System Back on Line

Apologies. Was off-line for a while. Went home to be with the family.

It was good but exhausting.

Will update you all later.

Take care.

Success?

I had dinner with a friend at a restaurant called "La". It is near to the Cathedral. Nice Western food although a bit pricey for Ha Noi's standards. My friend is an American. Given that both of us had learned the Vietnamese language, we decided that it would be good if we tried to banter with the staff at the restaurant in their language.

At the end of the dinner, my friend asked the staff who had been serving our table whether she could guess which country I was from.

After a while, she said to him (in my presence) that she believed that I was an overseas Vietnamese, who had returned to the country!

Amazing. She thought I was a Viet Kuy (overseas Vietnamese)! My language has clearly improved, which means I actually did concentrate during my class and was not sleeping (well, at least most of the time lah).

On our way back in the taxi, my friend thought it would be fun again to test out our Vietnamese. And again to our surprise, the driver turned around and asked whether I was a Viet Kuy!

Haha. Enough boasting!

Ok. Now I got to work on the appearance per se to pass completely as a Vietnamese.

On a more serious side, I still have a long way to go before I reach some level of fluency (if I can ever do that in the first place) in the language.

Well, I have around six more months to go. Guess I will have to work really hard.

Very hard.

Geez. Not going to be fun.

But no one ever said it was going to be.

On a very happy note, one more day to going home.

To see family and friends again.

To be able to hold the children as well as to hug me wife.

Priceless. Blessed.

And I thank God each day I think of all of you.

See you soon.

Counting Down with Anticipation

Just got back from badminton.

Only 4 of us today, which meant we had a damned good workout.

1.5 hrs of non-stop badminton.

Really shiok at the end of it all. But may pay the price tomorrow morning. Hopefully I can get up for class in time! Nevertheless, it is worth the blood, sweat and pain. No longer young but enjoy sports all the time.

The guys I play with are good. So had to work very hard to compete with them, at least to return the shots. A lot more areas to improve like how to smash a shuttlecock, which still escapes me.

On another happy note, almost time to visit the family again.

Looking forward to seeing nic and the kids as well as mum and dad (from both sides). Counting down with anticipation.

Happy.

Victory at the Jaws of Defeat

I had my first taste yesterday of the passion the Vietnamese have for their soccer.

It was the Asian Cup match between Vietnam and Japan. Japan was the favourite. Vietnam had to try for a win and hope that the results between Qatar and UAE would work in its favour. If Qatar loses or draw, Vietnam would go to the quarterfinals, an unprecedented event in its soccer history.

Was not too keen to go because still feeling the heat and humidity but hard to say "no" as my friend had gone out of the way to get a ticket for me. Reluctantly, I agreed.

Of course, I had to first survive the journey on motorcycle to the stadium, which is around 15 km outside of Ha Noi in the suburbs of My Dinh. A journey that took us close to 40 minutes.

Everyone was trying to get to the stadium. An amazing thing about motorcyclists in Ha Noi is the belief that if there is a gap between the cars or buses, he or she should be able to squeeze through. Just. My friend is one of those chaps who believe strongly in this!

Many a times I thought I was about to be squashed between his bike and a bus or a car.

Scary.

I also realised that it was a bad idea to talk while sitting in a bike on a dusty Ha Noi road.

You never know what you are going to get coming into your mouth, which is made worse in my case given the size of my mouth!

Well. Lesson learned and hopefully remembered by yours truly.

The stadium was as expected packed. Outside was a beehive of activity. Hawkers selling their fare as well as touts trying to sell their tickets at exhorbitant prices. There were many flags and hats with the Vietnamese flag on sale. Sales were brisk.

The game began. Before I could count to 100, Vietnam decided to have a fairy-tale beginning by scoring first. There was delirium in the stadium as an estimated 40,000 voices rose in unison. It was loud. Real loud.

Of course, the Japanese decided that it was time to ramp up the pressure.

Notwithstanding the Japanese clear superiority, the crowd was happy and constantly cheering their team on with cries of "Vietnam, do your best" interspersed with chants and songs. It was a fun atmosphere.

In the second half, it was clear that Vietnam was fighting a futile cause against Japan. The Japanese was simply too strong but the slightly deflated mood in the stadium changed as the game went on when news started to filter in over the Qatar and UAE game. Soon cries of "draw, draw" began, soon echoed by the masses in the stadium.

When the final whistle blew, it was 1-4 to Japan but the crowd was jumping up and down as they believed that Qatar drew with UAE. We walked out a bit earlier hoping to beat the crowd. As we left, there was an announcement.

UAE beat Qatar 2-1!

As you can imagine, it was pandemonium all around.

Our journey back to my place was like a nightmare as you can imagine. Thousands of bikes on the road with many delirious by the victory at the jaws of defeat. Some young chaps thought it was good to race on the roads. Not too smart in my opinion given the number of bikes on the roads. Not sure whether there were any accidents. Hope not though.

I breathed a sigh of relief upon reaching home.

It was an experience of a life-time. Not sure whether I would want to go back to another game on a bike!

Welcome to the world of Vietnamese soccer!

A Roller-Coaster Ride

Had a busy Saturday. Met some of my colleagues over dim-sum at a Singapore-owned hotel. Not bad. It was one of those "Eat-all-you-want" type of menu. A welcome change to my normal fare.

I had a slower Sunday. It was hot in the morning and afternoon but with a heavy thunderstorm in the night. Managed to get back before the rain arrived. Whew. It would have been extremely wet for me if it had arrived while I was still walking back to the hotel.

Back in the room, I sat down and started thinking. I realised that I have been here almost three months. It had not been easy. The three months of language in Singapore was critical in ensuring that I settled down much faster and with less trauma. The teachers over here are nice and have helped in making life a bit easier on me. A couple of friends in Vietnam also helped as well as my colleagues.

Thank goodness for all these blessings.

But being here away from the family is tough. Damned tough.

Hate it.

Happy Anniversary!

To my dearest wife in Singapore:

Happy 10th Anniversary!

From your hubby in Ha Noi amidst the sweltering heat and the ever present dust particles.

I need a break

Yup. It is that time of the month again.

I am tired. Learning the language is exhausting. While I have improved my level, it is so difficult to be away from the ones I love. Nat is growing up very fast while Ian is a big boy now. I miss them so much. I miss watching them grow up. I miss everything about them. Sigh.

I miss my wife in particular. Two more days to ten years since we first met that fateful day in the Church of the Holy Spirit. It was a special day. It remains vivid in my mind and in my heart. I was standing at one corner. She was on the other corner. Nope, we were not preparing to wrestle or have a boxing match. We were the "outstanding" Catholics because we were standing outside during Mass! But God decided to intervene by ensuring that a mutual friend was in place to introduce us. It was love at first sight (and second sight and third sight and so forth). I went home in a daze (and still am today). Even my mum realised that when she saw me. Chia should also remember the aftermath the very next day when we met for coffee near our offices.

The rest, as they say, was history.

Thank you, babe, for everything. (By the way, I am calling Nicole "babe" here and not Chia in case anyone of you is confused).

I am counting down the days to my next trip back. To be with those I love.