Vietnam - an unforgettable trip

Dear readers (if there's any left),

Okay, today i would like to share with you my trip to Vietnam last week. As i have mentioned before, my Vietnamese friend from UIA promised me a tour and a sleepover at her house. Here are a few important things that happened last week:

2nd May (Wed)
My flight to KL from Bayan Lepas airport was scheduled at 11.05pm. So, my friend Nora drove me there. Instead of going together with my Sis Ika.. we planned to meet at LCCT separately since she attended an interview at USM at Kubang kerian, kelantan. Her interview went well (according to her) and at LCCT, we stayed at the food court and slept at the cafe (with sitting position). Damn, my neck kinda hurt but our flight to ho chi minh is at 9.15am in the next morning, so we had no choice to just lepak there.

3rd May (Thursday)

Arrived at Ho Chi Minh, airport. Marim  was waiting for us eagerly (Thanks, buddy!). We made sure to take the Ho chi minh map at the information counter to make our travelling easier. I remembre ppl informed me that going to the city by taxi takes about USD10 or more or less RM30. We made a better choice - taking a bus which only costs RM1! haha. The bus is just like our public bus in Malaysia with convenient seating. Funny that we hav to pay tambang for luggage as well (around RM1) but well.. it is quite saving!

We arrived at the bus station near the Bent Than Market. Bent Than Market is very popular with tourists who'd like to buy all kinds of fabrics, women accessories, pearls, bags, prayer gown etc. Our first plan is to visit the market but we were greeted by a Muslim old man who offered to walk us to the mosque nearby. Crossing the roads at the city is quite challenging - you will never succeed if you wait till there is no cars/motors behind you coz they will never stop running on the road! LOL. Motorbikes are very popular in Vietnam since petrol according to Marim is v-expsnvie and only those who are rich can afford cars.

At the mosque, we met some Malaysian and Indonesian groups. They recommended us some places to go shopping. After performing prayer, a woman whose house nearby offered us some rice since we faced some difficulties to buy white rice for lunch. Though we met some who sell nasi berlauk  by the road, they won't sell rice to us if we dont buy their dishes (which probably the Halal status  is unknown). Actually, i brought along ikan bilis goreng with nuts from Malaysia for our temporary food supply, and also two pieces of Mary Brown chicken from LCCT and they were still in gud condition.So, we ate them with the rice at the small hut behind the mosque. Frankly speaking, i didnt really hav the appetite to eat since there's a smell of cats' shit and dirty plates penetrated my breath. But i tried my best to finish the rice.

Next, we took a taxi to Saigon Backpackers Hotel. It was a nice budget hotel with the twin-sharing RM121 for two nights. We invited Marim to stay together in one room, so we were charged for USD5 per night. I think it is quite cheap... and the receiptionist named Tien is kinda cute ;p

THen, we went to Bent Than Market to start our shopping mission. We bought fabrics for the family with reasonables price including jubah, Vietnamese traditional cloth, T-shirts, souvenirs etc. We sent two cloths to the tailor and they promised to finish sewing them for Mommy in 1day. I gave them my hotel address and the dress will be sent to the hotel by them.


                                                           English cotton: only rm30

Golden fabric for myself

                                                                        For Marym

4th May (Friday)

3rd day in Ho chi minh and i just realized i was broke! I spent around rm500-700 shopping at Bent Than when i myself brought only around RM1k- 1.2k. In the morning, Tien informed us that there will be a tourist guide coming to pick those who had given names for a half-day trip to Chu Chi Tunnel. Since the fee is just around 200,000 VND (around RM30 per person including ticket fee), we volunteered our names. We brought two egg sandwiches made by the Hotel maid since we didnt really have the time for breakfast.

The sandwich bread is similar to the French loaf but in a smaller size - I havnt even seen any bread loaf like Gardenia or Hi-Five in Vietnam. It was the time when i started blaming my sister for being forgetful to bring one from Malaysia.The journey to the place took about 2hour (around 60km from ho chi minh city). We also visited Handycraft shop and spoke to the handicapped people.

Chu Chi Tunnel is a very interesting place to be visited. This is a highly recommeded place for those who love history and those who intended to understand the Vietnam War. I never knew that the nationalism one could have would unite more than 6,000 ppl and soldiers to plan strategies to attack the US army and to build a hidden home. Experiencing to go along the tunnel scares me a little since i found it difficult to breath. So, we went through for only 10 metre and went out for the exit entry, gasping for air. We were also given the opportunity to try the M16 (which i didnt) and tried some free steamed tapioca a.k.a war food.

After visiting Chu Chi Tunnel, the bus dropped us by the War Remnant Museum, where we could read and understand about the Vietnam War. The fee is only RM3 per person. We took pictures at the museum (i wonder why here, they never prohibited camera) and visited the place where victims of the war waiting for death punishment. Skeletons were placed in certain parts to enhance the grotesque mode.

After War Museum, we took a taxi to a mosque nearby. After jamak our zuhur-asar prayer, we went looking for Halal food. Most halal food in vietnam is quite expensive since only exclusive and elite restaurants offer Muslim food. Marim informed us there is a noodle stall behind the mosque which sells halal noodle with gud and reasonable price. The noodle is called Pho - it is like  a laksa or sometimes kuewtiaw with chicken soup. It is around rm.4.50 per bowl +  a glass of jasmine tea. After eating, we took a bus to the bus station and later, walked to our hotel.

At night, we started feeling hungry again. OHh...we were craving for rice! Luckily, we talked to Tien's friend (also a receptionist) and he gave us two bowls of rice for free from the rice cooker at the hotel kitchen. We were so thankful! Ika and i then ate at our hotel room with kicap cap kipas udang we put in a plastic from Malaysia and the ikan bilis as well. If feels like heaven before we packed our things for another adventure to Phang Rang the next morning!

5th May (Saturday)
We checkout from our hotel and took pictures with Tien and others. Tien walked us to the bus stop and the journey to Phang Rang , Marim's hometown took about 6hours from Ho chi minh city. It is not so much about the distance, but they are allowed to speed for about 60km/per hour only due to the incovenience road etc. It was cool to travel by an aircond bus with bed- - which costs only RM30 per person! ;)

Arriving Marim's place at late evening. We were given special tour by motorbikes by her cousins. Hehe. We visited her aunty houses and most of them gave us a very warm welcome. Marim's mom cooked some dinner for us- Thank god i fould rice again!

I slept peacefully, called our parents to tell how lovely Marim's family is.

6th May (Sunday)
We wanted to visit the beach but it was raining. Marim and others only own motorbikes and we have to bear to the limitation of visits we could make when the weather is not wonderful. Marim's mom cooked us lovely breakfast.

I told marim that i'd like to make Malaysian food for her and family - Laksa and Ayam goreng ala KFC. Marim promised me to bring us to the morning market the next day to buy the ingredients. Due to our request, her mom slaughtered the chicken at the farm and kept half of it for us to prepare the cooking.

In the evening, the rain stopped. We visited the Champa Temple/Tower.

Marim's husband, Hasief asked us to visit his sister. Before that, we dropped by a supermarket to buy wheat flour but we couldnt find one. How sad. Later after magrib, we went to a SEAFOOD restaurant near the beach and ate grilled ketam and kupang. Hasief also ordered seafood porridge and we were really fulled that night.


Hasief also suggested us to visit a coffee shop nearby. We drank yoghurt and ika ordered coffee. It was really fun! We talked all night a long - just like we did in UIA! :)

We came back with a happy heart. We slept soundly.. * though i knew Ika wacthed Running Man on my laptop dat night.

7th May (Monday)

We ate nasi goreng cooked by Marim. Going to the market with Marim but we were not able to find fresh sardine for making Laksa. Too bad coz the sardine available is only the ones in the cans. The salads all the vegetables we bought meant for Laksa eventually kept in the refrigerator for other menus.


We then went for Saloon and facial near Marim's village. Washing hair and facial costs only RM2!!! :) We really had fun. Everyone was looking at me and asked where i'm from. Guess i look like an alien to the vietnamese :p

The tailor here only makes baju kurung around RM16 but i told marim it's better for me to do it at Malaysia since only one day left for me to settle things at vietnam. Then, in the afternoon we fried the chicken. We brought it for a picnic at the beach in the evening with Marim's cousins. They love our Malaysian fried chicken.

Later at night, Marim, Hasief and the cousins brought us to try noodle. I kinda not like it very much but it was okay. It is like our Laksa being eaten with budu! WEird, but the family loves it very much. We also went to the same coffee shop and ate coconut ice cream.

It tastes like heaven! it is the best moment ever!

8th May (Tuesday)
It is our last day in Marim's village. We visited her uncles and aunties again. We mostly stayed at home and did our packing to take a bus to Ho CHi Minh again. We took pictures with the whole family before going off to the town.

Hasief and Marim's cousins took us to a beautiful restaurant and we drank yogurt again. That was the best yogurt drink i ever had!

Our bus departs at 9pm. We took the one with bed again. We  said our last goodbyes to Hasief and others. Marim going with us to send us back to the airport.

9th May (Wednesday)
Arriving Ho Chi Minh in the morning and went to the mosque for Subuh prayer. We ate noodle at the same stall again. Then, we went to Ben Than Market to buy Along's T-shirt. Around 7.30am, we took a bus to the airport. Again....spending about RM1 for each of us and also for the luggage.  Before flying off at 10.40am, we ate rice and lauk Marim brought and said our last goodbye to her.

We arrived LCCT at 1.30pm and Penang at 5.45pm.


What a lovely and unforgettable trip!
I owe Marim and her family my hugs and love!

Shooting The Stars

Rather than reaching for the stars, it's better to shoot them from Planet Earth. At least, you focus on your goal - not your dreams.

Secret Missions Revealed

Missions/Plans 2012-2013

We used to say that if you fail to plan, you plan to fail. WEll, if it is the case, why not you sit for a while and give a thought of what you plan for the future. Of course, we plan the action but Allah gives us the result. Here are my own lists:

Career Development

Publishing journal/academic research,publishing books for children, upgrading teaching skills & classroom activities and writing novels (Buy my book!)

Personal Development

Grooming myself at gym and aerobic classes, eating healthy food ONLY (you are what you eat, nwy), performing more Doa' and additional prayer, reciting the Holy Quran, revising my 3rd language - Arabic (I really miss my Ustaz back in university!), practicing my long-lost cooking skills, shopping new fashionable clothes, reading Parenting books, reading on how to Be a Good Wife and attending my very own wedding.
At the end of 2013- I should have visited this entry again and announce to the world -

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED.

Hello Vietnam!

Ho Chin Minh, Vietnam

I am planning to visit Ho Chin Minh city this coming April-May semester break. My longtime Vietnamese friend promised me a special tour :)
*blowing a kiss.
To all bloggers, don't miss me while i'm away.LOL.
A new adventure is coming! :)

Do you think you can Fool me?

Last Thursday, my sister came back from Matriks Changlun, Kedah for a sleepover at my house since we plan to go back to KK together for the Chinese New Year break. But i just noticed she started jalan terhenjut-henjut due to the hips pain she got while waiting for the bus at her KMK college. As our plans to visit Spa & Beauty Centre, has been postphoned a million of times, we then decided to go massage on Friday afternoon after lunch. While surveying for a nice place to complete our mission, an advertisement on massage caught my attention:

Massage: RM19 Only!!

My sister and i then, walked slowly to the beauty centre and studied the advertisement. It was cheap, RM19 for 1hour and it was full body massage. Where else can we get that kind of promotion? It was like rezeki datang bergolek. Plus, my sister had always complained that everytime she wanted to go for one, i used to say it was too expensive or sometimes, when we agreed upon one place, the female workers are gone to kampung or only male staff was available. LOL.
We then nodded in agreement that this place must be the right one.

I pushed the glass door and was approached by a middle-aged chinese woman. She asked us to sit and went off to the other side of the counter, and brought us two cups of pandan tea.I also saw a man came out from one of the rooms inside, wearing his shoes and was now paying the cashier some cash. The cashier also just come out from the same room. She is a beautiful chinese young lady who wears heavy makeup (but still look pretty), with colored short hair. I wonder if she is the one who massage the man.

While waiting, i could smell the aromatherapy aroma of lavender, pandan and ginseng leaves. There are some chinese red angpau envelopes and red fake fire crackers decorated on some orange trees. They were all hanging like tanglung. Suddenly, the place gives me a creepy uneasy feeling. The middle-aged woman asked me,

"You orang nak buat apa? Kitorang ada satu package promotion... RM158 per person. Dapat 1 free massage bila datang utk second time. Ini murah punya promotion. Lu boleh dapat fullbody massage+ facial + tungku for 2hours. Selalu harga massage shj RM79 per hour. Now, u boleh dapat 3... utk rm158. U dtg hari ni, dapat percuma 1 massage."

For a moment, there was a long silence. I was thinking of the purpose of the RM19 advertisement. I asked her, "RM158 pun mahal juga. Adik saya tak ada duit. Lagipun, yg advertisment kat luar RM19 massage tu apa?"

The woman looked at us directly in the eyes, "RM158 sudah murah la adik. RM19 massage tu u boleh datang sebanyak 10kali. Every massage harga RM19 utk satu kali. Tapi u cuba la package RM158 ni. Untung punya maaa...mana mau dpt tmpat lain"

Well, if like that, it means RM19 is just a trick to attract customers.
"Kalau saya ambik RM158, saya share dgn adik saya boleh tak? Saya tak mau dtg byk kali. Sy datang sekali, adik saya replace utk free massage yg sy dpt, boleh?"

The woman raised her eyebrow, "Mana boleh. U bayar rm 158, dia bayar rm158.. nanti dua2 dapat free massage for second time. "

I suddenly felt what she told was irrelevant. We came for the RM19 were inforced to take the package RM158 which we didnt want.

"Oh, kalau mcm tu saya tak mau la kak. Kitorang takda duit." I told her firmly.

The woman pointed out, "Mana boleh tak da duit. RM158 ni murah. U boleh dapat 3 in 1 package. Ok, if u tak mau, ok..BOLEH, BOLEH. i bagi u kongsi. BOLEH, BOLEH." Suddenly, she changed her mind and seemed so excited about it. She was now flipping over her receipt list.

I suddenly felt pissed out. How dare she hav the guts to decide on our behalf to proceed with the massage treatment. Trying to not be rude, i looked at my sister. "Dah, jom balik."
My sister was stunned for a moment. She wanted to get up from her chair, but the middle-aged woman suddenly raised up her voice looking at me, "Apa pasai u ajak dia balik??Lu dgr dulu apa i mau cakap..Dgr, dengar. Sini, explain pada diorang." She suddenly reassured the young cashier who has just said goodbye to the man to re-explain the package. I was about to tell the woman, that if i leave the place, is she going to send my sister back Home?

"Adik, u akan rugi if tak mau try package ni, " the young cashier began. I was losing interest and I told her, "Kitorang xda duit. Dia lagi takda duit." I said and eyeing my sister who seemed 2be so quiet during the conversation. I just knw that if we agree for the package, RM158 +RM158 = RM316 would solely come from my pocket. My sister is still a matriculation student, even her allowance seems not enough to buy books, food etc and she still need belas ihsan from me and our parents. I have the money actually, but i don't wanna lose it for services that i dont guarantee is good or not. Actually, i knw an even better spa place than this one, if we really2 need to go for the expensive service.

"Aiyo...u boleh kongsi la if u nak. If u xbawa duit gaji skarang, kita boleh terima credit card or kad ATM. Kita boleh check duit u cukup atau tak cukup la adikk.. Jgn mcm ni. Kita bukan paksa punya. tapi kita buat ini promotion mmg untung. Ramai lagi orang mau dtg jap lagi." She eyed my sister's face. " Tgk muka u...banyak jerawat. U punya muka kena facial la adik."

I was losing my patience but still keeping my voice very decent. And how dare this girl wanted to check the money available in my bank account.
"U kata tak mau paksa." I said angrily. "Kitorang dah kata xmau, xmau la. Mmg xda duit! If mmg xdapat byr, u nk tolong bayar?Dia lagi takda duit."

I was nw standing. I looked at my sister. She is now standing herself in horror. We didnt even touch the pandan tea the woman had served. "U boleh bagi phone number pada kita.if ada promotion kita bgtau". The young cashier suddenly opened a notepad, i reluctantly wrote the number on the notepad she gave just to end the conversation. She suddenly continued talking, "U boleh beli voucher dlu bila mau. Customer2 lain beli itu voucher utk promotion. Voucher murah M10 dan RM20 sahaja.. Boleh ya, adik."

I snapped angrily, "Takda2. Saya tak mau.Voucher harga RM10 ke, RM20 ke.. saya tak peduli. saya xmau!"

Both woman seems disappointed. The young cashier shook her head slowly, " Aiyo.... RM10 aje xmau..."

Well, to hell the women. I just noticed these ppl are trying to make us come back sooner or later. I dont think the way they treat the customers are quite right. I dont mind them being tricky about the price, but the way they raised up their voice when i refused to undergo the massage treatment really pissed me off. If they hadnt let us go, i would hav taught them some lesson they never regret. Just because they are offering a service and served us tea, it doesnt mean we shld succumb ourselves to their traps. And they forgot that I'm a linguistic person - i can detect the persuasive language ppl use to persuade customers; and they just fallen onto a wrong person.

While driving, we surveyed another massage centre runned by an OKU (blind) group which was only RM35 per person. We finally went there and quite satisfied with the service. And I swear to God, that i would never ever land my feet at the same RM19 massage place again!

No extravagant shopping plz!

Well, just come back from shopping at Body Shop. Guess i'd spent a lot time visiting this face & body boutique just to 'invest' some money on unnecessary things (well, what is money for if you dont waste it? LOL). And i think everytime i visited the place, i made friends with the salesgirls who used to call me 'adik'; i guess they never really know my age and i was just enjoying their company to be their regular customer. The unresolved matter I'm facing right nw is

the dark circle

under the eyes. The salegirls at Bodyshop recommended me a few concealers to hide the eyebags but it seems not really working.

Flawless Skin Protecting Concealer (RM75)

The only practical solution is to:

QUIT your job!

...and be a good housewife ;)
which i think would probably impossible right now. Oh btw, i just wanna share the photos during the Asian TEFL conference in Seoul Korea last July 2011; I was pleased that Jun Sang Park uploaded one my photos on his blog:

You may visit his blog:
http://blog.naver.com/victoryjsp/99627868 . But sorry, it is in Korean language. The only thing i remember about him is , among the millions audience in the conference room, he tegur me and asked, "Dear lady, how is the method of English teaching at your country? May you share with us?"Haha. Yeah,of coz i'm glad to share it with the audience. But he was just tooooo..goodlooking that some of our Malaysian women thought he is one of the Korean actors.

Jun Sang Park & me

Alright, i guess i gtg now. It is now 11pm and i would have to do some more readings for journal submission. It's a never ending writing, i need help. Oh, i need tips to reduce the eyebag, plz! Reading too much or gluing my eyes on the laptop screen won't help!

Exploring Men's Thoughts

First of all, Happy New Year to all readers.
I was browsing through my FB wall and read this annoying Facebook posts:

Semakin seksi wanita semakin banyak pula DOSA lelaki..
Semakin degil wanita semakin banyak pula DOSA lelaki..
Semakin liar wanita semakin banyak pula DOSA lelaki..

WAHAI WANITA bantulah lelaki BUKAN SEKSA LELAKI !
... WAHAI WANITA pelihara lelaki BUKAN BEBAN LELAKI !
WAHAI WANITA sayangi lelaki BUKAN BENCI LELAKI !

LELAKI ADALAH KETUA DALAM KEHIDUPAN SESEORANG WANITA SAMA ADA MENJADI AYAH,SUAMI ATAU PUN SAUDARA LELAKI !

DENGARLAH NASIHAT KAMI AGAR KAMU TIDAK MENARIK KAMI KE NERAKA ATAS KESALAHAN KAMU ! ( -_-)

Oh, i guess the male species shld stop posting about this crap, really. How many of them really2 follow the teaching of Islam and chasing for the opportunity to be in Jannah (Heaven). And what is worse, the men r looking for a perfect wife but they themselves hang out with bad girls, bawa perempuan ke hulu ke hilir, bermesra dgn ramai perempuan di Night Club, naik motor berempit sesama lelaki perempuan : are these the ways Muslim men should behave? How are the women going to listen to the so-called "men's advice" if they also hanyut ditarik utk menjadi ahli neraka. LOL. Now ada hati nak cari wanita solehah bila diri sendiri pun tak soleh.

If women are sexy, degil or wild, it is not an excuse for men to be sinners. A true Muslim man would restrain themselves from Zina and prevent themselves from anything that may cause Fitnah. Women are not to be blamed, but guided. MEN- you claim that you are the leaders in the family and Ummah, but have you played your role effectively in developing a good Muslim community?