May 2015

Beer, Coffee, Food: The Best of Ho Chi Minh City

The Best of Ho Chi Minh City: Beer, Coffee, Food.

Sometimes, an expat has to go back to his roots. Back to the things he left behind in his first world country. I always try to embrace the Vietnamese culture, but I needed a little taste of home. Plus, it was my birthday, so why not celebrate it with a few of my favourite things? Beer, coffee, and food. It’s time to find the best of these in Saigon.

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The Best Hike in the Cameron Highlands, Malaysia: Brinchang Mountain

BOH tea plantation
The BOH Tea Plantation in Brinchang, Malaysia.

The Cameron Highlands in Malaysia are a popular vacationing spot for Malays and other tourists. Only 200 km from Kuala Lumpur, the area is an easy bus ride from Pudu Sentral Bus Station (about 40 MYR, multiple buses in the first half of the day, takes about 4.5 hours). Most people head to the largest city in the highlands, Tanah Rata. We decided to go to Brinchang instead, mainly because we wanted to hike to the top of Brinchang Gunung (Brinchang mountain), which for novice hikers like us, is the best hike in the Cameron Highlands.

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Ba Den or Black Virgin Mountain, Vietnam

Black Virgin Mountain | Núi Bà Đen, Việt Nam

In southern Vietnam, the title for highest peak goes to an extinct volcano that is forebodingly called Black Virgin Mountain. Núi Bà Đen (which more precisely translates to ‘mountain lady black’) sits, like an upside-down mixing bowl, in Tay Ninh province — about 100 kilometers northwest of Ho Chi Minh City, and only about 30 kilometres from the Cambodian border. The cinder cone is just short of 1000 metres tall – not huge – but the flat farm fields that surround it make it impossible for the granite bulge to hide.

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