Return to Nha Trang

Date: Thursday, January 14, 2010
Travel: Taxis
Party: Vu & Family
Lodging: Nha Trang Lodge Hotel
Photos: 20100114 Thap Ba Spa Bac Loc's Vacation Home

Coming back to Nha Trang, I learn that my brother has moved from the hospital to a private institution with much better care. He was in a room by himself with AC, and a nurse right outside the door at all times. He was getting better as well, and was ready to be discharged that evening. With the better news, the rest of the family decides to go around and finally have a little fun. So we head out to Thap Ba spa, which is another hot spring spa, and the major draw of this location is the mud bath. The spa site is beautifully located along the hill, and is fully loaded with individual tubs, with varying sizes. Since there was 6 of us, we get to be at the highest level in the family section. New mud fills the tub up each time new patrons enter, and after half an hour of sifting through the mud, it is then drained away. There is an area with chaises around so you can lay around letting the mud to dry, followed by a nice warm spring water shower. To help rinse away all the mud in all corners and cracks of your body, there are a couple stone walls, with jets shooting out horizontally. It was a lot of fun just to run around in. After this rinse off, the next stage are family warm water spas, where you just sit and soak in the warm mineral water. After all that, then you can go down to the pool area, also filled with warm spring water, to waste the day in. Theres a mini waterfall you can soak in, or just sit back and relax and get a massage.

After all the relaxation, we visit one of my parents friends vacation home, which is under construction. The 5000 sq feet behemoth sits a little outside of Nha Trang, and has a gigantic balcony overlooking the nearby hills. Perhaps this might fuel the fire in our own family to look into some property.

That night, my brother is finally released from the hospital, and we could finally rest as a family. So now that we know he is ok, we have to make our next travel plans. The initial plan was to fly to Saigon, but the flights were sold out. I thought the train was good, but we have too much luggage. Imagine carrying 14 full size luggages everywhere... what a pain. Being such a frequent traveler, I like to travel light. Anyways, it was too late to buy flights, because it was sold out. We just had no idea when we could go because my brother had to go to the hospital. One thing was for sure, is that he had to spend at least 1 day in Nha Trang.

Laziness in Hue; monkey see monkey do

Date: Thursday & Friday, January 7 & 8, 2010
Travel: Rental Van
Party: Vu & Family
Lodging: Duy Tan Hotel
Photos: 20100107 Thanh Tan Spa, 20100108 Hue Farewell

After the long days so far, it would nice to be lazy for once. And why not, a lot of the workers around were pretty lazy. We went to a shopping mart a couple of times, and it was interesting to see the work ethic around. One time entering a cafe, it looked fairly empty with a few tables with people just lounging around. As we sit down and wait for some time, some of those people lounging around get up and come to our table and wait for us, and the rest huddle around the counter. I guess they were just all workers. I was thinking that there are a lot of workers just for an empty cafe, probably around 8 or 9 people. And the worse part, is that the service was lousy, and we had to keep calling the server over to request for things which they had forgotten in our order. So not only are they are overstaffed, they didn't do much. This seems to be the work culture in the marts and malls, which I suppose are corporately owned.

Another odd thing entering these marts or super markets, is that you can not take a bag into the store. I felt like I was 11 again, and I had to drop my backpack down to the ground before I enter my local Circle K convenient store after school. But not only do you have to check in any bags at the security desk, you would have to do this at every level of the mart. So you could have bought something on the 1st floor which is all bagged for you, and then you have to check in these goods if you enter the 2nd level. You can take a purse in under one condition, it has to be securely bagged in plastic and machine press closed. What if you left your money inside the bagged purse and wanted to buy something? Well you better leave the store first, open up the bag, take money from your purse, and then go back to security to re-seal the plastic bag. I guess theft is a real big issue there, so that's why it has to be done. I remember one time during closing time, there was a ton of women walking out of a mall, down the stairs, and there were security guards forcefully trying to check their bags. It was a huge ruckus, as most of the women were just trying to exit, and pushing each other to get out, and trying to avoid the guards.

In some stores however, it seems like it would have been really easy to take anything, as convenient store clerks would actually just sleep on the job. I remember walking by a small convenient store, and there were 3 clerks there (which is 2 too many) and they were all sleeping. After all of that, half the people seem to take really long lunches and the cafes seem so busy. It seems to be a pretty laid back working class.

We could have used a little laziness ourselves, as the family takes us for a nice afternoon at a hot spring spa, at Thanh Tan. You can start your way at the bottom of the spa, where the water is the mildest, and move towards the natural spring, where it gets to as warm as 60 degrees celsius. The spa is also like a water park, but all with warm spring water. After soaking up the warm water and beautiful scenery, we enjoy a massage. The nice part about all of this is that we were able to provide all the amenities to the entire family of almost 20 for less than the price of a 1 hour massage here.

Later that evening I break away with my cousin, Chau, which I did every evening and would just ride around in his moped at night, hanging out at the many cafes. That night we also stop by the university, to watch a performance in which Chau's "friend" was performing in. Performance ranged from traditional folk music, to viet pop and bands rocking it out. It's nice to be hang out with Chau, as he knows all the things going on, and can take me anywhere.

The following day would be our final day in Hue, and it was well spent time with the family. As my brother and I have never been out to the North, we take a couple of our cousins, including Chau since he knows everything in Vietnam. We fly out to Hanoi that evening, to start a tour out there.

Soaking in Lembongan

Date: Monday August 3

Travel: Taxi;

Lodging: Conrad Bali
Photos: 20090803 LembonganIsland

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It was time to go out and play in the water. We didn't get to do the seawalker like we wanted to, but we did go on a play cruise to Lembongan island. Taking the Bali Hai package, we take a ship for a 1 hour ride over the sea. It was a bit windy and cloudy, and the water was a bit rough. However, the staff members must be really used to the conditions, as they were able to operate normally, be it if they were playing music in the band, making drinks, or waiting and serving people. One waiter did a very good job balancing the drink while walking up the steps to the upper deck and walking across the ship. This was a brilliant feat as the boat was just rocking up and down, not something for people who get motion sick. Nevertheless, as soon as the waiter successfully carried a glass full of margarita without spilling anything, the consumer couldn't immediately handle it and spilled it all over himself.
The ship at the end of the journey would dock with a pontoon, where all the fun water activities began. We started out by taking an underwater viewing boat, then did a little snorkeling. What was nice is that the pontoon had a ton of coral growing on it, and it was close to the surface, so we can see all the vibrant colors. It was a nice opportunity to test out the new underwater case for the SD900. There was a chance to scuba dive, but you needed some time to do a little training. There was a giant slide off the pontoon lodging you into the water, and that provided plenty of amusement. We also got a chance to take a boat to the island of Lebongan and take an island tour. Besides some photo opportunities, I probably could have done without this and just stayed on the slide or jump off the pontoon. Nevertheless it was a great experience.

Bali Adventure Tour

Date: Wednesday July 29, 2009

Travel: Rental Van
Party: Vu, Linda, Dan, Kim
Lodging: Pertiwi Resort
Photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/vutang50/20090729UbudRaftingElephantMonkeyForest#

After a few days in Jakarta, I rejoined Kim in Dan on the island of Bali, accompanied with Linda. Kim and Dan were fully recharged from their stay at the grand hyatt, as I was from chillaxing in Jakarta. On the first day, we decide to do a little adventure and go rafting down the Ayung river. We had a raft guide who was really strong and probably did all the work, but he was really fun, and always smiling. It was a beautiful day out, and the area around the river was so lush. It was a lot of fun, and no one fell over board, but I almost did since I was focused with my camera. The guide allowed us to jump into the river, and Linda was the first one in without hesitation.


All the people on the island were very nice, and always smiling. The service was always a great experience. After a buffet lunch, we visited the elephant safari park, and get to ride one through the jungle (actually its just a path inside the park, but you can use your imagination). The ride was a little slow, but it was just bumpy, up and down. The rafting and elephant safari were a part of Bali Adventure Tours company. Later in the evening we visited the sacred monkey forest, which was just a short walk from our hotel, Pertiwi resort. The monkeys were all over the place, and you could buy mini bananas and feed them. Some of these monkeys are very smart, and they don't really care for just the one banana that you give them, they want the whole bunch. You would be standing there trying to hand 1 monkey a banana, while another monkey tries to steal the stash of bananas in your other hand.

Hanging out in Jakarta

Date: July 24-28, Aug 5-8 2009

Travel: Taxi; Car
Party: Vu, Linda, Indonesian Friends
Lodging: Linda's Apartment
Photos: 20090726Jakarta ; 20090807Jakarta

Late friday evening, I arrive at Jakarta. My intentions were to stay at Linda's place, even though she was gone on a business trip until Sunday. Her sister's boyfriend actually picked me up at the airport, and took me out for Gado Gado for dinner. The next day, I hung out with some of my friends I met in my visit earlier that year. We hung out at a mall (surprise, surprise). This particular one had an ice skating rink. We were with some girls who wanted to learn how to dance, and so they invited us to a dance class. The studio was horrendous looking, I had flashbacks of my once pink home. There are a lot of fancy restaurants around, although driving to some and parking is not fun. When Linda returned back from her trip on sunday, we hung out around town. There is a lot of nice asian and asian fusion restaurants around, but something noteworthy was the Pizza Hut where it is quite fancy and considered fine dining. The pizza's are completely different, with different crust variations, mayo dipping sauces, and different type of toppings. The more memorable dish though was the martabak, which was a 20k calorie infestation of batter, butter, condensed milk, chocolate, cheese, and more butter. There are a couple different variations with a salty version and a thick or thin sweet version. At least too sweet is easier to swallow then too spicy. Linda and her sister's boyfriend took me out for lunch one time, where I suggested to eat something local. They have a high tolerance for spice, but this place was ridiculous. My mom makes this chili sauce, which I only need 1/2 of a teaspoon at most to satisfy my spice needs for a meal. Well these dishes were completely smothered in chili. I scraped some of mine off, but Linda's sister bf, ate it all. His face was compeletely red, and sweating all over. He used 4 or 5 napkins at a time to wipe the sweat off, but the napkins kept breaking apart because it was so wet. We actually got a quality facial (my 1st ever) that morning, and it was a full high quality facial at a clinic, with a deep cleanse. I'm sure that meal cleansed out all his pores better than the facial. Or maybe the meal made everything worse by excreting salt back into the cleansed pores. I definitely tried to avoid all that, because my face never felt so clean before.

The movie theaters there offer a variety of ways to watch a movie, the standard seats, sofa, or a bed (not bath!). Plenty of cafes to keep me busy, especially when I was by myself at times. I even got to take a ride on the "world's longest dry slide" at FX, which is another mall. There are plenty of night clubs to spend the night away. However there is a big discrepancy between the rich and the poor, and the middle class is not so big. Some of the clubs have cover charge which would rival to any US large city market, however there are street vendors which you could feed families at a tenth the cost of cover. The retail stores at the malls probably cost the same if not more of American retailers, however, I find more favor in the discount local markets like Manga Dua. Jakarta is just like any big city with the amenities, but it is in desperate need of mass transit. The roads are small, and the traffic is horrible. I remember 1 friday night, we headed out to Kemang food place, and google maps said it was only a 10 minute drive (only like 3 or 4 km), but it took 2 hours to get there. Even though if you own a car, you likely have a driver to take you around, which makes it nice, because parking a car, or looking for your parked car is not so easy. Also a driver is probably not likely to fall asleep in the middle of then night and get me or the dozen of motorcyclist in the road killed. At least I can cross the following off my bucket list: "Grab the steering wheel, and manuever a moving vehicle on a highway from the passenger seat."

Great Wall of Mutianyu

Date: Monday, July 20
Party: Vu, Dan
Travel: Bus; Mini Bus
Lodging: Dorm
Photos: 20090720BeijingMutianyuGreatWall
The problem with a weekday is that there are fewer modes of transportation for tourist around. I'm sure we could have called a tour, or have just taken some private taxi to the great wall, but Dan & I decided we wanted it to feel like we were hardcore. There are a couple of locations in which you can visit the great wall, 2 of which are Badaling and Mutianyu. Badaling is a bit touristy, and usually full of people, but it's easily accessible by train. Mutianyu is a little more difficult to reach, but it has a Toboggan ride down the mountain. Need I say more on which one we decided to go on. There is a tour bus on the weekend, that could have taken us straight to a town called Huairou, but this was Monday.

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It was supposed to be pretty easy according to websites and books we read, take the local bus to Huairou, take a mini bus the rest of the way to Mutianyu. So we took the local bus up to Huairou, and tried to communicate to the bus attendant. She was probably one of the more attractive people I saw in Beijing, as everybody in the street we encountered we generally unattractive. Anyways, as we started to arrive the outskirts of Huairou, the attendant mentions that this is Huairou. We exited the bus, and immediately, there was a guy soliciting us for a ride. Everybody solicits here, but this feels shady. We are supposed to find a mini bus, not this random guy on the street in a gray van. We stand there a bit and feel like idiots not knowing where we are at, or what we are supposed to do. This was just a fairly small town we were at. We just stand there, and one person who knew English, asked what we were doing, but he didnt know the area, so he could not help. The only thing he told us was, "be careful." Wonderful... So now we start walking into town and the sun is shining strong, which fuels the need to even be on the wall even more, since it would be a beautiful clear day. The original solicitor starts following us, and keeps yelling prices at us, which I think he started at 300 yuan, and started coming down until about 100. We just keep walking and walking away, and decided to take another bus, because we were actually looking for a particular stop, the convention center, but we don't know how to say this, and we don't even know what its supposed to look like. We just need to look for the mini bus. So driving around for a while, we still have no idea what to look for, and no mini buses in sight. How can it be this hard, all these publishings just list these simple, general instructions. But I think the words "be careful" was still dug into the back of our minds. We gave up on the bus, time to take a taxi, but we only knew of the Beijing taxi cabs, which were blue or green, and had a distinctive look. We could not find any around, but we thought, hey maybe the hospital would have some. There should be taxis line up there. As we walked towards the hospital we get many other solicitors in gray vans to drive us to "Mutianyu." We kept walking, and there was this particular guy, (I'll call him Chuck), who started following us, and he was saying 60, then 50, then 40. We completely ignore Chuck, we didn't even say no. Just kept walking away looking for the hospital. There were none. Being distraught, we got lucky, finally found 1 Beijing taxi driving our way, and as we approached the driver, I point to Mutianyu on the map and he shook his head no, and just drove off. Damn it! That was supposed to be our savior. We were about to just give up, and take the bus back to Beijing. Again Chuck followed us around. As we reached the bus stop and people started to exit, we had found our pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. It wasn't quite gold, but her hair was. This young blonde lady walks around, and Chuck, among others, start soliciting her, and she could actually communicate back with them. We walk up to her asking for her help, and she says, well Chuck is offering to drive you for 40, and she pulls out her travel book and we conversed.

Pot of gold: "40 is a good deal, the travel book expects it to be around 50."
Idiots: "Yeah, but is it safe? can we trust them?"
Pot of gold: "Sure, I use them all the time"

After that reassuring tip, we take Chuck up on the offer, and after 3 hours of stumbling around, we get our chance to go to Mutianyu. I look at Dan and tell him, "Man, we are such pussies. Here is this girl going alone all by herself with no problems or fears, and here we are just standing around not knowing what to do, in fear we would probably lose our organs." Dan was not scared though, he had his GPS on him and told me,

"It's ok, if the driver does not take us on the correct path, we can jump out of the car."

On the drive up, I noticed a bunch of gray vans on the streets, and parking lots full of them. And then after thinking about it, only the drivers of the gray vans really solicited us about driving to Mutianyu. I started to wonder what the heck a "mini bus" was in the first place. It dawned on me that those gray vans ARE the mini buses. Whatever, it makes for another good story to tell. As we get to Mutianyu, Chuck parks his car, and walks us all the way to the entrance. He then tried to tell us that he will be waiting for us. Wow, that would be good, I thought the least thing we could do was to tell him what time we would be done.
Before entering the wall, we go out to the street vendors to buy some water. The vendor asked for 10 yuan. But it only cost 1 at our local market. So we ended up bargaining with the vendor, and threatened to walk away and we end up geting 4 half frozen bottles for 6 yuan. As we gulp down our ice cold water, other tourist buying water paid the full 10 yuan. Aye, no wonder why they raise the prices, tourist will still pay. I can't ever help but feel like I'm getting ripped off in China.
So we finally get to take the ski lift up to the wall, and it was a beautiful clear day. The wall was empty of visitors, and you could freely walk the amazing wall beyond the eye could see. After a few hours of trekking on the wall, the best part was to go down the mountain, as it featured a toboggan slide down, which you had the ability to control the speed. It was soooo fun, and we probably should have gone back up the lift just to go back down. There was staff along the toboggan ride often reminding us to slow down. The rowdy boys in front of us even crashed into each other.
As we completed the wall, as promised, Chuck was waiting for us at the bottom, ready to take us back. To think we actually were ignoring him the whole time, when he's really probably just trying to feed his family. We compensated him nicely for sticking around, and he was quite grateful. I think we had enough excitement for the day, but we did have a spicy hotpot for dinner, and that probably finished Dan off for the night.