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Wednesday, December 12, 2007 @ 11:31 pm [mountain-hugged, sea-breeze kissed and eyes dazzled]
yes. the 2 days i din blog cos i was on a SHIP! a boat. stayed overnight there! my first time! awesome! it sure was fun! esp when the 2 groups are sailing together! to Halong Bay! =)) so first, we took a bus from Sapa town down to Lao Cai. so it was bye-bye for the cold weather. i miss it man! was jus getting used to it.. next, at Lao Cai, we ate dinner there. we were about to start ordering when the entire area got a blackout. then, Xiang told us there is a restaurant with lights. all 38 of us are about to leave then the lights came on. so jus ate our food there. but had to wait for a long time cos there was another tour-grp downstairs that had already made reservations. so it was a night train back to Hanoi. we played pictionary together! again! all the teenagers! split into 3 groups with the 3 18-yr-olds heading each of the grp. it was super fun! the cabin was so small that my grp has to sit on the upper beds! 2 on each bed so that makes 4 of us in the team. get to break the ice between liseal and beatrice. my team was the furthest on the board. 
so when we arrived, greeted by a bus then it was off to a cermaic/garment factory/workshop for breakfast. looked at many sculptures too! but can't take photos. they also make and paint pots and vases! it was really interesting though i've already seen it in NZ. but there was this painting where it was made of thread. ie. sewn. and it's so manual labour. so many adults were sitting there and sewing. but one thing i lyk about this factory: they employ even the disabled (: it was tempting to buy the products but they are really expensive! and it was there and then that we invited the other 3 teenagers to join us for the game. but i'm glad they are sporting and come and join us. yes. we played pictionary at the workshop cos we need to kill 1 hour there. we finally finished all the way to the end (: and the grouping was interesting: one all-girls team, one all-guys team and one mix team. i was in the mix one. and the all-girls team won. so all in all, the teenageres are: joseph, justin, sharon, reuben, sarah, le jing, michael, beatrice, liseal, en ting, shermin, jonathan, dave, marcus (he was the judge. ha. and we made him upset once cos we all shouted the correct word at the same time and he can't decide which team got it first. ha). yeah! i'll miss all of them! in fact, i'm starting to miss them now too! so, we headed for a pier which was a 3-hour drive from the factory. we boarded a boat and placed our bags on the boat. then sailed out to the ocean to one of the many islands. there, we looked at caves! it was fun! and nice! can apply my geog knowledge. took photos too! but looking at all the paved paths that made for us and the lights that they put there, it jus makes me sigh. so much of its natural landform has man altered. quite sad. Xiang told us stories about the caves too! then, we walked to another cave. this one is less touris-y than the previous one. it has paved out wooden planks so paths but it was v much natural! even got bat droppings all over! it was nicer. at least for me..closer to the heart of nature :) but, hey, all these dun come easy man. we had to climb umpteen steps up! and some are quite steep! super TIRING!! then, went over to Titop hill for a climb and a look-out. supposed to catch the sunset there on the hill. when i heard it, i gave a squeal and this is how i look (see below's pic later on). and it's always these kinda pics that my dad say i have a natural smile. if only i can smile lyk that for every single photo. haha. so, when we docked, we had to climb lots and lots of stairs! seems v endless! this is how high we climbed (see below's pic later on). it was super high and steep again. glad my mum made it! yay! was cheering for her when she reached the pavilion. but a pity we missed the sunset! nevertheless, we took many photos up there. can see the many rock landforms and islands (: at one point of time, i went away from my family to see the red streaks of sky. then Michael asked, "want a photo?" and i readily answered okay. he stood so far frm me again la. so i'd to ask him to come closer to me so it wun look weird on the photo. in the end, we took a really nice one! but a pity it's only on his camera and not mine. i hope he'll send it over soon! can see the red sky despite the flash! lovely! so Michael and i had a nice chat down the steps. then, Dave joined in and we started talking together. oh. quite cool that Michael wants to be a GP teacher! tat'll be nice! a first time i hear a guy talking abt teaching quite passionately and as a first choice career! way to go! and head-right-on for your dream, Michael! and through the chats, i found out that Dave stays in Pasir Ris..so far... and his tongue is super sharp! for a 12-yr-old kid. yee. v sarcastic... so that day, we showered and ate dinner on the ship. shared my cabin with my bro. it was nice. and at night, the upper deck's really dark and quiet. can see quite a number of stars though it's a bit dark. and i finished my thriller that night in the cabin. i wanted to go up to gaze at stars at arnd midnight. but decided against it. i dun really feel comfortable with all the sailors on the same boat as us. dunno wad will happen if i go up alone. so had to miss the chance of star-gazing. perhaps, nxt time with my husband/husband-to-be! =) oh! btw, they split all of us to 3 boats. and it sure was fun ship-jumping! and we also played pictionary again that night! i made them come over to my boat since i'd the game. but honestly, i was afraid i'll drop the game into the sea while climbing over. we din finsh the game but it sure was fun. and good observation skills beatrice! she knows that she's always paired up with me and liseal with le jing. haha. this time round, all 3 teams are mixed. quite a pity i din get a chance to be in the same team with Michael. well, at least got a chance to be with jonathan, liseal, beatrice, justin and Shermin! break the ice.. the nxt day, le jing and i did our devotion tgt on the deck after breakfast! we read 2 psalms and sang several songs together. it was lovely. esp with the mountains and hills and islands and the vast and beautiful scenery before us. and i knew God spoke something to me... well, we were supposed to go kayaking to a cave that day in the morning. it cost US$10 per person. BUT, the tide came in and they suspected there may be a current. so they advised us against going. oh man. so sad. the thought of kayaking actually pulled me out of bed in the morning. sigh. oh well. another time i guess. with my...haha..i'm sure you can fill the blanks in yourself :P so we headed out to the pier again. oh! but something interesting happen again! i was bored at my ship and wanted to talk to Michael again. so i jumped ship after i'd finished packing and landed in his dining area. they were all playing Big Two. so i joined in the 2nd round and played once. i din end well. and towards, the end of the game, i found out that my boat has actually detached itself frm the other 2 boats! it was lyk "oh no" for me! cos my parents din noe i jumped ship either. so i waved and thankfully, dad saw. so i was stuck in Michael's and Dave's ship (the 2 other ships). sat at the front and started talking to Michael's dad. with uncle christopher around. and so timely! uncle (Michael's dad) is teaching at NTU, common engineering! and so i asked him to intro me on chemical and environmental engineering. it was good. can help me in choosing more carefully. and he also advised me doing higher degree. uncle v pro. did a degree in australia and then did a PhD straight away. and his PhD paper was pretty cool! =) well, i hope to see uncle around in NTU if i ever go there! he's a v nice guy. along with his wife. both of them look v youthful. and uncle has the same interest as my dad--photography! =) i'm not implying anythinggg... anyway, thanks for the advice, uncle! after that, i went to the upper deck. michael and dave came along (i dunno why dave ended up there. i dun recall him followin michael and i). i forgot wad we talk about but it sure was nice jus being there and havin both of their company! so finally, we ended off with a rush of Heart-attack game. then, we docked. michael helped me across the last bit. thanks lots man! oh! and le jing was there stuck in the ship too. so i'd some company! after we docked on land, all the teenagers took a photo tgt. one of the adults even said it's lyk a chr camp photo. lol. but seriously, there were many of us. and i purposely let some ppl hold the pictionary board! for remembrance. and many cameras were snapping at the same time. haha. altogether, there are 7 families. so you can imagine how big that grp is! all in all, it was a good experience on the ship! and at Halong Bay! seeing wad i'd been taught in geography! and it certainly allowed it to be much easier to talk to many ppl now! okay. so we travelled to a restaurant for lunch. and my poor grandma had to climb 3-stories of stairs cos there is a black out in that building. then, as soon as we reached the level, the electricity was back on again. so the other grp (michael and dave's grp) get to take the lift. had a not-bad-lunch then take photo again. all the teenagers. nice! it was the last time we meet tgt officially. so had to say bye bye. and i randomly asked michael if he was attached. and he said he is. haha. no wonder i say it sounds fishy when he mentioned to me that his best fren who is a gal says she wld put her head on his tummy if he grew fat in Vietnam. ha. i wld NEVER say that to yh. so no wonder. haha. but it wld hv given her more respect if he intro her to me (when he showed me his prom photo with her) as his best fren AND gf. i mean, can't miss that status and special rs you have with that person right? well, i wld certainly want my future bf to say so! :) ok. so it's back on a 3-hour journey to the city. stopped by the factory for a toilet break again. then, got news that the other grp's bus had a punctured tire. aww. so head off to the hotel. hanoi paradise. glad there's a private com and free internet here! so tat's why i'm typing now! it's 1am plus vietnam time! super late! and i wanted to watch game plan on the dvd player provided but it's not compactible. sad. and they gave a complimentary bottle of red wine! and it tastes so much better than the one on the aeroplane. oops. yea. my bro opened the bottle and i'd a slip jus now. well, my sis got a good room again. VIP room with sofa and LCD tv! jealous. haha. anyway, went shopping jus now. first at a mall then along the streets. it was shopping spree for me la! belt, earrings and keychains. haha. the dazzling things? earring and necklaces. so tempting! oh! talking abt earrings, i think the earrings i bought at Sapa is too heavy. it seems lyk it's creating a slid on ear hole. yee. and was lookin at the crumpler bags when i heard a familiar voice in the shop. i turned rnd the pillar and saw Dave and Jonathan! i was SO happy! cos we all stay in different hotels yet meet at the same place. and Dave bought a crumpler bag. i hope to get one too! a laptop bag for the future! =) more shoppin tml! and i'm starting to miss him already. i'll be leavin here at night and reaching singapore near midnight on thu. so that means fri early morning *yawns* well, that means work is waiting at my door. i dun lyk this kinda thing. sigh. i hope my ears and my face wun ache again when i land in Singapore! finally, jus wanna say, CONGRATS to Jeremy! for completing your BMT and had your POP today right? yay yay! enjoy your 2-week break! and to Khalis, hang in there k? you'll have 3 exercies spread over 2 days starting thu eh? you can do it! randomising:
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