Pink Scooter

29 Dec 2007

Went to hubby's fren's house gathering at "Leisure Farm", a very nice housing area at Gelang Patah, Johor Bahru.


Nice to also have met up with some other frens whom we had visited a while back in Cameron Highlands.


One of hubby's fren is into vintage cars and now scooters. Can't help posing with the cute 'Powder Pink' or as another fren added, 'Bandung Pink' scooter.
Wonder how a guy will look riding a pink scooter.

So cute hor - the pink scooter....

Green Tangerine Restaurant

Hanoi - 18 Dec 2007

Green Tangerine Restaurant - Pretty courtyard.
Fusion of French and Local cuisine

Hubby ordered a vegetarian lasagne - I was laughing when I looked at it - it was fried tow-gei (beansprouts) and some other veggies nestled in between some layers of crackers.
I ordered fish - looked small when it came but turned out to be quite substantial. Fish tasted better.
The best dish we ordered was the seafood soup - it was really really good, you can taste the essence of the seafood.
We paid 700,000 Dong which is about $70 Sing dollars for 2 main course, 1 soup, 1 dessert and 2 drinks - considering that this is in Vietnam, it was rather pricey.



Baguettes - very crunchy, light and fluffy unlike the ones we get back here in S'pore.




Wonder how the electrician's gonna figure out the wire mess.

Fear Factor 2 - Snails Meal

Hanoi, 17 Dec 2007

Quan An Ngon
Was recommended this makan place by my sis-in-law. It is a set-up with different stalls selling different Vietnamese Cuisine - much like our food-court. The atmosphere and set-up is very nice. A great way to try out different types of Vietnamese food.

Here's the address if anybody is going :
Quan An Ngon
18 Phan Boi Chau
Quan Hoan Kiem, Ha Noi




Click to see video of this place :



Me : Wah, the snails rather big. Is it garden snails har?

Hubby : Don't worry, not garden snails. They are water snails. I used to grow them in my fish-tank.

Me : huh???

Anyway, I tried it just becos I'm curious to know how it taste like. They tasted gooey, eeeer, I prefer the gong-gong.

Click to see me eating the snails. Trying hard to keep a straight face :

Fear Factor 1 - Hanoi Traffic, crossing the street

Hanoi, 16 Dec 2007

Everybody who has been to Hanoi warned that the traffic there is a nightmare. Ya, have to agree. So many motorbikes everywhere, horning non-stop. Ya, it's good they horn to warn you but hey, what do I have to look out for when you're getting horned at from front, back,left and right. They horn even if there's nothing to horn about.

My sis-in--law taught us the way to cross the streets in Hanoi. The trick is to walk confidently and slowly, cos this way the motorbikes will be able to avert you and not langar you.
Hey, it works you know.

Click to see us crossing the streets of Hanoi :



Sweets shop. Plenty of those sour plums and 'gana' and stuff like that.



Local 'goreng-pisang' banana fritters. Tasted very good.

Halong Bay

Hanoi, 15 Dec 2007

About 3 hrs van ride to Halong Bay.
The view of the mountains are nice but maybe I've seen too many 'xu-xia' movie, so am not too wow by it

Inside the boat.







Kelong




Fruit Sellers. I thought the sampans are made of wood but on closer look, it is actually 2 huge baskets (yes, baskets!) joined together to keep it afloat coated with tar to make it water-proof!




Hubby buying some fruits - see his finger pointing?




Climbed up to view a cave.



Cannot remember what cave.......



Click to view video on Halong Bay. Nice clips of the fruit sellers and Hubby's "Wong Fei Hong" pose :


Click to view video on Halong Cave :

Ipa-Nima Bag

Hanoi - 14 Dec 2007

Birthday present from Hubby. The cult bag from Ipa-Nima.

It's definitely cheaper in Hanoi where this brand originates from. I saw the same bag selling in a US websites which cost 3 times of what my hubby paid for.







St. Joseph Cathedral






Behind me is a long row of food-stalls where the locals sits on very low stool to eat, practically squatting. The table is actually just a bigger and higher stool.


Opera House

Thang Long Water Puppet Theatre

Hanoi, 13 Dec 2007

Hoan Kiem Lake







Hey, restaurant of Bobby Chinn from Travel&Living.


Thang Long Water Puppet Theatre
Some guys behind the bamboo curtain using long sticks to manoeuvre the wooden puppets on the water. Well worth seeing. Tickets are cheap. Front row cost only S$4.00.



Actually I find the water-puppets rather eerie - reminds me of that show "Chucky" and also a supernatural movie involving puppets too.

Click to view video of water-puppets :