Michi Photostory

Hanoi is the capital of Vietnam and just recently my husband went to Hanoi Vietnam. It took him more or less 8 hours to reach Vietnam from the Philippines including the short layover in Bangkok Thailand.

Manila Philippines to Bangkok Thailand 
Bangkok Thailand to Hanoi Vietnam 

When my husband went to Ho Chi Minh Vietnam last March he did not have any problem with Immigration and Customs but his experience in Hanoi was not okay. 

Read: Glimpse of Ho Chi Minh Vietnam

Noibai Airport 

Since this was a business trip, he brought some product samples for his presentation and training. It is the same product samples that he always brings whenever he travels in Southeast Asia but only in Hanoi Vietnam that they questioned it. They were asking for some papers regarding the samples. 

He was advised to wait for their officer and he stayed in the room for several minutes waiting for their decision. He messaged me about his situation and I immediately remembered the articles and forums that I’ve read before. Bribery or tip is a common issue in Hanoi Airport, you can read more about it here. So I informed my husband about this. Vietnam is part of the 5 most corrupt countries in Asia, check the article here. 

Voila, the airport staff advised him that he could bring his luggage if he needed to pay USD100. But my husband told them that he had no money. He was firm that he would not pay anything. He also informed his Vietnamese colleague about his situation. 

One airport staff came and he was advised to close his luggage and go out of the room. After several minutes, they called my husband and informed him that he could get his luggage and go. They let him go without paying anything. He stayed at the airport, for more or less 2 hours. 

It was a really loooong and stressful day for him so he was really tired when he reached the hotel. Lesson learned, if ever he goes back, he will just ship all the stuff that he needs for work.

Sheraton Hanoi Hotel 

My husband stayed in Sheraton Hanoi Hotel which is about 25km away from the airport and a few minutes' ride to the city center. Just like other Sheraton hotels, it has a garden that gives a pleasant experience in the midst of the city center. The hotel is near the West Lake and Red River so you can also see this from your room. 

Read: Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit Hotel in Thailand
Sheraton Towers Singapore 



Checking the photos, the hotel shows signs that it is old already. When it comes to the size of the room, it is similar to Sheraton Towers Singapore. It has a bathtub too. 



The room package includes a buffet breakfast. 





They have a swimming pool too. 




According to my husband, they also offer free laundry of 3 pcs of clothes but he was not able to avail of this since he only stayed there for two nights so no need for laundry service. He was not sure if it was every day or one time only. 

If you are a tourist, the hotel has a nice location because most of the tourist spots are just near. You can visit Bat Thrang Ceramic Village, Flower Market, Hanoi Old Quarter, Hanoi Opera House, Hoan Kiem Lake, Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, Presidential Palace, Temple of Literature, and West Lake. 

But unfortunately, my husband has no time to check the tourist spots. After a few days, he flew to Bangkok Thailand, and stayed at the Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit Hotel, I already blogged about this hotel and the experience was still the same, check it here. 

Sheraton Hanoi Hotel
K5 Nghi Tam, 
11 Xuan Dieu Road Tay Ho District 
Hanoi Vietnam

My husband went to Vietnam and Thailand last week so he took Thai Airways for this business trip. He is not a frequent flyer of this airline so he has no free lounge access in NAIA 1. Thank God for his credit card, he can stay in Miascor Lounge for FREE. 


He needs to take advantage of the free lounge access because Citibank does not waive the annual fee for this specific card. They waive our other cards except for this one kasi marami na daw siya benefits. We just used our points to pay for the annual fee but we’re still thinking if we will continue this card next year. 

Read: Miascor Lounge at NAIA 1  


Anyway, when he went to Miascor Lounge, the staff informed him that they could no longer accommodate him, puno na daw kasi. So he was transferred to Club Manila Lounge. Yey! 



The Miascor Lounge is bigger than Club Manila Lounge but it was not crowded. My husband likes the service here, according to him “maasikaso” daw ang staff. After registering, the staff ushered him up to his seat. They will be the ones, who will find available seats for you. Base on our experience sa Miascor, bahala ka maghanap ng upuan mo, which is common naman sa ibang lounges. 



When it comes to food and drinks, it is the same as other lounges. Limited selection but it is enough to fill your hungry tummy. Free wifi too.

Read: 5 Ways to Get into Airport Lounge

It is no secret here that I like salmon fish so even it is expensive, I still buy and cook salmon at home. It is still cheaper compared to eating this meal in the restaurant. So when we went to Norway, I really took advantage of my chance to eat Norwegian Salmon. Iba pa rin ang lasa ng Salmon sa Norway, fresh pa kasi. Hehehe! Salmon is so affordable too so it is just an ordinary dish there.

My mom was still in the Philippines when we arrived in Norway. She knew that I like salmon so she just informed my stepdad to cook salmon so we ate salmon on our second day. I ate salmon during our Fellowship in Norway and if ever I will visit our relatives. I also requested salmon when we celebrated 17th of May.

They buy whole salmon (about 2-3kls) so they always baked salmon in the oven kasi malaki siya, unlike here na nakaslice lang ang afford ko. They cooked this more or less 2 hours in the oven.


And because I missed salmon, I cooked this last weekend with hollandaise sauce. It is my favorite sauce for salmon so I buy instant mixes before going back to the Philippines. I know I can cook hollandaise sauce from scratch and I tried that before but it takes so much time and problemahin ko pa yung egg white na matitira.


So instant mix is heaven sent. Toro is a Norwegian brand that produces sauces, soups, and many more. It is a popular brand so pwede na rin pampasalubong aside from Freia.

I’m lazy to cook hollandaise sauce from scratch so whenever I cooked salmon, I just pair it with lemon butter sauce to make my life easier. But hollandaise sauce is much better because it is creamy. Actually, my son loves this too, sinasabaw sa rice akala mo gravy. Hehehe! The taste is good pero mas masarap yung Hollandaise sauce sa IKEA.


Anyway, when I was cooking salmon, I checked the direction of the sauce and I forgot that the direction is in the Norwegian language. I messaged my mom to translate it for me but because of the time difference, she was not able to reply immediately. Eh gutom na ko, so I searched na lang and I found this.

Directions:

In a saucepan, melt 5 tbsp butter. Whisk in the mix and add 3 oz of water and 3 oz milk, continue stirring over medium-low heat for 2 minutes. Add freshly squeezed lemon juice to taste.


Checking the ingredients, parang iba yung dami niya sa nakalagay sa instant mix but I just followed it. We’re very satisfied with our salmon, hollandaise sauce, and French beans meal.

On our day 16 in Norway, my mom decided to visit Teksdalsvatnet in Bjugn Kommune. This is the third time that we went to Bjugn, the first time was when we went to Røros and the second time was when we visited Vallersund Farm and hiked to Angel of Peace.  At that moment, kami na lang ni Ethan because hubby was back in the Philippines.

Read: Angel of Peace in Vallersund
Vallersund Farm 


Bjugn is a coastal municipality so there are so many places that we can visit like the lake, sheltered coves, mountains, beach and many more. We’ve been to farm and mountains before so for a change, we went to Teksdalsvatnet or Lake in Teksdal.

Vatnet = Lake


The weather was still cold but we enjoyed the cold weather of Norway. Travel time is more or less 30 minutes since there is no traffic.You can already see the lake from the parking area. There are tables and benches so you can have your own picnic.


My mom said, we can also do fishing here but we just need to pay a fee. We did not try that anymore since we already experience fishing. But if you just want to visit the lake, you can stay here for FREE.

Read: Fishing Adventure in Norway



The lake is so peaceful and you can really relax and unwind. We just sat beside the lake and appreciate the beauty of the nature. My son enjoyed creating ripple by throwing stones in the lake. How I wish, we have this place in the Philippines, pangmuni-muni. Hehehe! We visited Lake Pandin in Laguna but there is a fee for that.

Read: Lake Pandin and Lake Yambo


Watch the video here.


After an hour, we went for a walk, you can walk around the lake but since we have a kid in tow, we did not finish it. We went home because it was dinner time already.

My husband got two Mind Museum All Day Pass tickets after attending the Manila Mini Maker Faire. My son wanted to use the ticket immediately so I asked my husband if we could celebrate Father’s Day at Mind Museum and he agreed. My husband was teasing my son, “Happy Child’s Day” ba ngayon? Hehehe! 


Our initial plan was to go to the museum before the opening so we could maximize the all day pass ticket but I changed my mind because I wanted to eat at Texas Roadhouse, so we had an early lunch before we went to the museum.


Since we only have two all day pass tickets, we purchased another ticket and we’re contemplating kung All Day Pass ba o regular ticket kasi namamahalan ko sa P750 but what if nabitin yung anak ko sa 3 hours. After few minutes, the staff offered the promo “All Day Pass Ticket + Ayala Museum for P600”. Yey! Tipid kami ng P150. 

After paying, the staff gave us 1 FREE Ayala Museum ticket, 3 maps and bracelets. Wow, they improved na, 3 years ago kasi I was looking for a map and wala daw sila. Map is really important so guests can plan their trip. 

We’ve been to Mind Museum 3 years ago, so you could read my first post here and watch the video here. Since this was our second visit, I will just share the improvements, changes and new experiences. I was looking for the finding fossils and hugging vest activities but they are not available na. Napalitan na siya. 

Anyway, since we are late, we missed the Wild Conversations at 10:30 AM. The Mind Museum has 5 Main Galleries which is Atom, Life, Earth, Technology and Universe. There is also an outdoor Science in the Park which is beside the Jollibee. 

You can also watch 3D Films and Planetarium shows. So if you are buying a regular ticket, take note of the schedule of the shows so you won’t miss it. 



Our favorite gallery is the Universe, we spent most of our time here because there are three shows that we watched here, “Life: A Cosmic Story”, “Origins of Life” and “Awesome Astronomy”. While waiting for the show, my son enjoyed playing with this magnetic solar system. 


There are also Mind Movers at the Atom Gallery, where we watched different Science Demos. This is fun and you can also participate in their demo. We watched 3 demos during our last visit. You can check the video here. 



We also watched a show at the Earth Gallery, we only watched the “Birth Place” because we missed the “Ang Simula” shows, as in few minutes late kami. Nakalimutan ko, sayang! I’m not sure if the show is the same since we also watched “Ang Simula” during our first visit. 




Our favorite in Atom Gallery is the Static Ball, I still remember my first visit, ayaw tumayo ng buhok ko sa I was glad na tumayo na siya. Hehehe! Good thing that there is already a staff who operates this exhibit. 



 Aside from the main galleries, there are new exhibits that we can explore such as Color Play, Cave of Tiny Secrets, Sensory Earth, Astronauts Selfie, Earthrise, Living in Space, Encounter with the Solar System and Shape Emporium. These were not available during our first visit. My son enjoyed the piano stairs. 






There is “The Teenage Brain Exhibit” at the second floor which we did not visit anymore because I’m not sure if my son will like it. While waiting for the 5PM show, we had snacks at Jollibee and check the playground outside. We missed this park during our first visit kasi hindi namin alam na meron. 




Then we watched the Awesome Astronomy at 5PM, I thought we are going to watch a video but I was wrong, Peder Decierdo discussed about the Astronomy, I learned about the sun, moon and stars so now when I look up the sky, I appreciate it more. 


Before, they have a souvenir store as in malaki siya, we bought souvenir key chain pa nga but now closed na yung store. They just have a small kiosk before the exit door. After 6 hours, our visit is over. Then we walked fast to the parking lot so we won’t be charge for another hour. We all know that parking in BGC is so expensive, we paid P250 for 6 hours. Waah! How about you, have you visited Mind Museum?

The Mind Museum 

JY Campos Park 3rd Avenue, Bonifacio Global City, 
Taguig CIty, Metro Manila 

Operations Schedule 

Tuesday to Sunday (Closed Monday)

 9AM -12NN | 12NN - 3PM | 3PM - 6PM  

Mind Museum Ticket Prices

P625 adult 
P475 Child/Private School Student 
P190 Public School Student (valid id) 
P190 teacher (valid ID) 
P750 All Day Pass Museum (No 3 hour limit)
P2500 1 Year Unlimited Science Pass

Exploring Mind Museum Video