Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know I’ve been really late to this Backpack Blogging thing. Or heck, to WordPress in general. Anyway, I just wanted to link you to two websites I’ve been reading a lot recently.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know these websites have been around for awhile but I just started getting into them recently. Anyway, that’s it.
One thing I liked about Cambodia and Vietnam was the pirated books. I am not an advocate of piracy in general. But I liked the fact that I could get pirated books in those areas. As much as I love Lonely Planet (now), their books cost a lot. I didn’t buy a pirated Lonely Planet book there but maybe next time I will. Fortunately, one Sacha Calagopi lent us hers on this trip.
I did, however, buy lots of other pirated and second hand books. Not as many as I would’ve liked to because I didn’t want to lug them halfway across Indochina.
One article that I’ve been meaning to write for awhile is where to find secondhand books in this country. And the mother lode of these kinds of books are found in the University of the Philippines-Diliman. The biggest amalgamation of them are inside Palma Hall near the back. You can get in through a side entrance. And as long as you tell the guard that your just there to buy books, he might let you in.
Books are organized by genre and author. Of course the Communist Manifesto can be found. Lots of Existentialist writers like Sartre and Camus. Basically books a typical college kid in Manila would read. There’s also Murakami which are still quite expensive (unlike my “copy” from Siem Reap, hehehe). The scifi isn’t so deep. Mostly Clarke and Asimov. But I did find some gems. Like earlier copies of the SF Masterworks I’ve been collecting. Which I probably will never read anyway, hehehe. There are also lots of children’s books especially by Roald Dahl. My girlfriend collects a lot of the feminist books and Anais Nin.
If you can’t get past the guard of Palma hall there is a tiangge on the side of UP. It’s hard to describe but it’s there on the gilid. At the far right end of the tiangge, you’ll find another branch of one of the stores you’ll find in Palma Hall. What’s nice is you can park right at the opening of the shop.
And the last, right outside the UP “mall?”. It’s kind of hard to find but you can also park right outside the entrance. It says BOOKS on the outside. Inside the “mall”, there are also lots of secondhand bookstores but I don’t like them as much.
The source of most of these books is actually one store in Cubao Shoe Expo, called Rommel’s books, I think. Here the books are more diverse because the more “popular” ones are sent to UP. The owner is this really nice lady who really loves books. (I guess she’s not Rommel…) I found a copy of Kon-Tiki here. She actually has another floor of books upstairs but she doesn’t really want anybody skunking around up there. It’s a shame. I’m sure there are some real treasures in that room.
Part of the romance of these bookstores is not only are they cheap, but they have that old nostalgic smell which reminds me of Baguio or Tagaytay for some reason. Remember those old books your uncle, lolo or lola would leave at the beach, never to be read again until one emo night when you want to read something serendipitously. Okay, I’m being mean…
Bottom line, look for books! Fully Booked is harang (though I still can’t stop buying there) and they don’t have all the books in the world. Oh, my kingdom for a Barnes and Noble and Kinokuniya or maybe even just an Eslite. But like I said, no reason to be mean…
Anyway, might as well end this post before I put my foot in my mouth once again. Happy bookhunting!
It really seems like that gasoline is well on it’s way to becoming 200 dollars a barrel. In Filipino terms that might amount to 100 pesos a liter. That’s a lot of money. I could start biking to school but unfortunately our roads are just too polluted. By the time, I arrive in school not only will I be sweaty but I’ll smell of tambutso.
I wonder at what phase will biking to school be the only feasible option?
Okay I’m adding this part on June 30, 2008.
THAT STOKED FEELING
I went longboarding on a skateboard yesterday. And after thirty seconds, it all came rushing back. It’s nice to know that technology has caught up with the humble skateboard. One push on the foot, and the board glides nicely down the road. Breaking is hillarious though.
I was just wearing, gloves, with fiberglass palms for rough landings. I would also recommend kneepads. And if you plan going down some really steep hills (like my friend did yesterday) a really good helmet. And they don’t make you look dorky anymore. They’re kinda stylish. I wish I got one of those ladybug ones in Ho Chi Minh, hehe. (Editor’s note: I’m am going to refer a lot to my last Indochina trip through Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand in this blog, because it was my most recent trip and my first done in the true backpacking style. No dorm rooms though. Private bathrooms for this beetch that is me.)
Anyway, longboarding is another alternative to gasoline. And it’s more fun than biking pa. Long live the 80’s. Na-na-na-nineteen Eighty Three.
It has been one heck of a fiscal year. It began with a trip to Cebu. Followed by a trip to Hong Kong. Then Xiamen, then the States. I went to Russia, Denmark, Sweden and Amsterdam, too. Finally wrapped it up with a trip to Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand.
Where am I going next? Laos? Tibet? Nepal? Mongooolia?
I am now a firm believer in Lonely Planet and now grasp their philosophy.
On another front, I’d just like to write about the books that I’ve been reading. The Post-American World, an article called Multipolar world by Richard Haas and The Case for Goliath. They are all pointing to the same thing. A properous world being oversawed by America.
I hate all these naysayers predicting the fall of America. America will always be around for a long time. And if they keep on refreshing their people, they will be around here forever. But the point is, we are living in a time of peace and prosperity and thus we shouldn’t rock the boat.
Oh and the article talked about multipolarity. So maybe America will always be around but it will start to take on a different form. Maybe it will start merging with Canada and Mexico to become a super state. It a multipolar world, each region and organization may end up taking turns being on top, whether formally or informally.
I am not sure if any of you will ever come across this website. But if you do I hope it helps.
We arrived in Saigon at around 2 in the morning and headed off to the backpacker’s district. We stayed at a place called Yellow Hotel, or something like that. It costs us only 19 dollars for a room that could fit four people! It has an aircondition and private bath.
We booked a tour to the tunnels via Delta Tours. What’s funny I think is that every tour leads to just one bus. A great feat of organization by the Vietnamese which us Filipinos can learn from. I think this tour cost us just 9 dollars.
We booked another tour the next day to a day trip down the mekong. I think this cost us 12 dollars but it included lunch. On the way back we spent around another 9 dollars to take the speedboat back to saigon. This was worth it because we got to see life on the Mekong and their very friendly people. Everybody would wave. I like the Vietnamese.
We then booked a trip to Phnom Pehn. I think it cost us another 12 dollars. When we got there, we hired a tuktuk to take care of us. He brought us to this really nice lodge that only cost around 20 dollars a night for us three. He then brought us the next day to the Killling Fields and the school where they imprisoned people. We paid our driver 25 dollars a day for all his service. But the guidebooks said that was too much. But we liked him, so that’s okay.
We then booked a bus to Siem Reap. This costs us around another 12 dollars. When we got there, we met another tuktuk driver who was coordinated to meet us by the original tuktuk driver. We went to a place that cost us 25 dollars a night. Still a bargain if you ask me. He then drove us Siem Reap everyday to all the sites we wanted to see. He also drove us to the river, where we saw people living on boats. Even whole schools with a basketball court, floating on barges. This was a bit pricey, but they said some of the money goes to the poor people. We also went to a buffet with show place somewhere else. It was around 12 dollars but it was worth it.
Our tuktuk driver then was able to book for us a taxi to the thai border. This cost us 35 dollars for us three. Which means it’s cheaper than a bus. The taxi driver drove like a maniac but it was fun, fast and “safe”.
That’s it. I guess I didn’t tell you much. But I guess you get the idea of the prices. The rest is up to you.
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