idealpinkrose

Must-Know About Telecommunications in Canada

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 04 Dec 2014 22:22:00 +0000

We needed our cellphones to keep in touch with our family back home and some friends here in Canada. Somebody recommended us to go to Rogers and buy simcards so we went. We were surprised that Simcards at Rogers are free and we were told to just purchase a prepaid card and choose a plan on their website. We bought a pay-as-you-go $10 voucher at the gas station and connected to Rogers site and voila! Are phones are working and now we can contact our family and friends.

But! These are very important things to know about the telecommunications in Canada specially Rogers Telecomm. Of course it depends on the plan that you've chosen. But we, as travelers, buying pay-as-you-go is the only choice that we could get because we won't use it for a long period of time.

When you call, of course, there's a deduction, and it's 50 cents per minute. Even if it's just the answering machine answered your call, expect to your card to be deducted. It's not only when you call, answering your phone will also deduct you. So, there's always a bill added either if you call or answer your phone or there's a deduction of 50 cents on your load (pay-as-you-go) if you call or even just answer your phone. It's the same thing with the messages. Sending or receiving a text or message costs 30 cents. And what irritates me more are those spam or scam messages that I receive from people or numbers that I don't know. And the worst thing, I got this message from cellybean that cost me $9.99. It was just a message that I ignored but when I tried to use my phone, it says that I don't have any load. F**k! I lost $10 doing nothing.

Oh well, that's for Rogers telecomm. But making international call is very cheap. I mean international cards are very cheap. This card is only $1 and we could use it for more than 3 hours calling to Korea. We couldn't believe at first, but there's no wrong in trying. And it's true that we could use it for many hours.

So, the next day, we bought three more. Too bad that it can only take a week once you started to use it.

But here's the problem. If you're using pay-as-you-go, your purchased voucher will be deducted even if you have that international card. It's also 50cents deduction every minute.

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Help Me Tweet

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 04 Dec 2014 21:19:00 +0000

What's wrong with my twitter? Why can't I send my tweet? I haven't done tweeting for almost a month and now that I feel so active to tweet, I'm having trouble to do it. I've been trying to tweet for a few days now and tried to do what are said to be done, but until now I'm still hopeless.

What should I do? Is there anyone here who is facing trouble on twitter like me? What did you do? Is there anyone here who could help me tweet? Pleeaase? Pleeaase?

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I Heart Air Canada Airline

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 30 Nov 2014 05:19:00 +0000

It's not only because of the kind and helpful customer service agent of Air Canada but also the Airline and service on board is great!

The seats have switch to charge your gadgets and also possible to use USB.

The monitors are also touch screen and the seats are more spacious.

We had a long trip but didn't get bored. We had fun watching movies, listening to music and using our gadgets without worrying of losing batteries because we can charge them anytime.

Charging my tablet.

How can we say that it's a good airline if we're not satisfied with the food and service? Well, I can say that Air Canada also gave me that satisfaction. The dinner was awesome.

The breakfast was good. Not to mention the cup noodles for midnight snack and I don't remember how many times they offered drinks.

The desserts and drinks. It's what I always enjoy the most while flying and Air Canada didn't disappoint me. I always expect this kind of situation on board. Yummy desserts after meal and wine for drinks. ^-^

The plane also flew smoothly. Not so many turbulence happened. I have traveled on air several times and Air Canada is the best airline that I have flown, so far. It replaced Thai Airline which I thought will remain first. Now Thai Airways is just second for me. I heart Air Canada Airline. :) I can't wait for my next trip with the airline on my way back to Korea.

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Thanks to Air Canada Customer Service Agent

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 13 Oct 2014 18:23:00 +0000

It was our first time to be first on the line for checking in the luggage thinking that we could change our seats that we reserved online where we had to sit separately. (There was no other seats available online but still hoping that we can change the seats at the airport so we went to airport early.) Don't you think that the customer service agent couldn't make anything for that? The agent said there was no available seat so we had to seat separately. We were first, how couldn't she make seats for us? How could I and my hubby seat separately for more than 10 hours? But we know that the passenger service agent was lying when she said that she couldn't give us seats together. We felt disappointed but we didn't lose hope. We lined up again thinking that another passenger service agent can do something for that. While we were at the queue an agent asked about our check-in luggage. We told her about our intention of being in line for the second time. She told us to try and maybe another customer service agent can something for that. We did and that agent said the seat beside me wasn't available anymore and he wasn't sure about the other seat which mean they could do something before the passenger next to me checked-in. That was another disappointment so we left.

We went to the fast food at the airport and the customer service agent who talked to us while we were in line came to us. She asked if the problem was solved so we said no. She told us to wait until boarding time. She said she would do what she could. She took our seat number and before boarding time I heard my name and yesssss we got the seats that we needed. The seats where I and my hubby could seat together. We were so grateful! Thanks to that Air Canada customer service agent. When we were boarding, she asked if there was no problem anymore. We said everything was fine and thanked her. I was trying to look at her name but I couldn't see her I.D. well. She's thin and tall. She was in-charged of the people in queue during check-in time. She also worked at the boarding gate.

To the customer service agent of Air Canada who helped us last September 30 at Incheon International Airport, we are very grateful for your help. May God Bless You for your kindness and for doing your job well. Air Canada is lucky to have you in their company. They have someone to be proud of. Thanks a lot and hope to see you again!

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Nice Shower Room at Incheon International Airport

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 10 Oct 2014 22:37:00 +0000

How many times have we used Incheon International Airport but just 2 weeks ago when we knew that there's a shower room inside. We arrived early at Incheon International Airport. It took 4 hours by bus from my home to the airport and another 15 hours flight to Canada so we decided to find a shower room while waiting for our departure. We asked at the information desk and pointed us to go up at the second floor of the private lounge which is just near the information area.

Oh yes! There is one! There is a shower room at Incheon International Airport for free! Also, with free towel and shampoo. Just tell the receptionist that you want to use the shower room and he will give you a towel and shampoo and tell you which one you can use.

The bathrooms. Maybe there are 6 or 7 rooms.

It's clean and big enough to bring your luggage inside.

You can put the used towel here.

I think 30 minutes is enough but there aren't many passengers using the shower room so maybe you can stay longer than that.

Very great job Incheon International Airport. This is very helpful for passengers who are spending for a long time at the airport.

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The Girl At Toronto Airport

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 09 Oct 2014 19:51:00 +0000

We arrived at Toronto Airport. While waiting for my friend to pick us up, I saw a woman sitting at the bench inside the airport. Then another woman came and asked her. The woman said that she has been waiting for 6 hours and nobody picked her up. She said she was sending mails to someone who promised to help her when she arrived in Canada but 2 weeks before her flight, that "someone" didn't reply to her mails. I have a feeling that she was deceived by someone who promised to help her but after paying some amount of money, they lost their communication. The woman at the airport said that she has been sending mails but couldn't received any reply for two weeks. She also said about her flight schedule and told her to pick her up at the airport but no one appeared. I guessed she was also trying to call her but it was a wrong number.

It was already midnight and the woman who was trying to help her called a police and told about her situation. The woman said that except e-mail address, she doesn't have any other contact information. She doesn't know her number and home address. And now that nobody replied her mail, she couldn't call or go to her house.

My friend picked us up at past 1:00 a.m. but the woman was still there. I'm always worried when I think of her. I hope everything went well with her. She said she doesn't know anyone in Toronto so she didn't know where to go. It has been more than a week now but I can't put her out of my mind. I just feel bad that I couldn't do anything for her.

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My Blog Traffic Increased to 500+ A Day

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 29 Sep 2014 08:15:00 +0000

My blog traffic increased to 500+ visitors in just one day. I know it's not that many traffic compare to famous bloggers but for me, getting 500+ visitors a day on my blog is already a success. For a lazy blogger like me who only blog when I'm bored or feel like blogging, I'm already happy when I get 300+ traffic. But yesterday for the first time, I got 500+. Yahooooo!

I noticed that my traffic decreased when I don't make a new post. So blogging everyday and sending on twitter and facebook can increase traffic. So, that's the secret! Just keeping blogging and posting everyday can gain traffic to your site! How much more if I use other sites and social media to promote my site? Well, I think my blog is not that bad at all.:)

How about you? What did you to increase your visitors on you blog? Any idea on how to gain more traffic?

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Delicious Buncha in Hanoi

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 28 Sep 2014 08:39:00 +0000

I heard a lot about Buncha but I didn't have any idea what it was. My hubby and I were walking to find a convenience store to buy some water to drink when we saw this lady cooking pork barbeque outside.

It's similar to Korean daejigalbi (pork bbq) so we asked what it was. She said, "buncha" and the other woman in pink was smiling and said buncha, buncha. So my hubby said, okay two please even when he didn't have any idea on what he ordered except the barbeque outside. We went inside, chose our seats, and buncha was served.

We had no idea that the bbq was eaten with noodles but it looks and of course tastes delicious. Oh, goodness! Why didn't we know and try this buncha before? It's our second time in Vietnam and how long have we stayed since then? Why have we discovered the food on our few days left of staying in Vietnam? Our visa was almost over and we were planned to move to another country a few days later. Anyway, we didn't waste the time of not having much buncha. From that day, we always had it everyday. Buncha for breakfast, buncha for lunch, and buncha for dinner. Sometimes buncha for snacks, too. We never got tired of eating buncha until we left Hanoi.

We tried to eat buncha to other restaurants near our hotel, but I think this restaurant has the most delicious buncha. It has more meat, fresher vegetables, more delicious soup, and they serve more noodles. So even if it's hot and we hate walking in the afternoon, we still go to this restaurant and eat.

If you know the market across the Hoan Kiem Lake or Hanoi lake, it is where you can find the restaurant. It's just less than 5 minutes walk from the Water Puppet Theater.

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Impossible to Travel Around the World

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 28 Sep 2014 07:09:00 +0000

Is it impossible to travel around the world if you're from Asia? There are so many questions that people asked me about me traveling with my husband. How could you travel around the world? Well... Is it a business trip? Nope! What does your husband do? He doesn't do anything. Do anyone supports your travel? Nope! Is your husband a missionary? Nope, he even doesn't go to church. Does your husband a history book writer? Nope, he even doesn't know how to blog. Too many questions that are not only asked to me but also to my family and friends. When I say that no, we are just traveling for fun or traveling is our hobby, I know many of them don't believe me that's why they asked others to confirm. I don't even make money while traveling like others do. We planned for it that's why we can do it.

My hubby and I have planned to travel around the world since our first year of our marriage. Our first travel was in Thailand for 2 weeks. At that time, we met backpackers who have been backpacking for several years and we were inspired by them. If they could do, why not us? Since then, we started to travel abroad when we have time. Then from a part-time to a full-time backpacker.

I don't care what others think. What I know is, I enjoy traveling with my hubby and that's all. ^-^

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Amazing Halong Bay in Hanoi

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 22 Sep 2014 16:46:00 +0000

It's our second visit in Vietnam. The first time was a few years ago when we traveled around Ho Chi Minh, Nha Trang, and Dalat. So, on our second visit, we decided to travel in Sapa and Hanoi. Halong Bay is the one that I want to visit the most in Vietnam. Finally, I saw the amazing Halong Bay in Hanoi. It didn't disappoint me to visit Vietnam for the second time to see Halong Bay because it's really astonishing.

The best way to visit Halong Bay is through group tour. We usually go, find and see the attractions by ourselves but going to Halong Bay by group is cheaper and more comfortable. There are many tour agencies in Hanoi near the lake so you can make a reservation there. The van/bus will pick you up in your hotel or in front of the agency. The tour is only 420,000 dong or $20 including transportation fee to/from Halong Bay, food, boat, entrance fees (bay and cave), etc. It's up to you if you give some tip to your Guide. My hubby did but I didn't see anyone gave. Btw, we asked many agencies and they have different prices to the tour.

As soon as you take the boat, they serve good lunch.

There are different kinds of side dishes.

As I expected, Halong Bay is truly amazing. Among the 10+ countries that I've visited, it's one of the most beautiful attractions that I've ever seen. No wonder why there are so many tourists from around the World visit there.

Ha Long Bay is an area that was home to ancient Viet people in prehistoric times. It was the first ancient international trade-port for Vietnam in the 12th century and is the place of many glorious victories of the nation from the 10th century to the 20th century. Ha Long Bay is also the home of fishing communities, where the traditional cultural values are well-preserved.

It's not only the bay is fantastic but also the caves. Many of Ha Long Bay's limestone caves such as Thien Cung, Dau Go, Sung sot, etc have been 11,000 to 700,000 years in the making. The caves are the results of water seeping into cracks and slowly eroding the limestone.

Can you guess what it is? Yeap, you guessed it right! It's a breast! It's the "fairy breast" according to our tour guide. Oopppsss... no touch! hahaha...

Can you imagine how many people visit the bay everyday? Look at those boats waiting for their passengers in front of the cave. Whoa! You have no idea how many people up there.

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Fake Bottled Water in Vietnam

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 18 Sep 2014 05:51:00 +0000

Keep in mind that it's not safe to drink tap water in Vietnam. Well, not only in Vietnam but in most Asian countries. In our case, we also use mineral water when we brush our teeth or at least wash with bottled-water on our last gargle. Don't think that because you bought your water at the supermarket or convenience store, you're already safe. There are fake bottled-water in Vietnam. Look! Besides Aquafina they also sell Aquafuma. Aquafina is the real one and aquafuma is just an imitation.

I heard a lot about this fake water from other travelers but I've never seen one until I saw this box of bottled-water in the hotel where we stayed. It's a hotel and restaurant so I guess it's the free-water in the hotel room and I'm worried if i's also what they sell or serve in the restaurant. Fortunately, we don't drink free-water in the restaurant, either.

I heard they sometimes get some water in the public bathrooms, put in the bottle and sell but I don't know which is which.

Tap water in Vietnam has rust. Some part of the bathrooms are yellowish. If you check at the kettle in the hotels, they are yellowish and rusty. So we bought a scrubber or pot cleaner to clean the teakettle that we need when we drink coffee. And oh my! It's hard to remove the dirt. It takes time because it's like we are removing cement in the pot. I and my hubby were alternate in cleaning.

Well, it's not safe. Buy mineral water and make sure that you bought the right one.

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Things You Should Do In Sapa Vietnam

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 17 Sep 2014 10:02:00 +0000

From Lao cai (Vietnam border), we took a taxi to the bus terminal. There are no buses at the station, they are vans so took a van to Sapa and the driver recommended a hotel for only $9. The hotel is cheap. It's in front of the park near the church. We were about to stay there for a few days but on our first night, it was too noisy. There was a group tour who made noise all night. They drank, they played cards, they were too noisy. So we moved to another hotel the next day.

We moved to Honey moon hotel for $10. It's a little bit far from the lake and church but it's quiet. The rooms are clean, spacious and comfortable. And you know what? The owner of Linh Trang Hotel and Honey moon hotel are sisters. What a coincidence, isn't it? We knew it when the owner of Linh Trang came to Honey Moon hotel.

We stayed in this room for the first night but it was the highest floor so it was hot. Hotels in Sapa Vietnam don't have aircons because Sapa has four seasons in a day. Cool spring in the morning, sunny summer in the noon time, cloudy autumn in the afternoon, and cold winter in the night time. So, here's the room on the highest floor where we spent our first night.

The next day, we moved to the down floor.

We stayed in Honey Moon Hotel for several days and moved to another hotel with the Hoan Kiem lake view. It was $12 per night but we made a deal and got it for $10/night for three nights. It is also clean and spacious.

It has a wonderful view of the lake.

The view of the lake from the bed.

The Hoan Kiem lake is the best landmark in Sapa. Just go to the lake and you'll see lots of hotels surrounded to it. The lake has different wonderful views from the morning to night. Sometimes, it's clear and suddenly it is covered with clouds and it sparkles at night because of the colorful lights. And sometimes hard to see the lake because of the fog.

The Catholic church is also one of the famous landmarks.

It is also colorful during the night.

There's a small park near to it.

In front of it, is a circle where they hold some special events. It is also where the people in town do their recreations and activities.

Here are the boys playing soccer. The "boys with shirts team" against the "boys without shirts team".

The Catcat Village is another famous attractions to visit in Sapa. It is where the tribes live. Although you'll see most of the tribes at the market selling different kinds of stuffs, it's still a place that you must visit. You can see some of them on how they live in their normal lives. Also, looking at the view outside is totally different inside.

I don't even have an idea that there are waterfalls inside.

View of Catcat Village or Hill Tribe Village from the coffee shop.

Sapa is a wonderful tourist destination with copious flora and fauna system. It has many kinds of precious plants and animals which need being protected. Moreover, Sapa has many famous beauty tourists attractions such as Ham Rong Mountain (Dragon Mouth Mountain). The entrance fee to the mountain is 70,000 dong but it worths it.

The view of Sapa village from the mountain.

The park in Ham Rong Mountain.

Have you ever walked in the clouds? Go to Sapa Vietnam and you'll always experience walking in the clouds specially if you climb Mt. Ham Rong.

The sign says it's the stairs to heaven.

There are more interesting things to see inside the Ham Rong Mountain like big rocks, caves, statues, etc. We love Sapa, Vietnam. The weather, the people, sightseeings, kebap, hotels, etc. But as travelers, whether we like it or not, we have to move and find another place to visit.

Well, here are some things to know if you visit Sapa Vietnam:

1. The taxi driver that we took from the border to the bus terminal to Sapa was very talkative. He Asked and told about anything and everything that he knew and wanted to know about Korea. Then we realized that it was just his intention so we could go far. When we asked if the bus terminal was still far, he said it already passed so he wanted us to take to Sapa which takes about an hour. We asked him to go back to the terminal and stopped the meter. Actually that was less than 30,000 to the terminal but it appeared to more than 30,000 dong when we went back. Anyway, we only paid 30,000 dong. That was terrible.

2. There aren't bus at the terminal. They are vans. From Lao cai to Sapa, we paid 50,000 dong each. But at first they were asking us to pay 70,000 dong each. 50,000 dong is enough.

3. We bought this bag from grandma. She said she made it by herself. We paid 70,000 dong for it. At first, she said it was 150,000 dong until it came down to 70,000. It was still expensive but we took pity on her. Besides she didn't leave us at the coffee shop until we didn't get one.

When we asked at the hotel, the receptionist said that it was too expensive. He also said that most stuffs that they sell in the village are made in China. They are not made by the tribes. That was shocking!

And here are some foods to try in Sapa Vietnam.

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A Frightening Day in China to Vietnam

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 15 Sep 2014 09:36:00 +0000

Our trip in China wasn't bad until the last minute of our stay there. We were taking the sleeping bus from Kunming to Hekou, the border to Vietnam when the driver told us to put our backpacks at the baggage compartment. But we told him that we were okay to take them inside. He was so angry when we didn't put our backpacks in the baggage compartment so he didn't want us to take the bus. We didn't know what he was talking about but we got on the bus with our luggage anyway.

It's up to us if we feel uncomfortable or not. It's up to us if we lose something on the bus. We are responsible of our things so I don't think he has the right to get angry. We paid for our tickets and it wasn't his bus. How could he tell us not to take the bus and get off when we were already inside and paid for our tickets? He was so rude!

If we just knew that we could arrive earlier, we didn't take that bus. We were so nervous and frightened. With his anger, he could just drive and get us off in the middle of nowhere. Luckily, we wasn't that bad guy as I thought. Although we saw his co-driver coming to us while everyone was asleep, but he went back to his seat (next to the driver) when I turned on my cellphone and saw that we weren't asleep at all. I didn't know what his intention was, but that made me more nervous so I didn't sleep and watched carefully.

We checked the information on how long it could take from Kunming to Hekou so we thought we chose the right schedule. But the information that we got was wrong. According to the information that we got, long time ago, it took 24 hours from Kunming to Hekou but because the road has been developed it only took 10 hours. It is also written on the bus schedule the departing and arriving time and it's right that it took 10 hours to our destination. So, we thought we got the perfect schedule. We would leave at night and arrive in the morning. But Gosh! Instead of 10, it only took less than 6 hours. We couldn't believe that we already arrived until everyone was getting off.

We didn't know if we were happy to arrive early or not. We were happy because we were free from the driver. We were sad because we arrived at around 1:00 a.m. and we didn't know where to spend the rest of the night. There was no other foreign traveler so we didn't know what to do. Some were asking us to share with the taxi but we didn't know where they were going. Even if we knew, we wouldn't. We walked and looked for convenience store where we could spend the night but instead of store, we saw a hotel.

We went into the hotel but we didn't have enough yuan (Chinese money). We asked for discount because we would only stay for a few hours. At first the manager didn't want and finally, we insisted him so we stayed in this hotel near the bus terminal (Kunming-Hekou terminal).

Thanks God and we were safe. It was then that I felt relieved and slept well. That was the most stressful day that I had during our travel.

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Must Try Food in Vietnam

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 13 Sep 2014 12:43:00 +0000

One thing to enjoy your travel is to enjoy the food. So, here are the food that we usually had and I think you must also try when you travel in Vietnam. It's our second time of traveling in Vietnam. We first visited a few years ago so we already knew what kind of food we could have. Well, what could we expect other than noodles? It's what we enjoyed on our first visit so it's what we expected the most. Noodles is Pho in Vietnam so if you see Pho and Com signboard outside the restaurant, it means they sell noodles (pho) and rice (com).

Look! They are all pho (noodles). They have the same name at the menu but each restaurant has different recipe, different ingredients, different noodles, and different taste as well.

Buncha is my favorite. It is highly recommended. Don't leave Vietnam without trying it. "Bun" means rice vermicelli. The noodles is separated with the meat and soup. You can also choose the kind of vegetables to put in your noodles. It's so yummy. I don't care eating noodles every meals if it's buncha. Remember the name "buncha". I'm sure you'll also love it as we did.

Besides from noodles, fried rice was the next menu that we had. Fried rice set. Fried rice with soy sauce. hehehe... I don't know why fried rice always comes with soy sauce in Vietnam. Anyway, for our light meal, we usually ordered fried rice and noodles. Like noodles, each fried rice restaurant has also different taste.

Kebap in Sapa is very delicious. We had it everyday during our stay in Sapa, Vietnam. We never missed a day without having kebap. It's meaty and yummy. Remember this signboard near the lake where the young handsome (according to my hubby) guy sells kebap.

Another food to enjoy is Goi Cuon. It is meat/shrimp/beef and vegetables covered with rice paper dip with mayonnaise, soy sauce, etc. Each restaurant has also different dipping sauce.

This beef menu has recommended by the waiter in the restaurant. He said it's yummy. I think it's his specialty but not as delicious as we expected. ^-^

Lau is also must-try food in Vietnam. It is called shabu-shabu in Korea. You put the meat and vegetables that you want in hot soup. You are responsible for the cooking, though.

This is the Korean Lau at the Korean restaurant called Hansikdang in Hanoi. This is the korean style Lau or as I said shabu-shabu. It's much expensive than in Vietnam restaurant but the quality is better and there are lots of side dishes for free. It's korean-style meal. Order the main dish and side dishes will come for free. Actually, it's not free because you pay expensive for the main dish.

After eating the meat and vegetables, make fried rice with the left-over soup.

For drinks like fruit juice, mango shake is my hubby's favorite.

The famous beer in Vietnam is Bia.

Vietnam coffee has also unique taste. It is called Ca Phe in Vietnam. If you drink coffee like my hubby, I suggest cha or lemon tea.

The best place to drink coffee in Sapa, Vietnam is the restaurant near the Mong Tribe Village. It has wonderful view of the village and the owner is kind.

View from the coffee shop.

The coffee shop named Highlands on the third floor of the building in Hanoi has also wonderful view of the Hanoi Lake. Here's the hot coffee with condensed milk.

The caramel jelly freeze.

If you want to drink coffee in hotel, you can buy the G7 coffee. It's the famous coffee mix in Vietnam.

If you are tired of noodles, you can have hamburgers and fries. There's lotteria at the supermarket in Hanoi. Lotteria is a famous fast-food restaurant in Korea.

Enjoy the food and have fun traveling!

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Idealpinkrose's Liebster Award

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 12 Sep 2014 06:59:00 +0000

I was bloghopping and suddenly read about this Liebster Award from another blogger so I suddenly remembered that I had been also nominated for a Liebster Award by Samantha of Couple Backpackers! Thanks Samantha!

What is a Liebster Award?

The Liebster Award is awarded by bloggers to bloggers with fewer than 600 followers who they feel are “up and coming” and deserve some recognition, it’s also a way to show encouragement to new bloggers.

Rules:

1. Write a blog post thanking the blogger who nominated you for the Liebster Award, and link back to his or her blog.
2. Answer the 11 questions that your nominator asks you.
3. Nominate 5-11 bloggers of your own, with under 600 followers, who you think are awesome and deserving of this honour.
4. Create 11 questions for your nominees.
5. Display the Liebster Award logo on your page.
(List these rules in your post.)

Once again, thank you Samantha of Couple of Backpackers for this nomination, if you guys haven’t checked out their blog, yet, please do. Their blog is very interesting.

So, Here Are My Answers to Couple of Backpackers' Questions:

How many countries have you visited?
I have visited 12 countries, so far (Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Nepal, India, Japan, Canada, Australia, Philippines, Hongkong, China) and some of them were visited 2-3 times. I have also visited most of the wonderful places in the Land of Kimchi, my second country.

Pokhara, Nepal

Taj Mahal, India

Angkor Wat, Cambodia

Stanley Park, Vancouver

Vang Vieng, Laos

Narita, Japan

Symphony of Lights, Hongkong

Li Jiang, China

Halong Bay, Vietnam

Ayuthaya, Thailand

Opera House, Australia

La Union Resort, Philippines

Jejudo Island, Korea

Have you planned any trips for 2015 yet?
Yes, we have. We are going to Canada this month and we're gonna travel around South America after a couple of months.

What is your favourite size of backpack to carry?
I have two backpacks that I carry in front (23L) and in my back (35L). I know they are too small compare to other backpackers but I weigh less than 50kgs so I think the sizes are just perfect for me.

What inspires you to pick your next destination?
We traveled to Canada last time but it was spring. My hubby wants to see the leaves in fall because it's one of the symbol in the Canadian flag. Also, he wants to go skiing there.

Do you like to move from one place to the next or stay in one place and day trip out?
It depends on our visa but it's too tiring to move from one place to another. We are lazy travelers so we usually stay in one City for about a week and sometimes stay in our accommodation all day.

Ever had a bad experience whilst travelling? What happened?
Yes. We were taking a walk in Thailand when a dog barked and other dogs came out. My hubby told me to keep walking but they followed us while barking so loud. Suddenly, one of them bit me! I was too scared! An old kind man saw us and called the dog's master. Luckily, the dog got shot against rabies and the owner is a nurse so she cleaned my wound and gave me some medicine.

Another one was in China. The driver was so angry that he didn't want us to take the bus just because we didn't want to put our backpacks at the luggage compartment. We just heard a lot from travelers that they lost some stuffs on the bus in China that's why we were careful. It was an overnight drive going to the border in Laos but we didn't sleep. We watched all the time. In the middle of the night, somebody was coming to our seats but I turned on my phone and he went back near to the driving seat. I guessed he was the other driver. Maybe they thought that we were asleep. I was so nervous until we reached our destination.

What souvenirs do you always pick up?
We picked up small and light things that symbolized the country.

How organised are you when planning a trip?
Very organized. I always make a list of what to bring and check each to make sure that everything is in my backpack.

Which type of sites do you tend to visit the most (Museums/ gallery’s etc.)
We love to go to quiet places with nice view of natural resources, not man-made. We don't drink, so bars are out of the list. We don't like crowded places, either.

How long have you been blogging?
I checked my blog archive and Oh my! I didn't know that I've been blogging for more than 8 years now. Time flies!

Which blog made you start blogging?
I enjoyed reading blogs. I was just a silent reader at first but then I realized that I also need to write my own story about my life and experiences. Different things happen everyday so I decided to write my own journal which is my blog now.

And now I present this award to:

Girls VS Globe
Diary of a Serial Expat
Travel with Marilyn
Take me to the World
Cool Mon's Blog
Solo: The Independent Traveler
Wife with Baggage
1001 Worlds
The Fly Away American
Straight on Detour
Backpack and Camping Bus

Maybe some of you guys had already received the award before, but maybe some of the questions are different so feel free to post it on your blog or not. Have a safe trip!

And here are my questions for you guys:

1. How long have you been traveling?
2. What encourage you to travel?
3. What are the 3 things that you can't travel without?
4. Which City do you like the most? Why?
5. Which city have you stayed the longest? How long and why?
6. What do you enjoy the most when traveling?
7. What is your most memorable travel experience?
8. What is the most terrible thing happened to you while traveling?
9. What is the most terrible food that you have tried while traveling? The most delicious? (Mention the country where you've tried it.)
10. If you have $10,000 to spend for a day on your travel. What would you do?
11. Which country that you haven't been yet but like to visit someday?

Enjoy Travelling!

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The Real Old Town Lijiang

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 10 Sep 2014 06:27:00 +0000

From Dali, we went to Li jiang. It's the town in China that my hubby loves to visit the most. This time, we didn't make a reservation because of our terrible experiences finding the hotels in Gwangzhou and Dali. We found a hotel near the market on the way to Old Town.

The hotel is nice and spacious. But my hubby doesn't like the carpet on the floor. He thinks it's dusty but we stayed there because of the location and it's not bad at all, is it?

Li jiang is very beautiful specially at night no wonder why it's famous not only for foreigners but also to Chinese. It was always crowded everytime we went there. Either in the morning, in the afternoon and at night.

Lijiang is the reason why we visited China but we got disappointed. It wasn't the way that we expected. It doesn't seem to be the old town anymore. It's a kind of market and shopping area during the day and bar at night. There are lots of shops selling different kinds of stuffs during the day and lots of beer houses at night. It's too noisy. I thought it's the Old Town that is very quiet but I saw the opposite one.

Here's the Old Town in the morning and afternoon.

Oh, that's hat? It's very famous for Chinese tourists. You'll see lots of them wearing that Princess' hat.

In the evening.

Can you imagine seeing a Mc do and KFC in an Old Town? It's real in Lijiang.

Most tourists stay in the places with many people like beer houses and shops. There are also areas which is quiet but it seems dangerous, and because the old town is too big and wide, it's hard to find the way out.

Ahhh, beautiful Lijiang!

It also looks wonderful outside.

This mills provide them water.

The tourists' wishes.

Old Town Lijiang is also one of the World's Culture Heritage.

Lijiang is so beautiful town if it's not crowded so we tried to find a way to see the real Old Town Lijiang! We went in the morning around 6a.m., in the afternoon, and at night but it was too crowded. So, if you want to see the real Old Town Lijiang, visit early in the morning around 5a.m. when it's still dark. You'll see how the people in town live when they wake up in the morning. The time when they do their normal chores without tourists.

A parent sending his daughter to school.

Students going to school.

Students buying some stuffs at the small stationery store

A woman fetching water from the well.

People going to work.

And the quiet houses in town.

Finally, we found the real Old Town Lijiang. The Old Town Lijiang that we are looking for.

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Bus and Train Tips to Lijiang

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 09 Sep 2014 09:03:00 +0000

From Dali, we took a train to Lijiang which takes about 2 hours. We bought the hard seat for 34 yuan at 9:15 a.m. In China, two hours trip on the train is nothing compare to the 25 hours from Gwangzhou to Kunming and 7 hours from Kunming to Dali.

The best thing to do when traveling in China by train is to make a reservation earlier so you have to plan your schedule well. China is crowded and it's not easy to get a ticket back or move to another City. In our case, as soon as we arrived at our destination, we bought a ticket to another City or back to the City or where we were planning to go next. We just learned from our trip in Gwangzhou where we had to wait for 3 days because there was no available ticket to Kunming. With my 15 days visa, staying 5 days in Gwangzhou is a waste of time when we are planned to visit other famous cities. It's like breaking our schedule.

So, when we arrived in Li Jiang, we bought a ticket back to Kunming immediately. At the station, take the #4 bus to Guchengco but make sure to take the bus as soon as possible because #4 bus don't come anymore when they think that there are not many passengers left. In our case, we waited for more than 2 hours but #4 bus didn't come. Like us, there were more than 10 passengers waiting for the bus. We were too cold because it was too windy. A woman told us that there wasn't bus anymore but we couldn't believe her. We thought that was impossible. Besides, there were more passengers so we waited. But after waiting for more than an hour, some gave up so they took a taxi and others took another bus. But me and my hubby with another two couples kept waiting.

I was too bored so I got this picture of the station.

My hubby even strolled at the park opposite the station but the bus still didn't come.

Another couple left so we had to find a way. We didn't want to stay there alone with a man at the station so we checked the route of the buses carefully which are posted at the station where the buses stop.

As you see, we could take #18 bus (which come very often) and get off at the last route and transfer to #4 bus. (We can't read Chinese, we just checked the characters carefully.) But take note! Bus #18 doesn't finish on its last route. It goes continuously so you have to remember where to get off. Check the bus stops very well. Their names are written at the shed of each stops. To make it easier, get off before the China bank which is on the left. Then take #3 or #4 bus to Guchengco.

Let's take a closer look! Here's bus #18.

And here's the #4 bus. As you see, they have the same route with the bus #18's last route.

Here's the last route of the #18 bus.

From there, take the bus #4 and get off at Guchengco, the one like the "t" sign or count three stops.

Turn right when you get off the bus and you'll see many hotels on the way to Old Town Lijiang.

Have fun on your trip to Li Jiang. I'll post about the hotel and the perfect time to visit the Old Town Li Jiang.

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A Terrible and Wonderful Day in Dali, China

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 02 Sep 2014 11:01:00 +0000

China a huge country so it's not easy to find a place. We were holding a map and the location looks near but it was too complicated to find what you were looking for. It seemed near in the map but it's too far when you find it.

My hubby made a hotel reservation on the net but it took us several hours to find the hotel. We asked many people but nobody knew where the place was, so how could we know? We almost gave up finding the hotel until we saw a police station and asked. Luckily, the officers were too kind enough to take us to the place with their police car. Actually, they also had a hard time finding it, they called the hotel, brought us to another hotel and the hotel manager picked us up there. That's how we found it. That was really tiring and hard time. Even though we always had a hard time finding it, we were very satisfied with the hotel. Besides, the manager is too kind.

The bed is big and comfortable.

Dali is the ancient capital of both the Bai kingdom Nanzhao, which flourished in the area during the 8th and 9th centuries, and the Kingdom of Dali, which reigned from 937–1253. Situated in a once significantly Muslim part of South China, Dali was also the center of the Panthay Rebellion against the reigning imperial Qing Dynasty from 1856–1863. It was severely damaged during an earthquake in 1925. Dali is very traditional and famous for foreigners and Chinese itself along with Lijiang.

Besides from the traditional place, there are also traditional things to see and do. There are four gates and each gates to enter in the Kingdom which made us confuse. We didn't know which is which. It's very wide and we couldn't finish walking the whole area and we always had to take pictures and made mark in order not to lose our way.

This area is famous for taking pictures.

Pay some amount of money and take a picture with this donkey.

These men also made the place more famous.

This guy makes candy in different kinds of form like animals.

Dali is very famous specially at night. It's too crowded at night. There are also many stores selling souvenirs and food.

Besides from the Kingdom, the Erhai Lake in Dali is also famous. You can get there by taxi, bus or bicycles but because we like talking a walk, we decided to walk to the lake. It's a little bit far but the walking course is also beautiful.

The lake is too wide.

It's also fun to see people fishing in the lake. There are so many fish.

Here's the walking course on our way to the hotel. When we asked someone and showed the hotel address written in Chinese, the guy said the gate name is Arhaitmen Nanmen. I don't know what he meant by that.

It's also wonderful to see the sunset while taking a walk to the hotel from Erhai Lake.

We had a terrible time finding the hotel and had a wonderful day during our stay in Dali. The hotel was very comfortable and we had a great time traveling in the area.

Click here, if you want suggestions on what to eat in Dali or in China.

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What to eat in China

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 01 Sep 2014 10:39:00 +0000

When I travel, I always post the food that I enjoyed in every countries that I've been to. This time, I can't say that I enjoyed the food but it's what we had during our travel in China. Some are delicious and have eaten several times and some are just tried once.

We were hungry when we arrived in Shenzhen (from Hongkong) so we went to KFC at the station. My hubby ordered a set of hamburger and chicken. The hamburger is not bad but the chicken are too small. I've been to KFC in some other countries but I've never seen as small as this one in Shenzhen.

Luckily, I bought a mango and chicken pie at the Hongkong border to fulfill our lunch.

For dinner, we walked around and looked for a restaurant near our hotel. My hubby was always a fond of Japanese restaurant because we were always satisfied with the food even though it's expensive. But the Japanese restaurant in Shenzhen disappointed us. Not with the food but with the bill. Among the restaurants that we've been to in China, it's the only restaurant that charged us 10% tax. And you know what the funniest thing is? We were also charged for our seats. Have you ever been to restaurant that charges the customers for their seats? Well, only in the Japanese restaurant in Shenzhen, I think. I don't know if they also charged seats to others or just us because they knew that we are foreigners.

From Shenzhen, we moved to Gwangzhou. It's where we enjoyed the food. We went to Kung Fu Restaurant near the train station to have lunch. It's cheap and not bad. But funny thing happened. My hubby was washing his hands. He used soap and when he was about to rinse his hands, there was no water. Not even a drop of water. He told the waiter but he said there was no water. My hubby asked where he could washed his hands. He said, "No". So my hubby just used tissue to remove the soap on his hands.

One more thing, there was a guy who was staring at me. Then he came and sat down next to our table with lots of left over. I thought he was going to eat the left over but he was just sitting and staring at me. Maybe he thought I was alone so when my hubby came, he left.

Near our hotel, there's a subway station, supermarket and wet market. There are many restaurants near the wet market and it's where we always have meals. And because the menus are written in Chinese, we always looked for the picture and showed to waiters/waitresses. Here's what we always had.

There's also a buffet restaurant. It's not actually an eat-all-you-can restaurant. It's a restaurant where you choose the dishes you want and pay at the corner when you're done choosing your food. There are so many dishes to choose from. From meat, vegetables, fish, soup, etc.

Beside the buffet restaurant is noodle restaurant where there are also lots of customers so we decided to try their menu. It's very affordable but it didn't suit our taste. Besides, there was no picture of the menu so we guessed and chose, no wonder why we ended up with the terrible ones. Funny, huh?

The first two orders were mistake so we decided to choose another menu so we made another mistake. Anyway, it's very cheap so what do we have to expect for?

This street food snack is much better.

We spent almost a week in Gwangzhou and moved to Kunming. It takes 25 hours from Gwangzhou to Kunming so they sell snacks, drinks and meals on the train. Here's what the menu was.

My hubby couldn't eat it so he ate cup noodles instead. It's much more delicious. This Japanese noodles is really delicious. It's like miso noodle soup in the restaurant.

I can't show you any Kunming food except the one at the train because we left Kunming for Dali the next day. We didn't go out. We only had bread and noodles in the hotel. Why? Check out the reasons here.

In Dali, there's a noodle restaurant near the supermarket. It's where we always had our meal. Here's the noodle soup. We don't know if it's delicious or not, but it's what we always had. We are just afraid to try another one.

Just suit your taste with this spices on the table.

The acorn noodles sold in the street.

The potato snacks that Chinese enjoyed much but not us.

From Dali, we moved to Li Jiang. Again, it's another noodles in the market. Too bad, I couldn't take pictures well of the noodles because of the orange tent. It was just a tent in the street. so whenever I take a picture of the food either on my phone or camera, only orange appeared. We like the kind couple in that restaurant that's why we were there everyday.

We tried the other restaurant once. It's across from our hotel. The restaurant looks nice and clean but the food was terrible. Or maybe we chose the wrong dishes again. The picture and food looks different.

Totally different specially this one.

It's better to have this street food that is sold in the morning in Dali. It's yummy. I think it's the most delicious food that I've ever tasted in China. Too bad that it only sold in the morning.

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Having Lunch with Cockroaches

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 30 Aug 2014 08:17:00 +0000

I'm scared of most insects so I can't imagine that I could eat with cockroaches around me. Cockroaches are the insects that I'm scared the most.

Whenever we passed by at this buffet restaurant, there were always many customers so we thought the food was delicious. One time, we decided to have lunch there so my hubby told me to choose a table under the ceiling fan because it was too hot while he was going to the food section to choose some dishes. A waiter came and offered me seats but I saw many cockroaches on the table and in the holes between the wooden tables and chairs. I said, no, not this one please. He offered me another one. When I was about to seat, I saw another cockroaches on my chair. I startled so the waitress near us asked what the problem was. I said there are cockroaches and pointed to them. They smiled and said it's okay. So the waiter wiped the chair and asked me to sit down but I saw many cockroaches peeping under the chair and table. I sat down at the corner of the bench.

My hubby came with a plate of dishes. I showed my hubby the cockroaches. He was also surprised so he went to another table but there were cockroaches, too. We looked around and found that there were also many cockroaches on the tables and chairs of other customers but they didn't bother themselves. So my hubby said, there's no choice so we stayed.

I tried not to bother myself but my heart was beating so fast while eating. Here are just some of the cockroaches that had lunch with us.

The restaurant is a buffet style with different kinds of meat, vegetables, seafoods, etc.

That scene is impossible in most countries but I learned that, we have to accept everything when traveling. If we can't, then we don't have to travel. It's not our own country so no need to complain.

That was my third visit in Thailand and it was my first time to encounter that thing. That was really a good experience. Inspite of that, I still love Thailand.

Cheap and Nice Accommodations in the Philippines

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 28 Aug 2014 08:21:00 +0000

We stayed in the Philippines for more than a month and we were lucky to find the accommodations that we were looking for. We found a two-story fully-furnished house in the subdivision where we could rent for a month for only 12,000 pesos ($300). But that excludes electric bill and water bill that we paid 1,500 pesos ($35). We also gave one month advance payment but we received it before we left the house. I heard that it's too difficult to receive the advance payment but luckily the homeowner wasn't that greedy like others.

As I said, it's in a subdivision so it's safe because there are security guards who always greet the residents when they pass the main gate. It's also famous in the city so when you take the bus or jeepney, just tell the subdivision's name and they will get you off in front of it.

Here's what the houses look like.

There's also a swimming pool but you have to pay 75 pesos ($1.6) for 4 hours or you can rent it for 2,000 pesos ($50) for the whole day. The residents rent it for parties.

Here's the kitchen and the dining room. There's also a dirty kitchen outside but we never used it so we just locked the door and didn't open it during our stay there.

The living room.

The stairs to the second floor.

The main room where we spent most of our nights and sometimes stayed all day when it's hot because it's where the aircon is.

There's also another room but rarely used it. Just when we don't want to turn on the aircon because it's cooler than the main room. There are three rooms but the other one is locked. It served as the storage room. Things that we didn't need were all put them by the owner.

The bathroom on the first floor.

Another bathroom on the second floor.

The view outside from the living room. It's really nice to see the birds eating and playing outside.

We always take a walk at night or when the sun is out. Sometimes the sky is so beautiful that is really hard to leave the place but we had to.

It was time to leave and we decided to leave earlier just in case that there's a heavy traffic so we took the bus for Manila in the morning. We came earlier than we expected and we still had many hours before our flight. We went to the Mall of Asia (the biggest mall in Asia) but we still had much time so we decided to find an accommodation near the airport where we could for 6 hours. We were really lucky to find the Sogo Hotel near the MRT where we spent the rest of our time in Manila.

Here's the rate posted at the door in our room. We got the executive room.

Here's what inside the room. It's not that big but just enough to have some rest. It's clean and comfortable.

The bathroom.

Our bags on the table.

More Filipino Dish To Enjoy

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 27 Aug 2014 13:49:00 +0000

My hubby who was afraid of going to the Philippines has changed his mine. He said that he couldn't go to the Philippines because he was afraid that somebody would snatch and shoot him. It's because he saw lots of news on TV about the Koreans who were killed because of money. Besides, we had so many bad experiences when we went to Manila, Philippines several years ago.

Last February, I encouraged him to visit Philippines. We went to Baguio, La Union, Angeles, and Vigan with our friends. He had so much fun. So, from Thailand, we decided to go to the Philippines again, not to travel but to relax.

What we enjoyed in the Philippines is the food, as we always do when we travel. When we wanted to kill our time, we watched movie or stayed in Starbucks.

When my hubby felt like eating Korean food, we went to SM Mall and had bibimbap at the food court.

I think Noodles and fried lumpia at the food court is also cheap and yummy but not with my hubby.

The spaghetti and pizza in Greenwich are great! Never lose your opportunity to try Greenwich pizza when you're in the Philippines.

This Hawaiian Barkada (Peer) Size Pizza is what we usually order. This pizza is just 259 pesos or $6.

The spaghetti and solo size pizza. The solo size pizza is so cute!

Uhhm, the mango shake is not bad but I think it's better without the rice cake tidbits. I'm not a fond of rice cake, that's why.

A pitcher of pineapple juice is just 60 pesos or $1.4 if you buy the Barkada size pizza. It tastes like pure pineapple.

Barbecue in Mang Inasal is what my hubby likes the most. Mang Inasal is famous for its barbecue chicken but my hubby likes pork bbq better. Pork bbq has different color of dish so whenever I looked around, my hubby had always different plate. He has pork bbq and the rest had chicken bbq. I love both. I order chicken bbq and my hubby gives me pork bbq. A set of 2 pork bbq and unlimited rice is 99 pesos or $2.3 but my hubby always orders extra bbq which is $1.

The Mang Inasal Chicken Bbq.

Sisig is also famous in the Philippines but sisig in Mang Inasal is not as delicious as I expected.

After meal, we go straight to Chowking to have Halo-halo for dessert. The small size halo-halo is just 65 pesos or $1.5 and the bigger size is more than $2.

It's also another way to kill time to have halo-halo and popcorn.

This Kettle Korn popcorn is just 50 pesos or $1.1.

We usually have stocks of pop corn and eat them at home.

More halo-halo and take out fried rice. We didn't feel like having dinner so we ordered fried rice just in case that we got hungry. More than half of it has been thrown away. It was delicious but we were really full.

Sweet and sour pork in chowking for simple lunch.

Chowking Siopao is also a must-try to eat. It's my favorite, actually.

Spicy chicken in Jollibee is my hubby's favorite snack too.

For me, jollibee has the most delicious spaghetti, so far.

KFC chicken is also delicious.

Shakey's Pizza? I prefer Greenwich. Shakey's tastes cookie. Sorry to Shakey's.

Wendy's hamburger and fries.

More snacks to enjoy except pop corn.

Candies that I liked the most specially they are made by my niece.

The sweet tamarinds are my favorites but not my hubby.

Philippine Durians are not as delicious as Thailand's but still my hubby bought because he loves durian.

Delicious egg pie.

This made at home shabu-shabu is not also bad. We bought vegetables and beef and dipped with soy sauce and wasabi.

This cappuccino coffee bought at the supermarket is the best at home coffee, I think.

It's what we always had during our stay in the Philippines. We were regular customers of Chowking, Jollibee, Mang Inasal and Greenwich no wonder why the waiters and cashiers were close to us and treated us well.

Everything's Gonna Be Alright

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 27 Aug 2014 08:46:00 +0000

We bought a new laptop but I'm still using this old one for my blog. My hubby brought it to the computer shop to clean it, remove the unimportant stuffs and make it faster than usual. When my hubby came home, I was happy to see and use it because it's much faster than before. But the problem is I couldn't use internet explorer so I tried to download chrome. Again, everything was fine except that I couldn't see what I typed in the content since last night. So, I asked my friends on twitter and facebook but nobody answered my question and nobody gave any help. I was suffocating so I searched, read and tried lots of stuffs to fix the problem but nothing happened.

Finally, yes finally! My hubby clicked something and saw the upgrade chrome so I told him to click it and he did. And yeessss! When I opened my blog again and tried to make a new post. Oh My! It's now Ok! Everything has a solution. It's the same thing that everything's gonna be alright! Whatever the problem is, there's always a solution. Yahoooo!

First Picture In The Sky

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 20 Aug 2014 15:21:00 +0000

After staying in Thailand for a few days, we decided to fly to the Philippines. From Saphan Taksin where Center Point Hotel is located, we got off at Siam and transferred to Phaya Thai.

And then from Phaya Thai, we bought another token and took another train to Suvarnabhumi Airport.

How many times have I traveled by air? So many times but I've never thought of taking a picture of the sky although I always loved to. It just always scared me to use phones and other gadgets when on the plane. I always follow the rules on the plane because I want to be safe all the time. Eventhough I saw many passengers taking pictures and really want to take my own, I couldn't because I thought it was wrong. But this time, I couldn't endure not taking a picture because of what I saw.

It's so beautiful and scary at the same time. I wondered how could the plane go down with this clouds. Like all passengers, I'm also scared of turbulence.

It's also my first time to see some part of the world raining. Too bad that I couldn't get the perfect picture but as you see on the right side, it's pouring in that small area of the country.

That was an amazing trip on the plane. Thanks God, that we also had a comfortable and safe trip. There wasn't lots of turbulence. Almost nothing and the plane landed safely.

Life in Bangkok Thailand

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 18 Aug 2014 13:48:00 +0000

It wasn't a good trip in Lampang so we went to Bangkok the next day. We left early in the morning and took the 8:00 bus to Bangkok. Again, there's free snacks and drink on the bus.

It's time to enjoy the city life in Bangkok. It has been a long time since we last enjoyed our city life. From China, Vietnam, Laos and North part of Thailand, it's time to go to the big City.

Where To Stay. We stayed in Mermaid Hotel on our first night in Bangkok. It's clean, spacious and comfortable.

The bedroom.

The swimming pool.

The bathroom.

There's a glass window between the bathroom and the bedroom.

It has even have bathrobes. It's a good hotel but we had to move to better one.

The next day, we moved to Center Point Hotel which is on top of the shopping mall.

The lobby.

The wonderful view from our room. This view was from our first night of staying there. But my hubby wanted a better view and he thought that the next room is better so we changed our room the next day.

Here's the view. My hubby is right. It's better than our former hotel room.

The view at night.

It's like an apartment because it has a kitchen with complete utensils and appliances.

There is a stove where you can cook and there are dishes in the kitchen cabinet like plates, knives, forks, spoons, etc. It feels like home.

It even has a washing machine and big refrigerator.

The bathroom is also spacious. The toilet, shower room, bathtub and sink are separated.

It's very safe because you can't go up and down the elevator without inserting your key.

There's also free drinks at the lobby. The cold drinks changed everyday.

There's also floor for swimming pool, gym, library, and restaurant at the hotel.

What To Eat. As I said, the hotel is on the higher floor of the shopping mall so just go out of the hotel and you're already in the mall with lots of restaurants inside. Our favorite restaurants are Hachibang Japanese Restaurants where we can have yummy noodles.

And MK Restaurant where we could have shabu-shabu.

The duck menu is also yummy.

The Bar-B-Q Plaza is the best.

It's like a sushi train buffet but this type of restaurant is more on meat and you order the food. Just ask everything you want and they will bring it to you.

Fruits are always present everyday. We enjoy eating tropical fruits in Thailand. They are cheap and delicious.

My last durian in Thailand. Aaaahhhhh......