Mother Nature's Wrath

my mom sent me a message last saturday, sept. 26, telling me that they've been experiencing heavy rains for the past few hours. i wasn't alarmed. it IS rainy season in the phils after all...

then i saw facebook pics & videos.

thank god my family is safe & sound & so's everyone else i know. a few minor mishaps like flooded houses but that's it. everybody safe.

sunday, rain has stopped & sun has shown, as if nothing happened the day before. but the tragedy that happened yesterday is still obvious on the roads.

hopefully all donations will reach the victims & not be left in the pockets of the corrupt officials. this typhoon has left a tragedy in everyone there's no need for more tragedy to occur.

2 more typhoons heading towards the phils as i write this blog. my prayers to all the pinoys. let everyone be safe.

Sweet Soup Partings

when one asks the kitchen to cook sweet soup for the colleagues, it signifies that the end has come. that person has resigned from the company & as a final act of goodwill to all, he/she will feed everyone sweet soup.

i'm not sure if this is a viet tradition but it is in our company. for my 1.7years stay here, i have had more than my share of sweet soup partings. now the time has come that the colleague i'm closest to the most has said bye bye.

her name's hoai hiep tran. she's the 1st viet colleague i've really talked to. i remember when she was transferred from accounting to my office. other colleagues would laugh at her bec she got stuck with a foreigner. sure it was awkward at 1st but gradually, we became real friends sharing boy troubles, in law & baby problems (her case), office gossip, & all else under the sun.

her dream was to become a chief accountant of a company. after waiting for 6 years, she finally got her break! just when she was offered that position, she got into another position which would prove to be more important than anything else. she had little bao nam.

as any mother would do, she let go of her dream to unselfishly take care of her little angel.

as she would quip, "my baby will only be a baby once." so to her, CHEERS! as the viets would say, "goodluck-y to you & your family!" and may there be a time when our paths would cross again!

Safety Measures

80% of deaths in vn are caused by motorbike accidents. therefore, vn government decided to pass a law for the motorists to wear helmets or else they will be fined. this man went beyond the norm...

A Few of My Favorite Things

painted toes & my gorgeous gizeh birks (courtesy of rendon). i have to ask kha tseng her wedding motif so i can have my nails done to match my gown hihi!

Telenovela Family

and so my family came & went. for 4 days we were all together again. it was so much fun albeit stressful with the constant bickering of all members while i looked on. it felt like i was watching a telenovela. all plans i made were thrown out the window. better to go with the flow... needless to say, they weren't able to experience the whole hcm experience (meaning going to mekong river haha!). we just did the food tripping thing. hihi! on the other hand, buti narin. if we did the mekong tour, i'd hear:

"ang araw! sayang laser ko. papagalitan ako ng derma!" -- mom

"punyeta! ang init naman dito!" -- sister

"wag ka magulo kaya ko 'to!" (in boarding the small boat through the channels) -- brother

"lan be chia seafood ba? careful kayo sa bangka!" -- dad

can't wait for another trip with them! *miss all of you! hugs!*