The balance of that adage ... "do as the Sweet Thing does". There is just too much going on here, I need to do what she did ... buy another bag and check two instead of one on the way home next week. I bought some stuff for the younger generation but will buy some more. I went for steak again around the corner to a joint I noticed during one of my walks. It was OK, not remarkable, and another place to add to my list of establishments I will go to once.
On the way home, I stopped and got some ice cream. I bought two cups and gave one to the front desk attendant. They always get up when someone walks in and I always motion them to sit down. The ladies behind the ice cream display case just giggled, and each time one of their eyes met mine, they would quickly turn their heads towards one another and break into mucho-giggling. There is a lot of that around Hanoi when they feast their eyes upon foreigner-type like yours truly.
Monday, November 29, 2010
Sunday, November 28, 2010
DVD city
I headed out to the old quarter about 4 Saturday afternoon. I had trouble getting money out of a few bank machines but an ANZ ATM finally coughed up the goods. I walked for a few hours, and as I am sure the Sweet Thing would agree, there is only one word to describe this part of Hanoi ... WOW. It is everything one could possibly expect in Asia. I picked up some DVDs for the young Abbey types. I love the way there are DVDs here for all 10 seasons of Seinfeld. There were only 9 :). You name it ... TV shows galore all the way from 24 to Friends to One Nut House to ... you name it. The bundles of seasons of the TV stuff run from about $10 to $25 for something like "Frasier Complete" or "CSI" seasons 1-7. According to Bakes, this is just the way this stuff is priced and packaged in Asia.
I hopped a motorcycle taxi back to Hai Ba Trung and quaffed an ale with some ribs at AlFresco's. I had a nice chat with the manager, an Aussie named Simon. He loves working here and the money is great. I walked back to the Silver and watched Arsenal play Aston Villa at 7 and that was neat. I was going to watch ManU at 10 but could not stay awake.
I woke up Sunday about 8 and walked downstairs for breakfast as the elevator was on the fritz. I watched the Sens shutout the Laughs and will head downstairs soon to work for a while on my documentation for MOF. I am going to walk a bit this PM and will head out of the Silver and go left instead of right as I always go when bound for Hai Ba Trung street. There is a neat area I would like to see more of in that direction. I have 7 more days of work at MOF and will be petitioning for another tech contract for the future. ST wants to come back to Vietnam since, just like every other ferenge who lands here, she loved Vietnam.
I hopped a motorcycle taxi back to Hai Ba Trung and quaffed an ale with some ribs at AlFresco's. I had a nice chat with the manager, an Aussie named Simon. He loves working here and the money is great. I walked back to the Silver and watched Arsenal play Aston Villa at 7 and that was neat. I was going to watch ManU at 10 but could not stay awake.
I woke up Sunday about 8 and walked downstairs for breakfast as the elevator was on the fritz. I watched the Sens shutout the Laughs and will head downstairs soon to work for a while on my documentation for MOF. I am going to walk a bit this PM and will head out of the Silver and go left instead of right as I always go when bound for Hai Ba Trung street. There is a neat area I would like to see more of in that direction. I have 7 more days of work at MOF and will be petitioning for another tech contract for the future. ST wants to come back to Vietnam since, just like every other ferenge who lands here, she loved Vietnam.
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Elton John had it right
He wrote a song about this day of the week and so could I. It is such a pleasure to have the W/E to myself. This is one of three I have to myself since my Sweet Thing returned home the week before this. Work was hectic late in the week. I had a really bad case of writer's block with a document I was working on but the floodgates broke Friday when I got to the office. I had a 2PM meeting with the client and IBM which turned into a 2-hour technical discussion that ended with us all agreeing on an approach! I split from the office early. I went into Trang's office and announced I was leaving early. I expected her to say that I was not, but she bought my suggestion.
I cabbed it to a spot close to the Silver hotel and picked up a tie to wear to the opera. I thought I had packed a few but could not find them, If you need any guidance on my not being able to find stuff in a suitcase, just speak to ST about the t-shirts I packed for Halong Bay that I could not find when needed. They were in the front zippered pocket where I never thought of looking. I got back to the hotel, had a beer, then Junie and i headed out for dinner. Lo and behold, we ended up just around the corner at a nice Vietnamese restaurant that she mentioned her and the Sweet Thing had been to that ST liked. We had some beef that Van Anh (Junie's traditional name) found too hot. Then we went for a stroll, stopping in at the Hilton WC on the way. We sauntered by the opera house which, still an hour from show time, was close to deserted.
We headed down to a familiar street then crossed amidst a small drive-past by the familiar assortment of scooters. As we crossed, it became obvious that the couple on a bike on the other side of the street she seemed to know. I immediately remembered how I had been wondering every time I do something with Junie how she never runs into people she knows. It's her parents! I tried motioning to them in Englamese (mixture of my and their languages) how lovely their eldest daughter is but it did not get through. She visited with them for a few minutes, we had some pictures, then the journey to the lake to pass some time continued.
We walked by some very familiar territory at the corner of the lake then made our way back to the opera house. The show started late as the place finally filled up by 8:10. The jazz ensemble was piano, bass, drums, vocals, guitar, and a 4-piece horn section. I would classify it as modern jazz. The first set was about an hour and the second 45 minutes or so. It was very enjoyable and a treat to see the inside of the opera house I have walked by so many times. What a treat meeting Junie's parents :).
I cabbed it to a spot close to the Silver hotel and picked up a tie to wear to the opera. I thought I had packed a few but could not find them, If you need any guidance on my not being able to find stuff in a suitcase, just speak to ST about the t-shirts I packed for Halong Bay that I could not find when needed. They were in the front zippered pocket where I never thought of looking. I got back to the hotel, had a beer, then Junie and i headed out for dinner. Lo and behold, we ended up just around the corner at a nice Vietnamese restaurant that she mentioned her and the Sweet Thing had been to that ST liked. We had some beef that Van Anh (Junie's traditional name) found too hot. Then we went for a stroll, stopping in at the Hilton WC on the way. We sauntered by the opera house which, still an hour from show time, was close to deserted.
We headed down to a familiar street then crossed amidst a small drive-past by the familiar assortment of scooters. As we crossed, it became obvious that the couple on a bike on the other side of the street she seemed to know. I immediately remembered how I had been wondering every time I do something with Junie how she never runs into people she knows. It's her parents! I tried motioning to them in Englamese (mixture of my and their languages) how lovely their eldest daughter is but it did not get through. She visited with them for a few minutes, we had some pictures, then the journey to the lake to pass some time continued.
We walked by some very familiar territory at the corner of the lake then made our way back to the opera house. The show started late as the place finally filled up by 8:10. The jazz ensemble was piano, bass, drums, vocals, guitar, and a 4-piece horn section. I would classify it as modern jazz. The first set was about an hour and the second 45 minutes or so. It was very enjoyable and a treat to see the inside of the opera house I have walked by so many times. What a treat meeting Junie's parents :).
Thursday, November 25, 2010
It's all relative
I find it a balmy 20 or so degrees today in Hanoi. It is windy and overcast making it, for me, a perfect opportunity to enjoy the summer weather. On the other hand, the locals find it uncomfortably cold. Junie showed up for work today complaining about the temperature. She was amused when we went on her motorcycle for dinner last night that I was still in shorts and a t-shirt even when it's winter. On the way to work there were people all bundled up in winter garb and some of the little people on the back of the motorcycle with a parent were wearing gloves as well.
We went to a spot near the Hanoi Towers that serves food from the Hue region in central Vietnam about 179 km from Da Nang. While we were in Hoi An there were companies offering overnight trips to see Hue, the old capital of Vietnam until 1945 when a communist government moved it to Hanoi. The food was quite spicy. There was a suggestion of something with eel in it that I vetoed. We went for ice-cream on the lake after dinner, a spot she mentioned ST and her liked when they were together.
I will probably head out to the old quarter for dinner tonight, taking advantage of the ideal November weather. It is a far cry from the -3 my Sweet Thing will enjoy in Ottawa mid-day Thursday, 12 hours from now. I spoke to Ben today and he is madly preparing for the move on the weekend. I spoke to Dizzy yesterday and she is pondering the final version of where and what she will do when she leaves Seoul in February or so.
We went to a spot near the Hanoi Towers that serves food from the Hue region in central Vietnam about 179 km from Da Nang. While we were in Hoi An there were companies offering overnight trips to see Hue, the old capital of Vietnam until 1945 when a communist government moved it to Hanoi. The food was quite spicy. There was a suggestion of something with eel in it that I vetoed. We went for ice-cream on the lake after dinner, a spot she mentioned ST and her liked when they were together.
I will probably head out to the old quarter for dinner tonight, taking advantage of the ideal November weather. It is a far cry from the -3 my Sweet Thing will enjoy in Ottawa mid-day Thursday, 12 hours from now. I spoke to Ben today and he is madly preparing for the move on the weekend. I spoke to Dizzy yesterday and she is pondering the final version of where and what she will do when she leaves Seoul in February or so.
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Another day another 20,000 dong
Got very adventurous again and wandered to the Italian spot I visited with Bruce and Ronald soon after my arrival last June. My landmark was two-fold ... the Mont Blanc store and a break in the buildings across from it with the Apple logo etched in the marble. That is what navigating new terrain is founded on - landmarks. In Addis last year when I decided I was brave enough to start getting around myself, I zeroed in on Edna mall close to Deker as my main landmark, and worked from there. It's a maze and you can amaze yourself as competency grows.
I grabbed a dessert at another establishment I will have to make a point not to go to again. The morsel of cake for 45,000 VND was hard to find on my plate. I moved my fork at one moment, and the baked delicacy appeared after having been obscured by the tines of the utensil. I am still waiting for the espresso I ordered. The people in the service industry here mean well and try very hard. I don't know if it's the lack of training or just the fact that some people are not really cut out for the service industry.
I returned to the hotel and hung out with the second and third members of our three wise men, having the usual lovely time watching the natives whiz by on their motorcycles. I crashed in time to catch the end of the Federer-Murray match, falling asleep before the expected outcome .. RF in straight sets.
I grabbed a dessert at another establishment I will have to make a point not to go to again. The morsel of cake for 45,000 VND was hard to find on my plate. I moved my fork at one moment, and the baked delicacy appeared after having been obscured by the tines of the utensil. I am still waiting for the espresso I ordered. The people in the service industry here mean well and try very hard. I don't know if it's the lack of training or just the fact that some people are not really cut out for the service industry.
I returned to the hotel and hung out with the second and third members of our three wise men, having the usual lovely time watching the natives whiz by on their motorcycles. I crashed in time to catch the end of the Federer-Murray match, falling asleep before the expected outcome .. RF in straight sets.
Monday, November 22, 2010
The mother of invention
Just like it did in Ethiopia, the ingenuity of these people impresses me. They park cars at a 90 degree angle to the sidewalk, with the rear end on the curb. That way they can twice as many cars parked in the same sized spot. It's the little stuff.
A city crew pulled up by the hotel a few nights ago. They erected a very rudimentary contraption on which they suspended an amber blinking light. Guess how they powered said light ... you guessed it; they clamped its two wires to a small motorcycle battery they always cart around.
They park their motorcycles sometimes 3 or 4 deep on the sidewalk. Then when the poor soul completely boxed in needs to get out, they drag obstructing motorcycles out of they way. No dragging ... two cycles deep; with dragging ... as many as you want.
The lights in out offices go off at 5PM automatically. They cannot be turned on again until 5:05. Remember Esplanade Laurier where most lights are on 24 by 7.
I was given a charge card for getting to and from work via taxi. The charge registers on the meter and debited from the driver's waybill with no paper involved.
A city crew pulled up by the hotel a few nights ago. They erected a very rudimentary contraption on which they suspended an amber blinking light. Guess how they powered said light ... you guessed it; they clamped its two wires to a small motorcycle battery they always cart around.
They park their motorcycles sometimes 3 or 4 deep on the sidewalk. Then when the poor soul completely boxed in needs to get out, they drag obstructing motorcycles out of they way. No dragging ... two cycles deep; with dragging ... as many as you want.
The lights in out offices go off at 5PM automatically. They cannot be turned on again until 5:05. Remember Esplanade Laurier where most lights are on 24 by 7.
I was given a charge card for getting to and from work via taxi. The charge registers on the meter and debited from the driver's waybill with no paper involved.
November 22, now there's a day to remember
So I'm in grade 10 at Lisgar. I have gym late morning and am on my way back from the other side of Lisgar Street through the tunnel. While passing somone, she says to me "Kennedy's been shot". I never did like that Latin teacher, especially his halitosis. How could someone have pulled a gun in his class!!!! By the time I make it to the end of the tunnel, there is an even bigger conglomeration of people ... JFK, not Mr. Kennedy has been shot. Through the next hour or two the most moving (one of them at least) days of my life unfolds as the details surface about the CIA (I mean Lee Harvey Oswald) shooting Kennedy in Dallas. The system is so pleased with itself as LHO is apprehended then we watch the TV all afternoon during as many classes as possible. Then two days later we watched Jack Ruby shoot LHO in the basement of the Dallas police station. Now isn't that convenient ... hello Oliver Stone.
I was in Dallas on the 29th anniversary of that event, and went to the 6th Floor museum where Oswald, one of the handful of assassins, pulled the trigger. It was moving as was the visit with the lady in the red dress in the Zapruder film that was released that year. She is very predominant in the best angle Zapruder got and had a bazillion stories to tell about that day. Then there was Seinfeld's The Boyfriend episode featuring Keith Hernandez who insisted there was a second spitter.
Work was busy today which I like, but not crazy. I walked home after work down the extension of Cat Linh, left at the pagoda to Nguyen Khuyen, then on to Hai Ba Trung to Phan Chu Trinh. What an expert. I stopped at Al Fresco's for tex mex and it was OK. I got a take away menu and will try that sometime if I am allowed at the Silver :). They deliver within 5 km. I am now sitting outside with Bien and blogging and sipping Heineken. Junie mentioned something at the opera on Friday night which would be huge.
I was in Dallas on the 29th anniversary of that event, and went to the 6th Floor museum where Oswald, one of the handful of assassins, pulled the trigger. It was moving as was the visit with the lady in the red dress in the Zapruder film that was released that year. She is very predominant in the best angle Zapruder got and had a bazillion stories to tell about that day. Then there was Seinfeld's The Boyfriend episode featuring Keith Hernandez who insisted there was a second spitter.
Work was busy today which I like, but not crazy. I walked home after work down the extension of Cat Linh, left at the pagoda to Nguyen Khuyen, then on to Hai Ba Trung to Phan Chu Trinh. What an expert. I stopped at Al Fresco's for tex mex and it was OK. I got a take away menu and will try that sometime if I am allowed at the Silver :). They deliver within 5 km. I am now sitting outside with Bien and blogging and sipping Heineken. Junie mentioned something at the opera on Friday night which would be huge.
Sunday, November 21, 2010
A day of rest
That's what today has been big time. I read, watched Sopranos, had a nap, witched tennis, and am supposed to go out with Bien for a stroll around the lake. I have been spending some time with him and the other hotelier who lives here (most of the time). Last night I watched football here ... first was Arsenal and Tottenham. Arsenal was up 2-0 and blew it. I think Aresenal is an English Premier League name for "Senators". It would have been a perfect opportunity to take over first place in the league as Chelsea lost too 1-0 to Wigan. The hotel seems to be a busy place. I am quite enjoying my new found room in the Silver hotel.
During my travels yesterday, I bought a new A/C and USB power cord for my iPad. The first store wanted 750,000 VND, the next 500,000, and the last 240,000. That was quite a gap between the most expensive and the cheapest, no? I also got an Arsenal jersey for 11 USD, cheaper than they even were in Addis (12 USD). I then found a store where ether were 4 USD but they did not have XXL that I needed. It is weird since i wear an L most of the time in a t-shirt. I did notice in Ethiopia that the sizing was funny as well.
I had a lovely tuna salad for lunch at the hotel. The manager is giving me a discount and I will get him a little something for his kindness before I leave. I would not be surprised if our favorite Vietnamese citizen (yes you guessed it, the famous and ever-so-cute Junie Vu) had something to do with this. It was such a pleasure seeing ST and her hang out while we were in Hanoi. They were quite a pair; I could not tell who was 16 and who was 26. They have a picture on her bike that one of them took, and it reminds me of snapping a picture of two teenagers in a chocolate store. I am still looking for a guy for Junie ... he must be self-supporting, have a sense of humour, and know how to treat a lady ... is that a good list Junie?
Back to the office tomorrow. I had a lunch meeting as mentioned on Friday with the guy from IBM who is working on the system I am concerned with at the Ministry. It is interesting to hear exactly the same (at least very very close) overview of where he thinks they are at with delivery, rolllout, and the planned self-sufficiency supporting the system moving forward.
It's in the low 20's and overcast today and I sure hope the mercury stays in this region for the balance of my stay. Sopranos ... Vito is returning to Jersey to face the unfortunate music waiting for him from his ever loving (ya right) buddy/close family member Phil L.
During my travels yesterday, I bought a new A/C and USB power cord for my iPad. The first store wanted 750,000 VND, the next 500,000, and the last 240,000. That was quite a gap between the most expensive and the cheapest, no? I also got an Arsenal jersey for 11 USD, cheaper than they even were in Addis (12 USD). I then found a store where ether were 4 USD but they did not have XXL that I needed. It is weird since i wear an L most of the time in a t-shirt. I did notice in Ethiopia that the sizing was funny as well.
I had a lovely tuna salad for lunch at the hotel. The manager is giving me a discount and I will get him a little something for his kindness before I leave. I would not be surprised if our favorite Vietnamese citizen (yes you guessed it, the famous and ever-so-cute Junie Vu) had something to do with this. It was such a pleasure seeing ST and her hang out while we were in Hanoi. They were quite a pair; I could not tell who was 16 and who was 26. They have a picture on her bike that one of them took, and it reminds me of snapping a picture of two teenagers in a chocolate store. I am still looking for a guy for Junie ... he must be self-supporting, have a sense of humour, and know how to treat a lady ... is that a good list Junie?
Back to the office tomorrow. I had a lunch meeting as mentioned on Friday with the guy from IBM who is working on the system I am concerned with at the Ministry. It is interesting to hear exactly the same (at least very very close) overview of where he thinks they are at with delivery, rolllout, and the planned self-sufficiency supporting the system moving forward.
It's in the low 20's and overcast today and I sure hope the mercury stays in this region for the balance of my stay. Sopranos ... Vito is returning to Jersey to face the unfortunate music waiting for him from his ever loving (ya right) buddy/close family member Phil L.
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Hockey night in Hanoi
I watched the latest debacle with the Sens on the Slingbox today. Oy oy oy ... three road losses in a row. Way to go guys. I go back to my original statement ... they can olny play well or screw up, nothing in between. They will now plummet to the basement of the conference then rally to miss the playoffs. I hope to find somewhere to watch Barclay's this evening at 7:30 when I think Arsenal is playing.
I got up about 8 which was nice for a change. I had some breakfast in spite of the beloved Sens' performance, and visited with Troung outside for a bit. I watched some Sopranos and caught up on what's going on with the Sweet Thing at home. We got the broken TV back and the channel she watches the most is locked.
I met Junie in the lobby last night and off we headed on her bike. We drove for a while, and I recognized where we were going. We ended up in the back on the other side of the lake near the Hilton. She took me to a place her and ST had been to. She had steak and I had some ribs. Boy they sure know how to cook ribs in this town. The restaurant is part of the AlFresco group, a name I see everywhere in the restaurant business in Hanoi. We then went the other side of the lake, parked the vehicle, and headed to the outsoor night market. We walked there for 90 minutes or so. Does anybody want to buy ANYTHING? Head to an outdoor market in Asia. I was then dropped at the hotel, and visited with Bien and Troung for a while over a few Heineken. They mentioned a trip to Halong Bay next weekend, and asked me if I wanted to go too. I asked them to keep me posted. That was very kind of them.
I am listeneing to Donald Fagan belt out Bloack Cow and will soon head out for the first walk of the weekend. The weather is inviting today. It was 25'ish when I got up with a very nice light wind. The sun has not completely poked its head through the cloud cover yet. I would rather it didn't so it would not get much hotter. A security guard next door was approached by a lady carrying a red plastic bag and he took off his shoes and gave them to her. She started working away with some heavy rubber, then I finally realized she was re-soling and heeling the shoes. A colleague joined her and they madly worked away using the sidewalk as their workbench. The lady who was helping her got called away for some reason and someone else showed up and worked with her.
Right next door there is a building which, amongst other things, is a garage for two high end vehicles ... a very large Lexus SUV and a black Lexus 4-door. Between Bien and I we figured out the vehicles may be worth 300,000 USD here as the duty can be as high as 200% just like it was in Addis. Naturally this re-inforces my impression about the wider gap between the haves and have-nots as I noticed in Africa. My goal is to head up towards the Hanoi Towers, then further on to Nguyen Khuyen and visit the sporting goods/football sector of Hanoi. There are some very interesting shops all along the way. I will probably end up at the Hilton for Barclay's unless they have it on here. My only complaint about the Silver (and I would never ever ever say anything to Bien or Truong) is there are not large wing-back chairs to sit in anywhere. I know dem dere's da breaks with a boutique hotel, especially in Hanoi, as the buildings are very very narrow and there is not enough floor space to accommodate such large chairs. They build up her just like ST and I noticed all over the city and countryiside we have seen so far in Vietnam. What a pleasure having the day off :).
I got up about 8 which was nice for a change. I had some breakfast in spite of the beloved Sens' performance, and visited with Troung outside for a bit. I watched some Sopranos and caught up on what's going on with the Sweet Thing at home. We got the broken TV back and the channel she watches the most is locked.
I met Junie in the lobby last night and off we headed on her bike. We drove for a while, and I recognized where we were going. We ended up in the back on the other side of the lake near the Hilton. She took me to a place her and ST had been to. She had steak and I had some ribs. Boy they sure know how to cook ribs in this town. The restaurant is part of the AlFresco group, a name I see everywhere in the restaurant business in Hanoi. We then went the other side of the lake, parked the vehicle, and headed to the outsoor night market. We walked there for 90 minutes or so. Does anybody want to buy ANYTHING? Head to an outdoor market in Asia. I was then dropped at the hotel, and visited with Bien and Troung for a while over a few Heineken. They mentioned a trip to Halong Bay next weekend, and asked me if I wanted to go too. I asked them to keep me posted. That was very kind of them.
I am listeneing to Donald Fagan belt out Bloack Cow and will soon head out for the first walk of the weekend. The weather is inviting today. It was 25'ish when I got up with a very nice light wind. The sun has not completely poked its head through the cloud cover yet. I would rather it didn't so it would not get much hotter. A security guard next door was approached by a lady carrying a red plastic bag and he took off his shoes and gave them to her. She started working away with some heavy rubber, then I finally realized she was re-soling and heeling the shoes. A colleague joined her and they madly worked away using the sidewalk as their workbench. The lady who was helping her got called away for some reason and someone else showed up and worked with her.
Right next door there is a building which, amongst other things, is a garage for two high end vehicles ... a very large Lexus SUV and a black Lexus 4-door. Between Bien and I we figured out the vehicles may be worth 300,000 USD here as the duty can be as high as 200% just like it was in Addis. Naturally this re-inforces my impression about the wider gap between the haves and have-nots as I noticed in Africa. My goal is to head up towards the Hanoi Towers, then further on to Nguyen Khuyen and visit the sporting goods/football sector of Hanoi. There are some very interesting shops all along the way. I will probably end up at the Hilton for Barclay's unless they have it on here. My only complaint about the Silver (and I would never ever ever say anything to Bien or Truong) is there are not large wing-back chairs to sit in anywhere. I know dem dere's da breaks with a boutique hotel, especially in Hanoi, as the buildings are very very narrow and there is not enough floor space to accommodate such large chairs. They build up her just like ST and I noticed all over the city and countryiside we have seen so far in Vietnam. What a pleasure having the day off :).
Friday, November 19, 2010
What a difference
Now that I am living in the old quarter, it is quite remarkable how much more there is to do. I also now know where so many hangouts are that I was confused about last time I was here and staying at the Horison. I had a lovely lunch with Shankha at an Indian restaurant just off one of my new best friends ... Ly Thuong Kiet street near the Hanoi Towers. I am dining with Junie tonight and then maybe we will go see some music. I would like that. Her first question will be "How is Sandy :)".
Thursday, November 18, 2010
I did it I did it I did it
Yupper, stupid ferenge managed to find how to get all the way to the Hanoi Towers without getting lost. Wow! I am now an expert, having graduated to geo-201 in Vietnam. They have an interesting custom here. The doorman disappears every night about 9:30 with a green pad in his arm about the size of a loose-leaf binder. He reappears some 20 minutes later, same book. So here's the deal ... all hoteliers must register their overnight guests with the Vietnam police. That is where the doorman goes. Bien told me that if you are a private citizen and have an overnight guest who is not a family member, you must do the same.
And now for something completely different ...
- fine for no tail light on your motorcycle is 50,000 VND
- fine for no headlight is 500,000 VND
- fine for no helmet is 200,000 VND for a driver and more for a passenger
- fine for more than 2 people on a motorcycle is 20,000 VND
- there is no drinking age here
- driving age is 18 (wake up Canada)
The word for noodle soup here is "pho" with 2 accents on the "o" and the word here for street is "pho" with a tilde over the "o". So I live on "Pho Phan Chu Trinh" which I guess means "Phan Chu Trinh noodle soup"?? Bien naturally found this quite amusing.
And now for something completely different ...
- fine for no tail light on your motorcycle is 50,000 VND
- fine for no headlight is 500,000 VND
- fine for no helmet is 200,000 VND for a driver and more for a passenger
- fine for more than 2 people on a motorcycle is 20,000 VND
- there is no drinking age here
- driving age is 18 (wake up Canada)
The word for noodle soup here is "pho" with 2 accents on the "o" and the word here for street is "pho" with a tilde over the "o". So I live on "Pho Phan Chu Trinh" which I guess means "Phan Chu Trinh noodle soup"?? Bien naturally found this quite amusing.
The next adventure please
Work was work today. I busily worked away on a document about system handover to the client. I am back at the hotel, having been taken for my first "ride" by a cabbie. I am heading out, confidently turning right out of the hotel, then left on Ly Thieng Kat and up to the Hanoi Towers. I will buy something for someone in Ottawa then find a place for dinner.
I touched base with my Sweet Thing who is back in Ottawa. That sure was magic having the time together for my first 15 days in Vietnam. I am lunching tomorrow with Shankha from IBM and have no plans whatsoever for the weekend. I may get together with JV if she is around. Go Sens Go ... 7-1 for the Canes ... please :). Why can't they just lose instead of blowing it so badly. Defense ... that means?? Did I mention I am loving my new digs. There is so much more to do on Phan Chu Trinh than there was on Cat Linh. I am starting my Thursday trek with my favourite Bia Hanoi in the lobby.
The sun is now always down when I get out of the office as I have been asked to stay until 5:30. This will add even more excitement to the weekend when I will get to see Hanoi during daylight hours. It is about 20 degrees now and I am lovin' it.
I touched base with my Sweet Thing who is back in Ottawa. That sure was magic having the time together for my first 15 days in Vietnam. I am lunching tomorrow with Shankha from IBM and have no plans whatsoever for the weekend. I may get together with JV if she is around. Go Sens Go ... 7-1 for the Canes ... please :). Why can't they just lose instead of blowing it so badly. Defense ... that means?? Did I mention I am loving my new digs. There is so much more to do on Phan Chu Trinh than there was on Cat Linh. I am starting my Thursday trek with my favourite Bia Hanoi in the lobby.
The sun is now always down when I get out of the office as I have been asked to stay until 5:30. This will add even more excitement to the weekend when I will get to see Hanoi during daylight hours. It is about 20 degrees now and I am lovin' it.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
'Twas a busy day
I had a lot to do at the office today then ran off to the World Bank for a 4:30 meeting that started at 5:10 :). I met with Ms. Quyen and we discussed the work I was doing. She wants me to ensure I highlight the important points and some of my impressions for Mr. Tri as I did last time. I stayed in for dinner tonight and it was great. I forgot my iPad at work today so will have to be a little more creative on how I amuse myself tonight. I was thinking on going back to the office to get it but did not.
Silver City
I love the room. Chest of drawers ... what a concept. I slept well (wish those sleeping habits could rub off on my Sweet Thing), and breakfast was nice. I sat outside in the cafe for quite a while last night watching videos, chatting on IM with Suresh and Andrew, and taking in the ambiance. I have a 24x7 reservation for the table and chairs on Phan Chu Trinh.
The drainage for the shower was a little odd. The bathroom floor is sloped a bit and there is a lip on the tiles to direct the water towards a drain. Never seen that before :). The end table beside the bed is so close to the bed you cannot open the closet doors enough. Small details ... a lovely spot and I know I will be comfortable here. My ST lands in Ottawa in just over an hour. Work then World Bank meeting at 4PM and a light dinner tonight maybe at the hotel before an evening stroll. There was some grinding that started next door about 7 but did not last long. I was very impressed that Mr. Bien mentioned something to me about it.
Of course the huste bustle of Hanoi is omni-present on this street, a little different flavour of what was going on on Cat Linh by the Horison.
The drainage for the shower was a little odd. The bathroom floor is sloped a bit and there is a lip on the tiles to direct the water towards a drain. Never seen that before :). The end table beside the bed is so close to the bed you cannot open the closet doors enough. Small details ... a lovely spot and I know I will be comfortable here. My ST lands in Ottawa in just over an hour. Work then World Bank meeting at 4PM and a light dinner tonight maybe at the hotel before an evening stroll. There was some grinding that started next door about 7 but did not last long. I was very impressed that Mr. Bien mentioned something to me about it.
Of course the huste bustle of Hanoi is omni-present on this street, a little different flavour of what was going on on Cat Linh by the Horison.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Too many posts?
My lovely Sweet Thing was teasing me for 2 weeks about how I make too many posts to the BLOG. I am not sure how to quantify "too many" ... you? I split from work about 5:30 and cabbed it to the Silver. I got the royal treatment when I arrived from Mr. Bien and Ms. Vu. Junie was in her 17th outfit of the day I am sure. The room is sweet and there is lots of storage space which my ST would appreciate. I walked down Phun Chi Trinh and stopped in at Snowz steak house for dinner. It was fine and the bill was ~30 USD. The meat was wonderful though there was little of it. I noticed the Nam Phuong, a high-end local food emporium on the corner one block away too. I also turned down an alley sort of across from the Hilton and found the Italian joint I had been to with Bruce and Ronald the night after I first arrived here in June.
The streets were bustling though they were not as abundant with eaters perched on blue chairs as the area around the Horison I was in for 4 weeks between these two missions. I watched some table tennis and gymnastics while chowing down at Snowz. I almost have my bearings with where some stuff is around here. I have to navigate to the Hanoi Towers area of the city which I know is not far. If I take a wrong turn I will end up in Taiwan :). I spent the day madly working away on my first essay (documentation) for MOF. They love to read my musings on Oracle and ingest my advice.
I spoke to Lina Dorsey today on IM ... I love that lady. She is kindred spirits. I remember when we first met, I did not have a clue what her name was. It reminds me of Jerry's girlfriend whose name he could not remember. He would say "Oh .... you" instead of trying to guess her name. He knew her name rhymed with a part of the female body but was NOT Mulvah, Libia, or Vi. So I used to mumble Ileana's name when I needed to refer to her, sort of something like "Ivsha" pronounced very softly with a slur so nobody could figure out what an idiot I was having so much trouble with I L E A N A.
Ian and Bkkkky especially would appreciate this and probably Rick as well ... I pass a store today named Bossco ... you got it ... George's secret code plus an extra "S". We have also seen Sandy Shoes and I am sure if I look far enough I would see Vandelay Architects there are so many many many stores in this shtetl. My World Bank meeting was postponed until tomorrow. I have a meeting prior to that with the folks from IBM. I asked Junie Vu about going to see some music one of these nights.
I am going to take my iPad and Sony headphones downstairs and sit outside in the little SIlver cafe and watch the Sopranos. Vito has just got caught at a gay bar and is starting his trek into the wilds of New Jersey to figure out if he stands a chance of not getting whacked by Phil now that his secret is out. I also watched the Voice and George is the ultimate disdain of his soon-to-be ex-colleagues at Play It Now sports.
The streets were bustling though they were not as abundant with eaters perched on blue chairs as the area around the Horison I was in for 4 weeks between these two missions. I watched some table tennis and gymnastics while chowing down at Snowz. I almost have my bearings with where some stuff is around here. I have to navigate to the Hanoi Towers area of the city which I know is not far. If I take a wrong turn I will end up in Taiwan :). I spent the day madly working away on my first essay (documentation) for MOF. They love to read my musings on Oracle and ingest my advice.
I spoke to Lina Dorsey today on IM ... I love that lady. She is kindred spirits. I remember when we first met, I did not have a clue what her name was. It reminds me of Jerry's girlfriend whose name he could not remember. He would say "Oh .... you" instead of trying to guess her name. He knew her name rhymed with a part of the female body but was NOT Mulvah, Libia, or Vi. So I used to mumble Ileana's name when I needed to refer to her, sort of something like "Ivsha" pronounced very softly with a slur so nobody could figure out what an idiot I was having so much trouble with I L E A N A.
Ian and Bkkkky especially would appreciate this and probably Rick as well ... I pass a store today named Bossco ... you got it ... George's secret code plus an extra "S". We have also seen Sandy Shoes and I am sure if I look far enough I would see Vandelay Architects there are so many many many stores in this shtetl. My World Bank meeting was postponed until tomorrow. I have a meeting prior to that with the folks from IBM. I asked Junie Vu about going to see some music one of these nights.
I am going to take my iPad and Sony headphones downstairs and sit outside in the little SIlver cafe and watch the Sopranos. Vito has just got caught at a gay bar and is starting his trek into the wilds of New Jersey to figure out if he stands a chance of not getting whacked by Phil now that his secret is out. I also watched the Voice and George is the ultimate disdain of his soon-to-be ex-colleagues at Play It Now sports.
The good, the bad, and the ugly
It was a whirlwind of activity with my lovely Sweet Thing for the past 16 days flitting around Vietnam. I know she valued the opportunity to see this part of the world for the first time. Asia for ST so far was Israel (I think that's all). It is too early for the Vietnam top 10 that I know you are all awaiting. However, I am going to go out on a limb and comment on Sweet Thing's stay in Vietnam (G)ood, (B)ad, and (U)gly ...
Lunch at "I Love Friday" close to my office ... 80,000 VND
Taxi ride from office to the old quarter ... 50,000 VND
Leather boots ... 330,000 VND
Seeing Vietnam with my Sweet Thing ... priceless
In summary, I think my Sweet Thing would agree that the utmost best thing about Vietnam is Junie; the ultimate worst thing was the restaurant at the Holiday Villa ...
- G - Junie Vu, Junie Vu, Junie Vu, Junie Vu, Junie Vu, Junie Vu, Junie Vu, Junie Vu
- B - the breakfast room staff at the Horison (and they think they are working in a 5-star establishment)
- U - the service at the Holiday Villa where we stayed in Halong Bay
- G - the Bhaya cruise we took in Halong Bay
- B - the lack of storage for clothes in everywhere we stayed; ST used a big shelf in the ceramic floor tile series of storage compartments in Hoi An (a.k.a. the floor)
- U - the food at the first restaurant we ate at that Tuesday evening we arrived in Hanoi
- G - hospitality of the service industry in general
- B - the attendants in the market place stalls in Ho Chi Minh City tapping your arm to ensure you were aware it was time to buy something
- U - the traffic noise
Lunch at "I Love Friday" close to my office ... 80,000 VND
Taxi ride from office to the old quarter ... 50,000 VND
Leather boots ... 330,000 VND
Seeing Vietnam with my Sweet Thing ... priceless
In summary, I think my Sweet Thing would agree that the utmost best thing about Vietnam is Junie; the ultimate worst thing was the restaurant at the Holiday Villa ...
And then there was one ...
We had breakfast and checked out, sitting in the lobby waiting for the driver and Junie to say goodbye to the ST. There was a bit of a teary embrace and off she went. I took my bags to the Silver and went to the office.
Monday, November 15, 2010
The last hurrah
I headed into the office for 8'ish and left my Sweet Thing contemplating catching up on her sleep. She eventually headed out and met Junie for one last dash around this lovely berg. She picked up a carry-on suitcase to lower the stress on her baggage as she picked up quite a bit of stuff while in Vietnam. I lunched at I Love Friday, now a consummate professional at ordering off the triangular plastic menu with the specials listed.
I made arrangements with Mr. Tuan Anh and Trang to meet with Sandy and I in the Horison lobby about 5PM. We did just tht and chatted for an hour or so over some Bia Hanoi. Sweet Thing ordered a vodka martini and, just as we had experienced at the Holiday Villa in Halong Bay, something arrived that did not even resemble what was requested. She sent it back and got a vodka with orange juice. We freshened up then waited for Junie to arrive for our dinner date. We headed out into the old quarter, right past the World Bank and a little further. We ended up at a seafood place that also did foot massage (a nice combination as long as not done by Raymond). We had the yummy garlic-laced green veggies, shrimp, clams, and finally crab. Sweet Thing loved it and I chowed down towards the end on rice (as usual).
Junie spent a long time dissecting every morsel of shell on the crab and seemed like a little girl in a candy store she enjoyed herself so much. We cabbed to the lake for a walk after dinner but it started to rain so we went back to the Horison.
I decided to check on ST's 11:25AM flight and found it was changed to 10:25 (just like mine has been for the 8th of December). There was no email notification sent for this change as there was for mine.
I made arrangements with Mr. Tuan Anh and Trang to meet with Sandy and I in the Horison lobby about 5PM. We did just tht and chatted for an hour or so over some Bia Hanoi. Sweet Thing ordered a vodka martini and, just as we had experienced at the Holiday Villa in Halong Bay, something arrived that did not even resemble what was requested. She sent it back and got a vodka with orange juice. We freshened up then waited for Junie to arrive for our dinner date. We headed out into the old quarter, right past the World Bank and a little further. We ended up at a seafood place that also did foot massage (a nice combination as long as not done by Raymond). We had the yummy garlic-laced green veggies, shrimp, clams, and finally crab. Sweet Thing loved it and I chowed down towards the end on rice (as usual).
Junie spent a long time dissecting every morsel of shell on the crab and seemed like a little girl in a candy store she enjoyed herself so much. We cabbed to the lake for a walk after dinner but it started to rain so we went back to the Horison.
I decided to check on ST's 11:25AM flight and found it was changed to 10:25 (just like mine has been for the 8th of December). There was no email notification sent for this change as there was for mine.
Sunday, November 14, 2010
The Silver hotel
We rested and cleaned up then headed into the old city by cab about 6PM. The city was bustling as usual with traffic. Just after we passed the Silk Hotel, we asked to be let out of the cab in the shoe sector. We looked in a half dozen stores and ST found the boots (high and short) were too ornate or had heels too high. She did zero in on a pair finally and was back and forth between the 38 and 39 for a while, settling on the 38. The proprietor was asking 33 for the boots, and ST tried to talk her down to 30 with no luck.
Then when money exchange time arrived, we discovered what she had meant was 330,000 VND not 33 USD. Thus the good were 16 USD instead of the 33 we had expected. It will be interesting moving forward if that is what we find pricing-wise in more establishments.
We walked then cabbed it to the Silver hotel, as it turns out a brand new establishment with 30 rooms in the old quarter not far from the Hilton. We met and had dinner with the GM, the front desk manager, and a woman from sales. The topics net back and forth between Vietnam and the hotel business. ST offered some very helpful input into managing a boutique hotel such as theirs, and naturally they were all ears and anxious for advice. I love watching the attentiveness of people as my Sweet Thing discusses her hotel skill areas.
We were shown room 902 after dinner, either the one I will be moving into tomorrow or something very similar. The room was nicely appointed, with vinyl hardwood floors and a lot of wood in the furniture. It is the first hotel room we have seen in Vietnam that is not storage-drawer-challenged. I will pack up with the ST tonight and move into the Silver minyana after work.
Then when money exchange time arrived, we discovered what she had meant was 330,000 VND not 33 USD. Thus the good were 16 USD instead of the 33 we had expected. It will be interesting moving forward if that is what we find pricing-wise in more establishments.
We walked then cabbed it to the Silver hotel, as it turns out a brand new establishment with 30 rooms in the old quarter not far from the Hilton. We met and had dinner with the GM, the front desk manager, and a woman from sales. The topics net back and forth between Vietnam and the hotel business. ST offered some very helpful input into managing a boutique hotel such as theirs, and naturally they were all ears and anxious for advice. I love watching the attentiveness of people as my Sweet Thing discusses her hotel skill areas.
We were shown room 902 after dinner, either the one I will be moving into tomorrow or something very similar. The room was nicely appointed, with vinyl hardwood floors and a lot of wood in the furniture. It is the first hotel room we have seen in Vietnam that is not storage-drawer-challenged. I will pack up with the ST tonight and move into the Silver minyana after work.
Formed HA lot LONGer ago than 10,000 years
I stand to be corrected. Halong Bay facts:
- over 340 square kilometers
- in the South China sea
- over 1,963 islets
- they are made up of limestone primarily
- formed over the last 500-1,000 million years
A nice morning in Halong Bay
We were up very early, a good thing since ST wanted to do Tai Chi. That started on the upper deck at 6:15AM. I dragged myself out of bed shortly after she left. She returned at once to room 206 to get her camera to capture the delicious sunrise. I sat at the front of the boat with ST did her thing then we grabbed another coffee.
Our bateau, Bhaya 3, left its overnight parking spot before Tai Chi and about 7:30AM we anchored in an inlet close to our next destination ... caves. They were wonderful, huge, and tastefully artificially lit. There were lots of stairs to climb and they were dry which made them not slippery which is always good. ST was in sandals and worried about how she would make out but experienced no problems. We spent about an hour climbing then descending in the caves. Most had very high ceilings; they have been etched out of the rock by water over the past few hundred thousands of years. We tried to understand the guide but it was hard. Her English was fine ... as we all know with second (or third ...) languages, it's enunciation and inflection that sometimes are more important then the words themselves.
We had a nice buffer breakfast and were back on shore by 10:20. No driver ... we were on the phone/texting with Junie a few times and he showed about noon. The drive back was not as long and tedious as the one there on Friday. We attributed it to less traffic and I also believe driving during sunlight hours provides more distractions that pass the time. We learned another Vietnamese word this weekend, the second most important after "thank-you". The word for "bathroom' is "toilette". We test-drove it on the way home and the driver DID understand.
ST spoke to Junie 3,402 times today ... we are cleaning up and heading out for a dinner date for 7:30. We may stop in the old city for a bit on the way there. Update on the t-shirt debacle ... I had packed a sleeveless and a EPL football shirt after all ... they were in the front pocket of the suitcase. Now I am not stupid ferenge for not packing any, I am that for not finding them.
I am moving hotels Tuesday to the Silver, a brand new boutique hotel actualy where Junie works! It is in a more funky part of town, laundry is free, floors are hardware, and the room is bigger and way cheaper.
Our bateau, Bhaya 3, left its overnight parking spot before Tai Chi and about 7:30AM we anchored in an inlet close to our next destination ... caves. They were wonderful, huge, and tastefully artificially lit. There were lots of stairs to climb and they were dry which made them not slippery which is always good. ST was in sandals and worried about how she would make out but experienced no problems. We spent about an hour climbing then descending in the caves. Most had very high ceilings; they have been etched out of the rock by water over the past few hundred thousands of years. We tried to understand the guide but it was hard. Her English was fine ... as we all know with second (or third ...) languages, it's enunciation and inflection that sometimes are more important then the words themselves.
We had a nice buffer breakfast and were back on shore by 10:20. No driver ... we were on the phone/texting with Junie a few times and he showed about noon. The drive back was not as long and tedious as the one there on Friday. We attributed it to less traffic and I also believe driving during sunlight hours provides more distractions that pass the time. We learned another Vietnamese word this weekend, the second most important after "thank-you". The word for "bathroom' is "toilette". We test-drove it on the way home and the driver DID understand.
ST spoke to Junie 3,402 times today ... we are cleaning up and heading out for a dinner date for 7:30. We may stop in the old city for a bit on the way there. Update on the t-shirt debacle ... I had packed a sleeveless and a EPL football shirt after all ... they were in the front pocket of the suitcase. Now I am not stupid ferenge for not packing any, I am that for not finding them.
I am moving hotels Tuesday to the Silver, a brand new boutique hotel actualy where Junie works! It is in a more funky part of town, laundry is free, floors are hardware, and the room is bigger and way cheaper.
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Halong Bay
When we got to the Bhaya boat terminal we were the first there. Sweet Thing mentioned he hoped that we were not the only clientele today :) By 11:45 the throngs started to arrive. There were 3 boats leaving at the same time. We trundled off to Bhaya 3 and collected with other passengers on the 3rd deck for dining. The cruise director gave his schpiel and then lunch began just after we departed pretty much on time.
We wound our way through the sea of small rocky islands rising above the sea as much as many hundreds of meters. The footprint of each varied quite a bit. Most had very clear vertical rock faces or close to vertical treed sides. A handful of boats left Ha Long at the same time. We motored for what seemed to be 90 minutes or so then anchored in a bay surrounded by these rock islands sticking out of the sea.
We were tendered onto a floating platform then ventured further into the bay on 4-person boats paddled by women standing up. The journey into the lagoon passed a cluster of boat houses populated by a handful of people here and there. Most seemed deserted. A few flat, barrel supported flat surfaces were home to a cluster of dogs. I guess one need not tie up an animal under these circumstances.
We were paddled by these women along a few channels between the rocky islands. We eventually pulled over and disembarked onto 3 or 4 floating platforms inter-twined. There were vendors there pushing s__t and I bought a t-shirt. Remember the t-shirt debacle from a previous post ... now I have one to wear tomorrow. We boarded Asian rowboat 00266 for the journey back to the platform where we were tendered back to Bhaya 3. ST is on her second Kindle book of the day and headed upstairs to avoid a conglomeration of people speaking what sounded like some form of Chinese quite loudly on deck #3. There is a cooking class if we are interested at 5PM which we will most certainly attend. Dinner is 7:30'ish I think and the rest of the evening will be hanging out with ST.
We wound our way through the sea of small rocky islands rising above the sea as much as many hundreds of meters. The footprint of each varied quite a bit. Most had very clear vertical rock faces or close to vertical treed sides. A handful of boats left Ha Long at the same time. We motored for what seemed to be 90 minutes or so then anchored in a bay surrounded by these rock islands sticking out of the sea.
We were tendered onto a floating platform then ventured further into the bay on 4-person boats paddled by women standing up. The journey into the lagoon passed a cluster of boat houses populated by a handful of people here and there. Most seemed deserted. A few flat, barrel supported flat surfaces were home to a cluster of dogs. I guess one need not tie up an animal under these circumstances.
We were paddled by these women along a few channels between the rocky islands. We eventually pulled over and disembarked onto 3 or 4 floating platforms inter-twined. There were vendors there pushing s__t and I bought a t-shirt. Remember the t-shirt debacle from a previous post ... now I have one to wear tomorrow. We boarded Asian rowboat 00266 for the journey back to the platform where we were tendered back to Bhaya 3. ST is on her second Kindle book of the day and headed upstairs to avoid a conglomeration of people speaking what sounded like some form of Chinese quite loudly on deck #3. There is a cooking class if we are interested at 5PM which we will most certainly attend. Dinner is 7:30'ish I think and the rest of the evening will be hanging out with ST.
Learning Vietnamese
It is remarkable how much of the lingo and body language we have mastered these few weeks ...
- "more many" means lots of DVDs upstairs
- "yes" means "I do not understand"
- "Mr. Mr. you" means "buy something now"
- nodding the head means whatever it should mean in the context it is given
- "bia" means beer
- "sirloin steak", at least in Holiday Villa in Ha Long, means fried shoe sole
- a light tap on the upper arm means "buy"
These people are wonderful, kind, and have our best interests and comfort at the top of their agenda. We are waiting to board the boat at Bhaya and so far nobody else is here. We were told we have a suite with a balcony so it should be interesting to see what we get. Junie called to check up on us ...
- "more many" means lots of DVDs upstairs
- "yes" means "I do not understand"
- "Mr. Mr. you" means "buy something now"
- nodding the head means whatever it should mean in the context it is given
- "bia" means beer
- "sirloin steak", at least in Holiday Villa in Ha Long, means fried shoe sole
- a light tap on the upper arm means "buy"
These people are wonderful, kind, and have our best interests and comfort at the top of their agenda. We are waiting to board the boat at Bhaya and so far nobody else is here. We were told we have a suite with a balcony so it should be interesting to see what we get. Junie called to check up on us ...
A restful night
We both had a reasonably good rest, even though ST found the bed too hard. As expected we woke up to a very nice view from the hotel waterfront. Breakfast was weak but we food something to eat anyways. Seinfeld followed us here. We need more coffee so ask one of the servers, so we thought, but it turned out to be one of the guests. It reminded me of once asking an Asian mailman on the street in NYC if he knew the location of the nearest Chinese restaurant. He was quite offended and berated me for assuming that "just because I am Asian why would you assume I know where it is!!". It was the same time a friend yelled out of a passing taxicab as he was transporting a cigar-store Indian home (season 5 episode 10).
We will hang by the pool until just before 11 and are then getting picked up for the trip to the boat. And the t-shirt debacle continues. I messed up my one and only t-shirt at dinner last night ... hopefully I will grab one before hitting the boat in Halong Bay.
The hired quests just appeared for breakfast ... the place is empty so these props help convince us to tell everyone how busy it was here.
We will hang by the pool until just before 11 and are then getting picked up for the trip to the boat. And the t-shirt debacle continues. I messed up my one and only t-shirt at dinner last night ... hopefully I will grab one before hitting the boat in Halong Bay.
The hired quests just appeared for breakfast ... the place is empty so these props help convince us to tell everyone how busy it was here.
Friday, November 12, 2010
Lots of material
By the way we have been here less than 2 hours and Professsor KA already has over 15 hours of lecture material on this so-called hotel.
'Twas Ha Long drive
I left the office around 2:30 when Mr. Tuan Anh and Trang scooted out of my office knowing I was hoping to get away on time. I met my Sweet Thing back in 1127, we finished packing and headed downstairs to meet the driver for the 3.5 hour drive to Halong Bay. Junie Vu (actually since the adoption it's now Junie Hochstadt) met us in the lobby with our chauffeur and off we went. The car was nice and the driver spoke three words less of English than I did Vietnamese. We were immediately worried how we were going to ask for the pit-stop for you know who. The drive was engaging, especially the plethora of roadside stores littering the landscape.
About an hour or so in, the moment arrived. We negotiated a stop at the WC, foolishly thinking the driver actually understood us. About 30 minutes later we figured out he did not. We contemplated calling Junie for the translation but ST, the seasoned tinkler that she is, decided to motion somehow (details not provided in case any minors reading) and within 10 minutes we pulled into a place that had chachkas galore. I ran into something in the men's washroom there I'd never seen before ... my Sweet Thing. Fancy that!!! We chowed down on cookies and cashews for a bit then boarded the chariot for the balance of the 3.5 (I mean 4.5) hour trip.
The towns we traversed did not cease to amaze. The bergs kept amazing Mr. and Mrs. Abbey, especially moi, and we eventually started to see a few signs that had Halong Bay on them. We made a left on what appeared to be a causeway andbthen the driver pulled over and asked for directions. That is always soothing. One word to describe the hotel ... tired. We are at the restaurant with the other 0 guests. My ST sent back ...
A) the bloody Mary
B) the martini
C) the leather sole of a Converse, aka sirloin steak
All is well and we will be picked up in the AM for the bateau at 11AM.
About an hour or so in, the moment arrived. We negotiated a stop at the WC, foolishly thinking the driver actually understood us. About 30 minutes later we figured out he did not. We contemplated calling Junie for the translation but ST, the seasoned tinkler that she is, decided to motion somehow (details not provided in case any minors reading) and within 10 minutes we pulled into a place that had chachkas galore. I ran into something in the men's washroom there I'd never seen before ... my Sweet Thing. Fancy that!!! We chowed down on cookies and cashews for a bit then boarded the chariot for the balance of the 3.5 (I mean 4.5) hour trip.
The towns we traversed did not cease to amaze. The bergs kept amazing Mr. and Mrs. Abbey, especially moi, and we eventually started to see a few signs that had Halong Bay on them. We made a left on what appeared to be a causeway andbthen the driver pulled over and asked for directions. That is always soothing. One word to describe the hotel ... tired. We are at the restaurant with the other 0 guests. My ST sent back ...
A) the bloody Mary
B) the martini
C) the leather sole of a Converse, aka sirloin steak
All is well and we will be picked up in the AM for the bateau at 11AM.
People people people
We grabbed a cab to the old city after work. As it turned out, Sweet Thing had already been there with Junie. We were dropped in what turned out to be familiar territory for both of us ... me from my wanderings last time I was here and ST from traveling around with Junie.
The air was thick with city noises and there were people everywhere. The scooter traffic was intense and everyone felt compelled to blow their horns. You name it, one could buy it in the market areas of the old city. The sidewalk eating emporiums were full with natives perched on the ever-so-small green, blue, and red stools. ST bought a cute jacket for Helena, talking the store owner down a few dollars. We passed through the clothing sector, shoes, baby wear, and the DVD/CD stores were abundant. We stopped for Indian food at a small restaurant and ST was ready to erupt after a 45 minute wait for nourishment.
We walked for about another hour then cabbed it back to the Horison. I am switching hotels next Tuesday, the same day ST leaves. She calls Junie her BFF (best friend forever) in Vietnam and we are thinking of taking Junie home with us. My Sens are hosting the Canucks as we speak but I will miss the festivities as I am of work of course.
I am leaving work a bit early today so we can get a 2:45PM start to Halong Bay. We are there until noon minyana, when we board a boat for a 24-hour cruise/overnight which should be sweet. The ride there is by private car and takes the better part of 4 hours. ST reminded us that she has the mega-flights from Vietnam home Tuesday and, even though she is still looking forward to this weekend trek to the Bay, Monday will be the only break she gets from long travel times. ST is looking for a b__u for Junie and threatens not to leave the country until a suitable candidate is located :).
The air was thick with city noises and there were people everywhere. The scooter traffic was intense and everyone felt compelled to blow their horns. You name it, one could buy it in the market areas of the old city. The sidewalk eating emporiums were full with natives perched on the ever-so-small green, blue, and red stools. ST bought a cute jacket for Helena, talking the store owner down a few dollars. We passed through the clothing sector, shoes, baby wear, and the DVD/CD stores were abundant. We stopped for Indian food at a small restaurant and ST was ready to erupt after a 45 minute wait for nourishment.
We walked for about another hour then cabbed it back to the Horison. I am switching hotels next Tuesday, the same day ST leaves. She calls Junie her BFF (best friend forever) in Vietnam and we are thinking of taking Junie home with us. My Sens are hosting the Canucks as we speak but I will miss the festivities as I am of work of course.
I am leaving work a bit early today so we can get a 2:45PM start to Halong Bay. We are there until noon minyana, when we board a boat for a 24-hour cruise/overnight which should be sweet. The ride there is by private car and takes the better part of 4 hours. ST reminded us that she has the mega-flights from Vietnam home Tuesday and, even though she is still looking forward to this weekend trek to the Bay, Monday will be the only break she gets from long travel times. ST is looking for a b__u for Junie and threatens not to leave the country until a suitable candidate is located :).
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Not quite
Even though it has not been confirmed, the weather here is noticeably hotter than I had expected. I thought it would be high teens or early twenties but it is more like late 20's by midday. It is definitely a lot more bearable than the overwhelming heat from June/July.
Work was good the first day yesterday; had a few meetings and working on a more detailed workplan. It is due to Mr. Tuan Anh by noon. I have three or four main tasks over the next 19 working days and some of it strays into functional areas of the Applications which is good.
We headed out after work last night around 6:30 and cabbed it to the Hilton. We walked briefly then went to the Press Club for dinner. It was a western meal at a western price. We walked for some time after dinner, passing swarms of people camped out at the sidewalk food emporiums, perched on their little blue and red plastic chairs. As usual the activity outside these establishments was feverish. It's very nice out this AM, with a cloud cover protecting the city from the intense heat that could build as the day progresses ... maybe "intense" is not the right word if it's late 20's rather than mid 40's I experienced last time.
Work was good the first day yesterday; had a few meetings and working on a more detailed workplan. It is due to Mr. Tuan Anh by noon. I have three or four main tasks over the next 19 working days and some of it strays into functional areas of the Applications which is good.
We headed out after work last night around 6:30 and cabbed it to the Hilton. We walked briefly then went to the Press Club for dinner. It was a western meal at a western price. We walked for some time after dinner, passing swarms of people camped out at the sidewalk food emporiums, perched on their little blue and red plastic chairs. As usual the activity outside these establishments was feverish. It's very nice out this AM, with a cloud cover protecting the city from the intense heat that could build as the day progresses ... maybe "intense" is not the right word if it's late 20's rather than mid 40's I experienced last time.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Talk about helpless
So I head out for lunch, hoping to find something close to the office. I find a joint called "I Love Friday", reminiscent of "TGIF" in North America. It is nicely appointed, a new establishment since I was last here. Then the fun began ... I keep getting reminders of how intriguing this country is. I had many similar experiences in Ethiopia.
I did not bring my glasses, so did my best to wade through the fuzzy print and settled on an ice lahte and some shrimp fried rice. Not long after I ordered, more people arrived. They did not say anything to the server, but in a matter of seconds their food arrived. Hmmmmm ... I did get a banana on a plate and chopsticks shortly after my coffee so was reasonably confident sustenance would eventually arrive. Not so fast. More and more locals arrive and food does shortly after they sit down. Then I realize, the dish I ordered (fuzzy print remember) was Wait-a-foreigner. I contemplate leaving and paying for my drink. Another tray full of food appears, destined for my table ... not so fast as it scoots right by me to the locals in the corner. What to do, what to do.
Patience finally pays off and my food arrives. It is yummy and the cost is 5'ish dollars. I noticed a ferenge in the corner so got some assistance with the menu for next time then found out the owner's English is good. I will definitely frequent that joint and I have been told one can get a nice repast including rice, beef/chicken/fish as well as the garlic-laden green veggies you see everywhere for $2. One often has to look far and wide at home for an adventure whereas a trip to the lunch counter in Hanoi inspires postings such as this.
I spoke to Sweet Thing and she figured out I got he a phone 'cause I love speaking with her during the day. How did she figure that out?
I did not bring my glasses, so did my best to wade through the fuzzy print and settled on an ice lahte and some shrimp fried rice. Not long after I ordered, more people arrived. They did not say anything to the server, but in a matter of seconds their food arrived. Hmmmmm ... I did get a banana on a plate and chopsticks shortly after my coffee so was reasonably confident sustenance would eventually arrive. Not so fast. More and more locals arrive and food does shortly after they sit down. Then I realize, the dish I ordered (fuzzy print remember) was Wait-a-foreigner. I contemplate leaving and paying for my drink. Another tray full of food appears, destined for my table ... not so fast as it scoots right by me to the locals in the corner. What to do, what to do.
Patience finally pays off and my food arrives. It is yummy and the cost is 5'ish dollars. I noticed a ferenge in the corner so got some assistance with the menu for next time then found out the owner's English is good. I will definitely frequent that joint and I have been told one can get a nice repast including rice, beef/chicken/fish as well as the garlic-laden green veggies you see everywhere for $2. One often has to look far and wide at home for an adventure whereas a trip to the lunch counter in Hanoi inspires postings such as this.
I spoke to Sweet Thing and she figured out I got he a phone 'cause I love speaking with her during the day. How did she figure that out?
Settling in to Hanoi
We got to Noi Bai airport a little early and disembarkation was quick. Our bags showed up almost immediately. We were picked up by Junie with a bouquet of flowers for the Sweet Thing which was a very sweet thing. We drove for quite a while until arriving at the Horison. Check-in took a long time for some reason?? We are in room 1127 and it is very similar to my last digs here except there is a king size bed.
We unpacked then headed out for dinner. The ST did not like where I took her, especially the washroom (if it even fell into the WC category). We then walked for some time and the Sweet Thing found the whole trek quite educational. She was especially taken with the crowded street cafés with their little blue plastic molded chairs and massive conglomerations of munching patrons. It was well after 8PM and the outlets were still bustling with activity. We returned to the Horison, showered, and crashed.
We both woke up nicely refreshed and had a nice breakfast. We had a meeting with the tour company that booked us into the Horison and then I came to the office. I have been moved to 1203 from 702 and set up my stuff. I met already with Mr. Tri, Mr. Tuan Anh, Mr. Hanh, and one other. We have a team meeting at 1:30. I will grab some lunch near here then head back to meet. Sweet Thing is out with Junie today and I am sure the 2 of them look quite adorable on her scooter.
We unpacked then headed out for dinner. The ST did not like where I took her, especially the washroom (if it even fell into the WC category). We then walked for some time and the Sweet Thing found the whole trek quite educational. She was especially taken with the crowded street cafés with their little blue plastic molded chairs and massive conglomerations of munching patrons. It was well after 8PM and the outlets were still bustling with activity. We returned to the Horison, showered, and crashed.
We both woke up nicely refreshed and had a nice breakfast. We had a meeting with the tour company that booked us into the Horison and then I came to the office. I have been moved to 1203 from 702 and set up my stuff. I met already with Mr. Tri, Mr. Tuan Anh, Mr. Hanh, and one other. We have a team meeting at 1:30. I will grab some lunch near here then head back to meet. Sweet Thing is out with Junie today and I am sure the 2 of them look quite adorable on her scooter.
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Hoi An to Hanoi
We packed and did further prep for the next leg of the trip. The weather was probably the worst it has been all week. Even I had to retrieve a jacket from my luggage that I had already packed. We had lunch at the hotel then grabbed a cab to the Da Nang airport. The front desk told us it would be about $20 by cab and it was close to that. The cabbie asked for 500,000 VND even though the meter said 393,000 and there was a 15,000 fee we had to cover. I gave him 410,000 which was a whopping 10 cent tip which is more than he deserved for that stunt. We are sitting at the airport soon to board VN 310 to Hanoi.
My Son acomplished
We were treated to sort of dry weather on Monday though the ever-present cloud cover and threat of precipitation was everywhere. Monday was a big day for us ... we started with an early rise (again). I am blessed with the ability to sleep just about anywhere/anytime, whereas the Sweet Thing is known to be sleep-challenged especially when away from home.
Breakfast was its boring self. There is so much to eat and yet so little to eat. I headed off to the tour desk after the repast and browsed the excursion book. I settled on a 4-hour jaunt to My Son, some 75km or so from the hotel. We met the driver and guide in the lobby at 9:30 and off we went. It turned out to be a 1 hour drive there and back even though it appeared to be a lot closer on Google maps (a bit fyrther than an inch to be exact :)). We winded our way down some pretty nice highway and drove through clusters of small towns all the way. The omnipresent motorcycles were everywhere as usual. By the time we got to the My Son ruins, it was spitting and the mercury had climbed into the late 20's and it was humid.
We parked just inside the main gate, after crossing an interesting concrete bridge. There are 6 or 7 clusters of ruins at My Son and they date back to as early as the 9th century. The Cham civilization was responsible for erecting the edifices that mainly lie in ruins. The basic structures are discernible even though they have been ripped apart by time and never-ending bombing during the Vietnam war. Efforts spearheaded by the USA to restore the structures are proceeding at a feverish pace. Parts of the ruins are roped off as work is carried out.
Our guide pointed out interesting historical facts about the site and we were intrigued by the difference between the >1000 year old brick walls as compared to those restored over the last 30 or so years. The older bricks had no mortar separating them from their neighbors, even though the cracks between them were microscopic. Vi, the guide (pronounced "Vee"), mentioned the modern day technology has as yet been unable to reproduce bricks with the same ability to repel water and deter growing of fungus and moss. There were dark fungal growths all over the restored bricks, standing out in sharp contrast to their elders which were still the same light red hue as they may have been centuries ago. There were pillars lying all over the place, dislodged from original resting places by the bombing the structures tolerated for years in wartime.
We had been "warned" that the site would be flooded with tourists such as ourselves. Either the weather or the large size of the site made it seem occupied but not teeming with people. Each of the sites, lettered from A through F, is somewhat isolated from one another such that a crowds of people in one would not be viewable from another. We spent about 90 minutes enjoying the scenery at My Son and, as the weather deteriorated, we headed back to the vehicle. Most of the walkways were cobblestone, but some had reverted to loose surface mud and were a tad slippery. I lost my footing sort of once or twice, and ST mentioned to the guide that "he falls easily" and we all got a chuckle from that cute comment. Speaking of cute, you should see my Sweet Thing :).
Vi mentioned that he was the director of recreation programs at the Palm Garden resort, and received from unsolicited feedback/suggestions from my hotel maven wife about advertising programs in the hotel. Vi was a sponge for ST's feedback, which centred on the way the activities are publicized and what mechanisms can be used to bring the events to the attention of the clientele. I noticed a flavor in ST's suggestions that the hotel "owed it to their guests" to ensure they know details of what is being offered especially when the weather is so bad. He mentioned tai chi classes which was news to the ST.
The drive back seemed a little shorter than the one there ... something we all seem to notice wherever we go. I am sure it is all in our heads, unless someone runs through the stretch of road from X to Y just after we pass through it and rebuilds the road to be 4km shorter before our return some 2 hours later. What do you think ... is that possible?
We asked Vi to stop at a shoe place that he mentioned to us. We did just that as soon as we hit Hoi An and ST looked but did not leap. We were dropped off at the bus turnaround near the centre of Hoi An, and were on our own again. ST tried a bank machine close to the dropoff point that was out of service. Our next ATM refused to part with any cash. We sauntered down the side street, visiting two establishments that had goods waiting for the ST. At the second store, the dress that was made for her needed some last minute adjustments so we returned after lunch. We then cabbed it back to the hotel for 70,000 VND.
We relaxed in the room until about 5, then ventured off for a drink before heading out for our evening entertainment ... a 2-hour dinner cruise from Cinnamon Cruises. I suggested our grabbing a cab into Hoi An then quaffing a few there rather than at the hotel. We gave the driver the address we were going to (32 Le Loi) and he mentioned that it was in a no-vehicle section of the town. No problem, we asked to be dropped close by and we would find our way.
When he pulled to the curb, obviously as close to the destination as was possible, I looked up at a sign on a store and it said "19 Le Loi". I thought this was a no-vehicle area of Hoi An? I think the drivers do not like going that deep into Hoi An as return fares are not easy to find. It reminds me of our trip to the Vatican when in Rome in 2007. As we approached the bridges leading to the Vatican, the driver told us he was not allowed in and would have to let us out this side of the water. Once inside the City, there were cabs all over the place. What the driver obviously meant was that he did not like going into the City as the traffic was too heavy and return fares few and far between.
That diversion reminds me of a line about the cabbie in Manhattan who picked up a fare and was told "Picadilly Circus London". The passenger told the driver to leave the meter running on the boat on the way over. He dropped the fare as requested and, while making his way back to the boat, was flagged by a pedestrian. The cabbie asked "Where to", was told "193rd Street and 9th Avenue" and replied "Sorry, I don't go to the Bronx" :).
We headed into a bar for happy hour and each downed 2 gin and tonics with a bill of under $4. We met the tour guy next door at 32 Le Loi and were escorted down to the boat. At high tide, the river washes onto the street by the shore and we made out way to the boat using a bit of a roundabout route to avoid getting our feet wet. We had the boat to ourselves and headed out for the 2-hour cruise/repast. We settled on a mid-range dinner option as the bateau moved sver so slowly through the harbor. The shoreline was dotted with restaurants, hotels, bars, and private dwellings and it was very pretty in the night time. It threatened to rain and spit lightly almost the complete time we were gone. About 90 minutes out, we turned around and got back to the dock much faster than our trip out. When we got back the waters had receded a bit and there was quite a throng of locals there probably waiting for transportation across the water. We speculated they were there to enjoy our disembarkation and fall into the water from the Cinammon Cruises ship. We negotiated the footing back to dry land and headed back to the hotel.
As Mr. McGarrity used to say ... "Maggie Muggins, you have had quite a day!".
Breakfast was its boring self. There is so much to eat and yet so little to eat. I headed off to the tour desk after the repast and browsed the excursion book. I settled on a 4-hour jaunt to My Son, some 75km or so from the hotel. We met the driver and guide in the lobby at 9:30 and off we went. It turned out to be a 1 hour drive there and back even though it appeared to be a lot closer on Google maps (a bit fyrther than an inch to be exact :)). We winded our way down some pretty nice highway and drove through clusters of small towns all the way. The omnipresent motorcycles were everywhere as usual. By the time we got to the My Son ruins, it was spitting and the mercury had climbed into the late 20's and it was humid.
We parked just inside the main gate, after crossing an interesting concrete bridge. There are 6 or 7 clusters of ruins at My Son and they date back to as early as the 9th century. The Cham civilization was responsible for erecting the edifices that mainly lie in ruins. The basic structures are discernible even though they have been ripped apart by time and never-ending bombing during the Vietnam war. Efforts spearheaded by the USA to restore the structures are proceeding at a feverish pace. Parts of the ruins are roped off as work is carried out.
Our guide pointed out interesting historical facts about the site and we were intrigued by the difference between the >1000 year old brick walls as compared to those restored over the last 30 or so years. The older bricks had no mortar separating them from their neighbors, even though the cracks between them were microscopic. Vi, the guide (pronounced "Vee"), mentioned the modern day technology has as yet been unable to reproduce bricks with the same ability to repel water and deter growing of fungus and moss. There were dark fungal growths all over the restored bricks, standing out in sharp contrast to their elders which were still the same light red hue as they may have been centuries ago. There were pillars lying all over the place, dislodged from original resting places by the bombing the structures tolerated for years in wartime.
We had been "warned" that the site would be flooded with tourists such as ourselves. Either the weather or the large size of the site made it seem occupied but not teeming with people. Each of the sites, lettered from A through F, is somewhat isolated from one another such that a crowds of people in one would not be viewable from another. We spent about 90 minutes enjoying the scenery at My Son and, as the weather deteriorated, we headed back to the vehicle. Most of the walkways were cobblestone, but some had reverted to loose surface mud and were a tad slippery. I lost my footing sort of once or twice, and ST mentioned to the guide that "he falls easily" and we all got a chuckle from that cute comment. Speaking of cute, you should see my Sweet Thing :).
Vi mentioned that he was the director of recreation programs at the Palm Garden resort, and received from unsolicited feedback/suggestions from my hotel maven wife about advertising programs in the hotel. Vi was a sponge for ST's feedback, which centred on the way the activities are publicized and what mechanisms can be used to bring the events to the attention of the clientele. I noticed a flavor in ST's suggestions that the hotel "owed it to their guests" to ensure they know details of what is being offered especially when the weather is so bad. He mentioned tai chi classes which was news to the ST.
The drive back seemed a little shorter than the one there ... something we all seem to notice wherever we go. I am sure it is all in our heads, unless someone runs through the stretch of road from X to Y just after we pass through it and rebuilds the road to be 4km shorter before our return some 2 hours later. What do you think ... is that possible?
We asked Vi to stop at a shoe place that he mentioned to us. We did just that as soon as we hit Hoi An and ST looked but did not leap. We were dropped off at the bus turnaround near the centre of Hoi An, and were on our own again. ST tried a bank machine close to the dropoff point that was out of service. Our next ATM refused to part with any cash. We sauntered down the side street, visiting two establishments that had goods waiting for the ST. At the second store, the dress that was made for her needed some last minute adjustments so we returned after lunch. We then cabbed it back to the hotel for 70,000 VND.
We relaxed in the room until about 5, then ventured off for a drink before heading out for our evening entertainment ... a 2-hour dinner cruise from Cinnamon Cruises. I suggested our grabbing a cab into Hoi An then quaffing a few there rather than at the hotel. We gave the driver the address we were going to (32 Le Loi) and he mentioned that it was in a no-vehicle section of the town. No problem, we asked to be dropped close by and we would find our way.
When he pulled to the curb, obviously as close to the destination as was possible, I looked up at a sign on a store and it said "19 Le Loi". I thought this was a no-vehicle area of Hoi An? I think the drivers do not like going that deep into Hoi An as return fares are not easy to find. It reminds me of our trip to the Vatican when in Rome in 2007. As we approached the bridges leading to the Vatican, the driver told us he was not allowed in and would have to let us out this side of the water. Once inside the City, there were cabs all over the place. What the driver obviously meant was that he did not like going into the City as the traffic was too heavy and return fares few and far between.
That diversion reminds me of a line about the cabbie in Manhattan who picked up a fare and was told "Picadilly Circus London". The passenger told the driver to leave the meter running on the boat on the way over. He dropped the fare as requested and, while making his way back to the boat, was flagged by a pedestrian. The cabbie asked "Where to", was told "193rd Street and 9th Avenue" and replied "Sorry, I don't go to the Bronx" :).
We headed into a bar for happy hour and each downed 2 gin and tonics with a bill of under $4. We met the tour guy next door at 32 Le Loi and were escorted down to the boat. At high tide, the river washes onto the street by the shore and we made out way to the boat using a bit of a roundabout route to avoid getting our feet wet. We had the boat to ourselves and headed out for the 2-hour cruise/repast. We settled on a mid-range dinner option as the bateau moved sver so slowly through the harbor. The shoreline was dotted with restaurants, hotels, bars, and private dwellings and it was very pretty in the night time. It threatened to rain and spit lightly almost the complete time we were gone. About 90 minutes out, we turned around and got back to the dock much faster than our trip out. When we got back the waters had receded a bit and there was quite a throng of locals there probably waiting for transportation across the water. We speculated they were there to enjoy our disembarkation and fall into the water from the Cinammon Cruises ship. We negotiated the footing back to dry land and headed back to the hotel.
As Mr. McGarrity used to say ... "Maggie Muggins, you have had quite a day!".
Monday, November 8, 2010
Cooking up a storm in Hoi An
We set off for Hoi Ann on the 4PM shuttle as planned yesterday. ST had some business to take care of at one of the tailors on a side street. She brought a jumper that Rhona lent her and was planning to ask the proprietor if it could be copied. She also had to pick up the skirts she had made for Jess. The skirts looked great and I agreed they would be loved by her little girl. We went about that business then, with 45 minutes or so until the cooking class, we perused many other shop is in the area.
We were in and out of a handful of establishments, one of them a custom shoe maker. ST looked at the catalog for some time and had some difficulty keeping the sales lady's attention which annoyed her, feeding her desire not to buy at that time. She saw some boots she liked and would want them in black were she to order. We eventually left without ordering anything and moseyed into a few more stores. Then we headed towards Cafe Hai for the 6PM cooking extravaganza. There were 6 other people at the table when we arrived and the festivities began shortly after we arrived.
The list of delicacies we were to make included spring rolls, a beef salad, and fish baked in banana leaves. The ingredients for the salsa to slop on the fish were distributed and each attendee diced ingredients into small pieces. All the pieces were plopped in a mortar and pestle and pulverized. There were lemongrass, shallots, massive amounts of garlic, salt, pepper, and a handful of other spices including the dreaded coriander leaves as well as rum. We all took turns mashing the ingredient. Pieces of mackerel about the same footprint as a short white gym sock were smothered on both sides with the mixture, destined to bake for 10 minutes each side and end up being devoured by the attendees at the end of the lesson.
Next on the agenda was spring rolls. The rice paper had been soaked in water and stored in banana leaves prior to arriving at our table. This soaking and storage keeps the paper soft for rolling the soon-to-be spring rolls. An assortment of vegetables including cucumber, tomato, carrot, wood-ear mushroom, green beans, shrimp, rice noodles, and some new-fangled Vietnamese items nobody recognized were cut length-wise (I think that is called "julienned") or grated, and deposited in a bowl before being spooned into awaiting rice paper. The veggies nobody recognized were choko and taro. The instructor gleefully added what she referred to as two "Vietnamese tablespoons"; they were actually heaping tablespoons, 3 of each being used rather than 2 as she suggested. Some sugar was added to combat any bitternes introduced by other ingredients. Prepared rice paper was distributed on plates, the filling generously spooned into each, and the spring rolls rolled to perfection by all. They were targeted for frying in vegetable oil prior to consumption. By the way, each spring roll takes 1.5 sheets of rice paper. We were told to ensure the rolls were tucked in nicely at the ends so the filling does not tumble out of its casing.
The third dish was marinated beef salad which was in four distinct parts:
1- The marinate mixture composed of sugar as well as tamarind paste, the former to counteract the bitterness of the paste (tamarind paste is common with many Thai dishes), salt/pepper, and crushed garlic.
2- The salad mixture of lovely lettuce, grated green papaya, tomatoes, cucumber, onion, and fresh sweet read chillies.
3- The dressing comprised of lime juice, fish sauce, sugar, and the ever-present garlic.
4- The topping made from mint, coriander, asian basil, shallots, peanuts, and roasted rice paper on the side in a decorative manner.
The beef was pre-marinated in the fridge for 3 hours then grilled on a high flame then allwoed to cool no less than 2 minutes. The ingredients were mixed together, then spooned into bowls covered in banana leaves. Then was the best part ... the eating :). Everything was scrumptious and we were out of the Haie Cafe about 8PM to grab the last shuttle back to the hotel.
Cooking classes are a really big deal in this part of the country (probably everywhere) and we found out why first hand.
We were in and out of a handful of establishments, one of them a custom shoe maker. ST looked at the catalog for some time and had some difficulty keeping the sales lady's attention which annoyed her, feeding her desire not to buy at that time. She saw some boots she liked and would want them in black were she to order. We eventually left without ordering anything and moseyed into a few more stores. Then we headed towards Cafe Hai for the 6PM cooking extravaganza. There were 6 other people at the table when we arrived and the festivities began shortly after we arrived.
The list of delicacies we were to make included spring rolls, a beef salad, and fish baked in banana leaves. The ingredients for the salsa to slop on the fish were distributed and each attendee diced ingredients into small pieces. All the pieces were plopped in a mortar and pestle and pulverized. There were lemongrass, shallots, massive amounts of garlic, salt, pepper, and a handful of other spices including the dreaded coriander leaves as well as rum. We all took turns mashing the ingredient. Pieces of mackerel about the same footprint as a short white gym sock were smothered on both sides with the mixture, destined to bake for 10 minutes each side and end up being devoured by the attendees at the end of the lesson.
Next on the agenda was spring rolls. The rice paper had been soaked in water and stored in banana leaves prior to arriving at our table. This soaking and storage keeps the paper soft for rolling the soon-to-be spring rolls. An assortment of vegetables including cucumber, tomato, carrot, wood-ear mushroom, green beans, shrimp, rice noodles, and some new-fangled Vietnamese items nobody recognized were cut length-wise (I think that is called "julienned") or grated, and deposited in a bowl before being spooned into awaiting rice paper. The veggies nobody recognized were choko and taro. The instructor gleefully added what she referred to as two "Vietnamese tablespoons"; they were actually heaping tablespoons, 3 of each being used rather than 2 as she suggested. Some sugar was added to combat any bitternes introduced by other ingredients. Prepared rice paper was distributed on plates, the filling generously spooned into each, and the spring rolls rolled to perfection by all. They were targeted for frying in vegetable oil prior to consumption. By the way, each spring roll takes 1.5 sheets of rice paper. We were told to ensure the rolls were tucked in nicely at the ends so the filling does not tumble out of its casing.
The third dish was marinated beef salad which was in four distinct parts:
1- The marinate mixture composed of sugar as well as tamarind paste, the former to counteract the bitterness of the paste (tamarind paste is common with many Thai dishes), salt/pepper, and crushed garlic.
2- The salad mixture of lovely lettuce, grated green papaya, tomatoes, cucumber, onion, and fresh sweet read chillies.
3- The dressing comprised of lime juice, fish sauce, sugar, and the ever-present garlic.
4- The topping made from mint, coriander, asian basil, shallots, peanuts, and roasted rice paper on the side in a decorative manner.
The beef was pre-marinated in the fridge for 3 hours then grilled on a high flame then allwoed to cool no less than 2 minutes. The ingredients were mixed together, then spooned into bowls covered in banana leaves. Then was the best part ... the eating :). Everything was scrumptious and we were out of the Haie Cafe about 8PM to grab the last shuttle back to the hotel.
Cooking classes are a really big deal in this part of the country (probably everywhere) and we found out why first hand.
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Saucer-shaped light in the sky
We actually saw such an object above our heads a number of times today. The sun was fighting to come out of the persistent cloud cover. We sat on the beach for some time in the late morning just before lunch. We spoke with the tour desk here and are going to book a sunset dinner cruise for 5-7PM tomorrow as the last hurrah for Hoi An before heading off to Hanoi on Tuesday.
The resort we are staying at came highly recommended by the tour outfit we spoke with in Ottawa ... and we have found out why. Other than chest-of-drawer challenged, the place is wonderful and very affordable. There is an abundance of activity with personnel madly cleaning, mopping, making up rooms, pressure-washing the concrete pathways, and just about every thinkable type of 24 by 7 maintenance one could imagine. The guide from Friday mentioned that there is no minimum wage in Vietnam and it is obvious, as I noticed in Ethiopia especially, that labour is cheap and workers plentiful. It has been huge having the Vietnam SIM card for my Blackberry as there have been many calls back to North America, at a direct-dial rate of less than 15 cents a minute.
We will grab the 4PM shuttle into Hoi An. We will stop at the tailor shop where ST ordered a skirt for her little girl, walk around the town again, making our way to the cafe at 6PM for our cooking class. We checked up on the expected weather for Monday and more of the same.
The resort we are staying at came highly recommended by the tour outfit we spoke with in Ottawa ... and we have found out why. Other than chest-of-drawer challenged, the place is wonderful and very affordable. There is an abundance of activity with personnel madly cleaning, mopping, making up rooms, pressure-washing the concrete pathways, and just about every thinkable type of 24 by 7 maintenance one could imagine. The guide from Friday mentioned that there is no minimum wage in Vietnam and it is obvious, as I noticed in Ethiopia especially, that labour is cheap and workers plentiful. It has been huge having the Vietnam SIM card for my Blackberry as there have been many calls back to North America, at a direct-dial rate of less than 15 cents a minute.
We will grab the 4PM shuttle into Hoi An. We will stop at the tailor shop where ST ordered a skirt for her little girl, walk around the town again, making our way to the cafe at 6PM for our cooking class. We checked up on the expected weather for Monday and more of the same.
Optimistic but realistic
It is very overcast again today but the rain starts and stops. We dipped our toes in the sea again and ST commented that it was not as cold as I had reported. Today will be a lazy day and we will head off to Hoi An for a 6PM cooking class. We both wondered how much shorter we would have planned to stay in Hoi An if we knew there was such a likelihood it would be as wet as it is. Unlike Ethiopia, there is apparently four seasons here, not the same as the dry/wet split for the complete year I experienced in Africa. The mercury seems to be hovering around 20 plus degrees which in itself is good and, as so eloquently put by my ST, is good on its own.
Saturday, November 6, 2010
And on the seventh day it rained
Oy yoy yoy ... was it wet; not that heavy rain Addis Abeba-like. It was just a pesky drizzle, very light, but hard enough to dampen (pun??) anyone's spirits. We rented a DVD player from the hotel (loan? the hotel does not know what that word means ... everything here comes with a price ... $5 a day for a DVD player), and started watching season 3 of Damages. We managed to watch a few episodes then ST and I admitted we did too much sleeping and had to go back and watch again. ST did just that while I slept. I was tasked to go back and watch episodes 1 and 2 without nodding off so ST and I could pick it up again at episode 3 watching the rest of the season together.
First things first ... we were up early and treated ourselves to another buffet breakfast, Palm garden style and it was OK. There were more traditional western dishes to choose from and it was good. I would not say we have found a breakfast buffet yet in Vietnam that really foes please my Sweet Thing. We grabbed the 10AM shuttle into Hoi An and then the fun began; did I tell you it was wet? We walked the streets of Hoi An for a few hours. Every (almost every) time we went into a shop, the proprietor descended on us. I think the Sweet Thing came close to slugging a few of them; we just wanted to look and be left alone to browse. We dodged buckets of rain all the time we were out. ST wanted to pick up something for her little girl, one or more looming skirts made with the distinctive material one encountes in this intriguing country.
I saw some interesting stuff too, especially some velvet silk-collared smoking jackets. The few things that I showed to the ST caused violent convulsions; I don't think we have the same taste. I was not planning to buy anything, just look. We had received the location of a restaurant we could go to and take some cokking classes. We ended up at a store on Tran Phu street where ST ordered a skirt that we can pick up minyana. We then followed the directions we were given, turning left on Le Loi street. Next was a right onto Nguyen Thai Hoc and a little down on the right we found the cafe we were looking for. We has lunch there for 195,000 VND then plopped down another $28 USD for their "local specialties evening class" from 6-8PM tomorrow evening.
We will find our way to that same establishment which we so proudly found today for the event which should be a hoot. The brochure says the highlights of the food we will prepare then eat are famous Hoi An spring rolls, beef salad, and fish in banana leaf. We grabbed the 1:30PM shuttle back to the hotel and I watched episode 1 of season 3, trying to catch up with the Sweet Thing. It was confusing and I had to read up on what happened on the internet and get a few clues from ST. Off to watch episode 2 ...
First things first ... we were up early and treated ourselves to another buffet breakfast, Palm garden style and it was OK. There were more traditional western dishes to choose from and it was good. I would not say we have found a breakfast buffet yet in Vietnam that really foes please my Sweet Thing. We grabbed the 10AM shuttle into Hoi An and then the fun began; did I tell you it was wet? We walked the streets of Hoi An for a few hours. Every (almost every) time we went into a shop, the proprietor descended on us. I think the Sweet Thing came close to slugging a few of them; we just wanted to look and be left alone to browse. We dodged buckets of rain all the time we were out. ST wanted to pick up something for her little girl, one or more looming skirts made with the distinctive material one encountes in this intriguing country.
I saw some interesting stuff too, especially some velvet silk-collared smoking jackets. The few things that I showed to the ST caused violent convulsions; I don't think we have the same taste. I was not planning to buy anything, just look. We had received the location of a restaurant we could go to and take some cokking classes. We ended up at a store on Tran Phu street where ST ordered a skirt that we can pick up minyana. We then followed the directions we were given, turning left on Le Loi street. Next was a right onto Nguyen Thai Hoc and a little down on the right we found the cafe we were looking for. We has lunch there for 195,000 VND then plopped down another $28 USD for their "local specialties evening class" from 6-8PM tomorrow evening.
We will find our way to that same establishment which we so proudly found today for the event which should be a hoot. The brochure says the highlights of the food we will prepare then eat are famous Hoi An spring rolls, beef salad, and fish in banana leaf. We grabbed the 1:30PM shuttle back to the hotel and I watched episode 1 of season 3, trying to catch up with the Sweet Thing. It was confusing and I had to read up on what happened on the internet and get a few clues from ST. Off to watch episode 2 ...
Friday, November 5, 2010
Miss Saigon?
We were up bright and early for the next leg of the trip. Sweet Thing went to the gym as soon as she got up and I packed. I watched the end of the Ottawa/Islanders game and was pleased with the output. We have now won 4 of our last 5 games and the Spezza haters must have loved his 3-point night with a goal and 2 assists. I wonder if B. Elliott has the starting job in net as Pascal who?? is still injured OR out of the picture already. The signal was mediocre but good enough to watch most of the game's last 2 period. The Habs are next starting at 6AM here Sunday morning. Starting at 1PM Sunday, Ottawa will be 12 instead of 11 hours behind us.
We spoke yesterday to Ben K. whose 22nd birthday was the same day. He is in Montreal for festivities and working away feverishly saving for his own trip to Asia come the new year. We paid our bill and checked out, grabbing a hotel car to the airport. We made our way to gate 5 and scored exit row to boot! It was a short flight and the weather deteriorated as we approached Da Nang. By the time we got there, it was a full-blown rain storm which persists as we speak.
We were met by tour guide and driver at the airport with an O'Brien (I mean Abbey) sign. We went for lunch at once which was nice except I had to keep dodging cilantro which was everywhere. We had fish, pork, rice, shrimp, and some veggies, then both rejected the dragon fruit for desert. We then went to the Cham Sculpture museum in Da Nang. It contained rooms and rooms of stone figurines, many with limbs and heads missing. We were told that was due to vandalism and partially to the beheading that may have been done by attacking forces as they moved into the mid Vietnam region. We then went to a marble sculpture factory; they were hoping we would buy something which we did not. The work was very intricate; one could see the finger nails in the people and the strands of hair clumped together on the heads of some of the people depicted in the carvings.
The room at the Palm Garden is nice and I am pleased to see the ocean (actually the South China Sea) waves crashing onto China Beach. We asked about getting a beach front cabin but did not feel like parting with the additional $100 per night. We offered $50 to the check-in person and were rejected. We unpacked, finding no drawers to use and decided that this country is definitely drawer-challenged, the only draw back so far. ST does not like the sea of scooters all over the roads, but I find they add ambiance to the country.
We spoke yesterday to Ben K. whose 22nd birthday was the same day. He is in Montreal for festivities and working away feverishly saving for his own trip to Asia come the new year. We paid our bill and checked out, grabbing a hotel car to the airport. We made our way to gate 5 and scored exit row to boot! It was a short flight and the weather deteriorated as we approached Da Nang. By the time we got there, it was a full-blown rain storm which persists as we speak.
We were met by tour guide and driver at the airport with an O'Brien (I mean Abbey) sign. We went for lunch at once which was nice except I had to keep dodging cilantro which was everywhere. We had fish, pork, rice, shrimp, and some veggies, then both rejected the dragon fruit for desert. We then went to the Cham Sculpture museum in Da Nang. It contained rooms and rooms of stone figurines, many with limbs and heads missing. We were told that was due to vandalism and partially to the beheading that may have been done by attacking forces as they moved into the mid Vietnam region. We then went to a marble sculpture factory; they were hoping we would buy something which we did not. The work was very intricate; one could see the finger nails in the people and the strands of hair clumped together on the heads of some of the people depicted in the carvings.
The room at the Palm Garden is nice and I am pleased to see the ocean (actually the South China Sea) waves crashing onto China Beach. We asked about getting a beach front cabin but did not feel like parting with the additional $100 per night. We offered $50 to the check-in person and were rejected. We unpacked, finding no drawers to use and decided that this country is definitely drawer-challenged, the only draw back so far. ST does not like the sea of scooters all over the roads, but I find they add ambiance to the country.
Thursday, November 4, 2010
A fine trip it was
As planned we headed off at 9AM sharp for the trek to the Cu Chi tunnels some 60 km away but still in the district of Ho Chi Minh. The drive took about 90 minutes as planned and the closer we got to our final destination, the more rural the landscape. We got the scoop from Binh on what the tunnels were all about. Vietcong (Charlie) lived in these tunnels that were some 200 km long. The South had little problem keeping the North sympathizers (Vietcong) out of the cities (mainly Saigon), but the rural areas were a different story altogether. By establishing this base so close to Saigon, their offensives were stronger.
There were a number of reasons why they built these tunnels, primarily to hide from the enemy but also since the US-lead coalition destroyed what they could on the surface above where the tunnels were built. Napalm was the US weapon of choice for this tactic. At first the US soldiers were dumbfounded by the North; they could not figure out how, immediately after being ambushed, the enemy was nowhere to be seen. The attacks were lightning fast and however many US did not perish in the initial attack often fell into elaborate traps set by the VC. These traps led to agonizing slow death ... soldiers would step on a patch of grass and fall into a network of spikes that would impale them all over the upper and lower body. Often up to 48 hours later they would finally succumb to massive blood loss.
At one point during the walk through the tunnel area, Sweet Thing went down into level one and was close to doing the duck walk the crawl space was so small. I passed on that opportunity as I am not fond of confined spaces. Binh mentioned that the North had many sympathizers in the South who were Jack and Jill citizen, not necessarily confirmed Vietcong, often making it easier for North, with assistance from the VC, to penetrate new areas around Saigon. The US was joined by Australia, France, South Korea, the Khmer Republic (a.k.a. Cambodia), and a handful of other countries for the two-decade long turmoil in Vietnam where close to 3,000,000 citizens (armed forces and civilian) of Vietnam perished. The US troop strength was lower than 1,000 towards the start of the conflict to as many as over one half million by 1968.
The VC had at least three levels of tunnels that took them upwards of 2 years to build. The digging was done by hand, with spoons, or dirt pick axes. They would eat, await the enemy, and sleep in the the tunnels. The US forces tried everything they could to wipe out the VC while they were in the tunnels, even using water hoping to drown the enemy. Little did they know the tunnels were deliberately built to drain into the nearby Saigon river. One can only imagine what kinds of atrocities were committed by one side against the other and vice versa.
August 2 and 4 1964 ... the North Vietnamese attack 2 US destroyers in the Gulf of Tonkin (international waters)
March 2, 1965 ... the US starts bombing North Vietnam as a follow-up to the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution of August 1964
March 8, 1965 ... the first US troops arrive in Vietnam
January 30, 1968 ... the Vietcong (army belonging to the National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam) join forces with the North Vietnamese attacking over 100 cities/towns/villages in South Vietnam; this is known as the Tet Offensive
March 16, 1968 ... US troops kill hundreds of civilians in the town of Mai Lai, a massacre that the US general public does not learn about for over 20 months
September 3, 1969 ... Ho Chi Minh, the leader of communist North Vietnam dies
January 27, 1973 ... the Paris Peace Accord is signed and a cease-fire starts
March 29, 1973 ... last US troops withdrawn from Vietnam
April 30, 1975 ... South Vietnam surrenders two month after the North launched a massive attack on the South
July 2, 1976 ... the Socialist Republic of Vietnam comes into being
November 13, 1982 ... the Vietnam Veterans Memorial is dedicated in Washington DC
The war in Vietnam was unfortunately a large part of this baby boomer's adolescent life, something that the world (and perhaps mainly SouthEast Asia) has mostly forgiven the Americans for but NEVER forgotten. Maybe "forgiven" is not the right word to use; it might be better to say that the world realizes the powers that be in present day are not made up of the same "kind" that got so involved in the Vietnam aggression (or are they!!!!!!).
There were a number of reasons why they built these tunnels, primarily to hide from the enemy but also since the US-lead coalition destroyed what they could on the surface above where the tunnels were built. Napalm was the US weapon of choice for this tactic. At first the US soldiers were dumbfounded by the North; they could not figure out how, immediately after being ambushed, the enemy was nowhere to be seen. The attacks were lightning fast and however many US did not perish in the initial attack often fell into elaborate traps set by the VC. These traps led to agonizing slow death ... soldiers would step on a patch of grass and fall into a network of spikes that would impale them all over the upper and lower body. Often up to 48 hours later they would finally succumb to massive blood loss.
At one point during the walk through the tunnel area, Sweet Thing went down into level one and was close to doing the duck walk the crawl space was so small. I passed on that opportunity as I am not fond of confined spaces. Binh mentioned that the North had many sympathizers in the South who were Jack and Jill citizen, not necessarily confirmed Vietcong, often making it easier for North, with assistance from the VC, to penetrate new areas around Saigon. The US was joined by Australia, France, South Korea, the Khmer Republic (a.k.a. Cambodia), and a handful of other countries for the two-decade long turmoil in Vietnam where close to 3,000,000 citizens (armed forces and civilian) of Vietnam perished. The US troop strength was lower than 1,000 towards the start of the conflict to as many as over one half million by 1968.
The VC had at least three levels of tunnels that took them upwards of 2 years to build. The digging was done by hand, with spoons, or dirt pick axes. They would eat, await the enemy, and sleep in the the tunnels. The US forces tried everything they could to wipe out the VC while they were in the tunnels, even using water hoping to drown the enemy. Little did they know the tunnels were deliberately built to drain into the nearby Saigon river. One can only imagine what kinds of atrocities were committed by one side against the other and vice versa.
August 2 and 4 1964 ... the North Vietnamese attack 2 US destroyers in the Gulf of Tonkin (international waters)
March 2, 1965 ... the US starts bombing North Vietnam as a follow-up to the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution of August 1964
March 8, 1965 ... the first US troops arrive in Vietnam
January 30, 1968 ... the Vietcong (army belonging to the National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam) join forces with the North Vietnamese attacking over 100 cities/towns/villages in South Vietnam; this is known as the Tet Offensive
March 16, 1968 ... US troops kill hundreds of civilians in the town of Mai Lai, a massacre that the US general public does not learn about for over 20 months
September 3, 1969 ... Ho Chi Minh, the leader of communist North Vietnam dies
January 27, 1973 ... the Paris Peace Accord is signed and a cease-fire starts
March 29, 1973 ... last US troops withdrawn from Vietnam
April 30, 1975 ... South Vietnam surrenders two month after the North launched a massive attack on the South
July 2, 1976 ... the Socialist Republic of Vietnam comes into being
November 13, 1982 ... the Vietnam Veterans Memorial is dedicated in Washington DC
The war in Vietnam was unfortunately a large part of this baby boomer's adolescent life, something that the world (and perhaps mainly SouthEast Asia) has mostly forgiven the Americans for but NEVER forgotten. Maybe "forgiven" is not the right word to use; it might be better to say that the world realizes the powers that be in present day are not made up of the same "kind" that got so involved in the Vietnam aggression (or are they!!!!!!).
Nice start to day 3(4) in Ho Chi Minh
We were both awake very early, probably partially due to our 90 minute cat nap yesterday before dinner. Did I tell you how lovely the Sweet Thing has looked all week? What else is new? Today started with omlettes in the buffet with some scrumptious coffee. We will meet Binh and the driver at 9AM in the lobby to drive to the Cu Chi tunnels. We are looking forward to finding out some history of this site. We are not sure if the Vietcong or the US used these tunnels to traverse the south during the war.
This afternoon will be a combination of wandering around the markets and hanging maybe by the pool. I found some football shirts here for $8, even cheaper than they were in Addis Abeba. As if I need more shirts ... I cannot turn them down for such a price. It's interesting how "small things amuse small minds"; I got a few zippered small bags no bigger than a folded five dollar bill to keep my collapsible reading glasses. The secret to their convenience is carrying them around in a pants pocket as I usually wear tops (t-shirts) with no pockets. These containers are less bulky than the ones they came with. Our flight tomorrow is 11'ish and we will leave for the airport about 9'ish or whenever told by the front desk. It has been a whirlwind of touring in HCMC ... the most common site being the ever-present pagodas (or "pagodoht" in Hebrew :)).
We will be met in Da Nang by a driver who will do a tour of the area including lunch, then we will head off to the hotel in Hoi An where we will park ourselves until Tuesday. I tried getting to Facebook for picture uploads and it appears that the site is blocked in Vietnam. By surfing the web I was unable to ascertain whether that is indeed true as there are conflicting hits on the topic. It is much cooler today than it has been so far all week. The thunderstorms forecasted as a possibility yesterday did not materialize.
This afternoon will be a combination of wandering around the markets and hanging maybe by the pool. I found some football shirts here for $8, even cheaper than they were in Addis Abeba. As if I need more shirts ... I cannot turn them down for such a price. It's interesting how "small things amuse small minds"; I got a few zippered small bags no bigger than a folded five dollar bill to keep my collapsible reading glasses. The secret to their convenience is carrying them around in a pants pocket as I usually wear tops (t-shirts) with no pockets. These containers are less bulky than the ones they came with. Our flight tomorrow is 11'ish and we will leave for the airport about 9'ish or whenever told by the front desk. It has been a whirlwind of touring in HCMC ... the most common site being the ever-present pagodas (or "pagodoht" in Hebrew :)).
We will be met in Da Nang by a driver who will do a tour of the area including lunch, then we will head off to the hotel in Hoi An where we will park ourselves until Tuesday. I tried getting to Facebook for picture uploads and it appears that the site is blocked in Vietnam. By surfing the web I was unable to ascertain whether that is indeed true as there are conflicting hits on the topic. It is much cooler today than it has been so far all week. The thunderstorms forecasted as a possibility yesterday did not materialize.
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Oh what a day
We confirmed the trip to the Mekong delta with the travel desk about 7:30 AM and were down and ready to go by 9. It was our old buddy Binh and another Rex hotel chariot of the Toyota Camry version. We were given a brief rundown of timings ...
- 1.5 hours or so to get to the river
- 2.5 hours or so on the river with lunch
- 2 hours or so to get home
Sounds good :) and we are off. We were told there is a spanking new super highway to get to our destination. The driver checked the traffic on the new thoroughfare using his cell and we ended up on some older but not so congested route. We drove for close to 2 hours and the traffic at times was heavy. The congestion was aggravated by motorcycles everywhere, dodging in and out of the vehicular traffic at a feverish pace. They were all shapes and sizes and we did end up seeing 4 on one bike, our present day HCM record so far. The roads, though mostly secondary, were just fine and nothing like the pothole-erama I encountered in Uganda.
The first stop was ... guess ... a pagoda. This one had a 100 foot high set of buddhas, one smiling and one more serious. The grounds were quite palatial and the courtyards quite magnificent. It was a nice start for a great journey.
Back in the car, in about 15 minutes, we pulled into a busy marine landing terminal, happily occupied by a multitude of tourists such as ourselves. Binh disappeared to do the required ticket purchase and ST bought a new cloth cap with a wide/low brim, just what one needs for this climate. We ventured out across the Mekong on a bateau that could have easily accommodated 50 people ... just the two of us, Binh, and the pilot.
We landed on the far side and walked a bit through heavy vegetation into a small cafe for tea. The tea was made with a free-flowing honey and accompanied by papaya pieces, some fried banana, candied clustered peanuts, and sugared ginger finger delicacies. Then the "pushing s__t" started as packages of all the tidbits appeared with hope that we would purchase. We bought some of the peanuts and headed out of the cafe to our next adventure ... row boat rides through the Mekong jungle. The channel we traversed in the row boat was very busy with boat loads of eager tourists such as us, and we were overwhelmed by the heavy traffic. We were given Vietnamese lamp shade hats to wear and I found out the second reason why they are so popular here ... they sit low on your head and protect your face from low-lying vegetation that could scrape and/or cut one's face :). After about 20 minutes in these narrow estuary-like channels off the main Mekong river, we boarded the boat again for a short trip to our next item of entertainment.
We found ourselves in another cafe with a few other tables occupied by customers. Fruits appeared, some which we did not recognize or end up liking. The papaya was great as was the pineapple that was dipped, if one were so inclined, in a chili pepper and sugar mixture on the way to one's mouth. There was a set of singers accompanied by three musicians with stringed instruments all the way from one to six strings. We left there 4 USD lighter and happy.
We climbed into a wagon being pulled by a single horse, and ventured into a settlement just down the road. We discovered we were actually back on the mainland, just on the other side of the river from where we had left. The town had many pedestrians and next to no vehicular traffic. It was very rural compared to HCM of course and some other little bergs we had seen all day while driving. Sweet Thing caught the head and a bit of the shoulders of a water buffalo submerged in a stream just at the same spot where we said goodbye to the horse and headed back to the boat. This animal bathing was highlight of the day in pictures.
Back on the mainland, we met the driver and headed off for lunch which was a pleasant adventure into traditional food land. We had local vegetables on shrimp chips, a potato and rice cake that resembled a bread roll, some fish battered on sticks, then the main course. We were given vegetables, vermicelli, and a few sauces to wrap inside rice paper like makeshift spring rolls. A deep fried fish standing up supported by some thin wood infrastructure was the heart of the main course. I am not sure what kind of fish it was but it was reminiscent of the talapia I had many times in Ethiopia. Making our own spring rolls reminded me of a plan Kramer and Poppie had to open a restaurant where the clientele made their own pizza. That never got off the ground; when Poppie found out Kramer would allow the customers to put cucumber on their pizzas he hit the roof.
Back at the Rex we crashed and about 6:10 ST woke up and exclaimed we should get up so we can sleep tonight. We spoke with the front desk about an Italian place or two and ended up at something called Al Fresco near the Sheraton. ST had chicken parmigiana and I a salad which I could not finish. We then walked in the direction of the hotel and ended up cruising some of the streets around the Rex as well as the outdoor night time market once again. Shop-keepers would touch our arm and say "t-shirt miss/sir" hoping their invasion would stir one to buy. We made it back to the hotel with plans for tomorrow to see the Cu Chi tunnels, some 60km from the city and spend the afternoon to ourselves.
I learned an interesting item about driving in Vietnam. We would be moving along a road with a concrete barrier between opposing lanes, and the driver would put on his left turn signal (we were in the outside lane at the time). I finally figured out it was the way to signal a vehicle in front to move over so one could pass.
- 1.5 hours or so to get to the river
- 2.5 hours or so on the river with lunch
- 2 hours or so to get home
Sounds good :) and we are off. We were told there is a spanking new super highway to get to our destination. The driver checked the traffic on the new thoroughfare using his cell and we ended up on some older but not so congested route. We drove for close to 2 hours and the traffic at times was heavy. The congestion was aggravated by motorcycles everywhere, dodging in and out of the vehicular traffic at a feverish pace. They were all shapes and sizes and we did end up seeing 4 on one bike, our present day HCM record so far. The roads, though mostly secondary, were just fine and nothing like the pothole-erama I encountered in Uganda.
The first stop was ... guess ... a pagoda. This one had a 100 foot high set of buddhas, one smiling and one more serious. The grounds were quite palatial and the courtyards quite magnificent. It was a nice start for a great journey.
Back in the car, in about 15 minutes, we pulled into a busy marine landing terminal, happily occupied by a multitude of tourists such as ourselves. Binh disappeared to do the required ticket purchase and ST bought a new cloth cap with a wide/low brim, just what one needs for this climate. We ventured out across the Mekong on a bateau that could have easily accommodated 50 people ... just the two of us, Binh, and the pilot.
We landed on the far side and walked a bit through heavy vegetation into a small cafe for tea. The tea was made with a free-flowing honey and accompanied by papaya pieces, some fried banana, candied clustered peanuts, and sugared ginger finger delicacies. Then the "pushing s__t" started as packages of all the tidbits appeared with hope that we would purchase. We bought some of the peanuts and headed out of the cafe to our next adventure ... row boat rides through the Mekong jungle. The channel we traversed in the row boat was very busy with boat loads of eager tourists such as us, and we were overwhelmed by the heavy traffic. We were given Vietnamese lamp shade hats to wear and I found out the second reason why they are so popular here ... they sit low on your head and protect your face from low-lying vegetation that could scrape and/or cut one's face :). After about 20 minutes in these narrow estuary-like channels off the main Mekong river, we boarded the boat again for a short trip to our next item of entertainment.
We found ourselves in another cafe with a few other tables occupied by customers. Fruits appeared, some which we did not recognize or end up liking. The papaya was great as was the pineapple that was dipped, if one were so inclined, in a chili pepper and sugar mixture on the way to one's mouth. There was a set of singers accompanied by three musicians with stringed instruments all the way from one to six strings. We left there 4 USD lighter and happy.
We climbed into a wagon being pulled by a single horse, and ventured into a settlement just down the road. We discovered we were actually back on the mainland, just on the other side of the river from where we had left. The town had many pedestrians and next to no vehicular traffic. It was very rural compared to HCM of course and some other little bergs we had seen all day while driving. Sweet Thing caught the head and a bit of the shoulders of a water buffalo submerged in a stream just at the same spot where we said goodbye to the horse and headed back to the boat. This animal bathing was highlight of the day in pictures.
Back on the mainland, we met the driver and headed off for lunch which was a pleasant adventure into traditional food land. We had local vegetables on shrimp chips, a potato and rice cake that resembled a bread roll, some fish battered on sticks, then the main course. We were given vegetables, vermicelli, and a few sauces to wrap inside rice paper like makeshift spring rolls. A deep fried fish standing up supported by some thin wood infrastructure was the heart of the main course. I am not sure what kind of fish it was but it was reminiscent of the talapia I had many times in Ethiopia. Making our own spring rolls reminded me of a plan Kramer and Poppie had to open a restaurant where the clientele made their own pizza. That never got off the ground; when Poppie found out Kramer would allow the customers to put cucumber on their pizzas he hit the roof.
Back at the Rex we crashed and about 6:10 ST woke up and exclaimed we should get up so we can sleep tonight. We spoke with the front desk about an Italian place or two and ended up at something called Al Fresco near the Sheraton. ST had chicken parmigiana and I a salad which I could not finish. We then walked in the direction of the hotel and ended up cruising some of the streets around the Rex as well as the outdoor night time market once again. Shop-keepers would touch our arm and say "t-shirt miss/sir" hoping their invasion would stir one to buy. We made it back to the hotel with plans for tomorrow to see the Cu Chi tunnels, some 60km from the city and spend the afternoon to ourselves.
I learned an interesting item about driving in Vietnam. We would be moving along a road with a concrete barrier between opposing lanes, and the driver would put on his left turn signal (we were in the outside lane at the time). I finally figured out it was the way to signal a vehicle in front to move over so one could pass.
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
As expected, no disappointment
We met Nam and his wife Trang in the hotel lobby sharp at 7PM. Prior to that we booked a day long trip down the Mekong River that starts tomorrow at 9AM. We spend more than half the time on a boat. It is supposed to be wet tomorrow but that does not matter according to the vendor. We took a cab for a short ride then disappeared between some buildings into one of many many enclaves of stores and restaurants hidden behind the street. Dinner was traditional even with the dreaded cilantro. We had a few pork dishes and lots of vegetables and noodles.
We walked for a while after dinner then went back a bit to check out an outdoor market. I picked up a knock-off of Curb Your Enthusiasm seasons 1-7 for a whopping 10 USD or so. We found our way back to the hotel, stopping in the shopping centre close to the Rex where I bought 3 more DVDs ... The Wall, James Taylor, and BB King. Nam and Trang were lovely and their English a great deal better than I remembered. Her English seemed better than his after all. We went upstairs to the rooftop bar for a nightcap. We did not stay long as their was an annoying singer who was too loud. We have not received confirmation of the river trip tomorrow so will need to check with the travel desk first thing in the AM.
We walked for a while after dinner then went back a bit to check out an outdoor market. I picked up a knock-off of Curb Your Enthusiasm seasons 1-7 for a whopping 10 USD or so. We found our way back to the hotel, stopping in the shopping centre close to the Rex where I bought 3 more DVDs ... The Wall, James Taylor, and BB King. Nam and Trang were lovely and their English a great deal better than I remembered. Her English seemed better than his after all. We went upstairs to the rooftop bar for a nightcap. We did not stay long as their was an annoying singer who was too loud. We have not received confirmation of the river trip tomorrow so will need to check with the travel desk first thing in the AM.
Day one in SE Asia with my Sweet Thing
We finished breakfast and prepared for day one in Saigon. We discussed getting around town to a few places we want to visit with the tour desk in the front lobby. We settled on a 4-hour tour of the city that would take us to a handful of sites we already knew we wanted to see ... the Re-unification Palace and the War Remnants Museum. They did not disappoint.
We had a private car from the hotel, proving, like most hotels, the Rex does just about anything their guests want, for a price. We had a driver plus a guide named Binh. We drove through some busy streets and arrived at the palace in about 15 minutes. This dwelling is somewhat palatial, though not as much so as what I remember of the likes of Hofburg I saw in Vienna in 1993. This is where the ruling family in South Vietnam lived up to the end of the Vietnam war which we found out officially started in 1954 (or 1955 depending on one's source). The President and First Lady orchestrated the running of the country from here and they each had their own quarters to entertain from. The meeting and party rooms are nicely preserved with period furniture. During conflict, the war effort was managed from bunkers in the basement. There was a wide assortment of rudimentary (it was the 50's remember) communication devices, ham radios, telegraph paraphernalia, and the like.
Binh commented that they did not have the internet in the palace during the war, a statement I found as amusing as it was intended to be. There was a secret door on one of the upper floors through which the family could be evacuated to safety on a moment's notice. The grounds around the dwelling were very nice, the grass especially green and well kept. The rooms were all roped off, and we were able to view them just inside their open doors. There was lots of marble and granite everywhere and the floors were immaculate. While sitting in the lobby this morning, I noticed someone dusting the marble floors in the hotel with a cloth broom ... these floors in the palace get wiped as frequently. They must have sensors that alert cleaning staff to the appearance of a new speck of dust so they can descend and fix the intrusion post-haste. This obsession with cleanliness (a good thing) we have seen in Africa and Asia before.
We then climbed back in the vehicle and arrived at our next stop in about 20 minutes. The streets were teeming with much of the 8,000,000 inhabitants of HCMC. We were told there are 4 million scooters in the city, meaning every other person is the proud owner of one. Even though they are plentiful on the streets of Saigon, there seem to be nowhere near as many as I encountered in Hanoi. The Remnants of the War Museum was moving ... the most I have been moved by that very very unfortunate slice of our history (the mid-50's to the mid-70's when the war raged in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia) since I visited the Vietnam Wall in DC in 1991. There were "during" and "after" photos of spots all over the country, showing what war did to this beautiful enclave in southeast Asia. There were artifactual pictures of dignitaries and politicians that wafted their way through the area during the conflict. As upsetting as it was, there was specific attention paid to the atrocities performed on the Vietnamese people by the aggressors led by the USA. Agent orange and napalm in particular remind the western world of those two decades. Part of the display highlighted the effect exposure to these chemical weapons had on the members of the US forces and the natives of the country ... all the way from deformed limbs to missing arms/legs and grotesquely malformed parts of the body. It is predicted that close to 60,000 US soldiers perished in the fighting and over 400,000 were injured.
I remember the first time I attended an anti-war demonstration in Ottawa and my first glimpse of the peace sign which to me, in those early days, more meant "ban the bomb". Outside the museum was an assortment of military equipment like helicopters and small jet fighters that pummeled the country with hundreds of thousands of incendiary devices during the conflict. I remember the free and the not-so-free world condemning the aggression going on in Vietnam, complaining bitterly how the activities violated just about every treaty that all had signed in the past related to military aggression in foreign lands. We then piled into the very high-end Toyota for our last stop ... who would'a thunk ... a pagoda. When I was in Hanoi I saw a number of these houses of worship when out and about with Junie.
Like the other seventeen thousand or so :) pagodas I have visited, this one was full of likenesses of Buddha himself with burning incense and the whole nine yards. It was not as well kept as some of the other pagodas I have seen. We were informed that Buddhism (50%) was the most popular religion in Vietnam with Taoism (unsure of %), Catholicism (10%), and Christianity making up the religious landscape. There was the assortment of beggars and street vendors wherever we went and they all looked as needy if not even more so that the previous. I surfed the web and found (unsure of the date of the hits but pretty close to present day) there are reported to be 100 or so Jews in Hanoi and 200 or so in HCM. We are going to get more details and rumour has it there is a chabad here that doubles as a synagogue.
We have lined up the Cu Chi tunnel tour for Thursday at 9AM. Tomorrow we will walk the city, checking out the market close to our hotel and many other outlets I am sure. We were told the main industry in Vietnam is clothing. We went to Pho 2000 for lunch, close to the hotel. I put so many peppers and squirts of hot sauce in my soup that my eyes watered. I got my ST some coconut juice which she did not end up liking and go some more traditional sustenance instead.
We came back to the hotel for 2'ish and grabbed what I hope is the last of our time-change naps. We are meeting a local at 7PM in the lobby and will do dinner.
We had a private car from the hotel, proving, like most hotels, the Rex does just about anything their guests want, for a price. We had a driver plus a guide named Binh. We drove through some busy streets and arrived at the palace in about 15 minutes. This dwelling is somewhat palatial, though not as much so as what I remember of the likes of Hofburg I saw in Vienna in 1993. This is where the ruling family in South Vietnam lived up to the end of the Vietnam war which we found out officially started in 1954 (or 1955 depending on one's source). The President and First Lady orchestrated the running of the country from here and they each had their own quarters to entertain from. The meeting and party rooms are nicely preserved with period furniture. During conflict, the war effort was managed from bunkers in the basement. There was a wide assortment of rudimentary (it was the 50's remember) communication devices, ham radios, telegraph paraphernalia, and the like.
Binh commented that they did not have the internet in the palace during the war, a statement I found as amusing as it was intended to be. There was a secret door on one of the upper floors through which the family could be evacuated to safety on a moment's notice. The grounds around the dwelling were very nice, the grass especially green and well kept. The rooms were all roped off, and we were able to view them just inside their open doors. There was lots of marble and granite everywhere and the floors were immaculate. While sitting in the lobby this morning, I noticed someone dusting the marble floors in the hotel with a cloth broom ... these floors in the palace get wiped as frequently. They must have sensors that alert cleaning staff to the appearance of a new speck of dust so they can descend and fix the intrusion post-haste. This obsession with cleanliness (a good thing) we have seen in Africa and Asia before.
We then climbed back in the vehicle and arrived at our next stop in about 20 minutes. The streets were teeming with much of the 8,000,000 inhabitants of HCMC. We were told there are 4 million scooters in the city, meaning every other person is the proud owner of one. Even though they are plentiful on the streets of Saigon, there seem to be nowhere near as many as I encountered in Hanoi. The Remnants of the War Museum was moving ... the most I have been moved by that very very unfortunate slice of our history (the mid-50's to the mid-70's when the war raged in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia) since I visited the Vietnam Wall in DC in 1991. There were "during" and "after" photos of spots all over the country, showing what war did to this beautiful enclave in southeast Asia. There were artifactual pictures of dignitaries and politicians that wafted their way through the area during the conflict. As upsetting as it was, there was specific attention paid to the atrocities performed on the Vietnamese people by the aggressors led by the USA. Agent orange and napalm in particular remind the western world of those two decades. Part of the display highlighted the effect exposure to these chemical weapons had on the members of the US forces and the natives of the country ... all the way from deformed limbs to missing arms/legs and grotesquely malformed parts of the body. It is predicted that close to 60,000 US soldiers perished in the fighting and over 400,000 were injured.
I remember the first time I attended an anti-war demonstration in Ottawa and my first glimpse of the peace sign which to me, in those early days, more meant "ban the bomb". Outside the museum was an assortment of military equipment like helicopters and small jet fighters that pummeled the country with hundreds of thousands of incendiary devices during the conflict. I remember the free and the not-so-free world condemning the aggression going on in Vietnam, complaining bitterly how the activities violated just about every treaty that all had signed in the past related to military aggression in foreign lands. We then piled into the very high-end Toyota for our last stop ... who would'a thunk ... a pagoda. When I was in Hanoi I saw a number of these houses of worship when out and about with Junie.
Like the other seventeen thousand or so :) pagodas I have visited, this one was full of likenesses of Buddha himself with burning incense and the whole nine yards. It was not as well kept as some of the other pagodas I have seen. We were informed that Buddhism (50%) was the most popular religion in Vietnam with Taoism (unsure of %), Catholicism (10%), and Christianity making up the religious landscape. There was the assortment of beggars and street vendors wherever we went and they all looked as needy if not even more so that the previous. I surfed the web and found (unsure of the date of the hits but pretty close to present day) there are reported to be 100 or so Jews in Hanoi and 200 or so in HCM. We are going to get more details and rumour has it there is a chabad here that doubles as a synagogue.
We have lined up the Cu Chi tunnel tour for Thursday at 9AM. Tomorrow we will walk the city, checking out the market close to our hotel and many other outlets I am sure. We were told the main industry in Vietnam is clothing. We went to Pho 2000 for lunch, close to the hotel. I put so many peppers and squirts of hot sauce in my soup that my eyes watered. I got my ST some coconut juice which she did not end up liking and go some more traditional sustenance instead.
We came back to the hotel for 2'ish and grabbed what I hope is the last of our time-change naps. We are meeting a local at 7PM in the lobby and will do dinner.
Polite and courteous to the max
Just as I noticed last time I was in Vietnam, the service staff are well-dressed, polite, eager-to-please, and just such a pleasure to interact with. We are heading out shortly and the first stop is the hotel front desk. The staff in the hotel are dressed immaculately, as were the flight attendants coming from Tokyo to HCM. They take such pride in the way they look, and the women's hair is rolled up in a very tight bun, with not a hair out of the cluster :). ANA, the carrier from Tokyo, is part of Star Alliance so we get air miles all the way here, and 2/3 of the way back.
We will soon be millionaires ... every 50 dollars we take out is about 1,000,000 VND. Paddy, I hope you enjoy reading this BLOG as much as I do writing it. I had trouble hooking the Eepc up to the wireless here but, as I noticed when in Uganda, the iPad hooks up bada-bing bada-boom. In Kampala I had to go through an elaborate setup with fixed IP addresses to use the work internet. With the iPad it just hooked up with no intervention ... the promises Apple made about easy network connectivity sure seem to be my experience so far with this apparatus.
We will soon be millionaires ... every 50 dollars we take out is about 1,000,000 VND. Paddy, I hope you enjoy reading this BLOG as much as I do writing it. I had trouble hooking the Eepc up to the wireless here but, as I noticed when in Uganda, the iPad hooks up bada-bing bada-boom. In Kampala I had to go through an elaborate setup with fixed IP addresses to use the work internet. With the iPad it just hooked up with no intervention ... the promises Apple made about easy network connectivity sure seem to be my experience so far with this apparatus.
Next stop is Vietnam
I think the travel industry is afraid of my Sweet Thing. We could not have had a smoother trip here!!! We even had exit row seating on the long haul (13.5 hours) from Toronto to Narita (Tokyo). It was one of the x-generation Boeing 777's with a bulkhead in front of the exit rows about 10 feet away. That was nice and it made the long flight easier. I watched a lot of the iPad movies and the ST did a lot of crosswords, her newest passion since the discovery of KenKen a number of months ago.
She watched Salt and a handful of other movies to pass the time. I imagine during the 13 hours in the air we both slept maybe 2-3 of those which, in my opinion, is the best way to deal with a looming time change so dramatic ... 11 hours in this case. We surfed Narita for about 2 hours after visiting the ANA connection desk in T1 to get seats together ... exit row again, sat for about 90 minutes waiting for the next flight. This time though the equipment was older 777 type and there was a bulkhead about 4 feet in front of us so it was not as luxurious as the YYZ-NRT leg. I kept telling the ST it was 6.5 hours to HCM (Ho Chi Minh) and it turned out to be a long 6.5 hours. It is better to fly to Hong Kong for 16 hours which makes the leg to Vietnam less than 3. As we are walking around Narita, an Asian comes up to me, pats me on the shoulder, and shakes hands. I draw a blank :). It was Paul who owns Laurier Computer, on his way to Hong Kong to see the family. SO not only did we run into someone we know, it was me and not the ST.
We got to HCM on time, if not a bit early, and the embarkation/customs passage was the smoothest we have ever experienced. Not only that, we go to carousel 5 and our bags are already circulating on the belt! There was no customs form to fill in and it wa so smooth. We were out of the airport and in a cab within a mere 15 minutes, we were hotel bound.
For $15 USD we traversed a large trail through HCM and arrived at a very nice Rex hotel. The driver was impatient to get paid and was chewed out. The hotel is nice, and in the ST rating scheme, widely accepted by Zagat and Frommer, it checks in at a high 4 star. The buffet breakfast was nice and the dim sum especially nice fare for breakfast too. Today consists of:
- getting VND from the bank machine (remember there are 19,500 VND to the CAD)
- go to one of our hangouts to see a recommend attraction
- walk
- perhaps hook up with Mr. Minh later and maybe dinner with him?
- check out further touristy trips with the front desk
The room is nice and in the been-renovated wing of the Rex, a hotel steeped in much tradition from the Vietnam war. It is where the press stayed and was the location of many many press conferences and high-level decisions made by the western-world coalition that was defending the south. The bar on the 5th floor is very nice and partially outside. The mercury here is in the mid-20's already and even though it is supposed to rain, it is sunny for now.
She watched Salt and a handful of other movies to pass the time. I imagine during the 13 hours in the air we both slept maybe 2-3 of those which, in my opinion, is the best way to deal with a looming time change so dramatic ... 11 hours in this case. We surfed Narita for about 2 hours after visiting the ANA connection desk in T1 to get seats together ... exit row again, sat for about 90 minutes waiting for the next flight. This time though the equipment was older 777 type and there was a bulkhead about 4 feet in front of us so it was not as luxurious as the YYZ-NRT leg. I kept telling the ST it was 6.5 hours to HCM (Ho Chi Minh) and it turned out to be a long 6.5 hours. It is better to fly to Hong Kong for 16 hours which makes the leg to Vietnam less than 3. As we are walking around Narita, an Asian comes up to me, pats me on the shoulder, and shakes hands. I draw a blank :). It was Paul who owns Laurier Computer, on his way to Hong Kong to see the family. SO not only did we run into someone we know, it was me and not the ST.
We got to HCM on time, if not a bit early, and the embarkation/customs passage was the smoothest we have ever experienced. Not only that, we go to carousel 5 and our bags are already circulating on the belt! There was no customs form to fill in and it wa so smooth. We were out of the airport and in a cab within a mere 15 minutes, we were hotel bound.
For $15 USD we traversed a large trail through HCM and arrived at a very nice Rex hotel. The driver was impatient to get paid and was chewed out. The hotel is nice, and in the ST rating scheme, widely accepted by Zagat and Frommer, it checks in at a high 4 star. The buffet breakfast was nice and the dim sum especially nice fare for breakfast too. Today consists of:
- getting VND from the bank machine (remember there are 19,500 VND to the CAD)
- go to one of our hangouts to see a recommend attraction
- walk
- perhaps hook up with Mr. Minh later and maybe dinner with him?
- check out further touristy trips with the front desk
The room is nice and in the been-renovated wing of the Rex, a hotel steeped in much tradition from the Vietnam war. It is where the press stayed and was the location of many many press conferences and high-level decisions made by the western-world coalition that was defending the south. The bar on the 5th floor is very nice and partially outside. The mercury here is in the mid-20's already and even though it is supposed to rain, it is sunny for now.
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Excitement mounts ...
D minus 21 hours. The first leg is simply to Toronto so that will be easy. We are all packed and dreaming about the trip. I can only sum up my excitement with two words ... "Sweet Thing".
My going to Ethiopia to work for 7.5 months ... INTERESTING
Our 3 week holiday in Italy in 2007 .. HUGE
Our NYC for the weekend of our 5th wedding anniversary ... LOVELY
2.5 weeks in Vietnam with ST ... PRICELESS
The final details arrived from Cindy today and we have a yellow folder we will carry around with us with the paper copies of just about everything we will be doing. When in Italy in 2007 we had such material in a yellow binder that I lost in Florence. It eventually turned up in the back compartment of my large knapsack; hence the Vietnam trip must use a yellow container in memory of that debacle.
My going to Ethiopia to work for 7.5 months ... INTERESTING
Our 3 week holiday in Italy in 2007 .. HUGE
Our NYC for the weekend of our 5th wedding anniversary ... LOVELY
2.5 weeks in Vietnam with ST ... PRICELESS
The final details arrived from Cindy today and we have a yellow folder we will carry around with us with the paper copies of just about everything we will be doing. When in Italy in 2007 we had such material in a yellow binder that I lost in Florence. It eventually turned up in the back compartment of my large knapsack; hence the Vietnam trip must use a yellow container in memory of that debacle.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
You can do it yourself or ...
There is a gentleman I worked with last time in Hanoi who lives in Ho Chi Minh City. He has offered to show us around the town and naturally we have accepted his offer. I will contact him the Tuesday morning after we get to HCMC. There is nothing like seeing new cities/countries when accompanied by a local ... sweet :).
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
A feverish pace
We are just about ready to go except for the packing and a few last minute chores. The excitement builds and we will be Vietnam-bound in 5 days. We have not yet but will soon line up the hotel for Ho Chi Minh City; it will probably be the Marriott Renaissance but not sure. It is close to the water and within a stone's throw of most of what we want to see. A major heart throb is supposedly the Củ Chi tunnels, part of a network throughout most of the country. They played a large part in the Viet Cong moving through the south, especially the Tết Offensive of 1968. We booked flights from Ho Chi Minh to Da Nang then on to Hanoi 4 days later, for a whopping $79.50 USD each; like that :).
When in the Da Nang area we will stay in Hội An. Hội An is about 10 km from Da Nang and the Palm Garden Resort came highly recommended. We will get picked up at the Da Nang airport and the drive to Hội An including lunch and a tour will be $45 CAD. We have asked Junie to sort out the trip to Halong Bay the weekend of November 12. All the ST can talk about, other than the excitement of the trip itself, is what she hopes to be PERFECT weather.
When in the Da Nang area we will stay in Hội An. Hội An is about 10 km from Da Nang and the Palm Garden Resort came highly recommended. We will get picked up at the Da Nang airport and the drive to Hội An including lunch and a tour will be $45 CAD. We have asked Junie to sort out the trip to Halong Bay the weekend of November 12. All the ST can talk about, other than the excitement of the trip itself, is what she hopes to be PERFECT weather.
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Closer every day
ST and I are trying to finalize the plans. We had Rick H. for dinner last night with a number of others. He and Naomi were just in Vietnam together for a while and did go to Da Nang. ST and Rick jammed on what to do there as well as in Ho Ch Minh City. The recommendations Rick gave us were in line with information given us at a travel agency this week. That outfit has a woman who specializes in Vietnam so we will go see her early in the week, We got information from Junie regarding Halong Bay and it was suggested we first stay at the Tuan Chau resort that Friday night then do an overnight cruise with Oriental Sails or Bhaya Cruises the Saturday overnight and part of Sunday.
Friday, October 22, 2010
Flights booked
That feat is nice to have accomplished. We booked through TD Travel Rewards and they found us everything except Hanoi to Shanghai on Star Alliance. Some of the connections are tight so I hope we do not experience something similar to Brussels Airlines' trick when I went to Portugal. I had 1h40m to get my flight to Lisbon and they left Entebbe an hour late. I made the connection but my bags did not.
We are using ANA (Nippon Airways) from Tokyo to Ho Chi Minh City. We are meeting with an agent in town net week to plan the balance of our pre-work time up to and including Tuesday November 9. Junie will give us some advice about a weekend in Halong Bay November 5-7. There seem to be many hotels to choose from as well as some cruising one can do while staying on the bateau. It should be interesting to see what's out there for us.
We are using ANA (Nippon Airways) from Tokyo to Ho Chi Minh City. We are meeting with an agent in town net week to plan the balance of our pre-work time up to and including Tuesday November 9. Junie will give us some advice about a weekend in Halong Bay November 5-7. There seem to be many hotels to choose from as well as some cruising one can do while staying on the bateau. It should be interesting to see what's out there for us.
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
The final plan (almost)
We will book air fare today. As I am sure many have found out, a lot of us are amazed at what we are told by travel agents and what we find out there ourselves. We want to leave Ottawa Sunday October 31 but were told airfares could be 500-600 more on the weekend. We just found something cheaper by close to $150 from the Monday or Tuesday departure and Air Canada to boot!! I sent the details to an agent in town and if she can get us the same deal we will ticket with her otherwise do ourselves by the TD Travel Rewards desk.
Now that you have all memorized the above itinerary, it will probably change again :).
- Sun Oct 31 leave Ottawa
- Mon Nov 1 arrive Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC)
- Tue 2 thru Thu 4 in HCMC
- Fri 5 fly to Da Nang
- Sat 6 thru Tue 9 China Beach (??)
- Tue 9 fly to Hanoi
- Wed 10 thru Fri 12 ST in Hanoi
- Sat 13 thru Sun 14 somewhere out of Hanoi
- Mon 15 ST in Hanoi
- Tue 16 ST leaves for home
Now that you have all memorized the above itinerary, it will probably change again :).
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Here we go again ...
Making plans for another voyage to southeast Asia for the month of November. This journey has a twist ... a lovely twist at that. The Sweet Thing will be there too from November 1 through 13 :). What a concept ... traveling together.
We are going to get visas locally to avoid the mess in Hong Kong we encountered last time I was there. The plan is
We are going to get visas locally to avoid the mess in Hong Kong we encountered last time I was there. The plan is
- fly to Ho Chi Minh City arriving Wednesday November 3 or so
- 3 or 4 days there
- fly to Hanoi
- spend the first weekend somewhere out of town
- start work Monday November 8
- Sweet Thing fly home the 13th
- work until December 3 then fly home
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