Day Six in Laos
12:36 PM
We woke up the next day and packed our luggage. Went down to have breakfast and checked out. Carine and Kristina took one bungalow while Angie and I took the other bungalow. Even though there was no television, the bed and the bathroom were simply the best among the three hotels that I have stayed in Laos.
But be warned, all these eco-lodgings always invite all sorts of insects. Thank goodness, I brought mosquito coils and insect repellent spray. Carine was a bit unhappy with the smell of the room and decided to head back to the previous hotel. Angie and I just stayed on simply because we are used to such surroundings and we love the view from our bungalow.
Alain, Sara and Kristina went trekking on their own while the three of us decided to have a slow and relaxing Thursday. The two girls were busy reading their books while I was on the laptop writing this journal for you guys. I ended up chuckling whenever I hear the goats’ bleat. It reminded me of a scene from Jurassic Park and I was always anticipating for tyrannosaurus rex to appear and whack the goats from across the river.
We had lunch at a small cafe which was showing F.R.I.E.N.D.S and we had a good time. I actually had pancakes for lunch as I was still full from breakfast. Carine decided to head back to the hotel to chill out on her own whereas Angie and I decided to venture further. We both badly needed a massage and finally found a decent place along the street.
For only 45,000 kip, I got myself a traditional Laos massage with oil while Angie had the foot, leg, neck and shoulder massage. And this was where my third highlight of the trip emerges. We both changed into shorts provided by the masseuse. One of the masseuses had already started to massage her foot while the other masseuse (a guy) came over to me and handed me a towel. He told me to change into that which I diligently did so.
Never in my wildest dream, had I ever imagined that a male masseuse would be massaging me. And sure thing, it did happen for the very first time. But he was very professional indeed as he didn’t even look at me or my body while massaging me. The traditional Laos massage is very different from the Thai version. You can feel the pressure from the masseuse’s thumb as he worked around the calves, thighs, lower back and shoulders.
He even unhooked my bra when he was massaging my back and hooked it again when he was done. Thank goodness I was facing down; I was trying to control my laughter. I think my love would faint to know that I had actually allowed another man to touch me, and what more to unhook my bra. But all was good and my body was aching no more after an hour. Both Angie and I highly recommend this massage parlour for both men and women alike. Its money well spent!
We shopped for awhile as I wanted to get some tube dresses from Laos. Managed to bargain for two dresses and I got them for only 100,000 kip. Angie also got a similar tube dress in a different colour. We got some snacks and drinks before heading back to our bungalow.
We rested before meeting the rest for dinner. I had been on the laptop, recalling every single moment of the Laos trip. I don’t want to procrastinate; like how I have completely not shared my experience in Philippines.
I simply couldn’t resist a pre-dinner snack in the form of a chocolate banana crepe before dinner. Simply marvellous! And did you know... the right way to pronounce crepe is 'crap'? It had me in stictches as I had been saying it all wrong for so long!
We met the rest at The Elephant Crossing Hotel’s lobby and exchanged our itineraries for the day. Alain, Sara and Kristina had gone trekking, caving, lounging by the river with Mojitos, saw some cows and buffaloes and sampled street food. In fact, we were supposed to go kayaking back to Vientiane. But just the fact that we have to do it for three hours sounded extremely tiring. We decided to forego that idea and have a lazy Thursday instead.
Dinner, as usual, was great because of the company that I had. And again, I couldn’t help thinking if only some of my friends were right here in Vang Vieng with me. Soaking in the cool starry night, laughter all around and having a good meal. As always, I remain...
Devotedly yours,
Cady McBronzie
Labels: friends, miscellaneous, sexciting, sexpectations
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Day Five in Laos
8:13 PM
We arrived in Vang Vieng at 6.30am and checked-in at The Elephant Crossing Hotel. We simply left our luggage on the floor, washed our feet and went to bed again. We didn’t even bother to get up and have breakfast as we were still very tired from the road trip.
By the time we woke up, we got ready for lunch and met Sara and Alain for our cave tour. Carine and Kristina didn’t join us and went around town by themselves. Our guide, Keo, was extremely friendly and able to converse with us in simple English. He drove the four of us to the Vientiane Province and we crossed over a bridge to see the caves.
The first cave was the Elephant Cave which was indeed fascinating because we did see an elephant statue in the cave. Around 10 years ago, it was said that the elephants would go to the cave to give birth to their young. And a footprint of the Buddha can be found in this cave too. There wasn’t a village surrounding that cave previously.
Chinese people came to Vang Vieng and got the Laos nationals to hunt the elephants for their tusks. And now, there are only around 100 elephants left and one white elephant, which now reside in a zoo that is located in between Vang Vieng and Vientiane.
We then made our way through a village and an open field to get to the next cave. We were at The Water Cave whereby we had to go tubing in order to see it. The water was cold but still bearable. It was a bit spooky but we spent around 30 minutes in the cave. We even took pictures when we were in it.
We managed to convince our guide to take us to another cave with the largest Buddha in it. We had to cross yet another field, climbed a barbed wire and it was yet another hiking expedition for us. Then, the guide fooled me into thinking that he got a cut as his hand was ‘bleeding’. It turned out that he was just playing a prank on me as he had rubbed some leaves that oozed red ‘blood’ on his fingers.
We then made our way to the cave and were amazed at how they managed to build the Buddha in such a confined space. After taking some pictures, we then made our way back across the bridge and went back to our hotel.
After a hot shower, we went to meet the rest of the ladies for dinner. We went next door to San Bai Restaurant for steak, BBQ chicken and beef lab. And I immediately fell in love with their bungalows. We asked if there was any available room for the following night. And the rate was only USD35 for the bungalow. I was sold on their concept and for a mere USD5 more than the current hotel that we were staying in, why not?
We got the owner to show us around and indeed, it was such a lovely place to stay in. We promised to come back the next day. She even allowed us to check in at 10.30am. And I can’t wait to come back for the second highlight of my trip.
And I had Chocolate Banana Crepe for dessert... mmm, yummy! As always, I remain...
Devotedly yours,
Cady McBronzie
Labels: friends, miscellaneous, sexciting, sexpectations
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Day Four in Laos
8:43 PM
I awoke the next morning with a very sore body. I could barely walk and my thighs were aching so badly. I decided to take it slow and easy and enjoy the day in Luang Prabang. After breakfast, we went to the tour agency to book a mini-van for the six of us. Our next destination was Vang Vieng.
Both Carine and I walked about to see if we could rent a scooter. And the bikes that they were renting were manual. Carine had difficulty riding it as she said that she was uncomfortable with it because it wasn’t the same as riding a Vespa.
She then decided to rent a bike and joined the rest for a cycling expedition. I went back to the guesthouse and decided to pack my luggage instead. I walked on my own and took some pictures. It was soon time for lunch and we met at the pizza restaurant at 1pm. Pizza was ok and for the fact that it was inexpensive, I could not really complain. And as usual, I only finished half of my food. The gang had the Lao beer and it only cost around USD1 for a bottle. Very cheap!
Angie, Sara and Kristina wanted to cycle to a textile shop while Carine and I went back to the guesthouse to catch up on more sleep. And Alain went to explore Luang Prabang on his own. By the time I woke up, it was time for us to get ready and leave for Vang Vieng.
We had a quick dinner at a French restaurant and waited for our designated driver to pick us up. We parted ways with Alex and his staff and we even took a picture with them. A night’s stay at Villa Chitdara will cost only USD30.
And once again, we had another adventurous drive to Vang Vieng as our driver was caught sleeping while driving! It was meant to be a six hour’s drive but it took us more than that as Carine and Kristina forced him to stop and sleep. It was such a bumpy and windy road and I was overwhelmed with motion sickness. And within 30 minutes, I had to ask the driver to stop by the roadside for me to puke.
And I wasn’t the only one who vomited on the road trip. As always, I remain...
Devotedly yours,
Cady McBronzie
Labels: friends, miscellaneous, sexciting, sexpectations
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Day Three in Laos
10:44 PM
The following morning, we got ready for our tour to the Elephant Mahout Camp. It was an hour’s ride to the camp and we were soon greeted by those massive giants. We were going to ride and bathe the elephants. It was something that I was looking forward to; it’s like being on Animal Discovery.
Angie and I rode the elephant on a two-seater carriage and our mahout (elephant care-taker) was so adorable. He didn’t understand a word of English and when we asked for his name, he gave us the elephant’s name. He even laughed at us when we were squealing whenever the elephant was going up and down the slopes. He offered if either one of us wanted to ride the elephant but we declined because it was simply too scary.
Our mahout even disappeared twice as he went for his smoke break. Imagine our horror when we had to instruct the elephant to move forward without the mahout. But thank goodness, the elephant was obedient whenever we nudged it with a “Pai! Pai!” (Move forward). We even had pit stops as our elephant was constantly hungry and ate whenever it had the opportunity.
Once we got back to the camp, we bought bananas and fed our elephant. And then, we headed to a stream and each of us rode an elephant with its mahout. Again, imagine my horror as there was no rope whatsoever and I had to cling on for my dear life. The mahout asked if I was ok, to which I reply “Err, no... Please hold on to me!” And the cheeky mahout instructed the elephant to “Bone! Bone!” (Spray water) and dunked itself and me in the water. It was really funny especially when my elephant passed motion in the stream and its crap drifted towards the others.
To me, the elephant camp was one of the many highlights of the entire trip. Something that I’ve always been meaning to do but never got around to doing it. I have fulfilled yet one of my many desires in life.
We went back to town and grabbed a quick lunch – a jam donut for me. We then made our way to Khuang Xi Waterfall. Much to our dismay, it started to rain the moment we reached there. But we still went in to view one of God’s wonderful creations on Earth. It was an awesome sight to behold and the water was so chillingly clear. It would have been perfect if only we had arrived much earlier during the day to dip in.
We decided to hike a little bit (in the rain!) and trudged on despite the slight downpour. I hiked in my Crocs and honestly speaking, I was a bit petrified that I might slip and fall while hiking. But I went on despite my fear, to spur the best friend. Angie slipped and fell twice and then, she didn’t want to hike any further. And my mobile was soaked in rainwater... gee, what a great excuse to buy a new phone ;)
I decided to turn back and return to our starting point. Going down was the biggest challenge of them all. I almost slipped on the way down and decided to sit down and move slowly, using my butt and hands, one at a time. And thanks to that, I think my mobile was soaked in rain water and mud and now, it’s beyond repair! Finally, when we were on safe grounds... guess who fell on her buttocks? I have earned a few scratches on my right leg, a sore butt and a bruised right palm.
Both Angie and I managed to hitch a ride on a Thai tour bus that dropped us at the entrance and waited for the rest to come back. We simply sat at one of the cafes and had hot drinks and snacks. We were both drenched from head to toe. I ended up buying a pair of pants so that it could at least keep me warm on the way back to the tour agency.
The moment we reached our room, we took a hot shower and changed into dry clothes. We slept for awhile and then, went shopping again at the night market. Both Angie and I decided to shop together as we wanted to get similar things for a better price. We both got those hand sewn fitted sheets sets for our respective families. And I managed to get some souvenirs for the relatives and colleagues.
We met up with the rest of the gang and made our way to a local bar called Lao Garden. They had Tiger Beer and both Angie and I explained to them that Tiger Beer is actually from Singapore. We even told them about “What time is it?” and they laughed when I told them whenever either of them asked us about the time, I was always tempted to reply “It’s Tiger time.”
Lao actually has a curfew and that all of them need to be home by midnight. Shops normally close at 9pm and pubs would close around 11.30pm to allow their staff to be home on time. The reason why they enforce the curfew is that the monks will walk every morning for alms. And these folks need to be awake by 4.30am every day. As always, I remain...
Devotedly yours,
Cady McBronzie
Labels: friends, miscellaneous, sexciting, sexpectations
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Day Two in Laos
7:44 PM
We arrived in Luang Prabang at around 7.30am and were greeted by the guesthouse’s driver. We checked in Villa Chitdara, a guesthouse that was run by a Laos national who was raised in France. Nice chap by the name of Alex and he was very accommodating throughout our three days’ stay in Luang Prabang. We had breakfast and after our shower, we walked on the streets on the search for a good massage parlour.
We managed to find a good spot which charged us 130,000 kip (USD15) for a two-hour full body massage which included a body scrub and steam bath. We felt so rejuvenated after the massage and went looking for a good restaurant to have lunch. We found a garden restaurant and just enjoyed the company and good food. We booked our tours for the following day and bought wines for dinner.
After a quick nap in the afternoon, we went to the night market and did some shopping. The makeshift stalls were managed by all sorts of people. I only bought from young children and old ladies. I didn’t bargain much as the things were relatively inexpensive. The smiles on their faces are indeed priceless when I handed them money with a “Khob Chai La Lai” (Thank you very much in Laos).
We bought some snacks and had our very own candlelight dinner at the guesthouse’s garden. I even brought spicy tuna to share with them but alas, they cannot handle the spice level. There was pizza, potato chips, chicken salad, baguettes, mangoes and pineapples and of course, red wine.
We had so much fun that night and Angie was busy snapping pictures of us in the dark. For a moment, it reminded me of my friends in Singapore and how much fun we would have if only they had been here with me in Luang Prabang. As always, I remain...
Devotedly yours,
Cady McBronzie
Labels: friends, miscellaneous, sexciting, sexpectations
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Adventures in Laos with the best friend
8:03 PM
As of 30 April 2009, I’m now seating in a patio overlooking the Nam Sun River and gigantic mountains on the other side. This is the laidback life in Vang Vieng. It is truly relaxing and I am soaking in every minute of it. Here I am, sharing with you, the wonderful adventure that I am experiencing in Lao with the best friend, an American and three Lebanese.
Sometime in January 2009, I was discussing with the best friend (let’s call her Angie) if she was keen on a vacation in Lombok. It would have been a luxurious vacation and we would love it. Due to my hectic work schedule, I couldn’t make it and promised to join her for any other vacation when time permits.
And not too long after, Angie informed me that her cousin is now working in Laos and had asked to visit her. It’s a country that neither of us would have thought of visiting and we jumped on the chance. I mean, why not. We’ve got nothing to lose (except for some bumps and bruises and my mobile!) anyway and we certainly would enjoy the new raw experience.
Laos is a country whose neighbours are Thailand and Cambodia. It’s hot and humid here but sometimes, it’s windy and cooling at night. But the view from our hotel rooms is something that I’d trade for the view from my HDB flat. You see the clouds amongst the mountains and the greenery is so breathtaking. The water may not be clear at this point of time but the coldness was so refreshingly inviting against the smouldering heat.
Day One
We met the two Lebanese ladies at Kuala Lumpur’s LCCT on Saturday morning. It was hilarious as I was busy scanning the terminal for two ang mohs with backpacks. Whenever I saw a brunette and a blonde, I’d nudge Angie and asked if it were them. Finally we met Carine and Kristina while waiting to board the plane. Very pretty and friendly ladies... and I knew that they were going to be great company during our trip.
We arrived in Vientiane around noon and Sara (Angie’s cousin) greeted us at the airport. After exchanging our US currency for Laos' kip, we went to the town and had lunch by the Mekong River. We went back to Sara’s place and were introduced to her Lebanese boyfriend, Alain. We freshened up a bit and headed out to some tourist spots. We were introduced to a temple in Laos and noticed that Laos' architecture was greatly influenced by the French colony. We sampled sticky rice and seasonal fruits along the streets. I had fresh hot soya bean curd with ginger and it tasted really good (minus the ginger of course!). We dropped by Sara’s office as she needed to finish up some work before we left for our week long vacation.
Dinner was at the popular Joma’s Cafe where we all had sandwiches. And then, it was a quick dash for Sara’s place where we showered and left for the bus station. We needed to catch the 8pm bus to Luang Prabang. It was rather unfortunate that our bus’ air-con system was not functioning properly and the seats were uncomfortable. It was a painful 11-hours ride, it could have been more and I wasn’t counting. Until then, I remain...
Devotedly yours,
Cady McBronzie
Labels: friends, miscellaneous, sexciting, sexpectations
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I am a woman, giving birth to myself
9:50 PM
I know it has been a very long time since I last updated the blog. I have fairly reasonable excuses why I didn't log in to Blogger. But ever since I came back from my Laos trip, I am more rested and certainly, in a blissful mood.
I have been telling myself not to fret over irrelevant things. My life is too short for the unhappiness and distress that I brought upon myself. During my vacation, I was away from work and family and began the recharging process. I was thinking more clearly and soon, I garnered the inspiration to write.
***
Reason No.1: I'm sick and tired of people informing me what not to post onlinea) This blog is registered under my name. I
do write as I please.
b) I can't
talk write about the people whom I am unhappy with.
c) What's with local companies not allowing you to post pictures or write about them? What's so scandalous about them? Do I need to seek permission from the highest authority before I post an entry?
Reason No.2: My love lifea) Whether I am dating a particular person (or not), my love life is honestly not your business. Which couple does not go through quarrels? Which couple does not make up after a heart-to-heart talk? Which couple decides to go the distance? Which couple decides to end it once and for all?
b) Whether I get married at 30, 40 or not at all, is also not your business. My parents are not making a big fuss. Why should you?
c) And I don't make it a point to show off The Boyfriend unnecessarily. I may not be destined to be with him. Might as well keep the love life low-key.
d) Rumours can really screw things up; enough said.
Reason No.3: Work!Of late, my temper has gotten worse. I would certainly start cussing when I put down the phone or read a ridiculous email. The last thing I need when I get home is to stare at yet another screen.
***
All the negativities aside, I'm a new me. Let's get down to business., shall we? I shall first update you all on my Laos trip. Remember to check out this space real soon ok. Until then, I remain...
Devotedly yours,
Cady McBronzie
Labels: indignation, miscellaneous, sexciting
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Me So Busy Leh!
8:53 PM
Just because I'm busy with work
(new branding campaign!) and having to meet my new doctor @National Skin Centre, it doesn't mean that I should neglect my blog. Sorry ah! Now that I have my own mini notebook, you can expect slight improvements in the updates :)
My extremely clustered workstationAnd I just wanted a good excuse to post this picture! The papparazzi is at it again and he decided to snap my picture yesterday morning. I simply love this picture because it captured me at the best time of the day, early morning when I ain't that grouchy and the make-up was still intact.
Until the next interesting event that happens in my life, take care y'all! Will spare time to really share my wonderful Philippines trip and perhaps my medical condition. As always, I remain...
Devotedly yours,
Cady McBronzie
Labels: hot off the press, miscellaneous
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Cady's New Toy
7:51 PM
I've been eyeing the mini-notebook since late last year. And finally, the offer was simply irresistible and with just a click of the mouse, it's all mine baby!
The golden brown Acer Aspire oneA bit challenging with the 8.9" screen but all in all, it's F-A-N-T-A-S-T-I-C!! Have downloaded all the important programmes and I'm hooked on this baby every single night ;)
As always, I remain...
Devotedly yours,
Cady McBronzie
Labels: hot off the press, miscellaneous, sexciting
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Playing Dress-Up!
7:40 PM
If I ever become a mother
(Insya'allah), I would love to have girls because I yearn to dress them up in pretty pink dresses and stockings, etc. And with girls, you can just grab some old grubby outfits in your wardrobe and dress them up in minutes!
She was the Hawaiian girl
Then, she was in a itsy-bitsy black bikini... Ooh La La!
Alas, she was the urban chick in a tube dress ;)And with two lil nieces in the family, I always took the opportunity to dress up the elder one whenever she comes over for a visit. With my sister as the photographer, Put Put really knows how to work for the camera :)
All clothes are courtesy of yours truly. So vain at such a young age eh... hahahaha! As always, I remain...
Devotedly yours,
Cady McBronzie
Labels: family, miscellaneous, sexciting
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My extremely clustered workstation
The golden brown Acer Aspire one
She was the Hawaiian girl
Then, she was in a itsy-bitsy black bikini... Ooh La La!
Alas, she was the urban chick in a tube dress ;)
