A Small Interlude

Last Thurs morning at Park Hyatt's lobby, was waiting & looking for the delegation of old men when I noticed someone who's like 3 metres away, my 2 o'clock, smiling in my direction. As my own action (the quick glance) was too quick for me to process, I only realised he looked familiar after 1 or 2 seconds. I then took another brief look at him & realised he's Edmund Chen. So I turned back to see whether someone he knew was standing behind me but nope, nobody. Know what's my reaction? I walked a lil further away from him and pretended I didn't know it's him. Maybe he overheard me talking to my boss and knew I was from Singapore too so he's happy? But mostly I guess I was over-sensitive.

That afternoon while we're having press conference, there's a power failure which landed all of us in complete darkness for more than 20 seconds. I was very upset about the lack of attentiveness (it's another long story.. & so much for the best & most expensive hotel in town). Went to the hotel reception to address the issue & I saw Chen again. Under normal circumstances, if I were to bump into another Spore citizen in a foreign land, I'd have talked to him/her excitedly & would even complain about the blackout problem. But nope, eventually I still decided to be non-chalant about his presence though we're of such proximity each time.

The fact is, all along I never like to behave like a fan.. perhaps I've seen how smitten some fans could get & it's quite unsightly. And after 1 particular instance, I am now even more indifferent (or at least appear to be). About 2 years ago when I went lunch with a colleague in Parco, we saw 2 famous HK stars & 1 local upcoming (then) artist who were filming there. Naturally it attracted a very huge crowd. We'd a close look briefly when they passed us & I just carried on to where we wanted to go. But my dear colleague wanted to stay & watch. Just when she's about to squeeze into the crowd & me grumbling behind & waiting for her, there's this rude man from the filming crew shooed all of us off in a very loud & harsh tone.. & the crowd wasn't even making much noise. I was like "please lor.. what's so big deal about it!" & blamed my colleague for the mistreatment I'd think I don't deserve.

I've chanced upon quite a few local & overseas celebrities in Parco as it's a hot venue for filming & events and somewhere else too. I have to admit I'm as curious but I won't take more than 3 brief glances (depending on his/her popularity, hehe).

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Like said before, I returned on Fri. Apart from the routine of picking up a pack of Hoegaarden @ DFS which already took some time as there's a long Q at the cashier, still waited long for the luggages. I was getting a lil impatient & while I turned to look at hubby who's already waiting at the exit, I saw Chen passed my back & stood right next to me, waiting for his baggages as well. This time round, after a while, there I started...

Me: "We stayed in the same hotel in Vietnam."
Chen (looked at me as if trying to recall): "Oh yes! I just saw you this morning (eh.. I don't remember seeing him again on Fri morning when I went out for a meeting & I thought he's just being nice even if he couldn't recognise)..... you at a seminar in the hotel yesterday right (right-on! the last thing I want was to embarrass myself in front of so many onlookers. Phew.)?"
Me : "Yes."
Chen: "Going there for work?"
Me: "Yes."

Just then, I got my 2 luggages & told him "ok, see you around!" & off I rushed to hubby.

Back from Vietnam

I'm back! Yes I've survived another round of "battle". Can't believe it's been a year when last year's experience is still fresh in my mind. And we fondly remember the wonderful 8-day France trip which was the result of the overloaded stress.

Left for Hanoi on 13th May morning. That afternoon, hubby's ah gong passed away (we visited him the day before I left) & I wasn't able to attend the funeral. Felt truly bad about it but thankfully, I have very supportive hubby & very understanding inlaws.

Returned from HCMC on Fri. So glad & relieved that everything's over.

This year's was much better for me as things were more or less in place when I left for the trip. Had very successful press conferences (attended by nearly 30 reporters & 2-3 tv stations) in both Hanoi & HCMC.. so far it's the 1st that I've handled with such overwhelming response. Had very good attendance for the cocktail parties too.

A group pic after the HCMC event at Park Hyatt Saigon.. to wrap up the week's program. From left: boss, the Vice President, External Dept Mgr, me & the Area Mgr (whom I'm working closely with). As you can see, am swamped in a group of.. erm.. men with seniority. So you know how fun it can be for me ;)

Vietnam

Landed in Singapore last night, after 8pm.. & here I was, back in the office early this morning @ 8.30am.

Left on Sunday to Hanoi, took a night flight from Hanoi to HCMC on Tue evening. Supposed to come back tonight but I changed my flight since I got no more meeting & have a lot of paperwork & emails to settle. But who knows, our email system is down today. Sigh...

When I was in Hanoi, I was in a state of confusion. Why? I stayed in Nikko Hotel which was like a little Japan (Japanese hotel guests take up more than 80%) and watched Arirang channel. So, while I was in Vietnam, I felt like I was sometimes in Japan, sometimes in Korea. At times when I yearned for a Singapore-feel, I watched Channel News Asia.

In HCMC, I had no time nor mood to walk around. Felt sad because everything just reminded me of our trip last Nov. As if it's not enough, my room on the 14th floor was overlooking Park Hyatt (where we last stayed). This time, I stayed in Caravelle Hotel.. somewhere I've always wanted to try out. But now, I'm not impressed. The toilet has a funny layout & I'm not talking about the extra loud flushing system (sounds exactly like the in-flight vacuum flush). The vanity counter extended from the basin is fixed right above the toilet bowl.. I was so afraid that my stuff would accidentally fall into the bowl. And it felt kinda weird to be doing my make up just next to the toilet bowl. Hmm...

But actually, these trips do make me really appreciate what we're having in Singapore. And yes, one thing I love about Vietnam is their food, especially in HCMC.

Their main means of transport - motorbikes & bicycles.

Look at the cables

This is still considered a not-so-chaotic traffic condition. Very often, you're just swarmed by motorbikes!

OK, here's a tip on road-crossing in Vietnam (esp HCMC) - don't change your speed. Our reflex is to speed up when vehicles are nearing & by the way, it's impossible to cross an empty road (especially the main roads) in HCMC. The bikers will know how to avoid you, either by going in front of you or from behind, as long as they're able to gage your pace. Hubby & I had tried & it's true. Interesting huh.

Creation

Alright since I'm better today, shall tell ya what I'd accomplished last weekend... of course with the ever great help & support from hubby dearest.

Spent our Fri night @ Ikea. Got what I needed & some other stuff for us... ended up spending a couple of hundreds again.

Sat morning, brought Tubby to the vet in Serangoon Gardens & had breakfast @ Coffee Bean. Been so many years since my last visit. Being there also gave us reminiscence of our short holiday in HCMC. Similar alfresco breakfast @ Highlands Coffee... mmm.....

Breakfast time!

Rented some movies from VideoEzy before moving off to Bras Basah Complex to get all needed materials. Our last stop was back to the vet to fetch our Tubby-boy. Our meowmeow was already up by then.

After getting all the stuff & settling Tubby back home, went to Sembawang Shopping Centre for our early dinner @ the thai restaurant we'd been wanting to try out. It's a big disappointment & we're puzzled why the crowd every night (not only weekends). Perhaps it's the air-con environment with coffeeshop prices being the main attraction? Lucky we didn't gather the whole family to dine in there otherwise we'd hear music.

Then the whole evening was dedicated to my project 44 constructing my very own accessories cabinet! It looked simple but when I got my hands into doin it, it wasn't the case. Lotsa measuring & cutting works had to be done & hubby helped to fine-tune the finished product.

On Sun, other than doing the routine in the morning, the whole afternoon & evening was spent on gathering & sorting out all my accessories. Throughout the years I bought & bought.. it didn't help when I've moved a few times... my accessories were almost everywhere without a proper storage place. Not good at all. Every morning I'm in such a rush that I've no time to dig into the drawers & various jewellery boxes. And I keep wasting money by stocking up but not utilising them. So delighted now that I've all pieces displayed for easy selection.

Maybe I worked too much over the weekend & hence got myself sick.

Voilà

On the left: Earrings

Middle & on the right: Necklaces

1st tier: hairclips & brooches

2nd tier: hubby's rings (in jewellery box) & a glass of miscellaneous hairpins

3rd tier: rings & earstuds.. a few belong to hubby

Here it goes

A complete set of fotos (not too many though).

All the outdoor pix were taken with our mobile phone.

additional notes

Alain P, the Port's Area Manager. He's a very funny & easygoing French man.. I find his actions a lil like Mr Bean. Haha..
Pic taken at a coffee house in Hanoi's Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum.

This the room where I spent a night in Hanoi. Don't ask me "how come there's a pillar in the middle of nowhere??"... I was asking myself that too once I stepped into the room. It's a small hotel - Majestic Salute Hotel in the old quarters of Hanoi.

The toilet was clean... believe they'd refurbished the rooms recently. The bathtub looked nice rite? It's actually plastic (or perhaps some kind of acrylic fibre?) & not attached to the walls, ie. there's a gap between the tub & the walls. It's a lil shaky whenever I got in & after I showered, water would go through the gap & flowed underneath the tub then out to the drainage that's near the door. Hmm... for that I'm not very comfortable as it'd mean there's a possibility that bugs might breed in damp & hidden areas... the creature that I fear most in my life - cockroach!! It'd be the scariest nightmare if I were to see a huge roach crawling out from under the tub! Yeeeekzz! A mere thought of it gives me goose bumps..

Though they'd tried to renovate the room & at least kept it clean, the whole place looked drab & weathered.

I've Alain to thank for where I got myself in. Unlike his predecessor who's a lady & (like me) preferred to stay in good hotels, he's 1 who loves experiencing the true local way of living, as close to it as possible, & doesn't mind where he rest his feet... well guess the latter is a man's nature?

Oh yes... there's a lil prelude before our flight took off @ HCMC airport on Sunday. There's a bit of commotion as Presdient George Bush was at the taxiway... or so our fellow passengers at the windows exclaimed. Hubby did see a car next to our aircraft but I didn't bother to look as there're too many heads in front of me wanting to catch a glimpse. But based on the traces of events - APEC meeting in Hanoi & when we're back I did read on papers about President Bush arriving in HCMC around the same time, I'd no doubts about what they said. So we're in the same country as many important leaders & diplomats at the same time huh... hmm...

OK, as for those stuff I bought in HCMC... I'm carrying/wearing these to office today!

My pretty turquoise bag

My matching clogs

Our Trip

Having a mal-start, my poor hubby traveled the distance against all odds to be reunited with his wife :
Being careful with the number of credit cards to bring, the one he used to pay for his e-ticket happened to be deselected for the trip & he’s not allowed to check-in without his card. After all the hoo-ha, the only solution was to treat it as a new transaction, made another payment with another card & then had the previous payment reverted. As a result of it, an additional S$50 as a “walk-in” customer. Thank God he left his office early & could afford some time in sorting this out.
As I’d a meeting during the time he arrived at the airport, I’d made prior arrangement with the hotel for an airport pick-up for him. But the driver did not show up (according to the hotel there’s traffic congestion) & hubby waited for about 15mins at the airport. He ended up taking a taxi to the hotel @ the same price & that’s after a 40% bargain. I was fed up. To appease my anger, they offered us a free ride to the other hotel that we’re supposed to check into the following day. To me it’s negligible as the hotel wasn’t too far away so even if we took a cab it wouldn’t cost more than a few dollars. But I was in such good mood that even if they didn’t offer anything, I wouldn’t pursue the matter... as long as hubby reached hotel safely. Furthermore the reservation was made by our sister company in HCMC & I definitely didn’t wanna blow up a small matter like this.

Finally got to see my hubby dearest after nearly an hour’s wait. After settling down & some catching up, we went for a short walk before dining out at the hotel’s Rooftop Garden, which is a famous restaurant among tourists.

Some snapshots @ the Rooftop Garden

When dinner’s done, we walked to the open-air Ben Thanh night market. This was also the place we visited most during our stay in HCMC. Not that it’d got lotsa interesting stuff to buy but as the biggest & oldest market in HCMC, that’s the best place to shop/walk around for both day (in a premise) & night (pasar malam on the road outside the premise). Visited their shopping mall & believe me, nothing worth a 2nd look in terms of the fashion as well as the prices.

Hubby was completely bowled over by the throngs of motorcycles, the "laissez-faire " traffic, the noise, the super hot & humid weather…. I wasn’t feeling any better neither but was more than contented having hubby with me especially after those few stressful days. One problem though… I was drenched with perspiration after a few rounds at the market!

I didn’t wish to return to the hotel too early but there wasn’t much of a choice for us. Take a look at our Rex Hotel... you may like it ya?

Next morning, we’re woken up by the ringing of the hotel phone. The manager-on-duty again apologized for what happened the previous day & said they’d be sending up a fruit basket for Mr Soh in a minute. They’re so apologetic that all in all we’re compensated with :
- a free ride to the other hotel
- a fruit basket
- a waive-off of US$10 originally charged for double-occupancy

After the morning call

We carried the fruit basket (actually not us but the bellboys from both hotels.. think we’d look funny to be carrying a fruit basket around) to Park Hyatt Hotel but left behind the bouquet of flowers I received from Saigon Port during the last meeting. Otherwise we’d look like some VIPs… haha. Nah, actually it’s because I didn’t really like the flowers.. hee...

my bouquet of orange-yellow orchids & yellow lilies combi

June had asked us to get for her some rice paper for Vietnamese spring rolls & its sauce. The rice paper was not very difficult to get but the sauce as there’re actually a few types & we didn’t understand what they’re trying to tell us. Thank God we happened to meet a very friendly & helpful couple. The girl, Amy, was American-Vietnamese & her boyfriend, Viet, was a French-Vietnamese. They even helped us pay for the 2 bottles of sauce & brought us around the market. Amy has her own beauty salon in the US & would bring in supplies from this particular shop. And thanks to her that I found some great buys... like OPI nail polish selling from S$5 – S$7.50 (hubby's female colleagues were so envious when he related to them as they said OPI nail polish priced around $40+ per bottle)! Other brands ranging from S$0.30 – S$2.50. In total I got 7 bottles of nail polish, 2 packs of Shiseido Naturgo ocean mineral clay mask @ S$0.20/pack, 2 brushes which Amy said were of good quality as they came from the same factories of some famous brands. I hope she’s right as I paid S$15 for the face/cheek brush & S$5 for the concealer/eyeshadow brush. Previously I was so tempted to buy a Shu Uemura face brush but had to pay about S$90! So no, I didn’t get it.

They also invited us to go for a bite with them but we declined. They’re very nice people... if only we stayed longer, we’d have suggested dinner with them.

When they knew where we’re staying, we could see their eyes nearly popped out. Amy said they stayed in a nice guesthouse @ US$10 & she recommended it to us. Out of politeness I told them we’d consider for our next trip to Saigon. But I know I can’t do it... I’ve got this stupid fetish about hotel rooms. How I wish I could be like many others who could make-do with a budget hotel. I tried before but was in misery & really defeat the purpose of going on a holiday. I’d rather scrimp on meals or other things than on the accommodation. So poor hubby has to pay much more to travel with his baobei wife.

The wardrobe that can be accessed from the bathroom & from the passageway to the maindoor

So to speak, I’m really happy that we stayed in a very nice hotel as this trip was comparatively a very different 1 for us. Our “energy span” was 3 hours the max, after which we’d have to head back to the hotel to take a rest. We’re not used at all to the noise, the heat, the aggressiveness in crossing the roads & keeping a watchful eye in case at any time a motorcyclist wculd ramp onto us. When I was in Ben Thanh market on the 1st morning, I was so thoroughly soaked with perspiration that I nearly finished 1 packet of 3-ply tissue by myself. & I looked awful. As for the night market, we got very tired of watching over our shoulders for any oncoming bikes as they’d endlessly stream through in-between the stalls & sounding their honks... it could get real distracting & frustrating rather than enjoying the shopping stroll from stall to stall. Hence it felt really good to return to our haven after all the hustles & bustles.

Grand entrance of the slightly more than 1 year old Park Hyatt

Nice pool

The best perk-you-up after a tiring day... a hot rain shower!

Nevertheless, we still enjoyed our trip, indulging in some delicious Vietnamese food, jap food @ an interesting Jap restaurant full of Doraemon & chilling out @ coffee houses. They have this coffee joint - Highlands Coffee that's like the higher end of Starbucks. And it's interesting... many parts look very French, as if we're back in Paris again (but of course, they're once under French occupation) & then put us in a confused state of mind upon seeing the people & their motorbikes.

Sipping my fav ice lotus tea

Lunching @ a very good Vietnamese restaurant near Notre Dame Cathedral - Nha Hang Com Ngon

Breakfast @ Highlands Coffee @ the Opera House

Taking a break at the chic Mojo @ Sheraton Saigon

The very French Notre Dame Cathedral Saigon, built by the French in 1870s - 1880s

The Opera House built end of 19th century, also by the French. Nice... can you see Vince in the background? No??

When I tell you there wasn’t much to shop, we could still come back with all our luggages full! And hubby who loves shopping, only bought 2 pathetic items – a tie & a Vietnamese shirt. So what did we lug back then? - (atop those mentioned above) 2 bags, 2 thongs (clogs), 1 Vietnamese top, 1 brooch, 2 hairpins with lines of crystals for ME, packs of local snacks/tidbits for ourselves & colleagues & lotsa souvenirs for almost every1 in the family. I especially love the Vietnamese lotus tea which I bought 2 packs for ourselves. Oh yes, not forgetting the 2 super huggable bears.. 1 for me & 1 for Zoe! Hehe!

My cutie bear in BLUE dress! The 1 in pink dress for Zoe

Vacuum-packed by Vincent & Soh Services. Ha!

Having a drink before leaving for airport @ Park Hyatt lobby

As if we'd to end the trip like how it started (more for hubby), we’d a frustrating encounter at HCMC airport. Was told by my travel agent who took care of all my flight bookings that my airport tax from HCMC airport back was already prepaid. So we bought hubby’s at the airport. To be safe, I reconfirmed with the immigration staff that mine’s already paid. Then they also checked hubby’s & said his had also been prepaid & told us to ask for a refund at a certain counter. So we had our money back after they verified his ticket. Then at the boarding mall, they stopped hubby saying that his was actually not paid. Goodness! It’s really annoying! To make it worse, we couldn’t get our seats next to each other (1 front 1 back, for this gotta blame it on me as I’d totally forgotten to choose our seats in advance) PLUS no entertainment on board as the system was down! So when everything decided to go wrong, even my fav airline failed me too. Perhaps the flight attendant noticed that I’d been turning my head back to talk with hubby for almost throughout the 2 hrs flight, while we’re waiting to leave the aircraft, he interrupted our conversation & handed us an SQ carrier while whispering some soothing words about the inconvenience we had. There’re some onlookers around us & we’re quite taken by surprise. Why only us? There’re definitely some other couples who’re being separated like there’re 2 in front who’re worse than us, diagonally seated. We peeped into the carrier after disembarking & saw 2 sets of in-flight toys! We looked like kids meh? Ha! Every passenger was also given an SIA wallet at the exit as a gesture of apology for being deprived of 2-hr in-flight entertainment. So… that’s the difference between the Dutch carrier & our national airline.

And yes… I’d another great buy at HCMC DFS. Bought a pack of TWO Touche Eclat… saved S$16 on each so that makes a total saving of S$32 for 2! Not bad not bad…

2nd night in hcmc

Today ended early & it's free & ez time! Just came back from a massage session but it's lousy. USD5 for 1 hr though. But I believe there're even cheaper outside (had it in the hotel). Maybe this lady hasn't taken her dinner, so no strength. & it's much shorter than 1 hr! Furthermore I gotta give tips!

Can't wait to having hubby here & move out of this hotel which happens to be my boss' fav! He & many others love this 100-year old hotel. I admire it but not staying in 1 please. They literally retain all the old vietnamese decor. And the place's so big & many areas look forsaken. Nope... definitely not my cup of tea. But thank God they've the rooms renovated.

Hasn't been sleeping well. Last night was slightly better than the night in Hanoi but the noise was near unbearable. Just when I was falling asleep, the loud honk on the street would wake me up & my hand's to be on my ear perpetually. So much of retaining the old fixtures & fittings (window). Gotta go, some persistent vietnamese mosquitoes are going all out to suck my blood!!!!!!

Another 22hrs.

In Hanoi now

The meeting was cancelled last minute so waiting to go for the next 1.

An interesting & very noisy city. I just can't understand why they have to honk every few seconds. And the traffic condition is in total chaos. The education of road-crossing in Singapore doesn't work here at all, otherwise you'll never be able to reach the opposite side of the road. 6 years ago when I was in HCMC, it's my 1st time there & I was totally overwhelmed by the continuous stream of bicycles & bikes, some cars in the midst too. I waited for about 5 mins for the traffic to be cleared before a group of bike riders behind me who're there waiting for passengers could stand it no more & 1 of them got up to lead me through! That's embarrassing.

Will be taking a domestic flight of 2hrs to HCMC @ 8pm tonight after the last meeting.

Counting down to finishing my work & seeing my hubby on Thurs evening. Another 50hrs.... Sigh...

HCMC

Hubby dearest will be joining me in Vietnam next month. It's gonna be a short getaway... only 3D3N, in Ho Chi Minh City. As it's not in our list of desired destination, it seems attractive enough to be able to save on my airfare & 1 night's accomodation. Too bad my last stop's not Hanoi.. otherwise we can make a day trip to Halong Bay.

Regardless, we're still looking forward to the short vacation. Given the same expanse of shopaholicism in us, we could make a dull place interesting... as long as we're together.

Hence, some research works will be up again.
And yes, also planning for our 1st anniversary celebration this weekend.