Saturday, December 15, 2012

Taiwan - Sibu - Singapore - Hanoi - hometown, Kuching.

Hello Blog!

    It's 1:01am, Sunday the 16th of December 2012. Oh, it's his and his birthday. It's drizzling outside. Tossed around on the bed, most probably still awake due to the teh c peng earlier. Christmas parade ended with laughter over supper. Time flies, it has been a year since....(This is going to be an unorganized post/ free writing - one of Dr. Jaya's lecture that I love most - no restriction.)

Christmas Parade 2012 @ Jubilee Ground

    How have you guys been? Two months' holiday is coming to an end. I've a lot to type now, from day 1 of my holidays, 2 November 2012 (which started with sewing and guitar class - haven't touch the guitar and sewing machine for a month since -_-"') Thanks to Lian tailor for guidance, I've sewn a black pencil skirt and a lacey flower print skirt; a top is still in progress. Out of impulse and curiosity, I've burnt RM 500 (inclusive of the 4 lessons and an average guitar) Hope for a closer bond back in Kapit.

   Week 2, Yvonne came back! Woots! What did we do? Pedi and Mani, clothes hunting, supper...dinner with Dr Tiong. Is that allllll?? 14 more days to bond with you :)

   Week 3: Taiwan trip. My second visit to Taiwan and this country still attracts me. Tourists flocked that country. My reason I paid RM 2888 for this trip is solely to accompany my parents as I've been to more than half of the places scheduled. I love my parents, a lot, who don't? I really hope I'll be a good daughter and not let them worry.

Thank you so much, daddy & mummy......I really love you both, a lot. Where're we going next? =D

Hakka Village, Hua Lien.
  Fast forward to first week of December. I came back from a 10D9N Sg-Hanoi trip with my uni mate, Hui Yi, and her Aiesec mate, Yaan from Shanghai. (Took few hundred photos using camera and S3 but not convenient to upload them here as I'm using my bro's computer.) Hanoi is more beautiful than how I imagined. Halong Bay is as pretty as the Google Images. We took the Dolpin Cruise, USD$95 per pax for 2D1N. The family room, however, was not as impressive as the photos shown in the catalogue. Anyway, the greatest harvest from that tour was meeting new friends, especially Dr Anthony Pereira from Switzerland. He traveled alone as his wife was...... .......he shared many things: from motivating me to further my studies to reliving my dreams. I promised to keep in touch with him. Also, we met a group of European students from NUS. They are so young! and most of them are doing their Masters :)

Hui Yi & I. "A walk to Remember" playing in my mind then....

Jamie: You're acting like a crazy person, what's going on?


Landon: Right now, you're straddling the state line.

Jamie: OK...

Landon: You're in two places at once
Halong Bay: Dolpin Cruise
The 'romantic'-dinner on board.

  Day 4-6 was spent at Sa Pa. Man, I'd recommend anyone who is interested to visit Hanoi to spend 3D2N here. Get yourself the package of homestay with the H'mong tribe. The people here, they're friendly. The local tour guides (mostly ladies of 22-24 years of age) speak fluent English. They earn USD$4 per day for bringing a group round Cat Cat Village. I bought a book there, entitled The Girl in the Picture. The owner revealed that though the locals can speak fluent English, but they can't read or write in English, simply because they have the golden opportunities to converse with foreigners daily for years. I wonder, if I refrain using Malay to my Kapit kids, will they improve in their English? Hm...I do think of them dy. Wonder what have they done during the 2 months break.

Reflection.

One of my greatest joy this trip: to hug him! :)

   During this tour, I received the saddest news: my colleague's dad passed away. In his sleep.

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 It's just so sudden. I flew to Sibu two days before Hanoi trip, and she offered a place to stay. She's so excited about her upcoming one month holiday at Singapore with her brother. Argh, ... Dear Lord, thank you for being with her and keeping her strong through this phase of life. May uncle rests in peace and watches over them from above...

Life is Kapit is meaningful because of you all....

Day 7  Tam Coc and Hua Lu day tour: Boat and caves. Met a family of 3 from Kuala Lumpur, their son was 12 years old and currently in Year 9 (a.k.a. Form 2). It's heart warming to see the parents adore their only child. Perhaps the daddy can be more gentle and respectful towards mummy, especially when in front of the kid and in public. Every family has their stories.
She rowed our boat....haha. Hello Victor, you're gonna be one fine gentleman!


Day 9: Singapore. Talking about Singapore, I must thank the following friends for being so hospitable: Hui Yi, Colin, Darrell, Ivan, Kevin, WHao and Huey. You guys really are awesome! Especially touched when WHao came all the way from Johor to Singapore just to meet up for lunch and send me off to Changi. Thanks to Huey and bf for dinner too. Ivan bro and Kevin bro , both of your sincerity are heart felt.

Affirm, two is better than one.

Day 9, 10:15pm: Finally get to meet my mentor, Mr Yong. He's the one who reminded me blog again. Two words to describe him: absolutely charming :))

Thanks for dinner and your inspiring stories :)

Spent today (Saturday) with family. Yes, at the end of the adventure, home is still the best place to be. Taiwan is beautiful, so are Singapore and Vietnam; but I'll never consider to live there. The thing about hometown is just indescribable - peace, a sense of belonging, comfort zone....

More friends got/are/will get married. Singles like us are sincerely happy for them, but can't help thinking when will our turn be. After all, two is better than one. Combined salary, planning about future, vacation together, sharing life.....talking about salary, bonus is in! Thank you Malaysia.


One year into the life of teaching, I am grateful to say that I love my job, especially my kids. I do realize I've to put in more effort in my career next year.

Should I continue to be your form teacher next year, please be good or you'll see little horns XD

Conclusion: Thank You Lord, for a fruitful holiday!