Jazz for Nepal

I was kind of envious of a friend who flew all the way from the United States to Nepal to do volunteer work. I tried to check out the flights from Thailand to Nepal but found it would cost me a fortune. I just told God, I may not be physically there to help people but their safety is in my prayers. Thankfully, the Rotary Club of Tongkah sponsored a fund raising concert to help Nepal. One of our surgeons invited us and we were blessed to have a boss who supports these kind of events.

The event was named Jazz for Nepal and tickets were sold at 1000THB and 1500THB. The organizers invited a Jazz singer,  Simone Kopmajer, to perform for the program. 22 June was the program date and we arrived at the venue promptly.

Before the gates started to open, cocktail reception was availed by all guests. Along with our tickets were 2 complimentary drinks of our choice. Options were either wine, coke or water. Finger foods such as barbecued shrimps, crackers, chicken legs were replenished every now and then. A lot of people were already having fun eating and talking with people they know.

The gates started to open at 7:30pm. There was the Jambo Survivors Band who served as the opening act. The vocalist belted out her rendition of "New York, New York" and was applauded well. They later on informed everybody that they are regulars of Banthai Hotel in Patong and they are Filipinos. I'm so proud of them and their performance.

The band was followed by a welcome speech of one of the organizers as well as a message from Dr Chuchart Nuwattana. He is a physician and a member of the Thailand medical team deployed to Nepal. A video was also shown depicting the devastation the earthquake did to the houses and lives of the people in the said country.

After that, Simone was introduced and began to entertain people. Her voice was sweet yet strong and smooth. She sang hits from Michael Buble and other songs such as Nothing's Gonna Change My Love For You, Top of the World, Imagine by John Lennon and Rolling in the Deep by Adele to name a few. Here's an amateur video I have taken during the concert.

Her CD albums were sold at the reception area and people were able to buy them. The proceeds of these were put towards the donation for medical aid for Nepal.

It was definitely a wonderful night of Jazz added with the fact that we were able to help in our own little way. Cheers and thank you for your time! :)

Half day Tour in Samui Island

Our second and last day in Samui was fun. After eating breakfast and checking out of our hotel, we hopped on to the mini van our tour company set for us to have a half day city tour.

I found out about this tour from the internet and booked with them through a phone call. Payment for the tour was 400 THB per person and  pick up time was set at 9am. The driver arrived promptly at our hotel. There were only 4 of us initially and we were again happy for such a small group.

The first site we visited was called Leam Suwanaram Temple. This Buddhist Temple features a white 18-arm image of Guanyin, the Goddess of Mercy and Compassion. A long white bridge leads you into the the temple and closer to the image since it is located in the center of a pond.

Next up was the Big Buddha. This was quite near from the first temple we visited and is locally known as Wat Phra Yai. Sources say that this was built in 1972 and is on a small island connected to Koh Samui by a causeway.

Our footwear was required to be taken off when alighting the stairs. Thankfully, there was a big sign saying that the colored tiles are not that hot. Good tip!

We were also taken to the view point. They said that this is the best view of the sea in a panoramic view. The path at my back leads to the sea shore. I bet the place would be a nice venue to view sunrise and sunset.

The tour included a visit to the Mummified Monk Temple. As the name implies, it features a mummified monk enclosed in a glass for display. This is the body of Koh Samui's most famous monk, Loung Pordaeng. He died in 1973 while meditating. A sunglass is put in place because the sight of the dried eyeballs may be disturbing to some.

Another site we visited is the Namuang Falls. We were offered 2 choices to get to the falls. First was through elephant trekking which will take about 30 minutes and walking will take about 5 minutes. We chose to walk to the falls and it was a good choice. It didn't cost an additional fee to walk towards the falls and we even saw several stalls along the way selling Samui shirts and souvenirs.

The falls has a pool for its bottom and some rock formations that creates a steep stairway and yet very useful for some nice shots. I am currently not brave enough to walk near falls or any stones near a body of water due to the accident I had in Trang. I mustered enough courage to have this photo taken.

To entertain tourists, we were ushered to watch a monkey show. We have known that in Samui, monkeys are very useful as they do the hardest work such as climbing trees and picking ripe coconuts. We saw how one monkey was able to climb up and send some coconuts to the ground. Wincee did not miss to take a photo of this star picker.

The last site we visited was the Grandmother and Grandfather Rock. These are rocks that respectively look like the male and female genitalia. This titillating site has drawn a lot of laughs from the tourists that are brought here by tour companies.

There are also other spectacular views around this rock formation as well as the coastal line of Samui. Entry to where the rocks is free of charge. A lot of stalls are also built to provide tourists some souvenirs, food and refreshments.

It was a fast and breezy half day tour. We asked our driver to drop us off at the airport instead of at the hotel. We were just in time to catch our flight back to Phuket.

Thank you for your time. 'Til my next blog :)

Samui Summer

It was a last minute decision to spend a day or two in Samui. Since it is one of the places Bangkok Air, flies to and whilst Wincee and I have the same rest day therefore we decided to take the opportunity.

The airplane that we rode on to Samui was only a propeller type. It was my first time to ride one and was nervous but I just trusted that all will be well.

As a low flying plane, we were able to see this view outside our window.

The trip was fast. We arrived in Samui after 50 minutes of flying.

According to sources, Samui airport holds the crown as beautiful and best designed airport in tune with its gorgeous surrounding. Indeed it was! It feels as if I am walking in a tropical resort hotel and not in an airport.

When we got off the plane, we had to ride an open vehicle towards the arrival hall. This was a nice way to see more of the airport's well kept grounds and gardens.

We immediately looked for the counter to buy a bus ticket to our hotel. For our hotel located in Chaweng Beach, we paid 130THB for one way. We waited only for a few minutes and the bus parked in front of us. There were only 4 of us on the bus which made us happy we were not cramped.

I chose Lotus Inn for our hotel. It was only about 2 minutes walk from the beach and very near to a convenience store. After resting and getting ready, we went out to explore the beach. The staff was helpful to let us know the shortest way to the beach.

There were only a few people on the beach that afternoon. It was a lazy Monday and the sun was up. We ate lunch and took a lot of photos while lounging.

A number of restaurants and lovely hotels were on the beach side. A far cry from the crowded beaches that I know of. Chaweng beach gives tourists the serenity and peacefulness of a white sand paradise.

Tired of just sitting around and watching people, Wincee and I decided to try out stand up paddle boarding. The fee for one hour is 300THB. Thinking that an hour is way more than enough, we asked the keeper for just 30 minutes. He agreed and let us pay only 200THB.

We were surprised that the keeper just helped us with putting the paddle boards to the water and left us with no clue what to do. It was at first difficult to balance on the board while standing up. Later on we did achieve balance and paddled away from the shore.

After enjoying and getting back to our hotel to freshen up, we chose to go back to the beach side to enjoy some nice dinner. We ate at a restaurant that served local dishes. There was also a band that played English music. It was a relaxing night to cap the day.

Watch out for my next blog featuring our half day tour at Samui Island. Thank you for your time!

Things to do in Ho Chi Minh City -part 2

To continue..

5. Try out Pho

Pho is a Vietnamese noodle soup consisting of broth, rice noodles, a few herbs and either beef or chicken. This is one of the country's most popular dish and I have seen a lot of restaurants advertising this as their specialty.

For our Pho experience, we chose the restaurant named Pho 2000. This is conveniently located near Benh Than Market and is near an intersection, it can't be missed. The place is famous for being visited by President Bill Clinton when he visited the city.

Wincee and I were still full that we decided to share just one bowl of soup and ordered another dish which consisted of shrimps wrapped in a lumpia wrapper ( I forgot the name but I loved it.) The place was quite expensive than other regular Pho restaurants. We spent 4 USD each for dinner.

6. Visit the War Remnants Museum

Entrance fee for this museum is 1 USD per person. It showcases a photo exhibit of the times when Vietnam was being raided by the Americans and its effect on the country. There were gruesome images of how the countrymen suffered and stories detailing how people suddenly disappeared and found dead. I also saw a list of journalists/ media men killed or lost in the line of duty.

Weapons such as bullets and firearms as well as machine guns and helicopters were displayed. It helps much to know how the country came to be and how they rose from the ashes of their past.

7. Explore the City

There are a lot of beautiful buildings to see around the city. The Saigon Notre Dame Cathedral is one of them. This is located at a very peaceful and picturesque side of the city. Looking at it somehow reminds me of Harry Potter (I don't know why).

We approached the Cathedral from the back.

This is the front.

Very near to the Cathedral is the Saigon Central Post Office built around 1886- 1891.

The building is still being used for traditional postal services. When we got inside, it did not register to me that I was in a post office. The interior design is gorgeous.

These are phone booths inside. I remember when I was a child and we had to go to a store with telephone booths to call our relatives.

These are just few of the things that can be done while in Ho Chi Minh. If we stayed longer, I'd probably gain a few kilos because they serve delicious dishes.

Also, we'd try and go to Jollibee. (There's no Jollibee in Thailand.) We tried to locate the Jollibee store but we were unsuccessful.

Hopefully, if I can go back there in the future, I'd like to have the Mekong River tour and maybe visit another town.

Thank you for your time. See you on my next blog post. :)

Things to do in Ho Chi Minh City -part 1

This is our first time in Vietnam and we pretty much are prepared on what to do and where to go. We'd like to thank our friend, Mel, who gave us tips for our journey as she and her friends also did the trip a year before.

Ho Chi Minh City, formerly called Saigon, is the most populated city in Vietnam. We only stayed for a couple of days but we did quite a lot of things. Let's start of with part 1.

1. Taste Vietnam Coffee and Baguette

We decided to  have breakfast in the place where we also purchased our tour booking. While waiting for our pick up, Wincee ordered Hot Vietnamese White Coffee. The white thing at the bottom of the glass is condensed milk and the dark substance on top of it is coffee from the filter above it. It continuously drips on the glass until you pull it away. Fill the glass with hot water from the flask beside it. Stir and welcome the sweet tasting coffee.

Not a fan of hot coffee, I ordered the Iced Vietnamese White coffee which did not disappoint me. I am not a coffee lover but when I tasted it, I could not get enough of its flavor and fullness. Along with our drinks, we ordered a baguette. It's pretty famous as I observed from people on the streets bringing a piece or two.

I was contemplating what size of baguette I wanted to eat and even insisted not to share with Wincee. There were a lot of baguette sandwich varieties on the menu. Finally chose Ham and Cheese and ended up eating only half a piece of this 1/4 meter Baguette Sandwhich.

The baguette section of the menu book. I'd say book because there were literally pages and pages of food options.

By the way, the place where we bought our tour booking and where we had breakfast was Albatross Travel. In this tourist filled district, the restaurants had most of their tables and chairs facing the streets. This was our street view while eating. Our breakfast cost us a total of 80,000VND (around 4 USD)

2. Visit Cao Dai Temple and Cu Chi Tunnels

We booked a whole day tour for Cao Dai Temple and Cu Chi Tunnels which cost each of us 110,000 VND (7 USD). Cu Chi Tunnel has a separate entrance fee of 5 USD. By the way, this tour did not include lunch. We were taken to a local restaurant to eat  halfway through the trip. 

First of our tour was Cao Dai Temple. Cao Dai is a fusion of the teachings of Taoism, Buddhism and Confuscianism with elements of Christianity and Islam which was founded in the 1920s. They have many temples but the grandest one was what we visited. It is said that the structure of this temple is part pagoda, part Cathedral and part Mosque- representing the ideology behind the religion. The bus ride to the temple was about 2 hours.

Before going into the temple, we had to remove our shoes. Services are held 4 times a day. We arrived just before the 12nn service started. We were allowed to watch their service from the balcony where the gongs are and their choir was chanting their hymn.

Explore Cu Chi Tunnels

Cu Chi Tunnels was the next site for the trip. It took another 2 hours to get there.

The tunnels are very extensive that it reached as far as the neighboring country, Cambodia. These are underground passages built by Viet Congs in their fight against American soldiers. After purchasing the entrance ticket, we were led to a hut for a short film depicting why and how the Vietnamese made these tunnels. 

This glassed representation shows how vast the tunnel is. It even reaches up to 3 floors below the ground. Rooms such as dormitories, weapons room and sleeping quarters are outlined. The Vietnamese even dug a part where they can escape to the river.

A section of the cave is open for tourists and we tried this for ourselves. This is Wincee excited to go in towards "first floor".

I didn't know that I have claustrophobic tendencies until I crawled into one of the tunnels. It was dark (read: scary) and damp inside but it was worth to try and wiggle through it. This was me going towards "second floor".

My view while crawling inside.

We were also shown how the Vietnamese soldiers were able to fight the Americans with their tricky weapons. Most of them were hidden on the ground with grasses on top that slid out and expose enemies to sharp blades tearing their body parts away.

Our guide is showing the traps and different types of sharps and blades inside the traps made by the soldiers.

There is also a part where tourists can try and fire a variety of automatic weapons for an additional fee. We didn't try this because we didn't feel like it. Our tour ended at around 5pm when we arrived back to the city.

3. Visit their Market

Usual merchandise like Vietnam shirts, and souvenir items are sold here. A lot of bags and batik pajamas can be found too. We bought ref magnets for our friends back at home. A dozen ref magnets were offered at 120,000VND at first. Thinking that we could get a much better offer out there, the vendor lowered the price to 80,000VND and finally 60,000VND (3 USD) to which we agreed.

The skill of friendly haggling is put to the test here in addition to the competition of the vendors to sell their things. Wincee got a wooden Vietnam lady carving for 30,000VND (1.5USD) from the original price of 60,000VND. The sad part is that, these vendors are quite aggressive. Wincee again, out of curiousity, asked for the price of a batik pajama but because it was too expensive, she decided not to purchase it. The lady even haggled to lessen the price but we were already on the way out. Rudely, she pinched Wincee's arm telling her that if she asks for the price of a merchandise, she must buy it after. Really? We just hurriedly walked away from her, stunned and confused as to why she said so.

4. Feel the vibe of the tourist area in District 1

Walking back from Benh Than Market, we found a lot of people sitting on chairs facing the street. There were many beer promotions advertised and people were either eating, drinking or talking but nevertheless having a good time.

On our self made itinerary, we had an allotted time and budget for evening fun (translation: hang out). We planned to chill out at one of the famous bars near our guesthouse which was named Red Buffalo. A lot of people were having a good time there since the place is right in the intersection. Unfortunately we had a long day from our tour so we cancelled this plan. Anyways we planned to roam around town the next day, so we had to be prepared.

Thank you for your time. Next up will be part 2 :)