It's a small world afterall...

I started working as soon as I got back from vacation and was fortunate to get a more hours.  With all the side jobs I have and the new hours at school, I am working about 40 hours a week and that does not include, preparing lesson plans, grading papers and quizzes or writing progress reports.

More hours at work were killing my feet, I brought 2.5 inch hills but that was still too high and I decided I needed to buy flats. When my sister and friends came to visit they brought $600 worth of $2 bills.  I wanted to trade them before Tet and so Paul and I thought we should go to Ben Thanh Market (black market). The exchange rate was the same.  We were told that we would get $3 bucks for every $2, but that didn't go our way.  Regardless, $2 are lucky and anyone we give it to really appreciate it.

In the back of my mind, I wanted to search for my family who are visiting from Australia but due to bad communication no one had anyone's phone number so we could not arrange to meet.  Paul remembered where we bumped into my uncle last October and so we thought we would give the hotel a try.  We found it after driving around in circles for half an hour.  The receptionist actually remembered me and told me that that my Go Suc was not here, but that my other uncles were at a hotel down the street.  The bell boy walked us over and gave me my uncle's number, which I thought was extremely odd.  I called the number and what do you know it was my Uncle Gong Suc!  Found them!  Uncle Steven was there!  Bach was there!  Their wives and children were there as well.  Downside to all of this, they have been in Vietnam for 10 days and today was the day they were leaving, a taxi was going to take them to the airport in an hour.  One hour together was better than nothing...

It's a small world afterall!

P.S. Found really cute flats at the Ben Thanh night market for a total $15  :)

Through the eyes Lance Armstrong....

Howdy there.  I’m Kris.  Lyna’s sister’s fiancé.  I read Lyna’s blog weekly, so I thought it was only appropriate that I contribute. 

That, and I just got back from a trip to Vietnam and Malaysia with Lyna, Paul, Lyna’s cousin Billy and our friend Jason.

There is soo much to cover from a 2 week trip so I’ll try to summarize. 

It all started a few days before the trip when I failed to navigate stairs the way I have for the past 34 years and somehow badly sprained my ankle.  It turned black and blue and I couldn’t put pressure on it.  The doctor gave me a walking cast.  Not the type of thing you want to do days before a trip to a foreign country that will involve a ton of walking on uneven ground and climbing ancient stairs. 

After a few days of icing and elevating my foot, we were off to the airport.  It was a long flight with a connection in Taiwan but overall it wasn’t terrible.  Air China is pretty good with the on demand movies etc.  Oh and Ambien helps.

We arrived in Saigon right around rush hour.  After trying to get ripped off by local cabbies, we finally negotiated our way into a van cab.  At this point I am so grateful that Kat speaks Vietnamese.  Kat and Lyna’s ability to communicate helped a ton in Vietnam.  Traffic in Vietnam is CRAZY.  There are thousands of scooters and mopeds on the streets at the same time, all going in different directions with what seems like zero traffic laws.  Not only that but we saw 2,3,4 up to a family of 5 on a single scooter.  Babys with no helmets etc.  We also saw people hauling anything they could carry (groceries, tools, lumber, one guy had a refrigerator).  It’s not uncommon for people to transport something 5x the size of the scooter via scooter.  After weeks there you still don’t get used to it.  It’s CRAZY.  And the whole “yeah but you never see any wrecks” thing is b.s.  Granted, there should be thousands of wrecks each day but we only saw 4 the whole time we were there. 

We spent the first day of the trip in District 7 where Lyna lives.  It’s a new expat area of Saigon and was super nice, not very crowded etc.  Basically, the Beverly Hills of Saigon.  Felt more like we were San Gabriel Valley.  So, that was nice to ease us into it and also to have some calm area to go home to at night.  Also, it was SUPER helpful to have Lyna and Paul there as our guides.  I highly recommend travel with a local guide.  Oh and the free place to stay was cool too.

We brought several handles of liquor but they didn’t stand a chance against this group.  Card games and pre-partying before going out each night killed those quickly.  Lyna showed us all over town.  We ate 5-6 times a day.  No joke.  There were so many restaurants and dishes to sample that we were eating machines.  However, a full meal with apps and beers was only like $5-6 per person so it seemed like the thing to do.  We did some bargain shopping, some clubbing, trivia night, karaoke, walking around and exploring etc.  Lots of street meat and street vendors to keep you busy.  We would negotiate prices down to $10 for a t-shirt thinking we got a good price.  Then Paul informed us that they should be $5.  So, he became our chief negotiator moving forward. 

Crossing the street in the crowded areas was like a game of frogger.  The flood of scooters never really stops.  So, you have to just walk out and hope they don’t hit you.  There were a few times where Kat and I were stuck on the other side of the street because we hesitated.

It was warm but not terrible hot.  Only a few nights where it was muggy out.  We also did a few day trips.  We did a Mekong Delta tour where we watched them make candy, perform some local theater and visit some local vendors. 

After several days in Saigon, we flew to Hanoi for Xmas.  After a short game of pack, repack and repack again at the airport because all of our bags were too heavy, we boarded the plane.  Only after giving up and paying for extra baggage fees.  Upon landing in Hanoi, you could immediately tell that there was a big difference between the two cities.  Hanoi is farther north and quite a bit colder.  Saigon was hot and muggy and Hanoi was San Fran cold.  It also was more developed.  With main highways, huge bridges, tons of factories and industrial parks.  We arrived on Xmas eve and after checking into our hotel we walked around.  They were having an Xmas eve celebration and blocked off the streets for a huge parade and fair.  It was crowded but really cool to see.  Jason bought us all reindeer antler headbands to wear which turned out to be the most useful tool on the trip as we could find each other in the crowd.  Overall, a good night.

The next morning we went to Ha Long Bay.  We booked an overnight cruise on a fancy boat.  This was the most expensive and fanciest thing we did all trip but it was worth it.  The food was really good, the ship was super nice and overall it was cool as hell.  Great views from our cabins on the boat and from the deck up top.  We would take a smaller boat over to different islands and go explore etc.  I think this was my favorite thing about the entire trip.

Then, we had one more night in Hanoi.  We tried to walk around and soak up everything before heading off to Malaysia the next day.

Malaysia is where it all went askew.  I don’t want to harp on it or type a ton of negative stuff so I’ll start to be a little more brief.  A bit of background on Malaysia.  We were looking at places near Vietnam to add another country to the trip.  We considered Cambodia and Laos but figured it might be too similar to Vietnam and they are even less developed so it might be like being in the countryside.  We considered Thailand but some of the group already planned to go there later in the year and all I hear are horror stories about Bangkok.  So, Malaysia looked like a great option. It has a big city (Kuala Lumpur), rainforests, scuba diving and snorkeling, hiking, etc.  Plus it is a melting pot of people from Asia and everyone is fluent in English and they accept US currency.  At least that is how it was marketed on all the websites.  Not the case.

After booking our flights we discovered that we were going during the monsoon season.  This meant that the entire east coast of the peninsula was off limits.  That meant no rain forests, no water activities, no island stuff.  We were basically limited to Kuala Lumpur and day trips from that area.  We also discovered that the country was predominantly Muslim.  However, all of the websites said that this wouldn’t affect westerners trips much.  Girls just had to wear a scarf over their heads when entering temples and alcohol is still served everywhere.  Not the case.

Kuala Lumpur overall just seemed awful.  We kept trying to give it the benefit of the doubt and thinking that the next day would be better but it wasn’t. 

Let me preface the rest of this by saying that I’m not being ethnocentric.  I’ve been to over 25 countries and many of them were third.  My complaints about Kuala Lumpur are based on expectations that were raised too high due to websites and marketing materials.  It also was purely the attitude of the locals towards us.  They just didn’t seem to want us there at all.

It’s hot as hell.  I mean hot.  And we were there during the winter.  The sun was just brutal hot.  Things are more expensive than Vietnam but they were still cheap.  However, alcohol wasn’t that cheap.  It turns out there is a 100% sin tax on alcohol.  So, you were still paying $3 a can at the corner store and $5 a can at a bar.  And that was when you could find one that served alcohol.  They weren’t as prevalent as the websites made them out to be.  They do not accept US currency.  Not at all.  No one does.  I normally wouldn’t expect this if it weren’t for websites saying they did.  I have no idea why websites said that.  They do not speak English that well.  All the websites acted like everyone was fluent in English but they were not.  Once again, I normally wouldn’t expect this if it weren’t for websites saying they did.  Communicating with locals was very difficult. 

Then there was the issue of the women’s attire.  The girls were constantly glared at, and even hissed at by several people because they were wearing t-shirts or tank tops that showed their shoulders.  They had to start covering up with scarves and wearing long sleeved shirts and long skirts in the god awful heat.  Even then, they still got looks.

Every single tourist attraction was a let down.  The Batu Caves involved a ton of steps and the monkeys were cool but inside was full of trash and graffiti.  Literally looked like a landfill in there.  Later, we walked halfway across earth to get to a temple and it was a huge letdown.  They had club music playing in the building below it and the whole thing looked like it was built in 2007.  Little India was okay.  Chinatown was okay (although it might be the dirtiest Chinatown I’ve ever been to in any country in the world.  I saw a woman defecating into a storm grate in the middle of a busy intersection).

If you ever find yourself stuck in Kuala Lumpur, the only thing you need to do is go to Jalon Alor street food market.  It was a ton of tables and chairs and vendors in the street and they sever all sorts of street meat and beers.  This was our best night in the whole place.  Good food, good fun.

Oh and to add insult to injury, they are a toilet paperless country.  Most bathrooms are just a hole in the ground.  Some are western style toilets but instead of toilet paper there is a hose.  We all just waited until we went back to the hotel.

I think the main issue was the attitude towards westerners and tourists.  In Saigon and Hanoi they were super friendly towards us.  And this is a country we went to war with not even a generation ago.  No hard feelings.  Sure they would see the foreigners coming and try to jack up the prices on whatever they were selling but they would do it with a smile and would joke with you.  Despite the poverty in most of Vietnam, people seemed to be in good spirits and laughing with one another.  On the other hand, Kuala Lumpur seemed miserable.  Maybe they see us as infidels and our normal behavior flies in the face of everything they believe.  Maybe we are the walking devil to them.  That’s how they acted.  We couldn’t get cabs.  When they did stop, they would ask us where we were going and then just say no.  This was odd because instead of just naming a price 3x what they normally would charge a local they just said NO.  In fact, NO was the main word everyone there knew.  Can we use the internet, NO.  Can we get a roll of toilet paper, NO.  Do you know where this thing in the town you live is, NO. 

Then there was the mugging.  Three of the guys in the group got mugged.  Some guys posed as police and caught them on the side of the rroad and took their cash.  Afterwards, we looked it up and it turns out that crime in KL has been on the rise but the government never posts anything or files reports because they don’t want to scare away tourists or businesses.  This left a bad taste in our mouths.

Needless to say, we were happy to head home after 5 days of this place.

Overall, it was a great learning experience.  Vietnam was definitely cool to see and we had some good times there.  However, visiting Malaysia taught us to do deep deep research before choosing a location.  Things that might make a difference are weather, monsoons and does your everyday way of life offend the religious beliefs of 99% of the locals. 

Will have to keep this in mind for the next trip.

Kris McDonald aka Lance Armstrong

A Happy New Year?

Every story has 2 sides and here's 1 side from 6 pairs of eyes...

My sister, her fiance, my cousin and my good friend came to travel and visit us for dooms day, Christmas, my birthday and New Years, little did we know what was ahead of us.

In Saigon, we had a pretty good time, we went clubbing and got bottle service. We went to Mekong Delta a floating market (3 hours away).  We visited several flea market and shopping centers.  We ate at the famous Lunch Lady that premiered on the Anthony Bourdaine show.  Oh and of course we had to karaoke in Vietnam.  We did a great deal of celebrating and drinking and after 3 days we headed for Hanoi.  Part I of III was going well and we had a great group traveling together.

In Hanoi, it was a lot colder and we arrived on Christmas Eve and bought 6 pairs of raindeer ears and walked through the blocked of streets of Hoan Kiem.  At our hotel there was a party and we stayed there for a brief time.  We had to wake up early the next morning and catch a 3 hour bus ride to Halong Bay where we jumped on a cruise for 1 night. The cruise was relaxing and the food was amazing.  They had the usual cruise activities like; learning how to cut fruit and vegetables as garnishes, squid fishing, kayaking, board games etc.  We had an opportunity to walk up 400 steps to an amazing view of Halong Bay a natural wonder of the world.  Later we got to enter one of the rock formation and inside was a cave that was spectacular (pictures to come).  We spent Christmas on the cruise and it was nice to have friends and family near.

Another bus ride to the airport to catch a 3 hour flight to Kuala Lumpur Malaysia.  When we arrived to Malaysia my sister and I sure got a lot of stares.  Apparently we both look Malay.  It is extremely hot and humid here so we had on shorts and a tank top.  In a country that has 85% Muslims, this dress attire was not acceptable.  The next day we covered up with long skirts and a tank top and actually brought scarves to tie as head scarves to try to blend in.  That still wasn't enough, we got hissed at, dirty looks from men and women.  I used my head scarf as a shoulder wrap and that put them at bay a little. My sister and I looked like local rebels.

We went to a temple that was described as one of the best temples to visit.  We thought it would be a good idea to walk it and after sweating profusely and arriving at a very steep heel we finally reached the temple.  We were surprised to hear trance music coming out of this "sacred temple".  There was going to be an event and there were several tables covered with expense linen and center pieces.  We were all irritated  because it was highly recommended online and in travel books.  A small sign in the corner pointed us to the temple we had to climb several more staircases and we finally got to the temple where there were several guys putting up laterns.  The whole temple appeared as if it were under construction.  I certainly did not feel like a temple.

What a dissapointment!  We left shortly after.  Half of the group didn't mind walking and catching the monorail.  But I was over it and so was my sister, also her fiance had just sprained his foot and it was still in a cast.  So half of us jumped in a cab and the other half decided to catch the monorail a km away.  Of course the people in the cab got home first.  When my friend and cousin finally got back they looked pretty wiped out, it wasn't the heat, I almost wish it was.  We got what we thought was the worst news!  They had just gotten robbed.  Earlier that day I wanted to get our hotel room cleaned so my friend didn't feel comfortable leaving his valuables and money in the room, so he took it all with him.  So they both got robbed of all the money they had brought on the trip.  SO the light at the end of the tunnel, they didn't get hurt.  So here's what went down, they were walking along the freeway just 5 minutes away from the monorail and a car marked Polis aka Police pulled up and yelled for them to come over.  They said they were cops flashed a badge and asked them to empty their pockets.  We later find out that this is a common scam and tourists are targeted.

We decided that we were only going to travel by taxi.  At our crappy hotel the Prescott Inn (never stay here), there is a taxi service and we thought that it would be the safest and cheapest method to get around.  Taxi scams are high in Kuala Lumpur and even the government admits it, but has no control of it.  Anyway we wanted to go 3km to Jilan Alor to eat at a famous street market and we asked our hotel to hire a taxi van and it cost us 65Ringgits.  Here's the conversion 1USD to 3 RM, so that taxi ride cost 21USD.  After eating at this wonderful place, oh by the way food is extremely cheap but alcohol in a Muslim country is 3x the price.  We caught a cab to go back to our hotel and it cost 15RM.  Our freaken hotel ripped us off.  We were so mad when we found out.

Then my sister got sick with a sore throat and cold and of course it was passed on to me.  So for my birthday, we stayed in.  We did a lot of that in Malaysia because it was so hot out, rained alot, and my sister were constantly judged.  We ended up staying in and watching 5 movies together. 

Batu Cave was highly spoken of and after a long ride we arrived and again it was such a huge let down.  The cave was filled with vendors on the way to the cave and literally inside as well.  There were huge iron stands and bars that appeared as if they were trying to rennovate the place.  The only cool thing about this were the monkeys that were pretty aggressive but the most entertaining part of that experience.

So New Years night, that was probably the best night out of 5 nights and we were all probably really celebrating that we were going "home" the next day.

We decided to use our hotel to book a taxi because it would be the most reliable and the quote was the same as the airport so we figured that was an acceptable price.  We booked the night before and paid in advance.  We specifically told them 6 people and 6 luggages.  In the morning we asked the front desk to confirm our cab to the airport and they confirmed.  When the cab arrived it was a small van.  We couldn't even fit 3 luggages in.  No way were we going to miss that flight, none of us wanted to stay another day in Malaysia.  We ended up yelling at those poor receptionists, but they did really screw this up.  I don't know what it is but getting toilet paper or towel was difficult and we should have known that booking a van would have been rocket science for them.  Anyway we finally conviced them that they needed to get a 2nd cab out and we would split up however we should not have to pay.  The driver of the first cab asked how much we paid and when I said 200RM, he laughed in my face.  Long story short (the Malaysia part anyway), we got a 2nd cab to come 20 minutes later, after it was promised that it would arrive in 5 minutes...but it was free of charge.

The flight to Saigon was comfortable.  Billy, Paul and I just had to clear customs and we would be home free.  Of course it was not a Happy New Year, Billy's visa was a single entry although we all assumed it was a multi entry because his agent booked his flight where he was going to vietnam, leaving vietnam to malaysia and returning to vietnam for an extra week then departing for the US.  Paul and I had multi entry visas and recently got it extended and for whatever reason, the visa was not good.  We tried to argue with gthe custom agents and lost that fight.  We ended up having to pay $160 USD per person to get a landing Visa in Vietnam.  It took an hour and I could only imagine that our luggage would have been stolen or lost by now.  We were told we could pay by credit card, and when it came down to it, cash only.  WTF!  Paul had to run around the airport to find an ATM where he could withdraw that much money.

In the custom line, I couldn't hold it in anymore, I started to cry, and I'm glad I did because I needed to let it all out.  So much bad luck had come upon us and we had just gotten robbed again.  I hope those custom guards felt some sort of guilt as I cried in line.

Hailed a cab and headed "home".  Of course the worst wasn't over, I hit the open button to our garage and nothing happened.  We had left a light on and of course it was off.  Our electricity bill came and was not paid, so guess what our electricity was cut off.  It's New Years Day, so everything is closed and there's nothing we can do so we got a hotel and here I am writing this blog with a very bad outlook on 2013...