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Whatever is causing the conflict, don’t ever resolve it with war – that is what I learned when I visited the War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam last December 2013. We only had a day in Ho Chi Minh – technically, just a half day. We arrived in the southern Vietnamese city from Phnom Penh passed 1:00 in the afternoon so we had to hurry to make such half-day productive. We had museums, shopping centers,  dining areas, and some interesting parks on our list but our priority were the Reunification Palace and the War Remnants Museum. For ... Read more

A long work week could be toxic. Staying in the office, dealing with all types of pesky and difficult customers is really stressful. The only way to vent out our work frustrations is going out for a quick weekend getaway. Take advantage of the long weekends and flight promos. Make sure you plan your travels ahead and have notified your bosses as early as possible. Below is the list of the 15 places to visit in the Philippines. These are my suggestions as to where you could spend those long weekends. The list does not rank the Philippines’ best, but ... Read more

Below is the gallery of the photos I got from the Independence or Reunification Palace in Ho Chi Minh City, the last stop of our 7-day Indochina tour. If you want to use one of the photos below, please read our terms and conditions then contact me. [custom_gallery id=”8306″ layout=”masonry”]  

After a rush tour around Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom, Thommanon, and Ta Prohm, we immediately returned to our hotel, packed some of our loose belongings, and then checked out. We waited for our contact to pick us up. In ten minutes, the van came and brought us to the terminal of Rith Mony Transport. We paid US$15 for our tickets from a third party agent – the same person who offered us the Angkor Tour. Rith Mony Transport bus ticket We left 30 mins late from our scheduled departure and I thought it wasn’t that bad. I read stories that some bus companies are ... Read more

In a not-so-busy evening, I visited the country’s national park – the Rizal Park – after few years, and I couldn’t remember when was my last visit. Rizal Park or Luneta was a famous hangout place –  no, I mean – a practice place during our early years in college. It was the witness on how we drafted the plays for Panitikan and how we created the steps for the short performances in college or department assemblies. If you went to any of the neighboring schools, you could relate to it. I took a random stroll to rethink some important personal ... Read more

From Thommanon, our guide drove us to Ta Prohm, our final stop in our Angkor Tour. When Aaron heard that it was the featured location of Angelina Jolie’s  2001 film, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, he surprisingly got excited. Maybe he was already well rested when he refused to climb the Phimeanakas, and he’s also a great fan of places shown in the popular culture. A walkway to Prasat Ta Prohm When we arrived in Ta Prohm, we noticed that the place is heavily vegetated with huge trees. We entered the compound via the west gopura, a designated gate for tourist entrance. We did ... Read more

After getting dumbfounded in Angkor Wat, we headed to Angkor Thom and explored every temples within the complex. We stumbled in Bayon, ascened to the top of Baphuon, climbed the highest point of Phimeanakas, wondered around the Royal Palace, lingered the stretch of the Elephants Terrace, and roamed in the the channels of Leper King Terrace. It was an awesome temple run in Siem Reap. But hey, we weren’t done yet. Though Aaron already met his limit, we still headed to some amazing temples outside Angkor Thom. We left Angkor Thom through the Victory Gate and stopped in Thommanon. Thommanon was built ... Read more

The Victory gate is one of the two east exits of Angkor Thom – the other one is the East Gate which is just 500 meters south. It is nearly 1.3 kilometers away and is exactly opposite of the Terrace of the Elephants of the Royal Palace. The structure of the gate is similar to that of Bayon temple which is made of faced towers. We exited the gate when we headed to Thommanon and the neighboring Chau Say Tevoda temple. The Victory gate of Angkor Thom

The Phimeanakas (or Prasat Phimean Akas) is a Khmer pyramid-like structure, which name translates to celestial temple. It was built in the later part of 10th century and was situated at the heart of Angkor Thom‘s Royal Palace. The royal palace seats in the north of the Baphuon temple. Since the Royal Palace is pretty close to Baphuon, we visited it next. We followed a trail in a highly vegetated area at the back of Baphuon and entered the south gopura of the palace. We spent some moments reading the information placards of trees we met along the way, which ... Read more