Hanoi

Day 1
Arrived early in the morning and when we got out of the plane, the temperature gave us a shock and the winter chill went down my spine. I am imagining the time that I will be away from my son, and the time that I am going to miss him, but a break for myself is really much needed. I was looking for a break away from work, as well as giving myself an opportunity to make some important decisions coming my way.

Done with the formalities in airport, five of us make our way to the hotel on a normal sedan car though we asked for a seven-seater like Toyota Innova. Anyway, the few of us squeezed into the sedan and went on our 30 minutes trip to Hanoi City (Old Quarters). Funny, I have always thought that Hanoi = Saigon, apparently not. From the journey, we started to notice the condition of the road and the way driver communicates with one another. The honking never stops and it just seems that cars are talking to each other with it. The number of vehicles on the road is unbelievable and there are scooters everywhere going in every directions and it seems impossible at times to imagine how get to our destination. Like one of my friends say, controlled chaos. The other word that I cannot get out of my mind is 'population explosion'. This 2 phrases describes exactly how the city is, to us from Malaysia.

Well we reach our destination with the driver unable to find the hotel, which when he finally did, had to reverse back to the hotel because he couldn't figure out how to get there. It was quite a ride! We settled in to www.luckystarhotel.com and it is pretty good. We put down our stuff and embarked by foot to conquer Hanoi. First stop is to search for food.

The first attempt to look for food did not go too smooth, though, we finally landed ourselves on the sixth or seventh eating place we came across. It was for 'pork' rice noodle soup. It was the nicest food I have tasted this year and with the cold weather (around 10 degree Celsius), it was too good. The only down side is that the soup was cooled too fast for our liking. When we were done with food, we then next explored around and went back towards a cafe we saw earlier. And yes this cafe offers 'Kopi Luwak'. Priced at 250k Dong. A bit pricey, I think, so we settled for something less, Vietnamese coffee. The thing with Vietnamese coffee is that it is really strong, and the cup is really too small. I prefer a big cup of coffee, and couldn't find something like it there. We relaxed at the cafe for about an hour before we embarked by foot to Standard Chartered office.

Our friend managed to locate his Vietnamese friend who brought us out for a good dinner. Of all the delicacies we had that day, the "Fried Needle Fish" was probably one of the highlight. It was good. I'll probably have more photos coming up with this in my Facebook, but for now, it is just one great dinner. And, our neighboring tables, when they are about done, they sing to the tune of guitar for like an hour or so. We all had free Vietnamese music :) We got back to the hotel for an early rest at about 1030pm. Day 2... coming up...


~~~ Life is an adventure where we search for the meaning of the outcome.

Changes

 I have now make a shift in work life. Doing about the same work but with different people and different environment. I am still trying to feel comfortable in the new place. It is not easy if I have been working in the same place for the past 7 years. I have build a bond with the friends and colleagues that I have known for years.

On the 2nd day in my new place I am looking at the Word of God to help me adjust to my new place. I am comforted with the following:

“Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you” (1 Peter 5:6-7)

As his children, one of the many things that he let us feel is the emotion and that is one big thing that separates us from animals. Emotion is part of God and that is now part of us all. We know how to feel love, happiness, sadness, loneliness etc. which all forms and shape us. With this change, I know that God taught me that, yes, I have made great friends, but I have to let go, as nothing in this earth is eternal. I must burden myself to share the Word to them so that we can save them and ourselves. We are all made to be disciple and I cannot shy away from it. So when I decided to move out from the comfort zone I am in, I know that God is preparing me for something better, somewhere better, that I can impact more people. I have to think eternity then.

God bless all and have a nice day! Please pray for Japan as well.


~~~ Life is an adventure where we search for the meaning of the outcome.