I won't say "Don't Worry About Money, Just Travel', I would say "Travel If You Can"

Recently, I read about an article by Chelsea Fagan on -- "Why 'Don't Worry About Money, Just Travel' is The Worst Advice of All Time" (you may click here to read the original article). In the article, people who kept pushing and promoting how everyone should travel are selfish as they didn't realize that there are people who don't have the opportunity to enjoy this luxurious activity. People who can let go their job and go on a vacation for a year seem pretty cool. But without any financial support from the family, it is not achievable. 

The article is true. Although AirAsia promotes "Everyone can fly", it doesn't means that all of us can really fly without any worries. Some can't even fly domestically due to financial problems. I'm grateful that I'm born in a medium-class family and I have supportive family members who work hard to feed me with food and luxuries. Now that I have started working, I understand how difficult it is to earn money. To fund for your own travel, it is hard. It is even harder for people who does not has a stable job. 

I write about my travel experience and wish to give an idea to those who are planning to go to the same destination. Deep down in my heart, I wish everyone can have the opportunity to go out of their home and experience different culture. But I understand that it is not achievable, sometimes. People who can't go on a vacation can still read and enjoy the photos in my blog. It is like watching reality show of mine. *shy*

Travel is interesting. It is fun. But it costs a lot of burden as well. If you can't spend thousands to travel, why not just go to a garden nearby to enjoy the greens, why not just go to the nearest mountain or hill to have a hike. You don't have to travel far. Everywhere can be interesting if you know how to enjoy it. Breathing fresh air outdoor can help to release some stress too. 

Good luck people. Enjoy your life. ^_^

Hint for upcoming post. Guess where is this..... 

Vietnam: HoChiMinh City, Chewy Junior & First Sleeping Bus Experience

Day 1 of Ho Chi Minh Trip ^_^ Part 2

Continue from Part 1

We tried to explore places nearby the tourist office while waiting for our departure time to Mui Ne. We did not go much further due to laziness and there are too many food attractions. 

We saw people painting on the wall for an opening soon Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf. 

Very talented indeed.

At a cross junction. 

Looking at this street view, I was about to faint when I need to cross this busy street. 

In the end, I've come to a conclusion. In Ho Chi Minh, you should cross the road with high level of ignorance. Or rather, it would be easier if you close your eyes and just walk cross the road. >.<

After walking for about 5 minutes, I spotted a cream puff shop and wanted to try it. Yes, I just had my lunch that time but I craved for desserts! There's always space for desserts. Don't you think so? And hence, we decided to buy some cream puffs to try. At first, we wanted to take away and dine in the ice cream stall beside. But disappointingly, the stall beside does not sell ice cream anymore. We bought a cup of Vietnam milk coffee to share and had cream puff in the cream puff stall. 

Look at the photos! How to resist??

The menu of Chewy Junior. There are too many choices! 

We ordered 12 mini cream puffs. Then, the staff told us that they are having promotion. If we purchase more than VND 159,000, we can get another 4 normal size cream puffs for FREE! Such a great deal! Of course we ordered more cream puffs to top up to the price and get the 4 FREE cream puffs. From just TRYing to BUYing in bulk. I hate promotion. Always make me spend more. haha....

Ta-daa!! Our Cream Puffs. These are the normal size ones. 

Seriously, they are fresh and hence very delicious! Yumz Yumz.... ^_^

Me posing with my Apple Cream Puff. Surprisingly good!

It makes a good combination as apple jam is slightly sour, the cream is sweet and the puff is chewy. 

Very nice drawing on the wall.

After our FIRST round of dessert, we continued walking. Suddenly thought of visiting Ben Thanh Market but then we were attracted to a food stall selling barbeque. It was about 6.30pm when we were done buying and eating. Due to time constraint, we changed plan to continue to walk around. Just about 2 shops away from the food stall that we stopped by, we saw a shop selling yoghurt and hence it became our hang out spot before boarding on our sleeping bus to Mui Ne. Non-stop eating desserts on the first day of our trip. OH-EMM--GEE.... 

Our yoghurt. Ordered a few flavours and topped up with some fruits.

There are almond flavour, mint flavour, vanilla flavour, mango banana flavour, raspberry flavour, etc etc... All there for us to choose. ^_^
They sell their yoghurt at VND 39,000 per 100gram if I'm not wrong. 

After enjoying our SECOND ROUND of dessert, we slowly walked back to The Sinh Tourist to get prepared for our bus trip. 

The office in my favourite blue! =D

It was previously known as Sinh Cafe and hence it would be easier for us to tell taxi driver or ask for direction using the term Sinh Cafe rather than Sinh Tourist.

Exotic food - is it a culture?

Why do people eat exotic food? 

Exotic food, in fact, refers to culinary items which are considered unusual for an individual's culture. (Reference from this website). So for us, Malaysians, don't be shocked that people from other countries think that Durian (our favourite fruit) is an exotic food. And seriously, a lot of people cannot stand the smell. Some Malaysians dislike it too. So well, if something is odd to you, it can be considered as exotic. So exotic food categorization is a very personal thing. You think it is, it can be one. 

Click here to read about the 10 most exotic food I found in a website. Which isn't exotic to you? 

It is very shocking for me to find out that people actually eat spider, crickets, water beetles, cats, dogs, etc etc... Because of my YOLO mindset, I did try some exotic food like worms, snake and crocodile meat. It was a terrifying experience and it should be ONLY ONCE kind of experience.

I think that it is one's culture or lifestyle to eat such kind of delicacies. Or thinking that those people who eat are very brave and maybe, special?! I do think that way until my tour guide asked me a question, "If our people has a choice, do you think we will eat these things? We eat to live during war." And I felt very guilty, with my previous naive thoughts about them. 

During war, they have no access to food. So they just grab anything to feed their stomach to continue their living. They eat to live. They have no other choice. They aren't brave to eat tarantulas. They are afraid that tarantulas are poisonous too. But they have no food but with some tarantulas around. What choice do they have? Nothing.  

I feel bad. And I respect them. They struggled so hard to live. We misunderstood them. I feel thankful that the war is over and it is time to build a world filled with love and happiness. May everyone in the world be well. Let's build a better world and not destroy it again. Cheers.

Travel to Live a Life

Saw this quote while doing a random search about travel quotes in Google (my beloved search engine). It reminds me about my plan, my resolution, my dream.

To me, traveling is a great thing because every time you go on board, whether locally or oversea, you will learn something new. To me, every trip is a journey to learn and expose to more things. Yes, money is required, but that's what we need in life -- EXPERIENCE. We need money to buy food to live, and so, we will need money to travel to enjoy life. 

Travelers aren't people who try to escape from life, they are people who are brave enough to make a move, to step out of their comfort zone. I'm really impressed by people who can earn money for few years, then quit their job and go on a backpacking trip. Few months. Few years. Really impressive! I wish I can be like that one day. One day. I hope I have the courage, to make the first step. =)

"Each journey starts with a footstep. Make your move now" ~~ Jocelyn

Travel . Love 爱旅行

Since 2010, I fall in love with traveling.

I always look forward for the next trip, and it becomes an addiction and also motivation.

打从2010年开始，我爱上了旅行

对那种期待下一次探索的感觉上瘾了，也成了我人生的一股推动力

I'm a forgetful person, but I'll never forget:
The FIRST time I get on a plane
The FIRST time I stepped into a foreign country

The FIRST time I see the snow

The FIRST time I have trip with a group of friends to oversea

The FIRST time I fly alone (And the damn flight got delayed for 4 hours)

And many more FIRSTsssss......

虽然我很善忘，但我忘不了：

第一次搭飞机

第一次出国

第一次看雪景

第一次成群结伴到国外

第一次自己一个人搭飞机 （还给我延误4小时！）

很多很多的第一次

For me, I think life is about exploration.

Travel does not means spending plenty of money
It can be a budget trip, a short domestic trip.

It is about learning and experiencing different things.

If it is a safe, happy and memorable trip, it is all that matters.

人生不就是为了探索吗？

旅行并不一定要花大钱

即使是一趟能省则省的旅行，或者是国内旅行

只要旅途中有学习到，体验到不同的事物，就够了

只要旅途平安愉快，难忘，就好了

For those who never like traveling, are you too comfortable in your comfort zone?

Aren't you interested to know about the world outside?

Is it because you have not found a travel companion?

Is it because you are not financially prepared?

Or you hate packing and unpacking luggage?

那些从没喜欢旅行的朋友，是因为太习惯现在的生活而不想要有任何改变吗？

还是根本对外面的世界没有兴趣？

或是还没找到旅行的同伴？

金钱上的不允许？

讨厌收拾行李？

I'm just curious why there are people who are not really keen about traveling.

Mind to share your opinion with me? Perhaps I could do a research on this topic. XD
I love to travel.
I love the preparation period - book flight ticket, search for places to visit, book accommodation, search for nice food to try, etc etc...
I love the presence of my awesome travel companion as well. Without them, the trip will not be perfect.
Awww..... I can't wait for my next getaway! When is it??
Saving ahead for future travel plan. That's what a travel freak does. =D

很好奇为什么有些人不喜欢，也不期待旅行

可以跟我分享吗？

我爱旅行

也爱旅行前的准备功夫 - 订机票，排行程，订酒店，找美食，等等

最重要的，终究是旅伴。好的旅伴，旅途肯定更加愉快，难忘。

写着写着，好期待下一趟旅行。何时才可以整装出发呢？

存钱旅行 - 旅人必做事物第一项。 =D

WHERE's NEXT??