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Tired Tourists

26 Dec

The journey to the Cu Chi Tunnel took two hours, a little bit longer than anticipated. Along the way, we stopped at a handicraft center to admire works of art using duck egg shells and seashells. Amazing! Nothing goes to waste.

   
   
Apparently duck egg shells are stronger than chicken egg shells and ideal to use. Wow, I never knew. The center also showcased works done by craftsmen who were handicapped by Agent Orange. A somber reminder of the past war the country endured.

We left the center and headed for Cu Chi Tunnel. It was indeed an eye opener for the girls and even for us again. It’s amazing to see and learn the intricacies of the tunnel engineered out of the need for survival. One has to definitely visit the place to see for themselves why and how.

The girls even tried their hands at an AK-47. This was a thrill and experience for them! But when they went into one of the tunnels, they thought it was not an easy thing to do. An eye opener indeed.

The rest of the afternoon was spent exploring and understanding the place; I clocked 4605 steps and 3.7km by the time we headed back to the van.

It has been a tiring day because there was no wind in the area and the air was very humid. By 5.00pm, we left Cu Chi Tunnel to head back to the city for dinner and then to call it a day.

We ran smacked into rush hour as we approached the city. The hoards of oncoming motorbikes can be quite scary and our van was constantly just inches away from them and other vehicles. But deftly, these people were able to move along in a controlled chaos without any mishap. You think you can handle traffic? Wait till you experience rush hour in Ho Chi Minh City!

Tomorrow another long day filled with a different adventure awaits!

   
    

M2 at the AK-47

  

M1 at the AK-47

  
   

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Being a Tourist, Part 2

26 Dec

The morning sight-seeing and shopping stops were less than 2,000 steps and about 1.1km but I feel so tired despite the interesting stops and good deal purchases. So much history and choices but the lack of sleep could be the reason for the tiredness. Then again, I am not a shopping person. Maybe also because this morning, I heard the news of the passing of George Michael, one of my favorite singers. Not the way to start the day. Sigh…

Our itinerary today includes a buffet lunch at Hoang Yen Buffet before we make our way to Cu Chi Tunnel. Hubby tried the Balut and thinks I shouldn’t. So I didn’t. The rest of the spread was pretty good. A little bit of everything, it was enough to get us going for the rest of the day.

Sated after the meal, a nice snooze in the van during the hour long or more journey would be just nice!

   
    
 

   

That’s a Balut on the lil’ plate

 

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Being a Tourist

26 Dec

The bed was actually comfortable but I couldn’t get into a deep sleep and waking up at 6.30am today, I don’t feel rested. Oh dear… Today we will be doing the city tour, stopping at all the photo-op places before heading to Cu Chi Tunnel. Hubby and I have been there before during our first trip to HCM many years ago but it will be interesting to revisit.

The girls groaned with the first morning wake up call. Back home, they have never woken up before 7.00am during this holiday. Well, with the van coming at 8.00am, I don’t want us to rush through breakfast and it should be a hearty one to fuel us, being full-fledged tourists today.

  

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Familiar Grounds

25 Dec

I didn’t realize until our van stopped in front of Sunrise Central, our hotel that it was right next to Grand Silverland, the hotel I stayed at in June! I thought it was several doors away but nope, right next to it. When I checked on Google maps, it looked further apart but I am not complaining.

What this means is that walking over to the Street Food Market is closer than I thought. Yay!

Dinner was really nice with an array of choices. After dinner we walked the night market street a little bit to work off the dinner. By nine, we headed back to the hotel to rest so that tomorrow we will be ready for the long adventurous day ahead.

What an interesting Christmas Day this year. Sure beats being a couch potato year in year out.

   
    
  

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Hello Vietnam

25 Dec

It wasn’t as crowded at KLIA  as I had feared–being a festive time to travel–so we had plenty of time at the airport. Queue lines weren’t too bad. We lunched at the Premium Lounge and thereafter took our time to head to the departing gate.

Take-off was on schedule. The B737-800 was stuffy and hot when we boarded and remained like this until we took off, hit a turbulent patch before it cooled to a comfortable degree. 

The two girls were dressed contrastingly and I thought it was amusing. The one staying in a hot country was dressed as though heading to a cold place while the one studying in a cold country dressed as though going off to a hot place. 

Upon our arrival, it was smooth and fast. Immigration was efficient despite a large crowd and the bags came out before us. Within a short time, we met up with our tour guide, a short petite lass with a pretty good command of English. 

Our bus, a 16-seater(!) was very comfortable made its way through the waiting vehicles and we were on our way to the hotel.

It’s nice to be back in Ho Chi Minh. I look forward to a nice shower after checking in and then hit the streets with the family. The real adventure starts tomorrow.

  

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Merry Christmas

25 Dec

I don’t normally post on a Sunday but since it’s a special festive occasion, I decided to… Merry Christmas people! 

This Christmas we decided to travel instead of staying home like we always do, year in year out and we are definitely looking forward to it. 

Last night’s family Christmas Eve dinner was sumptuous and satisfying because everything on the table (save for the drinks) was homemade – from the turkey right down to the cranberry sauce and everything in between. Everyone contributed and was very good.

Still feeling full from the dinner, we are flying off to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam this afternoon! The girls are excited, hubby’s looking forward to the break and I am eager to take them to the places that I visited six months ago when I was there for golf.

A much deserved break and time together for the family.

   
 

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Some Things Do Change

20 Dec

While some things never change, some things do and we have to learn to go with the flow. Otherwise, we will be more dinosaur than ever.

When I went off to college and came home for the holidays, the aircrafts that I flew in were mostly the Boeing 747-400 model and I thought this aircraft was very comfortable. I loved the B747.

When M1 came back last week, she flew on United Airlines. And for the SFO-NRT leg, it was a B747 and because there were no personal entertainment units, she did not appreciate the aircraft like me. The final leg home was with a Boeing 787-8 and she thought, thankfully that was much better. 

I believe the B747 model has been replaced with newer and younger fleets by most airlines of the world except a handful like United Airlines. And you realize things change when your experiences that you cherish differ from your offsprings.

When I was younger, I would save every penny of my allowance and waited until there was an opportunity to go buy a cassette or two of my favourite musician(s). Then with my Sony Walkman (also purchased with endless savings), plugging in to my music was the best thing in life.

These days, like me, my M2 says she cannot function without music. So her iPod and a set of headphones go wherever she goes. And how does she get her music?

Spotify.

In fact, recently she asked if she could subscribe to Spotify Premium and hubby allowed; she ‘paid’ for the monthly subscription with her allowance. Now this makes you really open your eyes and acknowledge that things and time have changed when the need for the same thing has evolved with technology. Going out with the girls, I have also evolved, allowing them to plug in their music in my car instead of subjecting everyone to my CD choices of Jacky Cheung or Michael Buble.

Hmm… Maybe I should consider getting Spotify and perhaps plan a vacation flying off somewhere long haul with any aircraft other than the B747-400.

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Some Things Never Change

15 Dec

Technology today sure is amazing, changing the way we live, how we lead our lives and keeping us connected 24/7. When M1 went off to university in 2015, we were able to track her flight path live online. And we did just that with anxiety but also with comfort knowing exactly where she is. And when she came back on Tuesday night, we did the same and went through the same again.

When I flew off to college dinosaur years ago, there was nothing of these sorts or even the Internet available. So poor Mom and Dad waited anxiously for 24 hours or so until I arrived and heard from me.

With M1 for every step of her journey, we get an update – leaving for the airport now, checking in, boarding soon all via WhatsApp, see a location checked in status update on Facebook yet unaware of more updates on other social medias that young people use (this dinosaur does not use SnapChat, Instagram, Twitter and goodness knows what else) and of course track online with flightaware.com to see the flight path live.

For all these, I am thankful we live in this era now. But I still fret anxiously like Mom and Dad did. Some things never change. Technology may make our lives easier and more connected but it just cannot replace the human emotions. 

So thankful and happy that she arrived home safely and without much delay or problems.

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Anxious Parents

13 Dec

Since last night, there’s anxiety. It was a restless night but for a good reason. M1, our firstborn is homeward bound! Finally. Yesterday evening at 6.30pm, way before she headed to the airport, I had wished her a safe flight and told her we will see her in 30 hours.

Yes 30 hours. But when this is published, we have another 13 hours to go. Like her previous trips, we were tracking her flight path on flightaware.com

This trip home, she is not flying the usual flight path because she’s taking a different airline. There’s an additional San Francisco stop before Narita International but minus a Singapore Changi Airport stop before Kuala Lumpur. That’s why we are not down in Singapore to pick her up like last year.

A long journey for her – slightly more than 20 hours of flying sans delay hopefully, and not inclusive of the layover time at the different airports and change in time when crossing the International Date Line. I lose track counting with so many time zones involved. Shudder… All I know is that she started at 5.30am (Pacific Standard Time) on Monday morning and we see her at past midnight (our local time) Tuesday night.

So did I sleep well or not at all last night? Forty winks probably or maybe just 38 or 35… 

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An American Thanksgiving

24 Nov

This year’s Thanksgiving somehow made me recall the one we celebrated four year’s ago in the most coordinated fashion. It may be one celebration that we don’t do often but when in America, we have to do what the Americans do! And it was by far, the best Thanksgiving ever.

2012 was the year of our Great Adventure Road Trip in the US. And it was the year my niece and nephew – the twins, were studying in Kentucky. And I thought it would be fantastic for them to fly out to California to meet up with us. And their sibling – my niece, K1 can join us too, flying in from KL since she was old enough to travel by herself. And we would all spend Thanksgiving at the happiest place on earth, Disneyland.

It took me more than a year to plan for our impending trip because there were so many stops, friends, activities and lodging to consider. And this extra family get-together time in California needed more attention because the three parties were coming in from three different locations. Very exciting that it culminated with good timing and no delays.

During the Thanksgiving week, we were just wrapping up the Las Vegas stop. By Tuesday, we left for LAX to pick up K1 who was flying in alone from Kuala Lumpur. The great mastermind–me–had planned for her to arrive that afternoon and estimated that she would come out to the Arrival Hall by 1.00pm and we can just pick her up curbside if we started our journey at 9.00am. The timing had to be perfect and it was. 

When we got her, the poor child was so zombied after the 18-hour plus journey whilst we were still fresh from our pleasant unhurried drive. We tried our best to keep her awake to adjust her to the new time zone. It wasn’t easy.

Staying close to the airport at Travelodge LAX minimized the travel time for the airport runs and was without a hitch when it was time to fetch the twins; it was most convenient and sensible especially to avoid the busy highways. The twins flew in by midnight after their last class and the next day, our fun began…

We played tourist and visited downtown Los Angeles for a day excursion to see all the famed attractions. Then by late evening, we made our way to Anaheim. It was to be our base for the next few days. On Thanksgiving morning, we were off to Disneyland and had the most memorable American Thanksgiving.

The seven of us had the best times of our lives with all the rides, sights, food and fun. And although dinner was just a simple meal at Flo’s V8 Cafe, what mattered was the experience and time spent together. The crowd was relatively small, yet there were still long queues for the more popular rides and we took it all in stride.

The Disney experience continued the next day at the main park and Universal Studios the following day. By Sunday, the Thanksgiving break was over and the twins headed back to Kentucky with K1, while we stayed on in Anaheim for three more days before heading north to San Francisco via the Pacific Coast Highway.

After that awesome Thanksgiving experience, our Road Trip continued and all other Thanksgiving was never the same again for us.

   
 

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