Short Note: I am flying to Hanoi, Vietnam tomorrow. Travelling is a never ending journey for me.


Guy – Kenny

Kenny sends an email to Nicole, his travelling partner to Vietnam trip.



Hey Nicole,

Hope you're slowly recovering from your Tokyo Drift. :)

Our trip to Hanoi will be more backpacker style and Not So Fast Not So Furious. I've pretty much planned for the trip months ago and here's what we're gonna do.


Thursday, 6th September 2007
3:35pm - Kenny arrives KL from Kuching. Flight AK5207.
4pm - Meet at LCCT Airport.
5pm - Flight AK672 KL to Hanoi (3.5 hours)
7:30pm - Arrive Hanoi Noi Bai Airport. Check out and book 'Airport Taxi' to travel agency in Hanoi town (45mins, USD$10). Travel Agency address: Vietnam Impressive Travel ltd. 19 Tran Phu, Ba Dinh, Ha Noi. Tel: (84-4) 747 8271
If time permits, also book one-night boat tour to Halong Bay.
8:45pm - Pick up train tickets from Travel Agency (USD$44 per person, booked). Depart for Hanoi Train station a short distance away.
9:15pm - Take train from Hanoi Train Station to Lao Cai Train Station (9 hours). Overnight in train.

Friday, 7th September 2007
6am - Arrive Lao Cai Train Station. Change into hiking outfit and store luggage at train station. (If no luggage storage facilities available, we will book a cheap hotel in Sapa). Take shuttle bus to Sapa town (25,000 dong per person, 1 hour)
8am - Arrive Sapa town. Go to Sapa Tourism Information Centre.
Pre-book bus back to Sapa at 6:30pm.
Visit Sapa Market.
Either arrange for guides or self-hike to Cat Cat Village (3km south, 1.5 hour) and surrounding areas (5,000 dong admission fee)
Walk to Cat Cat Waterfall, then to Sin Chai Village. Take motorcycle back to Sapa (USD$1 per person)
If return to Sapa before 2pm, hire a 4WD to Tram Ton Pass for breathtaking mountain views and waterfall. Otherwise, hike up to Radio Tower lookout within Sapa town.
6:30pm - Return to bus terminal, Sapa town for bus to Lao Cai.
8:15pm - Take train from Lao Cai Train Station to Hanoi Train Station (9 hours). Overnight in train.

Saturday, 8th September 2007
5:30am - Arrive Hanoi Train Station. Free time until 8:30am. (If haven't yet done so, book Halong Bay tour from nearby travel agency or hostel, expect to pay USD$40 - USD$55 per person)
8:30am - Wait for bus to pick up from stated location in Hanoi to transfer to Halong town (3.5 hours)
12noon - Arrive Halong town, go on boat tour around Halong bay.
Swim and kayak around the area.
Overnight on boat.

Sunday, 9th September 2007
6:30am - Follow boat tour programme.
12noon - Depart Halong town for Hanoi
4pm - Arrive Hanoi. Check into guesthouse (yet to book. About USD$6.50 per person. I'm thinking this.)
6pm - Dinner at Bobby Chinn's restaurant. Explore surrounding areas.

Monday, 10th September 2007
8am - Explore Hanoi's sights and sounds, according to Lonely Planet guidebook.
Visit Ho Chi Minh's Masoleum
One Pillar Pagoda
Temple of Literature
Dong Xuan Market
Vietnamese massage
6pm - Depart Hanoi town for airport
8pm - Depart Hanoi for KL. Flight AK672 (3.5 hours)


Tuesday, 11th September 2007
12:30am - Arrive KL. Nicole to return home, Kenny to stay overnight in KL.
7:40pm - Kenny's flight from KL to Kuching. AK5214.


Note:
- Hanoi is one hour ahead of Malaysia (meaning when its 8pm in KL, it is 7pm in Hanoi)
- We might be having trouble finding a power socket to charge our gadgets. Get a spare battery for your phone and make sure its fully charged because we might not be able to find a power socket until Day 4.

Packing List:
- We'll be hiking on the 2nd day so make sure you got good shoes, windbreaker, warm but light clothing (Sapa is the coldest town in Vietnam). What you wore to Taman Negara should be fine.
- We'll be doing some swimming and kayaking on the 3rd day so make sure you have some swim wear with you.
- Bring your own towel. We won't be getting any 5-star treatments anytime in Hanoi.
- Vietnam uses Type C European round style sockets (refer to: http://users.pandora.be/worldstandards/electricity.htm#plugs_c). Bring a converter.
- Vietnam uses a mix of US dollars and Vietnamese dongs. Bring a mixture of both. About RM1,000 equivalent should be fine.


I think that's about it! Hope we'll have some great fun ahead! :D See ya this Thursday, babe.


Kenny


~*~*~*~*~*~*~


Girl – Nicole aka me

Nicole’s initial travel plan in mind:

Day 1
5pm: Fly to Hanoi
Free and Easy

Day 2
Free and Easy

Day 3
Free and Easy

Day 4
Free and Easy
Fly back to Malaysia



Packing list
RM500 and enough undies to survive for four days.

Let’s take a break from my crazy Japan trip and rewind back to 21st August.

As of all you who have been following up on my entries know that I went on a group trip to Krabi, Thailand two weeks back.





To be very honest, I didn’t really expect much out of this trip, I thought it was going to be a boring-visit-to-a-place-I-have-never-been-to trip. Well, frankly, I hardly ever traveled in groups, and from my experience, it’s always more fun and spontaneous to travel solo, everything at your own pace. I dislike going on tours, visiting lousy monuments that meant nothing to me. I want some actions, I’m an activity girl! Not a bloody tourist.

And second of all, this is a so called media trip. I have never been on a media trip, and it is huge step for us bloggers get the opportunities to travel alongside media and enjoy benefits media usually shares. At first I thought, oh great, what now, I am going to be a typical tourist that visits most of most common places tourists would visit in Krabi so the media gets to write good things and produce quality contents. Where’s the fun in that?

Bloggers, in my opinion, are ethical. When I hate the trip, we say it, or, we don’t blog about it; if we hate it so much, we write a whole colossal shit of bad things about it. This is my definition of blogger’s ethics. Yet according to ShaolinTiger, who is the other blogger who also went on the trip, “bloggers have no ethics”. In which has become my favourite line, lol. He writes good shit, unlike me, so if you want to be all boring, dull and backstabbing see really nice photography, go to his site and read his day to day trip on Krabi.


Tiger On Board


Don’t blame me for being a sore eye. One can only expect that much from a planned trip.

But I stood corrected. If there is one time I cannot be more wrong about traveling (knowledge), is it this one time.

I was so wrong not only I had a great time in Krabi, so wrong I HAD a STUPENDOUS TIME and so wrong I want to go back to Krabi again just to visit Uncle See Tho and maybe enjoy a good chat over a bowl of pork balls.

KRABI, my friends, fellow readers and family, is a MUST MUST MUST MUST visit place THIS YEAR!! NO, DO NOT GO NEXT YEAR. THIS YEAR!!!

Think Phuket, think Koh Samui, think Bangkok, just when I thought I have been to most of the famous destinations in Thailand, KRABI is the new found jewel of southern Thailand. UNTOUCHED, VIRGIN beach and islands!




One word, paradise.

We were lucky to be one of the first 300 or so visitors to board Malaysia’s very first flight to Krabi, now available on AirAsia flight route for as low as RM49.90.


Me sitting in Krabi Airport


This is the most comfortable trip I have ever gone on for a looonnggg time, thanks to Mr See Tho of See Tho Holidays who arranged the trip for us. For once I am going to stay in a hotel, and for once I am not bunking in a room shared with several other anonymous travelers, for once I need not endure an opera of snores at night, for once I can walk around the room naked and no one knows, LOL.

If you think Krabi is a rural place with nothing much to offer. Feast your eyes on these.

We dine at places like these,


Ban Ton Kao Restaurant



dining table



Sheraton Hotel


With view like this,


Ban Ton Kao Garden



Stay in places like this,


Whole freaking room to myself!!!


With view like this,




Then spend our days in places like these,


Crystal clear water




Beautiful sandy beach



Nice view, the rock I mean.


Eating food like these,













Sheraton dessert - coconut ice cream



In Krabi, even plain water looks tasty,




Luxury! I can get used to this. And considering the exchange rate, I don’t see why I shouldn’t put Thailand on my top travel destination. Budget airlines like AirAsia just made it possible for poor minions like us to travel with minimal budget.

Furthermore, Thai people in Krabi are so friendly, they will do anything to please you.

For RM49.90, you’ll get people treading through water to serve you.


photo courtesy of Matthew Ong.

Yea!! I am back from Tokyo, Japan!!

Just reached Melaka not long ago, tired but starting to miss Japan already! OMG I have only been away for less than 12 hours!!

The after effects after 9 days in beautiful Japan.

1. I keep saying ‘Arigatou’ (thank you in Japanese) to people at the Tol
2. I have the tendency to go underground whenever I’m out of the house
3. I nod my head everytime I say hi to someone
4. Always start my sentence with ‘Sumimasen’ (means Excuse me) which will end with an Arigatou.
5. I want to wear cute school girl uniform and walk around town
6. I say ‘Itadakimasu’ everytime before I eat
7. I feel my room at home is too big for my liking
8. Winnie the Pooh song kept playing in my mind (after being stuck in a 3 hour queue for a Pooh’s ride in Tokyo Disneyland)
9. Knee high socks and high heels seem like the coolest cutest and funkiest thing on earth
10. Suddenly I like illogical meaningless alien fictional creatures,





Especially one with no mouth.