The day before I arrived in the Philippines, I found out that a pretty big typhone had passed through. Wow- talk about being lucky! From the airport in Manila, it took 2 1/2 hours to get to the boat. The sea was angry that day! Instead of taking 1 hour to reach the island of Puerto Galera, it took 4 hours! There were 2 other passengers on the boat and they were sea sick- probably wishing that they were dead! The boat was jumping up and down crashing on the waves- crazy! Then, 15 minutes to destination, the boat's engine smokes [View Full Entry]

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Sipadan is the only oceanic island in Malaysia, rising 2,000 feet or 600m from the seabed. It is located in the Celebes Sea east of the major town of Tawau and off the coast of East Malaysia on the Island of Borneo. It was formed by living corals growing on top of an extinct volcanic cone that took thousands of years to develop. Sipadan is located at the heart of the Indo-Pacific basin, the centre of one of the richest marine habitats in the world. More than 3,000 species of fish and hundreds of coral species [View Full Entry]

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Angkor temples in Siem Reap in Cambodia. There is a mixture of Hindu and Buddhist temples- it really depended on the religious preference of the reigning king of the time. These temples are the pride of the Khmer people. It is not hard to understand this considering all the hardships that the Cambodians went through...and throughout all this, these temples survived. It is recommended to take a week to visit these temples, but to be honest, in 40 degree weather, one day was enough for me =P I was templed out! Enjoy the photos! [View Full Entry]

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I decided to go to Perhentian Island for some sun and sand. This island is found on the East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia in the South China Sea. Ahh-so beautiful! It took 2 plane-rides, 1 hour of taxi and 45 minutes of boat to get to this island. I am happy to say that this is where I completed my 100th dive! Apparently, tradition among divers is to celebrate this all important milestone by diving naked! But I am prude- what can I say and so decided not to follow through with this tradition ;) The dive crew were very gracious [View Full Entry]

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My parents bought me a bicycle when I arrived in Nha Trang so I could follow them to the beach and to the market. My father's advice about understanding traffic and avoiding colliding into another vehicle proved priceless. The hierarchy of rights of way is: big trucks, cars, motorbikes, bicycles and then pedestrians. Ohhh....good to know when you grew up in a town where it is the pedestrians who have a right of way huh? So I did not have any accidents or close calls thanks to my dad's advice. However, my mom thinks that she has the right of way [View Full Entry]

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Ahhh- the sweet smell of clean humidity! That was the first impression I had of Singapore. Very nice indeed... I guess that you have to appreciate the city-life, the strict rules, drinkable tap water, English-speaking population and efficiency of this city when you've been traveling in developing countries for a few months. I certainly did. I rest here for a few months, use Singapore as my hub to another Asian destinations and find a job to replenish my bank account. Things that I noticed besides the sweet smell of clean humidity is the rain. When it rains, it POURS! No one [View Full Entry]

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I must admit that I was a little apprehensive about visiting Thailand because of my ignorance- with the prevalent sex industry there, but as you can see from the photos, Thailand offers so much more and am glad that I went. The people are so relaxed and easy-going, the food was fantastic and the scenery- wonderful. I ended up learning how to say, "I am not Thai- I am Vietnamese"- some...MOST mistook me for a local. They would laugh- "so much like Thai!" my response- "yes, same-same, but different" ;D The first week, I was in Phuket- diving the Similan islands [View Full Entry]

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Instead of taking 6 hours from Mumbai to get to the Maldives, it took me 16 hours! Sri Lankan Airlines never explained the reasons for the delay. 10 of us missed our connecting flight from Colombo to Maldives and were put up in the airport hotel. I seriously thought that the liveaboard would leave without me and was forced to take interest in my travel insurance for reimbursement. Luckily for me, the weather was very bad in the Maldives as well and they decided to dock at the airport habour for the night and only leave the next day. Advice to [View Full Entry]

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Mumbai was fun- I was re-united with friends from work- both from Montreal and from the Mumbai office. Eversince I knew that the offshoring project was happening, I wanted to go to India. I came close to going for work twice, but, to my disappointment, those travel plans fell through. So you can only imagine my excitement when I saw the offices. There are no real pictures of the office- the security guard made me erase them- something about the building being important...national security...whatever. I stayed with a Montreal friend in the very nice 5-star hotel Taj Lands End. When I [View Full Entry]

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India India beloved India- the lonely planet described this country as overwhelming and full of contrast. It means nothing when you read that, you cannot imagine what that really is until you are there... Unlike many foreigners coming to visit this country, I did not go in search of spiritual enlightenment, but I sure as hell learnt a lot about myself there! Under 45 degree heat, with SO many people, so many poor people, cow shit all over the streets, the compulsive honking of vehicles and with constant watchout for the gropers, I was tested. My patience, my sense of smell [View Full Entry]

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