Vietnam Trip - Day 1 at Ha Long Bay :)

The famous limestone rock formation as printed in VND200,000 note

Ha Long literally means "descending dragon". It was said that there was a legend behind the place. It was a UNESCO World Heritage Site too. To be honest, before the trip I had no idea what Ha Long Bay would look like. I just had a glance view of it before and preferred to let myself be awed with its magnificent view. In my travelling experience, I did this a lot, especially when going to places arranged by travel agent. Lack of time to do research was one thing. Leave things flow naturally and let myself be awed by it were the other reasons. So, same like my experience with Ha Long Bay this time.

The weather was another thing I missed to check before going. Hahahaha... Since I did some research for writing this blog, I only found out now that September was not the favorable time to visit Ha Long Bay since the chance to rain was high. Lol... But I could not do anything too since my time schedule had been packed with other traveling plans and only had this 6-day slot, exactly on these days, available. And I would not mind with rain. I would not mind with hot weather. It had been part of my life almost every day living in Singapore. And again, nothing was certain. Nothing was permanent.

Rain would not fall whole day. The sun might appear, and those two might even create the beautiful rainbow. So, leave this naturally, with the flow, expect the worse, and hope for the best, were the mentality I always holding to whenever going for traveling. I loved surprised. I loved the unexpected circumstances. I loved changes. Because it was only natural that those things happening in our lives. Without challenges in life, I would not know my limit, how much I could endure, how much I could accept, how would I handle it, gracefully, or with anger. 

Yeah, that was how I started writing this for my one-night stayover in the Ha Long Bay :)

How I captured it ^^"

P.S. I did not even know that the limestone rock formation was printed in the VND200,000 note until the second day I was in the cruise. I even forgot to ask the cruise guide, where was the formation rock located. And later on, I found out that actually I had my picture with it without realizing its existence and that too, was taken very far away and shown a very small picture. Hahahaha..... :P

We took about 3 hours to reach Ha Long Bay port by taking the limousine van. Jacky said, after Covid-19, the mode of transport for traveling had changed to limousine van. I was not sure what tourists took before that though. But he kept asking me to take photo of the inside of the van. Perhaps he too, never took this van as passengers before, so not sure how his customers would feel - whether they were comfortable, were they enjoying the ride and facilities, and so on.

Typical limousine van for transfer in Hanoi, Vietnam

In some van we took, the USB charging port that each seat had at the side, was working. But in some van, it was not. So there was no consistency in it and we could not rely much on the charging facility provided. There were 3 rows at the back, with two-seat each in the first two rows and three-seat at the back row. Another passenger would be seated in front seat, next to the driver. Therefore, a maximum of 8 passengers could be taken at each journey.

We reached early at about 11.30am. However, the weather was not good. It was raining heavily. Everyone was just waiting under cover until the rain turned lighter. Small boat came and went to pick and send the passengers from the cruises that were parked not far from the port. Our turn was finally came too around an hour later. We were transferred to our cruise, called Syrena.

Once reached the cruise, we went to the third floor where all passengers were gathered for the welcome and safety briefing. After that we were given key to our room. Passengers' rooms were located at first and second floor but mostly we were all staying at second floor. We headed to our room with our bags and checking the facilities, making sure that all was working well. 

I think all room had small balcony, but we seldom went outside because there was kerosene smell and hot air when we were standing there. Overall we had a nice, comfortable, and most importantly, at least for me, clean room. The bathroom had wooden floor, which was unusual. I loved staying there. The air-conditioner had been turned on before we entered. It was cool and nice.

After freshen up, we went upstairs again to have our lunch. It was six different dishes and ended with a plate of dessert to share. My friend and I ordered a cup of coffee each to finish our lunch and sat outside while enjoying the view surrounding us. By then the rain had stopped. It was so relaxing and enjoyable.

At around 3.30pm we left the cruise and was transferred with a small boat to visit our first stop - the Surprising Cave or Hang Sung Sot. On our way we could see many amazing shapes of the limestone, as a result of 500 million years of formation in different conditions and environments (see the picture below).

Various limestone rock formation that resembled animals - Ha Long Bay, Vietnam

There were around 59 caves found surrounding the Ha Long Bay, but Sung Sot was the largest. It was formed since 520-470 million BC. The size and view inside was really unbelievable and living up to its name.

The view inside the Sung Sot Cave - Ha Long Bay, Vietnam

Everyone who entered was awed by it. They were woo waa non-stop, entering different parts of the caves. All was offering different shapes and view. They used camera to take picture and video, remembering the view and moments, sharing it with their loved ones.

Ti Top Island - Ha Long Bay, Vietnam

After that we visited Ti Top Island, not far from the cave. In the island, we were given option to climb up around 450 steps to see the panoramic view from of the Ha Long Bay the top and/ or to swim and/ or play volleyball or just relaxing at the base. The island was named after Russian cosmonaut Gherman Titov on the occasion of his first visit to Ha Long Bay in 1962.

Activities at Ti Top Island - Ha Long Bay, Vietnam

We had a great time there from the climbing and watching our fellow friends playing beach ball at the seaside. We went back to our cruise after that to catch the happy hour drink promotion time hahahaha.... :P

Wrap spring roll activities taught by Mr. Tam - Syrena Cruise at Ha Long Bay, Vietnam

Before dinner started, there was a fun lesson conducted by Mr. Tam, our cruise guide, how to wrap the Vietnamese roll. All of us was given a chance to try. After that they fried it and served it for us for dinner. They served buffet for dinner.

Our buffet dinner and happy hour beer. Yo!!! Means Cheerssss.... :D

Most dishes tasted good. Desserts too. I tried Halong Sapphire beer and triple 3 (333) beer on board. We had a relaxing dinner after a long day. We even made friend with other group after those trips. There was fish catch activity at night after dinner, which was actually just wasting of time because it was really difficult to catch one. Hahaha... But it gave us a chance to chat with other people including the cruise crew.

After taking bath, I headed to the top deck. There I joined other for a drink. They bought so many beers and wine and shared it with me. I drank, listened to them, chatted sometimes, and enjoying the night breeze and moon view on top of the sky. I felt really blessed and grateful for being there. Thank you, thank you, and thank you SB for giving me the opportunity to travel to many places in the world, for being there, at the moment. To be continued....

Vietnam Trip - Hanoi in September 2022

Hanoi, Vietnam

I went to some parts of Vietnam before, but I had not been into Hanoi (the capital and second largest city in Vietnam), Sapa Village and Ha Long Bay before. I had heard a lot about it from my close friends. One had been there before and shared with me how lovely the places were and why it was worth visiting. Another had not been there, but really wanted to go.

It was in the middle of August and I had already some plans made for the month of September to travel to other countries. Nevertheless, Sapa was famous for its beautiful and pristine rice terraces, cool and fresh mountain air, plus the living place of many ethnic minorities, such as: Hmong (52%), Dao (25%), Tay (5%), and so on. And one of the best time to visit Sapa was in September (before the farmers harvested their paddy fields, so the fields were in yellowish color).

I was looking at my timetables and there was a small gap in between of my planned trips but I did not have accompany as my friend who was interested to go there, was unable to take leave from office. But fortunately, in few days time, I managed to find another friend, who could make time and also take leave from her office. I had to convince her to take six days trip there instead of five days though, since she had also another long-trip planned in the next following month.

Yeah, if you asked me, how many days would be enough to visit Hanoi and the area, I would say 7 days would be ideal. With 6 days planned, I could visit places I wanted to go, but there was one place I missed visiting - Ninh Binh - and that was why seven days would be perfect. Some people could complete all the places within 6 days but they would not stay a night on a cruise in Ha Long Bay, instead, they could only visit on a day trip, but they would miss lots of thing (in my opinion, since I loved a relaxing trip instead of the hurried one).

So, I got accompany, I got 6 days to spare in between of my two trips, then, what was next? I asked my friend a local travel agent contact that she knew from her previous trip. She gave me the contact and I messaged Jacky through Whats App right away asking him for the quotation based on places I wanted to visit. He sent me few itineraries to choose and I forwarded it to my friend. 

I was quite occupied with so many things regarding my other trips. Therefore, I wanted to take this trip easy, with lesser planning, lesser research, and left all the hotels and van transfers booking into the hand of this local agent. I left the choice of the recommended hotel in their hands too, because I believed that they also wanted to give us the best with the budget offered and wanted to make their customers happy with their services. 

So I replied him within few days and confirmed to take their services in the next one month. He trusted me so much just like friends did, that he did not even collect deposit until we reached there (even when there was a local bank account available for transfer). However, in case I had to cancel my trip due to any unexpected circumstances, I had to still follow their procedures to pay for the cancellation fee as mentioned in the itinerary (to be fair, right?)

Thank Buddha that both of us were blessed with good health and could proceed with our trip there accordingly :)

Noi Bai Hanoi International Airport

There were many airlines available from Singapore to Hanoi, especially for direct flight. There were SQ, Vietnam Airlines, Vietjet Air, Bamboo Airways, Scoot, etc. I picked up Scoot since it offered free 10 kg hand carry luggage at the budget rate, and the flight time was perfect for our itinerary too. We flew at 10 am and reached there at around 12.30pm. 

Our guide, owner, cum friend, Jacky, had personally picked us up from the Noi Bai International Airport. He was our food and city guide of the day since we were introduced by my close friend, who had also introduced him to many of her friends who were travelling to Vietnam. He had other group who also came from Singapore that day, but because of this connection, he took his time to accompany me and my friend instead of bringing the other group around.

Upon arrival, I was surprised and happy when seeing many Vietnamese not wearing masks. I thought, wearing mask was still a requirement for Vietnamese there. Many were still wearing for their own health protection instead of a must-do-thing or requirement by the government. So, I was loosen my guard up too while travelling there - only wore it when I was surrounded by the heavy crowd or indoor.

Golden Rooster Hotel, Hanoi - Vietnam

We were dropped first to our hotel, Golden Rooster Hotel, located in the heart of Hanoi Old Quarter. It was designed modernly. We stayed there for total of 3 nights and overall, we really had a good and comfortable stay in the room, and even made friend with most of the staffs there. They were all polite, friendly, professional. We checked in, kept our luggage inside the room, and refreshed ourselves for a while before we started our food tour. It was just nice, time for lunch and we both were hungry!

Our first meal in Hanoi - Banh Mi and Hanoi Beer at Banh Mi 25

We started our food tour by having banh mi (Vietnamese baguette with pate) at Banh Mi 25. The owner had extended their shop to 30 Hang Ca Street to meet the seating demand from its Hanoians and travelers customers who fond of seating longer and enjoying the old Hanoi quarter ambience (check out the above photo and you can see what I mean by that). Since both of us would try few different food during our tour, we decided to order only 1 portion of each food and shared it into half. 

It was such a hot afternoon and I was craving for something cold. It was when I was Jacky what Vietnam beer he would recommend, hahahaha......, and he recommended me the Hanoi Beer that I was holding, and Saigon Beer. I tried only one first though as I wanted to save more space in my stomach for more delicious Vietnam food :)

Second stop, Bún Chả Đắc Kim, to taste the Bun Cha (Vietnamese noodles with grilled pork). Apparently, Vietnam was famous for copycat. Other than the famous branded goods, it was also famous at copycat-ing the famous local street food brands. The copycat shop (decorated also in red and yellow banner) was opened very near from the original one, resulting many visitors had mistakenly gone into the copy cat shop instead of the original one.

Take note on how the original Bún Chả Đắc Kim looks like!!! :)

Luckily we had Jacky with us, so we were able to avoid such a big mistake. Because it turned up that I loved this Bun Cha very much!!! I was even willing to fly there once again just to taste this "Obama noodle". Hahaha... But, why Obama??? You can read the story here.

In the photo, you could see the noodle portion. It was for only 1 pax. We both shared it together. Vietnamese ate a lot of rice and noodles, according to Jacky. They could even eat triple share of it. If I was very hungry, maybe I could finish the whole portion for my self, but not more than that. And yet, most Vietnamese were mostly slim built, not chubby like me ^^"

Train Street in Hanoi

We walked a little bit after these 2 meals. Jacky brought us to visit the train street in Hanoi. I think I saw the clip somewhere online before without knowing where the place was. So I was surprised and very happy when finding this place out, really did not expect to see it there in Hanoi :)

St Joseph's Cathedral, Hanoi

We visited the St Joseph's Cathedral or also called Nhà Thờ Lớn Hà Nội. This church was built resembling the Notre Dame de Paris. It was the oldest church in Hanoi but was not opened when we were there. It opened usually for Sunday mass at 6pm. 

Next, we went to Pho 10 Ly Quoc Su to taste the must eat food in Hanoi - beef noodle soup or Pho. We ordered one bowl well done beef noodle soup to share.

Pho 10 Ly Quoc Su - Hanoi, Vietnam

The ingredients inside the bowl looked so simple. It contained sliced beef, noodles, spring onion, sliced onion, coriander, and clear broth. At the side, they provided fish sauce, slice garlic soaked in vinegar and chili sauce. Usually when eating Pho in Ho Chi Minh, the restaurant would provide additional various vegetables for us to eat together with the beef noodle. But here, they did not provide any. It was simply as it was. Sometimes, simplicity is the best, don't you agree? The next time I go, I will try the half done beef and soak the fried dough into the soup :P

We continued walking to let the stomach digesting the food inside the stomach. Jacky brought us to view the Hoan Kiem Lake, which was known as the lake of the returned sword. There was a legend behind the name which you can read it here. 

Ngoc Son Temple or the Temple of the Jade Mountain - Hanoi, Vietnam

I was curious with what was inside the Ngoc Son Temple (the Temple of the Jade mountain), which was located in the Jade islet of the Hoan Kiem Lake. So we went inside there for a short visit. The temple was built, dedicated to Confucian and Taoist philosophers and also the national hero, Trần Hưng Đạo. It was slightly different from the usual Chinese or Buddhist temple. There was also a huge specimen of Hu Guom tortoise being displayed inside. You had to pay a small fee to enter the temple. It was not included in the tour, but Jacky had kindly treated both of us for the entry. Cảm ơn bạn hiền ;)

Cafe Dinh - where 

And now, it was time for the famous Hanoi specialty coffee - "egg coffee". Jacky brought us to Cafe Dinh, named after the road where it was located (Dinh Tien Hoang Street) - near the Hoan Kiem Lake, instead of Bich Cafe (named after the daughter of Mr Giang who was the founder of the famous Giang Cafe), to try this specialty coffee.

The cafe was located at second floor and a little bit hard to find since the signboard was put above the other shophouses' names. So make sure you turn "your location" in the Google map on to locate this place. This cafe was opened in 1990s. It looked old but many local and tourists loved visiting. 

Egg coffee from Cafe Dinh, Hanoi - Vietnam

Both of us ordered one hot and one cold egg coffee to taste the difference between both types. We could see bottles of coffee being filtered. We could also see how the egg coffee was being made. The history said that the egg coffee was first created back in 1946, during French war (or first Indo China war). There was a pressure of milk shortage. So, Nguyen Giang, who was at that time bartending at the Sofitel Legend Metropole Hotel, whisked in the egg yolk to substitute the milk for the coffee.

I heard about egg coffee just before I planned for my trip to Hanoi. There was a Vietnamese restaurant who was selling it here in Singapore. However, I did not try it as I wanted to taste the original egg coffee directly from Hanoi, where it came from. Other ingredients included sweetened condensed milk, butter, and maybe cheese. 

I finally tasted it for the first time. Before having it, Jacky asked us to stir the coffee wholeheartedly, to ensure that the whisked egg yolk mixing well together with the filtered coffee. Perhaps I did not mix it well enough. I felt that the egg yolk taste was very strong, and at the same time, the filtered coffee was very strong too. Just too bad, I felt both separately, not as a mixed drink. Lol!!! So, it was not my favorite but at least I tried :)

We were all full from all the food that we had (two bowls of shared noodles, one baguette, half bottle of beer, and one glass of egg coffee were all consumed within 2.5 hours). I think our stomach had to rest. It was time for us to go back to our hotel. 

I loved staying in Hanoi Old Quarter because the distance was all reachable on foot. The traffic situation was very challenging though. Human, cars, motorcycles, bikes were sharing the two-way street. There were traffic lights in some areas, however, many ignored its existence. Jacky was very calm walking on the street, as if he owned the road. Hahaha... But funnily, no car or motorcycle blast its horn on him despite walking very slow, and sometimes blocking their way. The car and motorcycle just slowed down and let us walk on the road.

There was a time when I felt like giving up to cross that busy road. Cars and motorcycles were crossing from many directions and I felt I was sweating, thinking when would I be able to stop them to cross that road. Hahahaha.... It was not the road for elderly who walked very slow. I could not imagine myself bringing my parents to walk around Hanoi on foot, might as well bringing them to other parts of Vietnam :D But after some time, I got used to with the traffic. And until now, I often miss crossing those busy roads. Can you believe it???

Chả Cá Thăng Long - Hanoi, Vietnam

We had our free time after the food tour was over. Both of us took a rest inside our room. Before 7pm, we went out to have a dinner not far from where we stayed, called Chả Cá Thăng Long. The restaurant sold fried fish (you could mix it with pork intestines if you liked), a popular dine in place for locals and these days, foreigners like me. The fish was stir fried together with lots of spring onion and dills. After that, you could mix the noodle with the fried fish and veg, raw spring onion, coriander, peanuts, chilli, and dollops of fish sauce. Wow!!! I loved it!!! If I go back to Hanoi, I would have this again too!!! :)

Full Moon or Lantern Festival Street Night Market - Hanoi, Vietnam

Since we were full, it was time for a walk. We decided to walk to the street night market where Vietnamese celebrating the upcoming Full Moon or Lantern Festival (as a result of Chinese culture influence - the intertwined history with China from the past). There, they sold various lanterns (with music and lights) and things related to the festival (although the items sold would mostly attract children - see picture above). 

Train Street in Hanoi, Vietnam

After that we walked back to the train street. The train passed by at around 8.45pm and 9.13pm Hanoi time. We sat and ordered another Hanoi Beer at Hao Hao Cafe while waiting for the train to pass by. It was a cooling night and it was good to just relax at their second floor. We saw two trains passing by then walked back to our hotel to rest.

As I did some research just now, I found out that the train street was no longer opened for public starting September 18th, 2022. You could read the article here. Woahhh.... I thought it was fake news so I checked with Jacky about it, and he confirmed that it was no longer opened for tourists anymore as it was dangerous with the still operating railways and trains. Lucky Aileen and I had our chance to enjoy it when we were there :)

So, that would finalize my post for our first day in Hanoi. Hope it could help you in case you have any plan to visit the capital one day :) Will continue with second day soon :)

My thought today

"Just try our best."

Hey hey, what's up? How have you been everyone? It has been long time since my last post. Exactly 3 months. Wow!!! How time flies!!!

The pandemic is still going around everywhere in the world. Even up to yesterday, the figures were still as high as thirteen thousand plus in Singapore alone. 

But many countries in the world had eased their entry restrictions, even they had taken out wearing mask requirements from their regulations, especially in Europe. And that was why, I had finally fulfilled my long postponed dream that I had had back in 2019.

And these days I am back at home and normal life. Hmm... normal life? I am also not sure what 'normal' life is supposed to mean. Is 'normal' life meaning a life with something to do every day - a.k.a. having job - whether it is paid or not? 

I mean, are those people who do not work (excludes elderly and housewives) considered not living normal life??

Well, I just pondered it within myself, in my own thought. No need argument over some personal opinion of mine, just a thought that came out today, as my friend was asking if I had any plan in recent future - whether I look for some job, open business, or do something on a day-to-day basis, like future plan. 

As I recalled what my school mate told me earlier during my school time, he said, "if you fail to plan, you plan to fail." 

And tbh, I do not have any plan, like career plan, succession plan, giving birth plan, or whatever plan to fill my day-to-day activity. 

It really seems that I am going to fail my life if I continue this way, aren't I?

But I have few travelling plans in the near future. Those are what I have for now. And yet, it will not fill my everyday life because it is not a non-stop travelling kind of thing, but more on few days at one time kind of plan. So the rest of my days, I have no other plan than just live my life well - eat well, sleep well, do thing I love doing well, and that is all. 

I am not an ambitious kind of person because personally I find that success in career is only bringing jealousy to others. Haha... not an excuse yah, just my personal opinion. 

And I do not measure people by how success they are, or how much money they earn every month, the more not friending people based on that kind of measures. 

I usually befriend people by how sincere they are to be willing to be my friends, with no ulterior motives, no drama, no jealousy. Purely based on their heart, their willingness, a two way relationship. 

If they want to be my friend, just be. If they do not want to, then let it be, as much as I believe in fate in terms of who we meet with in this lifetime. 

Sometimes I feel that I am wasting my time. I could use this precious time to do many things in life, that benefits not only myself, but also other beings. But somehow, I have not found that purpose yet. I am still finding myself out, of what I want to be or do. 

Between the lines quote

And the older I become, I love spending my time more with myself, a.k.a. being alone. I can survive so far, but not sure how long, but yes, I prefer doing like this, if possible. 

Whatever it is, this is still life. We just have to go through many phases of it. Let see if it brings me somewhere or nowhere. Just live it one day at one time. Make it simple. To survive, to live on, to be happy :)

Hope your life is doing good and message me if you want to share yours too!!!

The Day I Lost My Wallet

Pic source: keepinspiring.me

It was a good morning. My hubby and I were happily going to the shopping center where he was working. We were going to have our breakfast there before he started his work. 

I brought my wallet to the stall and ordered my food but I paid the meal using my mobile. I took my tray and headed to our table. We shared our meal as my stomach was not feeling very well even after few days I had my gastric. 

We headed to the market downstairs then upstairs to search for the mop set that had broken days ago but to no avail. I continued shopping at NTUC buying some nutrition rich food which I wanted to cook later to improve my immunity level. 

When it was time to pay, I took out my wallet from my black canvas bag. Hey wait, where was my wallet??? It was a long, square and big wallet, in black. It was big, but how come I could not find it everywhere???

Pic source: keepinspiring.me

I immediately called my husband to settle the payment and once he came, I ran off straight back to the seat where we were seating earlier. I asked the nearest stall staff if she was aware that someone found my wallet. She told me someone did find my wallet and asked me to check with the stall that selling drinks. 

A glimpse of hope was there. At least my wallet was dropped there and someone was aware and found it. 

I ran to the drink stall and asked the staff there. She pointed me to the person in charge of clearing table and that person referred me to another man in charge. 

That man then brought me outside the food court and pointed me to the office located just next to it. I knocked my door and the security staff opened it. 

"Yes, we have your wallet. What is your name?" he asked. I told him my name. It must be the only wallet they found in the day. He opened it up and asked me to check if I lost anything inside. He had just recorded the content of the items and separate the notes based on its denomination in each row.

To be frank, I did not really know how much money was inside my wallet. But when I purchased my wallet just before Chinese New Year came, I put in a lucky number amount of money inside as it was believed to bring luck and attract wealth to come. If I was not wrong, I put S$288 separately at one side and another side was the amount of money I usually used on daily basis. 

I had just withdrawn S$200 yesterday and used up only 1 $50 note. So supposedly there should be 3 pieces more. But when the security handed me my wallet, it was only 2 pieces of $50 note, about 6 pieces of $10 note, and many $2 note. 

In an instant, my brain calculated the loss of around $300 cash. 

Then I checked all my cards inside. ID, all my bank cards (ATM and credit cards), were all inside. Well, I thought it was good enough. I told the security that I lost about $300 but he told me whatever he recorded earlier was based on what he received from the food court staff and the only camera that could show evidence was the one where we were standing inside the office. 

I was asking if there was a camera record from inside the food court I visited earlier and he said that I had to ask the food court side to show me as it was separate places and they did not have it. 

I was too happy to find my wallet back despite losing around $300 cash inside. There were 3 foreign notes inside my wallet and it was left there too. I was relieved enough to see one of the notes because I just went to the money changer yesterday to exchange that currency. And that 1 piece of foreign note was equivalent to 30 pieces of S$50 notes. It was as much as my entire saving for my past 1.5 months working my sweat and muscles. 

And yes, at that moment, I was still feeling ecstatic, calm, and extremely grateful because I could have lost much more than this, and the trouble would have been more if I lost all the entire things. 

Pic source: keepinspiring.me

For that person who took the money, I wished him or her well, hope he or she can benefit from that amount of money taken. It must be desperate for the person to keep that money and risk their own reputation of stealing it. There might be better ways to earn that amount of money but situation was not bright these days with the increase of living cost in Singapore and some people might lose their jobs due to the pandemic.

Overall, I was still feeling very grateful and this calm and peace of mind was resulting from letting go moments. I was ready to lose it since I had lost that entire wallet at the very first place. To be able to get a sight of it with all the things inside had already been a miracle for me. So thank you, thank you, and thank you SB for today. It reminded me to be more careful next time, to be more alert with my belonging. Hope I learned the lesson and would check my belonging wherever I was and before leaving the places.

May all sentient beings be happy and healthy, free from suffering and the cause of suffering, life full of peace and joy. Sadhu Sadhu Sadhu.

Growing Old

"Change that no one can avoid."

"When working, I felt as strong as a bull. I could ignore the pain on my right elbow, as my hand kept moving up and down when getting the takeaway bowls, heavy plates and bowls from the top shelf or carrying trays loaded with stuffs; also the ache from both legs, as I had to stand up most days. But before and after slept, the pain started striking my whole body like a nightmare."

I continued confided to my hubby while chewing my fried rice, "The good things about having SLE though, was that, all those pains that I got, were completely temporary in existence. Meaning, once I got myself active, the pain would be gone."

"Dear, I think it was not because of you having SLE. But it was because we are getting old now," he replied calmly. 

As someone who used his physical strength a lot on his job, he understood the situation fully, as he too was experiencing the same. Not completely same though. His suffering was much much much more than mine. Every night he kept the pain himself. He used to stick the join pain patches on his body but getting fed up as it did not help much in easing his pain. 

Few years ago, I went to Hong Kong with mom, visiting my sister and holidaying together. Every night my Mom had to paste the patches on her legs, especially on her knees, as she felt pain after walking a lot throughout the days. Our room smelt spicy, really smelt of "old people smell". And that was too, one of the reasons why my hubby stopped pasting those stuffs into his body. 

Pic source: Google.com

Back to when I was entering secondary school, my Mom started her 40s, and that time, we already regarded her under category of 'mature adults, a.k.a. old people.' And now we had both reached that age!!!

I started feeling old when white hair started appearing on my head. It was visible when I looked myself into the mirror, around few months ago. It was not only 1 or 2, but more like 4 or 5 now??? It was irritating that I decided to pluck them off. But after few months, it appeared again. Haiz... I guess I would just have to accept the fact that I was getting old. 

But comparing myself with some others who were much younger than me, they grew older much earlier than me. Their white hair was not just few strands, but almost half of the head. Well, that might be due to genetic factor too.

I could not stand a day without afternoon nap either. Especially after lunch. A quick power nap would help me a lot during my working days. 

I realised that stress level, lifestyle, food intake, amount of exercise and sun exposure were playing big parts on our aging level process. And it differs from one person to another. 

Many times I felt of giving up my current job, because my body seemed could not catch up with it. Not about the speed, but the tiredness. Many nights, just hour before the shift ended, I felt the battery in my body was flat to almost 0. Haha.... 

No taking dinner was one of the causes, as we did not have time to get dinner during work. Over working was actually the main reason. The level of staffs employed have now reduced and it forced me to sometimes doing 2 roles at the same time, making me running here and there to ensure both sides were doing properly and in right order. 

But when work was over, I felt grateful that I was still having the ability and strength to work at this job. 

I remembered a conversation with hubby and sister-in-law talking about the doctors we attended to were majority young, mostly in their 30s. Hahaha.... In the past, when we consulted doctors, we considered majority of them as 'old'. So I guessed, the world had turned around. Lol!!!

Losing weight had become major problem with me too!!! Twenty years ago, I could easily lose 3-4 kg. Now, even after reducing snacks, sugary drinks and rice, or sometimes even skipping dinner, the one kilo that I managed to reduce, would easily bounce back and add another 2 kg in return after a dinner and drink event. Hahaha..... I did not know if I should be happy or sad, but I guessed I had to accept the change as part of growing old. 

"It is just getting old, not the end of life."

Perhaps I had spent two-third of my life and leave with another one-third. While I was still alive and kicking, I still had the urge to make my dreams coming true. Not to be successful, not to be rich, but to be happy with simple way of living, plus fulfilling my travelling dreams - backpacking - to countries I had in my head. 

It was just 40s, and not the end of the world yet. The more we should treasure the remaining of our life days, filling it with happiness and laughter despite misery changes with our physical body. 

My parents are in their 70s now. I could not imagine how they could maintain their physical body up to now. Really salute them in taking care their own wellbeing. 

Anyway, just keep moving forward, until the day I breath my last breathe. Fill mind with positivity, that everything is going to be alright. That everything will go accordingly, leaving nature to take its course. Let it be, let it be....