Mui Ne Sunrise Sand Dunes

Amazing Unknown?

Few years ago, I developed a therapy on recovering fast from any breakup by listening to pop, reggae, disco or rock music. 

I can get myself lost with music just by dancing and swaying until I get tired and immediately sleep like a baby once my head hit the pillow. 

Today, I am back to that mood listening to Desmeon’s Undone song, dancing with it as it reverberated in my room, hopefully no complaints lodge against me to the management of The Manor Residence.  I just moved in, so I don’t know who my neighbors are yet. :-) 

After few years jumping from one assignment to another, mostly north and central Vietnam, I am back to Saigon. 

A pilot friend once told me, pilots life can be challenging the fact that they kept moving from one place to another every six months. He said it can be lonely with family far from them.

And what’s that got to do with me? I mentioned that because I felt that my career in the hospitality industry is no difference at all.  

Every now and then I kept moving, shortest was two months. For single like me, it has a plus and minus. The plus is the perks are good.  As an Asian woman I am way more lucky among others, I can afford to travel wherever I want and be as posh as I can without worries. 

The minus is, I can’t established real friendship or relationship and it can get lonely after work. I miss those days I have someone who gives me the attention I needed, someone I can laugh and play with like a child. Or a group of friends that I can hang out with.

As I grow older though I become matured in handling situations like this.  I always look at the positive side otherwise I’ll be overwhelmed with loneliness after work. 

Surprisingly, I’ve learned few things about myself too. My relationships, all failed I guess (lol) ranged from most gentle to the most unstable with very interesting challenges in between that made me realize my mistakes. 

It taught me what my journey was all about. 

I have been blessed to enjoy the luxury and privileged of having someone to think of. I said privilege because no matter how unstable things were, I’ve learned how to appreciate the beauty  of its experience which we could not always have. 

I know my women friends will disagree on that but be kind ladies! I’ve learned how to be gentle to myself with those experience. It made me think of the unknown (on a personal journey) to be amazing.  

Why? Number one, I know men are complicated and I have learned how to be patient with them. I’ve learned how to respect and let go.  Though I must admit recently was a real struggle, with six times times goodbye (lol), but I did respect his wishes.  I let him be happy without my existence knowing he found himself already.  I miss my “kiddo” title though lol. 

I’ve learned how to be sexy and confident around men even without make up :-). I’ve learned how to communicate my pain without offending anybody. And most of all I’ve learned how to love. :-)

What I haven’t learned yet is to keep my mouth shut when I am with a man (lol). What I am saying is this quote “less is more, more is less”.  Me, when happy or overwhelmed tend to talk more which I realize it makes me less desirable of a woman. :-)

Anyway, it’s a beautiful learning experience for me. And now I am singing and dancing Desmeon’s Undone song which perhaps, for few weeks will be reverberating in my room’s wall after work.  My soul is free and I look forward to the unknown, whatever would that be, I am sure it would be amazing!  

KIWI, PEANUTS AND RAISIN LOOK ALIKE

What’s your definition of FUN? Mine is Kiwi, Peanuts and “raisin looks alike soft tissue.” For whatever that means just leave the description that way.  I can’t afford to be explicit! 

 I have second thoughts of writing this because I know there are repercussions of all the write ups I have here. But since I became single almost four years ago, I opened my life in public.  And my point is, you’re in my blog, so it’s my world!   

  

THE ONLY FRUIT IN THE FRIDGE

I must admit it’s crazy to share this to you but I tell you anyway.  One lazy afternoon, I wanted to do something new and exciting but there were only Kiwi and peanuts on the fridge. Boredom may have hit me hard because the sliced kiwi and preserved peanuts landed lining up on top of a warm soft organism.  Coupled with raisin looked alike thing, clothes were sprawled all over the floor. 

  

SEND ME RUNNING AWAY

I was having so much fun that I couldn’t get over the thoughts of Kiwi, peanuts and raisin look alike thing even when I went to bed. There were times my thoughts drifted back to kiwi, peanuts and raisin look alike thing bringing silly smile on my face.  I lost focus and I didn’t know it until my assistant told me “Ms you’re quiet but I am not worried you’re not happy with my work because you are smiling”.   

I thought someone splashed water on me. I get paranoid thinking maybe it was only me who was having fun that I get rejected for another kiwi adventure. 

My paranoia escalated to the issue of women’s expiry that I was so quick to jump on the plane out heading south even ahead of schedule. I had butterflies on my stomach pushing me to grab any changes laid down for me.  All I had in mind was to run as far as I could. 

WORRIES LANDED ME TO VARIOUS MEDICAL CHECK

The word rejection is the greatest fear of my life even when I was a kid. Then pressure from work started hitting hard on me plus the worries on its chain reaction to my body and the potential incapacity of being a woman. I was lucky that my tough experience in life taught me to usually address issues logically. I thought I couldn’t run away on scientific facts of a human body, just like how I hide in every failed relationship. I was scared to listen to any doctors diagnosis but the pressure from work and personal struggle was too much of a torture.  I thought if I couldn’t get hold of my thoughts it might kill me the next day, so I went running to various doctor’s clinics. 

In six hours I spent over a thousand dollars. But what is money compared to the peace of mind that it brought me.  The smile on my face and my passion to vlog came back. I am, afterall, still a woman. Rejected maybe but knowing I can still be beautiful and healthy was enough for me to hit my high heels intelligently in the corporate world.       

THE MORE I DENY THE MORE IT ATTRACTS ME 

True, I run away but I still long for my friend’s presence playing kiwi, laugh at his jokes and the banter of sarcastic remarks.  It was just for fun but I woke up one day confused having difficulty figuring out the difference between desire and love.  I drove myself crazy at work 300 times more than my normal activities.  I contacted all my remaining friends in Saigon, hang around with them after work and getting only a total of 4 to 5 hours rest. I didn’t pause until migraine started banging my head hard.  Worse, my brain in between work won’t shut off remembering kiwi, peanuts, talking, hugging and laughters like broken vinyl played all over again. The more I deny how I feel, the more I long for the good times.  

FLOAT AND LET SITUATION HANDLE IT

There’s a plus and minus to be in your 40s. The plus side is you will be more matured to deal with the situation. 

Women can easily fall in love with men especially if the connection and physical activities are there.  

The fact that I am craving every single thing about him I know I am falling into the trap that I set in.  I thought my goal was just to have fun but I was having so much fun I guess that I fall for the guy.  Falling in love supposedly is a beautiful feeling but the more I kept saying no, it’s not happening the more I felt crap.  The butterflies in my stomach won’t leave until I told myself I will just float, surrender myself and let the situation handle the situation itself. I will express how I feel but let the Universe handle it.  Funny it did work, decisions were just handed to me like silver platter and I don’t get that shitty feeling.  The Universe was like an angel to me even giving me the chance to let what I had in my chest out, on my birthday! It was like a birthday present too!     

TWISTED REALITY

Being independent as a woman is a power.  I can do what I want. I have this perception that I can play fire with any man I like without my emotions getting trapped.  I did play fire even the red flag was visibly blocking infront of me.  My attitude was like, friends with benefit I can just walk out without getting attached. But that was a real bullshit, the more I deny, the more I set the trap, the more I get trapped. I get vulnerable and weak.   There’s no such thing as being tough without feeling anything. I have to go to a process of surrendering myself to whatever was handed to me.  It was so unlike of me though to just hand my ego to what the Universe prepared for me. But take it from me, if you want peace of mind then let the situation handle it for you. I stop depriving myself of what makes me happy. Now I am chilled, I can hit the keyboard and vlog!  

FEAR/APPRECIATION

I thought I’ll start a journal on my blog because I don’t know what’s there ahead of me.  For all I know, I will accidentally lost my balance while standing, trip off and hit my head on the floor and never wake up forever, so you have my blog to read.

I was walking next to Sandra and I saw everyone was looking at us.  I thought “wow” I am a head turner now?  However, that was not the case I was walking with a tall good looking western lady, so everyone is ogling. I told Sandra I am not going to walk next to her as I look like a hobbit next to her and someone might tell me to shave my feet!

Sandra is in her late twenties and I’m already in my 40’s but we had wonderful time together. We laughed at everything, finding joke even from simple seafood we saw at the wet market. We shared pictures of our dream guys, sexy hot photos of celebrities and laugh at it.  I was like in my twenties too which was a good break from my normal serious routine. 

I shared my greatest fear which is dying. I don’t know why all of the sudden sometimes I have this crazy thoughts about “what if I die, I can’t see everyone anymore.”   I didn’t think of anything but all of the sudden it just pop up. It’s one of the reasons as well, why I don’t read posts in facebook about people who died.  

Sandra was too nice in giving me inspirational link to read in accepting our fears. Although, I can’t still accept the fact that we are heading towards the destination of being buried 30 feet under the ground. I know everyone will die. But I just had that fear. The reason I wrote this journal is because maybe tomorrow I won’t wake up anymore, at least you all know.  I have enjoyed my youth and I appreciate the love and care of my family, my siblings whom I often talk on the phone and my nephew and nieces whom I always joke around with.

I also appreciate the people that made me happy from friends to lovers. To Paul, my ex, who never forget to greet me a happy birthday in advance. I am surprised you remember me actually. But thank you. I know you will read my blog and I am glad you do. 

My appreciation as well for that one person that makes me happy nowadays, I won’t mention names but I know that you knew who you are. No matter how short our time is, I love every minute of it. Thank you for letting me be myself when I am with you. 

Alright that's my journal for this day.   

REALIZATION (The woman in me)

    GUTS

I don’t know where to start because this is such a painful reality for me as a woman but a realization triggered me to write this.

Let’s start from my early years back home. Everyone knows me as a type of person who doesn’t give a damn, tough and outspoken. Somehow, it’s true.  But I must tell you it’s not inborn in me. I acquired that in the course of my former career being in the frontline chasing news.

I dreamt of joining campus beauty pageant but I am not tall and beautiful. I am close to being a hobbit with big nose, so I invested my focus in joining sports activities to get popular. I gave my full attention in training to be a volleyball setter which paved way for me to get a varsity scholarship program.

I dreamt of becoming a flight stewardess but the requirements were quite high. Again, must be tall and beautiful. I only have guts and brain, so I focused on my strength instead.  My guts for chasing news where I stand fearless covering conflict, get embedded by military troops and be a witnessed of how an exchange of gunfire felt like. It was dangerous but I loved it, treating danger like a piece of cake.

My guts and brain brought me to SouthEast Asian borders. I was the only reporter who was at the camp of Nuon Chea (Khmer Rouge Brother Number 2) when United Nations declared to put him on trial for the “killing fields” in Cambodia. With an interpreter paid by SouthEast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA) I disguised myself as a Filipino teacher wanting to teach the kids in the camp of Nuon Chea.   

Fresh from College, I was selected to undergo the fellowship program of SEAPA, bringing journalist from ASEAN countries to conduct investigative journalism based in Bangkok.  It was my first experience overseas. I was young and fearless to cross the jungles of the border between Thailand and Cambodia.  I slept in one of the houses of Khmer Rouge leader’s camp in Pailin with a scared interpreter who almost gave me away as undercover trainee journalist.

    INSECURITY BRINGS OUT THE BEST OF MY CAREER 

Today when I think of those days, I can understand those people who hate me or described me as a “bitch.” I was tough, not afraid to expose anomalies. Perhaps if you are in my shoes with so much insecurities of my physical appearance then you would understand. I just covered my insecurities with whatever strength I discovered of myself.

The world is cruel and always unfair, so I have to grab every opportunity that can make me a person I wanted to be. If I can’t be popular with being “Miss Beautiful” then I can be the “Miss Achiever”. 

This is the same in joining the business world.  Shifting 360 degrees from my former career, I have to pitch myself to get into this industry.  Vietnamese are biased with Asian managers. I look like Vietnamese, so they expect me to be young and beautiful which I am not.

 Basic golden rule in the hospitality, we are facing visitors so, we “can’t be old” otherwise I have to speak their language to be able to get a job.   Good Lord, I only have two to three Vietnamese words and I am getting older but here I am still working in the hospitality industry in Vietnam. I was able to swim gracefully in a very challenging environment. 

 SACRIFICING PERSONAL LIFE

To manage properties, they prefer white looking person, European or French specifically.  But you can see, from height to my tongue nothing resembles to that requirement. I am dwarf with Asian face full of wrinkles already. If I can only replace my face with Barbie doll’s face, I did it already. But I would look weird, imagine a Barbie doll face with brown skin, dwarf and fat.  It doesn’t match, does it? 

To be able to swim gracefully in a challenging environment it has consequences, a dead personal life. Unknowingly, I slowly killed my personal life. It’s so hard to get into where I am now that I was willing to to do everything that hinder my way. I thought my prince charming will still be there for me.  But one day, I woke up with a partner who already hated me. 

I remembered wearing a body fit dress to go with my 7-inches high heeled shoes to please my former partner.  But I was to be on the motorbike and I wasn’t happy about it. In the Philippines, we don’t go on motorbike if we are dressed up, so to show my unhappiness I walked out, get on the taxi and ignored his plea. I got his label of “taxi queen” which started the long war that ended the six years of relationship we built.

During our final moment, I remembered seeing hatred in his eyes as we sat on the couch discussing how we go through in taking a break from everything. A mutual understanding but deep inside it tore me apart.  I know it was painful for him too, so we both managed to be friends until the time we haven’t heard from each other. Can’t point a finger, I was part to be blamed.  

I always thought of my career as my strength that I am not scared of letting go of anything. I know I am not beautiful but I can pitch myself. I know too that I can get a boyfriend despite not having the looks I desired. But my perspective had changed. Maybe it’s because I am getting older?  I go on a date but I can’t enjoy if a man asks a lot of personal questions. 

 UNAVAILABILITY  

 I went on a date and it ended up me sarcastically asking the guy if I was on a job interview. Then another dinner date with one of our guests who was hitting on me.  But it ended up a disappointment. The guy was head over heels with the “COO” title.  I am not naïve and innocent, I wasn’t desired as a beautiful woman but an Asian woman with a title of COO which for him “a cool job”. 

I felt sad on the fact that no one had ever seen how sweet, loving and funny I can be. It came to a point that I gave up my desire to be with a man. Though one day, I met someone and from an unexpected turn of events, I felt special and desired.   I felt being loved and understood. Not one personal question was asked. All were laughter and desire. I was romantically knocked off my feet. The connection was surreal, yet I don’t see him. 

 He is unavailable. You might say I am crazy but I am contented. The situation suits me well. I can’t get distracted with adjustments from work.

I can’t bear the thoughts of repeating those days I have to give pressure to taxi drivers just to get me home on time or I got to explain like a novel why I kept someone waiting. Or a repeat of those nights when I get heavily criticized like I was the worse person on earth for answering work calls at 2am.

I am emotionally unavailable myself, so an equal of this situation makes it perfect for me. 

     TIME CLOCK TICKING

I was high with contentment until I get slapped with a statement on woman’s sexuality and man’s virility Women’s sexuality dies with menopause while men last forever. In short, women have its expiry! The night I heard that statement, I cried to my sleep. It was the saddest statement I ever heard. I was crying like someone died. I felt so alone that I get scared of going to sleep thinking I won’t wake up the following day anymore. Culturally, I was taught that looks and sexuality are women’s best assets.

I don’t have that so called “looks” and now sexuality will be gone, so what’s my use?   The fact that I couldn’t enjoy all, I thought I might as well not long for anyone. It was a painful realization for me but I know it’s true. Women do expire while no time clock ticking for men.  All they need is money and stability and it’s a guarantee that hundreds of younger women in Asia will come flocking to them.

To write this down is hard enough already how much more to post this online. But I thought I will since it can’t be avoided anyway. Face the hard truth. Cry, be sad, do all to release everything.

Also, l did this for those young ambitious business women hoping they will start considering now on what they really want in life, a career or a family life?  A woman cannot have both. We are built to bear children, raise kids and take care of our family. It’s the essence of being a woman.

And to think too that it’s impossible to change a situation or to change a man.  Our power is limited within ourselves. We can change ourselves but not others. So think about it now before the sunset of life catches up with you. My clock is ticking and I am almost there. I must admit I am a bit scared. I don’t know if my guts and brain will still hold me standing. 

Having said that I’ll close this by saying, you have my blog to read, FEEL FREE to judge me.     

UP IN THE AIR: HALONG BAY

Tuan Chau Island, it glitters?

Bat Trang Village highlights pottery making class (I got humiliated)

How typhoon Doksuri was ignored

Us adding more sandbags to neutralize the impact of the
strong current of water to the resort's concrete walkway.

 Who cares about typhoon Doksuri? Try asking our Vietnamese guests in the resort and they will probably say, “rain or shine, typhoon or not we have activities to follow.”  

While my team and I were running all over preparing for the impact of the typhoon, our Vietnamese guests tried swimming in the beach.  Funny how people think sometimes, they knew the current was strong and they still don’t care.   They don’t have idea how worried we were for them.  The security had to chase them away from the beach. 

Our  Vietnamese guests whom if not being watched will
sneak in to the beach and swim.  

Just to let them enjoy their holiday without causing us problem, we cordoned them around the swimming pool area. And we had to have security on standby because if you don’t watch them they will run to the beach and swim, like a herd of kids.

Put it this way, if our western guests were hiding in the room, our Vietnamese guests were everywhere, letting us chase them away from danger. They don’t care how strong the current was or how the wind can swept them away to the ocean.

That's how strong the current was.

At night, while it was raining they just put on a raincoat and hang around the swimming pool for the party.   They just ignored typhoon Doksuri.  Some of our western guests commented they can’t believe how tough the Vietnamese face the situation that No typhoon, rain or wind can stop their activities.

And because they are inhouse guests we cannot do anything but ignored typhoon Doksuri too. We have to watch them while taking care of the property.  It was a long day for us working in the hotel. I feel sorry for my team but it’s our duty to ensure safety of our guests. 

Our guests don't have a clue how happy they made us when they already went to their room.

 For hotelier like us, it’s an achievement to be able to put the guest safely in their room in rough time like this. 

What to do in Halong Bay

How thick is your skin to be in Youtube?

Are you a vlogger? If not, here’s the thing you should know before joining the crazy world of Youtube.  I have signed up Youtube long time ago but my account was not really active until I joined the vlogger’s world recently.

At first, I thought it was easy. Imovie is free, on default with Iphone, so I posted videos I made from old photos.  But I got criticized how crappy the videos were, so after two uploads I stopped. 

However, I’ve seen few viewers even my videos were crap, so I thought I will try again. 

Recently, a friend of mine told my guests I was escorting to Hai Au office to buy plane tickets back to Hanoi that my videos were improving.  That compliment was a real motivation especially that the only tool I have is just an Iphone. It’s not even 4K and not so big space to store music, photos and videos.

Anyway, here’s my difficulty as a beginner.

1.     Equipment- I want subscribers in Youtube, so it’s a must to have good quality of videos but I am only using my phone without 4K quality of videos.

2.       Content– I want people to engage in my videos, so I need to spend enormous time after work thinking of good content. A content that has purpose for people to get interested.

3.       Consistency – I want fast growing number of viewers and subscribers, so it’s a must to be consistent with my uploads

4.       Investment – to come up with good content I need to invest equipment and time (no more dates for me as my night is already taken from editing and finding content on my days off). OMG, I can’t believe I am taken! Where’s my freedom now?!  

5.       Thick skin – I have to wear a thick skin not to be affected by criticism because the internet world is quite big and a lot of haters out there.  I can delete messages criticizing my videos but dislikes nope, so I adopted the “who cares” attitude otherwise if I won’t, I better give up before people hiding in the internet kills my self-esteem.  

6.       Eat Healthy and exercise regularly – I slept late, so I need all those before I get sick.   

7.       Patience – I always make sure I have this otherwise with criticism and limited equipment I quit already.

Now, if you are ready to face all of that then join us in the crazy world of Youtube.  If you are a beginner with very limited equipment like me, then apply patience.  I am still confident that one day I can make a break- through with Youtube. I am taking it as a positive challenge.  Trust me, when I got seven subscribers, I thought I will throw a party already. You may laugh at it because seven is nothing to you as a vlogger. 

But for beginners like me, it’s a big achievement already!  See you in the vlogging world of Youtube! 

BLOG vs VLOG banner captions

        Eight years ago I’ve created this blog as I wrote a diary which I could not sustain.  I only jot down my thoughts when I feel like writing, so I decided to just create a blog that I can publicly share. The URL itself explains what was in my thoughts when I signed up for this. 

       My nickname is Mic-Mic but some of my close friends call me Mickey, so I formed mickey-friends-places-events because I love traveling, meeting people and embracing culture and adventures. My nickname plus my passion equals the birth of my URL. The banner Colors of Vietnam- Asia was born because most of the stories are in Vietnam.

      Anyway, quite recently I found a new passion which is video editing, documenting my experience using IOS. Apple’s Imovie application is quite handy and since it was installed in my phone I thought I might as well use it. By just one video and I get addicted already. 

      I spent my sleepless night video editing and exploring social media, so I decided to instead join the Vloggers world to have direction of my videos.

      Having said that, I’ve created a "GOING PLACES" banner for my Youtube channel as my videos are all about documenting my travel. The culture, food and adventures that I will embrace will be captured in videos. I am passionate of what I am doing, so I know one day I can share to you good video copies.  

      Life is a journey, let's make it colorful!   

What else to do in Cao Bang?

I went to Cao Bang and landed at Chinese Border!

Cao Bang Trip, treading on Chinese borders

Hey everyone!

As I’ve promised in my Youtube video here’s the details of my trip to Cao Bang, visiting one of Asia’s most beautiful waterfalls. 

I cannot afford to get off work longer than my official day off, so I hired a private car for two days. 

It costs me $200USD which is a bit pricey against the normal charges.
However, if I calculate the destinations I visited it’s quite cheap already.

I visited three destinations in Cao Bang and because cars can access the road, so it was a door to door drop off and pick up in three attractions. 

I did not take the Hanoi route because I started the trip from Tuan Chau, Halong.  The routes we were using were all Chinese borders from Tuan Chau, Campha, Langson and Phuc Hoa, a total of 303 kilometers.   The green mountain landscape though were unending, so the 8-hour drive was not boring at all.  My eyes were used to seeing busy city environment and beaches. To see the beauty of the mountains were quite a big break to my eyes. 

I left Tuan Chau at 6:30AM and there’s no stopping for lunch, so we arrived almost 3pm.  I said no stopping for lunch because there’s no decent place to have lunch.  There were few restaurant outlets along the road but all of them were catering truck drivers, so not really conducive for tourists. I was just lucky I have fruits, chocolates and cookies with me, so it was enough to sustain until nighttime.

Ban Gioc closes at 6pm and so does Nguom Ngao

Cave, so the trip was a bit rush since I only have three hours.  We went first to Ban Gioc waterfall before heading to Nguom Ngao cave which was a mistake for the likes of me who was squeezing time schedule.  5:30pm the lights inside the cave was turned off already.  Exploring the cave would take at least 30 minutes and in the absence of lights you cannot enjoy the beauty of the stalactite and stalagmite formation. In my case 10 minutes I entered the cave, lights turned off and it was so dark already. I was just depending on the flashlight which was not good in videos and photos, so I decided to go back and not explore deeper the cave.  I suggest if you will be squeezing time, visit first Nguom Ngao and move to Ban Gioc waterfall. 

After exploring the two destinations I headed back to Cao Bang center where I booked a room to stay overnight.  The following day, we headed to Suoi Le-nin which is an hour away from Cao Bang center.  If you start your journey from Hanoi on a private car you can pass by Suoi Le-nin using the Babe Lake route. 

In my case, the driver has to go back Cao Bang center as we were heading back to Halong.  There were public buses from Hanoi or from Halong going to Cao Bang but it’s all about time. If you are like me chasing time, then you can’t make it in two days. You need at least 5 days enough to explore using all public transport. That if you want cheaper options.  The entry to the destinations not that expensive, 30,000VND each for Ban Gioc and Nguom Ngao while 25,000VND for Suoi Le-nin. 

As for hotels in Cao Bang, no need to worry so much because there were not a lot of tourists in the area. I can assure you there are always rooms available if you just walk in. One suggestion though, since the place is really mountainous then scooter is a good option. You can rent a scooter from Cao Bang. It is much handy if you intend to stop for video or photo shoot. 

The attractions in Cao Bang are worth spending your time.  I even wanted to stay longer and explore other destinations nearby but like I said I cannot afford to stay away long from work.    My trip was a bit rush but I still enjoy the breathtaking scenery.   You can see it from my Youtube video.  I only use my iphone and it was not even bad.  How much more if you see it by yourself? If you have questions or you want more details you can send me an email at gmorientalsaigon@gmail.com. I hope that helps. Cheers!

Cat Ba National Park, beware of mosquitoes!

Cat Ba on Scooter, Stunning View!

Best Sunset view in Cat Ba

I AM THAT DESPERATE!

Hello everyone!

I am in my happiest mood today, not because I get a raise from work but because I saw seven subscribers in my YouTube channel. 

For a VLOG beginner, you just don’t know how often I count the number of my subscribers every day. I will be honest with you, when I uploaded my first few videos I thought of giving up already. Who wouldn’t when sometimes I slept at 4AM and yet I can finish editing one video within 3 nights. There was one time that for 24-hour cycle, I slept only two hours. From work straight to video editing and I still couldn't make it better.  It was on my second video. I was that desperate to put all photos, text, and videos together. I got disappointed of myself already.

But this morning, I was so motivated at work knowing I already have seven subscribers! SEVEN! AND THE VIEWS ARE INCREASING!  You just don’t know how happy I am with the result.  To gain seven subscribers with my videos still crappy is an achievement to me.

For those who subscribed my channel and viewed my videos uploaded in YouTube, THANK YOU VERY MUCH!

I started Vlogging not because Youtube pays for those with certain number of subscribers and viewers but because I find it fulfilling to know there are people watching my videos.  Sometimes it’s lonely to be single.  But knowing you are there listening while I am sharing my travel experience is enough for me to fill in the absence of someone to share life with.  

I must admit I have regrets of my choices not to have kids and a husband. Now of course that my siblings, nieces and nephews have their own lives already.  But then again, I can’t do anything about it, so I accepted it gracefully.   That failure in the aspect of my life is now filled in with my passion of sharing my travel experience publicly through my VLOG and my personal life through my BLOG.

So I hope you guys view the videos I uploaded in YouTube and click subscribe if you want to follow more adventure videos of me.  If not, I would appreciate if you hit the like button if you find the video entertaining.      

THANK YOU AGAIN FOR THOSE WHO SUBSCRIBED MY YOUTUBE CHANNEL. YOU ROCK! J

Those who didn’t subscribed yet here's the link and you can click subscribe from there. MY YOUTUBE CHANNEL. Thank you in advance! 

FROM BLOGGING TO VLOGGING

For those who do not know me but has visited my blog I should say thank you for browsing.  I created this blog to kill time and sort of an outlet for me to pour out what I have in mind or when I miss my previous job. 

 I used to be a journalist back home (Davao City Philippines). I was using a pen name of Mic Mic. It’s a nickname I created to make people think that my name is Michael, a man’s name. I did that because I used to cover conflict and back home non media practitioners mostly think that this type of job is suited most for men.  But my family doesn’t care about it, so I soared high from a mere broadcast reporter to a senior print media reporter.

In 2003, I was selected as two of the journalists from the Philippines to join Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA) sponsored Journalism Fellowship program giving us the opportunity to collect stories that have implications to Southeast Asian region as a result of changes.   See one of the stories I was able to collect published in this link: https://www.seapa.org/a-rouge-town/

In 2008, I shifted my career. I joined the food and beverage industry and hospitality industry. Starting from sales and marketing department, I moved up to operations.

The food and beverage industry, however, entails a lot of hours at work.  I was amazed with the realization that I have other skills other than chasing news, so I fall in love with my job.  I spent longer hours in my job than my personal life. I just woke up one day and realized my partner was already giving up on me. 

I accepted it as collateral damage of my choices in life.  For a woman, a good career will always have other implications.  I may excel in my career but a failure with my personal life. 

Having said that, I’d like to let you know I found a new outlet to kill empty moments by sharing my activities to you all through videos. 

I started VLOGGING. I am still learning how to make my videos better but give me time.   My aim is to share to you my experience and remind those like me, who put their work on top priority that LIFE IS NOT JUST ALL WORK. 

Take time to enjoy life whatever it is that makes you happy before age is catching you up and people around you is gone.  Take it from me.  I am not miserable being single but that doesn’t mean I don’t have regrets. 

Anyway, I would be happy to receive your support by subscribing my YouTube channel if you are interested to follow my activities and the places or attractions I visited.

Here’s the link:    MY YOUTUBE CHANNEL 

Random thoughts: How calculated are you?

It’s Sunday, a usual routine for me at work.  When I got the chance to sit down, I realized the sky looked lovely. It’s been a while since I thought about Mr. Clouds but the smiling blue sky reminded me of him.  I can only smile and wish him well wherever he is.  Life has a lot of twists and turns, there’s no such thing as well prepared. 

I think I can only be well prepared at work. I have been in the food and beverage industry and the name of the game is all about preparation.  F&B intakes a lot of details from table set up to the kitchen and if I wasn’t well prepared, the standard of service can go down which is not good for the business.

After working in the F&B industry, I have mastered the preparation aspect of the job. However, when it comes to life, no matter how calculated I am it doesn’t work.  The more I calculate how I respond to the situation the more screwed up I am, so I decided to give up calculating. 

Every morning I wake up, I turned  my mp3 on and dance.  When I do my morning rounds, I look at my surrounding and take pictures of every simple thing that I find beautiful.  When I am done with my daily tasks, I put on my shoes and do a walk and run plus sunset watch.  At night before going to sleep I play with my phone and create imovies from the photos I collected.

 I never thought of going out on a date anymore. My heart now becomes selective.  I have an awesome career and freedom. I went out with Mr. Clouds colleagues one time and I was in my bubbly mood when one of them asked, “don’t you get lonely being just by yourself”?

The question has no bearing to me until today when I looked at the beautiful clouds.  Yes, I can get lonely and miss that person who made me feel so special. The one person who made me laugh with horror stories from zombies in the island to plane crashes.   Unfortunately, life has its twist and turns and like I always told myself 1+1 equals 2. It’s not 1+1 equals 3 or 4.  

To simplify it, if a person is nowhere near me then he can't be reached at all.  It's as simple as that, isn’t it? I always remind myself, it doesn't need a rocket science to know that.

 I can get lonely with that but then again, life is not that cruel at all. I have my passion of documenting the experiences I encountered in all places I visited.  Like my note when I created this blog, life for me became words, photographs and memories.  

 Writing my thoughts and documenting my travel made me happy. I am just a human being, so I give myself time to be lonely and sad too.  I know in my trips one day I can bump into someone who knows how to make me laugh out of horror stories.  It doesn’t need preparation, does it?  Now tell me, how calculated are you?  

New Passion

Guess what is keeping me busy after work?   

I found a new passion, Vlogging! Exploring technology applications can be very addicting. I am still on the process of studying how to make videos better but I already posted few in Youtube. 

 There was one time I was browsing App Store and I found this app that can do a cloning video. I did create a video of myself being cloned which really made me laugh that I can’t get over it until the next day.   It’s how crazy I am now with making videos.

Anyway, I’ll share to you the six videos I posted in youtube in the hope you can help me increase likes, comments and subscription. J Find the link below.  Happy viewing!!! 

 1. Bai Tho 

 2. Hoi An

 3. Haiphong at a glimse

 4. Bana Hills

 5. Danang

 6. I am in Tuan Chau, look what we got!

A HOTELIER'S ODD EXPERIENCE

Are you a hotelier? If not, I’ll share to you a bit of my odd experience in the industry which other hoteliers, I’m sure similarly experience:

  GHOSTS?

1.       In the lobby toilet: While seating on the bowl I heard the other door open. Few seconds the water was running. No footsteps, so I looked at the shiny floor expecting to see a shadow but no shadow of the other person as well. There were seven cubicle type of toilets in women’s restroom.  The type of door was open at least two inches from the floor. Finding it weird that I didn’t hear footsteps, nor see a shadow of the other person whom I thought just came out from the other toilet booth. I peeked at the open part of the door. I saw no one but the water was running. I didn’t finish my business I just ran out of the women’s restroom.   

2.       Typically, a senior manager is always accommodated in the hotel especially if the owners relied heavily its business to the people they installed to run the property.  I am no exemption to that. For the past 3 years I have been living in the properties I worked with. In three rooms I stayed with in various properties, I had this experience:

Room 1: 2AM someone knocked at the door. I thought it was front office having problem with the guests, so I opened the door. No one was there.  It did not happen only once or twice but several times, so I moved to another room.

Room 2:  While sleeping cold breeze touched my legs, I woke up and remembered the AC was on but why was a cold breeze hit my skin? First time it happened, I let it go.  But it did not happen only once, so the third time I moved to another room.

Room 3: I always put my phone next to my pillow as there were times the graveyard shift staff will call for assistance or immediate decisions in handling guest complaints.  Every morning I woke up, my phone was either under the bed or next to the TV.  It did not happen only once or twice, so by the 5^th time I moved to another room.

HOTEL GUESTS GOING NUTS

1.       An English guest almost midnight came back to the hotel drunk went into the elevator. Everyone thought he went into his room. Security after 5 minutes went to the reception to inform that a man get naked in the elevator throw his clothes and lie down to sleep. The reception and security went to the elevator and assist the guy to put his clothes back but he refused and even doesn’t want to get out of the elevator shouting to leave him alone and let him sleep. They let him sleep and at 3 am he went to his room.

2.       A Korean man came back to the hotel drunk went into his room. Two hours after he came down to the lobby naked but covered with shit all over his body.   Everyone was running away from him but the security was obliged to pull him out of the lobby and brought him to the bathroom. He was brought back to his room but when the security and reception opened the door, the room stinks.  Shits were everywhere from bed to wall, to windows. The Korean tour leader came and explained he scooped his shit and threw it everywhere in the room. He went nuts because his wife left him and took their kids with her.  The guy ended up paying 1,000USD for deep cleaning and replacement of the wall paper in the room.

3.     

          New swimming pool wait staff was a monk who came straight from the monastery on his first day of work. Two Russian guests went to the swimming pool mid-afternoon, get naked with no clothing left.  They went swimming and called the wait staff to order drinks. The new wait staff who just came out from Buddhist monastery ran to the restaurant for help. He refused to go near the naked Russians, so he didn’t take the order.  One of the naked man came out from the pool angrily demand drinks menu.  The former monk accompanied by restaurant staff refused to look at the naked man infront of them. The next day he sent a message to the F&B manager, he doesn’t want to work anymore.

These are few of the odd experiences I had in working and living in the hotel.  If you travel often, I guess you have your own odd experience too. What's yours?   It would be nice and fun if you can share it with me! Try at this email address gmorientalsaigon@gmail.com.  Hope to hear from you!    

A Dance To Forget

“Dance with me and pretend there’s we”, Mr. Clouds pleaded while Charlie Puth’s "Then There’s You" song reverberated throughout the room.  I was dancing in his arms and my heart jumped with joy. I wanted to shout, “ohhh heaven can take me now, it’s a dream come true”!  

Tina’s voice was calling me from afar though, “Ms. the rain stopped, let’s go”. I have been dying to be in his arms all night long, so with a frustrating voice I was telling Tina to go away and don’t disturb us.  But Tina was persistent, her voice was getting louder.  She was tapping my shoulder,“Ms. oi, it’s 10pm already, I am too sleepy, let’s go before it rains again”.

 It was then that I opened my eyes and remembered we were in Sandy Bay Beach restaurant waiting for the rain to stop.  Tired from running, I drowsed off while lying on the restaurant’s couch after a heavy bite of the pizza we ordered.  On Tina's hand was her phone playing Charlie Puth’s “Then There’s You” song. Tina was standing next to me as she was waking me up. 

Tina and me at Sandy Bay Beach
Restaurant after an hour of walk and run. 

OMG and I thought I was dancing with Mr. Clouds for real pleading me to think there’s “we”! It was all just a dream! Freaking dream! I need to wake up and head off straight to bed.

That’s it! Mr. Clouds has been running a full marathon in my head. He must have been very tired now, so I let him rest from my craziness. 

Alright! Watch out for my next travel stories and unusual experiences in hotels soon.

HALONG BAY FROM THE SKY

Scenic view of the bay

I am just privileged to work in this destination offering me a chance to see Halong Bay from the sky. Cloud surfing I was on board Hai Au Aviation.

"FLYING" is not my cup of tea

Sleep deprived? Oh well, I am now, so I might as well hit the keyboards and write down my thoughts.  It’s past midnight and I am still wide awake.  Why? Because I hate flying and I am going to fly again in few hours.  I can’t help it I am addicted to my job, so I am obliged to fly.

Taking care of hotel’s performance was not in my career’s dream lists but I landed in this job. I find it challenging, so I am loving it now. However, the hotels I am overseeing are located from north to south, so I have to fly every now and then.  

I have few pilot friends that educated me on how the aircraft performs while flying but my brain still uneasy about it.  If only Mr. Clouds is around it might help. I used to imagine him on the yoke actually. I was crazy over him, so just chatting with him before I get on the plane gave me enough courage to set aside my fear. 

And guess what? To think, all he did was to scare me until I felt like throwing up already.  When I told him that I felt like throwing up with his jokes on planes, he would just say “oh really?”  But beckon me to get a shot of whisky before boarding which I find sweet.

Anyway, he is always been in my blog recently, so I think I will share his background why I call him Mr. Clouds.  Aren’t you curious?  He is a pilot J, hence I call him Mr. Clouds.  He is sweet but emotionally unavailable, so there’s “no we”. Life however moves on.  Who knows I can find someone like him in my journey? Maybe when I get on the plane in few hours the person who will sit next to me might have Mr. Clouds personality? Ohhhh that would be one in a lifetime chance for me to fall in love, other than my job of course!

Oh well,  sorry folks, I just got reminded of him. You can’t blame me if I talked about him, we shared nothing but happy moments and he was always there for me. So, maybe I will just think he will be there with me on the yoke in few hours? 

In the Clouds over Coconut Coffee Smoothie

Ever thought of being in the clouds over the combination of coconut, coffee and an awesome friend?

It was a hot day and I was walking in the streets of Saigon.  I thought I needed cold drinks, so I get inside to the first random decent coffee shop I saw.  

Coconut Coffee Smoothie with Mr. Clouds
in Hanoi's expat area Tay Ho.  

I said decent because there are thousands of café in Saigon but only few that I can hang around comfortably.  And by saying comfortably, it means spacious, not a lot of people smoking, neat and clean.

I was browsing the menu and my eyes grow big, smiling as I uttered under my breath “ohhh I know where I am, Cong Caphe”!!

I knew where I was, not because I read the name of the establishment in the cover of the menu but because I saw Coconut Coffee Smoothie in the list.

I can’t of course forget Coconut Coffee Smoothie! Nice and refreshing drink plus it brings me happy memories. Oh well, it reminded me of my last encounter with Mr. Clouds actually.

Here’s our story of Coconut Coffee Smoothie.  Few times, Mr. Clouds asked me whether I tried the Coconut Coffee Smoothie of Cong Caphe.  

It's in Saigon, so there's no Vietnamese Flag
on my Coconut Coffee Smoothie.  

I haven’t, so I didn’t really pay attention when I answered "no".  I don’t actually fancy digging up information or providing information to Mr. Clouds.

Re: example why would I talk more about Coconut Coffee Smoothie when I don’t know if I can visit the same establishment he tried it with? It’s the same with other personal information.  I avoid asking even though Mr. Clouds mentioned something that I could ask. 

 For me, it’s going nowhere as there’s “no we”, so why ask? I don’t want to destroy the moment of happiness I was experiencing, so the less I know the better.  That’s my philosophy.   

But I was wrong with Coconut Coffee Smoothie though. WE had five glasses of them before we parted and to think, I thought I couldn’t try it with him!  He brought me to Cong Caphe for our last hours together.  Of course, to introduce the Coconut Coffee Smoothie he bragged about few times and geographic convenience when we were choosing common ground to say our last goodbyes. 

    

Cong Caphe in Saigon's busy streets Bui Vien 

After he left, I never skipped visiting Cong Caphe for Coconut Coffee Smoothie every time I am in Hanoi. It’s heaven for me now.  Heaven, not because it was introduced by Mr. Clouds but the combination of Coffee and Coconut are refreshing. 

Iced coffee in Vietnam is quite strong but if you are like me, who can have palpitation with strong coffee, then Coconut Coffee Smoothie is just perfect.

I was told only Cong Caphe offers Coconut Coffee Smoothie, that’s why I said I knew where I was when I saw it in the menu.  I would never get to know of Coconut Coffee Smoothie had it not been for my last three hours with Mr. Clouds at Cong Caphe.  

The last three hours were heaven despite that it was a sweet goodbye without knowing if our paths will cross again.  Why I said heaven? Why not? I was with Mr. Clouds who was a plus factor while drinking my Coconut Coffee Smoothie. :-) 

“Live out of a suitcase”

Suites, beachfront deluxe room, garden view premium room or standard room has now become my regular bedroom.  

The busier the resort is the more I stayed in suites or the expensive categories of rooms.

 I am a hotelier and I am in-house when I am onsite, what can I do?  The regular category of rooms can get filled in fast, so I have to move to whatever guest room is available. 

Oftentimes though, I don’t have a choice but to sleep in one bedroom suites.  Fancy, isn’t it?  Oh well you’ll be jealous, it’s free. J But don’t get excited because it comes with responsibilities of my job, handling hotel and resort operations.  It sounded fancy but really I don’t feel it that way unless perhaps I am on holiday and just staying in nice rooms on leisure.  But it’s not.

The consequence is that I have to live out of a suitcase. I never unpacked because I know I will be changing rooms anytime the occupancy forecast turns high.

I have one small luggage for my clothes and one small luggage for shoes and other stuff. I just take out the clothes I will wear for the day and let the housekeeping iron it.  

The rest of the stuff stays in my luggage. So there goes that part of me who live out of a suitcase.

A walk to Yen Tu Mountain

Summer for Halong Bay destination is quite crazy with domestic travelers.
Running a resort is like being in prison at this time of year.
Straight two weeks I haven’t seen my apartment in Hanoi.
At 7am I was already on the floor and it went on until late night.
So, when I get the chance to breath away from work,  I visited Yen Tu Pagoda with Lapaz Resort Filipino singers.

Yen Tu is an hour drive from Halong Bay. 

Inspired by King Tran Nhan Tong, who reigned from 1279 to 1293, the temple is located on top of the mountain which has an altitude of 1,068 meters.  

From the parking area we were taken off by 8-seater golf car that we paid a dollar per person and delivered to the foot of the mountain.       

The climb to the first stop, Giai Oan Pagoda was easy.  Nhan Tong accordingly held ritual for wandering souls of the maids and imperial concubines who drowned in Ho Khe stream in Giai Oan Pagoda. 

On our way up to the next stop, we saw canes on display for sale. I told my companions we will go with the trend, buy canes because it might be needed.  

Indeed, I was correct the cane saved our knees from falling down on the rocks. 

It was a challenging climb when we get nearer. The piled rocks were getting stiff. We were soaked even though it never rained. It wasn’t hot either because we were walking in the jungle. The cable car didn’t work, so there's no support system, we have to walk all the way up.  

At the Pagoda before reaching the summit the monks were giving lectures and followers can even stay overnight to pray with them.

I was told during Vietnamese New Year or the so called Tet Season in Vietnam thousands of followers were hanging around the Pagoda with the monks.

Visiting the place took the stress out of me. Maybe because of the challenging long climb or perhaps the interesting history of the temples built in Yen Tu that captured my attention and interest the entire climb. 

If you do climb Yen Tu, the most popular feature of the mountain is the rocky outcrop called An Ky Sinh or known as Heaven’s Gate. It is built at the summit with two meters tall. Go for it, it's worth the climb.