Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Chapter 407 - Back from a Communist Regime
Esther and I are back from Vietnam, after 2 weeks of travelling through varied terrains, weather, and sights. Certainly a most enjoyable experience. But it seems like I've caught the flu bug while being on the plane (since I was fine all along in VN), and having seen the doctor today, I've been diagnosed as having the common flu. And this diagnosis would cost me $38 (!!) and all I got was some common medication that I could have bought from Guardian anyway. (well, I guess common flu = common medication?) Still, I felt a bit cheated, since I thought I might have been given antibiotics, or some other drugs whose names I can't even fathom. In any case, I shall be resting at home, as I've done since I've gotten back, till I get better.
Anyway, we were seeing the sights in Hanoi on our last day in Vietnam and we decided to go to the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum. We've heard from other travellers that it was a bizarre experience - you have to walk in a single file in the mausoleum, there was to be no talking and you had to be dressed appropriately (no shorts, or sleeveless tops). But nothing beats seeing it for yourself.
Having walked a long way after breakfast, we gain first sight of the Mausoleum from a distance. You could already feel the solemn-ness in the area around the Mausoleum - there were policeman stationed at every junction, and the traffic seemed strangely orderly (i.e. they stopped at traffic lights and didn't horn quite as much as they did elsewhere).
We followed the signs to the entrance of the Mausoelum, although we later found out that we were directed to the entrance for Vietnamese people (since we looked same same Vietnamese!) [and yes, there's a shorter way that foreigners, i.e. ang moh, could take]. Oh well... Anyway, after a long-ish walk and pauses (they made up form up in two rows at appointed locations to maintain order), we finally enter the Mausoleum, where the body of Ho Chi Minh rests. It's sort of eerie in the room - four guards in white stood at attention at the four corners of the glass display. To add to the eerie-ness, the room was kinda cold and dimly lit, with the Vietnamese flag, and the communist symbol of hammer & sickle plastered on the wall.
Changing of guards.
And a photo in front of the Mausoleum.
We then wondered what it would be like if there was to be a similar monument set up in Singapore and what some of the rules and regulations would be. We came up with a short list:
Anyway, we were seeing the sights in Hanoi on our last day in Vietnam and we decided to go to the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum. We've heard from other travellers that it was a bizarre experience - you have to walk in a single file in the mausoleum, there was to be no talking and you had to be dressed appropriately (no shorts, or sleeveless tops). But nothing beats seeing it for yourself.
Having walked a long way after breakfast, we gain first sight of the Mausoleum from a distance. You could already feel the solemn-ness in the area around the Mausoleum - there were policeman stationed at every junction, and the traffic seemed strangely orderly (i.e. they stopped at traffic lights and didn't horn quite as much as they did elsewhere).
We followed the signs to the entrance of the Mausoelum, although we later found out that we were directed to the entrance for Vietnamese people (since we looked same same Vietnamese!) [and yes, there's a shorter way that foreigners, i.e. ang moh, could take]. Oh well... Anyway, after a long-ish walk and pauses (they made up form up in two rows at appointed locations to maintain order), we finally enter the Mausoleum, where the body of Ho Chi Minh rests. It's sort of eerie in the room - four guards in white stood at attention at the four corners of the glass display. To add to the eerie-ness, the room was kinda cold and dimly lit, with the Vietnamese flag, and the communist symbol of hammer & sickle plastered on the wall.
Changing of guards.And a photo in front of the Mausoleum.We then wondered what it would be like if there was to be a similar monument set up in Singapore and what some of the rules and regulations would be. We came up with a short list:
- You had to be appropriately dressed when entering, and the appropriate attire would be all-white.
- Nationalistic songs, like "One People, One Nation, One Singapore", "Count on Me, Singapore" will be played on repeat mode.
- You'd have to recite the pledge is at least 2 languages before you're allowed to enter.
- No chewing gum
Feel free to contribute to the list if you wish. :)
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Chapter 406 - In ORD mood
I'm currently enjoying the evening to myself, where I get to listen to music and read the papers (although Straits Times online won't seem to load, so I'm blogging instead. ;p) It's a rare break that I've gotten in the past 3 weeks, which have been very busy, which still seems to be an understatement, given that it's supposed to be the sch holidays! (we teachers work hard during the holidays too ok!)
Anyway, the thing that the root cause of all these business (and suffering, and misery, and depression, and resent, and *insert appropriate adjective*), is the NC-D-CC course that i'm attending right now. I've sort of been relegated to becoming an occifer cadet once more, somewhat undignified for someone who has been through 9 months of OCS... (9 months is v long okay! some people have a baby, or two during that time!) And I thought marching from point to point, being in uniforms, and all things associated with regimentation were a thing of the past! At this moment, i can't wait for Thursday, which is the day which we pass out (ORD loh!), and also cos that's the day we get to fill in feedback forms! They're so gonna get a piece of my mind in that feedback form. *evil grinz* They'd better hope I'm not in such a bitchy mood on that day....
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In other (exciting) news, check out my FB profile, and guess who just became my friend! haha...
Sorry that the screenshot is a little small... ;p Anyway, I've started helping out at the MPS session (MPS stands for Meet-The-People, contrary to the "popular" belief, that it's Meet-the-MP session, or Mah-P0wtan Session) near my place. In fact, this seems to be a sort of trend these days, cos Louis was also helping out at MPS, and so was John a while back. Maybe it's a quarter-life crisis kinda thing, you know, like buying a porsche... Anyway, it's quite interesting to listen to the problems that the residents are facing. Many are related to financial issues of course, and you often empathise with the residents, and yet, unable to do too much for them. Just makes me appreciate how lucky I am. :)
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1 more day till Esther's return, 2 more days to ORD, 5 more days to Vietnam!
Anyway, the thing that the root cause of all these business (and suffering, and misery, and depression, and resent, and *insert appropriate adjective*), is the NC-D-CC course that i'm attending right now. I've sort of been relegated to becoming an occifer cadet once more, somewhat undignified for someone who has been through 9 months of OCS... (9 months is v long okay! some people have a baby, or two during that time!) And I thought marching from point to point, being in uniforms, and all things associated with regimentation were a thing of the past! At this moment, i can't wait for Thursday, which is the day which we pass out (ORD loh!), and also cos that's the day we get to fill in feedback forms! They're so gonna get a piece of my mind in that feedback form. *evil grinz* They'd better hope I'm not in such a bitchy mood on that day....
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In other (exciting) news, check out my FB profile, and guess who just became my friend! haha...
Sorry that the screenshot is a little small... ;p Anyway, I've started helping out at the MPS session (MPS stands for Meet-The-People, contrary to the "popular" belief, that it's Meet-the-MP session, or Mah-P0wtan Session) near my place. In fact, this seems to be a sort of trend these days, cos Louis was also helping out at MPS, and so was John a while back. Maybe it's a quarter-life crisis kinda thing, you know, like buying a porsche... Anyway, it's quite interesting to listen to the problems that the residents are facing. Many are related to financial issues of course, and you often empathise with the residents, and yet, unable to do too much for them. Just makes me appreciate how lucky I am. :)
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1 more day till Esther's return, 2 more days to ORD, 5 more days to Vietnam!
