These 3 are places where most people online recommend we go to. They say it’s the “Best Banh Mi In HCMC”. Well, we, with our chinese tastebuds went on a little banh mi marathon one day and tried them all. Here’s the verdict. First thing to note. Out of the 3 featured here, only 1 opens in the morning and the other 2 opens in the evenings only. So be sure to check the operating hours before going. All 3…
View PostThis trip to Vietnam, Hanoi was made in March 2009. It’s grossly overdue. I left off at Day #4 at my last burst of posting. :) You can read more about my trip to Hanoi here. Now let’s continue. We took the overnight train from Hanoi to Sapa. The journey took damn long (abt 12 hours) and we slept most of the way. This is Ah Long San (ALS aka Derek) and Kerk saying Good Night to Hanoi! 12 hours…
View PostHello! Am back again with Day 4, Part 2. On the way back from Halong Bay, we stopped at this handicraft halfway stop for toilet and (overpriced) snacks. No obligation to buy anything at all. But I was drawn to this when I was here on the way to Halong Bay. Pretty damn amazing right! HAND-SEWN! With nothing more than creativity and a piece of paper as guideline. I was contemplating which to buy when the bus had to go…
View PostDay #4 started out early with a nice breakfast at Holiday View Hotel. After that the Iranians requested that we swing by a store for them to purchase some alcohol. We were at the port belong long to await our junk back to Halong Bay for the end of the tour. :( Along the way, the Iranians opened their alcohol and offered ALS some. After a drink or two, his whole face became SUPER red – causing more than a…
View PostOk, back with part 4. Good bye beautiful Lan Ha Bay. So after we had lunch, we were “shipped” to Cat ba Island to check into the Holiday View Hotel. There were many choices of accomodation on the island but it’s a small island. Holiday View was adequate. Here’s our room. :) Catba Island really isn’t very exciting. We were given free & easy time after we checked in. So after a nice warm shower, we wasted no time checking…
View PostSo finally with the morning’s drama behind us, we moved onward to the second half of the day’s itinerary. Catba National Park To say I expected what we experienced would be a complete lie. It was everything I did not expect. I HAD SO MUCH FUN! First the junk stopped quite a distance from the shore. Duc (the guide) said we had to take a local water taxi over to shore because it was too shallow for the junk to…
View PostLast where we were at the previous post was kayaking merrily in Lan Ha Bay. Such a beautiful lagoon – our midpoint. So… to pick up from where I left off, disaster striked.Dammit. ALS did it again. He did something odd again. See this is what happened… (imagine the clouds and dream-like kind of transition effect on your vision before the next paragraph takes place) See we were paddling merrily through some tunnel when we all heard a very LOUD…
View PostBefore I begin on this day, please check out the last post I did on this. I mentioned about how dog-tired ALS was after climbing 400 steps to the top of Titop Island ya? Well, guess what! I found incriminating evidence!! Today’s itinerary promises to be exciting – I just had no idea how exciting! :) I was groggy from my sleep and what a sight when I got out for some fresh air. : ! That’s ALS btw. Breakfast…
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