A WEEK END OF FOOD IN HANOI PART 1

My wife and I had been thinking about visiting Hanoi for so long and during the 3rd weekend of January, we made our way there. I wanted to coincide the visit during winter to experience a cool weather.

I've been to Ho Chi Minh City countless of times over almost 20 years but my first to Hanoi. On arrival, it was raining. In fact, in rained the whole day Friday. We could not do much.

Our purpose was two fold, to just look around and eat, without much planning. Our hotel was located in the Old Quarters and close to food and sight.

My blog on the visit is also divided as such. On to the food.........

Our first meal was a upmarket "mixed rice" or "chap fun" in Cantonese. It was not bad actually. We had some roast duck, pork ribs, stir fried french beans and a soup.

The food cooked was quite tasty.

Quite a wide variety and there is also an extensive menu at this shop. It cost us about US$10 with a sour sop shake and bottle of mineral water.

Later in the evening, we tried a pho ga which is chicken pho (noodle in soup). The version in Hanoi is somewhat lighter than the one in HCM City. The soup and chicken was good. We actually wanted the soup only and ate only a little of the noodle, being a cold and wet day.

The chicken displayed....it was quite tasty.

Innards galore and the unlaid chicken eggs.

Beautiful pho ga....

Later in the night, we saw a shop doing very good business and wanted to also try it. It turns out to be glutinous rice with potatos and fired shallots with toppings of your choice.

My wife and I shared a bowl with various pork sausage, hams and stewed pork. It was my first time eating this and it was lovely. They have other versions with maize (corn) as well.

Lastly, we came to a small shop selling the Vietnamese baguette (Bahm Mi). We tried with pork and potatos. It was quite well done and the bread was just right....light and crispy. They also had the "pau" but it was not good... it had just a little filling...with 2 quail eggs and some vegetables.






Until the next time, cheers.

A NIGHT IN BANGKOK IN JAN 2010

In my recent trip to Bangkok, we went to MBK (Mahboonkong) via the subway and skytrain. The weather was drak and threatening. But is also meant less heat, which was good.


The sky train was packed a usual as it is most convenient to avoid the jam.


Along the way, I saw some interesting things. First, a Valentine cake delivered?


A giant meatball advertisement. It was about 6 feet tall.

MBK was advertising free drinks to all patrons....wow. You have to go to the 5th floor food court to get it. Stil......

A giant TV screen facing the Siam Skytrain station...giving it huge audience.....also for those on the road level.

Food was traditional Thai street food at a Thasiam restaurant. Tha means a small pier. Decor was OK but service was just so so. Food was also not that great. They have other outlets which we have eaten and much better.

The internal deco of Thasiam. We ordered Somtam (papaya salad), phra pha pow (pork with basil leave) and a bowl of spicy soup noodle. However, I forgot to take photos until we finished the food.

One very interesting shop we saw in MBK was this place that had miniature foodstuff such as ice cream, cakes, fruits,etc. It was really cute and beautiful. However, they were not cheap at all.

On the way back, we saw 2 girl mimes. One of them was really good, not miving at all. Even a European lady was trying to outstare her to try to break her could not do it.

Until the next time, cheers.

SEA WORLD GOLD COAST

We also went to Sea World which is another iconic place in Gold Coast. it is also the sister theme park to Movie World. We purchase a combo ticket which was slightly cheaper.

The place is quite similar to the Sea World in San Diego but it looks a little old and jaded. Although it was hot, being next to the sea helps with the occasional breeze.

There had a lot of pelicans while walking in and they were great to see. In fact, they had quite a lot of animals which we could see along the way. This is quite good as it keeps people occupied.

The first show we went to see was the detective show by seals and sea lions. It was hilarious and very well done. We enjoyed it very much.

Next there was a Sesame Street show for the younger ones.


The main attraction at Sea World is the dolphin show which was good.



Sea World has also a lot of touch pool with star fishes, sea cucumbers and sting rays which the children found really interesting. It was a good interactive experience.




The aquarium at Sea World is fantastic. It houses huge sharks and really large mantra and sting rays. They also have a huge numbers of really big fishes. I was impressed as most aquariums are not even close to this.





They have a place for polar bears which was really neat as well. One could see the bears from the top or in the water. It was amazing to watch the bears which were really huge.


It is not a large park and had rides as well. The boys went for a couple of rides and then we went off, again due to the heat. But, I enjoyed the place.

One of the brightly painted buildings.


Until the next time, cheers.