I know that you know that I know you know

And so yesterday I was chatting with my friend (let's just call him X).

We haven't chatted since he left for his home country,

which was last Monday.

So, the usual 问候语 asking him about what he did last week,

and he asked me what I did.

Syn says: hang out with friends three different times and finished my english summer reading

X says: finished your summer reading?????!!!!!

Syn says: Just english

X says: that's still very fast.....and also the double entry journal?

X is actually the first person from school who I've told that I've completed my English summer reading,

because most of the people wouldn't start their homework this early.

If I told them,

they might say that I'm crazy.

But, seriously,

if I don't do homework,

I might be in front of my laptop all day long.

Syn says: because we have a lot of hw, that's why i'm starting early, if not i'm just rotting away at home. yeah, plus the journal

X says: .................then, weisyn

(I realized that he's stopped writing, so I said)

Syn says: hmm, i'm sensing something, what?

X says: u know it. i know you know. hehe.

Syn says: hahahahahahahahaha. you know what? i can't stop laughing right now

X says: why? i know u know. and u know that i know.

Syn says: i know that you know i know. haha, yeah.

X says: i know that u know that i know u know

(are we playing 绕口令here???)

I was laughing really hard at that moment, I swear.

I just couldn't stop laughing when I read

"X says: u know it. i know you know. hehe."

I'm a little proud that X and my 默契 was good enough in this topic,

that he didn't even need to say out loud what he wants from me,

and we both know what he was talking about.

And another thing that I need to mention is that,

in X's yearbook,

I wrote five or six sentences,

including one in the beginning about how we started to talk more because he borrowed homework from me.

In the end, I wrote a postscript to tease him:

Are you gonna borrow homework from me next year?

The thing is, the next school year hasn't even arrived,

it's just the second week of summer,

and he's borrowed the first homework for Grade 11.

Hahahahaha~

Oh, I must say,

X does NOT copy my homework,

he just uses them as a reference.

And did you realize something?

X said to me, "i know that u know that i know u know."

When it's translated into Chinese, it becomes:

我知道你知道我知道你知道。

Hahahahahahahaha!

Breakfast

A place where I go almost every week for breakfast. ^^

I believe that the workers are from Hanoi,

because the way they pronounce some words is different from the Vietnamese in Saigon.

This is how the place looks like.

There's no shop/booth,

instead we sit in the open air,

by the street.

My sister and I ordered Banh Cuon,

sometimes we call it Vietnamese Chee Cheong Fun.

It's served with Nuoc Mam (fish sauce).

Banh Cuon is filled with ground pork and minced wood ear mushroom,

and the one beside it is Cha Lua (Vietnamese ham).

Banh Cuon is a pretty light dish,

neither salty nor oily.

My mum and my brother ordered Bun Cha.

Vermicelli + grilled marinated pork chops + vegetables.

The grilled marinated pork chops are served in Nuoc Cham,

which is mixed fish sauce.

See the drink in the red circle?

It's called Ca Phe Sua Da,

which is translated into Ice Milk Coffee.

It's a drink that my mum, dad, and sister always order.

Conclusion:

Try these foods whenever you come to Vietnam!

Wildlife At Risk with NHS

I know I went to this trip about three weeks ago,

but I still wanna talk about it,

to lock it in my memories.

^^

It was May 29th 2010,

and we were going to a place called Wildlife At Risk (WAR)

to provide service.

On the bus:

Ms. Jones, our NHS teacher!

And Jenny, who's too shy to reveal her face, haha.

Mr. I, who is Ms. Jones' boyfriend,

who also went with us to WAR.

He was awesome helping us! ^^

Anh, Claire, and Kyuree~

Joon Won and Joseph.

This photo was initially booooring,

because both of them gave me poker faces.

So I said to them, 

"Guys, I'm taking a photo, so you should smiiiiiiile, get it?"

And they give me this! Haha.

Presenting the last row~

Kim, Phil, and Sonya.

Caution: P and S are the noisy people,

they didn't sleep at all on the bus!

Hahaha, I was just joking.

The animals:

Gibbon.

I think most of us agree that this was one of the most dangerous animals at WAR

because it scratches people and grabs people's hair.

Not cute at all.

Lulu!

That's just the name, and she's super cute!

All of us love her,

and we can spend thirty minutes standing in front of her cage watching her eat.

She is just adorable. ^^

Otter.

Although they're also cute,

they still kinda stink.

Moon bear.

Not very interesting,

although I fed them lunch.

Porcupine.

The poor, lonely, three-legged porcupine.

Preparing food for the animals!

Phil(pink shirt) and Jenny(brown shirt) were in charge of the leafy vegetables,

whilst Kim(black shirt squatting), Joseph(black shirt standing) and I(black shirt sitting) cut the fruits.

In the beginning, I was given a carrot,

and I swear, it was so hard to cut through!

After several tries, I was breathing heavily,

still not being able to cut the carrot.

Suddenly, I heard "chop! chop! chop!",

o.O

from my upper left side,

the sound of carrots being cut.

I turned my head toward the sound,

and saw Joseph cutting the carrots.

"Soooo strong..."

He heard me, turned his head, and grinned triumphantly at me!

Grrrr....

Our group photo in front of the gate of WAR.

It was 2pm when we left WAR,

so we decided to go to the Cu Chi tunnels! ^^

Group photo beside a tank at Cu Chi Tunnels.

I didn't expect the visit to Cu Chi Tunnels to be interesting,

because I've already been there once with my relatives.

However....

A local guide was bringing us around the location,

explaining the history and the functions of the traps.

When we got to the tunnel where we were able to actually go into it,

that was where the fun part began.

During my first visit,

I only went through twenty meters of the tunnel with my cousins.

This time...

before we went in the tunnel,

the guide told us to neither turn right nor left,

and just go straight till the very end.

I was surprised,

because I remember we had to turn right in order to get out of the tunnel.

Anyway,

we just went into the tunnel fearlessly.

The tour guide was first, Joseph second,

me third, Jenny fourth, and the others.

I must say that the tour guide was SUPER fast!

The last time I was in the tunnel,

everyone was scared, holding on the edge of the shirt of the person in front of you,

walking like a duck, so we were slow.

This time, the guide's pace was faster than an average person walking,

Joseph didn't want to lose the tour guide out of sight,

so Joseph walked as fast as the guide.

I didn't want to lose Joseph out of my sight,

so I walked almost as fast as Joseph.

Unfortunately,

the people behind were duck walking,

and they were very scared of the dark.

Uh oh...

Of course, when we - tour guide, Joseph, and I - went too far,

we had to stop to wait for the others.

In the middle of the tunnel (the whole tunnel was one hundred meters long),

our guide decided to abandon us!

He told us to just go straaaaaight till the end.

o.O

We walked and crawled.

There was one point where we couldn't even crawl through as it was too narrow,

so we had to sit down and slide through the tunnel.

(Luckily I wasn't too fat or else I would be in BIG trouble.)

Finally, we reached the end!

Phew~

We walked through a hundred meter tunnel!

A round of applause for the NHS members~ ^^

On our way back home:

Kim is sleeping!

Another sleeper!

Sorry for being a paparazzi, Joseph.

Since I know you wouldn't get angry at me,

I just couldn't help myself for taking a snapshot of this.

Haha.

And me?

Cheerful on my way back home. ^^

It was a great day and I had fun.

p/s: Two of the photos are from Ms. Jones' blog.

You can click on hers to read what she wrote about this special day.

Summer = Homework

Summer doesn't mean holiday.

Summer means homework.

Sigh.

Unlike last year's summer,

with only Spanish and English reading,

I have tons homework this time.

I swear, my homework isn't weighed by kilograms this time,
it's weighed by tons.

If you don't believe me,
look.

1. Music
(not mandatory, suggested by my ninth grade music teacher)
Read music history,
so I talked to my private music theory teacher,
he photocopied four books,
Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and Twentieth-century.

2. English (mandatory)
Read The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
plus an every chapter double-entry journal.

3. Spanish (optional)
Actually I don't have any Spanish homework,
but I'm gonna study the class with Spanish 3 students next year
(I'm only in Spanish 2, which means I'm one year less experienced).
As a result, I think I should review some Spanish this summer,
so that I won't fall back.

4. Economics (mandatory)
Read The Change Makers by Maury Klein
and Financial Literacy for Teens by Chad Foster.

5. Math (mandatory)
A 26-page of instructions Math project,
and it has to be done individually.
I haven't read through it yet,
and I'm scared T.T

6. Theory of Knowledge (mandatory)
Watch ten TED talk shows,
and write about five of them.
I was also given a list of movies to watch,
watching them is optional,
but it's always best to do what's suggested, right?

7. CAS (mandatory)
For those who don't know,
CAS stands for creativity, action, and service.
This summer,
I'm supposed to think what activities I want to do in the next two years,
because we have to start the paperwork in August
and submit our plans by October.

8. SAT (optional)
Pre-SAT is held in mid-October,
and this time I should study for it beforehand,
instead of just going into the exam room and do what I can.
I know many of my friends are actually going to academies to study SAT this summer,
oh dear....

That sounds a lot to me,
does it to you?
Well, I was the one who wanted to choose IB,
it was my choice.
So, I'm gonna finish what I started.
Aza aza fighting!!!
^^

FIFA World Cup

Although I don't watch World Cup,

some of my friends do,

so I still know some of the results, haha.

Since I don't watch soccer,

I can't really talk about it,

but I found a lame joke about it. ^^

I found the joke today while sorting out my school files,

it was written on my planner by Chris.

I guess we were just bored in class,

so he wrote it to amuse me.

Here goes:

Chris, "Do you know what the World Cup is all about?"

Wei Syn, "Soccer, the previous one was in 2006."

Chris, "No. People bring their cups all over the world and make a huge one together."

Wei Syn, "......"

Hahaha.

Was that a good one?

I'm not really sure for you,

but I laughed out loud when I read the joke this afternoon.

That's all I can say about World Cup. ^^

p/s: Jolin has a new song and I really want to share it here!

My Beloved Pre-calculus Group

I was not a big fan of study groups before,

because I don't really believe that people can study in groups.

First of all,

it's so easy to get distracted that all you want to do is just

talk, talk, and talk.

That's why I don't believe in study groups.

However, months ago,

I was invited to study for a test with the ten graders who take Pre-calculus.

I said yes immediately,

because I knew that I needed help on math,

and my friends can help me.

Introducing the members:

1. Chris Choi

The guy on the far right, standing beside me.

He's tall, at least 180 cm,

just that to make this photo look good,

he lowered himself to my height - 157cm.

Thanks, Chris, haha. ^^

Like me, he needs help in math,

and most of the time, he is the one who's organizing these study group sessions

(he orders me, and I call the people).

He brings a lot of joy and laughter to us,

with his lame jokes and perverted topics.

Although sometimes he makes me speechless and want to hit him(and I do),

he truly is a fun person.

2. Joseph Chiang

Joseph doesn't need help in math,

it's ridiculous if you say that he does.

When he comes to our study group sessions,

all he needs to bring is his brain,

because that's what we need from him.

He comes, sits there, buys a drink,

waits for us to ask questions, answers questions,

sits back and relaxes.

Sometimes he makes us laugh too,

with failed lame jokes(Ting Cooper) and sudden sounds(Ngah!).

3. Tuna (Tuan Anh)

The guy beside me.

Like Joseph, he's also a math genius,

only needs to bring his brain and voice to study group sessions.

I depend a lot on his during our study group sessions.

Although he doesn't talk much,

he's actually the master of lame jokes,

and Chris learned the skill of lame jokes from Tuna.

Whenever he says a lame joke,

I always feel like, "Oh my god..how did he think of that.."

4. Dabein Lee

Dabein's the one with specs ^^

Other than just pre-cal classmate,

he's also my I-have-all-classes-with-you buddy.

He likes to tease me a lot,

since I'm not sure when,

and the most common one is:

Db, "Wei Syn."

Ws, "What?"

Db, "What? Why are you talking to me?"

Kinda lame..but that's what happens to me everyday in school.

So those are the people in my beloved Pre-calculus group.

We have other people who join us occasionally,

such as Phuong Anh(twice) and Ray(once),

but the four people above are the ones who are present for almost all study sessions.

I must say that I love the time spent with them,

some were productive, some were useless, some were perverted,

some were funny, and some were just Oh My God.

Haha.

But all of them are Memorable.

I have to thank all of them,

Chris, Joseph, Tuna, and Dabein,

for helping me improve on my math

(For your information, my math exam went from B- to A,

and that's around 4 letter grades!).

I had a great time studying with them,

other than just the academic benefits,

I became closer to them as a friend,

enough to feel sad when I know that we won't have any study sessions next year.

With Tuna and Chris leaving, T.T

Dabein studying SL Math (I think),

and Joseph in HL Math,

it won't be the same anymore!!!

Sigh.

I will truly miss all four of you :(

I hope that the friendship will remain,

and have a great summer, mis amigos!

MOF - Ministry of Food

As mentioned in previous post,

I have no school, so I decided to sleep in.

However,

my body doesn't agree with me,

I'm used to sleep about 7 hours a day,

but I really wanted to stay in bed,

so I forced myself to close my eyes and continue to sleep.

As a result,

I woke up at 9:45am with mild headache.

Sigh.

Enough is enough, I shouldn't have forced myself to do something that I can't.

10:30am, I hopped on to Auntie Irene's car with mum

 and went to 久仰大名的 Vincom Towers.

As I stepped into the shopping malls,

I had a sudden feeling that I wasn't in Ho Chi Minh City.

The shops and the ambience,

so similar to Malaysia!

哇~哇~哇~

I really wanted to go around and see what shops they have,

the clothes, the shoes, and the food!

Haha.

Actually, those are just dreams.

In a country where the people all wear M, S, and XS sized clothes,

I don't think I will be able to find something suitable.

And the price?

*cough cough*

I think shopping in Malaysia is more reasonable.

Walking around the food floor,

our first target was a restaurant called Seoul Garden (or something like that).

It's a buffet style Korean restaurant,

but we didn't really like the food offered,

so we left the place.

Walk, look, walk,

then,

oooooo~

what is that place?

Japanese food?

Looking at the menu,

hmm..seems ok...

"Okay, let's go in!"

And so, we went into the pretty cafe.

Surprisingly,

the menu was very satisfying,

we each ordered a deluxe lunch set,

main course+soup+drink for 79,000vnd.

Everyone's food was pretty good and the portion was enough to fill us.

I ordered a Yaki Soba set,

and sadly, it didn't taste delicious T.T

It didn't taste bad, but it was cooked like an ordinary Vietnamese fried noodle.

Nothing special,

and my mum's food was better.

I should have ordered something like this:

The restaurant also offers Japanese Italian fusion pasta,

like the ones in Pasta de Gohan or Pasta Zanmai.

Yummy, right?

Oh well, I will order something better next time.

After that,

we had an add-on of dessert - 25,000vnd.

As MOF specializes in dessert,

there were a variety of desserts to choose from.

See?

And of course, if you know me,

I chose the black sesame gelato!

Yum yum, luckily it didn't disappoint me. ^^

I tried Auntie Irene's chocolate brownie too,

and it was a Wow dessert.

Haha, warm and soft, delicious~

Well, 

I just wanna say that I'm glad that a nice place like MOF is in HCMC, 

and I haven't had enough of Vincom Towers.

I will go back soon! ^^

Last Week Of School

My four-day finals have just ended and it's the last week of schools!

Finally! ^^

Finals wasn't actually that suffering,

I had a WOW weekend (will blog about it soon),

and I'm pretty confident with my exams.

Least confident to most confident:

English - Spanish - Science - Precalculus

Irony? Haha.

That's just what I thought,

I can't guarantee that my results will turn out how I think they will be.

So, after my last exam at 10:30am,

I accompanied AC around the school,

and promised a lunch date with PA before I returned home.

Then, after meeting my dates at the school gate at 2pm,

with my stomach rumbling and sweat dripping,

we decided to feed ourselves at Tokyo Deli,

with delicious sushi and cool AC!

Honestly,

I think the four days of exams - without talking or chatting with friends,

have triggered my desire to talk till soreness.

We talked at talked,

at Tokyo Deli till 4:30pm,

talked while walking to Gloria Jeans,

and talked again while I drank lemonade at GJ till 6:30pm.

The sides of my mouth were so sore due to excessive talking, smiling, and chatting.

Oh, I love wasting my life.

Haha.

Went home, had Kiwi for fruit, and JapChae for dinner!

Yum yum!

There were tons of leftovers,

so I guess I'm having delicious noodles tomorrow? ^^

I'm going to a QA's house with PA for a sleepover tomorrow evening,

and I'm excited, cause it's my 2nd sleepover.

Actually, Daddy's coming to Vn tomorrow night,

but I still chose to go tomorrow,

cause tomorrow is the only day that I know I will miss him the least.

I'm sorry that I can't meet you though, Daddy,

will see you on Thursday 3:30pm! ^^

Back to the point,

it's the last week of school,

so what do you expect?

1. Exam papers (screams from SSIS students)

2. Yearbook and autographs (can you sign my Yearbook for me, please?)

3. Report card (I'm gonna burn it before my parents get hold of it, says some students)

4. Award ceremony (how many subject awards are you aiming for?)

Do they sound exciting?

Usually people are excited at this period of time,

and me too, cause who isn't excited now?

Looking at the list above,

all of them create butterflies in my stomach.

However, I don't really want the last day of school to arrive too,

and there's a reason for that.

A friend of mine,

who I have come to value,

is leaving Vietnam and returning to Korea to continue his studies.

I will miss you, Chris Choi,

I know that I've said this to you at least three times,

but until the moment you leave,

I think will continue to say that I'm going to miss you.

T.T

Chris,

you gotta let me take a decent picture of you before you leave Vietnam,

seriously.