's hardly any sounds at all. I mean, you don't really speak to yourself right? Guess this quietness makes it unbearable for him sometimes, which is why he always asks me to stay in Hanoi with him. :)

I haven't been doing much in the last 2 days though. Didn't go to the gym as I wasn't feeling too good. So I spent my time gaming, surfing net and watching TV. I managed to catch a Korean movie that I have wanted to watch for a while. I am not a typical Korean drama nor movie fan but I heard that this movie "A Moment to Remember" was good, so I watched it.

The story is about a young girl (played by Son Ye Jin) who fell in love with a carpenter from her father's company. They got married and the girl found that her memory was failing her badly. Sometimes, she could not recall the way home. She decided to consult a doctor and was diagnosed with Alzheimer disease. Realising that there was no cure, she decided to leave her husband before she forgot him. He eventually found her at a hospital and decided to evoke her memory by bringing her to where they first met. He succeeded though both of them knew that her memory would only last for one day. The next morning, she would not be able to remember anything again.

What struck me most was the frustration, anger and love both characters and their families displayed in the process. For instance, the girl would call her husband by the name of her ex-boyfriend, which griefed him because he was no longer sure whether he held a place in her heart. But the moment she remembered him, she would write him letters to convey and reassure her love for him. She couldn't feel the love from her family nor her husband because her memory was failing. Yet her family stood by her, offered to take care of her and tried to help her recall her past.

A wonderful and touching story which reminds me once again to treasure my family and be thankful for being able to relish the love from them.

Sleep, Uninterrupted

I have been invaded by an everlasting strong flu bug that doesn't seem to go away. The bug caught me when I went back to Singapore two weeks ago and now it has gleefully followed me back to Hanoi. Coupled with the cold weather here, the flu bug has blossomed into a lethal combination of 100% stuffed nose + potent, never-ending cough + occasional fever. The amazing thing is I am usually fairly "alive" in the morning. The full extent of the flu happens mainly at night when I start coughing violently non-stop throughout the night while my blocked nose leaves me breathless. Poor M has to tolerate the horrible coughs from me which I believe has caused him to lose sleep too!

I am been drowning myself with Chinese cough mixtures, Western cough mixtures, avoiding meat and seafood (yes, chicken, prawns and pork), and even started preparing herbal soups for myself. I even force myself to do some light exercises as I read on the Internet that it helps in the recovery process. But somehow, none of the above has worked very well for me.

For someone who needs a lot of beauty sleep (my usual record is 7-8 hours), I am just praying for one night of uninterrupted sleep. Meanwhile, I will continue to down all recommended remedies and pray that one will work for me. :(

想家

过年期间回了新加坡一趟。同亲朋好友相聚，玩得十分痛快。两个星期的时间过得很快，一转眼，又得回河内了。心中的不舍和惆怅真是难以形容。就如我小弟说的，我回河内的心情同他回警察学院（他目前在警察学院受训，是国民服役的训练之一。）是一样的。虽然万般不愿意，但还是身不由己。

这趟回到河内，想家想得特别厉害。不知是不是生病的缘故，一想起我的母亲和弟弟，泪水不禁哗啦哗啦的流了下来。真想立刻飞回新加坡，永远不回这里了。M看见我这番茶饭不思的，也不知如何是好。他只能尽力哄我笑，并把自己如何克服思乡症的一套理论说给我听。坦白说，那时我的心情糟透了，根本听不进他说什么。只是一直嚷着要回去，差点儿把他给惹恼了。

哭了两天，心情慢慢的平静下来。我也觉得奇怪，都到这里两年了，怎么还那么的不适应？起初M以为是地方的缘故，因为河内同新加坡比起来的确差得远了一些。但其实我是无法适应现在无所事事的乏味生活。每天早上起床，吃了早餐，就去健身。下午有时会同朋友出门。晚上就是等M回家吃晚饭，聊天。日子充实吗？一点也不。我好怀念以前工作时的干劲，感觉很实在，并觉得自己有所贡献。现在虽然过着太太的生活，但却并不是我所要得。有时闷得我都快发疯了！

再来，人在异乡，也特别了解亲情的可贵。如果问我到了河内两年学领悟到了什么，那应该是珍惜。以前工作忙碌时，往往忘了把时间留给家人。周一到周五拼命工作，周末便想和朋友或男友出门松懈一下，没有多少时间陪家人。现在时间多了，却因为太遥远而无法同他们相聚，让我难以释怀。特别是妈妈在我离去的前一天同我说，她一想到我要回去，便无精打采，话也不想说，因为不知道我几时方能回来。她的这一番话，让我难过了好一阵子。我又何尝不想时时在她身边呢？她可是我的知己和亲人啊。一想到回去河内那叫天不应，叫地不灵的地方，我不禁哆嗦了一下。

人都是这样，失去后才会懂得珍惜。我如今唯一能做的就是提起精神让自己在河内的生活更加充实，快乐，不让家人（包括M）担心，并期盼下次回家的日子赶快到来，又能同他们聚在一块儿。

我真不知这样的日子还能过多久。

One Dish Meal for Dinner

I cooked a one dish meal for dinner yesterday and there were several "obstacles" before the meal was served.

Obstacle 1: I ran out of gas and my limited Vietnamese did not allow me to call the gas company.

Obstacle 2: I was engrossed in the Men's Singles Championship Finals of the Australia Open and needed to whip up something real fast so that I can get glued to the TV again.

Obstacle 3: I didn't want to do too much washing as I was down with a slight cold yesterday. Ok, usually M will offer to do the dishes on Sunday but the quality of his washing is well... debatable...

So I decided to dump a mixture of rice, potatoes, marinated chicken and mixed vegetables into the rice cooker before hurrying back to watch the tie break between Novak Djokovic and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. The end result was a "pseudo" rice stew that was quite palatable coz M finished the entire plate that I dished for him. He knew about the gas situation and was a little amazed that I could cook without the stove. I felt proud to have impressed him over nothing. :p I mean, tell this to the experienced mothers and they would be like, "Huh? Impressed? I can cook using the rice cooker with my eyes closed!"

Anyway, I took a picture of my rice stew just for the fun of it. Minimal washing, short preparation time and rather good end results.. What more can I ask for? :)

Maria Sharapova Rocks!

I was glued to the TV for 2 hrs this morning watching the Australia Open "Glam Slam" aka the Ladies' Singles Championship Match between Maria Sharapova (Russia) and Ana Ivanovic (Serbia).

Maria displayed a stunning performance as she won two sets in a row and gained the championship title. After aching from Roger Federer's loss yesterday, I am glad that my female tennis idol won the well-deserved title. She was clearly the better player in the game today, being in full control of the match.

Maria Sharapova ROCKS!
(Picture taken from the Australia Open website)

P.S. I realised today that Maria is 1.8m tall (I always thought she was around 1.7m). Gasps.. Do you need this height to play tennis well?

Hooked on Tennis!

I am recently hooked on watching the Australian Open. Have never been a tennis fan until I watched one match by Roger Federer and it was truly an eye opener for me. He seemed to be displaying a form of art with every serve and stroke, and his precision was amazing. Seeing him in full control of each match made me wonder how his opponent must be feeling facing him. He's definitely not Top Seed for nothing. Guess one perk of being jobless is you get to watch countless TV programs without feeling guilty. Haha..

I am now officially a Roger Federer fan, until another sports star grabs my attention. :)

Go, Fedex, Go!

P.S. If you are somewhat interested in tennis after reading my entry, you can go to http://www.australianopen.com for more information on the matches.

Goodbye Princess N!

Princess N and her hubby are leaving Hanoi today after a short 4-day visit, so I went to send them off at the halal cafe in the morning (their friend was sending them off to the airport). It was a really short visit and I didn't have much time to catch up with her since her itinerary was packed, with many out-of-Hanoi tours. But still it was fun having friends here. I got Princess N a bouquet of purple flowers and she seemed to like it, which I was glad. I have never been a "flowers" person so I am not sure whether I chose the "correct" type of flowers for her.

It's really strange but I feel v down every time my friends leave. The last time I sent my friends off to the airport, I nearly cried when they walked into the immigration gate (the bystanders probably thought I was mad)! I felt the same way today too. It's like I wish I were back in Singapore with them...

Anyway, here's wishing Princess N and R a good flight back home!

Real Life Ratatouille

Last Sunday, M and I watched the DVD "Ratatouille" since it was one of our "nuah-at-home" days. It was quite a funny show, about a mouse called Remy that wanted to be a chef. At first, Remy did it through a cute "partnership" with a chef wannabe called Linguini. But Linguini eventually gave Remy the recognition that it deserved, affirming the notion that "Anyone can Cook".

That very night, I had a strange dream that there was a rat in my house. It wasn't hilarious because I was chased around by the rat and screamed like mad. I woke up in the middle of the night in cold sweat! Here comes the best part... When I went down to my kitchen yesterday morning, it was in a mess! My dried herbs packets were gnawed open and the herbs spilled around the floor, coupled with a few tea boxes! I immediately suspected the presence of a rat and asked my maid to call for pest control service.

The guy came in the late afternoon and finished the "surveillance" in less than one minute. Basically, he took a scanty glance around the living room and knocked around the cupboards and refrigerator. Then he shook his head vigorously to signal to me that there was no sign of a rat (of course I can see that!) and there was nothing he could do. As a form of reassurance, he told my maid that I could come down at night to try to find the rat and if I did, to call his office number and alert him. I nearly fainted! Firstly, as a client, I must be mad to try to "search" for the rat! Did he think I work in a pest control company too?? Secondly, his office closes at 5pm daily. So how was I suppose to reach him???

Anyway, I was spooked the whole of yesterday and frustrated at the non-service delivery. But there was nothing much I could do! This morning, I gingerly went down to my kitchen and was relieved to find that there was no sign of a rat invasion. But before I could say "Thank Goodness", I just heard a piece of bad news from my helper, H. She spotted tiny footsteps in our bathtub on the third floor, which meant that the rat was still around! I immediately asked her to call the pest control company to insist on a rat trap. I just cannot live with the idea of having a rat as my "room mate" - or more appropriately, "roof mate"!

Now I am still waiting for the rat trap to come... Meanwhile, I have closed all my doors and windows. I know this sounds paranoid but I am VERY scared of rats! And the rats in Hanoi are quite BIG - I have seen them on the streets, so I know. EEEeeeekkkksss!

Did the rat really think that I can live with it like Remy and Linguini in Ratatouille and therefore, moved into my house prior to "seeking my consent"? FAT HOPE!

Weather Changes

The weather in Hanoi has been changing drastically these few days. Just last week, we were experiencing winter-like temperature of around 13-18 degrees Celsius. But the sun is out and blazing this week. Temperatures are expected to rise to around 30 degrees over the weekend. I reluctantly kept my winter coat. Winter has come and gone.

The change in weather has resulted in many people falling sick, including myself. Have been sleeping a lot these days. So much that I feel 2/3 of my day is spent on sleep instead of 1/3 for a normal person. I have been downing all kinds of medicine in a frenzied attempt to get well. So far, they seemed to be working because I am feeling better today. I miss my morning workouts at the gym and afternoon gatherings with friends. L is leaving for Singapore today for a 5 days holiday so I won't get to see her till next week. *Sulks*

Yucks. I hate falling sick.

HoMe ALOnE

The weather in Hanoi has just turned cool today. Thoroughly enjoyable. I can stay inside my room with no air-conditioning required. Just checked the weather report and realised that it's 18 degrees outside. :) It's about time I take out my jacket from the cupboard. Just hope that this means winter is finally here.

M has been out entertaining the past few days which means I am very much HOME ALONE in the house. Now I understand how it feels to be alone here in the house. You wander around, watch TV, surf net and then finally realise how quiet the entire house it (less the occasional dog barks). Poor M had to endure this for the few months that I was back in Singapore. Perhaps I will be nicer to him and make him his favourite chicken stew on Sunday so as to lessen my guilt? Then again, he doesn't really think too highly of my cooking, though I insist that my culinary skills have improved compared to a year ago.

I have resolved to eat healthily for the next 3 weeks (at least) because my brother and I had a bet that I will look trimmer (he challenged 5 kg *gasps* which I refused to agree and eventually we compromised at a 2-kg weight loss) the next time I go back to Singapore. It's really amazing how our bodies function differently. I typically don't see much changes in my weighing scale despite my efforts at a healthier diet and more exercise. But.. my brother can lose his kilos easily just by cutting down on his carbo intake! (He just told me that he has lost 2 kg by eating 1 bowl less of rice i.e. from 3 bowls to current 2 bowls in 3 days.) Unfair!

Maybe the cold weather here can help me burn some excess calories? Well, I know I am dreaming because what will happen is that I will eat more and put on weight instead.

Why did I agree to the stupid challenge? *Sulks*

Cooking Lesson

My friend, S, invited me to a cooking class today. It's actually a get-together for 5 culinary experts (excluding myself) to experiment on cooking recipes. While I was unable to help much in the preparation (except adding salt?), I contributed by helping to finish the end products. We had a home-cooked 3 course meal comprising of bread, pan fried fish with stewed zucchini and tiramisu. Can you believe this?

Here are the pictures to whet your appetite: Pan fried fish and stewed zucchini (on the bottom left), freshly baked bread out from the oven (on the right) and the bread dough after kneading (on top).

Fabulicious! :)

Back after 1 Month! Lappy has Revived!

I am back! It has been a really long while since I last updated my blog and the reason for this is the long break taken by my laptop. The screen just went blank for no reason a month ago and I couldn't revive it no matter what I did. (Of course, in between included my first trip to Europe which I will blog later.) Anyway, I got so frustrated with my Lappy that I banished it to the cold corner of my study room (though I will turn it on every day hoping that it will work). After 4 weeks of cold turkey, Lappy revived amazingly! This is the second time that I am experiencing life without Lappy and it's really plain torture. I hope I don't have to go through it again. (fingers crossed 10X)

On a separate note, M was telling me that there is a geeky forum that he reads which mentions Acer Travelmate (the model of Lappy) seems to have this problem of "blanking out" pretty frequently. "So how can I resolve this problem?" I asked anxiously. He smiled mischieviously and said, "You can either change a new laptop or hope for the best." Definitely not the answer that I want to hear. :(

Sigh.. I should have stuck to my choice of my white Sony Vios instead of succumbing to the persuasion of the sales staff at Harvey Norman. Sigh 4X.

My First Lessons...

Surprisingly, I had quite a lot of activities packed in the last 2 weeks for myself. Here are some quite snippets of what I did:

My First Tennis Lesson

Went for my first tennis lesson last Friday. I was quite hesistant initially because I wasn't sure whether I would injure myself. In JC, we had tennis lessons during PE but I never enjoyed a moment of it (the PE teacher peppered our lessons with too much scoldings!). However, after seeing how enthusiastic my friend, L, was about tennis, I decided to give it a try. My first lesson was on the correct posture of receiving serves, both front hand and back hand. It turned out to be quite enjoyable because the coach did not give me any pressure. When my posture was incorrect, he would casually show me the correct position and wait for me to adjust accordingly. It was quite relaxing and enjoyable. I had lots of fun hitting the balls over the net... Though my arms were aching slightly the following day. :)

My First Visit to the Pet Shop
Fooled you! I wasn't talking abt real pets. This Pet Shop is a "Made in Vietnam" brand of clothings and accessories. I walked past the shop several times but never stopped to take a look, until last week. L and I had lunch at a nearby Japanese restaurant called "Kye" and dropped by Vincom Towers to walk around (and digest the heavy lunch that we had). We decided to take a look at the shop.. and gosh.. realised that it was filled with adorable stuff at cool prices! From children's clothes to bags to pillows and cushions, we were overwhelmed. We spent nearly one hour there browsing through the stuff... and I made quite a HUGE victory purchases at LOW costs.

Here are some of my proud bargains (for my three lovely nieces: Aa, Yy and Je):

Isn't this adorable? I like the design of the dress.. esp the drawstrings...

Aren't the kittens cute?

My favourite... I wish I can fit into one of these...

My First Taste of Omai
L introduced this to me and I don't know whether I should thank her. Omai is a Vietnamese word for preserved dried fruits. Since she offered me some of these, I went to buy close to 5 containers (like those round containers that our hawkers use when we tah pau wan ton mee) of omai.. and couldn't stop munching! I will take a bite after breakfast, sneak a piece after lunch and munch non-stop after dinner. Now I am addicted... Ahhh! Somebody help me!! Gone are my diet plans.. I have probably put on 2 kgs since last week.. from all the over-eating of dried fruits...

My First Yoga Lesson

Had a wonderful yoga lesson at Yoga Hanoi. I have been wanting to take it up for a long time but couldn't find any suitable (i.e. English speaking) and reasonably priced (not USD 10 per lesson pls) instructors. Couldn't believe my luck when I learnt about this new yoga place from my Hong Kong friend K, and it's only 5 mins' walk from my house! The instructor, Kirsten, was really good. She stressed a lot of making your body feel comfortable and enjoying the entire lesson, which of course I did. At the end of the workout, I felt stretched and relaxed. I want to go again! And K also introduced me to 2 other japanese friends: Ka and Ma. They are so friendly and kawaii.

I think Hanoi is beginning to get more interesting and enjoyable for me! :)

Happy Easter Sunday!

Happy Easter Sunday to everyone!

The weather in Hanoi is perfect today, cool and sunny. Woke up this morning to some fairly nice singing in the neighbourhood. There are a couple of foreign families staying nearby and I guess they r celebrating Easter today. The supermarket near my house has been flooded with Easter goodies, like Kinder Bueno eggs, rabbit soft toys, sweets, etc. Though I dun celebrate Easter, it's nice to have this festive mood lingering around the neighbourhood.

M and I had originally planned to catch a movie at one of the new cinemas in Hanoi, called Megastar Complex, followed by a nice lunch at a Japanese restaurant. However, he is suffering from a severe stiff neck while I am plagued with a nagging body ache, so we had to postpone our plans. I was quite disappointed. However, I cheered myself up by cooking a simple lunch which includes spicy belacan kangkong! Okie, it was not tat fantastic but M commented my cooking skills have improved compared to when I first came to Hanoi, so I am fairly pleased... Now I m thinking of experimenting a new tofu dish for dinner.. Keeping my fingers crossed...

P.S. I like this bunny becoz it resembles a pink rabbit tat I had when I was v young. I will carry it around everywhere.. But it got v dirty and my mum had to throw it away. :(

My Shopping Expedition

Still reminiscing from the fun tat I had yesterday. Met up with two friends in Hanoi, L and W, and had lunch at "My Way" cafe. My husband, M, was the one who recommended me this cafe and I like it v much. It's located on the 2nd floor of a building opposite Espirit. From the outside, it looks v much like an art gallery but it's actually a cosy restaurant with a F1 decor theme. The food is pretty inexpensive and a Vietnamese set lunch costs about VND 32,000 to 48,000 (around SGD 3.20 to 4.80). Of coz, western dishes like grilled salmon and beef would be more pricely at SGD 18 to 20.

I ordered my favourite fresh Vietnamese spring rolls with prawn and pork. The rolls were well wrapped and the sauce was delicious, with a tinge of lemon zest. It was coupled with a nice smoothie drink of mango and thick vanilla.. Heavenly...

After lunch, we headed to a handbags' wholesale shop in Au Co Street where we spent close to 45 mins browsing through the entire bag selection. The shop looks pretty run-down on the outside but once u r in, u will find urself surrounded by shelves of neatly wrapped, reasonably priced embroidered handbags. At the back of the shop, u can often see young girls sewing the beads and glitter-stuff on the bags. Truly authentic hand-made quality. I decided firmly once again tat I will not make any purchases just yet (despite being tempted by several nice-looking bags), though L and W did garner some small victories.

As we were all in a shopping mood yesterday, we continued the hunt at Nha Tho. There, u can find a series of interesting shops selling clothes, accessories and household items. I was quite taken by a couple of table runners but found them a tad pricey (USD 15 to 22). It was really fun walking with the gals becoz we took time to explore every single shop, gave comments to potential purchases and enjoyed the process. It was really far more enjoyable than going through the same route with M, who always complained tat I took too long and constantly tried to convince me not to go into the shops becoz all the items were similar.

I invited L to a simple dinner at my home while W went off hunting the night market (held every weekend at Hang Dao street) with her bf. My maid whipped up a jolly good meal of clams, mushroom soup and home-made pork balls. Credos to her efficiency and good cooking skills! We ended the night with more chats before L headed home at 8pm. I m starting to plan for the next "all-girls" session already. Perhaps L and I can roam the night market next week? And definitely without our husbands. *Chuckles*