So the website forced me to select a "Region" within Singapore, so I picked the only one with the word "Singapore" in it. Anyway, after some seven months of travelling, I was finally back home again, and not a moment too soon either. It had become a bit of a personal tradition for me to make it a point to spend the Christmas period at home, even during the years when I was studying in the US. There's just something different about the atmosphere and the air when Orchard Road lights up and the malls play those familiar Christmas jingles at year end. And I'm not even religious! Well I shan't dwell too much over my time back home, which was mostly spent catching up with family and friends, and recuperating somewhat from the travails of ... read more

Obnoxious American alert! So on the minibus ride from Kampot to Sihanoukville, I had an interesting encounter with a rather arrogant American dude. Well, not quite dude, he was more the old, cranky, retired kind, with long, shaggy hair, moustache, and ripped clothes and shorts spending his remaining years in Cambodia-type. Anyway, as my minibus went around Kampot picking up passengers from their respective guesthouses, we came across this guy. First of all, he took a pretty long time gathering his things and settling his bill with the guesthouse etc. You'd have thought one would have paid up and gotten ready if he were waiting for a bus. And by the time he finally approached the minibus, and when the driver ushered him to the seats in the rear along with all the other passengers, he ... read more

So it's farewell Vietnam, but not being one final *mini* scam! I'd bought my minibus ride to cross the border, and in the process joined a group of a dozen or so Westerners who were also heading to Cambodia. As we approached the Vietnamese side of the border, led by our guide, it seemed we were not obliged to stop to have our documents checked. It felt rather odd to me, but I just thought it was another one of those things. Only after we'd reached the Cambodian side of the border did the guide turn to me and exclaim, "Oh yes, Singapore!" It turned out the others didn't need to have their passports stamped at the exit, because they'd previously submitted it to the guide for their Cambodian visas to be processed. However, I didn't ... read more

And yet another bus hiccup! And this time from a supposedly legitimate tour company! I'd bought the ticket for my ride from Can Tho to Chau Doc from the official-looking booth by the riverside, and was told there would be a transfer from my hotel to the bus station at the ungodly hour of 4 am, to catch the 4.30 am bus. So I got up real early and waited, and the minibus transfer never showed! Despite it being 5 am in the morning I managed to ask a passerby to call the company that issued my ticket, and he said he would call the driver right away. So I waited another ... read more

Welcome to the Mekong Delta! Where I finally realised how downright cheap I was! I'd read that you had to shop around to find the best deals for the boat tours that take you through a few of the smaller islands surrounding the town of My Tho where I arrived. Trying to sniff out the cheapest possible one, I went from tour desk to tour desk, and they all said that typically each group had to charter their own private boat, with prices ranging from about USD15 to USD40. I thought that was expensive even at the low end (!), and at one point even considered trying to just blend in with a larger tour group, to go for a free ride! But my morals(?) and fear about being discovered got the better of me. Instead, ... read more