Hanoi Bound

NAIA T3, whilst waiting for
the boarding gate to open.
Feet selfie.

Just came home yesterday from my sister I’s 2D/3N Birthday trip to Hanoi, Vietnam and boy we’re tired as hell because of our really hectic schedule during our stay there. We went as backpackers because waiting for our luggage at the carousel is a little time consuming so we just took with us couple of carry on bags each and it was really convenient.

26th April '16

Four hours prior to our flight we checked in at The Wings Transit Lounge which is located at the 4th level of NAIA Terminal 3. My sister and I usually book a hotel room few days prior to our flight to save us from all the worries getting stuck in traffic. Our flight was pretty late around past 10:00 PM so we just chilled first at the TWTL since we came from a six hour bus ride. It was seriously exhausting. My sister booked our room about a month ago online, got an email confirmation and we're good to go. 

the key to your capsule/room

The Wings Transit Lounge

Our check in time: almost 4:00 PM

We were welcomed by the staff as soon as we got there. My sister handed a print out copy of our reservation and we were ushered in to our room. There was a quick tour along the way, they showed the lounge amenities etc. They have a small pantry with limited food selection (cereals, sweets, lomi, bread, milk, coffee, etc.) Since it’s just a lounge and not a hotel, it’s understandably small yet good enough for short stays such as flight cancellations, lay over or you just simply wanted a place to rest. You can only stay by the way for a maximum of eight hours.

Our bunk bed in our twin room, and we're twins lol 😂

We were advised initially that the room temperature may not be too cold inside the room because of the centralized air conditioning. It was actually a little warm inside the room when we got inside and I’m hoping that they improve this someday. We overheard one of the guests outside requested to be transferred to a different room because the one she and her family have is quite unbearable. The staff gladly granted because they’re not too packed for the day anyways. 

Overall, it was still a good experience staying at the The Wings Transit Lounge. Not bad especially if you’re not really a finicky person and you just need a place to stay for a little while with basic amenities. Now, if you’re a business traveller and you will require total peace and quiet, I would suggest you go for a hotel since there are tons of hotels around NAIA anyways. It may not be too quiet at TWTL experience wise because it’s quite audible when people outside your room are talking. The room is soundproofed, but, since the sliding door is made of wood, you 

Guests lounge with free snacks...

can still overhear people talking outside. Now, if you’re looking to stay here, don’t create too much noise neither so as not to disrupt other guests who are sound asleep. 

The Wings Transit Lounge is by the way really close to the food court and there are tons of food chains to choose if you're starving. 

Amenities:

• Pantry with snacks
• Oven Toster
• Hot soup
• Hot & cold water dispenser
• Cold Drinks/Juice dispenser (Iced Tea, Lemonade)
• Cold milk & bottled water from the fridge
• Free hot coffee from the coffee machine
• Free Wifi
• Free use of Desktop computer and printer
• Fresh Towels
• Slippers
• Toiletries (shampoo, conditioner, toothbrush, toothpaste)
• Air-conditioned Rooms/Capsules
• Reading Lamp
• Common Bathroom
• Common Restroom
• In-room safe

toiletries

We checked out at 7:30 PM to give us enough time to buy some Vietnamese Dong and US Dollars at the airport.

Check in Counter

We paid the usual hefty travel tax first which is still P1,620.00 (per head) before we head straight to the check in counter to avoid going back and forth. After paying the tax, we lined up at the web check in counter (which is not queuing compared to the regular counters), provided one of our e-tickets and print out of our boarding passes. Checking in online is a breeze because they no longer weigh your luggage. Cebu Pacific trust that you understand the rules for web check in (7 kilos, no dangerous/sharp objects/drugs in your luggage). We were given our actual boarding passes afterwards and off we go to pass through immigration and final security check. 

The currency exchange counter is to your left before the boarding gates which is actually quite easy to find. We split our tasks, my sister bought the Vietnamese Dongs whilst I got myself some more USDs. I kind of noticed though that the exchange rate at the airport is way lower compared to the black market or money changers found in malls. The conversion outside for instance is Php1.00 = 470-480VND, inside NAIA it's somewhere around 300+VND per peso. So, the Php 3,000.00 my sister exchanged to vietnamese dong after conversion only became 1M+ VND, oh my! Whilst it could’ve been 1.3-1.4M VND outside had not it was so effin difficult to find. Nevertheless, we’re good with that like we have a choice. We bought some snacks first then headed off to final security check. We we’re told at the check in counter that our boarding time is at 8:45 PM, it was 8:00 PM that time so we got a little puzzled. After double checking our boarding passes we figured that the guy at the check in counter might’ve just overlooked the time and so we were right, boarding time is supposedly at 9:45 PM, we’re extremely early lol. 

An hour before boarding

We just surfed the net using NAIA’s free wifi whilst waiting. We kind of noticed that the plane bound to Hanoi isn’t too packed compared to Hong Kong or other destinations and most of the passengers were caucasians and very few Pinoys like us. The boarding gate area looked desolate until they started boarding, herds of passengers came around. 

It was a three hour flight and Vietnam is an hour behind us. My energy was still up when we boarded the plane so I just watched this eccentric movie called Stoker from my macbook so I won’t hear the loud engine sound since i sat close to the window (my sister took the window seat going to Hanoi and on the way back I will be taking the window seat) this is what we do when we book our flight, we pre-select our seats and we take turns when it comes to who’s going to take the window seat first because we both love sitting right next to the window to see the view from above while the plane takes off. Our plane took off around 10:30 PM which was 15 minutes behind schedule. 

The seat beside me was empty, our Mom in heaven might’ve reserved it for her so she could accompany us to Vietnam on our birthday. We owe this trip to her. She made it really possible despite all the troubles along the way. 🙏

Hanoi, in a few!

Related Posts: 

Touchdown Hanoi!

Hanoi Old Quarter City Stroll

Boats and Pagodas of Bai Dihn and Ninh Binh

Little Hanoi Diamond Hotel: A Review

Touchdown Hanoi

27th April '16

We landed at the No Bai International Airport twelve past midnight and the temperature was 27ºC which was kinda warm.

The Noi Bai Airport is nice and vast, at first you will mistake it for our very own NAIA because of the structure until you step outside. It was not as toxic as well when we arrived, not so many people are waiting outside except for cabs and airport shuttles. 

photo courtesy of m00nchildr0cks

I saw the guy holding this paper with my name on it from the escalator so I approached him right away and found that he’s actually the driver. He asked us to wait a little while so he could drive the car towards the airport’s entrance since it was parked across the street. By the way, I booked the airport shuttle for $15 extra since our hotel anyways offer airport pick up and drop off because according to blogs and trip advisor reviews, Vietnam in general is known for delinquent cab drivers who will overcharge their passengers and pretend to have misheard a different hotel just so they could charge you more than what you’re suppose to pay them. Safety first since it’s just us, two ladies traveling in a foreign country thousands of miles away from home. Moving on, the shuttle driver speaks good english but he’s a man of few words so t’was a little awkward ‘cuz it was a long drive from the airport to our hotel. He said, the hotel we’ll be staying at is 22KM away from the airport and yeah it was far.

The first thing I noticed about Hanoi was the impressive roads/highways. It was consistent even in the northernmost parts of Vietnam. However, despite the nice roads, the traffic is still no good: motorcycles here, there and everywhere, crossing the streets can be very stressful especially if you're from a country with very little to no traffic and efficient traffic system, good thing I wasn't as our traffic system back home is somewhat similar except Vietnam has more motorcycles than usual.

Little Hanoi Diamond Hotel lobby...
photo courtesy of m00nchildr0cks

Going back, we reached out hotel finally yay! We were just wondering why the hotel was closed when we got there since the roll up was pulled all the way down (I was even wondering why the hotel has a roll up ‘cuz it’s usually only used by general merchandise stores back home and never a hotel lol). As soon as we stepped inside, we were welcomed warmly by the receptionist and yes the Little Hanoi Diamond Hotel lobby looked exactly like the photos found on their website except it was a little smaller once you’re there. Boy, it was even warmer inside the hotel. The good thing was, it’s right in the heart of the Hanoi Old Quarter so everything is pretty much walking distance. 

Finally settled in. 

The first thing we arranged was our tour for the next two days. Since we arrived at the hotel a little over 2:00 in the morning, we will only catch a few hours of sleep and come morning time we have to stroll around the Old Quarter so we asked the guy receptionist if we could customize our tour which is technically in few hours. We told him we’d like to visit few places and showed our very own list/itinerary. He advised that he could arrange a cab for us for $15 for the city tour although the places we’d like to visit are walking distance from our hotel and we could finish everything in just one day. We moved on then to our next task which is to book a tour package called the Bai Dinh Pagoda & Trang An Eco Tourism for $35 per person. He gladly booked it for us and we were advised someone will call us on the day of the tour to remind us. All set then, we’ll take care of the city tour ourselves in the morning since we don’t know what time we’ll be up then the Bai Dinh Package for the 28th. We walked up to our room (because oh no there’s no elevator!) on the 3rd floor and sweat out even more, too early for morning work out eh? 

We were impressed with our room because it looked good with the chandelier and all plus it was spacious as well. The beds, dresser, tables, chairs, all looked antique, we even have our very own balcony. 

My concerns though: first, one of the closet door handle is broken. Second, the toiletries were very few for two people (good thing I took the free toiletries provided for by The Wings Transit Lounge before our flight and used them instead whilst at the Little Hanoi Diamond) and third, no coffee pot. I hate it when there’s no coffee pot every time I stay in a hotel because I want to drink coffee early in the morning and tea before I doze off in the evening. Anyways, I’ll make a separate review about the hotel later on. 

We slept around 3:00 past in the morning, and oh it’s already my sister and I’s birthday wee! I’m officially another calendar day older. Geez. 

Related Posts: 

Hanoi Bound

Hanoi Old Quarter City Stroll

Boats and Pagodas of Bai Dihn and Ninh Binh

Little Hanoi Diamond Hotel: A Review

Prepping for a Trip

image courtesy of Pinterest

My sister and I’s Hanoi getaway is in two days and am I excited? Yes of course, I'm stoked with traveling. As a matter of fact, all my bags are packed and I sure am ready to go baby! I want to keep it organized because I hate cramming and panicking, it’s not good for the health. I did all my best to fit all my stuff in one wheeled backpack which should strictly weigh 7 kilos along with this carry on handbag i’ll be sitting with on the plane. I always use a checklist I often download online to make sure everything is good every time (call it OC but what the heck, I have memory gap sometimes lol). You may check out this free downloadable checklist I got from Pinterest. 

Moving on, we decided to give web check in a go this time just for a change to sort of bypass the queue in check-in counters. This would be the first time my sister and I opted for Cebu Pacific’s online check in and we’re hoping for a hassle free experience (we’re crossing our fingers). I decided to share the process with you guys in case you might want to do the same. In my case I have a GetGo account with CebuPac so it might be slightly different if you don’t have an account because you will bypass the log-in process.

Cebu Pacific's web check in process:

1. Once logged in to your Cebu Pacific GetGo account, just select your flight/itinerary number. This can also be done by the way even if you don't have an account.

2. Please tick on the "I have read and understood the reminders and restrictions." 

If you want to read more about the reminders & restrictions 

just click the link and this should pop up.

3. Next page. Just hit 'continue.'

4. This page should come up, just click 'Print Boarding Pass.'

5. Your boarding pass is all good. This is how it should look. It should bear the barcode, your name, flight details and everything 😌

Now, if you may ask how to reprint your boarding pass in the event you lose the first one,  don't fret, you may do so,  just follow this step below. Again, you don't have to be logged in to do this 😉

No account: Just punch in the itinerary number ('option' field)

Hope this helps. Have a safe flight. Good luck Dora the Explorer. 

Au Revoir! 😘  ✈

Where thou art are the Dongs?

photo courtesy of google images

I was on a hunt for Vietnamese Dong yesterday and for some reason no one is selling it. My sister and I went through the same ordeal when we went to Cambodia, shortage with Cambodian Riel was our trouble back then and the only place we found one that sells them was Sanjay’s in Robinson’s Galleria. They pretty much always have whatever currency you’re looking for. US Dollar is so easy peasy to find because of its value and the frequency of people using them. 

We exchanged quite a few US dollars yesterday for my sister and I’s trip next week to Hanoi (we’re looking to use USD for the airport shuttle and tour whilst local Dong for food and everything else). If we won’t find any Dong even at the NAIA airport, then, we’ll just exchange our local peso there in Hanoi possibly at the Noi Bai Airport or the hotel we’ll be staying at. Viet Dong where are you? 

Moving on, just bought this HP DeskJet 2130 all -in-one printer yesterday because our roughly eight year old Canon iP1800 quit on us few days ago. We really love that old Canon printer because it was very useful and straightforward. Well, some old things never last. Nevertheless, our new HP printer is a blast because it’s a printer, copier and scanner in one at such an affordable price. Back in the old days, all-in-one printers cost really hefty and not everyone could afford it. 

The setback with owning an old printer model is that, very few computer shops sells the same cartridge nowadays. It’s almost obsolete that only the original manufacturer have them aside from the cost stays the same compared to new printers out in the market, their cartridge cost cheaper and they are readily available of course. Overall, I love HPs all-in-one printer, it's just sleek, cost effective yet serves it all.

Cold Bug

I’ve been nursing a cold for three days now and it ain't easy if you're used to being well. But then, i’d rather get sick this early after already having paid for my airline ticket and all. I don’t know if I caught a cold bug or I subjected myself getting sick after drinking this overly sweet iced coffee I made using condensed milk and decaf coffee. For all I know, the next day I have a sore throat.

My DIY make up brushes holder
with salt and pebbles.

I haven’t had colds since last year. I think I’m really getting old. I had my temperature checked twice last night and at first it was at 35.7, which was normal. Then, hours later, after feeling too warm, I had my temperature checked again before I feel like combusting and this time around it’s at 37.9, hell yeah, I’m on fire and I meant that literally. I immediately grabbed some ice packs from the fridge for a cold compress and took Biogesic for my fever then my second Sinupret. I tossed and turned the whole night long feeling too uncomfortable. I so hate getting sick man! As soon as I’m in slumberland, I felt my cat prepping to sleep in my bed. My temperature might’ve attracted my cat who’s possibly yearning for warmth. So what? I’m a heating bag now? lol. I seriously love it every time my cat sleeps over like the first day I was feeling sick, he slept in my tummy and licked my hands with his sandy tongue. It’s an indication by the way that your cat loves you. I so appreciated that plus he came home yesterday with an almost dead bird which eventually freaked us all out.

I feel so weak that I needed to cancel my schedule for the whole week to spare some time to heal. I guess I need ample rest. I hate being stagnant so I decided to organize my make up table. I bought this clear plant container to hold my make up brushes. I used pebbles at first to hold my brushes but it was a little difficult because the pebbles my sister bought were a little bigger than what I had in mind. As a remedy, I instead shove some rock salt in the container then topped it with pebbles instead, problem solved. Now, if ever we ran out of salt, I know where to get one lol. 

Hello April!

the Before & After

Hello APRIL! I’ve been pretty busy getting sidetracked by tons of things: prepping up for my sister and I’s Birthday trip down to decorating my eldest sister's brand new family home. I really love decorating no matter how tiring it is at times because like I said before, when you enjoy the things that you do, exhaustion is out of the question. Beauty always has a price, no pun intended lol. It’s been a fact that you really have to spend to beautify yourself or a house per se and that was the challenge when I volunteered to decorate my sister’s new humble abode, how to work on a small budget in a short period of time. 

burlap bedside table

Vanity table

Originally, I thought of installing DIY roman blinds to their many windows, but, when I got to my sister’s house, they already had all the curtains and brackets installed so I needed to think of other stuff to work on. I instead focused on my niece’s room because I thought it needs a lot of work due to the cramped up space and clutter. The first thing I had in mind was how to declutter the room to allow more space and of course room to breathe. I hate clutters really, so, I always declutter first in order for me to decorate ‘cuz once the space is freed up (like a clean slate) it’s a whole lot easier to decorate. Afterwards, I started re-arranging the fixtures: bed, dresser, study table, bed side table etc. I tucked everything (that are not really useful) underneath the bed to allow so much room to move. Whilst re-arranging the things in the room, I noticed this old wooden table lying around so I decided to up-cycle it by covering the top surface with burlap to conceal the badly stained part, used laces to decorate the edges, ironed the burlap to flatten it then used hot glue to hold it together. I also bought some cactus terrariums to decorate the house. 

arrangement not mine; pillow cases and carpet 

color, my pick

Door decors from Papelmeroti; I added some 

rose burlap and colored feathers though. 

Dream catcher I made from previous post. 

Glass window decals in lieu of curtains; 

white & cork board I decorated :)

Built-in storage, yes the carpenter made them :D

Last but not least, I had all the windows in the house blanketed with glass decals because drilling the walls to install curtain brackets requires a lot of patience and might plus curtains are way too costly as well compared to window decals which only cost Php94.00 for a 3 meter roll and one roll was able to cover about 3-4 windows. I love glass decals because they give your windows that stained glass feel reminiscent of windows you see in churches. My sister by the way had a built-in cabinet installed underneath the stairs to hide all the clutters and to serve as additional storage as well. 

After my work is done, I went shopping and bought this wheeled backpack for my trip and some airy clothes as well. I’m not going to check in any luggage this time around for my trip to Vietnam to save me time waiting in the luggage carousel that’s why my sister and I both bought this Raccini™ wheeled backpacks for our second carry on bag. It’s just really ergonomic that you could just carry it or use the wheels/trolley. I love dual purpose stuff, they just make life so much easier. Oh btw, these wheeled backpack only cost Php1,190 in Robinson's (50% off I think) which is cheap yet it looks like your regular Jansport™  backpack except it's less than half the price.

another one of my diy projects--my cosmic jute
nautical ball, isn't she lovely?

name tags for your pets

Before I wrap this bloggie up, our pets finally have name tags yey! We passed by Groovin' Tags™ in SM Megamall couple of days ago and found these cute tags on display so we picked the ones that suits each and every one of our pets, waited 30 minutes and there you go, cute and colorful tags for your furry family. These babies just cost Php50 a piece.