16th Dec - Oh! Back to the City

Today, at 9.00a.m., we left for the city. Back to the polluted air, and smoky vehicles. Oh! I’m going to miss the clear blue skies, green paddy fields and fruit trees coating the ground like a carpet that covers the surface of the earth, the sight of the buffaloes, goats and cows roaming together…

The bus we took is a bus was a different kind this time. It didn’t look like the van which could accommodate 15 people. It was like the express bus we usually take in Malaysia. But, interestingly, it had a conductor who stood at the entrance of the bus, very energetic, shouting as loud as he can, to everybody on the streets , “Ho Chi Minh City! Ho Chi Minh city! Who wants to come to the city! Yeah! The City! The City! Come to the City!”

I tell you.. any little boy or girl who heard his voice , would catch up to his enthusiasm and eagerly hop onto the bus.

If there happened to be any passengers who wanted to go, he would hurry them to the bus. And the bus driver would speed hurrily away, just in case the police came after them.

When we finally arrived at the city after a long 2-hour journey, we stopped at the house of one of our juniours, just to pay her parents a visit. At her home, we were served these tiny apples, which could be found only in Vietnam, measuring only 2-3cm in diameter, green on the outside, and white in the inside. Its taste was a mix between sweet and sour.