Visitors

Hong Seng and 4 ex-CHRians (Eugene, Wei Hern, Ian and Cheng Kern) came visiting from 13 to 18 Jun 2010. We had the opportunity of inviting them to our home at Hoang Anh Gia Lai in Dist 7 before we shift to SCREC Tower in Dist 3. Stephanie and her friend came over - from 18 to 22 Jun 10. Rebecca and hubby, Ronald, visited from 3 to 7 Jun 2010 and bumped into Chee Hoon and Hock who were here on 3-6 Jun 10.

Reunion @ HCMC - HS and the Gang of Four with Stefanie and me in the background














Hong Seng & The Gang of Four at my place














Vietnamese BBQ dinner














Waiting for sinh-to (Vietnamese Fruit Smoothie)














Visiting TAK


















Visiting ASYC

Shifting to SCREC Tower

We don't seem to have many possessions here, but that's only a figment of our imagination. The truth is that we've accumulated stuff and hidden them in places we never knew. So when it comes to shifting time, goodness, the "rubbish" keeps piling! Thank goodness we did not have a lot of furniture, only a table and 2 pedestals. We finally did it today.

View from our home on 22nd floor

TAK Official Opening

We celebrated our opening of TAK (The Alpha Kindergarten) today - together with the 1st anniversary celebration of ASYC. (We shifted from Tan Phu District to Tan Binh District where the catchment is better). The biggest surprise was seeing our very good friends, Mr & Mrs Poh, Cassie and mum walking into the school in the morning. There was no word from them about coming over to HCMC and we thought they were too busy to make it. What a wonderful surprise! No wonder Ms Thuy was behaving so strangely in the morning when she came over. They also paid a visit to ASYC.

Back again

I'm back again on my blog. Let's see what has happened. Tomorrow, we will start at our new campus - we have shifted from Le Trong Tan to this place at Tan Binh District (near the airport). We expect a better catchment as this is more of an office area (several high-rise office building and a big place called e-Town).

ASYC celebrated our year-end and graduation concert last Friday (28 May 10) - had lots of fun and many excited parents and children.

June being the school hols in SG, we're expecting a few visitors. Rebecca, Chee Hoong, Hock and Hong Seng are coming up. Wonder who else?

We'll be shifting "home" again. This time, we'll be going to Dist 3 where it's about 15 minutes from the new campus and 30 min from ASYC. Now, it takes me an hour to get to ASYC - that's 2 hours a day on the bike. Back-breaking for an old man!!

This is the illustration.















This is the real thing!

Vincom Center HCMC

The latest and perhaps most luxurious shopping center scheduled to be opened in HCMC on 30 Apr 2010 - Vietnam's National Unity Day. Just walked past it today and the fences have been removed, giving pedestrians a glimpse of this big modern shopping center.  It has 3 basement and 5 ground levels of shopping, dining and entertainment; a total of more than 250 shops. So far, there's nothing like this here in HCMC so this is a first indeed. 

Related to this is that most of the shops opposite Parkson on Dong Khoi St have been vacated, including the relatively new Eden Mall. Wonder what they're planning to do next. Only Fahasa Book Store is still intact there. 

Phnom Penh

21 Mar 2010

0615  Depart HCMC on a Mai Linh 16-seater

0835 Cleared both VN and Cambodian customs; took a short break

0900 Depart for PP

1030 Reach Ferry Terminal

1145 Reach Golden Gate Hotel

22 Mar 2010

1035 Depart PP 

1135 Reach Ferry Terminal

1150 Depart Ferry Terminal

1355 Cleared both customs

1550 Reach home

This is our first trip to Cambodia. Our observations :

1. Cambodia is indeed a poorer cousin to Vietnam.

2. Vast pieces of empty land. Many houses in the countryside are built on concrete stilts. Horse and bullock-carts are still common in the country-side. 

3. Most riders wear helmets that are of better quality than VN riders. Most helmets have visors. Either they wear helmets or not at all!

4. In PP, more cars than in HCMC. They even have multi-storey carparks!

5. PP seems more cosmopolitan than HCMC. Supermarkets are better stocked with imported foodstuff compared to HCMC.

6. More Khmers seem to be able to speak better English than Vietnamese.

7. Khmers do not push each other like Vietnamese do.

8. Things are more expensive in PP than in HCMC - looks like the cost of living is higher. One DVD movie costs US$2 (20,000VND). It's 10 - 15,000VND in HCMC. Petrol is about 21-22,000VND/litre compared to 17,000VND in HCMC. 

9. US$ is the main currency for transaction - not the riel. US$1 : 4,000 - 4,200 riel - it varies from place to place.

10. Few riders wear masks - and these masks are all medical masks. They do not have anything like the masks that are found in HCMC. 

11. Tuk-tuks and motor-cycle taxis are the most common mode of transport for tourists. We saw only a few taxis.

Vinh City

Visited Vinh City on Sat 20 Mar 2010 at the invitation of a friend. Takes about 1h 45m to fly there. It is the capital of Nghe An Province and the fourth Grade-I city after Haiphong, Danang, and Hue.

Vinh is a laid-back city, quite clean and the air is fresh compared to HCMC. Life is slow there and traffic is light. All houses have several lightning conductors because of the frequent storms and hurricanes there. Four seasons here - it's early spring now and the night is quite chilly. The best part was dinner. One dish looked like fried egg with mince-pork - we were told it's cooked with some sea creature which the Vietnamese couldn't translate in English. Well, what harm is there in trying? Tasted quite good - I had three helpings :) ... see last pix for the sea creature!!! Shown to us after dinner!!! Managed to take a few hurried shots from the taxi.

Nice article on Vinh City by a German.
SOS Village in Vinh

Vinh City wrt Danang & Hue


















Giant Uncle Ho statue in the middle of the town square















Ancient gateway to the city, I think















Nice hotel
















Dragons for decoration of altars















This was the sea creature that we ate!!!