Day 2 - 06 June 2010
06 July 2010 in 06 June 2010 is Day 2 of Ecoventure 2010.
That morning, all of us woke up bright and early. What time was it again? 6.00am? Typically, most of us would still be snuggling in our comfortable beds back in Singapore. One thing I realised about our Vietnamese friends is that their days starts off early! If I didn't remember wrongly, the first lesson at school can be as early as 6.30am.
So everyone packed their stuff, filled their water bottles and we're all set to go!
Wan Ying makes a final check of the address to ensure that
the place is not purely her imagination and that the hotel will stay there and not move away while we're gone.
Meanwhile, the rest of us set off for breakfast before heading down to the school.
We all needed energy for THE day!
Our first breakfast in Vietnam! What would it be like? Back in Singapore, my breakfast usually consists of two slices of bread with Kaya and a cup of Lipton tea. What about yours?
The food soon came in a while. This was what greeted us!
Don't they just look delicious? You can tell by the smile on Si Hui's face. =) It was a nice filling breakfast to start the day off and what a long day it was supposed to be! Some of us had coffee to accompany the day but I'm afraid I have no photos for you from that day at the moment. =(
We were running rather late according to the schedule - some woke up late - and thus, we hurried off to our next destination, the Ho Chi Minh University of Technology. The other night, we did not finish putting up our exhibition panels so we had to set them in place quickly before the whole event started.
Meanwhile, Nokia also arrived to put their things in place at the booth while some of us looked on. There was an LCD screen showing some clips, a recycling kiosk, some explanatory exhibits regarding the recycling process and several items made out of recycled materials such as notebooks and pencils.
In a while, we were all called to gather for the grand opening of the day. It began with a short introduction and then with a beautiful performance and a chorus of songs. We didn't know how to sing the Vietnamese song but everyone of us joined in enthusiastically by clapping to the beat.
Taking a glance around at the others' booths, I finally understood what it meant when the others described the setting up of the booth as "decorating". Just look at all their booths! They were all so nicely adorned with ornaments made by themselves from reusing materials such as aluminium cans. plastic and cardboard.
During the day, it was not all just work and no play. I was introduced to one of the traditional games in Vietnam (see picture below). I still remember that it was at HCMCUT that I first got to know Trang when I was somehow voted as the representative from EcoVenture to be one of the judges for the best booth.
Here, you see Trang being blindfolded. The aim is to hit the correct target at the first try with the pole that she was holding. No peeking! People would try to distract her but she must remain focused!
This is a group photo of us at the end of another game. We were supposed to reuse materials to re-create a beautiful dress for our lovely model. Can you spot her in the photo? Isn't our wonderful work runway-worthy? ^^ We were all very pleased with ourselves. Afterall, we won! It was also most fun to work with the other students from the other clubs. It was a brief interaction but memorable nonetheless.
There was some time in between when I needed to head for the restroom. (Who doesn't?) Anyway, the above were some of the interesting things I spotted around their campus.
Look at the penguin! Isn't it cute? Doesn't it make you want to feed it? It's a rubbish bin! I suppose that could be the intention. Just recently, it had been reported in the newspapers how elsewhere cleaners always had to clear the rubbish stuffed down the mouth of a dragon stature (or was it a crocodile? XD Can't remember!). Anyway, it could be that people want to feed it so here, you're given the chance to feed the penguins!
Another interesting sight was the parking for the motorbikes. In Singapore, the closest thing I've seen is the parking area for bicycles at Boon Lay MRT station. I should so take a photo and put them side by side for comparison!
In the afternoon, the heavy rains came and all of us retreated to shelter. The winds were so strong and the rain was beginning to soak us even though we were hiding with a roof over our heads. In the end, we had to enter the auditorium to stay out of the mean weather. There, we had our lunch and my preliminary encounter with fish sauce, the beginning of more of come and it was no wonder why the Vietnamese like it so much. I like it too although I'm not a person too used to adding sauces to my food unless necessary. XD
The forum proceeded after lunch with many interesting information shared by the various groups. It was indeed a learning experience for us, knowing about the other clubs' actitivities, greening hotel procedures, solar cars and many more! In between all that serious talk were some fun performances peppered here and there and of course, that of our very own which we had painstakingly prepared for!
Clearly, our performers had transformed into celebrities in just an evening! Everyone loves their costumes and the photo-taking carried on for longer than Harry could tolerate as we were running behind time yet again! He had to chase everyone out before we would all leave. XD
In the night, we headed to a nice restaurant for dinner and some quick walk around the city. The city at night was as bustling with activity as it was in the day!
Well, it would be good bye Ho Chi Minh City after this as we were headed for Gia Bac the next day on an 8 hours long bus ride...
(This turned out longer than I intended! So much for short entries! =X)
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