Ho Chi Minh Day 1

Greetings from Vietnam

So we flew from Melbourne to Kualar Lumpar
which was a long and grueling 8 hour flight
it was so difficult to sleep because it was so cramped even though i had taken some sleeping pills to help me fall asleep
it kind of worked
i slept in spurts of 2-4 hour blocks
then arriving to KL
which was super humid
even though it was only meant to be 25 degrees
we caught a connecting flight from KL to Ho Chi Minh
though not without a bit of stress because our Melb to KL flight was a little delayed
and so it was a bit hectic us trying to quickly check in to the next flight

the flight from KL to Ho Chi Minh was only 2 hours
so it wasn't too bad
though it felt time did go a bit slower
and then we arrived 10.10 am local time
got all our stuff and went to the hotel by taxi
and then the taxi driver tried to jib us
and succeeded because he was so annoying and insistent.
after settling in the hotel,
we went to the ben thanh markets
and tried to haggle for stuff
as well as doing some eating
didn't end up buying much
because i didn't exactly want to buy a fake handbag
nor did i want to try on clothes there and then

then we did a bit of wandering to find dinner
the place we went to was pretty good
it had really well cooked fish
and i also had the typical lemongrass grilled pork
though the lemongrass was so strong.
then we did some more wandering for dessert
and settled for french crepes with nutella
and well as a few drinks.

my first impressions of this place?
its damn humid
and the city is just SO busy
the traffic is CRAZY
there's like cars, taxis, motocycles and buses EVERYWHERE
its a bit too hectic for me to live here
but visiting is pretty interesting and fun
and ordering food by pointing and saying ONE
is pretty funny as well.
i also really like drinking from coconuts :)

anyway, i'm off now.

going to go see my aunty whom i have never met before tomorrow
and i have no idea where she is taking me
it was a bit awkward when i called her
she answered the phone in vietnamese
and i was all like 'err.... i'm your sister's daughter' in cantonese
but then it ended up ok.

also, i can't access facebook
so i guess i'll just have to update here.
i should be able to update during these few days
because there's free internet at the hotel
:)

BYE!

asian family gathering awkwardness take 2

yes sorry.

i figure i'm just going to restart doing the everyday posts once i completely finish exams

which is on the 5th

and i'll aim to reach 300 posts in the year instead

though the thing is i do have quite a few blogs posts that have been started

but i never bothered to finished them

so i'll finish those and post those up too

but anyway so today i had to attend another family gathering

though this time it was awkward because i didn't know who the people were

that just visited from hong kong

apparently the guy and his wife is meant to be my cousin

but he's like 16 years older than me.

so yes.

its also awkward because asian adults make a fuss about everything

and i had to sit next to my mum.

i had my own dish but the rest of them shared

by rest of them, i mean adults

(my 8 y.o. and 10 y.o. cousins didn't share either)

and my mum kept offering some of my food for them (as in the visitors from hk) to try

because they don't really eat vietnamese food

not that i minded

but its just weird that she was offering my food for them to try

plus it was pork chop and i didn't have a knife

so it would have meant me trying to try and cut pieces of meat using a spoon.

another thing i HATE about having asian parents

having to say hi to people

not that i'm a snob or anything

but like my mum expects me to say

"hi aunty" or "hi uncle" to like everyone

or today "hi cousin"

and when i don't

(and i usually don't) she usually says i have no manners

and i witnessed the same thing today with my kid cousins

my aunty was like to them "did you say hi to your second aunty?"

its quite annoying

its not like i HAVE to say something verbally to acknowledge them

i usually smile at them anyway.

but no,

my mother is quite insistent.

sigh.

yes, i'm not quite sure why my mum made me go today

i didnt exactly talk much

plus i was being antisocial

and was doing the sudoku in the mx.

haha

♥

#232 dearest mother;

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

i baked my mum a cake.

it's a strawberry baked cheesecake, but the base is actually sponge.

but since its under a layer of cheese, the sponge is a little condensed.

it doesn't look that good in the photo.

but i definitely tastes better than it looks.

we ate it just before and she loved it.

she said if i don't take any of it to work tmr

by the time i get home it would be all gone.

:)

i also took her out to dinner in footscray

my mum wanted to go to lentil as anything

but jacky was calling me cheap

because technically you don't have to pay anything there

but it wasn't my fault, she said she wanted to go

though, i ended up taking her out for chinese

roast duck rice and crispy fried noodle

yum!

also, a funny thing that we always do

cos we're an asian family

and we always eat at that same place

we always never finish it and end up doggy bagging

and it'd be dinner for the next day.

always.

but we've been going to that same restaurant for YEARS.

i would say over a course of 10 years

when it was in a different location.

though i know that say sonja's restaurant would hate doggy bagging

but since its a restaurant in footscray

(food is cheap, and the people who eat their are mostly cheap)

you kind of have to offer that service because heaps of asians go there

and if you don't, they go elsewhere.

anyhow, i also gave my mum a present

its a bath robe, but its really soft

and for some reason it took us ages to find one.

side note: why does myer not have soft bath robes? they were quite rough. not a single one. and david jones wasn't much better either. and they are the expensive stores. i ended up getting it from cotton on & it was super soft :)

i rate myself highly as a daughter.

i baked a cake, took her out to dinner and bought a present.

& i think that if i were a boy, i'd make a really good boyfriend.

haha.

♥

#230 i am not.

so yesterday

i was in the bathroom at melbourne central station

and this vietnamese lady asked me if i was vietnamese

i said 'no.'

then she said, 'do you know what time centre closes today?'

i said 'probably 6.'

then after a short while she goes, 'where are you from?'

'i'm australian.'

'no, where are you from?'

'i'm chinese.... from china.'

'are you vietnamese? you look vietnamese.'

'no. i'm chinese.'

'are you sure?'

'i'm not vietnamese.'

'sure?'

'yes.'

i got pretty annoyed that she was so insistent

to the point that i felt really offended.

and for the record, no i'm not vietnamese.

my mum was orn in vietnam, but she's chinese.

and my dad's born in china and he's chinese also.

#180 sick

i'm sorry i still haven't fixed everything up.

i've been sick since thursday night

and i still haven't gotten better

today when i woke up i could barely talk

and proceeded to coughing up my phlegm

haha

side note: i was also at emma's house

so she can vouch for these things happening

especially the phlegm bit

LOL

my mum is also really funny

she called me while i was still at emma's

and was like

"what time are you coming home?

you should come home earlier because you shouldn't eat all their food"

haha

she's a funny one.

anyhow,

i have so many things to do

and i don't feel like i have a long enough break

BOO

:(

#155

Originally uploaded by JolsAriella

this is really creepy.
but i like it.

i also like asians who can pull off the platinium blonde look.
i think i'd be too chicken to ever attempt it myself though.
but i think it looks good.
but requires heaps of maintenance.

language barrier #137

so yesterday at work

there was this old lady who came in

and she was chinese

but she spoke another dialect that i don't speak

so here's me

trying to speak to her in broken mandarin

(if you have heard me speak, i really do suck. but i can sort of understand)

trying to figure out what she wanted

and i kept saying that i didn't understand what she said

but she kept going and going

even though she knew i didn't understand

it took me nearly an hour to finally fix everything up for her

and i was so frustrated.

sigh.

at least we figured it out at the end.

yeah,

also, i dislike when i get customers who speak mandarin

cos i'm not that good at it

especially if they ask me about things like fish oil tabs or something

but i'm ok, if they're just getting repeats

and the customer usually doesn't even really know i have shit mandarin.

there's also this old man that makes fun of my cantonese and mandarin

and he calls me 'heart'

cos thats what my chinese name sort of is

but i find him funny.

:)

he's seen jacky before

and he keeps telling me that jacky should be a boxer,

cos he's so big.

lol.

awkward family gatherings #86

sorry i've been delayed with post these past few days
been coming home late

so tonight, i went to my uncles house
after work
meaning i got there at 7.30m
for some family gathering business
you know the one
well
cos my aunty just came from hong kong
to visit
and stuff
and i hadn't seen her for 5 years
so that would've been
when i was 15 or 14
and yes
so when she saw me she was like
"Oh, you're so pretty now"
la la la
and she kept wanting to take photos of me
as in while i was eating alone by myself on the table.
it was awkward.
and brushing my hair back
cos she says she likes it like that.
it was kinda odd to me.
my other aunties and my mum found it funny.
though i do like that aunty
she used to buy me barbies from hong kong and stuff
:)

it just was a bit odd
i don't know
but she kept saying how pretty i looked
you know in an 'aunty' sort of way
meaning
i find that they discuss things about you
'as-if-you're-not-there, but-you're-right-there' way.
as in "oh, she's so pretty now. she looks like her dad though, (insert my mum's name in canto). oh yeah she's so pretty."
yes.
they do that.
a lot.

anyhow.

bye
:)

poser.

this is funny :):) & kinda cute.
watch the full video though
its not laugh your head off funny
but amusing funny throughout the whole 14 mins
:)

asian.

you know what i find funny
asians eating spaghetti with chopsticks
:)
some girl was doing that on the bus the other day
and i'm pretty sure it was bolognese
haha

oh and why is the spinning table in chinese restaurants called a 'lazy susan'?
i have wondered that for a very long time

also, i wish i had longer eyelashes
:(
i bought a heated eyelash curler yesterday
it curls my lashes much better
but the curl effect doesn't look that great cos my lashes as short
stupid asian genes :(
and also cos some asian parents (i.e. my mother) thinks that if you cut them they will grow longer
i remember her cutting them twice in the period f my childhood
she must have stopped the second time when she realised it doesn't work
but
the damage had already been done
sigh
stupid asian mother myths.

following on from this
why do a lot (all) asian parents believe everything they read
as long as the info is backed by a "doctor"
it is quite infuriating

i shall be gone now.
(haha, that sounds so funny)

lots&lotsoflove♥