Vietnam, Cảm Ơn!

Day 1, 9th Dec 2016

Arrival in Hanoi

Hanoi was full of “energy” with endless motorbikes slithering and honking like the world’s ending. There are no proper traffic signals so every experience of crossing the road felt like a freestyle attempt at death. There is nothing like the motorbike madness in Hanoi!

According to our tour guide, motorbike is Hanoi’s primary mode of transport due to limited public transportation. This got me thinking if we should still be grumbling about our public transportation in Singapore…

Visit to Hanoi University

My buddy took the initiative to talk to me and I was surprised when she used both English and Mandarin to check if I could understand as I was expecting a difficult time conversing with her even in English.

While she was sharing with me about Vietnam and herself, I learnt that she loves travelling and recommended Singapore to her. From our intercultural sharing, we found some similarities between Vietnam and Singapore such as our eager international market expansions. This aligns with my Pre-trip Projection (PP)!

Though I kept in mind that we were ambassadors of Singapore, I should learn from my buddy, remember that foreign tourists are also ambassadors of Singapore and be proactive when given opportunities to interact with exchange students.

Also, we had a fruitful interview with a group of helpful students. There was no language barrier unlike what I mentioned in PP.

Day 2, 10th Dec 2016

Sleeper train to Sapa

The journey was smooth and I had a good sleep. There were makeshift houses very close to the track and I could observe their slum conditions from the train. My hypothesis mentioned in PP is still true… It is probably one of the main differences between cities in LDCs and those in DCs because we don’t see it in Singapore.

Sapa has so much European vibes that I almost forgot that it is a Vietnamese town… an exaggeration but ecotourism has taken over so much of it! Even traditional shops had Christmas decorations!

Leadership & Communication Training

The training by Prof Zac was interesting! Having a formal conversation with people has always been my weakness and it was a challenge for me to do it with people who I am unfamiliar with. But I got to know more people from USP!

However, it felt uncomfortable that we were unintentionally giving false hopes to the children peddlers and maybe we could have done the training indoors or in Singapore instead (???).

Café-hopping

All the Viet-yum-ese food we ordered were satisfying! We agreed that spring rolls are the best… so good that we could not hide our excitement and a waiter came over to tell us about its recipe and history! (This conveniently aligns with my PP…)

More importantly, we got to know the USP Profs better and wow their life experiences are so interesting! USP果然就是不一样!

Day 3, 11th Dec 2016

Trekking

To be honest, every step of the trek felt like death because of the steep slopes and loose soil. It was a test of mind over body for me because I’m not physically fit and I’m thankful for my supportive team and GL Tat Chong! Not only in trekking but also in life, I will always remember what Tat Chong said whenever I stopped: Commit 就不要停了!

But the amazing sights make the effort worth it! Love the waterfall and terraces!

We prepared our sandwiches on the spot and ate it at the river! We even washed our hands in it!

Our tour guides shared that they carry the heavy load of our food and trek almost every day… but what amazes me more is that they genuinely love to do it and share Sapa’s beauty with the world despite the physical strain.

Homestay

The homestay is the most impactful for me. Our tour guides and hosts shared their stories and I was flooded with thoughts and emotions.

As we enjoy the many red meat at 5-star Hilton Hotel, there exist people who serve all their limited livestock to guests during homestays and eat nothing more luxurious than vegetables that they grew themselves. As we enjoy our fully-sponsored trip as students who are already privileged to have a good education, there exist young people who self-learn English with hopes of getting a better-paying tour guide job.

These stark contrasts overwhelmed me with guilt for living the way we do because what did we even do to make us more deserving than the Sapa people to enjoy like we do?

“Don’t feel guilty; be grateful” was the advice given by Prof Zac. However, regardless of whether we feel guilty or grateful, it feels like our normal life will eventually proceed almost like nothing happened even if we reflect and learn from the experience now unless we actually do something in response…

Oh wells… the meal prepared by our host was expectedly nice and we ended the day with a toast that goes “Một, Hai, Ba, Vô!” on Happy Water.

Day 4, 12th Dec 2016

Chat with Sapa O’Chau guides

I learnt about the rich culture of Black H’mong. Its people have a clear and persistent stand in preserving their culture amidst the influx of foreign influences. This is impressive given the irony they have towards ecotourism.

From this, I learnt to never lose sight of what is really important to us. Even when we are caught in the whirlwind of many things. Especially then. I learnt to never lose ourselves in this world that is constantly trying to make us someone else.

Interactions with our trekking tour guide were also very meaningful because she is a true #lifegoal! She is a living proof of “less is more” as her less privileged financial and education positions drove her to develop an iron will and dreams which are much bigger than her 5’1” stature. Moreover, she is ambitious and yet so grounded with strong personal and family values.

I have been very apprehensive about my recent change of course to one that is more aligned with my dream but I felt assured just by simply immersing in her roaring passion as she shared about what she is doing to achieve her dreams. I saw from her how 有梦的人, 世界多么疯狂都不害怕!

Conversations with these people who have really lived made me a stronger believer that the beauty of this world is in its people – their experiences and dreams! What a precious time to disconnect to connect!

Walking around Sapa

I liked Sapa more as it has fewer motorbikes and fresher air. Also, it was interesting to see many people in their ethnic costumes.

People from ethnic minorities were making and selling handicrafts along the streets and it was heartening to learn that many insisted on creating traditional designs instead of modern designs which are popular among tourists.

As typical Singaporeans, we bargained for better prices. Thinking about it now, we were being unempathetic as the items were already selling at very cheap prices given the amount of time and effort spent on making them…

Day 5, 13th Dec 2016

Back to Hanoi – Walking around Old Quarter

Despite the fascinating labyrinth of Old Quarter, it was easy to get around as the street names literally translate into the name of trade it specialises in e.g. Shoe Street and Blacksmith Street. With each street having unique vibes, I think Old Quarter has such a strong sense of place!

While most stores still sell their original specialised products, some are also selling more modern merchandises unlike what we observed in Sapa.

As coffee is said to be a Vietnamese drink, we went around to try different types of coffee!

We enjoyed our coffee the Vietnamese way which is to sit on short stools at the roadside and watch vehicles and people go by. It is similar to Singapore’s Kopitiam! Definitely much better than sitting in Starbucks with Venti Latte with Caramel Drizzle!

Day 6, 14th Dec 2016

Leadership Amazing Race

Linh, our HanoiKids buddy, speaks fluent English and we chatted very well! We had a lot of fun touring Hanoi and learning about it from Linh though I should have paid more attention to his explanations to make my experience even better.

Singapore young people’s proactive attitude towards self-development is also observable in him despite us growing up in different environments. Perhaps it is why politicians always say that young people are leaders of today and tomorrow.

Day 7, 15th Dec 2016

On the last day of the trip, I was actually quite sick of seeing my group members HAHAHA.

 To my PHUC LONGers,

(Profs who are reading this can just ignore!)

Though we could not find Phuc Long, our conversations are overwhelmed with Chinese and we were almost always in a mess…

I am so very thankful for Yan Jie’s fun size, Bryan’s “award-winning” photographs of us, Charmayne’s boisterous character and Grace’s patience and politeness.

I will remember all the memories we created for ourselves… and how we panicked about our research question on that fateful day in the hotel room HAHAHA.

Cheers to our A+ group dynamics and here’s something for you: https://youtu.be/eR0mlsdqv58

And Vietnam, Cảm Ơn for the experience! See you soon!

• – Khai Ying