Places and our Faces :o)

The Hanoi International Fellowship (HIF) in the InterContinental Hotel at the West Lake

Christmas Eve at Hilton Kach San lobby

Quan An Ngon Restaurant near Hanoi Tower- nice place to sample local food and delicacies and I love the 'ice-kacang"- yumsx2

Ho Tay- the West Lake.. there are many lakes in Hanoi and this is one of the biggest here

Tam Coc which means three Caves- serene and tranquil is how one feels during the boat ride through the 3 lime-stone caves through the river

Tam Coc- the boat ride maybe a bit long so you should try to sit comfortably for the slow boat journey which takes maybe 2 hours to and fro...we had 'cool weather'-PTL!!

Hoa Lu- the ancient city and first capital of Vietnam

Welcome to Hanoi

Hoan Kiem

Hoan Kiem- at the Hoan Lake , the place where it all happens in Hanoi. The traffic is really 'happening too' - like, motorbikes and cars come from all directions and all Hanoi-an drivers seem to have a homogeneous hobby! They honk 24/7 ... while you are walking, or standing, or just breathing to stay alive, tourists beware of the on-coming vehicles at all times! I warned you. This is a Code Red Alert!!

Bikers comprise the young and ruthless... (actually, perhaps not.)- equally the young, the old, the males, the females are all highly skilled in the way the maneuver their killing machines (of course by this I mean their bikes). In fact, the killer females are sometimes dressed for the occasion! Complete in their stylish leather jackets, high boots, mini skirts and sharp high heels, they ride with such ease as it is so much a part of their lives for crying out loud.

But we, the new kids on the block, walk about timidly like one waiting to be arrested by a cardiac attack. Please do not try to look for the walking 'green man', bec the bikers will still charge on, oblivious to the traffic lights, and come to you- so beware...
On a more cheerful note, I am quite sure I will graduate and join the group as an elite 'jay-walker' very soon... or so I hope.

Hoan Kiem -the place for shopping. And shopping. And yes, more shopping :o)
There are so many streets here with their own 'signature' items-streets for bags, jackets, shoes, accessories etc -you name it, you can probably find it here... Prada, Gucci, Nike, Plada, Kucci and Bikeys, they're all ready made and for grabs.

Also, they have whole streets dedicated to even more exotic and specialized stuff. Take the streets selling "lou poh peang" (wifey biscuits), incense sticks, obituary plaques, buttons, for example.

But let the buyers beware- what you get at this shop for xx USD, you can probably get at half the price in the next... (as we have so unfortunately found out by experience).

Yeah...sad but true. We are in the habit of being ripped-off real bad ...I'm pretty much bleeding from the neck (seng geng huet. You know?)

So anyway, the trick is haggle n exercise your bargaining skills to the MAX, using the very important tool , your calculator, especially if you are bargaining in Vietdong... (but they eagerly accept USD too.) Do carry millions (and I DO mean millions) of dong whenever you go out- big stacks! Don't worry though, you will utilize that big stack of money in the shortest time since the value is smaller...

There are many things to see and do here- so brace yourself, work on your stamina and be prepared to go round and round... for me it also means 'getting lost' n doing some extra miles, lol

Highlands Coffee in Hoan Kiem

There's lots of nice food to eat here too.. I will personally vouch for the "Bun Cha" at the Old Quarters- tres delicieux and the portion is so big that my husband had his fill for lunch and dinner unknowingly the first time we went. They have good coffee at their famous Highlands Coffee- the Vietnamese equivalent of our StarBucks, I suppose...

We are still exploring this amazing place. Will take some time, I am sure :o) Bring the adventure ON!:o)

First month in Hanoi

Can't really believe it! We are here for the past one month already...

This new place is likened to a new adventure for me- trying to get adjusted has taken a bit longer than anticipated. To think that as a seasoned traveller, and bec I had called so many different places and countries 'home', I was a bit over optimistic about Vietnam.

The very first few days led to weeks of constant headaches whenever I go out of the sanctuary of my 'hiding place'-the continuous blasting of horns from cars, trucks and especially motorbikes irritated me beyond words- I could hear the honking even in my sleep initially. There's literally no traffic laws -cars and motorbikes alike move in every direction at any time. Crossing the road has proven to be life-threatening and a good avenue for the 'spirit of fear' to enter, lol bec you will never know where a car or a motorbike will appear inches beside you and honk at you- no exaggerations , they come from everywhere and move in all directions... so driving is out of the question atm. We rely on taking taxis and buses to commute.

Unfortunately, taking taxis would mean being taken for joy-rides, I mean they will take you and drive in circles eventho it is to a well known nearby spot. Not knowing the language means you can't give them a piece of your mind.. all you can do is raise your voice a little and say 'you know where you are going? etc and the driver will look back at you and utter something in Vietnamese... so you would say "stop!, stop!" but they would say "ok,ok.." and continue on his journey.

The best way to travel is by bus bec the routes are fixed and the bus fare is really cheap but again danger looms bec some bus drivers have the habit of not stopping the bus fully- imagine, you have to jump-on or hop-off skillfully onto or off a moving bus. For some reason, they also do not like to stop exactly where the bus should stop but would like you to do a bit of chasing- I mean, imagine a whole crowd of people dashing and pushing to try to get on board- just like school days when we had to ride on the 'mini-bus' to school back in KL thousands of years ago... and then oops! you realise your wallet is missing from your pocket- again you can't shout or explain that somebody in the bus is a pick- pocket bec nobody understands you.. so you stand there and feel 'sad' till you reached home to complain to someone who can understand you- ie your family members overseas who will sympathise with you and warn you to be careful next time.

To add on to the 'adventure', you'll have a man dressed in a police uniform, ringing your door bell and asking to look at your passports in the night..?? I mean how on earth does a police- or so he claims = know there are foreigners in this particular unit out of the millions of homes in Hanoi is really beyond me and btw isn't the immigration in charge of visas and passports ?? and goodness?? why at night?? ..

Marketing proves to be another story bec for the same item you buy this week at this price and suddenly next week the price has increased - talk about instant inflation ... hahaha!! yeah , live with that !!

The most recent story is that we were walking pass a government-looking building where there were soldiers guarding the entrance.. well, saw men in soldiers' uniform throwing stones at on-coming cars on the road- I made the biggest mistake by glaring hard at them bec I thought 'how unbecoming and ill-disciplined these soldiers are'- and guess what, I felt a stone land on the back of my shoulder- I mean they have the guts to throw a stone at a civilian who is passing-by.. I turned my head and glared at them( not sure if there was hatred or fire reflected in my eyes lol) but they shrugged their shoulders and laughed- so live with that too hahaha !!

Yeah.. it is very challenging in this piece of foreign land atm...I am much better adjusted as compared to 30 days ago and I am sure I will be able to like my stay here more as time goes by too.. so yeah- let's be optimistic...

Truly thank God for His hands of protection and we are all fine and well.. I am sure He sends many angels to encamp around us here...