Images of Southeast Asia

I was impressed how flexible and tolerant the Vietnamese people had been when I learned more about Vietnam's history.  Vietnam was repeatedly attacked and sometimes occupied by different countries.  I saw some influences from other cultures in the Vietnamese towns, such as its writing system, food, and architectures.  Although Vietnam has a long history of fighting against foreign powers, I did not sense any hostility toward foreigners.  Of course, I got fed up with tourist prices and attempts of rip-offs, which often happen in many Asian countries.  One time, I was upset because I felt cheated when I received the wrong change and some candies at a store.  However, I later learned that it was just customary to give a customer cadies in place of small money worth less than 1,000 đồng, which was rarely circulated.

I thought that I would never be back to Singapore after I was satisfied with my first visit.  My first trip seemed to cover all the major sights of Singapore that I wanted to see.  In addition, I considered Singapore as mini Tokyo.  Honestly, I was a bit bored with another concrete jungle.  However, I ended up with visiting Singapore two other times.  For the second time, I went there to get my Thai VISA.  For the third time, I stopped by Singapore because of my friend's wedding.  Each time I visited there, I found some new tourist attractions.  Now, Singapore has a luxurious casino-based resort in the bay area.  I guess my first impression of Singapore was wrong.  Singapore has never stopped growing, like its own land area. 

I enjoyed visiting Malaysia.  Malaysia has an interesting mixture of Malay, Indian, and Chinese cultures.  A good example in the multicultural aspect of Malaysia is its cuisine.  In morning, I enjoyed watching a street vendor pouring hot tea back and forth between containers.  In addition to the captivating tea performance, I enjoyed having the hot tea called teh tarik as well as Indian-style bread called roti canai as my breakfast.  Under the tropical heat, I had a Chinese herb soup called Buk Kut Teh to regain my energy.  I also loved satay with its peanut sauce.  However, I did not like possibly the most famous fruit in Southeast Asia, durian.  Once I put it in my mouth, it was hard for me to swallow it because of its odor. 

Indonesia was the first Southeast Asian country that I visited, although I only visited Bali.  It was also my first experience to use a package tour.  In this package tour, I had a lot of free time.  Prior to the trip, I wanted to see as many beaches as possible.  However, I only visited Kuta beach.  It looked peaceful when I first stepped into the beach.  Suddenly, I got surrounded by local people asking me whether I wanted hair knitting, massage, accessories, T-shirts, and more.  They were persistent.  I was young.  I did not know how to deal with them and could not have a peaceful time to watch the sunset.  In addition, Kuta beach was not as beautiful as I expected it to be.  However, I enjoyed all other experiences in Bali.  Especially, I loved the Indonesian fried rice, called nasi goreng.  I wanted to know how to cook it.  Therefore, I kept ordering the same dish, but I was not tired of it.