Cao Dai Temple in Tay Ninh, Vietnam

One of the amazing places Jem and I visited when we went to Vietnam was Cao Đài temple in Tay Ninh. We entered through gate # 4 after about almost 2 hours of travel from the center of Ho Chi Minh City.



Here are some videos we took both outside and inside the Cao Dai Temple:

Zest Air: Inaugural Flights to KL, Kota Kinabalu and Bacolod

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...you've probably been noticing a lot of uploaded photos taken in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. On this post, you'll find out where it all started. So read on...

As you know, I just came back from my one month trip in the Visayas where I mostly stayed in Oslob and visited the neighboring islands of Dumaguete, Siquijor and Camotes. I got home last May 1 and I told myself that I'll just stay home the rest of the month to rest, focus on work and take care of my blogs. Well, well, well... I haven't even unpacked yet when I got an invitation from Zest Air, AirAsia and Fleishman Hillard Manila (c/o Ferdie Bondoy) to join the familiarization tour of Kuala Lumpur. I've already been there before but only for a very short visit. I'd love to go back to  Kuala Lumpur again and check out the other beautiful tourist sites KL has to offer so of course I said my sweet YES!

Batu Caves, Kuala Lumpur Tour

So many things to do, so little time... I know this is my constant rant here on my blog. But looking at the brighter side of things, I still consider myself lucky. I work from home (basically from any place where there's internet wi-fi) which means I can travel on a whim or at a moment's notice. In fact, this weekend (just when I thought that I'd just be staying home this month to take a break from all that continuous traveling I did since October last year), I am going to visit Kuala Lumpur and Kota Kinabalu again. Actually, I'm leaving tomorrow and I need to be at the airport by 4am!!! Ack! I really need to pack!

Our Hong Kong Disney Hollywood Hotel Stay

It’s been six years since the first time I’ve been to Hong Kong to explore Disneyland and its hotels. I was with my husband, Peter, then. We had plans of going back but it never pushed through because of his very hectic work schedule. My mom, on the other hand, has been bugging me to go back and to take her with me since she’s never been to Hong Kong Disneyland. So this time around, with my cameras and a few pieces of clothing in tow, I brought her with me. And it’s been one of the best times of her life. Okay, mine too I must admit.

PAL FLY ASIA PASS

I recently came across Philippine Airline's latest promo, FLY ASIA PASS. It is available for sale through PAL accredited travel agencies, ticket offices, contact center in the Philippines and through their website www.philippineairlines.com. until August 7, 2011. That's tomorrow!!!! Rush, rush, rush!!!
Basically, for only USD$270, anybody can do an unlimited travel to the key cities of Asia (You may fly unlimited round-trip to Bangkok, Beijing, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Macau, Saigon, Shanghai, Singapore, and Taipei from Manila and you may also fly unlimited between Manila and Cebu or Davao.), all for a very minimal fee of USD$270!

Vietnam: Mekong Coconut Factory, Horse Ride and Night Life

Ho Chi Minh or Saigon is such a dynamic city. It is always buzzing with people from different cultures and heritages, plus, there's always a lot of places to see and things to do.

Like most tourists who visit Saigon, we toured the city by bus and saw the seemingly familiar structures of their buildings (in fact, the way they build their residential and commercial buildings is similar to the way our townhouse back home was built); we found out that there's a couple of Jollibee branches in the city; we must've walked a couple of kilometers just to shop at Ben Thanh market; we joined a pick up tour and explored the Cu Chi tunnels; we took a river cruise at the Mekong Delta followed by a tour of the spots surrounding the river --- got to play with a beehive, carry a snake and drink a cup of pollen juice.

It was our second day in Vietnam. Jem and I wanted to make the most of it. Luckily, the Mekong River tour included a few more surprises than we expected.

Mekong Delta Tour - Beehive, Pollen Drink and Snake

This is still a continuation of my second day at Vietnam. Previously, I shared with you the interesting cruise I did with my friend Jem at Mekong River. But prior to that, there were some exciting stuff we did that morning. I'll just summarize them for you:

SHOPPING!
Many of the merchandise we saw in the stalls looked like what we usually see in our own tiangge here in the Philippines except for the Vietnamese hats and the traditional Vietnamese Aodai, the beautiful dress of Vietnamese women.

BEEHIVE DELIGHT!

Never in my entire life had I touched a bee, more so a beehive for that matter. It was quite scary! But since everyone was doing it, I put on a brave suit and smiled for the camera... for at least a few seconds, before I ran out of there. LOL! Below is a video Jem took of the beehive and its caretaker and how she was blowing some of the bees away so tourists can taste the honey right from the hive. Yikes!

Mekong River Cruise @ Vietnam

Let me continue my travelogue about my journey to Vietnam. We are now on our second day and we were scheduled to go to Mekong River. Let me give you a brief background first about this historical tourist destination...

The Mekong River is the longest river in the Southeast Asian region. It is 2,700 miles (or 4,350 kilometers) and flows through through China, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam. Does this mean I've practically been to the tips of these wonderful countries? Hehehe.

Anyway, the brown water-ways of the Mekong serve as the region's foremost conduit for their local transportation and trade. It is also known as the Lancang River in China, which is considered to be the heart and soul of mainland Southeast Asia. There are more than 60 million people who depend on the river and its tributaries for supplies of food, water, transport and a lot of other aspects of their daily lives. The Mekong river supports one of the world’s most diverse fisheries, and is second only to Brazil’s Amazon River. How amazing is this? And I'm so happy that I've been here and experienced it all.

Mekong River is at the southern part of Ho Chi Minh. Here's a video Jem took while we were riding the bus going there:

Finally, after an hour or so, we got here at the docking station. This is the place where I bought my Vietnamese hat. Had I been a lot thinner, people could've mistaken me to be one of the locals. Teehee.

We rode these boats on the way to the narrower parts of the river. Since Mekong River is the longest river in Southeast Asia, the 7th longest in Asia, and the 12th longest in the world, it took some time before we got to the most exciting part.

Watch this video Jem took while we were riding this bigger boat:

After lunch, we took a walk heading to the docking station of the bancas. It was a good way to burn some calories as the walk was a bit long.

Ho Chi Minh City - Starting Day 2 Right

We just survived our first day at Ho Chi Minh. On our second day, Jem and I woke up early because we had a jam packed day ahead of us.

Jem started it with her usual morning meditation while I stayed at the balcony to have my instant breakfast of noodles and pastries.


Right on that spot, I noticed how narrow the street was below me, and how much it reminded me of Manila, at least those parts near slum areas where houses are small, cluttered and packed with lots of people.


However, looking at my surroundings that early morning, I also noticed the difference. From first glance, the view may seem blah, but looking at the houses more closely, they were actually narrow, tall buildings with a hint of modern style. That made me smile.


A few blocks away from where we were staying at Pham Ngu Lao District, we passed by ABC Bakery. The bread smelled so good even from the outside that we decided to take a peek and eventually decided to have some proper breakfast.

My Cu Chi Tunnels Adventure in Ho Chi Minh

The Sexy Nomad hiding at one of the Cu Chi Tunnels

Let me take a break from my posts about my experiences in the city and share with you a continuation of my Ho Chi Minh travelogue. I know it's a long weekend and my husband and I didn't make any plans. Both of us haven't been sleeping properly the past week because of work and other extra-curricular activities so we decided to take some time off and get enough sleep. Health, after all, is still the best kind of wealth.

This hideout fits any size!

So anyway, I do miss traveling, especially when the weather is not as unpredictable as it is nowadays. One of my good friends, Koryn, mentioned a while back that she and one of my best friends, Cecille, plan to go to Vietnam and Cambodia next year. I'd love to join them. But since I've already been to Vietnam, looking back at my memories in this amazing rustic city is enough until I figure out what Asian country to visit next.

This is the entrance to the network of tunnels.

For now, let me share with you my experience at the Cu Chi tunnels. Watch this video my best friend Jem took of me while trying to fit in one of the Củ Chi tunnels:

Ho Chi Minh - Shopping at Ben Thanh Market

I'm still posting about my first day in Ho Chi Minh...

Ho Chi Minh is located near the Mekong River and is the largest and most exciting city in Vietnam. Its population is currently exceeding 7 million people, with over 3 million motorcycles plying the major streets, no wonder it is one of the densest cities in the world. Here, it is typical to find houses where several families live together and true enough, as Jem and I were passing by those narrow streets near where we stayed, we saw many family members sharing one small living space. But they looked quite happy and comfortable and they seemed to keep their stuff organized and clean.

Today, locals still call Ho Chi Minh Saigon. Saigon used to be the capital of the French colony. Later, it became the capital of the former state of South Vietnam until the end of the war in 1975. Because of its rich cultural history and style, you can still see some elegant boulevards and historic colonial buildings around town.

The city is divided into many districts where District 1 is the most famous tourist hub. If you want to tour Ho Chi Minh, better tour it on foot like we did. It's considered to be the best way according to tourists and locals alike.

Anyway, after we rested for a few minutes in our hostel, we headed out and looked for a place to eat.

We went inside the first decent looking restaurant we saw and asked for a menu. We were famished! I laughed when I saw one of their dishes named Peter breakfast. Haha!

Jem had coconut while I ordered coffee shake. I still haven't slept for more than 24 hours by then I needed all the caffeine and sugar I can get.

Yum yum!

Ho Chi Minh - Jolibee and Monumento Look-Alike

The next series of travelogues will mostly contain videos and photos to commemorate how I started this year (2010) with one of my best girlfriends, Jem. Christmas '09 was just over and the new year was looming in the horizon. Out of the blue, Jem visited me at home in Alabang, and psyched me to go on an 8-day Asian tour with her from Singapore to Ho Chi Minh to Singapore to Kuala Lumpur and back to Singapore again. Suffice it to say that my first 8 days this year (January 1-8) was spent with one of my best friends, exploring new places, as we also looked within our souls and discerned our renewed spirits.

For easy organization, let me link all subsequent posts about this trip under the heading:

2010 Asian Trip

~~~oOo~~~

Let me first share with you these two videos Jem took while we were starting to explore the central district of Saigon. On this video below, Jem and I got excited when we saw a branch of Jollibee! This made us feel more at home.

Jollibee in Ho Chi Minh / Saigon

And on this video below, we were looking for the Central Market when we passed by this rotunda. It pretty much looks and feels like the one in Monumento, Manila. ^_^

Looking at these videos make me miss Ho chi Minh / Saigon so much. I hope I can go back there some time, with Peter this time.

I'll be blogging about the other details soon. For now, let me go back to work. ^_^

For more photos, please click: Ho Chi Minh Trip Day 1

Read here the rest of our Saigon / Vietnam / Ho Chi Minh adventures. 

Universal Studios and Other Singapore Tourist Attractions

YourSingapore just emailed me and I wanted to share with you all the newest tourist attractions they offer. After I read everything, I wanna go live there already, la! ^_^

	Dear JENNIFER A JUAN,	June 2010
	Indulge in YourSingapore’s vibrant lifestyle with exciting treats this June
	Great Singapore Sale Singapore River Festival Fun-filled Adventure
	Welcome to Inside YourSingapore, where we let you in on the latest and greatest happenings in town. Replacing Abuzz from the Singapore Tourism Board, we give you the scoop on all there is to enjoy in our exciting city. From June to July, indulge in vibrant lifestyle treats with fantastic Great Singapore Sale shopping, as well as music, dance and entertainment at the Singapore River Festival. And with countless activities for a fun-filled adventure, your whole family is sure to have a great time. Start planning your trip and create your own Singapore experience. See you soon!
	Indulge in whatever tickles your fancy Benefit from indulgent offerings at 313 @ Somerset Experience the burst of flavours Have a vibrant night out in the city What’s your Singapore like? Create your own experience. Join the Singapore Arts Festival’s mega line-dancing event Discover the all-new Resorts World Sentosa Go on the ride of your life at Universal Studios Singapore
	Enjoy special discounts with the Tourist Privilege Card Survive the sale with the GSS Survival Guide
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