Singapore lah!

Part of why I got into my current line of work is the many opportunities it offered to travel (I specifically had Japan in mind for this - we being a Japanese airline and all but they seem to have other plans).

 Case in point - for a week last August, we were sent to Singapore to join a "system boot-camp" of sorts as it condensed 2+weeks worth of material into 5 days of sakit-sa-bangs lectures and hands-on exercises. Weeks before the date, I was totally nervous. I was very new to all this but we were expected to do well among staff from other stations who were also joining. Since I never really found the time to prepare (although I REALLY meant to), I was betting on siting very near my co-manila office participant and whispering whenever I got lost to cover up the fact that I had absolutely no idea what was going on. She was, after all, a couple of flights up the experience ladder (being fresh from another airline) and was very very willing to be my cheatmate.

 Now, imagine my shock when we arrived in the training office (groggy from an early morning flight and wet from rain), to find that there were only 2 of us in this "special training session" and we were to sit in desks across from one another. This was nowhere near the scenario I had built my cheatmate plans on. I had to rely on to good old hard work, FOCUS and a steady supply of coffee (I also rephrased my questions in my head a couple of times to make sure they were valid). It helped that the trainors knew I had ZERO experience and they were patient especially during exercises when I was stuck trying to comprehend the problems while the printer was spitting out my colleague's already finished work.

I'd like to believe that I redeemed myself AFTER the work day when they let us explore the fine city of Singapore. I had a list of what-to-eat and where-to-eat from ex-residents, a what-to-buy list from my sister and a pretty good idea of where-to-go even without the how-to-get-there. Luckily, Raissa (my cheatmate) was as eager to walk around as I was and we eventually figured it out. We walked so much, we would have lost weight if we weren't stuffing ourselves with fabulous food every chance we got (I took so many food photos, they deserve another post).

 I think we covered the "Tourist in Singapore" basics:

 We admired the Merlion (until we could look at it no more),

went on the cable car ride to Sentosa (because the only text I got from my Dad  that week was: "Did you ride the cable car yet?")

 snacked on ice cream as we navigated orchard road, 

sampled a little bit of culture visiting Indian and Chinese temples,

pretended to be explorers in the Night Safari,

had a love affair with condensed milk, Passionfruit and the tiger (rawr!),

 and shopped for extra pasalubong at Bugis street

with a repeat performance at the Mustafa Centre at 2am.

It's a wonder how this city can offer such a unique blend of experiences - it makes for a very nice place to visit.

and I have these people to thank for it:

 1 stamp down and XX more to go!
Dear world, you best be ready :)

Thank you 2010, you were awesome!

The Party People of Phnom Penh

[Travel blog for trip of the (birthday) month September: Ho Chi Minh - Phnom Penh - Siem Reap - Ho Chi Minh. Part 2 of a 4 part, 3 city series. More photos here. (click!)]

When our plans of going to vietnam and cambodia started to take shape, I immediately contacted Tra, a Cambodian who was a friend of KAPS back in Japan. He went to the same school as I did (although he was a post graduate student) and was pretty much in every party the filipino scholars arranged. We (south east) asians were tight. He agreed to be our host in pnomh penh, even offering to pick us up and drive us to wherever we needed. I was really excited to see him (and his family!) because it made me feel that I did have "couches all over the world".

After we left at 9 am, our ride from Ho Chi Minh to the Cambodian border was considerably quick (about two hours along scenic country road). The bus took the Bavet-Moc Bai crossing, the first one to open to foreigners and the most popular one for those travelling by land. Our bus guide had collected our passports as soon as we got on the bus to check for visas and prepare for immigration procedures (he filled everything out for us too) and since most of the people on the bus were locals and satoko, who needed a visa, had applied for and received one in advance, crossing over to the next country didn't take much time. We stopped at a canteen near the border for lunch, changed a couple of dollars to the local currency (TIP: research on the exchange rate before you get there! at that time, $1 converted to roughly 4500 riel or Php1=100 riel) and continued on to Phnom Penh.

(the loveleh border. the designs are culturally inclined, AND pleasing to the eye. I'm so inggit.)

I was looking out my window the whole time and saw dirt road, endless green and houses on stilts. If it wasn't for the occasional temple (and sugar palm tree), I would have thought I was on Philippine soil, taking a trip up north.

After four more hours, we reached the capital tours bus terminal in the middle of a busy market in Phnom Penh. I had arranged for my cambodian friend to pick us up and even asked my bus seatmate, a middle aged cambodian man whose name I could not pronounce, to call him a few hours before we arrived so we wouldn't have any trouble finding each other at the station (I don't know if its just me, but I feel more comfortable talking to strangers in a foreign country). Just as I imagined, as soon as we got off the bus, a group of tuktuk drivers descended upon us offering their services and whatnot VERY VERY PERSISTENTLY. The trick here is not to let them get to you, they're just trying to make a living.

Tra found us soon enough and within a few minutes, we were riding around phnom penh. We were there kind of late so there wasn't enough time to see the city while it was light outside but still we passed by some interesting places like the Royal Palace, the prime minister's house and the Independence memorial before we drove to our home in Phnom Penh. Tra and his family lived in a gated community with people who drove luxury cars for neighbors. Apparently second hand luxury cars from the US are a popular form of family transportation. Bikes too.

After a quick shower we all went out to enjoy Phnom Penh's night life. First stop, the Phnom Penh night market where they sell everything from food to crafts to cellphones and antiques. There is a big stage in the middle of the market where performers entertain the huge crowd of locals out and about. Food stalls are grouped at the back of the market around an open space where everyone can picnic (like a school fair! what fun). Oh and we saw more than a few people walking around in pajamas - not just loose clothes that you would usually wear in bed but real pajama sets! That was awesome.

(KFC is the first international fast food chain in cambodia)

Next we went for dinner at a fancy cambodian restaurant/NGO. Squid with peppercorns, fried frogs, fish amok, green curry and Angkor beer filled us with happiness. Angkor beer tasted like a cleaner version of San Miguel Pale Pilsen and was nice and refreshing. But what really won me over that night was the peppercorns in the squid dish (as I have never tried fresh peppercorns before). Fun AND yum.

After a quick drive to tra's in-law's house (we had to drop of their kid for the next destination). We went out to DANCE! Phnom Penh IS the nightlife district of Cambodia. We arrived at around 10 pm and the club was already full of people of different races (and fashion inspirations). Basketball shorts and tsinelas, anyone? Too bad we couldn't take photos.

The music was great (except for the sometimes odd interjections of the dj) and the big surprise of the night: everyone knew justin beiber (and danced to his music too). Also, the waiters seem to be allergic to half-full glasses. They were constantly roaming around topping up drinks, adding ice and compulsively cleaning.

Since we had another early bus ride the next morning, we couldn't stay for longer. And when the sun shone the next morning, we thanked the party people and bid them goodbye :D

Useful Information:

Capital Tours Guest House

cheap rooms, right where the bus stops

No. 14AE0, Road 182

Sangkat Beng Prolitt

Khann 7 MAKARA Phnom Penh, Cambodia

http://www.capitolkh.com/default.htm

Phnom Penh Night Market

Red Soil Garden, Along Riverside, North of Old Market (Phsar Chas)

Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Open friday to sunday (5pm-12am)

MEKONG EXPRESS LIMOUSINE BUS

87Eo, Sisowath Quay, Sangkat Wat Phnom

mekongexpress@online.com.kh

-- we took this bus to siem reap. they charge an additional 3 dollars for foreigners (but you would never know that if you didn't try to have a cambodian buy tickets for you). You get snacks (yummy pastries) and water on board. plus the tour guide is pretty informative about the surroundings. :)

Good Morning, Ho Chi Minh :)

[Travel blog for trip of the (birthday) month September: Ho Chi Minh - Phnom Penh - Siem Reap - Ho Chi Minh. Part 1 of a 4 part, 3 city series. More photos here. (click!)]

When we had our passports renewed a year ago, our lolo asked us where we were going next and I immediately answered Thailand. I promised a couple of friends that we would meet again in a foreign country and Thailand seemed like the best option for all of us. Unfortunately, Thailand was receiving some grim publicity at that time, so my dreams of going around south east asia was put on hold. Even my friends, busy with their own lives (in their own countries) were unable to commit to a date and the initial excited planning died down to a promise that we will all converge somewhere in the world, someday.

Fast forward to a year later, I was determined to put a stamp on my passport that had gone unused since. My international travel history listed only 2 countries and I had used a new passport every time so my dream of having a collection of immigration stamps was nowhere near reality. A friend from work suggested Vietnam (partly because she was a vietnamese language major and had friends there) and said she would happily accompany me whenever I decided to go.

A couple of weeks (and an airline promo) later, we were on our way to saigon.
Before the flight, I read a couple of travel blogs, looked at some photos and asked a few friends on what to do in ho chi minh. Eating (and eating A LOT) was on the top of their lists. My list included singing along to "Miss Saigon" while walking along a sidewalk, drinking only coffee (and beer) and fanning myself with a million dong. Ate was on a mission to hoard mountaineering equipment for Mt. Pulag in december.

And because I was really bent on collecting stamps for my passport, we squeezed in a plan to cross the border to Cambodia and go see the angkor wat. That way, we get to be in two countries in a week! It was tiring just to even think about the amount of time we were going spend in land transit (because we were backpackers with no money to fly) but that was trumped by the thought of old buildings, trees and tomb raiders.

We flew in on Cebu Pacific's late night flight (never too late for games!) and hailed a cab outside the airport. Our vietnam-based contact recommended only VinaSun or Malinh taxi cabs because the drivers won't try to charge you extra. Plus they have clean cabs in an assortment of sizes. We went straight to a backpacker's lodge located in district 1 that Satoko had found and booked over the internet. The seem pretty used to tourists, spoke good english and helped us buy bus tickets to Phnom Penh the next morning.





The bus was scheduled to leave at 7am and 9am. We chose the latter so we could go for an early morning walk in search for breakfast. There was a park right across the alley where our guest house stood, filled with Vietnamese people of all ages playing badminton, dancing to ballroom music and enjoying a lazy saturday morning. There weren't a lot of tourists around (probably still asleep or drunk from the previous night). We walked for about twenty minutes and found the deli we were aiming for where we got some Banh Mi (incredible sandwiches consisting of baguettes filled with sliced meat, pickled vegetables and liver pate) which we promptly brought to a nearby street-side cafe and devoured. And when I say street-side, I do mean street (we were sitting on the side of a building with a styrofoam ice chest acting as a table. a common sight around hcmc).



The sidewalk cafe served vietnamese coffee for people on the way to work (or anyone else in need of a fix) so we got some to go with our sandwiches (and so we they would let us sit there). This coffee, served SWEET and in beer mugs filled to the brim with ice chips, was a revelation. I have always been more of a hot, black coffee person only because I have never encountered iced coffee that I liked in manila. But this was a whole world of difference. I couldn't stop. It was so sweet that the first sip tastes like chocolate, but the rich, earthy flavor of the coffee and strong kick of caffeine wasn't too far behind. Like frozen, dark chocolate covered espresso beans in liquid form that was flooding my mouth. I finished my mug even before the ice melted (which is probably recommended to stagger the strength of the coffee and dilute the sugar) and I ended up drinking coffee like crazy for that whole week. It was really THAT good.



We decided to walk back to the hotel so we could immediately put all those calories to work but it turns out we burn food pretty fast and we still had time (and space in our stomachs) to swing by another alleyway shop for a second breakfast. We had beef noodles, strawberry sinh to and passion fruit juice (which is literally just one whole passion fruit sliced in half and squeezed into sugar water and ice. delish).



This (double) breakfast was easily one of the better ones we had in the entire trip. Lazy, local and purely delicious. Plus, it kept us full until lunchtime at the Cambodian border. But that's for next time :)

Useful Information:
GUEST HOUSE THANH THUONG
241/6 Pham Ngu Lao st. Pham Ngu Lao ward, District 1, HCMC
booking can be made in advance, english OK, payment in US dollars, breakfast optional. Free WIFI and nice staff. they would even help you buy tickets for your next destination.
email thanhthuonghotel@yahoo.com

CAPITOL TOURS BUS

Phnom Penh Office and Station

#14AEo, Street 182 Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Tel: +(855) (0)23-217627

www.capitolkh.com

English Speaking bus guides, cheap rates (although bus stop is in the middle of a prett busy market). they also operate a backpacker guest house for the budget traveler :)

BANH MI sandwiches and beef noodles
available everywhere :)

full days

It's a rarity for me to spend weekends in Manila. Even rarer for me not to take advantage of mondays declared as holidays (thus, a three day break) and not plan for a weekend further out into the beautiful Philippine countryside. But when thursday rolled around last week and I still couldn't decide on where to fly off to, I decided to fill my weekend with crafts I wanted to do, things I wanted to eat and people I needed to see within Metro Manila. So saturday took me from caloocan to pasig to makati to quezon city, meeting with new friends, college friends and even friends from high-school. Saturday felt like a long day that was still too short. If you get what I mean :) (sunday saw me nursing a hangover but that's beside the point. everyone needs a rest day)