Friday, July 28, 2006
Feeling kinda pissed..

Can't believe that Piggy actually bked his flight wrongly, resulting in him being further delayed for another day. Although it's just a day, but it means a lot to me..sometimes, I dun understand how come he has such a poor sense of planning. A trip that was supposed to last 5 days stretched to 9 days, then to 11 days, then to 13 days and finally to 15 days!!! Really break record man, no wonder his boss left him to do everything in Taiwan! Like that how to have baby? And his boss still asked us when we are going to have a baby!!! If he makes Piggy travel less, than maybe we will have higher chance of having a baby.. so angry!! Piggy said he is going to tell his boss this, he better make sure he does!! Always spoil our plans!!

Kimmie scribbles
12:23 am |

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Tuesday, July 25, 2006
Piggy's trip delayed again...

Feeling so sian that Piggy's trip keeps getting delayed. Still can't be sure when he will be back exactly and I have been so much looking forward to him coming back soon...Guess he can't help it too cuz of his work schedule and the crazy weather nowadays...really hope he will come back safe and sound soon...miss my little piggy...

Kimmie scribbles
1:23 pm |

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Sunday, July 16, 2006
Our Love Nest finally!!

We finally bought our love nest on Saturday!! Feel very happy about the place, cuz I think we got a good deal for the amount of space we are getting. Yaay!! Piggy said we would have to be more prudent now, cuz got to pay monthly instalments for the house next time! And now, we can think of ideas for our place!! Waiting for Piggy to come back from Taiwan, then we can go and see the showflats and "copy" their ideas..heehee..hopefully, we won't spend a bomb on renovation. We hope to keep costs low if possible, but still have some nice basic things we need..heehee...

Have started another blog just for our love nest..will update on reno and everything else pertaining to the development there - hope that it will serve as fond memories of all the efforts, planning and time put into it when we look back at it in future. It's at www.ourlovenest101.blogspot.com

Kimmie scribbles
4:10 pm |

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Wedding Dinner

Attended one of my uni friend's wedding dinner yesterday nite. Felt abit funny initially cuz most of my pals were not gng but it was not too bad, cuz I caught up with some others. One of my friend brought his 5 month old son, who was so cute and chubby!

Decor of the place and our table name...


My friend's cute baby..


Heard some funny things about wife and marriages from some of my male friends at the table..The father of the above baby said that "As a husband, you are more worried ABOUT your wife than worried FOR your wife". So funny, I thought they meant the same thing but obviously, there was some funny catch to it, cuz another guy started laughing along to it..Then another friend quoted: WIFE=Worries Inherited For Ever!!! The things guys have to say about their wives!!!

Kimmie scribbles
1:39 pm |

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Thursday, July 13, 2006
Feels GREAT to be back!!!

Feels wonderful to be back in lovely Spore..I think I really started appreciating Spore so much more after spending time staying in Vietnam...seriously, everything around me feels so much better and I m just so happy to be back here. If only Piggy could be back together with me..but too bad, he needs to go to Taiwan for a week. I know Piggy can't wait to come back to Spore too. He misses all the food so very much!!! In fact, he has already drawn up 2 lists, a "To Do" list and a "To Eat" list! Haha

Anyway, I think I put on weight..serious..not that I bothered to check, but as I m sitting here typing, my shorts feel so tight..shucks, I really should start exercising soon!!

Yesterday night, we had a feast at this Korean restaurant near to where we stay in HCMC. For information, there are many Korean restaurants in HCMC and of course, there are many Koreans there! Anyway, just wanted to share something funny. We ordered "Fried Ink Fish" as one of the dishes for dinner. Actually, we didn't know what it was but from the picture accompanying the name, it looked like little fishes that were fried with tomato sauce or chilli or something. But guess what it turned out to be??!!

It was directly translated from Chinese!! Ink Fish was actually Octopus ("Mo4 Yu2" in chinese), i.e. Ink = Mo4!!! And it wasn't fried but stir fried octopus!! My gosh, we were certainly surprised when the dish came along!

Kimmie scribbles
10:49 pm |

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Wednesday, July 12, 2006
Sick...

Been feeling sick for the past 2 days...it's horrible to be sick in a foreign land. Have this splitting headache which is driving me nuts. And no matter how I sleep, it just doesn't go away and I really hate taking panadols or any other medicine, if I can help it. Sometimes, seeing the way Apple downs medicine and painkillers, I get scared. She is taking all sorts of pills, from slimming pills to painkillers to panadols to detox pills, you name it man. I have always felt that it's bad to take too much internal medication, unless you cannot do without it. Unless the pain is not within a measurable wavelength. Otherwise, I try my best not to take any medication.

Hope I will be well enough tomorrow, cuz I m gng back to Spore! Wish Piggy could come with me too, but he will be heading for Taiwan soon. And his trip was just delayed cuz of the typhoon approaching Taiwan, which means that he will also be delayed in coming back to Singapore, sigh. I really hope that everything that he needs to do over there will be done in a jiffy so that he can jet back to Spore!

Kimmie scribbles
7:58 pm |

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Monday, July 10, 2006
Hungry, hungry...

Waiting for Piggy to come back cuz we wanted to go and eat Thai food today. His original plan was to come home early so that we can proceed to eat, but at the last moment, his director asked him in for a talk. Stupid!! I really hate this type of bosses who ask employees to see them during dinner time/ past knock-off time. And he better dun ask Piggy to have dinner together with him or any others, otherwise I will be damn bloody pissed, cuz I have been waiting for Piggy to come home, as PRE-ARRANGED. And furthermore, Piggy is flying off to Taiwan for 2 wks this coming Thur. I would really expect his boss to understand that his employee needs time with his wife before he flies away for work.

Honestly, sometimes, I dun understand what Piggy is so concerned about when he already has the intention to leave this job. I can say with all honesty that this job is not for him, not to mention this damn bloody place. If it were me and I already have the intention to leave my job, I would be "bo chap" already. But I guess guys have a higher sense of responsibility.

Kimmie scribbles
9:51 pm |

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Our Dream Phone..at the moment...

The Sony Ericsson K610...super cool with super cool colours..

Kimmie scribbles
5:38 pm |

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The Only Thing That Made My Day..

We went shopping along this street called "Tran Huy Lieu" where there were rows of shops selling shoes. Of course the prices were much lower than in Singapore and I bought 3 pairs! But it was wierd walking along the streets, cuz we were like the only people walking along the streets.

The blue pumps..


The greenish pumps...


The pink wooden heels...

Kimmie scribbles
5:18 pm |

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Internet Down!!

The internet was down for one whole day on Sat!! And it didn't work till late Sunday evening!! Piggy & I were so damn pissed. Guess I was more pissed cuz at least Piggy could still play his game even if there was no internet connection. You see, he has 2 versions of the "World of Warcraft" so if there was internet, he would play the online version. If not, he would play the off-line version. Lucky him!!

You may be wondering why the internet was down for 1.75 days? Power failure?? Nope, it wasn't. It was due to the stupidity of the landlord! Cuz he came to fix this mosquito net over the window outside our room, which was near to the place, where we placed our modem and wiring for the internet connection. And they had to hack and hack and knock and knock early in the morning at 8 am. So damn sickening. Nevermind the noise if they at least did the thing right. But right after they fixed the mosquito net, our internet connection could not work! So sickening! And Piggy was so angry that they couldn't even do one thing right! Then the landlord, sensing our unhappiness, tried to solve the problem with his infamous SCREWDRIVER (again!!!) but as expected, after much screwing and fidgeting with the internet gadgets (which I suspect he knows nuts about), the problem remained unsolved!! Damn stupid man, I think he needs to be told that not everything can be solved using a SCREWDRIVER!! I think his brain must be really SCREWED UP, that's why the only tool he can think of using is the SCREWDRIVER!!!

So it was not till Piggy sent for the servicing people from his company to come and fix the problem that the internet connection was finally revived. BUT that's NOT the end of the story...when the internet connection to our room was revived, the connection to my bro-in-law's room was disrupted!! What is this man?!! I feel that these people just can't seem to do anything right. They seem to always be fixing one thing and spoiling another!! So damn sickening!

And as I m writing this entry, I got disconnected 6 times cuz some stupid guy downstairs is trying to fix some stupid light. I just dun understand why he has to keep doing this. As if it's very fun! I have every mind to scold him till he cringe if not for the language barrier.

I can tell you that each and every of this little experience just makes staying here more unbearable and makes me hate the place more. Then some time back, my friend said that she thought I should have gotten used to life here. Yeah, you adapt to it cuz you have no choice. But that's about IT. You dun grow to love a place like this, trust me. Try staying here for a couple of months and you will know what I mean. It's always easy to comment when one is staying in comfy Singapore and not stuck in a dirthole like this. TRAVELLING to a place like this and STAYING in a place like this are two entirely different matters.

And I understand very well how much Piggy hates this sickening place too. He told me that when he touched down here from BKK recently, he felt so sick to be back here again. I understand that very well, cuz each time I come back here, I also get that kind of sickening feeling. The feeling of going anywhere else, whether it's Singapore, Taiwan or even Malaysia feels so much better. And everytime Piggy tells me "I m so sick of this place. I really wanna get out of here", I really wish I could help him by getting the both of us out of this dreadful place. People always think "If both of you are so unhappy there, then get the hell out of there!" But reality sucks! I really wish we were more in control of the situation...

And Estacy once asked me if the place I was staying in was not Vietnam but places like Australia, NZ, US or UK, would it have made a difference? Would I detest it so much and want to come back to Singapore so desperately? Honestly, I would say "Yes, the country does make a difference." If I were in a country where language was not a problem, where I could get around easily and where the roads and streets are meant for walking and not mere dirt tracks meant for motorcycles, I would definitely feel better. Not to say that everything would be perfect if it were a place other than Vietnam (cuz at the end of the day, nothing beats HOME). I always feel that no matter where I am in the world, Singapore will always be home to me. But at the very least, I won't feel like I m breathing in all the polluted air and getting bitten by mosquitoes and insects as I walk along the streets here and I won't feel funny with people staring at me like I am some alien. (cuz people here dun just walk on the streets like we do in Singapore, they go from place to place by scooters/ motorcycles.)

Kimmie scribbles
2:28 pm |

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Wednesday, July 05, 2006
The Vietnamese Way of Life

The lease for the house we are staying in is going to expire soon, hence Piggy's company asked us (the tenants) for feedback before they renew their contract. We were free to raise any complaints or improvements that could be made. So Piggy & I listed down the following:

1) The water from the water heater was not hot enough. This is so even when you turn it left to the maximum level of hotness. The water is only slightly hot and feels kinda cold when you bathe late at night.

2) The lock in the cupboards were spoilt. The keys were there, stuck in the key hole, but the cupboards could not be locked no matter how we turned it.

3) Requested for an extra chair in the room.

That's about it. And out of the 3, they only fulfilled the last one, which was by far the easiest. So they didn't do anything about the other 2? Well, sort of..let me explain...

Last week, a vietnamese guy (supposedly the one to fix all the complaints we have about the house) came down together with the tenant to address our complaints and concerns. The maid brought him up to our room to see what problems we had. As the guy spoke only Vietnamese, I had to get the maid to translate for us. So I told the maid to tell him that the locks in a particular cupboard were spoilt. So he started to use his screw driver (yes!! a screwdriver, I really wondered what that screw driver could do to a lock that was spoilt!) to unscrew the screw on the side of the cupboard door to which the lock was NOT connected to. I thought it was ridiculous and indeed, after a while, he stopped cuz it didn't seem to fix the problem. Well, actually, he didn't look like he was solving the problem. The screwdriver was probably his way of making himself look more credible because at the end of the day, you know what he told me?!!!

He said that the last time, there was another key and this key, which was inserted into the lock was not the correct one! However, he did not know where the original key was!! What a bastard!! If he knew that, he could have mentioned from the start right? And anyway, I dun think that was the problem. I think he basically couldn't fix the problem and was just trying to find some stupid excuse for it! So anyway, the lock remains spoilt, as before...

Then on to the water heater. I told the maid to tell him that the heater was not hot enough. And guess what he told me?? He told me turn to the left is hot water, turn to the right is cold water!! Bastard!! As if I didn't know that!!! I did not tell him that I didn't know how to work that damn thing. But I told him the water was not hot enough, even when it was turned to the maximum. Then he told me that it was like that. So I told him that the other rooms were okay, cuz the HR director told me that the water in her room was piping hot, even when it was not turned to the maximum, which really should be the way a water heater works. So he went to the other rooms to check and guess what he told me this time round?!! He said that the water heaters in the other 2 rooms were of inferior quality as it worked by means of a tub of water contained in a huge plastic container whereas the one in our toilet worked by electricity, hence it was more expensive and better!! What the heck, I dun care whether it's of superior quality. So what if it was more expensive when it doesn't serve its purpose? The fact is that the water is not hot enough and it was easy to catch a cold especially when we bathe late at night! When I told him that, he just reiterated the fact that the water heater was an expensive and good one. He is clearly stupid or something! At the end of the day, after fidgeting around for so long, he could not solve the problem nor provide any alternatives to the problem. Never mind if the problem is unsolvable, but for goodness sake, just admit that you can't solve it and stop giving crappy and stupid answers. I wonder if he actually used his brain to think!!

And the only thing they could solve was provide an extra chair. Stupid!! We also can go to the shop and buy a new chair. It's a brainless thing which anyone can do.

Kimmie scribbles
2:07 pm |

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Monday, July 03, 2006
A Day at Damsen Park, HCMC

At about 1230 pm on Sunday, when Piggy & I were still sleeping (cuz we slept at 5 am the previous night), Piggy's colleague called us and asked if we wanna go to a theme park. So although we were still feeling sleepy, we readily agreed and hastily dressed up in half an hours' time before they came to pick us up!

Damsen Park is a nice place, probably one of the nicer places in HCMC, and it was every bit like a theme park, with a big beautiful lake and lots of greenery. There were all kinds of rides, from little kiddy rides to highly adventurous rides, like the roller coaster. Although the place looked a tad old, we felt closer to civilisation when we go to places like this. At least, it felt like we were at least living a "life" here.

Some of the rides we took and the places we visited included the following:

"Bumper Car"
While we were queuing, there are many little kids trying to cut queue. Although they were kids, but we were irritated cuz in Vietnam, queue-cutting is so common that even at the airport, when there is a visibly long line of people queuing to have their baggages checked, there are adults cutting your queue like nobody's business and you wonder why they have not been brought up to know the basic courtesy of following a queue.

"Wet" Ride
This somewhat reminded me of Jurassic Park in Universal Studio.

The Ice Musuem
We had to dorn thick coats inside, cuz the place was freezing cold. After barely 15 minute, Piggy's ears couldn't take the cold so we proceeded out first.


The Roller Coaster
Only Piggy and 2 of his male colleagues went for the ride. The rest of us were scaredy cats!
Fountain Garden

Somewhat reminded me of "Sentosa" but of course different lah...Lots of couples taking wedding pics here...

Ferris Wheel
One of the more relaxing rides...


Water "Cycle"

Kimmie scribbles
4:33 pm |

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Power Failure at Night!!!

The power went off after the "England versus Portugal" match on Saturday nite. Could hardly believed it, cuz this was the first time we experienced a power failure in the dead of the night. How to sleep then? It's okay if there are no lights, but no aircon or fan in a room without windows? I really thought England losing the match was a bad omen, cuz I had expected England to win. It was such a good fight till the end. And shortly after England lost, the power went off!!

So, after waiting for a while for the power to restore (which somtimes happens), Apple asked if we wanna go to Sheraton. I wasn't really in the mood to go to the Casino cuz I have bathed and my hair smells nice. My hair always stinks after I am in a smoke-filled place for a while and I hate to be inside the casino, cuz I dun usually gamble. So to me, it's like, why go in and take in 2nd-hand smoke when I have no business there? But anyway, we decided to go there with her, cuz it was getting hotter and stuffier in the house and even if we stayed in the living room, where there was certainly more air, there were plenty of mosquitoes accompanying the cool air as well. And I am not exaggerating, there are really alot of bloody mosquitoes here. Hardly a day goes by if I dun get any mosquito bites on me. What a damn place!

Luckily, Piggy knowing how much I hate to go inside the casino, told Apple that we were going down to watch the "Brazil versus France" match in the hotel lounge-cafe. So we left her there... anyway, she doesn't mind so long as she has the machines to entertain her. It was so much better in the lounge-cafe, although there were also some people smoking, but at least it felt much better than to be inside the smoke-filled casino. Anyway, we had expected Brazil to win before the match started, cuz it had always been a strong team and Piggy said that the Brazil team had world-class players who were extremely good at passing the ball. But France was clearly stronger and led the way in the match and finally won with 1 goal, when time ran out.

After the match ended, we went home and reached home about 5 am in the morning! I really hate power failures!!!

Kimmie scribbles
2:25 pm |

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Saturday, July 01, 2006
Have you met anyone more CRAZY than HER?

A few days back, I had asked the maid to take me to the "jie shi" (street markets). That was in the evening about 4 pm, when the maid had finished all her work. I knew that cuz I asked her if she was free to bring me out after she had finished her work and she said "yes". So off we went and we came back about 630 pm, which was about 1.5 hrs past her knock off time. (yes, she knocks off officially at 5 pm). So I was extremely grateful that she stayed past her usual working hours out of her own free will to take me shopping.

And today, I asked the maid if she could take me to the "jie shi" again cuz the last time we were there, we told the sales lady that the studs on the jacket had fallen out, so she said that she would exchange a new piece for me and asked me to come back on Saturday (which is today).

But the maid was hesistant to bring me out again....why??? The story unveils...


Maid: The HR Director (who was staying next door to Piggy & I) said that Apple was very unhappy over the fact that I brought you out on Thursday...

Me: Why? Unhappy for what?

Maid: I dunno. The HR Director just told me Apple was angry over that. And yesterday, when I was cleaning up Apple's room, she was very angry and scolded me and asked me "What have you been doing? You tell me, what are you so busy with? Got so many things in the house for you to do meh?" (as the maid related it, Apple said all these in one breath, in a very angry tone)

Me: Crazy! Just tell her that "I ask you to accompany me lah"! You finished your work liao, rite? And she got nothing for you to do what..

Maid: Maybe she wants me to clean her room? That's why she was angry that day...

Me: Clean her room? But before we left at 4 pm, she was sleeping and when we came back at 630 pm that day, she hasn't even woken up!!

The fact is that Apple sometimes wakes up at 5pm in the evening and although it was supposed to be the maid's knock off time, she will make the maid stay back to clean her room. I have nothing to say to that cuz it's her sleeping habit, but just dun understand why she has a PROBLEM with the maid going out with me, when she has done her fair share of work for the day. If really so unhappy, then come and tell me directly lah, why go through a 3rd party? And anyway, what's there to be so unhappy about? All I can say is that she is "siao"!!! I seriously think that she is metally-imbalanced or has some mental problems, which recurs every now and then. And because of Apple's crazy behaviour, the maid appears very scared of her and was afraid to go out of the house with me.

To me, I feel that there was nothing wrong with the maid bringing me out to shop for the following reasons:

1) I was the one who asked the maid, not the maid who volunteered to bring me out.

2) The maid belongs to the whole house, not just to Apple, so it should be right that anyone who has a need for her help can "use" her and especially so, when nobody else appears to need her help at that time. Apple probably thinks she is "Queen" of the household.

3) She had finished her chores for the day except for cleaning up Apple's room on that one particular day, but then it was well justifiable cuz firstly, Apple doesn't have the habit of asking the maid to clean her room daily and secondly, we left the house at 4 pm, and came back at 630 pm and just to HIGHLIGHT that on that day, when we reached home, Apple had BARELY WOKEN UP. Under normal circumstances, the maid would not have stayed behind till 63o pm (or till whatever time Apple wants to wake up) to clean her room too, since her official knock off time was 5 pm.

4) The maid willingly sacrificed her after-office hours to bring me out. Anything wrong with that? Just because Apple was on bad terms with her and doesn't get such treatment from the maid doesn't mean she should start getting angry and behaving like a "sour grape"!

Really cannot stand her behaviour! When I first knew her, I still thought she was some innocent soul, who was different from other PRCs. But time spent with her have proven my opinion of her to be so so wrong and with each passing day, I just see it even more closely, and this is with the witness of my dear little piggy, so you can't say that I am biaised against her just cuz she is a PRC.

Yup, although Apple has mentioned before to me that she does not deny that she has a wierd temper, but is that an excuse for always behaving badly and scolding people just because you happened to be in a foul mood? For goodness sake, she is not some 3-yr old kid who hasn't grown up, she should take control of her wierd temper and not be so bossy man! Some time back, Apple related to me that when she went back to China, she seemed like an "alien" to her family. Nobody really wanted to speak to her or even eat with her, so she felt very sorry for herself and told me that this was the result of giving up her everything for my brother-in-law. Actually, it made me feel kinda sorry for her at first but not after she related to me that she scolded her sister-in-law like a monster. She said her SIL didn't know how to cook properly and hygienically so she shouted at her and she was so scared that she kept quiet. Then she added that lucklily the SIL didn't retaliate, otherwise, she would have hit her! Sounds scary hearing that man, sounded like a crazy woman who would resort to using her fists if things didn't get done her way! And nope, Apple didn't sound like she was joking when she related it. She sounded angry, like she meant every word she said. Scary!!

Kimmie scribbles
4:22 pm |

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