Last week of this term tomorrow! Woohoo! Will be glad to see the back of my lame class who are incredibly unresponsive and make the lessons no fun at all. I'm also looking forward to having a prper weekend next weekend as I've had to teach the past two Saturdays to make up for having xmas day off. Lame!
Had another fun post office experience today trying to send a birthday pressie to my sister. The international part of the post office had no staff in it today so I went round to the main part of the post office. Ususally when I send things back to the UK I get them to wrap it for me in postal paper, but according to the woman in the main part of the post office stuff must be sent in boxes and paper can't be used. I suspect this is a ploy to charge me 90,000 dong for a crappy cardboard box (it wasn't like it was a proper postal box or anything) and a bit of tape, and I guarante that if I go to the usual part of the post office tomorrow to send something I'd be able to get it wrapped in paper there.
I am now starting to get things organised for my next holiday. In Feb I'm off to China for two weeks! Exciting!
Sunday, 17 January 2010
Friday, 1 January 2010
The trip!!! It's taken me a long time to get round to sorting the photos out from my trip but finally it's done and I have some time to spare. So this is what I did on my 5 weeks off.
I went out to the airport to meet the parents and tried to break them into life in Vietnam gently. The day after they arrived we went out to Co Loa, on the edge of the city, with Lan. She managed to negotiate a taxi for us so we got to ride out in relative luxury rather than having to brave the bus. We aquired a random Vietnamese girl on our way round Co Loa and spent a couple of hours checking out the temples and the lake.
It's got a small village vibe going on despite being pretty close to Hanoi so it was quite a nice way to escape the madness. That afternoon we went to the Temple of Literature and then walked to my house past some of Hanoi's exciting sights like the Lenin state, the flag tower, the mausoleum and the B-52 wreckage. Hanoi has a rather specific style of tourist attractions!
The next day we didn't do quite as much as the weather was a bit crap and we had brunch lined up at the Melia but it was a nice relaxing day.
The following day was my escape from Hanoi!! We went to Ha Long Bay where we somehow ended up on our own private boat!
It had a couple of nice cabins and a dining area where we spent most of our time. There was a sun deck but the lack of sun meant that we didn't really use it. There were several fancy meals on the trip!
We had a seven course meal soon after getting on the boat as we sailed out into the bay. We visited a floating village (like the one in the Top Gear Vietnam show where people live for all their life on the water) and sailed a bit more before having another 7 course meal. The next day we went kayaking to a cave and then had what was supposed to be a light breakfast but was prolly more food than I'd eat in a day before visiting one of the caves in the bay. We then got fed ANOTHER meal as we headed back to the main land. It was a nice trip tho and I'd definitely go back again with that same company.
Once we were back in Hanoi we had a few hours to kill then we got the crappy overnight train down to Hue. It rained pretty much the whole time we were in Hue but we still visited some of the sights. We went to the Citadel
and out to some pagoda by the river, and ate lots of nice food in the restaurant by the hotel.
Next stop after Hue was Hoi An. The weather was still bad so we didn't get to go over the pass and see the ace view. I'm gonna have to go back and do that another time! In Hoi An I got a lot of clothes made which filled some time, and we walked around the town in the rain. The river flooded evey evening which gives you an idea of how wet it was!
We went to My Son (the Cham ruins in the jungle)
but didn't bother with a wet beach.
The last place we went to in Vietnam was Ho Chi Minh City. It's like a more modern version of Hanoi and has a few things worth seeing in the city I guess. I was excited about all the international food that you could get there tho! We did a day trip to the Mekong which was nice - no motorbikes there!! -
and we also went to the tunnels from the war. Also managed to meet up with my friends Nick and Katherine for a nice French meal and now I can finally say that I've made it to Ho Chi Minh City.
The last stop of the trip with the parents was Singapore. I very much enjoyed my Subway meal for dinner the night we arrived! We walked around some of the touristy places of the city, like the Merlion and the Battle Box tunnels as well as doing a river cruise,
and we spent some time on Sentosa Island at the beach.
We also did the night safari which was kinda cool, apart from the walk-in bat cage. Did NOT like that! After the parents left I went on the Singapore Flyer (like the London Eye)
and then did some shopping. Singapore has some good shopping! There were also heaps of xmas displays and lights all over the city which was nice.
The next day I flew to Macau and checked into my fancy hotel - prolly the nicest hotel I've ever stayed in! Resisted the temptation to sleep in my nice big bed and headed out to explore the city. I wasn't that impressed at first at it seemed kinda industrial and the area by my hotel was full of casinoes and hotels. Once I got to the bottom of the peninsula tho I picked up the tourist trail through the city and it got a lot better. It's a strange place with Chinese and Portguese stuff side by side. All the street names are Portugese, and there would be a Portugese sign stuck to the side of a Chinese temple. It was a nice place to walk around tho. Lots of winding cobbled streets going up and down the hills and lots of churches hiding down side streets. It was nice and cool after the heat of Singapore and was a relatively easy place to walk around so I spent pretty much the entire day walking around the city. There was a fort on the top of a hill,
and the front piece of a massive cathedral that had somehow survived the bombing (?) that wiped out the rest of the building
and a whole bunch of other interesting places to check out. The next day I got a bus down to the southern part of the island and found a really nice cafe with ace jacket potatoes!! Walked along the coast for a bit, and looked across at the industruial greyness of China but then it got rather boring so I went back up to the main part of Macau and wandered around aimlessly til it was time to get my ferry over to Hong Kong.
On the first day in Hong Kong I went to Ocean Park - rollercoasters and animal stuff. It was pretty cool! Sadly the big loop the loop coaster wasn't working but there were some other good rides, including one of those things that drops you straight down from a great height. It was fun! In the evening I went across the harbour to watch the symphony of lights thing - a 15 minute display of lights from the buildings around the harbour, with the added bonus of some cheesy music to accompany it.
Once it ended there were a bunch of boats sailing past on the harbour - turns out it was a run through for the opening ceremony for the East Asia games that was happening the next night.
The next day I went up on the Peak Tram to get the typical tourist photo of Hong Kong.
Spent the rest of the day wandering around the city and doing the occasional bit of shopping before going back to the same place as the night before to watch the opening ceremony as it was free. Didn't have a such a great view of all the stuff on the water but I can't imagine the second time the boats sailed past was more interesing. The main reason I was there was because of the rumour of a firework display and at the end of the ceremony there was a good 15 minutes of fireworks. Yay!
On my last day in HK I went out to one of the outlying islands to go see a massive Buddha at the top of a hill. There is a big cable car to save your legs - it takes 30 minutes to sway and swing your way to the top of the hill,
then it's a short climb up some stairs to get to the Buddha.
It was nice to see a different side of the city.
I then hit my last country of the trip - Malaysia. I flew into Penang and stayed in the centre of Georgetown. It was quite a nice place with a fort and the usual Malaysian mix of cultures. It also had great Indian and Thai food and a chocolate shop that gave you free samples of pretty much everything when you went in. Outside of Georgetown was Penang Hill which didn't seem worth the effort to me. Unlike the Peak Tram in HK which runs pretty much constantly the one to the top of Penang Hill seemed to only run every half hour which meant I had to wait for ages to get to the top. Close to the hill is a massive temple complex
which was much more interesting than the hill with heaps of pagodas and prayer halls. There was also a beach, of course, that just had to be visited!
After a few days there I made my way to the Cameron Highlands. I went on a day tour in a 4 wheel drive which started with a crazy ride up a dirt track deep into the jungle to see a big flower.
The car in front got stuck
and we ended up having to nudge them with our car to get them going again. There was a crazy hike to get to the flower,
and then we had to make our way back down the steep muddy track in the car, getting a massive rock wedged under the car somewhere which then had to be bashed out at the side of the road, much to the amusement of a group of kids who were passing. The rest of the tour was a little more sedate, taking in the tea plantation (with a cafe selling scones!),
a butterfly and insect farm
and a strawberry farm.
The following day I went on a more relaxed tour to the top of a mountain. It was pretty misty at the top so the view wasn't great, but there was a short forest walk through a cloud forest at the top
with the occasional gap in the clouds to take in some of the view.
We also stopped at the tea plantations and strawberry farm again but I saw no problem with having another round of scones, jasmine tea and strawberries with honey! That afternoon I hired a motorbike and enjoyed riding on civilised roads out to a flower garden
and a couple of temples. People actually gave way to me when I was waiting to turn!!
The last place I visited was Kuala Lumpur, mainly to shop. I got there in the morning and had to wait a couple of hours before my room was ready - in that short space of time I aquired several bags! The next day I went to Little India and Chinatown but once it started to rain I gave in and went to the indoor market for some shopping and a foot massage. I had another day of shopping, then felt kinda guilty the next day so went out to the park to avoid spending money. Went past the National Mosque
and stopped in at the Islamic Arts museum, then went into the park. Took in the bird park which was pretty cool
and then went to the KL tower in the evening as I do like to watch the sun set over a big city.
Finished off my trip with another day of shopping!
All the albums are here if you're bored and fancy looking at some more photos! -
Vietnam
Singapore
Macau
Hong Kong
Malaysia
I went out to the airport to meet the parents and tried to break them into life in Vietnam gently. The day after they arrived we went out to Co Loa, on the edge of the city, with Lan. She managed to negotiate a taxi for us so we got to ride out in relative luxury rather than having to brave the bus. We aquired a random Vietnamese girl on our way round Co Loa and spent a couple of hours checking out the temples and the lake.
It's got a small village vibe going on despite being pretty close to Hanoi so it was quite a nice way to escape the madness. That afternoon we went to the Temple of Literature and then walked to my house past some of Hanoi's exciting sights like the Lenin state, the flag tower, the mausoleum and the B-52 wreckage. Hanoi has a rather specific style of tourist attractions!
The next day we didn't do quite as much as the weather was a bit crap and we had brunch lined up at the Melia but it was a nice relaxing day.
The following day was my escape from Hanoi!! We went to Ha Long Bay where we somehow ended up on our own private boat!
It had a couple of nice cabins and a dining area where we spent most of our time. There was a sun deck but the lack of sun meant that we didn't really use it. There were several fancy meals on the trip!
We had a seven course meal soon after getting on the boat as we sailed out into the bay. We visited a floating village (like the one in the Top Gear Vietnam show where people live for all their life on the water) and sailed a bit more before having another 7 course meal. The next day we went kayaking to a cave and then had what was supposed to be a light breakfast but was prolly more food than I'd eat in a day before visiting one of the caves in the bay. We then got fed ANOTHER meal as we headed back to the main land. It was a nice trip tho and I'd definitely go back again with that same company.
Once we were back in Hanoi we had a few hours to kill then we got the crappy overnight train down to Hue. It rained pretty much the whole time we were in Hue but we still visited some of the sights. We went to the Citadel
and out to some pagoda by the river, and ate lots of nice food in the restaurant by the hotel.
Next stop after Hue was Hoi An. The weather was still bad so we didn't get to go over the pass and see the ace view. I'm gonna have to go back and do that another time! In Hoi An I got a lot of clothes made which filled some time, and we walked around the town in the rain. The river flooded evey evening which gives you an idea of how wet it was!
We went to My Son (the Cham ruins in the jungle)
but didn't bother with a wet beach.
The last place we went to in Vietnam was Ho Chi Minh City. It's like a more modern version of Hanoi and has a few things worth seeing in the city I guess. I was excited about all the international food that you could get there tho! We did a day trip to the Mekong which was nice - no motorbikes there!! -
and we also went to the tunnels from the war. Also managed to meet up with my friends Nick and Katherine for a nice French meal and now I can finally say that I've made it to Ho Chi Minh City.
The last stop of the trip with the parents was Singapore. I very much enjoyed my Subway meal for dinner the night we arrived! We walked around some of the touristy places of the city, like the Merlion and the Battle Box tunnels as well as doing a river cruise,
and we spent some time on Sentosa Island at the beach.
We also did the night safari which was kinda cool, apart from the walk-in bat cage. Did NOT like that! After the parents left I went on the Singapore Flyer (like the London Eye)
and then did some shopping. Singapore has some good shopping! There were also heaps of xmas displays and lights all over the city which was nice.
The next day I flew to Macau and checked into my fancy hotel - prolly the nicest hotel I've ever stayed in! Resisted the temptation to sleep in my nice big bed and headed out to explore the city. I wasn't that impressed at first at it seemed kinda industrial and the area by my hotel was full of casinoes and hotels. Once I got to the bottom of the peninsula tho I picked up the tourist trail through the city and it got a lot better. It's a strange place with Chinese and Portguese stuff side by side. All the street names are Portugese, and there would be a Portugese sign stuck to the side of a Chinese temple. It was a nice place to walk around tho. Lots of winding cobbled streets going up and down the hills and lots of churches hiding down side streets. It was nice and cool after the heat of Singapore and was a relatively easy place to walk around so I spent pretty much the entire day walking around the city. There was a fort on the top of a hill,
and the front piece of a massive cathedral that had somehow survived the bombing (?) that wiped out the rest of the building
and a whole bunch of other interesting places to check out. The next day I got a bus down to the southern part of the island and found a really nice cafe with ace jacket potatoes!! Walked along the coast for a bit, and looked across at the industruial greyness of China but then it got rather boring so I went back up to the main part of Macau and wandered around aimlessly til it was time to get my ferry over to Hong Kong.
On the first day in Hong Kong I went to Ocean Park - rollercoasters and animal stuff. It was pretty cool! Sadly the big loop the loop coaster wasn't working but there were some other good rides, including one of those things that drops you straight down from a great height. It was fun! In the evening I went across the harbour to watch the symphony of lights thing - a 15 minute display of lights from the buildings around the harbour, with the added bonus of some cheesy music to accompany it.
Once it ended there were a bunch of boats sailing past on the harbour - turns out it was a run through for the opening ceremony for the East Asia games that was happening the next night.
The next day I went up on the Peak Tram to get the typical tourist photo of Hong Kong.
Spent the rest of the day wandering around the city and doing the occasional bit of shopping before going back to the same place as the night before to watch the opening ceremony as it was free. Didn't have a such a great view of all the stuff on the water but I can't imagine the second time the boats sailed past was more interesing. The main reason I was there was because of the rumour of a firework display and at the end of the ceremony there was a good 15 minutes of fireworks. Yay!
On my last day in HK I went out to one of the outlying islands to go see a massive Buddha at the top of a hill. There is a big cable car to save your legs - it takes 30 minutes to sway and swing your way to the top of the hill,
then it's a short climb up some stairs to get to the Buddha.
It was nice to see a different side of the city.
I then hit my last country of the trip - Malaysia. I flew into Penang and stayed in the centre of Georgetown. It was quite a nice place with a fort and the usual Malaysian mix of cultures. It also had great Indian and Thai food and a chocolate shop that gave you free samples of pretty much everything when you went in. Outside of Georgetown was Penang Hill which didn't seem worth the effort to me. Unlike the Peak Tram in HK which runs pretty much constantly the one to the top of Penang Hill seemed to only run every half hour which meant I had to wait for ages to get to the top. Close to the hill is a massive temple complex
which was much more interesting than the hill with heaps of pagodas and prayer halls. There was also a beach, of course, that just had to be visited!
After a few days there I made my way to the Cameron Highlands. I went on a day tour in a 4 wheel drive which started with a crazy ride up a dirt track deep into the jungle to see a big flower.
The car in front got stuck
and we ended up having to nudge them with our car to get them going again. There was a crazy hike to get to the flower,
and then we had to make our way back down the steep muddy track in the car, getting a massive rock wedged under the car somewhere which then had to be bashed out at the side of the road, much to the amusement of a group of kids who were passing. The rest of the tour was a little more sedate, taking in the tea plantation (with a cafe selling scones!),
a butterfly and insect farm
and a strawberry farm.
The following day I went on a more relaxed tour to the top of a mountain. It was pretty misty at the top so the view wasn't great, but there was a short forest walk through a cloud forest at the top
with the occasional gap in the clouds to take in some of the view.
We also stopped at the tea plantations and strawberry farm again but I saw no problem with having another round of scones, jasmine tea and strawberries with honey! That afternoon I hired a motorbike and enjoyed riding on civilised roads out to a flower garden
and a couple of temples. People actually gave way to me when I was waiting to turn!!
The last place I visited was Kuala Lumpur, mainly to shop. I got there in the morning and had to wait a couple of hours before my room was ready - in that short space of time I aquired several bags! The next day I went to Little India and Chinatown but once it started to rain I gave in and went to the indoor market for some shopping and a foot massage. I had another day of shopping, then felt kinda guilty the next day so went out to the park to avoid spending money. Went past the National Mosque
and stopped in at the Islamic Arts museum, then went into the park. Took in the bird park which was pretty cool
and then went to the KL tower in the evening as I do like to watch the sun set over a big city.
Finished off my trip with another day of shopping!
All the albums are here if you're bored and fancy looking at some more photos! -
Vietnam
Singapore
Macau
Hong Kong
Malaysia
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