Merry Christmas in advance!

Look at those grins on our faces!

Must've been because we were due to receive Christmas presents from our secret santa right after this photo. Am already feeling the festive spirit in the air! Are you?

越南之旅

 

At the rice paper making place, where we enjoyed amazingly yummy rice paper crackers.

 Brother and dad~

sister, myself, dad. plus random korean tourists.

Old but capable boat rowing grandma!

Our horse-drawn cart ride. The horse's awesome feather headpiece & bells were rly impressive. (:

Typical Ho Chi Minh road.

Vietnamese coffee.
 

The Vietnam trip with my family was a much-needed break from work. Something amazing about visiting South East Asian countries that I've not been to before is how familiar yet new the surroundings can feel. The busy streets, lush tropical rainforests, and even the foreign languages spoken are easily, yet faintly distinguishable.

Before the trip, I was rather apprehensive about visiting Vietnam. True enough, there wasn't much shopping to be done there. What really captivated me about this place was their cultured society even though it wasn't entirely developed like Singapore. Their side walks were clean and the greenery always looked well manicured. Something else which I truly enjoyed was the feeling of peace. You can really feel the slower paced lifestyle that they led (along with all the locals chilling at the parks) which makes one want to just kick back and enjoy the moment.

Somehow, I do feel that I've left a part of my soul in Vietnam. The night when we came back home, I was lying in bed trying to sleep and a wave of sadness flooded through me. When will I get to enjoy these sort of languid days again?

Once again, iIt's back to reality; back to life. Funny how a short 4-day trip can bring about the deepest thoughts.