Memories thought beautifully captured will be something of the past.
You'll never know what the future holds for you.
You should look back at your journey, smile, because no matter what happens along the way, you'll just have to learn and continue on.

It was an incredible trip to journey to a far away land just to help someone out there. We may have just merely walked or played a small role in their lives while they left foot prints that cannot be washed away. I have learnt that being a friend is more important than being friendly. Genuinely truly being a friend for others.

It was enjoyable to simply live peacefully up in the mountains, away from the stressful environment or urban stress I call it. It was indeed a time to slow down your pace, take a deep breath, and really think about your life. You will notice that you start to appreciate life better, how many things you have taken for granted now, would be a thing that others can only yearn for. No doubt you might be living a better than others but have you wondered whether others deserve it more than you do? I questioned myself, many of times I concluded that others deserve it more than I do, truth be known, I have made many mistakes, weights have been my burden, I was lazy and not living the life I ought to be living. Although we are all but humans and humans err, or humans are simply imperfect creature falling short of the glory that was supposed to be. We tried so hard to redeem ourselves, however, only through the blood that was shed before us, can we only have a new self. The constant renewing of mind is very important, in order to remain in tune to the ultimate plan. It is because the state of your mind is a reflection of the state your life. Simply put, your mind determines your life.

I would like to share some discovery I have made during this incredible Vietnam trip:

*Vietnamese do not have a habit of carrying bags around (that include the ladies)

*Do not fear crossing the road because the cars would not stop for you (who do you think you are some big-shot that everyone needs to wait for you? In other words, your time is not that precious compared to theirs after all) . So move on with life.

*One point to really note and to make Singaporeans like me envious is that Vietnamese do not seem to have people wearing spectacles because they all seem to have perfect eyesight. So if you do spot a person wearing spectacles in Vietnam, highly like it is not a Vietnamese. The same goes for locating a spectacles shop, too rare to be located. It must be their environment or may be we are just watching too much television.

*Let me talk about the hill tribes. Some hill tribe people have blonde hair, and it is natural, talk about dying your hair. I concluded that either is due to over exposure under the sun or might be malnutrition. It might not be or just it's genetics. Research anyone?

*Regarding the buildings in Vietnam, only the front of the house is painted because the price of the house is calculated by the width of the house. Therefore the houses are very long and compacted.

*Their language is influenced by the Chinese, French and the Thai. Recently, English is making its presence felt. So who's lacking behind? In the long run, it might be us I guess.

*The potential for growth in Vietnam will outstrip that of many countries, I have a few shallow feel of what it might become. They may put the cables underground to ensure better quality of communication and definitely more sky scrapers, so just how high can the tallest scraper go? Reason being that there are not many tall buildings around, may be one can really scrap the clouds out of the sky, who knows but I believe it will happen eventually, question is how soon?


Alright, here is a short part taken out of my journal written there and then in Sapa, Vietnam on the 25 November 2006:

The roosters woke me up at 6.00am sharp to see the first light. The sun is rising behind the tall mountains on the far horizon as far as the eye can see. Mist clouds drifting at the valley. I’m being surrounded by huge, strong looking green mountains. The people here are awake and getting ready to work, tribeswomen gathering their stuff to sell. It’s freezing writing out here in the balcony. Now the clouds are orange-red in colour. The view is breath-taking together with the farmland and peaceful environment. So calm and relaxing, not in a hurry to do anything.

It is only a small part of what I have written. This experience was indeed wonderful. It showed me that there are so many things you have yet to learn. However, you can always try...

Labels: Da Wei