Kuala Lumpur
Visiting Batu Caves: We took KTM Komuter Sentul-Port Klang
line (red on transit maps) north to Batu Caves Komuter station.
We stopped at Bandaraya Station on the way back from Batu
Cave, visited Sogo department store and Pertama Complex, for the fish noodle
soup (Kedai Makanan Noodle House Kopitiam).
From Masjid Jamek LRT station, walked to Bangunan Sultan
Abdul Samad, next to Dataran Merdeka and KL City Gallery. More walking after
that, walked all the way to China Town for dinner. Then, took LRT from Pasar
Seni station to KLCC Station.
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Shin Kee Beef Noodle rm7
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| China town Seng Kee Claypot Loh Shu Fun |
Next day, we had buffet lunch at Atmosphere 360 Restaurant at Menara KL. We took the tourist KL Go City bus to reach Bukit Nanas. There were no instructions on the bus, we had to inform the
driver to stop at our destination. Lunch
buffet for 2, RM197.55 inclusive of tickets to the observation deck and water. The
price does not include water/beverage, food is normal.
Next day: Visiting Pulau Ketam, took KTM train to Pelabuhan Klang and transfer to boat into
the island. The island is small and i cannot recommend the seafood, overpriced and .... Just an escape from the city.
Hanoi
We do not stay in Hanoi for many days, only as transit point
to Sapa and Halong Bay. The city is noisy and full of traffic. Shopping is no
fun as most products are not priced properly and most of the locals do not
speak good English (they show indifference in entertaining you). Nothing much
in Hanoi except eating, crossing the traffic, watching the puppet show &
street view.
Our first meal in Vietnam, recommended by Minh Anh Hotel, at
Tuyet Cin Cha 34, Hang Than. Bun cha, is the one food that I will missm priced <50 p="" vd.="">
The next day, we joined tour with SapaPathfinderTravel, 35USD per person (arranged by our hotel).
Our guide, Lala, is a Hmong lady (7 month pregnant lady) brought us to Lao Chai village, Tavan
village, bamboo forest and Giang ta Chai village.
Quan An Ngon is franchised restaurant in Vietnam. Service
is good and the staff can speak English. Food: Shrimp
hash fried on sugar cane and rice vermicelli wrapped with rice paper 110,000VD, Pho 55,000VD, Bun Cha 55.000VD, Hot
coffee with milk 32,000VD
Most of the street foods (shop besides the street and having no fancy decoration/ air con) are nice and sold under 50,000VD. Just walk in and point your finger to order.
Cha Ca – turmeric fish and herbs/spices (180,000VD per
person), I liked it but my partner complained of the small portion of fish. I
think I had most of the fish and left him with the 'leaves'. The price is expensive for single dish but it is unique in Hanoi. Note: air-conditioned restaurant
Minh Anh Hotel, US28.02. The hotel is not IN the center of tourist
spot. However, it is walkable. The decoration is great except the noise insulation
is bad. It was noisy as most hotels by the roadside in Hanoi have this problem.
The staffs and the breakfast are great. The hotel helped us book the Sapa train
ticket and allowed us to extend our stay without charge while waiting for our
night train. Overall, It is appreciated to allow extension of stay for travelers
taking the night train to Sapa.
Mango Hotel besides the train station, this is not the hotel
that I will stay a night. We checked into this hotel for a few hours rest and shower
after the night train from Sapa. Paradise bus picked us up from here at 8.15am.
The room is dark, noisy and old. 300,000VD.
Found this little gem in the noisy Hanoi city, Hanoi View 2
Hotel. Low price with great quality, 472,000VD. We stayed here for the last
night after returning from Halong Bay. The hotel is quiet and
clean. The location is not in the center (walkable) and near the train station (station bounding to
North).
Sapa
Getting to Sapa is a long journey via train and bus. We bought Livitrain ticket though Minh Anh Hanoi
hotel. The hotel charged us US350 (VIP cabin) for the ticket and service.
Fansipan View
Hotel, USD 69.44 for 3 days. The hotel gets good reviews in Agoda. The price is reasonable
and they arranged everything for us (free pickup from train station - one way, trekking
tour US35, shower and rest while waiting for bus to train station 50,000VD).
The host, Twin speaks good English and is very helpful. The facilities in the
room is a bit old, and our view of Fansipan is not that great as it was blocked by many buildings. The breakfast is quite oily me and the bread is not the French
baguette as expected. Overall, it is a good stay on budget.
Sapa is a small town with only a few main roads. Most of the
occupants in the town are not local as I found out that they are Vietnamese
from the city. I am lucky to visit this place before they are changed by
development.
We walked to Cat Cat Village. Twin advised us to take a guide but i think this trek is easy to venture on our own. Most people took the short
route direct to the waterfall. We took the long one.
On the second day, we went to Ta Phin Villlage.
Lunch is inclusive in the tour. Our lunch for both days, prepared by LalaL: instant pho and sandwich
Most of the meats tasted dried/over-cooked in Sapa, from
expensive restaurant to budget eateries. We found no fancy food here but the view is
great. We went to the best view restaurant, Bella Villa Restaurant. Some food on the menu: Countryside grilled fish 99,000, Pork caramel 95,000, Grilled
duck with honey 133,000, Local beef with ginger and lemon grass 145,000, Grilled
Sapa salmon 209,000, Steam rice - fish sauce and soya sauce 20,000, Carrot
juice 45,000, vietnamese traditional coffee 30,000
Little Sapa Restaurant, 18, Pho Cau May
Fresh beef spring roll 41,000, Fried mixed vegetable 43,000,
Grilled pork Sapa 69,000,Mango 28,000, The Manbo (mango, banana, milk, sugar) 33,000,
Fried seafood spring roll 49,000, Stir fried vegetable 38,000, Fried shrimp
banana 39,000, Sauted deer 96,000, water 9,000.
There were charges if we order steamed rice. We did not
order rice on the second visit as it came free with the dish.
Our hotel stay with Fansipan View Hotel came with breakfast. The breakfast is poor even though I read good review from TripAdvisor. I guess
those reviews are for non-free meals (lunch and dinner). Some of the offerings:
Vietnamese filter coffee 19,000, orange juice 32,000, Pineapple juice 25,000, chicken
sandwich with fried 65,000, Pasta 85,000, Fried rice (chicken, beef pork)
59,000. No lunch or dinner here as the breakfast is really disappointing.
Halong Bay
We booked ourselves 3D2N cruise on Paradise Luxury Cruise (US697.72).
The shared bus picked us up from Mango Hotel and drops us off at Hanoi View 2
Hotel (round trip costs US40 per person). The food and the program is great.
Set Lunch Menu: grilled beef
with lot leaf,rolled green lettuce, wok fried caramelized tiger prawn, baked oven
ha long geoducks in banana leaf, braised chicken thigh ginger and lemongrass,hot
and sour clams broth, stir fried seasonal vegetables
Non-stop buffet:
End of July 2013 holiday.
Before heading back to Singapore, another feast at Matang, Taiping with my family. Had unforgettable (non) Peking duck, adding to my body fat.