Updates…

Brought Sofie to the hospital this morning. She didn’t have an appointment with the doctor, but SN wanted to see her to make sure she’s compliant with the latest HAART. Since I needed to see SN anyway to discuss with her about the 2 homeless PLHIV we need to send to shelter homes, I had offered to fetch Sofie at her house so she could come with me to the hospital. Sofie was ready when I got to the house, and this time, Saiful & Ika did not follow us to the hospital. I had told them earlier that if they make it a habit to skip school every time their mother has to go to the hospital, we may consider cancelling their education sponsorship.

So what Sofie did was to get them to set the alarm at 10.30 am for them to get ready. The school bus comes at 11.30 am. She had already told them where to leave the house keys.

After dropping off Sofie at the hospital, off I went home for a while. When I grabbed my “mobile office” bag from home earlier, I had forgotten to put my wallet into the bag. So all the while when I was driving to Sofie’s house and then to the hospital, I didn’t have my IC and driving license with me!!

Luckily my house isn’t too far from the hospital. It didn’t take too long for me to go home, get my wallet, and then back to the hospital. It took me much longer to find a parking space! There seemed to be so many people today, more than usual. I ended up parking my car at quite a distance, and then walked all the way to the specialist clinic. I guess God just wanted me to have my daily exercise… I didn’t do any gardening earlier in the morning as I had to leave home quite early.

When I got to the doctor’s room, SN was talking to Sofie, checking on whether she had been taking her medication on time. She was then asked to go to the front to weigh herself and to get her BP checked.

We (SN and I) then discussed about the 2 homeless PLHIV referred to me last week, Lee and Kasim Teoh. I confirmed with SN we’d be able to send them to Hospital Sg Buluh this coming Thursday as I already have someone sponsoring the transportation cost and a fellow volunteer to join me for the trip. I could just send my fellow volunteer to accompany the 2 homeless chaps, but I wanted to meet with the people from the 2 homes so I could get more details about their homes. SN had already made the necessary arrangements with 2 homes willing to accept them, one Muslim home for Kasim and another home for Lee. The people in charge of the 2 homes promised they’d come fetch them at Hospital Sg Buluh so that we don’t have to go to 2 different places.

I asked SN to make all the necessary arrangements to get the 2 discharged early morning so that I don’t have to end up having to wait for the papers and the medication etc when we come on Thursday morning to fetch them. With previous experiences of having to do everything including to settle payment and to get medication from the pharmacy, I don’t want to end up leaving Ipoh in the afternoon.

SN promised me she’d get the staff at the ward to bring Kasim down immediately after breakfast so that we don’t have to go up to the ward to fetch him. Great! That means I don’t have to find parking. In addition, SN also said she’d try to get Lee (who is at a district hospital) to be brought to Ipoh earlier so that we don’t have to go to the district hospital. That would even be better!

SN said she’d call me once all the arrangements are made.

Anyway, since Sofie didn’t need to see the doctor, she was done quite early. By the time I brought Sofie home, it was only about 10.40 am or so. To our surprise, both Ika and Saiful were ready in their school uniforms. They were having brunch… leftovers of tomyam cooked by their aunt the day before.

After sending Sofie home, I went to the Buddies Centre. I wanted to make sure all the necessary reports for our coming AGM were ready. Glad to note that all amendments were done… the only thing left now is for the honorary auditor to sign the financial statements. I told the part time staff to make sure that all notice/annual reports are sent out to members by 7th March, so I guess everything is going according to schedule.

I then remembered a new case referred to me from Taiping Hospital. A single mother who works as a school gardener, needing help with her children’s education. Since I had not met her yet, I decided to give her a call. Lela, in her late 30’s, has 3 teenaged children. She had been on leave from work since her youngest daughter was hospitalised. The daughter had been having high fever for some time  now. All 3 daughters had been tested negative for HIV and so the illness had nothing to do with HIV. Just talking to Lela on the phone, I couldn’t really figure out what was wrong with the daughter, but I was made to understand that she may need to be warded for a few more weeks. Oh dear.

I also found out from a fellow volunteer that another client’s child is also having health problems. Hana’s daughter, who is under our education sponsorship programme, of late had been fainting at home and from time to time would be complaining of chest pains as well. Hana did bring the child to the district hospital, and was told that the girl is suspected to be having heart problems. I told my fellow volunteer to make sure Hana brings the girl for follow-up checks. I don’t want Hana to use the “tak ada duit” excuse to postpone doing so.

I do hope the condition of the 2 children is not too serious…

Checking on my clients…

Having read through and done the necessary corrections to the respective reports by the coordinators to be included in our Annual Report, yesterday afternoon I finally managed to find the time to visit Sofie and deliver some groceries as well. Before I took a break to Vietnam, I did bring her for her appointment at the hospital, but she had to come again the next week (after certain blood test results were obtained) before the doctor could decide on her medication. I was still in Vietnam on the day she was supposed to start off with a new line of medication, so I wanted to know how she was coping.

Not really having planned to visit yesterday, I only sent her a text message after 2 pm to tell her I was coming. No reply, so I figured she should be home.

But when I got to her house, the gate was locked, the wooden door was closed, but the grille door was open. Just as I parked my car in front of the gate, someone opened the door. It was Azman, Sofie’s 15 year old son. “Mama takde, dia gi pekan. Masuklah dulu.”

I got him to help me with the groceries. The moment I got to the door, he said, “Rumah semak sikit makcik. Ika lah ni!” blaming his sister who’s at school for the mess. As I sat down, he went to the kitchen, “Kejap ye makcik, saya masak air jap.”

Soon I heard the sound of a motorbike in front of the house. It was Sofie and her sister. The sister wanted to buy some things at a nearby minimarket and since Sofie needed to go to the clinic to get some medication for her throat, she followed her sister. When she got my message they were already out in town but they figured they’d be able to come back in time. So Sofie just called her son telling him that I was coming and to make sure he opens the door in case I got there before they managed to return home.

“Cuti ke hari ni?” I asked the sister. She actually works at a factory near Ipoh.

“MC kak, demam urat. Semalam balik kampung naik motor, pak sedara meninggal. Masa nak balik sini tayar motor pancit kat highway. Nak cari exit keluar highway cari kedai motor, kena menapak sorong motor 4 kilometer!”

Given Sofie’s condition, she didn’t follow her sister back for their uncle’s funeral. Lucky thing. Imagine if Sofie had followed her on the motorbike and they had to walk 4 km!!

Anyway, the moment Sofie walked into the house, she said, “Ya Allah, kan mama dah pesan suruh sapu sampah. Apasal korang tak sapu? Payah betul lah anak lelaki ni. Kalau anak perempuan rajin sikit.”

“Tak tentu jugak,” I said, “Kalau dapat anak perempuan malas, sama je…”

Soon after, Azlan, Sofie’s eldest got home. He was earlier at a friend’s house nearby. I told him about the box of form 5 books given by a friend of mine.

Sofie had been on her 3rd line of HAART for a week now. She still vomits, but not as bad as the 2nd line she took earlier. At least she can eat and so she doesn’t look as fragile as she did when she was warded recently. But there seemed to be some sort of rashes on her lower arms.

Me: “Gatal tak?”

Sofie: “Kalau tak usik taklah gatal.”

Me: “Kalau gatal nak usik?”

Sofie’s sister: “Hehehe… kalau gatal nak usik memang sah gatal la!!”

And the reason Sofie needed to get some medication for her throat? “Tekak saya sempit kak. Ubat yang dapat kali ni besar pulak tu. Tiap-tiap kali telan mesti sangkut kat tekak. Jenuh nak bagi masuk. Dah rasa bengkak je dah tekak saya ni.”

I told her to cut the pill into smaller pieces but to make sure she takes all the pieces so that the dosage would still be the same.

Whenever any patients start on a new line of HAART, they will need to come for another appointment within 2 weeks. Sofie’s next appointment is this coming Monday. Since I need to see SN on Monday anyway (to discuss about the 2 homeless guys who need to be sent to shelter homes in KL/Selangor), I told Sofie I’d fetch her at home and bring her along with me to the hospital. Her sister sounded relieved. She took MC on the day Sofie went for her appointment last week (when I wasn’t around), was on leave again on Wednesday when her uncle passed away, and then was on MC yesterday after having to walk 4 km when her motorcycle tyre got punctured at the highway. She didn’t want to take too many days off… it’s still the first quarter of the year, she needs to make sure she spares some of her leave for any future emergencies.

As we were chatting, Sofie asked, “Kak, kalau yang ambik ubat kat tempat yang sama macam saya tu, ada HIV jugak ke?”

“Ha’ah, kenapa?” I replied.

“Saya tengok hari tu ada perempuan tu gemuk aje. Lagi gemuk dari akak!”

“Lagi gemuk dari akak tu, maknanya engko kata akak ni gemuklah ya? Tak nak ambik engko hari Isnin nanti baru tau!”

Oh well, I have put on weight of late, and compared to skinny her, I am gemuk. Sofie thought everyone with HIV would be just as skinny she is…

Just as I was about to leave, I remembered the 4 places given free to “my children” to attend a 3D 2N motivational camp in April. I asked Azlan and Azman if they were interested. Azman immediately said yes but Azlan was unsure. His aunt encouraged him to go. “Bukan senang nak dapat peluang macam ni, free lagi!” she said. I told him it will be good for him and that the camp is not so much talks but more of activities. He finally agreed. So yep, I will be giving the names of Sofie’s 2 older boys for the camp.

This morning I had promised to fetch Fuzi and her son from their home to bring them to buy her son’s police cadet uniform. I never have to worry about punctuality when it comes to Fuzi’s family. If I tell them I’d fetch them at 9.30 am, by 9.30 am they’d be ready outside their home, doors all already locked.

As expected, when I got to their home, they were ready – Fuzi and her 3 boys. Her 2 daughters were in school while Hafiz and Ijam go to school in the afternoon. And since today is Friday, the bus would come a bit later. There was ample time for me to bring them to the shop to buy the cadet uniform for Hafiz.

All along in the car we had “radio Indonesia” on. (Fuzi, an Indonesian still, talks non stop, with loud volume too!)

When we got to the shop, I immediately asked for the cadet uniform from the girl there. The moment she saw Hafiz, she said, “Alamak, kecik… ada ke size pun?”

She then brought out the smallest size she had. A bit big for Hafiz, but not too bad. I told Fuzi to just shorten the sleeves a bit. Likewise with the pants. No problem with shoes though.

It didn’t take too long to get the uniform and accessories for Hafiz, and since there was ample time before their school bus would pick them up, before sending them home, I decided to stop by a mamak shop for brunch. They all ordered roti telur while I ordered roti sardin (to add more sadin-ness to my already muka sadin).

As we were about to reach their house, we saw a boy in school uniform, waiting by the roadside. It was 11.40 am and the boy was one of Ijam’s friends. “Eh, apasal kawan engko cepat benar tunggu bas? Hari ni kan bas datang pukul 1?” Fuzi asked Ijam. Usually the bus comes at 11.30 am. The boy (and his mother I suppose) must have forgotten what day it was…

Anyway, as always, whenever I visit any of my clients, I’d take the opportunity to find out how their children is doing… especially those under our sponsorship programme. It’s good to know that Wina, Fuzi’s eldest daughter who scored 4A 4B for her PMR last year seem to be doing well not only in her studies, but also in sports. She not only wins middle-distance events in school, she would also end up getting first or second place for cross-country events. Now she seem to be showing interest to take up tennis, but her school doesn’t offer that sport.

“Saya suka kak, kalau dia rajin masuk sukan ni. Daripada dia lepak-lepak saja dengan kawan-kawan, lebih baik dia masuk pertandingan,” Fuzi said.

I agree, especially since Wina herself is showing keen interest.

A busy day at the clinic…

I was on clinic duty again this morning. I remember Lin saying her appointment was today but I didn’t bother to inform her that I’d be at the clinic. She’s already on HAART, so she was sure to go to the counselling room which we volunteers are sharing with the pharmacists.

When I got to the ID clinic, SN was giving counselling to one client whom I had met 2 weeks ago. After notifying SN I was already there, I went to the front of Room 11 to see if there were any familiar faces. Nope, no familiar faces yet, not even Lin. So I went straight to the counselling room and went surfing. Surfing the internet lah… ;-)

Soon Lin came in accompanied by one of the pharmacists. The normal practice is before the PLHIVs see the doctor, they’d be referred to the pharmacists first to ensure they have been compliant with their medication. Lin told me she actually came early but took some time finding a parking space. Usually she’d come on her motorcycle, but today, since her 2 daughters wanted to tag along, she borrowed a close friend’s car. That was the first time she came by car… now she knows how difficult it is to find a parking space at the hospital.

Anyway, yesterday SN had called me to inform me about a homeless PLHIV now warded at the hospital, due to be discharged but has nowhere to go. So she sought my help to find a shelter home for the guy. So when SN’s assistant came to the room to refer a guy on wheelchair accompanied by a hospital attendant, I thought that was the case SN had told me about.

True enough, the guy, Lee, 44 years old, is homeless. He was earlier in Ipoh GH, but was transferred to a district hospital when he was due to be discharged. He had always been a loner, never married, and according to him, he no longer has any family members. He used to rent a house in Ipoh and worked at a workshop, painting cars. But now, due to his condition, he no longer works and as such, cannot afford to rent a house. At one time he wasn’t even able to walk. Now at least he is able to walk slowly in the ward, but if he needs to go a longer distance, he’d need the wheelchair. He had been diagnosed HIV positive 21 years ago, but had refused to take any medication before.

I told him I’d try to arrange for a home and since he doesn’t have a phone, I’d call the hospital where he’s warded to get in touch with him.

After taking down all Lee’s details, I went over to the doctor’s room to return Lee’s medical files. As I walked back to the counselling room, I saw Lin’s 2 daughters and went over to talk to them. The two were Lin’s 2nd and 3rd daughters – one who just got back from Egypt on the day I flew to Vietnam for my holiday, and the other one who just completed her diploma and will start her training on her new job next week. Feels good knowing that at least one of Lin’s children will start work soon. Lin’s eldest, doing a nursing course, will complete her studies by next month, and she too should start work in the near future. Of course Lin’s second daughter has to wait a while longer as she’s doing medic in Egypt.

I didn’t talk to the girls for too long though… SN’s assistant had told me earlier they had 4 cases to be referred to me, so I’d better wait at the counselling room as I was only done with one.

It wasn’t long before SN came over to tell me about the homeless guy she had told me about yesterday.

Me: “Tadi dah jumpa dah!”

SN: “Yang tu lain. Yang ni Chinese Muslim, now ada kat wad, kalau you nak jumpa I suruh dia orang bawak dia turun jumpa you.”

Me: “Laaaa… berapa ramai yang homeless ni??!”

I agreed to meet the guy. SN said she’d call the ward and arrange for him to be brought down to the counselling room.

After SN left the room, SN’s assistant came over with another case… a young Malay chap who’s just 23 years of age. He’s now on methadone, and it was only after he started his methadone treatment did he find out about his HIV. Samsul stays with his parents, but his parents, while they are aware of his involvement in drugs and his current methadone treatment, had not been told of Samsul’s HIV. Since we don’t have expertise in drug cases, we don’t usually assign buddies to IVDUs or those on methadone. However I gave him our brochure with our hotline number and told him that if he ever needed any help especially in explaining to his parents about HIV, he could call us.

I was not done with Samsul yet when SN came in again to tell me that the homeless guy was already outside the room, the one on the wheelchair, she said.

After getting all Samsul’s details on my contact report, I told him to wait in front of the doctor’s room. Then I went to the door to call the homeless guy in.

Kasim Teoh, almost 60, became a Muslim about 5 years ago. By then he was already homeless, so he had been staying at various suraus, doing odd jobs like gardening and the likes in order to get something to eat and a place to sleep. Even when he was younger and healthier, he had always been a loner, just like Lee.

“You memang tak ada family ka? Tak pernah kawin ka?” I asked.

“Tada… sapa pun tada. Sekalang ini macam suda tua suda sakit, sapa lagi mau?” he replied.

Oh dear. Anyway, after writing down Kasim’s particulars, I went over to the doctor’s room. Samsul’s file was still with me and I needed to return it to them. Coincidentally, when I got to the room, it was Lee’s turn to see the doctor and the doctor herself wanted to see me to discuss about arranging to send both Lee and Kasim to shelter homes. Apparently SN had already contacted homes willing to take them in, the only problem now is transportation. The guy in charge of the home willing to take Lee suggested that we send Lee by train and they’d wait for him at KL Central. However, given Lee’s condition, the doctor advised against letting him travel alone by train. Likewise, it’s not advisable to let Kasim travel by train either.

The hospital cannot arrange to transfer them to KL in an ambulance since the 2 are supposed to be discharged, not transferred.

SN had basically arranged for Kasim to be placed at a Muslim home, and although she had been to the place when she was in Sg Buluh for a 6 months course, she was of the opinion that it wasn’t advisable for us to send Kasim right to the home since  the place is quite difficult to find. She suggested that if we could arrange to send both guys on the same day to Sg Buluh Hospital (which is easily accessible from the highway), then she can get people from both homes to pick them up at the hospital.

So yeah, now to arrange for transportation to Sg Buluh Hospital…

There was one more case referred to us after that. Nizam, 28 years old, who was accompanied by his mother. He looked rather thin and fragile. With a CD of only 7, and only diagnosed recently, I believe he had been infected for quite some time but never tested for HIV. He now stays with his mother (his father had passed away and his only sister is married and stays elsewhere). The mother seems to be very supportive despite his earlier mistake (Nizam had been involved in homosexual relationship with multiple partners).

I told Nizam that life is not over just because he has HIV… that he’d need to be strong mentally… that he needs to be more positive thinking… that he must not forget to doa…

The mother seemed a bit relieved after the session, but I think Nizam needs a bit more time. I have assigned one of our young male volunteers to be his buddy while I will be following up with the mother. I think she may need support as well.

 

Things to do…

Holiday over… back to work, back to work, back to work!

*We’re having our board meeting tonight – the last one before next month’s AGM. I’ve already told the respective coordinators to get their reports done by tonight’s meeting. I’ve got my CEF/Sponsorship reports all done since last month… but haven’t started anything on the chairperson’s report to be included in the annual report. (hmmm… suruh orang siapkan report tapi sendiri belum siap… ada ka patut?? Excuse: I want to read everybody’s reports before doing my overall report…)

Next month’s AGM will include election of committee members. Now THAT is a problem. Not because of politicking or members fighting to get elected… but because if given the choice, none of us want to get elected! And with 2 from the last committee already resigned before the end of their term, and the Vice-Chairman still recuperating from cancer of the throat (affecting his voice-box), I am still wondering if we can get enough people to be pulled into the committee. (adoiii… orang lain berebut nak dipilih, kita orang berebut tak nak dipilih…)

*Tomorrow I will be on clinic duty. SN had already called me this morning to ask if I’d be going to the hospital tomorrow. There is a homeless PLHIV about to be discharged from the hospital and so SN asked if we could find this guy a place. Most likely he will have to be sent to either KL or Penang…

*I need to send 2 boxes of form 5 books, given by a friend to be passed to children of my clients sitting for SPM this year. I’ve sorted them out… one box will be sent to Azlan, Sofie’s son; while the other box (with subjects like Physics & Add Maths which Azlan is not taking) will be given to Valli’s son who will be sitting for those subjects.

*I need to take Fuzi and her son Hafiz to go buy police cadet uniforms. There is no such shop at her place and she’s not at all familiar with Ipoh to find the shops. Besides Hafiz is under our sponsorship programme and uniforms for co-curricular activities are covered under sponsorship. The uniform I’m sure is not cheap, I doubt Fuzi can afford to pay anyway. So I’ve set aside Friday morning to do this.

*I am planning to visit Ina, the orang asli lady who gave birth earlier this year. I need to get a copy of her baby’s birth cert to be submitted together with the PAF form we’re helping her to apply for. And I am also planning to bring along a new volunteer with me for her first ever house visit, so the visit will have to be over the weekend as the new volunteer has to work on weekdays.

*I’ve been offered 4 free places at a motivational camp due to be held in April this year, to be given to children of my clients. It’s a 3D 2N programme. I’m targetting those who will be sitting for major exams this year. I hope the children will want to go as the programme should be good for them, and being poor, they don’t usually get the chance to go. Usually programmes like this can be costly, but this one is offered to them free.

What else ya? Ah, yang lain tu minggu depan punya cerita laa…

 

Ops cuti HCMC: The Budget ‘Ciput’ Traveller, Part 2

Day 3

We were told to be ready at the guesthouse lounge as early as 7.15 am. Knowing that on the previous day for the Cu Chi tour, the guy from the tour agency came to pick us up at 8.00 am despite us being told to be ready by 8.20 am, we figured we should be ready by 7 am. Subuh was as early as 5.10 am anyway, so there wasn’t really a problem getting up early. And knowing pretty well we probably wouldn’t be able to get halal food for lunch during the 1 day tour, we had samosas for breakfast. We had bought them the night before at Taj Mahal Restaurant.

The samosas tasted good, despite it being left overnight in the fridge. It would have tasted better had it been eaten fresh, but we simply couldn’t wait for the restaurant to open at 10.30 am.

We were down before 7 am… Mrs Anh was just about to open the front gate. As expected, the guy from the tour agency came early. We followed him to the meeting place, ie in front of their office nearby. We were to go to Mekong city by bus before we’d be taken to the various islands for our visits.

Joining us for the tour were mainly mat sallehs… from UK, Australia, Germany and Colombia, and a few Japanese. The bus took about 1 1/2 hours to reach the pier at Mekong city, located about 75 km away.

The first boat ride took us to a village where they reared bees. We were shown the bees at close range and we were even served honey tea for free.

At the very same place we were also showed the cobra wine… where real cobras were preserved. Eeeks!

From there, the guy lead us to another part of the village. This time we were taken to a place where we were to get onto a rowing boat, with 4 passengers in a boat. Joining my sister, my niece and myself was a Japanese woman married to a Turkish guy.

The guy rowing our boat asked, “Malai?” "Yes,” I said. And immediately he wished me, “Selamat Hari!” (I guess that about covered everything… no matter what time of the day it was!)

We were taken to a bigger motor boat at Mekong River, and after a while we were transferred to a smaller motorboat (10 in a boat) right in the middle of the river, to get to the next destination.

 

This time we were brought to the place where they make coconut candies.

At the very same place, they even had a python…

Then off we went on the same boat to the next destination, this time for lunch.

 

As we had expected, they didn’t have halal food at the restaurant, so the 3 of us just bought canned drinks and ate some biscuits which I had brought along in my backpack. The guide told us there was a place to rest at the back, so we took the opportunity to take turns to do our prayers there while the rest of the gang were having lunch.

After lunch, our group separated. Those taking the bus back to Saigon went on a different boat, those doing the overnight Mekong tours took a different boat, while those like us who opted to go back to Saigon by boat, went on the speedboat.

We were then brought to a fruit garden where we were given some tropical fruits like bananas, dragon fruit, jackfruit and ciku. At least something to cover for lunch. We were entertained by the locals with Vietnamese songs which we didn’t understand sepatah haram…

After that, we went back to the speedboat which was to take us back to Saigon in about 2 1/2 hours while enjoying the sceneries by the riverside.

 

I must admit I dozed off during part of the journey (as did the other tourists in the boat) as all of us were rather tired by then. We reached the pier at Saigon at 6 pm, enjoying the sunset on the way. From the pier we were taken back to the tour agency office by bus. Saw a group of “Rombongan Cik Kiah” from Malaysia on the way, in a big group, taking pics. :)

Since we didn’t have proper lunch, the first thing we did when we got back was to have dinner. Again, we opted for Taj Mahal, where this time we tried out the fish briani and prawn fried rice. Nice, but I think the chicken briani was still the best. This time all 3 of us ordered mango shake, but were given mango lassi instead. It looked the same, but tasted different. I still like the mango shake best.

After dinner, we didn’t go back to our room straight. Our room was after all, on the 4th floor. So what was next on our agenda? Shopping la, after having surveyed the place on our first night there. After going back to our room, we started packing our stuff, particularly our clothes, into our trolley bags. My niece by then had bought 2 big haversacks, so we didn’t have to worry about where to chuck all the stuff that we intended to buy the next day.

Day 4

It was our last day in HCMC, but our flight was at 4.10 pm and checkout time was before 12 noon, so there was still time for some last minute shopping. We decided to go out early morning to have our breakfast at VN Halal. We brought down our trolley bags with us and left them downstairs so that when we check out later we wouldn’t have to make 2 trips up and down from the 4th floor.

We were the first customers at VN Halal that morning. While we were having breakfast, a Malay guy came to us and asked where we were from. He was from Penang and he comes to HCMC every month. Yep, he was there to get supplies to sell back home. He even recommended to us to buy some cheap ready made telekungs, baju kurungs and jubahs at a particular shop. Errr… no thanks, silap orang lah…

Anyway, after breakfast, we headed straight to Ben Thanh market to buy whatever we had decided to buy. Earlier, on day 2, when we went round to survey, we had sort of decided what to buy so we just went straight to whichever stalls we had set our eyes on earlier.

By 10 am, we went back to our room to pack our things. No doubt we had already carried our trolley bags down, but with 3 new haversacks bought by my niece (she bought another one in the morning in addition to the 2 bought earlier), we didn’t even have to arrange the things properly inside the bags. By 11 am, we checked out, but we still left our things at the guesthouse. Mr and Mrs Anh had no problem looking after our things. We had earlier on asked if we could check out at 12.30 pm (so we could perform our jamak zohor/asar before checking out), but the place was fully booked and our room had already been booked by Turkish tourists who were supposed to check in at 12.

So we opted for plan B. We checked out, walked over to Dong Du, had lunch at Nyonya Restaurant, then we went over to the Jamia Mosque for our prayers. From the mosque, we decided to take a taxi back to Pham Ngu Lao so as not to waste time. It was almost 1 pm by the time we got back to the guesthouse. Mr Anh had earlier told us to leave for the airport at 1pm if our flight was at 4 pm… in view of Saigon’s unpredictable traffic. He even took the trouble to call a taxi for us. And when the taxi driver came in about 5 minutes, he even sent us off to the taxi, and told us to pay not more than 110,000 VND for the fares.

We got to the airport in just half an hour or so, meaning we got to the airport early. Check-in was supposed to start at 2.10 pm. So we just lepak-ed while waiting for the check-in counter to open…

 

Anyway, our flight was on time. We touched down at LCCT at 7 pm, just as scheduled.

Okay then, holiday over… back to work, woman! A few calls/SMS from clients I need to attend to.