...CINTA tidak pernah masuk akal...

best kan, tinggal kat sini, nak balik rumah kite dalam setengah jam je...nak balik **ra* pun senang jugak...

hey, awak berangan lagi!!!

haha...i smiled hearing that honest, friendly remark last Tuesday...

still exhausted from my Vietnam birthday trip, i took a leave last Tuesday...welcoming baby Laila Zafirah binti Mohd Najmi (19/04/2010), i sent SMS to ummi Mai...

and so, Beebee, Shim and me decided to pay a visit to PCMC...not forgetting Abie who's still on MC for flu...i promised to pick her and my Afnan...

i called Yulie asking whether any fellow DGAs were coming only to know that Yulie's on MC too...OK, you're on my list too then...

ergo, on our way to Kota Damansara, Beebee, Shim and me took the route where I can proudly show my home to be - my best birthday gift this year (i'll write about this later)...nice...yes, Beebee...Room 4 is meant to be 'Bilik Beebee & orang2 lain'...huu...

at PCMC, we met Hasfuan, Mukmin and Yati in Mai's ward...I held Laila in my arms and she opened her big eyes...sooo sweet and pretty...we took pictures, chat a little and kissed goodbye...

around 4pm, we set foot at Fullhouse Cafe but were disappointed because there happen to be a function whereby the cafe will be reopened to public at 7pm onwards...

alternatively, we went to Oldtown Kopitiam across the street for afternoon snacks...

Abie and my Afnan parted ways there as papa Adif came to pick them up...we sent Yulie off at KLCC and sent Shim back home...

ohh...Beebee...thank you for your time...

friendship...it's LOVE..
______________________________________________
haa...i've so much to share and it's already past due...this will be extremely long read...I thank you in advance to read until the end...I've promised Beebee to highlight her presence (so, Beebee - please notice yours in pink: tak banyak pun, i made it a general traveloque)...OK, here goes...

the story of my 20+++++++ birthday celebration...i celebrated in style - went for a Vietnam birthday trip with 3 besties: Beebee, Shim and Nadh...

our first day (17/04/2010) started as early as 545am where we took the Skybus from KL Sentral to LCCT...we need to check in by 7am as our AK880 was scheduled at 915am...

after checking in and performing Subuh prayers, we went to have our Nasi Lemak breakfast at the Taste of Asia...

we reached Tan Son Nhat Airport 20 minutes ahead of schedule...yeay...so, it was around 10am(Vietnam time)...

after immigration clearance, we were greeted by Taylor (AirAsia Go! representative) holding a 'Welcome' sign with Nadh's name...Nadh was thrilled...ahaks...

since it was still early, on our way to the hotel, our driver made a stop at the local fine arts factory - Minh Phuong...

here, we were guided and briefed about the process involved in making lacquer handicrafts..basically, there are 3 types of lacquer finishings: pearl coated, eggshells coated and hand paintings...the final products will undergo several polishing and layering processes...these took about 3 months minimum...whoaa...and the results - very, very fine arts...very, very pricey...we went to the souvenir gallery and only afford to buy a USD$3 stone paper weight...Beebee gave me one - a pre-birthday gift...with a hand-painted pair of goldfishes for ' Good Luck'...

Nadh: Goldfish and pelican, which is luckier?

May (the staff): No,all the same...

Nadh: No, no,no...I want to buy the luckiest...

we ended up with all getting the goldfishes stones...(but, Nadh has the biggest,gumuk stone)

at 12pm, we arrived at Hoang Hai Long Hotel...but, we can only check in at 2pm...and so, we left our luggage and decided to go for lunch...

we took a cab to Sheraton Hotel so that we can change our MYR to VND at the recommended money changer just opposite the said...

not so far from Sheraton is the Jamia Mosque (i guess the only mosque in Ho Chi Minh City)...we went to have our lunch at the hidden backyard of the mosque...here, we were served with plain white rice, mutton curry, pomfret fish curry, diced potatoes and long beans, pappadoms and green skin bananas...we had iced green teas as drinks...

the menu is the same everyday but you were attended with 'kasih sayang'...they heated up every single dish you requested...ask for a fried egg, and they will fry instantly for you...more sambal, more kuah...ohh...coming right up...5 stars++ service for a stall category...loving it...

after prayers, we went for our first photoshoot...we were gedixing under the scorching sun...Ho Chi Minh City is sooo hot OK...and no wind at all...around 32 degrees Celcius...fortunately, this was replaced with lovely us in pictures with the Opera...a Thai i suppose (the guy who help taking pictures) greeted 'Assalamualaikum' as if to mean 'Hello'..by the way, 'Hello' in Vietnam is 'Jao' and thank you is 'Ka Men'...and when people said 'Ka Men', you reply with 'Kom Go Yey' which means 'no problem'....

we settled in our rooms around 2pm and we had our first trouble...Shim was trapped in the bathroom...aduhh...the doorknob was stucked...we called and waited for the room service guy to rescue her...poor Shim and us...

next, we met our Vietnamese boyfriends: Huy and Truong at the hotel lobby...haa...boyfriends for 3 days...thank you Nadh...

Huy: Actually,ladies...when you inform that you were coming, even we Google as to where to bring you around...haha...

our boyfriends then took us to the War Remnants Museum...here, we studied the background of the Vietnam War, the cruelness of US Army that time, the impacts of chemical weapons...soooo terrible...seriously, a living hell...

we also went into the replication of Vietnam prison cells...horror and scary...a very unimaginable torture experience...

and finally, we went admiring the real airplanes and tanks used during the war, which were displayed outside the museum building...

this museum tour makes me wonder...in Malaysia, we also have our own Muzium Negara...huu...I should pay attention more...our own 'Bukit Kepong' tragedy was a sad one...a good read...i cried...

we also have a cruel Pudu Jail and the same real airplanes and tanks...a trip to our Muzium Negara, anyone?!!haa....

next, we went to the Reunification Hall a.k.a. Independence Palace...it is actually the residence of Vietnam's Prime Minister...the palace showcases to the public all the important meeting rooms where the Prime Minister entertain guests coming in either from the Eastern/Western sides...they have different settings for different customs...

we also went around looking at the kitchen, library, dining hall,etcetera...there's also a cinema...and in the event of an emergency, there's a helideck on top of the palace...

we went underground of the palace to discover the chambers of military strategy communication base...they have a powerful radio/satellite station, planning room (with district maps and batallion strength markers) and hidden tunnels for Prime Minister's escape route (this section is closed for public viewing)...this underground level is believed to sustain any nuclear attacks as it was built with sooo very thick 3-layered solid concrete...even the air ventilation system is an advanced technology, separately controlled from the main building overall system...

urmm...if even Vietnam is powerful, i wonder about White House...and our very own Putrajaya?!!ohh..i haven't touch on local political issues for so long...i do care and i read i-would-say 'aliran suara rakyat' medium (papers, blogs)...but there lies a problem...some writings are not free in my country...i reserved my comments...thank you...

at 630pm, we went to Rong Vang Theatre to watch the renowned Vietnam Water Puppetry Show...it is a story of the Hanoi legend where the king dropped his sword into the river and was grateful for the tortoise who went diving and picked it up for him...we can't understand much as it was performed in Vietnamese...by this time, Beebee and Shim were already exhausted...Shim managed to doze off maybe about 10 minutes along the show...I bought a 'Kong Rowa' (the tortoise) toy for Afif but I lost it (maybe left it in a cab)...poor me...

that night, we went for a Vietnamese cuisine dinner at Halal@Saigon... this is a Malaysian owned restaurant that served local Vietnamese cuisine...

we had the traditional Vietnamese springrolls, Baby Clams Sour Soup, Vietnamese Rice Pancakes, Black Pepper Beef with Fried Tonkin and Special Grilled Snapper Fish...we ordered Fresh Coconuts for drinks...we were charged 'touristy price' here but it was well worth considering the ambience...the food were delightful and tasty...

on our way out, we met Khuzai and friends...they were on holidays too...her group was merrier- about 10 people...

we said good night to boyfriend Huy and went back to our hotel for a spa...we went to the Mimosa Massage Centre...we took the Full Foot & Body Reflexology Massage...I upgraded to the Hot Stone Theraphy combination...ahh...foot massage still tickles me...i laugh and i laugh...so far, i think the best still goes to the Khmer Rouge-style massage i had in Cambodia...

the end of our first day in Vietnam...zZzzzzZzz

on second day (18/04/2010), we had our buffet breakfast at the hotel...I don't eat much but i like the baguette and the lotus paste sticky rice dumplings...you see, due to the French colonisation influence, the Vietnamese really knows how to bake fluffy breads...soooo nice...

our agenda of the day is a half-day tour to the famous Cu Chi (pronounced as Koo Chee) Tunnel...we had a 1 1/2 hours bus journey from Saigon to Cu Chi district...

the 4 of us slept on the bus ride waking up in the middle of a rubber estate...haa..that's when our tour guide was busy collecting the entrance fees...

Cu Chi Tunnel was built mimmicking the system of termites colony, where they had openings of many, many rooms catered for families interconnecting via tunnels...it was simply, a village residing underground during the war...a brilliant engineering...

we also got a chance to see various replication of traditional village traps built with bamboo poles...these were also brilliantly designed...very terrifying...

in the middle of the tour, we get to sample the food during war - which was 'ubi kayu bakar'...they served it with mashed roasted groundnuts,salt and sugar...

the highlight of the tour was the experience of crawling inside the real Cu Chi Tunnel...the Tourism Board of Vietnam only allows the Level 1 (100m deep route) to be accessed by visitors...and this opening has been renovated to become slightly bigger as to accommodate the passage of bigger tourists...we had no problems, we are Asians...but, Beebee and me chose to surrender at the first exit (we only went inside for a 30 m deep route)...we need air...we need air...way to go, Shim and Nadh!!!

after the Cu Chi Tunnel tour, it was lunchtime...our boyfriends went back home...we had our lunch at V.N.Halal...noodle time for Beebee, Shim and me while Nadh had her rice...not sedap...the sign is Beebee and me can't finish our meals...truly, they were not to our liking..a team of Beebee and me will 'sayang' our portion but here, they went to waste...poor us...

Shim and Beebee went back to rest at the hotel leaving energetic Nadh and me...

Nadh and me were supposed to survey the Ben Thanh Market...alas...oopss...accidentally we custom made our Ao Yais...MYR140 per pair promised to finish within 18 hours...huuu...

around 7pm, Huy came introducing another boyfriend: Diamond...Truong send his regards...

that night, I had a wonderful birthday dinner on the Saigon River Cruise...we had a good spot on the upper deck, near the stage where they had a piper and guitarist entertaining the guests (thanks Huy for the early reservation)...

we ordered french fries with chopsticks...and fruit juices...Nadh had her sip of Sapodilla juice (big ciku) recommended by Diamond...I had no birthday cake...instead, I had a treat of Special Mint Chocolate Chips Birthday Ice Cream...

Huy requested for the musicians to play a birthday lullaby to me...yeay...at the same time, the sailor waitress came and placed our mixed fruit platters and layered jellies...and the rest made a video birthday wishes...i was deeply touched and speechless...that was also the time i switched on my Nokia whereby i received birthday calls and SMSes and MMSes...thanks...you know who you are...i feel loved...

after alighting from the cruise, we went for a night photoshoot and also to the night market getting souvenirs...happily zzZzzzZzzzz

again, a buffet breakfast at our hotel... had my usual baguette and butter...

last day (19/04/2010) is a $shopping day...we bargained for textiles mainly English cotton and chiffons...and we went to Hong Anh to buy ready-made dresses...

what I $hop?!!alaaa...I feel guilty...I $hop only for me...I'm sorry...I'm sorry...

DGAs and selected few got something...Ao Yai for darling 'Aina...and i never forgot Mama's...other family members, luckily Kak Intan just return from Vietnam few months back...alhamdulillah, not so bad afterall...

Beebee always calmed me...

Dah cukup dah...Orang faham...Awak yang kene faham sekarang ni OK...

we had our lunch at Jamia Mosque again...and the same menu...with the same excellent service...
two thumbs up...

after prayer, we went bargaining for telekung sold at the Madrasah...they had black cloth telekung...Shim and me only took the ordinary white ones...Beebee and Nadh bought the black ones - Arab laa tuh kununn...

we checked out from the hotel...Shim and Nadh were charged for missing slippers...it was a scam laa...sabar ajelahh!!!

we left our luggage at the bellboy when our boyfriends arrived to treat us for Vietnam coffee - a must!

we went to Ca Moy Cafe...they served Vietnam coffee using a special individual filter made from stainless steelware...to neutralize the strength of the coffee, you need to alternate your sip with green tea serve alongside..nice..really nice...no wonder Kak Intan got addicted..Vietnam coffee is best...I should have done this upon arrival...now, i missed it...Nadh too, right?!!

OK, so after coffee time, we said our farewell to our 3-days boyfriends...hukhuk...sobsob...

haha...maybe they were playing sao qua di with us...deep inside their hearts: ahh...finally balik jugak budak2 gedik ini...lega aku...lega....

we had our dinner in flights...sponsored by Shim yang punya banyak uang...AK885 touched down around 1130pm...Fidah picked us up at KL Sentral...we reached Kg Baru around 2am...

ohh...em yeu Vietnam! this is not sao qua di...I do mean it...hoho...thank you sayang2ku...toy yeu ba'...
___________________________________________
i just received my KL Towerthon Challenge 2010 certificate...yeay...my time record is 40:32 minutes...and my placing is 157th out of 500...congratulations liza...

i should train for my next race: MENGO Green Hunt 2010...for my team, i will be Hunter #2...

but , i tripped and bruised both my knees last Wednesday...aiyaa...

a friend comforted me saying that He loves me...and another friend share the tale of the arrogant Pharaoh...insaf saya...

oo Allah, have mercy and protect all of us...

currently read: LIFE! Malaysian style...
currently listening to: Karena Ku Cinta Kau by Bunga Citra Lestari

no more MUA but HOPE never dies...I dare to dream...lovely angels know but He knows all...wallahu'allam...