Hokkien Booboos - Overheard in a canteen

This conversation was entirely in Hokkien, and overheard by Bobo who was standing behind this Indian dude who was conversing with the canteen operator in Hokkien (kudos to him, I can only understand the bad words). The auntie standing next to the canteen operator listened in on the conversation and wanting to praise the guy said this in Hokkien:

" 瘦瘦一枝骨, 功夫慢慢出" (correct statement: 瘦瘦一枝骨, 功夫看不出)

Note: Since I can't write in the dialect, I will write in Mandarin, please interpret yourself *lol*.

The canteen operator said 好黄 while Bobo sniggered behind the nonplussed guy.

Change

I abhor change. Change brings uncertainty which means I have to go manage it most of the time. Which also drives me to anticipate change until sometimes I feel like I am turning into a worry wart or paranoid person who always see the glass as half full... of poison.

So today I am mugging for an exam tomorrow (long story how that happened) and because I am the kind of person who is tempted by tv shows and other earthly desires, I can't study at home. I sometimes think that it's because as a child I was not taught self control. My parents always saw the need to ground me or impose "tv verboten" on me, warden-style that I cannot study well  unsupervised... 

Eg. A few months ago, Arbeit required me to study for exam, 22 topics passing grade 70%. I couldn't study on my own... and went home to my parents, tail between my legs to study under their watchful eye (age: 34).

So today, I went to the library to study because as usual i wasted the morning of my leave watching American tv. It has just undergone Reno (ie the change ) but for once I appreciate the change. Because I am now sitting on a tall wooden stool with no backing and no cushion. If i don't concentrate and fall asleep I am going to fall down and crack my head ala humpty dumpty. Making major inroads on studying, barring taking a break to type this entry.

Ho Chi Minh - Tips and Bits

CHANGING $

My friends were right. Changing VND at the Tan Son Nhat International Airport gets you a better rate than you would at home, especially Singapore.


COMMUNICATION
How best to remain in contact with family/friends or rub it in their faces that you are enjoying yourself while they slave away in their cubicles (just kidding),  get a SIM card while you are still at the airport. Go to the extreme left near airport exit where there are some phone companies and the pretty ladies speak English. I bought my deal (100,000 VND for 5GB data) at Vinaphone. It is an awesome deal. Doesn't allow phone calls, but you don't need it if you can use Whatsapp calls, Skype or Facetime anyway.

We stayed 4 days, I tethered my phone everyday, and between 3 of us, we still couldn't use up more than 1 GB *annoyed* lol, though the likely reason is because my shitty phone has a shitty battery, and dies very fast everytime I tether.

TRANSPORT

(1) When you exit the airport, go to the extreme left end of the airport to catch the cabs (taxis). There are a group of cab company employees in uniform to help you coordinate a cab. Don't cross the road where another group of cab company employees are standing, they serve only members.

(2) We took Vinasun or Mai Linh. Vina sun cabbies were always professional, but the Mai Linh cab driver we took was professional and really funny as well. Both companies use meters and quote in VND. The drivers are in uniform and their ID and names are displayed on the dashboard.

(3) Note the spellings of the two reputable cab companies, there are some counterfeit ones calling themselves Vinasum, ML or use similar coloring. Don't get in if:
- the meter is not pointed to the backseat.
- cab has tinted windows.
- driver quotes you in USD

(2) Bus 35 goes to most major tourist spots until 8 pm. Costs 4K VND.

FAMOUS EATS and PLACES

Here's the map I created for this trip. You can try staying at Alagon City Hotel like we did, it is made up of a mish mash of interconnected hotels that are connected via the first floor dining room. It's accessible to alot of places.

Most of the tourist action was at District 1 as you can see on the maps. If you are in the need of culture, check out the performances at Saigon Opera House (Ao show is very popular) or the water puppet show (which you can also watch at Hanoi).
All the eateries we ate at charged about 50K VND per dish. The roadside stalls charged 20 VND for bánh tráng nướng (YUMMMMMMMY)

SIDE TRIPS
There are many options for side trips out of Ho Chi Minh. You can try the Mekong Delta (2 routes), Cuchi tunnels, Can Gio (for you sun worshippers) etc.

What is important is to shop around for your side trips at the various tour agencies around District 1.  They will quote different prices but some of these agencies are consolidated to one tour agency in the end. Anyway once you booked, don't answer you fellow tour companions how much they paid. May or may not upset you. LOL.

Ho Chi Minh

It's been a while since that Hanoi backpacking trip in 2011. It was a “说走就走” kind of traveling as Misses Bear scoured the SIA deals and queried the group on who wanted to go Bangkok. I replied never while the other demurred due to their own conflicting travel plans. So Miss Bear counter-proposed Ho Chi Minh and I said sure, let's go. It was a really good thing that I hate to go Thailand because of the bombs that went off in Bangkok last week (just a few days before we flew to Ho Chi Minh).

So it was a short 4 day 3 night trip. We all stated our must-dos and our deal-breakers for the trip, which was a wise thing to do, given our very varied interests and thinking. They wanted the Cuchi tunnels and Ben Thanh market, whereas I was obsessed with Pet Shop bags and Mekong Delta (decided against making new cushion covers and tailoring this time *lol*). In the end, we did both side trips and a massive load of shopping. And the best part of it all, we didn't kill each other, except maybe on the last day where we fought over chocolate ice-cream. Nobody stands between me and my Fanny (omg, the name) ice-cream. LoL.

Cuchi was kind of eerie, and its tunnels were claustrophobic. It made my hair stand as badly as Dachau did. I much preferred the Mekong Delta tour where we covered the predictable tourist route of boat -> rowboat -> horse carriage -> boat amidst visiting a bee farm, and coconut candy factory. And despite the dire prediction by the tour guide, it turned out that my tummy was strong enough to withstand the dirty river water used to make their potong coconut ice-cream. 

Ho Chi Minh is more my cup of tea than Hanoi was, but I still think that Halong Bay is the best part that I have seen of Vietnam till date.

Floating along the #mekongriver with the sounds of the mangrove palms rustling in the wind. #Vietnam

A video posted by Gardening Duckie (@meinkleingarten) on Aug 22, 2015 at 9:29pm PDT

Neffe artwork

Vater pointed out that this picture was drawn by my soon to be 5 year old Neffe last week while the rest of us were chatting outside.

I know I have a putrid mind because the first thing that popped out at me is that green phallic-looking thing on the right.

"It's impressive, the size of that thing," I said to Mutter. "Neffe is a confident little boy."