Time Flies..

Wow. I cannot believe the last post was from 2015 and it is now already 2019!!

So much has changed in the past 4 years!

From..
-Miss to Mrs
- no debt to mortgage...
- hospitality to tourism/marketing..
- student to workers..
- More responsibilities..

"Goodbye, See you when I see you"

I've never had such a strong feeling in the world "Goodbye" or the sentence " See you when I see you" before until after i completed my studies in Switzerland and internship in China.


I still remember how sad they were, when the first time I told my HK high school friends about my study plan in Sydney. On the last day when they farewell me at the airport, most of them were really emotional especially when we were in HK Airport. I remember that I was excited and yet surprised the fact that I did not feel sad at all. I expected myself that I will be crying but I didn't. Perhaps because I knew that I would come back to HK for holidays and I knew that I would meet them up again.

As time pass by, the next stage that I needed to say Goodbye to my friends were during high school graduation. I had to say it was yet another pretty emotional "Goodbye" for most of the people except me. until then I still did not understand WHY did my high school friends cried. Yes I understand it is a special moment that we all completed a journey and we all would went on a different path. However, I still believe that we would meet up again sometime in the future. It's just a temporary goodbye.

It showed clearly that the word "Goodbye" really doesn't mean much for me until I began my journey in Switzerland and China.

The 2 years which I spent in China was priceless. The people who I met and the experience that I had was unique. it was a 2 special year in my life! It was a self discovery journey for me. Going on a foreign country with a foreign language that you have no idea with wasn't easy for me at all. It was exciting and yet scary. It made me vulnerable. Throughout those years, I've met lots of people. I've learned the beautiful side of those people. As I knew no one in Switzerland or China. I gradually became more and more attached to my friends everyday. They became my second family without realising my self. We helped each other, we explored place together, working assignment together and of cause we gossip a lot as well. I've learnt a lot from those people.

As the semester began to end, my heart started to had a complicated feelings. I remember how excited I felt as I knew I would be graduate soon. At the same time, my heart has a bitter feeling when I think about the day I graduate will be the day I say Goodbye to all these lovely people. I started to wonder if I would ever had a chance to meet all these people again.

I experienced that sinking feeling three times within those 2 years. 1st time is when I graduated from PGDHM. 2nd time is when I graduated from Master degree and 3rd time is when I left Hangzhou China after my internship.

On the last day when I finally said "Goodbye" to my friends, for once I knew I said it and I really meant it..."Goodbye, I'm going to miss you....See you when i see you / See you sometime in the future in somewhere" .To the point I felt like I would never see them again because they all come from different nationality and they all will go different countries to work. Some went Dubai, some went Qatar, some went Maldives, some went Thailand and some stayed in Europe. Clearly, i was the only one decided to go back to Sydney to work. I remembered the first week after i said bye to them I still had this feeling that when I go home i will see them. Of cause when I went home i realised I am no longer living with them anymore. I SMS my friends said "Lol! I felt weird the fact that I don't see you guys anymore." and my friend said the same thing to me "when I got back to the dormitory, I still thought you are around". I couldn't believe myself that I cried.

It has been 2 years since I back to Sydney. We still keep in contact. I've managed to meet up one of them in Perth. it was such a great feeling when I saw these people again. There was a lot to catch up and it brought back all the old days memories.

Recently, one of my MIB classmate came to Sydney for study. I just can't wait to see her again!!

Journey To East Asia - Vietnam - Ho Chi Minh City

Ho Chi Minh city is so different from Hanoi. I was shocked about the differences between 2 places. It is a place where it has lots of building and it seems much more developed than Hanoi. I wondered why there's such a big difference. Thought hanoi is the capital and probably be the most well developed. 

Friends and I went to Mekong Delta, Cu Chi Tunnel and different shopping centre. 

I was so amazed with the Cu Chi Tunnel! honestly think people in the past are pretty clever! and the tunnel is so narrow. I wondered how did they survive in the tunnel in the past.  it was so long, narrow and dark. Apart from the tunnel, also get a chance to do some shooting with a gun! will never forget that experience. 

Journey to East Asia - VIETNAM part 1 in Hanoi

Resently I have spent more than 1 week in Vietnam. The main purpose of going there was to attend one of my good friend's wedding in Vietnam. As we are growing everyday, there are more friends begins their new chapter of life with their partners. I no longer only hear talked about their boy friend..some of them are now referring their partner as their fiancée or husband..time flies!

anywyas..back to the trip in Vietnam. I went to Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh..Thank God the Typhoon (Haiyan) did not ruin my trip in Vietnam..although my original trip to Da Nang got cancelled. 

The first impression of Vietnam reminded me of China..especially Fuyang so badly. There were few things that brought me back the memories of China:

1.  I guess perhaps it's because of the sky colour and the development of Hanoi in general. The sky was always in grey colour..not because of cloudy, but i believe it was because of the pollution. A lot of poeple who ride a bike with a mask on, just like the people in China. 

2. I saw lots of houses with few levels and shops along the street. there were only a few really high buildings that I could find. There were a lot of bikes everywhere. Although government tried to draw a line and develop a section of the poeple who ride the bikes, there were no many people obey the rules. At that point, I guess Fuyang is more organised/ structured than Hanoi. At least Fuyang has a clear divided bike section with fences. 

3. When you go for a shopping, the shops in supermarket or in shopping center will ask you to keep your bag in the locker or they will try to put your bag in the bag that they provide for you in seal it. Just like the photo below. That definitely reminds me of Da Run Fa - 大潤發 or Century Mart in Fuyang.

Hanoi does not seems like a really well develop or advance city compare to other cities in the world, however i was surprised the fact that they have a lots of yummy food! I have to say the Pho and the Pork roll definitely taste so different from the one I had in Sydney. It tasted so nice and definitely not something that I have tried before in Sydney! the pho was really addictive. According to my Friend from Vietnam, the Pho and pork roll in Sydney is more similar to the Pho in Saigon. I AGREE! not just the taste but the look as well. 

Pho in Hanoi! Eat it with the white vinegar.  The white bottle in the top left corner of the photo. It only cost 2AUD.. =)

Pork Roll in Hanoi. the local people just used the white recycle paper to wrap to roll as a packaging for the customers.

Apart from pho, have to say the snails in Vietnam was sooo good! 

Yes, the snail place does not look that appealing but it taste good and the one that my friend brought me to..their snails were clean. I could not taste any sands when I ate the snails.  hmm..After the snails, we decided to go to different place to try to special drink in Vietnam.

Taste so delicious! love the combination of the fresh fruits, the jelly and the sweetness.

I guess in Hanoi its all about food and drinks. there is not many big shopping centre.I went to one of the new shopping centre called Royal City and it is a huge shopping centre. What a big contrast between the big shopping centre and the small local shops in street. 

old quarter in Hanoi.

Squat Toilet in China

Every time I get to see a similar sign as above pic when I go to the toilet at work. I always wonder if this friendly reminder is cater for some of staff from China...not quite sure about japan but Squat toilet is still widely used in china.. .During the 7 month in china, i can barely remember how many times i have seen a non squat toilet when I am out in China. I guess I have used/ seen too many squat toilet to the point when I arrived the HK airport, I was shocked to see a non squat toilet. --' i was surprised to see the toilet was popping up/ "on the floor' instead of stick in the floor. -_____________-'

reading the below article definitely reminds some of the experience in china ..--'

http://gochina.about.com/od/tripplanning/ht/How2_Squat.htm
(it is a article trying to teach people how to use the squat toilet)

while i was reading the article, few things got my attention:

1."Pack Tissues. Before you even leave the hotel, make sure you've got portable toilet paper with you. Lots of public restrooms don't provide it. Wet wipes and hand sanitizer are also good to have along as if there's a sink, there may not be any soap, and probably no towels either."

yea really, and i always wonder why there are not many toilets provides tissue in china!? Also it is important to bring the wet wipes and hand sanitizer when using toilet because there were times i just feel so uncomfortable when going inside the toilet. and i hate when there is no soap or paper towers provide after using the toilet. =S

2." Pants Check. I don't want to scare you but some washrooms are rather wet - either from splash effect or the toilet maid (usually there is someone assigned to sit in the washroom and clean it) running amok with her mop. Either way, it's not moisture you want on your new linen trousers. If it's wet, roll them up, especially if you're in line for a squat toilet. If you see other Chinese ladies rolling, then be sure to. They know something you don't."

Definitely agree with the last sentence!

3. "Paper Discard - Not in the Pot! Chinese plumbing in public restrooms generally doesn't handle paper. If you can remember, please put anything other than #1 or #2 in the basket. Try as hard as you can NOT to look at the basket, it's usually open and teeming with things on which you'd rather not lay eyes."

it was a nightmare for me for the first few days i lived in the dorm in the Beijing Language and Cultural University. I did not know that you should not throw the toilet paper inside the toilet until I blocked my own toilet in the first few days. All i did was only pee pee and throw the toilet paper in the toilet and IT BLOCKED!

I went out my room feeling really embarrass and ask for the staff on duty for help. First thing they asked me was "did you throw ANYTHING into the toilet?" 

I said "Yea, toilet paper"

then she said to me "You should throw it into the toilet bin instead.  

I was pretty shocked and wondered how is it possible to block the toilet with a piece of toilet paper!? especially the toilet that I had in my room was a western style toilet. believe me or not, i even went on Google to search if its possible for a piece of toilet paper to block the toilet.

i guess i really didnt learn my lesson until the 2nd time i blocked the toilet AGAIN in the next day. it really took me a long while to get use to throwing the toilet paper in the bin instead of the potty. in the end, i bought a plumber to plumb the toilet myself -_______-' and i learned how to plumb the toilet after few days settling in china. ever since then i learned my lesson.

and yet this is not the hardest  thing, the most annoying thing happen to me in china when I work in housekeeping department for 2 months. When the time i start to clean the hotel room and to clean the bin inside the toilet..it made me sick.. and i start to wonder how do all these housekeepers manage to do all these dirty work!? 

well..i guess its all part of the  learning experience..somehow..

開襠褲 (Open-seated pants)

開襠褲(open-seat pants*)

Looking at the photo reminds me of what I have seen in China...=) Glad that i still remember how to type chinese and the name of that little pants. =PI still remembered when the first time I saw the kids wearing that in Fuyang, China I was pretty curious why would the parents let their kids wearing a pants with a big hole and showing their bump walking along the street. I did not see that many kids wearing those pants when I was in Beijing, however, I saw a lot of kids wearing that when I was working in Fuyang Hangzhou. 

according to my Chinese workmates, parents want their kids wear 開襠褲 because of few reasons:

1. convenience - therefore parents do not need to change the diaper that often. Whenever the kids need to pee pee or poo poo, if they are old enough, they will the parents can just take them to a 'suitable' place to let the kids do their business.
(but it made me sick when I saw a kid just accidentally pee pee in restaurant..--')

2. one of my workmate told me that according to her mum, wearing diaper will make the kids butt wet and red. It is bad for their health therefore wear open-seat pants is better. the natural wind will dry their butt..

3. I have also heard from my other workmate that wearing diaper will cause the kid of having a bad walking posture...they will spread their leg widely while walking..(hm...and i wonder how..)

The beautiful nature

If I did not chose to come to Switzerland for my studies, I would miss out a lot..

One of the things that I enjoyed a lot when I was in Swiss was the beautiful natural environment. Whenever I got so stress and exhausted from the school works, I would just look out from the window and enjoy the beautiful scenery . The photo below is one of my facourite.

View from the Swiss Hotel Management School (Mont-Blanc - Leysin Campus)...clouds at the eye level.

Looking outside from the windows, apart from the alps and the little houses in swiss, you can just see the clouds just a bit below the eye level. I would of never imagine I would live on the same levels as the clouds.

enjoying the scenery while waiting for my friends to finish their cigarettes at Belvedere (SHMS).

View from School