Cypress again!

We've moved back to the Hampton Inn Cypress again. After the Carson location, my roommate is breathing a sigh of relief. To top off the one day of no water, he forgot his toothbrush charger and belts. Housekeeping seems to be inconsistent in returning things.....I have to admit, I too am liking the Cypress location.

Hampton Inn Carson

My 2007 has started with a stellar bang and I can only hope the rest of the year can match....

The mold removal company has finished their job yesterday and am awaiting for the microbiologist to confirm that mold is no longer present in the bedrooms. In the meantime, I've had a couple of snafus. My knee worsened over the weekend and forced me to borrow crutches from my family. Went to the doctor and was prescribed antiobiotics and anti-inflammotry medication....good stuff.

My hotel lost water yesterday and we went without water for over 12 hours. Had to scramble to my gym to shower before work. Although this incident has spurred my brother to say "Back to Cypress!" To be fair, the Carson property is older but it does feel cramped compared to the previous Hampton and my roommmate's commute time hasn't changed with the different locations.

Hampton Inn Cypress

So my mold saga continues....

I blame mold for my current physical condition. I mentally killed my sister's dog on Sunday. I took him for a walk to the comic book store and when I was almost at my parent's house, he decides to try to book off (probably saw something or whatever). In any case, I was not anticipating this sudden move after an hour walk right outside my parent's house. Having a 50 lb force try to run away from you with a leash still attached to your wrist ends you up on the floor with a gashed up knee, several skin scrapes, and a minor hole in my top. The knee gash for those interested in gore....I flirted with the idea that I had a hairline fracture on my knee. See what happens when I'm homeless?

Anyways, this week, I'm in Cypress. The Hampton Inn is somewhat centrally located in the midst of retail/restaurant mix. There is a Curry House right next door!! Mayhap, I should order lunch to go?? I think there are alot of Japanese in the area because the continental breakfast included rice and miso soup in the hotel lobby. My brother is happy the hotel is relatively new. It means that the TV has the component jacks for his Wii.

Homewood Suites Garden Grove

I'm somewhat homeless. My condo has some mold issues. It will take a few weeks to assess and repair. Although, this event happened almost a month ago with no results. I think the vendor who did the water removal did a bad job and increased the chanced of mold growth. How do you not punch holes in the wall to dry out the interior of the wall? Placing dehumidifiers in the room isn't going to solve the problem that the wall insides will be dry. Oh well, I feel sorry for my neighbor who has to pay for all this....

In the meantime, I'm now staying at random hotels in LA. As a resident, I never really put much thought in how much hotels can cost. Granted, I understood there is a high end market such as Westins, Four Seasons, etc. and the low end like Bates motels but never really paid much attention to the mid-priced lodging availibility. Amazingly enough, there are plenty of hotels that are booked in this category and in the most suburban areas of LA. As I'm trying to stay at reasonable accomodations, for my neighbor's sake, I found a Homewood Suites that wasn't too bad. It has all the amenities of apartment living, full size fridge, range, dishwasher etc. It also offered hot breakfast every day and light dinner meals from Monday to Thursday. It was a typical one bedroom suite hotel room.

My brother's friend decided to visit us in the boonies and have a mini-vacation. He decided to not participate in the picture but I was told the couch was somewhat uncomfortable. Apparently, it was a sofa bed but he couldn't find any sheets. I would have sucked it up and slept on the mattress with a blanket around me than sleep on the upholestery....

Back Home

It has been an eventful and restful vacation. I'd like to give props to my aunt's husband's brother, Trong Tin Nguyen. He is a travel agent based in Hanoi. He put together an awesome tour package that actually satisfied my parents. Another person is our tour guide, Hoai Giang Do, who was our point person in Hanoi. Of all the guides we had during our trip in Vietnam, he was the best. English was understandable as well as his Vietnamese. He was also closer to our age and could give us the best tips. Finally, Kanjanee Hongsyok who kindly befriended me on the train and made sure I made it back to Bangkok ok.

Narita Airport

I must admit that the revamped airport leaves a better impression than last I was here. It was very cramped and cold. The new design is more consumer friendly by ensuring you access to all the Fendi, Coach, etc you can buy. The lack of food eateries is a bit disconcerting.　Does no one in Japan eat?

Conrad Bangkok

Ok, ETA to LA in 12 hours.....

I have free internet access so I'm going to utilize it to the max. The Conrad Bangkok is SIC! Maybe cuz I've been gone for so long but I'm super impressed with the Conrad. I thought the Sheraton Chiang Mai was nice and then came along the Conrad. I'm sort of sad that I didn't stay here while in Bangkok. "Next time..." as my Conrad host said.

The room is complete with plasma TV, dvd player, Ipod compatible speakers, and a kick ass bathroom with glass walls. There is a pillow menu if the one in the room isn't satisfactory.

Chiang Mai Airport

I scheduled airport transfer at the hotel. I failed to realize that it only takes 10 minutes to get around town and am somewhat early for my flight. If I was more ambitious, I could have tried to jump on an earlier flight that was leaving when I arrived. Oh well..... Save my "stand-by" tactics for United. In the meantime, I'm just killing time at the Chiang Mai airport.

If you ever visit Chiang Mai, consider a couple of things. Being the capital, it reminds me of Sacramento in size. Somewhat small and public transit non existent. It has more of a nightlife than Sac town though. If you are adventurous enough, renting a motorbike is an excellent way of getting around town and its outskirts. The zoo and national park is within 10 to 20 minutes from downtown as well as a host of spa facilities. There are a number of locations where car rentals are advertised and I would only advise renting a car if you are planning on travelling much farther like Chiang Rai. Otherwise, you can probably negotiate a taxi to be your driver for the day. There are a number of tour operators in the area. If you like to have things prearranged or not worry about transportation, you're gonna have to ask around to see who does a good job. Most things can be set up quickly but you have to be aggressive on your first day in Chiang Mai about setting things up or things can quickly slip away.

I received some news today. One, the ladies I met on the train up from Bangkok are back in Bangkok. Kanjanee was kind enough to call to make sure I was still OK and offered any assistance when I get into Bangkok tonight. She also owns a house in Phuket...gonna have to maintain the line of communications with this lady. :) Two, about 3 or 4 people have quit at my work. :( One of them is a pretty good friend, one less lunch buddy.

Ahhhhhhh, reality is sweeping in. ETA in LA in 36 hours......

Final day in Chiang Mai

I accomplished my agenda yesterday....walked around the Old City and the Night Bazaar. The Old City is pretty uneventful. The highlights are the old temples that dot the area. Some are pretty cool. Aside from the architectural highlights these temples offer, I noticed that there are plenty of dogs in the temples. The monks must really like dogs. Unlike the Vietnamese dogs (they are all of some type of small mutt looking dog but have similar features - made me want to bring one home), the Thai dogs look all imported. I saw Dalmations, Retrievers, Rottweilers, etc. Must be expatriates who didn't bother collecting their dogs and they ran away. Despite the lack of apparent ownership, all the dogs I came across were fairly friendly and hella smart. They must get hit by cars, tuk tuks, etc enough to always look on both sides of the street before crossing.


When walking around the downtown area of Chiang Mai where the Night Bazaar was held, I thought to myself that my family would have liked Chiang Mai. Hot with little humidity for my brothers, endless souviner shopping for my sister, McDonald's and KFC and Pizza Hut for my youngest brother, and all day all night shopping for my mom. On top of all this, you could go outside the city for some nature hikes and conservation organizations. Of which I did neither. I just couldn't muster the motivation to visit these areas...maybe next time.

Today, I'm flying out in the evening back to Bangkok to catch my flight home to the States at 6 am tomorrow morning.

Things I'll miss about being in Thailand and Vietnam:
1) ability to eat asian food all the time
2) mangoes and mangosteens. i'm not a huge of pineapples but they are hella good here.
3) fried pies from McDonald's. I liked the corn pies best... :)
4) able to sleep 9 to 10 hours of sleep every night
5) being able to eat on only a couple of dollars a day
6) motorbikes
7) not seeing white people

Things I won't miss:
1) inconsistency in toilet standards
2) having to be careful where food and water comes from
3) asian etiquette

Chiang Mai Day 2

My vacation is coming down to a close. I have mixed feelings about it but who doesn't after a long vacation?

Spent the day at the Royal Flora Expo. It was pretty intense and a very warm day. The only difference between Bangkok and Chiang Mai in terms of weather was the level of humidity. Less so in the northern part of Thailand. My expectations before getting into Chiang Mai was weather closer to Hanoi or even similar to Hue (middle of Vietnam) but the city is definitely in the 80's to 90's. Anyways, back to the Expo....

Spent most of the day wandering around looking at the various exhibitions and the King's agrieconomic philosophies. Apparently, he wandered around Thailand's farmlands and made decisions to increase the water supply and change planting styles. Northern Thais were notorious Opium farmers and he was able to turn them to other sustainable products. I have to admit I was getting tired walking in the heat and was going to head home when I came across the Orchid Pavilion. Besides my mom's love affair with the flower, the Pavillion was under shade! I embarked for another hour to videotape the exhibitions in the Pavillion. I had earlier spoken with my mom via AIM Messenger and she seemed curious about the whole thing.



Afterwards, I was completely pooped out and spent the evening in the hotel room watching old movies. Havnen't been able to do that in a long time!

Since I have stable internet access again, I've been checking out my home finances and what not. Interestingly enough, exchange rates are good for cash. Even the change people at the Suvarnbhami Airport give a decent exchange rate. I've found the same for Vietnam. Although the cash exchange rates are somewhat superior to the ATMs by a couple of percentage points. I can only assume since cash is the prevalent currency it also gets the best rates....

Tomorrow's agenda: see the city's temples and night bazaar.

FYI, if anyone cares, an update on the home situation. We have confirmation of mold growth on both bedroom walls. Both bedrooms have been sealed and my roommate is sleeping in the living room. Owner of the unit diagonally above me is in Australia so the process is very slow. This'll be interesting when I get home....better start rummaging for my insurance's phone number. My parents are telling me to sell - bad luck karma or something. :o Although I look at it as a chance to remodel with someone else's money... :)

Chiang Mai Day 1

Tried to recover the day as much as possible with the train delay yesterday. Was able to check in around 2 pm-ish and had the best shower of my life. Actually, the room rates a #1 for best room under $100. I guess being in Asia with a somewhat strong dollar helps too....

Apparently, I look like a local. Everyone keeps talking to me in Thai as if I understand. Kanjanee, lady I met on the train, says I look Chinese and Thailand has alot of ethnic Chinese Thai people. Although, the mosquitoes must think I'm Thai too because I've only been bitten in Vietnam. Ironically, no one in Vientam assumed I can speak Veitnamese.

I think I've been able to learn alot about Thailand's history. This year is the 60th Anniversary of the King's reign. Don't ask me to spell his name. It is also the King's 80th birthday. Chiang Mai is hosting a Royal Flora Expo for 3 months in honor of both occasions. The King's major interests is agriculture and photography. Both are very apparent at the festival. I only got to the festival in the early evening so I caught the nightly performance tribute to the King. I'll probably try to make it back today and see the rest of the festival during daylight hours.

Heading to Chiang Mai

These past few days with my family on my mom's side has been fun. I much prefer them to my father's side.... :o

At this point, I've met almost all my aunts and uncles from my mom's side and an assortment of cousins. I ended up missing dinner with my uncle as he was working late. But I did hang out with his daughter who was my age but married with two kids... YIKES. They've all been super nice in showing me the city and I've been having fun riding on the Hondo bikes. I always forgot to bring my camera to videotape the backseat view of the crazy congestion and driving habits of Saigon. Oh well....

I stayed at my 2nd cousin's house where Grandma was also staying and both aimed at stuffing me with as much food as possible. Which wasn't much by their standards. I kept hearing how my sister eats more than I do....

Took off for Thailand yesterday and took an overnight train to Chiang Mai from Bangkok. The trains are pretty cool. A friend suggested I get the 1st class tickets but they were gone by the time I booked my ticket. Not being in 1st class wasn't bad. It reminded me of hostelling in Australia except on a moving vehicle. Unfortunately, the train left late and I've lost most of the day because of the delay. On the bright side, I ended up sitting next to a group of three women. Two sisters and their niece. Only one can speak English and we ended up hitting it off. I think we have plans on meeting up later this evening and checking out Chiang Mai.

At the moment, I'm sitting in the Sheraton's lobby waiting for my room to be ready. Booooo

Last leg in Saigon

My parents and siblings left a couple of days ago and am hanging out with family on my mother's side. Doing random sightseeing and remnant souvenir shopping for my siblings. Hanging out with Grandma and cousins. I think I'm having dinner with an uncle. Some of my cousins speak way too fast and is hard for me to keep up on what's going on. Am enjoying some days of rest before heading out to Thailand. Today, I found out two things - good and bad. Good - USC beat the Wolverines in the Rose Bowl!! Bad - one of my upstairs neighbors flooded out their apartment and I may have suffered some damage.

The humidity and heat is beginning to get to me. I can't imagine what the summers are like here. Being away for this long in this weather in a developing country gives me a greater appreciation for living in Los Angeles. The biggest difference I have found between the two countries is that no one in Vietnam goes home hungry or shelterless. No matter how poor, you can live in some kind of shelter and get some food.