Witnessing History

I saw Uncle Ho yesterday.

It was a poignant moment for me.

My Honours thesis was on the prelude to the Vietnam War. I read books about him but I never thought I would be in this country and to have the opportunity see him.

The mood of the visitors in the Mausoleum was solemn. Understandably so. The awe and respect were clearly etched on the faces of the Vietnamese filing past his body.

I went over to the museum, which was rather tastefully done, on his life and achievements. Going through the photos and reading what the great man had said over the years, gave me a better understanding of Vietnam's history, much of which was covered in pain, sacrifices and sorrow. Of course, there will be many sides to the story but here, I have the chance to read this side of their story.

We who lived in countries that have enjoyed years of peace and prosperity should really appreciate what we have.

Ok. Later.

Being Obnoxious

Played badminton today. Was looking forward to it. Had a good warm-up and then a new chap appeared.

I met many people in my life but this chap takes the cake for being really obnoxious.

He took it upon himself to "train" me during the game. He criticised my every more. He physically manhandled me to position me at the spots he thought I should be. He raised his voice like an adult to a young child.

In short, he was an ass and a real pain in the you know where.

I kept my cool. I told myself that he was not going to spoil my night. But I had enough of him being so full of himself. Indeed, when a friend at the game offered to get me a new racket since my current racket had problems with the strings, the pain could not help it but added a snide remark that it was not a problem with the strings. Enough was enough, I left earlier. He tried then to be friendly but he knew that he crossed the boundaries of being polite. It did not help when he called me "Ah Drain".

Haha. It was funny in a rather painful way. What to do, I asked myself.

Anyway.

Will have a guest in town from tomorrow. Going to be a long and tiring weekend.

The Cool Winds of Autumn are here

It is getting colder over here in Hanoi.

Time has passed very fast. Almost six months in Hanoi now.

Like a pair of jeans, Hanoi has become comfortable in that I now know the various nooks and crannies. Where to get the best beef noodles (pho bo). Where to go to get the best coffee.

Yeah. Small pleasures eh?

But everything helps in this city called Hanoi. Entertainment facilities are far and few in between, at least for someone with my interests like books. So I normally stock up books each time I return to Singapore. Now my problem is that I have tonnes of books in my room but too many to read! But it is a good problem to have.

My language training is going well. Can speak it rather well now for a foreigner.

3 over months to go and by then, I hope I would be fluent in speaking.

Also been busy looking around. Finding out about houses and schools (for Ian). Hectic but glad that I am here earlier to make such checks and not hitting the ground next year totally lost.

Been trying to play badminton as often as possible. Feels good each time I play. Getting better in the game at last. At least the muscles are killing me as before!

Of course, I miss the family as ever. But was glad to be back in Singapore for the two birthdays.

: )

Ok for now. Do take care.

I am back

Hi.
Sorry to all for the long delay.
It was a very hectic period for me over the past 1.5 months.

We had Ian's birthday in August. We travelled to Hong Kong to celebrate the birthday. Ian wanted to see Disneyland. We had not intended to bring Natania along but due our (previous) domestic helper's desire to "help" herself to our stuff, we ended up bringing Natania along to Hong Kong.

It went well. She was like a frequent flyer. It was kinda embarrassing given that she kept on trying to get the attention of two men sitting near us!

Yeah.

But it was a good trip even though I spent the entire time sick.

September was Natania's birthday.

The poor girl however, fell sick the day after with a bad case of a viral fever. Had to rush her to the A&E. 40.2 degrees Celsius. Gave us a scare. She has since recovered. Thank God for that.

As you can see, was busy!

Will update the blog soon.

Take care.