HANOI PART 2

On Saturday morning, it was raining but we visited Ho Chi Minh's mauseleum. Security was very tight and there were so many rules....no eating, no drinking, no talking, no stopping, no caps or hats, properly dressed, hands by your side,etc. etc. It was my first visit to communist mausoleum with a preserved body. Although I have visited Beijing, I did go to see Mao's body.

We had to line up, wait, walked a lot for just one minute walk round the place...but still I suppose it was worth it. The Vietnamese really have the respect for Uncle Ho.

There was also a huge battery of soldiers guarding the place.

Next to the mauseleum was the One Pillar Pagoda. It is a small pagoda situated with only a pillar supporting it.

And next to this was the Ho Chi Minh museum which depicts the live and struggles of Ho Chi Minh and his other senior comrades. Whilst it is a propoganda place, it was also very informative about the life and struggles of Uncle Ho and other Vietnamese people during that time. Obviously, you will be greeted by a large stutue of Uncle Ho as you enter.

As the rained stopped, we noticed a huge number of earth worms that were more than 1 foot long. It was everywhere but it was not clear where they were actually going. If only they were to use them as fish baits.....

Breakfast is served in the hotel at the top floor which is the 8th floor. As the other surrounding buildings are not as tall, we could get some nice views and take in the surrounding daily hustles and bustles.

The lake near the hotel is a pleasant place to just sit and relax. It is also a very popular tourist place as it contains an old pagoda and temple.

On Sunday morning, we went to see the famous Thang Long Water Puppet Show. This was the only show available. I was not sure what to expect as I am not a fan of puppets show. However, as it came highly recommended in travel websites and blogs, we had to try. It is a thousand year tradition and a main entertainment during festivals in the wet season.

After watching the show, I truly respect those that created the show over many many generations I suppose. The inginuity to blend water and puppetry is simply amazing. This is one thing I recommend to anyone visiting Hanoi.

We also visited St Joseph Cathedral. The Cathedral is very much similar to those in France built during the period as Vietnam was under the French.



Until the next time, cheers.

HANOI PART 1

My wife and I went to Hanoi for the week end at the end of January. I waited until now because I wanted to go during the winter which is more pleasant to move around.

It was a very interesting place and although I have been to Ho Chi Minh City numerous time over almost 2o years, it was still an adventure for me to explore Hanoi.

On the plane there, we met a Korean (I think) gentleman who was dressed in a Catholic monk fashion but I did not think he was one. The strange thing was that he was shoeless. He even tried to preach to everybody on the plane as it was taking off!!!!! I did not manage to get a picture of him but I noticed that there was a huge cross which was on the luggage conveyor...must be his. He must be on a mission here.

One of the first thing I noticed here was that it was still Christmas season here. The locals have still not taken down their Christmas decoration although it was the end of January. I wonder how long is the Christmas season in Vietnam. I''m sure no one's complaining though.

The fresh produce market which was located very near our hotel was full of surprises although not expectedly. There were quite a few strange stuff there.

There were a lot of fishes, eels of various types and other types of seafood which were all alive but kept in simple plastic or metal basins.

There were also a lot of fruit stall. This is a cut milk fruit (see my previous blog). Really yummy and please do try it when you are in Vietnam or Cambodia.

Also some flower shops with quite a wide variety. however, I managed to only take a passing photo of 1 stall.

The markets and surrounding shops had it fair share of weirder stuff. Like this guy, who was roasting pig trotters and selling them in the market.

I passed a stall who was selling meat and roast meat. I thought they had a nice roast piglet but to my horror, it was a roast DOG.....OMG. I asked to take a photo but the owner said no, later I took a quick picture but it was not clear.

There were also other strange stuff like this achohol soaked with a monitor lizard with a scorpion in its mouth. I suppose it must have been some kind of aphrodisiac! This product must be popular as we saw them in quite a few places.

Other interesting thing was small shopd selling a wide variety of pate, hams and sausages, very French and a stall selling mini baguettes with some kind of stuffing. It actually looked good but as we just had a huge lunch, we could not eat anymore.

We also visited the week end night market situated near to our hotel. It was interesting and very crowded.

They were also a lot of shops selling the "Tet" decorations, Vietnamese new year which is the same as Chinese New Year.

A stall which attracted a lot of attention was selling nigh lights but it looked so pretty that a lot people stopped to see it.

Some night views of a temple and the city.......





Until the next time, cheers.

HANOI FOOD PART 2

There is a very popular restaurant in Hanoi (and also in Ho Chi Minh City) called "Ngon" or delicious in Vietnamese. The deco is well done and they normally use a renovated villa. They have food station and serve mainly street food as well as popular Vietnamese dishes.

This place is always crowded and popular both with the locals and foreigners. From the photos posted, please do not think we ate so much food at one sitting. In fact, we like it so much (I have been a few times to the restaurant in Ho Chin Minh) that we went there for lunch and dinner in a day.

Some photos of the restaurant during lunch.






A photo of one of the food station....

One interesting dish that I tried was fried sparrow.... see the size which is about 2 inches long only. There is no real meat but the taste is quite nice.

During lunch, my Vietnamese guest ordered some prawn fritters, not really Vietnamese but it was really good as the prawns were fresh. The seafood fried rice shown here was also very good.

The following dish was a noodle with pig trotters. This was one dish we did not like. On the right is a "sarsrapilla shake"......in Malaysia it is "ciku" fruit and it's really sweet. The ciku fruits in Vietnam are really large and sweet. Don't miss eating fruits when you are here.

This is another traditional Vietnamese dish called "bun cha"...marinated grilled meat in soup and eaten with vermencelli. Yum.....

During dinner, as it was quite chilly, we had steamboat (hotpot). The soup was tasty and it was good, not too heavy for dinner.

We had a lot of other stuff but I did not take photos in time as we were hungry....

The best part of Ngon is the prices are really reasonable...for 4 to 5 persons, the bill should not exceed USD 35 and that is including drinks and beers.

For lunch another day, we went to a Chinese restaurant near St Joseph Cathedral. it was an upmarket restaurant in Hanoi by the look of it. We were not sure what to eat and ordered some steamed chicken, stir fried vegetables, soup, tofu and fish head with vermencilli. The fish head was good and the taste of the vermencelli was really good. They probably cooked this with pork bacon to have such a nice taste.

On the way back to the hotel, we stopped to get some fruits. My wife wanted to eat "milk fruit". She tasted this in Cambodia a long time ago. I was sceptical as it did not look at all great. But, looks can certainly fool you....the taste was really like sweet milk, no wonder it is called that.

I fell in love with the fruit...it was not cheap...about USD 4 per kg. We had 2 milk fruit and a custard apple (very large) and cost us about USD6...not cheap by Vietnamese standards. But. it was so worth it.....now I know what fruits to have in Vietnam the next time.

Until the next time, cheers.