Is love at first sight an illusion? Not in my case, in which the love for green roses never fades away … Since I love them too much, I’m gonna borrow this pix of my adopted brother’s birthday gift and post it up here.
Would you believe that these are artificial roses? They are! In fact, they are hand-made of Thai fine clay by anh Dung – my brother’s secondary school friend. It took me a while to believe it … Impressive!
Da mặt dạo này đẹp hơn … Mình phải cám ơn mẹ và thói quen sưu tập ti tỉ thứ mẹo vặt trên đời của mẹ … Mỹ phẩm đắt tiền chắc cũng không thể sánh bằng nước vo gạo của mẹ … Chẳng biết mẹ đọc được ở báo nào hay nghe cô đồng nghiệp nào chỉ rằng bí quyết giữ cho da mặt đẹp của phụ nữ Nhật là rửa mặt bằng nước vo gạo hằng ngày, chỉ biết bây giờ ngày nào mẹ cũng giữ lại 1 ly nước vo gạo trong tủ lạnh cho con gái … Hạnh phúc dễ sợ! 
It’s the second International Day that I’ve attended at my little cousin’s school. It’s interesting to see traditional dresses of at least 15 countries and simple home-made dishes from as many countries. The best food is the below oh-so-yummie cheese. The Swiss men said they brought it all the way from Switzerland, and ummm it started with R—–, and of course you can tell that I didn’t quite get it. Whatever the name is, the taste is irresitible. Regardless of how much I want to lose weight, I went for almost two helpings … oh dear …. well, cheese got lots of calcium which is good for my bone, you know …. hehe
After eating too much Swiss cheese, we decided to pose for this pix … On Auntie’s count … 1 … 2 …. cheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeese …. I look taller than Jimmy, in fact, it’s the long heels that make me taller. Jimmy is 13 years younger and 0 milimeter shorter than me, she’s my height already …. I am so gonna be an average cousin in a few years …
Body painting … a cute three-leaf clover ….
Lots of orchid and roses in front of the Vietnam’s booth …
And the kids didn’t leave the flowers alone …
Last confession of the day: I had some four scoops of New Zealand ice cream, too. No regrets! Salsa class is tomorrow, and I am so gonna make good use of it ….
Casa Latina, still famous for its Salsa classes, was nowhere to be seen. And that meant the chance of me taking up Salsa was close to zero. However, Na (who is very likely to be the 1st to comment in this entry) managed to find a new address which is probably the only place that teaches Salsa in Saigon now. For now, let’s keep it a secret!
Skipping my Tuesday jogging session, I managed to be present at the place just in time for the class. “We jump started last week; however, you can still catch up with everyone else”, said the instructor. As I looked around the studio, I found many foreigners, some Viet Kieu bananas (yellow on the outside, white all the way inside), some Viet couples, and some Viet female wannabes whose ideal boyfriends will be most likely foreigners with a yellow fever. Hmm, “it’s pretty crowded in here. Is there space for all?”
The class started with Salsa basic steps. “First, imagine there’s an ant in front of you, and you’re gonna step on it with your left foot. Here we go … Then there’s another ant …”
The fun part about Salsa is its fast pace. And since there’s no slow Salsa, I can always have fun. I love speed, really!
Na and I, too shy to find partners “ideally of the opposite sex” as instructed, decided that we would be a couple for the sake of couple dancing. Na, as manipulative as always, asked to be a Salsara, putting me into the position of a Salsaro. Hah, sometimes I need to make sacrifice, it’s still better than me dancing with a stranger.
We honestly had so much fun until the hour passed and we lined up to register ourselves. Oh dear, those Viet wannabes managed to cut the queue and put their names in the long list before us. Grrrrr. Expectedly, the instructor politely asked to write down our names and not give him any fees. Oa oa oa oa. This means no Salsa until the end of Feb.
Our backup plan is ballroom dancing. However, I am not gonna be Na’s dance partner, no no no …… hehehe … co chet cung khong lam ….
by someone who knows the three of us and wished to be hanging out with us that night … Here it is …
* Need not telling me I look better without glasses … I already knew it too well …
I am such an addict … and my biggest sin is to get my parents become worse addicts than me … One truffle can get them going on and on until their sense of guilt shout out loud “Will you save some for your daughter?” 😀 I am just kidding …
One day last week, dad, not feeling well because of the weather change, asked me where I bought the fresh locally made chocolate. [Pause: if you have never tasted fresh chocolate, you should. Fresh chocolate is much more irresistible than packed chocolate that can last for months] So there we went hurriedly to that shop … The result of his first visit to the store was a big box of chocolate. “I got the whole assortment in here”, said he as he happily walked out of the Boniva shop. Bang! I myself have never bought that much chocolate in a go. The second Bang came just one day later. My dad felt in love with the broken pieces of chocolate, so he came back to buy two more packs even though the first big box was still full of truffles, pralines, gianduja …
I am such a smooth influencer with good eating habits … now there’s always some chocolate in the fridge … Isn’t that wonderful?
25/12/2006: sau tiệc sinh nhật của M., 5 đứa học sinh 6A1-7A1-8A1 trường cấp II Nguyễn Du-Q1 hồi xửa hồi xưa ôm nhau chụp hình trước cây Noel to đùng trong sảnh khách sạn.
03/01/2007: 4 đứa (không có V.) kéo nhau đi hát Karaoke vì cảm hứng bất chợt của T: A Whole New World … Pretty Woman … Nothing’s gonna stop us … Bắc Kim Thang … Bức Họa Đồng Quê … Bèo Dạt Mây Trôi ….. rồi cả Hành khúc Đội Hồ Chí Minh – bài tứ ca hoành tráng gợi nhớ cái thời cấp 1, cấp 2 dễ sợ.
… Đi ta đi lên nối tiếp bao anh hùng, như quân tiên phong bước trên đường giải phóng. Tiếng kèn vang vang giục giã thiếu niên nhi đồng tiến theo lá cờ đội Hồ Chí Minh quang vinh …
Enriching friendships. Old friends found and reconnected. It’s rewarding to see friendships and emotions stay true through the test of time. It’s proven right that old school friends are the dearest same-age sisters and brothers.
Observance of life commitment and responsibilities. Nearly 20 weddings celebrated and 2 babies born. The year of the Dog is a lucky year 🙂 Born under the Dog sign, I did not get married in the year of my sign as confirmed by the fortune teller two years ago 😛 Leave the marriage to true love’s calling.
Accidents. I’m thankful that Mom’s broken knee is recovering well. I’m proud that the team could manage things well without a line manager for three months. A bit of quarreling was necessary to get it going well. We live to learn from our experiences 🙂
Discovering blogging. Blogging is a self-reflecting, well-monitored, and well-observed (:-P) process in which fresh thoughts mature beautifully. Becoming mature does not necessarily mean growing older. Single at the age of 24, I am a young bird ageing gracefully.
Self-assessment. Offer and support from the St. L team help me redefine what I really want from my work and study. The 3-day “7 Habits of Highly Effective People” course shifted my paradigms – I am a happier girl now because I choose to be one.
Health-care. Everything starts with a good health. I’m paying a lot more attention to my intake, my body clock, and my work-out plan.
Happy year-end with home-made hot pot, karaoke, Casino Royale, Lush and Apocalypse Now.
Making wishes for 2007 …. for parents … for sister … for myself … and for dear friends …
The dimple house 