Vietnam - Hanoi; First Nite, 1st Day

Our roadside BBQ beef dinner on our first nite w a bottle of chilled Hanoi Beer.
Me looking a bit 'seh'..
Our room that is big enough for 5 peeps costing us about US35 a nite.
The view from our balcony. That is a pho bo(beef noodle) stall
Walking along the streets we saw this charcoal painter. His painting are so so lifelike.
Just one of the many flowers seller. Some with roses some with lilies. Pretty.
One whole street selling wedding stuff. Maybe you can try getting urs from there next time.
On the second floor of Dong Xuan mkt where almost everyone is selling cloths.
The different varieties..
This is Joseph's Cathedral which our cyclo driver brought us. We paid 50k dong for an hour ride.
There happened to be a mass at that time and we listen to them singing and i felt very at ease and peaceful and sometimes sad too. I dont know why. But i enjoy this place.
LV motobike... hahhaaha
This is the infamous Hoan Kiem Lake
Tea at the cafe by the lake. Frm left to right viet coffee, ice to make it into ice coffee, lemon pie.. The best has yet to come..

The pizza is one of the best ever... Seriously yummy..

Cha Ca. They have one whole street named after this dish. A must try. They only sell one dish in this resturant and it cost 90k dong = S$9 per person. Not forgetting a bottle of Hanoi beer... haha Best complement..

Bliss is...

7. Sitting on my bed talking to my dad while he was mopping my room.

***

We both agree that i need a chest of drawers with a large mirror. This time, i will have to pay for it. damn.. hahahhaaha

I want something that look likes this but not in this colour. It must be tall enough, with sufficient storage space and not too bulky. Also, to cost less than S$600 and look like an antique. Not too picky am i?

I also need an energy conserving airconditioner and a slim strong fan.

It has been a yr and more since i got all my new furniture, now i'm thinking of new positions for them.

Yesterday was the first anniversary of my working life. wow.. I wonder how many more is to come.. I hope..... NOT A LOT!!!!

Its monday tmr.. yeahh!!

I really dun want it to come so soon...

Sunset @215

City of angels

Have anyone not watch City of Angels yet? What are you waiting for... Go watch it... Its so naively sweet and romantic... ahh... **melts**

If only it doesnt take so long to load.......

Singapore Flyer (11th April 08)

I know this entry is one wk late but late better than never. Just wanna record tt nite down where I had a great time since a long long time.

Previously mentioned, one of my JC girl is flying over to Perth(shes already there) and will be staying there for maybe the next half decade. So, we went to take the Sing Flyer with the hope of taking some photos. We did and the picts turn out great. Thanks to the camera which is able to take some pretty decent picts at nite. Come to think about it, that camera had been on the Sing flyer twice yet not once with its owner. Kinda sad yah.. hahahha…

Back to that Friday nite. We were suppose to meet at 6.30pm at that place but since I was on leave, so I met Eve who had her last half day then. We waited for YQ till almost 7.10pm as she was coming from her office. We then proceed to board the capsule. Very fortunately, when it was our turn, we had the whole capsule to ourselves unlike the previous and the next where it was shared among other people. It was really very very lucky of us because we had a great time posing and what not in the capsule which we have all to ourselves.

We board at 7.15pm where it was still bright, then a portion of the sky turns a lovely shade of pink at around ¼ of our journey and by the time we are slightly over the highest point, the skies were starting to get dark and we were able to view the city lights. It was a really pleasant ride and I really had a wonderful time taking picts of the posers and the surrounding sights. It had been a long long time since I felt like that and it felt like a journey to the past.

After we got out, I cldnt help but think of what a good show we had put up for those watching the security cameras. I just hope that there wont be a time where on some anniversary, they decided to play back some HIGHLIGHTS of the recorded scenes that took place onboard the Sing flyer. Im pretty sure we will be under the section of the 'xiao zha bos'.

After we alight, we went to purchase the pict that they took of us before we board as a farewell gift for eve. Den it was time for dinner at Popeyes, a slow stroll to Esplanade and iced chocolate at Max Brenner (yummylicious!)

We chatted till around 11pm and went for a walk along the Singapore river and started snapping some shots around. Really like that part of Singapore at night. Pretty.

We shared a cab though we are all leaving in different areas and with the midnight charge and stuff, it cost close to $40 when I reach home. No complaints though.

Wonderful night, wonderful company. It felt great to be young again. When will the next time be?

****

Had a great day slacking today. Went for tuition with my beloved tutee then watched a movie at CWP. It had been such a long time since I watch a movie and I was so out of touch with whats new and wats not.

After which was dinner at Botak Jones and for once I tried their steak which was not too bad just that a bit too cooked for my liking. I like them more bloody.. hee… A slow walk to my hse and a nite infront of the TV watching some silly comedy and laughing our hearts out. Yeah, nice way of spending a Sunday. Chilling out, that’s what I like. Not forgetting the long awaited teh tarik with my CL buddy.

Oh yeah, it's the simple things that make life good!

Viet trip; Halong Bay, last 3days.

Oh well, before ppl start believing tt I'd decided to marry a viet, stay there for good, I shall post an updates on all nice and good and maybe some not tt nice..

Think this is going to be a long long entry, so without further ado, lets begin.. with more picts and less words..

Vietnam (Hanoi, Sapa+Lao Cai, Ha Long Bay)
The last entry ended very abruptly because the guide for Halong Bay came half an hour before schedule and 'Quick Quick' was the 2 words commonly heard thru out the trip. I felt like we were rush from places to places, why? I do not know. That's why, I guess.

Halong Bay (Day 5th and 6th), the supposedly 8th wonder of the world.. huh? From where one?? I also do not know. One word.

Disappointed!

The 3.5 hrs bus ride to and fro Hanoi was super bumpy. It was fun (ya rite) sitting on the last row because you get to fly off the seat every say 35 seconds. Luckily we only fly up and not forward else.. I do not want to think of that.. But it was an experience not to forget. Thinking back now, it was funny, the looks the last rowers gave each other after we flew up in unison.

Upon arriving at the dock of Halong city, we have to wait for our guide to BUY the tickets. Again, everyone started shooting 'You must be kidding me? Now then they buy the junk boat tickets?' Then its back to 'Quick quick' and we were ushered to our junk boat. There were tourist everywhere and anywhere and junk boat waiting for their next board of pigs ready to be slaughter. There must be hundreads of junk boat waiting at the dock and luckily it was big enough.

This 2D1N package cost us about USD$65 which includes a night onboard, all meals but no drinks and the journey to and from your hotel. It’s a "middle-class" junk boat, hence costing around USD$60+. The more expansive one with the crew wearing white uniform can cost up to USD$400+ while the cheaper one with no air conditioner can be as cheap as USD$40. So, that’s the average rate.

Anyway, upon boarding the junk boat, we leave the dock at 1pm, they serve us our seafood lunch (the steam fish was yummy, the prawns are not tt fresh but alrite lar), went to a cave (Hang Thien Cung) named 'Amazing cave'. It is call amazing for three reasons which I do not remember, but I know I’m amazed that it can be amazing. Sigh… But one thing, its large. Very large. (yeah.. amazing!!)

After which, we went for a kayak trip around the karst 'Turn right, turn right, turn right, into a cave' That was what our tourguide told us. So, we followed the other tourists infront of us and turn right turn right turn right into a cave. Ok, this time itis fantastic. Coming out from the other end of the cave, it opened into a large area enclosed by the karst and we can hear nature’s orchestra with surround sound here. Everyone was quietly listening to the melody of the different birds singing, finally a place where peace can be found. (Until a tourist decided to join in and started banging on his kayak ~_~) We went back, and rest on the deck, soaking in the last sun rays, enjoying the sunset and at the same time, waited for dinner.

Dinner was at 6.30pm, had a chat with an European girl and an Aussie girl bout ours and theirs trip so far. When discussing the topic on the locals here, everyone cldnt think of a proper word to describe them (because all of us dun want to be deem as complaining), so we just used the word 'different' on the viets. 'Yes, they are… just different. (with a shrug)..'

Went back to our room at 8+, had a HOT WATER shower, read my book, wrote my journal and slept at about 12am. Didn't wake up for sunrise as I know it will be hidden by the rocks so I slept till 8am, woke up for breakfast, stay in the dinning area for the rest of the trip reading my book and finally finished it.

While heading back to Halong Bay, they made one last stop for us to go to a lookout which required a climb up say 30m. I stopped at midpoint upon hearing from our Malaysian friends which we met in SAPA that its not worth it. Sat there and read my book while ET climbed on. Call me lazy but come on, be realistic lar.

We reach Halong Bay at about 12pm, waited for an hour for our bus, had lunch at some nice restaurant and headed back to Hanoi. Finally reach our hotel at 4-5pm. Mr Ha(owner) was there to welcome us. We had heard so much about him and finally we get to meet him. He had heard of our complains on SAPA trip and wanted to hear from us personally. We told him and he said he will check on it.

Lets just leave it at that. He is a good manager and a good host is all I will say. He gave us a compensation by paying for our cab ride from the hotel to the airport on the following day.

That night, we went to have a seafood dinner. Crab, beer prawns, coconut prawns, seafood springrolls (super good cause its crispy on e outside, soft on the inside) and steam fish. Cost us about S$58 for both of us. Alright. Den we rush to the water puppets theatre for the 8pm show. (20k dong for normal, 40k dong for 1st class) We were 5 mins late and two words to describe 'Dun understand' But it’s a good experience. Lasted for about 40-50mins. Went back to our room and sleep the night away.



Last day (yippie!!)
Went out early in the morning for shopping at Hang Be mkt, along the streets, went for a massage (where we both have to strip naked in the same room. Think I wld rather go alone next time.. **shy**), shopping at Fivimart, Pho bo (beef noodles, 32k dong a bowl, viet coffee 10k or 18k dong) for dinner, went back to our hotel by 5.50pm and saw that the cab is already there(it was suppose to reach at 6pm). The staff at the hotel carried our bags into the cab while I went to the toilet and we were usher into the cab to drive us to the airport.

Along the way, we pass by streets that we had walked by during the last couple of days. Kinda sad that this holiday has come to an end, but at the same time, glad that I'm FINALLY on my way home. Saw the red sun sliding down and it reminded me of Cambodia's. They are similar. But well, we reach the airport and started stuffing our last minutes purchases into our bags. Luckily my bag was big enough or shall I say I didn't buy a lot so I do not need to be like someone to have to sit on the ziplock bag in Hanoi airport to squeeze out the air and maximize space in her bag.

Me? I was well composed, sitting there, looking all nice and cool, busy taking pictures of that unfortunate someone and making fun of her. What more can I do?

Finally we check in and started guessing if the plane will board half an hour in advance because this appears to be the culture in Viet. The tours all leave half an hour in advance to the point I started wondering if the time diff is 1hr or 1.5hr.

We went in with the knowledge that we only have 40k dong btw the two of us. Inside, everything is in USD. We started looking for something we can afford to eat as the plane flying at 8.45pm. It was so pathetic and while I was digging in my wallet to see if I can find some dong coins, I found USD$50! I was so happy that I started laughing out loud. Yeah, finally we can buy food. We were trying to get money for a 250g chips and upon finding cash, we bought the 500g bag and 2 cans of soft drinks at USD$1 each. Den we found a seat and had our 'dinner', wait for our flight and flew back to sing. Reach sing at 1am+.

Dad was there to fetch me. He waited for 1hr and I was surprised tt he nv learn frm previous experience not to reach earlier or same time as the flight is estimated to land. I bought Honey Choya and NZ Ice wine at the dutyfree. Hee.. Gonna find one fine day to sit back and sip my NZIW. Hahaha.. Dad drove to Yishun Nasi Lemak and we tabao a box back for supper (so unhealthy). Luckily I need not work the next day and can take my time to unpack a little, bath, load the picts and relax. Went to bed at 4am.

Friday (11/04/08) - Sing Flyer, that's another story to be told on another entry.

Back in Hanoi

Arrive in Hanoi this morning from Lao Cai at 5am. Took a cab to ou hotel as there wasnt any pickup. We thought there was suppose to be. In the end we took a cab back and it was running by meter. When we reach the hotel, the shutters was close so i just knock on it consistenly till the lights came up. We didnt pay the cabbie as we thought tt the package shld include everything.

When the hotel gate were finally open, we ask them to pay for the cab which they tell us its not included. So we asked them the standard rate and they told us 40,000 dong = $4. But the meter show 120, 000 dong = $12 which of course we were not going to pay. We just gave him 500, 000 dong and the 'take it or leave it' face. Haa.. He had no choice. We are not going to be fool by anymore cabbie anymore.. ANGRY!!!

The trip to LAO CAI, SAPA wasnt very good. The first day was good as we went for a homestay with the Zao minorities and though their home is simple but it feels very comfy and welcoming. They even have hot water. Whereas on our second nite there, in a 3 STARS HOTEL, there wasnt any hot water. When we went down to check at 7.30pm, they told us to wait for an hour as they were repairing their water container or something like that den when we went down at 8.30pm, they told us to wait for another 2 hours. Of course i wasnt going to do that. I request for a change in room in a different hotel but under the same management but they say the other hotel is also facing the same problem. I refuse to believe it so i went to the opp hotel and ask one of the family tt we met during the trip. They said they have hot water so i went to the main management.

They say the hot water will only be ready next morning. It makes my blood boil as just minutes ago i was told 2 hours after having waited for 1hr. I wasnt in the best mood and demands a compensation as earlier on we had already been ask to pay another $20USD for transport to Bac Ha mkt when our tour operator already told us we will be going. They were just ripping us off whichever way possible to them. Anyway, i was in a very harsh tone when i spoke to the manager of Royal Hotel in Sapa and can you imagine it when he SCREAM back at me telliing me that its not his fault that there isnt any hot water in that building as the building is under construction. So, was it my fault for staying in that hotel den? If you do not have any hot water then say so in the first place, and make arrangement ab0ut it so that the ppl staying there can go elsewhere to shower instead of telling us to wait 0ne hour, den 2 hours and so on. The way they manage it was so so wrong. Goodness. And the thing is, they are not a countryside, SAPA town had already been so developed and commercialise that it pains me to see those minorities hanging outside..

to be continue.. going off..

Hanoi..

In hanoi at e moment, waiting for 10pm= 11pm sing to take an overnite train to LAO CAI, SAPA. So far, weather is good. A lot to see. Very different from Thailand. Very nice too. Haa.. Saw a few Singaporeans. How to differentiate that they are sings? By looking at the way they carry their bags, infront. Haha.. Us too.

We had 'T-bo' BBQ beef steak yest nite just outside our backpacker's and it was good.. Its a roadside stall and the chairs and tables are those lowlow kind. It was interesting. Kindly like korea but not korea. It cause $80,000 Dong = S$8 for 2 person, + a Hanoi Beer (S$1). It was quite decent but i still feel tt we were ripped off.

Den we went to have the BBQ fish just now at Cha ca street(something like tt). It was good but kinda pricy. $90k Dong each. But it was a good experience esp with beer. muhahaha...

I like their beer...

Anyway, we went to a nite mkt just now and it was drizzling. Quite shoick..

One thing we notice is, the viet guys like to look at our feet. Dun know why but first they will look at our face then to our feet as we are wearing sandals. Guess they were thinking 'Face- Cannot make it, Feet- Can forget it' Turn away.. hahah..

kk.. gonna go and rest first.. Been walking since 11am tis morning... So tired...

Will update again when i can.

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