Bright.

The Ps'ed photo beauty of the bay.

Sitting down likka boss on top of the ship that carried my tour package group, we headed to sail over the UNESCO protected, chilly, breezy, and lovely Halong Bay that's rich with amazing seafood and stalactite and mites sites (although the ones in China are absolute grandeur and other places I forgot that was amazing).

So shine bright... tonight... I translated literally onto the clothes prepared like a normal Jap teen. It's been a while!!!!!!!!! *don't know how much I was excited for winter weather, peeps. I felt home*

What can be considered as luxury? Most will immediately trace their dreams to tote a monogram bag. I, on the other hand, think not.

Having lunch over the seas in a rare place on earth, on the boat, with the view, and eating my heart out, is the best thing ever in life and the best to end 2012! (See how late I'm posting this)

It was 30.12.12. Where were you?

The boat that took us away!

What was so astounding on set was S was sporting a white jacket (I only wore on daily) and the wool hat we bought at the same street shop the day before in Hanoi. How similar and how cute!

A-YO AZN IN D HAUS.

From the back... [via Instagram]

Uh, uh, two cupcakes cherry-topped with a toast of gin and white.

Postcard from location! Definitely not the Ps'ed one.

Service.

The proud emblem batch all tour guides wear in their shirt. [via Instagram]

It was a very small gesture - literally something you can buy loads, but because the gesture was like no other (Sony is really the first technological brand in my heart, they sure be most charmed their TM is everywhere).

My Cambodian tour guide, a young graduate who's been in service for maybe less than 2 years, and leads tours that's conducted in English and Korean (yes, he said "I sing Gangnam Style better than Cambodian songs") has prepared on the last day, those tourist keychains we saw usually in the markets.

At first, I said, "Wow, the tourism org. here must be awesome, they have prepared this to give to all the tourists."

Yep, my tour guide. Laudable effort.

Maybe it is the case, but more and more it has lead that my tour guide (so sorry I forgot your name) has actually bought it for us and shared it to all the passengers. It was small, sweet, and memorable - the value was very little, but the memory is etched in my service 101 book forever.


Take advantage, tourism ministers, of your local manufacturers (especially China, Indonesia, India, all of ASEAN) to really push and train your ambassadors for they're the first contact with foreigners who'd like to understand a culture, a society, a country. On the serving side, one needs to have 110% open heart and passion to follow through.
Might be the reason why I'm not scared or to visit back the country again one day... hospitality is the number one case.

All smiles to the hot ASEAN country! (squinting of the sunbeam in Siem Riep's Palace too)

This is what anyone can do in 10 words or less...

Take cue for #hospitality #service #tips from my #Cambodia trip.

Trivial.

In the streets of Hanoi, motorcycles are dominant, thin buildings are present everywhere.

It's amazing how humans have build upon the society with conscience and perception of things that are different according to race, culture, location. I spent the last days of 2012 and first few days of 2013 along the tourist destinations of the adjacent countries Cambodia and Vietnam, one hot, and the latter chilly for Ha Long Bay.

Set aside those tourists places over here for light notes and insertion of OOTD/WIWT posts and scenic shots, anyone can go click on the search engine and see quality photographs of Angkor Wat, Halong Bay, the city, the people, and at a glance you'd be acquainted with yellow to tan skin looking people working and continuing on their lives.


What was a great takeaway of this trip was the most informative tour leaders aroundand how they have used their lives as hard truths and stories on how they live.

Looks like  a developed city, but honestly within their grounds, not.

There never has been in my travelling with packages and arranged tour leaders who definitely gets commissions on places we go to be this frank, and so upon my dad's tumultuous inquiries on 'how much is the land here?' along with 2 other men in the bus, because of his property background, land became a story that we didnt much know about in Vietnam.

So, Vietnam. How much did I know about the country before? I only knew Pho noodles which I totally love and can eat every day (rice made to noodles. thin beef brisket, fresh aroma of the soup... and rarely found in my living location)... as well as a book about Vietnam cuisine by Bobby Chinn, the interracial chef - one of his roots is having some Vietnam blood and I got the book from the man. I read the preface and history snippets (forget the recipes, definitely no time doing).

But no, upon learning, their lives are so trivial - using American dollars like their own currency, living in tall thin houses, and yet they still can enjoy the higgledy-piggledy of its traffic...

Peace.

Because a peace sign with hands equals to two fingers up: this was in the mail about two weeks ago without prior notice, saying I have hosted 2 portfolio reviews in 2012 and here's the thumbs up physically. My journey continues on after as a BSA to the manager of Behance Indonesia.