Boat trip! This morning we headed north to Ha Long Bay for an overnight trip in the bay on a junk. The drive went quick because of the scenery. I love driving through a new country and staring at all the new sights of the countryside, local farmers, rice paddies, and a dead cow on the back of a motorcycle. Almost anything on the back of a moto…
After a good night’s sleep, I can appreciate the entrepreneurial humor of the Vietnamese I met yesterday. To them, all westerners are rich and have money to waste. Since I’m staying in the Old District, I did a lot of walking this morning. The streets are so busy here. Motorcycles and bicycles and pedestrians are everywhere, with a car thrown in every now and then. To cross the…
Since I had a really early flight to Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC), I ended up sleeping in the Singapore airport last night. Which means I spent the night curled up in an uncomfortable chair at the coffee shop, trying to sleep. After my flight arrived in HCMC, I walked to the domestic terminal, and waited for my flight to Hanoi. Welcome back to the real SE Asia!…
I ended up spending a week in Singapore waiting for my Vietnam visa. The first day I was going to drop my passport off at the embassy, it was a public holiday, but I ended up getting my visa in time. Singapore was a fun city, but since they’re known for their shopping and eating (both of which are expensive hobbies in this city), it wasn’t the easiest…
This morning, I used the pay phone to call another hostel, checked out, and high-tailed it for the Muslim Quarter. I took the MRT to Bugis station and then walked in the wrong direction for 20 minutes. I almost walked all the way to the city center! So I bused back to were I started, walked for 5 minutes in the other direction, circled the neighborhood twice and…
This morning after breakfast, I really drug my feet packing up my bag and checking out. It’s been so great staying in nicer hotels, with a room to myself. Tonight, it’s back to hosteling. I went to the Asian Civilization Museum with a few of the California girls who are still here. We had drinks and a light lunch on the Quay, before heading to Little India. After…
After several relaxing days in Melaka, it was off to Singapore. Goodbye Malaysia and cheap prices! Hello Singapore, land of exorbitant prices! After we arrived, we took the MRT (Singapore metro) out to the Singapore Zoo. Since I’ll be here for a week, I bought a metro EZ-card, like I did in Tokyo, so I don’t have to buy single trip tickets every time. Anyway, the zoo was…
We took the three hour bus ride down to Melaka, yesterday. We went to a local Malay restaurant at lunch and ordered family style, so I finally got to taste all the Malay food I’ve been wanting to try. After lunch, we walked to the Chinatown area, and then I took off, for some exploring. I did some browsing in Chinatown, walked to the St. Paul’s church on…
This morning we went to the Petronas Twin Towers in KL. What a view of the city! Below the towers, is a gigantic mall, so we did a little bit of shopping, before heading out to the Kraft town. I ended up buying a dress at Zara. After walking all afternoon, we stopped in another mall to eat at the basement food court. Have I mentioned how cool…
Today we left for Kuala Lumpur (KL). Wow, what a change, going from serene, scenic mountain village to claustrophobic, humid, traffic clogged city. KL is huge! It’s a such a different mix of wealth and poverty, so much different than Bangkok. After checking in to our hotel, I went to lunch and then we caught the bus to the Batu Caves. The Batu Caves is a Hindu shrine.…
Yesterday morning, we took a bus to the Cameron Highlands. I’ve never been on a bus that was driven like that. It seemed like we were going to fly off every corner! Not a comforting thought as you’re driving through the “highlands.” We arrived around 2pm, and walked through town to our guest house. It’s so different here than what I’ve seen so far in Malaysia. The biggest…
Malaysia loves the letter “K.” It seems to be the most prominent letter in the Malay language. Taxi is teksi, ticket is tiket, cafe is kafe… Speaking of kafe, kafe doesn’t mean early and kopi (coffee) is an afternoon thing. After several hours of wandering, I realized that all the kafes open around 2pm. Welcome to Malaysia! After finally finding some breakfast and coffee, we caught the bus…