City Walk @ Old Quarters

It's Day 2 and after our excursion to Perfume Pagoda yesterday, Pixie and I agreed NOT to go for the Hoa Lu/Tam Coc trip which also takes about the same travelling hours (especially on the same steel plated boats)...seriously, I could not take another day of suffering from possible heat stroke.

Elaine, LengSim, LiLi and HanSan showed us nice pix after their trip BUT I kinda enjoyed a slower paced day with Pixie. HPH informed that it was too late to cancel our booking and would treat us to a Vietnamese meal in return. Well, it's better than getting nothing in return for the USD19/person that we've paid...

Wanna know what Pixie and I did? We went shopping and exploring around the Old Quarters. We also managed to visit Trixy at her work place, which was a deadly, that took approximately 30minutes walk in hot and humid weather...then we returned back to HPH approx. 6pm to have dinner with the rest before going for the water puppet show. That's another one of a kind experience...

First, shall attach a few photos on how our day was spent....

Once out of HPH, we turned right along Hang Non Rd and some how found our way to a paralel Yen Thai Street market in the morning. Walking amidst the hustle and bustle along the street market was unique as everything was done in the open and almost ground level, where vehicles passing by may kick up clouds of dust to the wares. The height that I'm used to would be about 3 feet above ground where it is a bit more sanitary visually.

Pixie and I returned to HPH after walking along Hang Manh (pronounced as Hung Mike), Hang Bong, Hang Gai and Hang Hom. Managed to get some silk embroidered purses, fridge magnets, etc. before lunch time at approximately 12:30pm. It was HPH's kind gesture, however unfortunately we were served bun cha. I do not relish the taste of sweet BBQ meat as I prefer savoury (salty) food instead.

I think between the both of us, we managed only to finish the fried spring roll and radish in the sweet soup. The greens and bun (rice vermicelli) were just too much...

After lunch we left HPH to head towards Hoan Kiem Lake for sight seeing. Took some photos, crossed opposite to view the Monument of King Le Thai To. As you can see from the sweat on my shoulders from my bag's shoulder straps, I was not fooling you when I said the weather was extremely hot and humid in Hanoi's summertime. Nonetheless we decided to take a walk to visit Trixy which we found out was a long, long walk!!!

We passed the following places, Fanny's French Ice-Cream parlour, Hanoi Tourism Office (above Bobby Chin's Restaurant-Discovery Travel & Living's celebrity chef) along Hang Khay, Vietname's Ministry of Finance. The other 2 pics were one of the many restaurants and street stalls along the way. It was such a relief finally seeing the swan logo of Sunway Hotel!!!

Dinner @ Quan An Ngon

The worst happened on my 2nd night in Hanoi....it rained! Trixy did remind and warn us to bring foldable brollies, just in case and IF it rains, it pours. Sad to say Pixie and I didn't bring any umbrellas :(

Heehee, I began with the end in mind. Thus the photo above is the wet tissue provided (shall I say, paid for by Trix) after our wonderful Vietnamese meal in a clean, kinda dark and stuffy (windows not opened and air cond not cold enough) but quaint restaurant by the name of Quan An Ngon (address: 18 Phan Boi Chau).

Shall post food photos later (having problem with my new 80gb portable HDD!!! Arrgh, cannot be read by home)...if I remembered correctly, for main course, we had the following:-

1. Kinda tough but nice peppery lean pork satay,

2. Garlic fried rice (fragrant and yummy!!),

3. Some vege stuff (not my kinda food),

4. Bun cha (pronounced as 'boon cha')

As for dessert and drinks, I think we ordered lotus seed in syrup, cendol looking thingy (in a glass), banana in gooey stuff (Trixy's favourite) and fried green rice.

20070715 Perfume Pagoda

Day 1 of my Hanoi trip, Pixie and I were off to Perfume Pagoda (Huong Tich-in Vietnamese @ Ha Tay province). After a simple breakfast of bread, some tomatoes, some hard 'baked' beans we were herded into a van that took us on a 2-hour van (Ford Transit) ride to the jetty for another hour ride on a boat and another 10 minutes of cable car ride before reaching the foothill of the Perfume Pagoda.

Pic on the left is one of the many that u may see along the way to any sightseeing places out of Hanoi City. It's amazing how they place their cemetaries in between land that they cultivate for food and economic purposes. I do wonder why they do not have a special zone/area for cemetaries since land is abundant there.

Fancy some frog wine or snake wine? The mere sight of both containers were enough to make me gag! It seems that Vietnamese enjoy exotic food, in particular wines. I've even seen some scorpion wine in some shops that sell these wines.

At the jetty where we had to endure an hour long journey up Yen River/Stream to the foothill of the Perfume Pagoda (Huong Tich - in Vietnamese). The boat that we had to take, as u can see in above pic, was made out of steel plates welded together with little wooden stools to fit 2 people's behind in cramp condition! The view on the way to the foothill were picturesque, as natural as it can be (i guess) for the the time being.

We managed to cover the following places within the alloted time of 11am-1:30pm:-

- Uphill trek on uneven path (path under construction) from the jetty/wharf to the Cable Car station. (Note: Had poor breakfast, already hungry and pushed myself to move on)

- Took Cable Car 10 minutes cable car ride uphill (point to note, it took 3 Swiss-1M2F approximately 20minutes to complete the climb while the rest of us-11 opted for cable car)

- Walked from Cable Car station to the mouth of Perfume Pagoda (cave)

- Walked down the steps to the cave and deeper inside, there were about 5 altars (could be more...too dark!) with different deities

-Time to leave, walked up the steps back to the Cable Car station and waited til there were at least 30 people on both ends. Otherwise, the station master will stop the cable cars to save resources!!! (gosh, what else would they think of next??!)

By the time we reached the bottom Cable Car station, all agreed to have lunch 1st before visiting another temple, Thien Tru (Heavenly Kitchen) Pagoda. Then it was time to head back to the van and back to Hanoi.

In a nutshell, it's a recommended place to visit on a cooling month instead of summer as the humidity and heat affected me. Bring along a bottle of water (you can buy a 1.5l bottle for VND10K @ foothill and it gets more expensive as you ascend to the Huong Tich), an umbrella and/or buy a Vietnamese hat to keep the sun from your face, put on sunblock and if you are a 'puteri lilin' (Candle Princess) bring along windbreaker and wear long pants.

Also, please be fit as you are required to ascend and descend many steps.

If I recall correctly, since I was in Hanoi in Jul the air conditioning in the Ford Transit which transported us felt as thought it was not working. I was perspiring the whole journey there and what more to say on the way back...

I think we reached back to HPH approximately 6plus and Trixy came to take Pixie and I out for dinner again. Shall write more next time...

20070714 1st night in Hanoi

Been putting off the updating of my Hanoi trip since arriving home coz of fatigue from the heat and humidity. Also, the arrival of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows last night by courier (approx. 7:25pm) push it back further. I've finished the book and apart from few deaths, it had a happy ending for most.


Now, back to my 1st night in Hanoi. The AirAsia flight from LCCT flew quite on time and arrived approximately 7:20pm (Hanoi's 1 hour later than KL's time, like Bangkok) and the moment I stepped out of the plane and it's comfortable air-conditioning, WHAM!! I was hit by the intense heat of the normal Hanoi weather in summertime. Anyways, after clearing Immigration, collecting our luggages, Pixie and I were met by the hotel pickup.

We were picked up in a Toyota Unser, it took me some time to get used to the driver sitting on the left side in the vehicle. After 10 minutes on the road, the driver had to make a pitstop to refuel and it was like going back in time to approximately 20-30 years ago. The petrol station jolted my memories that far back in time...

It took approximately 45 minutes to arrive in Hanoi Plaza Hotel (HPH) where Trixy was waiting for us for dinner together (it's about 9pm already!). We did a quick check-in and were requested to leave our passports with the hotel. My initial trepidition was allayed by Trix who informed that it is a norm in Vietnam therefore Pixie and I surrendered our passports for their safe-keeping.

Trixy took Pixie and I to dinner @ Al Fresco's along Hai Ba Trung (pronounced as Hai Ba Chung) Road. We ordered BBQ pork ribs, quesadilla and some salad thingy (vege's not my favourite).
Note: I've had a month's training (since Jun'07) on vegetable consumption since a few friends mentioned that it's generously served.

Since both Trixy and Pixie love desserts, we ordered one although we're stuffed to the max! No regrets ordering the Al Fresco Mud Pie with Ice Cream, it took 20 minutes to prepare and served to us. The chocolate came oozing out and the Vanilla ice cream was just nice....yummy...Thanks to Trixy for dinner :D muaxx, Love Ya...

Going back to HPH was a harrowing experience!!

For records purposes, Trixy normally calls for taxi, this time she requested Al Fresco to call for a taxi for us to return to HPH after settling the bill. The taxi had a hotel logo by the side and Trix told the driver (in Vietnamese) to take us to HPH @ Hang Non Road. That idiot of a driver took us for a long ride, passing Hilton (not towards the Old Quarters where HPH was located). Trixy and I realised that he was headed the wrong direction and immediately Trix told him to turn back to where we're supposed to go. The driver acted like he didn't know the direction/road name so Pixie whipped out HPH's card. It was kind of a terror ride as it was my 1st night in a foreign land where I did not speak their language. I was just glad to be back in HPH and see Trix off in another taxi. Too bad none of us remembered the taxi number, otherwise we'd be able to lodge a complain with the taxi company/associated hotel.

A few tips from Trixy while in Hanoi:-

1. Hail/take taxis with Hotel logos on its side to avoid being fleeced. It only costs VND15K for the 1st 1.7kms

2. Vietnamese and tourists alike might push you aside although you are NOT in their way.

3. Do not run OR turn back when crossing road, always move slowly towards the other side. The motorcyclists will honk at you but always manages to avoid you (their brakes works!)

NEXT - Perfume Pagoda, here I come ;)

.....sigh.....

I'm back from my 5Days 6Nights Hanoi holiday in the wee hours of Fri 20/07/07, which is also my Mom's birthday!



Just wanna let it be known that I received 2 news while on holiday. Let's start with the unhappy one, I didn't make it through CIA Part 2 and it's by 20points. I know that I should not tear myself up and wallow in self-pity. I'll have to start hitting the study text and Q&As soon...should be after finishing Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (just arrived about 7:25pm).



As for the good news, I've been informed that a Bank in Singapore's interesting in hiring me. Position the same as current and approximately 20% increase in salary and initially to specialise audit of Personal Financial Services. Hope the Letter of Offer arrives soon ;)