Halong Bay Revisited

My daughter, Cynthia, and girlfriend, Candy, visited me in Hanoi the last few days. We booked a 2-day/1-night cruise on Halong Bay on one of the nicer cruises. This is my third visit to Halong Bay. The last two were one-day trips. The overnight trip allows you to experience Halong Bay in the evening and at a more leisure pace.
Our boat is called the Indochina Sails. It usually costs around $200 a night per person but since this is the low season, it was cheaper; about $150 a night per person. The boat has 15 cabins and each cabin is furnished like a nice hotel room. It has individual bathrooms and showers. They also served some very nice meals on the boat. If you can afford it, this is definitely the way to experience Halong Bay.
Like in my previous trips, we also saw the caves and a floating village.
You can refer to my other post on Halong Bay in August 2010.

Calligraphy in Hanoi

Vietnamese are getting ready to welcome the Lunar New Year.
One of the activities in Hanoi, besides all the frantic shopping, is a gathering of calligraphy artists outside the Temperature of Literature. Sometimes called Van Mieu, it's Vietnam's first university, built in 1070.
The calligraphy here is very similar to Chinese calligraphy. Not surprising since a lot of Vietnam's history and culture were tied to the Chinese.
The calligraphy are for sale and there were many tourists and locals watching the artists.

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Chúc Mừng Năm Mới!

Happy New Year!
You can see and feel that something important is happening in Hanoi.
Vietnamese celebrate the Lunar New Year on February 3rd this year. It changes every year because it's based on the lunar calendar. It is also called Tet.
This is also the same date as the Chinese New Year and the celebrations and customs are very similar.
In Hanoi the shops are stuffed with things related to the occassion - candies, gift baskets, decorations, etc. The streets have been jammed with traffic because businesses are going around presenting gifts to their customers and shoppers are out shopping.
There is a lot excitement and anticipation, just like Christmas in America.
I will be spending Chinese New Year in Singapore. This is the first time I am celebrating Chinese New Year in Singapore in almost 40 years. Below are some pictures of what's going on in the streets of Hanoi.




The balloon says it all "Happy New Year!"

A lot of the shops selling decorations are on Hang Giay street. Hang means product, Giay means paper. The Old Quarter in Hanoi has 36 streets with the name "Hang." Similar businesses will be located on the same street.





Candies are popular for guests visiting homes.







Gifts shaped like old Chinese money.








A shop selling all kinds of New Year's gifts.









Gift baskets are popular with businesses







More New Year's decorations. Red and gold are popular colors.

Red envelopes for giving money to the children.

Snake Meat

A group of about 11 of us went to have snake meat for lunch. There was no special occassion but someone decided to organize a snake meat lunch. Since I came to Vietnam, I've been asked many times whether I've eaten snakes. Eating snakes is not such a gross idea because some restaurants in Arizona serve rattlesnakes for appetizers. But, this seems to be a delicacy here in Vietnam.
We took a taxi about 45 minutes to the outskirt of Hanoi. This area has many restaurants serving snake meat.


Entrance to the restaurant, which is reached through some narrow streets and alleys.







A view of the courtyard of the bustling restaurant.









Members of the staff preparing the snakes for cooking.






We had a 12-course meal but not all were snake dishes. Here are 3 snake dishes, cooked in different ways. It came to about 250,000 dongs each, or about $12.50.








One of the dishes, which includes the skin. It's kind of chewy.








A dish of snake hearts, which no one ate.
Thank God.

Is It Safe There?

I've been asked this question many times whenever I am ready to take on a trip to Asia.

My usual response is, "Of course it's safe. They don't have guns there."

In all my years of travelling all over Asia, I have never been robbed. Being robbed at gunpoint is unheard of because owning a gun itself is illegal, let alone using a gun to rob someone.

If you are caught with a gun, you can expect a very stiff sentence, likely a few years in prison.

In Singapore, I've gone out and have a late-night dinner at a street restaurant at 3 am and feel totally safe. I can walk anywhere in the city at night and feel safe.

In Vietnam, I've walked alone at night many times and I feel safe. I've seen young foreign women backpackers walking alone carrying a big backpack and they feel safe. Just because the people are poor here does not mean that they are ready to rob you or shoot you.

I've often been overcharged when I buy things but that's normal everywhere when you are from out-of-town.

This is why I don't understand how a 22-year old man can just walk into a store and buy a Glock semi-automatic pistol. How that person can walk into a grocery store with that gun and start shooting innocent defenseless people. Or, in the case of Arizona, he could've walked into a restaurant with that gun and if he is not happy with the service, start shooting everyone in the restaurant.

I can understand if someone wants a gun for hunting. But, what else would you need a gun for if you don't use for hunting? Shooting people, of course. I know I will upset some of my friends who are anti-gun control but I don't see any reason to own a gun unless you want to hunt or shoot people.

I pray that Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and other victims get well soon. I pray for the friends and families of those who were not so lucky and did not survive the shooting in Tucson, Arizona, on Saturday, January 8th.

For those who are not familiar with the background of this story, please go to this link:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/10/us/10reconstruct.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&hp

Hue-Danang-Hoi An

After returning to Hanoi on New Year's Eve, a group of friends and I went to Central Vietnam on New Year's Day. We flew to Danang and then took a 2-hour drive in a van to Hue (pronounced Hway). Hue was the capital of Vietnam during the Nguyen Dynasty in the 19th century until the French colonized Vietnam. It is known for its palaces, pagodas, tombs and temples. It also has its unique Vietnamese cuisine, especially "cakes." They are rice cakes in different variations and stuffings. They have names like banh beo, banh loc, banh nam, etc.
The most famous tourist site is the Citadel. This is where the king lives and also has temples and pagodas.



Arriving at Danang Airport








Eating special Hue noodles for breakfast at a roadside restaurant.







The entrance to the Citadel








On a boat cruise on the Perfume River

Inside one of the temples with altars to the 14 kings in the Nguyen Dynasty







Giant urns outside the temple

Another part of the Citadel







Another outside view

Entrance to the Minh Mang Tomb. Minh Mang was one of the kings in the Nguyen Dynasty

Inside the tomb







Mother and child selling drinks and snacks outside the tomb







A nice lunch after the tour.











Another building inside the tomb

Another part of the tomb

After Hue we went back to Danang and visited some local popular spots there.

Steps leading up to the Kwan Yin statue






We got around Hue and Danang by renting motorbikes. There were 5 bikes for the 9 of us. It costs about 100,000 VND to rent a bike, about US$5 a day. You have to wear mask because it's dusty on the country roads. We often lose each other because of the windy roads and many intersections. If not for cell phones, it'd have been very difficult to stay as a group.

A temple next to the Kwan Yin Statue in Danang

A big Kwan Yin statue that was built only a few years ago. It's a prominent landmark next to the beach in Danang. At night it is lit so you can see it from far away.

In the late afternoon, we rode our motorbikes for a 30-minute ride to Hoa An. Hoa An is a seaside resort that is known for its ancient Chinese architecture.

This is where the tourist come. The shops and restaurants cater mostly to tourists.





One of the buildings with its old Chinese architecture

A brightly-lit dragon on the river.

Stuck in Hong Kong Airport

I had a wonderful time in the US. It was nice to be in my own house, sleeping on my bed and doing routine things that I've done for years.
It was nice attending Cynthia's graduation and then spending Christmas with friends.
It was great to talk without thinking about the words to use.

At last, I have to make this long journey back to Asia. A trip like this typically takes at least 24 hours from door to door. My flight from Los Angeles to Hong Kong took 15 hours non-stop. That's a lot of time to be on a plane. Fortunately, Cathay Pacific Airways has a very nice entertainment system in front of every seat. The service was good but not as good as Singapore Airlines, which has been voted No. 1 airline for the last 2 decades, I think. If you have to make a trip across the Pacific, forget about the US-based airlines. Their food is bad and their service is lousy. Also, the Asian countries don't have any age-discrimmination laws so the Asian-based airlines pick the best-looking flight attendants.

Unfortunately, my flight from LA to Hong Kong was delayed taking off and I missed my connecting flight to Hanoi. I ended up spending 9 hours at the Hong Kong Airport. Good thing the airline gave me a hotel room to shower and rest up. But, I still had a lot of time to walk around the airport. Below are some pictures I took while walking around.




This airport is huge. It is an airport and shopping center. It replaced the old Kai Tak airport in the early 2000s'. It is built on an island about 20 minutes by train from the city.
The picture on the left shows the waiting area for the gates.









Here is a map of HK's subway system, called MTR. It is a very clean and efficient system.












Burger or Wonton noodles?































Here are the check-in counters.

























One of the small restaurants selling local snacks.

Well....how can you not have a Starbucks. There is also a McDonald's restaurant somewhere in the airport.