Hồ Hoàn Kiếm or Lake of the Returned Sword is at the very heart of the Old Quarter in Hanoi.
I was planning to watch the sunrise at the lake during our trip but failed to wake up early even once. But I guess watching the glorious sunset more than makes up for it. It was unplanned, we simply didn’t know what to do while waiting for the puppet show to start. Since Hoan Kiem Lake was just right in front of us, it seemed sensible to just sit there and wait for the sun to set. [Read more…]
Many things have happened since we booked our trip to Hanoi. We thought four of us would be going on a trip to Vietnam but it turned out that the two actually booked a flight to Ho Chi Minh. A lot of planning resulted into the decision of meeting halfway between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh which are 15 hours apart. But that plan also failed since the two ended up not going at all.
So it’s down to Jinky and me, and being short on cash, a week before our flight we were still contemplating whether we’d go through the plan or scrap it altogether. After much guilt-tripping, we decided to just go and hope that our budget will suffice. A day before our trip, we still didn’t have an itinerary. At least we already booked a hotel, and at least someone would pick us up at the airport.
We arrived in Noi Bai airport at around 1AM. It’s an ungodly hour so it was no surprise that the airport was almost abandoned, and there were barely any cars in the parking lot. It was a good choice to have availed the airport transfer service of the hotel. We were picked up by a good-looking driver dressed in a dress shirt, slacks, and leather shoes. He looked as if he’s on his way to a party, but no, he was just going to drive us to our hostel. Heehee.
We had a really good first impression of Hanoi, because once arriving at our hotel, we were told that we’re given a deluxe room, instead of a standard one, for the same price! So we were pampered immediately. The room was amazing! I was in love with that room for four days, and mainly it’s the reason why I didn’t want to leave Hanoi.
Achieving my dream of visiting Korea was almost a decade in the making. When my family had a five-day vacation in the Land of the Morning Calm, I was beyond ecstatic! Finally, I could step foot in my dream country! It was the best five days of my fangirl life, and how I feel about it can’t be put into words. Heck, it has been a year since, and I’ve written countless of posts already. But I still have more to stay. It’s a trip to remember, that’s why I’m always going back to that five days just reminiscing.
It’s difficult to summarize in one post everything I loved about Korea. There are countless things to see and do in Seoul and around Korea. To pick just five things of all the things I loved about it is difficult. But I only had five days and I did have to make a choice. We were in a limited budget and limited time. We had no choice but to make the life-changing decisions!
However, despite of having countless of things to do in Seoul, there are definitely things I would love to do over and over again. They say that traveling in Seoul is expensive, but there are tons of things you can enjoy and love without burning a hole in your pocket! [Read more…]
Hanoi was a blast and so was the shopping. There are so many things about Hanoi that I want to write about, but I just can’t help it that it’s the shopping that inspired me to stay up quite late just to edit the photos of my shopping haul. I haven’t shopped in such a long time! (Anyway, sorry for the low and uneven quality of the photos. I’m too excited to post about it, but too lazy to open Photoshop.)
There’s a night market in Old Quarter on weekends, and we went there twice! I have a very small budget for my trip and thought very little of shopping. But when I was suddenly faced with a whole street of cheap goods, I couldn’t stop myself! I didn’t buy that much, but if my budget allowed it, I could have bought more! The Dong Xuan night market reminds me of Divisoria but smaller and the Ladies’ Market in Mongkok but cheaper. So basically, it’s a really good place to shop since you won’t be too tired after and get good discounts, too.They accept both Vietnamese dong and USD in the market. Isn’t that convenient?
I heard that Thailand has a wider selection, though, but the price in Dong Xuan night market is just wowow! Hopefully, I’ll be able to post more photos of the market some time soon. [Read more…]
I’ve never been the fastest blogger, but I swore to finish writing about my Ilocos trip before my next trip. But alas, here I am resting in my hostel room and trying to at least make up for my overwhelming backlog!
Ilocos was lovely down to our last hour in it. During our last day, we did a lot of touring old houses, churches, and museums. We sadly didn’t get inside the Marcus Museum and Mausoleum because there’s no electricity! I don’t think it’s much of a waste though. I had a good time touring the old mansions, particularly Juan Luna’s Ilocos home in the north and the Syquia masion in Vigan. They both have tour guides, too, and I always enjoy learning a bit about history. Not my strongest subject, but I still enjoy learning something new.
However, the Crisologo ancestral home gave me the creeps! Not just me, too. We all felt a little chill while inside the house, maybe due to the owners rather violent and bloody history. We couldn’t even finish touring it!
After the Crisologo museum, things didn’t turn out that well. Our tour guide dropped us off Cafe Herencia along Calle Crisologo and we spent the remaining time in the cafe. One by one, we started feeling unwell. So instead of seeing the most famous street in Vigan, we just stayed inside. It started raining too so we basically had no choice. Heh. We still saw Vigan’s beauty at night, and that’s something that will always be welcome.
I definitely want to go back to Ilocos because of the food! I swear, it was the food that I enjoyed the most. To think we didn’t even get to try empanada and longganisa! Or maybe we deliberately didn’t so we’ll always have a reason to come back. 😉
