Day 16
Friday - I still had work to do in the afternoon so I planned to go to Ky Co and Eo Gio early. Blogs say go at sunrise blah blah blah. So I did, woke up at 2 am and was not able to go back to sleep anymore. Left the condo at 4 am and took a Grab bike in the dark early morning to Nhon Ly to catch the sunrise.
But ooopps... Ky Co tourist area didn't open until 7:30 am. I tried to book a grab to go back to the city and just come back in ther afternoon, but there was no one available in that area anymore. I waited and waited, the sun already came up and no beach sunrise, it was a waiting shed sunrise 😄. Employees started to arrive at arround 6 am. And I just had to wait because I didn't know what else to do because there was no grab.
Before 7 am, a man came up to me and asked thru google translate if I wanted to go to Ky Co beach. I said yes and he said you need a car. Then he offered, do you want me to take you inside? I answered yes and how much lol! Of course, you need to ask that so you won't get shocked when they ask you for the money lol. So he said back and forth for 200k. I said okay.
We were at a different entrance where you needed to pay for a ticket to enter the beach on top of the mountain. 120k for the beach and 50k for the tram service down to the beach. People were only allowed to enter at 7:30 am. For me, I know employees also need time but 7:30 am is already late. You know why? Because the sun is high up and as you know asians especially women lmao!! Not only was the sun high, it was already painful. I was prepared to go for a dip for a little time maybe 30 minutes haha. But when I saw that it were only men around? Men visitors swimming, construction workers, employees etc. I just took photos and videos and not go in the water anymore. I was uncomfortable 😆 sorry. I was already sleep-deprived, I was covered well because I was on a motorbike, but still 7:30 am opening is late 😆. I just burnt a hole in my pocket paying for the entrance fee lol!
Past 8 am, I was just ready to leave than pay 300k for a beach hut hahaha! I called the driver and said I was done. At the exit, I asked him if he could take me to Eo Gio and he said if I wanted a tour guide, he could take me around. I said, just Eo Gio then go back to the city.
The place was amazing and for the 22k entrance price, it was okay but I expected a lot more. Like a bigger area to explore, more cliffs to view. Just something more. I met the driver outside after 20 minutes of walking, waiting for people to finish taking their photos. Then he told me a car was gonna take me back to the city instead of his motorbike. He took me infront of a local restaurant and another man spoke to me in broken tagalog. I was amazed haha. Then a car came after 5 minutes. Before I got in the car, a woman spoke to me in perfect tagalog with a slight accent, amazing! A vietnamese woman who didn't believe that there was a filipino in her town. She lived in the Ph 10 years for her business. Said my thank yous to the people again.
Back at the condo, I was sleepy, tired, hot and hungry. My eyes were really heavy but I took a shower, ordered food and worked.
I dont think I was able to nap that afternoon, I mean my eyes were closed but my ears and mind wandered. But I just shut those eyes for about an hour. After a little bit of sprucing up tasks, my client said that all tasks were complete. I looked for somewhere nearby to eat Chè and also found a stall where I bought seafood rice porridge with blended fresh veg.
Day 17
Saturday... What to do, what to do...
Supposed to go to rhe beach for an early swim but nooooo, I was too sleepy and lazy hahaha.
Exercise
Breakfast
Laundry
Made online inquiries where I could have a hair treatment, tried my best to ask if they had what I wanted to do.
Pedicure or Foot scrub (but none of them was the same as what I usually get back home)
There were 2 Facebook pages that were able to get back to me and I chose the cheaper and smaller salon. I asked for treatment for hair that will make it healthy, soft and smooth because of my permed and dry hair. What was agreed upon was Intensive Restoration for curly hair 600k. I said okay.
Then my new friend from the spa whatsapped me and said if I wanted to have lunch with them. She and her husband picked me up in about an hour after we messaged. We picked up their daughter from nursery and went to their house. Beautiful family, nice and friendly. Her mom cooked, although, I forgot to take photos hehe. But we had squid, fermented beef, roasted eggplant (gonna recreate this at home) fresh greens, fermented pork, steamed pork roll, loofah gourd and spinach soup and avocado. From lunch til 1:30 pm we just talked, told stories then they brought me to my salon appointment.
So remember the salon conversation? I was thinking of only a hair treatment right? What they gave me was digital perm haha, and it was cheap alright. But they didn't "cook" my hair that long. The hair wash took longer than the whole chemical on my hair haha, they even got tired putting in the curlers because I had so much hair 😄. They were heavy too, I felt my head caving into my shoulders 😄.
After the salon, the owner took me to a nail salon because I asked where I could get my toe polish removed and get a pedicure. But the sky was dark, there was thunder, lightning and strong wind. It started to rain. But my pedicure was as miserable as the sky hahaha. (Although many are happy when it rains nowadays because of the heatwave happening in southeast asia.) The lady had a tough time removing the blood red polish that she gave up and didn't fully clean my toes anymore hahaha I still have reddish stains on my nails. Good thing is it was cheap too hahaha. Not a pedicure but was only polish removal haha.
The hair salon owner asked if I was going home, I told her I was going to eat first and because it was drizzling I said I could walk so she could go home. But she insisted to take me to the food place, so I invited her to have dinner with me. And when we finished I told her I'll pay for dinner. But she said no, no, we argued for a little while and she hurriedly went to pay haha. So another free meal. She was happy that I was the 2nd foreigner to get hair done at her salon.
She also drove me home, said our thank yous and nice to meet you and I gave her a big hug. 😁 She added me on Facebook too.
As soon as I got back to the room, I checked my laundry and thankfully, none of them got wet. Looks like the direction of the rain didn't hit the side of my room.
Day 18
Check-out day + Travel by train to HCM
Went out early to the Thap Doi Towers while it wasn't hot out yet. I bumped my knee on the motorbike as I was getting off it haha. Clumsy me.
Cooked the last thing I had in the fridge back at the apartment for breakfast. Chicken breast marinated in soy sauce, vermicelli with the garlic bokchoy and boiled egg. The hair salon owner asked how I was and where I was haha, she wanted to give me a free hair wash lol. I said I can't today because I'll be meeting the spa people.
Fixed my things, tried to nap because I kept waking up in the early morning. I'm gonna miss my balcony view every morning I wake up too.
My spa friend Linh, messaged me to get Grab car to a restaurant where I'll be meeting her, the other spa staff and their spa doctor. Another free meal haha. Thank you ladies. Although, it was only Linh speaking to me in english and Thanh at other times too. They told me to come back and visit them again and they'll take me to the doctor's farm in a different location. I said I would love to sometime in the future. Linh also mentioned some personal stuff and Thanh made a funny comment about it haha.
It's nice to know that people open up to me and trust me that they say personal things. Sometimes I may know what to say but other times, it's just knowing that you're there listening to them and it makes them feel better even if you are a new person in their life. We have the chance to learn about our similarities, differences, problems and sources of happiness. Those can help us grow and become the best version of ourselves.
Btw, the doc told me my skin looked healthy not oily but, dehydrated and has pigmentation. So I really need cleansing and vit B serum they sold me.
(Where's my vitamin B by the way? I haven't seen him yet hahahahah 😅🤪.)
Doc said it's good that I get some sun haha because of my coffee milk skin color, and the doctor was not creamy white at all 😊 means she likes to get some sun too.
I asked to take a photo with them too.
Linh brought me back to her home to rest while waiting for my train schedule. And her father took me to the station and assisted me to get on the right train because Linh said he did it for his children all the time when they went to the university. As I went to say goodbye to Linh's Me (mom) I gave her an awkward hug hahaha. And when I gave Linh a hug goodbye, I told her thank you for everything and that I hope we'll be happy. She agreed so much and said no one must take our happiness away from us and we laughed (I mentioned a similarity right? Our personal stories.)
Oh and good news. Because I don't want to use the toilet in the train, I was able to poop a lot before I left their house hahaha. I left my remembrance 😆😆😆 in their sewage. I won't be drinking water or eating anything until tomorrow. I dont want to use the toilet.
In the train now, with lots of kids, some crying haha. The bed and the cabin I am in looks decent, hopefully this top bunk I am on is clean hahaha. The a/c is cold and they have blankets too. I am in a cabin near the toilet with parents and their young adult child I think? I am the only stranger here. I am the alien 👽. I don't like the smell of cigarette smoke too.
Blogs say they choose the lower bunks over the top one because of the view, accessibility and not having the a/c direct on your face. But I dont have a choice and since I like climbing tall people ooppss 😅🫠🫣🤪 not people bahahahah climbing things, I'm all good with climbing the top bunk haha. It's fun! Like a monkey! I am a lot of animals, aren't I? Haha. Panda, monkey, tiger bec of the butt stripes, what would I think of next?
See you in the morning HCM!
- Your sleep-deprived panda who will fingers-crossed get to sleep on the train, who likes blurry selfies because I look smooth hahaha and who likes free stuff too 😆. I like to give but it's nice to be on the receiving end too 😊.
p.s.
my vietnamese friends thought I was younger than my age again hahah. Like university student having a gap year 😄 I say my eyes says my real age haha but my oil and acne keep me young 😆
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