Back after (almost) one year! I can't believe it's December already – 2017 has been a blur for the most part, it being my first year in JC (probably why I had 0 time and 0 inclination to blog about anything HAHA). So many things happened in 2017, it was hard keeping track of things at times welp but I'll try to do a recap of sorts so I can look back at it in the future and remember the events. Also, it's been more than 1 year since our trip to California! – of which I've only blogged about San Francisco rip cheers to procrastinating I think that will be a side project for now HAHA I need to slowly recall the sequence of events bless me
Anyway, enough rambling for now I think you get the idea that I'm a big time procrastinator welp but I decided that our recent trip to Hanoi, Vietnam was worth writing about and I want to write all of it down before it fades into memory (which also means everything is forgotten rip).
Day 1 – November 28, Tuesday
Touched down in the afternoon at Noi Bai International Airport after a 3 hour flight, and proceeded to take a 30 min ride through Hanoi to our hotel in the Old Quarters. We were pretty hungry so we took a short walk from our hotel to New Day restaurant (as recommended by the hotel staff) and ate a shit ton of food meme #fatlife but it was only 23 bucks for 6 dishes (which probably would have cost twice as much in our expensive hometown of Singapore) Didn't take any pictures of the food because we were too hungry but here's the address:
New Day Restaurant
72 Mã Mây, Hàng Buồm, Hoàn Kiếm, Hoàn Kiếm Hà Nội, Vietnam
72 Mã Mây, Hàng Buồm, Hoàn Kiếm, Hoàn Kiếm Hà Nội, Vietnam
Since we weren't attached to any tour group and didn't have any plans for that day, we decided to take a leisurely stroll around the Old Quarters and French Quarters with a few landmarks in mind.
We headed to the famous Hoàn Kiếm Lake, something like the city centre of Hanoi. The area around the lake was like a park of sorts, attracting people of all walks of life.
Seen while crossing the road to the lake
Was fascinated at how elaborate / old-era the Vietnamese military uniform was, with its jade green, red and gold elements
Temple of the Jade Mountain
We then went in search of St. Joseph's Cathedral, which we took quite a bit of time to find even though it was kind of under our noses the whole time. We realised that when we were on the verge of giving up HAHA
Seen while searching for the elusive Cathedral
Our destination
St. Joseph's Cathedral is a church on Nha Tho (Church) Street in the Hoàn Kiếm District, and was built in 1886. It kinda looks like the Notre-Dame in Paris, with its two towers. I guess you could visit this instead if you're on a budget HAHA kidding the interiors and architecture of this cathedral are really grand and makes this a place worth visiting. Closing your eyes for 5-10 minutes as the golden light shines through the stained glass windows onto your face is actually very peaceful.
Afterwards, we had coffee at the Cong Cafe outlet facing the cathedral.
(I love how glam the dude on the extreme right looks HAHA #model #hemsem)
Gotta love the interiors of this cafe
wow such coffee much coconut milk
The cafe provides a great view of the street + the cathedral, especially if you sit near the balconies on the second floor, but watching the street through the windows on the first floor is pretty lit as well.
Cong Caphe
27 Nhà Thờ, Hàng Trống, Hoàn Kiếm, Hà Nội, Vietnam
It was getting late so we walked to our dinner destination which was at the centre of Hanoi, near the lake.
We had dinner at Mì Hàn Quốc restaurant on the top storey of this shopping mall, which provided a panoramic view of the lake and the busy streets below us.
Busy busy streets of Hanoi
Mì Hàn Quốc
7 Đinh Tiên Hoàng, Hàng Bạc, Hoàn Kiếm, Hà Nội, Vietnam
It was Korean restaurant LOL I say we love eating Korean food in Vietnam but we ate there for the view not the food dank memes. The food was ok I guess but it wasn't the highlight lul
Day 2 – November 29, Wednesday
On this day, we set out early for our trip to Ha Long Bay. It was a 2-3 hour car ride (rip @ the distance but there was Wifi onboard the van which solved all of our #firstworldproblems)
We reached Ha Long Bay at noon and checked in to our 2 day 1 night cruise which would take us deep into the heart of the bay and dock there for the night.
Ha Long Bay consists of almost 2000 limestone islets topped by rainforests, and it translates to "descending dragon", based on an old myth.
After lepaking for 1 hour we headed out to kayak – didn't take any pictures because I didn't bring my camera or phone onboard the kayak but we were rewarded with beautiful views of the limestone formations. I kayaked with my sister and we were both noobs so obviously we were the last of the 5 kayaks (there were only 10 guests aboard our cruise lul). The old German / French dude kept laughing at our kayak skills rip and he said we must have paddled 2x the projected distance bc we kept going in zig zag lines badmeme.
Back on the cruise
Honestly got jebaited by our tour guide bc he kept talking about the nonexistent sunset (it was so cloudy!!!) and we couldn't even see the sun but the view was nice nonetheless because, well, it's Ha Long Bay after all. The pink hues of the sunset faded so quickly that the above shot was the only one I got before it turned dark.
Bless the gods the sky cleared and we could see the stars above the bay
Day 3 – November 30, Thursday
We woke up early in the morning but we couldn't really see any sunrise (jebaited for the second time oops). The view was ok I guess but all I could think about when shooting these photos was that I wanted to go back to sleep on the comfy bed in the cabin.
After waking up for the second time for breakfast, we went out for short boat trip courtesy of the people living in Ha Long Bay. These people are usually young women (though we saw some young men) and one can wonder how big and solid their guns are from all that paddling. I mean my kayaking sucks so bad (as seen from the previous day) I seriously wonder how these people singlehandedly paddle a wooden boat of 10 or more people
w0t m8 its a little girl paddling???
We went through this cave and it felt kind of surreal –
according to our tour guide this was where some scenes from the movie "Indochine" was filmed.
(Apparently this film won a couple of awards but reading the plot on Wikipedia made me go wot m8 but ok it's cool visiting a movie location I guess.)
This young lady paddled us :~)
Some of the British teens on his boat tried a hand at paddling and it was no easy feat
Doggo on the docks (alliteration HAHA I tried)
Goodbye Ha Long Bay
Ha Long Bay was pretty cool but I don't think a 2 day 1 night cruise was really necessary (then again, this depends on personal taste), but it was a good experience nonetheless. The food onboard the cruise made us miss the food at New Day restaurant bc all they served was posh "fusion" stuff which we couldn't really appreciate (bc we are all about that hawker food life) but I guess the views and the comfy beds made the cruise lit lul
Proceeded to take the 2 hour drive back to Hanoi, this time without Wifi (o no) and went out to explore the city once more.
The Opera House
Searched and searched the streets for the Women's Museum and made some loops and when we finally found it, we didn't really find it worth visiting oops. So we went back to the cathedral and of course the cafe HAHA
Sneaky sneaky spying on cute little kids walking home with their friends and classmates after dismissal from the nearby school through the cafe windows
It's actually pretty cool how almost all the parents pick their kids up on motorbikes – after all Vietnam is said to be the "motorbike nation", with Hanoi alone having 4 million motorbikes. To think riding motorbikes in Singapore is actually considered dangerous by many, doing so in Vietnam is probably even worse cause of the crazy traffic but no one really cares anyway HAHAHA
Life in the fast lane (???)
We had dinner at another of our hotel's recommended locations, Lantern Lounge, which was pretty worth it considered the ambience of the whole place but we were still ardent New Day fans so all I can say is that New Day is better HAHAHAH rip but this place is worth a try! I didn't take good photos of the food so no pictures but here's the address anyway:
Lantern Lounge
80 Mã Mây, Hàng Buồm, Hà Nội, Vietnam
Had beef pho near our hotel and it was so gooooood. And it was super cheap like less than 3 SGD per bowl. I would say it's even better than Nam Nam Kitchen in Singapore (which costs like 10 bucks per bowl here rip I'm missing Vietnam)
No address because it's in a small alley but our hotel name is La Beaute De Hanoi hotel and this store is literally a few steps away.
Day 4 – December 1, Friday
We were attached to a tour group which would take us to the Hoa Lư and Tam Cốc districts in Ninh Bình Province, which was a 2.5 hour drive south of Hanoi.
We first stopped by Hoa Lư, where we visited the temples of King Đinh and King Lê. Hoa Lư used to be the capital of Vietnam before it was moved to Hanoi (but people keep thinking Ho Chi Minh is the capital dankmemes)
Doggo spotted!
On the way to the temples
It was pretty hard taking pictures of the temples' insides because it was so cluttered and the tourists were sitting on this and that and touching stuff they probably shouldn't be touching. Nonetheless, it was cool noticing the differences between these temples and the Buddhist temples we usually visit (which would later be pointed out by our guide, Huy)
Our guide Huy who rocks bc he's funny, very passionate about his job & overall a very cool dude
Ho Chi Minh's favourite flower, the hibiscus
Had lunch at a restaurant the only restaurant at Hoa Lư LOL talk about a monopoly and then took a 15 minute bus ride to our next destination, Tam Cốc, where we would take a 1.5 hour boat ride and then cycle for a bit.
People of the River
I still have no idea how they use their feet to paddle / I am amazed by their control and the fluidity of their movements
Amidst the majesty of it all
Friendly monk who was helping the boatlady paddle HAHA
Our boatman!
I didn't know that the route we went through was actually the setting of the movie "Kong: Skull Island" until my friend told me later on (now I want to watch the movie real bad HAHA)! The views along the river were beautiful, but it was a pity we couldn't see the paddy fields as they were flooded. Another time, another season I guess!
I found it really interesting how everyone in this village knew how to paddle with their hands and feet – even young girls younger than me were working to paddle visitors along the river. A boat ride here is pretty cheap, around 7 SGD, considered it's a 1.5 hour ride. Our tour guide Huy spoke to us about giving tips and he said that in this village of 4000 people, there were only 400 boats available, hence they had to rotate and could only work on some days of the week. This also meant that they earned meagre salaries for the effort they put in – which honestly sounds kind of sad and put things into perspective for me and made me consider how I take my life in Singapore for granted.
Next, we did a quick cycle around the countryside and through the paddyfields (and if you look closely you'll notice that some of it are actually the backdrops of "Kong: Skull Island" (according to my friend because I still haven't watched the movie LEL))
While crossing the bridge
Afterwards, we took the tour bus back to city and had dinner at New Day again (finally!!!) Our dinner consisted of 7 dishes which only cost us 25 SGD w0t m8 so cheap I love it
Sucky picture ft. some wankers at the back (truly apt to call them wankers bc they're from England) but I just wanted to show you the food which is pretty damn lit
So on Friday nights, starting at 7pm, Hanoi has this night market thing going on whereby the roads are closed to vehicles (I mean most vehicles because people don't give a shit about traffic rules here – as Huy said earlier, the traffic rules are as flexible as the Communist laws in Vietnam) and makes it much easier to walk the streets. I think this night was the most memorable of the 4 nights in Hanoi and made me miss Vietnam and its culture even before I left (and also made me regret not bringing my camera out that night because I'm a lazy ass).
It was odd seeing the roads around the lake closed as people got together to play chapteh (made me think of my class which would fit right into this scene), sing songs, build jenga towers, and watch street performances. We even managed to watch a song / dance performance by this young boy whose sassiness couldn't be rivalled.
I'll miss Vietnam for its vibrance and its people, and how happiness seems so easily found here. Life here seems pretty simple and yet the people are happy – and I really felt that while walking the streets on this Friday night. How much emphasis do we place on the value of material things in the pursuit of happiness? (I think the long queues back in Singapore for Gong Cha and iPhone X amongst other things proves the point)
Mind my ramblings HAHAHA anyway afterwards we grabbed egg coffee (something we missed out on the past few days) at this place called The Note Coffee. We were in a hurry as it was getting late so we ordered takeaway.
A note on the wall which could be good advice for anyone :~)
The Note Coffee
64 Lương Văn Can, Hàng Trống, Hoàn Kiếm, Hà Nội, Vietnam
So this concludes our family's 4 day trip to Vietnam! I'm missing this place already and I'm pretty sure I'll be back soon :~)
Thanks for reading my ramblings and I hope you enjoyed the pictures! I'll write here again soon (hopefully not a "see you again in December 2018" rip) See you in the next post xx
Shit what an influencer hmu
ReplyDelete