ho chi minh in general

1) it's okay if you have no feeling to convert RM to Dong if you go via agent/ package because RM are widely accepted.. except if you go backpacking, youneed USD &Dong to pay food & transportation .. my friend paid our Mee Pho at Hajjah Basiroh & i paid our bingka ubi (soft,delicious!) & 'kopi susu' using RM but of course the price were slightly higher!to be honest, during ny trip, i never use Dong & still clueless camne laa rupa Vietnam Dong .. i paid everything in RM & got the balance in RM too! err, that double trip @ pre and post shopping at Hajah Basiroh were the outcome of shop till drop & last day dah nak balik tp kitorang xde beg pun lagi.. so, we skip breakfast, went to Saigon Square tapi tuﹰtup.. Round Ben Thanh tapi harga mahal.. so we stick to our original plan, pegi balik Saigon square.. tak tawar sangat sebab Singaporean yang kitorang jumpa the night before advise us tak yah tawar sangat sebab dah murah.. He said 50 boleh dapat beg Samsonite yang paling besar.. Tapi bila sampai baru sedar, he mean 50 SGD... mestilaaa dia kira based on duit dia.. tapi still cheap compared to Malaysia... our tour leader, Tory said that vietnamese xheran pun dgn Chinatown Malaysia sebab kualiti barang kat Pasar(Cho Ben Thanh & Cho Binh Tay) jauh lagi superior dgn harg yang jauh lagi murah.. 2) Speaking of luggage, i yang xpernah bwk luggage ikut limit berat redah je bawak naik 35++ kg bag kat KLIA on our way back from KL (balik Vietnam cukup cukup 30 kg,tp pegi tambah masa transit KL) ... rupenye 1 bag xleh lebih dari 30kg sebab nanti beg tu xbergerak bila letak dkt tmpt kita check in luggage.. so, terpaksa laa bukak beg & susun balik.. again, skali lagi beg xlepas sebab they need proper packaging ... tp sebab dah lambat, staff lepas je tp warning : klu xsampai, jangan blame kitorang ye... Lucky that 6 kg bags(3 Deuter for me & younger sister& brother, embroided bags & 4 in1 bag from Mekong) arrived , safely! Oh yes, there are Northface bag, Kipling& so on but the design of Deuter bag are attractive ( in my eyes)... bila selamat sampai baru sedar bag alone dah berat.. patutlaa rasa sikit je beli barang tapi luggage lebih limit.. So, another tips, choose a light but big bag if you want to shop till drop.. sebab klu shopping banyak, rugi kg luggage je.. silk agak berat, so if you buy lots of silk for family, luggage pun sah sah berat.. 3) if you think that the price are already cheap, if you dont have time, just grab the items that you want.. sebab price dari 1 kedai ke kedai lain dekat Ben Thanh lebih kurang je.. kecuali embroided shirts & simple bag, the cheapest that i found was at Mekong.. but too late, Meking takes 2-3hours by bus(or more), & the shops were closed in the evening, so agak rugi di situ.. tapi walaupun mahal kat sane, still cheap compared to Malaysia.. Slash the price 50% were not applicable at Mekong/boutiques.. 3) beware of everything -bawak beg menghadap ke depan untuk elakkan dicuri.. biar strange asal selamat.. say no to beca-tempat dekat tapi harga mencecah ratus RM.. not my experience , tapi pengalaman kawan. Begitu jugak klu diorang offer kacang utk dicuba atau nak kilatkan kasut lelaki.. just be cautious.. penipu & penyangak pun ramai kat tempat ramai pelancong...

random: clinic vs hospital

just finished a short trip to pantai bisikan bayu / tok aman bali beach resort area, jeti Kuala Besut ( jeti popular klu nk pegi Pulau Perhentian), Pantai Air Tawar & Bukit Keluang... just realized that all the beaches are less than 30 minutes' away... & Pantai Irama is quite near too! no traffic jam, breakfast mostly at RM2 / RM3 instead of RM4/5 @KB, spacious clinic, a calm surrounding, wonderful friends & not living alone anymore, it's 100 times better at clinic than previous hospital..

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

random ramble in the wee hours of morning

It's 4.23 am, not even a drop of rain outside & i dont know if flood still prevailed.. This was the worst flood season ever, in my lifetime, with the house of one of my relatives badly affected, & his 4WD went viral on whatsapp - sinking in one of the badly affected road& most of his important documents back home couldnt be saved, let alone his belongings.. Me? Coming home through a river of water alongside the road is scary & passing through the affected road with fear, is indeed the first experience in my lifetime since the roads to my house were never blocked.. Not going to ramble about flood since i believe there are hundreds that were badly affected.. my flight for advanced birthday trip was in less than 36 hours & i havent packed anything yet.. i dont know why, unlike the once a year trip previously, this one feels too ordinary... Maybe flood spoil the mood & the news from one of my travel partner were depressing, but who am i to complain when there were thousands struggling out there, because of a natural disaster.. Speaking of when the nature decide to be 'fierce'... Going to be a year older, all i want to say is, age doesnt matter... Go with the flow & enjoy the present, that was the ultimate goal for the time being.. perhaps i'm immune to expectations , so i dont care anymore if people say that i should get married & live the happily ever after tale... As long as i'm enjoying my life, who cares?? Getting to do whatever that i want without constraints, that was more than enough for me. What people say doesnt really matter because at the end, i'm the one that will face the consequences! on another note, i admire those who travelled a lot, both for vounteer works around the globe & vacation, but never boasted...exploring the world but still be humble... Having much adventures while still young but maintain humble because already taste much! Coupled with noble heart! Me? Limited experience & no volunteer works at all!

nothing

again, just a random ramble.. nothing much.. life goes on as usual.. i have wonderful friends @ clinic - those yg memang kind-hearted.. neighbours ok -i mean nearest clinic located out of Kelantan & the other one, not in the same district but still, they are ok! & nearest hospital is ok too.. the environment is okay, so it would be foolish for me to care on trivial matters.. but then, the simple philosophy - dont care about the people who dont even care about you still prevail!