Weekend in Sai Gon and Mui Ne

a friend of mine had invited me to go to vietnam a couple of months ago, but she only wanted to go this july. i put the thought away knowing that a lot of things would happen in three months. and i was right. the trip didn't seem to be happening as planned.

then i had a eureka moment - why wait for companions when i can go by myself?! so that very day i booked my flights to Saigon - now called Ho Chi Minh City or HCMC. at the very last minute though, someone joined in. but what an awesome weekend it had been!

i've asked a great number of people who had been there before and most of them mentioned that there's not much to do in HCMC. i think it's because not many of them are historians, who otherwise would not pass on going to war memorials and such to get their dose of the 'Nam War history. while i'm interested in war stories as well, i prefer an audio-visual demonstration instead :)

that being said, i had planned to only spend the night in the city, and head to Mui Ne the next day and stay overnight, before heading back to Saigon and onward to Singapore. it sounded like a real rush, i knew it would be - but that's how i normally make the most out of a short trip :) 

and so we arrived in HCMC around nine in the evening, and i have planned to meet some people from CouchSurfing who are willing to meet up for coffee and show me around the city since we'll only be there that night. due to unfortuitous events, we didn't manage to get to the coffee shop until about half past 10. it was very nice of them to wait for us and Lu welcomed us with wonderful tea and iced coffee and the warmth of his cozy coffee shop.

meet-up at lu cupffee with local CSers

perhaps around past midnight, Huy - another CSer - arrived at the shop with two other travellers and since Frederico wanted alcohol to be involved and Huy wanted to watch the match, it was our cue to change venue. Huy brought us then to Pham Ngu Lao - the most popular area for backpackers. 

 

watching the Germany vs Greece match at Pham Ngu Lao

for beers that only cost 10k VND a bottle (about 60 cents SGD), it was the steal of the night! we probably got back to the hotel at about 4 in the morning. and had to be at the bus terminal by exactly 7. hah!

the journey to Mui Ne was not exactly the most comfortable - it was five hours of glorious pain. i was pretty tired, and so slept nonetheless, but woke up with an aching rear and a stiff neck. and yet - when we got there - i knew every second i endured was worth it!

the beach, the sand structures, the fairy stream and the fishing village

since it was such a short trip, we didn't really have chance to laze around the beach. we had lunch in a beach-front restaurant and had a few minutes to take photos and that was it. nevertheless, the time cut short for the beach was well spent - for the amazing sand dunes!

i'm curious to see the sand dunes as i've never seen this before. i've always wanted to go to egypt and get a glimpse of their historic deserts - so i'm bummed that i've not known about the sand dunes of mui ne before! and so there i was, at awe, for about an hour, walking thru the sands and enduring the prickly pain the sand made against my skin as the breeze was angrily blowing them towards me as i dug my feet further up. i didn't care. i was so happy :)

so tired from the half-day tour, we came back to the hotel ready to take a dip and probably head out for dinner. well, that didn't happen. we came back, met some strangers, and went straight to doing saturday night. we did it great justice. haha.

that's what i did last weekend, folks! what did you do? :)  

The Downer Traveller

Just recently I have come across someone who seems to have been very well traveled, a solo traveler more specifically. He had been to quite a number of countries and a good number of people have left nice references for him, quoting how fun and interesting he is. For this reason I was looking forward to meeting him.

And so you can imagine the disappointment when I got to know him and observe that he talks very negatively about a lot of stuff. I have never been to where he lived here in Asia, and have heard enough stories about the city - mostly positive, really. I lived and visited other places too and while there is always something to complain about a destination, there will always be something wonderful about it too.

I think that if you indeed love traveling, you will always find delight in something about the city you are visiting. Even more so when you lived there, especially if it was your own choice. As 'visitors' of a foreign land I think we should feel like we owe this place, more than it owes us. The place didn't choose us, we chose to move there. It deserves a bit of respect and appreciation for the sole reason that you did not suffer any mistreatment or injustice while you lived there.

And also, travelers love meeting fellow travelers to hear wonderful stories of their journeys, not to be discouraged by their pettiness and misconstrued opinions.

memoirs of tokyo 2011: mother of earthquakes

I have wanted to go to tokyo for the longest time and so when my partner-in-crime told me of his business trip and invited me to crash in his hyatt regency room he got an ecstatic hell yeah from me. i went to redeem my last remaining miles from delta and off i went! 

FRIDAY the 11th of march was a free day in tokyo for me. after meeting up with emil in tokyo station to get our shinkansen vouchers and agreeing to take the 6pm train to kyoto, he had to go to the office for his final leg before leaving japan. it meant that i had 6 hours to kill, and so i decided to go to sanrioland.

sanrioland is in eastern tama area, and i had to alight at keio tama center which is a 45 minute train ride away from shinjuku. i was beginning to regret going so far away, but thought i was already close by, about 3 stops away. when the train stopped at inagi station, i noticed that the train car was swaying lightly. in a matter of seconds the slight sway turned into a violent shaking and people inside the trains all stood up and looked at each other in horror. the first thing i thought to do was to crawl under the seats in case some things start falling off. luckily nothing collapsed, and about a minute after the quake people started to take out their phones and call / SMS home. i tried calling up emil, then my family but couldn't connect. even SMS couldn't get through.

where i was when it happened

alarm was sounded in the building and it meant people had to leave the premises. when it was all clear, i went back to the station to check on the news, and ask when the service will resume. i was told - after a very hard conversation - it will be OK by 4pm.

people anxiously waiting for train services to resume

so 4pm came by. no news. i was hungry, and it was cold outside, so i decided to take refuge in the bakery in front of the station.  i tried to go around and ask how to get back to the city via bus, but nobody could speak english. the signs in the bus stop didn't help either. 

the bakery - our refuge

so i went back into the cafe. 5pm. and then 6. and then 7pm. two people came in and sat close by, and i could faintly hear some english words. after a better job of eavesdropping, i had confirmed that they speak english. so i came over. the lady was SHOKO, she is a local but could speak a bit of english. the guy was DAVID, japanese in blood but born and raised in canada and could hardly speak the language. NANA was the young girl next to us, and since she's super cute, david pulled him to the group too! shoko said there are no hotels around the area, and the best way to get one is to go to keio tama center (where i was supposed to go). i've decided it's best to go and get some food so that we woudn't starve, whatever happens. 

bought some food supplies here - but they ran out of bottled water!

...but there were hot/cold drinks vending machine. heaven sent!

we have not made a decision to go anywhere at this point, just sat there talking and having some food.

after a little while, staff from the train announced that there was no ETA yet to get the trains moving and that the nearby gymnasium had been opened. we decided to head over there as it would be warmer. but - i was still hoping the trains would resume because i had no intention of staying there overnight! there were already a number of people inside when we arrived, mostly elderly. they provided floor mat, thermal blankets, and some cookies. there were two heat fans which i thought were super cool - kept the entire gym warm! 

the gymnasium

floor mats and thermal blankets were provided

the uber cool heat fan

shoko's mom drove from tokyo to get her, and nana's boyfriend from shinjuku was on his way too. david has a friend who lives a few stops away so worst case, he has a place to stay too. which means i was the only one doomed! :(

tachikawa grand hotel - a lifesaver

but around 10:30 it was announced that the keio line trains are now working. this will bring me back to shinjuku - but at that point emil was still in his office in ueno so there's no point for me to go back as well. luckily i took shoko's advice and headed to keio center, and there was vacancy at tachikawa grand hotel. after checking in we had ramen before saying goodbyes, and despite the horror of the day i was so tired that i dozed off as soon as i laid on the bed.

having this bed = 11,550JPY well spent

the next day, i took the train via chuo line back to shinjuku. it was sardines-packed! but i made my way back to hyatt and reunited with emil. after some discussion, his colleagues decided to go to their japanese colleague's house where he'd look for flights that will get everybody out of tokyo ASAP. my flight back was not until sunday 6pm - which at that point didn't seem to be confirmed - and it didn't seem a good idea to be left behind by myself. so even though that SQ 9pm flight back put a dent on my wallet, i thought it's safe to get back at all costs. (and interestingly the one-way fare was more expensive than round trip).

so in summary, that was such an experience for me. but i'm thankful that there were kind souls out there who helped make things easier and even more thankful that some people were concerned of my safety.

and yes, i still went back to japan a few months after - to tick off my unfinished business in kyoto, and a side trip to osaka too. maybe hokkaido next time...

the streets of india

i went to india some time last month to attend a friend's wedding in bangalore and did a little side trip to delhi, agra and jaipur to see some famous tourist spots. of course the taj mahal was the highlight of the trip, and there were a few nice structures that we marveled at along the way.

however, i have to say that my most favorite part of the trip was being on the road. before going there, my indian friends and colleagues have endlessly told me about how people back home drive like mad and i was so excited to experience first hand how crazy it really is. i'm not expecting too much though, since i am able to brave the streets of manila and think that it would be pretty much the same - maddening traffic, people crossing the streets, honking and screaming and drivers who look in despair. it wasn't until we actually got on the road that i realized how insane it really was.

bumper to bumper

the kings of the road

  

just to give you an idea of it - people actually close the side mirrors in order for them to squeeze into that tiny little space on the road. an indian couple that we met even told us that there are some people who don't even use the rear-view mirror! they can also go from full stop to 60km in about a minute and come to another halt the next. blowing of horns seems to be a practice as well, which is very understandable given the fact that some people don't like using mirrors. it is the driver's responsibility to let the other know that he is there. even pedestrians can be very stubborn in crossing the road despite the zooming vehicles in front of them.

blow horn please

the honking never ends

i have observed though that despite the intense action on the road, people seem to be so used to it that they take it casually. unlike back home, people constantly sigh and moan and blurt obscenities due to the traffic stress. there were even some unfortunate incidents of road rage where anger was what get people injured, instead of being ran over. but in india, some people actually even seem to enjoy their day, despite the 40 degree temperature and constant noise and the never ending shift between gas and brake.

photo? much obliged

no space inside? no problem

so now i ask myself, can i drive in india? no, because they're crazy. but am i any better on the road? no, because i'm crazy.