Roger's Rant…

GREETINGS from Taipei, Taiwan

Sipping an iced latte at the world renowned Grand Hotel 圓山大飯店 in Taipei that I visited 35 years is truly a rare experience…

While it’s a blessing to revisit some place after more than three long decades,  it also reminds me that time flies and will never return back!

There was no MRT here back then nor was there any Internet at that time. Certainly, there was no shuttle bus to ferry us from this hotel to the nearest MRT station but just a barrage of motorbikes ferrying passengers along the sloping side roads up and down the hotel.

Anyway, here’s my impression and highlights of Taipei after spending almost a week here:

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Last month, in August 2011, I visited Ho Chi Minh (HCM) City, Vietnam…

Though many of my country mates have visited in the past decades since the war, it was my first!

Frankly, it’s been a long while since I learned much about Vietnam from Anthony Grey (a journalist)’s book, ‘Saigon’, a novel that helped me understand the Vietnam war. That was back in the 1980s. Time flies.

Well… as you would expect, since so many had gone there before me, I already knew what to expect even before the trip. But still, it was an interesting trip and experience and I will be delighted to visit again

In this short article, I’ll share with you my thoughts and experience of HCM, Vietnam:

• HCM is touted by many to be like Singapore back in the 1970s. Well, I agree to a certain extent because the city is ultra modern in some areas. In the ’70s, the most popular shopping centre here was People’s Park Centre and then later People’s Park Complex whereas now, in 2011, there are some huge and modern office-cum-shopping complex like Vincom Center. Having said that, there are indeed old-style markets like the Ben Thanh market (which is much like Chak Tu Chak in Bangkok).
• There are millions of motorcycles there which is pretty much unseen here (not even in the 70s!) and it was an amazing sight to me Crossing every street becomes a challenge of guts and estimation. And the interesting thing is… they have people at some places like hotels, restaurants, etc who are watching tourists and will volunteer to come hold your hand and lead you across the street otherwise being  Singaporeans, we might end up standing till the traffic wanes at night.
• Coffee places are everywhere! That is something pleasing to me as you might be aware. Plus… iced Vietnamese coffee with condensed milk is unique and tasteful! Thus, it’s an excellent place for tired feet whenever you need a break or if you just want to have a more relaxed pace.
• Vietnamese food is healthy, by nature as they use plenty of vegetables. Particularly I like their ‘pho’ which is a white-flour noodles which is smooth as silk. I happen to eat a bowl also at the world famous Pho 2000 Restaurant at District 1, just opposite Ben Thanh market because former US President Bill Clinton visited in the early 2000s!
• We had international buffet at the Atrium Cafe of the Legend Hotel which was touted as the Mother of all buffets! I fully agreed as the spread is truly generous, with lots of varieties including sashimi, oysters, mushrooms, chocolate fondue and lots of desserts laid out in terraced displays… what a feast for the eyes in addition to our taste buds
• We visited the Ho Chi Minh City Museum which was kind of a letdown because we expected a lot more. But still there are some artifacts to explore as well as a cross-section of the Cu Chi Tunnel during the Vietcong days.
• Hotels, toilets and streets are generally quite clean. In fact, the budget Hotel Lavender is highly recommended at less than US$50 per night and they provided excellent service by sharing tips of where to eat and go to the guests like us voluntarily. There is also a foot massage joint in the hotel which provided a very good service which is definitely recommended.

For this first visit, we deliberately stay in District 1 (which is their ‘Orchard Road’) for the entire week to experience the hustle and bustle of the city rather than going outbound into popular tourist spots like the Cu Chi Tunnel or some sea food places a few hours away along the Mekong River.

Overall, it was a memorable trip… and surely I’ll go back to relive the experience, the coffee, the pho as well as the international buffet which is really superb! Plus, there are so many outstation destinations with fresh seafood I heard that must not be missed! So… till the next time

Temple of Heaven, Beijing

Once again, I’m visiting Beijing — and taking a couple of days to visit Tianjin — again since my last visit in December last year in 2010.

Ordinarily, just the thought of a temperature of 5 deg C is  downright scary to a person like me who spent several decades in Singapore with temperatures around 30 deg C all year round…

… however, this time, when the plane was about to touch down in Beijing, hearing the pilot announce 5 deg C was rather heart warming

What happened?

That’s because last year when I visited Beijing in the cold winter, the temperatures plummeted to almost -10 deg C!

So, in comparison, having 5 deg C is really a luxury

In fact, this time, I only wore a thick jacket with an ordinary long sleeve shirt and I could weather most of the time. The last time, I had to put on 4 layers, my gosh!

BEIJING

This round, I’m going to re-visit the Palace Museum in Beijing as it was far too cold the last trip…

Preparing the Beijing Duck

Then, I’ll be visiting Temple of Heaven (already did a few days ago) as well as the Summer Palace. In addition, if time permits, I’ll be dropping the major reputable universities here.

Oh yes, I absolutely enjoy some of the specialty food in Beijing, especially my favorite – the Beijing Duck! Oops… it was really good and mouth watering

TIANJIN

I went to Tianjin for a short visit.

Tianjin is one of the four municipalities (under direct administration of the central government) — the other three are Beijing, Shanghai and  Zhongqing.

It was quite a noticeable change from Beijing as we arrived by the high speed train which took just 30 minutes to traverse the 117 km! Isn’t life fast moving?

During the short time, we managed to visit the Ancient culture street as well as the Five Main Avenues (which reeked of European architecture of the recent past).

A cold winter in Beijing, China in December 2010

Traveling for the last time in 2010, we went to Beijing for a weeklong holiday.

To the locals, it was probably not so cold, but to me — a Singaporean who is exposed to an all year round warm temperature of about 30 deg C — it was a harsh cold winter!

When we landed at midnite a week ago, it was -6 degree C – a chilling announcement to me

Anyway, we have much fun savoring and sampling lots of Chinese food and specialty over here…

One of my favorite that I strongly recommend that you try out is the Beijing duck at ‘Ya Wang’ (literally translated as ‘Duck King’)

During this holiday, we deliberately took a rather slow pace, doing a mix of eating, shopping and a little sightseeing while catching up with some reading at the same time (I managed to finish 2.5 books while I’m here).

The climb at Great Wall of China at Badaling — where we were driven up in a private car about 1.5 hours away from Beijing — was a memorable outing. It was fun eating a Chinese mandarin while sitting at the steps of the one of the seven wonders of the world!

TIP: Wear very good walking shoes and you’ll thank your shoes after that. There’s long flights of uneven steps which can be challenging to both your sense of balance as well as your fitness

The other notable place we visited was the Palace Museum that led towards the Tian An Men Square. It was an amazing experience walking through the palace where the heavenly kings once lived which is nearly one kilometer long!

Emerging through the last ‘Wu Men’ gate of the palace and then going up Tian An Men and looking over the panoramic view of the Tian An Men Square is yet another great experience, followed by watching the guards lower the flag together with a gathering crowd of onlookers at sunset.

Last but not least, the shopping districts of Wangfujing and Xi Dan were ultra modernistic to say the least. In contrast, the cafes and ‘hutong’ sidewalks at Hou Hai is worth our afternoon visit.

It was a great Winter experience in Beijing for us. And now… it’s time to plan for our travels in 2011

Now that I’m in Shanghai, China for the World Expo 2010, it looks like I’m updating this blog only when I travel…

… but it’s NEVER intended to be this way.

Things just got too much and over my head.

Before I share a fascinating ‘coincidence’

Well -

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As I sit at my home study having my usual oat breakfast, and taking a short reprieve from my work, these are some random rambling thoughts that come to mind (after returning from a 2-week trip to California)…

TRAVEL

Would you prefer to go on a long or short trip? Certainly both have their pros and cons but I was just figuring out a way to plan my future trips:

• For short trips, you should arrive in the day time as the journey will most likely be livening and most likely a short and pleasant flight and then you will still have lots of energy to move around eating, shopping, sightseeing, etc
• For long trips, you should arrive in the evening after a strenous and long flight — anything more than 3 or 4 hours — so that you can go right to sleep after having a light dinner to recover in time for a fruitful trip

Do share your thoughts on this with us by giving your comments below. By the way, here are my personal experiences.

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TODAY, I had a super long day of driving up the West coast of USA (the road never seems to end!)

Left San Marcos (near San Diego) in the late morning, we visited Carlsbad premier outlet. After that, we headed up north to Long Beach.

From there, we headed to Santa Monica, a nice city where we found a wonderful Japanese sushi restaurant. The food was real good – the fried mushroom and asparagus was superb while the salmon sashimi was fresh.

After that, we droved from Santa Monica to the coast where the Malibu beach was exceptionally beautiful amidst the pretty sunset. From there, we headed to Oxnard and then to Ventura, near Santa Barbara. The drive along Malibu to Oxnard was especially scenic and well worth the effort

Anyway… we just picked up some dinner from downtown here (oh no, not Japanese again) and now ready for another long but fun day tomorrow

Enjoying a wonderful evening at the food outlet at San Marcos, San Diego before going for coffee at Ryan Bros Coffee and then a delicious dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory:

At San Marcos (near San Diego)

After a 3-day advanced internet workshop I attended concluded in San Marcos — about 30 minutes north of San Diego — I went on a one-day tour in a rented car…

… touring the beach at La Jolla

…visited the Coronado Island where the beautiful and majestic Hotel del Coronado (affectionately called Hotel Del) is located

…enjoyed a sumptuous sushi dinner at Gaslamp Quarter in downtown San Diego

It was really fun to go around sightseeing. That’s the freedom I enjoy as an internet marketer that I can work from anywhere on the planet as long as I can go online

Here are a few pictures to share:

San Diego downtown, viewed from Coronado Island

Hotel Del Coronado, Coronado Island

Sushi Dinner (Oyster Dynamite) at Gaslamp Quarter, downtown San Diego

Below is a short video clip of the freeway scene on a Sunday at San Marcos, 45 minutes north of San Diego, USA, next to where I attended a 3-day internet marketing seminar: