Vung Tau Part 1 - Stingray Hotpot, Sunrise, and Statue Climb

ARE YOU READY FOR THE PHOTO DUMP?

Flying into HCMC. The flight wasn't full so the window seat in our row was vacant. I scooted over to take photos of our descent. Usually we're on the aisle and centre and there's someone in the window, so I don't get a chance to take photos as we land / take off.

We were picked up by our limo-van, and began a long 4 hour ride to Vung Tau. Thankfully there were vibrating massage seats in the van. It was raining, and we were travelling during peak hour. Still, it was pretty comfy and it didn't feel that long. We stopped once along the way for drinks and loo break.

After checking in, we left the staff to bring our luggage up to the room while we went around the corner for dinner - at 10pm! Stingray hot pot is a specialty of Vung Tau. It wasn't objectionable, but I don't think I'll go looking for it again. BIKSS is with me on this.

After we had dinner we headed to this bakery to pick up a local dessert - highly recommended by the powers that be... aka the internet people. It's called - bông lan trứng muối and this version comes in a sharing portion; we had the one with 4 different toppings and salted egg yolk crumbs sprinkled over the top. It was interesting. There's some pork floss between the cake and toppings. It comes in various flavours.

Honestly, it was unusual, but not something I was dying to have again.

On the way back to the hotel we spotted the lighthouse beams... and BIKSS explained to me how each lighthouse has it's own pattern. I never knew that. 

And finally we got back to the hotel room - lovely and spacious. We got twin beds cos it was $60 cheaper than the king room. That's $180 extra right there. He pushed the beds together and we were quite satisfied. In fact, I prefer this arrangement cos we didn't have to fight over the blanket throughout the night. I might consider this option from now on. I daresay it afforded us (ok, me, at least) a better night's sleep.

A smoking balcony with sea view. We sat here quite a fair bit over the 3 days. It was peaceful and quiet (there was very little traffic despite being next to the main road) and we found ourselves chatting for long stretches, or else just being together while being busy with our phones. (Work stuff, games, posting photos on FB / IG...)

The night view from the balcony

The fridge has a glass panel in the front, and when you open it a cool blue light appears. I was thrilled.

The next morning we woke up at 4 to go see the sunrise. This is the sky at 5am (I was surprised by how bright it was!) as we waited in front of our hotel for our ride.

We were both very surprised that there were so many people, some already swimming, at this hour of the morning. We, on the other hand, were in dire need of some coffee.

The weather forecast said it was going to be rainy and there was a flash flood warning on both the days we were planning to do our outdoor sightseeing. But thankfully the rains were short, and the winds were strong and the clouds were quickly blown away. I do believe this was our very first sunrise together.

After that we headed off to look for breakfast, and had a chance to try their famous squid noodle soup. It was warm and rich and fragrant and perfect for an early morning fuel-up before our climb up Small Mountain to get to the Christ the King statue!

The "bandstand" in front of the Holy Bean cafe, and the first steps on our 1000+ step journey.

45 mins later we reached the top. I ended up being the buffet spread for a bunch of mosquitoes, and BIKSS and I were dripping sweat non stop by the time we were halfway up. But aside from his knee acting up, neither of us felt particularly winded or exhausted. The air was crisp and even tho' it had definitely begun to heat up, we were lucky to have gotten there first thing at 7am when they opened so that we didn't have to deal with the sun beating down on us full force.  (Yup, that's me on the stairs.)

At the base of the statue they give you a key for a locker and you dump everything in there. Including your shoes. We climbed the inside of the statue in stockinged feet. Yup, that's how narrow the staircase is.

Those ventilation holes let in strong gusts of seabreeze and we took the time to stop at each one to cool off a bit before continuing. 

That's the view of the last 300 steps or so from the top of the statue.

And my photo log of every 100 steps.

Ta-da! The highlight of my day. I stood on the shoulders of Christ. It was pretty emotional.

And with that I shall take my leave to grab some dinner. I'll be back with more tomorrow.

I'm FREE!

I have officially begun my between-job RnR and will be leaving for Vung Tau in a couple of hours. 

We're going to climb the mountain and the statue - isn't it beautiful?

And then there will be other sights, like the lighthouse, museum etc, but also, since it's going to be a thanksgiving pilgrimage of sorts for me, I'm also going to squeeze in a visit to the church grounds of the Our Lady Shrine, though I won't be attempting the climb up this mountain. One is enough, methinks. 

Of course there will be tons of seafood cos it's a coastal town... so I'll be eating and photo-logging it. Will share pics when we're back! 

Cheerio!

I HAVE NEWS - and The Sage in Me

I applied for a position at a non-profit and after 3 rounds of interviewing I got the job. 

I've tendered my resignation and have given them half a month's notice (instead of 'with immediate effect') so that I don't have to pay them a month's salary in lieu of notice, no matter how much it would have delighted me to just WALK OUT OF THERE. A girl's gotta think of her bank account balance after all. 

My last day is on the 22nd of Sept, and then I'm planning a short getaway with BIKSS for a bit of proper R n R before starting my new position on the 1st of October. 

The benefits are pretty standard for the most part, although they do give 4 extra days of statutory annual leave / personal days (compared to the 14 days that most companies offer) - so I get 18 days a year straight off the bat, which is quite substantial for new hires in my part of the world. 

According to our 'official' Employment Act, the statutory minimum annual leave starts at 7 days for the first year of service and increases by 1 day each subsequent year, capping at 14 days by the 8th year. However most mid to higher level professionals start at 14 days and may or may not see their allotment increased year on year. Some companies practise a 1-extra-day-per-2-years-of-employment system. 

So yes, 18 days for a new hire is equivalent to winning the paid leave lottery! 

The other standard (commonly offered but not mandated by law) benefits they offer include not only an additional month's salary at the end of the year (ie. a 13th paycheck) but also bonuses and salary increments annually. There's also medical and hospitalization insurance coverage. So while I won't be making as much (proportionally) as I am now, I think all the perks more than make up for it. 

To celebrate BIKSS took me out to a nice restaurant for dinner tonight. I wore this outfit, and he had a bunch of compliments for me. So, curious, I went ahead and checked what type of feminine archetype it belongs to.... thinking that perhaps he might have a natural gravitation towards that particular one. And maybe I could get some outfit inspo from whichever archetype it ended up matching. I've done a few tests and it turns out I'm The Sage. (Click on the link to read about my archetype!)

Anyway, I plugged that outfit into a google search, and lo and behold, the answer that it threw back at me was, you guessed it, Sage! So I guess without knowing it explicitly, my inner Sage has been making herself known all this while. Sometimes the outward projection of ourselves really does match who we are on the inside! Who woulda guessed. In a way I got a great deal of satisfaction when I realised that the me I am on the inside matches the me I dress as on the outside. Does that make any sense to you? 

So Sages tend to favour clean, minimalist, monochromatic dressing, steering clear of pieces with logos or prints; we are often found in neutral (& earth) tones - greys, blues, blacks, browns (and beiges) and greens; and we definitely cannot handle anything too bright and flashy. We lean towards comfort and simplicity, often preferring a draped flowy outfit over a tight-fitting one. 

Um, yeah. That pretty much sums up my wardrobe. 

I'm also a secondary Queen archetype, altho' it feels like that was more my style when I was younger. Both in spirit and in fashion. Perhaps in my old age I've mellowed into my Sage. 

(If you're interested in STYLE archetypes check the chart below. My wardrobe is largely Elegant Chic, which intersects with my inner Sage style.)

And now its midnight and I should sleep. I'll come back when I have more updates. (And a vacation plan for the end of this month!)

Leave a comment if you took the archetype quiz to let me know what you are!