Memories, memories, memories

Memories, memories, memories some make you laugh, get angry, even cry but the one thing is for sure they all share a place deep in our hearts. When asked of my most memorable moment in my life, it would be my trip to Vietnam. This is especially memorable because this is the first Vietnam trip with my family. This would be a perfect getaway for my hectic life after finishing my foundation. Amazingly, my trip to Vietnam turned out to be the most amazing one and was by far, the most memorable 5 days vacation. Not only did I get to be in a beautiful country but i learnt about their sort of cultures. Everyone should take some time out and take a chance to travel to Vietnam because it lays a wonderful opportunity to see and learn its history and experience the Vietnamese's culture. Besides, it wouldn't be a costly vacation.

In the late of afternoon, I arrived to the airport. The flight was a bit turbulent, but I can remember how us getting off the plane, walking to the arrival gate, picking up our luggage and then greeted by some friendly faces. As it is our first time been there, we took a bus go to Saigon Hotel that my mum booked earlier located in the middle of Ho Chi Min City where is the largest city in Vietnam. After taking a short break, we came down to look around the city. Basically, I must say Malaysia is more cleans than Vietnam because I found they just throw the rubbish intentionally along the roadside and do not realize to keep their country clean.

Despite of bad images, I noticed the quality of life of the Vietnamese people. The street vendors and kids I associated with were poor, but they smiled and lived in the moment. Despite lacking the luxuries, they were able to work without the range of age. I believe living in the moment makes all the difference. Having no guarantees for tomorrow, they were forced to enjoy the pleasures of each day. One of difficulties I had during my trip is to find Muslim’s restaurant. Mostly, they are Non-Muslims so we searched around the city where is the best Halal restaurant we may eat to fill up our stomach. We must have guts to go through closely which one is the Halal because all the foods seem alike.

The hustle and bustle of people moving about, the coming and going of buses, cars and riding motorcycles also the enticing sights of the various stalls along the roadside attracted our attention and we moved to My Tho a bustling town in the rich agricultural region of the Mekong Delta. Along the journey, I sat by the window and enjoyed the passing scenery. The sights of numerous rivers, bridges, countryside, evergreen paddy fields, lush green tea gardens, vast plains that were enchanted me a lot. Then, we reached to Mekong River Island. We have the opportunity to board a local boat to explore the Mekong River Islands, went to Bee Island where I taste pure honey taken from the bee hives. Next, we were stopping at a fruit orchard to enjoy fruit and tea while listening to local music and Thoi Son islet. The trip also includes a brief sampan ride through the tiny waterways that thread the island. I am very excited because it was my first time been in a sampan in my lifetime. My family and I really     enjoyed and delighted very much a day trip to Mekong River.

One of Ho Chi Min’s landmarks, Ben Thanh offers a great atmosphere that is absolutely authentically Vietnamese. Ben Thanh is a great place to buy local handicrafts, branded goods, Vietnamese art and other souvenirs.The market is big, difficult to navigate at times and certainly best avoided during the hottest part of the day but all the same its well worth a look. Based on the people who have been there before, they told us Ben Thanth has been a wholesale market or sold in bulk. People who are having a small business, they got their stocks from the market. When night falls, restaurants around the perimeter of the market open their doors creating a vibrant street side scene filling the air with the scents of wok-fried noodles, barbecued fish and meats.

Life is a continuous journey. Some journeys are short and some long. Some journeys are sweet and pleasant while some are sour. Some journeys are too memorable to be erased by the sands of time. I can never forget this memorable trip. The reminiscences of this journey often flicker in my mind every now and then.