Family trips

Our little princess Abigail has been traveling with us since 4 months old. Stay tune for more of our family trips!

Honeymoon in Maldives

A place where romance begins... And there is never a blue as beautiful as the waters of Maldives!

Sinchow Vietnam!

Go to Vietnam. Indulge yourself in the peaceful Hmong villages in Sapa, or experience cruising at The New 7 Wonders of Nature - Halong Bay.

Go West to U.S.

Napa Valley! San Francisco! And Monterey!.

Bali oh Bali~

We've done it 3 times!! Couple trip 2009, friends trip 2010, and family trip 2014.

Hello Macau, the oriental Portugal

Walking the oriental Europe. Remember to taste the most authentic Portuguese tarts!.

London

I was just a touch-and-go tourist in a short 3 days...

Babymoon in Boracay

Sea, sand, sun. And a new family member in my tummy!

Marrakech, a hidden jewel

Of palm groves, fire dancing, and dromedaries.

Siem Reap - day and night

Back to the ancient kingdom and find the tomb raider in you.

Home Cooking

Just some recipes and home cuisine for my family and baby.

Welcome to my blog!! 欢迎到访!!

No matter how you get here, I wanna say a big THANK YOU for visiting my blog. Do come back often for more! Blessed because we're given the chance to share. Thank you for visiting! 无论你是刻意或者不刻意的来到这里,都进来坐坐、聊聊天吧。幸福不是必然的,而是懂得分享人生的喜悦。谢谢到访!



Showing posts with label *Hanoi。河内. Show all posts
Showing posts with label *Hanoi。河内. Show all posts

November 9, 2010

Hanoi's Old Quarter: Water puppet show and Cyclo tour around the 36 Streets

最近很蓝。。对,很懒又很蓝(very blue),且今天生病了。。喉咙怪怪的!
帖子更新速度好像也越渐慢了,所以今天一定要上传些什么的啦。
我的漂亮宝贝星期六就出嫁了,我的确很紧张。。
(不是我出嫁干嘛那么紧张呀?)
因为。。我必须走教堂。。而且还要比新娘走在更前面。。
万一摔了一跤。。怎办?!!婚礼就此破坏了。。噢。。
哎。。别想不好的事情了。先 update 一下越南的游记。。
写了停,停了写,还好就来到尾声了

x     x     x     x     x     x     x     x     x     x

...continue from previous post...

Have written quite some posts on outskirts of Hanoi (Sapa, Ha Long Bay) until one of my posts on Sapa being linked back to the restaurant’s page - Viet Emotion. We only spent 2 days in Hanoi through the trip, and what I found about Hanoi is basically – a nice shopping place in a heritage district!

We went for this Water Puppet Show on the first day in Hanoi. It’s located at one of the busy streets of Old Quarter.

Thăng Long Water Puppet Theatre. Read a bit more about them here.

Water puppet show 1


Performance of the water puppet theatre Thăng Long in Hanoi. The puppets are made out of wood and then lacquered. The shows are performed in a waist-deep pool. A large rod supports the puppet under the water and is used by the puppeteers, who are normally hidden behind a screen, to control them. Thus the puppets appear to be moving over the water.

Water puppet show 2

I don’t find it interesting though because I fell asleep in the dark… embarrasing... Must be because I was too tired, haven't been sleeping at the airport the night before.

After the show, we went for a cyclo tour around the 36 streets at the Old Quarter. These streets can represent the original street layout and architecture of old Hanoi. It’s very near to Hoan Kiem lake, meaning if you stay around this area, you get to enjoy nice lake scenery in walking distance.

Cyclo tour 1


Sometimes you'll find yourself in a cyclo race instead!

Cyclo tour 2


Don't complain about hygiene when you're in Vietnam.

Cyclo tour 3


Because somewhere around the rubbish bags, you find masterpiece of the artisans.

Cyclo tour 4


Super crowded, as if you're riding together in a cab or so. The honk never stops, as long as you're awake, that's why the hotel windows are usually sound proof.

Cyclo tour 5


Local delicacies.

Cyclo tour 6


Riding around the streets. There are actually more than 36 streets. It is believed that "nine" makes it plentiful to the Asians. So "nine" times the four directions turn 36! Now take a ride with me down the streets.

Cyclo tour 7

Cyclo tour 8

Cyclo tour 9

Cyclo tour 13


Đồng Xuân market, located in the heart of the district. There's a night market nearby that opens for business every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday evening with a variety of clothing, souvenirs and food. (share with you in the next post)

Cyclo tour 10


Have you ever wonder why the buildings in Hanoi are thin and tall?
Because the land is super expensive! Second most expensive after Tokyo. Believe it or not.

Cyclo tour 11


Just before the cyclo tour ended, I saw thissss!! That's why I said it's a good shopping place right at the middle of a heritage district. :P

Cyclo tour 12

...to be continued...

October 5, 2010

Temple of Literature: A temple of Confucius in Hanoi

My first afternoon in Hanoi was spent on history lessons in Temple of Literature. Temple of Literature (Văn Miếu (文廟) is a temple of Confucius in Vietnam. This one in Hanoi is the most prominent and famous one, it also functioned as Vietnam's first university - the Quốc Tử Giám (國子監) or Imperial Academy. It is featured on the back of the one hundred thousand Vietnamese đồng banknote.

temple of literature 2

September 21, 2010

Hanoi: Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, Presidential Palace Historical Site and One Pillar Pagoda

One of the few highlights to visit in Hanoi is Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum (Lăng Chủ tịch Hồ Chí Minh). It is located in the center of Ba Ðình Square, which is the place where Uncle Ho read the Declaration of Independence on September 2, 1945, and formed the Democratic Republic of Vietnam.

Securities guarding at the gate. No camera allowed in the mausoleum.

Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum 1

September 8, 2010

Sen Restaurant (Buffet) @ Hanoi

Orite I don't feel like describing much on my own words because I'm lazy to blog today... but since I still drooled over the lunch buffet had in Sen, let me share with you in case you're travelling to Hanoi and wanna look for nice buffet.

Nestled by a lotus pond near West Lake, Sen (Lotus) Restaurant is the ideal enclave for nature and food lovers alike.

The owner has designed the restaurant to overcome the narrow lanes of the area, giving the space a good view of West Lake. Inside the two terracotta-roofed villas, the wooden furniture, Vietnamese paintings and vases of lotus evoke the feeling of an ancient house of the Orient.

With the idea of designing the garden as a northern rural village market to provide patrons a beautiful setting to enjoy a meal, food stalls were made from rattan or bamboo frames baskets, round bamboo trays, and low bamboo tables. Female stall servers wear traditional four-paneled traditional dresses, and male servers wear plain brown clothes.

The special buffet is offered in the garden, which is out of the air-conditioning, but is still cool from the breeze off the lake and sweet-smelling from the blooming palm trees.

With the evening buffet at VND110,000 and lunch at VND90,000 – not including drinks, patrons have a wide variety of favourites to choose from – 60 traditional foods from three regions.

Traditional dishes such as thenem sen (lotus rolls), cha ca (grilled fish), bun cha (grilled pork with noodles) or banh duc look particularly tempting.

Nice environment. Spacious and relaxing.

Sen Restaurant2

Sen Restaurant3

Sen Restaurant4


The interior. I am not sure why we were seated inside instead of in the garden per described. Everything was arranged by our Vietnamese friend. Really wide variety of food to chose from!

Sen Restaurant5

Sen Restaurant6

Sen Restaurant7

Sen Restaurant9

Sen Restaurant10


Food time! See what did we get.

Sen Restaurant11

Sen Restaurant12

Sen Restaurant8

Sen Restaurant14

Sen Restaurant15

Sen Restaurant16

Sen Restaurant17


Drinks not included. But at reasonable price.

Sen Restaurant13


Lotus deco everywhere in the garden. 'Sen' is the name of the restaurant, meaning Lotus. Great value of food quality at the price paid.

Sen Restaurant1


My rank: 4/5 (for buffet)

No 10, Lane 431, Au Co Road, Tay Ho District, Hanoi
Tel: (04) 7199242, 9135225, 7199857
Hours: 11am – 2 am (lunch) and 6pm – 10pm (dinner)
Comment: Outdoor atmosphere, view of West Lake, traditional food

November 5, 2009

Interesting facts in Indo-China

My travel mates were shouting in excitement during our trip to Hanoi and Siem Reap. Guess what they saw...

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On our way to Halong Bay: Cow on a motor.

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On our way from the airport to hotel: A hundred chicken tied at the back of a motor.

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On our way to the Old Market: Pigs on a motor.

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ALL WERE STILL ALIVE!! Funny? It's the fact. Motorcycles are very important to their people, not only as transportation to move around but also their very important equipments to earn a living.

March 3, 2009

Sin Chow Hanoi!



So, we just came back from Hanoi yesterday. Am really really tired and my muscle crammed due to trekking trips at Sapa and sea kayaking at Halong Bay. And today my mailbox burst! Emails~emails~emails~ Dozens of work to clear before flying off to San Jose on next Thursday...arrgghh..

However, I had a really breathtaking vacation in Hanoi-Sapa-Halong Bay although it's a very short trip this time. Credits to our Vietnam friends Tony/Nam/Thinh for the perfect arrangements. This trip was not just about vacation; we have a prolong fellowship and missions to accomplish. Having friends around the world is certainly one of the best things in life, especially when your friend owns a travel agency. =) Then travelling seems to be at your finger tip.

Toi ten la Cheryl, toi la nguoi Malaysia.


Chapter 1 temporarily ends here. Loads of stories to share later on... I really love Sapa. Green and serene. Simple and peaceful.



And even the animals live in harmony...honestly I've never seen such a big fat hairy pig!! Or is that actually a hippo??!

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