The Time I Visited - Vietnam (Part 4)

This is the last part of my The Time I Visited - Vietnam. Here I'm going to talk about my trip to Hoi An and West Lake.

We went on an another day tour to Hoi An - Tam Coc. We went to two temples and a boat ride that went through under several caves. 

What's interesting is that the rower used their feet to row the boat. The river path may be a bit long so take time and chill while on the small boat. We saw several mountain goats which are literally on the rock mountains.

Note: This is a tourist trap. The rowers may be very rude and demand for a tip, and one of my friends gave about 15000 dong but the rower insists on more. Just be cautious.

There's also a cemetery within the river.

The tour was great. We also got to bike around the area and along the rice fields.

West Lake is so much bigger than Hoan Kiem Lake. One day, my co-intern and I decided to check it out and we looked around the temple and chilled for a while until we got really cold, as it was getting darker then.

Here is a panorama view of West Lake's north eastern part from my our Australian friends' apartment.

There's so much more I wanna say about my stay in Vietnam that I can't put into words. Again, this is one of the best, if not the best experience in my life. Definitely an experience I wouldn't forget. So thankful and so glad I got to do what I did, experience what I had, met the people I met and everything that happened may it be good or bad. CAM ON, VIETNAM!

xo Michelle

The Time I Visited - Vietnam (Part 3)

Halong Bay. Definitely a must to check out when you visit Vietnam. It's the most inquired and most popular tour. We opted for the 3 days, 2 nights tour (middle class type tour) during the 31st of December until the 2nd of January. We paid about 110 US dollars, which covers all expenses inclusive of food. 

 First stop is we went through the cave, it was dark so I couldn't take much photos.

After that we went kayaking, which was so fun! Unfortunately the photos my friend took with her waterproof camera got corrupted. 

For the first night we slept in the boat and we welcomed the new year in the deck with the other tourists.

The next day, January 1st, we head to Cat Ba Island and did some trekking. It was so tiring and definitely one of the harder treks I've done but the view was definitely worth it.

Cat Ba island was amazing! Definitely different from Hanoi. There were less people and even less motorcycles. I tried to ride a motorcycle for the first time, it was so scary because Cat Ba is full of hills so learning to ride the motorcycles going up and down steep hills was such a challenge. But I want to point out that Cat Ba is really amazing and so peaceful.

So glad I got to visit this UNESCO World Heritage Site. Halong Bay and Cat Ba is definitely worth a visit!

xo Michelle

The Time I Visited - Vietnam (Part 2)

I have to be honest, I lost track of which event happened first within my 6-week stay so I'm just combining things we did and making them seem chronological, aha!

One of the places I enjoyed is the Temple of Literature, if i'm not mistaken, it's the first university in Vietnam but know it's just functions as a temple and a tourist attraction.

Note: If you're a student, you get a discount when entering tourist attractions (it even applies to international students too! just present you identification card)

Almost all the temples I've been to in Vietnam has this some sort of a pond, or as I like to call it their swimming pool back in the day. Not too sure what it's for but I found it really interesting.

My co-interns and I inside the Temple of Literature!

Because we had time in the afternoon, we went to Hoa Lo Prison. I couldn't take much photos because it was really dark inside, the ambience was sort of portraying what it could have been back in the days. It was actually pretty creepy seeing statues of the prisoner's in an unlawful and unmoral situation. Definitely a must to check out within Hanoi.

Note: We walked from the Temple of Literature to Hoa Lo Prison, one of my co-interns convinced us to walk instead of taking the bus, it took us about 20-30 minutes of walking.

Now, here's some of the Vietnamese food I enjoyed, and which I ordered too much of. I couldn't for the life of me remember their Vietnamese name, so I'll just describe each dish.

This dish is made up of shrimp in ball form and you eat the noodles by soaking it in the soup (which is cold by the way). I love this dish so much, the shrimp is really tasty, plus this is one of those dishes that is reasonably cheaper. I would definitely pay more for this dish if I had to. 

One thing I really enjoyed about Vietnamese food is the freshness of it with all the greens that come with every dish.

I'm pretty sure this is Bum bo nam bo! Classic Vietnamese dish. Love the peanuts and the beef and the soup and the noodles, basically everything about it! It's a very fulfilling dish as well.

Okay, so I often look at trip advisor app to look for new places to check out and Joma's Cafe has one of the highest ratings. I stay pretty near it so of course I couldn't pass it out. Plus i love coffee! This is a very westernised drink so do check out the local places for the Egg Coffee and Vietnamese Coffee with condensed milk (Ca Phe Sua Da) it is so delicious! Too bad I don't have a photo, I downed the drink pretty fast because it's just so good!

The Hoan Kiem Lake during Christmas Eve! So much people that no cars and motorcycles are moving in the streets.

The Time I Visited - Vietnam (Part 1)

Probably the best experience of my life! (up to this point that is)

Why, you might ask? Well, first I'll explain why I went to Vietnam.

I went to Vietnam for a volunteer-internship under AIESEC National Economics University in Hanoi, Vietnam. It's a 6-week program wherein we teach University students how to speak, or to put in the right perspective, communicate in English in an international setting. Which is why there were several of us from different countries who work under this program. It was less of teaching English, since they are in University and they are expected to know how to speak english, but more of, teaching them how to be more confident in speaking English, especially in front of a crowd.

So, more on my program later.

I haven't really answered yet, why I went to Vietnam. Why of all places, Vietnam.

I honestly don't know the answer. It was an impulse decision you might say. I didn't speak to anyone about it. I didn't tell my parents I was applying during the time I had interviews via Skype, until I was sure I got in.

Basically, I was feeling unmotivated with all the schoolworks and lack of extra curricular activities I had during that time (November-ish). I felt like I wasn't doing anything productive, or anything I'm happy to be doing. I wanted to get away. I wanted another environment, to clear my mind, as cliche as it sounds, I wanted to find myself.

Why Vietnam and why this program? It was the most convenient and most fitting for me I thought. The program schedule didn't interfere with my school schedule, I am able to get back by the time school starts. I figured I wasn't gonna be so much shocked by the culture since I've been to different Asian countries. And really that was it. I had no specific reasons for making a decision to go, for choosing Vietnam and that program specifically, I just did it.

I arrived Vietnam past midnight and the next day I was all alone because the other interns wouldn't come by the coming days. So I was a bit anxious going out of the hostel I was staying at. Thank goodness for google maps and all the travel guide apps for helping me out. Soon enough I discovered I was pretty near Hoan Kiem lake and decided to go there and walk around.

There's a temple on the lake where you pay (est)20,000 dong for entrance and it archives a remnant of a huge turtle that used to exist within the lake.

 

 My first ever meal in Vietnam. Bún Bò Nam Bộ, well it's not that specifically because I prefer chicken than beef. I think Bún Bò Nam Bộ is beef specifically.

I met a Chinese girl who stayed at the same hostel I was staying at and we decided to go out for some drinks, alongside my other co-intern. Unknown to us, Hanoi has a midnight curfew for bars and back in Singapore (where she was studying) and in Philippines, bars usually start filling up with people by midnight. Needless to say, we bought each a drink then had to leave immediately. (Some upscale clubs close at 2am, we found out about this the coming days)

A restaurant I truly enjoy is City View Cafe. Aside from the good food, it has an awesome view especially when you choose to stay at the balcony. The price is good considering the quality of food and the ambience it provides, but definitely something you splurge on.

We opted to take a day tour via this electric car (see photo below) that went through the old quarter but honestly if you have the time and the energy to walk around, you might as well go on your own walking around old quarter instead.

There's tons of ladies who sell this in the streets of Hanoi. You'd think it's a sweet treat but you'll be surprised by the corn-y taste it has.

If you have time visit the Vietnamese Women's Museum, it's one of the highly ranked museums within Hanoi plus it's only a walking distance from the Hoan Kiem Lake.

xo Michelle

The Time I Visited - Malaysia x Sinagpore

I went to Malaysia with my parents then we went straight to Singapore to meet up and travel around with my aunt and cousins.

I mostly took video footage and not enough pictures, since I really wanted to make a travel vlog.

The first travel vlog I made featuring our trip to Malaysia, followed by Singapore! I uploaded it on Youtube, hopefully it can be viewed (let me know if it doesn't play) 

CLICK HERE FOR THE VIDEO

ps forgive the awful video quality and editing! This was 2 years ago :) WATCH IT IN 1080p too!

xo Michelle

The Time I Visited - Taipei, Taiwan

I visited Taiwan back in 2012, with my parents. 2012, that's 3 years ago plus with my bad memory, I couldn't possibly recount all the things we did within our stay. But here are some of the photos from that trip.

Of course we had to walk around the area where we were staying at.

Those two people are my parents. Well, their back side that is. They booked us a day tour, so that meant a day of going to different museums, temples and all those cultural sights that my parents love. Don't get me wrong, I love those too but my parents love it on a whole another level. My dad's a real culture nerd, so every time we go on holidays and we get book a tour he'll be that one guy in the group tour that listens intently and asks questions to the tour guide. It's so funny!

We were lucky we got to witness the changing of the guards. I admire those people who do that type of thing, it takes real patience and strength to stand still (and of course protect the temple or sacred place) for hours.

And we couldn't not go see Taipei 101 - One of the world's tallest buildings! It was beautiful especially when lit up at night. 

People are allowed to go upto the 88th and 89th floor and the view from above was worth it.

It's such a shame I didn't take that much photos in this trip, or good ones at least. Definitely gonna come back to Taiwan and try their nightlife! Something I can't do when I travel with my parents aka partypooper, kidding! :)

xo Michelle