Three Unforgettable Nights in Singapore, Part 2!

Our final day in Singapore was easily one of the best days I've had on my trip so far. With friends like Elliott and Ruben, it's not hard to have fun just sitting around playing cards, but we knew that wasn't an option for our last full day in Singapore--especially since Christa and Eric were going to join us later that day. We decided, therefore, to get an early start to the day and venture off to some of the amazing parts of downtown Singapore.

At this point in our three day/three night trip to Singapore, we had easily gone over our budgets because we did not factor in the expenses to everything that is Singapore. Regardless, we were content on getting some exercise (free), sightseeing (also free), and finding an inexpensive lunch as well as a few beers after our few hours walking in the sun.

Surprisingly, the rain that had been forecasted throughout the day was quite mild, and it actually wound up being a bit hot. As we walked out of the MRT in the heart of downtown, we made tentative plans to get a ride in the ferris wheel at sunset in order to capture pictures of Singapore from above. We later changed our minds when we thought about how much further the $30 per person/ride would take us into the night, so instead, we just wandered around, taking random pictures, and enjoying the skyscrapers that filled the sky from below:

You might recognize this weird creature; it is known as a Merlion--something very unique to Singapore's culture and history. There are only a few Merlions on the island, but this one is by far the coolest one--not just because it's spewing water but because it's placed right in the Esplanade area on a river with amazing buildings surrounding it. As well, you can't help but get a picture of one of your friends posing for an hysterical photo . . .

What really captivated our attention in downtown Singapore that day was the new hotel getting its finishing touches. Since it was incredibly hot during our walking around, this gave us 104 reasons to wander inside the lobby, cool off in the cold air conditioning, and see what their hotel was all about; from the outside, the Marina Bay Sands Hotel was a magnificent sight:

Once inside the lobby of the hotel, we were blown away: first by the Air Conditioning and then by the attention to detail. There was something there for everyone (shops, casino, restaurants, bars, lounges, jazz, spas), but this place will truly cater to the rich and wealthy--especially after looking up their room prices.

We inquired about going up to the boat-looking feature sitting on top of the three hotel buildings, but a lady at reception said that it was not finished and how it was probably not going to be accessible for visitors wanting to take in the view or get pictures. What a bummer! It wasn't surprising though; I could only imagine what they would have on their plate if an accident happened up there--and without the proper safety mechanisms yet in place. I just really wanted to see Singapore from up there!

Well, at this point, we were getting a bit thirsty and very hungry, so we stopped for a Happy Hour special--buy one and get one free--and enjoyed two ICE COLD Stella Artois drafts. Then, already on a tight budget and spending more than necessary on beer, we settled on a hearty McDonalds meal for dinner. I got the Big Mac meal--the first time in at least 8 years.

At this point in our day, we were dog tired from all the walking and sight-seeing, but it was only 5pm. We wanted to get back to our hostel in order to meet up with Christa and Eric for some libations at the Pump Room and do a little dancing with the band that played the other night.

To get this post up and to get one with things, I leave you with a few pictures and a video send-off from Singapore of me, Eric, Ruben, Elliott, and Christa singing and dancing to "It's Raining Men!" Enjoy.

(The boys--all together at last!)

(Christa and Eric)

(IPAs and Kamikazes!)

(Christa playing "knock your bottle" on the dance floor . . . )

(It's Raining Men!!!)

Next up on The Dandygram: Back to Bangkok, Sending the Boys Off, and On My Own in Khao Sarn . . .

Three Unforgettable Nights in Singapore!

Our trip to Viet Nam had come to and end, and we had enjoyed 13 days moving along the coastline--from Hanoi to Halong Bay/Cat Ba Island, then South to Hue, Hoi An, Nha Trang, and finally to Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City). It was an incredible trip. Looking back now (almost 10 days later), I would definitely liked to have had an extra week, but as we originally planned when booking our tickets back in April, we knew we could only afford to do two weeks in Viet Nam since our classes in Bangkok were to begin on June 16th. This also gave us enough time for our last destination during our month of travel: Singapore!

A brief side note . . . about a week into my trip to Southeast Asia, Ruben, Elliott, and I were informed that our six week summer abroad program had been canceled due to the political conflicts, riots, and sit-ins that had been occurring in Bangkok, Thailand--not far from our prospective school (Thammasat University). Following that notification, Ruben and Elliott got in touch with me while I was in Chiang Rai about changing their flights after our trip to Singapore in order to get back to Berkeley and enroll into summer school. I, on the other hand, was determined to stay and just live off my savings and continue traveling through the rest of Thailand (going to the islands in the south of Thailand--both the east and west coasts--and the make my way back to Chiang Rai for another short visit, and finally ending my remaining time in Laos and Cambodia).

Plan B is in now full effect, and I hope this Dandygram will conclude my time with Ruben, Elliott, and Christa so that I can move on to the second half of my altered plan. It might take two more posts!

Now, back to our time in Singapore . . .

Coming to from the night of little-to-no sleep in Saigon, Ruben and I caught a short nap on our one and a half hour flight to Singapore International Airport. Once we deplaned, we immediately got the impression that things in Singapore were much like we had been told back home: tidy, clean, new, fresh, etc., so I'll be sharing numerous pictures in this Dandygram to hopefully show you exactly what I mean.

After collecting our bags and figuring out how to get to Elliott, we boarded a bus and immediately began to see Singapore on our way to the Drop Inn Hotel (what a catchy name!). The date was June 13th, and I believe the last time we had seen Elliott was in Hue nearly a week before, so it was damn good to see our friend. He was equally excited to see some familiar faces once we arrived.

We sat in his hostel for a bit to catch up with him, but after he explained the area and where the happening things were, we decided to find a place in a better location. We settled on a hostel (for nearly $30 USD a night--SO expensive) in an area of Singapore called Clarke Quay (pronounced "Q"). Here's a picture of the nearby sights--about a five minute walk away:

We dropped our bags at our new (and expensive) hostel, but at this point in the day, I was feeling groggy as all get up from the lack of sleep in who knows how long because you can't really count the numerous sleeper buses I had been on in the days and nights leading up to our arrival in Singapore. Regardless, I continued to push through and walked around Clarke Quay with Elliott and Ruben for a while. To no surprise, we ate at a wonderful family restaurant--the first in all of Southeast Asia! We were so tempted in buying matching shirts, but saved our money for the other attractions that awaited us in the days to come. Let me tell you, the wings, curly fries, and celery sticks were absolutely splendid and tasted just like all the ones I've visited back home!

That night, we found ourselves back in Clarke Quay and in a great little club (The Pump Room Brewery) with a live band and IPAs!!!

After a few hours of dancing and singing along to numerous songs, we called it a night and headed back to our hostel to prepare for a big day at the beach the following day. I slept harder than a rock that night, as it was my first good sleep in at least three days!

. . .

Waking up (June 14th) with a fresh start to a beautiful day, we decided it was a perfect day to visit Sentosa Island and lay out on Siloso Beach. It couldn't have been a better choice since the following day was incredibly rainy. Here are some highlights from our time on the island and at the beach!

We watched a few good matches from the World Cup that evening right on the beach, but we had to get back to the MRT (subway) in order to catch the last train back to our hostel at Clarke Quay. Once we arrived, we called it a night since Christa and her boyfriend (Eric) were set to arrive from Thailand the following day; plus, we wanted to make our last full day in Singapore worthwhile!

Next up on The Dandygram: Three Unforgettable Nights in Singapore, Part 2!

Our Final Days in Vietnam: Staying In Nha Trang, Sleeper Buses Galore, and Saigon for the USA vs. England Match!

It was difficult leaving Hoi An and our nice hotel, the beautiful beach, and the enjoyable night life--what we had extended our stay for--but it really was time for Ruben and I to head south if we were going to see more of Viet Nam before our flight on June 13th for Singapore. Elliott (who had been patiently waiting for us in Nha Trang--our next city during our trip south) had already moved on to Ho Chi Minh City (a.k.a. Saigon to the Vietnamese) since he was going to leave for Singapore a day before Ruben and I due to accidental booking when we were all back in Berkeley.

Ruben and I--along with Chivi and Andres--spent part of our last day at the Cua Dai Beach and enjoyed cool weather and even some painful rainfall on our motorbike ride back to the hotel. Once there, we got our things packed up, our electronics charged, and ourselves showered for the sleeper bus to Nha Trang that night. We were all pretty excited to get to Nha Trang (despite that being another hellacious ride on a sleeper bus) because the following night--our only one in Nha Trang--was the opening night of the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

I have to say, it's been great traveling in Southeast Asia, but it's been especially fun because of all the people from around the world that are here as well and who are very into the World Cup. Needless to say, every night we've been out watching the games (airing at 6:30pm, 9:00pm, and 1:30am), there has been an incredible turnout along with numerous people from the countries playing during each match.

As you can imagine, it was a fun night with Ruben and Andres in Nha Trang watching the opening match between South Africa and France.

After our time watching the soccer matches with Andres, we made our way to the infamous Sailing Club in Nha Trang. What. A. PLACE! I did so much dancing that night that I could barely stand up.

To my credit, I had an amazing dancing partner named Rachel from England who kept up and kept me moving, so it was worth the near exhaustion after a few hours on the dance floor with her.

The next morning, Ruben and I were booked on our last sleeper bus from Nha Trang to Saigon but were picked up in the morning for a rather long day trip. As we departed Nha Trang, we knew there was one thing we wanted to see during our only night in Saigon: USA v. England in the 2010 FIFA World Cup! Despite riding that sleeper bus the whole day, we managed to make a few friends on the bus, and surprisingly, I have since reconnected with one of them while in Bangkok (Nadeane--a beautiful R.N. from Canada who's moving to Beverly Hills in September to work at the Beverly Hills Hospital . . . whoa!).

After a LONG ride that took the entire day with our seats directly in the sun, we arrived around 8pm very tired, but we had enough time, however, to get a hotel, drop our bags, and make it to a cozy bar--finding great seats for the USA v. England game that was to start at 1:30am. Yes, we spent nearly 8 hours in that pub that night, but that's just what you do when USA plays England in the World Cup and you are surrounded by English blokes.

I could try and explain how outnumbered the 15 or less Americans were inside the little pub right in the middle of the backpacker area of Saigon that night, but I made a 4-part video that does the job much better . . . plus, it's really funny!

I'm sorry for using the f-bomb, but I do not apologize for the name calling of David Beckham because of what Ruben and I endured all night from every English bloke at the pub until USA finally tied the game at 1-1 (about 60 minutes into the game).

So, enjoy the videos! (Celia and Jessica: the "Skype" shout-out at the end of Part 4 is for you.)

USA v. England in Saigon, Pt. 1

USA v. England in Saigon, Pt. 2

USA v. England in Saigon, Pt. 3

USA v. England in Saigon, Pt. 4

Well, there you have it; needless to say for those of you who watched the game, we scored somewhat of a lucky goal, but USA tied the game. (Now in present day--nearly two weeks later--we have placed first in our group and will continue into the World Cup's top 16 countries along with England.)

As for our claim in the final video about getting three hours of sleep, Skype and updating past Dandygrams kept me up through the night, and I think Ruben got 45 minutes. We did, however, manage to catch our flight for Singapore (and to meet up with Elliott once again) right on time!

Next up on The Dandygram: Three Unforgettable Nights in Singapore!

Extending Our Stay in Hoi An, and It Wasn't for Suits!

After our night at the festival in Hue (unfortunately, we ALL forgot our cameras that night--big bummer), we slept in as long as we possibly could the next morning before we had to be down in the lobby and board yet another bus for a four hour ride to Hoi An. By the time we got up and showered, Elliott was already half way through his tour in the Demilitarized Zone.

The night before, we hadn't planned out our next few days very well but were certain that Ruben and I were going to be in Hoi An for two nights in order to get custom-made clothes. What we did not figure out before parting ways with Elliott in Hue was where we were going to see him again--or when . . .

A day trip on the bus heading south through central Viet Nam was a nice change from the last ride. First of all, the scenery during the drive was incredible--ocean to the left and rice paddies at the base of mountains to the right!

Second, it was also a productive trip since I was able to get a few more Dandygrams logged with good sunlight and a shorter trip . . .

Once we finally arrived in Hoi An, we took a short nap and then Ruben and I made our way into the city for dinner. It was a great feeling to know that we were going to spend (at least) two nights in Hoi An because from what we could tell, the place was amazing and we hadn't even been to the beach yet. Also, I think it was a good place to be because as soon as we started our way into the city for dinner, we saw the most beautiful colors in the sky during the sunset from the ride in via motorbike taxis.

Ruben and I made our first night in Hoi An a very low key one; as well, we searched but could not find the right place to get suits made despite visiting a few of the numerous shops selling them. We did look, however, but our problem was that we couldn't figure out what was a good deal or if it was a bargain, so we decided to go home and research the prices from previous shoppers. To no avail, we went back to our hotel and just crashed.

. . .

Waking up the next morning in Hoi An from a great night's sleep, we found Chivi and Andres in the lobby anxious to go to the beach. Andres shared with us the stories from his night before, and from the sound of it, we were soon to be knees deep in the same fun he just had.

At this point in my trip, I hadn't been to any real beaches other than a few small ones in Halong Bay, which after arriving to Cua Dai Beach, I knew we were at one of the best beaches in Viet Nam.

Although we arrived to the beach a bit late, we thoroughly enjoyed our few hours in the sun, on the sand, and swimming in the ocean. While out in the ocean (getting cooled down from the blistering heat in the Gulf of the Tonkin), we met Katharina--a beautiful and soft-spoken girl from Austria who was traveling by herself. I invited her to join our table and play the card game Andres was teaching us. Quite gracefully, she stayed with our group for our next few (extended) days in Hoi An, and surprisingly, I would see her again in Bangkok before she left for Bali.

Our remaining nights in Hoi An are still fresh in my memory, but the pictures I captured DEFINITELY help me with remembering more . . .

(Hotel in Hoi An--a super nice room with an oddly shaped, tied up mosquito netting . . . )

(Our group in Hoi An. L-R: Katharina, Ruben, Andres, Chivi, and me!)

(Serious rain clouds rolling in on our second day at Cua Dai Beach in Hoi An.)

(Two wonderful American gals I met in Hoi An--finally!)

(A great painting at our favorite bar in Hoi An.)

(The club in Hoi An for dancing and a late night swim--right on Cua Dai Beach!)

. . . for the sake of time and catching up The Dandygram to present day (today being Friday, June 25th), I am going to breeze through the rest of Viet Nam in the next Dandygram since we didn't do much but bum around the beach in Hoi An while enjoying the nightlife there, rode another sleeper bus to Nha Trang--and only staying there one night (wishing we had more time)--and then rode yet another sleeper bus to Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) for our final night in Viet Nam before beginning our three day trip in Singapore where Ruben and I FINALLY caught back up with Elliott!

Next up on The Dandygram: Our Final Days in Vietnam--Staying In Nha Trang, Sleeper Buses Galore, and SAIGON for the USA vs. England World Cup Game!

Barely a Day in Hue, Leaving Elliott Behind, and New Friends from Argentina!

Let me first tell you, it was quite a trip on that freaking sleeper bus to Hue . . .

. . . on a more positive note, we made friends with two backpackers at the first stop just outside of Hanoi. While waiting at the stop smoking a cigarette (sorry Mom), we overheard two younger backpackers speaking Spanish--probably the first time we heard Spanish thus far in our travels--so we asked them the common introductory questions while backpacking: Where you from? What's your name? Where have you been so far? (and) How long are you traveling for? They kindly introduced themselves as Andres and Chivi from Argentina--brother and sister in their mid-20's traveling through Southeast Asia. It was awesome to meet other backpackers going in the same direction as us and with similar plans for Viet Nam! Ruben and I quickly told them we are planning a graduation trip to South America after finishing our undergrad work at UC Berkeley and that Argentina was definitely a planned destination during our time there. After the short introduction over a shared cigarette, it was all downhill from there and we became traveling friends.

After making the rough ride on the sleeper bus, we were now ready to find a hotel and lay COMPLETELY horizontal for a few hours. Back in Hanoi, we made arrangements for a hotel--a recommended spot from the travel agents where we had booked our bus ride. We talked Chivi and Andres into joining Ruben, Elliott, and I--staying at our hotel and exploring Hue together. It was difficult, however, convincing Andres into leaving the group of French students (sitting behind me on the bus) with nothing but hope that they might possibly find a hotel nearby (since their group had some VERY pretty ladies with beautiful accents and broken English). A quick side note: Andres and I are the only single guys in our group of five, so I shared his frustration in leaving the Frenchies behind, but it really is quite common to gain new opportunities with new groups of people while traveling, so it wasn't a big deal whatsoever. Regardless, we found our hotel, cheap rates, and nice accommodations, but we had to wait nearly four hours for the people to vacate their rooms from the night before since it was only 8am when we arrived to Hue.

While waiting in the lobby, Elliott booked his ideal day trip that Ruben and I (unfortunately) skipped in order make it to Hoi An for two days because of the custom-made clothing--an opportunity to load up on suites, shirts, and ties for our semester in Washington, D.C. Regretfully, we skipped out on the tour Elliott booked (the DMZ tour of the demilitarized zone from the Viet Nam War and numerous Vietnam memorial sights), but Elliott was not going to pass it up since his dad served in the Viet Nam War and was stationed in that exact area. While waiting for our rooms, Elliott booked his all-day tour for the next day (with a 6am pick-up at our hotel--also another reason Ruben and I wanted to pass it up), so this required him to stay another night in Hue. Still, we had a chance to explore the city for a while that day once we finally were settled into our rooms, had showered off the nasty filth from the sleeper bus, and took a siesta (afternoon nap).

Since Ruben and I knew we weren't going to join Elliott on the DMZ tour and had booked our bus tickets with Chivi and Andres to Hoi An for the following day, we needed to make the most of our short stay in Hue. Honestly, it was a bit of a wash if you ask me. After we caught back up with Elliott days later, he spoke highly of his tour, but while in Hue, we had two things on our agenda: a hair cut (along with a good trimming of my crazy BEARD!) and going to the Hue Festival (a once-every-two-years-festival celebrating the cultural aspects of Hue and the relationship between France and Viet Nam).

Well, the first stop was the salon for a haircut. I do believe that I got more than I had originally bargained for because not only did I get my beard trimmed and a haircut, but for the first time in my life, I had an in-depth ear cleaning.

It still gives me goosebumps because I was incredibly nervous during the whole process, but after watching Andres get his done, I wanted to try it.

Then, Chivi followed our lead and got hers cleaned out as well!

With fresh haircuts, beards trimmed, and ears cleaned (with the honking now amplified!), we were ready for a night at the Hue Festival and the beaches of Hoi An!

Next up on The Dandygram: Extending Our Stay in Hoi An, and It Wasn't for Suits!

Back to Hanoi for the Weekend and Visiting "All Things Ho Chi" with a Little Communism on the Side!

Awaking from our (late) night in the hotel on Cat Ba Island, the remaining time on our cruise had run short, so we were immediately shuttled back to the harbor at Halong Bay and put back on buses bound for Hanoi. Since we felt like we hadn't enough time to see Hanoi before we left for our cruise, we wanted to spend some time traveling around the city and seeing the numerous Ho Chi Minh memorials/sights/museums. Plus, it was a great chance to get our bodies good and tired for a night traveling on a sleeper bus to Hue the following day (what an experience . . . ).

Once back in Hanoi, we found a reasonably priced hotel in the center of town via the place we made a currency exchange. We got ourselves showered and ready for dinner, and since it was a Friday night, we wanted to go for a walk to see what the scene was like in Hanoi. Before we could do that, however, we needed to sort out our sleeping arrangements in the hotel room.

Originally, we had reserved a room for the three of us (obviously requiring three beds or two beds with one bed big enough for two). What we reserved was not what we got because when we got up to our room after being dropped off, we found a room with two single beds and no more rooms available . . .

. . . this little situation gives me a chance to explain something else I've noticed during our travels and accommodations in Viet Nam: There seems to always be four or five things promised about a trip, tour, hotel, or even a meal, but when it finally arrives, we typically get 3/4 or 4/5 of the promised features--be it a missing plate at dinner, no WiFi, stopping for a meal on a 14 hour bus ride to not stop at all. We were soon explained by a hotel receptionist in Hoi An that "Maybe discount but not qualitEE!" Well put.

Anyway, once we sorted out our sleeping arrangements in order for three grown guys to sleep somewhat comfortably (since they never delivered another bed, we pulled apart one bed with Ruben on the mattress and me on the box spring), we headed for the big lake in downtown Hanoi that was near our hotel--a recommendation from our friendly hotel concierge who was called in once we arrived to help the hotel manager with the English-Vietnamese translation and the sleeping situation.

As we walked around the lake for quite a while among hundreds of other Vietnamese people out doing the same thing, we stumbled upon a gated pagoda out on the lake and decided it was a great place for a few pictures of the lake with lights glowing and arranged much like the ones from the cave in Halong Bay.

After getting the attention of at least 50 Vietnamese people during our attempts to get a mid-air karate move picture, we decided it was time to keep moving and seek out a place to grab a drink where we could get a good view of downtown Hanoi. From the lake, we saw that there were, in fact, such places above hotels around the lake, so we found the entrance and went right up! The views of the lake, the pagoda, and the rest of Hanoi provided nice views as we sipped our over-priced cocktails.

We stayed for a few drinks but were more interested in going back to our hotel and catching up on our blogs, Skyping with our family, and watching the Lakers-Celtics NBA playoff game. So we headed back for the night and talked about going to the Ho Chi Minh tomb, his museum, and other attractions the next day before getting on our sleeper bus for Hue.

. . .

Waking up Saturday morning in Hanoi after a night's sleep on a box-spring under an air conditioner that had been set on a timer that would turn off every 20 minutes and wasn't able to be turned off probably wasn't the most pleasant morning yet, but I had an okay night's sleep between the resets Elliott kept doing in order get the air conditioner back on. Reading that sentence reminds me of the no-good-horrible-very-bad-day book because it was a lot like that.

Poor sleep that night really didn't matter much because we had a big day planned ahead of us, and we wanted to get a bit tired for our sleeper bus bound for Hue later that evening. With somewhat of a sluggish start, we got ourselves a cab and headed to see all things Ho Chi (Minh). It was a great chance to get back into the groove of being tourists and trying to figure out what things were when we approached them. I think it's important to point out that despite having access to a Lonely Planet guidebook, we didn't use it much at all. Instead, we would read about the city we just left on a bus and discover all of the things we didn't do or eat. Whatever! It was fun to stumble our way through Hanoi that day, and here are some of the pictorial highlights of what we saw:

At the start of our day, we had some tasty breakfast and I was able to capture some footage of the typical sights during a morning in Hanoi. I say typical because motorbikes are everywhere, but this particular morning, I saw something very Vietnam: a motorbike with a load on the back that seems quite impossible to manage. Truth be told, it is completely common to put next to anything on the back of a motorbike!

He made it look easy, but it was just styrofoam containers . . .

After that interesting start, we made our way via taxi to the Ho Chi Minh memorial plaza and started the long walk from one end to the other--passing the presidential palace, the place where Ho Chi Minh is embalmed (we missed going through this because we slept in), the One Pillar Pagoda, and finally, the Ho Chi Minh Memorial Museum. Here are some of the highlights:

Some of the items and displays were clearly marked (like his shoes and his bike), but others (like the above pyramid or the sculpture) were just so obscure. We would walk up to some of them and just have no idea what its ties to Uncle Ho were or why they were in the museum. Oh well, it was such a neat memorial museum with LOADS of artifacts and writings and gifts. Just incredible and only ONE DOLLAR!

Since we still had a few hours left before we needed to be back at our hotel to catch the sleeper bus to Hue, we kept walking and found a statue of Lenin across the street from a war museum.

Being at the war museum gave me a rather conflicting and troubling feeling--especially once we made it towards the back and saw wreckage from US planes and tanks. It was pretty gnarly to say the least, but some of the things inside provided a good depiction of certain instances of the Vietnam War and the French occupation as well as other wars in Viet Nam's history.

After getting our fill of museums, memorials, statues, and pagodas, we figured it was time to get back and find some dinner before boarding our the sleeper bus (one hellacious ride) to Hue. As we walked back, we found some Obama paraphernalia, but I am not quite sure the translation on it is very complementary--maybe someone could help (Juan?).

If only the sign was as clear as the menu for our dinner that night, it would be much easier to read what it said!

After eating a very filling "bit tet" (baquette sandwich--thanks for the heads up Rachie!), we were finally on our bus and headed for a 14 hour ride through the night to arrive in Hue around 8am the next morning. It was an experience to put it nicely, and in reality, it wasn't the worst sleeper bus experience we would have in Viet Nam!

Next up on The Dandygram: Barely a Day in Hue, Leaving Elliott Behind, and New Friends from Argentina!