trip day 6

addition to day 5:
before the walking street we went to this night market.. bought nice lamps! and bags and souvenirs. then went to another shopping place nearby, mae yue and phoebe bought nice dresses =) and van and tina were sad coz the dresses were too short for them.. haha.. and yoga bought t-shirts i think. we were v hungry so we ate KFC for dinner.

day 6:
packed for bangkok, then i watched ftv (we seem to be watching it all the time) with chill while the rest went for bfast. checked out from hotel and took the minivan to bangkok! arrived at train inn, which was v small (but cute). somehow we got the second class room which means we dun have shower and toilet in the room. room was small, only got beds and tv and washbasin. the place was really clean though...

after that went out to the grand palace by taxi ( 5 ppl squeeze at the back!). when we arrive there was a guy telling us that we can't go in at that time and we could go somewhere else first (and tina started to feel very very uneasy coz this situation is exactly like what she has read in online guide etc. haha). bought some lunch from stalls in the market: funny-tasting sausages, chicken and fruits. took the boat after that.. it's quite interesting to see the houses around the canals, saw a few temples around the area.. but the river was dirty!! oh and they have road signs on the river.. stopped at wat arun, all of us climbed to the top, it was like a 90 degrees climb!!! view from the top was good. and then the most random thing happened. Mae Yue lost her contact lense at the top of Wat Arun!!! so the two chivalrous guys went up again to find it but apparently it's there.. so we left the temple compound, and took picture with that thing in thai costumes (ok i have no idea what it is called or how to describe it). and some guy suddenly came and pointed at the 40B sign!!!!! OMG!!! it's a rip off day. haha. so we paid 160B for the pic.

then the boat took us back to the other side of the chao praya river, and we went to the grand palace. what a grand place indeed! there are so many buildings and gold statues... so we took many many pictures! inculding many pics where we posed like the statues. went in to the temple of emerald buddha (in which the buddha was not made of emerald but jade. ok this is random), sat down inside for a while. there's so much gold it was blinding. oh and had water from the lotus flower on our head. haha. went around the palace some more, went to the weapon museum, and took more pics. unfortunately we couldnt enter some part of the palace coz there's something going on. changed money afterwards coz half a day in bangkok proved to be very very costly.

took the river boat afterwards!! it's quite cool, like taking public bus only that it was a boat!! the boat went along the river, we got to see some hotels and stuff. arrived at the central pier and took the skytrain to siam, the shopping area! went in to siam paragon for while but decided that we could not buy anything there, so went to the siam square area instead. had dinner at this noodle place. noodle was good, but it was very very spicy!! phoebe was the only person who were eating in peace while the rest of us had to battle the spicyness. haha. went around to shop some more at siam square.. the guys looked bored while the girls went into various shops to buy stuff, like Kimono top!!! after that we went outside, found this shoe shop. yoga cil and van was waiting patiently while the rest went in to try shoes! haha. we wanted to go back after that, only to realise that the night market has just started!!! so yoga cil and van had to wait a bit longer while tina mae yue and phoebe shopped some more.

after reaching the hotel, cil slept immediately i think. the rest showered then went for a walk in around the hotel. bought lots of lays, and then found some eating place by the road side, so we sat down and eat! and had lays party in the hotel afterwards. can't believe cil missed all of this eating. haha.

Pattaya Day 2

i wanna write too!!!

Day 5

haha poor guys had to sleep on the floor while the girls shared the beds. so friggin cold their aircon!!! anyway we woke up in the morning and it was raining!!! so sad... but after a while it let up and we went to the pool! sexy bikinis... took random pool pictures and did random "water sports" eg holding breath underwater (which i won!!) lol... then we changed into our clothes and walked to the beach!! on the way we ate lunch at this thai food shop. ordered tomyum soup, chicken curry (yumm!), some really nice vege dish and pineapple fried rice... then we walked around some more and finally got to the beach. rather disappointing beach though... took lotsa pictures with our narcissistic drawings on the sand hehe.. then the guys went back to the hotel while maeyue tried to negotiate her hair-braids-thingy... hahaha...100 baht for ONE... then tina and van went back to hotel while maeyue and phoebe went jetskiing... looks very fun... and we could hear them screaming all the way from the hotel haha...

in the evening we went to see the TIFFANY'S SHOW!!! better than the one i saw last time... very grand and stuff... some of the "girls" are like damn pretty... we all picked our favourite! after the show we went out and took pictures with the green girl (taking pictures in thailand proves to be very expensive) and yoga took picture with the girl in big white princess dress.. in kinky pose. after that we took the tututu to the walking street!!! it's very interesting and amusing. bars full of skimpily-dressed girls (and guys) and fat angmohs. bartop dancers and all, in sailor or high school uniforms!

after that we went to eat ice cream in McD, and stopped at this roadside cocktail bus thingy to have some drinks! our first round of drinks was very disappointing, super diluted with hardly any alcohol! but that was enough to turn yoga into super lobster mode and maeyue into hyper sleepy mode. after that cil yoga and van did 2 B52 shots each! SUPER AWESOME! but due to financial/health reasons we stopped and again, we took the tututu back to our hotel. cil and i actually watched FTV until like 3am while yoga just kinda curled up on the bed like a doggie and slept soundly.. haha... very fun day in pattaya!

hmm my memory is not very good so must tell me if i left out anything haha

Trip - Thailand 1

hmm I shall write before I forget.

Day 4

So the next day we woke up and pack for Thailand!!! Van cooked brunch (crab soup with veggie, fried something wrapped in leaves which was very nice, beancurd, and long bean. wah I actually remembered). Nice!! after that went to the airport, we were a bit late but there was no queu so it's ok. Bought Vietnam souvenirs, and after that it's time for boarding. =)

Flight was a bit long, we were sleeping most of the time I think. Arrived in Subvanarbhumi early, so instead of taking the bus we hired a minivan to Pattaya. Oh and we bought nice fruit smoothies. Journey to pattaya was only about 1.5 hrs. Arrived at Sabai Lodge, Mae Yue and Van went into hiding (haha) while the rest checked in. The hotel is rather old, but nice and cozy. We got rooms right in front of the swimming pool =)

After check-in we went out to walk along the beach! Beach was nice... then wanted to find dinner but apparently it's quite difficult to find place to eat coz most of the places there are bars. with lots and lots of girls. and 1 or 2 ang mohs surrounded by the girls. haha. Finally we were too hungry and bought barbecued stuff (chicken, pork, heart, squid, rice , etc) from the friendly street vendor.. and it started raining for a while so we stood at the roadside eating. after that found this roadside food place, and we ate authentic Pad Thaiand chicked noodle soup!!! Nice =) =) =)

Then we went to the market, where Van and Tina bought clothes. then went to this factory outlet above the supermarket, and it started raining very very heavily. can't find umbrellas to buy (except the gold colour once for religious procession i think). so we took the songthaew (that's the name, it's not Tuk Tuk nor it is tututu..) and we actually stopped near our lane! then had to run in the rain to reach our hotel and everyone was very very wet..

at night while phoebe and mae yue was sound asleep Cil Yoga Van and Tina had a small party, haha.. ordered (with much difficulty) from the Pizza Place (Chinese) garlic bread (which they dont have anymore =( chicken wings, salad and fries.

ok shall continue tmr. so sad trip is over =( =(

Trip - Hanoi

Day 1
Woke up at 3am. Taxi was supposed to come at 4am but it was late! Still reached the LCCT in time after stopping at the main airport by mistake. It was an experience at the airport - so many queues! Like a gazillion.. queue to check-in (where there were like dunno how many lines when there were only 2 counters) and then queue to check out passports, queue for the security check before going into the boarding area, and queue again before we get to the gate. And being low-cost, we had to like walk to the plane itself.. and everyone was like rushing..and then we had seats like at the back of the plane. It was supposed to fly at 6.30am BUT we only flew like at 7plus i think. We all slept like most of the way cuz like of the waking up early.

Then we reached Hanoi! After 3 hours in the plane. And then we had to wait like 30-45 minutes just to get our luggage. We could see Sally and Van through the glass doors. Then like FINALLY after getting our stuff we took Van's dad's car back to her house! The Indonesians and Malaysian found the house so very different from what we have at home. 5 storey houses!! and like very narrow shops/houses as we passed the streets of Hanoi.

Lunch at Van's house! Tasty spring rolls! Cathedral in the centre of town and "So Hot" cafe. Hanoi has many small cafes with great atmosphere. Cil spread his music across the cafes in town. Then we walked the many streets of Hanoi, pass the pretty lake. We ate 'hoa qua dam', fruit mix with ice! Really nice food! We sat in small little stools in the shop and enjoyed the cool drink-like thing. Then, more shopping! Mae Yue and Yoga bought Crumpler bags. No idea how Mae Yue is going to pack her bags. She bought 3. and I'm broke!

After that we went to another cafe called I-Box which was on a road near the lake. Nice place with nice lights. Cil played the piano again. The place was like nice and quiet and like ours. Linh, Sally and Phoebe joined us.

Day 2
Breakfast at Papa Cafe where we had great big bowls of Pho and nice avocado smoothie. The nice lady gave us 1000 dong discount! haha.

Next, we went to the University of Literature. Where we got to pat the heads of turtles... The turtles are actually the head of some stones where the names of scholars are engraved. So supposedly, if we pat the heads of the turtles, you'll do well in the your exams. Hmmm. So we pat the heads of the turtles. And walked in to the temple, where it looked like the traditional Chinese courts. And we took bimbo photos with fans and umbrellas. Cute!

Chicco Mondo! Nice cafe near the Vincom mall. Cil played the piano again and Yoga bought nice drink. And we ate French Fries. 2 servings of French Fries.
After that Kung Fu Panda! Kablooey! Then after the funny movie, we went shopping! And tried nice clothes. Phoebe and Van bought t-shirts. Tina bought a nice pair of shoes. Mae Yue resisted temptation and didn't buy the nice yellow cardigan! Haha.

Dinner was fantastic ribs! Long story for dinner. We walked to this branch but apparently it wasn't the branch where out 50% coupon was valid. And we had already sat down. So we just ordered a lime juice and then left. Walked to the other branch, Alfresco. And then! When we were there the Jumbo Ribs were not served for that day!!! So our coupon thingy was of no use anyway. In the end we ordered two Junior Ribs and Caesar Salad. It's good!!!! oh then Linh came for a while.
Then we went to shop for DVDs. The dvds are like even cheaper than Indo, and it looks better.. and they have lots of music and concert and classical music dvds. So Cil and Yoga bought lots lots of DVDs.

Day 3
Woke at up at 6am!!!!! Had nice breakfast of pho at Van's house and then we went to the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum where we saw the embalmed body of Ho Chi Minh and saw the house on stilts. Security was tight!

Caves!!!!!!!!!! We all sat in small boats and went through all the caves. Tina, Van, Yoga, Cil on a boat and Mae Yue, Phoebe, Sally, Phoebe's day and brother on another boat. The view of the mountains were very nice and a change from the busy and noisy streets of Hanoi. The caves were very interesting! The last cave we went to was really small, dark, scary! Awesomeness! though. We had to like practically almost bend our head down just to fit in through the cave... the top of the cave was like really really close to our heads and knees and body. Scary but thrilling experience! In between the caves we stopped at some place to climb up to a temple which was a 100 years old.

Just had home-cooked dinner by Phoebe's Mom and now we're all in Phoebe's room. Tomorrow Van will be cooking brunch for us before we set off to Bangkok! So exciting!!!

transport to pattaya

hmm mae yue still no mail for you. I'm afraid the m1 cheque might have got returned, coz they returned the all of old boarders mail some time ago.. coz sometimes i don't sort all the mail.. and the pr thing, have you heard anything from them at all? hm I think i'm going to fill up the SOLAR thing first lar.. still dunno whether i'll be in KE.. but will be moving to NUS in 30/31 July i guess (that's if i have a place haha)


was just searching about how to get to pattaya from the airport. here are the options.

1. taxi. minimum fare around 1200B/cab. means one person 400B. takes arond 1.5-2 hrs, and can depart anytime.
2. Yellow bus from airport bus terminal. 106 B. problem is departure time is 5pm or 7pm. I seriously doubt we can get out of the airport in less than 1 hr, then still have to take bus to the aiport bus terminal.
3. Bus directly from airport. 150B. departure time at 6pm. they will send us directly to hotel. and the best part is that we can book in advance through email.

if there's no violent objection I think i'll book 3. we'll arrive in pattaya quite late though.

YAY!!!

only 1 week left before the trip!!!

for Yoga and Cil.. haha..
omg omg i'm so excited.. oh btw i'm back in singapore.. there's nothing much to do so I end up reading pattaya & bangkok tourism websites... haha.. anyway..

Yoga booked the Pattaya hotel, it's Sabai Lodge (right opposite sabai inn, but looks nicer.. haha..). It's US$168 in total, so everyone will have to pay US$28 (Yoga correct me if i'm wrong, or if you want to pay for the entire thing we dont mind.. hehe..)

hmm below is just the list of some things that we can do/see in pattaya:
1. the Nong Nooch tropical garden. It's a HUGE garden (at least from the map looks really huge) with lots of plants, and we can catch Thai cultural performances and Elephant performances there. It's around 15 minutes (or maybe slightly longer) away from Pattaya. A bit expensive though (not sure about the price, but the discounted price for weekend is B650, so weekdays shd be more). http://www.nongnoochtropicalgarden.com/en/aboutUs.asp

2. Ripley's Believe It Or Not. Apparently other than the Ripley's museum, there is a haunted house thing, 4D moving theatre, and an infinity maze (this looks really interesting). Can just pay to the one that you want to go to. This thing is right at the centre of Pattaya and open till midnight, so I guess if we have some spare time can just go there http://www.ripleysthailand.com/believe.htm

3. Alangkarn
Large theatre showing Thai cultural show. The show looks really good. We can have buffet dinner there as well (looks expensive) But I think there's no time to go for this one if we want to go for the transvertite show. http://www.alangkarnthailand.com/main.htm

4. Million Years Stone Park and Pattaya Crocodile Farm
Another park, this one has a zoo and LOTS of crocodile. You can take picture with tiger or see a crocodile show. (ok I dunno if anyone is interested, but I'm not that into crocodile, haha). The garden has lots of stones in it (as you would've guessed from the name). Also around 15minutes drive from pattaya. http://www.thaistonepark.org/index.html

ok other the four mentioned above there are some other things (which I find not v interesting):
- Mini Siam (replica of Thai monuments, historical buildings, etc. Since we're going to see the real thing in Bangkok find this a bit pointless)
- Elephant village. Yoga says he doesnt want to see & ride elephant. haha.
- Tiger zoo.
- Underwater world (like SeaWorld I guess)
- Bottle Art Museum. Replica of world famous places in bottles.
Let me know if you are interested on any of these, so i can go find more info.

For some reason I'm now a bit paranoid about the transport in thailand. Apparently the bus to Pattaya from Bangkok airport (the cheapest option) only runs every 2 hour. ahhh will find more info about the bus.. Can take taxi but it'll cost like 4 times more than the bus...

wah doing this is so fun, I should go work in a travel agency. haha. Cya SOON!

hotels

just to let you know what's happening to our hotel bookings:

1. Pattaya (9-11 july)
I've made reservations to the sabai inn, just need to pay (the deadline is monday, i asked the person to extend). Yoga says he's going to pay tonight (if not we can kill him lol). Total price is around S$ 280, so one person will have to pay around $46.6.

2. Bangkok (11-13 july)
New Joe is full, so I guess we're going for Train Inn (according to Ome the location is better anyway). So I called the hotel up and made reservation through phone. Confirmed again with the person through email, but they dont require any deposit (this is a a bit worrying, I guess will call them again before we leave for Hanoi). Oh prices will be 1000baht/night, 3 ppl in a room. So each person pay 666.6baht.

CONFIRMED!!!

MUAHAHAHAHAHA!

Here i have good news for you all. YOUR BOOKINGS ARE CONFIRMED.
anyone backing off at this point of time shall be personally executed by me lol

WE are flying 2:05pm 9 Jul from HN reaching BKK at 4pm and oh ya me and phoebe 6:25pm Bkk - Hn 13 Jul heehee we have time to shop at their oh so bloody huge airport.

and the BETTER news is, today they AirAsia suddenly have some weird Bkk promotion, so your ticket instead of being 33USD (excluding taxes) is now 13USD!! haha. so ya... including everything else it comes to around 60.5USD per person. and for me and pheebs 172USD each.

GREAT HUH?! XD 19/6 is a lucky day i say. i booked all your tickets online with my friend's credit card...cuz i went down to their office and the ticket is like 30 bucks more!!! lousy ppl...

anyway.. woohoo!! 2 more weeks! cannot wait! lol!

happee!

hotels

ok. just a comparison between the train inn and new joe

new Joe:
700 Baht, triple. aircon, hot water, private bathroom.

train inn:
900 baht for first class (private bathroom, hot water, aircon, tv)
550 baht for second class (share bathroom, aircon, tv)
450 baht for third class (share bathroom, aircon, tv)
I think first and second is double, and third class is single (I'll call them up to ask)

the train inn will be a lot more expensive, esp if you want the private shower (coz phoebe does)

The triple room will be 2 girls and 1 guy in a room.

let me know if there is anything you strictly need in the room, eg the shower, you want double room, hot water, etc. If there isnt anything I'll just decide after I call up the train inn.

and van how's the air ticket booking? hope your card is alright, haha..

halo

haha Mae Yue looks like you're having lots of fun... hehe yes yes i want to do hair!!! (that's if i get to stay in KE... ahh the stupid NUS)

hm ok so Van is in the middle of booking the Hanoi Bangkok flight. (THANKS VANNN!!!)
we're taking the 11am flight.. so yups.

oh and Mae Yue, I think Yoga and Cil coming to your house on the 4th (they didnt tell you?), and I'll be coming on 5th night.. Yea i'm going to take the Novena bus, but I totally forgot to buy ticket, so have to wait until I come back to sg to see whether there's any ticket left..

and about the hotels in bangkok and pattaya I'll call them up next week I think. yups. so see you all.

my votes

ok ok i confirm my votes.

1. hotel: Train inn in Bangkok and either number 1 or 3 in Pattaya. i agree that we save on flights rather than hotel haha.

2. flight: anything's fine with me as long as flight is cheap haha. and it's 276 US dollars from Hanoi to Bangkok and return, Vietnam airlines. very ex so yeah i guess we fly air asia.

3. travel plan: i like Tina's 1st option! the one where we take the afternoon flight.

yepyep.

choose!

ok. so these are confirmed so far

1. We (maeyue yoga cil and me) are coming to Vietnam on 6th July, Air Asia, reaching at ard 9am
2. We are going to Thailand on 9 July. (need to confirm flights. Van, how's Vietnam Airlines? the rest of you, choose between the morning or afternoon air asia flights.)
3. We are not taking the tour.
4. We are going back on 13th July (everyone ok with this right? then can book ticket back from Bangkok also)

so things that need to be settled:
1. How many nights you guys want to spend in Pattaya/Bangkok respectively? look at my previous post to choose the itenarery (ok i dunno how to spell that).
2. which hotel you want???
current vote:
mae yue : new joe (bangkok) and no. 3 (pattaya)
phoebe: train inn (bangkok). Pattaya??

Bangkok:
1. http://www.shambarabangkok.com/
2.http://www.khaosanroad.com/new_joe_guesthouse/new_joe_guesthouse/rooms_prices.htm
3. http://www.khaosanroad.com/top_inn/rooms.htm
4. train inn (look at my tag)

Pattaya
1. http://www.pattayahotels.com/Hotel-reviews/Tropicana-Hotel.htm (nice hotel + rooms)
2. http://www.pattayahotels.com/Hotel-reviews/Sunshine-Hotel-&-Residences.htm (cheaper than the other 2)
3. http://www.pattayahotels.com/Hotel-reviews/Sabai-Inn-Pattaya.htm (I think this has the best location)

3. oh and flights from hanoi to bangkok. I'm more inclined to take the afternoon air asia flight, cheaper to save on flights than on hotels.

ok so you need to choose: hotels, flights and travel plan in bangkok.

to tour or not to tour.

ok. The tour thing is not bad.. hmm..

I personally don't want the tour though, haha. Coz erm when I first thought of a trip, it was supposed to be "backpacking" across a few places haha.. and I want the experience of planning my own trip and see what happens when we get there, whether we'll get lost etc. (haha ok this sounds crazy but yeah). and I think tours does not allow to fully experience the culture sometimes.. (like without taking the public transport, eating the street food etc.)
and I'm just wondering, this tour will have other people right? I mean it might be a bit strange if it is us + Vietnamese families. and will the tour guide speak in vietnamese? (haha no offence to the Vietnamese here, just a concern that I have)

then Van maybe you can check whether we can just stay in Bangkok (dun take the flight back to Hanoi) and whether they can reduce the price if we do so. oh and the available departure dates as well.

but yes I agree that the tour will make everything so much easier and from the look of it, we do have some time to wander around by ourselves.

As a comparison , this is what I am thinking of doing if we dont take the tour

1. Take the afternoon Air Asia flight to Bangkok, reach bangkok at ard 4-5 pm, take the bus to pattaya (approximately 2 hrs), then after dinner can walk around randomly at the walking street thing..
2. Morning go and do the water activities.. afternoon... (hmm will find smth to do in pattaya, haha), then night watch the transvertite show..
3. Morning leave for bangkok, afternoon can go to one of the temples/museums on the east side, and shop/go to the night market afterwards
4. Morning till afternoon look and the grand palace, national museums, the jade temple etc (it's all in one area), then evening can go watch some cultural performances if you want to, or go shopping again, or walk around somewhere.. haha..
5. morning: Chatuchak market!! haha.. then fly back home..

since the hotel i'm thinking about (for bangkok) is in the west, mode of transport to the east will be the boat (yes!) and we can take mrt/skytrain around in the east side (it's only available in this side). hmm guess will have to take taxi at night.

the option above saves on air ticket (US$30) but will have to pay more for acommodation coz spending 2 nights in pattaya (assuming we're going for a better hotel)

another option will be

1. Leave Hanoi in the morning, reach pattaya in late afternoon. walk around and go for the transvertite show at night.
2. Morning do the water activities, leave for bangkok in afternoon/late afternoon. night can go shopping or do smth else..
3. here i'm thinking we can go to ayutthaya (also near bangkok, 1.5-2hrs), but the things to see there are also temples and palaces. apparently can take a boat up the river to go there (haha i'm obsessed with boats). or if not then we can go to the zoo/chinatown/floating market/other places of interest in bangkok.
4 & 5 same as above

this option means we have slightly more time in bangkok.

hm ok so everyone VOTE!!!!!! must state your preference. and if you vote for "No Tour" you must choose hotel in Bangkok and Pattaya (refer for a few posts below, it's labelled "trip")

just vote on the tag board if you cant blog.

cost

cost: (excluding flights from your home country to vietnam)

Flight Hanoi-BKK: max US$96.5

Accomodation Bangkok: 4 days 3 nights: around $15 x 3 = $45
Pattaya: 1 night = around $35

Bangkok. Expenditure/day: ard $25, inclusive meals and transport. entry to places of interest (temples, museums) will be around $5. add your own shopping expenditure.

Pattaya: expenditure/day: estimated to be similar to Bangkok I guess (no indication on website). to go and watch the cabaret show (i assume we want to right haha) is $25.

other expenditures not covered: transport to and fro pattaya.
for sample prices of things in thailand, http://www.lonelyplanet.com/worldguide/thailand/bangkok/money-and-costs

Vietnam: phoebe says max $50/day (depends on what you want to do i guess)

ok can add up for yourself, too lazy to use my brain right now. haha. all prices are per person, in Singapore dollars unless otherwise indicated.

confirmed? and TRAIN!

yes. so Mae Yue, Yoga, Van, Phoebe and myself are confirmed going. (right?) CIL???
hm is sally going?

Regarding the details in Thailand, I'll post options later.. (hehe)

then at the mean time if you havent done so look at the hotels in Thailand (a few post below)!! or look for some more if you dun want those I chose..

oh and btw, anyone interested in taking train to Singapore/KL from Thailand?? hehe.. went around and search after mae yue gave me the idea..

Bangkok (1445) - Butterworth (1310 next day): sleepers train (got bed), RM 112
then can go to Penang for a while, coz the train to KL only leaves at night
Butterworth (ard 9pm) - KL (ard 6am next day), RM 17-85 (depends on seat or sleeper)
KL (8am) - Singapore (3pm), RM 34-86 (depends on seat or sleeper)

yups so the journey will take 2 days 2 night.

haha yes. I'm seriously considering taking the train (it's so cool!!) haha. But dun think my parents will let me go if i'm alone. so yes, anyone??

THE date! yay :)

ok. So TRIP DATE will be on 6-13 July

6-8 or 9 July: Vietnam
8/9 to 13: Bangkok +Pattaya

yay!!!! (van, cil you ok with this?) reply! haha

and maybe van + phoebe can suggest whether we shd leave vietnam on 8 or 9.

I'd prefer 9 morning (3 days is hanoi seems rather short)

some flight details:

Vietnam Air:
Hanoi - Bangkok: daily morning flight, reach BKK at 1120 (Van can check how much this cost?)

ohh Air Asia fly the Hanoi-Bangkok route too!!
morning flight: reach bkk at 1115, US$93, or US$ 96.5 (8 Jul)
afternoon flight (reach at 4pm) and night flight (reach at 2245) only cost US$60

hm ok you should find your own flights to go to Hanoi and from Bangkok home.

hm I'll just put other flights here (for myself) haha..

Air Asia
KL-Hanoi
Sun 06 Jul 2008 0630am (reach at 0850am): 256.5 MYR
ah and the ticket price for 6 Jul (Sun) is cheaper than on weekdays. good.

BKK-sin
Sun 13 Jul 2008 1645-2005: 3125 baht

BKK-JB
Sun 13 Jul 2008 1640-1950: 2764 baht

oh shucks from the look of it I'll spend around $350-$400 for flights alone... hmm..

hm

hm oh yeah

CONGRATS MAE YUE! haha!

ok so when shall we go for the trip? hmm... I think Van, Yoga and Cil are free to go anytime is it? (3 of you REPLY TO THIS POST!)

then mae yue only from 30th june to 10 July? hmm but phoebe cannot right??

hm yea i was talking to phoebe the other day also, maybe we should shorten the trip... (so sad)

Options i'm thinking about:
1. Vietnam trip only (most convinient, as we do not need to book hotels, right? haha. and I assume we can go anytime?)
2. Vietnam + Bangkok trip (fly from hanoi to bangkok, Van can check how much this costs?).
3. The whole trip but not everyone go for everything. (those who can only go for a while can either meet us in Bangkok or Hanoi, and those who want/can go for the full trip can go ahead.)
4. Bangkok trip only. (then can probably do more things or go to more places around bangkok)

soo CHOOSE!

i'd still want to go for the full trip if possible...


Van did you ask how to get to Laos, where do the bus go to etc? coz phoebe says it takes really long (more than 1 day) to get there by land. I think it's too long, so we should probably fly to Laos if we still want to go (oh Phoebe/Van can check how much the flight cost? the Vietnam air website only gives schedule of flights, not price, lol.)

hm I realise we (or I actually) need to plan this properly before I go back, coz at home I will only get limited internet connection.. haha..

so yups. REPLY TO THIS POST, IF YOU CANNOT/DUNNO HOW TO BLOG CAN EMAIL.

or talk about it if you guys (cil phoebs van yoga) are online tonight (instead of talking rubbish as usual).. i want to sleep alr.. haha.

i'm confused. and the trip.

hi. um. the planning of the trip on my part has temporarily stopped due to my inability to decide where to go for uni. haha. seriously i got so sick of thinking about it. I shd stop thinking and plan for the trip! haha.

so yeah btw coz I got the MOE teaching award and SMU scholarship, so I need to decide where to go by this weekend. should I go NUS do science or SMU accountancy/biz?
I think I'll enjoy doing science more and NUS will be so fun (the halls, friends if you all go there).
But can't help thinking that I like the way SMU teach better than NUS (based on H3/AP experience), and my parents keep on telling me that biz/accountancy combi is very flexible, you can do anything in the future, blablabla. and they give more money. HAHA.

and on top of them I have this feeling that I should go home to do medicine instead. But the chances of me getting to the top schools are quite low, I think. And the application outcome will only be known on early August, so unis here would have already started at that time. So I dunno if it is worth it to go home and just go to some random med school. And this may sound strange, but I'm scared I won't enjoy my time in uni as much as I could have done here. hmmmm.. a very long hm. haha.

so yes. If you have any opinion at all just tag.


oh and at the mean time, THE TRIP.

can we fix a date soon? coz apparently the air ticket price gets higher nearer to the departure date. and yes Mae Yue I think it'll be cheaper for me to go to KL first. But I think I'll just go there for transit (meet you at the airport or smth). I want to spend more of my holiday at home, feeling guilty that I dun stay at home at all during this super long hols. haha.

The date: I would prefer 1 July, but Phoebe says she can't make it.. So another suggestion will be second week (6/7 July till 16/17 July). Mae Yue can go?
SO suggested dates: 1-11 July or 6-16 July. (subject to availability of air ticket as well)

Flights to vietnam: Mae Yue can check the schedule of Air Asia flights to Hanoi? and Yoga and Cil check for yourself the flights from indo! or you can go KL as well.


Accomodation in Bangkok/Pattaya:

As I mentioned earlier I think we shd stay budget in Bangkok, and I would really like to stay around Khao San Rd (the backpacker area). From there it seems easy to get around and book city tours and we might meet interesting ppl. (like other tourists).

And Pattaya we'll go for a quite ok hotel (with swimming pool etc)?


My Bangkok top 3:
1. http://www.shambarabangkok.com/
2.http://www.khaosanroad.com/new_joe_guesthouse/new_joe_guesthouse/rooms_prices.htm
3. http://www.khaosanroad.com/top_inn/rooms.htm

1&2 are not on the main khao san road, good if you dun want it to be too noisy. 3 is on the main road. Prices depends on typeof room, aircon/fan, etc. But all will be less than $15/person/night.


Pattaya top 3:
1. http://www.pattayahotels.com/Hotel-reviews/Tropicana-Hotel.htm (nice hotel + rooms)
2. http://www.pattayahotels.com/Hotel-reviews/Sunshine-Hotel-&-Residences.htm (cheaper than the other 2)
3. http://www.pattayahotels.com/Hotel-reviews/Sabai-Inn-Pattaya.htm (I think this has the best location)

hm ok so 1 is resort style. 2 is not but i think has excellent location, 2 on north pattaya, 3 on south. but the review says that 3 is v near bars and everything so can b noisy. all price similar (from ard $65/night). Let me know if you want more expensive hotels.



Look at the hotels and see whether it's ok, let me know which ones you prefer. so when the dates are confirmed we can book.

the trip and other things

halo... what's everyone doing nowadays?

I'm still doing research/random things in school.. dun really have much to do these days... haha...
aniwae.. Phoebe and I went shopping on thursday.. and I think I spent around $100 on 2 tops, shoes, random accesories, xinyi's brithday present, and food... hmmm.. need to spend less so can save money for the trip.

ok. the trip.

1. Now tentative time will be early July. trip will be 11 days : 4 days VN, 3 days Laos and 4 days Thailand

2. Route.
After reading some travel guide, I realise that it will be much easier to cross to Thailand from Vientiane (coz it's really2 near). So the suggestion is to go to Luang Prabang from Vietnam (Van/Phoebe can check if this is possible?), then take a bus down to Vientiane from there. From Vientiane will cross the border to some place in Thailand (forget the name, haha.) where we can take train to Bangkok. Train leaves in the evening and arrive in bangkok in the morning.
er which means i dun think we can go Chiang Mai

So now the suggested (by me) route is:
Hanoi- luang Prabang - Vientiane - Bangkok - Pattaya
yups voice out if you have any other suggestion.

3. Accomodation
I think accomnodation in Bangkok & Pattaya should be quite easy to get.. there are many2 guesthouses/hotels that can be booked online...
for Bangkok there is one hotel which I think looks quite decent:
http://www.shambarabangkok.com/
but the thing is this place only have 9 rooms.. and only 2 double room with aircon I think..
oh and this place offers city tour as well..
price for the double room is ard $25/night

I was thinking we can stay in a cheap and decent place in Bangkok (since we won't stay in hotel much anyway, I mean it's a waste to pay extra for all the hotel facilities), then can go for a nicer hotel in Pattaya.

nicer hotels (meaning with nice room, big swimming pools etc.) in pattaya would cost from around $60..

4. itinerary
3days 2 night bangkok, leave for pattaya in the morning of 3rd day?
hm i think we are v rushed (as in want to go so many places with so little time)
but anyway...
I think 1.5 day in pattaya shd be enough, if we just want to go to the beach & do the water acitivities (I want to go parasailing!) and watch the cabaret show at night.

for bangkok..
since we practically only have 1 full day, and hopefully another (almost) full day if the train from laos arrive in the morning
We can spend one day to visit the temples/palace/historical places
and the second day for shopping?
oh or can do the shopping at night.. some market opens only at night.. haha..

will compile a few iteneraries for us to choose from.

at the mean time... do your researchand give some opinions! unless you dun mind going to all the places that I want to go... haha..


oh btw it's college day tmr. hm. finally I'll get to watch college day. never actually knew what it's about (other than the performance part).