ho chi minh through my lens

Truth to be revealed , when my friend asked me if i'm interested to join her for a Vietnam trip, i was like "vietnam? Sound tersaangat tak best.. different language, negara tak maju sangat, glamour dengan komunis & all sort of the 'tak best' side.." Since one of my Langkawi travel mate went to Bandung earlier & gave 5 star review, i searched for flight tickets but the prices are more expensive than going to Vietnam through package..so, i decided to join my friend.. After all, bila lagi nak kenal vietnam.. not long after that, agother friend said that she want to join us too, so that made 3 of us... but why join Tabung Haji Travel & Services? Simple! My friend worked with TH & she was close with 'orang kuat THTS Zon Selatan", so automatically THTS was in our list.. & turned out that the tour members sume golongan berpendapatan tinggi tapi saangat low profile... kitorang bertiga je yang kerdil.. tapi sume baik-baik.. calon mertua yang baik, bak kata my friend..heheh.. tapi really grateful sebab ade auntie tolong slash price deuter beg lebih drp separuh( sane perlu bijak tawar menawar &she has really good bargaining skills.. sebab masa kat Taka Plaza, she doesnt want to buy anything, i asked her help to hunt for Deuter bags & bargain... she even helped me bila luggage lebih limit & i have extra bag for hand carry.. Kastam Vietnam suka pow duit klu beg besar & banyak.. so, nak tak nak terpaksa cari alternatif klu.tak nak byar - mntk dia tolong hand carry utk lepas kastam.. her family pun tolong, so sume brang selamat sampai tanpa bagi duit kat kastam Vietnam & Malaysia.. another auntie & her family tolong jadi bodyguard masa 1st day pegi night market kat Ben Thanh.. yang lain tolong ambik luggage my friends yang terlebih jugak & checked in as their family's luggage.. Pendek kata, nice tour group! Back to the attractions, Ho Chi Minh adelah shopping heaven bagi wanita - Vietnam Silk, bags( kilang Deuter kat Vietnam, so boleh dapat imitation dengan kualiti ori[beza sikit je] at reasonable price ),travel bag, embroided shirts/bags, jewellery box, cotton(just name it- english cotton, japanese cotton, viscose cotton), ready made baju kurung yang lawa lawa, telekung/kain sembahyang, alas meja panjang dengan motif lotus atau corak lain, ao dai yang lawa tapi kena pandai pilih saiz untuk nampak macam jubah seluar - sebab fit & vietnamese slim, xjumpa yg obese langsung & so on.. taapi since ikut pakej, of course pegi places of interests lagi banyak dari shopping - Mekong (naik bot & perahu pegi pulau-pulau kat sane adalah pengalaman yang jarang didapati di Malaysia), Chu Chi Tunnel ( inovasi vietnamese untuk survive masa perang sangat bijak). Saigon River Cruise, masjid dll... flowers & fruits are fresh& big... coffee lover would enjoy the 'kopi susu' to the max.. dried lotus seeds are tasty, perhaps another souvenir that should be added to.shopping cart..

life goes on

Again , nothing much.. already end of january 2015..time flies really fast .. Feeling like i had worked for ages! Maybe the freezing of annual leave gave a negative psychology effect .. not that i dislike the environment .. it's just , all work and no play make a dull life .. Honestly ,intention of going to NZ was ruined(for the time being )... found cheap ticket to Auckland but for me, just travel to Auckland isnt enough .. at least, circle the South Island ... but, travelling from Auckland to Queenstown, Dunedin,Lake Tekapo, Lake Wakatipu,christchurch & so on need few partners - both for driving companion & safety purpose (hard to get public transport , NZ is not lively at night~ sunyi & the cost( value of RM compared to NZD ).. not that i have lots in my account , but the model of dividing salary into 6 part,namely Financial Freedom Account , necessities, long term saving for spending, fun(@ PLAY), education & charity helped.. i mean , of all finance model, this one was the best - not neglecting the PLAY part .. what's the point of having lots of money but your life is boring . Life is too short & kejar kekayaan semata -mata xde guna jugak .. take the natural disaster(flood ) for example ... in a blink of eyes , house can be damaged , food destroyed ( supermarket xde barang, jadi nak beli ape?), atm tenggelam , duit xleh withdraw..nak gadai perkakas emas? Bila sampai tahap tu, hanya materialistic people yahg peduli pada harta benda sebab makanan & tempat berteduh je yg paling penting... bezanya , mereka yang berduit boleh beli balik apa yg rosak ... tapi my point here is, tahap ujian kehilangan tu berbeza &rezeki tu sebenarnya dari Allah &semestinya rezeki setiap orang tak sama .. so, it's better to enjoy life to the fullest sementara boleh..

of flood

i was in a foreign land (maybe not foreign for the rich lads), so i seize the chance to.get to know about the country more.. rarely online although almost all places provide free Wifi - the bus, the cafes, the hotels & so on... frankly speaking, after the 1st wave in Pasir Puteh, i thought the situation was better.. Wrong.. it turned to be the worst nightmare for other district.. flying at low altitude when approaching Pengkalan Chepa (because the weather is bad) , I had a rare opportunity viewing flood from the sky.. & as many already know, KB, from sky, look like a new island,surrounding by rivers & sea!! yeah, it was that BAD.. something that i never guess nor do something expected.. the reality struck me like a lightning.. this wasnt the worst flood in lifetime just for me, it was the worst nightmares to most of the victims.. what used to be a smooth road/the way from airport to my house, was a journey of 'Duck Tour' (resemble the amphibian vehicle @Duck Tour in Langkawi) - alternating road, water, road, water again & the cycle continue.. UMK students brought their bag, a mother with her baby struggling in the flood, to reach the main road (cold & 'sehelai sepinggang) & thousands of scenario that i havent face before... it's lucky that i arrived safely, but beyond that, i'm grateful that i made the decision to move to clinic (risk of being a flood victim @ kuarters if i still stay there - in the event of flood, i believe the Primum non nocere concept, indirectly - save the medicines to save lives).. talking about medicines, i remember having an uncle who got his supply of medications from Ipoh, but trapped in Kelantan because most roads are closed to light vehicles, coming to clinic to get his 'staple food @medications) but all i can do is offering alternative since clinic doesnt have the List A medications. & for the pregnant mother who had just having an episode of status epilepticus few weeks before, no alternative suit his condition, so, ringing the original hospital was the only option available.. Perhaps some doesnt realize the importance of saving medications in flood, but believe me, witnessing that two scenarios, that was a noble job- be the unsung hero who save lives or preventing emergencies when the hospital building was drowned.. , post flood, the food supply was scarce ( almost all food section in supermarket here are empty), people queing a long queue to get fuel @ petrol stations, most of ATM run out of money, at some places,the prices daily food/necessities spiking, & keep sky-rocketting