Travel writer: YES or NO?

It has always been a huge challenge for me to follow the quote by Ray Bradbury, ‘Love what you do and do what you love.’ I find myself hook into too many interests, and that has, at times, made me insane of which path to choose when it comes to long term career.

Looking back at the photos from my vacations, I feel a push to keep exploring the world out there in the near future. And suddenly there is a voice at the back of my head asking if that can be a serious job, getting paid to travel. So I started to google, then various options popped up, the one which caught my eyes was ‘how to become a travel writer freelancer’. At that time, I literally can’t wait to make a practical plan and list down all the things need to be done. I’m just raring to go.

I believe most of us love to travel, say, who can really resist of the beauty of a place and the hidden stories behind a territory. Well, I can’t say I am one hundred percent positive about this option, however, according to my own motto, ‘You will never know if you don’t try’; I spent quite a few hours to do some research. Some pages tend to sugarcoat the perspective of quitting your current job and getting paid to travel, the others happen to be pretty brutally honest about this whole writing to live.

1. It’s not just Resign and Go
I myself have gone to a point where I just want to give up on my current job, write up a resignation letter and hope the future will be better in some ‘faraway’ land, in some new destination. Yet when I calm down, I know it’s just a spur-of-the-moment decision. Undoubtedly, it would lead me nowhere great if I am not well-prepared. Fair enough.

2. Professionalism as always

The rule of thumb in any occupations is that certain amount of knowledge is needed in order to handle the job decently. Producing a piece of good article is not a piece of cake. The ability to catch the audience's interest immediately with informative yet intriguing content is not something that can be acquired overnight.

3. Get set, go

So yeah, I told myself that I have to start it right now or never. 

Read this.

Also this.

and write.

Now off I go :)

Partea

My plan to get to Partea was quite an adventure. The journey would have been by bus and on foot, it would be a great afternoon with sufficient exercise before indulging myself in the alluring bitterness of tea. And yes, would have been! Sadly my plan A did not work, because it was pouring. So I pressed ahead with plan B, took my moped, got ready and go.

Partea is placed on the 4th floor of an old apartment, which located in the downtown of Saigon. This place can easily be found, since it is next to Nguyen Hue bookstore, and there is also a cute sign hanging right in front of the building. 

You can either take the stairs or the elavator. When I arrived, I was late for my appointment so I used the lift, however, when we left Partea, the stairs were more enjoyable, and to my surprise, there are several other coffee shops, say, about 2 on each floor.

Once I stepped inside Partea, it was no exaggeration to say that it's like stepping into another world. The theme color is white. 

Inside Partea

Cute Factor

Cute Factor

Cute Factor

Cute Factor

Cute Factor

Cute Factor

And everything is displayed in pleasant manners. I got to sit by the window, the view was lovely. The Bitexco building is just across the street, and the treebranches kept dangling alongside with the sound of the wind. Sometimes, I could spot somebody moving back and forth on the rooftop of some houses and it looked creepy, lol.

Bitexco

Speaking of ordering, it's an interesting story. There is a wide range of available choices for tea, pick the one you like, then pick the cup from which you want to savouring your tea. Final step, choose the dessert.

Choose your cup.

Tea

Tea

Sweet Indulgence

I served myself with the Wild Forest and a set of English biscuits. Honestly, I was quite disappointed with the taste, it doesn't carry any distintive flavor, yet the accessories were adorable: the udder shaped mild mug, teapot shaped tea infuser, and I was so in love with the sand tea timer to make sure you brew your tea properly. The biscuit was kinda dry, but the jam was nice.

My Wild Forest Tea

The udder shaped mild mug

Time passed by gently while I got lost in the beautiful melodies of the symphony. It doesn't feel awkward to sit there in silence although I was accompanied by a friend. We both felt comfortable to enjoy those quiet moments.

I would definitely come back for another pick of tea ;)

Tea Price: 70.000/ one person, 90.000/ two people.

Some items are on sale, you can contact the shop assistant for more information.

Partea Facebook

The FIG - Coffee and Lounge

It has been on my list for more than one year, and today I finally managed to put a tick next to it. Yes, I went to The Fig – coffee and lounge this afternoon. And it felt incredible to be there, especially when I was accompanied by great friends.

It was funny at first cause we got lost although I did google map it, and to be honest, I was quite embarassed to struggle to get the right way, anyway, as long as we arrived, it was fine :D

Just as I stepped into the place, the sight evoked a feeling of warmth and peace. There was a statue of buddha right in the middle of the front yard, and I forgot to take a picture of that. Some clouds of steam coming out from somewhere and it smelled very relaxing.

The statue of buddha viewed from the inside.

The atmosphere inside was cozy. Every little thing goes along well with each other, different variations of buddha miniatures were neatly displayed on the shelves or beautifully painted on the wall.

The menu covers almost the whole set. It offers main course, side dish, desserts, drinks, ice cream, and other stuff.

first page of menu

As usual, I'm always excited to discover the tea choices, and guess what I got, 'Organic Orange tea and dill leaves'. The taste was just so refreshing and pleasant, and it kinda carried a flavor of Indian food, as one of my friends remarked.

organic orange tea and dill leaves

  

inside the teapot

We did have a good time savouring the food and planning for our long weekend holliday. The music was absolutely perfect, the playlist was smart, it was a combination of buddhist melodies with some other enjoyable genres.

tiramisu cake

Fried wanton

summer cake

Highly recommended for friends get-together. Beautiful place, great food and drink, nice music, what else should we ask for? Let's call your buddies and drive there.

Me and mah sister :)

Address: 15 Nguyen Thi Huynh, Phu Nhuan district, HCMC

Map

Passion

This one word has striked my mind for several days, and I'm still stuck with it, still trying to figure out if I actually develop a real passion for anything.

This morning, it amazed me how my co-headteacher appeared to be so enthusiastic and excited when she got to cover some classes, it's like you can tell how content she was just by the look on her face.

Well, I guess it can be a form of happiness, when we can work our heart out for something :)

Le Petit Jardin

It has been such a long while since I last had the mood to write review on those amazing coffee shops I’ve been to. I first started all this blogging 2 years ago, then the hectic life out there has become my constant excuse to slip away from a hobby which I always want to pursue.

Anyway, here I am, hitting RESUME on the play of my blogging.

Last week, I got a chance to meet up with my high school friend and my younger mate in college. The location my friend chose was ‘Le petit Jardin’. The name itself is quite intriguing to me, as to my humble knowledge about French, it means ‘A small garden’, I guess, which automatically paints an interesting mental figure in me.

Located on Hoa Mai street, Phan Xich Long area, Phu Nhuan district, one of the most bustling corners of HCMC, Le Petit Jardin has its own advantages when settled in this popular spot for culinary geeks. Directions to the shop is not an issue. Being surrounded by Popeyes, Doughnuts and neighbored to other well-known restaurants such as Thai Express or Tokyo Deli, just to name a few, has given Le Petit Jardin high credits, in terms of location.

It is a two-floor coffee shop. Downstairs, there are two sections, on the right it looks like a small garden with several kinds of plants and flowers while on the left it brings a kind of comfy feeling with those couches.

Upstairs, the interior decoration looks like an old house, with wooden windows painted in different colors display a sense of nostalgia, like back in the early 20^th century, I think :) 

Wooden windows

Teen pose with butterfly background

The another part of the room is covered with butterfly wallpaper, while at the corner, it was highlighted with various shapes of fan’s blades. I indulged myself in the moment of freedom just as I stood by the wall, inhaling the relaxing air those accessories were blowing towards me.

The air of freedom

The menu is interesting. What I love about this place is that they have their own options of tea (which is pretty much the same at most of the other places, with the choices of lipton tea/ Earl Gray/ Dilma tea only.) I got to try Hibicus tea, and they came in a set of a few pieces of biscuits, together with ginger jam. Believe me, it tastes sweet, and looks sweetly beautiful, and only cost fifty-ish VND.

Hibicus Tea

More pictures here

Add: 34 Hoa Mai, Ward 2, Phu Nhuan district, HCMC

Map