On the eve of Christmas, my ol' NUSSU Bizcom mates gathered together to spread some festive cheer to the lil' ones at a Children's Home!

Fel organised it and we have to say, though there were some minor hiccups from the magicians, the party went well!

There was a wide spread of pizza, 15 to be exact, 60 drumlets and so on sponsored by the rest of Fel's colleagues.. The rest of us contributed a gift to each of the 60 kids there.


Really love tis' time of the season!

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;

A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;

A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;

A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;

A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;

A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

Hanoi & HCMC, Vietnam 14th - 23rd Dec

My new group mates fer the next semester:
L-R: Mun Chun, Duong, Co Seng, Me, Trang, Yang Han and Adeline embarked on a 9 day study-trip to Vietnam!


Here's a peek at a few of the many reasons why our 9 day trip to Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh was fabulous!


No.1:

The swanky shophouse Blue Paradise Hotel we stayed in!
Fer one, my room fer 3 girls had the following:
* 2 Queen-sized and a Super-single bed
* Desktop
* Balcony
* 2 Sofas
* Free Wifi

The only boon: Climbing up 5 storeys every single day.....


No.1.1:

Breakfast at hotel's lobby!
Pho Ga (like Sg's Kway Teow) and ommelette with bread!


No.2:

THE FOOD OF COURSE..
Value fer Money.
Almost every type of food has to be dipped into fish sauce which enhances the taste..

Top of my list is Saigon Spring rolls and Duong's mom cooked superyummilicious ones! (O yes, we stayed over at his house fer 3 nights at HCMC!)


No. 3:

It was 5 meals every single day!
Breakfast, TEA, lunch, TEA and dinner..

The most mememorable?
The first photo where we sat on newspapers at an open space ordering drinks from illegal VENdors (pun intended) who ran away when the traffic police came.


No.4:

Their quaint architecture and culture.
This one here's Hanoi's famed Water Puppet Show.


No.5:

The trip to Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum to visit his embalmed body in a glass case.



On the last night, Richard treated us to seafood dinner again.




Last but not least, as the Visa ad goes, 'Traffic is (indeed!) a Killer'!
Stress levels rose exceptionally high while walking along the streets of Hanoi.

With a close shaved accident once and food poisoning striking my group mates down one by one, I felt so blessed to have enjoyed the trip and lived to tell the tale..



With this, I salute to you, Till We Meet Again Comrades!


P.S: Photo inset was instructed by tutor! Mock Horror. -.-

Sydney Day 5

Fer our last breakfast, we ate like a King!

Fresh Lobster and prawns at the Fish Market!
Yummiest, but we overordered. Haha

Before that, the women went into Star City's Casino, which was um.. boring..



With more last minute shopping, we finally hopped onto an A380 back to Singapore!

P.S: As you can see, there's absolutely nothing special about overly hyped largest airbus.

Sydney Day 4

A day to ourselves, which we planned just the night before.. Haha


Walked to Sydney Aquarium and Sydney Wildlife Park from our hotel!



First stop was to the Aquarium.



Had to walk a couple of ramps down to the under water Open Ocean Oceanarium to explore Australia's aquatic life.



Shark Attack!
The shark's menacing eyes reflected the flash!




Ah, who could ferget the fairy penguins, the only specie that breeds in Aussie.
The 3 seemed to appear straight out from Madagascar hatching the next plot though.




Moving on to the Wildlife Park next door!



Haha! I didn't know Ah Kong was at the back of me!



A wierd but diverse mix of wildlife here I must say..



Geraldine took the cutest photo - the Kookaburra!



And the main reason fer this visit was to let Geraldine and Ah Kong experience a Koala bear upfront!
Fer the rest of us, we had even cuddled it before but the park here doesn't allow it.




Souvenirs anyone?!



I love afternoon teas!
Babycinno - That's what Din ordered! Baby+Cappuccino

Lunch at this Japanese Teppanyakki restaurant was great too, (the best out of all the buffet lunches we had with the tour group) with entertainment from the chefs throwing rice bowls and eggs to guests.



After that it was shopping and a tour round Sydney city on a 24hour tram.!

Sydney Day 3

Port Stephens dolphin-watch cruise!
We were hoping to see dolphins frolicking in the sea like what we saw in documentaries.



It turned out to be just Fin Spotting!!
Spot the FIN!
This is the only precious picture we have, taken by the eagle-eye me. Heh




The back of the boat is a playground haven fer kids and adults alike!




4WD Sand Tobogganing at the massive sand dunes next.
The thrill lasted a few seconds, but the climb back up was simply torturous!
Could have played a couple more times if it wasn’t so tiring to lug the board up the sand hill.



The beach nearby the sand dunes.. Water’s icy cool!
Extremely refreshing fer my aching feet.



A Winery at Port Stephens'.


I got a bottle of ice wine fer Alvin’s birthday and my parents asked him to get the ice wine from me (they didn't know it was fer his birthday) when he came over..ARGH
Spoiler.

However, there's still the no.1 ultimate spoiler-
I fergot to bring it on his birthday itself! Hurhurhur *coughs*



Very funny eh..
PAPA was the FIRST to get into the barrel!



The beer garden?
Haha, it's the garden where they produce the main source of wine.

And yes, we love these purple flowers..
They seen everywhere in Sydney.
Since they blossom during summer, it should be possible to have it here in Singapore isn't it?!

Sydney Day 2

Stopped over at the Fish Market this morning!
GLORIOUS GLORIOUS SEAFOOD!
SEAFOOD GALORE!



To the fruit shop fer some really fresh fruits and juice!



Fruit and Vege Antics No 1.



Fruit and Vege Antics No 2.




ANZ Stadium where the 2000 Summer Olympics was held.
Don't even bother going there..

There's nothing much except a Forest of Poles?
I found the best pole of course, Ian Thorpe.


We're so bored that I took the opportunity to feast on my sashimi.. HURHURHUR



Sashimi Going Going GONE!!
As you can see, it started with the 3 of us eating only..
Then came our tour group mates..


Headed on to the Blue Mountains next.
The bus encountered a tyre problem while at the petrol kiosk. Boo.
Nevertheless, we gained extra shopping time at a suburban megamall!
Bought 3 bags and 2 tops in 30mins! Now, that’s what I call SPREE!

If we hadn’t stuck to the timing of 30 mins (the time which the bus driver said to be back), we’d had bought more.



Here we are at Blue Mountains at last!

The air was exceptionally cool tas the rain just stopped not long after we reached.
Had a Journey to the Center of the Earth theme ride which lasted fer a mere 15secs or so.

At the back of the 3 sisters are 3 rocks which represent the legend of the 3 sisters..




Having fun mining coals!



Trekked a small route to experience the nature.

This tree here was strucked by lightning, resulting in a scar which consists of coal!



Shrouded in mist everywhere, perfect picture opportunity.



Nature Study.
Upon closer look, Jasmine let out a scream, the trees were FILLED WITH BLUISH-GREEN INSECTS.
At first, we thought the insects were the fruits of the trees as they were clumped together. Blearrrggghhh.. (1st pic)



Had dinner at Darling Harbour that evening and I managed to lead the way back to our hotel!

Sydney Day 1

Sydney was great!
Mainly because of the awesome exchange rate at 1:1! (or even less)

Bought loads of clothes.. Mainly from Supre.
And 5 bottles of Port Stephens ice-wine!
Woo hooooo.. Hahaha.

There were loads of other nongsensical stuff I bought too.
A tiny puny bottle of Eucalyptus oil which costs A$12.60. Hurhurhur..
My room smells of Down Under’s Bush fragrance now.



A bird's eye view of Sydney aboard the A380.
And here we began our journey in a mini bus with lugguage trailer in tow!



The Rocks Weekend Market
This guy here was playing the Didgeridoo, an Australian aboriginal horn.
Liked it here! Bought a few tea strainers in a shape of a house and some Birubi boomerang magnets.



Of course the iconic Sydney Opera House was not to be missed.



Note the beautifully detailed tiled roof!



We had a luncheon on Captain (simply can’t) Cook cruise along Darling Harbour.
Boy, lunch sucked and I felt so sleepy after that.


That’s it like fer day 1!
Supposed to go Bondi Beach, but no, it didn’t happen. Boo.



Taking a pleasant evening stroll after dinner at Chinatown and witnessing a high speed police car chase that we didn't manaaged to capture on camera in time..