Mike'Station

The Christmas / New Year splurge

2012-01-07T19:31:00.001+08:00

Now lets figure out how to use this thing.

New year eve

2012-01-07T19:30:00.002+08:00

Played with little cousin.

Took a photo before going to church.

Kampung church fully packed and overflowed... despite without aircon and cushioned seats. Amazing.

The manja boy ushering in 2012 with a new hairstyle.

Ending 2011 with Thanksgiving

2012-01-07T19:30:00.000+08:00

Irene's mum organised a Thanksgiving in the house in Tenom on the day before new year's eve.

Sharing the word.

A time of prayer.

Makan time.

Ryan found an elder sister in kampung.

SIB Likas (E) - Christmas weekend - 24-25.12.2011

2011-12-26T11:38:00.000+08:00

Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year 2012!

It was great that the New Fellowship Hall was completed in time for Christmas, and for ushering in the New Year 2012.

Our student friends from SIB Alive presented a Christmas medley in the New Hall.

Young Christians and pre-Christians from Malaysia and China.

Backed by an international team of musicians.

After that, we were entertained with an action-packed movie clip produced by the church media team. I could imagine the amount of sweat and labour put into the production... the actors, costumes, shooting angles and motions, lightings, sound tracks, editing... everything done to excellence. I salute you guys. More to come?

Then auntie Janny shared her story of surviving breast cancer, and the miracles she experienced along the way... such as having an Oncologist right in our church, and the government employing a Cardio-thoracic Surgeon in KK. Many times, we see illnesses break even strong people. Not very often do we see people emerging even stronger from a horrible illness. My mentor Steven Wu also had a close brush with death while battling NPC. Today he goes around telling everybody how he was transformed from a church leader near despair, into a spokesperson who could not stop talking about the power of God.

This year we had an invited preacher who flew in all the way from Delhi... Dr. P.G. Vargis, the founder of the Indian Evangelical Team. Despite his busy schedule, he HAD to come... coz our pastor has the same name as his wife, and therefore commanded the same 'fear & obedience'... hehehe.

The evening before, Dr. Vargis had a session with church members. He was a very good story teller and actor (I think dancer as well). He shared with us stories about his missionary work in India, how he walked in unwavering faith, and experienced the realness of God first-hand.

Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever. What He did in the New Testament days, he can still do today.
pray for your own train to come back. Don't just harap Dr. Vargis, or your pastor to pray for your train.
'I will keep praying and keep coming back to check my blood, until I get my miracle'... and he got cured of chronic diabetes in 5 days.
he prayed for his mentally-retarded little girl to be accepted into a regular school. She did. She finished 49th out of 50 pupils in the first year, and kept getting better and better. Today she is married and doing a PhD in the USA, to be conferred 'Dr.' Annie Vargis soon.
what gift did you bring for God this year? He does not need your money, or little presents. Did you win any soul for Him?
don't think that evangelising in India is easy... preachers and believers get ostracised, tortured, even killed. But we still baptised 600 people in a day! How did we do it? We never stop telling people about Jesus.

On Christmas day, Dr. Vargis chose not to preach on Jesus' birth... coz everybody else would be talking about it, and Jesus was definitely not born on a cold winter night. He talked about the story in John 21 (google it) about the risen Jesus appearing to his fishermen disciples.

John 21:4 Why did the disciples not recognise Jesus? Because they have been at sea (the turbulent world out there) for too long.
John 21:6 They were still casting nets the usual way, but got a bountiful harvest this time... what made the difference? Before that they were labouring in their own strength, this time they laboured in obedience to Jesus.
John 21:7 Why did Peter acted so kiasu? Because he was a Singaporean. Hahaha... no la. He wanted to be first to meet Jesus. He had only Jesus in his mind... the other disciples were still thinking about their catch, the boat etc.
John 21:9 Why did Jesus prepare a coal fire? Because he knew the fishermen would be shivering on return from sea at dawn. Jesus knows our basic needs, and he knows how to provide for them. Read 'basic needs', not luxurious fancies.
Do not be nēpios (little children) that keep running back to your pastor to change your soiled nappies... (rhymes well isn't it). Grow up, folks.

At lunch time, Dr. Vargis came over to lay hands on Izac, and prayed that he will be 'smart, talk, and run, just like my daughter'.

SIB Skyline - The Prodigal Father - 23.12.2011

2011-12-24T16:01:00.000+08:00

I was so glad to be able to attend the last show of the Christmas Musical held in SIB Skyline. Words got around that the musical was soooo good, that the final night was a sold-out. Many thanks to MikeChen for the last-minute ticket.

Passionate, energetic, dazzling, extravagant... this musical first-timer was truly impressed! A wonderful fusion of the best of vocal prowess, theatrical drama, clever interplay of lights and sounds, and stunning graphics.

It was told that once upon a time, somewhere in the jungles of Borneo lived a father with his two sons. Older brother was the honest and industrious kampung guy, and younger brother was the tech-savvy free spirit who longed for the lights of the city.

Younger brother got to know a city girl via Facebook. (Lesson 1: make sure your kampung got line, and get a MacBook). City girl invited younger brother to leave the kampung and promised to show him the city. (Lesson 2: don't chat too much with girls on FB). He left home as the family was organising his birthday dinner party. Dad was heartbroken, and left the party immediately to look for his son. Elder brother was wallet-broken and lost face... and that made him really mad... and he sang 'What About Me, It Is Not Fair' in anger.

Younger brother enjoyed dancing around with his city girl friends, not realising that they were prancing on him. (Lesson 3: be careful of city girls). Soon he got into deeper s*it, and became a drug pusher.

In the mean time, dad ALMOST found younger brother in the bar he used to hang out. Elder brother tagged along, and for a while he set his eyes on the pretty sweeties and almost got swayed (Lesson 4: looks can be deceiving). His father's love for younger brother touched him, and he regained focus.

Unfortunately, the long arm of the law got to younger brother first. He was sentenced to death.

Dad offered to take his son's place in exchange for his life. And amazingly, the judge said OK. And so the story ended with younger brother being freed from the punishment of his sin, because his dad paid the cost with his life. Quite similar to the story in the Bible... you got freed because Jesus paid with His life.

And the best artist of the night was... (drumroll...) Dr. Philip Lyn. Man... he could effortlessly rattle off in flawless English, with flowing sentences, perfect tone and stirring emotions... all done in-promptu. Wow! Indeed they saved the best for last.

The team members came back on stage to acknowledge the applause.

I was too tired post-call to stay on to chat. As I was leaving, there was music in the air as a group of carollers sang beneath a tall Christmas tree. What a double treat!

SIB Likas (E) - New Fellowship Hall 18.12.2011

2011-12-18T21:22:00.003+08:00

The New Fellowship Hall was unveiled to the church today. We had our inaugural Sunday Service there, sort of a dry run to prepare for the big thing next week... Christmas!

The place was just... WOW! The solemn earth tones, the gentle lightings, the classy light holders... balanced by the groovy black & orange colour seatings... beautiful. The hall acoustics was pretty good... and will just get better with more fine-tuning.

The seats were so comfortable, Izac was impressed.

Things got even better with Huan preaching an aptly message on 'Transitions', sporting a fluorescent-green tie.

As Didi said... the church is very excited about the year ahead, and the many potentials that the NFH holds. Unfortunately, I have moved on by then.

SIB Alive - Christmas Celebration 17.12.2011

2011-12-18T21:12:00.012+08:00

Somebody came up with a wonderful idea of having a Christmas Celebration for our student friends and their friends... and it happened.

The SIB Alive centre was nicely decorated by the students themselves. Many thanks to uncle Say Hoe for bringing their Christmas tree from home.

Joyce getting to know the newcomers.

It's fun to hang out with friends.

The kids were having fun too.

Bright red caps to liven up the event.

It was so great to see the student centre filled. May God consider us worthy to bring more pre-Christians into our midst in 2012.

Jovial Wei Kiat was the emcee for the night.

An event by the students, for the students. Joe, our in-house-trained guitarist led the worship along with Li Yen, Shu Wei and Xiang Yee.

Students from China and Malaysia.

Well done, good and faithful servants.

Daren shared a meaningful message on Jesus being the true friend... complete with wacky props such as an injection needle and a dog leash. Then Wei Kiat played a video clip that he made, showcasing the activities that we had in SIB Alive over the years.

The night continued with games and laughter, but I had to leave early.

I believe the Christmas Celebration will leave a deep impression in the hearts of all who came. As it was written in the good Book... the word that was preached will not return empty, but will achieve the purpose for which it was sent.

Goodbye, Logos Hope

2011-12-12T06:24:00.009+08:00

Yesterday, a team from the ship came to our church. There was a ship-pastor (who claimed to have flowing black hair once upon a time) from Singapore, and crew members from Hong Kong, Australia and South Africa. And they sang for us '... with Christ in the vessel we can smile at the storm, smile at the storm...' I wished. They reminded us... folks, it's the LAST DAY of the Logos Hope on Malaysian waters!

Must go la like that. Who knows, can grab some stock clearance sales.

I spotted familiar faces. He succeeded in resisting the temptation to buy more books... what a feat!

True to the Malaysian spirit, the last-minute crowd was huge!

Actually, I went there to attend an event.

The Next Step... 'a program for people who are interested in knowing more about the Logos Hope ministry and how to get involved in other parts of the world. Find out what your Next Step could be'. And it's FREE... yet only a handful attended. Free things no good, good things no free? Hmm...

They started with a short play.

Girl in front: 'Who will free me from my chains? ... urrgghh... #@!&%... '

Girl at the back: '... what? who's calling? God? Louder please, I can't hear you! Line no good la...'

Guy at the back: '... ok God, loud and clear here... you want her to go rite, not me rite? I am busy la, I can't go... don't send me... send her'

The play was silent, so I added the script.

Then they showed a video about Operation Mobilisation's origins, vision, progress, and achievements. The ship ministry is only a part of OM, and they are running many other projects around the globe... even in Malaysia!

The handsome emcee invited three crew members (a Singaporean, a Paraquay-ean, and an American) to share about their respective journey with the cruise. There was a Q&A... I asked the magic question... who gave you guys money to spend for two years on the ship ah... ($ drop from the sky meh)?

Sigh, if I had been younger, I would have gone travelling with this international cruise. That would be just soooOOO... awesome!

Hmm... OM, at most I can do is volunteer myself to be a government-sponsored missionary doctor into the interiors of Borneo (sounds exotic isn't it)... and you guys don't even have to pay me a single sen. How about that... can I sign up?

SIB Likas (E) - Appreciation Dinner 10.12.2011

2011-12-11T07:14:00.010+08:00

The church had a simple dinner last night. Simple but extraordinary. All the diners had to wear a corsage before they were allowed to eat.

We came, we ate, then we talked business.

Cell group leaders shared their ups and downs for the past one year. It's good time for reflection as 2011 comes to a close.

Gosh, it sure wasn't easy being CG leaders. They had to accommodate people with all kinds of temperaments... and see CG members leave due to disagreements... and the pain of being criticised despite giving their best. It was a time for healing of wounds, and perhaps scars. Luckily, Pr Jerry and Lily brought a generous dose of home-remedy to sooth aching hearts... and muscles.

being a leader is a privilege... you are given the opportunity to experience extraordinary growth
the higher you go, the more you will kena. Jesus kena a lot, do you expect anything less?
nobody is perfect... you and I are work in progress
do not just see the speck in your brother's eye and yet overlook the log that is in your own eyes
whether big group or small group, growing group or shrinking group, every cell group that perseveres is a success
when you take a step back and look again, you will see that there are many good things sprouting out from that seemingly mess...there are new leaders being primed, growth in CG numbers, people getting excited to attend CGs, people getting baptised, members contributing to ministries... $$$ to build the new hall...
don't just focus on the pests... look at the fruits too, and celebrate!
there are wheat and weeds in the church... don't simply pluck out the weeds, or you may uproot the wheat accidentally... leave it to the harvester's timing
when you impact your CG member well, you are in fact impacting the marketplace thru his/her sphere of influence... and that blesses the community
if you want to retire, don't complain when God takes back the talents he gave you
if you hentam Pr Jerry, he can hentam you back kau-kau, and you can never get back at him... but God has taught him to exercise control over that skill

Tommy gave a useful handle to enter 2012... take initiative, open your mouth, and see God work it out.

It's Christmas season

2011-12-11T06:49:00.002+08:00

When can I play with a real snow man?

Guess what I was carrying in those bags.... hint: Christmas gift from grandma.

SIB Alive - Amy's baptism 28.11.2011

2011-11-29T06:47:00.010+08:00

Amy from Hebei, China, flew in to Kota Kinabalu for her convocation in Universiti Malaysia Sabah. She used to join us in the SIB Alive student ministry before going on to work in Shanghai after graduating.

To make it a double celebration, she requested to be baptised on Malaysian soil. So a group of us gathered in Tanjung Lipat beach yesterday for the auspicious occasion.

Auntie Tiok Hua started the session with scriptural reading.

Moved to tears by the song on the wonderful blessing of knowing and trusting in Jesus.

Great sunny day for baptism.

'I have decided to follow Jesus... no turning back, no turning back...'

It's great to have friends cheering along.

Beach outing for the kids.

Prayers for Amy as she brave the world with a new commitment to follow Christ.

TC sharing some words of encouragement... 'there will be trials and tribulations in your walk ahead, but don't turn back.'

Amy receiving her baptism certificate from Andy.

Overjoyed to get a durian cake.... with love, from Malaysia.

The gang.

Amy said she missed bak kut teh... coz she couldn't find such good stuff in Shanghai and the rest of China. So we went for dinner at the best BKT in town.

The girls discussing how to cook BKT for their families in China.

Getting tips from the master... 'you must cook the meat in one big piece, take it out immediately once it is cooked, then slice it... don't throw everything into the pot... cannot eat one like that.'

Ryan found his own company.

若有人在基督里，他就是新造的人，旧事已过，都变成新的了。
2Co 5:17

Christmas is in the air

2011-11-27T15:13:00.003+08:00

We attended a grand wedding (rich family la) in 1Borneo last week.

Wide awake before dinner.

Snoring away during the yam seng. Haiyo... so paiseh only.

Christmas is coming soon.

Manja boys.

Hey what have pine trees and reindeers got to do with Jesus Christ?

Fun on Logos Hope

2011-11-27T14:39:00.008+08:00

Last night, we went to the big white ship that berthed at Kota Kinabalu port. There was an event called "The True Medicine" organised for healthcare personnels.

They had a few ship volunteers sharing about their calling to serve long term aboard the Logos Hope, and the activities they did in various countries where the ship docked, such as bible distribution, dental camps, educational programmes, AIDS/HIV awareness campaigns. There was an elderly Dr. Moses Lee from PJ who sold his GP practice in his golden sixties to go for the adventure of missions work in Middle East and Central Asia. Then there was a lady from Operation Mobilisation Malaysia who talked about opportunities for such adventures. Brain-washing session... hehehe...

Izac was more into the adventure of crawling across the rich thick carpet on the meeting hall.

And Ryan had a nice adventure chasing after a little girl friend.

'Yay I got a book from the ship!'... he was trying to read the book at bedtime, but more like the book was reading him.

Some interesting wall decos on Logos Hope. The interior was very nicely done... with aircon, bright lightings, warm ambience, varnished wooden flooring, and live music. Great taste, folks!

Captain Ryan navigating the oceans.

When can we go on a real cruise? Trans-Atlantic would be nice.

SIB Alive - 12.11.2011

2011-11-26T17:21:00.003+08:00

I enjoyed the small group the last 2 weeks when we had the discuss on the topic the 'Word'. The students responded really well and able to give answers beyond the book. Shu Wei's cousin Pei Yan was first timer, she read the bible really well and able to join in the conversation. Our group needs another week to finish the topic. I hope the other groups can also take up the opportunity to go deeper and share about the important aspect of the 'word' in our daily living, like important decision making, the power of meditation of the 'word'.
Tiok Hua

Yes, think that the attendance since new semester has been very encouraging especially with Eric, Li Yun, Su Wei etc. Seems the Lord has managed to touch them and bring them back with a new sense of desire to discover and learn more about Him and also the fellowship and taking the lessons with us.
TC

It is very encouraging to be able to work as a team inspect of our diversity, The small groups for the last two Saterdays were not big for meaningful discussion on the Bible. We were able to draw the students to share their belief system and the contrast with philosopy and traditon... and culture... perescution of believers... their abilty to locate the bible verses... the relevance in our lives... the electronic means of looking up bible verses... the quick and easy ways without the hard copy and the turning of pages... remarkable transformation and innovation... the smart people and smart phones! ... the Chinese and English versions easily accepted by the students... a mixed and interesting group of quick and young minds able to interact and communicate with some of us... the not too young ones.
Say Hoe

Allah cares

2011-11-23T05:15:00.006+08:00

Why do bad things happen to good people?
Why do good intentions produce lousy results?
Why do the wicked prosper, and the righteous suffer?

Banyak perkara yang tak dapat ku mengerti
Mengapakah harus terjadi
Di dalam kehidupan ini
Suatu perkara yang
ku simpan dalam hati
Tiada satupun kan terjadi tanpa Allah peduli

Allah mengerti
Allah peduli
Segala persoalan yg kita hadapi
Tak akan pernah di biarkanNya ku bergumul sendiri
Sbab Allah peduli

Allah mengerti
Allah peduli
Segala persoalan yg kita hadapi
Tak akan pernah di biarkanNya ku bergumul sendiri
Sbab Allah Yesus ku
mengerti

Obstetrics Life-Saving Skills Course

2011-11-21T06:25:00.007+08:00

Came back from conducting an OLSSC in Keningau Hospital last weekend. The organising team was great... the top dogs of SWACH. We were so pampered by the Keningau Hospital staffs... great food, great lodging, great hospitality!

How to help a baby.

How to hold a baby.

How to decapitate... err....

Playing with water balloons.

Home-made water balloon, McGyver style.

Sewing class.

The eureka moment.

The guessing game.

Happy organisers packing up to go home.

Christians are called to practise another set of life-saving skills as well...

And this is the record, that God has given to us everlasting life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.
1Jn 5:11-12

Marriage re-dedication

2011-11-21T06:21:00.004+08:00

Married 25 years ago as Buddhists, today Andrew and Joyce had a simple wedding again in church. Good la, the covenant says cannot divorce one... if only more M-group do such re-dedication, there would be less broken families in this country.

Joyce telling about their earlier marriage life and how they ended up up Kota Kinabalu. Thank God for an honest mechanic in KK.

The secret is... actually they got more than 3 children...

... the rest of their children are in university, some in China... and they meet (or met) in SIB Alive... and enjoyed Joyce's wonderful food and love... in a big family called the body of Christ.

SIB Alive - 5.11.2011

2011-11-07T22:23:00.001+08:00

This year the SIB Alive team decided that we should post our activities online as a chronicle of our spiritual journey, as well as let our students see their handsome/pretty faces... so here is a write-up of what we did two days ago.

As usual, good food in abundance.

All nicely home-made, sprinkled with plenty of love.

For the students, a much welcomed relief from the usual mixed-rice stall stuffs.

We had Joe and Poh Keong, our in-house-trained guitarists leading the praise and worship session.

The teacher Betty and her quartet.

Xiang Yee gave an introduction on the topic that we would be discussing that night... 'God's Word in Your Life' taken from Book 3 of The Navigator's Studies in Christian Living.

Supplemented with a very nicely done & colourful chart. Wow we're discovering some artistic talent here.

Discussing in small groups.

Learning points for the night...

God's word is described as a fire (refiner's fire that removes impurities), a hammer (breaks our rock-hard hearts), a sword (to ward off enemies' attacks, and to go offensive)
God's word pierces the deepest areas of our hearts; it doesn't just scratch the surface
God's word is alive and active, it is not limited by time and geographical boundaries; it still transforms lives today!
God's word is truth that sets us free from the untruths of this world
God's word guides us into the salvation offered in Jesus Christ

Went to see cows

2011-11-07T17:52:00.006+08:00

It's public holiday today. Yesterday was Hari Raya Aidiladha, today is the replacement holiday. Ryan got no school, his dad got no work, so we thought we would go to see some cows today... to commemorate the many that were sacrificed yesterday.

Getting to know the latest addition to the family.

The food, and ambience in Kinabalu Rose Cabin was pretty good. But I did not like the 10% service charge and 5% government tax. The hotel looked like a nice place to stay overnight.

After lunch we went to look for strawberries at Strawberry Park.

Unfortunately, they just picked the fruits the day before. But this photographer managed to find one, and took the shot with his D-Lego dSLR.

OK, now pose with the roses for me.

I might win a photographic contest with my flower shot...

Finally, we went to see the cows. YES!

Next time we go to see real cows in New Zealand, OK?

doulos, diakonos

2011-11-07T17:34:00.005+08:00

I got more than what I asked for during my recent menyibuk trip to the Sabah Theological Seminary.

Bishop Hwa Yung of the Malaysian Methodist Church was in town to conduct a Graduation Seminar in STS. What a great privilege to listen to this humble man talk on "God's Servant".

Some main points in his lecture...

great visionary Christian leaders are always a premium, in short supply
the Bible talks about training servants, not training leaders
unless the teaching to be servants is internalised into Christian lives, any talk of leadership tends to encourage self-seeking ambition, which is very destructive
in Mark 10:35-45, leadership is referred to as doulos (slave, servant) and diakonos (an attendant, a waiter)
even at the final hours of Jesus' life, all the disciples were still jostling for positions... only Judas had a clear view of what was really going on
'meek' leadership: modest and wilful, humble and fearless; confident, yet humble; strong, yet gentle
a kampung church is as valuable as a city megachurch in God's economy; strive to serve faithfully as servants, wherever God places us (he's talking to the newly-grad pastors)
our confidence should be built on our identity as a child of God, not on leadership positions
the concept of the pastor is being a shepherd, not a church CEO
in choosing leaders, emphasis should be placed on the character, rather than the education, talents, or good looks
test of humility: do you seek out to do jobs that nobody wants to do, but need to be done?
there is no limit to how far you can climb as long as do not care who gets the credit
convergence: ministering/serving out of our BEING, as an out-flowing of our inner life
need to bring back the seminary model (character training) into Bible school, not the university model (academic scholarship)

In the afternoon, there was the Graduation Ceremony held in the very nice STS main auditorium.

There was a beautiful grand piano on stage. The acoustics were excellent!

Academicians in colourful robes.

Song presentation by the STS choir.

Scrolls were conferred to those who graduated with certificates, diplomas, Bachelor's and Master's degrees. But guess who won the loudest applause? The aunties who persevered through a ten-year course, and the silver-haired grandma who received the Certificate of Attendance for Senior Citizens.

Izac

2011-11-06T08:05:00.005+08:00

I want to read Ryan's books.

I can fit into a little basket.

A weekend at Grand Lexis Hotel, Port Dickson

2011-11-01T06:56:00.006+08:00

I stayed in the best hotel room ever in my life recently...

And the best part was, someone else paid for it... and the airfare, and the food as well.

I thought they were a bit crazy to book such a gigantic room for a single occupant.

But I must say the beds were really very nice.

There was enough space to park an SUV if you fancy having that second wife in the room.

Nice little kitchenette, equipped with a microwave oven.

Elegant wash basin.

Odd-looking shower, but the flow was great.

And behold, the door opened out to...

...OMG an attached private swimming pool!!!

The view of the rest of the hotel... you can jump into the sea if you're tired of the private pool.

The going rate is RM 540 for off-peak days, and RM 600 for weekends. So the price is quite reasonable actually... if you calculate Chinaman style... pack 10 people in the room, bring own mattress on the floor, bring own cooking utensils... and can dip in the pool all day.

Man, these people really go all out to pamper us while promoting their products.

And they brought us for seafood dinner with abalone, lobster, geoduck, cod fish... but the restaurant was shabby and the cooking was lousy.

Thanks, Sanofi-Aventis. Anymore to come? How about the Burj next time, for a change? That would be really nice.

1Malaysia

2011-11-01T06:46:00.002+08:00

I've got West and East Malaysia inside me.

Saya budak 1Malaysia!

The next phase

2011-11-01T06:37:00.002+08:00

The view of Mount Kinabalu from my hotel room during the district visit last week.

I will lift up my eyes to the hills. Where shall my help come from?
Psa 121:1

I will seriously need lots of help if I get sent here.

SIB Likas (E) Family Fun Day

2011-10-02T18:53:00.004+08:00

Today we had church at the beach, for a change. It's the Family Fun Day!

The turnout was great, and the mood was jovial. There was the relaxed Sunday service held in a tent, mouth-watering aroma of BBQ in the air, the sea breeze, the laughters and shrieks of children... lots of games... and good food.

Ryan was all set to play. Saya jaguh Milo!

Our friend from China kept defending his balloon, forgot to go offensive... and yellow team lost the game.

Older children playing 'eagle catch chicken'.

Playing rough.

In the mean time, Ryan and friends were building something in the sand.

Looks like a sand dune with many antennas.

Time to go for a dip in the sea... and show off my muscles...

Where did that Digi balloon come from?

The art of distraction

2011-09-21T07:43:00.002+08:00

Mat Sabu to face criminal charge over communist remarks

Compared to free of charge for Utusan Malaysia and Perkasa's worse remarks.

How much more silly can the government get.

And the Police danced along with the jokers.

Time for change.

Malaysia Day celebration

2011-09-17T06:51:00.007+08:00

It was Malaysia Day yesterday, and I was off work. There was this Inter-church Malaysia Day Prayer Rally held in the Holy Seal church, which sits nicely on top of City Mall shopping centre. Interestingly, the sessions were all tri-lingual (Bahasa Malaysia, English and Mandarin, sometimes with Hakka and Cantonese thrown in), and the translators did a really wonderful job.

I always believe that the politicians could never be depended upon to lead Malaysia into true racial unity and harmony. It is the church who should show the way. Why not, look at the Malaysia Day gathering, and you see the true manifestation of 1Malaysia (if only the M group could come)... people of different races and languages coming together, celebrating their diversities and yet seeing each other as equals, expressing a common love for the country. Try finding that in PWTC Convention Hall.

That was Mr. Eugene, a constitutional lawyer who came to remind Sabahans of their rights on religious freedom and native land issues, as enshrined in the 20-point agreement, rather than the distorted version declared by the ruling government. His take-home message was 3S... Stand (on this land... don't migrate... hmmm), Steadfast (don't be cowed), Speak-out (make your voices heard).

There were many empty seats in the morning session. Too much intellectual stuffs maybe.

But the hall was filled to the brim at night!

The night began with a wonderful praise and worship session to set the temperature right.

Then there was our own Pastor Jerry giving the opening speech, and telling us that he was one of the lucky kids who stood on stage on the actual Malaysia Day in 1963, and getting a memorable coffee mug in return.

The young ones who would carry on the baton. By the way, 'young' means under-30s. I have passed my prime. Sigh.

The really cool stuff was a live tele-conferencing prayer with the group in Kuching over Skype. But the audio was a bit off (maybe coz of bad weather), made it sounded like Darth Vader was praying for Kota Kinabalu.

Ryan making new friends and being naughty.

Malaysia-flag bearers marching in.

There were visitors from many countries who bought their own flight tickets to come to Kota Kinabalu to share the joy and aspiration of the Malaysian church. Reminded us that the church is one big global family. When one member celebrates, the whole body rejoices with it; when one member suffers, the whole body cares for it. So Malaysian church, be assured the churches of the nations are looking out for you, even in the midst of persecution in this land.

Pastor Eddie Ma of Hong Kong received tokens of appreciation (a book on 'The Birth of Malaysia' and a T-shirt) on behalf of the visitors from the other nations.

I got a CD of instrumental praise music played using ethnic musical instruments, proudly made in Sabah, Malaysia.

That, was one memorable night in the history of Malaysia.

Grandma came to visit

2011-09-17T06:43:00.003+08:00

Grandma came over to play play with me over the weekend.

She brought lots of toys for me and my adik.

Brought me to eat yummy food.

That's New York food in 1Borneo.

And we went fishing for the freshest catch of the day.

SIB Likas (E) fund-raising dinner

2011-09-10T10:50:00.005+08:00

We attended the fund-raising dinner for the new SIB Likas (E) Fellowship Hall last night. As usual, the event was held at the Putera Ballroom in Bukit Padang.

The guest-of-honour was the mayor of Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. Gosh, I never knew the mayor is an SIB church member. And of course, our own beloved Pastor Jerry, the guy who fought tooth and nail for the right to use the word 'Allah'.

I was late for the dinner. There was the kids' karaoke, duet, Christian songs, Chinaman-style magic show (right down to the music)... but I was eating, so no photos from me. People say save the best for last, so I got some pics of the last presentation... Juwita Suwito!

Juwita what?! Never heard of the name before? Remember the Akademi Fantasia theme song? She was the original singer... plus a string of awards under her belt.

My friend Imelda said she can sing 'damn good'. Mel, here are some pics for you.

Hitting the high notes...

... even higher notes.

Diva mode.

Sentimental mode.

Izac enjoyed himself very much.

You shoot my photo, I shoot you also.

My camera is the latest model one. It's a Lego D1234... comes in a colourful package, extremely lightweight, easily dismantable and upgradable... and the best part is, it takes images of one's imagination. Hahaha...

Group photo of Pastor HengSie (of SIB Immanuel), Kelly and Chen-Li (visiting evangelists from China), and jet-setters uncle Say Hoe and auntie Sharon.

Mel and Kyi Kyi you guys left so early before I could take your photos. Thank you all for investing into the Kingdom.

Here's the latest development of the Fellowship Hall. Pastor said it should be done by March 2012.

Maybe Ryan can have his wedding here one day.

The kampung boy

2011-08-29T06:01:00.000+08:00

A beautiful miracle

2011-05-15T18:59:00.014+08:00

He was once a hardened gangster terrorizing the streets of Taiwan. Numbed to gang-fights and bloodshed, a hot-blooded comrade who would not hesitate to come to the rescue of his brothers in the midst of punches and sword fights.

That was till his life took a turn on that unforgettable day, where his beloved brother-in-crime smashed a bottle on his head. He fell from height, broke his back, and was destined to be wheelchair-bound for the rest of his life.

He had every reason to resign into despair. He lost the control of his bladder and bowel functions. He had to depend on others to clean up his mess, feed him, and move him around.

Yet today, he travels around the globe, telling people about how he was saved from a despised and useless life, and transformed into the cheerful person he is now.

He never learned music, and could hardly read the 'beansprouts' on a musical stave. Yet the songs that he wrote resonate amongst Chinese churches around the world. He attributes all his praises to his God that placed music into his heart.

Yup, that's Mr. Lim (林和成) who came to tell his story in the Taman Midah Lutheran Church in today's Sunday service.

He entertained the congregation with a few two-wheeler stunts.

Sharing his heart and vision through beautiful melodies. 宣教的中国 sings of his yearning to see China arise into a missionary-sending nation and bless the world.

Who would have thought an ex-gangster-now-paraplegic would rise from the ashes and become a beacon of encouragement to many.

Who would have thought a lady would want to sacrifice her youth and life caring for a paraplegic.

Yet his God has blessed him with a marriage, and a beautiful wife that helped expand his ministry far beyond the shores of Taiwan.

The Chinese call it 夫唱妇随.

He has not lost the 'fire' of his gangster days, but now it is channeled to a greater calling to serve his God. If you asked him how did he achieve so much against all odds, I am sure he would say... well, there's a long answer and a short answer.

The short answer is... Jesus Christ.

And the long answer is... well, let's just keep the answer short and sweet.

A beautiful miracle, don't you agree?

I've got a collection 3 CDs autographed by the songwriter :-)

Easter Sunday 2011

2011-04-24T13:48:00.010+08:00

Before you read on, click the music track below and enjoy...

Well, today's Easter Sunday. Went with my Sarawakian friend Harris to our nearby Lutheran church.

The ever funny Pastor Ezra Yew gave the Easter sermon today. The story of the day was taken from Luke 24:13-33 ... about two of Jesus' disciples walking balik kampung towards Emmaus, about 11km from Jerusalem where Jesus was killed on the cross.

Their faces were downcast and they felt cheated. Jesus, whom they hoped to lead a new government, died a horrible criminal. Nailed on the cross. Very dead. The opposition party was crushed.

"Ai yo yo... so now how la. Back to square one. Waste time only follow Jesus. I thought he's gonna be our next leader... mana tau he turned out to be a criminal, liar ... kena hang on the cross lagi."

"I wonder what did he do wrong la, that the government hated him so much."

"Dunno la. He seemed a nice guy to me. And he talked nicely to children and lepers and prostitutes, I also can't do that."

"The government ah, dunno real or not one what they accused him of. Said he's a threat to national security la, want to overthrow the government la, causing disunity among our race la..."

"Tu la, he said must love everybody, even our enemies. Where can like that one. Cannot let those pendatang share our rights ma. It's our rights you know... the Scriptures said one. Die die also must defend our rights."

"I think those politicians don't like him being so vocal about their corruption, and the cakap tak serupa bikin la"

"Ei, you think what the government said about his video, real or not one ah?"

And they talked and talked, not realising Jesus that has joined them in the walk.

"Uh hum guys, what are you fellas chatting about?"

Both followers still talking among themselves...

"Jesus lo. Now he's dead, we don't what to do anymore. Balik kampung tanam padi. Wasted those months following him."

"Where did you guys get your news from la? The mainstream media? As if you guys don't know they will always spin the story to side the ruling party meh?"

"Ei come on la, brother, are you new in town? Dunno what happened meh?"

Jesus pretending blur blur... "hmm... tell me about it."

"Some of our ladies went to the tomb where they kept his body, but they said the body's no longer there, and they saw angels wor..."
"Ai ya, dunno those ladies talk real or not one... sometimes they talk big only..."

"No la, some of the guys also checked out the tomb... no body nobody but cloth there"

And they talked and talked, all the while keeping their heads down.

And Jesus gave them some reminders of what the Scriptures said about the 'saviour' who would need to suffer and die.

As the sun was setting, the followers reached their kampung. On seeing Jesus wanting to travel further, they invited him for makan and an overnight stay in their homes. Typical Jewish hospitality.

At the dinner table, they gave Jesus, their guest of honour the privilege to say grace. And when Jesus took a loaf, gave thanks, broke it and gave to them, then only they held up their heads and realised that IT WAS JESUS! (I wonder what were they looking at all those while)

OK la, the Pastor Yew didn't say those things. It's meant to be an Easter play, which I will be directing next year perhaps.

Pastor Yew gave 3 main points to learn from the passage in Luke.

Point 1: (Dozed off here. Post-oncall... ehem. Anybody knows what point?) updated from Pastor Yew... Do not seek the living among the dead

Point 2: Do not be blinded by our problems... till we can't see Jesus anymore. Problems, pain, stress can sometimes be part of God's plan to build our character... and the final result is peace & cool in all circumstances, good times or bad times. The Chinese call it 'even if the sky falls down, I will use it as a blanket cover'.

Point 3: Give your sovereignty to Jesus. The disciples only recognised Jesus when they let him be the Master of the meal. We can only see what life really is about, when we pass over the control to Jesus. Till then we will still be brooding over our problems, and losing sight of the blessings in our lives.

After the sermon, there was the installation ceremony for the new office-bearers of the Church Council.

"Let me ask again... you guys very very sure want to take up the job? No gaji, lots of complaints one. Think very carefully before you say yes. Sure or not?"

"Church, I present to you, your faithful servants for the next one year."

Then there was the baptism ceremony for adults and children...

Harvest time.

And then it was Pastor Chan's birthday celebration! There he was beaming away with his family, and that huge chocolate cake.

Had lunch in church, went home... and then shared my day with you here.

Happy Easter.

A park in KK

2011-04-11T22:10:00.006+08:00

My daddy came back to see us.

He brought us to play in a new park in KK. I brought along my bicycle which has been collecting dust in the bedroom...

I can ride very fast you know...

Then the park guard did not allow me to ride bicycle. So I had to find other things to play... No worries, there were many more fun things to do...

Ai ya, Izac still small baby, don't know how to ride bicycle yet la.

CNY Day 4

2011-02-27T15:54:00.004+08:00

Daddy was getting stressed coz CNY holiday was soon over and he had to go back to work.

We were still sleeping when he drove back in the early in the morning to Cheras.

Mummy and us flew back to Sabah in the afternoon. Grandma came along. With our many gifts and angpaos.

Wished there would be more fun times like this.

CNY Day 3

2011-02-27T15:50:00.006+08:00

No specific plan for CNY day 3 too.

Three of us terrorised grandpa's house with our bikes.

The bicycle gang.

If only the hall was more spacious.

Izac couldn't ride a bike. So he watched with grandpa.

Big meal again for lunch.

Gosh, grandma got a cake from Secret Recipe to celebrate our birthdays early (hint hint... March).

Good to have cousins around for birthday.

Izac could not join us for the games.

In the evening, uncle Mark brought us to fly kite in the park. But there was no wind, so it didn't fly.

Never mind, there was always other things to do.

Such as feeding the fish.

Look, big fish!

Or the playground.

Swing me higher la...

And more bubbles.

Caris loved bubbles too.

We played swimming pool in the bathroom at night.

Caris and I ganged up to splash on her daddy.

CNY Day 2

2011-02-27T15:40:00.007+08:00

Ok, not going anywhere today. So we played bubbles in grandpa's house.

This stuff was so much fun.

Caris didn't had to blow bubbles. She had a bubble gun.

Never knew blowing bubbles could be so fun.

I showed my bubbling skills to grandpa.

I bubble you, you bubble me.

See who steps on the bubble first.

We had great meals everyday, prepared by grandma. That was steamboat dinner.

Naughty daddy bought some fireworks at a pasar malam in Cheras. That was Caris playing fireworks with me. Aden wasn't allowed to play dangerous stuffs.

Those were great fun too. Hahahaha...

CNY Day 1

2011-02-27T15:29:00.006+08:00

Gong Xi Fa Cai from uncle Mark, Caris and auntie Julia.

The kids.

Everybody was back for CNY.

We went to Melaka again to visit great-grand aunty's family. And annual steamboat lunch at their place. I got many angpao... dunno what to buy. Big car?

Then went to grand-uncle's place for some rest. So much space for Izac to crawl around.

In the evening, my daddy brought us to visit the historical sites in Melaka. Might as well go since we were in Melaka already. Next time I can tell teacher I've been to those places in the History books. My daddy was born in Melaka. I am Sabah boy.

I wanted to sit ship... but daddy said it was expensive. Sad.

The red buildings built by the Dutch.

It was so crowded with tourists.

Mummy I want to sit big ship.

Izac got to sit in the stroller. I had to walk...

Yummy durian cendol in Jonker Street. Quite crowded with tourists as well.

Out of Africa.

Can we bring the elephant home?

CNY eve

2011-02-27T15:16:00.005+08:00

I wonder what's the plan for today. How come mummy told us to wear nice nice clothes leh... ?

Oh, we're having reunion dinner in Melaka.

The annual Yee Sang meal for reunion dinner. Those are my grand- aunties and uncles.

I was with mummy at the younger Yee Sang table.

Yummy seafood tonic soup. I drank two bowls of them.

Who's that long-beard uncle in opera suit?

Caris enjoying her photos taken.

All in the family.

Pre-CNY jalan-jalan in Seremban

2011-02-13T20:05:00.003+08:00

There was this huge Tesco shopping center near grandpa's house in Seremban. And they had really fun stuffs for little boys.

See, I got to ride a motorbike at 4 years old.

But going round and round the same place became boring after a while. If only they would let me go out onto the real streets.

The shopping carts in Tesco had a kiddy seat for little boys.

Plenty of mandarin oranges for the CNY.

I helped grandpa weed the garden, you know.

Izac enjoyed playing around grandpa's house too.

Pre-CNY jalan-jalan in Midvalley Megamall

2011-02-13T19:44:00.005+08:00

Ryan, Izac and mummy came over to West Malaysia on the weekend before Chinese New Year.

Co-incidentally there was an IT Fair in Midvalley. And Ryan's computer (a 6 years old hand-me-down from daddy last July) was dying soon. So we bought an ASUS 12" netbook.

Ryan was not very interested in the CNY decorations in Midvalley Megamall.

Izac was attracted to the pink and red stuffs all around.

Looked like nice toys.

Ahh... this huge flower peacock was more interesting.

Can I take one of those flowers home?

Smart. They can re-use the same pink stuffs for the coming Valentine's Day decorations.

The good news

2010-12-25T17:27:00.007+08:00

Luk 2:10 ... but the angel said to them, "Don't be afraid! I am here with good news for you, which will bring great joy to all the people. "

It's Christmas day today. Guess where I am?

I am now faraway from home, away from my familiar surroundings, and struggling to adapt to a new working environment while catching up with studies.

Luckily... there's a church just a kilometer away, so there's really no excuse for me to miss out on celebrating the spirit of Christmas with others who share the faith. I attended the Christmas service in Taman Midah Lutheran Church.

Some shots...

"Welcome to all who join us on Christmas day."

Energetic youths led the congregation into worship.

A time of singing praises to God.

Two pastors in nice uniforms.

Angelic kiddies performing a dance.

And it got better.

Then came the men and women's choir.

Followed by the Christmas message from a very comedic Pastor Ezra Yew, who started with listing the benefits of having a big belly (like his, and Santa's).

By the way, the Christmas service was in Cantonese, with English translation (the young guy did a great job!).

Then came the part about Santa Claus replacing Jesus Christ as the symbol of Christmas. The world has replaced CHRISTmas with X'mas... the 'x' being the unknown variable used in mathematics. People do not know what they're celebrating on Christmas anymore. It has became a marketing instrument to boost spending and shopping. And the 'mas' in Christmas symbolises the 3 main elements of Christmas these days...

1. Money - no money how to go for Christmas shopping and Year-End sales wor ...

2. Amusement - partying, countdowns, performances ...

3. Self - it's about making myself happy on Christmas day.

Many in the world today have turned a deaf ear to the Good News that was proclaimed to the shepherds on the day Jesus was born. Shepherds those days lived dull lives ... they were poor, looked down upon, and only had sheep as company all day long. The good news of Jesus' birth and God's forgiveness of sin and reconciling with mankind would have been extremely refreshing to those earliest witnesses of Jesus' birth. Of course some were skeptical and chose to watch from afar; but those who went to seek Jesus found for themselves a life-changing encounter. The good news of Christmas is still calling out for responders today. If we choose to tune our ears to the good news amidst the hustles and bustles of the world, we too would find our lives totally changed because we allowed God to work in our hearts. But you need to make a stand, as the shepherds did: to be skeptical and wait... or to go and seek Jesus. Life is unpredictable, you never know when the chance would come again... and Christmas only comes once a year. None of the 27 deceased in the Cameron Highlands bus tragedy knew that their lives would end so abruptly.

And then came the altar call. OK there were many Cantonese jokes that just could not be translated into English.

The pastors gave out school bags and stuffs to forty plus children in the neighbourhood and prayed for their wellbeing. Some of their parents were in church too.

The youths ended the Christmas service by bidding "we wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year".

I hope they didn't mind me taking so many photos... my fingers itchy already coz the poor camera has been in cold storage since I arrived in Cheras. Too busy no time for photographic indulgences.

Merry Christmas and may the good news of Christmas be a blessing to you and your family.

I should go back to my books now.

He laughs

2010-12-19T14:24:00.004+08:00

Christmas and new year is coming. I will be getting presents hehehe...

I will be one year old soon. I am crawling around now. Should be standing up and walking soon.

This year has had its ups and downs... but all seems well as it comes to a close.

I don't know about tomorrow. But I know who holds the future.

What we did during Deepavali

2010-11-07T18:51:00.006+08:00

We drove up to Kundasang for a day trip.

Made a stop-over at Pekan Nabalu. They've added new stalls since the last time we went, and tidied up the place nicely.

Sabahans don't need to buy handicrafts la. Tourist stuffs.

Ate lunch at the restaurant just outside National Park. Cool mountain breeze paired with a steaming hot meal. Perfect.

Then we drove up to Mesilau National Park.

If got extra money should try staying overnight. But be forewarned... food prices at the restaurant was cut-throat. RM 10 for a teh tarik, need I say more?

The cow farm nearby was packed with visitors.

Pumps used to extract cows' milk.

Actually we went to New Zealand la (imagination only).

Do you like Ryan's Ultraman hairstyle?

We made a brief visit to Auntie Lebing's home in Kg. Bundu Tuhan before returning to KK.

HCMC Travel Series - Oct 2010

2010-11-07T18:31:00.005+08:00

Click on any of the below links. Hope you enjoy the series.

On the road

Flying back to KL and Seremban

Flying off to HCMC

7.10.2010 - One day HCMC tour

8.10.2010 - First day of 3-day Mekong Delta Tour

9.10.2010 - Second day of 3-day Mekong Delta Tour

10.10.2010 - Third day of 3-day Mekong Delta Tour

11.10.2010 - Caodai and Cu Chi Tunnel Tour

12.10.2010 - Free and easy HCMC

13.10.2010 - Going home

Interesting two-wheelers in HCMC

2010-11-07T18:05:00.005+08:00

Antique bicycle.

Motorized bicycle.

Heavy-duty bicycles.

A family vehicle.

A difficult balancing act.

Ripley's Believe It Or Not.

13.10.2010 - Going home

2010-11-06T13:56:00.007+08:00

How to spend the last day in HCMC? Go shopping of course. Finish up whatever left over dongs.

Finally, a photo of our favorite roadside noodle soup stall, in an alley along De Tham Street.

Price was 20k dongs (RM3.50) for a bowl of pho, and 10k dongs (RM 1.70) for an iced coffee with milk. I missed noodle soup and Vietnamese coffee.

Bigger chairs for bigger customers next door.

Then we walked over to Ben Thanh market, which was just 15 minutes away.

A shop selling motorbike helmets only.

Ryan did not like this Chinaman outfit.

Fresh seafood at the market.

Beheading and hudud punishment for the frogs.

Naked frogs. Yummy.

Bought some T-shirts, key chains, fridge magnets, handbags... simple souvenirs. We were budget travelers, remember?

A final look of where we stayed for a week in HCMC.

Street vendor.

Going home to see adik.

12.10.2010 - Free and easy HCMC

2010-11-06T13:35:00.012+08:00

We had a free day in HCMC. It was always good to have a free day at the end of a journey, whether to buffer any unexpected change in schedule during the countryside tours, or simply to rest.

There was a saying... if you can't beat them, join 'em. So we rented a Honda motorbike for USD$6 a day (quite cheap lo) to move around. The guy in the shop was a bit hesitant... 'take good care of my bike ya, it's a new bike you know...'. Went to a nearby petrol station to top up the tank, then explored HCMC.

First we stopped at Ben Thanh market for breakfast. You thought eating at a market was cheap? My piece of advice: DON'T EAT THERE. Gosh their noodle soup and drinks cost almost double of what we paid eating at the roadside, even slightly more than restaurant prices. Big tourist trap!

I must say the BBQ pork was very delicious. Ryan would have finished a whole plate if we hadn't stopped him.

Then we checked out the shops around Ben Thanh market for some surveying of prices. Stuffs at the fixed price shops owned by the Ben Thanh market group was sold quite reasonably. But those shops inside the market area (not a fresh market la... something like Central Market in KL, tourist market)... their starting price was four times higher than at the fixed-price shop. And if you walked away with that you-think-I-am-an-idiot-meh look, they would try to persuade you to bargain... 'how many do you want?' (I want none, to maintain my sanity, TQ) ... 'how much do you want ?' (I want it free can ah?). If you have lots of time, you could spend a whole day sparring with the sellers while sharpening your bargaining skills. We had other plans. Bye bye.

Giant sized durians sold outside the market.

Ryan enjoyed the vrroomm vrroomm around HCMC. Traffic was crazy. You thought red light = stop and green light = safe to go? Not here. They had no regards for traffic lights. The rule of the road was... 'just go only, other people would be clever enough to avoid you'. With that principle we conquered the streets of HCMC.

After a few wrong turns, we found what we wanted, the HCMC zoo. Ryan had never been to any zoo in Malaysia, and yet visited his first zoo in HCMC. Typical tourist.

Nice trains, but was not in service.

Some interesting stuffs around the zoo...

Porcupines.

Sun bears. I heard that bear paws were very delicious if braised over slow fire.

Sunflowers.

White tiger.

Nice kitty.

Skinny lion. I am sure Ryan could roar louder than that fella.

Mousedeer maybe.

Hippo.

Mountain goats. Ah would make nice lamb kebabs.

Elephants.

Toys.

After the zoo, we wanted to check out Dong Khoi area, the more affluent part of HCMC, where luxurious hotels, classy shopping centres and designer shops were located (there was a Louis Vuitton).

It began to rain, so we had to seek temporary refuge in Parkson supermarket, which happened to be a 'higher class' place in Dong Khoi. I remembered our guide telling us 'these shops are for you guys to shop, not us'.

In Malaysia, you get car parks in the basement. In HCMC, you get a huge motorcycle park, and they charged entrance fees.

The entrance fee was for valet parking services. You see how crammed the parking place was? I just had to cincai park the bike somewhere, without locking it. Then when somebody wanted to leave, the parking attendant would push my bike and slot it into the parking space. Nobody locked their bikes in motorcycle parks around HCMC. When I returned to the motorbike parking outside Ben Thanh market, I just had to show my parking ticket... the attendant would then go and search for my bike and bring it to me. Nice? The danger was... what if the attendant could not remember where he parked your bike... real nightmare. Solution: install motorbike alarms.

Parkson in HCMC looked quite similar to the ones in Malaysia.

Eating ice cream while waiting for the rain to stop. That was the Pho24 noodle soup franchise shop at the back.

Back to our favorite restaurant for dinner. Nice atmosphere, polite staffs, and a looong menu which offered Vietnamese, Chinese, Thai, Japanese, Western, even Italian food.

Our rented motorbike.

The rain stopped after dinner. So we went to visit the waterfront which faced Saigon river.

Saigon River Cruise... dinner on a ship.

Nice hotel.

Besides that you could find many Vietnamese couples hugging and smooching along the waterfront. Fortunately or unfortunately they didn't have JAIS to police over their 'public display of affection'.

Then it started to rain again, so we had to go back to the hotel and returned the bike. The city dwellers did not seem to mind the drizzle, here they were still kicking shuttlecocks in the park, with minimal lighting.

A favorite HCMC nightlife... watching people pass by while having a drink with your pal, with little table and chairs.

11.10.2010 - Caodai and Cu Chi Tunnel Tour

2010-11-06T12:17:00.015+08:00

We woke up on a gloomy morning in HCMC. Came back to stay at the same hotel before we left for the Mekong delta tour. As the Chinese saying, cheap and nice.

Opposite our hotel was this odd-looking An An Hotel jutting out into the sky. The reason being, land in HCMC was very limited and expensive. So, if you have no land to extend your premise sideways, you go upwards, of course. And so the 9-storey hotel rose up among a row of double-storey shop houses.

View from our hotel balcony. That Crazy Buffalo pub was a landmark in De Tham street. And those electrical wires would drive TNB electricians crazy.

Typical Vietnamese breakfast: pho with a large basket of vegetables (didn't touch any of the content), small table and chairs.

We took a 1-day tour today to visit the Caodai temple and Cu Chi Tunnels. Those places were out of town, and travelling independantly would be time-consuming, so taking a local tour was the logical choice. Only USD$8 per person, and free-of-charge for Ryan.

What on earth was Caodaism? (I always misread it as Keldaism). It was a religion made in Vietnam for Vietnam, combining teachings of Taoism, Buddhism, Confucianism and Christianity. They believed that the many religions in the world came from a same god, but has caused much disunity. So the god of the universe chose the Caodai religion to reunite mankind. That's why macam-macam ada.

The HQ of Caodaism was this temple in Tay Ninh city, about 90km northwest of HCMC. 'Cao dai' meant 'high platform' in Mandarin.

Our guide Thomas explained about Caodai religion in front of the main temple.

Ryan riding the cute and colorful lion statues.

There were a few smaller temples surrounding the main one.

Ryan telling the story of the big fish that got away.

A worshiper getting ready for the noon mass. The Caodais have four masses each day, at six hour intervals.

Playing around in the compound while waiting.

Male worshipers waiting for the noon mass to begin. The guy in the middle looked a bit like Tok Guru Nik Aziz don't you think so.

Caodaism believed that god of the universe was symbolized by the divine eye on the globe.

Elaborately decorated chairs in the temple hall.

This uncle looked like a Taoist monk. Apparently the dress code signified which way of teaching the believers followed... yellow for Taoism, red for Christianity, white for Confusionism... something like that.

The worshipers entered the hall with full reverence.

The noon mass in progress. We saw only old folks mainly. Maybe the younger believers were away working.

Colorful wasn't it. Same color scheme as our Malaysian flag.

A bit of Islamic flavor too.

Tourists were allowed to view the mass, but from upstairs only.

The worship leaders.

The backup singers and the musicians.

The music and chanting sounded very repetitive... a bit like the music played during a Chinese funeral.

There was this painting at the entrance of the temple, depicting three saints signing a covenant with God. Guess who they were... Sun Yat Tsen from China, Victor Hugo from France, and Nguyen Binh Khiem from Vietnam.

From Tay Ninh we turned back towards HCMC, stopping at the famous Cu Chi Tunnels. It began to rain, but thank God the rain stopped when we reached the tunnels.

The tour in Cu Chi Tunnels started with a black-and-white video presentation, with the theme of cruel-Americans-and-brave-Vietnamese. In those days, the Americans based in South Vietnam wanted to stop of flow of communist support and supplies coming downwards from North Vietnam. So they bombed the forests and sprayed a herbicide called Agent Orange to wipe out the forests so that the communists had no place to hide. But they didn't expect the Viet Congs to outsmart them by building a 120km-long network of underground tunnels to launch guerrilla attack against the Americans. Clever!

Maybe the Viet Congs got the concept from the ants. Imagine surviving in such conditions for 20 years, gosh!

The original size of entrance to the tunnels on the ground.

Some entrances have been made bigger to accommodate orang puteh waistlines.

So big that even an elephant could go in.

Fake tunnels for little boys to play inside.

You wouldn't want to mess around with these booby traps.

There was a shooting range where tourists could play firing bullets from antique guns used during the Vietnam War.

Choose your gun.

Then buy the bullets.

Having very limited resources, the Viet Congs had to survive with many modifications. One of which was this Uncle Ho Sandals, made from tyres of US Army trucks that were destroyed. Simple, yet very durable.

Many sizes available, from baby-size ones for tourists, to Goliath-size ones to scare the American soldiers off. Looking footprint of those sandals, the American soldiers could not make out which direction the Viet Cong was going.

Then they were selling these beautiful war vehicles made from aluminium cans. Ryan was dying to get me to buy one.

Making friends with the Viet Congs.

Our nice tour bus.

These modern tunnels were much more fun.

Nice dinner to end the day. Italian food this time.

Beautiful

2010-10-28T07:20:00.000+08:00

10.10.2010 - Third day of 3-day Mekong Delta Tour

2010-10-24T15:57:00.015+08:00

The third day of our tour started with a very simple bread-and-butter (ok, cheese also got) breakfast in the hotel in Chau Doc. The French loaf is the kind of bread you would get in Vietnam, not the ones we have from Gardenia. It's very tasty on its own, and I think it keeps longer than our bread loaves coz it's hard and dry.

Had some free time before meeting up with our guide for the morning tour. Saw this guy doing BBQ by the roadside. Actually their BBQ was very tasty (dunno what secret sauce they used) and a popular accompaniment to a rice or noodle meal. But ah... the question is whether you dare to stomach the dust and dirt that landed on it whenever a vehicle passed. Or maybe those were the secret ingredients.

Hand-powered tricycle. Very helpful for war victims who lost their legs to landmines.

Ryan got to sit ship again. Our itinerary for the morning was a visit to 'floating village', 'fish farm' and 'Cham village'.

Floating houses. Really floating ones, built on wooden platform and tyres underneath. Smart, no need to worry about floods, and got a 'sea view' house all year round.

Not the kind of lodging if you have motion sickness. But otherwise it was a cool idea. Could move house anytime if got tired of staying at the same place... just hire a boat to tow your house somewhere else.

Ah so this was what the 'fish farm' about. Since the houses were on water, just add a net beneath and put in some fish, you would get live fish whenever you feel like cooking. Here Alex threw some fish food in...

... and the big splash came.

Those cat fish must have been really hungry. The tourists wowed and clapped. Neat trick.

They even have a pig farm on the river. Tahi babi terus masuk sungai. Hmm I would not try to imagine where the folks take their bath or do their washings.

As the boat approached Cham village, Alex told us that some Cham people actually lived on boats all year long.

Oh my! Living on that little boat all year long? So very cham.

The Cham people were remnants from the Kingdom of Champa. They lived a lifestyle very different from the rest of Vietnam, resulting in their isolation. The Cham people were Muslims, and looked very much like our Malays.

For a start, the rumah kampung on stilts.

Then the kids dressed in Malay costumes. Hey someone please tell UMNO or Perkasa, they might want to do a membership drive here.

The beam at the house marked the highest water levels each year from the flooding of the Mekong delta.

A weaver girl at work.

Shopping time.

Cham lady manning a souvenir stall.

Children pestering us to buy pancakes.

A mosque in the Cham village.

Children attending religious class.

The guys wore sarongs.

The Italian couple who used huge Canon dSLRs.

Chau Doc town viewed from the river.

The rest of the day was quite boring. We spent about 4 hours on the bus to go back to Can Tho for lunch and change to a bigger bus.

Yikes Can Tho city was flooded again. Gulped a quick lunch, then got into a big bus for another 3 hours drive back to HCMC.

It was Sunday evening. The motorcycle army was also heading back to HCMC for dreadful Monday, after a weekend rest in the countryside. Riding in the rain? No problem. Or rather, no choice.

A wonderful dinner to reward ourselves for enduring the 7-hour journey back to HCMC.

Would we do the trip again. NO.

The return trip from Chau Doc was long and tiring. Not worth the effort. A better way would be to go northwards into Phnom Penh, Cambodia by boat, rather than turning back to HCMC. Or just take a 2-day tour up to Can Tho, then base there and do some free-and-easy trips around Can Tho.

More importantly, travelling by tour do not allow you the opportunity to see the countryside upclose. The bus only stops at a few tourist attractions, and then end at a hotel in town. You do not have much time left to explore the countryside on your own. Best way I would say, is make use of the tour's comfortable bus and guide, but extend your stay when you're there. Rent a motorbike, or bicycle, and explore the streets and villages at your own pace, walk thru the fields, peep into people's houses, interact with the locals... eat some food at the roadside with extra dust. That would be really good.

With Ryan lazy to walk... no choice but to go by tour.

9.10.2010 - Second day of 3-day Mekong Delta Tour

2010-10-23T00:29:00.015+08:00

Waking up at Can Tho city was a torture for Ryan. 5 am morning call, to catch the boat. The reason was, our highlight of the day was a boat ride to see the floating market in Phong Dien and Cai Rang. Cai Rang had the biggest floating market in the Mekong Delta. Phong Dien was a smaller floating market not far away. The floating markets started very early in the morning, about 5 am, and would be almost done by 9 am. So got to be early to catch the action.

We walked from our hotel to the nearby jetty to board a big boat.

Sleepy tourists on the big boat. River breeze was nice.

Waiting for daybreak while cruising along Mekong river.

A bit like Venice?

As the day brightened, we had a simple breakfast of French loaf with jam or cheese and bananas on the boat.

Scenes along the Mekong river...

A barge for river crossing.

Beauty.

And the beast.

"I want to sit ship", sounded almost like "I want to shee shee".

Our first destination was the Phong Dien floating market.

River transactions.

Quack quacks on a boat.

Trading bananas.

Anybody want to buy my bananas?

Boat loaded with coconuts.

A lady came near to our boat to sell pao. She got many customers, coz our free breakfast wasn't just enough. And it was just so cool to buy something off the river, from a traditional lady on a traditional boat.

We stopped somewhere along the river to visit a rice noodle factory. Not a real factory, more like a backyard industry kind of thing.

This was how rice noodle, the main ingredient of the ubiquitous pho, came about.

Firstly, grind rice into flour. Add tapioca flour at 1:10 ratio (a way to cut cost... tapioca much cheaper than rice ma). Mix with water into the right viscosity.

Spread onto a hot plate. Like how our Indian friends make thosai.

When it is cooked, flip out the sheet with a rattan roller. Alex the tour guide said nothing goes to waste in the countryside. Notice that they used rice husks to feed the fire. The ash would be used as fertilizer later.

Gracefully does it.

Spread a few sheets onto a rattan stretcher.

Put out to dry in the big oven outside. Pray that no bird droppings land on them.

Put the dried sheets thru a shredder. Walla, you get rice noodles. Watch that your hand don't become meat noodles.

After that we continued to visit the Cai Rang floating market. The sun was high already and it was getting hot.

Didn't need to shout to advertise your goods. The poles were for the traders to hang their goods for all to see from a distance.

Orang puteh enjoying the sunshine.

When it was done we headed back to the Can Tho jetty, and then to our hotel. Well, I didn't find the floating market particularly interesting. It was a wholesale market (trading bananas mainly), and our big boat didn't go really near to see the action up-close. The floating market in Bangkok was much more lively and interesting.

I had some free time before check-out. Some street shots of Can Tho city.

"Thanks to the gods for giving me a nice car."

"Thanks to the gods for giving me a nice body."

Spare parts street.

A Vietnamese wedding lunch reception. Very similar to Chinese style. Hey why wasn't the bride dressed in an ao dai.

Almost empty streets in mid noon, so unlike HCMC.

Around the Can Tho fresh market...

Fruit stall with gigantic durians.

The famous Vietnam rice. Alex told us that Vietnam was the second largest rice exporter in the world after Thailand. Reason was, Vietnamese couldn't work as hard as the Thais because Red Bull didn't set up factories in Vietnam. Ok, we were supposed to laugh at this part of the joke.

Vegetables.

Pork.

Bananas, again.

Apa lu tengok?

We left Can Tho at about 2 pm. Tourists who bought the 2-day tour went back to HCMC on the big bus. Us who bought the 3-day tour packed into a little van to go northwards to Chau Doc, the border town between Vietnam and Cambodia.

Sardines in a can. Ohh... van.

The tour made a brief stop at a crocodile farm.

"I miss the Crocodile Hunter."

Baby crocs.

Needed some help to peek inside.

We reached Chau Doc at almost 6 pm. Before going to our hotel, Alex brought us to visit a temple atop a hill. It was called Phuoc Dien temple. It took a long walk up the stairs to reach the temple.

The temple structure was quite nice. But we came here more for the view... Alex said we could see the border between Vietnam and Cambodia from the temple.

New extensions still in construction.

Monk at peace, lepakking.

I wondered which was the Vietnam-Cambodia border.

After a nice bath in the hotel, we walked around Chau Doc town to explore the streets.

There was a nice waterfront park where the locals hang out. Families with kids running loose... joggers... pak-tor couples...

Interesting Mickey Mouse rubbish bin.

Symbol of Chau Doc: a catfish statue.

From there we walked to the market to look for food. The market was closed by then, but there was a food square which was still open.

You guessed it. Noodle soup with sugarcane drinks.

The winds were blowing hard as we finished dinner. So quickly went back to the hotel, just in time before it started to rain heavily.

8.10.2010 - First day of 3-day Mekong Delta Tour

2010-10-22T21:26:00.013+08:00

Food in HCMC was about noodle soup. I hoped to find the best noodle soup in HCMC during our short stay there. After eating at the franchise shop the previous day, we wanted to try out some real stuff on the streets.

By the way, beef noodle soup was called pho bo in Vietnamese. How do you pronounce it? Foe-boe? Poe-boe? Nooo... the lady in TNK Travel elegantly called it four-ber, with a twist in the intonation. Cool!

And then we found this delightful little stall in an alley at the other end of De Tham Street where we were staying. The stall was flashy... the aluminium stall, tables and chairs flashed under sunlight. Made it looked cleaner than the other stalls. It became our favorite noodle soup stall for breakfast. At 20k dongs per bowl of noodle soup, it was half the price of same thing in Pho24 shop.

Ryan was still in sleepy mode. Here he had to get up at 7 am to get ready for the 8 am tour. At home, he wakes up at 11 am for the 12 pm lunch.

You get to mix and match your pho. The trick was... point to one meat (beef, chicken, pork slice, pork leg, shrimp or meat balls), point to one noodle (mee-hoon, kueh-tiao, mee, or macaroni), and the hawker would get the point. I suppose you could point-point at everything and hope he'll mix everything for you in one bowl. Notice the plate of vegetables accompaniment... we partook 10% of it only. Not herbivore enough to become Vietnamese.

Gosh that little stall served the best Vietnamese coffee I had in HCMC and Mekong Delta. Really kaw-kaw concentrated coffee with a strong fragrance, served with crushed ice. The tour guide warned yesterday that you need a strong heart for Vietnamese coffee, now I understood what he meant. This RM 1.70 ice coffee from the streets beats anything from Starbucks I tell you.

Packed some sandwich for the trip. Oh, sandwich was another popular breakfast in HCMC. They stuff a variety of fillings into a little French loaf... ham, egg, tuna, vegetables, onions, tomatoes, butter, cheese etc. You could buy the 10k dong ones from the roadside (wonder how the ham remained good all day under the sun), or 15k dong ones from a nice bakery like this.

After breakfast we hopped onto the tour bus to begin our 3-day Mekong Delta tour.

Soon after leaving HCMC, we made a stop at a lacquerwork factory. Seen one the day before, not interested anymore. Hmmm so lacquerwork shops in HCMC were the tourist stop equivalent of tea shops and jade shops in China tours. We left the crowd to have a nice cuppa ice fruit shake across the road. Notice the small chairs and tables they used. Almost like kindergarten furniture. Tells you that Vietnamese are generally very fit and thin, difficult to find obese people around.

Two hours later the bus stopped at a house in My Tho province. Or was it Ben Tre province. The tour guide sat us at a cafetaria and served some fruits. Same stuffs that we got in Malaysia... banana, pineapple, rambutan, and pomelo.

And the show began.

They found a pair of Vietnamese auntie and uncle to sing a couple of songs for us. That was Alex the tour guide on the left, accompanying the musicians with his guitar. So this was what the advertised "be entertained with local songs and music in a traditional orchard while sampling local fruits" was about. Hahahaha... the orang putehs might find that interesting.

A walk in the kampung.

Vietnamese buried their dead near their houses, or right in the middle of the paddy field. The reason was to prevent future generations from selling off their ancestral land. Clever. Would you dare sell a piece of land with your grandma's grave on it? You could be sure your relatives would curse you for many generations to come.

After the walk thru the kampung, we came to a jetty and hopped onto a little boat for a cruise along some narrow canals.

"Look, I got my own cap."

The ride ended at another jetty 20 minutes later. It was located "strategically" just beside a coconut candy factory.

Step by step on how to make coconut candy (in case you want to try at home):

First, grate the coconut and squeeze into coconut juice.

Mix it up with some flour and sugar over a slow fire. Get a machine to do the stirring (we could use the same trick to make dodol).

When the dough is formed, press them into strips on a wooden mould with grooves.

Line the strips nicely on the chopping board...

And then chop chop chop, a few strips at a time. You get coconut candies.

Get some friends to help you pack the candies. Emm... make sure they washed their hands.

The more the merrier.

After that they serve us "honey tea". Basically, pour some honey into a cup of tea, dilute with a bit of plain water, squeeze in some lime juice if you like.

"Look ma, real honey wor, got bees on the bottle!"

Tourist stuff: took photo with a snake.

Then we took a bigger boat for a ride along the Mekong River.

Quite nice really, if only the weather wasn't so hot.

Ryan seemed to enjoy the boat ride. He had been asking for more "sit ship" "sit ship" since then.

The ride ended at a Tortoise Island. Didn't see any tortoise. Just an orchard with a cafeteria inside. The free lunch was very basic. They were pushing hard for tourists to buy the must-try "very delicious fried elephant ear fish" at RM 25 per fish... just ikan tilapia la haiyo.

Hammocks to nap after lunch.

Feeling energetic after the meal. Back to naughty mode.

A boat trip back to the bus.

Stopped at a playground with a big fatty statue for tourists to take photos. Ryan was more interested to climb the gates.

And then on the bus again. Some snipe shots from the bus (putting good use of my 300mm lens).

Vietnamese students cycling home in the evening. Their girls' uniform was the traditional ao dai, Vietnam's national costume. Although they looked very elegant with the gown flowing in the wind, the white cloth must had been every Vietnamese mothers' nightmare. I think "whiter than white" washing powders would sell very well in Vietnam. And need to make sure the dress don't get caught in the bicycle wheel... ouch.

Those farmers' hats were very popular for everyday use.

It was dark by the time we reach Can Tho city. And to our surprise, the city was flooded?!

Not it's not the rain. That's what you get living in the Mekong Delta. The rivers would swell and overflow onto the streets at certain times of the day. Those folks biasa already.

Had a quick bath and walked to the riverside for dinner.

Had some fried rice with sugarcane drinks and Saigon beer. Nice rest after a long day's journey.

Night market beside the river.

Wondered what they sell in the shop. My dung? Hahaha....

Ryan did some trampoline exercise before dozing off.

7.10.2010 - One day HCMC tour

2010-10-17T21:50:00.015+08:00

We used the service of TNK Travel, whose beautiful office was just opposite our hotel room. Our one-day HCMC tour was to start at 8am. So we had some time to look for our first Vietnamese breakfast. The cost of the day tour was $7 per person, with a simple lunch thrown in. Very reasonable price I would say. Saved us lots of walking and sunburn.

We had our first bowl beef noodle soup at a Pho24 franchise shop. The beginning of many more noodle soups to come.

You would notice by now, they always serve the noodle soup with a big plate of vegetables. I only ate the beansprouts. Didn't like the strong-flavored vegetables.

Packed some buns from the bakery for eating on the bus.

That was our tour guide for the day. There was about 11 international tourists in the minibus for the tour.

Our first stop was the War Remnants Museum.

Lots of nice aircrafts and army tanks parked around the grounds for kids to play.

Inside the museum were photographs and stories about the Vietnam War. The theme of the museum was "arrogant and brutal American soldiers committed many war atrocities against harmless Vietnamese during the Vietnam War".

M16, AK47... you name it, they've got it.

Bombs, bullets, and hand grenades. Looked like lots of toys for Ryan.

Missile toys.
A huge guillotine for potong kepala of Vietnamese Communists (Vietcongs).

After that, the tour bus headed to District Five, also known as Chinatown, about 6km away from city centre.

First they brought us to visit a Chinese temple. The orang putihs were fascinated, but for us the temple was a big yawn.

"Burn one of these and it will bring you good luck." So the orang putih bought one.

Then we went to visit the Cholon market of Chinatown. It was a busy wholesale market, supplying stuffs to the other markets around HCMC. Prices of things there were very reasonable, unlike the cut-throat prices in the Ben Thanh tourist market.

Many kinds of hats and caps to choose from.

And the helmet industry to support the motorbiking population. In HCMC they don't use the full helmets endorsed by SIRIM that we use in Malaysia. Any helmet would do, with whatever creative designs you like.

"I got my daddy to buy me a Pooh helmet."

Then we went back to District One to visit the Reunification Palace. It was a gigantic five-storey building complex that used to be the home and workplace of the President of South Vietnam during the Vietnam War. Got a spacious compound with a water fountain in the middle.

Vietnam War was quite complicated. First the Vietnamese were conquered by the Chinese, then the French. They beat the French at a battle at Dien Bien Phu, but entered Vietnam War with the Americans after that. North Vietnam were communism-supporters, known as Vietminh, backed by the communist party in China. South Vietnam was against communist ideology. The Americans wanted to block the flow of communism down South (domino theory), so they supported the South Vietnam government in the fight against communists in South Vietnam, known as Vietcongs. And they fought for 20 years, until in 1975 a North Vietnam tank bulldozed into the Palace compound and ended the Vietnam War.

The tour guide gave us a briefing at the conference hall.

Then we walked all over the huge building to explore the many rooms and halls inside.

Map room where the President and his generals planned their military moves.

Reception halls to welcome foreign dignitaries, or maybe to hold cabinet meetings.

At the rooftop, there was a bar, a mini theatre, a gambling room... also a small library. War time also must have entertainment ma. That was the President's escape helicopter.

There were things to see underground as well. We walked through the underground bunkers to look at more map rooms and communications rooms (with antique telephones and typewriters).

And we visited a Buddhist temple after that. They temple itself wasn't very interesting, so I took photos of the nice flowers outside.

Then the tour guide brought us to visit a lacquerwork factory. Lacquerwork was a very popular form of handicraft sold around HCMC.

Making these works of art was a painstaking affair. Broken eggshells were glued piece by piece correctly aligned, onto a block of wood.

A worker toiling with full concentration. I think I'll go crazy doing this kind of art.

A handicraft shop beside the factory.

The next stop was the Post Office. Yes you read it correctly, the Post Office. Pejabat Pos la. Nice architecture isn't it.

They sell handicrafts and first-day-covers in the post 0ffice. Got some nice phone booths too, the kind of place Superman would change into his red-underwear-outside costume.

Next stop was the Notre Dame Cathedral, just beside the Post Office.

A very nice cathedral built for religious services for the French colonialists. There were Vietnamese couples taking wedding photos outside.

Colourful stained-glass on the windows.

At the inside of the cathedral.

Playing around at the gates. We were so glad the tour has reached the end. It was very tiring, even with travelling in an aircon bus.

The bus dropped us back at the hotel after the tour. Had a bath, dinner, then walked to see a Water Puppet Show at a 'Golden Dragon' place. (Vietnamese could be so Chinese at times).

Along the way, we saw locals playing a shuttlecock-kicking game in the park. Looked like lots of fun.

The motorbike army of HCMC going home.

The Water Puppet Show place was about 20 minutes walk from our hotel. Tickets were $5 per person. And the show that night was a full-house. Very interesting show indeed.

The 'stage' was a pool of murky water (to hide the equipments maybe). On both sides were musicians and singers and narrators, which made the show seemed like a Chinese opera in Vietnamese language.

The guy on the right sang and played the drums.

A story about buffaloes and paddy planting.

Dragon boat race?

Water fairies dancing on the water.

The performers came forward at the end of the puppet show to receive applause. Hmmm... so those guys actually sat inside the water throughout the 45-minute show.

Late supper at the night market (pasar malam) beside Ben Thanh market: macaroni soup with sugarcane juice.