By Su Lin Ho
Impressions of a Chap Goh Mei participant, Hanoi
2006 Singaporeans ushered in the Chinese New Year with family & friends on Sunday 12 February 2006 at the Fortuna Hotel to welcome the year of the golden dog. The day was also the 15th of the lunar month which kind of marked the end of the Chinese New Year celebration. Everything was surreal, it was as good as the real thing. I thought I was back in Singapore. I tried to snap out of it but I can't. Everyone was high on a potpourri of auspicious sayings from Gong Xi Fa Chai, Wan Shi Ru Yi, Sheng Yi Xing Rong to Xin Xiang Shi Sheng.
On such an occasion, a quick check on the delectable menu: Starting with "Yusheng” promising lucky toss for all diners; cold dish of five lucky ingredients to welcome the god of wealth's arrival; Shark fin, crabmeat and Conpoy soup to seal business deals; Red tilapia fish to ensure a bountiful year; Braised mushroom, abalone, sea cucumbers and Fatt Choi with Conpoy to bring happiness; Deep fried prawn rolled in pork webbing to bring laughter; and Steamed lotus leaf rice to welcome the new and send away the old; complete with mandarin oranges to bring in money luck down with our successful home brew Tiger beer.
Only Singaporeans could come up with such auspicious menu !!! Kudos to Fortuna's chefs for this.
The scene was breathtaking. SBAV Chairman Wilson Chua and Patron HE Lim Thuan Kuan, Singapore's Ambassador to Vietnam was awed by the numbers of Singaporeans who participated actively in this Chap Ngo Meh dinner.
Though there was no fireworks to witness, I felt the chemistry amongst the people could almost ignite a cacophony of fireworks at start of the dinner. The karaoke sequence was welcome with aplomb. Diners crooned to Chinese ballads and English hits of all times with some even sang in French and Vietnamese repertoire.
SBAV offered an astounding opportunity for all to embrace Singaporeaness in Hanoi. It was indeed a perfect time to join in the revelry and to celebrate Chinese New Year the Singapore way. Before I knew it, the evening came to an end. Life is indeed beautiful. Far from the end, I think this is going to be a start.
As we say, "It's all about being Singaporean". The word.
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
My trip to Vietnam ~ by my daughter
The sun rises in the early morning. Our December holiday trip is to Vietnam as well as visiting my father working place. My two grandmothers are going with us. It took us 3 hours to arrive at Hanoi, the capital city of Vietnam.
The next morning, my father’s secretary took us to visit around Hanoi city. First, we visited the first university of Hanoi. Secondly, we went to make aodai for my grandmother. It is the traditional clothes that Vietnamese people wear. At five o’clock, we went to see the water puppet. It is very interesting show. At 9 o’clock and we boarded the overnight train to Sapa.
I woke up at 5.30am morning. The train is supposed to reach Sapa at 6am but it delayed till 10am. The local people fetched us to our resort – ATI Sapa resort. SAPA is a hill above 2000m sea level. Beautify mountain around us and rose garden….We see sunrise….
Early in the morning, it is extremely cold. After breakfast, our tour guide was taking us to the Cat Cat village today. We walked down to the Valley and go around the mountain and visited a waterfall. It a fun and tiring walk up & down the mountain. At the evening, we shop around the shops and bought lots of local products and have our dinner. Time fly, it coming to the end of our SAPA trip, we packed our things.
The next early morning, we visited the Sliver waterfall and Heavenly gate. We eat BBQ sweet potatoes…. Therafter we took a van down the hill to Lao Cai town. Can not imagine that the van can sit 18 people and it supposes to carry only 12. We put our bags at a restaurant and crossing the border to China border town Hakou – part of the China Yunan province. We shop till 4pm. We ate our dinner at 6pm and leave the restaurant with our bags at 8.30pm. We boarded the train and arrived at Hanoi in the early morning.
We arrived at Hanoi at 6pm. We slept for another 3 hours and then my father leave for work. We had instant noodles for lunch. My father took us to make spectacles till 3pm and he went to work again. We packed our bags. We went to bed at 9pm. We stay 2 more days in Hanoi.
2 days later, we are taking a flight to Ho Chin Minh. My father’s friend is taking us to our hotel. We had a delicious dinner with his big family in the Chinese Restaurant.
The next early morning, we are going for shopping around Ho Chin Minh. We went to a market. We had lunch with my father and the driver took us to Diamond shopping centre and we visited a museum next to a Saigon river.
The next day, we are going to Voung Tao, a seaside city. It needed 2 hours to reach there. We slept on the van. We have our lunch at a seafood restaurant; we visited Ye Shu and place of interest ie Marry and Kuan Yi temple.
The last day, .we went to one of the hill top of Voung Tao. It a light house more than 100 years. We view the whole island with beautiful coast line. We took 2 hours of car and went to Ho Chin Ming for lunch as we are very hungry. After X days trip, we are flying back to Singapore. We arrived at Singapore at 7.30pm. I had an enjoyable trip.
Tan Jing Jie
29/12/2004
The next morning, my father’s secretary took us to visit around Hanoi city. First, we visited the first university of Hanoi. Secondly, we went to make aodai for my grandmother. It is the traditional clothes that Vietnamese people wear. At five o’clock, we went to see the water puppet. It is very interesting show. At 9 o’clock and we boarded the overnight train to Sapa.
I woke up at 5.30am morning. The train is supposed to reach Sapa at 6am but it delayed till 10am. The local people fetched us to our resort – ATI Sapa resort. SAPA is a hill above 2000m sea level. Beautify mountain around us and rose garden….We see sunrise….
Early in the morning, it is extremely cold. After breakfast, our tour guide was taking us to the Cat Cat village today. We walked down to the Valley and go around the mountain and visited a waterfall. It a fun and tiring walk up & down the mountain. At the evening, we shop around the shops and bought lots of local products and have our dinner. Time fly, it coming to the end of our SAPA trip, we packed our things.
The next early morning, we visited the Sliver waterfall and Heavenly gate. We eat BBQ sweet potatoes…. Therafter we took a van down the hill to Lao Cai town. Can not imagine that the van can sit 18 people and it supposes to carry only 12. We put our bags at a restaurant and crossing the border to China border town Hakou – part of the China Yunan province. We shop till 4pm. We ate our dinner at 6pm and leave the restaurant with our bags at 8.30pm. We boarded the train and arrived at Hanoi in the early morning.
We arrived at Hanoi at 6pm. We slept for another 3 hours and then my father leave for work. We had instant noodles for lunch. My father took us to make spectacles till 3pm and he went to work again. We packed our bags. We went to bed at 9pm. We stay 2 more days in Hanoi.
2 days later, we are taking a flight to Ho Chin Minh. My father’s friend is taking us to our hotel. We had a delicious dinner with his big family in the Chinese Restaurant.
The next early morning, we are going for shopping around Ho Chin Minh. We went to a market. We had lunch with my father and the driver took us to Diamond shopping centre and we visited a museum next to a Saigon river.
The next day, we are going to Voung Tao, a seaside city. It needed 2 hours to reach there. We slept on the van. We have our lunch at a seafood restaurant; we visited Ye Shu and place of interest ie Marry and Kuan Yi temple.
The last day, .we went to one of the hill top of Voung Tao. It a light house more than 100 years. We view the whole island with beautiful coast line. We took 2 hours of car and went to Ho Chin Ming for lunch as we are very hungry. After X days trip, we are flying back to Singapore. We arrived at Singapore at 7.30pm. I had an enjoyable trip.
Tan Jing Jie
29/12/2004
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