MUET SLIDES

Food Pyramid
Greenhouse Effect
Acid Rain
Bullying
Pollution
Nelson Mandela

Grammar

grammar

world of verbs

Internet eroding family time

Internet eroding family time

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Vital vitamins, magnificent minerals

Vital vitamins, magnificent minerals

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Always my hero

Always my hero

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The face doesn’t fit

The face doesn’t fit

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Visiting China

Visiting China

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Fried eyes

Fried eyes

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Smile

As a small act of kindness, a genuine smile from one person to another instantly instils a sense of well-being and contentment. A smile sends a universally recognised signal which physically affects our bodies by directly reducing stress-related cardiovascular responses. Smiling is the bedrock of all human social interaction.

People are highly social. We live in complex communities that allow us to thrive despite the threats and dangers presented by the outside world. Smiling is a survival strategy. It is a way that our
ancestors have developed in co-operating and getting along peacefully together on a day-to-day basis. The smile emerged as the single mostimportant way of keeping the peace amongst the group.

People are highly social. We live in complex communities that allow us to thrive despite the threats and dangers presented by the outside world. Smiling is a survival strategy. It is a way that our ancestors have developed in co-operating and getting along peacefully together on a day-to-day basis. The smile emerged as the single most important way of keeping the peace amongst the group. Physically, a smile consists of the zygomatic major muscle pulling up the corners of the mouth. However, this simple description hides the fact that the zygomatic major works alongside other facial muscles to create a vast variety of smiles and friendly gestures. Some smiles tell others that we are happy and contented. Other smiles show that we are embarrassed or uncomfortable. There are even smiles that tell others we feel superior or inferior to them in a particular social situation. Interestingly, it is the orbicularis oculi muscle that helps us differentiate a smile that is genuine from one that is false. The orbicularis oculi muscle surrounds the eyes. When this muscle contracts, it raises the cheeks and creates pouches in the lower eyelids. This action encourages the appearance of "crow's feet" or wrinkles around the eyes. Smiles that use this muscle are called Duchenne or D smiles after the French anatomist, Duchenne de Boulogne, who first recognised its importance and scientifically described its action. Not surprisingly, smiles that do not use this muscle are called non-Duchenne smiles, or non-D smiles.
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Glossary : Genuine (adj) real and not false.
Cardiovascular (adj) relating to the heart.
Wrinkles (n) lines on the skin that appear as a person ages.

When school reopens ...

I have lots of activities to be done with my new batch of students ... the Lower 6, of course. Hopefully the activities could boost their confidence in their communication skill, as well as listening, reading and writing.

Ho Chi Minh - Day 4

This is our last in Ho Chi Minh City. Early morning we gathered at a Tourist agency as we'd booked a half-day trip to Cu Chi Tunnel. At 8.15 am we started the journey by bus. According to the tourist guide, the journey would take about 2 hours. In the journey I noticed 2 different situations - busy streets in Ho Chi Minh City and the green scenery approaching Cu Chi Tunnel. As I mentioned earlier, HCMC is crowded with motorcycles ... and another interesting sight is the cables, sometimes it's scary to see so many cables hanging across the road! It seems that they don't have the underground cables like in our country. As we approached Cu Chi Tunnel, we could see the rubber plantation and paddy fields. They are still using the buffalo...
To enter Cu Chi Tunnel we had to pay 80000 dong, that did not include transportation (another 110000 dong). There were a few identical huts and we were instructed to enter one of them. Here we were given explaination on how the tunnel worked ... it could save the Vietnamese and could trap the Americans at the same time!

After the video show, we were brought to see the tunnel, traps, meeting room, dining hall, trucks, bombs, rest area and etc. Here we could also experience walking through the tunnel ... however it is not real one. Although the tunnel height is 1 metre, we still had a difficulty walking in the dark and of course lack of oxygen... so we decided to get out at the first 20 metre exit. I wonder how those soldiers could survive in the much smaller tunnel! Besides that, my husband didn't want to miss a chance to shoot using the machine gun - he paid 50000 dong for a bullet.

Then we were given a tea break ... the same menu that the soldiers had many years ago - tea and boiled tapioca! It was nice, though...

After buying some souvenirs we headed back to HCMC. On the way, the bus dropped us where Aman picked us up and brought to his house. We had lunch there and then we had to say goodbye to all the family members ... it was quite hard for us, after spending 4 days there. Although it was a very short visit, it still gives us unforgettable memory .... especially to Aman, our faithful, patient and sometimes funny tourist guide - we gonna miss the time we spent together!

At 4.40 pm we flew back to Malaysia by MH759. Alhamdulillah, we safely landed on time.

Ho Chi Minh - Day 3

We spent the whole day shopping in the city... Cho Ben Thanh, Ipa Nima, Saigon Square etc. After lunch our friend brought us to Suoi Tilam (don't know the spelling!). Here all the shops sell accessories like beads, ribbons, crystals etc ... however they sell in bulks. Then we went to another area where they sell all types of cloths .... from cotton to chiffon,silk and wool. They sell chiffon for 45 dong per metre (rm 9) but we can get cheaper if we buy more than 10 metres (who wants to be 'boria'?)!

So Day 3 ended with shopping as the next day we would be leaving early for Chu Chi Tunnel trip. See you there!

Ho Chi Minh - Day 2

We had our breakfast in the room as we brought some bread and a sandwich maker. It's difficult to find halal food here. Then we started our exploration to Cho Ben Thanh. The market is crowded - just like Pasar Siti Khadijah in Kelantan. The people are quite friendly, some can even speak Malay! Their favourite phrases are : Madam, mari-mari, murah-murah! We didn't miss the chance to buy some Vietnamese silk, beaded shoes and bags to bring home.

Then we headed to Parkson for lunch. We didn't take a taxi because we wanted to explore the city. On the way, we passed by the Opera House, the famous Cathedral, Reunification Palace and hmm ... I couldn't stop myself from entering the Louis Vuiton boutique! The weather was nice ... not too hot but the environment is so much polluted with the smoke from motorcycles. I have never seen so many motorcycles like in this city... and we also noticed that the traffic was not systematic like in our country. I don't think I can drive in this busy city .... motorcycles come from everywhere and they can make a turn at anytime! All the motorcyclists wear helmets but they are not for safety ... you should see their fancy helmets! However we were more interested in their fancy masks with colourful designs. My daughter bought one for 10000 dong ( about rm2 ) as a souvenir.

After lunch at Parkson, we went to pray at the mosque. We were told that this mosque was used to be a temple.

At night we went to Saigon River. There are a few floating restaurants there, however we just had a stroll before going to our friend's house for dinner. She cooked pizza and spaghetti for us.

Trip To Ho Chi Minh City

Day 1
Arrived at the international airport at 3.40 pm (local time) - 1 hour behind our time. Aman (a friend's son), was waiting for us. He has been here for 5 months but his parents have been staying here for 3 years.
We were lucky coz Aman had booked 2 rooms for us at Hai Nam Hotel. It's located at Le Than Ton, 5 minute walk from Cho Ben Thanh, the famous shopping centre. I think it's a 3 star hotel, has 5 storeys, with 4 rooms per level ... so you can imagine how it looks. I noticed that most of the budget hotels look alike, they are small but tall! The room was not bad ... it was clean and complete with fridge, tv, aircond and hot shower. Service was so-so as we had to call for many times before they sent us the hot water. After we checked-in at Hai Nam Hotel, we went to Parkson, where Aman's stall is located. Actually his mother runs a stall, named D'Anjung at the food court. We were proud to see malay food is sold in Vietnam, in fact the Vietnamese have started to like the nasi lemak sold there!

We had our dinner there and on the way back to the hotel, we 'browsed thru' the night market. It is like the night market at our place, mostly selling handbags, shoes, t-shirts and souvenirs. According to Aman, we have to bargain up to 50%. None of us bought anything, maybe we were still confused with the currency! By the way, they accept both dong and dollar - that's why it's confusing .... So that's how the first day in Ho Chi Minh City ended. ( to be continued ..... )