Dreaming of Bangkok

In so far as leisure trip is concerned, I haven't crossed the line of traveling by myself until I decided to go to Bangkok.

Taking advantage of the Tiger Airways promotion in May, I booked a return flight to Bangkok for $160 scheduled for 2-4 August. Ned, a former colleague from SCJ Philippines helped me find a budget hotel near his condominium. On his reco, I booked my single room hotel in Jim's Lodge via Asia Rooms website for $44/night. This is already inclusive of a simple buffet breakfast.

My flight was at 610AM on Saturday morning and I arrived in Bangkok International Airport at around 8AM. To my disappointment, the queue for immigration was too chaotic and heavily disorganized. After 1 hour of standing on line, I managed to go out of the airport to look for public transport to the city. Ned recommended that I take a cab from the departure area on the 3rd floor level of the airport. As I didn't see the place where to ride the cab, I took a gamble of going to the ground floor level. Fortunately I saw a bus going to the city which charges 170 Baht one-way. I decided to take the bus as I learned that it can drop me off to Ploenchit MRT. (Incidentally, Jim's Lodge is in Ploenchit Road just 10 minutes by foot from the MRT station.)

After about an hour, I alighted at the MRT station and hailed a public motorbike which swiftly brought me to my hotel for just 10 Baht. I arrived in the hotel at 10AM and was checked-in earlier at 11AM. During my waiting time, I also took the chance of booking my day trips which the hotel provides.

My room is simple, clean, decent and has a private toilet & bath and was worth the penny I spent. There is always a benefit in checking out good bargains in the internet instead of doing a walk-in booking in the hotel. (AsiaRooms.net, Booking.com and such engines really give good deals!) As it has become my habit, I usually consult with www.Tripadvisor.com for reviews before finally deciding where to stay.


I stayed and rested for just an hour and left for the city area shortly after. My first stop brought me to MaBoonKrong (MBK) to look for good bargains. With nothing planned in mind for my first day, I just busied myself strolling along Rama I where an array of big shopping malls are located. By 3PM, I checked if The Dark Knight is still playing at the IMAX Theatre in Siam Paragon. Luckily, it still is so I immediately bought a ticket for 200 Baht. Again, another good find in BKK!

After the movie, I decided to head back to my hotel to rest and get ready for Sunday.

Ayuthaya.... Here I come!

The Not so Fast but the Furious

With only Christa and I left in HCM on the fourth day, we still didn’t waste time in looking for opportunities of ‘immersing’ with the locals. Tired of eating the same breakfast from the hotel, we went out to eat in a street stall selling French baguette, omelet and coffee.

Recall we paid 9,000 Dong for the omelet sandwich. I said immersion remember? So without inhibitions (or utmost regard for safety or hygiene) we voraciously ate our sandwiches wrapped in a local newspaper. Don’t worry friends, Christa and I have survived in the process.

After breakfast we walked around in the backpacker’s area to look for a motorbike that I could rent. I saw a big automatic scooter which the shop owner agreed that I will rent for 3 hours at a haggled price of 5USD. Normally the whole day rent (8 hours maximum) will cost about 10USD. This includes the use of helmet which is already required by law anywhere in Vietnam.

After signing the contract, settling my bill and leaving just my passport, Christa has decided to join me for a spin. Initially she thought of asking me to drop her off in the hotel so she could relax and have enough rest. But luckily she changed her mind so she joined me instead.

Usually the owners leave enough gasoline in the tank so the drivers can go around the neighborhood to find the nearest gasoline shop to refill. With barely an experience in driving a motorbike (first in our neighborhood for a 10-minute drive and second in Krabi, Thailand) I braved the traffic of Ho Chi Minh and toured the city in the locals’ style.

While driving, Christa and I have agreed on two objectives, first is to eat in a Jollibee fastfood chain and second is to come back to our hotel in one piece.

After a long search for a gasoline shop, I spent 2USD to refill my tank. The gasoline boy said it’s enough to last us a day while biking around HCM. Unfortunately to my dismay, Christa and I were not able to locate any Jollibee restaurant anymore. I drove around and lost my direction for about an hour and just concentrated in driving around the busy highways and small side streets of HCM. It’s amazing to experience that in HCM, it’s the people who are adjusting to the passing motorbikes and not the other way around. There were even lots of times when I cut on buses and big cars just to stay on my track. And I also remember that we circled the rotund (round-about) along with the much experienced local drivers. Ha, ha! I’m the Queen of the Road!

Finally after deciding to consult the map [how proud (and stupid) of me, I know!], and asking for directions (we’re women and we’re proud we can do it…!), we managed to find our way back to District 1 and returned the motorbike to the shop owner.

At around 1130AM, Christa and I checked out from our hotel and called a cab to bring us to the airport. The 35-minute drive cost us about 8USD including the airport parking entrance fee for the nice and talkative driver.

Christa and I boarded our flight back to Singapore at 210PM via Tiger Airways.

This is how our HCM adventure ends… Gear up for the next one!

Hochi - Pochi Day 3

On our 3rd day, we booked another tour from a different travel agency just one street away from our hotel. (Yes, for the love of good bargains I kept on looking for agencies within the backpacker's district that gives the best deal for a particular tour! )

For lack of other options for nearby day trips, we took the Mekong Delta River Day Tour. This time we paid 9USD for the entire package save for lunch. Apparently there isn't much to see in HCM as it's in the southern part of Vietnam already. (Hue province is in mid-country and Hanoi is in the far north.)

Anyhow we were picked up by a 10-seater van and traveled for 2 hours going to the north. We were brought to the pier to ride in a 20-seater covered pumpboat along the Mekong River.



We went shortly to visit a coconut candy factory (as part of the tour and for commission purposes for the guide and agency). We boarded the boat again at 1230 PM and was finally brought to a restaurant to have lunch. (thank goodness! my small intestines were already a portion of my big intestines...) This time we were joined by a group of Filipinos who are also traveling in HCM.


After lunch we rode the boat again for our next stop. In 15minutes we were dropped off in a small village where a horse carriage awaits to bring us into another sweets factory.


There was a live entertainment as a Vietnamese lady rendered a local song accompanied by 2 elderly men playing their traditional musical instruments.

It's really amazing how different people are from our backgrounds and how similar we can become by our love for music. I didn't understand a word she sang but I felt it was good.


We stayed there for an hour to rest and have coffee then we rode a smaller wooden boat with young to middle age women paddling along the narrower canal of the river (more like a side street).

For their hardwork, they're paid only 1-2USD per day as I've inferred so they live by tips from generous tourists.

We transferred to our bigger boat and went back to the pier where our van awaits us. We were back in the city at around 5PM with tired bodies and hungry stomachs. Pho.. pho.. spare me some pho....

We hurried back to our hotel to freshen up and get ready for a last-minute stroll. (The Philippine contingent - Chan and our 2 ates were heading back to the airport at 1030PM to catch the 1AM flight back to the Philippines.) In order to buy some gifts (pasalubongs) for people back home, we went to the newly-built Galleria mall in the downtown area. To my dismay, the grocery at the 3rd floor is very small hence has a limited variety of local foods. But we managed to stash away something to buy.. We had dinner in the foodcourt and ordered again, Vietnamese dishes. (If it's not obvious yet, I am an advocate of the saying "When in Rome, do as the Romans do.")

What I like about Vietnamese cuisine is that the taste of their dishes is very simple but has a subtle strong character. I like the way they put simplicity and sophistication in food altogether. Amazing how a piece of mint leaf could add flavor and aroma to the soup..... =)

So much of my day dreaming.. Shortly after dinner, we went to the hotel and

went out again to have coffee, alfresco and Vietnamese style. In the busy main street of Pam Ngu Lao, there are several coffee shops along. Most of these shops put small chairs and tables facing the sidewalk to allow their customers to watch people and curious onlookers. (A glass of iced coffee costs around 1-1.5USD depending on the size of the coffee shop.)

Christa and I bid goodbye to our Philippines and Korean delegations. We stayed for another night in HCM since our flight back to Singapore is not until 130PM of the next day.

Lights out. Another adventure awaits me tomorrow.

HCM Day 2

After breakfast (of what else.. pho noodles! - no complaints though.. that's part of why we came to Vietnam...), we hurried to proceed to the other travel agency where we booked our Day tour in Cuchi Tunnel and Cao Dai Temple. If I'm not mistaken, I think we paid only 6USD per person for the tour exclusive of lunch.

We were picked up by our tour guide and driver in front of the travel agent's office along with 4 other caucasian tourists. To my delight, I found a Jollibee fastfood chain along one of the main streets! (I learned after that there are already 7 branches stretched in HCM.)

We traveled for around 2 hours to visit the Cao Dai Temple in a nearby province. This religion, actually a mix and match of four other religions (Christianity, Buddhism, Islam, X) had a lot of local followers. Fortunately, there was a service 30 minutes after we arrived in the temple so we were able to see a glimpse of their version of a mass. Like the Islam practice, I noticed that there is a segregation between the male and female followers. The common worshippers wore an all white top and bottom while the priests had colored outfits depending on their ranks.

On the way back to the van, I noticed that on top of the temple was a big eye apparently symbolizing the eye of God which watches everyone.

We finished our visit at around 1230 and drove 20 minutes to a nearby local restaurant. The food was not as extravagant but was good enough for a less discerning and very hungry stomach.

After lunch we proceeded to the infamous tunnels within the Cuchi province. We paid about 4USD per person to enter. These tunnels were preserved for tourists to see how Vietcongs lived and prospered during the height of the American-Vietnamese war. Inside the makeshift tents is a video showing an ancient propaganda movie showing the ingenuity of the Vietnamese guerillas.

One of the highlights of that place is the actual tunnel for visitors to pass through to experience for themselves how difficult it was to stroll along the tunnel. Of course it was already refurbished, cemented and widened for bigger tourists to get in. True to being hard-core adventurers, Ate and I braved in going thru the tunnel. Actually all 6 of us went in. Ate Doll and Ate Thess went ahead at first. Christa and Garry tailing my back. Somewhere deeper below, Ate Thess probably felt claustrophobic that she opted to get out of the tunnel the minute she saw an optional opening. Too bad she missed 'graduating'. He, he... Lucky for us, we finished the 30 meter clearing.!

I would have wanted to try firing some shots in the shooting range but I backed out upon learning that 1 piece of cal. 45 bullet costs 1USD each. An armalite bullet even costs more at 3USD. Nah, forget about it!

Anyhow, we left the place at 4PM and headed back to our hotel after another 2 hours. This time we had dinner in Pho 24, another famous noodle chain. Afterwards, we went shopping in the night market for additional souvenirs.

On the way back to our hotel, we rented a cyclo and haggled for 1USD for a 10minute trip. I'd say seeing HCM from a local's perspective was an experience worthy of putting into my book!

The Heat is on in Saigon!

My happy, itchy feet brought me next to Ho Chi Minh last May. I went with a different group this time, aside from Christa who is coming with me from Singapore, the rest of my trip buddies were imported from the Philippines. (Thanks to Cebu Pacific offering budget airfares now to HCM!)

My best friend Chantal and her sister Ate Doll brought along my sister Ate Thess and took a night flight from Manila to Vietnam. It was only in the morning of Saturday, May 3rd that Christa and I boarded our Tiger Airways flight from Singapore. Coming straight from the airport, we went to check in at Lac Vien Hotel where the Philippine contingent awaits. There we were joined by Christa's friend, Garry who flew from South Korea to volunteer as our official trip mascot (he, he.. pis).

Save for the lack of pleasant view, Lac Vien Hotel is already a decent place to stay. It is clean, well kept and most importantly has a lift for easy access of the rooms. Located in Pham Ngu Lao, it is within reach of the backpackers district and about 15 minutes walk away from Ben Thanh market. I think it was great that the hotel was nestled in a smaller street so it limits the number of cars that ply along. Hence making the surrounding very quiet and peaceful.

Immediately after checking into the hotel, we went outside of the hotel and found a small travel agency just across the street. I bargained with the lady and got a good price for our day tour. Imagine for 9USD per person, we were able to hire a van who will bring us around HCM City for 10 hours!

Our first stop was in the Reunification Palace. We paid 1USD each for the entrance ticket but we were able to stay only for an hour as we arrived shortly before lunch break. Well, no big deal as there isn't much anything to see anyway. Funny, the lift was even acting up as it closes and opens only at the basement and at the 3rd floor.

With hungry stomachs, we asked our driver to take us to one of the most famous Pho restaurant in HCM. Pho 2000 gained its worldwide recognition after then US President Bill Clinton ordered and ate their signature beef noodles during his official visit to Vietnam. Yep, I could vouch that he's been there as I saw his photo being proudly displayed on one of the walls.

Fortunately, my expectation was met as the chicken noodles I ordered was really mind-blowing! For one, it was boiling hot and another, the chicken meat was very tender. Another unforgettable food was their deep-fried spring rolls. Yum!

After our food-trip, we left for the Museum of Vietnamese History. Another 1USD saying goodbye to my wallet and an additional 1USD as parking ticket for our rented van. Again there wasn't much to see except some maniquins wearing traditional costumes depicting different eras. There was a grand staircase leading to the displays on the second floor. I've already forgotten what was on display there except the mural painting showing HCM's liberation.




We traveled for at least an hour going to Chinatown to see another market. This market is famous for wholesale selling at real cheap price. Since it was raining outside, we decided to buy our Vietnamese woven conehats. I think we bought our hats for 1USD a piece in the market.

Since Vietnam is known for its distinct flavoured coffee (plus it was raining and we were getting tired too fast), all of us voted on looking for a coffee shop. Unfortunately we couldn't find one near the market so we walked past the bus station until we ended up in a "coffee bar". Ha, ha! Where can you find a coffee shop that was barely lit and with patrons drinking beer in the afternoon. It was like a 'hole in the wall' coffee shop just waiting for the strip dancers to show up. Only in HCM probably. (I hope!)

In fairness, the ice coffee that we had was really strong and was very good! It easily will beat Starbucks espresso..

Finally, we boarded our van and headed to the Notre Dame Cathedral. Well it was closed then so we only had a good view from outside. If I would surmise correctly, the church was designed after the real Notre Dame church in Paris since Vietnam has been once a colony of France.

Just across the street is the iconic Central Post Office. Inside was an elaborately decorated building showing the glory days of old Saigon. Just to maximize our rent, we allocated our last hour to visit the Ben Thanh market again. T-shirts were in good bargain as I paid about 2USD for a regular thin cotton shirt.

With the chu-chu-clock a-ticking and our dollars a-wasting, we were brought back to the hotel to rest and freshen up.

Our last stop for the day was to dine in a good, a bit fancy, a little pricey Vietnamese restaurant called Lemon Grass. It lived up to its name as the food we had were absolutely delicious! After dinner we just strolled around to see the night time HCM and headed back to our hotel to rest.

My Krabi Getaway Day 4

With tired bodies and aching muscles, the three of us woke up late just in time to get ready for mass.

After the Palm Sunday celebratory mass we fixed up our things and checked-out.

With compliments Milove treated Anna and I in an Italian restaurant. Then we stayed for a while in the town to have coffee and rented a car to drive us back to the airport to catch our evening flight.

We left paradise to go back to reality. Sigh.

But I’ll definitely go back and want more of Krabi. I wish. Sigh.

My Krabi Getaway Day 3

The next day I went on a separate trip. While Milove and Anna preferred a day trip with short kayaking expedition, I went to go diving in the nearby islands. Since my boat leaves around noon, I rented a motorbike to explore Ao Nang town in style.

Milove knows I’m not a big fan of walking so I took my own transport even if it was only the second time I rode a motorbike in my life!

I actually had a purpose why I wanted to explore the place, apart from nosing around, I promised my companions that I will find the church so we can hear mass at the local church the following day.

After about 30 minutes of searching, I found St. Agnes Catholic Church. What I found appealing is that the church albeit small had a touch of traditional elaborately decorated Thai architecture. It was very clean and is nestled in a very quiet and peaceful environment. I left the place happy knowing I could tell my friends I had found it and that there will be a mass at 10:00 AM the next day.

I drove around in my rented motorbike for two hours to snoop some more. As I observed Ao Nang town was lined up with restaurants offering both local and international cuisines. True to being a shopper’s sanctuary, the town is also filled with apparel and souvenir shops and even has its own Starbucks and McDonalds outlet.

Afterwards, I returned back to our hotel to get ready for my dive trip. At about 1:00 PM, I met with the dive instructor and some other fellow dive enthusiasts. Since it was low tide, we were shuttled to a small boat then transferred to the bigger charter boat. Later I found out that there were six of us in the group, 4 dive enthusiasts and 2 dive masters. In the boat we were joined by 3 other dive operators planked with their own customers.

We traveled for an hour to reach our destination and prepared for our first dive. I was actually feeling jittery by the time I plunged into the water since my last trip was 2 years ago. But when I was done equalizing and have acclimatized myself under the sea, I got quickly absorbed by the beautiful different sized fishes and the colorful corals lying along the sea bed. Unfortunately the visibility was not too good at that time so we satisfied ourselves with the feeling of weightlessness while in the water. (I’ll tell you a secret, what I love most while I am diving is that I feel like I can fly and I always pretend I was Supergirl.) With our oxygen tank reaching the critical limit, we surfaced after only 40 minutes under water. We rested for an hour and headed to another island for the next dip in Koh Si.

This time I felt more confident going to the water. Although the waves were a bit rough, we managed to reach our designated dive area. Apparently the operators wanted to avoid traffic jam under the sea so they have agreed on a pre-assigned dive spot. I think I managed to spot a Blowfish, a Sting-ray, a Lionfish and a school of small Barracuda like fish that circled us while we got nearer. It wasn’t just a Kodak moment for me, it was National Georaphic worthy! Luckily, we extended our underwater excursion to 55 minutes this time around. And all of us went up to the boat exhausted yet satisfied.

After the second dive, I managed to bump into a very friendly European couple who were in holiday in Thailand for two weeks. Noemi and Jurgen stayed at chatted with me while we waited for dinner. I was sure glad to have met them as they were both very nice and charming to talk to. Noemi even took my picture while we were in the boat.

Our dive trip culminated with a BBQ dinner on the boat while we bid goodbye to the sun.

At 8:00 PM I was back in Ao Nang town and met up with Milove and Anna before going back to our hotel.