08 November 2008 @ 10:35 am
And so concludes another day in Vietnam. Today I went to the Mekong Delta, where we took a boat trip to an island (forgot the name) and we were served tea made from bee honey, pollen plus hot water and another ingredient (can't remember what either). It was really sweet. Then there was (now hear this exciting part) LIQUOR! There was this rice wine which tasted like whiskey (40% alcohol!) and some chinese herbal wine (30% alcohol!) which left a really throat-burning experience. And I only had 2 sips!
Then we went shopping at this tourist place where there were shopping malls with branded goods. Being the prudent Nanyang girls that we are and always shall be (O_o'') we only went in to use the washroom. Here I bought 2 books! (I'm starting to go crazy over books again. I've just finished Daniel Silva's The English Assassin and it rocks! I can't put a single book down. I can't even sleep on the bus since the cars just keep sounding their horns non-stop. So I just keep reading. My only concern is that I won't have enough reading material to last me until I get home to my book collection :D) And then we went to the Benh Tanh market or something like that and it got so hot I had to spend 70 cents to buy a hair band.
Later at night we went to the night market near the hotel. The traffic is absolutely treacherous! I cannot count how many times I've been shocked out of my wits by honking motorists, and the horde of motorcycles that threatened to crush us to bits at the pedestrian crossing.
But anyway, tallying up, I realised that I've spent 50,000 VND today! That's equivalent to about $50 in Singaporean currency. I bought a pair of earrings, a wallet, a pack of peanut-flavoured coconut candy and 2 books! But it was the books that cost me nearly $40.
Damn. And I thought there'd be nothing to buy here in this place. Better watch the spending. I won't last at this rate.
Anyway, I must say that it's kind of disconcerting to watch girls barely older than us singing to entertain us and the other guests on that little island we went to. Especially the young children. there was this girl (probably 5 or 6 years old?) and her younger sister who were singing, and the expression on their faces was just... well, they were entirely emotionless. They even waved goodbye to us like automatons as we left the place. It makes me feel so weird. Like those children were trained to do that, to be used as a tool to bring in revenue for the villagers. It makes you realise how important education really is, and how fortunate we people are.
I know this may sound hypocritical or very preachy to some, but I sometimes think that we are way too pampered. Singaporean high school ctudents, especially, coming from a certain all-girls, SAP school located in Bukit Timah. We complain about what we don't have, and what we want to have, but I wonder why no one ever talks about what they already have?
Maybe I'm thinking too much.
And about the bargaining business. Some of us like to haggle for prices as low as the vendors can possibly offer, but to me, I feel so bad hassling the person over something like 50 cents to us. Those people selling things by the streetside are trying so hard to make a living. There's something called compassion, you know?
Maybe I'm just too innocent. Maybe I'm just a rookie in a dark world. "Hey, c'est la vie." Or something like that. I wonder how long this phase will last? Or is it part of my character?
Okay whatever. I'm off to read my new book. It's called Visibility by Boris Starling. And yes, it's another thriller. (What to do? I've finished Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan novels already. That reminds me -- I've yet to write my reviews on Executive Orders and The Teeth of the Tiger. Gotta do that when I get back.) Or maybe I'll play bridge for a while.
Current Location: Nhat Ha Hotel Ground Floor Internet Booth
Current Mood: calm
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