This is the most eventful day of the trip... we went to many attractions, did many fun stuffs, and took many many many photos!
We woke up around 8am... then went to the nearby shop to have GuiLin BeeHoon （桂林米粉）. It's a very interesting dish. They give you a bowl of cooked beehoon and some slices of beef, and then you collect the bowl, go to the nearby counter where you can add in chilli flakes, different kinds of diced vegetables as according to your preference. And then, you complete the dish by pouring a big ladle of soup over it! The 桂林米粉 was piping hot and is perfect for the chilly weather. Hee... for Xiuyue and I, it was especially delicious because it's the first time we taste spicy food since our arrival in Macau. Haha...
We checked out of the hotel and then met with our tour guide, Xiao Qin （小秦）. Then we drove to YangShuo （阳朔）. The ride took us about an hour.
Our 1st stop in 阳朔 was 世外桃源(which loosely translates into "Blossoms Fields that are out of the world", and is a term used by Chinese to refer to PARADISE). The first thing we did was to take a boat ride again. We cruised down the river where we saw many hills and mountains in the background, fisherman and villages that are by the shore of the river... As I looked at all that is before me, I felt serenity and peace enfold me and I was awed at the wonders of nature presented before my eyes as I just praised the Creator of all things for I see some of the wondrous works of His hand. The scenery is really really beautiful.
We cruised through a little cave and then emerged on the other side to find ourselves in the midst of a group of minority group people. They have long hair, both male and female, and are very tanned. The guide informed us that this group lives deep in the mountains and the guys are called Black Prince Charming （黑马王子） and the gals are Black Pearls（黑珍珠）.
After the cruise, we disembarked and I felt as if I had travelled back in time into ancient China. The buildings are so beautifully constructed to look ancient and 整个山庄散发着古色古香的气息. We passed the main entrance and drank a sweet rice wine （过寨酒）as is the custom there. Here, we danced with the Miao tribe（苗族） younsters, well, actually, it wasn't exactly a dance, we were just holding hands and turning rouch and round in circles. Then we participated in catching the embroidered ball（绣球）. It is said that if a child catches it, the child will grow up strong and healthy; if a single catches it, then he/she will find his/her partner soon; if a married person catches it, he/she will enjoy a blissful marriage till end. So Xiuyue, QiaoQiao and I got ready to catch. We missed the first one and guess what? I caught the second one!!! Yeah!!! Haha... and for the rest of the journey, everyone was teasing me about me finding my 阿牛哥 (or rather, my other half) soon!
Then we ventured to another part of the place. And it's 渊明山庄. It's actually a model of the residence of the famous poet, 陶渊明. He is a intelligent man who was made an official in his youth. But he decided to give it all up to retire (at a very young age) to live in the rural areas, plants his own vegetables, manage his little farm and create more poems. It's a quiet and serene place... I wouldn't mind retiring in a place such as this! Ha... Oh, something funny happened here. We were in this room where this guy is able to make a poem out of your name. We simply looked and showed no intention of buying...then he came up to us and started a conversation. And then he said, "The scenery here is nice. Come, take photo!" QiaoQiao, Xiuyue and I thought, "This guy is so nice. He wants to take a photo for the three of us!" Then we saw him stand at a spot, and he waved to us, "Come! IT's a good spot here. Which two of you will be taking the photo with me?" We almost fainted. We had misunderstood his intention! We three had a good laugh after that.
After the visit to 世外桃源, we continued our drive to YanhShuo. When we arrived, our stomaches were really growling. So Xiao Qin directed us to this restaurant, Big Sister Peng （彭大姐）. And he said that the YangShuo specialty, Fish cooked in beer （啤酒鱼）, is well-prepared by the chef there. So, we had another feast! In all honesty, the fish is really so so so good... Hee... QiaoQiao said she would like to learn how to make the dish. Xiuyue and I volunteered to be her guinea pigs. Then, Uncle called for the bill. When the elderly lady came to Uncle with the bill, Uncle actually asked her, "So are you Big Sister Peng?" The lady was taken aback and she said she isn't. Haha... We had a good laugh... Uncle's really cute. Ha...
After lunch, we checked into our hotel（阳朔漓江酒店）and deposited our luggage. Kelly was really enjoying herself running from one room to the other (our 3 rooms were just next to one another).
Then we made our way to yet another boat cruise. This time, we were cruising down Li River （漓江）. It was another cruise that left me marvelling at the might of God, that by His Word all these mountains before my eyes are formed! There was nothing on this cruise except exceedingly marvellous scenary of tall green mountains and deep blue waters. The boat first brought us to this spot where we can view a series of hills...and the very sight before us is also found on the back of the 20yuan dollar note. Wow... Xiuyue and I took many photos and I also purchased the photo that the professional photographer, who was attached to our boat, took for me. Hee... And the rest of the cruise, it was just admiring the nature before our eyes. The reflections of the green hills in the blue waters... the fishermen and their fishing herons... This, it's really beyonds words, 此景此境非笔墨能够形容!
Dinner time! Xiao Qi brought us to a streetside stall for steamboat! And the soup base was Duck and Gingko Nuts（白果老鸭）! Yummy yummy!
Then it was back to hotel, where after resting for a while... we went out again! We went to West Street （西街）where the nightlife's supposed to be really exciting. Haha... We didn't go pubbing. But I did go shopping. I bought a hand-painted t-shirt for Magdelene. And I was so attracted by the hand-painted canvas shoes that I couldn't resist but bought a pair for myself (at only 75RMB)! That was after much consideration because both Xiuyue and I had not much cash on us by now... Xiuyue bought a cute little hand-painted phone pouch too. We walked and walked and finally decided on getting ourselves a foot massage. So, QiaoQiao, Xiuyue and myself stepped into one shop and got ourselves our foot massage! QiaoQiao had the Frangrance Foot Bath, Xiuyue had the Tribal Medicine Foot Bath and I took the Milk Crystals Foot Bath. We were placed in the same room. The shoulder massage was relaxing, the foot bath was soothing and the massage was comforting to our tired legs!
After this, we walked back to the hotel and then... it's past 12mn! Pay day! We went to the ATM and we finally had cash-on-hand! Say bye to budget shopping! Hee...
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
hk/macau/china trip... 10 dec 07 (day6)
Woke up around 7.30am to have our morning showers and then breakfast, as we had to take a 2-hour drive from ZhuHai to GuangZhou（广州）International Airport for our flight to GuiLin （桂林）.
We left at about 9.30am and along the way, Kelly, in her sweet cute voice, serenade us with songs like 外婆的澎湖湾、刘三姐山歌, etc... Then we stopped by a small hotel and had lunch, before continuing our way to the airport.
We stepped into the airport at 12.55pm, ran up to the second level to locate our check-in counter. We were directed all over the place and by the time we found our check-in counter, the counter had closed! Later, I also found out that for our flight at 1.30pm, we were supposed to have checked-in by 12.45pm. Thus, we would have missed the flight even if we didn't sprint about...
Uncle and Ah-Yi tried to remedy the situation and finally secured seats for the 4.30pm flight to GuiLin. We had wanted to pay for the air tickets but Ah-Yi said that it was that fault that we missed the flight and so refused to let us pay...
We finally got onto the plane to GuiLin... Yeah! And QiaoQiao, Xiuyue and I did exactly the same thing throughout the flight... WE SLEPT! Haha...
Upon arrival at GuiLin Airport, QiaoQiao's uncle （姑丈）came to fetch us at the airport. And he brought us to this posh restaurant named 小南国. The food's yummy but we had only 30minutes to gobble down our food and make our way to our next stop-两江四湖．
两江四湖 is so pretty. We took a little boat (that seats about 30 persons) and cruised down the rivers. We were greeted by many brightly-lgithed bridges... bridges made of stone, of wood, even of glass! I was simply wowed. At one point, our boat stopped in front of a tall metal wall. The guide told us that we were at a special crossing. The metal gate behind us will cross and water will flow down from the sides (we were sort of stuck within four walls) and fill the enclosure the boat is in. After about 10minutes, the water level would have risen to that of the wall before us and then we will continue our cruise down the other end of the wall. For that 10minutes, Xiuyue and I were just standing out on the deck and watching the whole process. It's so ingenius! Haha... It's so hard to describe that whole experience in words... but to me, I was just thinking, "Wow... like that also can ah?"
The 两江四湖 cruise was very enjoyable... we enjoyed lovely cool breeze, beautiful scenes and took loads of photos.
After the cruise, we went straight to our hotel. And it's a 4-star hotel! It's so comfy! And we didn't have to pay much for it! All thanks to Uncle and Ah-Yi! :)
Both Xiuyue and I ventured out to the nearby mall in a vain attempt to withdraw cash from the ATM (yah, we kind of spent quite a bit... and though we told ourselves we'll not do much shopping, we still couldn't resist the temptation). Then we saw warm brown chestnuts! Hee... bought ourselves some and munched it on our way back.
When we got back to the hotel, Ah-Yi offered us the takeaway that we packed from our dinner earlier on. So Xiuyue and I spent the night munching on chestnuts and yummy duck and chicken, while watching tv...
Then it was shower and snooze time... and that was about 1am! Haha...
We left at about 9.30am and along the way, Kelly, in her sweet cute voice, serenade us with songs like 外婆的澎湖湾、刘三姐山歌, etc... Then we stopped by a small hotel and had lunch, before continuing our way to the airport.
We stepped into the airport at 12.55pm, ran up to the second level to locate our check-in counter. We were directed all over the place and by the time we found our check-in counter, the counter had closed! Later, I also found out that for our flight at 1.30pm, we were supposed to have checked-in by 12.45pm. Thus, we would have missed the flight even if we didn't sprint about...
Uncle and Ah-Yi tried to remedy the situation and finally secured seats for the 4.30pm flight to GuiLin. We had wanted to pay for the air tickets but Ah-Yi said that it was that fault that we missed the flight and so refused to let us pay...
We finally got onto the plane to GuiLin... Yeah! And QiaoQiao, Xiuyue and I did exactly the same thing throughout the flight... WE SLEPT! Haha...
Upon arrival at GuiLin Airport, QiaoQiao's uncle （姑丈）came to fetch us at the airport. And he brought us to this posh restaurant named 小南国. The food's yummy but we had only 30minutes to gobble down our food and make our way to our next stop-两江四湖．
两江四湖 is so pretty. We took a little boat (that seats about 30 persons) and cruised down the rivers. We were greeted by many brightly-lgithed bridges... bridges made of stone, of wood, even of glass! I was simply wowed. At one point, our boat stopped in front of a tall metal wall. The guide told us that we were at a special crossing. The metal gate behind us will cross and water will flow down from the sides (we were sort of stuck within four walls) and fill the enclosure the boat is in. After about 10minutes, the water level would have risen to that of the wall before us and then we will continue our cruise down the other end of the wall. For that 10minutes, Xiuyue and I were just standing out on the deck and watching the whole process. It's so ingenius! Haha... It's so hard to describe that whole experience in words... but to me, I was just thinking, "Wow... like that also can ah?"
The 两江四湖 cruise was very enjoyable... we enjoyed lovely cool breeze, beautiful scenes and took loads of photos.
After the cruise, we went straight to our hotel. And it's a 4-star hotel! It's so comfy! And we didn't have to pay much for it! All thanks to Uncle and Ah-Yi! :)
Both Xiuyue and I ventured out to the nearby mall in a vain attempt to withdraw cash from the ATM (yah, we kind of spent quite a bit... and though we told ourselves we'll not do much shopping, we still couldn't resist the temptation). Then we saw warm brown chestnuts! Hee... bought ourselves some and munched it on our way back.
When we got back to the hotel, Ah-Yi offered us the takeaway that we packed from our dinner earlier on. So Xiuyue and I spent the night munching on chestnuts and yummy duck and chicken, while watching tv...
Then it was shower and snooze time... and that was about 1am! Haha...
hk/macau/china trip... 9 dec 07 (day5)
We woke up at about 9.30am and got ready for Macau! Hee... We were rather late and Ah-Yi was worried that we might miss the ferry. So the moment we reached the car park, we ran all the way to the pier! And I was shocked to see the ferry! It was so different from the luxurious ferries that we had taken! It was so packed and we were standing literally at the edge! Then Ah-Yi told us that we had to get nearer to the exit as it might take some time for us to clear the Macau immigration. So, we did. The moment the ferry berthed, the people were running (yes, they RAN!) to the immgration checkpoint. Xiuyue and I were taken aback but being trained Singaporeans, we quickly made our way into the queue too. The queue was so so so long! Then, about 5 minutes later, another ferry berthed! And the queue got even longer! I was so relieved that we got there earlier. It took us about 30minutes to clear the Macau immigration and then we were on our way!
We crossed the road using a overhead bridge and walked down this beautifully tiled road (Ah-Yi informed us that the tiles were all imported from Portugal when the Portugese were ruling Macau). And then, we were there! We were in the middle of a square where we were surrounded by beautifully coloured buildings! The buildings were unique because they are western in appearance but yet emit an Oriental flavour. It's just so beautiful.
We stopped to take photos (a lot of photos!) before going to a cafe （茶餐厅）to have Milk Custard （炖奶）and Pork Cutlet Bun （猪扒包）. Yum yum... and then we continued our little journey!
We walked all the way to St Paul's Ruins and was awed by it. Quite a few people told me that if you go to Macau and did not go to St Paul's Ruins, you have NOT been to Macau. So, here I am! I have been to Macau! Ha... And if you do not know the background of St Paul's Ruins, then here's a brief on it. St Paul's Ruins was part of a church by the name of St Paul's Church (yup... what else could it have been?). One day, a fire broke out in the kitchen and burned up the whole church. The only structure left standing is the structure we now know as St Paul's Ruins.
We took lots of photos in front of St Paul's Ruins and then visited the Crypt, the Museum of Sacred Art, and the Macau Museum. I loved the Museum visit.. and one of the exhibits got me all captivated. It was an exhibit of Chinese currency used through the ages/dynasties! People in the Shang/Zhou （商周）dynasty used seashells and then the copper/silver coins used during the various dynasties. Wow...
After the museum visits, we made our way back to the Macau/ZhuHai immigration at GongBei （拱北）. But then, along the way, we were distracted by the many shops and heir merchandise. Hee...
We got some BBQ Pork Fillet （肉干）, peanut cookies, almond biscuits and loads more... We also got ourselves Milk Tea... And when we passed by a Roxy outlet... we stepped in! Except for Xiuyue, none of us purchased anything. I couldn't find anything my size... and I think the designs are just too young-ish for me. Haha... But well, Xiuyue got some shirts for her brother (such a sweet sister, isn't she?) and a bag for herself. And she got them at 40% discount! Great deal!
Once done shopping, we took a bus to the Macau immigration where we took a very very very very very long time to clear the immigration! The crowd was really scary, it's like thrice the crowd you find at the Malaysian/Singapore immigration during long weekends! It's scary... We took an hour or so just to clear it! And when we finally got out, we saw Qiao Qiao and Ah-Yi munching on the BBQ beef fillet they bought earlier on. Hee...
We got to the 地下商场, and made a beeline to the mobile phone section. And there, we spent almost 2 hours! Haha... Xiuyue checking out all the mobile phone, Qiao Qiao having seen Xiuyue's enthusiam also became interested in the mobile phones, and Ah-Yi checked out the digital cameras. Wow... Xiuyue finally bought 2 touchscreen mobile phones at S$150+ each, Qiao Qiao fancied the same phone but they ran out of stock, Ah-Yi got herself a cool digital camera at 2000RMB... And I got myself a 1GB memory stick (for fear that Kat's 2GB memory stick would not be enough for me to take all the photos I would be taking). Hee... harvest!
Then we shopped around... the fashion is not exactly as interesting as Hong Kong but it's also quite nice. Xiuyue got herself a neat little sweater and Qiao Qiao got herself a few tops.
Then we ended the day with Thai dinner! Haha... Interesting little incident happened. We wanted to order pineapple rice and so asked for huang-li-fan （黄梨饭）and the waitress told us that they don't have that item on the menu. We were puzzled. Then a thought flashed across my mind and I asked for bo-luo-fan （菠萝饭）and they have that! In Singapore, pineapple is 黄梨, but in Hong Kong (and now we know, ZhuHai) pineapple is known as 菠萝. Haha... so interesting, right? Just 3 hours of flight apart and the terms of the things we know of are so different. :)
Oh, we had to sleep early becausewe have a flight to catch the next day!
We crossed the road using a overhead bridge and walked down this beautifully tiled road (Ah-Yi informed us that the tiles were all imported from Portugal when the Portugese were ruling Macau). And then, we were there! We were in the middle of a square where we were surrounded by beautifully coloured buildings! The buildings were unique because they are western in appearance but yet emit an Oriental flavour. It's just so beautiful.
We stopped to take photos (a lot of photos!) before going to a cafe （茶餐厅）to have Milk Custard （炖奶）and Pork Cutlet Bun （猪扒包）. Yum yum... and then we continued our little journey!
We walked all the way to St Paul's Ruins and was awed by it. Quite a few people told me that if you go to Macau and did not go to St Paul's Ruins, you have NOT been to Macau. So, here I am! I have been to Macau! Ha... And if you do not know the background of St Paul's Ruins, then here's a brief on it. St Paul's Ruins was part of a church by the name of St Paul's Church (yup... what else could it have been?). One day, a fire broke out in the kitchen and burned up the whole church. The only structure left standing is the structure we now know as St Paul's Ruins.
We took lots of photos in front of St Paul's Ruins and then visited the Crypt, the Museum of Sacred Art, and the Macau Museum. I loved the Museum visit.. and one of the exhibits got me all captivated. It was an exhibit of Chinese currency used through the ages/dynasties! People in the Shang/Zhou （商周）dynasty used seashells and then the copper/silver coins used during the various dynasties. Wow...
After the museum visits, we made our way back to the Macau/ZhuHai immigration at GongBei （拱北）. But then, along the way, we were distracted by the many shops and heir merchandise. Hee...
We got some BBQ Pork Fillet （肉干）, peanut cookies, almond biscuits and loads more... We also got ourselves Milk Tea... And when we passed by a Roxy outlet... we stepped in! Except for Xiuyue, none of us purchased anything. I couldn't find anything my size... and I think the designs are just too young-ish for me. Haha... But well, Xiuyue got some shirts for her brother (such a sweet sister, isn't she?) and a bag for herself. And she got them at 40% discount! Great deal!
Once done shopping, we took a bus to the Macau immigration where we took a very very very very very long time to clear the immigration! The crowd was really scary, it's like thrice the crowd you find at the Malaysian/Singapore immigration during long weekends! It's scary... We took an hour or so just to clear it! And when we finally got out, we saw Qiao Qiao and Ah-Yi munching on the BBQ beef fillet they bought earlier on. Hee...
We got to the 地下商场, and made a beeline to the mobile phone section. And there, we spent almost 2 hours! Haha... Xiuyue checking out all the mobile phone, Qiao Qiao having seen Xiuyue's enthusiam also became interested in the mobile phones, and Ah-Yi checked out the digital cameras. Wow... Xiuyue finally bought 2 touchscreen mobile phones at S$150+ each, Qiao Qiao fancied the same phone but they ran out of stock, Ah-Yi got herself a cool digital camera at 2000RMB... And I got myself a 1GB memory stick (for fear that Kat's 2GB memory stick would not be enough for me to take all the photos I would be taking). Hee... harvest!
Then we shopped around... the fashion is not exactly as interesting as Hong Kong but it's also quite nice. Xiuyue got herself a neat little sweater and Qiao Qiao got herself a few tops.
Then we ended the day with Thai dinner! Haha... Interesting little incident happened. We wanted to order pineapple rice and so asked for huang-li-fan （黄梨饭）and the waitress told us that they don't have that item on the menu. We were puzzled. Then a thought flashed across my mind and I asked for bo-luo-fan （菠萝饭）and they have that! In Singapore, pineapple is 黄梨, but in Hong Kong (and now we know, ZhuHai) pineapple is known as 菠萝. Haha... so interesting, right? Just 3 hours of flight apart and the terms of the things we know of are so different. :)
Oh, we had to sleep early becausewe have a flight to catch the next day!
HK/Macau/China Trip... 8 Dec 07 (day4)
We woke up REALLY early (at 6.30am! considering that we only slept about 2.30am...yawnz...) in order to make it in time for our 8.40am ferry from Hong Kong Sheung Wan's（上环）港澳码头 (the same ferry pier where we arrived from Macau 2 days ago) to ZhuHai珠海.
We took our nice nice shower and then made our way to the ferry pier... Hee... and wow... The ferry (by the name of HaiZhu海珠, which literally means Pearl of the Sea) is really big and nice! It's bigger and more comfy than the ferry we took two days ago! Guess what we did the moment we got into our seats? No prizes for making the right guess! WE SLEPT!
After 70minutes, our ferry arrived at ZhuHai! We cleared the immigration rather quickly and was really looking out for Wei Qiao. When I finally spotted her, I ran up and hugged her! It's been quite a while since I last saw her and was I glad to see her again. Then after quite a long hug, I released my "grip" and Wei Qiao introduced us to her parents, Uncle David and Ah-Yi阿姨 (as we addressed her for the rest of the trip) and also to her cute little 3-year-old sister, Kelly 韦凯玉! She's so adorable! Aiyoh... reminds me of SzeHuei, my cousin.
Then, we loaded our things up to Uncle's Honda Odyssey and we were off to have morning tea （饮茶）... It's a Hong Kong/ Macau/ ZhuHai culture to have morning tea on weekends... either with their families or friends. It's a time when they have dim sum （点心）and chat and catch up with one another's lives. It was a good 饮茶session as we got to know the family better.
We left the chinese restaurant with satisfied stomachs and Uncle brought us on a drive （游车河）to show us parts of ZhuHai. And it is so modern, and the apartments are really lovely.
We then proceeded to QiaoQiao's (hee... thought it's a really cute pet name and began calling her that for the rest of the trip. Hee...) home. Woah! It is really big... The term for it is 楼中楼, loosely translated into meaning a building within a building. And were we impressed! Xiuyue and I were shown to our guestrooms on the first level. Yes, we had a guestroom each, and a Queen-sized bed too! Cool surprise... and really great! We finally will have room to roll around on our beds (especially after our 2 nights in the Cosmic guest room where our beds do not allow us to roll around at all... haa...)!!! We dropped our stuffs and little Kelly excitedly came and showed us the rest of the house. Nice...
When Kelly got down to her afternoon nap, Ah-Yi brought us to MeiXi Torii aka MeiXi Stone Archways （梅溪牌坊）where the brochure claimed "Give me two hours, I'll return you two hundred years of ZhuHai history". And I really do think the two hours is well-spent!
The place is so rich in history that I just can't get enough!
梅溪牌坊 occupies an area of 126,000 square metres (yes, it's big) and the attraction includes the former residence of Mr Chen Fang （陈芳）who is the 1st Chinese consul to Hawaii during the later part of the Qing Dynasty (and Chen Fang also married the cousin of the Hawaiian ruler), and the torri or stone archways that were presented to Chen Fang by GuangXu Emperor.
What really caught my attention was the architecture of the residence... the many halls (living areas for different members of the family), the interesting fusion of East and West architecture (at the back of Chen Fang's hall is a ballroom where he met with his guests and the ballroom is just so European and the tiles and bricks were imported from Hawaii!)... Just so many! And one of the exhibits blew my mind off. It's this whole collection of models of Stone Archways across China! The different styles, the different looks, the different materials used in the southern and the northern parts of China. The various styles that informs the public of one's contributions and rank... I was so soaked in it... and I took loads of photos and I told Xiuyue that I'm going to show my students all these photos and just let them see the richness of chinese culture...
After spending a few hours at 梅溪牌坊,we returned home and had an afternoon tea of bread and chinese tea.
Shortly after, Uncle drove us to a little village in the countryside where we watched men fishing... and then selling the fishes to the restaurant just beside the fishing area! Hee... We had fish, chicken, beef, vegetables (oh.. the vegetables are so fresh! So green, so crisp, so sweet! And it's freshly plucked from the patch of vegetable farm just behind the restaurant!) and the list goes on...
Stomach's really elated! So much yummy food in one day! Then Ah-Yi brought us to the shopping mall where Xiuyue was excitedly looking for the S$100+ touchscreen mobile phone that her friends told her about. She returned empty-handed but Ah-Yi promised to being her to the Underground Mall （地下商场）the next day... where she could get great deals.
Then we got back home and watched the Golden Horse Awards Ceremony（金马奖颁奖礼）till rather late at night. Then we snoozed...
We took our nice nice shower and then made our way to the ferry pier... Hee... and wow... The ferry (by the name of HaiZhu海珠, which literally means Pearl of the Sea) is really big and nice! It's bigger and more comfy than the ferry we took two days ago! Guess what we did the moment we got into our seats? No prizes for making the right guess! WE SLEPT!
After 70minutes, our ferry arrived at ZhuHai! We cleared the immigration rather quickly and was really looking out for Wei Qiao. When I finally spotted her, I ran up and hugged her! It's been quite a while since I last saw her and was I glad to see her again. Then after quite a long hug, I released my "grip" and Wei Qiao introduced us to her parents, Uncle David and Ah-Yi阿姨 (as we addressed her for the rest of the trip) and also to her cute little 3-year-old sister, Kelly 韦凯玉! She's so adorable! Aiyoh... reminds me of SzeHuei, my cousin.
Then, we loaded our things up to Uncle's Honda Odyssey and we were off to have morning tea （饮茶）... It's a Hong Kong/ Macau/ ZhuHai culture to have morning tea on weekends... either with their families or friends. It's a time when they have dim sum （点心）and chat and catch up with one another's lives. It was a good 饮茶session as we got to know the family better.
We left the chinese restaurant with satisfied stomachs and Uncle brought us on a drive （游车河）to show us parts of ZhuHai. And it is so modern, and the apartments are really lovely.
We then proceeded to QiaoQiao's (hee... thought it's a really cute pet name and began calling her that for the rest of the trip. Hee...) home. Woah! It is really big... The term for it is 楼中楼, loosely translated into meaning a building within a building. And were we impressed! Xiuyue and I were shown to our guestrooms on the first level. Yes, we had a guestroom each, and a Queen-sized bed too! Cool surprise... and really great! We finally will have room to roll around on our beds (especially after our 2 nights in the Cosmic guest room where our beds do not allow us to roll around at all... haa...)!!! We dropped our stuffs and little Kelly excitedly came and showed us the rest of the house. Nice...
When Kelly got down to her afternoon nap, Ah-Yi brought us to MeiXi Torii aka MeiXi Stone Archways （梅溪牌坊）where the brochure claimed "Give me two hours, I'll return you two hundred years of ZhuHai history". And I really do think the two hours is well-spent!
The place is so rich in history that I just can't get enough!
梅溪牌坊 occupies an area of 126,000 square metres (yes, it's big) and the attraction includes the former residence of Mr Chen Fang （陈芳）who is the 1st Chinese consul to Hawaii during the later part of the Qing Dynasty (and Chen Fang also married the cousin of the Hawaiian ruler), and the torri or stone archways that were presented to Chen Fang by GuangXu Emperor.
What really caught my attention was the architecture of the residence... the many halls (living areas for different members of the family), the interesting fusion of East and West architecture (at the back of Chen Fang's hall is a ballroom where he met with his guests and the ballroom is just so European and the tiles and bricks were imported from Hawaii!)... Just so many! And one of the exhibits blew my mind off. It's this whole collection of models of Stone Archways across China! The different styles, the different looks, the different materials used in the southern and the northern parts of China. The various styles that informs the public of one's contributions and rank... I was so soaked in it... and I took loads of photos and I told Xiuyue that I'm going to show my students all these photos and just let them see the richness of chinese culture...
After spending a few hours at 梅溪牌坊,we returned home and had an afternoon tea of bread and chinese tea.
Shortly after, Uncle drove us to a little village in the countryside where we watched men fishing... and then selling the fishes to the restaurant just beside the fishing area! Hee... We had fish, chicken, beef, vegetables (oh.. the vegetables are so fresh! So green, so crisp, so sweet! And it's freshly plucked from the patch of vegetable farm just behind the restaurant!) and the list goes on...
Stomach's really elated! So much yummy food in one day! Then Ah-Yi brought us to the shopping mall where Xiuyue was excitedly looking for the S$100+ touchscreen mobile phone that her friends told her about. She returned empty-handed but Ah-Yi promised to being her to the Underground Mall （地下商场）the next day... where she could get great deals.
Then we got back home and watched the Golden Horse Awards Ceremony（金马奖颁奖礼）till rather late at night. Then we snoozed...
Monday, December 17, 2007
hk/macau/china trip... 7 dec 07 (day3)
We woke up early to get an early start.
I stepped into the bathroom, and was all ready to bathe when I turned the tap and find that no water is flowing out! Got dressed quickly, and was going to go to the reception area when I met a neighbour (he's 2 rooms down the passageway) and he told me that the staff had told him that a water pipe had broke in another room and they are trying to fix it now. In the meantime, there will be no water supply. I didn't know whether I should laugh (at the hilarious-ity of the whole matter) or cry (because I couldn't take my morning shower)...I was just so thankful that I had not soaped myself. Else, I wouldn't know to do... Anyway, Xiuyue and I decided that we'll forego our morning shower and go ahead with our day's programme.
We decided to visit Tai Tam Reservoir and Nature Reserve （大潭自然公园）on Hong Kong Island. We got onto a MTR to Shau Kei Wan (loosely translated to Basket Bay) to get a bus to the nature park. Once again, we got a little lost but received assistance from helpful MTR staff at the MTR control station.
When we got out of the station, we were once again hungry and thus decided to pop into a tea-restaurant （茶餐厅）to have porridge for breakfast. Haha... the moment we stepped in and sat down, some of the other customers were looking at us. It took us a moment to realise that apart from us, the rest are above 60! We felt out of place but still went ahead with Peanut Cuttlefish Porridge in there!
After breakfast, we took a walk down to the bus stop as directed by the helpful MTR staff and waited for bus 14. After quite a long wait, the bus came and we hopped on.
Upon alighting at the bus stop, we admired the view that greeted us... hills that surrounds the reservoir. Lovely! And once again, we got a little lost searching for the trail when Xiuyue finally (after about 45min) got us on it! We met an elderly couple walking on the trail and after exchanging a few words, found out that they come to the nature park and take their nature walk every weekend! Wow... we were impressed!
The walk through Tai Tam Nature Park was nice... Greens and blues greeted us along the way... Xiuyue and I took some corny shots of ourselves (three cheers for the 10-second timer function in digital cameras!) as we made our way through the park. Some parks were rather challenging as it was at steep incline... but at the end of it, it was every bit worth it!
It was cool in the nature park, but because of the physical exertion, we were also emitting heat. That resulted in us putting on our sweater and windbreaker (when we were in the shade and walking downhill) and taking them off (when we were near the top and walking uphill) and that process repeated quite a few times. Along the way, we even saw guys who run up the hills... we were simply going, "Wow... "
We started our nature walk at 12noon and we reached the ParkView (posh apartments built at mid-hill) at 3pm! End of nature walk! Yeah! Great walk! We walked a little more to get to the main road where we could get onto a public bus. On the way, we passed a really really expensive-looking mansion... and the address of the mansion is Number 1, Repulse Bay （浅水湾）. We also saw a few luxurious cars parked in there... and the whole place just shouts "Extremely Rich!"
We got to the bus stop, took Bus 5 to Causeway Bay （铜锣湾）where we had a late lunch of porridge (yes, porridge again. We just love porridge!) before taking the MTR to Central （中环）.
We then walked to take the Peak Tram. And then, another saga unfolded! We didn't have loads of cash with us, and thinking that the Peak is a tourist attraction, they should accept VISA for payment. But the staff told us that they do nto accept VISA payment for anything less than HKD300. I almost flipped. We walked to the Citibank Building to attempt to withdraw cash but couldn't find the right ATM. Was piping mad when I told Xiuyue to empty all our coins and notes and make up that HKD88 for both our tickets. We managed to have just enough.
We took the tram up to the Peak and I marvelled at the view. It's really pretty. The lights, the buildings... I loved the view. We saw a Girodano Junior outlet there and saw a lovely pink stripped knitted top and I just knew I want to get that for Kat. Wanted to get one for myself too but they didn't have another piece! Sigh...
We took one more look of Hong Kong Island from the Peak before taking the tram down to earth! Ha...
Then from Central, we took a MTR to Tsim Sha Tsui and walked to the Harbour to enjoy the Hong Kong Island buildings and the lights that greets us from across the waters. It was chilly as the sea breeze blew on us... It was a wonderful feeling, walking down the Avenue of Stars, looking at Hong Kong Island across the waters, eating warm popcorn...
After our Harbour stop, we got back to our guest house, put down my shopping bags and then made our way to Ladies Street （女人街）. By the time we reached, they were closing for the night... again!!! Urgghhh!!! So, we set our mind on having the yummy snacks on sticks （一串烧）for dinner-cum-supper. We couldn't find it initially and were really disappointed when we saw this huge crowd... and we knew we found it!!! This time, we got more sticks (5 sticks!) of snacks and happily chomped on it.
By now, we were really beat... so we took the MTR from Mong Kok back to Tsim Sha Tsui (thank God for Tourist MTR day pass!) and finally took our shower in our guest room!
And guess what? It was 2.30am before we finally got to lie our heads on our pillows!
I stepped into the bathroom, and was all ready to bathe when I turned the tap and find that no water is flowing out! Got dressed quickly, and was going to go to the reception area when I met a neighbour (he's 2 rooms down the passageway) and he told me that the staff had told him that a water pipe had broke in another room and they are trying to fix it now. In the meantime, there will be no water supply. I didn't know whether I should laugh (at the hilarious-ity of the whole matter) or cry (because I couldn't take my morning shower)...I was just so thankful that I had not soaped myself. Else, I wouldn't know to do... Anyway, Xiuyue and I decided that we'll forego our morning shower and go ahead with our day's programme.
We decided to visit Tai Tam Reservoir and Nature Reserve （大潭自然公园）on Hong Kong Island. We got onto a MTR to Shau Kei Wan (loosely translated to Basket Bay) to get a bus to the nature park. Once again, we got a little lost but received assistance from helpful MTR staff at the MTR control station.
When we got out of the station, we were once again hungry and thus decided to pop into a tea-restaurant （茶餐厅）to have porridge for breakfast. Haha... the moment we stepped in and sat down, some of the other customers were looking at us. It took us a moment to realise that apart from us, the rest are above 60! We felt out of place but still went ahead with Peanut Cuttlefish Porridge in there!
After breakfast, we took a walk down to the bus stop as directed by the helpful MTR staff and waited for bus 14. After quite a long wait, the bus came and we hopped on.
Upon alighting at the bus stop, we admired the view that greeted us... hills that surrounds the reservoir. Lovely! And once again, we got a little lost searching for the trail when Xiuyue finally (after about 45min) got us on it! We met an elderly couple walking on the trail and after exchanging a few words, found out that they come to the nature park and take their nature walk every weekend! Wow... we were impressed!
The walk through Tai Tam Nature Park was nice... Greens and blues greeted us along the way... Xiuyue and I took some corny shots of ourselves (three cheers for the 10-second timer function in digital cameras!) as we made our way through the park. Some parks were rather challenging as it was at steep incline... but at the end of it, it was every bit worth it!
It was cool in the nature park, but because of the physical exertion, we were also emitting heat. That resulted in us putting on our sweater and windbreaker (when we were in the shade and walking downhill) and taking them off (when we were near the top and walking uphill) and that process repeated quite a few times. Along the way, we even saw guys who run up the hills... we were simply going, "Wow... "
We started our nature walk at 12noon and we reached the ParkView (posh apartments built at mid-hill) at 3pm! End of nature walk! Yeah! Great walk! We walked a little more to get to the main road where we could get onto a public bus. On the way, we passed a really really expensive-looking mansion... and the address of the mansion is Number 1, Repulse Bay （浅水湾）. We also saw a few luxurious cars parked in there... and the whole place just shouts "Extremely Rich!"
We got to the bus stop, took Bus 5 to Causeway Bay （铜锣湾）where we had a late lunch of porridge (yes, porridge again. We just love porridge!) before taking the MTR to Central （中环）.
We then walked to take the Peak Tram. And then, another saga unfolded! We didn't have loads of cash with us, and thinking that the Peak is a tourist attraction, they should accept VISA for payment. But the staff told us that they do nto accept VISA payment for anything less than HKD300. I almost flipped. We walked to the Citibank Building to attempt to withdraw cash but couldn't find the right ATM. Was piping mad when I told Xiuyue to empty all our coins and notes and make up that HKD88 for both our tickets. We managed to have just enough.
We took the tram up to the Peak and I marvelled at the view. It's really pretty. The lights, the buildings... I loved the view. We saw a Girodano Junior outlet there and saw a lovely pink stripped knitted top and I just knew I want to get that for Kat. Wanted to get one for myself too but they didn't have another piece! Sigh...
We took one more look of Hong Kong Island from the Peak before taking the tram down to earth! Ha...
Then from Central, we took a MTR to Tsim Sha Tsui and walked to the Harbour to enjoy the Hong Kong Island buildings and the lights that greets us from across the waters. It was chilly as the sea breeze blew on us... It was a wonderful feeling, walking down the Avenue of Stars, looking at Hong Kong Island across the waters, eating warm popcorn...
After our Harbour stop, we got back to our guest house, put down my shopping bags and then made our way to Ladies Street （女人街）. By the time we reached, they were closing for the night... again!!! Urgghhh!!! So, we set our mind on having the yummy snacks on sticks （一串烧）for dinner-cum-supper. We couldn't find it initially and were really disappointed when we saw this huge crowd... and we knew we found it!!! This time, we got more sticks (5 sticks!) of snacks and happily chomped on it.
By now, we were really beat... so we took the MTR from Mong Kok back to Tsim Sha Tsui (thank God for Tourist MTR day pass!) and finally took our shower in our guest room!
And guess what? It was 2.30am before we finally got to lie our heads on our pillows!
hk/macau/china trip... 6 Dec 07 (day2)
We woke up late today! Haha... bed was too comfortable and we kind of slept late this morning, so...
anyway, we woke up at about 9.30am and started getting ready for the hotel shuttle bus to the Ferry Pier at 10am. We were ready by 11am!
Once at the Pier, we quickly got our ferry tickets (11.45am ferry) and we were on our way from Macau to Hong Kong Sheung Wan (上环）'s HK-Macau Ferry Pier （港澳码头）! The ride took about an hour and we caught up on our sleep! Hee...
Upon arrival in Sheung Wan, we decided to purchase our ferry tickets to ZhuHai（珠海） in advance. And after that, we hunted for the MTR station so that we could take the MTR to Tsim Sha Tsui（尖沙嘴）. But we got quite lost...and finally, we approached a security guard for directions. He was so so so helpful and directed us to the MTR. He even apologised that he couldn't bring us to the MTR station personally!
We took the MTR to Tsim Sha Tsui and finally located our guest house! The building is located just next to the MTR exit! That's convenient. We finally saw Cosmic Guest House. It was an apartment which the owner partitioned into several rooms and let them out as guest rooms. I was shocked to see the guest house, so was Xiuyue. But we consoled ourselves that it was a deal at S$24/pax/night. When the staff brought us to our rooms, we almost jumped out of our skins! The room was in a mess and they were still doing some kind of repair in the room. I told the staff that I'm definitely not staying in that room, she assured us that the room will be ready for us in 1hour. And I told her point-blank that we were going to put our things down and leave for our destinations. And that we were not going to waste an hour sitting there. She then brought us to another room and told us we could have that room. Just as we were getting ready to leave, she came... again! And she told us that the room we were occupying costs more and that we can't have the room. She will give us the previous room and that she will move our luggage from this room to the other room. We decided to just let it be.
We stepped out and decided to venture to New Territories （新界） and visit the Ping Shan （屏山） Heritage Walk. So, we took the MTR to Mei Foo （美浮）, purchased a West Rail day pass (unlimited rides on West Rail and the LRT in New Territories), and took the West Rail to Yuen Long（元朗）. Then from there, took a LRT (haha... didn't expect HK LRT to be the way it is) to Ping Shan. We arrived at the Heritage Walk at 5.30pm, only to realise that the Heritage Walk closes at 5pm daily! Urghh!!! Almost fainted. Then Xiuyue and I decided to just take the LRT randomly and enjoy the sights of New Territories.
We took 751P to Tin Yat（天逸）, then another LRT to somewhere where we then transferred to a MTR to Tuen Mun（屯门） where we finally took another LRT to Tuen Mun Ferry Pier.
We observed that at every LRT station, there is a little shopping mall. Some are as "big" as Gek Poh Shopping Centre, while some are almost as comprehensive as Jurong Point. Wow... New Territories residents shop a lot, don't they? Hee...
As I was so busy looking at the LRT maps at the stations and taking photos of them, we got quite a few helpful MTR/LRT staff coming to us, offering their assistance. Hee... It was also through one of these staff that we discovered that the various MTR Rail Lines (West Rail, HK Rail, etc), LRT and the bus companies have just been merged on 2 Dec 07. It was also through one of them that we found out there's a ferry pier at Tuen Mun where we could see a little of the beach. We headed for it!
We were rather disappointed to see that the "beach" was just sort of a seaside walk and it really not all that impressive. But there's a shopping mall there and we decided to snack a little! Got some snacks and we also got ourselves new Nalgene bottles at S$12 each!
We journeyed back to Yuen Long to take the MTR...and found that there's a Espirit factory outlet in the shopping mall there! Xiuyue got her brother two shirts. So sweet of her, right?
Satisfied, we headed back to Mong Kok（旺角）. I wanted to go check out the Espirit factory outlet and Ladies' Street（女人街）, where one can get real good bargains. I got myself two nice shirts at Espirit and for Ladies' Street... But by the time we arrived, the shops were closing!!! But then, we managed to get ourselves some cute towels of Buzz Lightyear, Disney Princesses, Winnie the Pooh and Lilo & Stitch. Hee... And we bargained with the stall owner and finally got them at HKD20/piece. Hee...
We ventured a little more and came upon a stall selling sticks of sausages, meat balls, marinated meats, etc...（一串烧） We couldn't resist the aroma and got ourselves two sticks. It was so yummy!!! The sauce that the owner added to the food was so savoury! Yum Yum!
Satisfied and full, we then proceeded back to the guest house on foot. It was a long long walk... I didn't realise Nathan Road was so long! We walked from MongKok MTR (where Ladies Street is) all the way to Tsim Sha Tsui MTR (where our guest house is). It was a long and rather tiring walk... nonetheless, it was also breezy and cool and so, we still had a nice cool walk...
By the time we got back to our room, the room had been tidied up and our backpacks have been moved here. So, it wasn't so bad after all. We took a quick shower and by the time we hit the sack, it was 3.30am!
anyway, we woke up at about 9.30am and started getting ready for the hotel shuttle bus to the Ferry Pier at 10am. We were ready by 11am!
Once at the Pier, we quickly got our ferry tickets (11.45am ferry) and we were on our way from Macau to Hong Kong Sheung Wan (上环）'s HK-Macau Ferry Pier （港澳码头）! The ride took about an hour and we caught up on our sleep! Hee...
Upon arrival in Sheung Wan, we decided to purchase our ferry tickets to ZhuHai（珠海） in advance. And after that, we hunted for the MTR station so that we could take the MTR to Tsim Sha Tsui（尖沙嘴）. But we got quite lost...and finally, we approached a security guard for directions. He was so so so helpful and directed us to the MTR. He even apologised that he couldn't bring us to the MTR station personally!
We took the MTR to Tsim Sha Tsui and finally located our guest house! The building is located just next to the MTR exit! That's convenient. We finally saw Cosmic Guest House. It was an apartment which the owner partitioned into several rooms and let them out as guest rooms. I was shocked to see the guest house, so was Xiuyue. But we consoled ourselves that it was a deal at S$24/pax/night. When the staff brought us to our rooms, we almost jumped out of our skins! The room was in a mess and they were still doing some kind of repair in the room. I told the staff that I'm definitely not staying in that room, she assured us that the room will be ready for us in 1hour. And I told her point-blank that we were going to put our things down and leave for our destinations. And that we were not going to waste an hour sitting there. She then brought us to another room and told us we could have that room. Just as we were getting ready to leave, she came... again! And she told us that the room we were occupying costs more and that we can't have the room. She will give us the previous room and that she will move our luggage from this room to the other room. We decided to just let it be.
We stepped out and decided to venture to New Territories （新界） and visit the Ping Shan （屏山） Heritage Walk. So, we took the MTR to Mei Foo （美浮）, purchased a West Rail day pass (unlimited rides on West Rail and the LRT in New Territories), and took the West Rail to Yuen Long（元朗）. Then from there, took a LRT (haha... didn't expect HK LRT to be the way it is) to Ping Shan. We arrived at the Heritage Walk at 5.30pm, only to realise that the Heritage Walk closes at 5pm daily! Urghh!!! Almost fainted. Then Xiuyue and I decided to just take the LRT randomly and enjoy the sights of New Territories.
We took 751P to Tin Yat（天逸）, then another LRT to somewhere where we then transferred to a MTR to Tuen Mun（屯门） where we finally took another LRT to Tuen Mun Ferry Pier.
We observed that at every LRT station, there is a little shopping mall. Some are as "big" as Gek Poh Shopping Centre, while some are almost as comprehensive as Jurong Point. Wow... New Territories residents shop a lot, don't they? Hee...
As I was so busy looking at the LRT maps at the stations and taking photos of them, we got quite a few helpful MTR/LRT staff coming to us, offering their assistance. Hee... It was also through one of these staff that we discovered that the various MTR Rail Lines (West Rail, HK Rail, etc), LRT and the bus companies have just been merged on 2 Dec 07. It was also through one of them that we found out there's a ferry pier at Tuen Mun where we could see a little of the beach. We headed for it!
We were rather disappointed to see that the "beach" was just sort of a seaside walk and it really not all that impressive. But there's a shopping mall there and we decided to snack a little! Got some snacks and we also got ourselves new Nalgene bottles at S$12 each!
We journeyed back to Yuen Long to take the MTR...and found that there's a Espirit factory outlet in the shopping mall there! Xiuyue got her brother two shirts. So sweet of her, right?
Satisfied, we headed back to Mong Kok（旺角）. I wanted to go check out the Espirit factory outlet and Ladies' Street（女人街）, where one can get real good bargains. I got myself two nice shirts at Espirit and for Ladies' Street... But by the time we arrived, the shops were closing!!! But then, we managed to get ourselves some cute towels of Buzz Lightyear, Disney Princesses, Winnie the Pooh and Lilo & Stitch. Hee... And we bargained with the stall owner and finally got them at HKD20/piece. Hee...
We ventured a little more and came upon a stall selling sticks of sausages, meat balls, marinated meats, etc...（一串烧） We couldn't resist the aroma and got ourselves two sticks. It was so yummy!!! The sauce that the owner added to the food was so savoury! Yum Yum!
Satisfied and full, we then proceeded back to the guest house on foot. It was a long long walk... I didn't realise Nathan Road was so long! We walked from MongKok MTR (where Ladies Street is) all the way to Tsim Sha Tsui MTR (where our guest house is). It was a long and rather tiring walk... nonetheless, it was also breezy and cool and so, we still had a nice cool walk...
By the time we got back to our room, the room had been tidied up and our backpacks have been moved here. So, it wasn't so bad after all. We took a quick shower and by the time we hit the sack, it was 3.30am!
HK/Macau/China Trip... 5 Dec 07 (day1)
We're flying to Macau today!
Kat was really sweet to come to the airport to send me off. And she rushed over right after the church staff devotion on Wednesday mornings. :))
Xiuyue and I checked in our stuffs and sat in the departure hall to wait for Kat (we bought BK burgers for lunch and we were waiting for her to come and then tuck in). Kat came and we started our makan! Hee... I also gave Kat a brief orientation of the Budget Terminal. Hee...
Shortly after our meal, we have to get in and clear the customs and get ready to board our plane... And when we got to our boarding gate, we realised that the plane had not arrived! Haha... So Xiuyue and I walked around the duty-free shops and were disappointed to find that the range of products for sale are really not much. The plane finally arrived but it would still take quite a while for the passengers to disembark and to refuel and all that stuffs. So Xiuyue andI ventured out and finally found some computers where we could surf the net and kill some time.
Ahhh... after a 30-minute wait, we finally got onto the place! And Macau, here we come!
We finally touched down at Macau after 3hours 30minutes. The moment we stepped out of the plane, we looked at each other and said , "Cold!" It was about 13C that night and we were really cold. :)
We got our luggage and lumbered out of the airport and after some difficulty, found the public bus-stop! We waited and waited... and after quite a while, bus MT1 came! Ha... the next hurdle... where do we alight? Xiuyue approached an elderly lady sitting near us and asked her where we were supposed to alight in order to get to our hotel (our landmark is actually the Macau Jockey Club). The lady was so so so warm and friendly and even pressed the bell for us to alight! Hee...
When we stepped into our room, we couldn't believe our eyes! It was really a luxurious room! Gosh! And we got it for only USD17!!! We were simply so happy...we couldn't believe what we saw!
We put our stuffs down and then decided to venture out to get some food. We thought we better do so as our stomaches were really protesting. We walked and we walked and then saw this little cafe... the prices were rather reasonable and so we stepped in. Xiuyue ordered a Seafood Rice and I ordered a Salmon Fried Rice. When our orders came, we were shocked by the serving. It was enormous! It was a big heap of rice! But well, we enjoyed the food and ate the very last grain of rice. The taste is really unique and unlike anything we've eaten in Singapore.
After eating, we were energised and thus decided to make our way to The Venetian (the newest and the largest integrated resort in Taipa, Macau). We walked, got lost a few times but we ultimately made it there!
We were so impressed by the architecture... it is so intricate and so beautiful and so lovely. The place just oozes romance! There is a mini lake with outdoor gondolas! We were so captivated by the place that we took photo after photo with the buildings... And The Venetian is so big... we didn't get to even walk a complete round around it! However, we couldn't find our way into the shopping mall, so we thought the mall was closed for the night. It was only a few days later , in our conversation with Uncle David, that we realised that the mall operates round the clock... Haha... we didn't get to walk to the main entrance to get into the mall!
By the time we satisfied our photo-taking craving, we had missed our last bus... and so we took a nice cool walk back to the hotel... And by the time we laid on our beds, it was 3am!
Kat was really sweet to come to the airport to send me off. And she rushed over right after the church staff devotion on Wednesday mornings. :))
Xiuyue and I checked in our stuffs and sat in the departure hall to wait for Kat (we bought BK burgers for lunch and we were waiting for her to come and then tuck in). Kat came and we started our makan! Hee... I also gave Kat a brief orientation of the Budget Terminal. Hee...
Shortly after our meal, we have to get in and clear the customs and get ready to board our plane... And when we got to our boarding gate, we realised that the plane had not arrived! Haha... So Xiuyue and I walked around the duty-free shops and were disappointed to find that the range of products for sale are really not much. The plane finally arrived but it would still take quite a while for the passengers to disembark and to refuel and all that stuffs. So Xiuyue andI ventured out and finally found some computers where we could surf the net and kill some time.
Ahhh... after a 30-minute wait, we finally got onto the place! And Macau, here we come!
We finally touched down at Macau after 3hours 30minutes. The moment we stepped out of the plane, we looked at each other and said , "Cold!" It was about 13C that night and we were really cold. :)
We got our luggage and lumbered out of the airport and after some difficulty, found the public bus-stop! We waited and waited... and after quite a while, bus MT1 came! Ha... the next hurdle... where do we alight? Xiuyue approached an elderly lady sitting near us and asked her where we were supposed to alight in order to get to our hotel (our landmark is actually the Macau Jockey Club). The lady was so so so warm and friendly and even pressed the bell for us to alight! Hee...
When we stepped into our room, we couldn't believe our eyes! It was really a luxurious room! Gosh! And we got it for only USD17!!! We were simply so happy...we couldn't believe what we saw!
We put our stuffs down and then decided to venture out to get some food. We thought we better do so as our stomaches were really protesting. We walked and we walked and then saw this little cafe... the prices were rather reasonable and so we stepped in. Xiuyue ordered a Seafood Rice and I ordered a Salmon Fried Rice. When our orders came, we were shocked by the serving. It was enormous! It was a big heap of rice! But well, we enjoyed the food and ate the very last grain of rice. The taste is really unique and unlike anything we've eaten in Singapore.
After eating, we were energised and thus decided to make our way to The Venetian (the newest and the largest integrated resort in Taipa, Macau). We walked, got lost a few times but we ultimately made it there!
We were so impressed by the architecture... it is so intricate and so beautiful and so lovely. The place just oozes romance! There is a mini lake with outdoor gondolas! We were so captivated by the place that we took photo after photo with the buildings... And The Venetian is so big... we didn't get to even walk a complete round around it! However, we couldn't find our way into the shopping mall, so we thought the mall was closed for the night. It was only a few days later , in our conversation with Uncle David, that we realised that the mall operates round the clock... Haha... we didn't get to walk to the main entrance to get into the mall!
By the time we satisfied our photo-taking craving, we had missed our last bus... and so we took a nice cool walk back to the hotel... And by the time we laid on our beds, it was 3am!
HK/Macau/China Trip... Preparation for Trip...
We finally decided to venture out of Vietnam and explore some other countries!
After viewing some photos of beautiful hills and greens Cindy (from CCAB OE Unit) showed us, Xiuyue and I decided to go and see them for ourselves! And it's not far... right in Hong Kong!
Also, we can make a stop at Macau and visit Wei Qiao, our ex-student! Haha... that was our plan initially. Then Wei Qiao called a week before the departure date and asked if we are keen to join her family for a vacation to GuiLin, China. Well, why not? Besides, she said her mummy could get the tickets at half-price! I've never been to China and so jumped at the chance. Xiuyue was sweet to agree to come along as well.
And Wei Qiao said that her parents would like to host us when we visit them in ZhuHai... gosh... isn't that great? I really thank God for his providence and the wonderful hospitality of her parents.
Now, that left us with... where do we spend the three days (5, 6 and 7 Dec 07) before Wei Qiao reaches home in ZhuHai on 8 Dec 07?
Hee... Xiuyue and I thus decided to continue on our quest of enjoying some nature in Hong Kong... Thus, our itinery goes:
(1) 5 Dec (Wed)- Arrive in Macau Airport at 6pm, check into a hotel for the night
(2) 6 Dec (Thu)- Ferry to HK, check into hotel, drop stuffs, explore New Territories
(3) 7 Dec (Fri)- Explore Hong Kong Trail in Hong Kong Island
(4) 8 Dec (Sat)- Ferry to ZhuHai and Uncle David (Wei Qiao's daddy) will take over!
Now, that leaves us with the task of booking hotels! Xiuyue and I got onto the internet and searched for cheap and good hotels. Hotels are so expensive in Macau, with the cheapest going at S$100! Gosh... that's too much. I then happened to chance upon the site macau.com, and after some cruising around, saw an ad that screams "Hotels rooms for as low as US17!" Grandview Hotel, located in Taipa, was offering hotel rooms at USD17.68/room/night! And the offer is only valid for 4, 5 and 6 Dec 07! Aren't we glad? We wasted no time, and quickly got ourselves a booking! And after more research, we realised that the hotel is easily accessible by public bus (MT1) from the airport! And the hotel provides shuttle bus service to the ferry pier! Isn't it great? We didn't have to spend a lot of money to get from airport to hotel and from hotel to ferry pier! It's just so amazing that I can only say it's God's providence for us.
Then comes the daunting task of booking a hotel in Hong Kong... we decided to check out hostels as they are relatively cheaper and we won't be spending more time in the rooms except to sleep (well, we were thinking... we will most probably be out all day in the hills and then shopping till late in the night...). Got hold of a guest house by the name of Cosmic Guest House and it's right in the centre of Nathan Road (Tsim Sha Tsui)! And it offers pretty reasonable rates of S$24/pax/night. So, we grabbed that too!
Gosh... so much for preparations. So excited about the trip!
After viewing some photos of beautiful hills and greens Cindy (from CCAB OE Unit) showed us, Xiuyue and I decided to go and see them for ourselves! And it's not far... right in Hong Kong!
Also, we can make a stop at Macau and visit Wei Qiao, our ex-student! Haha... that was our plan initially. Then Wei Qiao called a week before the departure date and asked if we are keen to join her family for a vacation to GuiLin, China. Well, why not? Besides, she said her mummy could get the tickets at half-price! I've never been to China and so jumped at the chance. Xiuyue was sweet to agree to come along as well.
And Wei Qiao said that her parents would like to host us when we visit them in ZhuHai... gosh... isn't that great? I really thank God for his providence and the wonderful hospitality of her parents.
Now, that left us with... where do we spend the three days (5, 6 and 7 Dec 07) before Wei Qiao reaches home in ZhuHai on 8 Dec 07?
Hee... Xiuyue and I thus decided to continue on our quest of enjoying some nature in Hong Kong... Thus, our itinery goes:
(1) 5 Dec (Wed)- Arrive in Macau Airport at 6pm, check into a hotel for the night
(2) 6 Dec (Thu)- Ferry to HK, check into hotel, drop stuffs, explore New Territories
(3) 7 Dec (Fri)- Explore Hong Kong Trail in Hong Kong Island
(4) 8 Dec (Sat)- Ferry to ZhuHai and Uncle David (Wei Qiao's daddy) will take over!
Now, that leaves us with the task of booking hotels! Xiuyue and I got onto the internet and searched for cheap and good hotels. Hotels are so expensive in Macau, with the cheapest going at S$100! Gosh... that's too much. I then happened to chance upon the site macau.com, and after some cruising around, saw an ad that screams "Hotels rooms for as low as US17!" Grandview Hotel, located in Taipa, was offering hotel rooms at USD17.68/room/night! And the offer is only valid for 4, 5 and 6 Dec 07! Aren't we glad? We wasted no time, and quickly got ourselves a booking! And after more research, we realised that the hotel is easily accessible by public bus (MT1) from the airport! And the hotel provides shuttle bus service to the ferry pier! Isn't it great? We didn't have to spend a lot of money to get from airport to hotel and from hotel to ferry pier! It's just so amazing that I can only say it's God's providence for us.
Then comes the daunting task of booking a hotel in Hong Kong... we decided to check out hostels as they are relatively cheaper and we won't be spending more time in the rooms except to sleep (well, we were thinking... we will most probably be out all day in the hills and then shopping till late in the night...). Got hold of a guest house by the name of Cosmic Guest House and it's right in the centre of Nathan Road (Tsim Sha Tsui)! And it offers pretty reasonable rates of S$24/pax/night. So, we grabbed that too!
Gosh... so much for preparations. So excited about the trip!
Monday, December 25, 2006
Vietnam 08 dec 06 - Day5
Woke up... dazed...
Haha... the time is about 4am and the train is already in Hanoi and should be reaching the Hanoi Railway Station soon. Man... I'm excited! I'm back in Hanoi! There's this air of familiarity inthis place. How could I not be familiar with this place? I've been here thrice previously... have got friends like Trang and Tung in this place. I miss Hanoi!
We finally reached the station! We bid farewell to our neighbour and alighted from the train. A little lost because it's our first time at the railway station. Hmm... we were trying very hard to find the Fortuna Hotel on our map so that we could direct our taxi driver there. But the hotel's nowhere in sight! Just then, our neighbourly uncle came towards us again and asked us where we were going. We told him and he found the hotel on our map! Wow... So, we followed the taxi driver to his vehicle. But horror of horrors! The 'taxi' was outside the railway station (meaning... we've to walk quite a distance) and it was a taxi but a van! The first thought that came to mind was... HOW MUCH is this gonna cost us? So, we asked and he said it's 100,000VND (that's about S$10). Wow... that's expensive! And in that crucial moment, i remembered a most important phrase... TAK GUA!!!! And that meant EXPENSIVE! Haha... the 'taxi' driver and his friends were surprised that I know that phrase... and believe it or not, they actually shook my hand (to congratulate me?)... haha... anyway, we embarked on a bargaining war... and finally we reached a consensous... 60,000VND! Hee... just as we were driving away, Jasmine remembered that we've yet to take photo in front of the railway station! Ha... so we stopped the 'taxi' driver in his tracks, rushed down the cab and took a photo each!
We reached Fortuna Hotel and Tung was there to welcome us! He's still as cute and handsome and his grinned from ear to ear when he saw us! I miss him so much! We quickly made ourselves at home at the hotel lobby and started taking photos with the Christmas tree in the hotel lobby. Haha... then Tung came over to chat a short while with us. We showed him our photos (still in our digital camera). He took one of the cameras, went to behind the Conceirge counter and looked through the photos. He looked as if he was doing some paper work at the counter but in fact, he was looking at photos! Hee... so smart of him hor...?
I finally gave in to temptation and bought a packet of Fortuna homemade cookies! We happily shared the cookies and left some for Tung.
His shift ended soon after and we made our way to his home at Ho Tay Lake. His aunts and grandma saw us and simply came up to us and hugged us! We really felt very welcomed in this place. The warmth that we received... Well, we dropped our bags and went for breakfast! Hee... it's that CheeCheongFun lookalike... and it's so so so very yummy! Awww... we miss Viet food!
Anyway, we had a yummy breakfast and then went back to Tung's home. Hee... we got him to switch on the computer so that we could transfer all the photos from our memory cards to my portable harddisk (80GB... don't play play ah...). Wow... we didn't realise that we took so many photos! Anyway, we took a long long time to transfer all that photos... and after transferring the photos, we decided to look through and see which are the photos that we want to develop into prints... and then sorted them into 1, 2, 3 and 4 prints respectively. Hee... we did all this while Tung was taking his little cat nap.
Finally, we're done and Tung also woke up from his nap. So, we went downstairs for homecooked lunch by his aunt. Wow... yummy. It's no fancy feast but definitely very cosy family meal. Hee... while the family members had a full bowl of white rice, the three of us only asked for half a bowl. I was the first to finish my lunch (as in my half a bowlof rice) and then, grandma wants to fill my bowl again. I politely declined... only to get scolding! Haha... Grandma believes that the young ones should eat more... so I obediently allowed grandma to fill my bowl... three-quarters full! Wow.... that's definitely more than what I usually eat! Then Jasmine and Xiuyue learnt from my experience that they better fill their bowls themselves else they'll suffer from my 'fate'. Haha... we were very full but we definitely enjoyed the meal... it wasn't just the food, it was also that warmth and joy of being treated as one of the family! :)
After lunch, we went to Old Quarters where Jasmine was on a mission... to make Ao Dai for her colleagues! Xiuyue and I went to Youth Hotel, only to discover that the friends we made at Youth Hotel have all gone elsewhere. A little sad but i guess life moves on. We went to have our fruit juice... i had my strawberry shake! Yeah... yummy yummy yummy... After Jasmine has accomplished his mission, we went to develop our photos. We actually had 714 prints! Wow... The shop assiatant was amazed and when we told Tung, his eyes popped out. Haha... And we spent about 1,000,000VND (S$100) on the photos! Tung was like... ' that's one-fifth of my monthly pay!'
Guess I can only say that we're spendthrifts on holiday!
Haha... anyway, by the time we're done around the Old Quarters, it's time for us to make our way to Trang's house.
Hanoi's definitely grown economically... because there are so much more cars on the streets now! And we were her two years ago! Gosh... Anyway, being people who can self-entertain anywhere, we decided to sort out all the photos and place them into the photo albums provided. Haha... we are good, aren't we? Hahah...
When we reached Trang's place, Trang also just arrived home. It seems that she was also stuck in the traffic jam! And then, I saw Bob, Trang's little one. I couldn't believe it! The last time I saw him, he was only 1-month old but now, he's a 2-year-old toddler running about the house! And he resembles Minh so so so much... Tung says that he's a photocopy of Minh! Haha...
But we had so much fun just catching up with one another, updating one another of our recent being. It's just so cool. Jasmine commented that this trip to Hanoi is not a holiday... it feels like we're at home, just visiting friends, having coffee and chatting. And I agree so much. We're in Hanoi not to tour but to visit our friends.
We had steamboat for dinner... and I figured that it's the Vietnamese custom to feed the young ones with tonnes and tonnes of food. Trang's mum was so busy cooking the food for us and didn't really eat a bite herself! We finally had to force her into eating some food when we started cooking food and piling the food into her bowl! The elderly is just so very loving of the young ones...
Well, by the time we finished dinner and had a long long talk with Trang's family, we decided to go home (it's 11pm Vietnam time) because the next day is a working day. It wasn't a sad farewell to the family because we knew that we would be back very soon... :)
Back in Tung's home, we quickly bathed and went to Zzzz...
Haha... the time is about 4am and the train is already in Hanoi and should be reaching the Hanoi Railway Station soon. Man... I'm excited! I'm back in Hanoi! There's this air of familiarity inthis place. How could I not be familiar with this place? I've been here thrice previously... have got friends like Trang and Tung in this place. I miss Hanoi!
We finally reached the station! We bid farewell to our neighbour and alighted from the train. A little lost because it's our first time at the railway station. Hmm... we were trying very hard to find the Fortuna Hotel on our map so that we could direct our taxi driver there. But the hotel's nowhere in sight! Just then, our neighbourly uncle came towards us again and asked us where we were going. We told him and he found the hotel on our map! Wow... So, we followed the taxi driver to his vehicle. But horror of horrors! The 'taxi' was outside the railway station (meaning... we've to walk quite a distance) and it was a taxi but a van! The first thought that came to mind was... HOW MUCH is this gonna cost us? So, we asked and he said it's 100,000VND (that's about S$10). Wow... that's expensive! And in that crucial moment, i remembered a most important phrase... TAK GUA!!!! And that meant EXPENSIVE! Haha... the 'taxi' driver and his friends were surprised that I know that phrase... and believe it or not, they actually shook my hand (to congratulate me?)... haha... anyway, we embarked on a bargaining war... and finally we reached a consensous... 60,000VND! Hee... just as we were driving away, Jasmine remembered that we've yet to take photo in front of the railway station! Ha... so we stopped the 'taxi' driver in his tracks, rushed down the cab and took a photo each!
We reached Fortuna Hotel and Tung was there to welcome us! He's still as cute and handsome and his grinned from ear to ear when he saw us! I miss him so much! We quickly made ourselves at home at the hotel lobby and started taking photos with the Christmas tree in the hotel lobby. Haha... then Tung came over to chat a short while with us. We showed him our photos (still in our digital camera). He took one of the cameras, went to behind the Conceirge counter and looked through the photos. He looked as if he was doing some paper work at the counter but in fact, he was looking at photos! Hee... so smart of him hor...?
I finally gave in to temptation and bought a packet of Fortuna homemade cookies! We happily shared the cookies and left some for Tung.
His shift ended soon after and we made our way to his home at Ho Tay Lake. His aunts and grandma saw us and simply came up to us and hugged us! We really felt very welcomed in this place. The warmth that we received... Well, we dropped our bags and went for breakfast! Hee... it's that CheeCheongFun lookalike... and it's so so so very yummy! Awww... we miss Viet food!
Anyway, we had a yummy breakfast and then went back to Tung's home. Hee... we got him to switch on the computer so that we could transfer all the photos from our memory cards to my portable harddisk (80GB... don't play play ah...). Wow... we didn't realise that we took so many photos! Anyway, we took a long long time to transfer all that photos... and after transferring the photos, we decided to look through and see which are the photos that we want to develop into prints... and then sorted them into 1, 2, 3 and 4 prints respectively. Hee... we did all this while Tung was taking his little cat nap.
Finally, we're done and Tung also woke up from his nap. So, we went downstairs for homecooked lunch by his aunt. Wow... yummy. It's no fancy feast but definitely very cosy family meal. Hee... while the family members had a full bowl of white rice, the three of us only asked for half a bowl. I was the first to finish my lunch (as in my half a bowlof rice) and then, grandma wants to fill my bowl again. I politely declined... only to get scolding! Haha... Grandma believes that the young ones should eat more... so I obediently allowed grandma to fill my bowl... three-quarters full! Wow.... that's definitely more than what I usually eat! Then Jasmine and Xiuyue learnt from my experience that they better fill their bowls themselves else they'll suffer from my 'fate'. Haha... we were very full but we definitely enjoyed the meal... it wasn't just the food, it was also that warmth and joy of being treated as one of the family! :)
After lunch, we went to Old Quarters where Jasmine was on a mission... to make Ao Dai for her colleagues! Xiuyue and I went to Youth Hotel, only to discover that the friends we made at Youth Hotel have all gone elsewhere. A little sad but i guess life moves on. We went to have our fruit juice... i had my strawberry shake! Yeah... yummy yummy yummy... After Jasmine has accomplished his mission, we went to develop our photos. We actually had 714 prints! Wow... The shop assiatant was amazed and when we told Tung, his eyes popped out. Haha... And we spent about 1,000,000VND (S$100) on the photos! Tung was like... ' that's one-fifth of my monthly pay!'
Guess I can only say that we're spendthrifts on holiday!
Haha... anyway, by the time we're done around the Old Quarters, it's time for us to make our way to Trang's house.
Hanoi's definitely grown economically... because there are so much more cars on the streets now! And we were her two years ago! Gosh... Anyway, being people who can self-entertain anywhere, we decided to sort out all the photos and place them into the photo albums provided. Haha... we are good, aren't we? Hahah...
When we reached Trang's place, Trang also just arrived home. It seems that she was also stuck in the traffic jam! And then, I saw Bob, Trang's little one. I couldn't believe it! The last time I saw him, he was only 1-month old but now, he's a 2-year-old toddler running about the house! And he resembles Minh so so so much... Tung says that he's a photocopy of Minh! Haha...
But we had so much fun just catching up with one another, updating one another of our recent being. It's just so cool. Jasmine commented that this trip to Hanoi is not a holiday... it feels like we're at home, just visiting friends, having coffee and chatting. And I agree so much. We're in Hanoi not to tour but to visit our friends.
We had steamboat for dinner... and I figured that it's the Vietnamese custom to feed the young ones with tonnes and tonnes of food. Trang's mum was so busy cooking the food for us and didn't really eat a bite herself! We finally had to force her into eating some food when we started cooking food and piling the food into her bowl! The elderly is just so very loving of the young ones...
Well, by the time we finished dinner and had a long long talk with Trang's family, we decided to go home (it's 11pm Vietnam time) because the next day is a working day. It wasn't a sad farewell to the family because we knew that we would be back very soon... :)
Back in Tung's home, we quickly bathed and went to Zzzz...
Friday, December 15, 2006
Vietnam 07 Dec 06 - Day4
Woke up with a shock in the morning. The uncle turned on the speaker in the room and shrill soprano singing was played! Urghh...
I opened my eyes and... green padi fields, blue sky, white clouds greeted me! Wow... I really marvelled at what I saw! It's so lovely!
Xiuyue woke up, so did Jasmine. Ha... but Jasmine said she didn't really sleep well in the night because it was noisy and the journey wasn't exactly smooth (rather bumpy at parts). Xiuyue said she was sleeping rather well when she was woken in the middle of the night by a tickling sensation near her neck. She brushed it away only to realise that it was a cockroach! It didn't occur to us that the cockroach is still alive and still in the room... until a little while later. The cockroach actually scurried from Xiuyue's bed and onto the uncle's bed. I screamed, jumped up while Xiuyue quickly took a plastic bag and came to the rescue. The cockroach was rather elusive... Xiuyue couldn't catch hold of it. Was going to give up hunting for it when it re-appeared! This time, uncle came to the rescue. Hee.. he was very swift and caught it! And then... he threw it into the little trash bin IN THE ROOM! With as best a sign language I could manage, I told him to throw the cockroach outside... And he did! Hee...
Breakfast's provided! Wow... It's instant noodles! Haha.. so exciting hor? It's pretty yummy... even though we knew we were literally eating Ajinomoto. Haha...
Using the map within the Lonely Planet guidebook, we asked uncle where we were and... we found that we were in Nha Trang! Wow.. no wonder the scenery's so pretty! But the train won't pass by the coast... so we won't get to see the famed beaches!
Just 2 hours after we've had our breakfast, they served lunch! Unbelieveable.. Anyway, we sat down with uncle and had lunch together. He actually let us sit nearer to the window. Gosh... So sweet and so nice of him. He even showed us how to open the lunch pack. Haha... So cute. But once I saw lunch, I lost my appetite. It doesn't look appetitising, doesn't smell appetitising, and definitely doesn't taste good. I managed whatever I could and gave thanks for whatever I had. I should be thankful that meals are provided on the train, even though it's not good food.
Shortly after lunch, while we were simply relaxing in the room, the door opened! And it was the little girl at the railway station! Her grandma was carrying her in her arms. Seems like they opened every single door in the other cars till they found Jasmine and Xiuyue! Wow...
The girl quickly made herself at home and we started playing with her! Hee... had a lot of fun playing with her... she's so cute! Oh... and we took a lot a lot of photos. Hee... She only stayed for about an hour and left for her nap.
Then, uncle opened the room door and our jaws dropped! It was awesome! We saw the sea! The train's travelling on the sides of mountains and hills and at times, we were on the edge of the cliff, at times, we were nestled in the valley between two mountains, and other times, we were in tunnels cut across the mountains! Wow... the 29-hours train journey is definitely worth it! Uncle took the map and pointed to our current location. We were travelling from DaNang to Hue and we're along the coastline... and the sea that we see is South China Sea! We can see the horizon of the sea from where we were and we were simply awed by the tranquil blue sea, the white waves breaking on the cliffs, the green mountains, the blue sky specked by white fluffy clouds... I was awed too by the works of His hand. That with one word, he created heaven and earth; land and sea. Wow...
So thankful for uncle. If he hadn't opened the door and showed us what lies out there, we would have missed it all! We simply stood out there along the doorway and admired the natural world. It's something that Singaporeans don't get to see in the city...
Hee... the little girl came back again! This time she only stayed for a short while before going off for her nap again. The train's reached Hue and we left the lovely seaview behind...
And guess what? They served dinner! At 4pm! Gosh... people here eat dinner really early. Thought dinner would be better than lunch but it's just as lousy. Sigh...
After dinner, Xiuyue whipped out her card game, Halli Galli, and we decided to pull uncle in to join us. Hee... We also got Minh (uncle's smoking buddy from the next door) to join us. Uncle enjoyed himself so much that he laughed out loud non-stop! Haha... Well, he's not the only one. All of us had so much fun! Hee... We played right through till night-time when we had to call it quits because... our neighbours were all turning in for the night and we were making too much noise laughing!
We decided to turn in early because we'll arrive in Hanoi at 4.30am. And this concludes one day. Everyone told us that we are making ourselves miserable by taking a 29-hour train journey instead of a 1-hour flight. But I think if given a second chance, I would still choose to take the train. I got to marvel at God's works of nature; got to know another friend (the Vietnamese uncle who took such good care of us); had lots of fun (playing games and taking photos!); and played with a cute little Vietnamese girl.
Xiuyue commented that this is a trip of 第一次 and indeed it is. These are our第一次：
第一次乘搭廉价航空
第一次到新加坡的Budget Terminal乘搭飞机
第一次背包旅行
第一次没预订酒店就出发
第一次到胡志明市
第一次在旅行中结交新朋友
第一次品尝朝鲜美食
第一次吃这么多免费晚餐（第一、二、三晚的晚餐都是新朋友请客的！）
第一次搭乘长途火车
Thursday, December 14, 2006
Vietnam 06 Dec 06 - Day3
Urghh... must wake up early again! We had our quick breakfast and made our way to Kim Cafe again.
There was a change in the itinery. Instead of taking the boat back from Mekong River, we took the boat to the Mekong River.
Gosh... we had no idea that the trip will be THAT long! 6 hours! Hard chairs (with really thin cushions)! Butt almost flat. Haha... But us being us... we're sure to find some ways to entertain ourselves. Guess what we did? WE TOOK PHOTOS! Haha...
The river's really lovely... I saw little villages along the coast, fishermen casting their nets, little floating villages, etc... I couldn't resist taking shots after shots of what I saw... and yet, I couldn't capture the whole magnitude of it all...
We had lunch on board. Delectable pineapple rice with springrolls! Hee... Smells good and tastes good.
Finally, we reached our destination... we transferred to another smaller boat and was brought to Unicorn Island. We were brought to a fruit farm and feasted on lots of fruits. And we were ferried out on little sampans. Hee... then we went to this province called Binh Tay (the little province heavily hit by the typhoon) and made a short visit to the coconut sweet factory. Hee... we bought 6 packets of sweets for Tung and his family, and Trang and her family.
We finally ended up on the mainland and transferred to a van that will bring us home. The ride reminds me of the UV LIGHT YEP when all 16 of us packed into a little van of similar capacity, and moved around. I really miss those times.
Back in HCMC! Yeah! We made our way towards Remember Hotel to drop the 惠娟's birthday card and... we say SeJin and SangWoo at the hotel lobby!!! Wow! What a coincidence! SeJin shared that he's very happy that evening because he scored an Eagle! And SangWoo's sunburnt! Ha... they're so cute!
Then at that moment, a thought flashed through our minds... Hee... *evil grin*
We had checked out of our hotel early that morning and so we do not have a place to take a shower before we start off on our train journey. And there's also no bathroom on the train. That means we'll have no shower for TWO FULL days! Yucks... the thought of it makes us feel really uncomfortable.
Hee... since we met the three of them, and since they still have their room, so... we asked if we could borrow their bathroom just to have a shower to freshen up. And they graciously agreed! We quickly went back to our hotel, picked up our bags and headed to their hotel and had our shower! Feels great to be clean!
When we were done, we carried our bags and met with MunSoo at the lobby. Then we went to a Kebab eatery nearby and waited for SangWoo and SeJin. Then we fed our very hungry stomachs with kebabs! And they gave us a treat again! And after that, we went to a fruit juice stall nearby for our after-meal fruit juice. Hee... this time round, they simply let us pay for the drinks. Guess they knew we would want to insist on paying for drinks... Hee...
This time round, it's goodbye for real. They flagged a cab for us and sent us off. It's really cool that we get to dine with them two nights in a row and personally, I'm really hoping that this friendship that we've found and developed over the past 2 days.
We made it to the railway station! Hee... took more photos with the train... and Jasmine and Xiuyue started playing with this cute little girl at the railway station and then took photos with her too! Hee...
Hmm... the soft sleeper looks good and we finally saw our room-mate! It's an uncle! Vietnamese uncle! Sigh... so far we've been meeting interesting people, and now we're to spend 29 hours in the same room with an uncle? And the uncle's so neat! Aiyoh...
Very tired... We snoozed shortly after we landed on our beds...
There was a change in the itinery. Instead of taking the boat back from Mekong River, we took the boat to the Mekong River.
Gosh... we had no idea that the trip will be THAT long! 6 hours! Hard chairs (with really thin cushions)! Butt almost flat. Haha... But us being us... we're sure to find some ways to entertain ourselves. Guess what we did? WE TOOK PHOTOS! Haha...
The river's really lovely... I saw little villages along the coast, fishermen casting their nets, little floating villages, etc... I couldn't resist taking shots after shots of what I saw... and yet, I couldn't capture the whole magnitude of it all...
We had lunch on board. Delectable pineapple rice with springrolls! Hee... Smells good and tastes good.
Finally, we reached our destination... we transferred to another smaller boat and was brought to Unicorn Island. We were brought to a fruit farm and feasted on lots of fruits. And we were ferried out on little sampans. Hee... then we went to this province called Binh Tay (the little province heavily hit by the typhoon) and made a short visit to the coconut sweet factory. Hee... we bought 6 packets of sweets for Tung and his family, and Trang and her family.
We finally ended up on the mainland and transferred to a van that will bring us home. The ride reminds me of the UV LIGHT YEP when all 16 of us packed into a little van of similar capacity, and moved around. I really miss those times.
Back in HCMC! Yeah! We made our way towards Remember Hotel to drop the 惠娟's birthday card and... we say SeJin and SangWoo at the hotel lobby!!! Wow! What a coincidence! SeJin shared that he's very happy that evening because he scored an Eagle! And SangWoo's sunburnt! Ha... they're so cute!
Then at that moment, a thought flashed through our minds... Hee... *evil grin*
We had checked out of our hotel early that morning and so we do not have a place to take a shower before we start off on our train journey. And there's also no bathroom on the train. That means we'll have no shower for TWO FULL days! Yucks... the thought of it makes us feel really uncomfortable.
Hee... since we met the three of them, and since they still have their room, so... we asked if we could borrow their bathroom just to have a shower to freshen up. And they graciously agreed! We quickly went back to our hotel, picked up our bags and headed to their hotel and had our shower! Feels great to be clean!
When we were done, we carried our bags and met with MunSoo at the lobby. Then we went to a Kebab eatery nearby and waited for SangWoo and SeJin. Then we fed our very hungry stomachs with kebabs! And they gave us a treat again! And after that, we went to a fruit juice stall nearby for our after-meal fruit juice. Hee... this time round, they simply let us pay for the drinks. Guess they knew we would want to insist on paying for drinks... Hee...
This time round, it's goodbye for real. They flagged a cab for us and sent us off. It's really cool that we get to dine with them two nights in a row and personally, I'm really hoping that this friendship that we've found and developed over the past 2 days.
We made it to the railway station! Hee... took more photos with the train... and Jasmine and Xiuyue started playing with this cute little girl at the railway station and then took photos with her too! Hee...
Hmm... the soft sleeper looks good and we finally saw our room-mate! It's an uncle! Vietnamese uncle! Sigh... so far we've been meeting interesting people, and now we're to spend 29 hours in the same room with an uncle? And the uncle's so neat! Aiyoh...
Very tired... We snoozed shortly after we landed on our beds...
Vietnam 05 Dec 06 - Day2
We had to wake up VERY early in the morning because we must be at Kim Travel by 7.30am to take the bus that'll bring us to Mekong River.
It was raining VERY heavily. Hmm...
We had a quick breakfast (hee..Scrambled eggs with French bread... Yummy!) and made our way to the cafe, only to be told that... THE MEKONG RIVER TRIP'S CANCELLED! Typhoon Durian had made its way to Mekong River and for safety considerations, the Mekong trip's cancelled. So, we would be going to CuChi Tunnel instead.
So, we went back to our hotel... rested for a while... about 15 minutes... and we went back to Kim Cafe again...
Hmm... we got onto the bus and saw that the three of us are the only black-hair Asian around. The rest are Caucasians. The first stop was a handicraft centre for the handicap where some of the physically-inpaired Vietnamese learned some handicraft skills and made handicraft items for sale. The three of us were exactly attracted by the handicrafts. We explored the centre and found a rickshaw! Guess what we did? The corny-ness in us welled up and we began taking corny photos again! Haha...
We got back onto the bus and took our seats again. This time, we had 4 additions. Asians! One of them sat beside me, and his lady friend took the seat in front of Jasmine. They spoke! Ah... Korean!
We slept on our way to CuChi tunnel (for Singaporeans to travel in Vietnam, everywhere's far away... Ha...). When I woke up just as we were reaching our destination, the rather cute Korean guy beside me turned and asked "Hi... Where are you from?" And from there, the three of us started engaging in conversation with him. His name is Mun Soo and he doesn't really speak very good English and I think we were sometimes talking too fast for him to comprehend us. Haa...
Anyway, we finally are there! CuChi tunnel! It's amazing how the Vietnamese peasants actually lived in these places!
We were first shown a spider-hole... small small hole! And then a fox-hole... small hole! Gosh... we were just joking that we now know why Vietnamese are so slender. If you're fat, you won't be able to get into the holes!
We were shown an entrance to the tunnel (a hole) and when covered by a piece of board, you won't even know that it existed! It's amazing! Really! The guide invited us to try getting into the hole and have a feel... so I gave it a try. Was initially worried that I won't be able to 'squeeze' myself into the hole.. but hey, I got in with no problem! Mun Soo's friend climbed down the hole too and Mun Soo actually stood on top of the board! Haha... So funny!
Then we were shown the different traps that the Vietnamese peasants 'specially prepared' for their enemies. It's simply "wow! wow! wow!" all the way for me. They simply used bamboo and wood to make all those booby traps! They're so ingenious...
The video that we watched upon arrival said "[the peasants] are not fighting for the Communist Viet Cong and the communist ideals. They are fighting to protect their own land and their family" It is the love for their beloved ones that keeps them going.
Indeed, LOVE is what motivates them to live through those VERY DIFFICULT times and to come up with all those ingenious ideas. :)
We continued our conversation with Mun Soo once back on the bus. And man! Guess what? He is one of Confucious' (many) descendants! He's the 175th generation! Wow... We really 有眼不识泰山! Haha... And we found out in the course of the conversation that him and his friends had come to Ho Chi Minh City to play golf, but because of the typhoon, they couldn't get onto the golf course! They actually flew in from South Korea just to play golf! Our jaws dropped. Haha...
We alighted from the bus earlier because we wanted to visit the War Remnants Museum.We were greeted by photos that made our hairs stand on its ends. The war photos showed the very realistic realities of war. The desperate helplessness of the civilians, the still continuing effects of Agent Orange, the utter destruction and ruin of a nation... It's so painful just looking at the photos. I wonder what was going on in the minds of the war journalists. They must be hurting too... to see the agony and yet no being able to do anything for the innocent Vietnamese.
Hee... we found out that we took Mun Soo's pen and forgot to return him, so we called him. Ha... That's just one reason... the other reason is to confirm if the dinner for the night is still on (earlier when we were on the bus, he asked if we would like to have dinner with him and his friends later that night). Set! Dinner at 7pm... we'll meet them at their hotel (the hotel's called Remember Hotel... a little cliche... isn't it?)
*Growl* We realised we've not eaten anything since breakfast... So, once again, we set upon our quest for food. We decided to walk back to the hotel and grab some food along the way. Ha... Walking was the only option because we (1) don't know what bus will bring us back to the hotel; (2) wanted to take photos; (3) wanted to soak in more of the city sights!
We passed by Ngon Restaurant and took photos. We passed by the Reunification Palace and took photos. We passed by the Church of Notre Dame and took photos. Haha... It was simply photo-taking galore! Haha..
We were so hungry... we decided to just settle for fast-food! Fastfood here is not exactly fastfood... Only after they receive the food order, then did they start cooking the food! Almost fainted when I saw that... Ha... But we must still wait. While waiting, we witnessed a couple fighting. It happened very adruptly. The woman suddenly threw something at the man, pushed the chair away, stood up and walked off. Then the man pulled her and made her sit down. But before long, the guy also stood up and threw something HARD across the foodcourt (and in our direction!). Then they started fighting! Right before our eyes! The woman and the man were exchanging blows! And they actually were moving nearer and nearer to us... so, we quickly walked away! Didn't want to be beaten up... haha... Anyway, the security guards came over and 'invited' them to the office. *Phew* And then we saw what the guy threw across the foodcourt... it was a nokia handphone bent into half! Wow... that guy must be really angrily mad!
We had our burger on the go and guess what? We took photos again! Haha...
Dinner time! Yeah!
The guys brought us to a North Korean restaurant and man, they really know how to enjoy! The kind of food they ordered are so so so high-class (ie expensive)! But the food's really delicious! We had Pyongyang Cold Noodle, Kimchi Pancake and Korean Whisky! Ha...
MunSoo文洙 and Sejin世真 are pharmacists and were college mates, Sejin世真 is SangWoo相雨's subordinate. The lady惠娟 was travelling alone and got to know them at the hotel.
They told us that anything North Korean is not allowed in South Korea and that in order to enjoy North Korean cuisine, they'll have to do so outside the country. We also got to enjoy a North Korean song-and-dance performance that evening and the guys told us that it's their first time watching the performance too! Wow...
But we had a lot of fun chatting and getting to know about the South Korean culture. Hee... They even taught us how to write our names in Korean! 美秀 is pronounced as MI SU, 秀月 is SU WUL and 慧玲 is HYE KUEM. Though there was a language barrier (we can't speak Korean... they can't really speak English that well), but we had a lot of fun. I guess it's that genuine interest and sincerity in getting to know a new friend that made it so great! MunSoo picked up the tab secretly and refused to tell us how much the meal cost. Gosh... feel so bad... because the meal is definitely not cheap...
MunSoo suggested that we adjourn somewhere for a drink. So... Jasmine, Xiuyue and I determined that we'll pay for drinks. Hee... Otherwise, we'll feel so bad. Hee...
We went to this Western-themed restaurant named Saloon 17. And there's a live band too! So cool! We ordered drinks and continued our conversation!
Hee... SangWoo is realy cute. He simply sat there, closed his eyes, tapped the table as listened to the live band. So cute... Ha... and then, at one point, he seemed really tired. Ha... And guess what 'woke' him up? Ha... Sum-Chee-Gee! Xiuyue and I were playing with the watermelon seeds on the table... I covered the seeds, and told Xiuyue to guess 'even' or 'odd' (as in after putting the seeds away in groups of 4, how many seeds will remain) and SangWoo saw and his eyes just brightened up! Ha... he took over my spoon... and the watermelon seeds, looked at us, and said "Come! Bet! One-dollar!" So funny! Then he told us during his days, all the high school and college fellows would play this game. But they do so with coins! Ha...
Meanwhile, I sneaked away and settled the bill. :)
When I came back, SeJin was showing Jasmine some of the Korean currency notes. The notes belongs to SangWoo. And Jasmine used SangWoo's money to place her bets! Haha...
The night is not young anymore and we had to bid farewell. But we told one another that we will keep in touch.
Oh... We found out that 惠娟's birthday is on 11 Dec! So, we went back to our room and made her a simple card just to wish her happy birthday. And we'll drop it at her hotel reception for her the next day...
It was raining VERY heavily. Hmm...
We had a quick breakfast (hee..Scrambled eggs with French bread... Yummy!) and made our way to the cafe, only to be told that... THE MEKONG RIVER TRIP'S CANCELLED! Typhoon Durian had made its way to Mekong River and for safety considerations, the Mekong trip's cancelled. So, we would be going to CuChi Tunnel instead.
So, we went back to our hotel... rested for a while... about 15 minutes... and we went back to Kim Cafe again...
Hmm... we got onto the bus and saw that the three of us are the only black-hair Asian around. The rest are Caucasians. The first stop was a handicraft centre for the handicap where some of the physically-inpaired Vietnamese learned some handicraft skills and made handicraft items for sale. The three of us were exactly attracted by the handicrafts. We explored the centre and found a rickshaw! Guess what we did? The corny-ness in us welled up and we began taking corny photos again! Haha...
We got back onto the bus and took our seats again. This time, we had 4 additions. Asians! One of them sat beside me, and his lady friend took the seat in front of Jasmine. They spoke! Ah... Korean!
We slept on our way to CuChi tunnel (for Singaporeans to travel in Vietnam, everywhere's far away... Ha...). When I woke up just as we were reaching our destination, the rather cute Korean guy beside me turned and asked "Hi... Where are you from?" And from there, the three of us started engaging in conversation with him. His name is Mun Soo and he doesn't really speak very good English and I think we were sometimes talking too fast for him to comprehend us. Haa...
Anyway, we finally are there! CuChi tunnel! It's amazing how the Vietnamese peasants actually lived in these places!
We were first shown a spider-hole... small small hole! And then a fox-hole... small hole! Gosh... we were just joking that we now know why Vietnamese are so slender. If you're fat, you won't be able to get into the holes!
We were shown an entrance to the tunnel (a hole) and when covered by a piece of board, you won't even know that it existed! It's amazing! Really! The guide invited us to try getting into the hole and have a feel... so I gave it a try. Was initially worried that I won't be able to 'squeeze' myself into the hole.. but hey, I got in with no problem! Mun Soo's friend climbed down the hole too and Mun Soo actually stood on top of the board! Haha... So funny!
Then we were shown the different traps that the Vietnamese peasants 'specially prepared' for their enemies. It's simply "wow! wow! wow!" all the way for me. They simply used bamboo and wood to make all those booby traps! They're so ingenious...
The video that we watched upon arrival said "[the peasants] are not fighting for the Communist Viet Cong and the communist ideals. They are fighting to protect their own land and their family" It is the love for their beloved ones that keeps them going.
Indeed, LOVE is what motivates them to live through those VERY DIFFICULT times and to come up with all those ingenious ideas. :)
We continued our conversation with Mun Soo once back on the bus. And man! Guess what? He is one of Confucious' (many) descendants! He's the 175th generation! Wow... We really 有眼不识泰山! Haha... And we found out in the course of the conversation that him and his friends had come to Ho Chi Minh City to play golf, but because of the typhoon, they couldn't get onto the golf course! They actually flew in from South Korea just to play golf! Our jaws dropped. Haha...
We alighted from the bus earlier because we wanted to visit the War Remnants Museum.We were greeted by photos that made our hairs stand on its ends. The war photos showed the very realistic realities of war. The desperate helplessness of the civilians, the still continuing effects of Agent Orange, the utter destruction and ruin of a nation... It's so painful just looking at the photos. I wonder what was going on in the minds of the war journalists. They must be hurting too... to see the agony and yet no being able to do anything for the innocent Vietnamese.
Hee... we found out that we took Mun Soo's pen and forgot to return him, so we called him. Ha... That's just one reason... the other reason is to confirm if the dinner for the night is still on (earlier when we were on the bus, he asked if we would like to have dinner with him and his friends later that night). Set! Dinner at 7pm... we'll meet them at their hotel (the hotel's called Remember Hotel... a little cliche... isn't it?)
*Growl* We realised we've not eaten anything since breakfast... So, once again, we set upon our quest for food. We decided to walk back to the hotel and grab some food along the way. Ha... Walking was the only option because we (1) don't know what bus will bring us back to the hotel; (2) wanted to take photos; (3) wanted to soak in more of the city sights!
We passed by Ngon Restaurant and took photos. We passed by the Reunification Palace and took photos. We passed by the Church of Notre Dame and took photos. Haha... It was simply photo-taking galore! Haha..
We were so hungry... we decided to just settle for fast-food! Fastfood here is not exactly fastfood... Only after they receive the food order, then did they start cooking the food! Almost fainted when I saw that... Ha... But we must still wait. While waiting, we witnessed a couple fighting. It happened very adruptly. The woman suddenly threw something at the man, pushed the chair away, stood up and walked off. Then the man pulled her and made her sit down. But before long, the guy also stood up and threw something HARD across the foodcourt (and in our direction!). Then they started fighting! Right before our eyes! The woman and the man were exchanging blows! And they actually were moving nearer and nearer to us... so, we quickly walked away! Didn't want to be beaten up... haha... Anyway, the security guards came over and 'invited' them to the office. *Phew* And then we saw what the guy threw across the foodcourt... it was a nokia handphone bent into half! Wow... that guy must be really angrily mad!
We had our burger on the go and guess what? We took photos again! Haha...
Dinner time! Yeah!
The guys brought us to a North Korean restaurant and man, they really know how to enjoy! The kind of food they ordered are so so so high-class (ie expensive)! But the food's really delicious! We had Pyongyang Cold Noodle, Kimchi Pancake and Korean Whisky! Ha...
MunSoo文洙 and Sejin世真 are pharmacists and were college mates, Sejin世真 is SangWoo相雨's subordinate. The lady惠娟 was travelling alone and got to know them at the hotel.
They told us that anything North Korean is not allowed in South Korea and that in order to enjoy North Korean cuisine, they'll have to do so outside the country. We also got to enjoy a North Korean song-and-dance performance that evening and the guys told us that it's their first time watching the performance too! Wow...
But we had a lot of fun chatting and getting to know about the South Korean culture. Hee... They even taught us how to write our names in Korean! 美秀 is pronounced as MI SU, 秀月 is SU WUL and 慧玲 is HYE KUEM. Though there was a language barrier (we can't speak Korean... they can't really speak English that well), but we had a lot of fun. I guess it's that genuine interest and sincerity in getting to know a new friend that made it so great! MunSoo picked up the tab secretly and refused to tell us how much the meal cost. Gosh... feel so bad... because the meal is definitely not cheap...
MunSoo suggested that we adjourn somewhere for a drink. So... Jasmine, Xiuyue and I determined that we'll pay for drinks. Hee... Otherwise, we'll feel so bad. Hee...
We went to this Western-themed restaurant named Saloon 17. And there's a live band too! So cool! We ordered drinks and continued our conversation!
Hee... SangWoo is realy cute. He simply sat there, closed his eyes, tapped the table as listened to the live band. So cute... Ha... and then, at one point, he seemed really tired. Ha... And guess what 'woke' him up? Ha... Sum-Chee-Gee! Xiuyue and I were playing with the watermelon seeds on the table... I covered the seeds, and told Xiuyue to guess 'even' or 'odd' (as in after putting the seeds away in groups of 4, how many seeds will remain) and SangWoo saw and his eyes just brightened up! Ha... he took over my spoon... and the watermelon seeds, looked at us, and said "Come! Bet! One-dollar!" So funny! Then he told us during his days, all the high school and college fellows would play this game. But they do so with coins! Ha...
Meanwhile, I sneaked away and settled the bill. :)
When I came back, SeJin was showing Jasmine some of the Korean currency notes. The notes belongs to SangWoo. And Jasmine used SangWoo's money to place her bets! Haha...
The night is not young anymore and we had to bid farewell. But we told one another that we will keep in touch.
Oh... We found out that 惠娟's birthday is on 11 Dec! So, we went back to our room and made her a simple card just to wish her happy birthday. And we'll drop it at her hotel reception for her the next day...
Vietnam 04 Dec 06 - Day1
This is my 4th trip to Vietnam. And what's so different about this trip?
The previous 3 trips are YEP (Youth Expedition Project)-related. The first was my YEP to Yen Son, Ha Tay; the second was the recee trip which Jasmine and I went for so as to arrange for the YEP that we would be leading later that year; and of course the third trip was our YEP to Ba Trai, Ha Tay.
This trip... it's purely for LEISURE! We can finally be tourists! Haha... Also, we are finally going to set foot on Ho Chi Minh City! Everytime Jasmine and I tell others that we've been to Vietnam, everyone would ask how was Ho Chi Minh City... Sigh... and all we could say was "Erm... we didn't go to Ho Chi Minh City... We were at Hanoi only." And no one believed that after making THREE trips to Vietnam, we still were confined within Hanoi! Therefore, Jasmine and I determined that no matter what, we MUST at least spend a day in Ho Chi Minh City. Haha...
On the morning of 4 Dec (Mon), we checked into the Budget Terminal early because we heard that we could get some free gifts for early check-in. Ha... and guess what the gift was? A Tiger Airways bag! Ha... just nice. A new bag for me to put the books in for the new school year!
Finally, we stepped into the airplane. We were well, a little, not so sure... because it was an AirBus. Jasmine and I still remembered the not-so-pleasant trip that we had on another Airbus. Haha...but then, it was a very smooth flight! The plane was comfy and clean and nice. And then, along the way, we were just feeding Xiuyue with tales about our previous experience with Airbus. Haha... We concluded that the other Airbus was older and that could have been the reason for the unpleasant-ness!
Saga at Vietnamese Immigration. The officer asked us where we are staying and all we could say was.. "Don't know! Haven't booked a hotel yet. Will be going there to look for one!" The officers who processed our entries were a little taken aback. Haha...
We reached Ho Chi Minh City's International Airport after a 2-hour flight. The first thing we did was.... TAKE PHOTOS! Haha... We made sure we took photos for evidence so that we can show others that we have been there!!! Ha...
While we were taking turns to take photos, this guy came up and offered to take a group photo for the three of us. Ha... we knew then that we have to take his taxi already. Haha... Anyway, the photo he took was quite blur. But well, who cares? Our faces are still visible!
The taxi-driver actually asked for USD10! Aiyoh... so expensive! Lonely planet says it will only cost USD4! So we started bargaining... Ha... We finally settled for USD6! Hee...
Reached District 1, Pham Ngu Lao... the backpackers' haven (recommended by Lonely Planet). We checked out Hotel 21 because it looked pretty alright and guess what? It has a lift! But then... the hotel's full... So, we settled for Mai Phai Hotel, which is just next door!
The lady at the reception is so so so very RETRO! Haha... her hairdo and makeup reminds me of the 1970s... But for her age, she still maintains a very wonderful figure! Wow!
Once we got our room (USD15/night inclusive of breakfast), we dropped our stuffs, changed into our shorts (Ho Chi Minh City is HOT... as in temperature HOT! My goodness, thought we left all that heat when we left Singapore, but...) and went in search of FOOD! Haha...
We checked out Sinh Cafe and Kim Cafe for day tours and also enquired about train tickets to Hanoi from the hotel reception.
Hee... We got all the brochures and finally hunted down a restaurant that sells.... PHO GA! Yeah... been dreaming of Pho Ga for months! Yummy food and yummy drinks (we had mango milk shake) before us... how blessed we are!
When we're done feeding ourselves, we discussed our itinery. Hee... Decided upon taking the 11pm train so as to maximise our time in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi. The train will leave Ho Chi Minh City at 11pm on the 1st night and reach Hanoi at 4.30am on the 3rd day. That would require us to only spend 1 day on the train, and allows us to have 1 full day at Ho Chi Minh City for more city exploration and another full day at Hanoi for our friends!
Then we also decided on the day tours that we will go for over the next 2 days...
Day2 (5 Dec, Tue): Full-day Mekong River tour
Day3 (6 Dec, Wed): Half-day Cu Chi Tunnel tour
We went to Kim Cafe, booked our tours and explored the area. Ha... desperately in need of a supermarket because we didn't bring any toothpaste and Jasmine didn't even bring her shampoo and conditioner! Ha...
Ended up at Saigon Tax Centre (about 40-minutes walk away) and bought A LOT of stuffs! We bought chips and snacks for our 29-hour train trip, and 10-litres of water for the next few days. Ha... then we had to rush back to the hotel because Jasmine's Vietnamese friend, Yen, is coming to pick us up at the hotel and bring us out for dinner!
Crossing the roads in Ho Chi Minh City is a most exciting experience... big buses and cars, lots of motorbikes... and they don't really obey the traffic lights! Haha...
Yen came and brought us to Ngon Restaurant, which literally means DELICIOUS RESTAURANT! Hee... We had some local fare which included springrolls, snails (snail mixed with pork), popiah-like yummy fish dish. YUMMY! Then, this Australian mother-and-son saw the delicious fare we had on our table and started to ask Yen about the food and how they could order those... Hee... And further conversation got us to know each other better and we got their contact details! Hee... the next time we go to Sydney Australia, we'll have local guides already! Hee...
Xiuyue saw "Rice ball soaked in wine" under the dessert section and told Yen she would like to try one. And Yen ordered 3! One for each of us! Ha... The wine is sweet... but the rice balls were so soaked with wine that I found it so so so hard to swallow it! But I had to. Not too polite to not finish the food in my bowl... so... I took my time and gulped the rice-balls down slowly. Ha... Experience of a lifetime!
After dinner, we walked back to the hotel. Along the way, we passed by the Saigon Opera House and some hotels (as in BIG hotels... 5-star hotels!) and started taking photos with the Christmas decor. Hee... Yen couldn't believe how corny we can be. Haha... We managed to make her join in the corny-ness! Haha...
Basically, by the time we reached our hotel, we were dead tired! Haha... Zzzz...
The previous 3 trips are YEP (Youth Expedition Project)-related. The first was my YEP to Yen Son, Ha Tay; the second was the recee trip which Jasmine and I went for so as to arrange for the YEP that we would be leading later that year; and of course the third trip was our YEP to Ba Trai, Ha Tay.
This trip... it's purely for LEISURE! We can finally be tourists! Haha... Also, we are finally going to set foot on Ho Chi Minh City! Everytime Jasmine and I tell others that we've been to Vietnam, everyone would ask how was Ho Chi Minh City... Sigh... and all we could say was "Erm... we didn't go to Ho Chi Minh City... We were at Hanoi only." And no one believed that after making THREE trips to Vietnam, we still were confined within Hanoi! Therefore, Jasmine and I determined that no matter what, we MUST at least spend a day in Ho Chi Minh City. Haha...
On the morning of 4 Dec (Mon), we checked into the Budget Terminal early because we heard that we could get some free gifts for early check-in. Ha... and guess what the gift was? A Tiger Airways bag! Ha... just nice. A new bag for me to put the books in for the new school year!
Finally, we stepped into the airplane. We were well, a little, not so sure... because it was an AirBus. Jasmine and I still remembered the not-so-pleasant trip that we had on another Airbus. Haha...but then, it was a very smooth flight! The plane was comfy and clean and nice. And then, along the way, we were just feeding Xiuyue with tales about our previous experience with Airbus. Haha... We concluded that the other Airbus was older and that could have been the reason for the unpleasant-ness!
Saga at Vietnamese Immigration. The officer asked us where we are staying and all we could say was.. "Don't know! Haven't booked a hotel yet. Will be going there to look for one!" The officers who processed our entries were a little taken aback. Haha...
We reached Ho Chi Minh City's International Airport after a 2-hour flight. The first thing we did was.... TAKE PHOTOS! Haha... We made sure we took photos for evidence so that we can show others that we have been there!!! Ha...
While we were taking turns to take photos, this guy came up and offered to take a group photo for the three of us. Ha... we knew then that we have to take his taxi already. Haha... Anyway, the photo he took was quite blur. But well, who cares? Our faces are still visible!
The taxi-driver actually asked for USD10! Aiyoh... so expensive! Lonely planet says it will only cost USD4! So we started bargaining... Ha... We finally settled for USD6! Hee...
Reached District 1, Pham Ngu Lao... the backpackers' haven (recommended by Lonely Planet). We checked out Hotel 21 because it looked pretty alright and guess what? It has a lift! But then... the hotel's full... So, we settled for Mai Phai Hotel, which is just next door!
The lady at the reception is so so so very RETRO! Haha... her hairdo and makeup reminds me of the 1970s... But for her age, she still maintains a very wonderful figure! Wow!
Once we got our room (USD15/night inclusive of breakfast), we dropped our stuffs, changed into our shorts (Ho Chi Minh City is HOT... as in temperature HOT! My goodness, thought we left all that heat when we left Singapore, but...) and went in search of FOOD! Haha...
We checked out Sinh Cafe and Kim Cafe for day tours and also enquired about train tickets to Hanoi from the hotel reception.
Hee... We got all the brochures and finally hunted down a restaurant that sells.... PHO GA! Yeah... been dreaming of Pho Ga for months! Yummy food and yummy drinks (we had mango milk shake) before us... how blessed we are!
When we're done feeding ourselves, we discussed our itinery. Hee... Decided upon taking the 11pm train so as to maximise our time in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi. The train will leave Ho Chi Minh City at 11pm on the 1st night and reach Hanoi at 4.30am on the 3rd day. That would require us to only spend 1 day on the train, and allows us to have 1 full day at Ho Chi Minh City for more city exploration and another full day at Hanoi for our friends!
Then we also decided on the day tours that we will go for over the next 2 days...
Day2 (5 Dec, Tue): Full-day Mekong River tour
Day3 (6 Dec, Wed): Half-day Cu Chi Tunnel tour
We went to Kim Cafe, booked our tours and explored the area. Ha... desperately in need of a supermarket because we didn't bring any toothpaste and Jasmine didn't even bring her shampoo and conditioner! Ha...
Ended up at Saigon Tax Centre (about 40-minutes walk away) and bought A LOT of stuffs! We bought chips and snacks for our 29-hour train trip, and 10-litres of water for the next few days. Ha... then we had to rush back to the hotel because Jasmine's Vietnamese friend, Yen, is coming to pick us up at the hotel and bring us out for dinner!
Crossing the roads in Ho Chi Minh City is a most exciting experience... big buses and cars, lots of motorbikes... and they don't really obey the traffic lights! Haha...
Yen came and brought us to Ngon Restaurant, which literally means DELICIOUS RESTAURANT! Hee... We had some local fare which included springrolls, snails (snail mixed with pork), popiah-like yummy fish dish. YUMMY! Then, this Australian mother-and-son saw the delicious fare we had on our table and started to ask Yen about the food and how they could order those... Hee... And further conversation got us to know each other better and we got their contact details! Hee... the next time we go to Sydney Australia, we'll have local guides already! Hee...
Xiuyue saw "Rice ball soaked in wine" under the dessert section and told Yen she would like to try one. And Yen ordered 3! One for each of us! Ha... The wine is sweet... but the rice balls were so soaked with wine that I found it so so so hard to swallow it! But I had to. Not too polite to not finish the food in my bowl... so... I took my time and gulped the rice-balls down slowly. Ha... Experience of a lifetime!
After dinner, we walked back to the hotel. Along the way, we passed by the Saigon Opera House and some hotels (as in BIG hotels... 5-star hotels!) and started taking photos with the Christmas decor. Hee... Yen couldn't believe how corny we can be. Haha... We managed to make her join in the corny-ness! Haha...
Basically, by the time we reached our hotel, we were dead tired! Haha... Zzzz...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)