Hanoi, Vietnam - Part 1

11th August ,2008

Kuala Lumpur - Hanoi

Didn't have much sleep as we need to leave home for airport at wee hours. Even though it's still dark , but the weather outside is real humid. Departed at 6.30am for Hanoi.
Here comes my much anticipated holiday.

Arrived Hanoi on time. Looking high and low for our driver but saw no one. A little bit anxious as we don't expect such problem. A guy from nowhere volunteered to call our hotel and soon after that, we were told to get into a taxi that will drive us to our hotel. At that moment, there's no time for us to consider anything as we desperately needed to get to our hotel. Just have to trust the driver.

The traffic is chaotic or should I say it's pretty normal in most parts of Vietnam. The scenery along the way is quite scenic, and there's many street vendors selling french bread if I am not mistaken. The way they do business along the road is quite dangerous but it doesn't bother them it seems. They are already accustomed to such vendors I guess.

















Streets in Hanoi



Alright, we arrived at the hotel safely but we have to carry our own bags as the hotel is located in such location that it is not accessible to four-wheelers. No complain about that because along the way, we see many locals doing business in the morning markets. Foods, vegetables, meats, everything. You can see almost everything in that market.

















Market scene



Soon after we have checked-in, we decided to look for a place to cure our hungry stomach. What else do you eat in Hanoi if not pho bo. The hotel guy recommended this shop but honestly speaking, I am very dissapointed because it doesn't live up to my expectation. I expected the food to be tremendously good, but I was wrong. I can have better pho bo right here in KL. Anyway, that's just the beginning.

After breakfast, we make our way to the famous Old Quarters. One have to be very careful whenever walking on the street of Hanoi as motorbikes and bicycles seems to have less concern for pedestrians. Even crossing the road is a challenge.




































Parts of Old Quarters



Had our lunch at the local stalls. That lunch was great as we tried out many local foods which is not available in KL.






















Back alley
















Dessert


















My lunch



















Tau fu fah vendor



After walking around under the scorching sun for some time, we finally find a place to rest our tired legs- Hoam Kiem Lake.

















Hoam Kiem Lake


















A tired-looking me



After a short break, we decided to have our dinner, but there's no where we can find a decent shop serving decent meal. A little dissapointed for the second time. As we have the water puppet show to catch, we decided to eat at a stall serving dry beef noodle with I-dunno-what's-the-vegetable-name.

Dissapointed for the third time :-(

As we have been walking endlessly during the day, I can't stand the sleepyness anymore and sorry to say that I fell asleep during the water puppet show (nice aircond and the seati is so comfortable). You see, I am not interested in that show in the first place as it is in Vietnamese and I don't understand a word. Anyway since my travel buddy wanted to see it so much, I have no choice but to tag along.

Unable to find our way back to the hotel. Asked around so many times and that tireds me because the distance from Hoam Kiem Lake to our hotel is not that near. But thankfully, the Hanoians are friendly people and they managed to give us directions back to our hotel.

To be continued...

Jakarta, Indonesia (Part 3)

Day 3

We will be leaving Jakarta tomorrow afternoon.

As we do not wish to be exposed to the scorching sun and crazy traffic, we decided to do our last minute shopping at one of the mall connecting to our hotel.

Before we left for Jakarta, I thought to myself that Rp 4 million should be good enough for the three of us for a 4 days 3 nights trip. But I was wrong. The food on the 1st and 2nd day already cost us a bomb as they are quite pricey. Furthermore, we have a list of things-to-buy for friends and relatives. That also cost us a bomb.

No choice but to look for a money changer :-(

We bought many different types of local delicacies which is uncommon in Malaysia to be distributed among friends and relatives.

Out of curiosity, I bought a few bottles of chilli sauce to be brought home because it's not the ordinary chilli sauce with cap and in glass bottle. These cute chilli sauce are in small plastic bottle and it's tiny. Easy to use and will not cause any spill no matter how clumsy and careless you are.


Tea break at May Star Restaurant.

They served one of the best chee cheong fun and dim sum that I have ever tasted. Thumb up for the food and brilliant services offered by the waiters and waitresses. They are very polite and professional.

Decent chinese restaurant table setting

Our sumptous afternoon tea break

After our tea break, we went back to hotel for a rest.

Soon it's dinner time.


Since it's our last night in Jakarta, we decided to invite Merry and her husband over for dinner at the hotel.



We had a great dinner with the company of Merry and her husband. Will certainly return to Jakarta again.

Jakarta, Indonesia -Photo Gallery

Padang & Chinese food

Chinese Dim Sum at May Star Restaurant, Le Grandeur Mangga Dua Hotel

Merry, Me, and Fiona

Special coconut pudding

View from a Blue Bird cab

No title :-(

I am very exhausted today :-(

Will not be posting tonight as my mind is not functioning properly.

Cheers !

Jakarta, Indonesia (Part 2)

Day 2

It's Monday. Have to be on our own as my friend needs to work.

We checked out from Tematik Hotel and make our way to Le Grandeur Hotel (formerly known as Dusit Mangga Dua) in Mangga Dua area.

Waited quite a while for a taxi to pick us up. The reason for delay is 'mai jiet' , it means traffic jam. Ya, the traffic was quite bad on that day.

Managed to arrive Le Grandeur Hotel right before lunch. The check-in staff is very polite and he did us a favour by allowing us to check in before the designated check-in time. Million thanks to him.

View from our hotel room located on the 15th floor

Proceed to ITC Mall which is connected to our hotel. Wanted to have some food to satisfy our hungry stomach. Followed the sign that leads to Food Court. Well, the food court in Jakarta is almost the same as what we have back home, but in terms of varieties, we can't compete with them.

I guess the food business at the food court is very competitive, that is why wherever we go, we were given coupons for freebies such as bottled drinks. It looks more like a market to me where all the vendors is shouting and shooving coupons and menus into our hands. It's an eye-opener for me as we don't see such thing happening in our food courts.

Can't make up our mind on what to eat because honestly speaking, the choices are endless. Therefore, decided to settle down for lunch at a chinese restaurant just outside the food court.

Our lunch at Bakmi Naga, ITC Mall, Mangga Dua

Had a great and satisfying meal.

After meal, we shopped around ITC Mall and managed to get some souveniors for friends and family members.

Decided to call it a day at 5pm.

Back to hotel for a rest.

Sunset in downtown Jakarta

Soon it's dinner time. We wanted to try out local food but unfortunately there isn't any decent shop around our hotel. Finally after much discussion, decided to try out the hotel dinner buffet.

Le Grandeur Hotel Coffee House

Paid Rp.110,000 per person. Well, the food presentation is quite impressive. Although nothing to shout about but nonetheless we had a great time sampling some unique Indonesian cuisine where we can't find it back home.

To be continued...

Jakarta, Indonesia

It was a beautiful Sunday and I am so excited about my first trip to Jakarta, Indonesia.

To many, Jakarta may not be their choice for holiday, but not for me. I love places that are not packed with tourist because that's the best place to see for ourselves how the locals live their daily lives.

Coincidently, I have friends residing in Jakarta, therefore without further consideration, I made up my mind 6 months ago that Jakarta is my next destination for holiday.

Arrived in Jakarta exactly after a two-hour flight from Kuala Lumpur. The weather was fine, but a little hazy. My friends were at the arrival hall to greet us and no words could describe how joyful we were to meet each other again.

Our first destination is of course the hotel. This hotel that we are going to stay a night is quite little let-down as the location is not strategic. Anyway, we have already decided that we are going to change hotel the next day. Room rate is at RP.302,500 per room per night not including breakfast. Extra bed is RP25,000.

After checking in, we proceed to Mangga Dua area for lunch. My friend Merry and her husband Gatot brought us to Orion Mall and Mangga Dua Mall. That's where we had our lunch and did some shopping.


My friend Merry and her husband, Gatot.


Later that night, we went to Anggerik Mall for more shoppings. Merry wanted to bring us to Senayan for more shopping but we declined because we were drop dead exhausted and needed some rest.


Back in hotel, after our shower, we went for dinner at the restaurant located at the ground floor of the hotel.

Our dinner at Lian Yuan Restaurant



It's the best meal we have ever tasted. Much more delicious that what we tasted in Taiwan and Hong Kong. The best part is we noticed that all the dishes are MSG-free. Great job to the chef of Lian Yuan Restaurant@ Tematik Hotel, Jakarta Utara.




Unable to sleep well due to noise from the disco which is real loud. Anyway, I dozed off soon after that. Tiredly exhausted after a long day.

to be continued....

Travelling journal

It was a beautiful Saturday. We headed down south for a long-await holiday. En-route we stopped by at the Ayer Keroh R&R for our lunch break as well as toilet break. Along the way, I am still wondering am I doing the right thing ? JB is not 40 minutes away from KL, it's 4 hours ! Are we that desperate to attend the 'Summer Concert ' that we have to travel all the way from KL to JB, an almost 5 hours drive !
Anyway, driving along the North South Highway is quite a breeze. At the same time, I could catch up with friends and got updated information about their current situation. strait of Johore from our hotel


It has been ages since I stepped foot in Johor Bahru. The name is ever so familiar but I just couldn't imagine what it's like as I have no impression or memory about that place.

DANGA BAY - A place where you can have lots of endless fun without burning a hole in the pocekt. It was a real cool place to hang-out for those that desires to be seen and noticed. Came across people of all ages, backgrounds, religions...etc. Can't deny there might be some Singaporean in between.

Danga Bay International Restaurant

The night air was cool as the weather in the afternoon was a little cloudy and windy. Although we could choose to watch the concert at the comfort of our home, but nothing beats being there and experience the fiesta mood.

The concert was real good as our favourite artist, Nicholas Teo was there to rendered a few songs that could send one to cloud nine! He is soooo good looking and his voice was superb! It's great to know that Kuching has such good and talented singer and he really makes us feel proud!

Besides Nicholas Teo we have a few local artists as well. Applause to all of them as they did a great performance.

We left early as we certainly do not wish to get stuck in a massive traffic jam after the concert ended. We had our dinner at 12 midnight at one of the shop in town. As our hotel is just walking distance to eating shops, we have no difficulty getting food even at such odd hour.
Finally snoozed off at 2am.

Breakfast the next morning was nothing to shout about as the food is not that impressive and tasty. We ate for the sake of eating.

My breakfast

We checked out soon after breakfast as we have another place to visit- Kluang .

Kluang is a small town , about 1/2 hour from Skudai. The famous Kluang train station is well-known for it's aromatic coffee, nasi lemak and roti spread with kaya and butter. My friend's relatives were so warm towards us. We had an enjoyable trip, not to mention lots of good foods as well.

Although that trip was short, we still managed to visit many places of attraction such as Gunung Lambak, and of course the train station !

Reached home around 9.30pm. Was dead tired but nonetheless, enjoyed the trip very much.