Moon

Bana Hills was awesome, the popmart, the shows, the cable cars.

The day started early wit us planning to go to the peak of fansipan mountain, the highest peak of vietnam. The weather was giving cold and foggy that we were glad we bought those cool jackets and stuff. When we reached Sapa station, the vibes was giving harry potter with its 11 and 3/4 quarters. It was cute and cool given that the train was moving/flying across another hill/mountain. There we've meet another filipino we've travelled with back at Ningh Bin which are kinda rude/elitista but I am not sure if maybe they are shy or just like that. Anyhow, fuck it right? Afterwards, we rode a cable car going up the mountain of which w ethought was now the highest point of the mountain with souvenir shops and restaurants. We even took pictures with the use of earmuffs (which I lost). I should have taken care more of my things. We then went up more, with string cold winds blowing at my face. And as we went higher, there is actually a more higher point that requires yet another train. My mother has a difficult time climbing up and has suggested us to continue going hugh towards the buddha statue without her. Now here's the thing, she was recommended to buy esim incase of times where she doesn't want to continue walking and rest. Yet she didn't so dad was adamant for a while continuing. Thankfully, my sister decided to volunteer staying with her so that my father, brother and I can continue climbing up. Also, I was feeling hypoxia going up I don't even know how they were able to continue climbing without having difficulties. When we went up for the buddha statue I was shocked to see a swastika. The videos taken were cute aswell. After that we rode a train going up, with the line very long I think it took about 20 mins before we reached the top. We even met some filipinos as well and If I remember it correctly, were from davao so bisaya. In reachinh the peak of fansipan mountain, the current were going up, where you literalky feels like you're on the same level as the clouds. Could even see moisture form at my brother's hair. We also took some framed pictures efore we decided to go down. My mother was really tired so my dad and mother decided to opt for the train going fown while my siblings and I walked.

Unfortunately the weather got too cold that it decided to pour strong rain. And with the jacket being waterproof, it wasn't really a problem but the family decided to stop at the building before going down the cable car to eat. I had burger and fries and lo and behold, my brother and I found a capsule gacha machine having pokemon in them. By brother pulled first, asking money from our parents, and got squirtle. Ofcourse, as envious as I was, I tried asking as well to my parents which they initially said no. Thankfully dad decided to pulk everythung from his wallet (last money btw) and gave me enough to get 1 gacha pull. Unfortunately, I also got squirtle HAHAHAHA. No one won but no one lost. After that, we went down the cable car which was just pure fog due to the weather. When we reached the bottom, at the sapa station, my brother and I found another pokemon gacha, a pikachu wearing eevolution skins. And for a cheaper price as well since the squirtle was 150k VND and the pikachh skin was 100k VND.

I would also like to note that the guy driving us around was waiting for us at sapa for an hour. In the rain. So it was kind of ulaw. He then drove us back at our hotel wherein yes, my sister and I fought. She apparently took offense when I jokingly said my brother and I needed a professional interior designer. She then told me to never talk tk her again in a madlita and serious tone (which she then told in the bus that she was joking, nope she wasn't. But I guess she can't hold accountability but honestly that's on her.)

It really got me at a bad mood that when we reached Sapa Animal Farm, I was so angry I could've even focus on feeding the pigs.

To continue...

Medstudent on his first international trip,

In reaching sapa via sleeper bus, the place was having a torrent of rain, yes, strong ass rain. Thankfully, compared to other places we've been so far, Sapa has the kindest locals we know. Esch offering help, whether it be recommendations, transportation, etc. When we reached our hotel/bnb at 6 ish am, that place was mindblowing. The place is nice, the room was boujee, the comfort room is nice, and the place is so cold, we didn't even turn off the aircondition.

When we decided to eat breakfast at the hotel lobby, the food was made diversely, catering to foreigners while still having local foods so the family was very happy we got to eat foods that we are familiar with. With a few nudges from most of the kids and mom's push to rest since she wasn't able to sleep dueing the sleeper bus's ride, we were able to have a 2 hour nap before continuing with sweetie's itinerary for the day.

We first went to Cat Cat village, which was, as described by others, a "spirited away" village. When we first went in, we really thought at first that it was just walking with a view. Well, true, at first. But then we tried the slide out. Lowkey regretting not bringing a cap because my forehead was exposed so much it looks like a roblox character during the drone video. But ofcourse, I don't want to hurt myself by saying those things but it could be somehwat of an objective opinion to better myself, health and all. During this trip, I do realize I have been abusing my body too much. I shpuld love myself more. Not in the sense that I should indulge everything my body wanted like partying, drinking, losing sleep over animes or manhwas. Loving myself in ways that my body will thank me if it could talk, which ofcourse once they "talk" that means you're dying.

Catcat village was a spot of which its stands in 2 sides of the river, full of bridges made in wood, hay, straws, etc. There are even a cultural art center where they do vietnamese traditional dances. Anyhow Catcat village was balls good and the pictures taken in that place was nice.

Next stop we got to Alpine roller coaster, which at first read, one will expect Filipino stule rollercoaster with multiple people riding a vehicle moving at the speed of sound *exaggerated. But nah, that shi was fire. It a one man vehicle and you are able to control the speed of it. So my first fear going in that tourist spot was ridden with anxiety because I haven't rode a Rollercoaster before. With a little fear and excitement, I first turned it slow, but with the fear of my stomach getting loose with my brother's provocation for speed, I put it at full speed even with the dangerous curves sign. That shit was so good I wanted to try it again. The vehicle I rode was so fast I even went past the camera station placed at an interval of the ride. The only thing I regret doing in that place was first, not going medium fast to video myself riding that shi, and 2nd was to buy a cap. Yes, i fucking lost josh's cap. My ex's cap. My love's cap. That cap was my everything, that was what reminded me of him everyday. I wear that cap everywhere, when I go hiking, swimming, clubbing, and jogging. That's why yesterday, even though I'm having a blast, the fact that I lost the cap way before sleeper bus happened (due to my sister's mistake causing me to panic and forgot to check) was fucking painful. Even though josh said he doesn't want it back, what am I supposed to say once he asked for it back? That was sad and bothering me.

Anyhow, after Alpine Rollercoaster, we went back to the center of Sapa near our hotel, where all the business are located, supposedly to eat. But we passed through a store that sells jackets, clothes, caps, the works. And honestly, that place was cool af, maybe also due to the fact that the sales lady was pretty, funny and considerate. With how good she is, mu family bought 3 million VND worth of her merchanise. As for me, I bought myself a black the north face waterproof jacket, a blue cap (to substitute for the lost cap, an earmuff (which I lost the next day fuck), and a set of vietnamese sapa traditional clothes (additionally I also wore a patterned bucket hat at cat cat village). After that, we walked towards Paradise Restaurant Nha Hang Thien Duong, which is a restaurant fully recommended by filipinos online.

The food was great and I knew that place was really recommended by filipinos (also mainly by a filipino vlogger), because the moment we came in until the time we came out, I can hear my people. Unfortunately, no bisayas were there. I order chicken curry with rice in coconut and idk why it didn't register at first because I immediately thought it would have coconut slices on it not a whole coconut with curry inside of it. After eating, we walked home and had an early night off, too early that I wasn't even able to write my journal originally on the night of Day 4.

But here we are, I am so happy for the gifts that I kissed mom and dad good night.

Medstudent on his first international trip,

(If it feels rushed and lacks details, I plan to update it when I can)

Hi, so the day started with some chaos because the family is late, once again. I wasn't feeling well before I slept and honestlu just got an hour of sleep but I look downright ugly throughout the day. My brother, sister and dad went out first to check in our bag somewhere else so that we can go to Ning bin without carrying heavy luggages. I guess uber didn't work because my mother and I who was left behind to check the bnb for any left behind things was able to catch up to them, just downstairs of our bnb. Thus the run/briskwalk to that place to check in our luggages. I find it unfortunate that we are doing it in speed be ause the streets of Vietnam early in the morning (this was 6 am) was so nice and gram worthy. Seeing them drink coffee calmly while talking with each other outside in their little chair was something I want to experience for myself as well. But alas, this family has no plans on changing so we were largely running towards our bus towards ning bahn. It was fun for the most part, with a tour on the palace, buffet, cycling, boat ride and finally a hike on a 1k step mountain. Took great pictures as well from those. Thr muslim child at the back was very loud tho, with the parents being inconsiderage. Even our tour guide, henry, was greatly upset. We also went to check the cafes that ghe train pass by and it was fun. Now this is where the hell comes in because my sistser not only insisted a time for withdrawal, she also booked the wrong place for my brother, father and mother. We were late to the sleepong bus for an hour. An hour. And to make things worse, I was habing the urgency to pee for so long that I resorted to, yes, peeing in a bottle. Which i hope was safe and clean considering it was a water plastic bottle probably left by someone else. Due to overthinking, I might be feeling things but my faith and belief in God is greater than any fear so as of now. I am just gald I was able to pee HAHAHAHAHAHA FUCK

Woke up early, or more like wasn't able to sleep, which I deeply regret because wtf got sick sick right now. We went out of our hotel in hongkong and booked a grab and thankfully we've reached the airport with enough time. Hong kong's airport was so big we needed a train to go to our gate. Thankfully we still have Cathay Pacific for our airplane because that plane was cool and comfortable.

I was still able to sleep in the plane, watch a movie which was the Goat. That movie was so good I didn't expect liking a movie about animals playing basketball. The Goat was a good indicator the smalls can be great, and that there is no I in team. In reaching Hanoi International Airport, the line for immigration was so long I feel like it took an hour just for the man to stamp the passport immediately. And the funny thing is, we were waiting for our luggages panicking so hard why we can't find them only to realize they were neatly placed at the side all along. The ride towards our airbnb was fun, with the car being somewhat if an artista van, big, can hold many people, and comfortable. Since I was feeling sick at this time.

The airbnb was great, the way there was kinda sketchy according to mom but I thought it was authentic to vietnam's culture, and the place was huge. 3 floors, the 1st floor being the master's bedroom, second being sweetie's room and finally the third floor was my brother and I's room. It has a terrace/veranda and has a good look out to outside. After settling in, we went down and walked to the Michelin star restaurant. It's name was *to insert* and the place was good good. Got my pictures and plan to make a separate review on it as well. We then continued walking to the nearest church which unfortunately, we weren't able to come in due to most of us not wearing appropriate clothes. We then proceeded walking (a lot of walking actually), passing through Bahn mi (burger ish) but we weren't able to get one since we were full. We passed through clothes shop, starbuck for dad's collection and coffee, and had icecream by the center lake. We then proceeded to this known egg coffee place which was all the rage. Unfortunately, since I was feeling sick, I only ordered lemonade since I was sweating buckets. For sweet's opinion, the egg coffee wasn't really that good as hyped but I wanted to try it for next time. We then finally took a sikad-like ride going back to the airbnb. We walked for a bit before reaching it and had some good laughs with fellow tourists when they joined in the mirror picture. Unfortunately, there are no pharmacy near the place so I knew I was cooked.

Now this is where it becames funny, I was having painful headaches plus lethargy due to my stomach and my runny nose. The moment we've reached home, everyone was so clocked out and my brother and I went to our room and outside the veranda. I, who wanted to have a few minutes of rest before going to the cafe by the train, washed my face, changed my clothes. and went to bed. Now the sickness was so bad that not only did I fall asleep immediately, I wasn't even able to go with them for the cafe by the train spot. And woke up 3 hours later with a raging hugh temperature. I think it was a good decision to be honest witth them that I wasn't really feeling well cause they bought soup, hydration drinks, and finally medicine.

My dad applied vic at my back and front, and told me to rest while waiting. Sweetie and dad even have a funny story in taking our grab order because the gate was locked (yes, the bnb is located inside a compound) and there was a huge rat. Thankfully I was able to get massages from sweet and mom as well and was able to eat the lugaw like (I'll be inserting it's name here soon) which has like seafood in it. I drank my medicine, ordered stethoscope, and right now here in my room writing this all down because I don't want to not appreciate the day.

Thank you, God. For keeping my family safe and for providing us with this gift of travel and fun with my family.

Medical student on his first internation trip who got sick,

So we first landed in hongkong as a layover towards vietnam. Honestly the plane ride coming here was fun, the food was nice, the movie was nice (watched zootopia 2), and the stewardess were good. But I think because this is a DIY trip, most of the "plans" held was starting to fail come by one. First, the free trip given by trip.com was fully booked (??) and all of its schedule. Next, the "bus," like damn. This was still the first day and the people are stressed out. Here is a breakdown before it all come loose. First, sweet, according to her research, is fully sure the bus takes gotyme taps. 2nd, my dad and my sister has somewhat of a broken english, I don't know if they did it subconsciously because we are in a predominantly non-speaking english country, with dad sounding like he screams (even when that is his normal voice). 3rd, my mother talks a lot, even with important things going on, she likes to "inserts" herself in everything, which again makes it more chaotic. My brother was already bubbling with anger way before in Mactan I believe due to sleep deprivation and hunger. And lastly, there I was unbothered and sleeping my whole time here. So what happened was that my dad talked to the bus driver who cannot speak english. Due to that, the line was held back for a long time stressing my brother out. My sister, out of panic from my parents' ramblings, resorted to her usual mode, be inconsiderate and unaware of her surroundings, which held back the line even more (my sister cut off from the line as well) which triggers my brother greatly. Thankfully, a kind passenger helped as a translator for the bus driver and my family which solved it within minutes. The bad thing is, my brother was still angry and my sister being overwhelmed and pissed off, decided they're gonna fight inside the bus, with voices so strong I had to intervene, suggesting to have the talk later.

Lo and behold, Hongkong was raining hard, and we have to walk towards the hotel (which is why the family is not only drenched in rain, but also beginning to have symptoms of a common cold). Even though the hotel was near, finding the specific tower from multiple ones was difficult with the people we asked for help not knowing proper english as well. But wait, here's the fun part. After walking in the long ass rain, the scheduled check in my sister booked was for July 29, 2026. It's July 28 rn and our flight to vietnam was on July 29. My dad exploded with anger, screaming at her how she was out of focus, with my sister spouting out reasons that she was overloaded with tasks and that she did ask for help (honestly, she was indeed loaded with tasks). Dad tried shifting the blame unto me for not helping and I gently reminded him that I was sick, had diarrhea, and was bed ridden. He stopped. They continued their talks with loud voices in the lobby and thankfully, the reception stepped out and help us reschedule our bookings to today (the book on July 29 was nonrefundable). Thankfully thankfully thankfully, it was solved and we went to our rooms. Fortunately, sweet booked 2 separate rooms, one for our parents and one for us siblings.

We tried to order in food panda because the rain ain't helping us and the family decided to just order from Mcdo. Yes. Mcdo. A fastfood chain that we often go to in the Philippines. Well. The choices were yakiniku, some ramen, some chinese food, and Mcdo. Mom wanted yakiniku, dad can't eat rice, and us siblings are good with anything. Dad can't eat yakiniku because there's no potato option, mom does not want to risk ordering from food we might not like so we all decided to order Mcdo. Which costs a lot. I swear the food I ordered in the Philippines would've cost a thousand pesos. But here? 3.8k. Yes, expensive. And to make things bad (not worse), my parents with my sister discovered there was a whole ass mall underground (yes underground) with 7/11s, restaurants, clothes, everything. We could've atleast ate real chinese food here but thankfully dad wasn't all that angry anymore. We ate in our room and the 2 siblings decided to sleep off. Honestly, I wasn't even sleepy but I wanted my parents to go back to their room. So, as I was pretending to sleep, I indeed fell asleep for real.

Now its 2 am, I took a hot shower, drink my supplements (I forgot my minox and atleast a facial wash), and is now eating chicken in my hotel bed. So far, feels great. Brother is not angry anymore. My sister is still in her bed. And I'm out here just enjoying the trip and planning and is journaling what I felt for the entirety of the trip so that I don't forget these experience. Tomorrow, I plan on asking my parents extra money to pay for my stethoscope. Also, hopefully the weather forecast shown in google about vietnam is false because why is it strong rains and storms for the entirety of our planned trip. Still, up for good food and fun.

Med student on hist first international trip,

Hi, so today is father's day and it was doing great. Had a talk with a few friends, was able to play the game, but the problem now is the need to watch P and release. And even the lack of drive to even do my exercise that I want. That is why I'm writing this down right now. I want this to be my Day 1. Day 1 of quitting bad habits and day 1 of starting a good habit. It might stop honestly, since I cannot control my time especially with my family being like this. But regardless, I still want to become better and slowly actively aim for the ideal that I want.

I want to become better, healthier, hotter, more happy, and finally more active. I know it's painful, but all of these will result well I just know. One day E, or Day 1?

Struggling but yearning for change,

A boy who wanted to change,

Truthfully, I do have a little bit of anger issues. Maybe I rarely get angry, but when I do, it is either illogical or too much. For now, I think my anger is too much. I need to apologize to sweetie for my behavior because regardless of how she acted, or the lack of with thereof, does not justify how I act today. I do not want to live in anger, nor do I want to accept this behavior. Yes, I think it’s valid to get annoyed, but I don’t think icing out sweetie completely is valid. I don’t want to justify things because it just means I am avoiding accountability, and that is by no way one can improve. But in a way, it has become a trigger that claws at me. Imagine going to the dentist and getting told of with implication of being irresponsible with my life and in my time. Ofcourse, one will get angry since this is a type of injustice. They didn’t know just how much I’ve asked for my mother’s help, if I can go to the dentist this month, or the next month, and how my mother will always say no. I know, I am by no means important to my parents, they are absent emotionally as parents, with my mother telling me I’m a mistake so I thought maybe financially they could help. But unfortunately, I think that one’s out of the picture. But I should be glad I still have a room, that I have a computer I can play with, I have aircon every night, and food to eat even at the lateness of the night. That’s why I should be grateful, because I know I am not entitled to these things that are too much. Just having these allowances, the roof, the food, and the entertainment is enough.

But I think it is good to be grounded. To feel these emotions at the same time know where I am wrong. By God’s grace I wanted to become better. For now, my anger is dissipated and I know what are the things I should improve to become better.

Struggling middle child,

For the day, I think it was nice that D and I are still talking, I’m glad he’s not pushing for that kind of agenda and just resorted to how friends should be. For R, kind of weird honestly, thank God I am showing more proper boundaries. Like that was fucking disgusting, let’s be real. My self esteem and love might have been at an all time low to not say NO at that time. Although I think I should avoid joining in this private calls because honestly this is making me uncomfortable. For R, I am glad we are getting closer as friends. Recommending this playlist with each other is comforting, and knowing that there are songs that both of us are comfortable to is really improving the friendship that I thought was at its peak. I realized as well with how I interacted with my friends that I am getting better at the same time getting worst. It feels like I lost my empathy, becoming more selfish, which I honestly think is good knowing I was a yes man and a people pleaser, but going through this change is making me feel out of my comfort zone. I just hope I will become better as a person going on.

For the day, I have been eating too much. LIKE TOO MUCH. Tiramisu worth 3 servings, chocolate milk worth 2 mugs, and that delicious cheesy cake. HONESTLY, that shit’s good. That miswa was so fucking good as well, I could it more with how spicy it is but I know. That shi’s noodle. CARBS. This house if full of carbs and I’m eating it all up. To add on to that, I wasn’t able to exercise for the day, maybe also due to the fact that we are waiting for mom’s decision if we were to continue with the dentist appointment. I just know that dentist will see me as the fucking worst person and irresponsible person he’s met in his entire life. Ugh. This will be a lesson for me to be better with my saving and financial literacy. And if I ever get children, if and only if, I will thrive to become better parents than my parents. But honestly, I think summer break is a good time to really enjoy my break. And honestly, I AM enjoying. So much. The rest, the playing, the walks, the routine. These are the things I know I wouldn’t be able to do during class. And I am forever grateful to God for letting me reach where I am right now. But I think I have been too complacent, like Disorganization in the dorm and the room I am staying. I usually cannot focus with the mess but maybe because I am not doing anything rn, I am becoming too complacent. I think I need to enjoy the break but NOT forget that I am a person who does not let himself go too much at the same time do things to improve my life. ALSO, I am grinding in genshin too much and maybe it’s the compulsive need to finish it helped me, BUT I GOT MAVUIKA. For real? Dumb decision, I made all the good decisions in my wuthering waves account than my genshin account. Ugh. I want to enjoy it, WHICH I AM. But I know I could’ve focused on getting ineffa columbina or Flins weapon at least. BUT ANYWAYS, I got 4 archons hehehehehehe. That has always been my bucket list for my genshin account. But same with my irl life, I should focus first on improving 1 team, and making sure that It is all good before proceeding to invest on another. If we put it in an anology, one cannot improve if you shift your attention at 2 different things. And I know that will result to me losing a good potential on this account. For now. I want to be happy for my Mavuika. And I also got a good crit ratio with flins so I think we can see this day as a win for my account, an archon and flins finally being playable (keyword on playable but can be improved).

I am thankful to God for giving me this well deserved break. For being able to play, to be able to eat good food. I will always thank my God for the life that I have right now. Today, I am happy.

Boy during his summer break,

Honestly, for her, I do not know how it would end. Do I really plan to? And if I said yes, what would happen? I am afraid that I would lose a friend I treasure the most. And it feels like a secret I cannot handle holding on to. I think it would be a good experience honestly, but let’s not hold on to it too long. Be a better person e, a better person. A person you actively want to become. I miss you, E. I miss being me.

Struggling with self-respect,

Trying to be better everyday,

I just want to be loved. Loved so wholeheartedly without any conditions. To be chosen. To be picked first. To be defended. To be cared for. To be loved. All I wanted is that. But I can never get that with how I am right now. I want to die. Maybe tonight. I can probably buy cyanide online, or buy charcoal and burn it while I cover the ventilation for the comfort room. I can walk till someone run me over. Or walk to cclex and jump off the bridge. Or use a rope to tight my neck and just do it here in my dormitory. Or a knife could be better. A knife could be better. Scissors. I can use scissors. I can cut myself. I can cut myself.I can cut myself. But I know no one will come. I know no one will be there for me. I know no one loves me. I am alone.