dancingnomus

We arrived in beautiful Nha Trang bright and early(boarded our 5 AM flight to Da Nang then layover and connecting finally to Nha Trang around 10 AM). Nha Trang was beautiful mainly because the temperature was ~27 C and we could feel the ocean breeze and see the coastline of clear aquamarine water. The next few days were just pure beaches and relaxation. After Nha Trang, we headed to Saigon, or renamed after North/South civil war was decided, Ho Chi Minh. Id been in HCM before but the experience this time's better, since I'm not with family, visiting a galore of people and just really exploring the city for myself. Ho Chi Minh's like the NYC of America. Everything's happening. It's so interesting how different it can be from other places in the same country. But ... read more

We arrived at Hanoi in the nice sweltering heat of 33 C and the sky's filled with smoke. It was about 10 PM. We were informed the smog was due to the nightly burning of wheat to help fertilization of agriculture fields...not really sure what that's about. Met up with my friends Conall and Matt and we all went out for a late night happy hour. Conall is finishing his tour around SE Asia in Vietnam and Matt is halfway done before heading back to Melbourne, AU in October. I never thought I'd fall asleep with one beer. Well, I definitely did at our late night happy hour bar. It must be the aromatic VN beer...or I was just exhausted. Walking the streets of Hanoi in sweltering humidity...I must've had 5 showers by the time we ... read more

When in Paris, one must go see the Eiffel Tower. Similarly, when in Amsterdam, one must try the locals' brownies. The list goes on for must-sees at destinations around the world; some are on the list of world wonders and some are just for kicks. Well, we were in Bangkok, and the infamous *ping pong show* (for kicks) was calling us. ***As a word of caution, this post has no pictures for a reason. And as a disclaimer, I am in no way endorsing what goes on here, and actually strongly encourage it not to be pursued. Sometime, it is OK to not see the Eiffel Tower. *** Shortly after Amy & Ann arrived at our hotel, the 4 of us called a cab and got dropped off at Khaosan Road in search of the *show.* ... read more

Landed at Chiang Mai International airport (who knew it's international?!) and off we went to pick up our bags & to the reservation desk to book accommodation. After a 20 minutes of bargaining and being haggled by the guy, we left on our own with no reservation. Picked up a map and got in a cab and got dropped off in the center of Chiang Mai city. After touring a barrage of roach infested hole in the wall places, we settled at a place on "discount for you" at 450 baht @ an alley street. Dropped off our bags and off we went to explore the rest of the city. We have been crazy foodies for the last 24 hrs, eating non stop all the delicious food at the awesome BKK, so dinner's nowhere in the ... read more

I got up Saturday morning, hopped on the local bus at Kata Beach to head back to Phuket town and meet up with Sadiki, arriving from Singapore. Sadiki & I had no way to contact each other at Phuket- no cell phone, no nothing(you realize how dependent...or seem to think how dependent we are on that little thing. All we set up was, "Meet me at the Bus Station"- said I via email. Once I got to the Phuket bus station myself, I realized, the place was huge...with different areas that make up "The Station." O well. I guess it can't be too hard to spot out one black & fabulous man amongst a sea of asians...might be a little difficult for him to spot me out. So I waited, and did circles around the station ... read more