A Trip in Facts and Figures
Let's try to make statistics a little more interesting
The Basics:
No of Countries Visited: 4
Malaysia: 5 days
Thailand: 11 days
Cambodia: 8 days
Vietnam: 20 days
And yes there's double counting
No of Days: 41
No of Nights Spent on Train: 2
No of Nights Spent on Boat: 2
No of Nights Spent on Bus: 3
No of Nights Spent Stationary: 33
Food and Drink:
No of New Critters Consumed: 3 - Grasshopper, meal worm, porcupine
No of New Drinks Tried: 3 or 1 - Rice wine, sea worm rice wine, apple rice wine
No of Mugs of Beer Downed in One Night: 10 Mugs (5 mugs if bia tuoi, 4 of bia hou and 1 450 ml bottle of Larue Beer)
Cost of Above Beer Tasting Session: VND 39000 (That's around SG$4)
Most Expensive Meal: 50 Ringgit (At some restaurant called El Cerdo which specialises in pork. Right in the heart of KL. We were looking at the menu when the chef-owner came out and asked us semi-maniacally "Do you like pork?" Most elaborate pork knuckles I've ever had)
Cheapest: VND 10000 (Breakfast doesn't count and street food's cheaper but you have to buy multiple dishes to be full)
Cheapest Beer: VND 3000
Social Aspect:
No of Bartender Friends made: 2
No of Job Offeres: 1 (well bartender friend said they hired foreigners)
No of E-mail Addresses Collected: 4 (Yes it ain't much), 6 if you count the Jap Foreign Ministry Guy and Chinese MBA student we met on the last day in Hanoi. They passed me their name cards.
No of Females Given my E-mail Address: 1
No of Times Offered Food: Twice, a sausage sandwich from some girl (her boyfriend was with her) on the train from Hanoi to Lao Cai and a bag of small peaches from a couple on the train back to Hanoi.
Entertainment:
No of Times I Went Kayaking: 3
No of Times a Kayak in my group was leaking: 2 and thus the no of times my kayak carried more people than it should is also 2
No of People Rescued while Kayaking: 2. A German couple floating off Ko Pha Ngan's Thong Nai Paan Noi beach whose kayak had capsized and was almost wholly submerged.
No of R(A) Shows Visited: 1 (Ping Pong Show in Bangkok)
No of Whores Visited: 0
Favourites:
Favourite Capital: Bangkok
Favourite Other City: Hoi An (Cheap beer and clothes, Charming Streets)
No of Articles of Clothing made in Hoi An: 6 - 1 Jacket, 3 pairs of Trousers, 2 Shirts
Favourite Beach: Thong Nai Paan Noi. Kinda a no brainer since I didn't spend more than 2 hours at any other beach encountered and I spent 3 days at Thong Nai Paan.
Favourite Ruins: Ruins of the Khmer Empire, aka Angkor Wat et al
Favourite Temple in Angkor: Beng Mealea
Favourite Wat: Wat Phra Kaew (Temple of the Emerald Buddha). I probably grew tired of temples and wats after the 3rd one but this Wat is so stunning, they should rename it Mega-Wat Phra Kaew hahahaha. Yes I know it's decidedly unfunny.
Favourite Highland City: Tough this one, I would have preferred Sapa I think if I hadn't arrived there during a national holiday period and paid triple the price for a crummy room. So I'm going for Da Lat, the other highland city I visited, with its numerous cafes and frankly eccentric art scene.
Favourite Accomodation: Thu Giang Guest House in Hanoi. I stayed there one night but kept popping up and leaving my excess baggage there as I explored Ha Long Bay and Sapa. The staff made me feel absolutely at home and even gave me free water and internet access despite having the prices listed very clearly on the wall. They even refused my tip as I was moving my stuff out to another hotel because they were out of decent rooms. AND they told me I could go back and use the internet for free. How do they make money? And Chieh, since you're going Hanoi, just abandon your family and your 5 star hotel and stay there. You'll have a much more fun time. Oh and remind me to give you some places where you can find really good local food.
Total Cost: Roughly SG$2210. Including the US$100 spent on tailoring clothes, airfare home and DFS alcohol.
Trivial (OOP):
Longest single trip on moving object: Somewhere between 12-14 hours. I sort of lose count after 12 hours (Ha Long Bay Cruise doesn't count)
Longest Distance Walked in a Single Day:16 km roundtrip hiking to the minority villages near Sapa. The return 8 km walk up the mountain road was in the company of a H'mong Tribesman who despite being at least twice my age and probably closer to 3 times my age, walked uphill with me, without resting.
No of Times I wore jeans: 4. Once for KL Zouk, 3 days in Sapa
No of Times I wore shoes: 1. KL Zouk
Hence No of Times I went clubbing: 1
The Basics:
No of Countries Visited: 4
Malaysia: 5 days
Thailand: 11 days
Cambodia: 8 days
Vietnam: 20 days
And yes there's double counting
No of Days: 41
No of Nights Spent on Train: 2
No of Nights Spent on Boat: 2
No of Nights Spent on Bus: 3
No of Nights Spent Stationary: 33
Food and Drink:
No of New Critters Consumed: 3 - Grasshopper, meal worm, porcupine
No of New Drinks Tried: 3 or 1 - Rice wine, sea worm rice wine, apple rice wine
No of Mugs of Beer Downed in One Night: 10 Mugs (5 mugs if bia tuoi, 4 of bia hou and 1 450 ml bottle of Larue Beer)
Cost of Above Beer Tasting Session: VND 39000 (That's around SG$4)
Most Expensive Meal: 50 Ringgit (At some restaurant called El Cerdo which specialises in pork. Right in the heart of KL. We were looking at the menu when the chef-owner came out and asked us semi-maniacally "Do you like pork?" Most elaborate pork knuckles I've ever had)
Cheapest: VND 10000 (Breakfast doesn't count and street food's cheaper but you have to buy multiple dishes to be full)
Cheapest Beer: VND 3000
Social Aspect:
No of Bartender Friends made: 2
No of Job Offeres: 1 (well bartender friend said they hired foreigners)
No of E-mail Addresses Collected: 4 (Yes it ain't much), 6 if you count the Jap Foreign Ministry Guy and Chinese MBA student we met on the last day in Hanoi. They passed me their name cards.
No of Females Given my E-mail Address: 1
No of Times Offered Food: Twice, a sausage sandwich from some girl (her boyfriend was with her) on the train from Hanoi to Lao Cai and a bag of small peaches from a couple on the train back to Hanoi.
Entertainment:
No of Times I Went Kayaking: 3
No of Times a Kayak in my group was leaking: 2 and thus the no of times my kayak carried more people than it should is also 2
No of People Rescued while Kayaking: 2. A German couple floating off Ko Pha Ngan's Thong Nai Paan Noi beach whose kayak had capsized and was almost wholly submerged.
No of R(A) Shows Visited: 1 (Ping Pong Show in Bangkok)
No of Whores Visited: 0
Favourites:
Favourite Capital: Bangkok
Favourite Other City: Hoi An (Cheap beer and clothes, Charming Streets)
No of Articles of Clothing made in Hoi An: 6 - 1 Jacket, 3 pairs of Trousers, 2 Shirts
Favourite Beach: Thong Nai Paan Noi. Kinda a no brainer since I didn't spend more than 2 hours at any other beach encountered and I spent 3 days at Thong Nai Paan.
Favourite Ruins: Ruins of the Khmer Empire, aka Angkor Wat et al
Favourite Temple in Angkor: Beng Mealea
Favourite Wat: Wat Phra Kaew (Temple of the Emerald Buddha). I probably grew tired of temples and wats after the 3rd one but this Wat is so stunning, they should rename it Mega-Wat Phra Kaew hahahaha. Yes I know it's decidedly unfunny.
Favourite Highland City: Tough this one, I would have preferred Sapa I think if I hadn't arrived there during a national holiday period and paid triple the price for a crummy room. So I'm going for Da Lat, the other highland city I visited, with its numerous cafes and frankly eccentric art scene.
Favourite Accomodation: Thu Giang Guest House in Hanoi. I stayed there one night but kept popping up and leaving my excess baggage there as I explored Ha Long Bay and Sapa. The staff made me feel absolutely at home and even gave me free water and internet access despite having the prices listed very clearly on the wall. They even refused my tip as I was moving my stuff out to another hotel because they were out of decent rooms. AND they told me I could go back and use the internet for free. How do they make money? And Chieh, since you're going Hanoi, just abandon your family and your 5 star hotel and stay there. You'll have a much more fun time. Oh and remind me to give you some places where you can find really good local food.
Total Cost: Roughly SG$2210. Including the US$100 spent on tailoring clothes, airfare home and DFS alcohol.
Trivial (OOP):
Longest single trip on moving object: Somewhere between 12-14 hours. I sort of lose count after 12 hours (Ha Long Bay Cruise doesn't count)
Longest Distance Walked in a Single Day:16 km roundtrip hiking to the minority villages near Sapa. The return 8 km walk up the mountain road was in the company of a H'mong Tribesman who despite being at least twice my age and probably closer to 3 times my age, walked uphill with me, without resting.
No of Times I wore jeans: 4. Once for KL Zouk, 3 days in Sapa
No of Times I wore shoes: 1. KL Zouk
Hence No of Times I went clubbing: 1
posted by Lam Nua @ 1:48 AM
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