Day o1 Wednesday 7 Nov 07
We arrived in the evening, chucked our bags at our hotel and headed out to hunt for food. we settled on this place that served vietnamese food and beer, and which looked crowded enough to assume the food was good.
browsing the menu outside the dinner place
browsing the menu at the dinner table
still browsing the menu
Day o2 Thursday 8 Nov 07
Exploring Hanoi's Old Quarter and 36 Streets before moving on to St Joseph's Church, followed by the area around Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum
bunch of kindergarten kids getting ready for their excursion
alley stall
stopped by The Green Tangerine to make reservations for dinner
umbrellas & motorcycles
every time we crossed the road, we'd be like 'yay, we did it again!'
brunch at Little Hanoi, our favourite little cafe
decisions, decisions...
waiting for our food to arrive
laiyeow & ivan
startled for no apparent reason...
our pretty looking drinks arrive
almost vietnamese
surely vietnamese
sidewalk cafe
st joseph's church
nice graphic t-shirt shop opposite the church
i don't know what is it about this wide parade square but i liked walking along it
outside Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, unfortunately it was closed for renovations
i think its the amount of space after having dodged all the motorbikes on the little streets in the Old Quarter, perhaps
comrade laiyeow
and fellow comrades
took some pictures and went back to the St Joseph's Church area to have a very late lunch
we found this cozy little pizza place and stuffed ourselves silly
roaming the streets around the area
Hoan Kiem Lake in the evening
i can't remember if these two were fishing by the lake but there were lots of pyjama clad vietnamese doing all kinds of body stretching exercises around the lake
stopped by Bobby Chinn's to make advance reservations for dinner on our last night
back to The Green Tangerine for dinner
i loved dining in the courtyard of this restaurant. the beef cheeks that i had was excellent!
Hanoi Elegance 2, thats us in our hotel room with a window overlooking the main lobby
admiring my favourite souvenior - i just love looking at it
Day o3 Friday 9 Nov 07
Off to our 2 day cruise in Halong Bay
waiting for our transport to Halong Bay
setting sail on board our Halong Bay cruise boat
taking an afternoon nap
teik & ivan enjoying the sea breeze
getting ready to disembark
inside the sungsot caves
below: thats our bunk aboard our junk boat cruise
halong bay was stunning and it was a nice change from the crowded little streets of hanoi
we loved the multiple layering effect of the rock formations against the blue skies
halong bay at sunset
Day o4 Saturday 10 Nov 07
2nd Day of our Halong Bay Cruise
waiting for sunrise at the top deck in my pjs
teik photographing the sunrise
ivan wishing laiyeow was next to him
breakfast with our shipmates, Richard & Malee
sailing back to mainland late afternoon and transferred to another hotel just down the street cos Hanoi Elegance 2 was overbooked
we had a splendid authentic dinner of grilled fish with herby vegetables and rice noodle at Cha Ca La Vong. This place is so famous they only serve one dish and customers come streaming in even though the shop facade looks pretty dodgy. unfortunately my camera batt was flat so i don't have pics of the place
dessert & drinks at Little Hanoi after dinner
Day o5 Sunday 11 Nov 07
Picking up from where we left off in Hanoi before Halong Bay
we went back to the Ho Chi Minh Masoleum area and visited the One Pillar Pagoda, which wasn't quite like the pagoda we imagined
we decided to check out the Ho Chi Minh Museum since we didn't get to see the Mausoleum
resting outside the museum before our next destination
walked about 25 minutes to the Temple of Literature, thought this sidewalk along the periphery walls of the temple felt rather frenchie french until ivan pointed out that we shouldn't walk too close to the wall cos people peeed onto the wall
loved this shot which ivan took of laiyeow at the Temple of Literature
another place we were recommended to go to for vietnamese food was Quan An Ngoc which i thought was very nice too
behind the prison walls...
voila! there's ivan
laiyeow needs a cigarette
since we couldn't afford the room rates at the Soffitel Metropole, we settled for afternoon tea instead
haha thats the nearest i'd ever get to an LV bag
Opera House, we were daunted by the traffic to try and get to it
quaint little sidewalk bookshop
dream of the red chamber
back to Bobby Chinn's for our extravagant dinner on our last night here
13 kinds of Chef's Specialties
5 satisfied diners before heading to the Water Puppet Theatre for our 9.15pm show, after which we hung out at Papa Joe's for supper and drinks and talked about dying traditions
Day o6 Monday 12 Nov 07
scrambling to take in a bit more before our noon flight out of hanoi
house at No. 87, Ma May Street
picking up some last minute souveniors
customary farewell photo at hoan kiem lake on our last morning
cheryl & teik on the bridge
thats all folks!
Featuring Travel Buddies: LaiYeow, Ivan, Cheryl, TeikGuan
dad roughs it out in petaling street
petronas twin towers
dad & mum & the twin towers
too bad the fountains were not on
everybody's favourite eatery
such a cutie!
can't believe dad unhooked the restricted area belt to sneak a pic with the cute little snowman
battle of the malls part 2: mid-valley mega mall
battle of the malls part 3: pavilion
love this atrium!
dad & mum in winter wonderland
petronas twin towers
dad & mum & the twin towers
too bad the fountains were not on
everybody's favourite eatery
such a cutie!
can't believe dad unhooked the restricted area belt to sneak a pic with the cute little snowman
battle of the malls part 2: mid-valley mega mall
battle of the malls part 3: pavilion
love this atrium!
dad & mum in winter wonderland
a quick pic before hitting the shops
battle of the malls part 4: berjaya times square
cheryl with her dad & mum
me with dad & mum
i have no idea what i just ordered
