May's Travelogue

Singapore is a clean and safe city-state living in Discipline.  As a tourist, you need to know some small things not to break their law in public to enjoy the whole trip.  1. Do not throw any of your small trash incautiously. You can see plenty of dustbins anywhere in Singapore and do not hesitate to use them.  If not, both residents and visitors who break the law will be fine. 2. Do not spit on the road/platform/drainage You are not allowed to spit in the public area. The reason is to protect against any virus spreading and destroy cleanliness.   3. Queue anywhere If you go to any ticket booths, shopping centres, and even toilets, you must queue and avoid cutting the line. Of course, there is no fine at all but you may be looked down upon by their civilities.  Bike Stand Overhead Bridge Toolbox meeting at a construction site National Day Celebration Merina Bay Sand, a great architecture in Singapore 4. Stand on the left-hand side on the escalators Accordin...

When I learned about Design History, I fell in love with Angkor Wat's architecture and started to dream that I could learn about Angkor physically.  I always checked tour packages and found out several ways to get a cheaper price. However, most Cambodia tour packages are more expensive compared with travelling to other South Asian countries. All packages take 5 to 7 days for only one place, the Siem Reap, an ancient Angkor, and around US$ 700-800 without meals. When I check Cambodia's local tour, they also take around US$ 300 without air tickets, airport transfer and accommodation. Buying Flight Tickets I patiently waited for the promotion time of the airline. When the right time came, I bought a one-way ticket from Singapore to Siem Reap and chose a return ticket from Ho Chi Minh to Singapore. It charged only around SGD150. The price may vary depending on the season. It can charge higher during the peak season. Hiring Tour Van We hired a private 8-seater Van for our group. It...

"Buy Angkor Pass" We need to buy an Angkor pass to visit every ancient Angkor place. The exact price can be checked on their website. They always check at the entrance of every special place.  "Dos and Don'ts" Pay respect to the monks if you see them in Angkor City.  Dress Appropriately & Keep Your Modesty. Especially, women can wear skirts and trousers but they will not be shorter than their knee level.  Avoid touching the temples and cravings "Bargain" You must consider that all prices are not fixed price. They always say more, maybe a half of two-thirds sometimes, than the actual price. Remember to bargain every time you buy something.  "Good time to take the best Pictures" It is very difficult to get sunset photos at the Ankor because all attraction places close at 5:30pm every day. Moreover, it needs to wake up early to get a Sunrise photo. If you are later than 5-6am in the morning, the best places are fully occupied with many pho...

Many pessimists judge that travelling wastes money.  In our country, elderly people used to go on pilgrimage because it can avoid others' criticism.  For me, the definition of travel is just self-love giving myself freedom and cheerfulness. When I worked in Singapore, I got a reasonable salary but I had only left a little money after managing my income; some was transferred to family abroad, some was saved in a Bank in my country, some for room rental, phone bill, taxes and insurance.   Feeling exhausted and stressed, I frequently think of quitting my job after working hard continuously, but, my mind refreshes again when I see my salary at the end of the month. Nevertheless, it is a very short time because, as I said above, only a very little money for personal expenditures is left in my bank account.  It's like meditation counting on come in, come out. I think, "What a pity! What a thrifty life! However high my salary is, I still cannot expend as I wish." But s...

Malacca, a historic town in Malaysia, is very convenient for a one-day trip from Singapore.  There are many services available to hire private vans. However, the travel plan with two days and one night will be a better option as you can go shopping without rushing. I went there with my close friends using a private van. We set off from Singapore early in the morning about 4 am. Using a private vehicle made the immigration process easier. We didn't have to walk to the check-in counters, as we just showed our passports to an officer at the gate. The officer called out our names one by one to confirm our identities. After a few hours of driving, we stopped at a specific food court located beside the highway road and had breakfast for a short while. Seeing the natural scenery, this road trip made me excited and active. We then continued our trip happily and it took around 5 hours from Singapore to Malacca. I have learnt that it was an important place during World War II since my scho...

I felt like the richest entity in Japan was Washrooms.  We can find them easily everywhere and they are very clean and fanciful. (In Singapore, it is always shown as "Toilets" but we can see it as " Washroom" in Japan.) However, one problem is to flush out. There are plenty of switches which are mostly described in the Japanese language. Designs are also different from one place to another. As we foreigners cannot read the descriptions, it is very hard to find the flush button. Therefore, I take much time to come out of each washroom. It's not working taking note of symbols and word styles because designs vary depending on places. Sometimes, I fly blind to press any button, but the water splashes out at me. "Hmm ..., quite interesting!" We the tourmates sometimes share information about the location of the flush button in the specific washrooms. In this situation, we don't need to take time to use it and just relax.  One day, after a few hours of s...

I am not sure people how to define the Highway. My personal understanding is just simple. "It's ‌a city bypass and always constructed far from town or city. It connects one town to another which are distance of miles. It is wide and has several lanes so that the vehicles can drive safely and swiftly." If you ask, "Is that all?"  I would say, "That's all"  According to our country's situation and my experiences that I passed through, I am not able to define more than that. It's true. When we visited Japan, we chose to hire a private coach as our group size was medium. It can not only save our time but also our expenses. We had no plan to take the bullet train at this time due to many reasons. It took more than 6 hours from Fuji to Kyoto even though the bullet train would take only 3 hours. But it was still a better option to visit many attraction places.  As a writer, taking a coach along the journey is the most precious experience as I can ...