Vietnam

From 24 – 29 dec, I was in Vietnam for holiday. Usually the places would be different. But this time, it is the tour that differs more.

Vietnam isn’t a very fascinating or unusual place. Some parts are just like Singapore back in the 1970s and others like rural and modern china. The only thing different abt that place is that motorcycles outnumber cars at least 10 to 1. Even at winter season, the air temp is higher than in Singapore. The time there is 1 hr behind SG and the sun sets at about 6pm, which means sunset occurs simultaneously in the 2 places. The local food is also very much like Chinese food. Just an occasional new style of cooking. If u talk abt a Vietnamese cuisine in whole, it’s a rather limited one. And on the average the dishes don’t require as much skill as Chinese cuisine dishes. U don’t find nicely furnished cyber cafés there. But theres a few internet centers around. Slow internets and comps, lousy envt, no games, but very cheap – only 30 cents per hour.

The tour package for the Vietnam trip was quite a relaxed one. Lots of free time and traveling time. Included a few unwanted visits to temples. Only traveled between Saigon and Vungtau. And the sightseeing was not very splendid either.

Day 1 – arrived in Vietnam n check in the hotel by late afternoon. Rest of the day was free. Spent some time at the LAN shop n after that watched TV in the room. It had cable TV channels like nat-geo and MTV. My parents went around the streets for shopping.

Day 2 – first thing in the morn, travel to Cu-chi to visit the warzone during the Vietnam war. There were remnants of the war like bomb shells, American tank rubble, traps set up by the Vietcong and the tunnel network. They purposely made the tunnels real small so that those fat American soldiers cant go in!
After that, made a trip to Vungtau n rested at a seaside hotel overlooking the south china sea. Unlike the beaches in SG, u cant see any islands in the sea horizon background. Just plain blue sea. Had dinner in a restaurant where a wedding dinner was going on. The couple greeted us at the entrance, unaware that we r not one of their invites. Ppl took turns to go on stage to sing karaoke. So loud n noisy that we cant eat in peace.

Day 3- visited the nearby Jesus statue. It was about 8 stories tall n located on the top of a hill. Had quite a bit of exercise climbing up the hill n statue. 2 ppl at a time can stand in the outstretched arms to gaze at the scenery below. After that, we made our way back to Saigon. Another long n boring coach ride.
Dinner was held on a cruise ship in the Saigon river. Throughout the cruise, there were performers singing along with a band, and also a firedance. We rested at the same hotel as the 1st day.

Day 4 – went to the Mekong river for a sampan ride. Visited the villages there, where theres homemade candy and fruits fresh from farms for sale. Had an idea of the rural villager’s lifestyle there. After that, we were dropped at a large market to shop for 2 hours. We had dinner at a nearby hotel before going back to our hotel. Rest of night is free time.

Day 5 – had more free time till 11am. Spent it doing more shopping to use up all the Vietnam money before we return to SG. Then, we packed our stuff n boarded the bus to the airport. Time to go home! Those 5 days went by really fast. Perhaps cos we dint do much during the trip.

#1 ROD night

The past 2 days have been quite long for me. And I didn’t have time to blog abt it yesterday.

On Tuesday evening, I went for scouts ROD. It was held at downtown east at pasir ris. I din noe the journey would take so long, so I left 1½ hr before the schedule, thinking I would be early, but I was half hour late. Halfway thru my journey in the MRT, it started to rain heavily outside. I was worried for the bbq. But at pasir ris, there wasn’t a single drop of rain. Haha. God cares for all those ppl having bbq.

When I reached the entrance, the ppl on guard were repairing some spoilt machine, so I could enter without paying a dollar for a stupid chop. Haha. The whole area was smoky, cos everywhere I go there were ppl barbequing. I found my chalet without much difficulty, and the folks alr started BBQing. Much less than expected number of ppl turned up. Almost all the sec4 scouts, a few sec3 scouts, 4 graduating guides and only 1 sec 2. It was supposed to be organized by the sec3s, but not a single sec3 guide turned up. U can see now that girls r lazier. Haha.



Mr Chan served me a bowl of mee siam and some freshly bbqed food while I waited for more food to cook. So it does pay to be late sometimes. The other sec 4s had to cook their own food! The sec4s piled all their cooked food onto plates and laid the table. After my mee siam, I joined them to feast, without cooking anything myself. Haha. They all din say anything anyway. The problem was not a food shortage, but finishing the food. We had to discreetly feed the dustbin with leftovers.

After dinner, we sec4s went to the arcade, but I din play anything. Then we went to some xbox shop to rent 1 to play. I just watched them play. Bored after a while, I went back the chalet, where I found the sec3s playing poker cards. I joined them for a few games. The sec4s returned later and we played more cards till abt 12. The whole area was like a gambling den. Everyone was playing cards.

By 12+ I was very tired so I just lied on the only unoccupied bed, which was in the girls room, and tried to sleep. The girls noticed me trying to sleep there, but they din really bother. I was falling sick n my nose was running like a tap. I stuffed my nose with toilet paper, but it got drenched until the liquid ran into the bed sheet. Eew. The girls (and a guy) just continued playing cards, making a lot of noise and turning on the ipod on loudspeaker. I only managed to sleep after they went outside for supper and I could have my peace. That was about 2am.

3 of the guides had stead, and they all called their stead to come to visit them, dunno for what. Jurvia n Eugenia’s stead agreed to come, and Huiyi was tring to convince her stead to come, but he was reluctant. So the other 3 girls took turns to scold him over the phone n force him to come. I wonder if that is a widely practiced thing?

I didn’t get to see Eugenia’s stead, so that means I fell asleep before 2. (that’s when he said he would come.)

This post is getting long. The next day’s events will be posted some other time. To be continued……

unaccepted

Today i went to school to collect my leaving cert, testimonial and some thick booklet for JC stuff.
The results are out: i am not eligible for orientation at any JC.
I cannot get my 2-point reduction at any JC.
I cannot "start school earlier' so that i wun be so stress when it actually starts.
I got nothing to do now during my 3 months to my results collection date.
Just gotta rot at home.
Maybe find a job, but jobs r hard to find and maintain.
Asked a few friends... all dun hav any good job recommendations.
Arrgh. Sianz.
Just gotta pray that my O lvl results r good enuf for my desired JC.

The 'O' has gone, the new has come!

At last, the time has come! The ultimate period of torment for sec sch students is over for me! There will be no more sorrow, but joy. No more tears, but smiles. No more hardship, but enjoyment! haha. ok thats exaggerated, but whats for sure is that there will be NO MORE STUDIES!!! until at least a month later. cos of some stupid MCQ paper, i was delayed 3 days b4 i could say these.

It feels like i have just escaped from a scorching desert and entered a lush tropical paradise. Suddenly, from endless brainbusting studies, to none at all. Its gona take some time to get used to. A sudden change, catching me 'unprepareed'. Some may noe what it feels like alr, but im sure the feeling will be stronger after a leaving exam. after all, that exam would play a significant part in determining your future, and after the exam, theres no more "studying for next year's syllabus". haha.

But still, I cant enjoy in total peace, cos the end of sec sch only signifies the start of a fresh new stage of studies, not long later. That is, JC. I dun wanna go poly. And im constantly bugged by my worries of not bein able to get into my desired JC. Whenever my mind is idle, possibility is that it would stray to thinking abt my results.

The problem is, results are really unpredictable. And as my mood changes from optimistic to pessimistic and back again, my ‘prediction’ of my results keeps going up n down like a roller coaster.

So I had to devise a possibility range, that is, 8< L1R5 <16. I would expect my L1R5 to be no higher than 15. But even with 15, I still cant get into my desired JC. Arrrgh.

Heres abit of info abt how things went for the O’s.
English and POA, supposedly my best 2 subjects, both had serious screw-ups. My English compo was halfway written outta point and barely scraped the 350-word minimum, n the compre gave me a few scratch-head moments. And for POA, I did a qn almost to the end, then found I made a small mistake at an early part… so I had to waste quite a bit of time correcting it, and I couldn’t finish the paper.

Fortunately, My maths and humanities made a clear leap upwards from my prelims. Maybe it was easier, but no doubt that I have improved. Ahh. My focusing on these 2 subjects after the prelims have paid off. But possibility of A1 is very low.

The F&N theory paper was the swiftest of all, excluding the MCQs. But my coursework may pull me down. It contributes a friggin 50% of my score. Still, theres chance to get the coveted A1… so ill continue hoping for it!
Combined Science...no comments. It went quite ‘normally’.
MCQs r purely meant to pull up your grades. dats y only hard-to-score subjects have MCQ.

Yeah.. that’s all for the O’s. Ive seen my elder peers go thru it, now I tasted it as well, and in a year’s time ill see another batch of students get their turn. Its like the BCG treatment (that was once given to all students. Its no longer in use) – an inevitable period of torment n suffering, but for our own good!

The Grand Opening

Introduction

Greetings to all visitors to my new blog. First things first, for those who may not noe me, i am John 'Constantine' Pang, aka JCP. I will try not to be lazy in my posting, so on ur part, pls do come and 'warm' my blog often so it doesn become cold and lifeless like my previous blog did. A quick update of latest events happening ard me - i have just finished my O levels! more details coming up soon.