A special shout-out to these people. Thanks for making this trip such an enjoyable one. Many loves to Vera, YY and Gab!
We rock!
Day 1 - Departure
It was quite sad really, to fly by budget air because the budget terminal is really pathetic.
The library boxes came and we had to check them in ourselves. After that, we had to load them up by ourselves again. It was cool for like 5 seconds then it got pretty boring. Our flight was scheduled at 12.40pm.
We had to take a customary group shot before we entered the departure gates. Took more quick photos while waiting for our turn to board the plane.
The flight was boring. No in-flight entertainment and no free plane food. I really had a nice view of the skies though. Landing in Vietnam was very much a surprise because the plane flew so close to the ground. The Saigon River really looks amazing but dirty at the same time. Crossing Vietnam roads were fun I must say...
First team lunch was at LOTTERIA! In fact, we ate quite alot of Lotteria throughout our 2 weeks in Vietnam.
Day 2 - R&R
We had our R&R today. It was a good start for the YEP team actually; relax first then work. We went for a city tour on cyclos which is almost equivalent to Singapore's trishaws. It was really sunny out and and the traffic conditions were as bad as usual. Think blaring horns, slow-moving vehicles, and lots of dust!
After the city tour on cyclos ended, we went shopping at Benh Thanh market which is really cool! Managed to buy a white netball skirt for myself for only US$5! I also bought gifts for my family and friends (which I thought were enough at first). Lunch was at this restaurant and I had yummy beef pho noodles. I felt a little uneasy eating beef but it was the better alternative to vegetarian and seafood pho noodles. After lunch, we went for another round of shopping! My greatest regret was to tag along with Lester and Bryan because they sure know how to bargain for ONE FINE HOUR! If we had known better, we could have gone shopping on our own and bought more stuff.
Dinner was at His Café and I really hated going there for food. Their slow service was a huge turn-off for me. Tonight in particular we had to wait for 2 hours before we got our seafood fried rice that was extremely small in serving. Worst still we ordered spring roll and fries but alas, the spring rolls contained pork which I nearly ate and the fries tasted like paper. Luckily the company was great. All of us suffered together.
Back at the hotel, it was cup noodle time. Gabriel brought his mass tin and portable electric stove so we had a nice supper together.
All hail the mighty mass tin and electric stove!
Day 3 - Cultural Exchange Night
Early in the morning, the whole team popped by the school to practice our cultural exchange items. The rehearsal went as smoothly as it could. It's do or die anyway. We went to His Cafe again for a "catered" lunch. Load of bull man. We still had to wait for our food to come. Quite a few of us went hungry because there was not enough food, me included.
In the afternoon, we went over to the IYC hall and to our horror, the venue was downgraded from a hall to a classroom. Yeah that sure spoilt our performance.We still had to wait anyway so the team had ice-cream at the nearby cafe. The cultural exchange was successful I think? Malay dance was a total nightmare seriously.
For dinner, we had Lotteria again. We ate our fill before heading towards the supermarket to do some marketing. Almost all of us stocked up on food so we had many trolleys filled to the brim. The lecturers also decided that at the rate that we're eating, we have to cook our own food. So for lunch, the team will take turns to cook lunch. YAY! In the end, I helped with the cooking most of the time. Super tiring but it felt very gratifying.
Day 4 - Goreng pisang, Chicken egg, Birthday cake and TCC
Today after school, Vera and a few others discovered this wonderful stall! Oh my god! Yummy goreng pisang for 1000dong (ie 1ocents only)! Crispy batter, hot, melted banana and wonderful aroma...totally orgasmic. Ever since then, I will buy at least three each day. Yummy goreng pisang. I LIKE!
Slightly later in the afternoon, a few of us went to the supermarket again to buy more stuff. While waiting for Ms Soh to decide what to eat for dinner, FJ and Z decided to be brave souls and eat the infamous half-formed chicken egg. Yuck to the max thanks. The few of us who were there could only look on in half amazement and disgust. So guess what was for dinner again? Here's a clue...it starts with the letter L!
As it turns out, we celebrated Roger's and Ken's birthdays. Hilarious shit. The second best part (the first is goreng pisang) of the day was the discovery of TCC. It's a cool coffee place where we can chill till late, eat good food and enjoy wireless internet. Oh and it's a dangerous 5min walk from our hotel. Why if you ask? There's this insanely huge dog that lives in this house that we have to pass by every single time we want to walk back to the hotel. This insanely huge dog unfortunately scared me to death that night when it came breathing down my leg and I screamed like there's no tomorrow. And we also have to walk down this dark aisle and at the same time, pass ancestral graves before we reach safely at the hotel. It can't get any more dangerous right. Right...
I also forgot to mention that today was officially the start of English lessons at Yen The School. Slackdom alert.
Day 5 - A trip to Saigon Zoo!
After school and after cooking lunch, surprise surprise I find myself very free for the afternoon. So was Vera, YY, Bryan and Houng Yee. What was supposed to be a trip to Benh Thanh for another round of shopping somehow was changed to "Let's explore Vietnam!". We went to the zoo by the way. Super fun! I would want to do it again but minus the consequence.
We took an insane amount of photos of ourselves and the animals.
I repeat. SUPER FUN!
Not wanting to outdo us, the afternoon group decided to join us at the zoo once they were done with their lessons. Too bad the zoo was closed by the time they arrived and it was abit too late to go shopping. So, it was another case of "Let's explore Vietnam Part 2!"
We walked from the zoo to the Reunification Palace. Very far thanks. It was still fun nevertheless (:
After we got back, Vera and I got scolded. Somewhat.
Day 6 - PE and Free time
We didn't do much after lessons ended today. My form had PE but took photos of them instead of participating with them. At the end of the day, we took more photos of ourselves in front of the school.
Dinner was on our own, so...
We went to eat Jollibee.
We ate chicken.
We were not supposed to eat chicken in Vietnam because of bird flu.
We were deprived Singaporeans.
Vera and I got scolded again. Somewhat.
On a more positive note,Vietnam arcades are super duper cheap.
Day 7 & 8 - Library
Nothing much happened. We were all busy with the setting up of library.
Day 9 - IT talk and City tour of HCMC with IYC
IT talk was boring. Period.
We had lunch at this cafe. Great interior design. Everything else was passable.
The city tour was also boring in my opinion. That's because a group of us already explored HCMC on our own and I really felt that we had more fun then as compared to this. I am still thankful though to IYC for bringing us around. More photos!
The visit to the war musuem was an eye opener. Too bad we had no time to thoroughly cover the whole place.
Day 10 - Visit to Sunshine Home
The whole day was spent playing with the girls from Sunshine Home. The two girls that I had to look after were very mischievous. One can run like the wind while the other just can't sit still. We played games at the home and at the nearby park before going for lunch at a very far place. I can still remember walking with one of the girls on my back for half and hour before reaching the eatery. We ended the visit with a "Girls Talk"where I stood guard at the door before surrendering to the heat. Zzzzzz
Day 11 - The Ugly Merlion, Basketball and Seafood
Today's English lesson was pretty hilarious. We drew such ugly pictures for the class.
In the afternoon, we were supposed to play basketball with the students. Then news spread that it was canceled because the teachers forbade the students to play with us. So an impromptu plan was made to go shopping much to Vera's displeasure. Canceled, not canceled, canceled, no it's still on. We wasted quite a lot of time waiting for the cabs to arrive. In the end, didn't have much time to play.
For dinner, we had seafood! They ordered crabs, snails, frog legs, fish and vegetables of which I only ate the fish and vegetables. After that, we went shopping again at the Benh Thanh night market.
Day 12 - Dinner hosted by Yen The School
Had yummy food but I ate something disgusting. Tried their traditional bamboo dance but failed miserably. Performed our cultural exchange items again to the students. Embarrassing moment times many many!
Day 13 - Celebration Night!
That night was probably the best night of all the nights we had. Dinner was great but what happened next was probably greater.
We started with the award ceremony. Pictures are self-explanatory...
Thanks to Ms Soh and Mr Lim for organizing such a great activity. The whole team really enjoyed this. So the following people got the following awards!
Mr Sotong
Ms Congeniality
Ms Jovial
Ms Best-dressed
Mr Energetic
Ms Caring
Ms Sleepy
Mr Ever-ready
Mr Shocker
Ms Sour
Mr Hardy
Surprise surprise Roger was the biggest winner that night. After the award ceremony, the lecturers revealed our angels and mortals. It was shocking to find out that my angel is Kitty Cat who is also my mortal. We were not the only ones who picked each other though; Houng Yee and Roger were each other's angel and mortal.
Then came the special occasion for the night. The reason for this party was to also celebrate Ms Soh's engagement. Thanks YY for playing Canon in D. Thanks to everybody else who chipped in for the present. And I just remembered that some of them still owe me 16,000dong.
We had a special treat from Gabriel and Roger also. HAHA!
Here's Ms Soh with her engagement gift from the team. She's happy!
Day 14 - Farewell with the school and Dinner with IYC
Cool board drawings
The students singing a Vietnamese song to us
The pink people getting our gifts from the school
The goreng pisang lady. It was our last day to enjoy the goreng pisang but sadly, she ran out of goreng pisang to sell. SO SAD :(
Our farewell party with IYC was held at this cafe. Quite cozy but...
They presented a photo slideshow for us. Super unglam photos aplenty!
My angel and also my mortal (:
Crazy bunch of SHS students (minus FJ and XQ)
Day 15 - HOME SWEET HOME
Time to go back to Singapore. I felt sad to leave but excited at the same time.
Picture of IYC, lecturers, Vera and I
Students from IT
Students from SHS
The End!
We rock!
Day 1 - Departure
It was quite sad really, to fly by budget air because the budget terminal is really pathetic.
The library boxes came and we had to check them in ourselves. After that, we had to load them up by ourselves again. It was cool for like 5 seconds then it got pretty boring. Our flight was scheduled at 12.40pm.
We had to take a customary group shot before we entered the departure gates. Took more quick photos while waiting for our turn to board the plane.
The flight was boring. No in-flight entertainment and no free plane food. I really had a nice view of the skies though. Landing in Vietnam was very much a surprise because the plane flew so close to the ground. The Saigon River really looks amazing but dirty at the same time. Crossing Vietnam roads were fun I must say...
First team lunch was at LOTTERIA! In fact, we ate quite alot of Lotteria throughout our 2 weeks in Vietnam.
Day 2 - R&R
We had our R&R today. It was a good start for the YEP team actually; relax first then work. We went for a city tour on cyclos which is almost equivalent to Singapore's trishaws. It was really sunny out and and the traffic conditions were as bad as usual. Think blaring horns, slow-moving vehicles, and lots of dust!
After the city tour on cyclos ended, we went shopping at Benh Thanh market which is really cool! Managed to buy a white netball skirt for myself for only US$5! I also bought gifts for my family and friends (which I thought were enough at first). Lunch was at this restaurant and I had yummy beef pho noodles. I felt a little uneasy eating beef but it was the better alternative to vegetarian and seafood pho noodles. After lunch, we went for another round of shopping! My greatest regret was to tag along with Lester and Bryan because they sure know how to bargain for ONE FINE HOUR! If we had known better, we could have gone shopping on our own and bought more stuff.
Dinner was at His Café and I really hated going there for food. Their slow service was a huge turn-off for me. Tonight in particular we had to wait for 2 hours before we got our seafood fried rice that was extremely small in serving. Worst still we ordered spring roll and fries but alas, the spring rolls contained pork which I nearly ate and the fries tasted like paper. Luckily the company was great. All of us suffered together.
Back at the hotel, it was cup noodle time. Gabriel brought his mass tin and portable electric stove so we had a nice supper together.
All hail the mighty mass tin and electric stove!
Day 3 - Cultural Exchange Night
Early in the morning, the whole team popped by the school to practice our cultural exchange items. The rehearsal went as smoothly as it could. It's do or die anyway. We went to His Cafe again for a "catered" lunch. Load of bull man. We still had to wait for our food to come. Quite a few of us went hungry because there was not enough food, me included.
In the afternoon, we went over to the IYC hall and to our horror, the venue was downgraded from a hall to a classroom. Yeah that sure spoilt our performance.We still had to wait anyway so the team had ice-cream at the nearby cafe. The cultural exchange was successful I think? Malay dance was a total nightmare seriously.
For dinner, we had Lotteria again. We ate our fill before heading towards the supermarket to do some marketing. Almost all of us stocked up on food so we had many trolleys filled to the brim. The lecturers also decided that at the rate that we're eating, we have to cook our own food. So for lunch, the team will take turns to cook lunch. YAY! In the end, I helped with the cooking most of the time. Super tiring but it felt very gratifying.
Day 4 - Goreng pisang, Chicken egg, Birthday cake and TCC
Today after school, Vera and a few others discovered this wonderful stall! Oh my god! Yummy goreng pisang for 1000dong (ie 1ocents only)! Crispy batter, hot, melted banana and wonderful aroma...totally orgasmic. Ever since then, I will buy at least three each day. Yummy goreng pisang. I LIKE!
Slightly later in the afternoon, a few of us went to the supermarket again to buy more stuff. While waiting for Ms Soh to decide what to eat for dinner, FJ and Z decided to be brave souls and eat the infamous half-formed chicken egg. Yuck to the max thanks. The few of us who were there could only look on in half amazement and disgust. So guess what was for dinner again? Here's a clue...it starts with the letter L!
As it turns out, we celebrated Roger's and Ken's birthdays. Hilarious shit. The second best part (the first is goreng pisang) of the day was the discovery of TCC. It's a cool coffee place where we can chill till late, eat good food and enjoy wireless internet. Oh and it's a dangerous 5min walk from our hotel. Why if you ask? There's this insanely huge dog that lives in this house that we have to pass by every single time we want to walk back to the hotel. This insanely huge dog unfortunately scared me to death that night when it came breathing down my leg and I screamed like there's no tomorrow. And we also have to walk down this dark aisle and at the same time, pass ancestral graves before we reach safely at the hotel. It can't get any more dangerous right. Right...
I also forgot to mention that today was officially the start of English lessons at Yen The School. Slackdom alert.
Day 5 - A trip to Saigon Zoo!
After school and after cooking lunch, surprise surprise I find myself very free for the afternoon. So was Vera, YY, Bryan and Houng Yee. What was supposed to be a trip to Benh Thanh for another round of shopping somehow was changed to "Let's explore Vietnam!". We went to the zoo by the way. Super fun! I would want to do it again but minus the consequence.
We took an insane amount of photos of ourselves and the animals.
I repeat. SUPER FUN!
Not wanting to outdo us, the afternoon group decided to join us at the zoo once they were done with their lessons. Too bad the zoo was closed by the time they arrived and it was abit too late to go shopping. So, it was another case of "Let's explore Vietnam Part 2!"
We walked from the zoo to the Reunification Palace. Very far thanks. It was still fun nevertheless (:
After we got back, Vera and I got scolded. Somewhat.
Day 6 - PE and Free time
We didn't do much after lessons ended today. My form had PE but took photos of them instead of participating with them. At the end of the day, we took more photos of ourselves in front of the school.
Dinner was on our own, so...
We went to eat Jollibee.
We ate chicken.
We were not supposed to eat chicken in Vietnam because of bird flu.
We were deprived Singaporeans.
Vera and I got scolded again. Somewhat.
On a more positive note,Vietnam arcades are super duper cheap.
Day 7 & 8 - Library
Nothing much happened. We were all busy with the setting up of library.
Day 9 - IT talk and City tour of HCMC with IYC
IT talk was boring. Period.
We had lunch at this cafe. Great interior design. Everything else was passable.
The city tour was also boring in my opinion. That's because a group of us already explored HCMC on our own and I really felt that we had more fun then as compared to this. I am still thankful though to IYC for bringing us around. More photos!
The visit to the war musuem was an eye opener. Too bad we had no time to thoroughly cover the whole place.
Day 10 - Visit to Sunshine Home
The whole day was spent playing with the girls from Sunshine Home. The two girls that I had to look after were very mischievous. One can run like the wind while the other just can't sit still. We played games at the home and at the nearby park before going for lunch at a very far place. I can still remember walking with one of the girls on my back for half and hour before reaching the eatery. We ended the visit with a "Girls Talk"where I stood guard at the door before surrendering to the heat. Zzzzzz
Day 11 - The Ugly Merlion, Basketball and Seafood
Today's English lesson was pretty hilarious. We drew such ugly pictures for the class.
In the afternoon, we were supposed to play basketball with the students. Then news spread that it was canceled because the teachers forbade the students to play with us. So an impromptu plan was made to go shopping much to Vera's displeasure. Canceled, not canceled, canceled, no it's still on. We wasted quite a lot of time waiting for the cabs to arrive. In the end, didn't have much time to play.
For dinner, we had seafood! They ordered crabs, snails, frog legs, fish and vegetables of which I only ate the fish and vegetables. After that, we went shopping again at the Benh Thanh night market.
Day 12 - Dinner hosted by Yen The School
Had yummy food but I ate something disgusting. Tried their traditional bamboo dance but failed miserably. Performed our cultural exchange items again to the students. Embarrassing moment times many many!
Day 13 - Celebration Night!
That night was probably the best night of all the nights we had. Dinner was great but what happened next was probably greater.
We started with the award ceremony. Pictures are self-explanatory...
Thanks to Ms Soh and Mr Lim for organizing such a great activity. The whole team really enjoyed this. So the following people got the following awards!
Mr Sotong
Ms Congeniality
Ms Jovial
Ms Best-dressed
Mr Energetic
Ms Caring
Ms Sleepy
Mr Ever-ready
Mr Shocker
Ms Sour
Mr Hardy
Surprise surprise Roger was the biggest winner that night. After the award ceremony, the lecturers revealed our angels and mortals. It was shocking to find out that my angel is Kitty Cat who is also my mortal. We were not the only ones who picked each other though; Houng Yee and Roger were each other's angel and mortal.
Then came the special occasion for the night. The reason for this party was to also celebrate Ms Soh's engagement. Thanks YY for playing Canon in D. Thanks to everybody else who chipped in for the present. And I just remembered that some of them still owe me 16,000dong.
We had a special treat from Gabriel and Roger also. HAHA!
Here's Ms Soh with her engagement gift from the team. She's happy!
Day 14 - Farewell with the school and Dinner with IYC
Cool board drawings
The students singing a Vietnamese song to us
The pink people getting our gifts from the school
The goreng pisang lady. It was our last day to enjoy the goreng pisang but sadly, she ran out of goreng pisang to sell. SO SAD :(
Our farewell party with IYC was held at this cafe. Quite cozy but...
They presented a photo slideshow for us. Super unglam photos aplenty!
My angel and also my mortal (:
Crazy bunch of SHS students (minus FJ and XQ)
Day 15 - HOME SWEET HOME
Time to go back to Singapore. I felt sad to leave but excited at the same time.
Picture of IYC, lecturers, Vera and I
Students from IT
Students from SHS
The End!