Sunday, July 7, 2019
独孤九贱
第一贱:荡贱式,一夜欢娱万夫指;
修炼此招贱客多为生活富足,情感空虚。每每落寞之时并呼朋引伴,相约某某旅馆宾馆几零几煮酒论英雄。皆不留姓名不留地址与电话,有此道高手仅留QQ,EMAIL之类它日再下战书之用。但高手毕竟少之又少。此招多一击必中,现场无任何残留线索,身形步伐灵活矫健。
所需内力:房间一个,男女各一名,银两若干,红酒白酒各一瓶。红蜡烛一根,江湖传言白蜡不吉利。
杀伤力:★★☆
第二贱:浪贱式,百花争艳任狂驰;
修炼此招贱客多为面容姣好,身形俱乐佳之人。有退隐高人摸骨看像之后皆呼为天赋异禀。只需面容做花痴状,缺少母爱父爱状即可。呼唤他人之善心呵护,以江湖之广,除资深人士多受其伤。有万花丛中过,片叶不粘身之逍遥。
所需内力:姣好面容一副,男女人数不限。所谓棍扫一片,枪挑一线即在于此。
杀伤力:★★★
第三贱:落贱式,守得云开月明日;
修炼此招贱客疑为边疆关外人士,苦守清寒多年。日夜意淫偷窥无数,并细心揣摩练习,长期潜伏游荡于各家阁楼之下。装疯装醉以苦肉计随招施展,颇有越王够贱卧床扯淡之耐力。故多苦觅良辰吉日一举拿下。所谓用心良苦。
所需内力:情话若干,伤疤200克,眼泪2钱。
杀伤力:★★★☆
第四贱:撩贱式,风雨欲来云抱石;
修炼此招贱客多为办公室以及写字楼人士,日日相见终觉浅,熟悉彼此须夜行。每天四五个时辰四目相对,比遂人氏钻木取火时间还长,要擦一两火花轻易而举。但终究贱走偏锋,其星星之火多为萤虫之辉,无燎原之势。所谓日久生情便是。
所需内力:稳定职业一份,日常接触若干,男女不限,视个人口味添加佐料。
杀伤力:★★★★
第五贱:挫贱式,断枝搅逗莲花池;
修炼此招贱客多为情感偏瘫或中风离异人士,以受害者身份长期招摇。或天生情感缺陷,或后天被人打至半残,并以苦菜花为其主打歌曲于江湖卖唱。行走时有西风瘦马之态。每每提及往事,痛苦不堪,人贱人怜。
所需内力:前任男(女)友一名或离婚证书一个,可虚构。烟头若干,空酒瓶一个。
杀伤力:★★★★☆
第六贱:离贱式,或去或留人不知。
修炼此招贱客多为有钱有闲成功人士,世人称之或“款”或“钻石王老五”。名车豪宅一式几份留底存裆,并时时以美元欧元金银挑逗,时而如胶似漆,时而淡然如水。孤独并快乐着,风流并倜傥着。女性则有贵妇淫妇德才兼备,卧房为其闭关修炼之所,房车帐篷亦不挑剔,自然与都市完美结合。恍如人间烟火难留其人。
所需内力:公司一个,无论大小,房产若干,三居以上,各大银行信用白金卡若干,如无署名财务,银行贷款千万者亦可。
杀伤力:★★★★★
传言第七、八、九贱式早被私人藏于某处无人知晓,后传破鞋贱谱,梨花宝典为其精髓,可终究难觅踪迹。故世人皆推以上贱招为情人派六大护法贱客之镇派之计。随时有外派挑战俱为其所败。故世人而观之,时而学习之,不亦乐乎。
后话:文无第一,武无第二。贱客于民间藏龙卧虎。假以时日,必有贱人修成天下第一贱,随有芙蓉之辈夺门而出,但都难及其皮毛。江湖贱客依旧夜夜挑灯,岂闻有人云:有钱自是长久时,又何为朝朝暮暮?江湖宵小罢了……
Friday, March 8, 2019
Rotating Matrix and iChing Caesar Cipher
The Color Number Matrix which I had design just got a little bit more complicated, as inspired by the Hamster Sunflower Animated GIF I had design a Rotating Matrix using the old design. As you can see from the picture above the Transparency which I had design can be place in 4 different position by rotating 90 degree. The original idea is to had Dragon facing North, Unicorn facing East, Phoenix facing South and Lion facing West. With the Transparency Design which make it possible to rotate I can create another three set of Color Number Matrix.
The application had even more unlimited possibilities as the Color Number Matrix can change due to the Location or Direction. I was planning to use the Rubik Cube idea to design the Rotating Matrix but find it difficult to comprehend as it had too many variations. And you can see that the iChing Caesar Cipher which I had modify from the iChing Cipher is base on the Feng Shui Compass.
The iChing Cipher had been tabulated according to iChing Chart Table and corresponds to the 64 variations which is related to it. As I had only use 36 of it, I had rearrange it in Numeric Order. The Compass had 360 degree, the 12 Zodiac match the 24 hours in a day at two hours intervals. So 360 Degree divided by 12 Zodiac will give 30 degree. By shifting the iChing Caesar Cipher by 3 position will give 12 different variations which can be use for different timing of the day or different Seasons of the Year.
There are 24 Seasons in a Year known as Solar Terms and it actually match perfectly with the 12 Horoscope. It also match the Compass 360 degree at 30 degree interval. Due to that idea, the iChing Caesar Cipher 12 different variations will be able to have unlimited possibilities in various applications.
Wednesday, February 13, 2019
Awakening
I woke up from the dream, looking at my phone I realise that the time was 0205 hrs in the morning. The reason I woke up is because another critical information had been reveal in my dream, as the mobile network is down the only way to communicate is through a chat application using Bluetooth for transmission. I had to try out the application to ensure it work as I do not know how much time we had before the major event happen. When the major event happen, I was attending some orientation training at a food processing plant near to a farmland. I think I manage to survive is because I am far away from the urban city area when the whole thing went crazy. But it also took me a great amount of effort to travel back to the urban city to search for any survivor who can help me with future operation.
Had you ever wonder whether the dream is actually the reality and the reality is actually the dream? There is a Chinese story about man had a dream that he became a butterfly and the dream is so real that he is unable to determine whether he is a man dreaming about butterfly or a butterfly dreaming about man. My dream is similar to the story but the only thing that still leave me in doubt is the direction of time movement. The time we know is traveling from the past to the future, but in my dream the time seem to travel in opposite direction from the distance future toward to the near present.
Imagine the present time is a three dimension box with six side, each side is connected to another similar box which can be past or future. Three side are past and three side are future, so depending on the choice you make you will travel in one of the three direction from the past into the future. So there is a possibility of travel back in time to the past and make another choice to travel into another future. But the relativity theory had stated that time travel is not possible as anything traveling at the speed of light will had its mass multiply by infinity and nothing is able to withstand the the massive increase in mass.
But what if the concept of time travel is not by physical body but achieving by the conscious of the mind instead? Our thought had no mass, so it is traveling from one physical body to another physical body and by the theory which I had describe earlier we are traveling from one box to another box. Box is the three dimension world that we are living and the time is the side that connect the box from the one of the six side. But the actual situation may be more complicate than we thought as it may be a sphere instead of a box with possibilities of traveling in more than six directions.
Let us side track a bit and imagine that we are in a room with mirror on all side, we would see the reflection of us extending at infinity in all direction. But what would happen if we are inside a sphere with mirror all around? Would the light be able to escape? Would the time stand still? What would we see? So time travel might be possible with physical body if we are at a space where time stand still while the time still travel a the normal rate at the space outside.
Now let us get back to the story, from the first encounter that I started to have these weird dream I am already at a distance future. Not sure which year it is but I had not age, it may be medical advancement had achieve a breakthrough which allow aging to stop or cloning of new body and transfer of existing memories. No, there are no sign of Zombie Apocalypse as I am leading a team of specialists fighting against a group of enemies with enhance abilities. Enhance Abilities include Invisibility, Super Strength, Super Speed, Mind Control, Elemental Control. No sign of Nuclear Winter or Virus Outbreak as we may had evolve genetically to become immune to harsh environment but I can't be sure as we do not need to wear any protection clothing, but can be sure that the land had become wasted.
I am not sure what kind of enhance abilities I possess but I had a feeling that it may be related to my eyes I may be able to see and differentiate stuffs which others unable to. We operate from a buildings with underground facilities and had to patrol the surrounding to ensure the security, search for any survivors and savage any resources which we could use. None of the people that are around me are people I had known before, it may sound sad but at a situation like that I could not expect for much. It was yesterday night dream that another critical information had been reveal to me, I actually develop an ability to detect thing by the sound vibration that it reflect. It is like how the bat can see in the night or how the radar work onboard a ship.
As I had said in the beginning that the theory of dream and reality might be reverse, I might be writing this story in a simulation environment while the actual world had already been destroy. My dream started when I encounter a very weird situation a few years back, I was in China doing some project and will only return to Singapore for few days every month as the Visa only allow me to stay for 30 days. But a few of my colleague had insist that they saw me in the office a week ago when I am actually in China. I was wondering if my future self had travel back in time to change the future.
The situation is a bit complicated, it may require some time for you to fully digest and understand. The major event happen on 21st Dec 2012, it was cause by the experiment which they try to create the god particle. It has cause a rip in space time and the merge of different dimension had create a chaos throughout the history period and the future. There is a conspiracy theory about a phantom time period of about 297 years added to the history from AD 614 to AD 911 to cover up the incident. So we are actually living at the year 1721 now, and the incident will happen in 291 years later.
My future self had travel back in time to prevent the major event from happening, and the medical science had been advance enough for cloning of physical body and transfer of memory to ensure that we are able to live for long period of time. The initial duration was to renew the physical body after every 99 years, but due to some upgrading option available in the future the life span of the physical body can be extended to 120 years. My future self is presently at version 4.0 and at a period of about 25% of the total life span of the physical body.
The change after the event was major, it had reduce the earth rotation speed by half and cause a full day duration to extend from 24 hours to 48 hours. The change in gravitational force of 9.8 to 4.9 had allow the mass to reduce by half and creating a population with enhance ability. Most of the transformation is cause by fusion of two physical object which kind of infuse the lower grade ability to the higher grade. I was fuse with vampire bat when the major event happen, but it does not turn me into a Vampire or Batman. I had gain the ability to detect thing by the sound vibration instead, but I am not sure if the mutation would continue and grant me more abilities in the future.
In my team there are some with enhance ability too, a guy who call himself Hydro who can control water element as he is having a swim at the swimming pool when the major event happen. I was given the name Vision because of my ability, this had help us detect enemy who had ability to become invisible with the color changing ability of a chameleon. I am not sure how some gain the ability of mind control, it could be because their brain power had increase due to the major event and we call them Psychic. As for Super Speed and Super Strength, I don't think I will need to explain further as it should be quite straight forward.
The time travel of my future self might had create a paradox and had cause a mandala effect where the memory of the history had been change. I am not sure if he had been successful in changing the time line or historical event which could had prevent the major event from happening in the future. But I have a feeling that I am actually the future self that had travel back in time from the future and had lose some of my memory due to some unforeseen incident.
The Chinese Zodiacs had 12 Animals, the Horoscopes had 12 Constellations. Feng Shui say there will be a major changes every 60 years, that is the 12 Chinese Zodiacs at the 5 Rotational Cycle of the 5 Elements. However the Constellations in the Horoscopes will shift one degree every 72 years according to the Axial Progression of the Planet Earth. 72 multiply by 360 degrees will be 25920 years. Divide 29520 years by half will be 12960 years.
The Egypt Pyramids align exactly to the Orion Constellation at the South at that period, it is also discovered that the Sphinx align with Constellation of Leo to the East and the Angkor Wat in Cambodia align with the Constellation of Draco in the North. So the only one left should be Constellation of Aquarius in the West which could be the location for the Lost City of Atlantis.
Atlantis was destroy by Flood, Noel Story in Christian Bible also told about Flood. Manu Story in Hindu Rig Veda also told about Flood, the difference is Manu Story had 7 Sages instead of 7 Family Members and it carry the Seed of Plantation instead of Animals.
There is a very big crater in Gulf of Mexico, it is cause by an Asteroid hit which shift the previous North Pole to the current Equator. The sudden change in geography had cause the end of Ice Age and the melting glacier had cause most of the land to be flooded.
It was also discovered that there is a five sided pyramid on Planet Mars very similar to the four sided pyramid on Planet Earth. Planet Mars had been hit by Asteroid too and the same melting of glacier and destruction by flood are very similar to Planet Earth. Could we previously from Mars? Could Noel Ark be a Space Ship?
There is this conspiracy theory about Flat Earth, claiming that Earth is just a control simulation created by aliens for some scientific experiment. Hollywood had make a lot of movies which could have some hidden message inside, Armageddon and Deep Impact indicate the Asteroid Hit and The Truman Show indicate the Simulated Environment.
Thursday, January 24, 2019
Logic Puzzles with Solutions
Puzzle 2: You have a 3 liters and a 5 liters measuring jug. How are you going to get 4 liters from it?
Puzzle 3: You have 10 sets of 10 metal balls. You know the balls should weigh 10 g each. You know the balls in 1 set are exactly 1 g lighter. You are allowed to use an extremely accurate digital weighing scale only once. How do you determine which set of balls is lighter?
Puzzle 4: You have to fill the boxes with numbers from 1-8 by following below mentioned rules.
Rule 1: Predecessor and successor can’t be besides. Example if we take number 3 in any box, than neither side of 3 can have 2 or 4.
Rule 2: Predecessor and successor can’t be upside or downside. Example: if we take 3 in any box, then the box above can not have 2 or 4, similarly box below can not have 2 or 4.
Rule 3: Predecessor and successor can’t be diagonally either.
Puzzle 5: A Farmer had to cross a river, he had a Dog, a Chicken and some Corn. The Dog will bite the Chicken and the Chicken will eat the Corn if the Farmer is not around. The Farmer can only take 1 out of the 3 on the boat when crossing the river. How the Farmer can cross the river?
Puzzle 6: A dysfunctional family has to cross the river. On one side of the river are a Mother and 2 Daughters, Father and 2 Sons, the Maid and the Dog. There is a boat only big enough to hold 2 people (counting the dog as 1 person). Only the adults are capable of operating the boat. Everyone has to get to the other side, without anything bad happening.
Now the difficulties are : if the Dog is left with anyone and the Maid isn’t there to control him, he’ll bite. The Father can’t be left with any of the Daughters when the Mother isn’t there. Likewise, the Mother can’t be trusted alone with either of the Sons when the Father isn’t there.
Remember! only an adult can operate the boat, and the boat can’t drive itself.
Puzzle 7: A Cowboy need to cross the river with 4 Horses, he can only ride 1 and pull 1 when he cross. The Horses cross river at different speed, A require 1 minute, B require 2 minutes, C require 5 minutes and D require 10 minutes. The duration of the crossing will be the slowest Horse. If base on this logic, he cross with riding A and pulling the remaining Horses will be take 19 minutes in total as follows: A and B cross = 2 minutes, A come back = 1 minute, A and C cross = 5 minutes, A come back = 1 minute, A and D cross = 10 minutes. 2 + 1 + 5 + 1 + 10 = 19 minutes. But there is a way that he can complete the task at a shorter duration. Can you figure it out?
Puzzle 8: You got 8 eggs, 1 egg is spoil. The spoil egg is lighter than the other eggs. You can use a balancing scale only 2 times. Can you find out which egg is spoil?
Puzzle 9: You got 9 eggs, 1 egg is different. You do not know if the egg is lighter or heavier than the other eggs. You can use a balancing scale only 3 times. Can you find out which egg is different?
Solution 1: Using 2 cuts to cut the cake into 4 equal pieces from the top, then using the 1 more cut to cut horizontally and you will get 8 equal pieces.
Solution 2: Fill the 5 liters jug.
Pour 3 liters into the 3 liters jug with 2 liters remaining in the 5 liters jug.
Empty the 3 liters jug.
Pour the remaining 2 liters from the 5 liters jug into the 3 liters jug. Fill the 5 liters jug again.
Pour 1 liter from the 5 liters jug into the 3 liters jug.
Now the 5 liters jug will contains 4 liters.
Solution 3: Take 1 ball from the first set along with 2 balls from the second set and go on until you take 10 balls from the tenth set. If all the balls are 10 g you should get 550 g for 55 balls. If the weight is lighter by 1 g then it is the first set that is lighter, if the weight is lighter by 2 g then it is the second set which is lighter. By the reduce of weight you will be able to determine the set which is lighter.
Solution 4:
Solution 5: The Farmer bring the Chicken cross the river.
The Farmer come back.
The Farmer bring the Dog cross the river.
The Farmer bring the Chicken back.
The Farmer bring the Corn cross the river.
The Farmer come back.
The Farmer bring the Chicken cross the river.
Solution 6: Maid and Dog cross first, and the Maid comes back.
Maid and 1 Son cross, Maid and Dog come back. Father and another Son cross, Father comes back.
Mother and Father cross, Mother comes back.
Maid and Dog Cross, Father comes back.
Mother and Father cross, Mother comes back.
Mother and 1 Daughter cross, Maid and Dog come back.
Maid and another Daughter cross, Maid comes back.
Maid and Dog cross.
Solution 7: A and B cross = 2 minutes, A come back = 1 minute, C and D cross = 10 minutes, B come back = 2 minutes, A and B cross = 2 minutes. 2 + 1 + 10 + 2 + 2 = 17 minutes.
Solution 8: Put 3 eggs on each side of the balance.
If the scale tilt then the spoil egg is in the side which is higher.
Take 2 eggs from the 3 eggs and put 1 egg on each side of the balance.
If the scale tilt then the spoil egg is in the side which is higher.
If the scale balance then the spoil egg is the remaining egg.
If the scale balance at first try then the spoil egg is in the remaining 2 eggs.
Take the 2 eggs and put 1 egg on each side of the balance.
The scale tilt with the spoil egg is on the side which is higher.
Solution 9: Put 3 eggs on each side of the balance.
If the scale tilt switch the remaining 3 eggs with the side which is higher.
If the scale still tilt, the egg is heavier and it is in the lower side.
If the scale balance, then the egg is lighter and it is in the set which you had just switch.
Take 2 eggs from the 3 eggs and put 1 egg on each side of the balance and you will be able to find the egg.
Wednesday, January 23, 2019
iChing Cipher
Recently had participate in another Treasure Hunt Event named Hunt The Hamster organize by Max Xu of Key Reply, he is a very talented guy who design a Bot software which give very smart reply to online query. The Hints draft by him for this event is really mind blowing and at a much higher level than the Hunt The Mouse Event organize by Sqkii. Although I didn't won the prize but I did enjoy the process of deciphering the hints together with other participants.
With the closure of the event, I realized that the Colour Number Matrix is not sufficient for more complicated kind of Treasure Hunt as it only able to give Number instead of Alphabet. I started to work on this Alphabet Cipher which had took me some time to draft the foundation. As I initially want to use Pyramid or Rubik Cube idea for the Cipher, but as I try out the idea I found that it is too complicated and not perfect as with the 26 Alphabets and 10 Numbers Digits I will only need 36 Variation. The 3 Sided Pyramid give 40 Variations and the Rubik Cube give 54 Variations, as I am thinking about the possibilities I realized that I will need a 6 Bit Binary System for the 36 Variations.
There are only 8 Bit Binary and Hex Code for the existing computer language, the only 6 Bit Binary that I had discover is the Braille Code which is use for the Blind People. So I decided to use the concept to draft my 6 Bit Binary Code and then later adapt the Code to the iChing which is having 64 Variations. As I only need 36 Variations there are 28 Variations in iChing which I never use, above is the Cipher Table.
Thursday, January 17, 2019
Treasure Hunt Concept
Y9R23R6
(Red House) 191 Big Brass 506996 (R23)
(>Bukit Batok) B16B22R20
(Elias Playground) 625 Boat 510625 (Y9)
(>Sengkang) G13G24R4
(White House) 37 Sea Breeze (R6)
Sea Breeze Lodge 449269
(>Pasir Ris) B12G17R25
(Dragon Playground) 53 Dragon 370053 (R23)
(>Toa Payoh) Y11Y1R11
Y9R23R20
(Merlion Park) 049213 (Y9)
(>Sentosa) G3G25B14
(Merlion) 099448 (R23)
(>Clifford Pier) R2R24Y6
(Merlion) 099958 (R20)
(>Ang Mo Kio) R15Y1B3
(Dragon) 099702 (R23)
(>Toa Payoh) Y11R1R25
Y9R23Y20
(Green House) 126B Generous
Hillview Mansion 669076 (Y9)
(>Punggol) B20B4Y20
(Keat Hong Mirage Playground)
818 Truck 681817 (R23)
(>Seletar) Y22Y23B20
(Park Playground) 1 Train 168732 (Y20)
(>Bukit Batok) R18B3Y6
Y9R23B19
(Park Playground) 117 Ship 759837 (R23)
(>Pasir Ris) G12G2B5
325 Dinosaurs 750325 (Y9)
(>Woodlands) Y20R3B5
Woodlands 73
(Dinosaurs Playground) 81 Dinosaurs 730827 (Y9)
Fu Shan Garden
(>Toa Payoh) Y10R1B6
(The Oval Playground) 2 Aeroplane 798386 (B19)
(>Tiong Bahru) R5G21R9
(Compassvale Cape Playground)
287A Ship 541287 (R23)
(>Sembawang) B18B25Y12
(White House) 78 Treasure (B19)
Matilda House 822271
(>Marine Parade) R12R24G16
Y9R23R18
(Dragon Playground) 570 Dragon 560570 (Y9)
(>Toa Payoh) Y10R2R10
(Merlion Avenue 1) 560 Merlion 560218 (R18)
(>Mount Faber) G3G24R23
(Dragon Pillar) 91 Dragon 310096 (R18)
(>Whampoa Dragon Fountain) Y11R1R25
(Dragon Playground) 28 Dragon 310028 (R23)
(>Ang Mo Kio) R15Y3B16
(>Toa Payoh) Y11R1R7
27 Dinosaurs 310027 (R23)
(>Sembawang) B17Y2B5
(Dragon Fountain) 85 Dragon 310085 (R18)
(>Sentosa) G3Y25Y1
CK Tang Green Wood Unicorn
238864 (WZJ119)
Wheelock Red Fire Phoenix
238880 (YGF9)
Taka Yellow Earth Lion
238873 (XS7)
Wisma Blue Water Dragon
238877 (DC80)
Shaw White Metal Griffin
238868 (XS23)
(YGF9) 520107 (Red)
(XS7) 520116 (Yellow)
(XS23) 520123 (White)
(DC80) 520146 (Blue)
(WZJ119) 520226 (Green)
Thursday, December 6, 2018
Operation Sapa Halong Bay
As the Travel Agency Misa Travel is no longer in operation I had send my enquiry to three other reputable Tour Agency, they are ASA, Chan Brother and CTC. ASA actually allow to book the trip directly from their website like Misa but as their itinerary is using Bus Coach instead of Train for the Sapa journey I decided to choose CTC instead.
CTC advertise the package at $498, with Vietnam Airline Flight Ticket of additional $425 the whole package will be $913 per person. It also have the option of topping up additional $90 for better Hotel but I prefer Luminous Hotel over First Eden due to the location and online review.
Chan Brother advertise the package at $548, but the Singapore Airline Flight Ticket is almost twice the amount of Vietnam Airline at $790 which make the package at $1338 per person. But I must honestly say that the Singapore Airline Flight Timing is better as it go early and return late which let you get the most from the hotel check in and check out timing.
ASA advertise the package at $788 with Vietnam Airline Flight Ticket included, but when I try to book on their website I found out that there is an additional charges from airport tax and other subsidiary which make the package $963 per person with a $50 error in the calculation which i can't seem to figure out where does the calculation when wrong. And they also doesn't reply to my enquiry on the package, while Chan Brother reply after a week and CTC reply only the next day.
The initial itinerary is suppose to go Halong Bay first before going to Sapa, but due to the clash of Flight and Train Timing the Tour Agency had to make last minute change to reverse the itinerary which is quite similar to ASA original itinerary.
1st Dec Saturday (Hanoi)
At 1400 hrs we had Herbal Chicken Soup ($18.50) for lunch at the Changi Airport Terminal 4 before we board our flight. The new terminal had a lot of latest technology which suppose to make the whole process faster, but due to a lot of traveler not familiar with the new system it actually make the whole process slower. Our flight had an half hour delay and take off at 1640 hrs instead of 1610 hrs, we had our dinner on board the flight with Beef Noodle for me and Sweet and Sour Fish Rice for my wife.
We arrive at Hanoi Noi Bai Airport Terminal 2 at 1825 hrs, after clearing custom we found our driver waiting outside the arrival hall at 0700 hrs. The journey to Hanoi from the Airport is around 45 minutes, we reach the Tour Agency Office of Vietnam Open Tour at 2000 hrs and rest there for half hour before they bring us to the Train Station for our ride.
We took the 2200 hrs Train SP3 Track 7 Coach 11 Bed 9 and 11, pay the porter $10 for carrying our luggage as we are not familiar with the local custom. Two girls from Australia share the same cabin with us, we off the light and sleep right after the train start to move out and head towards Lao Cai. It was not an easy night for us as the train had a lot of noise and vibration and frequent stop with emergency brake had disturb our not so peaceful sleep and wake us up every few hours.
2nd Dec Sunday (Sapa)
We finally arrived at Lao Cai at 0600 hrs, we found our tour guide and arrive at Holiday Sapa Hotel at 0700 hrs after a 60 mins ride on the mini van along the mountain track. We thought a dedicated tour guide would follow us throughout the whole journey but we realized that it was not really practical as the whole journey was too far apart. So we were introduce to our other Local Tour Guide and Local Tribal Guide at the Hotel after dropping off other Tourist at other hotels.
We had our Breakfast at 0730 hrs at the Hotel Cafe with a magnificent view of the cloud and mountains, the Local Tribal Guide will bring us to Cat Cat Sin Chai Village 3 kilometers in the valley at 0900 hrs to see the flowers and waterfall. We watch a 30 minutes Local Dance Performance at 1100 hrs, we took a short rest at a drinks stall before we get a Taxi (150000 Dong $10) for the return trip to the Hotel. We had Coconut, Sugar Cane Juice and two Eggs (80000 Dong $6).
We check in to Room 304 at 1230 hrs and had Pork and Spring Roll for Lunch at the Hotel Cafe. After Lunch we rest for an hours to recharge our body and our phones and camera and explore the town in Sapa at around 1500 hrs. We visit the Lake and the Market but the Market is ending by the time we arrive there around 1600 hrs. We brought 500 grams Chestnut (50000 Dong $3.50 ), 500 grams Grape (30000 Dong $2), one Handicraft Bag (120000 $9) and head back to the hotel as the tour guide is going to bring us out for dinner.
We had Duck and Chicken for Dinner, and order Mango Juice (40000 Dong $3) and Ginger Tea (20000 Dong $1.50). My wife brought two Handicraft Bag (180000 Dong $13.50) and we head back to hotel and rest for the night at 2000 hrs.
3rd Dec Monday (Sapa)
We woke up at 0630 hrs and had Breakfast at 0700 hrs, the Tour Guide had help us arrange for the Van (US$15 $22) to Lao Cai Village which is 12 kilometers down the valley at 0830 hrs. A local tribal old lady had been following us since we got off the van, I thought she is going to kidnap me and make me her son in law until she finally approach us for selling of some handicraft. We brought a Scarf (100000 Dong $7.50) from her and she give us additional two charm bracelet for good luck.
We arrive at Ta Van Village around 1000 hrs after a 3 kilometers walk and try crossing the Hanging Bridge (20000 Dong $1.50). We return to the hotel at 1100 hrs and manage to have shower before we check out at 1150 hrs. The special arrangement of the private van by the tour guide had allow us some spare time in the afternoon for our own activity. We had Pork, Chicken and Spring Roll for Lunch at the restaurant beside the hotel and order additional Strawberry Tea (18000 $1.35) and Apple Juice (30000 Dong $2)
We did not plan for our adventure to the highest peak in Vietnam Fansipan Mountain (3143 meters) at 1300 hrs, but the Local Tribal Guide had recommend it. The Tram (100000 Dong $7.50) in Sun Plaza took about 15 mins to reach the Cable Car Station and the Cable Car (1400000 Dong $105) took about 30 mins to reach the Peak. We took another Tram (300000 Dong $22.50) and finally reach the highest point of our whole journey after another 10 mins ride.
I brought some Souvenir (370000 Dong $22.50) and make our way back to the hotel at around 1630 hrs to change our clothes. We brought two Sweet Potato (30000 Dong $2), one Corn (10000 Dong $0.75) and 500 grams Mini Mandarin Orange (15000 Dong $1) for our dinner tonight. The tour guide pick us up at 1730 hrs and we arrive Lao Cai again at 1830 hrs.
We never expect that we would be able to spend two hours at a restaurant near the Train Station at 1900 hrs for proper dinner, we had Pizza (175000 Dong $13.5), Coconut (55000 Dong $4.5) and
Mango Lassi (55000 Dong $4.5). We tips the Tour Guide and Local Tribal Guide (US$12 $18) as per the US$3 per day per person as advice by the Tour Agency in Singapore. We took the 2140 hrs Train SP4 Track 3 Coach 11 Bed 5 and 7 back to Hanoi, and to our surprise we are sharing the same cabin again with the two girls from Australia.
4th Dec Tuesday (Halong Bay)
We arrived Hanoi at 0530 hrs, maybe is was because we are too tired or maybe we are located at the front of the train we manage to get better sleep. The tour guide brought us to First Eden Hotel for Breakfast at 0615 hrs, as there are four different exit at the Train Station we are told to wait for him at the Train. Another Tour Guide came to pick us up at 0800 hrs, we follow the Coach Bus around the town to pick up other tourist. Five is from Chile, two from Argentina and three from Japan.
I had an Ice Cream (45000 Dong $1.35) when we stop for 30 minutes Toilet Break at around 1030 hrs at a Handicap Handicraft Centre about halfway between Hanoi and Halong City. We arrived at Halong City around 1230 hrs after a 3.5 hours Bus Journey. The tour guide make a last minute arrange for us to upgrade from two stars boat cruise to three stars, I am not sure if it was because our luggage were too bulky to ride the small boat or it is because they know my birthday is coming.
I brought two Phone Water Proof Casing (160000 Dong $8) from the jetty as I did not expect we would get wet from the Kayak Cave Exploration Activity. We check in to Room 104 of An Nam Junk at 1245 hrs, there were already a family of four from Germany when we board then another four Indians friends from Canada decided to join us at the last minute and delay the departure by half hour.
We had Fish, Shrimp, Clam, Squid and Fish Cake for Lunch at 1330 hrs as the boat sail off the harbor I order two additional Pineapple Juice (US$8 $12) for the sumptuous five course meal as compare to our usual three course meal we had at the hotel and restaurant. The upgrade is like a halfway point where we had food that are from those Luxury Cruise while sailing on normal boat.
The first activity is visit to Surprising Cave (45 mins) at 1530 hrs after a two hours scenery voyage in Halong Bay. It is the biggest Lime Stone Cave in the World and it just add on to our World Record Tour since the Taiwan Trip, China Aquarium Visit and Europe Cruise about three years ago.
I had to go alone for Kayak at Lime Stone Cave (30 mins) at 1630 hrs as my wife doesn't know how to swim, it was very tiring for me as I am unable to sit upright and keep laying down due to my big stomach. The last time I had participate in such activity was more than 20 years ago.
I had a shower and we went for Cooking Lesson at 1800 hrs which teach us how to make Vietnamese Spring Roll, some boat also had fruit and vegetable craving demonstration too. We had Fish, Crab, Shrimp, Chicken and Spring Roll for Dinner at 1900 hrs. We start Squid Fishing at 2000 hrs after the dinner but give up after an hour later and went to sleep at 2100 hrs.
5th Dec Wednesday (Halong Bay and Hanoi)
We woke up at 0600 hrs to see the sunrise and had Taichi Lesson at 0630 hrs at the top deck. We had Breakfast at 0700 hrs and arrive at Ti Top View Point (60 mins) around 0745 hrs for Trekking, the journey going up took about 20 minutes and we had enough time for Coconut Drink (50000 Dong $3.75) and Beach Chair (60000 Dong $4.5) before we return to the Boat.
We manage to had shower before we Check Out at 0930 hrs, we stay at the top deck for scenery before we had Pork and Squid for early lunch at around 1030 hrs. I settle the bill for the Drinks (eight Pineapple Juice, one Coke and one Mineral Water. US$43 $61.50) and tips (US$20 $30) the boat crew for their hospitality during our stay on board.
We alongside the jetty at Halong City around 1100 hrs and get off the boat to wait for our tour guide to pick us up at 1215 hrs. We arrive back in Hanoi at 1630 hrs and Check in to Luminous Hotel Room 506 at 1700 hrs after dropping off the other 18 tourists at various hotel all around the town.
We went for a walk around town after we settle down in the hotel, my wife brought a packet of Peanut Candy (20000 Dong $1.50) and I brought five T Shirt (500000 Dong $37.50). We had our dinner at a restaurant near to our hotel at 1800 hrs, I had Beef Noodle (80000 Dong $6) and my wife had Spring Roll with Vermicelli (60000 Dong $4.50). I also order a Coke (30000 Dong $2.25) and we had a Egg and Cheese Crepe (25000 Dong $1.80) for dessert.
My wife brought a pair of running shoe (300000 Dong $22.50) and I brought 500 grams of Jack Fruit (50000 Dong $3.75). We went back to the hotel to drop off the things we had brought earlier, we explore the town further after a short break in the hotel. My wife decide to buy three T Shirt (350000 Dong $27) which is same design but different color to match mine for the coming Chinese New Year.
We manage to get two boxes of Green Bean Cake (Coconut and Taro 52000 Dong $4), my wife finally decide to buy the Pants (60000 Dong $4.50) and I brought Sugar Cane Juice (15000 Dong $1) before we head back to our hotel and rest for the night at 2200 hrs.
6th Dec Thu (Hanoi)
We check out at 0430 hrs and had a Hotdog Bun (50000 Dong $4)
and two Honey Tea (110000 Dong $8.50) for our Breakfast at the Airport at 0545 hrs after we had check in our luggage. I brought some Souvenir (210000 Dong $15) at the shop near to the boarding gate and borad our flight at 0755 hrs. We arrive back in Singapore half hour early at 1235 hrs and concluded our adventure in Vietnam.