oep @ vietnam |day 4|
Saturday, April 19
wow... posting about oep now sounds like it was ages ago... well i'm taking ages to finish the super detailed account, since i cant bear to leave things brief. i'll be "plagiarizing" 95% of the stuff from my hcl project english draft, which was about the trip. hehe. so excuse the lack of personal flavour in some parts :P
so just to help you recall, on day 3, we spent the whole day driving up to dalat from ho chi minh city.
we had to set off early in the morning so that we could complete all the stuff that was crammed into our tight schedule, and ms ong had called in sick. our first stop was the vien sinh hoc biological research institute. when we went in, it looked more like a museum. it had many exhibits of stuffed animals, which was supposed to show us all the extinct or endangered animals, so that we would value animals and remember to preserve nature. every room of the place looked the same, so by the time we reached the end, people were starting to play a fool, and not paying attention to the animals at all. i even caught some pics of eugene posing for the camera. then darren, eugene, and joshua even posed for one bimbo shot XD hahaha. was it enriching there? not at all.
we finally left for our next destination, which was
mount langbiang. we had been earlier told by ms ong that the trek up mount langbiang was super hard, so we were all nervously preparing ourselves for a long tedious hike. our buses dropped us off at the base of the mountain, and we all waited for the transport provided by the people on the mountain, to take us to the halfway point.
while we were waiting, there was an old women trying to sell us handicraft. at first, we all wanted to buy the items to help her out, seeing how pitiful she was. but when she stated her price, none of us wanted to buy anything, as the prices were too high for the kind of things they were selling. i mean, you wanna earn money quick i know, but please lah be reasonable, as if we're not extorted of enough money. we all walked away, shaking our heads to show that we didn’t want to buy, but she still kept following us wherever we went, and in the end we had no choice but to just ignored her, even though it wasn’t polite.
so the different groups from each class left one by one in the jeeps, and the whole batch of jeeps were gone, but my group was still there, and the only one left. what poor planning... and how come just nice our class is the one that doesnt get a jeep! so unfair lor. so we had to wait till one of the jeeps from the previous batch had come back down, so that we could go up. so when the jeep came down, we all fought over where we were sitting. heh, how childish of us.
well anyway, since we were the last group to go up, we missed the photo-taking they had without us. so bad! and also the stupid guides stood there waiting like idiots. then we were like, "can we go?" and they just said, "wait for the rest." and we told them that we were the last, but they just said, "wait for the rest." euuuu! so bad. waste even more time. then we stoned there for at least 5 minutes. then we were all talking to each other discussing how stupid it was, and when we could go, and asking each other to ask the guides again. so i finally got so fed up with standing around there that i just asked the stupid guides, "can we go? we're the last group coming up here." then they were like, "really??? oh! then just walk along the road." stupid people! we told them we were the last from the start! haiz. and we took one look at the road, and saw a very gentle and unchallenging road. haha, so much for tedious.
so we ended up starting VERY far behind everyone else. so the two long-legged people, i.e. gareth and me, made easy work of the road, while the shorter people trailed behind, and we had to constantly stop to wait for them to keep up. haiz. but even though we were last, and despite the slow pace we were going at, we still managed to beat two other teams before reaching the top! yay for us! there were a couple of burning pieces of wood along the way... smelt like a barbeque... heh
the mountain top view was... i wont say it wasnt worth it, but of course i cant say its stellar either. i've seen better. but it was still rather nice all the same (: nothing to blow you away. so lots of people were clicking away on their cameras, taking pictures of the view, as if it was so stellar. oh well. maybe they dont travel much. i just took a few pictures for the sake of doing so, and also went further down the side of the mountain to get different views. the climb down was really fun, and there were so many people all around. it was super super windy, and the further we went down the steeper it was. so a couple of us went so far down that it was really hard to keep our balance, and with the added difficulty of the wind, we almost slipped. the wind was VERY strong, and at one stage it blew so hard that all the leaves just started flying around. so refreshing. then ms kavita asked everyone to go back up, cos the wind was picking up and she didnt want us to get hurt or anything.
so when we went back up to the peak, yu shiang brought us to see one of the horseboys there, who looked exactly like him! i've never see any two people with such similar looks in my whole life. our tour guide asked if they could take pictures together, to which he agreed, and here the pic i took :P really alike isnt it?
almost as if they were separated at birth... lol. obviously not lah.
so anyway, the jeeps took as all the way back down to the base of the mountain. and as before, we were the last to leave. ok not really the last. the sick people were after us. and as luck would have it, the idiot of sean khoo was there. he was totally stuck up as usual. and we just stand in front of him he start to complain. of course none of us can be bothered to pick a fight or start an argument, so as usual he got his way. thank goodness the jeep came up and saved us. good riddance.
then we were taken all the way to the bottom, and ate at a restaurant that was definitely the BEST meal we had since the start of the trip, a great change from the food in ho chi minh city. our saving grace. i risked eating a piece of chicken wing, though we had been warned not to eat any chicken. but i just put all that aside and succumbed to the temptation of the deep fried chicken wing. mmmmm... that was good.
so after that we were brought to a strawberry farm. our tour guide asked us to pick 5 to 7 strawberries per person for us to eat after dinner as dessert. in addition, we were to pick one that we thought was the biggest, for a competition within the class to see who had the biggest strawberry. yea. our tour guide rocks :P
so we went down the path to the field, and started picking away. i couldnt be bothered with the competition, so i was just wandering around, following people in the class, and of course picking strawberries at the same time lah. then our dear swathikan thought that we were supposed to eat 1... haha. when it wasnt even washed! how silly. i wonder if anyone actually DID eat it there and then... swathikan must have been one of them. and jonathan found a lovely strawberry which has such an unusual shape. it was like hollow, and was shaped like 2 butt cheeks. no comment.
so after we'd spent quite enough time there, we went back to the bus, and dumped all the strawberries into 1 big box. that was a lot of strawberries... so on our bus, each group submitted their biggest strawberries to the front, to be judged by ms lim the DP4. and jasper had the largest strawberry, and thus received 1kg of washed strawberries for he and his friends to share in the night. i wonder if they even remembered to eat it... hehehe.
by the time we were done, we arrived at a little shop. which sold lots of dried things and fruits, and the whole group were seated at tables and given free samples. darren was seriously free loading off all the goodies, and then he said, "i'm obviously not gonna waste my money on such expensive stuff! they give free just take lah!" wah seriously ah he, finished so many of them. the sweets were seriously sweet, so i didnt buy anything. nothing worth my fine, exquisite taste buds :P
we made our move to our next destination: the valley of love! the tour guide called it the disneyland of dalat, which was kinda like... ok... whatever man. so we stepped in, and i got goosebumps immediately. the place was like totally awesome! so peaceful, tranquil (of course this was all disrupted by us XD), i was totally absorbed in the lovely atmosphere.
there were many love-related sculptures around the place too, really really cool. the best of all was the valley itself, which had a nice river flowing through it, and lots of decoration. the whole thing was just so natural, and the class took many pictures there. being typical us, we ran around the place, having lots of fun in the place which just allowed us all to be filled with joy.
so we went back up to the non-valley part of the park, where we sat with ms lim for a time of reflection. sitting there without a coat was sooooo cold! cos we weren't moving around at all, so our bodies weren't being kept warm. so immediately after the class broke off to do our own stuff again, people were chasing each other for jackets. the most hilarious of all was qin xiang walking so funnily, and was caught on tape on gareth :P too bad he was forced to delete it.
well the running around did us good, as our bodies eventually warmed up due to the physical activity, and we ended up chucking the jacket to each other. so we all went to the swings and started swinging away! swings are my most favourite playground item, as you can go super super high, as long as you know how to :P so since the swing was rather wide, lots of people clammered onto the swing, and you could hear the whole swing heave under our weight. so after swinging quite a couple of times, with the constant creaking of the swing, ms kav finally came and told us to go at 2 per time at maximum XD whoops :P i could tell at once that jie jun and darren knew how to swing properly to make it go high, so i asked to go with one of them, cos of course i myself know how to go high :P i learnt from my cousins. oooh it was sooooo fun! the whoosh of the swing, the cool air rushing through our hair. just fabulous! of course we had to take turns...
so after that, we left the valley of love and went for dinner. the dinner was VERY lopsided, having all vege dishes, except for 1 meat. terrible! so then the strawberries came for dessert, and they were all snapped up very quickly. in the chaos, one of them dropped in the plate of soy sauce, and of course nobody wanted to eat it. then eugene took it out and put it on a plate, and offered it to the people at the other table, who were obviously very suspicious. so many people followed suit and started adding 'spices' so their strawberries, and giving it to other people. apparently je sern even put a fly in a strawberry and offered it to someone. he certainly got blasted for that... so eugene took the leaves off a strawberry and poked a hole at the top with a toothpick. then he took some red chili and stuff it inside the strawberry using the toothpick. and finally, he put the leaves back on top, and pushed it gently into the hole so that it would stay there. knowing those at the next table wouldnt fall prey to his evil schemes, he saved it for later to give other classmates.
so while waiting for the buses, eugene took the opportunity to offer it to some of the canoeists who were talking to mr chan. but to our horror, instead of having the students take it, mr chan took the strawberry and popped it in his mouth! we couldnt stop him from eating it, because that would immediately alert the others that there was something wrong with the strawberry, so we all giggled as mr chan chewed on the strawberry, who was smiling away. when he finally swallowed it, he said, "eugene, that was the best strawberry i've ever tasted."
the buses finally arrived and we were driven to a nearby place to watch a cultural song and dance show. before the performance, the people lit a HUGE bonfire in the center of the stage, which was sooooo nice. the warmth that came with it was great too. with this grand opening, they began their performance.
it was very interesting to see the various dances of vietnam, and they were performed with such skill and fluency, like an expert. well what can you expect, they've probably done it countless times. they invited people in the audience to join their dances as and when they wanted, and of course, everyone being shy, nobody wanted to go. but after mr chan went up, a whole hoard of 3.9ers, including me, went up to join in. it was VERY VERY fun dancing up there, and it was so enjoyable that once you went up there, you completely forgot any embarrassment that you may have had earlier.
so as each dance passed, more and more people joined. we even forced some people to join, not to embarrass them, but to let them experience the joy of dancing there, as it really is a rare opportunity that comes by your way. i even managed to force qin xiang to go! haha. of course, for some songs, nobody went up. i was so tempted to go up at times, but being alone would be so scary :P so i asked qin xiang whether he would go up with me if i did, to which he said, "maybe..." i was like... haiz so indefinite. so i myself was debating whether to go up. then just when i finally decided that i would go up, a whole bunch of people on my side decided it was the perfect time to go to the toilet. if i went up and there was nobody to take my picture, what was the use? so i just stayed put and waited till they *hopefully* returned from the toilet. sadly, by the time they returned, they were going to perform their last dance already, so obviously when they invited people to join them again, almost everyone went up, so there was nothing really special when i went up, although i was the first one to go up :P ryan finally agreed to go up, and said it was "so fun!" too bad for him it was too little too late :P
at the end of the performance, the performers were given a long and loud applause. we took pics and all, it was really great.
finally, back at the hotel, people were running all over the level, running from room to room. many of us were also barefooted. matthew and mark were teaching people how to juggle along the corridor, so balls were being throw all over the place. everyone was making full use of the last night in dalat, the wonderful hotel that was aeons better than the one in ho chi minh city. it seemed as though everyone wanted it to be a night to be remembered. after all, we assumed the teachers wouldnt be doing room check like the previous night, so we went on as late as we wanted.
the fun all ended we received a phone call while playing cards in sam's room. it was from one of the 3 rooms on the floor below us, telling us that ms ong and mr chan were coming around to do room check! RUN! so with a mad flurry, the many people in sam's room ran out and quickly went to their own rooms, also telling others in the neighbouring and their own rooms that the teachers were coming. so when ms ong and mr chan came to the corridor, they were greeted by a whole mad rush of students running back to their rooms. i had to run pass them to get to my room too XD and ms ong said to all of us, "better go back right now ah! we're doing room check!"aww, why did the teachers have to come and spoil the party :( it wasnt very late either
so i waited in my bed for them to do room check, cos i didnt want to be disturbed in my sleep to have to open the door when they came. i waited in bed the whole time while my roommate went to sleep, and in the end nobody came to my room... i was so irritated so i finally lay down and rested on my pillow, and went on to dreamland.
ah, this was the best day of our oep in vietnam... they feel like ancient memories now XD
AMEN;
11:42 pm
almost as if they were separated at birth... lol. obviously not lah.
so we went down the path to the field, and started picking away. i couldnt be bothered with the competition, so i was just wandering around, following people in the class, and of course picking strawberries at the same time lah. then our dear swathikan thought that we were supposed to eat 1... haha. when it wasnt even washed! how silly. i wonder if anyone actually DID eat it there and then... swathikan must have been one of them. and jonathan found a lovely strawberry which has such an unusual shape. it was like hollow, and was shaped like 2 butt cheeks. no comment.
so we went back up to the non-valley part of the park, where we sat with ms lim for a time of reflection. sitting there without a coat was sooooo cold! cos we weren't moving around at all, so our bodies weren't being kept warm. so immediately after the class broke off to do our own stuff again, people were chasing each other for jackets. the most hilarious of all was qin xiang walking so funnily, and was caught on tape on gareth :P too bad he was forced to delete it.
it was very interesting to see the various dances of vietnam, and they were performed with such skill and fluency, like an expert. well what can you expect, they've probably done it countless times. they invited people in the audience to join their dances as and when they wanted, and of course, everyone being shy, nobody wanted to go. but after mr chan went up, a whole hoard of 3.9ers, including me, went up to join in. it was VERY VERY fun dancing up there, and it was so enjoyable that once you went up there, you completely forgot any embarrassment that you may have had earlier.