VIETNAM

The first time I went to Vietnam was in 1992. Vietnam back then was still very much under developed to me. The trip to Vietnam involved 3 days in Hanoi and 3 days in Ho Chi Minh City. I was in Hanoi first and it was very backward in so many ways compared to Saigon which I went later. The main mode of transport was bicycles and motocycles. Very few vehicles could be found on the road.

On the way from the airport to the city, I saw kilometers after kilometers of padi fields and people working them including children. It struck me then, in Hanoi, you can hardly find any fat people at all because they work so hard and do back breaking jobs to live. Amnenities and infrastructures were at best rudimentary and basic. They were ofcourse still recoveing from the devastating was and money was scarce. It was like Malaysia in the 50s and this was not my impression alone but also the views of those who were with me. [Massage was cheap at USD 1. I gave tips of USD 5 because you pity them and USD 1 then was just RM2.20. It was an eye opening trip to hanoi.

Then I went down south. Saigon was totally the opposite. Modern and alive with so many things. Modern buildings and lots of vehicles. Like Malaysia, be careful when you are trying to cross the road. Things are more expensive, many fat people, shopping heaven etcetc. Massage was more expensive so there was no much tips given out. Night life plenty.

I have never been to Vietnam since then. BUT I am supposed to go there (Hanoi) sometime in the third week of April. I AM looking forward to the trip as I am curious to know what 15 years have done to it. I have read many tales of Hanoi in magazines and newspapers. I am excited once again, just like I was for my first trip abroad.

My First Time

My first time flying involved also my first time going abroad. That was in 1987, some 20 years ago. I had never being in a plane before that.

Apart from the excitement of flying for the first time, I was also extremely excited for the oppurtunity to go abroad. I was going to be in Belgium for 4 months for a course. I cant describe how it felt to "fly" and several hours later found myself in a foreign land.

I cant really recall what season was it back then now. Early spring I think. There were 12 of us from Thailand (3 women), Malaysia (3 men), Indonesia (3 men) and the Phillipines (3 men). The Thais were so-so la. From Brussels, we were driven to Brugge, a 40 minutes drive if I recall correctly, arrived at our apartment complex, shown to our respective room and thus began a 4 months adventure for me. I was naturally thrilled that day and absorved the surrounding and the environment.

The apartment complex has also a big kitchen and a dining area. All of us cooked our own meals. Now here is the interesting part, a turning point for me!

After we had settled down (we arrived at the complex around 10 am), it was time to eat. We the Malaysian decided to go to the city and looked around as well as have our lunch. It was an interesting experience indeed for me that day as I had never been out of the country let alone to a western country. Everything was different, the people, the environement, weather, food, behaviour and habits etcetc. . For that first day, we had fish and chips! Later on we bought our groceries and supplies, fish, meat, chicken, eggs and other stuffs.

That night, we had our first cooking session. Each group from the different countries would need to cook their food for themselves. Our dish was curry chicken, vege, rice and some potatoes. Since I have never cooked a proper meal before, I was tasked to cut and clean, whilst my other 2 colleagues cooked everything. My other 2 colleagues have stayed outside of Malaysia before.

Been a first timer out of the country butstill conscious of the requirement of eating halal food, it was not a dilemma for me to know that I cant eat the chicken curry. I fried a few eggs and sat down with them and had my dinner. Ofcourse I was also observing how delicious the curry chicken looked as my friends devour everything. They did try to rationalise with me about being in a place where halal food is not available, about being musaffir etcetc but I just couldnt bring myself to eat the chicken.

So, that was the beginning of my 1 week of breakfasts of eggs, lunches of mainly eggs and dinner of eggs and sometimes suppers of eggs. Occasionally I had fish if it was the menu for the day. During those times, my friends had chicken and beef and lamb. I also began to experiment cooking for myself and soon began to cook for the group. Well, it was not really that difficult but ofcourse those dishes that I cooked wasnt exactly 5 stars. But the temptation of eating those lamb, beef and chicken!

After 1 week of eggs, I was beginning to tell myself that I cant live on just eggs for 4 months. I need protein and stuffs in my mouth other than just eggs. That was the day when, as we sat in the dining room for lunch with the chicken curry and fried beef dish infront of me, I decided to take my first bite of non halal meat. It took a lot to put the first piece into my mouth.

I know and I really dont have any defence!

My first 4 months abroad!. We visited a few of the Belgium cities. For those who have never been to Belgium, thier architecture is really a wonderful sight to behold and appreciate. Lots of things happened. In the kitchen for example, when the Phillipinos and the Thais were frying/cooking pork and we were beside them cooking our own dishes, it was hard to avoid stuffs flying from thier pans into ours. But we generally get along well.

Maybe I will write about some significant stuffs that I experienced whilst in Belgium later.

Belgium was the beginning of me going to many many other countries, south, north, east and west!

In The Meantime...

Before we had the election, we had demos and protest acts. After the election we also have those things. Except now we also have demos and protests against 1 or 2 of the so called opposition state govts. Lets see how these new govts handle things now that they are the target . But thats not the purpose of my post here.

I wrote in several blogs before the election of my hope that these protestors and demonstrators will organise their activities in jungle or mountains far far away from civilisations in the future so that the general public is not harmed and inconvenienced by thier actions. How much businesses were affected, how many appointements, dates and meetings were disrupted, how many of the sicks and those giving birth were deprived of urgent medical attention because they got stuck in traffic jams etcetc.. Lets not have anymore of these in towns and cities. Go to the jungles and mountains. I am sure we will have monkeys joining you people when you are doing your things. And I am sure there wont be as many curses thrown at you by the thousands and thousands of people as before!

WHY?

I have always wondered why demonstrators burn cars, buses and buildings, destroy public amenities etcetc.. I see these acts all the times in Paris, Kenya, in Tibet currently, in many parts of the world including even in Malaysia . What is it with this people? Are they angry with those establishments that they are protesting to or with those private and public assests and amenities/facilities.

Chimps/gorillas` instinct/behaviour? Chimps/gorillas, they do trash those trees and anything near them when they are showing off or letting steam you know. I guess Mr Darwin based his theory on his observations of these acts by his fellow human all over the world back then too. Must have many demonstration back then too.

The problem with these demonstrators or protestors, they dont bring thier own cars to burn or trash and neither do they burn thier own houses or buildings. WHY DONT THEY?. They will never be able to understand and/or appreciate all the hardships that they bring to those owners of things that they have destroyed.

I challenge everyone of them in Malaysia to do just that. Each one of them should invite thier intended fellow demonstrators to trash and burn thier cars and houses/buildings. In the case of houses, make sure they are stand alone building ok.