Sojourn a journey through life

Vietnam – Ha Noi

Carly and I arrived in Ha Noi on the 17th of December at just after eight in the evening. We’d arranged a driver to pick us up and take us to our Hotel, which would be our first “experience” driving through traffic in one of the big cities in Vietnam. All I can say is “wow”. These guys are amazing. If Canadians drove in Ha Noi, they’d all be dead. We would have killed off our entire nation by now, I’m sure. Traffic lights are somewhat of a decoration, it would almost seem that stopping at a red light (in Ha Noi anyways) is a bit of a faux pas. Driving past a motorcycle with any more than 4 inches of clearance is likely a crime, 2 inches seems to be what society deems acceptable.

Our hotel was awesome, we stayed at a place called Golden Sun which was in a prime location in the Old Quarter. About a 2 minute walk from the lake, and close to a ton of shops and restaurants, we couldn’t have asked for better. The rooms were great, clean, comfy, had hot showers and air-con, so for $23 US/night including breakfast, we didn’t complain too much.

After arriving at the hotel we went for a nice stroll to a random restaurant in the old quarter where we ate soup and ice cream, and I had my first of many (many many many) Vietnamese coffees.

The next morning we decided to visit Baguette and Chocolat, taking in the French influence via pastries, but leaving coffee duty to the Vietnamese.

At some point during the morning, we walked past this guy, doing some serious noodle-making.

We wanted to go to some of the museums that the city had to offer, but unfortunately for us, they are all closed on Mondays, and that’s the only day that we had there. We went for a bit of a walk by Hoan Kiem Lake, and got a few good photos:

The story of the lake is that in the mid 15th century, Heaven sent Emperor Ly Thai To a magical sword, which he used in the battles against the Chinese – driving them back into China. After the war was over, while out on the lake, he stumbled across a giant golden tortoise which grabbed the sword from him and returned to the depths of the lake.

After our walk, we purchased some tickets for the Water Puppet Theater in the evening, and then bargained ourselves a cyclo ride to the Temple of Literature. We took 2 cyclo’s, and Carly was a bit freaked out that we may a) die or b) never see each other again.

Nothing really interesting to say about the Temple of Literature, we bought some post cards there and sent them to some family. After that we went to KOTO for lunch (acronym for Know One Teach One) which is a restaurant employing and training street youth. Great food, similar in concept to Friends, which we ate at in Phnom Penh in Cambodia. We had fresh spring rolls (which are a winner everywhere in Vietnam), banana lassie, vanilla milkshake, middle eastern salad and baguettes, along with some random stuff that we wrapped in rice paper and ate. Yum. (Speaking of Yum – there is a story about that – but you’ll have to wait for the Hoi An post).

After lunch we headed back to our hotel where we crashed for a 2 hour nap, and then had an awesome walk around the old quarter for about 1.5 hours before heading out to the watter puppets.

Part of our walk included heading past St. Josephs Cathedral which was really nice.

We stopped for beer and pizza before we went to the water puppets. This next shot was taken from the balcony we were sitting on, sipping on really awesome 70 cent (that’s 70 SGD cents, so we’re talking about 52 cents CAD) pints of beer.

The Water Puppet show was absolutely outstanding. I have no idea how they pull all this off and coordinate it behind the scenes. Amazing work.

After water puppets, Carly and I splurged on a really great dinner out at Green Tangerine. I had the Vietnamese set dinner (which included Pho, Spring Rolls, Scallops, and a Beef Pineapple dish), Carly had a fancy cheese plate and some soup. We both managed to polish off a rather excellent bottle of Argentinian Malbec. I had a banana fritter for dessert (again, part of the set), but Carly scored big time with one of the best Chocolate cakes either of us had ever tasted.

These are a couple shots taken outside of Green Tangerine.

The rest of these shots are “random Ha Noi” from our day there. Traffic is super fun, crossing the street is definitely taking your life in your hands (that’s what it feels like, anyways). You really do just have to walk out into traffic, keep a steady pace, and hope you don’t die. It all seems to work out somehow.

The next morning we were up bright and early for breakfast and then headed off to the Handspan Travel office where we were booked on an overnight cruise in Ha Long bay – that entry will be coming shortly. Stay tuned!

And Merry Christmas!

Festive Fun

The bible study potluck at our place…

Perhaps not the usual foods, however, we quite enjoyed our curries and sushi! We have quickly learned in such an international setting the it is even important to define “potluck”.

A potluck is a dinner party in which guests bring dishes to share. Another use also mentioned in dictionaries is “that which is tendered or available in certain circumstances or at a certain time.”

It is a portmanteau word formed from pot and luck.

The word potluck dates from the sixteenth century, and the earliest written citation is 1592 – in England. (”That that pure sanguine complexion of yours may never be famisht with pot lucke”, Thomas Nashe. )

The word potluck is often erroneously said to originate from the Native American term potlatch. The potlatch took the form of a ceremonial feast traditionally featuring seal meat or salmon. In it, hierarchical relations within and between groups were observed and reinforced through the exchange of gifts, dance performances, and other ceremonies. The host family demonstrated their wealth and prominence through giving away their possessions and thus prompting prominent participants to reciprocate when they hold their own potlatches. (This didn’t occur in our situation!)

A potluck dinner (Australia: bring-a-plate), also called covered dish supper, is a gathering of people where each participant is expected to bring a dish of food to be shared among everyone in the group. These gatherings are often organized by churches, mosques and other community groups since they simplify the meal planning and distribute
the costs among the participants.

Another variation on potlucks is “rota” meals, short for rotation. With rota, rather than each person bringing a dish, participants take turns providing food for the entire group.

Next up was the Canadian International School Christmas party. Dan was away on a men’s retreat to Malaysia… so Carly had some good ‘ol girl times.

Myself, Robin and Laurie
Vani and Ise

Belinda, Nicole and Keri-Lee
Simon (my Tennis instructor) and Rajes

Orchard Road – taxi shot
Our stockings are hung…and still no snow

My Ladies Wine and Cheese Nite (no, this wasn’t the only guest!)

The Weather

I hate it when people have nothing better to talk about than the weather.

But I can also say I miss the cold weather, and both Carly and I are looking forward to being back in Canada next Christmas.

Our Place. From Space.

A couple months back I was playing around with Google Earth a whole bunch (very cool). I ended up mapping our entire neighborhood here in Singapore, including Carly’s school, where we get groceries, etc. etc.

I thought I’d put up a picture here if our apartment and pool from space.

So here goes:

The marker that says “Parc Palais” is right over our pool. 53 Hume Avenue is the building we live in, and off to the left (cut-off) is the marker that shows where our Tennis Courts are. “The Stairs” is a set of steps that we walk down to cross that main road and go to the Rail Mall (where we do a lot of grocery shopping). Straight up from “The Stairs” are the train tracks/bridge that cross over the main road there (Upper Bukit Timah) – you can take this train up into Malaysia and all the way to southern Thailand.