PACK UP!

Hello, Assalamualaikum! Be prepared to be amazed because I will be talking about my trip to the Suối Tiên Amusement Park! 

The place was about 40 minutes drive from our place. Details:

Address: 120 Hanoi Highway, Tan Phu Ward, District 9, Ho Chi Minh City 70000, Vietnam

Opening hours: 8:00 am - 5:30 pm

Before paying the entrance free, the first thing that greeted us was the sight of a big rooster! AND IT ALSO HAS A SOUND EFFECT that goes with it. Well, that got my excited. I mean, C’mon.. Where else can you get that.

Basically, Suối Tiên Amusement Park is a cultural theme park, mostly on Vietnamese ancient cultures and as well as on their national religion, Buddhist. They have several entertainment areas which goes from roller coaster, water park, crocodile farm, 4D Theater, Fish spa, Snow Castle and a lot more!

This is where the journey begins! The is the view that will greet you upon your entrance to the park! EXCITINGGGGGGG.

Our tour guide advised us to join the tour ride to help us to go around the area. The amusement park covers a huge area and that it will be tiring for us to walk around. We had agreed earlier on that we were just there to look around and not to spend the whole day there, so we're up to the idea of joining the tour ride. I must say, it is much convenient! Our driver was also kind enough to allow us to stop at certain places to allow us to take some photos. HOWEVER THOUGH, our driver stopped and ended the journey at a place distance away from where she picked us up. Yes, we still need to walk afterwards to the entrance area.

This amusement park is definitely a place for the cultural avid learner, like myself! I personally believe that exposure to different cultures will help to broaden your mind and help develop better understanding for your own culture.

WISH TREE! I was just amazed on how high they tied the ribbons. Makes the tree looks pretty!!! Instructions below:

Hello & Assalamualaikum! I’ve spent my mid-semester break at Ho Chi Minh City or known as Saigon in Vietnam! I was actually supposed to go to Singapore, but the flight ticket to HCMC is cheaper than SG, so I chose HCMC instead. To be honest, I felt hesitant to go because I have a mountain of assignments to do and double tests waiting for me when uni re-opens, but I managed to convince myself that I need a break from all those stressful things. Lol, denial at its best. I thought the thoughts of my assignments and works will ruin my trip, but somehow,  I enjoyed my trip this time. GUILTY! I will let you know why in the next few posts! 

I’ve listed the places we went during the trip on the photo above. Just realized that I’ve missed out ‘Tàu Bến Nghé River Cruise’ on the list. Yes, there are other places to go to other than the fabric stores. Lol! Anyways, we spent 4 days at the city and we stayed at the Bloom Hotel which is not the usual place where we stayed. But the hotel is still located nearby Ben Thanh area. The area where we live is convenient as there are a number of muslim restaurants available around the area and also two money changers. We had difficulties finding money changers at other places!  is also few minutes walk to the Ben Thanh Market & Night market. 

Hello, Assalamualaikum. Back at it again on the Mount Kinabalu adventure. The photo above was a view at a small quiet town of Ranau. We started our journey from our place in KK City and ends at Ranau, before going back to the city. The trip to Ranau wasn’t a sore in the ass one, probably because of the stops in between. It doesn’t even felt like hours because of the mesmerizing view outside. Trust me, you’ll enjoy your journey!

Have I mentioned on the cost of our tour package? It’s RM550(BND$177)  for a group of 7 people. So that is RM$78(BND$25) per person. The tour package was actually intended for a 7 places trip, but we had wasted too much time at certain places and had made a couple of stops at the stalls along the way that we didn’t managed to go to all 7 places. I’m sorry I didn’t note down the name of the tour package though as ours was arranged by a friend of my Madre. But if you’re interested in getting the same package as ours/mine, please feel free to drop me a message on my Askbox and I will give you the name of our driver and his contact number. 

Our driver is a local muslim-convert dusun. I think he is a senior tour guide as you have no idea how many times he had honked to the other tour guides along the way! Quite well known ya. I was sitting infront with him and being the ‘semua-kan-ditanya’ type of person, I had the opportunity to talk and ask him things. He was friendly enough to entertain me and introduce me to more things. 

If you’re going on a day trip, here are the things that you need to bring:

Extra clothings

Foods to eat along the journey

Powerbank (Important!!!!!)

Umbrella or Rain coats 

Pillow 

But if you’re going for a more than a day trip, I guess you just need to bring some overnight clothings, chargers and all the necessary things. One of our mistakes was not bringing umbrella and rain coats with us. The rain there is so unpredictable! It rained when we were at the Hot Spring & Kundasang Desa Farm. It was indeed a loss as we didn’t get to spend much time at those places. Along the journey, we also came across Rafflesia and Strawberry’s garden. Didn’t managed to drop by though. 

I know I’ve mentioned that we made a number of quick stops at the stalls along the road of some towns. There were drinks, home made crackers, flowers, fresh vegetables and as well as fruits available there! They also have strawberries. Oh, let me rephrase that... Locally grown strawberries! My driver told me that this isn’t the season yet. Usually the strawberries season is around February. 

Hello, Assalamualaikum. This will be the second part of the Rumah Terbalik & 3D Museum. After finishing at the 3D Museum, we went to the Rumah Terbalik. Both are within the same compound. The photo above is a view that greeted us before going to the counter for entrance payment. Way to go on the christmas spirit! 

We had to wait for few minutes before entering as there was another group of visitors inside and it can only accomodate about 20 people each session. Before being allowed to enter the Rumah Terbalik, we were briefed on what not to do inside the house and some facts about the house. 

You should know that you are not allowed to take any photos inside the house as it is a “private property” as our guide claimed. While we’re inside, the guide had pointed to a number of things placed inside the house that are related to their culture and also a number of things that are not following the concept of the ‘upside-down’, such as the working air-conditioner and the reflection of the mirror. haha ah aaaaa duhhh

As I mentioned on my Instagram, my reaction to everything inside the house was all “???????”. We were basically mindblown to the sight of the upside-down house and my mind just couldn’t digest the sight. Everything were literally upside down and that includes the TV, a sewing machine, bed and as well as the (fake) cat that was sleeping on the chair. Imagine that! One fact told by the guide that I really find interesting was the belief that the ‘belangkas’ as a guardian of the house according to the suku kaum Bajau. If I’m not mistaken, the guide mentioned another name for belangkas in which I can’t recall what it is. 

Upon our session inside the house, the concept didn’t end there! There are also an upside down car, toilet and a mini garden outside the house. Only managed to take a photo of the upside down car though as the other two were crowded with people. I was informed that the license plate for the car is a Johorian license plate.  

Nevertheless, I definitely enjoyed the Rumah Terbalik! Aside from all that, I like how they planted sunflowers around the area. So beautiful! Also, a friend told me that there are two Rumah Terbaliks around the area, one at KK and the other one is the one we visited in Tamparuli. I have no information for the other Rumah Terbalik at KK though. 

Hello, Assalamualaikum. So, the first place that we went for our roadtrip was the Tamparuli Upside Down House (Rumah Terbalik) & 3D Museum. I actually thought that Tamparuli is hours drive from the KK City, when it is actually just about an hour drive. As you drove past your destination, you will also get the chance to see the Kota Kinabalu City Mosque (Masjid Bandarraya Kota Kinabalu) which is also known as the ‘Floating’ Mosque.

The address to the Rumah Terbalik & 3D Museum is Kampung Telibong, Batu 21, Jalan Telibong, Tamparuli, district of Tuaran. The operation hours of the place is from 7:00am to 7:00pm everyday. While, the admission fee, you will be given option as to whether you would like to have the 2 in 1 package which includes the 3D Museum and entering the Rumah Terbalik or either one of the two. The admission fee are as follows:

Malaysian:

RT: RM10.60 

3D Museum: RM24.40 

Special Combo Fee RM31.80 

Non - Malaysian:

RT: RM19.10 

3D Museum: RM35.00 Special Combo Fee RM47.70 

* Child below 3 years old – FOC

We entered the 3D Museum first. Because this isn’t my first 3D Museum, I had already expected what’s inside it. What I like about the Tamparuli’s 3D Museum is that it is unlike any other 3D Museum, they had inserted some Sabahan elements into it such as the ethnic culture, places of interest and the famous orang utans. My niece, Alyne became my model of the day. Before entering the 3D Museum, you will be asked to take off your shoes/slippers and you’ll be given a plastic bag for you to carry your shows/slippers around. Here are some photos that we took at the 3D Museum:

^This is the Floating Mosque that I talked earlier!

At the end of the Museum, before the exit door, there is another entrance on your left. Some people might have missed this entrance to another 3D art and they couldn’t possibly missed this one! 

Hello, Assalamualaikum. The idea of travelling around the Mount Kinabalu area for Bruneians is so underrated. And it shouldn’t be! Yes, there are other places to visit other than the shopping malls, incase you do not know! 

I went on a tour package around the Mount Kinabalu area few days ago (December 2016). After quite some time of listening to others talked about the places to visit there, we finally decide to go for it. Nothing beats the first hand experiences! Ofcourse, we have a lot of questions in our head before going for the trip, and you’ll probably have the same questions too. Some are such as:

“How’s the weather there?”

“How long does it take for a roadtrip from the KK City?”

“What should we prepare?”

“What are the reccommendation places to go there?”

And InshaAllah, I will share my experiences and some photos on the next few posts to come! We actually have 7 places listed that we had planned to go. But due to time constraint, we only managed to go to these places:

Tamparuli Upside Down House & 3D Museum

Pekan Nabalu, Kota Belut

Hot Spring Poring

Kundasang Desa Farm

Jambatan Tamparuli

Hello, Assalamualaikum. Just a little tip, if you’re going anywhere around Hanoi, please write down the address of the places that you’re going as a reference for the taxi drivers.

Communication is one of the problem that we had in Hanoi. The taxi drivers there do not understand nor speak English. You’re lucky if you come across those who speaks minimum English, they usually begin the conversation with “Where you from?” and if the conversation escalates further and it got you explaining things.. you’ll end up with awkward silence because... (perhaps) the taxi driver that you’re with do not understand what you’re saying. Lol, that is what happened to us. But it’s fun to experience all that.

Among the places that we visit in Hanoi is the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum. That is the only thing that I was excited for before coming there! Before knowing that there are a lot more to be excited about. 

We went there on a Thursday afternoon, so the entrance to enter the Mausoleum is close. I thought I read somewhere that the entrance to the Mausoleum is only open three hours during the weekend, but I came across a site just now saying that it is open three hours every day. So I’m not quite sure about that anymore. 

Our taxi driver dropped us in front of the area and we had to walk to the mausoleum. In front of the mausoleum is a clear green garden with pathways (you can see it from the photo above). There were a lot of tourists visiting the mausoleum when we were there. Anyway, Ho Chi Minh is also known as Uncle Ho to the locals. 

The concept of the mausoleum and the display of the preserved body in a glass case is following the revolutionary leader of Russia, Lenin. There are also a number of mausoleums in Asia such as Mao Zedong’s in China and also Kim Il Sung’s in North Korea. 

While we were there, we also had the chance to witness the changing of guards in front of the mausoleum. It is quite similar to what they have at Buckingham Palace in London. I will upload the video of changing of guards on another post.

I’m still not satisfied! Hopefully I’ll have the chance to enter the mausoleum to see the body of Uncle Ho in real life next time.

Hello. Assalamualaikum. The photo above is a view of the city from the 72nd floor of the highest building in Vietnam. Since I’ve mentioned about the difference of seasons between Saigon and Hanoi before, I will have one post just about it. Hanoi experience 4 seasons in a year; and it was winter while we were there. So, how does winter in Hanoi feels like?

When we were few minutes from landing at Hanoi, I was quite shocked to see the view outside. You barely can see anything from it, just white thick clouds. Of course, I panicked and prayed that the pilot knows what he is doing. 

So upon finishing the immigration thingy, as we walked out.. we were quite surprised to see how the weather felt and looked like. It was foggy, and it just looks white everywhere..  If the weather in in our country, we would have thought that it’s just thick haze, but apparently this was how winter in Hanoi looks like. 

Winter in Hanoi definitely felt cold! The lowest that we had was 11°C when it rained. While the normal temperature was 13-14°C! Just imagine feeling the constant cold wind.. Thank God, I managed to get some winter clothing back in Singapore the day before. But it is such a chilling weather!

There is one part in Hanoi where it will start snowing if the weather gets really cold, it is in Sapa district. We didn’t managed to go there though. The place is 6 hours drive from where we stayed, and there is no guarantee of snow there anyway. The normal temperate that Sapa experiences is 8°C, so the possibility of snowing is there. 

During night time, we didn’t even switched on the aircond! But even so, it still felt cold. We actually thought we left the windows or the balcony’s door open at first, but that is just how cold it is during the night time. 

The visit to Hanoi was a worthwhile experience! You definitely need to experience winter in Hanoi. The environment is less hectic and the people are friendlier than in Saigon. Except, they’ll stare at you if you’re wearing tudung while walking around the area. But I don’t think they’re up to bad intentions.. They just don't see it much often. Lol! 

Hello, Assalamualaikum. If you haven’t notice it yet, last December, Bruneians were spamming social medias with photos at the new shopping mall in KK, Imago. So I finally had the chance to visit the shopping mall few days ago.

The reason why Bruneians are creating a rather collective excitement over the opening of the shopping mall is simply because of the variety of stores available there, such as H&M, Uniqlo, Sephora, Victoria’s Secret, etc. So it’s a convenient place Bruneian can go to, rather than traveling overseas to shop at those stores. The helpful exchange rate between the two countries is also helping to welcome more Bruneian there. 

Here are some of the favorite shopping malls... 

I honestly think that the Uniqlo here is a bit pricey compared to Singapore. My favourite jegging which cost me just SGD$29.90 cost MYR$99.90(BND$34.40) there. Or probably because I just couldn’t digest the differences of the exchange rates! 

Sephora! I actually intend to buy NYX lipsticks from the store, but too bad they’re out of stock and there weren’t much choices available, so I decided to ditch it and grabbed a couple of face masks.

I love how there was a live traditional music played at the shopping mall. I’m not sure if it is being played the whole day, everyday or just specifically on that day. There was also christmas decorations around the mall! The giant girl statue was the main attraction. It was visible from all floors of the mall. How cute!

If you’re thinking of going to this mall and is looking for an accommodation nearby, you can consider KK Times Square Hotel which is just about 10 minutes walk to the mall and located directly from the mall. 

But if you’re staying somewhere else and is thinking of going there using your own ride, no worries! There are few floors of parking lot available at the shopping mall, so you don’t have to worry about where to park your cars and all that. 

Hello, Assalamualaikum. One of my biggest concern before we came to Hanoi was the availability of Halal meal. It was hard finding them but Alhamdulillah we managed to dined in at 3 halal restaurants while we were there, two Indians and one Singapore. My favourite among the three is the Singaporean Halal restaurant.

The name of the Halal restaurant is D’Lions Restaurant. The restaurant is located inside a Hotel (Cosiana Hotel). The address for the restaurant is 92, Le Duan Street, Hoan Kiem District, Ha Noi, Viet Nam. The restaurant is just 1km away from the Hoan Kiem Lake. Other than dining in, food delivery service is also offered by the restaurant. How convenient right! It is open from 10am to 10pm daily. You’ll be able to see the Halal logo just outside of the hotel.

This is how the interior of the restaurant looks like..

Looks lovely right! You can either choose to dine on the ground floor or on the 8th floor. We chose to just dined in at the ground floor. From the ground floor, you’ll be able to see the railway station and trains going out and about passing the area.

The restaurant offers variety of dishes from Singapore, Malaysia and of course, some Vietnamese meals. Teh Tarik? Satay? Nasi Lemak? Salted Egg Prawns? Penang Char Kuey Tiaw? They have it all!

We had Nasi Goreng Kampong, Fried Vietnamese Spring Roll, Salted Egg Prawns, Butter Chicken, Teh Tarik and Hot Milo. Sadly I’ve lost the receipt for our menu so I can’t provide you with the exact amount for each dish.

Nasi Goreng Kampong served with two pieces of chicken, two satay sticks, sunny side up and slices of cucumber. So good!

Crackers and the supposedly Sambal Belacan dip. Spicy dip!

This is fried vietnamese spring rolls. Yums! It is priced for VND92K (BND$0.90)

Hello, Assalamualaikum. The photo above is the view of the Nhat Tan Bridge over the Red River. So… Hanoi was unexpectedly fun! I didn’t expect it either. Weather was cold and misty when we were there. For your information, the seasons in Hanoi and in Saigon are different. While Saigon has only 2 seasons, Hanoi experience all 4 seasons. So it is winter when I was there.

It didn’t hit me at first but I finally realized that I’ve travelled to both North and South Vietnam. I remember wanting to travel to Vietnam when we studied the history of Vietnam War during Alevels. To think that the dream of traveling there occurred in just a span of a year amuses me. It’s funny how life works.. I’m definitely blessed.

Some of the places that I went are:

Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum

Ho Chi Minh Museum

Keangnam Landmark 72

Trick Eye Museum

Vincom Royal City Mall

Lotte Department Store

Thong Naht Park

The HALAL restaurants that we dined in while we were there are:

Little India Restaurant

D’Lions Singapore Restaurant

Khazaana Indian Restaurant

Hello, Assalamualaikum. A weekend to go to my trip to Hanoi! Flight will be on the 23rd late afternoon and will be staying overnight at Singapore and will catch a flight early morning the next day. I’ll be using Singapore Airlines, as usual. 

I only have one things planned for Hanoi though which is to visit Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum. The mausoleum is only opened for 3 hours per day and I was told that the queue will be long every day. Hopefully, I get the chance to enter the mausoleum and see Ho Chi Minh’s body with my own eyes!

Other than that, I am still not excited for anything. Madre mentioned few places to me but I’m just all “meh” on it. I guess.. I have to actually be there to be excited for things. Anyone have anything to suggest or recommend me?