A Downtown Girl Again

I left my half portion of my pancake bcs I had felt so much full. After that, Ha walked me to go back to Chillbar to get her motorbike while Ly went home to also get hers. Ha is really cute girl, she seemed spoiled a little bit but she is really sweet and nice. I was wondering how Vietnamese women riding their motorbikes while they also wearing high heels! God, I will feel so terrible about that. Ha was wearing mini dress and high heels that night.  Many Vietnamese women wear Váy Chống Nắng while driving their motorbikes. It is kind of fabric aimed to cover their hip until the ankle part so that they don’t have to worry if they wear short pants or mini dress while driving motorbikes. It could be circled around their hip but couldn’t cover the whole part of their legs. Somehow, it couldn’t cover the whole thigh and calf. I really wanted to buy some, to be honest. Maybe Váy Chống Nắng with the two loops so that it could cover my whole leg. I thought it would be new for my fashion style in Indonesia. Ly has accompanied me around Benh Tanh Market at night but we got nothing. She said it was sold at the ‘more local’ market bcs Benh Tanh set more for tourists. God, now I really wanna have some Váy Chống Nắng!!!

Beautiful Ha, Me, and Ly :)

They brought me driving around Saigon at night and it was really one of my favorite when I could ride a motorbike at night, felt the fresh night breeze with locals which made me also feel like they were. When I also didn’t have to worry of getting lost or seeing some scams trying to give me any bullshit. I felt so safe with them. I didn’t know where they were gonna take me to. Finally I knew that they brought me back into the city center especially to post office and cathedral. I could see more locals at night in that area. Many of them were young people gathering and hanging out with their couple and friends. They were sitting on the ground in front of the cathedral. It was like they surrounded Virgin Mary at the same time. We also took some shots with my magic stick called monopod haha. 

Rice paper before it was grilled

The crispy Bánh Tráng

After that, they took they motorbikes and drove me to a park next to Saigon Notre Dame Cathedral. It was also a place where many locals sat around, had some conversations, got the night breeze with people they loved. It looked like usual park which surrounded by some street foods. We bought one but I didn’t remember the name  but I must be Bánh Tráng something haha bcs Bánh Tráng means rice paper. I guess this street food is called Bánh tráng Nướng. It was made from rice paper and egg before grilled it. If you could stand for pork, then they could also put it on yours. didn’t really know about the cooking spices of this kind of food but it was really thin and crispy while sweet on the other side. Maybe in Indonesia, something crossed my mind for the first time was it might be a little bit alike with Kerak Telor (Egg Crust), just really a little. Kerak Telor also made by rice, but the sticky rice one and that formed thicker with option duck egg or chicken egg. I think Kerak Telor has more variants of items to be put.

Just like other people in the park, newspaper being the base of our butts hahaha. Ly and Ha had coconut water while I was fine with only mineral water. While we were taking pictures and enjoying our Bánh Tráng Nướng, a proper guy came to us. He talked to Ly and Ha in Vietnamese but I could guess that he asked us to buy what he sold. He seemed so neat with jeans, shirts, shoes, wore glasses, and really looked like a student. Ok, I assumed he looking for fund to run an event or something. Yes, I was right!!!! He was a student of university and needed fund to run social event. That’s why he sold many cups of black sticky rice pudding. Ly and Ha bought two of it and gave me one. It tasted really good, I swear. 

Glad to see you, Ly :")

On the way back to my hostel, Ly told me about Bitexco Tower. Yes, Bitexco Tower is one of well-known place to visit in Saigon. It is stated to be the highest point everybody can reach around this city. Ly said once, it was used to land a helicopter. So, rooftop of this building is quite big to be possible for a helicopter to land. Unfortunately, she didn’t tell me what was that for. I was telling Ly that I actually planned to go there too but then I gave up before the war bcs the entrance fee would cost 200,000 VND for adult. Thanks.

Anyway thank you for that night, girls. Thank you for the stories and time, I owe you much. It was really nice to see you both and I miss you guys already :”)

A Downtown Girl

After done with prayer and lunch, we moved into another place. It was an art place nearby. We walked passing by the riverside and finally got into this place who might be quiet popular among youth in HCMC. I saw walls were drawn with graffiti. This was actually such a place for all the creative people who dying to express their sound of heart and could be a place for them to drop out their idea about art. This is located at 3A alley, Ton Duc Thang Street, still around the downtown of HCMC. 3A means “Alternative Art Area”. Many hipsters coming to pose with some artistic walls as their backgrounds. The place is also surrounded by art galleries, cafes, restaurants, studio, and also some fashion outlets. Many people are here to take photo and just to hang out with friends. If you are a person who interested into crafted things, handmade stuffs, boutique, distro, or look for a quiet place to get your work done with a glass of coffee, this is all yours.  

Some teens make the wall as the photo background

Is it a sad monkey?

We finally stopped at a café called Kujuz to order fresh juices. Bright sun really burnt our skin at that time so we need extra protection from the inside (apa deh haha). Amal even ordered a cupcake from a foodtruck next to it called Pacey Cupcakes. Since it was time when people started to celebrate Lunar Year, she got a free Angpao. Just the envelope one :D

Inside Kujuz

Unfortunately, Phan gotta go back home bcs she was sick at that day, something wrong with her back. So, there were only 3 of us left, the tourists and we were confused whether to go to festival bcs the place was quiet far from the city center. We didn’t have motorbike while cab would cost about 200,000 VND. After a while, Baptiste got an idea of having sunset from the rooftop. Though it would be more expensive but at least we could save more time and didn’t have to be traffic jam. Before we chilled out at the skybar, as we promised that we went to Cathedral first. There is no entrance fee for this visit. Just like any cathedral in the whole world, this one also has high ceiling with I assume also has higher level of contemporary architectural kind of style. The exterior walls built with red bricks imported from France. A statue called Virgin Mary is right there just in the front of cathedral.  I don’t know much about this but I always think that cathedral has something like more function than if we compare it with common church. Whenever I hear somebody saying ‘cathedral’, something crosses my mind is always its finest building which really build with considering its pride and how it could be a great center of parishes in a city. 

Notre Dame Cathedral with Virgin Mary

Inside the cathedral

We were only there for few minutes and quickly went back to our hostel, did some stuffs like took a shower and changed clothes. I actually realized that we were gonna head to skybar which as long as I knew, we had to dress properly with no sandal but when I went outside the hostel, I saw Baptiste didn’t change his clothes. He was still in his shirt, short pants, and sandal so why did I have to change? Theeeeeen, right! Only Amal could enter the skybsar since she has been well prepared with flat shoes while me and Baptiste? We turned back to hostel and changed what was inappropriate in our look. We chose Chillbar located in AB Tower which was only about 200 meters away from my hostel so I could make it quick. Since I was feeling like I had to save my money bcs I still got 10 days to go on the road, so I planned to choose the cheapest one. 

Chillbar was too crowded at the time we coming. We didn’t even get seat in the first place so we just had a table and felt like being in a standing party or something. After 30 minutes, luckily people on the table behind finally left. 

Staring at the superb lights of the city from Chillbar

I actually also had appointment with my local friend, Ly. She said she wanted to have dinner with me at that night but she could meet me after work about 6 pm. I just planned to make us all possible to go together but unfortunately, Amal started to feel sick (maybe bcs a glass of mojito? Oh c’mon) but then I just asked Baptiste to bring her back to hostel. That was the last time I met them. Their bus would leave to Na Thrang at 6 am in the next morning and impossible for me to wake up that early to meet them. So, yeah we said goodbye :(

So, I met my friend and a friend of hers. Ly and Ha. They took me to have pancake. I firstly thought about pancake just like what I always eat the whole time but then it was different haha. I didn’t capture mine. This is I got from google just wanted you to see the pancake I was talking about. 

Pancake in Vietnam

Vietnamese pancake also called as Banh Xeo. So, they served wrapper which was made from rice flour just like when you wanted to make crepe. While you can choose the filling but I told my friends I didn’t eat pork. So, they chose shrimp for me. I never knew how to eat that well so I only saw them pinch the crepe and put some vegetables and also meat over it. As long as I could remember, the vegetables served were mustard leaves, lettuce, sprouts, and perhaps another green leaf I never saw or maybe never knew what it called. Then they rolled it and put into the sauce. The sauce tasted a little sour and sweet. Ha suddenly asked for more vegetables jadi inget kalo lagi makan di warung sunda kan. Jadi kangen indo yeelah baru 2 hari ti -_-

Since I ran out of VND so they covered me about 5,000 VND. Goshhhh I was really shame of myself but they both were really niceeeee they said nothing to worry :”)

5th Music Gallery

Coming to a gig and seeing some favorite bands perform on stage is such an effective cure to make messed time to be good again. I have got the ticket since a month before. A friend told me that Tahiti 80 would be coming to Jakarta and I was like what??? I admitted that I knew them since high school time. Heartbeat is of course, a song that everybody knows and one that makes them popular. Though I just knew some of their songs like Heartbeat, Something About You Girl, Open Book, 1000 Times, and When The Sun. That was all the old ones and unfortunately, I never checked their newest.  I decided to go with my friend since there were also The Trees and The Wild (TTATW), Monkey To Millionaire, and Naif!!!! Never seen Naif on stage before.

I was coming to Gandaria City on 4.30 pm, 30 minutes late than the appointment. I never knew this shopping center has a quiet big hall for holding a concert. I met my friend in front of XXI Cinema. It was also where the ticket box stood up. We also needed to exchange our tickets to get the wristbands. Then we tried to enter Pertamina Stage which was located in Skeeno Hall. Thank God, the venue was air conditioned. Not even a minute, I saw the same guy again. He was Ruben, MC of Jazz Goes To Campus (JGTC) for the the last 2 years. Somehow, I was proud of being a student of fisip sih. Liatnya Ruben lagi yah tapi disitu mikir lumayan lah kalo doi ngelempar merchandise, gue teriak fisip atau sekalian aja nyanyiin yel-yel fisip. Siapa tau dia langsung ngelemparin ke gue :D

~oh strange is the song in our conversation~

But since my friend and I got more interested with the band on the stage downstairs, so we moved into Nescafe Stage to see Monkey To Millionaire. Merah was the only album I’ve known. So, when they sang a song from another album, I just kept quiet haha. My attention bloomed when they brought up my most fucking favorite, Strange Is The Song In Our Conversation. I was just wondering why the stage only filled by around hundred people. Suddenly a guy in a red shirt came to me, he offered a cup of Nescafe coffee. I thought he sold it but then I knew that it was free. Deeeemmmm! Nooooo, I didn’t want any coffee at that moment. I really wanted to have bubble drink so after Monkey To Millionaire done on stage, we looked for it in ground floor and finally found Chatime near the corner. As usual, I ordered Matcha Tea Latte, normal ice, extra sugar.

Before 7 pm, we came back to Skeeno Hall to see Sore. I actually never heard about their type of songs but the opening song at 5^th Music Gallery was kind of awesomeeeeee! So, still willing to stand up there for couple more time. A guy next to me seemed to be a big fan of Sore. He handled Go Pro with a monopod and recorded whole time of Sore being on stage.

After that, we sat down on the floor to wait for Tahiti 80 doing check sound but it didn’t take long. Something weird was when a concert usually provided curtain on stage so that the spectators would be surprised with the most awaited band coming to stage. But Pertamina stage at 5^th Music Gallery didn’t have curtain to cover up anything. So, we could still see all the members of Tahiti 80 moving up and back just to check sound of their instruments. Finally, Tahiti 80 was ready!!!! They opened that beautiful day with A Love From Outer Space.  After some songs, Easy was played and pleaseeeeee I didn’t lie that it was awesome. An old came again when they seemed to bring Something About You Girl. This has been a long time after I tend to skip Tahiti 80 everytime they randomly came from my shuffling playlist. Sorryyyyyyyy but the truth is you all rock, guys :”)

Tahiti 80!!!

After that, they left the stage. Wait wait wait, it sucked knowing that they haven’t even played Heartbeat, their mascot. The light has been dark. I was sure 10000% that they were gonna come back bcs they wouldn’t leave the stage without their most popular song played. Yessssss the one I’ve been listening to for years finally there absorbed by my ears with Boyer only few meters away. Everybody got hypnotized and seemed not to miss single word of the lyrics!!!!

Suck to know that they gotta leave but another happiness coming to us. A local band called Naif would be a closing band in the main stage of 5^th Music Gallery this year. Naif is such a ‘true’ and ‘real’ band from Indonesia who has been existed since 90s. Thank God I was born in that decade so I’m feeling blessed knowing that I’m surrounded by a good quality of music bcs nowadays, it’s quiet hard to find a band who truly put effort to build Indonesian music to be better. Sometimes they just  simply look for fame and emerge with cheesy music and song. That’s why most of them are hard to stay and finally disappear. It is bcs everybody doesn’t want to see them again, nor listens to their songs. Butttt Naif comes from the era where music is still known to be really appreciated. They really try to produce great music. Naif opened that night with Air dan Api. God, been a while didn’t listen to David singing that song. The last time I listened to it was when my friends covered the song on campus. Suddenly, I was touched by a song called Benci Untuk Mencinta. How could you really hate to love someone? I think I get the idea, thanks. A song that I really sang and enjoyed was Karena Kamu Cuma Satu. Did I miss the word? I didn’t think so :”)

David Naif a.k.a hot daddy wkwkwk

Many people seemed to be really moved by Dia Adalah Pusaka Sejuta Umat Manusia. Maaaannn, what such a title? Hahaha all people screamed, I just heard that once but then it was good so I downloaded it after I got home. David asked us several times what song we did really wanna hear. Something really tickled me was when some women behind me screamed ‘buka baju’. Then David answered ‘kita gak pernah punya lagu judulnya buka baju nih’ hahahaha. So, in English it means that women behind me asked the vocalist to be topless. Ok, I know he’s kinda hot wkwkwkwk

Finallyyyyyy I could still see this legend of Indonesian band live. Thank you Naif. At least I didn’t really regret of missing Dewa 19 and Sheila On 7 in Bandung today. They’re gonna be there for Pasific brought by Faculty of Economy and Business Universitas Padjajaran. Bye.

Central Part of Saigon

This has been hectic weeks when I had to submit revision I have left for 2 weeks during my trip. Then I came back to Jakarta and reality just began again. I had to even visit Bandung to get data. Somehow I can be too lazy to type everything esp about this journey. God, I have only written a little part of it. Though a friend tried to ask me to write everything bcs he wanted to read my plot, my way of writing, and stuffs but let’s see if this piece of shit will never distract my thesis progress. 

First ‘real’ day in HCM. I still spent it with Amalia and Baptiste but then she told me to meet a local friend named Phan. I was like relieved knowing that we were gonna be with a local. At least, we wouldn’t get lost, right? :P

First step we made into Benh Tanh Market. Actually planned to have lunch but the we just forgot it bcs there was nothing interesting bout the food and meanwhile, the food corner was really full of locals and some tourists, didn’t have available seats. Then we went to the most famous building in Saigon. I real couple times about this place. There is nothing special bout this Saigon Central Post Office except the one who made it. It was designed by the one who also did it for Eiffel Tower in Paris, France. He was Gustave Eiffel. This post office is still working as it’s supposed to be till now. People send letters, packages, and some souvenirs also available including postcards. I was having intention to post a postcard to German but I remembered that half of Pete come from Vietnam too, so yeah haha forgot about it

Outside the building, there was a quiet big space for people to walk, gather with friends, or take some photos. Oh so, we did it too hehe

Inside Saigon Central Post Office

Let us take a selfie!

We saw many locals wearing a certain piece of dress, a long dress worn by Vietnamese women and they took pictures. I asked Phan and she said it was Ao Dai, a traditional clothes from Vietnam. Many people wore it since Lunar Year celebration at that moment. She also said she gotta wear it when she was in school! I told her that it’s gonna be so tight, hot, and just do not my thing wearing long dress to school! It’s gonna be annoying and she was thinking the same but what can she do? :p

Women in Vietnam wearing long dresses called Ao Dai

We also walked to Saigon Notre Dame Cathedral. It is just nearby and you can go visiting them at the same time. Cathedral and Post Office is like a gathering area for tourists and also locals since it is located in the main street and having broad sight into some corners in central Saigon. But when we were about to enter the church, the tourist police said it’d be open at 3-5 am. I don’t know what time they open in the morning but if you really wanna come and visit in the morning time, better for you to come early bcs we were there at noon, maybe about 11.30 am. So, HCM has many tourist police spreading around the main streets and landmarks in that city. When I asked Phan about what they called, she told there wasn’t any certain name for them but as long as knew, they’re there to be informative for tourists and they can speak English a lil bit. They all wore green uniform,cap, just like a real cop but they were just there for the traffic controllers and  security guards. Nothing related to crime reports or something ‘a real cop’ do.

Saigon Central Mosque a.k.a Blue Mosque

During our waiting time to visit the church, we walked to have a lunch in Moslem area. Phan has searched for place we could find halal food and also a place to pray. It wasn’t Zuhr time so we decided to have lunch first at a Malaysian restaurant just next to Saigon Central Mosque or people also call it with Blue Mosque. When I saw the price list, I thought the cost could be quiet pricey but then we tried to share the food just like maybe my friends and I had meals at D’Cost Indonesia haha. I think the economic principle could be obtained here, saying that the scarce kind of stuff would be coming in high price. We had Cah Kangkung, Chicken something, and one must be what Phan ordered, Es Cendol wkwkwk. Anyway, they cooked it really good bcs it fit in my mouth and even in everybody else’s including Baptiste. 

Enjoy the Malaysian food

Then we went to this place, the most peaceful place where I could find people who survived in where Moslem is just a minority. This mosque located in 1 Dong Khoi. I think this is the oldest one since it was built by the Indian trader in 1935. When Amalia and I entered this mosque, people still not even begin Friday Prayer and I have guessed, that would be my first Friday Prayer for my entire life and also for my friend. Yes, we did it. Maybe I would have never done that if I didn’t come to this place. Alhamdulillah. All the prayer outfits came in really good smell, not like most in Indonesia. Kalo bercandaan gue sama temen-temen, mukena tuh biasanya udah kayak temulawak, wanginya juga mancayyyyy. 

Economical Place for Saigon Backpackers

Eco Backpacker Hostel have two kind of dormitories, mixed dorm and female dorm. All comes with the same price per night. I chose the second one bcs I thought it would be more comfortable to stay with the same gender in a room. Both dorm will cost 6 USD per night. That really fit into my budget so yeah I simply said yes. You would be asked extra cost for locker and towel. My room consisted of 10 beds and I was placed on the upper bed at the corner. This is really a splendid hostel which I never regretted to pay. Though I stayed in a dorm but they provided every guest with kind of bed capsule so guests  can still manage their privacy. I also saw the bathroom really clean and smelled so good. I don’t know if that is because the female guests tend to be more appropriate user than men or whatever, I never went to their mixed dorm. The hostel provided free wifi connection. This was like a heaven to me in the first step of my journey because it made me possible to contact my brother and friends in Jakarta. Though as I felt comfortable laying down on my bed and thought what I would do tomorrow, the wifi getting suck. The connection was oftenly unstable. I could happily send messages to friends but minutes later I was kind of ‘shit, what happened with the connection?'. Oh, time revealed my curiosity about why I found some people sitting down on the stairs and holding their smartphones there. They apparently tried to seek the better wifi outside the room.

nice bed can bring you into good sleep

No one can see you so sleep as the way you always do

I had nice experience in Eco Backpacker Hostel. That was the start when I finally found the same solo woman traveler from other part of the world. I met them coming from Austria, England, Holland, and even Fiji Island. They went all the way by themselves and made new friends in each country they visited. It was really opened me up. I once asked Katerina from Austria why she decided to go solo and I asked her too about safety and etc. She said she was really scared at the first and HCMC was his first place too so she just already started. She told she was getting sick just few days before the trip began bcs she was scared and worried but knowing that she was gonna be okay so she just went for it. I also got envy from a woman which I never knew her name was. She came from Fiji and have been to India alone. She seemed to have traveled a lot and knew most of countries especially in Asia. I actually only overheard her conversations with Katerina. God, how could she be so brave wandering around India? I was like maybe admired her in any kind of reasons. You know what? Stories about that finally made India as my next target. India, a country that has never been on my list but now, I'm willing to try. 

Bathroom sink I always use to brush my teeth

two showers and two toilets  for one dorm

does anyone pay for the locker?

The receptionist of the hostels speak English well. They tried to explain about hostel rules and everything. Since I was always picked up by my friends everytime we went out, the receptionist always phoned me via the room telephone. I was firstly shocked there was phone in my room. This is what my roommates felt too bcs the first call to me happened when I was having conversations with some roommates and the phone rang. A girl from Holland picked up and said 'who is staying in bed 205?' Okay then I raised my hand. While she continued with 'how do I never notice that there is a phone in this room?' So, she should thank me for make her realize, shouldn't she? haha.

My most favorite receptionist belonged to the only guy there. Not because he is a guy, c’mon haha but it was because he was the one whom I saw giving wide smile to me everytime I came in and out. So, there were 3 young receptionist there. 2 women and 1 man. The woman who welcomed me in the first night was quite good, so-so I mean there was nothing special but she was good. Second woman I will tell you later. The rest, was this guy. On the third day I was in HCMC, Amalia and Baptiste left to Da Lat but he day before, I had debt to Amalia and I asked them a favor to charge my power bank (The plug in my hostel didn’t fit with the charger of mine). That’s why I had to meet them before they left but their bus departed at 6 am which I assumed I couldn’t wake up that early. So, I asked for help to the receptionist man. He was really helpful with the wide smile and nice expressions.  One thing good I could also find from Eco Backpacker Hostel is their location. It is not really far from the the main intersection in Pham Ngu Lao Street where you could see the bus stop even from the close sight when you standing up in front the hostel. While for you guys who would like to try the popular places near HCMC like Da Lat and Nha Trang, you can go buy your tickets in any travel agents but then most buses will be available just few meters away from Eco Backpacker Hostel. It is right in the intersection I was talking about. 

Somehow, something quite bothered me when I checked out from hostel. There was this receptionist girl who thought she really knew my name. I came to her and said wanted to check out. Then she took a file which was written “Hue” on the cover. I didn’t really know what it meant. Two things on my mind. First, Hue was a guest name so she could’ve been wrong to get that file since my name wasn’t Hue. Second, Hue was Vietnamese for ‘girls’ so, in this case I thought hostel split the name of the guests based on their gender. Then she asked me to pay for 20 USD. I was kind of what????? I’ve paid all the total cost in the first time I came to this hostel. She said I stayed for 2 days in dorm and moved to private room the next day. Fick lah. I admitted that I once confused about how long I would stay. I told her that. I booked dorm for 2 nights then when the girl gave me the key, I said to her to finally stay for 3 nights. So, I thought she already changed and fixed it. She kept saying I should pay 20 USD and I asked her too let me know the receipt. I saw it was receipt under the name of Hue. I said to her ‘my name is Isti, could you just please check my name first?’ and dangggggg she thought I was Hue. Pret.

Traffic jam even happened downstairs

The electronic card consisted of room floor, bed number, and wifi access

Traffic jam is also a problem of HCMC but luckily it is not as bad as Jakarta. In the last night I stayed in HCMC, I took my time to stare everything from the balcony, just wanted to see everything I could. It was more crowded than nights before. Katerina also felt the same way. I thought it was because Saturday night and Valentine's Day at that time so everybody seemed to go out, had dinner, be with people they loved. 

Enjoy The First Night

I was born with definite character that I can’t stand being at home too long. I know that everybody needs warm feeling of family or people they love but somehow I just seek the balance that I should go out, make some friends, connections, and see things outside a building called house. I’ve read some articles consist of stories about journey and sometimes they are really hard to define what home is. People say home can be defined as where your heart is but I just still don’t get it. Is it about the feeling you feel like you miss something in your city or what? If you know I’m still looking for where my home is.

I know having this big trip is kind of wasting lot of time. On the other side, I have been forced to work on my thesis too but who cares? I have promised to myself that I really must be able to make it possible simultaneously. I know I messed up my mind in last year. Year when I should have been able to finish some chapters but I decided more to start it by the beginning of 2015. I needed time to settle everything. I was firstly interdicted by my parents to go alone. Since my brother had a trouble related to his thesis so yeah, I’m sorry because my ego was too high to control then I really wanted to keep going. This is like what I’m mostly scared of. I’ve been doing so many things with just myself and I was thinking if there was a time when I really had to be alone in a trip, then I really couldn’t understand what it was all about.

I started my journey with a friend from Bekasi, God blessed me, thank you. She decided to buy the same flight with the exact same date as me but she only wanted to go to Vietnam. We got flight at 09.50 and had to connect flight at Changi International Airport Singapore. I left home after Subuh which was about 5 am. I have promised to myself not to cry during my journey, for whatever the reason, I mustn’t cry. It was a principle. But how could I hold these tears when I found my dad hugged me really tight before I left? While my mom cried because I could see her tears through her eyes. My mom accompanied me until I got the airport bus. I couldn’t even see the sun yet. All the city lights still flamed and told me to take a rest as I boarded to the bus. I just took 2 hours of sleep but I couldn’t sleep and finally broke my own promise. I don’t know where my mind was gonna lead me to but some sooth music seemed to shut my ears so that I couldn’t hear when my heart kept saying ‘stop crying’. I knew one of the reason, I really knew it and I hate it. What I could’ve told, what I could’ve said, what I could’ve got, it was everything about what if but I should’ve been done with it.

First night in Ho Chi Minh, Baptiste picked us up at the airport and we decided to take bus which only cost 5000 VND while cab would cost us more than 200,000 VND to Pham Ngu Lao Street, a tourist area in Ho Chi Minh city. It took us only 30 minutes by bus then we arrived at Benh Thanh Market then walked a distance the area. 

Just a common bus, nothing special

The Bus in Ho Chi Minh has been a popular public transportation since it doesn't have train like maybe other modern cities do. Most people tend to ride motorbikes so it is no wonder when I could see the street was full of motorbikes with little amount of cars. Bus is running with no conductor so the payment system always goes when the first time we board to the bus. Luckily, it was air conditioned.

Amalia has planned to stay where Baptiste stayed but I still preferred to stay at the dormitory. In the other side, the hostel where Baptiste stayed didn’t have any dormitory. They just had private room. Then, my friends helped me to get into Eco Backpacker Hostel. It was actually a hostel which I have been targeting in the first place. I mean when the first time I knew I was going to Ho Chi Minh, this hostel was the first hostel that took my attention but since I found another hostel which cost less, so I put it away. Thank God, Baptiste finally brought me there just like what I really wanted since the first time. 

I didn’t make any friend in the first night at hostel. I just put my backpack, took a shower, and had one hour to get prepared until Amalia and Baptiste picked me up for dinner. I thought they would drag me to somewhere outside the area but hell they just made me step some footsteps into the restaurant next the hostel’s door haha. Since Amalia and I didn’t eat any pork and always looked for halal food, we just tried to play safe by ordering pizza.

We’re done with dinner then I said to them to help me with the ticket to Cambodia. Since it was my first time having like parallel trip to some places which needed a real plan about tickets and stuffs and I was like too scared if I didn’t get the bus like I planned on the certain date. Actually, I stayed in Pham Ngu Lao Street, District 1 which has thousand of hostels, guest houses, restaurants, cafes, bars, and also travel agents. It sounded quite made sense not too afraid about the bus since it wasn’t a big day (oh, maybe Lunar Year) and if I didn’t get the ticket from one travel, I could easily move to the others. Anyway, my French friend just suddenly and randomly entered a travel agent called Panda Travel Company at 303A Pham Ngu Lao Street, District 1, HCMC. We were welcomed by two guys. One of them seemed so interactive and had good level in marketing communication tsaaaaaah hahaha  but he was really nice to me. He guessed that I came from Philippines. Okay lah :D

I paid 11 USD for a ticket to Phnom Penh on February, 15. I chose the second bus which planned to depart at 8 am instead of catching for 6.30 am. Ohhhh I must be failed. I firstly thought about using service from Mekong Express. I know it would cost me more but all the blogs and article reviews on the internet I’ve read before I started my journey, said that Mekong Express was probably the best and the safest transportation many tourists have trusted. They said the guide could speak English well and bla bla bla but then my friend made me realized by saying ‘what is your definition of safe? If I were you, I would take the cheapest one. You could be safe too though you pay it less’. Fine, forget about Mekong Express haha.

When A Coffee Shop Is Not Interesting

It might have been so lovely having sit around a coffee shop where I could see the busy street in this city. Looking up from a bar seat against the window, seeing the street that you’d come across when you’re coming back. Staring at the alley which could welcome you into the land. Yes, the land that has been missing you so much.

The busy street won’t make me sick of getting into the panoramic road. I know that the pathetic traffic lane with thousand of chattels might ruin my sight but it’s because only through my eyes which can see you by penetrating through the excessive buildings and finally carrying me into what you’re doing.

But hell, now I’m just scared of sitting at that bar for the first time.

Sorry, because this is somehow not even part of yours....

First Dormitory in Life!

Just like most of people here which have Singapore as their first step of going abroad, I went there with five of friends in 2012. If you are really like me who goes travelling in a very low budget, then you should skip what you are doing now and make attention to this hostel I am gonna review. I found a hostel in Bugis named ABC Hostel. ABC Hostel is the best price I could find among all hostels in Singapore. Well, I found this hostel from many websites. Most of them say that ABC Hostel is quite good with that affordable price.

Well, ABC Hostel is located in Jalan Kubor, Bugis. You don’t have to take much time to reach MRT station because you just need to walk about 5-10 minutes to Bugis Station. It’s also close to Mustafa Center which opened 24 hours. It’s a place where you can find everything you need from electronic, perfume, foods, everything I guess :D

I stayed in ABC Hostel with my friends for 4 days. For those who wanna travel to Singapore and choose to be backpacker like me, maybe ABC Hostel can be one of your option. It offers us the cheap price but with such good services. Actually, ABC Hostel has been quite well-known among Indonesian travellers. Yeah, it’s because people who stay there are mostly from Indonesia too. That's why I didn't feel in real Singapore when I was in hostel cause everybody sounded talking in Indonesia even Java and Minang. Geez :D

Incidentally, I was the one who took part in booking room for me and my friends. So here's the steps if you wanna book for a room :

1. Send your inquiry or fixed room you want to book to booking@abchostel.com.sg (they will reply your email quickly)
2. Make an agreement with the admin about the room and the payment. They will give you some options for the payment. It can be paid by Paypal, UOB Bank, or BCA Indonesia. That's what I like from ABC Hostel, they provide payment by BCA Indonesia so it made me easier to pay the down payment.
3. After that, you will be told by the admin how much you have to pay. Usually you have to pay 50% from your cost as the down payment and the rest will be paid when you check in on your arrival day (you also have to put the deposit 10 $SGD)
4. Make a confirmation of your payment by email to the admin
5. Admin of ABC Hostel will tell you that your payment already confirmed. She will just write ”payment confirmed”

I booked a dormitory room for 6 people for 4 days but unluckily, we had to be moved to the 8 bed dormitory on the last day so my friends and I stayed with two other people. Remember this is mixed room so don't grumble if you share a room with the opposite sex. Overall, ABC Hostel is recommended. You will get free breakfast everyday (It will be bread, jam, butter, milk, sugar, tea, and white coffee everyday). When you stay here, you will feel like you're home because there's kitchen and its utilities inside like refrigerator, microwave, dispenser, and toaster. You can also use glass, plate, or spoon to eat but remember that you have to wash it by yourself after using it. Wifi is also available here. The signal is super strong.  I can still keep in touch with my family and friends through whatsapp. ABC has internet room which consists of seven computers including web camera in each. This is one thing I also like, they provide hairdryer. Oh ya they will also borrow you a blanket and towel so don't worry :D

I love ABC Hostel and people inside. Though they're from different countries from all over the world but they're super kind and always smile or just say hi everytime we met.