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Travel Guide

Travel Guide: Vientiane

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My last travel hurrah in Southeast Asia was a week in Laos with a friend. Over the course of the week, we explored the capital city Vientiane, party town Vang Vieng, and UNESCO World Heritage city Luang Prabang. We ate well, drank well, talked a whole heck of a lot, and walked for miles around each of these towns.

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We saw Soviet and Lao flags displayed together literally everywhere we went. It was rather surprising.

Everything I’d read about Vientiane prior to visiting described it as laid-back, calm, and mellow. That is more than an accurate description. Here are some of my favorite photos from around Vientiane, one of many cities in Laos located along the Mekong River:

As always in Southeast Asia, there are temples to see! Laos is a Buddhist country, which is very popular in the region as a whole. I was content with simply standing outside most of the temples because the exterior architecture is always my favorite part. Since most of the names were in Lao, I can’t tell you what these are called or exactly where to find them. Go wander. You’ll find plenty.

Pha That Luang (the Golden Stupa) is probably Vientiane’s best-known temple. We took a very long walk to get there, but it was really beautiful:

When we were done with temples, we spent our time walking along the Mekong River and seeking out iced coffee, Korean food, and the spiciest curries. There was also a large and helpful night market where we picked up a USB cord and a pair of sunglasses. We enjoyed watching competing zumba classes blast their music and bust their moves shortly before sunset, too! No pictures, unfortunately, but a lot of laughter.

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The night market snaked along the edge of the river. I took this picture from a rooftop restaurant and bar about three storeys up.
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One of the many seafood restaurants we passed. We saw the fishermen bringing in their daily catch, too.

Vientiane was a quiet, relaxing place to start our end-of-school adventure. It’s unlike Singapore in every way, which we both really enjoyed.

And what’s not to love about a place with sunsets like these?

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We spent more time in Vang Vieng and Luang Prabang and I took more photos, so stay tuned for those posts! I’m flying back to the US on Sunday so it might be a few days, but I’ll get to them as soon as I can. Happy travels!

Singapore

Where did the time go?

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The following Beatles lyrics keep floating unbidden to mind:

Lives in a dream
Waits at the window, wearing the face that she keeps in a jar by the door
Who is it for?

I’ve been feeling a lot like poor ol’ Eleanor Rigby recently. It’s a lot of preparing to go out, being happy with friends, coming home, looking frantically for distraction. More podcasts and playlists than usual lately. The silence when I’m alone leaves me with my thoughts, and my thoughts are spinning.

Our last day with kids was Friday and we have two days of “wrapping up” to do this week and then one more school year is in the books. It is all happening shockingly quickly. My friends and colleagues begin flying out Tuesday night, which means that this whole leaving thing is now very, very real. I don’t actually head out for another two weeks but I’ll be in Laos next weekend and the following weekend means losing my apartment and beginning a very long plane ride. This was my last real weekend here in Singapore, which took me by surprise when I realized it Saturday night.

However, thanks (as usual!) to Lauren and Jamie, it was a really good one.

The weekend started with a department end-of-year celebration at Hombre Cantina, a Mexican restaurant in Boat Quay where I had surprisingly spicy margaritas and a veggie quesadilla. Very fun evening with some truly wonderful people.

The delicious food theme continued on Saturday when Jamie, Lauren, and I went to the first annual Singapore Coffee Festival to sample brews and foods from Singapore’s best coffee shops.

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This was actually a guest cafe from Japan and the coffee was delicious!

The event lasted for four days and included the three-storey exhibition of coffee, food, and independent “lifestyle” boutiques; live music; lab demonstrations from brewers; and open chats about coffee, brewing, and local coffee culture. The price of admission also included a nifty tote bag and a couple cool mugs! The festival organizers actually stopped door sales of tickets while we were there on Saturday because the F1 Pit Building that housed the festival was very crowded. If you want to go next year, which I really encourage, I highly recommend purchasing tickets in advance! They’re discounted during the pre-sale, too!

A going away party for another friend Saturday night gave me one more look at Marina Bays Sands all lit up. The Singapore Flyer is over on the left.

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My bucket list item for today was a visit to East Coast Park. I’d initially been planning to rent bikes to go exploring, but we decided a walk would suit our needs (and other plans for the day) just fine. It’s so funny seeing the shipping lanes right off the beach, though. I still can’t get used to that.

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My primary objective overall was to spend as much time with my friends as possible, which we certainly accomplished. We made time for aloo gobi and garlic naan from Tekka Centre in Little India, too! That was a major highlight. Love me some Indian food, especially in this part of the world.

What I enjoyed most was spending this weekend in so many diverse environments. A mere 48 hours managed to cover Mexican food, hipster coffee culture, fancy bars, the beach, and the crush of people and delicious foods that represent Sunday in Little India.

I’m going to miss this place. A whole hell of a lot.

If you need me, I’ll be in a corner with my eyes closed and hands wrapped around my knees. And tomorrow morning, I’ll take that face out of the jar by the door and head back to school for the second to last time.

Singapore

Vegetarian in Singapore

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When I was flying back from Siem Reap, Cambodia in March I read an article in JetStar’s inflight magazine about vegetarian hawker food in Singapore. My go-to at the hawker is mixed rice because you just point to the dishes you want, grab a pair of chopsticks, and enjoy. Eating at a vegetarian hawker, however, would open up a whole world of culinary flavors that I have been unable to try here!

Lucky for me, I have kind and adventurous friends who have actively responded to my pledge to make every day count as I wrap up my time here in the Little Red Dot (sob!).

With that JetStar article as a guide, Josh and I headed out to the Aljunied MRT, where we were promised delicious bowls of laksa at the oldest vegetarian eatery in Singapore. One restaurant near where I lived in Malaysia served delicious vegetarian laksa and I miss it. I also miss my bowl of hot, spicy curry mee at 10am for morning break at school!

Mmmm food. My palate has expanded in the most delightful ways.

We knew we were getting close to our destination when we passed multiple shops that smelled of incense and sold Buddhist artifacts and books. Kwan Inn Vegetarian Food turned out to be a hawker stand serving mixed rice, made-to-order dishes, and several soups.

For our first course, Josh and I each ordered a bowl of laksa in a fantastic, fragrant coconut broth. I picked out a few items from the mixed rice counter for us to share – spicy fake fish (this used to be school lunch sometimes at school in Malaysia), tofu and green beans (a classic), and two kinds of mushrooms. We have the best mushrooms in Asia. Lime juice was our beverage of choice.

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Total cost: $10.80. Eating can be cheap in Singapore if you know where to go!

Of course, with so many opportunities to experience real Peranakan food, we had to get more! Josh ordered peanut fritters (normally prawn fritters) and spinach noodles (yes, actually green). These were served with two types of tofu, mushrooms, and sprouts. Normally the meat is char siew, which is pork, and the noodles are plain egg noodles. We tucked in before I could get a picture, but I promise it was all delicious!

Thank you to Josh for a really fun meal and thank you to JetStar for its inspiration!