Halong Bay, Vietnam

This is the photo i took on Halong Bay. The fishermen were working against such a breathtaking backdrop. but i was wondering, did they stop to admire the great nature, or they are so busy surviving. Similarly i was working in KL, did i really admire its surrounding. I've fallen into deep thoughts... what about life? Are we merely living? or have we ever truly understand and admire what we are doing now?

Photo taken on: 6th November 2007

Sapa, Vietnam

This is the kind H'mong lady, whom helped my travel partner a lot throughout the hike.
Well, no doubt she intended to first help and then sell something to us, but her genuine kindness was natural and no great actor can fake that. It is just sad that commercialized tourism and quick way of earning money will eventually (or have already) gets to her or the ppl there... this really is the double edged knife kinda issue... on one hand tourism (supposedly) helps them earn more money, boast the economy, but at the same time corrupts their ways of living, made them lazy, and exactly how much money earned from the tourism directly benefit this group of minorities?

Photo taken at Sapa, Vietnam at 5th November 2007

Hanoi - Day 2 (1/11) PART 2

The breakfast was big alright! - a baguette (or is it French roll?), 4 slices of ham, a sunny side up egg, a small bowl of sweet peas, french fries... i can hardly finish it. the coffee was really strong, wide eyes opened!! and also there goes my diet plan! hahaha. i'm sitting here thinking to myself what am i doing here having English or part French breakfast in Vietnam? i should be going out, have pho bo (beef noodles) by the roadside, fruit juice, half sit half squat instead... i think i will just do that from tomorrow onwards.

It is hard to start a conversation here with the locals, they are generally shy ppl, a bit cold, and don't speak that much of English too...

The plan after breakfast was walking all alone around Hoan Kiem Lake. I took my steps slowly, observing ppl and snapping photos. i've made a round surrounding the lake and it has been quite rewading. i've seen the red bridge, the temple although i didn't pay the 2000VND entrance fee, i think i'll just wait for my travel partner San to join me later. i also found out the location of Trang Luong Water Puppetry show locale, the way to Opera House, the Turtle Temple in the middle of the lake. Then i made a detour to the St. Joseph Cathedral, joined in the morning mass, some kinda ceremony was going on and the church was a fullhouse. i stood beside all vietnamese, listening to prayers and hymns sang in Vietnamese, it is really a weird and surreal feeling.... However, the church interior and exterior are really stunning! it lives up to its nickname as the little Dome in Vietnam. the glass painting depicting catholic (or christian?) story, the structure of the building is simply grand and cool. Around the cathedral, i've also found many restaurants that's worth exploring later, eg La Salsa and Moca Cafe. I will definitely return to have a meal here, especially Moca, heard so much about it. also saw the famous Bobby Chinn's restaurant, but i just think it is too pricey for me! :( Bunch of school boys and gals surrounded the church area, i'm not sure why, but their uniforms are just so... weird... mmm... okay maybe i'm just not quite used to them...

then again i made a round back to the Vietnam airline office where minibus can be taken to the airport for only USD2, that's probably a good option for me to go to airport when i want to go home.... hehehe.... poor mah... surprisingly the Old Quarter 36 streets and districts are not at all far from each other, and it's actually quite easy to navigate. i walked from 8.30-10.30am, my feet were a bit sore but can be tolerated. so i decided to visit the nearby Temple Le Guo Shi (or something like that, to be corrected when i return to m'sia later). it is small and nothing really to see. i then walked to Hang Gai to search for the fruit milkshake stall but to no avail. it should be there... but couldn't find... argh... i gave up...

About 11am, i went back to my room, took a rest, took a dump, wrote a bit journal, did whatever, and it's already 12pm. sigh time flies... without wasting time, i made my way to the famous grilled fish dish at Cha Ca La Vong. Cha Ca means grilled fish, and the street Cha Ca La Vong is named after the dish!!! so it must be good then. The famous one that recommended by everyone, lonely planet should be no. 14 on that street, but i supposed there are a lot of restaurant aka copycats that put up "14" sign to con ppl eventhough the shop is not located at no.14. everyone is to be warned, everything here can be copied in Vietnam, especially famous names... you will have tons of shop with the name Sinh Cafe, Hapro, Little Hanoi, Kangaroo cafe, Camellia hotel, Prince Hotel... even Cha Ca!!! unbelievable!!! bollocks! hahahaha...

Hanoi - Day 2 (1/11) PART 1

Woke up by 6am and i could hear sound of motorbikes roaming on the street and the dawn has just begun!! WTF! i lazed myself on the bed, hey after all i am on holiday, so i reckoned i should be relaxing as much as i could, no?

When i'm ready to go, it was already 6.45am. it was cold morning, in fact according the Luong, the winter has just started. but to my surprise, the hostel is "closed", locked, i can't go to the lobby, and when i peeked out, the main grill and door were all locked up too!! So much of the plan to visit Hoan Kiem Lake and watch old folks tai chi by the lakeside, cause i have the staffs still sleeping soundly even when there's doorbell rang outside... i supposed there are ppl who want to get in as much as me who want to get out... but the "jaga" still haven't "terjaga" yet... hahahaha...

After about 30 minutes of reading the first chapter of "jungle of Norway", i tried my luck again downstair. this time the cafe is finally opened. i ordered a brekkie (30000VND, RM7) and a Vietnamese dripping coffee with milk (10000VND)... quite a pricey breakfast i guess, but i thought the second morning i'm not too ready to step out of my comfort zone yet, and it was drizzling outside too! so i might as well had breakfast in the warm cozy lobby cum restaurant of the guesthouse... occassionally there's chatters coming from 3 angmohs across my table. the pace in this little cafe was really slow and i seems to enjoy it quite a bit, i thought i could get use to it too. outside the street, the life is busy, we have bicycles selling flowers, another lady just passed by singing but i couldn't figure out what she has in the 2 styrofoam boxes she carried on her shoulder... wait a minute, I also gotta talk to the counter guy to teach me how to really handle and drink this dripping coffee properly... hahahaha!

Hanoi - Day 1 (31/10) PART 2

So, i walked out and then just wandering around Old Quarter near Hoan Kiem area. Very very tempted to eat street food, but i have that thoughts going on in my mind that the next stall will be better... so after walking for more than 15 minutes, i still haven't had anything yet. hahaha. so finally when i saw my guesthouse again, i knew i have to settle for anything appear next. BUT, to my shocking horror, on the next stall, i saw "naked" rats lying on the table, awww.... so gross, i really do not have the guts to try mouse flesh, so i have to skip this one. Luckily on the next stall they have more customers and they seems to sell more normal food. so okay lor, i just sat down on this little tiny stool, pointed my forefinger out to signal the lady, and automatically she made me a bowl of noodles with char siew, fried wantan and a bowl of soup with mushroom and vege and more wantans... hahahaha.... okay lah, i think it is their version of wantan mee, only more spicy, more herbal leaves, bit sour bit sweet, and the noodles were like half soupy half guan-low... but it was definitely a good dinner... cost: 15000VND (about RM3.30).

After dinner, i walked back to Real Darling, talked to Luong, the lady at the counter, about tours... ordered a Bia Hoi (Vietnamese beer) for 10000VND (abt RM2.20), sat at the lobby and did some reading. When a Jap girl, Minako, appeared, apparently just returned from Halong Bay tour, i chatted with her for quite a while. She is a fun loving and open minded girl, she worked as an announcer for a TV shopping channel in Tokyo.

By 10.30pm, I went back to my room, took a hot shower & slept by around 11.30pm.

Hanoi - Day 1 (31/10) PART 1

The flight was delayed, Air Asia mah, what do you expect? so when i arrived, i was already very tired and hungry, not to mention helpless. My adventurous spirit was gone. when i saw my name (& fren's name) on a paper held by a man (taxi driver), i just went straight to him & hop on the taxi. OK OK, at first i wanted to ignore the taxi provided by the hotel i booked, coz i have emailed them to cancel but no reply from them. But then when i saw this young man waiting & in fact he might not get any passenger to go back and cover his fuel to come to airport, i pity him, that's why i follow him.

i arrived at Real Darling Cafe Guesthouse at around 7pm (malaysian time 8pm) to check in to the twin room i've booked (which i have emailed to them a day earlier to change to a single room coz my travel partner won't be joining me for the 1st 3 days), but like what happened to the "cancelled" taxi, they forced me to take up the twin room with an offered price USD7 instead of the original USD8. well, so it's only 1 dollar difference to the single room which would cost me USD6... so i said WTF, give me the twin room then, but i demanded single room for the next 2 nights, but i guess they just have too much empty rooms, or is it bcoz they are too lazy or just not cost efective to change room and change linen, they offered me to stay in the same twin room with the single room price USD6... well, good enough, i'll take it!

Then like any usual hostel/hotel here, they started to push me into buying their tour packages. OK, they are not that pushy really, they only started to hardsell when i asked... so it's partly my fault, i have given them the opportunity to harrass me.... wuahahahaha! anyway, i just told them i was too hungry, maybe i should talk to them only after dinner.

So, i go to my room #305 through a series of steep staircase, a very basic room with no table or no nonsense at all, just 2 single bed, a hanger, cable TV, basic bathroom with hot shower. the staffs are frenly and helpful too. all in all, a good hostel!

Impressions about Vietnam (Hanoi)

1.
Well, similar to Korea, the road and driver seat are on a different side from Malaysia, but unlike Korea, the traffic here is simply hopeless. The moment the taxi entered Old Quarter, bikes and bicycles were swamping in from all possible directions, really i didn't bluff!! Nothing you can do about it, but just have to be extra careful and lay an extra eye before you decide to cross the road - look left, look right, look left again seems really helpful here. and my driver honked o so often, and even more often, honked by others. seems like honking is Vietnamese's favorite passtime.

2.
Everything is so SLIM here, men, women, streets, shops, doors, alleys, staircase... all so narrow and long... ok, even the country itself is long and slim on the map, so no wonder lah!

3.
Weather, arghhhh, the weather is awful here - raining, drizzling nonstop. The damped road and water splased from bikes and from my own slippers didn't help at all. the back of my pants are now full of black dots and marks from mud, and ok, the mud from the roadside is black in color one.... gross...

4.
Vietnamese just throw their rubbish on the side of the road, simply like that... there's no dustbin, except in your room. and i think there should be ppl cleaning up the rubbish from the street very often, coz i don't see rubbish piling up anywhere....

5.
Men are goodlooking, women are pretty... surprisingly they are very good looking bunch of ppl. women are generally more friendly than men, men seems to be a bit cold to outsiders. they are extremely curious about foreigner, especially Angmohs... hahaha... and all other Asian looking ppl are either from Japan or China. hahahahaha.... and they never say thank you... not very polite.

6.
there are more bikes than human here. and there are more bikes for hire than tourists... every corner you turn, they will be ppl on the bike asking you whether you want a lift (for a fee of coz) or not... sienz... but you just have to smile at them, waves your hand, reject politely, you should be alright, they won't bug you.

Temporary plan in Vietnam

31st October 2007 (Wednesday)
Arrive at Hanoi in the evening, check in to hotel... remember to book hotel before going!!
Checking out Hanoi night scenes, maybe talk to ppl and newly made friends about traveling in Vietnam.

1st November 2007 (Thursday)
Have to book train tickets to Sapa and also package trip to Halong Bay in the morning. If possible also buy tickets for the water puppets show.
Spending the afternoon drinking dripping coffee by the roadside watching Vietnam ppl and lifestyle.
Maybe catching the night train to Sapa by 11pm if manage to get tickets.


2nd November 2007 (Friday)
Hopefully arrive at Sapa in the morning... check into hotel and walk around Sapa town.

Afternoon exploring H'mong village and do some hiking, watching terrace field.


3rd November 2007 (Saturday)
Morning market at Sapa highland... witness all minority tribes gather to sell cultural goods and accessories, get myself something too... shirts maybe.

Catch the afternoon train to go back to Hanoi.

Reached Hanoi in the evening, check in back to hotel.
Night hopefully go to Jazz Pub to listen to live music and spend the night.


4th November 2007 (Sunday)
Morning 7am going on trip to Halong Bay

Reach Halong Bay in the afternoon, hop on junk boat, enjoying the sceneries, hopefully no mist!

Overnight on junk boat.

5th November 2007 (Monday)
Sunrise watching on the junk.

Cave exploring, maybe even kayaking depends on the tour package.

Evening back to Hanoi.
Savouring Hanoi street food and a little shopping.

6th November 2007 (Tuesday)
Museums, parks, temples, travel spots.
Eat eat eat, shop shop shop.
Water puppets show at night.


7th November 2007 (Wednesday)
Last minute shopping and exploring...
And it's bye bye time in the late afternoon.

Me & my teddy

just got a photo from a fren... can't wait to share with all of you... hehehe... i brought someone up to the summit that day too... here it is:



it's my beloved teddy bear!!! he accompanied me to go up all the way! :P

i figured if i cannot be the first to be up there, i wanna be the first to bring teddy bear up there... hehehehe... :P

(and someone adds: i look like Digi-yellowman "I will follow you..." all the way up to mount KK! :P)

On the summit!! ^_^

2 years ago, i returned to Penang with this black and white cert - which stated the peak is 4095.2m, but i only managed to hike up some 3272m...


i didn't really felt defeated, cause i knew myself, i am just not fit to finish that task.

so 2 years later, last week, i returned to KL with this beautiful full colored, embossed cert, that stated i have made it to the peak...


first, we have to register ourselves at the Kinabalu Park head quarter near Timpohon. and outside its office, we could see our destination quite clearly that day...


above the clouds, there where we wanted to go:

Mount KK summit.

taking the route as illustrated here in this postcard:

I took 3 hours from Laban Rata Resthouse (the brightest spot on the postcard), follow exactly the white dotted line to Low's Peak (the highest peak).

and shortly after the sunrise, on my way down Low's peak, i snapped this photo:

it is magnificent, no? this is the Kinabalu South peak. and i think this is the most beautiful peak of all.

scratch off 1 item from my list of things to do before i die

~ 3rd May 2007 thursday 5.30am ~

ya, and this time i finally stepped on Low's Peak, the highest summit of Mount Kinabalu.



on 4095.2m above sea level, i was thrilled to tears.

no no, it is definitely nothing tough for physically fit ppl, but it is an achievement, personal achievement for myself.



i was standing on the spot of these 2 ppl in the photo... 5.05am... 0.5km away from the highest peak... my mind was telling me to give up, it was too tiring, your legs would suffer so much, you are out of breath... but my heart was telling me the other things, that your friends are all waiting up there for you, the sun is about to rise, and you will regret if you give up now... so my feet kept on moving, step by step...

the day before this dusk, i have walked some 8.2km of trails through Mesilau route all the way to Laban Rata, where we stayed a night. i was carrying 10.5kg bag, panting ever so heavily every 100m... it was raining the last half of the hike, i was too tired to even rest for a snack or a sip of water. so in about 7 hours and 40 minutes of walking on my sore feet, i reached Laban Rata by 4pm.

when the white resthouse appeared before me, memory caught me - 2 years ago, i WAS here too! that time, my right knee was killing me, as if my knee cap was going to drop any minute... i knew then i could not make it to the summit due to the injury... which was true, the next morning 2 years ago i was watching my other teammates getting ready to conquer and wishing them goodlucks! bad news hit us that morning that due to heavy rain we were all forbid to go up to summit... boo... SO, this was my second attempt!! seeing that white resthouse - LABAN RATA, has so much meanings for me!!

we rest for a night, and by 2.30am, we were again hiking from Laban Rata with our head lamp, 3 layers of jackets, track pant, a bottle of "energy-boosting" plain water and a bar of snicker. it was dark and crowdy. everyone was walking slowly, perhaps haven't recovered from the pain we got from the previous hike... we followed each other's footprints slowly but nonstop, expected a hard climb of 3 hours, or more, to reach the summit before sunrise.

so, after so much hard work, on that spot i was stadning, my heart told my mind... YOU JUST CANNOT QUIT NOW!!!You just has to finish that damn 0.5km!!!!



Here i am, i told myself on the signpost that marked 4095.2m Low's Peak, i felt like i could achieve just anything! the chilling winds were blowing, but my heart was warm. no word can describe my feelings and the stunning views from the peak... no photo can fully depict the grand view of the huge granite rock that i was standing on... i just felt like everyone has to do it once in their lifetime. so, here i scratch out 1 item from the list of things to do before i die - i have no regret!!! :)))



(photos are from http://www.mysabah.com/ and not my own... when i got my photos from others' cameras, i will post them up!!)