Gym 101

Went to the gym yesterday for the 3rd time this week. Now, I don't like going to the gym; I much prefer going out for a nice, evening brisk walk/stroll punctuated with short-distance jogs at my own pace, and no, it's NOT a part of my New Year's resolution or something but there's this competition from 3 January-31 March that my department is organising and among others, thou's attendance at the gym counts [actually it's more cos the people at the Sport's Unit want to boost gym attendance; otherwise it doesn't really matter if you go to the gym or go to the Lake Garden or walk up/down the stairs]! Er, besides an improvement in BMI. I don't mean to be vain or proud but I don't think this 2nd area [improvement in BMI] is going to be a problem, thanks to my high metabolism.

As I'm a 'gym virgin', my mate had to teach me how to use the treadmill. Yes, treadmill is just fine for the time being, thank you very much, and later I might just consider trying out the cycle thing. Don't ask me to play badminton or squash - I'm not sure i can handle the racket and besides I might go mental from concentrating on watching the shuttlecock/ball for so long and ensuring it doesn't hit me somehow! Assuming I even know the rules to begin with.

Yesterday, I went down alone as my usual partner, yeah the one who taught me how to use the machine, was trying to finish some work. There I was stuck between a chap and a gal who were both running as if their lives depended on it and my struggling in between, jogging for dear life and trying not to fall off the machine. Now you know why I don't like gyms. Your fellow gym-goers are either too kiasu for you or trying to check out the pace you're doing and quietly snickering away at your pathetic attempt. To me, that's even stressful and runs counter to why you're going to the gym in the 1st place [so why bother?]! I figured I managed to run a good 15 minutes yesterday, hey not bad for someone who couldn't run to save her life, nor for that matter, play any physical games back in school. [But mind you, I can play a mean game of Scrabble]. One good thing about our gym though is that there's a radio somewhere which blasts out Hitz.Fm [or is it Mix.Fm] so you can pretend you're trying to sing to the songs on air in your head and avoid conversation with the competitive freaks next to you.

My good friend once posted sth useful and I've managed to track them in the cyber archive of our group. Here it is, The Guide to the Gym - I don't think the word 'Idiot' is appropriate as my friend is an MD you know. I'm copying this word by word, don't think there's a trademark or patent or copyright on the email although certain names (see those in italics) have been changed to protect identities:

~~~~~~~~~~

I shall concentrate on the gym side of things. There are the aerobics classes, spinning, body-combat, swimming but I usually feel like shouting to the instructor 'Slow down you stick insect! I have feelings too, you know!' So I best stick to the gym.

It might be worth giving yourself a programme and target. I assume you want to keep your cardio-vascular-respiratory systems in tip top condition.

Start stretching exercises- you want your muscles to loosen up. This takes about five minutes.

Then, do the warm up- anything that gets your heart rate up. Do it gently. This takes 10 minutes to 30 minutes depending on how warm-up you want to get.

Then, the serious work. Better do this in stages. Basically, the cardio-exercise heart rate is 220 minus your age for men and 200 minus 30 for women, but I never manage that.

Most exercise machines have calorie counters and other measures of intensity of the exercise. So, up the target everytime you go to the gym. If time is the limiting factor, aim to burn more calories within a specified time on every gym visit. This gorgeous guy at the gym (hem!hem!) told me that the more intense the exercise the more efficient my body becomes (my body? efficient? come on! says MissX tersipu-sipu).

As for calories, at present I aim to burn around 500 every gym visit, about hour and a half - twice a week is average for me, because I probably consume around 3000 per day. (Tamak haloba you...)

Now, for weights: (I'm sure you know everything about this): The more muscles you have the greater is your Basal Metabolic Rate (calories that you burn anyway, without any physical activity). The reason is that muscles consume more energy at rest compared to fat. Since med school however, my arms and shoulders have GROWN enormously, probably occupational hazards so I am not into pumping iron at all. My thighs are HUGE but I think they are my fat storage areas.

When you are on the exercise bike, threadmill or cross-trainer, if your life flashes before your very eyes, stop before you even get to Standard 1 let alone Form 1 at school. Be sensible. DO NOT attempt to reach alam Barzah.

MissY wrote some time ago that watching and listening to MTV is a good motivator because of the skinny girls on it. What I find is that those girls also have Giant Tits, which may depress the less endowed amongst us. So I stick to my 'learn Arabic' CD. Now I can tell my left and right. The progress is slow needless to say.

Make sure that cool down after every strenous exercise. So, if you have been going like the road-runner (beep! beep!) on the threadmill, slow down to a walking pace for about 5 to 10 minutes.

Might be worth doing the stretching exercises just before you leave.

Now, congratulate yourself on the good work and reward yourself with an enormous cream cake, after all you are going to the gym again. Good luck with the gymming.

[in another posting]

Aim to reach 70 to 90% your max heart rate, easier said than done. I do struggle to reach even 160, so I concentrate on intensity. Still struggling to run 400m. Remember all those sports assessments were compulsory. Never managed it at school as I always pretended to have a fall at 200m. Amazing that I got away with it for five years.

~~~~~~~~~~

I can't wait til 1 April! No more gym after that! Hello again nature!

The blessed month of Zulhijjah

What's so great about the new year? Frankly, I no longer care about celebrating New Year. I don't see the point of celebrating the 'Christian' New Year anyway [it's 2006 A.D. anno domini which means 'in the year of Our Lord' - the Lord meaning Jesus Christ]. Sure, Muslims believe in Jesus as in Nabi Isa AS. But that's where it ends. He's not our Lord, he's one of our prophets. But some Muslims celebrate the New Year big time, wasting their time at Dataran Merdeka waiting for the clock to turn 12 just to yell Happy New Year!, sing Auld Lang Syne, watch fireworks, get drunk, grab anyone you can get hold off, kiss them etc. Now, I ask is that Islamic? Why can't we spend the night ushering the new year by reading the Holy Quran and make prayers of thanks and gratitude that we have passed another year and may God bless us in the new year. I should think we ought to 'celebrate' Maal Hijrah instead. Do Muslims of this age actually think that our time in the world will not pass unquestioned? There are four inevitable things: youth before old age; leisure before hardship; health before illness; and life before death. We will all be questioned on how we spend our youth, how well we utilise the time given to us. Did we spend it gaining ilmu and then teaching it to others [rather than hoarding it] or do we utilise it by loafing, wasting our time, celebrating New Year, Merdeka and whatever people these days deem worth celebrating even when they are not including attending stupid Karnival Sure Heboh or Akademi Fantasia concerts and gaining not a single iota of knowledge or benefit in the process? Be sure that God will question us. How sad we'll be in the afterlife when all we could show for our life in this world is our amazing ability to waste time, effort, energy & money. That kind of life seems so empty and wasted. Now I'm not saying everything the westerners do are bad. God knows, I have spent my fair share of time abroad, alhamdulillah. But I just wonder why we can't emulate the positive things the westerners do, like exploring the outerspace, being involved in charity& voluntary work, help to save the environment etc.

No, I see no reason for me to celebrate new year. After all, it's just another year to go through - need to work harder than ever, as if I haven't already. But then again, I'm sure I'm a minority in this thinking but I believe I'm allowed the liberty of these thoughts.

As my title reads, we are now in the last month of the Hijrah year, the blessed month of Zulhijjah, the first 10 days of which are the most honorable and the best days in the Hijrah calendar.

~~~~~~~

"The ten days of Dhu'l Hijjah are the first ten days of the 12th Islamic calendar month called Dhu'lHijjah. These are the days when most of the pilgrims make a journey to Makkah and perform their tasks of Hajj. Just as they have a special chance to get extra reward, the ones who were not able to go to Hajj arealso given a special chance to get extra reward during these days."http://www.a2youth.com/islam/special/dhulhijjah.html

Ahmad and at-Tabarani record from Ibn 'Umar that theMessenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) said,"There is no day more honorable in Allah 's sight and no acts more beloved therein to Allah than those in these ten days. So say tahlil (There is no deity worthy of worship but Allah: La ilaha illAllah), takbir (Allah is the greatest : Allahu akbar) and tahmid (All praise is due to Allah: alhumdulillah) a lot [on those days]." [Reported by Ahmad, 7/224; Ahmad Shakir stated it is saheeh]

~~~~~~~

Signing off on one of the most honorable days in the Hijrah calendar.

The Island of Legends

I love this time of the year. Office is almost deserted. Even those still at work are planning their getaway trips. It seemed a good idea to get away myself - from office, from visitors flocking KL, from the rain - and it didn't take long for me to decide on Langkawi. Never mind the emails circulating warning of a possible tsunami which may shift northwards occuring sometime within these two months. Heck, you can die anytime, anywhere, anyhow, anyway these days.

Alhamdulillah, a hotel booking was accepted - I made bookings to 3 hotels, just in case seeing our proposed stay was over the Christmas weekend - followed by plane bookings immediately after. The northern states of Peninsular were experiencing flood and besides, we were not too keen on driving all the way to Kuala Kedah. Our journey started on the evening of 23 December 2005.

Arrived at Langkawi International Airport just before 9 pm. The first thing I noticed was the wind. Anyway, we didn't stay out too long and quickly made our way into the building to collect our luggage. We took a while deciding on the car to rent [and who to rent from] before settling on a Wira. Armed with a map and some vague directions, we set off to the Oriental Village where the Oriental Inn is. Abah was panicking as the fuel indicator was near Empty and I had to reassure him it was fine just as long as it hadn't turned red [which it did some km later]. We stopped to ask for directions at least twice and finally, after continuously assuring Abah we were on the right direction, we found a big Petronas station. After that, it was only 2 km to the Oriental Village and by then, he'd trusted my navigation. Hey, give me some credit: I am the navigator for all the treasure hunts I've been on! And girls can read maps! Check-in process was a breeze and before long, we had settled ourselves in the hotel room.

The Oriental Village is a charming, self-contained tourist attraction with its own speciality stores and food outlets. A bit like Colmar Tropicale resort in Pahang. It is sited against the backdrop of Gunung Mat Chinchang around a beautiful lake - which is fed by a stream that I suspect is a tributary of the river that forms from the waterfalls of Telaga Tujuh or the Seven Wells. The cable car station is just behind our room. Our room also overlooked a rabbits-and-fawn mini enclosure. After breakfast the next day, we drove to Kuah taking the Teluk Yu and Air Hangat roads, stopping en route at Pantai Ewa to admire the scenery. Now Kuah is the main town on the island and it offers serious shopping especially for crockery, chocolates [to name a few] at bargain prices. After lunch, we drove to the Langkawi Craft Complex before returning to the hotel to rest.





On the second day [Christmas Day], we drove to nearby Telaga Tujuh. A strenous lone hike up [Mummy & Abah stayed at the stalls; they wouldn't have been able to hike up the steep hill] and I was rewarded by a breathtaking view of the waterfall. Simply spectacular! A good thing it did not rain the day before or the tracks would be wet and slippery. Unlike the day before, there were some clouds overhead but not those that warn of imminent rain. We then took the same route to Kuah but detoured first to Datai, where we sighted the Temurun Waterfall and admired the man-made Langkawi Falls near Pantai Pebble. Pantai Pasir Tengkorak which is a few km away looked inviting but we decided to drive on to Tanjung Rhu. The Tanjung Rhu Beach was similarly lovely and the sand was so white, it almost hurt to look down. After a light meal, we drove on to Dataran Lang [Eagle Square] before heading to Kuah. Then we took a different route, i.e. Padang Matsirat/Nyiur Cabang/Teluk Burau roads back to Pantai Kok/Tanjung Burau where the Oriental Village is, stopping at some stalls near Mutiara Burau Beach Resort for a late lunch.

That evening, I decided to take the cable car up Gunung Mat Chinchang. Abah & Mummy didn't want to go so I went alone. Crazy? Yes, I must be! It was like a Fear Factor episode for me. As I was alone in the gondola, it was less stable than if it had been occupied by more passengers and this obviously made it more sensitive to the wind. I was texting a mate and my hands were perspiring in the process! After an agonising couple of minutes or so which seemed like hours to me, the gondola came to the first station. I got off here and after giving some time to calm my shaking legs and frayed nerves, went to the Hanging Bridge to view the neighbouring mountains and distant seascapes. The winds were even stronger here and I had to summon my courage to walk along the platform - see, the Hanging Bridge didn't look like it was well supported somehow! I swear that I could almost feel the platform sway at least twice. I gingerly made my way back to the station and rode off again in another gondola to the other station. There are two platforms here offering a 360-degree view of the Andaman Sea, Langkawi Island itself and the surrounding islands. After my ascend up, I thought it'd be wiser to descend at dusk so I decided to wait and catch the sunset from the top. At 7, suddenly there were fogs around me and that dashed any hopes of a sunset view. Anyway, I thought it was a good time as any to start making my way down. Only then did I have a bird's eye view of Telaga Tujuh. Magnificent!

On the third day, we drove back to, yes you guess it, Kuah again for some last minute shopping. Had lunch there before driving back. That evening, I walked to the beach at nearby Berjaya Langkawi Beach Resort.

All too soon, the last day of our stay arrived. Checked out at almost 12 noon. Stopped by at Pantai Kok for a while before driving to Beras Terbakar near Padang Matsirat. We didn't fancy waiting too long at the airport but that turned out to be the case as our flight from KL was delayed due to bad weather in Sepang. The flight finally took off after 7 pm, almost an hour later than scheduled. Reached KLIA at 8, collected luggage and took a cab home. Fortunately or unfortunately, we got a driver who drove very fast, he was definitely a certifiable lunatic ex-KL mini busdriver on parole, but hey he got us home safely before 9.30 pm without crashing into any oncoming vehicles.

Hope you had a good end-of-year break too!

Yet another year soon to pass us by...

It's that time of the year, yet again. Time for festivities. Time to finish annual leave for those who have somehow managed not utilising their leave. Time to finish unfinished project. Has a whole year gone by again? Yes, time really flies, even when you're not having fun.

Last weekend started with brief text messages all bearing the dreaded news - someone I once knew had passed away late Friday night. She was battling some disease called the Mixed Connective Tissue Disease for quite some time. Apparently she had to be heavily sedated resulting in her being in and out of consciousness. Patient had requested specifically for NO visitors and the doctor had repeatedly requested that all respect her decision. I first found out about her condition a couple of weeks ago and was stunned. She was such a happy, vibrant girl and so full of life back then that it was hard to imagine that she had somehow succumbed to this disease. And arwah just turned 30 too. I can only blame myself for not knowing any sooner, for not having kept in contact, but now it's too late. I guess that's normally the way it is, you only realise or appreciate someone or something after it's gone. I really hope I haven't been so selfish to ignore those around me. I hope I'm not one of those who takes their loved ones for granted and only realise that I should've told them more often how much I love them after much later, when it's too late. But yes, sometimes, somehow, it's strangely hard to tell someone you love him/her. Well, at least for me.

I hope that I'll be a better daughter from now on. No, I shouldn't wait til the new year to start being one. I'm a moody person at times and my parents, bless them, seem to know this. I know I should try not to be moody in front of them or with them. But well, parents can be annoying at times too. And I won't say I'm totally blameless. I'm sure I'm an annoying brat at times too.

I hope I'll be a better friend too. A better person. A better citizen of the world. Someone who can, in my own little way, try to make a little difference in this world. And more importantly of course, that I'll be a better Muslim.

Happy New Year 2006 everyone. May the year ahead be filled with much joy, love, good health, iman & peace. I wish everyone enough.

Just Be

‘Act your age’. Ever heard of this before? Or how about comments that range from ‘Grow up!’, ‘Be more mature!’ to ‘Aiyaah, so fierce aaa!’ etc etc etc. I don’t know about you, but I’ve heard enough of all these comments. Sometimes I wonder if I should just follow the numerous advice offered to me about various topics just to keep my ‘advisers’ happy and to shut them up. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that I oppose good advice or anything but there’s a limit to what a girl can take. I don’t know if it’s fortunate or otherwise, but I get a lot of advice ranging from how to dress, how to walk, how to find a boyfriend…

Someone once approached me with the noble idea of introducing me to this guy but the guy was concerned that I’m a bit aggressive [define aggressive, I can’t!]. I asked her what she would suggest I do and she said, well, maybe be less aggressive, more feminine and more ladylike, etc. Personally, I think both of them can't tell the difference between being assertive and being aggressive, have never seen the speed at how an average mat or mek saleh walk, how they dress, act, talk etc! Anyway, my reply to her was that I was not willing to compromise my personality just to suit someone’s idea of how a perfect lady [or rather, his definition of one] should be and behave. I mean we haven’t even gone on a date yet and he felt like he has this liberty of commanding how I should behave! I may be wrong but I think that if he feels he has that right, then surely I’m also entitled to that right to command him to behave, act, talk, walk, dress, just as I please too! I thought that if you really like someone, then it should not matter how the other person is [wonder if he’s heard of the song that goes like, ‘she likes me for me…’]. Sure, you could live without some of your partner’s/spouse’s undesirable traits but surely you also have some traits that he/she finds less than flattering. If you both agree to change for the sake of each other, fine. But surely, that would happen after a few dates together!!!

Some friends were amazed that I only started owning a hand-phone a couple of years back. Well, I didn’t own one not because I couldn’t afford it, but because I didn’t like the idea of people being able to interrupt me when I shop, eat out with friends or want to be alone etc. My time is precious enough as it is and sometimes I just don’t fancy the idea of being reachable all the time [especially when I'm on leave and some people from the office still decided it was fine to disturb me then] and to everyone [read: undesirable suitors]. Sure, you can leave a message in the voicemail but what’s the point of having a hand-phone then if people keep having to leave messages in your voicemail! Of course, I later changed my perspective on owning a hand-phone but that was my decision, not others.

And what is wrong if one chooses to have a meal alone, watch a movie, or shop alone? He probably wants to enjoy his own company for once. Enjoy doing things his way once in a while. But the common thinking is that, the poor guy is so pathetic, he doesn’t even have company for lunch! And yet this ‘phenomenon’ is actually a common sight overseas…

I have a friend who likes to clown around. He complained once that people asked him to act his age. I mean, what is wrong with people? Surely, acting the clown once in a while is ok. I believe that no matter how old one is, deep inside is a child who still likes to play. And I recall reading somewhere that behaving that way is perfectly healthy. What I’m trying to say is, we should be ourselves instead of being someone we are not. If you have to listen to everything that people say, you will only drive yourself crazy [yes, no doubt some advice is good, you just have to be selective. Don’t get me wrong: I still welcome ideas, opinions and advice. Just don’t overdo it!]. You should be happy yourself first before trying to make others happy. After all, you have your own life to live.

Where Did The Love Go?

Two years ago, a close friend emailed me to tell that her husband was divorcing her. She only told me a couple of months after it took place, because well, how does one go about telling sth like that anyway? They were married for almost 4 years. She was trying for a baby, which is only natural for married couples. He was trying to get his old life back. When he was offered a higher 5-figure salary [for most of us, that's a lot of money surely], she suggested he took it up. He did. And the problems that had been lurking seemed to have gotten worse.

He went out almost all day all week [and that included weekends]. She was beginning to think that maybe he only found it thrilling to chase her while they were courting but not to be tied down to her. Or perhaps the rituals of marriage had gotten to him. Then, one fine day, he dropped the bomb. And would you believe it, he wanted to go to work the very next day. My friend's relatives took emergency leave and congregated at their house to deal with the situation and he wanted to go to work! But stubborn man he is, he did go to office.

A few days later, my friend tested positive for pregnancy. He refused to be swayed. I suppose, in a way, that's a good thing cos you don't want your spouse to be an unwilling parent. And it wouldn't be right to try to make someone stay in a marriage when he or she no longer wants to. They proceeded with the divorce.

My friend, the strong girl she is, took everything in stride. The pregnancy, the divorce proceedings, trying to sell off the house etc. When I went to visit her with a friend one weekend, she didn't even cry at her misfortune. Occasionally her voice shook of course but she remained strong. She even went ahead with her exam! She explained she took the professional paper to get her mind off the domestic problems [even before he insisted on divorce]. By the way, she passed her paper.

Baby was born early 2004. He actually came to the hospital and got an earful from ex-mother-in-law. Ha, served him right! I wouldn't have been as sympathetic and would probably throw in some punches and kick his balls!

My friend is now happy with her life. She still hasn't trusted men. We did ponder why he wanted the divorce so badly. The most obvious thing that came to mind was there was another girl. But no, there wasn't. Or maybe there are some other girls [in plural]. After all, the new job, the new salary, the new Beemer he's driving are incentive enough to make him want to change his life as well. He gets to visit the child, but for a maximum of two hours or so, and under the close supervision of either my friend or her mother.

Two years later, another good friend told me the same thing. That she just got divorced early in the year. She's a Zambian, working in the Netherlands. He is a Caucasian. They were staying together for some time before deciding to make it legal. She learnt the Dutch driving system, the language and overcame racial challenges in securing a job. She eventually landed a good job shortly after they tied the knot.

Some time last year, in one of our increasingly rare emails to each other, she mentioned that the first year of marriage had been a turbulent one. She was totally disillusioned but they were still trying things out. I suppose they both have different pursuits in life. But why weren't these problems previously? I could only prayed the best for her.

The marriage broke down completely with no room for salvage. She could now see that they are not compatible and puzzles over how they even got together in the first place. It's a good thing her job is challenging and rewarding, and that she has her son [from a previous relationship] to occupy her. At least she sounds happier and consumed with her new life now.

God works in mysterious ways. He knows what's best for us. We'll just have to have faith in Him.

Good Morning Vietnam!

I was feeling rather restless as I always do whenever I'm contemplating a trip. When the MATTA fair was held in September 2005, I went there in enthusiasm, hopeful of bargain trips to some exotic destinations. Alas, most of the tour packages on sale then were for November/December departures. I don't fancy travelling then as it's school holidays period and there will be too many travellers - the local people want to make their escape while the foreign tourists also want to get away from the northern hemisphere winter and the southern hemisphere summer.

On a spur of the moment days after the MATTA Fair had ended, I called the MAS Golden Holidays to enquire on a possible trip to Ho Chi Minh City [aka Saigon] in Vietnam. Now you may ask why I chose this city. Good question, really. Maybe because I once saw a programme on NTV 7 where the host travelled to Vietnam. Also I read previously, in the May 2004 edition of the National Geographic magazine, an article on Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam [it's about 1600 km away from HCMC or so I was told], how it's rebuilding itself after the Vietnam war etc. I chose HCMC over Hanoi after recalling vaguely the beautiful buildings and surroundings captured when Explorace was held there. Anyway, luckily for me, MAS Golden Holidays do have free & easy packages to HCMC. I chose a 4D/3N package with additional two tours thrown in - a half-day city tour and a full day tour to the Mekong Delta/Vinh Long with lunch. Abah, probably recalling their Myanmar tour in 2002, decided not to come along.Day 1/1 October 2005
Departed on Saturday morning, 1 October 2005. Flight was at 0905 hours. An hour and 45 minutes later, we landed at Tan Son Nhat Airport. By the way, HCMC is an hour behind. I remember thinking that it looked like the rain just stopped 10 minutes earlier. Clearing custom was a breeze and collecting our baggage from what appeared to be the only carousel there, we stepped out and I was relieved to see someone holding a placard with my mummy's name on it. We were led to a white Toyota Vios and some 20 minutes later arrived at our hotel, the Chancery Saigon in district 3 of the city. It's part of the Best Western chain. Our room overlooked Tao Dan Park, much to my joy.







After checking in and settling our luggage in the room, we decided to check out the surroundings. Armed with a map which i requested from the receptionist, we set out. Traffic consisted mainly of motorcycles and there must be thousands of them with the majority of motor cyclists not sporting any helmets! The motor cyclists and pillion riders have fashioned a half-face mask [think of those surgical masks donned during the haze but more fashionable with colourful prints of cotton cloth] to wear during their rides. My Singaporean friend who just visited Hanoi in mid-September informed that it isn't anywhere as suicidal to cross the street as foreigners would initially think and he was right. In fact, the motor cyclists were quite courteous: while they did use the horn and occasionally run the red light, they would slow down and/or try to avoid you when they see you trying to cross. Thankfully I've had some practise jaywalking on our local roads ;). The word 'orderly chaos' came to mind often.The map proved to be inadequate and we couldn't find the Central Post Office after twenty minutes of walking. I attempted to ask some school students at a bus stop. Now the Vietnamese are really friendly people and some guy even came to try help us out even though he couldn't speak English. Finally we asked how to get to the Ben Thanh Market. Miraculously, a bus came along and yes, it would pass the Ben Thanh Market. The bus fare cost VND2000 each [about 50 sen or USD0.126]. Ben Thanh Market is the city's main market with aisles tightly arranged according to products. The products would largely appeal to the female visitors - beaded shoes, jewellery, tablecloth, lacquerware, textiles... and even marine products [dried shrimps, sea cucumbers etc etc]! We returned to the hotel by cab. Later, I ventured out alone in search of a supermarket to buy some groceries.Day 2/2 October 2005

The next day, after breakfast, we met our local tour guide who introduced himself as Le Kha [Le is the surname and Kha, his name] & driver [sorry, didn't quite catch the name] came to meet us. They first brought us to the Reunification Palace. It's not a beautiful building and was (re)built in 1962 on the bombing remains - which by the way was an assassination attempt on the President - of the old Presidential Palace, which was first built in 1868. It has been renamed the Reunification Palace after Communist tanks from North Vietnam smashed
through the gates of the Palace on 30 April 1975, overtaking Saigon and ending the war at long last. There are 6 levels, including 2 levels of basement. We were shown the various conference rooms, the Presidential Receiving Room, basement tunnels and war room, telecommunications centre and even the kitchen[!] as well as a back terrace complete with heliport.Next stop is the War Remnants Museum. It highlights the suffering endured by the Vietnamese at the hands of the American forces. It was a sobering experience what with photographs of the injured, hunted and killed [not necessarily in that order], spreading of chemicals [Agent Orange and even torturing of prisoners. It just drives home the fact that war is unnecessary, senseless, ugly and downright brutal.After the sobering first two sites, we then proceeded to the Notre Dame Cathedral which is situated in the Paris Square in the heart of HCMC. The cathedral was renamed Notre Dame with approval from the Vatican in 1959. 70% of the Vietnamese are Mahayana Buddhists, 20% Catholic and 10% other religions. Adjacent to the cathedral is the Central Post Office. It resembles a grand railway station and is open daily. You can't miss the huge portrait of President Ho Chi Minh at the end of the central hall.




We then walked past the Continental Hotel - built in 1880, it's the oldest hotel in HCMC, very beautiful and charming from outside - to the Municipal Theatre, a beautifully restored opera house which is yet another building left by the French.


The city hall, another fantastic example of colonial architecture, is just nearby and the bronze statue of President Ho Chi Minh with a girl sits in the square with their back to the city hall. By this time, dark clouds had gathered overhead. We hurried over to Tayson Lacquerware factory which specialises in producing high quality lacquerware, wooden carved
products and other handicrafts. Admiring
the beautiful lacquerware pieces on display [while some are big and bulky, they are actually quite light], we were vaguely aware that it had started to pour very heavily outside! Kha borrowed a big umbrella and the three of us went back into the car. As Kha had explained earlier, rain in HCMC doesn't last long and normally stop after 20-30 minutes. We then went to the Blue Ginger Restaurant for lunch. Only then did I realise how famished I was! Lunch was delicious.After lunch we proceeded to Cholon, HCMC's very own Chinatown. Kha informed that three districts make up Chinatown. There are about 1 million Cantonese-speaking Chinese in Vietnam, mainly concentrated in HCMC and South Vietnam. The heart of the Chinatown is the Binh Tay Market. Apart from the nice courtyard of trees at the centre of the market, I wasn't too impressed with the narrow aisles and the noisy crowd. we left after probably 20 minutes. Kha agreed to let us down at the Ben Thanh Market on our way back for more serious shopping and haggling.Went out for a stroll at almost 5 in the evening. Visited the Diamond Plaza, a modern departmental store. We then traipsed along Dong Khoi up to Sheraton Saigon Hotel at Dong Du street. A few metres away from the posh Sheraton is Masjid al-Rahim. Muslim travellers can eat at Bombay Restaurant in front of Sheraton or at a stall behind the masjid itself [in the masjid compound]. Also i was told there's a satay house at 35 Mac Dinh Chi St and Bon Mua aka Four Season Restaurant at no. 2, Thi Sach St.Additional info: there are 24 districts in HCMC. HCMC population [2004] = 8 m, population of motorcycles [2004] = 3 m [!!]. Saigon was the capital of South Vietnam from 1954 - 1975. There are 54 ethnic groups in Vietnam which the majority living in the mountains which form kind of a backbone to the country.Day 3/3 October 2005After breakfast, we journeyed to the Mekong Delta at Vinh Long province, about 130 km southwest of HCMC. It took about 2.5 hours to get there and we passed small towns and paddy fields all the way [quite unlike travelling from KL to, say, Batu Pahat where the scenery is alternatively punctuated by towns, factories, plantations and jungle]. I was surprised to see tombs in some paddy fields! According to Kha, yes, they actually used to bury the dead in the paddy fields. some shops along the roads sell rice wine - there are two types of rice wine, the white one [made from rice] and the red [made from sticky rice]. The alcohol content is 45%! Most food stalls along the road also serve as 'hammock hotel'. Kha explained that as most Vietnamese travel by motorcycles, these stalls provide hammocks to the travellers to rest their weary limbs - FOC as long as you buy some drink/food. Interesting concept! I remarked on the red flags of yellow hammer and sickle which are hung almost everywhere [similar to the previous Soviet flags] but Kha informed that those flags are emblems of communism as Vietnam is a communist country. Kha then explained that the 4 most important persons in Vietnam are the President, Prime Minister, Chairman of the National Assembly and the Secretary-General of the Communist Party. Election is held every four years for members of the National Assembly, who in turn elect the President. President can only be in office for 2 terms, except for President Ho Chi Minh who was in power from 1954 [after the Geneva conference which divided Vietnam at the 17th parallel] to 1969. Unfortunately, he died before he could see Vietnam reunified. For more history lesson, visit http://www.moreorless.au.com/heroes/ho.html.


The centre of the Mekong Delta, Vinh Long is situated between the Tien and the Hau rivers [two main branches of the Mekong River]. The rich soil here is favourable for rice and various fruit [rambutan, pomelo, banana, longan...] and cultivation of other crops [sweet potato, yam]. The majority of inhabitants live on farming, the remaining on trading. According to Kha, there are many farms in the Mekong Delta: fish farms, shrimp farms, crocodile and snake farms [for leather] and of course fruit orchards.Vinh Long is close to the Tien river in the North, Can Tho - Dong Thap provinces in the West, Ben Tre province in the East, and Tra Vinh province in the South. More than 97% of the population is Khmer and Hoa. The river is massive and brown in colour but very, very clean - hardly a litter in sight! There are many beautiful small islands in the river. We took a boat along the river, stopping at a poprice 'factory', a traditional house - where we were treated to local fruits, traditional music and songs, and finally an orchard/nursery for lunch. The whole boat trip took some 3 hours - yes, it is a very big river and even then, we only travelled in the Mekong Delta! Apparently Mekong River is the 4th longest in the world - 4200 km long. We then returned to HCMC.






Some basic facts: the Mekong Delta comprises 12 provinces with over 17 million people [!]. You can travel downstream to the South China Sea or upstream to Cambodia. Mekong River means Mother River in Cambodian. Its origin is in China, near Tibet. It travels through China, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam before emptying out into the South China Sea. As there are clearly many stakeholders involved/affected, there are many demands placed on the river.
Additional info: Vietnam is the world's second largest exporter of coffee and second largest exporter of rice after Thailand [80% of rice come from the Mekong Delta itself].
Day 4/4 October 2005

We left after breakfast for the airport. Morning traffic was already building and the driver didn't wish to get stuck in the jam and delay us further. There were more senders than actual passengers outside the airport ;) and we quickly proceeded to check in our luggage [mummy has this thing about sitting in front seats]. My travel agent once told me though that back seats are safer in the event of emergency - so does that mean that those in the Business and First Class will perish first? Hmmm... Anyway, visitors must pay a departure tax of USD12 or its equivalent in VND [there's a desk at the ground and 1st floors to pay this tax]. A few duty-free shops, a cafe, a waiting area are available after the Immigration counter.

The flight took off after 1100 and we reached KL 1340 hours.