This is a 7 days' back pack trip. The 1st day did not start out well. Our original flight schedule was to leave Penang at 10.50 am and when everyone was onboard, the captain announced.............. "We are sorry to keep you waiting. There are some technical problems with one of the engines and we are looking through manuals to resolve it". I was shocked when I heard the words "looking through manuals to resolve it". It did not sound right to me. A good and experienced aircraft engineer or technician does not have to rely on manuals to resolve problems.

After about half an hour kept us waiting in the plane, they finally announced cancellation of the flight and delayed it to 4pm. We had to leave the craft and went back to Penang Airport. This almost 5 hours of flight delay basically interrupted our whole plan. Our original plan was to leave Penang at 10.50 am, arrived at KK around 2pm, took a cab to Inanam main bus terminal and headed to Kinabalu Park, stayed over nite there and got ready for the next morning's hike.

The luck did not start out well, we ended up arriving at KK airport around 7.30 pm and upon enquiry at an information counter, I was told that there would be no more public buses leaving KK towards Kinabalu Park after 4pm. The lady advised us to take a cab from KK Airport directly to Kinabalu Park at RM150/ cab. That seemed to be the last choice we had. In order to keep to our budget as close as possible, I decided to try my luck with some other tourists waiting outside of the airport. I approached a group of guys waiting outside the airport and asked them whether they were heading to Kinabalu Park? They nodded and said yes. There were 13 of them from Sungai Petani Jail Department. They had previously arranged for a bus to transfer them from the airport to Kinabalu Park, however they could not commit whether there would be vacant spaces for us to hitch hike. We decided to wait with them until the bus came in order to check out availability of seats. When the bus came, BINGO.............. it was a huge Jabatan Penjara bus with enough space to accomodate two of us. They were kind enough to take us along to Kinabalu Park. Even though we arrived there late at nite after 10.00 pm, it was still better than been late or bursting our pockets by taking a cab. If not due to generosity and kindness of these guys, we could have ended up spending big bucks on taxi or been late to the park and missed our hiking schedule. At the end of the first nite, we were exhausted. After checking into Kinabalu Park hostel, we went to sleep as soon as possible in order to preserve more energy for the next morning's hike.

It was really a bad starting on the 1st day of our trip. Everything turned out so unexpectedly! We just hoped things would get better in the next morning and also days after that!

Not many photos were taken on the 1st day except some shots of Penang Airport (too boring while waiting for the new rescheduled flight) and Airasia aircraft wing!! I cursed AirAsia and Tony for screwing up our plan! &#@^@#&*@^#^&$^*@&$(.............................

Lesson #1 learned............. if u were to travel with AirAsia, do not plan to have connected flights or other transportations on the first day of arrival. Give it a one day tolerance, so that in case there is any delay, you will not screw up the whole plan.

This was meant to be a simple and easy trip. The main purpose was to sample seafood dinner at a Malaysia/ Thailand border town by the name of Kheng Thai. We left Penang in the early morning before 8 am. Arrived in Hatyai before 12 noon. The 20++ big group automatically subdivided into small clans. Some went to have their preferred lunch, some could not wait to start shopping and my group chose to enjoy massage upon arrival. We went to a local hotel and had a two hours' massage for only RM24. The lady masseurs were very funny. Some of them even spoke Mandarin and Hokkien. She told me .... “it's very tired to massage you.........two hours enough,three hours I die”! We all laughed! I think that is very true. So far I have never seen any masseurs whom never complain after massaging me! So it's only logical to give her more tips! Then we headed to a local restaurant to try out Thai foods lunch which I supposed was not cheap either. RM100++ for four of us. The foods were not bad but not the best Thai foods I ever had either. Subsequently we headed to Odean just to kill our time before heading to Kheng Thai for dinner. I could not really recall what I saw in the mall. The only thing I could remember was Wacoal...... Wacoal...........Wacoal..............

We arrived at Water View Restaurant in the early evening, perhaps around 5pm++. It was a very hot and humid day. The road leading to Water View Restaurant was narrow. Our charted bus could not go in. Thus we engaged a mini van to bring us there. The dinner was served right away when we arrived. The restaurant was on a lake, no fans, no breeze, very warm and hot. Foods served were spicy and hot, coming out right away from kitchen. Some dishes were served on charcoal stove in order to retain the heat, however that basically killed us. Heat dissipated from the charcoal stove and lingered in the air, hot enough to kill our face if not the whole body! It's like in a tomyam kong sauna. Spicy, hot and warm!

 

 

 

  

I did not find foods served were exceptionally delicious. However, the restaurant was unique where foods were prepared and cooked at a kitchen opposite the restaurant and brought to us by boats crossing the lake. The boatmen even played some stunts by igniting flames on those dishes prior to serving them. Perhaps that was the only attractiveness in this Water View Restaurant. For me, I was more interested in Angelina hidden in its toilet rather than dishes served! Don't believe me? Check out the pix.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our last day in Sapa Valley. Woke up very early in the morning as we were told that it would take at least two hours to goto Bac Ha minority market. This market is very famous for its colorfulness as different tribes from the surrounding areas would gather and trade their produces here on Sunday morning. At least, this was what I read on most magazines and internet articles. Coupled with the two hours winding and bumpy journey, the expectation was high.

 

 

 

 

 

Four tourists from the same hotel were late. So the departure was delayed for at least 30 minutes. The road was really winding and bumpy and we reached Bac Ha around 11 am. Went straight to the market for a cruise. It was indeed colorful, contributed by fabrics, bags, wall hangers and toys sold in the market. Different tribes with different color costumes also added extra palates to the scene. The view of women carrying babies on their back was every where. Before I came to Vietnam, I had seen some fantastic photos of women carrying babies on their back and I thought it must be very tough for a photographer to spot one. This visit cleared up the doubt! It is almost omnipresence. Every corner. Every crook. No doubts, they were cute and beautiful but I think the government has to seriously think about family planning in this country!

 

 

 

The market was huge, covering almost the entire town of Bac Ha. However, things sold were pretty standard. Hand made colorful brocade decoratives, shirts, bags, wall hangers, toys, silk and etc. I walked down to the river bank area and found that even animals were traded here, not to mention electrical appliances and plastic wares inscribed with Chinese characters. Where else could they come from if not China? That really did not impress me much. Local food stalls were scattering everywhere and of course, only been frequented by local tribes. Generally people here were friendly. I saw a stall with low raised table and stools crowded by many locals, so I went closer to take a look. What I saw was this huge pot of soup broiled from all kinds of animal parts. While I was taking this photo, some guys sitting on those stools were waving at me and giving a gesture of inviting me to join them for the meal. They were very friendly and kind but I was very hesitant to accept the offer. So I grinned to them, gave them a thank you gesture and left.

 

No doubts Bac Ha market was colorful and beautiful but with such a long hour and bumpy journey, it was in fact over promoted. I would not purposely suggest a dedicated one day trip to Bac Ha just to witness this. Vietnam's vast array of colors and cultures among aborigines are every where. Not necessarily to go all the way to Bac Ha. This is also a place where we bumped into another friendly French couple whom we met during our Lao Chai and Ta Van trekking. They are Saida Fraszko and David Fraszko. They provided us their email addresses and we promised to keep in touch.

 

 

We had our lunch in Bac Ha. The restaurant owner was a Chinese but foods were very lousy. Most dishes were prepared with pork but the taste and smell were awful. Most of us ended up taking the lunch with only fresh vegetables, followed by bananas as dessert, just to make sure that we were full! The original schedule included a three hours' hike into Red H'mong's village. However, due to lack of time, we cut it short with only about an hour's visit to Red H'mong's village where we were exposed to houses made from cow/ buffalo dung, a type of plant which resembled Wasabi flavor, home brewed corn wine and etc before we departed back to Lao Chai.

 

 

In Lao Chai, we dropped by a river bank just opposite Yunnan, China. Both countries were only separated by a river and linked by a bridge. It was so near yet so far! Our last stop was at a restaurant opposite Lao Chai train station. A rather good dinner was served before we walked over to the train station and bid goodbye to Lao Chai and Sapa Valley. We took the so called luxurious Levitrain on the way back to Hanoi. The bed, cabin and toilet condition was a lot better than Victoria Train. The ladies were happy, however the bed size was too narrow for me. I could not turn and toss, thus ending up did not sleep well along the way back to Hanoi. It put a stop to our 7 days Vietnam trip. Day 8 was purely a flight from Hanoi back to Penang via a transit in KL.

 

 

 

 

 

Another new day in Sapa Valley. It was a nice hotel and we had good sleep last night. After having our breakfast, we were ready to explore a 12 KM trekking started from Sapa to Lao Chai (H'Mong village) and ended at Ta Van (Dzay village). The moment I went to hotel lobby, I was surprised to see so many tribal women waiting outside the hotel. Some were in their mid 30s but some were just little young girls around the age of 7. Our tourist guide, Hao lead us to Sapa town and proceeded to misty jungle trekking. These aboriginal women did not give up, they followed us all the way. 10 minutes, 30 minutes, an hour passed by. I thought they would give up somewhere at some point and left us alone but that was not the case. When we paused for a short break along the way, they did the same thing. I was wondering why they kept pestering us but could not find an answer. However, these kids were very smart and quick learners. Very soon, they started to chat and joke with us.

 

After a short break, we descended onto paddy terraces, trekking along hills and rivers. At one point, we had to cross some rivers by stepping on slippery stones. Some of us almost slipped and fell down, these women and children came to rescue. They assisted and guided most of us crossing rivers and muddy paddy fields. Luckily there was no rain or else the situation would be even worse.

 

The moment we reached our first destination for lunch, my travelling mates were once again surrounded by those H'Mong women and children whom had been accompanying us all the way from Summit Hotel. They were trying to sell us more souvenirs such as coin purses, belts and bags. They kept on reminding some of us ....... “ remember me? I am the one who helped you crossing the rivers just now. So please buy from me.........” The same phrases echoed through the air, on the left, on the right, almost everywhere. Now I understood why they walked with us all the way from Summit Hotel to Lao Chai village. We were told later that Lao Chai was in fact their village, a place where their family lived. Life was tough on them. Could you imagine trekking through jungles and rivers for hours, day by day, year to year, rain or shine, just to make a few USD a day in order to meet the end? While we were trekking with Nike shoes, Timberland boots, they were merely wearing cheap simple rubber flip flop, yet helping us to cross the terrains and rivers by stepping into mud and water! That was ironic!

 

 

We had our simple lunch in Lao Chai and then proceeded to Ta Van. The trekking after Lao Chai was a lot simpler and easier. However, the number of women and children pestering us to buy something from them was not less than before. Children as young as 4 years old were following my travelling mates and kept on pestering them .........” buy for me........... buy for me........” with those colorful brocade pouches dangling from their tiny hands. What else could I say? You needed to make a living when you had to. I bet these children would grow up as the toughest persons in this planet. Yew Yong and Kim Lay were kind enough to buy more pouches from these kids even though they had bought it a day before at Cat Cat Village. We also witnessed something very interesting along the way-- ducklings swimming in a pond, a lady shampooing her long hairs near a paddy field, a convenient store selling groceries and etc.

 

 

 

When we reached the end of Ta Van village, a van was ready waiting for us to bring us back to Sapa town. Along the way, the driver played a very upbeat song and while I was taking a video of some female tourist guides wearing their traditional costumes sitting at the front, our joker tourist guide gave me a surprise by doing this funny stunt on the video! Watch it until the end of this video and I am sure you will have a good laugh!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Vietnam Trip- Day 5- 2/May/2008 (Friday) – Sapa Valley

We took Victoria Train from Hanoi to Lao Cai. The journey took around 10 hours. From Lao Cai, we took a van going uphill to Sapa. The distance was only around 40KM but it took about an hour or so to reach Summit Hotel where we spent the rest of our trip there. The weather was misty. Sawa san told us when he was in Sapa a fw days ago, it rained almost every day. He had to do trekking on wet boot! The one that Puah Choo Khang wore all the time! I was saying little prayer in silence, hopefully it would not rain for the next few days or else the trip would be totally screwed up. The feeling of trekking trapped in raincoat was horrible. It would be more like a punishment rather than enjoyment!

 

We had some rest at the hotel cafe, took our lunch while waiting to check into a room. In the afternoon, we were taken for a walk around Cat Cat village, an aboriginal settlement not far away from Summit hotel. During this 2~3 hours of trekking, we witnessed some natural beauties and also life of H'Mong people. Their hand woven handicraft, colorful brocades, silverware and also their houses built along paddy terraces.

 

 

 

Further down the road, we passed through a suspension bridge which was just next to a stream of waterfalls. Tourists and some locals were having fun at the waterfalls area.

 

 

 

 

When we reached the end of Cat Cat village, some of us were offered motor bike ride back to Sapa town. Three of us and the guide continued our trekking all the way back to the hotel. There was nothing much to do in the evening. After freshening up, we decided to walk down to Sapa market and cruised around. Perhaps most people were tired and lack of oxygen after the long distance train ride from Hanoi to Sapa, some of my travelling mates accidentally cracked some jokes on this night. While we were having dinner at the hotel cafe, YY was looking for a pair of fork and spoon. Since the cutlery container was sitting on the table closer to me, she said “can you pass me a BED”? I was laughing to death but that was not funny enough. My room mate KL washed her hair on the same night because this was the best and most comfortable hotel room that we had so far. After she came out from the washroom, she told me........... “I am going to get a washing machine down stair from others”. I blurted out in laugh because what she actually referred to was HAIR DRYER! These were typical incidents of sometimes our mouth did not say what our brain meant to!

 

 

 

 

 

Vietnam Trip- Day 4- 1/May/2008 (Thursday) – Hanoi City

The 4^th day was a free and easy one. We splitted into two groups in the morning. One went to shop around Dong Xuan market area and the other one at French quarter. While they were busy shopping for silk blouses, I was watching dogs and cats outside on the streets and realized that the shop actually had two lanterns hanging from stone hand near the door area. One is maroon color and the other one floral design. Both were beautiful!

 

We all met at KOTO restaurant for lunch around 1.00 pm. KOTO stands for KNOW ONE TEACH ONE – a restaurant established for street and disadvantaged kids. Menu consisted of both western and local cuisines. Prices were slightly higher but foods were just average. However, for the sake of charity and helping those who needed it, we obliged! The only thing that I loved a lot was a special cold drink made from lemon grass, ginger, lemon and honey. It was refreshing!

Rain started to kick in after lunch. We splitted into two groups again, one continued with shopping and the other one lead by me on a walking tour around Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum area. We started with Temple of Literature which was just opposite KOTO restaurant. Personally I did not find this temple was amazing but I did find that a man sitting outside the temple, working on miniatures from flour was fabulous. Those flour creatures were vivid and lively but too bad, the art was dying.........

 

 

After that, we proceeded to Ho Chi Minh Museum, One Pillar Pagoda, Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum and the Palace which were located at the same area. I liked this place because it was like a huge park, spacious, full of trees and windy.

 

On the way back to our hotel, we passed by Malaysian Embassy, Army Museum and also a street at old quarter, selling incenses and Buddha statues. Those shops were brightly lit up and colorful. We also spotted a railway which ran between houses........... that was indeed amazing! The whole walking tour took us around 3 hours before we met up with the other group again for dinner at a restaurant nearby our hotel. It was a quick but lousy dinner before we headed to the local train station to catch a night coach to Sapa Valley.

 

 

 

Vietnam Trip- Day 3- 30/Apr/2008 (Wednesday) – Halong Bay + Hanoi City

Woke up in the early morning. Managed to capture some Halong Bay photos at dawn. Our junk left the docking area, getting ready to go back to the jetty. A simple breakfast was served, consisting of breads and fruit jam. Hot coffee was provided which was the only free hot drink offered during this 2D1N junk adventure. ABOSOLUTELY GRANDIOUS SERVICE which made me wondering whether hot water or drink would cost them a castle? Sylvain and his spouse left our junk and joined another one heading to Cat Ba Island for their second day journey. Sawa san could not stop waving and bidding goodbye to them even though we met each other only for two days. The moment he waved it with his handkerchief, I knew it from the bottom of my heart, this guy was really a joker! We remained on the same junk and it sailed for a while along the bay area. I recalled our tourist guide told us last night that they would take us to somewhere else today, perhaps somewhere with cleaner water. But look at what we had here --- mineral water bottle, plastic and etc. It was a thrash! It was totally polluted! I knew I would never have a chance to swim in Halong Bay! That dream was simply crushed! During this part of the journey, Sawa san taught as some Japanese children songs with dance steps which required body and brain coordination. It was not easy to dance and sing at the same time but it was fun! I saw some tourists on nearby junks taking our photos while we were having fun, singing and dancing. I supposed they must have thought that we were silly people! A travelling mate took a video on this as well. I will try to get a copy of that and share with you all if possible!

 

After an hour of cruising, some tourists from other junks were transferred onto ours, before we headed to the jetty. On a way back to the jetty, Sawa san showed us some magic performances with his coin and handkerchief. Besides his swift movements, I thought he was absolutely talented. A very cute kid was attracted by Sawa san's gimmick and came to join us to witness the show. We expected to arrive Hanoi in the evening. So we were busy discussing on what to do upon our arrival. While we were busy doing that, a Chinese guy overheard our broken English  (perhaps not all of us but at least mine)  with strong Malaysian slang and approached us. He blurted with a question -- “are you guys from Penang?” We were proud Malaysians and had no shame to admit our poor pronunciation of English. Alas............... he was also originally from Penang and working for a MNC stationed in Hanoi. He knew we were looking for some places to sample great foods and was kind enough to recommend us a few places that he personally liked. We could not wait to reach Hanoi city in order to explore what Danny recommended! After all, we were all food lovers!

We waited for about an hour at the jetty area upon arrival, before a van picked us up and took us for lunch. The lunch was average with vegetables, pork, beef and also shrimps as small as my little finger! As usual, the van stopped again half way to let us using the loot. It was a simple shop, selling some local delicacies and souvenirs. It'ss hard to spend 20 minutes in such a little shop, nothing interesting enoughto kill the time. So I ordered a cup of Vietnamese coffee with condensed milk which you could not go wrong in Vietnam. It always tasted good. Before we left, I went to the toilet and on the way, saw two women preparing one of Vietnameses' favorite dish --- deep friend spring chicken. This was a very common local food served on roadside stalls and also most restaurants.

 

We arrived at Hanoi city around 5.00pm. Checked into the hotel, freshened up and was ready to explore some local delicacies. Our first target was Cha Ca La Vong, special marinated fish fillets traditionally broiled with charcoal but now mini gas stove when served on table. It was taken with white noodle, peanuts, special home made sauce and local spices plus vegetables. It was superb. We were very delighted by Danny's recommendation. It was a good choice. The restaurant name was Nguyen Bich Hop, located at 21 Duong Thanh Road. Only around 10~15 minutes walk from HSBC at Hoan Kiem Lake. On the way back, some of us dropped by a few shops looking for souvenirs while three of us proceeded to a local cafe, Pho Co Cafe at 11 Hang Gai Road, to sample a specially egg white brewed coffee introduced by Danny. Three of us ordered this special brewed coffee but two of us did not like it. I was the only one who finished the coffee, so I guessed it was an acquired taste because not all people could accept egg white as a drink! Strange coffee but Hoan Kiem Lake night view from this cafe was fantastic as proven by photos taken. The Tortoise Pagoda was not really impressive at day time but when it was lit up by lasers at night, it turned into a spectacular view!

 

 

 

 

 

Vietnam Trip- Day 2- 29/Apr/2008 (Thuesday) – Halong Bay

Second day of the trip. Heading to Halong Bay which was about160km Northeast from Hanoi city. The van was going at 60~70 km/hour, no wonder it took 3 hours to reach Halong Bay. With that speed, it would take forever to reach any destinations. The van stopped halfway at a souvenir shop which almost covered by dust. Nothing really interesting there, except a young lady busy working on her crochet buffalo. Don't believe me? Have a look!

 

Other than seven of us Malaysians in the van, there were a Vietnamese couple, French couple and also a Japanese guy. The French guy sat in front of me and his spouse next to me. I told them he looked like Spiderman and his spouse agreed to that. During the whole journey, we addressed him as Spiderman and almost forgotten that his real name was Sylvian. We left Hanoi city around 9~10 am and arrived at Halong Bay around 12++ noon. It was a hot, sunny but misty day. The moment we arrived at Halong Bay jetty and boarded on a junk assigned to us, we could hardly see any islands. The so called UNESCO heritage appeared to be a misty ghost bay to me. I was a little bit disappointed and worried that the whole trip would be just like this, thus ended up with no good photos to be taken. It was interesting to learn that the whole junk belong to us. When we boarded the bunk, everyone could not wait to go up to the sun deck, busy posing for some photos never realized that in fact we had the whole junk and whole day waiting for us to be explored.

 

 

 

Lunch was served on the junk. Meals were simple such as fish, Vietnamese rolls and fresh vegetables. Interesting enough, hot water and drinks were not included in the package. So we ended up purchasing our drinks in the bunk or from some boat peddlers along the trip. This is something unique in Halong Bay. You saw some ladies rowing boats filled with groceries, hopping from junk to junk, trying to sell their stuff. It was also very interesting to learn that in Vietnam, most packaged tours may include meals but always exclude drinks! Clean drinking water must be expensive, I supposed because it was transferred to junks via a special boat carrier as shown below.

 

We headed to Dao Soi Sim Island after lunch. Hiked up the little hill and witness the beauty of Halong Bay under misty sky. Views form this island were fantastic.

 

Subsequently we were brought to Hang Sung Sot Cave. There were lots of stalactite and stalagmite in resembles of anything, from animals to human beings and etc. All were magnificently lit up with different colors and shades. It revealed the power of nature and how amazing it was! I understood that each centimeter of stalactite/ stalagmite formation would take up as long as 100~1000 years. Before exiting the cave, Spiderman told me there was a formation resembling a princess sitting on a prince's lap, he over heard it from a Vietnamese tourist guide speaking in French! Wow, I would not be aware of that if he did not tell me in the first place! Spiderman and his spouse, Elena were both very nice French couple!

 

 

 

 

Our last stop of the second day trip was at a floating fishing village that sold all sorts of seafood including squids, crabs and etc. We also bargained for some flower crabs to be served as our dinner but you bet, the price was sky high even after bargain hunting. Each crab cost us as much as USD10! That was the most expensive crab I ever had in my whole life!! It's funny! We were told that a seafood dinner would be served when we signed up for the trip but then strange enough, other than those crabs that we purchased from our own pocket money, the only seafood dish served during dinner was fried squid with sweet sauce! Unless that was what regarded as GRAND SEADFOOD dinner in Vietnam or else I supposed we were scammed again by APT travelling agent! Lastly, we were able to witness sunset before the night curtain pulled down. Unfortunately the junk docking position was not perfect for us to capture the sunset photo............. too bad! We docked our junk just next to another one which was occupied by some other tourists. They dived from the junk a couple of times and given thumbs up sign when we asked them whether the water was good or not! However, they climbed up the junk almost immediately after each dive and hardly lingered under the water for more than a minute. I supposed the thumbs up sign was merely a gesture of courtesy and the water wasn't great – it was muddy and perhaps cold as well! I would love to jump into the water but taken into consideration the clarity and cleanliness of the water, I decided to pass!

 

 

 

 

We spent some time after dinner at the sun deck, admiring stars above the dark sky. It was breezy and nice. Then we headed to the room to take a rest as the next morning, the agent promised to take us to somewhere else which might have cleaner water and we could swim if we wanted to. We went back to the room and Sawa san shared the room with me. We chatted for a while before dozed off! We talked about our jobs and travellings and other stuff, including the deadliest 1995 Kobe earthquake. Sawa san had been to numerous countries and mostly are Asian countries such as Cambodia, Vietnam, China, Thailand and etc. When I asked him what was the most important criteria in his trips, was it the the landscape, the architecture or anything else? He surprised me with his unique answer – beautiful heart was the most important and attractive thing wherever he travelled. Suddenly all the troubles and worries of misty weather causing unclear photo shooting which bothered me for a while were totally gone. They just disappeared. He taught me a very good lesson in travelling.....that the most important thing in travelling was not just limited to taking great photos, that was very shallow of me! It's about life, it's about people, it's about feelings....... just like what he put it........ it's all about beautiful hearts nestling under those beautiful people! I thought he was absolutely right. Kobe earthquake changed the life and perspective of many people in Kobe. It reminded us that no matter how smart, rich or powerful we were, we were merely mortal and we ought to love and appreciate more of people surrounding us! Yeah, that night I slept well and I did not even hear loud noise from Kara-OK singing session done by those junk workers which my other travelling mates were nagging about!

 

Vietnam Trip- Day 1(28/Apr/2008) - Hanoi City

We left KL around 6.30 am and arrived Hanoi at about 8.30 am with an hour time difference which meant the total flight journey took around 3 hours. As soon as we stepped outside the Hanoi airport, price bargaining started. Some taxis would like to charge higher for transportation between Hanoi airport and the city. We finally resorted to a van for 7 people which cost us USD13. Not a bad deal, imagined that the bidding price started at USD20 or so.

Even though the van was not new and really comfortable, at least it was with air conditioner. Surprisingly enough, the van driver could speak Mandarin, however it was not as clear as what we expected. I had to resort to sign language along the way to Hanoi city on parts of the conversation. We told the van provider that we would like to go to Royal Hotel in Hanoi city but the first surprise kicked in when the van stopped at a shop that we did not even know where it was. Then another guy came out from the shop, opening the van's door, asking us whether we were looking for a hotel. At the same time, offering his assistance in getting one. My immediate feeling was this must be a scam and my basic instinct triggered me to utter protective reply. I told them no, we were not looking for hotels because we already had a reservation at Royal Hotel. The real fact was, we did not even know where Royal Hotel was. The guy seemed to be slightly disappointed, shut the door hard because he knew there was no prey waiting for him in the van. My little voices cursed him............ FXCK off.............. u did not want to swallow us on our first day arrival! Idiot!

After a few minutes, we finally arrived at somewhere around Royal Hotel. I said SOMEWHERE because the driver did not stop right in front of Royal Hotel but a block away instead because in Hanoi, there were rules that at certain streets, cars were not allowed to stop. We chose Royal Hotel as our first stop because of its strategic location which is at center of Hanoi city and within walking distance to Hoan Kiem Lake and Old Town Quarter. Royal Hotel was introduced by a friend of ours. We walked into the hotel, took a quick look at it and realized that it was rather new, perhaps less than a year in operation. We even asked for permission to visit the rooms prior to confirming the reservation. Everybody liked the place, if not loving it. So we decided not to scout around, partly because this hotel was new and clean, partly because we did not want to carry our heavy luggages and drag them around the city while looking for an accomodation. As usual, the last procedure was to bargain again on the room rate, from the initial USD25/ room to USD20/ room. The manager was pretty sporting and agreed to it, however the front desk supervisor was a jerk. He was not very happy when we budged the price down. He told us this – you guys should not bargain for hotel price when you travel, if you asked for lower prices, it would affect the quality of service! My inner voice told myself, what the hell you were talking about? We were on backpack and a budget trip. Why shouldn't we bargain on hotel prices? After all, what we needed was a bed to sleep and a washroom to shower. We did not expect to stay in the hotel and enjoy the services offered like in a resort. If we wanted that, we should have reserved our rooms at Sofitel or other 5 stars resorts! Got the hell out of me! We traveled with luggage and BRAIN but not only bags! This first incident taught me one thing --- Hanoi was such a strange city and service attitude was weird too. In Malaysia, we wouldn't tell our customers that if you asked for discounted prices, we would offer you inferior services! Wasn't it weird to tell this upfront to customers?

The second strange thing we observed in Hanoi was all buildings were built upward. It was a small build up area perhaps at the range of around 700 foot square but it may consist of 5 to 8 floors with only two rooms on each floor! Wasn't that funny? So our rooms ended up located scatteringly from level 2 to level 5. We brought everything into our rooms, then got ready for our lunch. We walked around Hanoi city area and searched for Little Hanoi because according to our traveling mates, this particular restaurant served rather good PHOR (rice noodle) and was recommended in Lonely Planet! We managed to find Little Hanoi # 9 and Little Hanoi #14. We also saw many restaurants with the same name as Little Hanoi on the same street! Perhaps there were hundreds of restaurants using Little Hanoi as their name. We made up our mind to check out the menu at Little Hanoi #9. We were ushered into the restaurant and the first impression was it looked more like a Chinese restaurant catering for tourists rather than an authentic Vietnamese food restaurant. After scanning through the menu, we decided to leave the restaurant because it was not something that we were looking forward. While pondering between going back to Hanoi #14 or searching for the right Little Hanoi restaurant, we spotted an unnamed little restaurant in between #9 and #14. We saw a few Vietnamese sitting inside the restaurant and enjoying their foods. So we finally gave it a try. We ordered “phor” and Vietnamese coffees. Coffees were good but phor were merely average. Whatever it was, we finally settled our lunch and began our first foray into Hanoi – attacking the Dong Xuan Market. It was about 10 minutes walking distance from Royal Hotel. We spent the whole afternoon shopping inside Dong Xuan Market. Some did not find high quality products in this wholesale market but some were happy with bags and dried nuts they purchased. I did not have anything specific to buy, so I grabbed a waist pouch and backpack, then spent the rest of time shooting photos inside the market and surrounding areas.

 

We ended the shopping spree at Highlands Coffee which was located opposite our hotel and facing Hoan Kiem Lake. As usual, we ordered coffees and some pastries. Coffees were great but pastries were not really impressive. Panoramic view from Highlands Coffee was great, HSCB Bank and Hoan Kiem Lake were clearly visible from this cafe. I had a couple of good shots from here before we went back to the hotel, took a shower and got ready for water puppet show in the evening.

We obtained our water puppet show tickets from a traveling agent. It was quoted as SUPER VIP seat at around USD3 per person. When enter the theater, obviously there were at least another 4~5 rows in front of us. So I supposed the SUPER VIP was not really even VIP. I felt been deceived again but the moment its traditional music started, I was amazed! It did not matter how much we paid for the show or whether we were scammed by the traveling agent, the whole puppet show was great, both in music and also motion control. Puppets' colors were vivid and their movements were swift and lively. It was money worth spent. The only set back was that the performance was conducted in Vietnamese language which we did not understand even a single word. However, I remembered someone said this before-- musics are universal and they transcend across all nations? I thought that was absolutely true!

A traveling mate finally managed to find the REAL Little Hanoi restaurant after the water puppet show. It was situated at a corner lot right behind HSBC building across our hotel. It was actually a fusion restaurant specializing in both Vietnamese and Western cuisines. We ordered some Vietnamese and Western dishes and the prices were steep in Vietnamese standard, however the foods quality was with high standards as well. Its spring rolls and “phor” were delicious! It was a pleasure to end the first day trip with such a nice dinner.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Country M is a developing nation whith multiple races and so called freemdom to embrace any religions they want. If you can not choose your own religion, don't blame it on me because this is what they claim. Its government backbone is an allied front Party B which consists of  parties U, MC, G and MI, perhaps some other minor parties at secluded and remote areas that I have never heard of. Don't blame it on me because residents at these areas perhaps have never watched MalaysiaKini or Malaysia Today or even have access to Edison Chen photos. In their world, it is all about Party B. They see Party B in rivers, seas, oil palm trees, wooden bridges and all kind of tiny subsidies without realizing that actually they are the ones subsidizing Party B politicians with private jet, grandious palace like bungalows and muti billion family businesses. There is a famous Chinese phrase during the latest election, "give you a candy, take away your whole factory"! It is such a big price to pay of being ignorant.

People have been stripped from their rights. Injustices are everywhere. Corruption is as big as the sky.  This happened for a long long time and is still happening. 5 years........ 10 years.............. 15 years................. it goes on. Everytime a new PM takes the throne, he promises to sweep away corruption. He promises to remove cronyism. He promises so many things except giving Angelina Jolie to me! Still we support them with full hopes........... expecting to see lights at the end of tunnel without knowing black holes really exist and they are totally absolutely black!

So during this year's election, an emerging opposition allied (Party D, K and P) claims the historical victory by denying 2/3 majority to the previous goverment allied Party B at parliment seats and also takes reign of a few states in Malaysia, there are Kelantan,Penang, Perak, Kedah, Selangor and also Federal Territory! A history has been created in the local political era. While everyone is cheerful and hopeful of the new government constituent, the big looser Party B is still at denial state of why they loose in the recent election. That is so pathetic!

The big loser allied Party B consists of main parties U, MI, MC, G and etc. I saw alot of news on TV, newspapers and even internet, covering issues on invesitgating the reasons why Party B could end up in such an embarrasing scenario. Some party presidents were even asked to step down and let new bloods take hold of the positions. From what I saw, these heads gave a rather standard answer to the big question asked. They kept on claiming that they did not know why the allied Party B and its contituents could lose grip on majority seats. I won't blame them on this if this is what they are good at doing......... denying the real facts!

Come on, lets face it. If you flash your weapon (sorry, can't mention the name, it's too sensitive ~.~ ) and tell me that you will wash it with my blood........... and yet you do not know you are crossing that boundary of respecting me............. I feel sorry for you! If you tell me that you will eliminate corruption and help the poors regardless of races yet stuffing projects into the so called crony companies and buying personal luxurious properties everywhere all around the world, we will see it. If you.................. No, I am not going to tell you what you are not good at. I might be stupid but I am not dumb. If everyone wishes to deny what he/ she has done incorrectly, let it be. Let everyone becomes gentleman. Lets sweep the dirts all under a carpet if you think this carpet is big enough and bottomless that it will not surface one of these days!

Friends, if you do not understand this article, don't blame it on me. A pathetic political party will only govern a pathetic country and a pathetic country will only generate pathetic citizens and I am just one of the lucky hell. If you don't have a clue of why you dont understand a bit of what I am mumbling here, it is perfectly fine because this is a small matter! What we have to do is to investigate the reasons why you don't understand and why I don't make it clear enough for your to understand! Be it  POST MORTEM, SOUL SEARCHING or whatever they call it............I shall continue to remain pathetic as long as the reason is unestablished!

Election day is around the corner. I saw campaigns everywhere. Since this is an every 5th year event, I would like to take this opportunity to express my opinions because I do not know whether I will be able to make it for the next 5 years. Time does not wait for us! Every day, every second, it just drips away like sand glass. Do we want to wait until the last drop and then start regretting on things that we haven't done? Things that we wanted to change but never had enough guts to transform?

TV is never my favorite passtime. However, I found it quite interesting and amusing during the last few days because rather than disseminating inaccurate informaton, it actually took a step further in turning these false information into short clips. I watched the ones with JPA scholarship and the one emphasizing how safe Malaysia streets were these days and almost got choked while having my dinner. I never had such a good laugh since Mr Bean was on screen. I never thought our government can be so humorous on one hand and yet so naive on the other hand. Check with friends around you! If one out of your 100  friends/ relatives obtained a JPA scholarship and pursued his/ her study in onverseas, I congratulate you and him/ her because this is just like striking a multi million jackpot! If one out of your 50 friends/ relatives do not get snatched during the last 5 years, I would also like to congratulate you because this is such a rare scene in Malaysia now. Talk about street safety? We know it better than anyone else on this planet!

We might be naive but we are not blind, espcially with >32" TVs or LCD displays in front of us. If you believe in real life and trust statistics with real cases around you and your friends, then you should take some actions in determining your destiny. IF you think you want a change. IF you think you need to try out something different. IF you think that our existing system does not portray the real picture of our current society. IF.................................. So many IFs................. These will remain IFs unless you take that first initiative.......... walk into that hall, Xcross your right choice and exercise your RIGHT! So, make this Mar 8 2008 your big day because it will be your birthday which will determine how you are going to live for the next 5 years and so..................

Remember, time doesn't wait for us! So exploit this opportunity and cast your vote smartly!

WE CAN MAKE A CHANGE!

 

More than a month ago, I told myself, new year was approaching. It should be time to do house cleaning. I ransacked my tiny apartment, from the top of kitchen cabinet to every crook and corner of the house. So worried  that I would leave something behind. Perhaps something that were too old to be carried forward to year 2008. Well, I had almost forgotten that I might be the one that was old enough to be sent to a museum!

This cleaning process went on for a couple of weeks. From 2007 year end until early year 2008. I did it in the morning when I woke up. Whatever I bumped into or that was blocking my way to the kitchen, I threw them away! I did it in the evening while watching TV. Whatever that sat under sofas for the last one year must be gone, no reasons to stay! I did it on weekends, even rejected a few appointments just because I needed to tidy up the house. I guessed I was too obsessive with this cleaning thing. I recalled on one weekend. I pulled up the right bottom corner drawer of my closet and found a huge James Bond bag full of cassettes! It must be over 100 pieces. Those we from old days. I opened it up........... Tracy Chapman, Cindy Lauper, Anita Mui, Lisa Stansfield, Anita Baker, Kenny Rogers, Timmy Thomas, Mariah Carey, Tina Turner and etc. Those were all my favorite singers at one time but unfortunately some of them did not even exist anymore.

I looked at each and everyone of them. They accompanied me through different phases of life, from innocent ivory tower to realistic corporate world. They were like old buddies to me. However I still threw them away. No mercy! Not even the slightest of hesitance. Did those roiling years make me a less sentimental person? That I did not even have to think twice in making a decision? Was I programmed to execute  first in first out now? I always believed, years of working in corporate world would change someone. Do we become more realistic and robotic in executing daily life? Emotion has been pushed aside because it does not really help in daily tasks? We were taught to be smart, to be tough, to be decisive, to be efficient............. We no longer leave a space in our heart for emotion, least to mention engaging one!

You think that's all for the house keeping? No, not yet! I even went to an extent of cleansing my handphone memory. Mark, a friend's friend that I met in a cafe in KL...... haven't contacted him for about a year. Did not even know why I saved his handphone number on the first place? Deleted! Professor K whom I met during a sales presentation at a local university. Called him a few times and he bought a few machines from me. Kept him, for business sake? Irene, a lady whom I met at a local hotel. We had been friends ever since but then suddenly she changed her job and cellphone number. I never heard from her again even though I wished she would call sometimes. I heard she was retrenched by the hotel but sincerely hope she is doing well now. Deleted because it was a number that would never work again. Rajan, definitely an Indian name but I can never recall of how he looks like and where did I meet him before? He did not even sms me for the last one year. Deleted. Kentut, a van driver that we engaged during our last year Bali trip. He sent me sms occassionally such as Christmas, New Year and etc. Can't believe this is happening! Even some friends don't send me wishes like he does! Kept him! KH, this is my secondary school classmate. Married to another classmate 15 years ago and had three children now. She always sms-ed me............ sending wishes on Christmas, Wesak, New Year, Chinese New Year and all kind of Chinese festival seasons including Qing Ming (Tomb-Sweeping Festival)!!! She is marvellous and  a true friend after all these years. Kept her!

Shuffling from A to Z, I did not even realize how many names that I kept or deleted. However, I do realize that no matter how busy we are or how limited space we have, we will still allocate a small portion, either in our heart or in our handphone memory, for those true real friends............ That is for sure!

 

 

 

It was rather ordinary celebrating new year eve at pubs and clubs. So when some friends suggested to usher in year 2008 at Penang Hill, I took a plunge. On Dec 31 2007, there were around 26 of us, ascending to Penang Hill via specially arranged jeeps. We reached the top of Penang Hill around 7.00pm, then adjourned to the hotel garden with great view, overseeing Georgetown City and Penang Bridge, to enjoy our BBQ dinner.

When the nite fell, mist engulfed almost the entire region. Georgetown City and Penang Bridge were totally disappeared. We were worried for a while that we migth not be able to wtiness fireworks from afar due to thick mist. God must had been very kind to us. The mist cleared itself on and off through out the night. As usual, we were busy killing shutters on our digital cameras. I heard someone said......... there were Nikons....... Canons.....Panasonics....... Konicas.......... and others........... not to mention those digital camera phones! While I was busy juggling between clicking my camera and adjusting the tripod, I broke my tripod. It was impossible to capture nite scenes without tripod. Then I recalled that actually I had a mini tripod inside my camera bag as a contingency plan. I thought it would help but unfortunately, after a few shots, I broke the mini tripod as well! This was a typical case of unwanted incident happened at wrong place and wrong time. Then there was this little voice echoed through my head..........."Don't touch it! You break everything that you touch!" That was something my dad used to say. From radio to small toys, I broke almost everything that I touched. I swore, my original intention was to repair them but unfortunately the end result was contrary. Papa's curse came true again on new year eve, even though he was no longer here. I did not know why this past memory rekindled by itself under such a scenario but I guessed, if you truely loved someone, they would stay in your heart, regardless of what they said, what they did or where they are now! It transcends without boundaries!

When the clock struck at 12.00 midnite. When fireworks started to hover above Georgetown City. I started taking photos with a broken tripod. It did not matter what the outcome was...........and  daddy, this photo is for you. I hope your soul will see Georgetown City though my eyes......... It doesn't matter where you are now!  

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2008!

 

 

Today is Raya Haji. Since most of my colleagues are taking long leave to enjoy vacation with families, I opt to stay as back up on today and the rest of the long weekend. Normally I don't sleep until late morning even on weekends, so I chose to go hiking again this morning. I said AGAIN because I just hiked up Penang Hill last Saturday with a group of friends. It was my first long hour hiking after more than two years. I hang my Timberland hiking boot about more than two years ago since Mt. Irau trip. No other reasons, simply because most of my good friends did not hike anymore due to knee injuries. I recalled many years ago when there was a surge of hiking fever and craze, I used to hike Bukit Jambul in the morning, Air Itam Dam in the evening and the next day charting Tiger Hill. Those days were hiking, hiking and hiking! Then suddenly most of my friends started complaining of knee pains, one after another. A few months down the road, hiking became history. Even my Timberland hiking boot rubber got hardened over time and during last weekend's hike, it caused me to slip a couple of times on slopes. Thanks to those who gave me a push from the back and a pull from the front. Sounds like dragging a white elephant up a hill?? It is a fact that I have to admit............ time flies and I am no longer as fit as before!

When a friend sent an email out last week, inviting me to join the hike, I was very reluctant. On one hand, I knew my stamina would not be the same as a few years ago. On the other hand, I had something else going on at the same time. Then she flew in a few more emails, tantalizing me with chicken pies and salt baked chicken! Everybody knows I just love to eat, so how could I resist such a temptation? After some pondering and struggling, I reshuffled my schedule and managed to follow the team up Penang Hill. It was a huge team consisted of 17 people. We started around 8.30 am and made it to the top at around 1~2 pm because we took rest at a few stops and even cooked some nice sweet potato soup and salted chicken. It was really an enjoyable hike.

During last Saturday's hike, we bumped into a few dogs at a small temple along the trek. One of them has black + white furs and was very playful. I teased him and did some treats to him such as standing on two legs while hopping around! He seemed to enjoy it. Perhaps there are not many people who are willing to play with him. Well, those farmers might be too busy attending to their farms and chores, neglecting the fact that pets do need to play and have fun! He subsequently followed us through the whole journey from the temple until the mid hill and all the way up to Penang Hill at South View bungalow. Unfortunately, he was threatened and chased away by other dogs at South View. It all happened so suddenly and we did not even have time to protect him. I felt so sorry for that. However, I did watch on documentary before that most animals have their own clans and territories, and are very protective on that, including monkeys, tigers, dogs and etc. We felt sorry for him and was wondering whether he would be bitten or hurt by other dogs. It's really a wild world out there!

During this morning's hike, I was surprised to see him again, strolling along the trek, slightly before the small temple. He seemed to recognize me and started to play with me again, kept on jumping on both legs! I felt relieved when I saw him intact without injuries. I also fed him some breads before we proceeded to the mid hill. He followed us until the mid hill then disappeared. I guessed, not only human learned from mistakes, dogs learned from experiences as well, especially the sense of dangers! I was glad that he did not follow us all the way through this time. It would be sad to see him being chased away again by other dogs !

Today's hike started at 8.00 am and I tried my best to follow the same trek lead by uncle Yong on last Saturday. I was not very sure it was 100% exactly the same journey but we landed at almost the same stops before we reached the top. It was a bright sunny day today versus the cloudy weather on last weekend. We managed to reach Penang Hill at around 11.00 am, enjoyed the cool breeze and also a bowl of the famous Ice Kacang before we took the train town. I brought my camera with me this time and managed to take some pix of the dog and farms. They were beautiful!

 

Last week was Thailand King's birthday. Thais love their King so much. This year, they choose pink color to represent long life for the King. I heard rumors that was because the King was spotted in pink shirt when he left a local hospital after convalescene. Pink T-shirt became over nite sensation and was out of stock for a few days. Thai citizens snapped up pink T-shirts just like hot cakes. The government had to pump in more pink T-shirts in order to curb the shortage and price inflation. Its a zeitgeist just like Yoga in New York and Taipei!

 

Oh yes, hot cake is the word. On this side of the globe, I heard Malaysians in KL were queueing up for hours at Secret Recipe just to purchase discounted cakes in conjunction with its anniversary. Some people started queueing at as early as 8.00 am even though those outlets were opened only at 9.00 am! Well, personally I am a fans of Secret Recipe cakes, especially its cheese cakes. However, I still think that we might be over reacting on this. We had Malaysians camping over nite purchasing flats and IPOs before, now is it the turn for discounted cakes???

 

Don't get me wrong. I am not here to condemn any parties. On one hand, Thai people are dying for their King. On the other hand, we are dying for cakes? Isn't that pathetic?