The Asian Affair, Vibrant Vietnam and Sizzling Singapore

I'm really into planes and long flights. We hopped on the famous Singapore Airlines with about 30 hours ahead of us. I had 8 magazines, 6 movies, 4 meals, and a sleeping pill, so I arrived feeling chill and ready to explore. American airports still aren't the easiest to navigate. On the flip side, Singapore's super modern airport makes you want to hang out longer with free internet stations, a cinema, a rooftop pool, aromatherapy spas, oxygen bars, and an indoor garden with waterfalls and a koi pond. I'm traveling with my smallest group yet, just 28 singles. Over 60 people had pushed me to plan these destinations, but most bailed last minute, worried about bird flu. So, this trip feels like a vacation for me with this awesome group of culture lovers.

We kick things off with a tour at the top of Mt. Farber, offering some seriously amazing views. I can tell the group is wowed by this dazzling city nestled between Malaysia and Indonesia. This is the heart of Southeast Asia, a lively port that the British Empire helped modernize. Known as the “Lion City,” it’s home to 4 million people. About 76% are Chinese, and the other minorities live together in harmony. Singapore is a city, state, capital, and country all rolled into one, attracting 8 million visitors each year, though not many Americans have caught on yet.

We check into the luxurious Regent Hotel by Four Seasons. I get a suite and honestly, the staff here might just be the friendliest on earth. We’ve arrived at the perfect time with the “Great Shopping Festival” happening. Nothing like a little retail therapy to shake off our jet lag. Orchard Road, kind of like a tree-lined Fifth Avenue, is just a block away and is the hub of everything. Shopping is the national pastime, and hunting for bargains can get pretty intense here.

There are 150 mega-malls here, and some never even close! I'm a sucker for labels, so I snagged a pre-owned authentic Rolex with documents for way less than the original price. We've only got 4 days to explore, and it's nonstop action, like Hong Kong on steroids. The Arts Festival is happening with tons of venues. After dark, the place turns into a party hub at the trendy Clarke Quay by the river. We've got an awesome guide named Farida who's showing us around with plenty of laughs. We hit up the lush National Orchard Gardens with 60,000 orchids, checked out China Town with its markets and temples, and wandered through Little India with its amazing aromas and vibrant colors. Then we headed to the super-modern financial district, Merlion Park with its iconic fountain, and the historic colonial area set up by Sir Stamford Raffles. We took a break to sip a Singapore Sling at the famous Long Bar of Raffles Hotel, where rooms start at $700 a night. Other tours included Jurong Bird Park and the Night Safari at the zoo, which is considered the best in the world with its free-roaming enclosures for 2,500 animals. In our free time, we rode rickshaws around town and took the cable car over to Sentosa Island.

Some of us decide to head back to the zoo for a Jungle Breakfast with the Orangutans. At night, Terry and I enjoy some jumbo chili crabs and rice cakes. This lively island-state of Singapore is super clean, with purple bougainvillea bushes lining the highways. Every car has alarms that go off if you speed. There’s no graffiti, no gangs, and in this tightly “controlled democracy,” drug traffickers face the death penalty. We joke about getting caned for chewing gum or jaywalking. It's been a relaxing visit here. Usually, my trips feel like I'm Jack Bauer from the TV show 24, with non-stop schedules. I feel refreshed as I board our 3-hour flight to Vietnam.

We step into a whole new world with rice fields, sampans, lotus flowers, coconut milk, and noodle soups. It's like hopping into a time machine back to the 15th century in this beautiful place rich with history. It's much poorer than I expected, but there's an irresistible charm in the kindness of the people and their genuine smiles. I've got a soft spot for the Third World. While Singapore was buzzing with energy, Hanoi is a cultural feast. The city is dotted with lakes and shaded by tamarind trees. It's a lively yet peaceful mix that hums with Chi-energy.

We check into the deluxe Sheraton Resort, a peaceful escape from the chaos. Our awesome guide, Hong, will be with us for six amazing days. His first lesson? Teaching us how to cross the streets. The traffic is insane with seven lanes and 2.4 million motor scooters. "It's called the Chicken Game," Hong says. "Don't run, don't stop, just walk slowly so drivers can predict your direction." That afternoon, I find myself stuck on the curb for 20 minutes, terrified, because this advice goes against all my instincts. You see entire families packed onto a single scooter, known as the "Vietnamese sandwich." Everything is carried on these mopeds—eight piglets, a dozen chickens hanging upside down, a TV, a tree, and more. The pollution is pretty bad. The inner city looks a bit worn out. Suddenly, there's a monsoon downpour. People throw on ponchos, turning it into raincoat city. It stops as quickly as it started, and life goes on.

The sun was shining during our tours, which included stops at the Temple of Literature, One Pillar Pagoda, the French Quarter, and Ho Chi Minh's memorial. We joined a long line to enter his tomb, where his preserved body is displayed, similar to Lenin in Moscow. Armed communist soldiers made sure we stayed silent, with no cameras, umbrellas, sunglasses, and our arms at our sides. Later, we checked out Hoa Lo Prison, also known as the Fiery Furnace. It was built by the French in 1896, and thousands of political prisoners were tortured there until 1954. We saw the dungeons with leg irons, torture devices, and even "head cutting machines." In the 1960s, the Vietcong used it as a POW camp for American pilots shot down during the Vietnam War. Our captured pilots sarcastically called it "The Hanoi Hilton." We also took a stroll through the Old Quarter, where each narrow street is named after an ancient craft: Silk St., Coffin St., Grilled Fish St., and so on. Hong led us to a food market with turtles, sea slugs, pig heads, and other unusual items for sale. Thit Chow, or dog stew, is considered peasant food here, and country rat is a special dish served at birthday parties.

Most of our meals came with awesome breakfast buffets and epic 10-course lunches. Every restaurant was super affordable. One night, my dinner had jellyfish salad, deep-fried eel, ginger crickets, and sticky rice with roasted pigeon. It seems like in Vietnam, they'll eat anything that moves because "it tastes like chicken."

We checked out the Water Puppet Show, a really cool ancient art form that's unique to Hanoi. It's this awesome blend of music and dance on water that used to entertain villagers back in the day. After that, we wandered around the city, which is Asia's oldest capital. Some folks went for massages and pedicures that were too cheap to pass up. Others went shopping for souvenirs or got custom clothes made. I got an embroidered silk dress tailored to fit me in just 4 hours for $45. We checked out the handicraft villages to snag some deals on art, ceramics, and lacquerware.

The currency was a bit tricky since 10,000 dong is just 39 cents. We felt like millionaires, but it was a bummer to learn that the 7.5 million Vietnamese Dong. So we made sure to tip generously everywhere we went. Vietnam’s vibe is in its cities, while its charming grace is in its villages. We headed out to the countryside for a full day cruise at Halong Bay. The air was fresh as we passed rice paddies, duck, and prawn farms. It was rice harvest time, and hundreds of rice farmers were bent over their ponds. Shy kids waved as we drove by. We arrived at this natural World Heritage Site and boarded our private wooden junk boat. Quietly, we sailed into a dreamscape that looked surreal. 3,000 islands of sheer limestone cliffs rose from the emerald sea. The scenery had a timeless, haunting quality. We enjoyed a seafood lunch with fresh crab and prawns. It was a perfect sunny day for escapism and serenity.

The best part of the trip for me was our group's cyclo-tour through Old Hanoi on the last day. We turned a corner downtown and saw 28 bicycle-rickshaws lined up, ready to take us on a solo ride for an hour through the narrow, scooter-packed lanes of oncoming traffic. There were a few close calls at the red lights, which everyone just ignored. We all cracked up as the locals stared. Terry, who's 6’4”, is considered tall even in America. Here, he looked like King Tut on a throne while his 90lb driver pedaled him effortlessly along with our group. Later, we split up to explore on our own. After a few hours, I ended up lost in a part of town with no taxis around. I needed to get back to meet up with the others for dinner, so I had no choice but to hop on a scooter. Wearing a skirt and juggling bags, I climbed onto the tiny seat and off we went. On the highway, I wrapped my arms and legs around my driver like an octopus. He laughed the whole way to the Sheraton.

We're heading back to Singapore to catch some good sleep at Le Meridian before our long flight home to Los Angeles with a stopover in Tokyo. I'm looking back on another awesome trip, filled with new insights into history and cultures. It felt like visiting two totally different worlds in one vacation. Our photos show the contrast perfectly, from Singapore's modern garden paradise to Vietnam's revival of traditional vibes. This Asian adventure is definitely one for the books.

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