Vietnam Adventure D1: Lost! 길을 잃었다!

What an exciting experience (crisis) to end our first day in Vietnam~

Our next destination was Ben Tre, a town along the Mekong Delta where we had arranged a homestay with a local there. I found his homestay via a travel blog. Our host's name is Phuoc and he had given instructions on how to get to his home via email:

"You can take the minivan from Sai gon:( 78.000 VND) 70B Hung Vuong 9 ward,5 distrist, HCM city and tell them bring you to : 217C  Hung Vuong, 5 ward,  Ben Tre city ( My office)."

Okay. So I keyed in the address into trusty Google maps. It appeared to be quite a distance from the frozen yogurt cafe we were at beside Ben Thanh Market, but a rather straightforward route. We still had slightly more than a couple hours before we were meeting our host around 6pm, so we decided to walk to the minivan station. I assumed it would be reachable within an hour or more and for some reason I kept thinking that Ben Tre wasn't very far away from Saigon.

Oh and this is the reason why most people wouldn't really fancy travelling with us I think. We just walk and walk and walk and just looking at our surroundings while walking is interesting enough for us. :P

But to be honest I was a teeny bit afraid of walking a lot then, because my backpack was becoming heavier and heavier and my shoulders and back were getting a lil' sore. Still, I figured it would be interesting enough and that it would be a very good workout... haha

I was a little confused about where exactly we were because I was using Apple's (not iphone, my friend) phone and it had problems using GPS to track our location. My phone was running out of battery at that point of time, her phone too...

Finally I got our bearings right and I double confirmed with a middle-aged guy by the pavement. Turns out he was a taxi driver (or was it motorbike?) and he told us where we were going was really far away and he told us to take his cab (or was it his bike service?). We politely rejected his offer and set off on our way.

Vietnam Adventure D1 - Binh Tay Market & Ben Thanh Market. 빈떼이시장과 벤탄시장.

I love Google maps, because the find directions function is so convenient! It has the public transport information of most countries, which makes it so easy to get around. ^^

On the bus to the largest wholesale market in Saigon, Binh Tay Market! They sell everything there, more of a local market than a tourist one~! I love exploring markets because they're really fascinating and especially revealing about what that country and culture is like.

Vietnam Adventure D1 - First Vietnamese Phở and Kem (Veg!) 첫 월남포와 켐 (채식!)

What's the first thing everyone thinks of when Vietnamese food is mentioned? PHO. Phở, it's pronounced fuh, with the second tone in Chinese. Yes, not fo or po like we always thought it was.

So what's a more fitting for a first meal in Vietnam than a bowl of Pho? You're right, nothing! Okay, Banh Mi and the spring rolls run a close match too.

Unfortunately, Pho is traditionally rice noodles in meaty beef broth so for a vegetarian like me, the traditional pho is out of the question.
But vegetarians still can eat their share of yummy food!!

Vietnam Adventure D1 - Long time no see, Ho Chi Minh. 오랜만이다 호치민.

Last year after my July Korea trip, before I knew I had a chance to visit Korea again in December, I decided I needed to go somewhere again during my next holiday. I needed an exciting adventure, somewhere quite foreign, not like Korea which actually felt rather like home (^^). Somewhere cheaper than Korea too, to prevent myself from becoming too broke.. Where should I go?

I was googling for inspiration online and then I came across a set of pictures of a very beautiful and surreal place, of green terraces with graceful contours upon sloping hills and mountains extending endlessly into the distance, of colourful tribes and bustling villages. And I decided I had to see that myself. That place was Sapa, a mountaineous area in the far North of Vietnam.

And so the planning of an adventure across Vietnam, starting from the south in the city of Ho Chi Minh, Saigon and all the way up to the north in Hanoi and Sapa, started! 

I recruited only one other fellow traveller, and that is none other than Apple~! She's a mature, working adult already (unlike me) and I'm so glad I went with her because her sensible and cautious thinking helped to balance out my um thoughtlessness and helped in tricky situations! Plus, we click rather well in most areas of interest~ And we both agree that most people would be bored with our walking itinerary. hahahaha

This is her blog by the way, Vietnam travels in the archive! 

Finally, 11 December 2013, Wednesday, 7.30am.

Korea Winter D1 - Home Christmas Eve Dinner 홈 크리스마스 이브 저녁

Time to make dinner! Frankly I'm not a great cook at all and apparently it turns out that the two of them also don't follow recipes like me. We just do it by feeling... ㅎㅎㅎ

Korean Winter D1 - There's Vegan Cheese in Korea?? 한국에 비건 치즈가 있다고??

The three of us decided to go shopping for groceries to make a Christmas eve dinner together at 하연 언니's home in the evening. We couldn't make up our minds for quite some time, jumping from shepherd's pie to soup and salad to raw food etc etc. In the end we decided on a 3 course meal of salad, mushroom cream pasta and pizza!

And then 하연 언니 told me there was a place in Seoul that sold vegan cheese... *GASPS* OKAY LET'S GO~ Impressed by how Korea is making progress in the vegetarian and vegan industry yay.

We got lost again while finding the place and ended up in lots of weird alleys because 하연 언니 still preferred to stick to her instincts... ㅎㅎㅎㅎ Apparently it's rather dangerous to sit in a car that she drives, 미선 says. Gosh. ㅋㅋ

Finally~ It's in 합정 Hapjeong, which is near 홍대 Hongdae.

Korean Winter D1 - PLANT, My Love 플랜트, 내 사랑 ❤

The first destination of my trip.... A long-awaited visit to vegetarian/vegan cafe PLANT !!! Home to my favourite vegan cakes and pastries made by the cute Mipa! I got to know her through her blog, which shares about her daily life as a vegan, and veg-friendly eateries in Korea! I benefited so much from all the information on her blog for all my Korea trips. ^^ The baking studio and cafe was opened in collaboration with Yona's Kitchen , who makes beautiful (non-vegan but ovo-lacto-vegetarian) pies and pastries.

Mipa and Yona opened PLANT officially on the last day of my July trip and of course I visited them! I was so happy~~ ㅋㅋㅋ But mains were not available on the first day. ㅠㅠ So this time I was looking forward to tasting them after drooling at all the delicious pictures they posted every week on Facebook and Instagram when I was stuck in Singapore!!

하연 언니 drove us to Itaewon, where we would also be meeting 미선 at PLANT. She was coming up all the way from Yongin to spend Christmas Eve together!

하연 언니's really funny because she doesn't like to refer to maps and she just navigated around by her hazy memory and instinct... ㅎㅎㅎ We went in rounds for quite awhile before we found a carpark at some office building nearby. Then we walked to PLANT. Fortunately, I must say I have quite a good sense of direction. Even places I have been to just once in Seoul, I am most probably able to find it again~! I'm not too bad with maps too~ Very thankful for this skill since I really love to travel and explore!

Korean Winter D1 - Patjuk, Red Bean Porridge 팥죽

It was 동지 Dongji, Winter Solstice, the previous day so we got to eat the 팥죽 Patjuk, red bean porridge cooked by Hayeon's 어머니 mom for breakfast!

Korean Winter D1 - Just Like Going Home 귀국처럼

To think that I just returned to Singapore only a few days ago on the past Sunday night... Here I am reviving the moments of the first day of the longest overseas trip I've ever taken to my beloved South Korea. It was also my first experience of winter with snow!

Many people exclaimed when I announced at the end of October 2013 that I was making yet another trip to Korea for 20 days because that would be my third trip in a year. Honestly, I didn't expect this chance to go again too! The 10 day May trip was planned long ago in 2012 and the 14 day July trip was well, because of a fantastic Scoot airfare promotion that would be too much a waste to let it pass. 

While I was in depression after coming back from July and thinking dejectedly I will have to wait torturously for a whole year before returning to Korea again, there came a chance to participate in a Korean Speech Contest organised by the Singapore Korean International School. The first prize of a round trip air ticket to Korea sparked a fervent preparation for the contest. I didn't really think I could nab it, but I did it!!! I was near tears when I was presented with the prize... ㅎㅎㅎㅎ :P My speech topic was rather unique, about 아줌마 파워! Ajumma (Korean aunty moms) Power, their "comical" stereotypes and how they are the pillars of Korea. Again, I can't thank my dedicated Korean teachers from my university's (NTU) Korean language course enough for their guidance before the contest!! And all the friends who help and supported me! 모두 다 너무 너무나 감사합니다~ ^^

And I digress... So happily I decided to go for as long as I could this trip during the short one month holiday to make the most of the air tickets. I already had planned a 10 day backpacking trip to Vietnam (updates on this super exciting trip coming up soon too!) so I decided to fly on 23 December night and return on 12 January night. I started school on 13 January morning...ㅋㅋㅋ On a side note, I'm still a bit sulky that I had to pay quite a sum for the air taxes because the ticket was supposed to be a top prize after all... (><) Oh well, it did give me a good excuse to visit Korea again in such a short period of time.

Yes, there was only one free ticket, so I decided to go alone. But looking back, it didn't feel like a solo trip at all because I barely had days when I was alone, I was with old and new friends almost every other day. It was an amazing 20 days of Korean Winter.