Tokyo

Five nights in Tokyo is not enough but I'm very happy with what I experienced. People are so friendly, things here are amazingly clean and people love to queue for hours just for popcorn which surprised me.

I stayed at a very convenient hotel located right next to the Hanzomon subway near the Imperial Palace grounds. From there, we travelled around Tokyo with three day passes for the entire metro , which is a phenomenal system. With loads of recommendations from friends and clients, I think I discovered Tokyo almost like a local.

We arrived on a Friday evening so the Japanese people were dressed up a bit different compared to week days. Over the weekend, it was amazing to see how many different styles being worn, especially in the Harajuku area. One of the best places to people watch that I've ever experienced. It was like sitting beside a fashion runway. It doesn't matter which direction that I looked there was always a surprise. 

I love Japanese food even more here as Japanese people are very careful with their food and also the way they decorate the food. Sometimes, it didn't feel right to eat it because it looked way to good to be eaten. There are way too many places around but I'd love to list some of my top favorites: Maisen, Jomon, Harayuku Gyoza Lou, Watamin-chi and Luke's lobster (bread roll)

I wouldn't have thought coffee is a big deal in Japan or that I would've able to get good coffee here at all. But I rolled my eyes many times because they do have so many great places serving amazing coffee from old-world Japanese style to modern style. I highly recommended: The Roastery, Omotesando Cafe, Chatei Hatou. 

Because of the incredible public transportation system, traveling around Tokyo is easy. We never got in a single taxi. Most of the signs around Tokyo are both in Japanese and English and people don't mind to walk with you for a couple hundred meters to show you where you should be. We experienced very generous hospitality from the locals during my stay. 

I went to several tourist spots after my stomach filled up with food just trying to see something amazing and burn some calories and make room for more. I would love to come back here to Tokyo for another week just to eat, drink and walk around. Arigatogozaimashita どうもありがとうございました and See you again: Mata o ai またお会い

Chiang Mai

With lots of recommendations from our friends for food and what do to in Chiang Mai, we arrived with quite a list to achieve in five short days.

We hired a motorbike to drive around the city, which is easy to navigate because of the river that forms a square around the old town. The traffic is nowhere near as crazy as Vietnam because the Chiangmai people seem to follow the rules and there is less vehicles than what we're used to in Hanoi. We drove most of the time to different markets to eat breakfasts lunches and dinners. The fresh produce in the markets in Chiang Mai is displayed beautifully and there were enough different vegetables and other things to make it interesting for us. I love the coffee served by an old lady in front of the Chiang Mai Gate Market and also the simple breakfast of toast with a poached egg from the man next door. It was a fantastic spot to watch the local people go in and out of the market. Also a nice spot to take photos.

I can't forget a small noodle soup run by two pretty elderly sisters close by to the place we were staying. Strongly recommended by EatingAsia, we went there very early and seemed to be the first customers of the day as we were worried that they would run out before we got there. We ordered a sticky rice dish and two types of noodles: one with pork and blood which is similar to Bún Bò Hue and the second noodles with fish. These three dishes were fantastic!!!

There are so many beautiful wats around Chiang Mai, almost on every corner. Even though they are similar in design, they each have little details in the architecture or statues that made it interesting for us. They are also a good place to have a rest from the heat.

As I'm from Hanoi, the heat didn't bother me so much even though it was 41degrees on our first few days there. Fortunately, the humidity is lower, which helps. Luckily we stayed at our friend's apartment on a very high floor with a breeze blowing though. On the last two nights it was cooler after a storm passed through during the night which made the city cooler and clearer in the next days.

The great thing about the food markets in Chiang Mai is the variety of choices that local sellers offer. I loved noodles that I can add lots of different fresh herbs and vegetables such as mint, basil, shredded cabbage, bean sprouts, pickles and chili. I also can choose different refreshing drinks from fresh coconut juice to flavored syrups topped with crushed ice.

We always talk about whether we would go back to a place on the way to airport and we decided that Chiang Mai is definitely worth a return visit.

Now Noa Private Island, Palawan, Philippines

Yet another short great 2 different flight with Cebu airlines, a 3.5 hour bus ride and 35 minute boat trip. We arrived at Noa Noa island for a short vacation. I had been to the Philippines before but Boracay and it was such a beautiful place to be with white sand beach, great seafood at market and nice place to stay. But I have to admit that Palawan is just another beautiful place that I would need more than just 4 nights.

The white sand beach, the coral, the resort's staff and of course the food was fantastic. We spent most of our time snorkeling, eating and having daily massages on our vacation which is my perfect idea of travel. It took me a little while to get used to breathing by mouth for snorkeling as I haven't done it for such a long time, and I drank heaps of salt water. It's good for my body somehow, I thought. It was great fun when I could do it the proper way. I saw way so many beautiful fish, huge clams and colorful coral.

The resort staff was really generous with the tasty food. They kept asking us if we wanted snacks, cakes and fruits in between meals. Everything they made was fresh and delicious. They shopped every morning at the neighboring island, driving their boat there and back to buy daily ingredients: fish, veggies .... The best part of the experience was that we were the only people on the island. In some way, it was a bit funny that somebody was serving and entertaining me instead of me doing it.

We had a great time and certainly we would come back here again for a longer vacation

Siem Reap

I just enjoyed a short escape to Siem Riep to eat different food, meet friends and to relax. It is a much busier place than on my previous visits - lots of new bars and restaurants especially around Pub Street. Luckily my hotel was away from all the action, a short tuk-tuk ride from the Old Market.

We met Lina, our friend: author of Move to Cambodia for a dinner at Mie cafe, one of her favourite restaurants in town. It was a very nice place serving modern Khmer dishes. I'd highly recommend this restaurant. After that we headed to Miss Wong cocktail bar for a  few drinks. I love this bar and remember it from years back. Small, not loud music, nice cocktails and very friendly staff. 

I love the old market very much even though it's very touristy. I went there everyday just for a wander, to smell the incense, flowers, spices and food. The way they display their fresh produce is very photogenic. Local Cambodian vendors show a lot of pride in the way they display their food which is similar to us in Vietnam.

I love having a Cambodian massage even though I'm not sure that's what it's called. I visited Master Feet and spent an hour every day for foot and arm massages, usually after walking around for a few hours. In the evening, we had a great experience with Lina and Steven: food tour in Siem Reap. It was so much fun, this is such a great way to see the city through local expat eyes. We went around Siem Reap by tuk tuk and tried heaps of local food. As you would expect, I ate way too much. We visited quite different markets, crossed lots of busy streets to try Siem Reap's specialties and that's the best way to learn and understand the local culture and their food. After the tour, headed to Picasso bar for a couple of drinks before going back to the hotel. Quite a small bar but with great atmosphere, the Picasso Bar cocktails were nice enough according my limited cocktails experience. We had a few drinks there and met up with some new people before a final cocktail at Miss Wong. It was a great night!!!

I don't usually eat at hotels but the Victoria Hotel breakfast was great and I enjoyed very much. For coffee, we were guided to The Little Red Fox Espresso as it's the best coffee in town. I enjoyed the quiet, good coffee and spend some time catching up on work.  We met Lina again for lunch at Olive, Cuisine De Saison. It was weird to eat French fusion food in Siem Reap but it was delicious, quiet and we spent lots of time chatting about the town, business and food. 

I would come back here again in the near future as I love the heat, the people, market, food and the excellent massage.

Budapest

Budapest is a beautiful city which reminds me in some ways of Paris, Rome and Porto, cities I've loved from previous trips.The Danube river divides Budapest into two parts and most tourists stay on the right hand side of the river then walk or take a cable car up to the Royal Palace for amazing city views. In general, things in Budapest are not as expensive compared to other big European cities.

We did a free city tour and it was pretty good with an very active young Hungarian girl. We walked around the city for about 3 hours and learned heaps about the culture and a little bit about food. Hungary's national dish is called Goulash, which can be served with chicken, pork or beef but I think, the beef option is the most popular and in most menus of the restaurants around. This dish is similar to stewed beef with potatoes, carrots and red wine in Vietnam which is also my favorite - something I eat for breakfast in my hometown.

We went to the Jewish quarter for a wander to see some of the 'ruin' bars and restaurants. Food wasn't the best but nice enough, probably not my type of food or I made the wrong choice. On the way back to the hotel, I happened to see a phở restaurant which was owned by a Vietnamese woman from the south. She sounded like she didn't want to sell her noodles and the way she spoke was a bit rude so I walked out - I was pretty full anyway. I bet she wouldn't have been so rude if she knew I could speak Vietnamese! I thought it would have been interesting to see how they were doing phở in Budapest

On our last day, we went to the Great Market Hall which is the main market of Budapest. This is a great market! Everything looked fantastic, very nicely organised, clean and friendly atmosphere. I enjoyed my coffee from a tiny shop where an old lady serves her coffee in very small paper cups with a tiny plastic stirrer. This market sells many types of sausages, cakes, fresh fruits, and of course the greatest variety of paprika you can imagine - in jars, tubes, powders and fresh, too. Our clients recommended that we eat at 'Fatal' restaurant as I wanted to find the best Goulash in Budapest. We had a great experience though the portions were the biggest portions we saw anywhere in Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic. We couldnt move when we rolled out of there. And of course we had beer, too!

We kept walking around the city for a couple of hours then we went to Raday Street which was lined with about 40 different restaurants to have a drink and dinner. We went to Paris, Texas Cafe for a drink. They served very nice wine and because it was happy hour prices, we decided to stay there. We ordered a rocket pizza and watched the US Open on TV. The pizza was great and we had a good time with thestaff and the lady owner. During our time in Budapest, we tried so many types of Hungarian wines and most all of them are really really good but we couldn't work out why they are not well known in the world. They are very cheap, starting from €3. Need to come back here again.

Prague, Czech Republic

What a beautiful city Prague is! However, I don't think I've ever seen a place with so many tourists. And with that, quite a few local businesses in the central/tourist area seem to rip tourists off or cheat tourists all the time.

As I'd already been through Munich, Vienna and Budapest earlier, I thought Prague was a bit similar to those cities in terms of such great architecture and churches. Prague has a great cheap transport system and most tourist attractions are within walking distance of metro or tram stops. And, to me it seemed pretty safe. I wondered how many people actually pay to use these public transports because most people seemed to just jump on and off without their tickets. Probably, it's free!

I did another great free walking tour around the city to kick off my 4 nights and our guide was a Russian American was great with loads of information about the culture, the city and food. I'm so glad that I did the tour at the beginning of my stay. After the tour, we decided to change some money and we got so upset with the money changer (professional shop) as they charged us €10 to change €50. We didn't know the language and after signing the receipt, we found out and they refused to give the money back. This is very sad and apparently so common in Prague. We were disappointed but we put it behind us. I can't complain as this is probably my fault because I wasn't careful enough.

After that, we walked up to the Prague Castle for fabulous views of the city. After working up a hunger, we found a small restaurant full of people and we hoped it would be a great place. Waitresses were friendly and the food was acceptable, but we got ripped off big time again! We had to pay €78 for a simple meal for 2 with 1 beer, 1 glass of wine, a pork schnitzel and a Greek salad plus we have to pay 15% for VAT and a bread basket which we didn't eat. Some Prague people must think tourists can draw money out of the blue!!!! We had a totally bad day!!!!

Anyway, a great thing came up the next day as we found one of the best coffee shops in town (for me) where we noticed the owners and staff have passion about coffee, where they test their coffee, chat to their clients about the differences between their coffee. Surprisingly, no Vietnamese coffee in the shop, very disappointed (just kidding). We went back to this coffee shop two more times before leaving Prague. With recommendations from one of our clients who lived in Prague for two years, we went to a great Prague pub, Pivoparsky Dum, for dinner where we could taste different beers, including nettle, coffee and banana beer and an amazing meal. We were the only tourists in the pub and it was a huge place but filled up by 8pm. The best meal in Prague for me and I'm so glad we went there.

So, in general, I have mixed feelings about Prague. Not sure if I'd go back.

Bangkok

Recently, I spent four nights in Bangkok and it was so much fun. I wouldn't say that would be enough to discover such a big active, fun city. But, for me, four nights was probably enough to satisfy my interests, which are mostly food and market related, including my first visit to the city's Chattuchat market.

Both long and short vacations are relaxing for me as I work 7 days a week and don't have weekends, but I do take lots of breaks. That's just how it works out. My friends wonder why I take so many short holidays. I mean of course it's to relax and relieve any stress and luckily, from Vietnam, there are lots of places close by and sometimes there are cheap airfares.

Bangkok is not my favorite city in Asia but I don't mind going back for a short vacation as I love Thai food very much and also Thai people are very friendly. I'm not sure how many dishes I tried and their names but it was very tasty though occasionally too spicy for my tastes. At times, I felt like I was crying and smoke was coming out of my ears while I was trying to finish the food. It was so much fun eating like a local and it's also a way for me to learn the culture of the place I'm visiting. That's the most important thing for me.

Besides the fantastic weekend market at Chatuchak, I loved Klong Toey produce market as well. I love the way Thai people present their vegetables and meat and, similarly to Vietnam, kill some animals in the market to ensure freshness. The Klong Toey market sellers were so friendly, showing me how to kill fish, frogsand smiling when I asked to take photos. I smell their meat and I saw fish jumping up and down. Like in Vietnam, the local markets are the best places to do food shopping.

Bangkok night life was a bit much for me especially Pat Pong where it's all related to sex and nudity but that's what Bangkok's famous for. There was way too many people asking me the same question, sex DVD? sex show? boy or girl? It was a bit confronting at the beginning but I felt annoyed at the end. Anyhow, it's something they you only can see in Bangkok and I experienced it.

One of the highlight of the holiday was the Sofitel Sukhumvit Hotel. It was great with super refreshing cocktails and bubbles from 4-7pm and a beautiful swimming pool during the afternoons after long walks discovering the city. I'd love to come back to Bangkok again and definitely will stay there.

Vienna, Austria

A city with so many beautiful old buildings and stories and opera houses. I don't think four nights was enough but we tried really hard to see most of the special places and eat the best food that Vienna offers.

We walked around the city and visited many churches, museums and walked into small lanes with incredibly beautiful shops. One of the meals that we loved the most, for the atmosphere, the professional service and especially the food was Plachutta restaurant. We had walked past the restaurant many times and wondered why they were always super busy and we decided to check it out on our second night. We had their world famous dish Tafelspitz a beef broth with tender rump steak served with root vegetables, crispy potatoes, creamed spinach, horseradish and apple sauce and sour cream and bread; and it was fabulous!

According to our friend's recommendation, we went to eat sandwiches for lunch at Trzesniewski. Their sandwiches were amazing with many different toppings and eaten with a tiny glass of beer, called a Pfiff, such a great combination. We continued wandering around the city and tried coffee with beautiful, tasty cakes at Demel, a place that I'd highly recommend for cake and coffee.

On our last day, we went to the Leopold Museum to see Gustave Klimt paintings and those of other famous artists. What a museum with so many beautiful old and new paintings. We spent about 2 hours there and it was worth every minute of it. In the evening, we went to one of the must-do things that everyone does in Vienna, yes, we went to classical music performance. Because the opera season was in summer break we had to see a rather touristy Mozart and Strauss show, which involved both ballet and opera singing. The lady had an amazing voice and we all loved her performance so much. I'm glad I did it.

Salzburg, Austria

We spent two nights in Salzburg, where Mozart was born and raised. I had such a fantastic experience there walking around the old town, checking out lots of historic buildings and the view from the top of the mountain, where the Salzburg Castle is situated.

I love the old town and the river which reminded me a bit of Florence, Italy or Paris a bit. The old
town has so many beautiful gift shops and restaurants. We stopped at Cafe Tomaselli for coffee and cakes, which is a bit of an institution in the city.  We had the traditional coffee with whipped cream called melange which was fantastic and their cakes just blew my mind away, Delicious!!!!

               

We walked a bit more then took a cable car up to the top of the Salzburg Castle for the city view. It's very crowded as it should be, full of tourists like me. I took so many shots and stood there at first for about 10 minutes to appreciate the view and the green city and several different bridges connecting both sides of the city. Then we climbed up and walked inside to reach the top of the castle. The night before we left, because it was raining, we had dinner at the hotel restaurant and it was great food as well. The waitress was very helpful, recommending that we have calamari for starter then we had dumplings with bacon and crackling on top of sauerkraut. The second dish is very traditional for this part of Europe.

We also had the most famous Austrian dish Wiener Schnitzel, a flattened crumbed piece of pork pan-fried, served with boiled potatoes and cranberry sauce. On our last afternoon in the city, we just sat down in the square with a cold Steigl beer and enjoyed the last sunshine of the day. It was a fantastic 3 days in Salzburg!

Munich, Germany 8,2014

 

We spent three nights in Munich and it was so much fun. We took the free three-hour walking tour with Sandemans New Europe from Marienplatz around the city. Our guide was great and very informative and yes, her name is Virginia. There are several options for this company including paid tours but I think this free tour is good enough for the first day to learn a bit about the old part of Munich and it's culture.

After the tour, we walked down to the English garden, a huge park in central Munich, which has a beer garden near the Chinese Tower which can host about 7000 people at the same time. It was fantastic, full of people and with loads of food available. The most common dishes that people ordered were roasted pork or chicken with lots of chips and each person had one serve with at least one beer. We ordered a grilled mackerel, half a roasted chicken, a roasted pork knuckle and a pretzel and two huge steins of beer. It was a fabulous meal and it took us about an hour to finish before we took the underground back to the hotel.

The next day, we came back to Marienplatz to walk up the Alter Peter (Old Peter) Tower for a fantastic 360 degrees city view. It took us a little while to go up but it was totally worth it for only €2. After all that effort, we needed some beer refreshments. Of course there is no shortage, even in the mornings, in Munich. We made it to Hofbrauhaus, one of the oldest beer houses in the world, established in 1589. This is a great place with lots of old regular characters who come with their own jugs and dressed in traditional costumes, the lederhosen. The ceiling of the restaurant has some great murals painted on it, too. The beer (served in one litre steins!) and food was great, not to mention the band playing traditional music which provided a great atmosphere. Even though I was a bit tipsy, I did manage to finish my beer.

We went back to the hotel and took a nap then headed out for dinner. We went to a kebab shop close by the hotel as we needed to take a train to Salzburg the next day. Stir fried freshly handmade noodles with potatoes and chilli was surprisingly great even though it was way too spicy for me. That's my fault because the lady warned me when I ordered but I thought probably spicy by European standards. It turned our even hotter than Thai green papaya salad or Korean noodles. But I did enjoy it.

Manila

After relaxing on the beach in Boracay, I stayed a few days in Manila and it was so much fun. I met some of my previous street food tour clients and they took me out for dinner and also recommended so many things that I must do in Manila, including shopping.

Between my eating time in Manila, I visited different malls to buy some souvenirs. Malls in Manila are huge and there are too many of them around. I got dizzy and lost in two of them and they only way out I told myself was to walk down to the ground floor and find the car park. It was so frustrating at the time but actually it was great fun walking around different malls to see how local people do their shopping.
I love the weather in Manila as it was nowhere near as humid as Hanoi and I felt more comfortable. Some people may not like it here but I loved it as it's a bit similar to Hanoi. A big crazy Asian city!

My clients took me to a restaurant called Mesa which is located at the Greenbelt Shopping Centre. This is a great Filipino fusion restaurant and always full with locals and tourists. We had way too much food including deep fried pork, fish, stir fried veggies, pigs' feet and then, not that we needed it, dessert! Apologies that I can't give the exact names of the dishes - sometimes you just have to concentrate on the conversation. After dinner, we went to a square where they play live music to drink beer. It's a bit similar to Bia Hoi without music in Vietnam. It was so cool and I loved that atmosphere very much

My clients mentioned about the most popular fast food in Manila called Jollibee and these franchises are always located right next to McDonalds. I don't know why I took the recommendation but I ate the pasta with deep fried chicken. It was really not my type of food.

The only thing I slightly regret is that I didn't have a chance to ride a jeepney around Manila. They look so good and so colourful. This will be one of the reasons that I will come back to Manila. Thanks to my clients that made my trip to Manila so special and hopefully see you again soon

Boracay 2014, Philippine

Recently, after being refused a visa for Japan, I spent just a couple of nights in both Boracay and Manila in the Philippines. Because it was such a short stay, I can't tell you much about the whole country but I loved it there very much due to the people I met and what I ate

Boracay made a great first impression mainly due to the shock of the amazing white sand beach and the clear, huge expanse of blue sky. It took me about 5 minutes to think about the beach on arrival as I couldn't believe this beach could be real. I decided to spend most of my time on the beach drinking San Miguel beer and swimming - let's face it, there's probably not much else to do! Oh, and eating, of course.

 With my fussy eating, I walked down the main d*talipapa market area to choose my own fresh seafood before bringing it over to be cooked at the restaurants. It was a real heaven for me, eating seafood everyday. The local people cooked the seafood in different styles and they turned out well. Even though I prefer to eat seafood very simply, some of their preparations were interesting and I learned ways of mixing new ingredients. The locals were surprised about how much I could eat and how much of an expert I am at eating crabs and prawns. Once they heard I grew in a coastal town, they understood why. I prefer eating steamed and grilled seafood with a Nha Trang simple dipping sauce: salt, lime, pepper and lots of chili but Pilipino don't eat that way :). 

The hotel staff wondered why I kept skipping breakfast. I didn't want to offend them but I never eat hotel breakfasts because then I miss an opportunity for a local breakfast experience. It's just my personal thing but I prefer to take a tri-bicycle or walk down to the market or a local eatery to try the local stuff on offer. That's the best way to learn about the culture and cuisine. I'm a friendly chatty person so locals don't mind spending some time talking to me. They all thought I was from China which is a bit sad but really, especially because of what is happening in our region recently. I do prefer if they think I'm local :).

One big mistake I made when I was in Boracay was going to an Italian restaurant for dinner, upon the recommendation of the hotel staff. The food was reasonable but I would have enjoyed the experience of eating in a local restaurant a couple of minutes down the road, like I'd originally planned. Think I'll stuck with my plan next time.

The nightlife in Boracay is also very interesting. There is a lot of 80s style music being played by bands and DJs and I realized that's why so many Filipino singers in Vietnam are obsessed with the same music. The nightclubs and bars are pretty busy every night but the atmosphere is fun and there is no fighting or other nasty stuff going on.

Boracay is definitely one of my favorite places and I'm pretty sure I'll go back again in the very near future.

Seoul

I have to admit that my travels really do revolve around food. Eating, drinking and taking photographs from place to place is my main idea of travel. Most of my friends think I'm crazy and obsessed but I can't really change it. A couple of months ago, I went to Seoul for a week, a period not enough to fully discover the fascinating, lively city. Of course, my itinerary was packed with great food places to seek out, from Korean-style to noodles and dumplings.

Although this is a bit predictable, my highlight was sitting around the grill plates with lots of locals drinking soju, beer and wheat rice wine, called makgeolli. Cooking lovely cuts of tender skirt meat, garlic and mushrooms and then wrapping it all in lettuce is a fun way to eat. On the side, of course, lots of kimchi and different sauces can be used to spice the food up a bit. I observed the locals to see how they eat and to learn local eating etiquette.

The noodles and dumplings in Kwang Jang market were so delicious that I went back twice. I wish I could speak a bit of Korean to learn the secrets of how she makes her hand-pulled noodles and kimchi and tofu filled dumplings so fresh. Lots of people had also recommended the fried mung bean cake, which is a specialty of the market. Served with white onion and soy sauce, they were great but you need to eat where they make it, fresh and hot. I enjoyed the vegetarian cakes better the coloured seafood stuff.

The third dish I liked was the deep fried chicken and deep fried green pepper stuffed with pork, all washed down with big tankards of beer. The drinking culture reminded me a lot of Vietnam, where we often have beer and rice wine on the table, except in Seoul it's beer and soju. One interesting drink we tried was called 'Sweet after Bitter', a big glass of beer containing two shot glasses, one with soju and one with coke! Of course, you have to drink it down in one go!

Topokki, a dish of sliced rice cake with fish cake and a rich sweet chili sauce was not on the top of my list as it was too spicy and too stodgy . I tried it twice and even after a solid evening of drinking, I didn't like it. But the street food tents all over the city have lots of other stuff to try, too.

Visiting market is another way to see the local culture and Seoul's best market is the Noryangjin Fish Market. I spent hours there taking photographs. What an amazing market with so many different types of fish and I loved the way they arrange their shops and also how they prepare the fresh seafood. It was fantastic experience and I don't think I could ever forget it.

Shopping in Seoul is also great with well-known brands and local products but they aren't cheap. I loved looking at the fashion-conscious young local people walking around shopping centres with cool glasses, fashionable clothes and bag fils of cosmetics. They are obsessed with cosmetics, especially skin whitening products. I've never seen so many cosmetic shops in my life. I wonder what they thought of my country-bumpkin tanned skin!

I'd love to go back to Seoul again for another week as I had a fabulous time there.

Mud house

Why are you going to Anamaduwa? That's a poor and dry area of Sri Lanka and nothing to do and there's no hotels! Quite a few people kept asking the same question. I explained to them I wanted to see something different, close to nature and that it was the place where you can live without technology and electricity.

Anyway, after 3 and a half hours in a tuk tuk with a great old driver who told us different stories about his life in Sri Lanka. We stopped in between to get some coconut and boiled corn. It was very nice of him to negotiate the price for us and certainly they were really cheap. The coconut was amazingly sweet and good. Finally, after reaching the township of Anamaduwa, we transferred to a van to take us a little further to The Mud House . We were greeted by the very smiley manager and staff which I needed after the long drive. Beni showed us about the place and the facilities. For a city boy like me, this is really different and I think this is probably the perfect chance to experience something unique. Lunch will be served in 30 minutes, Beni told us.

I lay down on the mud bed with soft mattress and fell asleep. After a while Beni said hello near the bed and I apologised for keeping him waiting and I rushed into the natural bathroom covered by trees and probably wild animals could see me. It was great having a shower to make me feel so fresh and clean. We walked about 2 minutes and Beni introduced us to the restaurant staff who provided a very nice lunch made from the organic produce from their garden. I love that idea so much. We didn't need to worry about the menu and what we were going to eat at night. Surprises are always great.

There were lots of activities to participate in during our 4 days here. We started with Beni walking us around the place to their garden, kitchen and also the different mud houses. It's great to sit down to read a book and drink a gin and tonic that we brought ourselves from Kandy which was incredibly expensive ($45).

The next day, we rode our bicycles to the pagoda with Beni riding his Honda Cub. It was fun and we walked up to the hill to see amazing views of the surrounding area. Then Beni took us inside the temple and explained about the history. We enjoyed the morning very much which included some exercise and culture. We headed back to the Mudhouse just before lunch after which we had a cooking class with Mr Guna and Mrs Ukuamma. We made two curries with long beans and gourd. Very tasty!!! The great thing that Sri Lankan cuisine is that don't cook all of their curries with oil and that makes their food quite healthy.

We decided take it easy the last day after our morning of birdwatching. A big rainstorm occurred in the afternoon that make me really excited. The thunder seemed louder in the middle of nowhere and we run into the rain for a quick shower and it was so fun. It brought back so many memories from my childhood when we showered in the rain naked and ran up and down the streets with our friends. Great feeling!!!! This is the last stop on our Sri Lanka trip and it has been a truly memorable place to be!!!

Tangalle, Ella And Kandy

 

Tangalle is a very small beach town about a 1 hour drive from Mirissa. We decided to spend another 3 lazy days on the beach before heading to the mountain town of Ella . The town itself has a small market and few shops along the main street but the beaches are the main attraction for travellers.

 

 

We stayed at the Eden hotel which is located on the main road outside the city and close to the small beach coves around. This is a little hotel with great service, breakfast and delicious food for lunch and dinner. Apart from the time we were out on the beach, we spent most of time reading and having our own gin and tonics in the garden. The owner didn't mind giving us lime and ice as we bought tonic from the restaurant.

 

 

The small beaches nearby the hotel were beautiful though we needed to watch where we swam as there were a few rocks underneath. One morning, we took a tuk tuk down to the city to visit the market and take some photos. The sellers in the market were so friendly to us, always smiling and greeting us. I don't think they are very used to foreigners visiting their stalls. We took away some freshly ground spices to make curries back in Hanoi.

 

 

After our time in Tangalle, the hotel owner offered to drive us to Ella, a 4 hour trip. He's a very careful driver and also pointed out things of interest along the way. It is great to learn by getting insight from the local people rather than from guidebooks.

 

 

We arrived in Ella, famous for waterfalls and trekking and as a gateway to Sri Lanka's tea plantations. Ella is another small town with one road about a km long unless you walk along the rail way to see the local farms. We stayed in a small hotel which was highly recommended by travelers from agoda. After refreshing a bit, we walked out to check out the town and found a small restaurant next to the hotel and the boy served us beer in a tea pot as they don't have a permit to serve alcohol. It was hilarious when he first came out with the pot and explained there was beer with ice in there. They cooked fresh curry to order even though we had to wait a bit but they were so tasty. I don't mind waiting for great food.

 

 

I wasn't so fond of Ella compared to the places we'd visited earlier. There was not as much choice for food and sight-seeing here. Anyhow, we left for Kandy - which is quite a big city in the middle of Sri Lanka - for one more night before going on to our last special place. In hindsight, I wish I could have stayed 2 nights as we stumbled across a great small hotel with a fabulous view over the lake, which reminded a bit of Hoan Kiem Lake in Hanoi.. We went out for a wander and liked the atmosphere very much. People in Kandy was also very friendly. We bought tea at a traditional tea shop as well as some spicy snacks to eat with beer. The traffic was a bit crazier compared to other places but they all stop for pedestrian crossings, unlike Hanoi. We rushed ourselves back to the hotel as a big thunderstorm approached. It was great having dinner, looking at the city view with lightning and thunder. I love this kind of ambience.

Taipei, A Foodie City

 

Three days and four nights wasn't enough for me to eat all of Taipei's specialties. With my limited command of Chinese, I made people laugh a lot with my Vietnamese accent and half of the time they didn't understand me at all. But it was fun and I'm glad that I made the effort.

 

 

 

One thing I was wondering about before the trip was how I would be treated by my Asian neighbors. It's always a little bit awkward because in this region, people assume that I am from their country and are quite surprised when I can't communicate. I need not have worried because the people from Taipei are amongst the most friendly I've ever met in all my travels. I think I need come come back and spend at least two weeks to walk around for both sightseeing and eating as well as to see other parts of Taiwan. On this trip, I didn't spend much time visiting tourist areas at all except for the Longshan temple.

 

 

On the food front, however, I probably spent too much time! There are so many dishes to try and, because I'm Asian, the rice and noodle base never gets boring. Some Chinese Taipei dishes are a bit similar to Vietnamese dishes but I think it's more about BBQ and stir frying. It doesn't really matter which way the food is cooked as long as it tastes delicious. Perhaps my favorite dishes (from a long list!) were the squid noodles with thick broth and Asian basil or Guobao which is another version of steamed bun.
 

 

The weather wasn't that great but it didn't stop me wandering around to try Taipei moon cake and at the Astoria cafe, I had their famous Mazurka cake and coffee. At their retail outlet I also went a bit crazy, taking away a great Portuguese Pasta de Nata and a creme brûlée. I think one of the best things about sweets in Taipei is that they are not too sweet like they tend to be in Vietnam.

 

I need to send special thanks to Robyn and Dave for all of their great recommendations to eat and stay in Taipei. Their blogs continue to give me lots of good tips for my travels.

Mirissa

Yet another 3 hours local train trip but this one was less crowded compared to the short suburban one in Colombo. I sat with a Sri Lankan family who didn't mind letting me sit next to their daughter, the father talking a lot in his limited English combined with body language. We had fun conversations with lots of laughs. This train trip was full of interesting passengers, especially the ones selling food, who jumped on for a stop or two before getting off again. I bought quite a few snacks including shrimps, fried corn fritters and peanuts and chick peas with curry leaves from these sellers and they were very tasty.

After alighting from the train in Weligama, I travelled the short 6kn to Mirissa to our accommodation, the Sunset Guesthouse which is located right on the beach. The hotel rooms were very basic with a slight plumbing problem from time to time (pooh!) but they had a fantastic chef, super friendly staff and very cold beer. There's nothing quite like enjoying a beer on the beach on holiday. Sometimes I had two!

I walked along the beach in the late afternoon to try to find something to eat. There were quite a few restaurants and bars on the beach but nothing compared to the food at the hotel, even though the environment at the other places was nicer. This is often part of the experience of travelling, I find. Dinner was fabulous from the hotel restaurant which cost $6 for 6 different curries and they were all really tasty. The chef told me that the curries are freshly cooked to order and I think that's the best and what makes it different from other places in Mirissa.

The range of curries, especially the vegetable ones, was incredible. Over our five night stay, even though we were often having the veg curry option, we tasted so many different curries, including okra, snake beans, eggplant and pumpkin. While I wasn't eating and drinking, I was walking the beach and watching the sunset. It's indeed a very nice beach, and reminded me a bit of Phu Quoc beach or Doc Lech beach in Vietnam. Mirissa is a great place to just chill for a week or so. I will definitely be going back!

Maning market, Colombo

After 2 delays in Hanoi and another 2 delays in Bangkok , finally, I arrived in Colombo at 1.30 Am local time (3 AM Hanoi time) Sometimes what seems to be a relatively short flight in the region ends up a full day of travel. I felt sorry for the driver waiting for me at the airport but he met us with a very nice smile which took my exhaustion away.

After a short but lovely welcome to our hotel at Mount Lavinia, the next morning I walked along the beach after a very big fresh fruit and small omelette breakfast. The hotel is about 5 minutes walk away from the beach and hardly any tourists around. There were lots of people playing cricket on the different ovals but no one playing tennis on the sandy courts which made me wonder.

So far Sri Lanka has proven a very reasonable destination for both food and transportation. Most trips in the ubiquitous tuk tuk costs about a dollar and the drivers usually offer the real price and drive very carefully. I'm not a bit fan of heavy food and I expected Sri Lankan food to be heavy but I've been pleasantly surprised by the great vegetable curries and fresh fish dishes, which have been the highlights so far.

I went to the Maning Market, Colombo's main wholesale vegetable market, after a crazy crowded local train trip. I was a bit worried about the passengers hanging out the door and it is amazing how many people can be stuffed into a train carriage. The worst part was when the train arrived at Colombo's Fort railway station and I wanted to get off but I couldn't because people were pushing to get on the train at both doors. At the last minute, I managed to jump onto the tracks on the wrong side and climbed up onto the platform on the opposite side. It sounds crazy but that's what most people do here in Asia and I felt fine at the end. The good thing here in Sri Lanka is whoever I meet on the train or on the street, they always smile and come up with a conversation or give me a hand with directions which I love.

Walking toward the market right near the train station was a bit of a worry at the beginning as there were so many buses, the bus station being next door. Thanks to the lady who pointed me in the right direction; the Manning Market is an amazing market where I saw only male vendors with big smiles who offered me their fruit to try with no hassle and also asked me to take photos of them. I will definitely send them their photos as they also gave me their shop address. I'd never seen such beautiful fresh fruit and vegetables in what seemed like a very quiet market. I wonder why all the sellers are men, which is very different to the situation in Vietnam.

Anyway, I had a fabulous time and it is definitely a highlight of my trip to Colombo and I wouldn't mind going back to this market again.