COMFORT ZONE

Some of the high rise buildings in district 7 

On August 1^st, 2015, I woke up with a realization that I finally am leaving Ho Chi Minh City.  “This is it, I need to pack and get myself sorted before I’ll change my mind,” these were the thoughts that came into my mind.

After five years, Ho Chi Minh has already become my comfort zone.  I can walk everywhere without getting lost, guide a taxi without a hassle on language barrier, where to go for my facial routine, which spa to go for specific requirements from stone massage, body massage and foot massage, where to go for badminton on specific days, where to go for zumba classes with specific teachers, where to eat depending on what I desire, where to chill out when I’m bored at night, where to watch movie for CGV outlets (I have CGV membership card if you ask me why CGV), where to go for manicure and pedicure, and good outlet for eyelash extension too.  And the most important things of all, if I feel like I wanted a very Vietnamese environment my staff at Oriental Saigon were there to drag me along to squat down the alley of District 4 for Vietnamese street food.

 It may sound silly to you but all those I mentioned above were part of my stress relieving activities after a hard day at work.  Not to mention my unrealistic decision to live extravagantly in Phu My Hung when I’m supposed to save money.

Call me silly and unrealistic for living in District 7 while working in District 1, I just want to have that feeling of being in my “comfort zone”. 

I was packing but I had butterflies in the pit of my stomach thinking about my decision to give up my expatriate life in Saigon and move to another city.   

Later in the afternoon, I phoned my ever beloved girlfriends and buddies in Ho Chi Minh, Yvonne and Michelle for coffee just to keep me preoccupied. 

Then there it was the realization that boosts my confidence, “Michelle’s tantrum against our order for pizza. It was served quite late and so spicy that Michelle went out for a walk, leaving us behind.”

The scenario reminded me that “life is not always rosy at all”.  There will always be a time that we have to let go of our so called “comfort zone,” whatever it is.  May it be in a form of relationship, things or career there will always be an ending and a beginning.   I have to start again somewhere, look for places to go and things to do when I get stressed at work.  If there’s no badminton court or cool zumba teachers then time to change the pattern.  

Speaking of pattern, before I left Saigon I’ve asked my girlfriends if they have patterns with their relationship wondering why we still stay single at our age.  Never mind knowing their answers otherwise they’ll hate me.  It’s enough to know how “single and fabulous” they are.  

Single and Fabulous

Michelle, who works in the marketing department of Coca Cola, lives in a nice two bedrooms apartment in Saigon Pearl.   Invite her for a movie and she’ll say no, but once you dragged her into

watching movie with us, she’ll be the first one who gets affected, like she’s watching a real scene.

(Left to right: Michelle,Yvonne and me

Invite Michelle for Karaoke she’ll say not her type, but once we dragged her into Karaoke session she’s the one who can sing for real. Yvonne and I ended up back-up singers.  Make a comment about seeing her always in pants and she’ll prove her femininity by buying a skirt.  It’s the cute side of Michelle. Sorry Michelle but I felt the need to let the world know how cute you are.  

Yvonne is the exact opposite of Michelle.  She’s outgoing and a “kikay” like me.  Yvonne works and lives in New World Hotel. She loves to go out and have a glass of wine outside of New World.

Perhaps her desire to chill out was also brought about by the fact that she could feel being held hostage living in her working place.  Taking charge of the revenue producing department of a 500-room hotel is stressful enough, let alone living in the same hotel, sort of office below and bedroom upstairs scenario.  It’s like absorbing the stress 24/7.

   

Yvonne is smart and bubbly but still single.  She’s a “cool girlfriend” material, if you ask me.  Sorry Yvonne but I am selling you for our promised reunion in six months.

    

Ladies, I’ll leave you for now but I’m sure I’ll see you in the other side of the world soon. Take life easy and enjoy the life of being “single and fabulous.”    

CATCHING UP

(From left to right: me, Jessi and Vi) 

“Don’t you miss writing?” Jessi asked me this question making me remember, “oh yeah I have a blog.”

While we were browsing my blog, Jessi just blurted out “when was it updated, two years ago?” I looked at the date and indeed, the last update was in 2013.  

I thought, “Wow time flies too fast and I didn’t even know it.”  I’ve been away from my blog for quite long, so I guess it’s about time I’ll post something. 

But looking for a topic to write is always a challenge unless there are motivating factors which could either be things, people, emotions or events in life.   I looked at the two ladies sitting in front of me in the table and I thought “yeah, why not? They can be my topic!”      

(From right to left: Vi, Jessi, Thu and me of course)

Variety is the spice of life...

 It was lunchtime today (July 16) that I dragged the two angels of Saigon Times Group, Jessi Pham and Mai Thi Tuong Vi to have lunch with me at La Mint, a French restaurant located just few steps away from my work place.  Sitting in the dining table next to Thu, my account manager who was celebrating her birthday, I was teasing Jessi about her passion in posing in front of the camera like a model and her vast collection of nice dresses and shoes.   It was actually a compliment.  I find it cute seeing photos of a tall slim beautiful lady that if you don’t know her, it’s like you’ve seen someone who does nothing but line up dresses for photo shooting either in hotel or restaurant settings.    

 Jessi is a lifestyle writer of Saigon Times Daily and she closes a page already, a task that most Editor-in-Chief will not just assign to any member of the editorial staff unless someone who can be trusted.   An intelligent lady but she would rather show off her love for clothes and her passion to mimic model like poses than her wits which were printed into the newspaper.  

Sitting next to Jessi in front of me in the table was Vi, an exact opposite character of Jessi.  Vi perhaps is a big fan of the word “simplicity”.  She carries herself confidently with just jeans pants and shirt, no qualms whatsoever.  For a Vietnamese lady, I’d say it’s an effort because it’s not their practice to be too casual with clothes, like the “influence of Americans to Filipinos.”  

Vi is like a sister, quite sweet and she always remember me.  If that would be in the Philippines, it’s a bonus to have a friend like Vi in the print media, a good access to free publicity. But my friendship with Vi has a catch, Catch-22.  She treats me like I am still in the same industry with her, the industry which I abandoned almost a decade ago.  In that type of relationship, I can’t ask her to write something about my products and services for free. It’s awkward, unless of course I have paid ads.  Anyway, I love Vi, so never mind I will not destroy our friendship by asking free space for press releases.  I will always be a big sister to her in the “print media industry”.  

So for my two little sisters in the print media in Ho Chi Minh, thank you for the friendship and I am grateful you were there for me when I was hounded with immigration issues, it was handy with you around.