Introducing Dalat: one of our favourite places in Vietnam

The Family:
Dalat, Vietnam will always hold a special place in our hearts. We had such an amazing stay there and have so many great memories and funny stories that we can’t begin to explain all of them here in the blog. Just know that the kindness and generosity that was shown to us by the chance meeting of complete strangers is something that will never be forgotten.

As we stepped off the bus in Dalat we felt for the first time in months, cool temperature. Not cool by Canadian standards, but cool by Vietnamese standards. What an amazing feeling it was to not be sweating! Because of the high altitude Dalat experiences much cooler temperatures than the rest of the country. Not only is the climate great, but the city is in the mountains and the views are spectacular. The town is very affordable, and alot of Vietnamese tourists go there for vacation. I have to admit that it was pretty refreshing to not be in the middle of a large touristy city.

We first met Lili one of the owners/manager of Th Dalat Motel on the street after our bus stopped, she was such a sweet lady and we decided to check out her hotel. We are thankful that we did because it ended up being the best decision that we could have made. Not only was it affordable and had all the amenities like WiFi, t.v and hot shower but we were fortunate enough to meet Lili’s family that lived at the hotel with her. (In Vietnam it is common to have the owners of the guest houses/hotels living in them, even sometimes the extended family.)

During our stay in Dalat we were invited to eat with the entire family at every occasion possible. It seemed that they were always ready to eat a meal and to say “no” to their kind offer would be somewhat of an insult to them. The women of the family cooked amazing Vietnamese food, and the entire family would gather around a small round table in their kitchen to eat all their meals together. They were so eager for us to try their food and wanted to know what we thought of it. Of course we loved everything that we tried, Andrew even tried frog for the first time. I’m happy to report that he said it was very tasty. In their kitchen all huddled around the table, we had some great times and laughs. The funny thing about that was out of the 10 family members only Lili (35) and her nephew Tony (17) could speak English. Again another example of what we have learned during this trip…. it is not always necessary to speak the same language to have a good time and laughing is the same in every language!

Cheers:
What a sight it was to see all of the men in Lili’s family plus Andrew and our Israeli friend Moti sitting around the little round table in the kitchen drinking rice wine together. No one quite understanding what each other was saying, but everyone laughing and having a great time. “Cheers” in Vietnamese sounded something like the word “YO” to our English trained ears. Assoon as a shot was done Lili’s father would fill up the glass with another shot and yell “YO!” The shots always came at lightning speed, but how can you refuse a shot from an old man yelling “YO” at you.

The shots were a mixture of rice wine that came from what seemed like a never ending clear plastic bag and a mixture of “special” alcohol from the large jars located on the other side of the kitchen. The “special” alcohol jars looked like some sort of weird science experiment. One jar had a big snake in it, another jar had a whole bird in it, another one had reptiles in it, and another one had a sea horse and other sea creatures in it. We were told that they all served a different purpose. On the occasions that we sat down with the men to drink, it seemed that they chose to mix the regular rice wine with the snake alcohol. We don’t know why, since there was no one to ask who spoke English.
Note: traditionally Vietnamese women do not drink or smoke therefore I had a good excuse not to drink the snake alcohol.

Chopsticks and Spaghetti????
To express our gratitude to the family and to Lili for all the wonderful meals, introducing us to amazing local street foods and going on various outings together, Andrew and Moti decided to cook the entire family spaghetti. Buying the ingredients in the local market was quite the experience as they didn’t have all the ingredients that we are use to in the west. They decided to make their own tomato sauce because here in Vietnam it is considered an import and buying a can of it is terribly expensive. (A small jar was over $4, and on a traveler’s budget that’s very expensive). It was such a funny site to see Andrew and Moti cooking in the kitchen. The women were shadowing them the entire time making sure everything was done correctly. They watched them with curiosity and couldn’t stop giggling at them, they were probably anticipating a near disaster. In a society where gender roles are traditional, they found the whole situation hilarious and on many occasions wanted to help out with anything. It was difficult to get them to relax and stop trying to do our dishes our chop our veggies, but eventually we did manage to get them to just sit down and watch.

When given the choice for chop sticks or forks, most of the family opted for chop sticks. Someone even asked me if they should add soy sauce to it. We found out that it was only the second time that they had tried spaghetti. It was so funny to look around the table and watch everyone eat spaghetti all the way in Vietnam. Everyone said that they enjoyed the meal, and after eating the spaghetti out of nowhere another amazing meal was served of rice and other Vietnamese dishes. I’m not sure if they truthfully enjoyed it, or if they only said it out of politeness. But I wonder how the spaghetti (especially without all the proper ingredients) can compare with the tasty, spice infused, aromatic foods that we were exposed to during our stay there. We enjoyed many more laughs together and Andrew and I felt genuinely lucky to be included in such a welcoming and nice family.

After four days in Dalat it was time for us to get packing and to move north to Nga Trang. Saying goodbye is always tough, especially when it is to great new friends!

~Nicola

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Dalat, Vietnam

Hip Camera! Saigon street crossing

This video was taken by Andrew as we crossed a street in Saigon. This is actually a pretty mellow crossing and it can be much, much worse.

Pho, Motorbikes and much much more in Saigon

Ho Chi Minh City formally known as Saigon

After spending yet another night in Kuala Lumpur airport we arrived in Saigon exhausted but psyched to be in Vietnam. We checked into a hotel that was recommended to us by Cameron and Nicole right in the thick of things in the Dong Khoi area. We have to agree with what we have heard from our fellow travelers in that Saigon is very loud, smoggy, hot/sticky, smelly and crazy, but it is a major city and it does have plenty of great qualities too. We really enjoyed our time there and we were able to take in a few sights, eat some great food plus visit the Mekong Delta.

Saigon is a city where tons of people move to in search of jobs and has a population of over 6.3 million people. It feels like it is literally bursting at the seams with people and traffic, most of which are motorbikes. Actually the city is known for the amount of motorbikes that crowd the streets at any hour of the day. When crossing the street as a pedestrian it is like taking your life in your hands every time. There are barely any street lights or stop signs, but miraculously the system of walking slowly into traffic works. It's like a sea of motorbikes parting for you... but the key is to walk slowly! In Saigon the average driver must be on alert at all times as people or other vehicles can appear in front of them at any time. It's some sort of organized chaos, and in most cases seems to work! Sometimes in heavy traffic the motorbikes will hop onto the sidewalk or even drive on the wrong side of the street to get where they are going. It isn't uncommon to see an entire family on one motorbike or someone carrying huge boxes or carrying a variety of other dangerous objects.

Hungry in Saigon
It seems that Saigon has put Andrew and me in a constant state of hunger or maybe it is a constant state of curiosity of the different types of food available. In Toronto we often go to Vietnamese restaurants, but here in Vietnam we are Novices because there are so many more dishes to choose from. We are so fascinated by the stalls on the street or the vendors in the markets that offer so many dishes only written in Vietnamese. We find Pho is a dish that you can always count on... the Vietnamese eat it at any time of the day. It is basically noodle soup with beef and you add your own veggies like mint leaves, lettuce or beansprouts to it. It also comes with a variety of condiments that can be added at your own discretion like fish sauce, soy, chilies etc. You can find Pho anywhere, there are street stalls on practically every street where you can get it, also you can order the dish in restaurants. When the weather is hot and sticky, soup actually cools you down and I find it is quite refreshing. I also find that the high you get from eating fresh chilies with Pho can't be explained. Even though it's not a pretty sight seeing sweat roll down our faces and off our brows it's worth it for the adrenaline that we experience. On one particular day after eating Pho for breakfast Andrew and I decided to go to the market and explore. Our curiosity got peeked as we pasted a vendor selling all different types of snails and shells. Andrew has been especially open to new foods during this trip, and decided that he wanted to try some shells. Not knowing what to order the vendor helped us decide on a plate of snails in coconut sauce and a few bigger ones grilled with dipping sauce. It was mildly weird as we sat in the middle of a market slurping them out of their shells. Not surprising... the snails were good! So good in fact that in that a few days we tried more snails and different shells.

The War Remnants museum & Reunification Palace
Although just sitting somewhere and watching life go by is very interesting for Andrew and me, we also enjoy seeing museums and other important things that the cities have to offer... even if we know it won’t be a particularly uplifting site.

The War Remnants museum is a place to show the atrocities the occurred to the Vietnamese people during and after the Vietnam War. On display are American tanks, bombs, weapons, planes and even a helicopter. There are horrific and terrible photos of women, men and children that had all fallen victim to the war. Not only are there pictures of devastating injuries but of tortures done by soldiers and awful deformities done by chemicals. It was graphic and brought knots to my stomach, but one of the worst things in the museum was the two unborn fetuses on display that they say were affected by Agent Orange, a potent chemical used by the Americans to spray over crops. There is a large section of the museum dedicated to showing the severe deformities and diseases that people contracted from the use of the chemical during the war and its affect after. There is also on display heart wrenching stories written by people who had lost family members during those times.
In Canada we have many immigrants from Vietnam and I can't believe that I knew so little about the history of their country. If you are interested to know more about Vietnam history, war or even Agent Orange I suggest to "google" it.

The Reunification Palace was interesting to visit we took a guided tour which explained the many rooms and what their function was. In the past the Palace sat the Southern Vietnamese government, until the first communist tanks arrived there in 1975 and crashed through the gates.

Scary bicycle taxi around the city
I'm not quite sure if the proper name for what I'm describing is "bicycle taxi", but I will describe it to you. There is a cyclist who peddles behind a small carriage; it is balanced by the weight of the cyclist vs. passenger(s).
We took a bicycle taxi around the city one day for an hour. It was interesting to see the city from a different perspective rather than on foot although the whole experience was a little frightening. The man peddling was smaller than me and assured us that he could ride with us (a heavy load of two Westerners) as mentioned earlier, the traffic in Saigon is crazy and our animated "driver" would peddle right onto oncoming traffic and barely slow down at red lights. At one point we even crossed a section of a highway. I discovered sometimes... it's better to close your eyes in Saigon.

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Ho Chi Minh City - Saigon

~Nicola

Oh those foul mouthed Westerners

We arrived in the Philippines with a couple of words and phrases under our belt, some of the words included; auntie, uncle, how are you? I am fine… and other colourful words that I can not translate to English here in our blog! Most of which I learned from my fellow co workers. Why is it that the bad words always stick in your memory?

At home saying bad words like throwing the occasional “F” bomb into sentences really has lost its shock value. It’s become more or less an adjective or a filler word meaning a mass of different things. Well as I learned it’s quite the contrary in the Philippines, especially in the more rural areas that we were staying in.

On one occasion after drinking quite a few Tanduay (local rum) and cokes our filters came off our mouths. Joking around we said that “special” phrase "Putang Ina Mo" which pretty much made our new local friends mouths drop and simultaneously brought a blush to their faces. They said in horror “no no… you can’t say that~ it’s bad!” I quickly learned that swearing in the Philippines is not a funny pastime like it is at home. In a country where people are constantly calling us “sir & madam”, and polieness is shown to everyone these bad words have certainly not lost their shock value.

~Nicola

Our time in Malapascua, Philippines

“Someone pinch me I must be dreaming”

Imagine the prettiest shade of aqua marine water, palm trees and pale white sand; that is precisely what the beaches on Malapascua Island look like. It’s like a post card… only real! This is what I imagine when the word paradise comes to mind. We have been searching for the perfect tropical paradise for a long time, and we have been fortunate enough to have seen a few beaches around the world… but nothing I have ever seen can compare to the beach here. I read that this small island is like a “mini Boracay”, but honestly it is so much better. There are no rowdy package tourists or big resort hotels, electricity is on generator and most accommodation only offer it in the evening until morning. Our experience was so much more than a beautiful beach; it was also the amazing people that we met during our stay. The island is quite small and it’s possible to walk the entire island in only a few hours. If you snorkel just a few metres from the shore, the aquatic life is plentiful and interesting to explore. You really get the feeling of isolation, and it’s easy to sit back and enjoy every moment. Our little “rustic” hut is located right on the beach, we literally open our front door and there it is… our own personal paradise. Currently Malapascua is flying right under the tourist radar, and to me that is part of its charm. I hope in the future it stays that way and the glitz and tackiness of big chain hotels and package deals doesn’t ever overrun the island. This island is a place that we will never forget and hopefully the images can remain alive and vivid in our minds forever.
We had 2 weeks scheduled in the Philippines and of course we had no clue what we wanted to do. We only knew that we wanted to see Boracay and one other island/area, but we didn’t know which one or where exactly. One day I was reading the Philippines section of my South-East Asia guide book and I came upon a small insert about Malapascua Island. Not very much was said, and it was vague to say the least. It only mentioned that there was great diving and the beach was beautiful. Andrew and I thought “why not?, let’s check it out” We researched the location and discovered to get here we would need to take a short flight to Cebu from the airport near Boracay, then a four hour bus to a short boat ride. This sounded easy enough so we decided to make it a plan, but of course it didn’t go quite that smoothly. After leaving our place in Boracay we took a short boat ride to the mainland of Caticlan then found a minibus to take us to the airport located 2 ½ hours away. We took an hour flight to Cebu on yet another prop plane. This time it wasn’t as scary, it was slightly bigger and held approx 70+ passengers and even had a flight attendant. After landing in Cebu we took a taxi to the local bus terminal and then caught a local bus to Maya (the town where the ferry boat leaves for Malapascua on the northern tip of Cebu) The local bus was hilarious… people were smoking out the windows and the entire four hour ride they blared cheesy rock ballads then electronic music like a nightclub on wheels. The trip felt like we were off-roading in a vehicle that had no shocks. Thankfully we arrived safe and sound with only a little butt pain. It was definitely an experience, and quite the contrast from the luxurious buses in South America. A little after 8pm we arrived at the port in Maya, out of the darkness appeared two guys on motorbikes/scooters who informed us that the last boat to Malapascua left at 5pm. They told us that there was a hotel 2 km away, and for a small fee they could take us there. After a little price negotiation we decide it was our best option. I was extremely hesitant about riding on a motorbike as it has been approx. one year since the unfortunate motorbike incident in Thailand. To clarify both Andrew and I fell off a scooter and almost slid down a cliff. I had sworn to never get on anything motorized with two wheels again. But in this situation there was no other way… the town was tiny, no taxis and hardly any lights, so walking was out of the question. The guys assured us that it was no problem to ride with our big backpack and two small daypacks. I stressed to my driver that I was scared and that it was important to go very slow, thankfully he was very accommodating and did exactly as asked. We ended up staying the night there and early in the morning our 2 motorbike guys showed up right on time to drive us to the port. After some negotiations with the boat people we were on our way to paradise.
Finding accommodation on the island was pretty easy; we met a local boy named Varry on the boat that offered to help us find somewhere that was cheap. When we got off the boat we met two other local boys named Joseph and Raymond that sell boat tours around the island they also offered to help us find cheap accommodation. The way it works on this island is that if the vendors/canvassers bring you to the hotel which gives them 50 PHP (which is the equivalent of $1.10 CAD) for a commission. We told them our price range and we all went walking down the beach on a mission to find the cheapest accommodation possible. Thankfully one of the last places that we tried fit all of our requirements and had the bonus of having the most incredible view plus included an amazing daily breakfast.

Snorkel Boat tour:
Since meeting the two local boys, Joseph and Raymond, we decided to book our tour through them. We picked a three hour trip with three different snorkeling sights. Since we have many more beaches in our future during this trip Andrew and I wanted to buy our own mask and snorkel and since this is a diving island there are plenty of diving shops to choose from. We ended up buying a great mask and snorkel for only a fraction of the at-home cost.
The day of the excursion was yet another amazing day the weather was sunny and the water was clear. Our brand new snorkel gear did not disappoint, it was amazing to have your own equipment and not have to worry about using an unsterilized snorkel. We were fortunate to see plenty of colourful fish, beautiful colourful coral and tons of different star fish and urchins. At our 2nd site there was a Japanese warship wreck sunk by the Americans in WWII. The day was turning out to be absolutely perfect… until, Andrew and I swam leisurely to an area to check out some coral formation. Suddenly I felt an intense stinging sensation on my arm. I screamed and saw a long clear tentacle wrapped on my wrist. Andrew luckily was beside me and helped me get it off while saying “I think it’s just a fishing line!” The burning feeling in my arm meant one thing… stung by a jellyfish. After boarding the boat, it started to swell up in patches from the armpit to my hand. If you have been stung by a jelly fish then you know… it really, really hurts! Just my kind of luck… after the South American bee sting on the eyelid and the amoebas in my belly it’s not surprising that I was the only one that got stung. After a little convincing I decided to give snorkeling another try and headed back into the water. All and all the tour was great… and even the jellyfish incident couldn’t ruin the day!

Night out at the Disco:
Our new friend Varry, whom we discovered to be only 17 years old, invited us to go to the disco with him at Mabuhay bar (a hotel near our hut). We were told that the “happening” nights to go there was Thursdays, so we decided to go and check it out. That particular night the sky was really clear and the stars were very bright. The dance floor was on the beach with a disco ball in the middle right under the stars. There were a few foreigners there and most were young locals. Although it was pretty hot outside, we danced all night long. Varry introduced us to his friends and family and we had an amazing night.

BBQ in honour of “us” and Friday night Fiesta:
Our friends, Joseph and Raymond, who were the two guys that sold us the snorkel excursion decided to throw a farewell BBQ for Andrew and I on our last night on the island. Of course we invited our young friend Varry and also a British girl named Rachel that we had met from Boracay and they invited a few of their friends. The plan was to eat dinner at Joseph’s house then take a motorbike to the other side of the island to the fiesta. This particular fiesta only happens once per year and Andrew and I were fortunate enough to be on the island during that time. Joseph’s house was deep in the village, and he lived in a typical Filipino style house. It was big and simple with a very high ceiling, the walls were bamboo and it had no electricity. He had three small children and they all slept on the floor since the house contained no furniture. Our accommodating hosts cooked our food on a tiny grill just outside the house over hot coals; two fish, a big pot of rice and chicken. They served us on plates and spoons, which were brought out especially for us; we were told they usually eat from the centre of one plate with their hands. All the food tasted so good and fresh, but it was especially tasty since it was grilled over a coal bbq. After eating an amazing meal we all chatted while drinking a local beer called Gold Eagle, Filipino style, meaning we had three glasses and after one person finishes their cup they pass it to the next person to fill up and drink. Joseph’s cousin named Robin said he would drive Andrew and I to the fiesta (on the other side of the island) as Joseph had asked him because he owns a powerful motorbike and is a very experienced driver. Varry and Rachel took a motor taxi and Joseph and the gang took their own bikes or waited for Robin to go back and pick them up. Thankfully Robin was pre-warned about my dislike for motorbikes and rode as slow as possible. The poor motorbike was weighed down with both Andrew and I squished on the back. I prayed that the bike wouldn’t breakdown during the dark unpaved winding paths that lead to the other side of the island. We were told that three people per bike was no problem… but we are not Filipino’s, meaning we are quite a bit heavier than what they are use to. As the motorbike whined and grinded going up and down the hills our expert driver successfully avoided bump after bump including tree stumps and etc. Thankfully Robin has ridden that path numerous times and actually is a great driver. Like the disco a night earlier, the fiesta was outside… it was similar to an outdoor large basketball court… meaning concrete floor and waist high walls around the dance floor. There were tables that you could purchase that came with six huge beers and the ability to sit. We decided that we would buy a table instead of running out of the disco to buy drinks. We soon discovered after our beers were consumed that Tanduay (the local rum) could be bought in pitchers and was tasty and cheap (two mickie’s w. mix for 96 PHP/$2 CND). I’m not going to mention how much alcohol and beer we consumed as a group that night but let’s just say it was “a lot!” The disco consisted of mostly locals of all ages and literally a handful of awkward looking foreigners. With Tanduay flowing through our bodies we danced the night away. Everyone was so nice to us and we had an amazing night out… the hospitality that we experienced was priceless and we will remember it forever.

Leaving Malapascua Island:
Bright and early we got up to pack our bags and get ready to leave. Our friend Varry showed up right on time to help us carry our bags to the boat. Even at such an early hour our other friends showed up to say goodbye to us too. As no one has email address’ we couldn’t exchange contact information, so yet again Andrew and I said goodbye to people, fully aware that our paths will most likely never cross again. It’s sometimes so hard to leave places that we have such great experiences.
I sincerely hope that we will be able to go back to the island again someday.

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Malapascua, Philippines

~Nicola

Beautiful Boracay, Philippines

As mentioned in our last posting, our scheduled flight was cancelled and we were booked on another flight with a carrier called SEair. Their fleet of planes consist of all small prop planes (STOL- short take off and landing), the type of plane that you need to land in Caticlan which is the closest airport to Boracay. The plane was the smallest that I have ever been on. It was pretty basic, there was 19 seats but only five passengers and a pilot and co-pilot were on it. No crew and no toilet. As we checked in we had to stand on a scale with our hand luggage so that our weight could be distributed evenly throughout the plane. After a short flight we landed in very windy conditions safe and sound. We then headed to the pier where we took a boat to Boracay. There are no cars on the island and the only method of transportation is tricycles, which are motorbike with small metal side carriages. Andrew and I loaded our bags on and squished in. There are tons hotels and resorts on the island, luck for us we were recommended to a place called Bonzai Resort by Cameron and Nicole. Thankfully our driver knew where to find the hotel as it is located a little off the beach and is tucked away behind two other resort. We settled on a basic bamboo bungalow, without air conditioning, but with cable t.v and wifi access.

White Beach:
This is the most famous beach on the island of Boracay, with it's white sand and gorgeous beach it is easy to see why it has so much popularity. All the restaurants and shops are located along the main strip that follows the beach so there are endless possibilities for "foodies" like us to dine at. We are in monsoon season right now and the west side of the island with White Beach is very windy and the waves are extremely high. During the mornings the tide fills most of the beach until the afternoon when it goes out. Because of the strong wind there are wicker fences along the beach to stop the wind. The plus side of the wind is the island felt much cooler than it actually was, which made lying on the beach very comfortable.

Boat Trip & Snorkelling:
On our first day in Boracay we met a local named Eddie, a vendor who sells boat excursions around the island. After two days of listening to Eddie's offers we decided that we should go to the other side of the island to see his boat. I was very skeptical of going on a boat ride since the water was so choppy and rough, but Eddie assured us the other side of the island would be calm. He was right... the other side was just like he promised, calm with barely any wind. Amazing that a short tricycle ride across the island could have such drastic changes in weather conditions. We agreed on a 2 hour trip with snorkelling and 1/2 hour lunch at a restaurant that was only accessible by boat. We were glad that we picked an excusion with Eddie as his boat was the nicest one on the island. It was small and only a few months old and had only sails no motor. It had a crew of four and they we all very friendly and experienced at boat handling. The boats that they have in the Philippines are similar to a Catamaran, the entire time Andrew and I sat on the wing. This day I tried snorkelling for the first time... I have passed up on many opportunities in the past but for some reason that day I was feeling adventurous. We were fortunate to see some pretty fish and enjoyed being in the gorgeous water.

The Fabulour Fish market ~ D'Talipapa:
On our first night in Boracay we were hungry and heard there was great seafood on the island. We went on a hunt and literally let our bellies do the walking. On the main road we saw a sign that said "D'Talipapa" without knowing what it meant we decided to follow it down a long alleyway away from the beach and down a dark path that lead us to a market with vendors selling clothes and food. Evenually we found an area where there were people selling all types of seafood imaginable. Not your regular type of seafood... but jumbo sized. The concept was easy... you buy per kilogram and then walk across the street to one of the restaurants and they cook it for you any style you want for a small fee. Needless to saw, we enjoyed D'Talipapa every night that we were there.

Everywhere you go on the island you can not avoid being asked by vendors to buy pearls, get your hair braided or have a massage. After researching the type of pearls that they sold I decided to splurge and get myself some jewelery. The quality of the pearls are not as good as types from other bodies of water, but they are real. So now I have a great pair of pearl earrings for only a fraction of the cost it would be at home and I love them!

I definately recommend going to Boracay Philippines... it's definately a hot tourist spot but the beach is beautiful and it's a great place to spend a vacation.
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From Boracay, Philippines

~Nicola

Zest Air~ Zest is not best!!!!

We booked three flights on a discount airline carrier called Zest Air. We ended up taking two out of the three flights. We arrived in Clark Airport, Philippines from Kuala Lumpur and immediately headed to Marbel Inn in Angeles City which was a recommendation from a fellow traveller that we met in Taganga, Colombia back in June. The hotel was very accommodating and luckily allowed us to store some of baggage for 2 weeks while we were in visiting the islands. This was imperative since Zest Air only had a 10kg baggage allowance per person.

Reasons why we think Zest is not best:

i.) We left Marble inn bright and early to head for the airport. The staff checked our tickets on the way into the terminal and told us our ticket counter was not open yet. After waiting around for about 1/2 hour Andrew and I decided to investigate further. A friendly airport employee approached Andrew and asked him to come to the back room with him. She then informed Andrew that the flight that we had booked with Zest Air was in fact not scheduled to fly that day and the route had been cancelled about 2 months ago. I should mention that the ticket was only booked about 2 weeks prior and booked via internet and we even had a confirmation email sent to us. Long story short... Zest Air put us on another flight with SEAir that was scheduled to leave the following day. We were not happy about the change, as that meant we lost 1 day out of our 2 week Philippine trip plus costs of transportation from the airport. I should also mention we are currently in "talks" with the airline to have them cover our transportation and accommodation for the extra day spent in Clark. Who knows how what the outcome will be!

We later found out that bigger aircraft can not fly to our desired destination as the runway is to short and there was a minor mishap a few month ago. Plus during the windy conditions a smaller plane is better suited for the landing which is why we ended up on SEAir, the 19 seater prop plane.

ii.) After Boracay Zest Air was late leaving Calibo airport.

iii.) Leaving Cebu it was3 hours late... but to their defense they did give us all a small meal and drink.

~Nicola

A Night in Kuala Lumpur airport

We spent the night in the LCCT (Low Cost Carrier Terminal) airport in Kuala Lumpur. We had a 12 hour layover, and decided against staying in a hotel. Our first night in South America, Andrew and I did an overnight in the Chilean airport. That was a different experience, there were barely any people around and all the restaurants and stores closed during the night. Kuala Lumpur was a different story, there was a 24 hour McDonald’s and other restaurant and coffee shops that were open. Everywhere you looked there was someone sleeping either on the floor or on a bench some where. The best part about the whole experience was the free Wi-Fi in the airport. Again, we are thankful for our new shiny computer to help us pass the time.
p.s. This was a post written two weeks ago and now because it went so well we are planning to do it again in between our flights from the Philippines to Vietnam, via Kuala Lumpur obviously, this time with 15+ hours to kill…
~Nicola

Battambang, Cambodia

We arrived in Battambang with the plan of relaxing for the next few days. It would be our last few days together as Cameron and Nicole would be heading into Thailand and we would be heading back to Phnom Penh to catch a flight.
We spent 3 nights there… unfortunately during our stay both Andrew and I developed a cold. Since there wasn’t too much to do in the town, we had a good opportunity to rest and get better. Note… Asia is not a country where colds are taken too lightly. Every day we see people wearing medical masks while just walking down the streets.

Cooking in Cambodia and the local market experience:
On our second day we took a Cambodian cooking class. We met at the school early in the morning to meet each other and the teacher. We learned that we would be cooking 3 traditional dishes and would be going to the market together to buy all the ingredients needed for the dishes. The local open market was only a few minutes away on foot… let’s just say the experience is something we will never forget. For those of you that don’t know… an Asian market is nothing like going to a market at home. You can literally buy anything there!!! The first part of our market trip was pretty tame we bought spices and vegetables that were necessary for the dishes. Our teacher explained and pointed out some of the fresh spices and veggies that we had never heard of. One of our dishes called for fish, our teacher said we needed to buy a firm type of fish. We bought a few live snake cat fishes from a lady that had them in a basket. She also had eels and other types of fish… all twitching around in baskets. Our next dish would require beef or shrimp. We entered deeper into the market to the section where the meat lay out on make shift tables. You could get literally buy any piece of meat that you wanted, from feet to head. We all oohed and awed over the weird cuts that we saw. Our teacher bought a piece of loin and demonstrated to us how to tell if the meat would be fresh or tough.
I must say, ordinarily at home the idea of buying meat or seafood that is open to the elements without refridgeration with flies buzzing everywhere would be a definite “red flag”. But here in Cambodia that is how food is bought whether you buy it, or a restaurant cooks it for you to eat. Sometimes I think… are we just overly sensitive at home??? Why do people at home waste so much when people here eat every part imaginable of the animal. I don't know the answer....I guess it's what you grown accustomed to.
Our teacher explained to us that every day the meat is butchered fresh 1-2 times per day. What meat is left over at the end of the night is either dried or turned into sausages.
Other things that we saw in the market were barely alive chickens (moving but lying in piles), live turtles (for eating), skinned frogs, eels, any type of egg (different shapes and colours), all types of seafood and shellfish and anything that you can imagine “dried”.
We walked back to the school to start cooking our food. Everything we made was fresh, we even made our own coconut milk and chilli paste. We did all of our prepping of food outside on a table then did the actual cooking under a roof. It was a very hot day and after an entire morning of cooking we were all dripping with sweat.

Here is a list of the dishes that we made:
Fish Amok- cat fish in coconut curry type sauce
Beef Lok Lak- spiced beef on salad
Chicken stir fry

The best part of the day was getting the opportunity to eat the food… I can say that I have never cooked something so yummy in my life!!! I definitely have learned a few techniques from that class, and I hope to take another cooking class again during this trip.


As mentioned before, the people in Asia seem to be very afraid to catching anything remotely close the flu. After our 3 nights in Battambang it was time to move onwards. We took a 5 hr. bus ride back to Phnom Penh, fortunately we were both feeling much better. Andrew still had a bit of a cough mixed with a runny nose from allergies. The bus we took was a local bus, every time Andrew would sniffle or cough people would hold their breath or cover their faces with their t shirts. It was quite strange, felt like we were harbouring some sort of awful disease.


Click on album below to see pictures in picasa

Battambang, Cambodia

~Nicola