Back to School :)

Orientation day in schoool...getting to know other students, trying to convince ourselves that we have done the right choice through welcome speeches...

I know this is what I want to do, to have a degree in hospitality and tourism (well a part?)...My mentor in Sony asked me once when I close my eyes, where do I see myself, how...At the time, I couldn't imagin, every time I closed the eyes, I thought of whether I would stay working in Sony :). Of course, people have dreams, and I have many. I dream of being a famous writer, to write about people of different places, about culture, maybe a fiction, about women, about places that I have been to...I dream of being a field officer for a non-profit organization, devoting my life to help people in countries under developing, like in VN...I dream of being a chef of the best-known restaurant (preferably my own :)), maybe like the naked chef guy...

Everybody says that I have changed a lot in the last couple of years, positive changes (thank God!). I know I push myself a lot, and sometimes am hard on myself but recently, I know I have stopped and reflected. I start asking myself a lot of questions...what do I want to do? How do I see myself in 5 years? What sort of career I want to pursue? Do I consider having a family? what do I expect from people? same questions, but this time different answers :).

So taking master in hospitality is the first step, I am going to apply in big known hotel chains to gain experiences, and have my own thing later on...That sounds like a good plan for me right now. Besides, whether it is a good choice or not, it is a win-win situation :). Family? yeah I want to have a family, maybe a kid would be nice...Last month when I was in VN, seeing my friends' kid, I shortly wished I could have one :)...But I need to be able to stand firm on my feet, to help my partner financially and to make time for my family. There are a lot of duties when you become wife and mother, I want to have a happy family where my husband and kid can't wait to get home...It is a toughest job! But ok first, where I will have kid? in VN or somewhere else?

Yesterday I saw a movie called "Broken Flower"...It made me think a lot when I got to bed...My mind was full with facts and questions (again!!). What would I become in 15 years? Will I be married to an interesting person? or it will be a dull marriage where nobody talks at dinner? Will my children be good and healthy? or will I be a nun who fight again human right and inequality in the world? :) or like my friend suggested an animal psychic? :) (ok, that is really sad) or maybe being single and devoting myself to animal right in VN? :). Will I want to see my boyfriends/lovers/friends after a long time without keeping in touch?

But I am not scared, I think I am ready (more acceptances) for the destiny path that has been drawn for me before I was born. I think events happen in its time, we can't force it to happen. And if I am doing an MBA right now, it is to prepare myself to the next level/step on the life ladder...

Enough of all the serious talk, I found the new Chinese buddy in school this morning, fascinating guy, his name is David, David is short but so funny :). Not many interesting girls in class so far, many crazy Chinese girls, a couple of Europeans...I am looking forward to courses...

Tonite first salsa lesson :)

Cat lost and found :)

Well, back to Belgium...

So far I was in bed for two days, sleeping, resting...I got a fight with the guy at the check in counter in KL airport because he told me I didn't have French visa on my passport since my flight was to Paris CDG. After more than 1 hour of unsuccessful explanation to them, I got more tired (since I had a running nose and a bit of fever), so my temper raised, I told them that I didn't care how they would check, but please proceed faster, and I would never fly with their airline again...Of course, they told me to calm down, and after 5 mins it was all ok, but I was still angry :)

To CDG, the airport was so big, that even with the car, we got lost, but at the end we got back to Brussels, the weather was really warm and nice, it liked I "brought the sun from VN", someone told me hehehe

Mika disappeared for two weeks (and dear uncle didn't tell me), but yesterday someone saw his picture that we put in their mailbox, and called me, so I came to pick him up. He was all wet and starved, poor one :). The whole evening he didn't let me alone for one second, he was after me from one place to another...

Only a month away from Brussels, but I have the feeling like I was away very long, strangly I think I have changed. Well, in a simpler way I have become, happier as well probably :), so positive change. I am glad.

I will start school next week...Gabor also asked me and Manu to come visit him in Brugge, so Manu told me if I have time next weekend, maybe we will drive there to see him...I don't know, I still have to see how school is, get the schedule and look for a part time job somewhere...

I am ready for challenges ahead :), the whole new me ;P

Again sick...

I hope it is not the bird flu hehehe since the Indonesian state is really warning an epidemic (you never know if it will spread to Malaysia)...No seriously I think it is because I am in and out to many times, and with the sudden change of temperature (Aircon versus outside heat), my body is just a bit weaker, plus the nose is getting sensitive.

But still I was out pretty much early in the morning, visitted the FHM (Malaysia Hotel and Culinary Arts Exhibition) since I am going to start my course in Hotel management, I'd like to have a look. But well, they didn't let me in because of my dressing ;P, I was wearing a top without sleeves!!! (But it's HOT!!)...I paid 5RM to get into Hall 5 to see the competition in cooking, which was not bad anyway...

Many Malays came to talk to me, they said I am very tall, I should be a model (should I consider this career path? ;P) I told them my friend told me I am too old to be a model, but maybe if the Malaysian and Vietnamese markets need me, it would be an honour ;-)).

I met a Belgian girl in the Internet shop, she is from Gent, and is travelling with a boy she just met on the way :-), that's the thing about travelling, you meet many people, and sometimes you meet people who come from a place not far from you on the other side of the planet. When I sat on the plane to come back to VN, the plane passed Eastern Europe, India...I was thinking about the people below me, how big the difference is in just a couple of hours, how we as human being develops and creates many technologies that allow us to do almost what we want and reach where we are...

Manuel smsed me to let me know that Belgium is very cold now, I should prepare a warm thick jacket when I arrive in CDG, Paris. Irina has been looking for me, she sent me many smses and apparently even called me, I hope she is ok! I am going to get a hot tea now, not feeling so well. Will also call mom, it's cheap here ;-))

Sexual Harrassment

Now I know I don't like Kuala Lumpur so much...

It is not because of the lack of diverisiy or sights, but I am not left alone by Malay guys!!! The people are overfriendly, and when I walk on the street, they just whistle, make noises, call...It is really frustrated. Even in places you don't imagin they will bother, but no. I sat down in front of the KLCC to take a rest, and three guys, one after another came to speak to me, then asked what my job was, where I lived..etc, I just said I needed to go, and they would ask if I had time for a tea...

Well, this is one of the week point when you as a girl travel alone ;-(, sometimes I really wish that I would be a boy, that would be so much easier. Travel in group with people really helped.

Steven left for Sydney, Australia, he quitted job in Paris, and decided to travel to Australia to see if it's good there, if it is, he will move to live there a couple of years. Sometimes, I really admire people who at a certain point in their lives decide to ignore house, job, car, material stuffs, and start doing something they like. Every time I travel, I learn a lot of things, seeing and understanding many things that help me to decide or at least enlargen my personal view re.life.

Food and fruit stalls are all over the street where my hotel is, and the bars are not so bad. I am always full, I don't think I can stand Asian food any longer ;-))...Satay, curries, fried hot noodles MMMMM

Dinner on KL Tower ;-)

I arrived in KL airport, left my luggages in airport, took the fast train to Sentral Station, and then a budget taxi (yeah, there are two types of taxis here ;-) to the hotel where I am staying (Agora hotel in JL Bukit Bintang, Gloden Triangle). Well, the room rate is not cheap (found out this afternoon), but I am leaving tomorrow anyway, so it's ok

It was raining when I arrived until the night, so I just chilled out, relax, walked around the area, which is very trendy and nice people hanging out...

This morning I woke up early to do two walking tours, The Colonial Walking tour and the China town one. So far, KL is nice and frustrating. There are really quite some stuffs to see, and the architecture is different from VN, China...Muslim is obviously the most important religion here. I found it was quite frustrating to walk on the street alone because some dark Malaysians whistled when I passed by ;-(. But it was ok the whole day today since I met Steven, French guy in one of the monument, so we spent the whole day visiting together.

We just finished our dinner in the KL tower, it was really nice although the atmosphere was kinda romantic, the music, piano, the couples, but the view was extraordinary! The floor was turning, so everybody could see every part of KL, the Petronas Building (apparently it is now the third or fourth tallest buidling after Taiwan tower, Toronto tower..), the National Monument, the Lake Garden, Muslim Art Museum (quite interesting to see)...BTW, We went to the Butterfly garden, and it was great...A bug looks like a man's face, lots of different sorts of butterflies..

China town and Little India were crowded like any other places in Asia, faked watches, sunglasses, DVDs, clothes, crafts...anything, but I love the taofu, the soja drink, foods vendors ;)

I don't really have the feeling of being in SE Asia sue to the number of beautiful Mosques in KL, and after the great dinner on KL tower. Also walking in KL is really difficult even within short distance because of the unconvenient routes, there are not many pedestrian ways, you have to take the monorail or KLR...Thanks God that public transportation is quite efficient and fast, also fyi taxi is really not expensive but ok, you can't really enjoy the city, I think.

Tomorrow I am leaving to Cameron Highlands to visit the tea plantation, and do a hiking trail ;-). It is 1/2 midnight here, gotta go, Steven is soon leaving this internet cafe, too. He is a cool guy, we will probably hang out in a bar or so and talk a bit about tomorrow.

Kuala Lumpur

Well, am in VN airport now, this time I didn't have much trouble with customs and all, except that one custom police guy kept me at the door too long and asked I wanted him to wait for me since I am not married ;-) or if I wanted to give him my e-mail address, so we can keep in touch...had to find a polite way to say no, you don't want to have problems with them here.

I am flying to KL in 1/2 hour, and internet costs 1Dollar for 15 mins ;-). I am looking forward, I hope I could find a blocker in KL airport otherwise I have to carry my 1m4, 10kg instrument plus my suitcase..etc.

My mom gave me too much food, and she was worried that I couldn't eat on airplane, so she bought rice cake, and fruits...;-)

Gotta go, next post hopefully from the Golden Triangle in KL.

Mekong Delta

Well, it is the biggest rice production of VN, and is wrapped in by the Mekong river. Besides rice, the Delta also gives plenty sort of fruits, especially coconut.

We started our trip in Pham Ngu Lao, De Tham (backpackers' area), about 3h drive to Cai Be, first province of the Delta. We saw a small floating market there, visited the place where they make candies from coconut milk (Cai be owns about 25% coconut of 45% of the Delta). Everything is used, nothing is thrown away from Coconut, sounds so familiar (it likes when you eats snakes, there is nothing you do not eat from skin to bones ;-)). I bought plenty of chopsticks made from Coconut wood, quite pretty.

After Cai be, we headed to Vinh Long province to see the fruit market, nothing special, then took the ferry to Can Tho (the capital of Mekong Delta). After showering, me and Thao went for a walk in Ben Ninh Kieu, took a couple of pictures of the kids celebrating the Moon festival with their laterns ;-), then had dinner. A "fishy" dinner hehehe, well everything is with fish from the river, although in this season, we should try to rats that live in the rice field, eat only rice (God knows!!! but apparently the skin is yellowish, but hey how the hell do we know if everything is cooked?), so no rats ;-). We met a drunk German, whom I really wanted to kick ass for he just sat in his chair, drank a lot of beer, and asked a small Vnese boy to buy cigarrette for him GRRRR. We finished dinner, then went to a bar that serves German brown beer (very fashionable here, a bit cheaper than in Saigon), and waited for Thao's friends. We met two Malaysian guys. Calvin is the most funniest Asian guy (well after Fox) that I have ever met, he is just hilarious!!!

Of course, after a couple of beer, there is serious talk about VN and all. I prefer to talk about it in a separate post when I get back to Brussels.

A small word on Can Tho, I think it is not different from Saigon, big city, but less cars, less motorbikes, less people, but VERY boring, there is not much entertainment here. I don't like it. Leaving tomorrow early to Kuala Lumpur, I guess I will be in Brussels on Saturday, so will be on time to do climbing (hopefully) with the guys acc to Manuel.

Tonite, hanging out with Thao (forgot, one of my best friend also named Thao) and my univerisity friends, we will probably do karaoke ;-).

Personal note, I am a bit sad that my friend's cat is dying....

Independent Palace

I went to visit the Independent Palace this morning. It is amazing how talented the young Vnese nowadays, they speak very good Japanese, Korean, Chinese and English, I am very proud of them. The Independent Palace was the place where our former president of South VN resided, and also the place where the North army bombed and ran in with their tanks. It is huge.

It is funny to see all this old radio machines, or other broadcasting tools that were used in war. If you have seen "Downfall", you would have imagined how these machine looks. They are big and have lots of buttons.

I also went to the new private area, where my aunt bought her appartment. Apparently there are only foreigners live in that area, they have Korean, Japanese, French, and American shops. The hospital is a Franco-Vietnamese one, and everything is written in English, private playground for kids, International schools, and many other facilities.

I am leaving tomorrow morning to Mekong Delta, and come back in two days, will visit the place where they make rice papers, floating markets, and eat some really South dishes ;-). Will soon fly back, apparently Brussels is missing me ;P

Seven Swords ;-)

I have not eaten meat since I am back, I gain 1 more kg, and still when I see friends, they always say that I am the only friend who comes back from abroad and still skinny. It was funny when I ran into my high-school "sweetheart", who is now married, and has a son ;-), we joked a lot.

We talked about how lucky the kids nowadays, but also how unlucky they are... We used to received money every morning for breakfast, plus a small amount of money to pay the parking people who kept our bikes, then that's it. So, what we did, we tried to save our money, so we could have some extra fun, like eating coconut ice-cream in the Saigon harbour...I remember it was only when I got to the last year of high-school that my mom started giving money for the whole week. Kids now play computers games, dating with motorbikes, go to bars, drinking cafes...Before, we rode our bikes to the center of Saigon, drinking sugarcane on the streets, but it was sweet and fun...

Vegetarians foods are great here, I am seriously thinking of moving back. Apparently the Hilton corporation is opening their 6 stars hotel here in Saigon, and to be honest I can easily get a job here if I want to. TV broadcasts a lot of foreign channels now, you have BBC World, CNBC, China channels, Korea, Japan, TV5, Disney world..etc, and in the original languages. So, the kids are very lucky, if they are learning in English or else, they do not have to buy tapes like we did before to listen to, they can just listen from TV. There are plenty of schools offer programs to study abroad in country like Holland, Australia, Canada, US, Singapore or France, computing courses, especially programing...

BTW, talking about TV, I quite like the A1 channel (it is an adventure specialised channel), they showed rock climbing, ice climbing, snowboard, scuba diving, skydiving and many dangerous sports. But what I like most is that they also show true story of climbers, of how dangerous it can be...The other day, there was a guy who did rock climbing and lost his friends, he stopped for a year, then eventually like to come back. So he chose a mountain in Hildalgo (Mexico) to see how far he could go, and he did it. He was happy to be alive again, and I felt also happy as well (weird hein?), or a group of climbers were captured by a terrorist, I wished I could have experienced such a strength mentally. Only when you see or expereinced it yourself you understand how climbing really train your mind, I really wish one day I will have such a challenge to see if I am strong ;-).

Hmm, Irina smsed me, her brother's wed went great, and Christian was also there, they are now near the Black sea. She is back to Bonn by end of September.

It has been more than 10 years that I have not gone to movie theaters in Saigon. Before it became a place where couples went to have private time ;-), so I didn't want to go there. But now, it is getting better, cleaner and nicer as well. A movie ticket costs only 2E, and you still have the same experience as the one in Brussels (of course I don't compare it with the Grand Eldorado in De Brookere), and the pop corn is so much better ;-). I saw Seven Swords, it is a new movie that gathers all the big stars of HK, Korea, and China, a bit like a Chinese style cowboys movie...Ok, not like that...it's a Kungfu movie that they show the use of the swords ;-). It's good to know that Vnese still like to go to movies despite all the cheap DVDs they can get ;-).

After Hero of JetLi, I think this movie is great!!! Check it out!!

Click here

Makeover in VN

It has been raining a lot those days in Saigon, in Central of VN is worse. Every year, storms, hurricane wiped away with them people or houses, leaving people in famine or no places to go. For many rich countries, it is not really a big problem, but for VN, a small hurricane could already bring serious damages...

Hue is covered with water, and it seems to get worse with the effect from neighbours of VN that are also hit by hurricanes. I have been bitten by mosquitoes, and my legs look very weird now ;-), all red and so itchy. Besides, central of Vn is also very hot, so I got serious sun burn, my skin is falling off like a snake, so disgusting hehehe. So far it's fun but it is hard for me to see plenty of children or elder people whose skin is dark and skinny working around, trying to sell, I feel my heart squeezed.

Compare to any cities, Saigon is really a city for fun and going out, it's a city where you spend money fast and a lot, whereas the rest of VN is rather poorer...Vnese women are washing themselves with whitening stuffs to make their skin brighter, even Nivea says "Whitening" on the label ;-), and there are plenty of beauty salon here, wanna to have a boob, nose, lips, teeth, eyebrowns job, stairghten hair or else, here is the place, it looks good and cheap at the same time ;-). Especially when you can't have children and need treatment, this is apparently the place, there are plenty of Vnese from abroad or even foreigners who come here to try to find many Vnese doctors are good in this area. No kidding!!!

I am lucky this time to be able to meet up with my friend who studied with me in Anthropology department of HCM university, she came back from the US but is soon going back to US. We were not so close, but it is always good to meet up with friends whom you didn't see for a long time, and travel to together bring you closer as well.

Gotta go, seem like this machine wants to abandon me ;-)

Food poisoning ;-)

I have got many good news today. One of which I have been waiting for a long time, and I am glad that it is now clear.

People say "Far from sight, far from mind", I guess it's true. When you don't see, you don't think much, and eventually time makes you forget. A heavy weight has finally been removed from my heart, deep down I know this has always been the answer that I expect, but I just want to hear it than assume it.

I will not reply to that mail, I guess it is best to respect someone's wish. Of course, that doesn't mean I agree with everything that was said in the mail, but hey people have different ways to deal with love, it is surely not my way but that does not mean it is not someone else's (where are the senses?). My heart is broken, it probably is because I broke someone else's, so yeah, let me pay my due now, so I don't own anyone anything in the next life. Love is one thing but can't under-estimate the reality. Therefore, I truely wish him happiness for the choice he finally managed to make.

Yesterday I had serious food poisoning ;-), so the whole day, I stayed in bed, when I e-mailed Fox, he told me it was because I have eaten too much seafood, which was true, damn crab soup!!! ;-).

Loan and Gwen are going to be in VN next week, first time for Gwen to meet his in-laws ;-), but before they are going to Long Xuyen, Loan's hometown (one of the province of Mekong delta), they are staying in Saigon, so Loan asked me to show her around and look for wedding dress. Talking about wedding, Cristine asked me for my address to send the invitation, but apparently she has not asked either Fox or Sofia, so they get quite mad now ;-), they want to form an Anti-Perez (Cris's last name) group hehehehe. Fox said maybe for my coming BD, we will make an American night, well I want to wear my new Shanghai style dress (like the one that Maggie Cheung wore in "In the mood for love") ;-). This BD coming will be for a celebration of first experience in job lost, a celebration of finding my way...

I also want to make a couple of resolutions on my BD, something like no more drinking and sleeping in bathroom ;-))

Blogging and Diary

I am wondering if I should continue on writing personal stuffs here. I was well-awared of once I decided on blogging, there was nothing I would hide. It is as if you are not afraid to tell the whole world the way you feel that day.

Is it freedom of speech or you just so tired of not being to speak freely without having anybody judging you? Now I feel as if my emotions and feelings are invaded because everybody knows how I feel. It is strange, one way you want to talk, but you also don't want anybody to listen to your stories because it is private and precious to yourself. And worse, if someone gives you feedback...

So, why not keep a real diary, not that I didn't have one, I had one until I left VN, but I think it is more convenient with a digital one, easy to maintain...

Do I sound contradictory? I guess I am. But writing is always the best way to get rid of frustrations and worries... I just sent a lot of e-mails to my friends, maybe when you don't know what to do, you look for as many suggestions as you can, and then you receive a lot of e-mails back, they recomfort you, telling you they will be there..Isn't that great? Friends are always the best people to whom you could turn to, and real friends will not turn your back to you in time you need them.

This morning, I went to a cafe with Brian, Brian just listened to me without saying anything, he didn't tell me what to do, just listen, seeing me crying, then give me a big hug, saying not to worry, things will be fine...And in his opinions, maybe I now know what I am waiting to know...It is so strange before I used to tell mom everything but now things seem to be more difficult to tell, maybe I know she wouldn't be so proud or would be sad and worried about me? or maybe she wouldn't understand...

Another unhappy post, but will be the last one, I think I have said what I have to say.

I am watching "Journey to the West", bought a lot of illegal copies ;-). Hehehe, of course, I don't like to have copied versions of what i like, but hey it maybe not worth it to pay more than 1E for a DVD of a silly movie ;-)?

Everybody goes out for dinner today, I want to spend this evening alone, just want to relax a little, it helps. The other day, my uncle called and apparently Mika is always hungry ;-), so he must be really skinny when I get back ;-), my baby plants give more flowers apparently, I hope they will last until then. Uncle is going to call again tonite (Vn's morning). Gabor smsed to ask me about MBA school, his brother also wants to do it, it is kinda urgent since it is already September...

"Hope things work out the way you want :("

I removed the previous posting because it was not so great, it does not have any inspiration and feeling. Prefer to write it when I am more inspired ;-).

Well, my musical instrument has 18 strings and is quite heavy. I am thinking to bring a hammock for my apparment as well but not so sure if I can, also because I am going to drop by Kuala Lumpur for a couple of days, I hope I can leave them in the airport. I had a Shanghai style dress tailor made with natural silk, and it is really beautiful. I think I am going to wear it at Cris's wed ;-).

Sofia is in San Francisco now, I am sure she is going to be back with plenty of stuffs. Fox told me Sony is as usual, "doing badly and full of important people", and told me Trone "seemed to be very concerned" about me, but he has said that I am doing fine. That's good. Olivier still sends e-mails to say that he is very busy in Sony, and that makes he think of many private things he has missed out...I know what he is trying to say, but to me he is a colleague at work that I knew...

I am going to study again when I am back, so I won't have much time for dating, plus I don't want to go out and have people pay for me. I rather focus on what I want for my future career, whether I want to stay in Belgium or go somewhere else..etc. It's time to think serious, take my own life in my own hands.

Manuel seems to calm down, I told him I know he likes me but I couldn't go out with him at the moment because I also have something private to resolve before, and until then I prefer that we stay friends. He said he understood, and that is no problem, he hopes things will work out but will wait for me anyway. That sounds scarier I think...

Enough with the peep talk, I am going out tonight, am invited to have dinner with Nhung, we have not seen each other since she got back to VN from Belgium, we have plenty of things to catch up, and of course about her boyfriend in Belgium. Apparently she is working for a foreign law firm here, and will probably be back to Brussels next year...

I plan to go to Central of VN, and visit the Mekong Delta next week...Hmm, you can't imagin how the bus driver drives here, they usually buy their driving licences and practice on field ;-), so when you are on the bus, you do not know whether the bus can drive or not and the girls can't stop puking due to car sickness ;-), not so pleasant. Brian and Mary Rose will just keep on smiling, and me I will enjoy the people experience...;-)

Sick

Don't know what is with me but I have not felt so well since I got back to VN. Sometimes I feel as if my heart beats really fast, stomach is weird and a feeling of nervousness has not disappeared.

I will stay in Saigon this week to get some rest and read book, my head is spinning, and I feel so tired eventhough I do not do anything, just sleep and eat...

Not in the mood to write today, Manuel said that Ruben is already back from Cuba, and if I come back on time, we might be able to go climbing end of September, and I should tell him my return date, so he can arrange to pick me up in Paris. Not sure if that is a good idea...If I agree, it means I will change my road.

Have to call uncle to check on my plants and Mika, Yoda. I miss them.

No posting with pictures, I forgot the USB cable, so when I am back then ;-)

La Nga- Da Lat- Mui Ne

I decided to drop by La Nga, Dong Nai province on the way to Central Highlands, Da Lat. The reason was very important, La Nga was the place where I was born.

Now that I am sitting here to write this post, I can still not describe what feeling it was. I was overwhelmed, a bit happy, a bit sad...People say when we are lost, it is always recommended to come back to the begining to look for answer, and probably this is what I am doing? According to my maternal grandmother, when the North Vnese army won the VN war, we moved to Dong Nai province (about 2-3h by minibus from Saigon) as my grandfather was put into prison. Apparently, they moved there because my father's family was originally from there. After a while, my grandmother bought land not so far from paternal grandparents. Although my mom had to live with her husband's family, and actually I was born in that house, I did not like to stay with them.

Every day, I stayed with grandma, and everybody had to go the corn or dry rice field to work, I begged my grandma to let me be with her instead of staying with my father's family. Of course, I do not remember all the details, but I still remember that I cried a lot when my father came to pick me up when my parents separated. In front of my grandma's house, there was a stream of water, now it does not exist anymore instead a highway, and the house is not anymore made from dry coconut leaves and wood, mud but with concrete and granite stones. Behind the house, the scenery stays somehow the same, under the summer sun with an insupportable heat, there were a couple of kids playing with buffaloes, they are as skinny as the buffaloes themselves. I could still see a lot of sugar canes, then a little red path that led to the field, and me, trying to chase other kids away from my grandmother's sugar canes ;-).

It was a great feeling, memory with lots of love. I was born there, and a man helped my mom to give birth, no doctor, no nurse, no painkiller, but hot water and all the basic stuffs. Talking about my mom who didn't have to do anything when my parents were still rich. I quietly thanked mom, grandma, uncles, and aunt who love me the moment I first cried.

I know I am the luckiest girl in this world.

The road to Dalat, Central Highlands (about 5h drive from Saigon) was the most beautiful road in VN, in my opinions. Dalat is considered the city of flowers of VN (in the past, it was considered to be the most romantic city in VN), and it definitely deserves the name. Covering by pine forest (although pines are still young), its geographical position has made it the most favourite getaway of VNese. The weather is cooler, quieter, and the air is fresher. What I also like about Dalat was also because of the tourism guides really take ecotourism into consideration. It is very much cleaner than Brussels or any other city of Belgium (for once I really can say that about one of cities in VN). In the past, there were only highlands people, but now many Vnese from the North or the Centre come to live there. Dalat is beautiful! In the center, there is Xuan Huong lake (the lake was given the name of one of famous female poet of VN in the past-who dared to challenge the old fashion regarding Vnese women). I also visited the old house in Mong Mo hill (Dreamy hill) made by wood, bamboo only (even every single clue-no steel or else), attended a live concert with traditional highlands instruments made from stones and bamboo. The Than Tho lake (complain lake) and Tinh Yeu valley (Valley of Love) are not as impressive as I imagined. but the Dantala fall was pretty amazing, with natural reserve trees and wild animals (the only place in VN where wild animals come to people instead of running away from us ;-))

The place where we stayed was a villa that my uncle's friend had arranged, French architecture, and has a great view. Foods are great, not much different from Saigon but more vegetables and fruits. There were a couple of places where they organised rock climbing or mountain biking tours (run by a American Vnese couple).

If I come back, I think Dalat will be the city I want to live.

Mui Ne beach (from Dalat about 3h, back to East of VN)

Of all beaches in VN, Mui Ne is nice to swim. Surrounded by coconut or palm trees, nice view, less waves and wind. There are of course many resorts opened, and plenty of Westerners stay around. I think it is much nicer than Nha Trang (not so far away). Food is cheap, and delicious. For instance, rice is cooked in earthen ware to eat with fish soup, fried seafood with local vegetables, and fresh young coconut drink MMMM...

As the wind is strong in the area, it blows and carries the sand from the coast to the mainland forming one hill that is becoming like a small desert with red sand. The kids love to go there to play.

I came back quite late yesterday, but still had time to celebrate VN independant day. It was quite some time now that I saw "Saigon by night" in national holiday. Every house has to put on a flag-red with yellow star, and guys usually wait to this sort of day to take their girlfriends out on their scooters, around the city, to see the fireworks around 10pm. Singles might be able to meet someone as A LOT of young people go out (same as Xmas). Traffic jams, people, the horns, taxis, Westerners were out, many shops offer discount and open late or many restaurants offer special menu and live music with well-known singers...It is just great! Of course, on this occasion, there are some "not so good-looking" Western guys together with their "not so good-looking" Vnese girlfriends walking on the street, they seemed to have fun. Thank God, some beautiful Vnese girls still have brains ;-).

Talking about that, I had a fight with a Taiwanese woman (to be honest, I do not like much Taiwanese-they come to VN, and behave as if they can do anything). She was shouting at a boy in a manner, which irritated me so much. So I said "Woman, who are you shouting at? he is just a boy", I don't think she speaks any English anyway, but I really wanted to kick her ass!!!

People works hard here to get bread, they deserve respect, and not that sort of attitude.