Vietnam
Well, back home from Vietnam.
I don’t if anyone gets that kind of feeling, but I usually get this burden in my heart especially after staying overseas. That kind of “Life was different, and now its back to normal” feeling.
Had a really great trip, and really opened my eyes to see Vietnam; the streets, the buildings, the motorbikes and ugh, the air. Heh.
If China was the land of the cyclists, Vietnam would be the land of the motorcyclists. Can you imagine how polluted the air is? Walking in a Vietnam street for 20 mins or so in the peak hours probably shortens your life by 5 years or so.
At one point in time, we could see 300+ motorbikes at one shot! Not in a day, but at any point in time!
And how do you cross a road where the motorcyclists don’t obey the traffic rules? You just cross it! Haha. The motorcyclists themselves are experienced in NOT hitting you already. But when one sees the flow of traffic, you would think it is impossible to cross.
Photocopied books! Haha. I’ve seen pirated bags, wallets, watches, shirts and the like, but books! That’s my first time seeing pirated books!
Vietnam is a country so driven by piracy that I wonder if there’s anything else driving the economy. I wonder how the main stream authentic branded goods shop survive.
But anyway, we stayed at Minh’s place, and I must say his parents are the most hospitable people I’ve ever met.
First night we came, they offered us dinner, and then asked us if we wanted to have lunch and dinner with them. We were surprised, we thought maybe they were just trying to be polite. So we asked Minh. He said they were serious! Haha..
And it doesn’t end there. His mum offered to wash our clothes! Haha, I refused to let her wash, so I kept my used clothes away from her, but some of us did give her some stuff to wash. Oh, she got her hands on my towel though.
And because we were using the master bedroom’s toilet, and we came back late every night, Minh’s parents slept downstairs UNTIL we were done, before they came up and slept.
And other small things, like bringing up water for us every night, and buying a mattress and two blankets before we came.
I seriously felt like a king there. They’re too much la. Haha..
And to top it all up, they even took us to a buffet dinner in a high class restaurant on our last night there! Nuts. Minh, you don’t know how lucky you got it man.
Oh, the cabs there are really cheap! The meter starts off at S$1.40 and stays there for quite a while. An average trip would cost us around say, $2.50? And we gave a name to these cabs. They were called 140s. There were also some 120s and 150s roaming around, I think dependent on the company that the cab is from.
At one of the girls’ shelters, we saw two French ladies who were doing social work there too. One of them was really darn pretty. Indeed, she’s probably one of the few people I would look at for the first time and go ‘wow’. But then I haven’t seen much. Heh. Grace was drooling over her the whole time there la! Yes, Grace! Of all people!
And the dog there had Bingkai’s army sandals for lunch. Ha.
Visited several shelters ( home for orphans) there and I know this is probably the most clique thing I can say, but seeing these places personally reminds us not to take the things we have for granted. The manager at one of the shelters was so appreciative that we came and help that she didn’t dare to ask for that fridge that they needed because she was afraid was scaring us away! er…. c’mon it’s only 400 bucks. Yet it reflects the situation that the shelter is in.
I felt like I really wanted to help these people, because I know that some of them will live and die there without ever rising above poverty. But a fridge can’t help them there. Not even say, 5000 dollars.
Give a man a fish,
And he eats for a day.
Teach a man to fish,
And he eats for a lifetime.
No matter what we’re doing, we’re merely giving them fishes. Sure the fridge will last time years, but the best way to help them is to empower them.
Yet there’s only one way. One bread they eat and never hunger, one drink that they drink and never thirst again.
To plan for a year, plant rice.
To plan for 7 years, plant durians.
To plan for centuries, groom people.
Well, anyway, for those who are reading this. We’re raising funds for the shelters, if you think you can afford a bit of money to contribute to the fridge we’re buying for them, the standing fan, the lockers, do try to give in that little to touch the lives of these people.
Eng Wah Movie vouchers are sold in booklets of 10 and each ticket is $8 and includes $1 discount off popcorn. The vouchers are valid for use on weekends too. The vouchers are valid for a year, so you can keep them for future great movies. The market rate for movies on weekends are $9.50, so you’ll save $1.50 on weekends ya?
Well, if watching more movies can help touch lives, would you do it? Heh! ASK ME K! =P
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Touched down in Singapore yesterday at 4.00pm and immediately went home and rushed to church for Word Power semis. Ha, this is my first time touching down and rushing for an event. I feel like a business man.
The Word Power went pretty okay, we did what we could with our Bible knowledge and our memorizing abilities. Although we came in second out of the fourth, but I think our team did pretty well, and praying that we can get into the finals. First place is a laptop! Argh! EACH! I seriously don’t mind another laptop, can sell it or whatever.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I don’t if anyone gets that kind of feeling, but I usually get this burden in my heart especially after staying overseas. That kind of “Life was different, and now its back to normal” feeling.
Had a really great trip, and really opened my eyes to see Vietnam; the streets, the buildings, the motorbikes and ugh, the air. Heh.
If China was the land of the cyclists, Vietnam would be the land of the motorcyclists. Can you imagine how polluted the air is? Walking in a Vietnam street for 20 mins or so in the peak hours probably shortens your life by 5 years or so.
At one point in time, we could see 300+ motorbikes at one shot! Not in a day, but at any point in time!
And how do you cross a road where the motorcyclists don’t obey the traffic rules? You just cross it! Haha. The motorcyclists themselves are experienced in NOT hitting you already. But when one sees the flow of traffic, you would think it is impossible to cross.
Photocopied books! Haha. I’ve seen pirated bags, wallets, watches, shirts and the like, but books! That’s my first time seeing pirated books!
Vietnam is a country so driven by piracy that I wonder if there’s anything else driving the economy. I wonder how the main stream authentic branded goods shop survive.
But anyway, we stayed at Minh’s place, and I must say his parents are the most hospitable people I’ve ever met.
First night we came, they offered us dinner, and then asked us if we wanted to have lunch and dinner with them. We were surprised, we thought maybe they were just trying to be polite. So we asked Minh. He said they were serious! Haha..
And it doesn’t end there. His mum offered to wash our clothes! Haha, I refused to let her wash, so I kept my used clothes away from her, but some of us did give her some stuff to wash. Oh, she got her hands on my towel though.
And because we were using the master bedroom’s toilet, and we came back late every night, Minh’s parents slept downstairs UNTIL we were done, before they came up and slept.
And other small things, like bringing up water for us every night, and buying a mattress and two blankets before we came.
I seriously felt like a king there. They’re too much la. Haha..
And to top it all up, they even took us to a buffet dinner in a high class restaurant on our last night there! Nuts. Minh, you don’t know how lucky you got it man.
Oh, the cabs there are really cheap! The meter starts off at S$1.40 and stays there for quite a while. An average trip would cost us around say, $2.50? And we gave a name to these cabs. They were called 140s. There were also some 120s and 150s roaming around, I think dependent on the company that the cab is from.
At one of the girls’ shelters, we saw two French ladies who were doing social work there too. One of them was really darn pretty. Indeed, she’s probably one of the few people I would look at for the first time and go ‘wow’. But then I haven’t seen much. Heh. Grace was drooling over her the whole time there la! Yes, Grace! Of all people!
And the dog there had Bingkai’s army sandals for lunch. Ha.
Visited several shelters ( home for orphans) there and I know this is probably the most clique thing I can say, but seeing these places personally reminds us not to take the things we have for granted. The manager at one of the shelters was so appreciative that we came and help that she didn’t dare to ask for that fridge that they needed because she was afraid was scaring us away! er…. c’mon it’s only 400 bucks. Yet it reflects the situation that the shelter is in.
I felt like I really wanted to help these people, because I know that some of them will live and die there without ever rising above poverty. But a fridge can’t help them there. Not even say, 5000 dollars.
Give a man a fish,
And he eats for a day.
Teach a man to fish,
And he eats for a lifetime.
No matter what we’re doing, we’re merely giving them fishes. Sure the fridge will last time years, but the best way to help them is to empower them.
Yet there’s only one way. One bread they eat and never hunger, one drink that they drink and never thirst again.
To plan for a year, plant rice.
To plan for 7 years, plant durians.
To plan for centuries, groom people.
Well, anyway, for those who are reading this. We’re raising funds for the shelters, if you think you can afford a bit of money to contribute to the fridge we’re buying for them, the standing fan, the lockers, do try to give in that little to touch the lives of these people.
Eng Wah Movie vouchers are sold in booklets of 10 and each ticket is $8 and includes $1 discount off popcorn. The vouchers are valid for use on weekends too. The vouchers are valid for a year, so you can keep them for future great movies. The market rate for movies on weekends are $9.50, so you’ll save $1.50 on weekends ya?
Well, if watching more movies can help touch lives, would you do it? Heh! ASK ME K! =P
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Touched down in Singapore yesterday at 4.00pm and immediately went home and rushed to church for Word Power semis. Ha, this is my first time touching down and rushing for an event. I feel like a business man.
The Word Power went pretty okay, we did what we could with our Bible knowledge and our memorizing abilities. Although we came in second out of the fourth, but I think our team did pretty well, and praying that we can get into the finals. First place is a laptop! Argh! EACH! I seriously don’t mind another laptop, can sell it or whatever.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
posted by - W309 - at 9:23 PM
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