Back to life in Busan!

"Good morning Vietnam Korea!"

It's always a little strange to go from being on vacation for 16 days to lesson planning at your desk within 24 hours... but such is life!  Luckily, I'm lesson planning at my desk in a foreign country, which heck, is kind of like still being on vacation, right?!

Just for the heck of re-capping:

Places we stayed the night:
 an airplane, a shady hotel in Shanghai, an even more shady hotel in the red light district of Ho Chi Minh, a home stay on the Mekong River, a beautiful hotel over looking the park in Ho Chi Minh, a darling beach bungalow on the sand, a youth hostel, a bunk bed on a night train, a hotel overlooking a vista of stunning rice terraces, a roach infested sleeper bus, a gorgeous "junk boat" on Halong Bay, a hotel on an island, a hotel in an alley of the French Old Quarter, and last but not least, 1 more airplane!

Modes of transportation:
6 planes, 3 trains, 3 motorbike taxi's, our own rented motorbikes, 5 boats, 1 ferry, multiple taxi's, about 6 local city busses, 2 crowded minivans, and our own two feet!

Reservations made before leaving Busan:
5 flights, 1 hotel

It's how we roll, and we like it that way! :)

Day 16: Pure endulgence finale!

It was bound to happen... The last and final day of our Vietnam adventure was bound to arrive. So, with that in mind, I intended to indulge on this final day!  My first stop on my quest for indulgence was "DAISY", a massage parlor I had read about, online, that specialized in hour long foot massages!  I'd never had one, but lord knows my feet needed one after all the walking they had endured!  So, for $6.00, I lounged in a comfy leather arm chair while a darling Vietnamese guy massaged my feet and pounded my calves!
Vietnamese massages include a lot of hitting and punching!  Luckily another lady was 10 minutes ahead of me with her massage, and I saw that the finale would be a head pounding... literally!  He guys was hitting her on her head, all around, and she was cringing!  I quickly said to my guy, "You can skip that part!" Ouch! 

Then it was off to lunch with Aaron for some delicious Hawaiian pizza in an air conditioned restaurant!  We both would have eaten Pho for every meal if it weren't for the heat and humidity!  All you want to do is duck into a place with cold air... so that's what we did!  We joked about how we hadn't eaten this much pizza since arriving in Korea 2 1/2 years ago!  (I think this was at least our 4th pizza of the trip!)  Whatever!

We headed towards the lake, for one last stroll through the tree lined pathways... until that is, we spotted the infamous Fanny's Ice Cream Parlor, (48 Le Thai To) an artsy French-owned ice cream parlor serving upmarket ice-cream in the most original flavors you've ever heard of, like avocado and durian (the nasty fruit that smells like dirty feet) to name a few.  I'd read about this place, and was intrigued by their over the top ice cream creations!  So, after a little persuading, Aaron agreed to some ice cream!  Check out this banana split!  (I had never had one before!)   

Aaron opted for a chocolate alcoholic concoction, with lots of whipped cream! haha 

 

Our belly's were beyond full, and knew we needed to get out and do some walking, so we headed south of Hoan Keim Lake to check out more of the French Quarter!

This old car was parked outside the famous French colonial-style hotel, Metropole (15 Ngo Quyen Street), where for a mere (insert sarcasm here) $300.00, you can stay 1 whole night!

Gotta love the old men riding bikes through the park!

 

If I were lazy, which I'm not; or into doing uber touristy things, which I'm definitely not... I would have hired some old Vietnamese man to ride me through the French Quarter on this tricycle rickshaw! 

 

Good old socialist posters can be seen all around!  At certain times during the day in Hanoi, a city wide loud speaker blasts a Vietnamese woman's voice for a good 10-15 minutes!  Not sure what she was saying, but I'm sure it probably had something to do with their political stand.

We passed by this beautifully painted wall, depicting Vietnam's past and present!

Each street within the Old Quarter specializes in a different sort of merchandise, from silk, jewelry, household items, hemp, clothing, mirrors, cookware, bamboo, lamps, paintings.. you name it!  What's nice is that each street name reflects the products sold on it!  Unfortunately this is only helpful if you understand Vietnamese! :)

Most of these art gallery's aren't just your average print shops! You can actually watch an artist paint you a picture, right before your eyes!  Heck, bring one in, and they'll paint an exact replica for you, too! Talk about talent!

I was beginning to feel a little like these guys, in need of a nice nap!  But since it was our last day in Hanoi, we kept on trekking to make sure we saw as much as we possibly could!

 We stumbled upon this coffee shop on Hang Hanh Street (Coffee Street)!  Vietnam is quite famous for it's coffee... but unfortunately my allegiance lies with Korean coffee sticks, so I left the coffee drinking to Aaron!  For some reason though, he wasn't all that interested in Weasel Coffee (for sale below)!  Never heard of it? Let me take a minute to explain: Weasel Coffee is made from coffee berries which have been eaten and pooped out by local weasels. Why?  I have no idea!  Anyone care to try?!

Instead of indulging in weasel/rodent coffee, we headed up to Highlands Coffee (a different one than yesterday), which boasted a lovely view of Hoan Keim lake from it's 3rd floor balcony!

... and this view of the Old Quarter from the opposite end of the balcony!

We of course ordered some delicious drinks!  Did I not say this was a day of pure endulgence!?

I had bought 2 of these hand made balancing dragonflies for my nephews Caeden and Caleb (love you guys!) back in Ho Chi Minh, but one of them had broke in my backpack along the journey, so I purchased a new one!  I had first seen them on my last trip to Japan and fell in love with their apparent magical balancing abilities, but for $15.00, I wasn't willing to buy one! 
Here though, in Hanoi, they were just a fraction of the price!

You just set their nose on any point... your finger, your own nose, the top of a pencil, a leaf on a tree... anywhere, and they balance! 

 It's quite common to walk down alleyways in Hanoi and see groups of young Vietnamese guys and gals drinking local teas or eating local foods while lounging on the sidewalk!

This guy actually had a whole tea set for himself, as he lounged in front of his cafe.

Our last little excursion of indulgence landed us back at our favorite Italian bistro, near the lake, where we had some dinner and bid farewell to the 5000 year old city of Hanoi!! 

We got to the airport and were told that our flight on Jetatar Airlines to Ho Chi Minh had been canceled and rescheduled for 2 hours later than the original flight (which was BAD NEWS because we had a connecting flight!)  So, we begged and pleaded to be put on the 7:45pm flight (which was almost ready to board) and luckily, a couple people didn't show up, so we were allowed on!  Thank you Jesus!

I spent the first 30 minutes of the flight trying to distract myself (I'm NOT a fan of flying) by practicing my Korean writing!  This was a survey I made for Aaron, where I wrote English sentences with the Korean alphabet!  He then phonetically read them and answered my silly questions!  The guy sitting next to Aaron leaned over and asked, "You can write Hangul?"  Turns out he was Korean!  He got a kick out of reading my questions! :)

After 3 flights, between 7:45pm and 11:30am the next morning, we finally made it back to Busan, and are slowly getting back into the swing of things!  We're sad our vacation is over, but are excited for our next planned adventure!

We will be coming to America at Christmas time... and possibly heading somewhere fun for Chuseok, the 2nd week of September!  We'll see!  Stay tuned! :)

Day 15: Exploring the French Quarter in Hanoi

I read somewhere, that
"Hanoi is a city with a blend of Parisian grace and Asian pace!" 
I'd definitely have to agree with whoever said that!

This morning, we lounged around at the hotel for a bit, had some breakfast in the lobby, and then headed out, through the windy, narrow streets of the Old Quarter!  Aaron spotted this GIGANTIC broom, leaning against a light pole, and being that I love to clean, I found it fitting that I do my part to clean an area of the sidewalk! :)

For whatever reason, Vietnamese love to hang bird cages in the trees, in front of their shops, over cafe patios... you name it!  They're everywhere!

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, you know!

We decided to head back to the area where we had lunch our very first day in Hanoi! 

So, we took a taxi through the tree lined streets, north of the Old Quarter!

We ate on the patio of the same old historic mansion that we had visited last week, and had delicious fried noodles and chicken with a beer and a strawberry milkshake to top it off!

Then we took a REALLY long walk... I would guess maybe 4 miles, down the tree lined streets of this stunning area...

 

... where tons of gorgeous old french mansions have been transformed into government buildings.  SAD

After a long, long, long, walk in the heat and humidity, we jumped into the first air conditioned cafe we could find!  Highlands is actually quite famous in Hanoi!  It was started by a Vietnamese guy who grew up in Seattle, and fell in love with Coffee!  He came back to Hanoi and ultimately opened his first cafe!  I'm really thankful he did, because the carrot cake and cold coffee were delicious!

After feeling refreshed and cooled off, we headed back out for another walk, to see what we could find in Hanoi!  Most shop owners actually live above their shops, and can sometimes be seen peeking out their windows, or standing on the balconies of their 2nd floor abodes!

Hanoi's version of an ice cream truck, complete with ice cream truck music and all!

Aaron and I had read about this famous Banyan tree at 85 Hang Gai Street, where Buddhists come to light incense, a gesture they believe gives them great luck!  We were eager to find it and see what it was all about! 

Aaron gave it a shot... not because he thought he would be more lucky, but because he wanted to take a couple shots of the incense burning in the tree!

Here it is folks, the token Vietnamese conical hat photo!  I had to do it.

We made it back around to the lake, and I just plain couldn't resist climbing out to this gigantic tree that had grown from the sidewalk into the lake!  I didn't mean to, but I ended up drawing quite a crowd as I carefully managed my way over to it.  I'm sure everyone was waiting for the foreign girl to slip and fall into the lake!  What they didn't know is that I was a gymnast for 10 years!  I'm no stranger to walking while balancing!

We felt like we had walked all the streets of the old quarter a couple times over...

... so, we jumped on the tourist wagon and headed to see the Water Puppet Show!  ($5 per person) Water puppetry is a tradition that dates back as far at the 11th century CE in Vietnam!  When the rice fields would flood, the villagers would entertain each other with these types of puppets. When the show first started, we kind of looked at each other, laughed, and said "What have we just paid for?"  But then, as the show went on, it got a bit more entertaining (for me at least)!  Here's a little video of one of the opening acts.

The way it works is, 6-8 puppeteers stand behind the split-bamboo screen (under the temple facade), and control the puppets using long bamboo rods and string mechanism hidden below the water. A traditional Vietnamese orchestra played all the background music and chèo singers (a form of opera originating in north Vietnam) sang all of the songs, which told the story being acted out by the puppets.

After the show, Aaron wasn't feeling so great, so he headed back to the hotel while I headed over to the night market, which runs North to South from P Hang Giay to P Hang Dao.

While there were hundreds of stalls (literally), I actually didn't find anything I couldn't live without!

So, I walked the path, along the lake, back to the hotel, stopping here and there, to people watch and take in the beauty of the nightscape!

All around Hoan Keim lake, bright-lit, ball shaped, ornaments are hung from the trees.  So at night, when they turn on, they cast beautiful colors into the water!

By this point, it was late and I was missing my partner in crime, so I grabbed some dinner and headed back to the hotel! 

Tomorrow is my last day in Vietnam, before I catch the plane back to Korea!  I'm hoping to spend it lounging in cafe's and indulging in all the yummy food this city has to offer!  One last splurge before going back to real life!

Day 14: Goodbye Halong... Hello again, Hanoi!

Once again, we were both up EARLY to catch our next mode of transportation!  Our guide met us at the hotel lobby at 8:00am to put us on a minibus back to the wharf.  We made it safely, and boarded a huge "junk boat," where we got nice and comfy for the ride back to Halong City!

There we were, sailing the ocean, once again, heading through the 1969 tiny islands that make up beautiful Halong Bay!

We stopped here for about 45 minutes, while some people went kayaking! We chose to just hang on the roof of the boat instead, since neither of us had our bathing suits on...

  ... and people watched!  A community of around 1,600 people live on Hạ Long Bay, in 4 different fishing villages, and this is one of them!  If you look closely, you can see a small boat being rowed by (what I would guess is) a 5 year old little girl with her equally young friends sitting on the edge!

We made it to Hanoi earlier than planned!  By 4:00pm, I was checking into the Splendid Star Hotel, where for $20 a night I was given free breakfast and a yummy welcome drink!

Our hotel was just around the corner from the famous St. Joseph's Cathedral, built in 1886. Apparently they still have multiple masses here everyday!

We dropped our bags at the hotel and headed for nearby Hoan Keim Lake, where according to legend, Emperor Le Loi handed a magic sword to the Golden Turtle God and hence gave the lake its present name Hoan Keim, which means "Lake of the Returned Sword."  Vietnamese locals gather around the lake at all times of the day and night, exercising, relaxing with friends on one of the hundreds of benches, smooching their boyfriend or girlfriend, sleeping on their scooters, reading a book in the grass, playing with their dog, or partaking in a friendly little game of badminton or hackysack!  I love this picture of these two friends enjoying the view of the lake from atop this gigantic tree!

I had my own little moment of taking in the beauty all around me as well!  Aaron and I sat here on the curb near the south/east end of the lake for quite a while, and were approached by at least 5 donut selling ladies, who tote their donuts around in baskets and say, "Hello!  Hello! You buy?", sticking the donuts right up in your face so you can't help but smell their deliciousness!  Great tactic ladies!  I finally realized the only way for them to leave was to motion that if I ate them I would get really fat.  They always laughed, nodded their heads, and would walk away!

What is it with Vietnamese paying to find out their weight?! ... and in public none the less!

Beautiful ancient structures are found all around the lake! 
Handsome, American men, like this guy, are not so common!

I'd love to know how old all the trees are surrounding Hoan Keim Lake!  They must be hundreds and hundreds of years old!

As we were walking around, we spotted a little island with a connecting bridge, and found out it was Jade Island where a famous temple stands.

The Temple of the Jade Mountain was built in the 18th century, in honor of a 13th century military leader.

The only way to reach the temple is to walk across the charming Huc Bridge, which means "morning sunlight bridge!"

Young Vietnamese couples love to come to the lake to sit and chat togther, and probably cuddle and make-out too!  Let's be honest.  We were all teenagers once!

The Huc Bridge... once again.

I actually read online somewhere that there is a motorbike for each of Vietnam’s ninety million inhabitants!  I believe it!  Scooters are not just parallel parked along the curb, they line nearly every sidewalk, like this! There were plenty of times when I would be walking on the sidewalk and run into a cluster of scooters, pushing me out onto the street to compete with the busy traffic!

The Huc bridge, and Jade Island after dark...

We decided to head across the street (to the north end of the lake) to check out the Old Quarter.  But this wasn't just your average crossing the street adventure.  In Hanoi's Old Quarter, crossing the street is an extreme sport. My first impulse was to make a mad dash and hope for the best, but after watching a few natives, I realized it was best to cross in tiny spurts, giving the oncoming traffic a chance to swerve around me, instead of me trying to dodge them. I'd like to think I've mastered the art of crossing the street in Vietnam now! ***

We decided we were both in the mood for some western food, and particularly somewhere with air conditioning!  I'm telling you, it is HOT here!  So, we spotted this charming little Italian joint near St. Joseph's Cathedral, and ducked in for dinner... which we ended up asking for "to go", so we could take it back to the hotel, and eat, while we watched Discovery Channel's show, TABOO, in my room!  I love that show! 

We're glad we're back in Hanoi, but sad because it means our vacation is coming to an end.  We're not sure what we're going to do tomorrow, but I'm sure it'll be fun!  It always is! :)