Back to Hanoi

Last stop - Back to Hanoi

Just a few quick pics of our second Hanoi hotel post our Bai Tu Long Bay trip - the Sofitel Metropole Hanoi.

At $500 per night, this was my posh pick for this Hanoi trip. We had an agreement prior to this trip that going forward, we will accommodate a mixture of posh stays with budget stays over the duration of one trip.

On our balcony, overlooking the Old Quarter surrounds

Overall, the Sofitel Metropole Hanoi does deliver luxury, grandeur and efficiency in service but it was lacking the personal touch offered by the Green Mango.

Bai Tu Long Bay

Apologies for the half a year catch up on this..

2nd stop - Bai Tu Long Bay

Vessel of choice is the Lagoon Explorer, there were 4 guests in total, that is one less than the number of staff onboard - Captain, Engineer, Waiter, Tour Guide and Chef. We picked the Lagoon Explorer over the bigger luxury boats as its size allowed it to traverse around Bai Tu Long Bay, which in turn allowed us to ditch the other tourist boats crowding in Halong Bay.

The Lagoon Explorer

View from our cabin

3 guests on board plus Waiter

The girls with Waiter, Engineer, Tour Guide, Captain and Chef

Highlights of the boat trip:

drinking Vietnamese whiskey with the boat staff

outdrinking and out-"chăm phần chăm"-ing Captain

("chăm phần chăm"! - translates to "Bottoms Up"!)

kayaking, kayaking, and kayaking

visiting a cave during our kayaking trip

spotted during kayaking - it's a baboon, can you see it?

jumping off the roof of the Explorer (ok this should actually be a low-light for me, I was scared shitless!)

dinner in a cave, accompanied by stalactites and stalagmites, AND resident bats

"chăm phần chăm"-ing in the cave whilst dancing to techno music with the staff and belting out national songs

giving Chef a hand with the cooking..

dinner with candlelights everywhere

carvings by Chef

visiting the school at a floating village

having a go at rowing a boat (I did not get very far at all)

first i had a go.. .... rowing around in circles!!

then Bok had a go.. .... rowing around in bigger circles!! check out Ms Nyugen laughing in the background

finally back to Ms Nyugen, sun was setting by then!

floating market

our neighbours at night - boat people

fab views

Hanoi - Street food

Started with the ever-famous Pho Bo along Hang Quat, a couple of hundred metres from Green Mango.. got us off to a start and also a first practice session with the small plastic stools..




Tips for seeking out street food to sample on Hanoi's streets -
1. Wide and alert eyes
2. Sensitive nose
3. Unabashed curiousity

Top tip - follow the crowds.. this led us to this Banh Khuc stall - very very tasty indeed!

Bokkie - still not liking those tiny stools!!

Next up - sticking to the winning combination of fab smells and great crowds, we headed for some Bo Nuong (Grilled beef).. Yum!

See above two pics for name, addy and contact number of stall!

It was a tough fight but my personal fav Bun Mang Vit (Bamboo shoots and duck noodle soup).. along Ma May too..

Recommendations from Mr Hai:
1. My Van Than (Vietnamese wonton noodle soup) - on Hang Bo, at end where Hang Bo intersects Hang Can

2. Bun Cha (pork patties with vermicelli) - on Hang Manh, at end where Hang Manh intersects Hang Non

3. Kem (Vietnamese ice-cream) - on Trang Tien, at end where Trang Tien intersects Ngo Quyen

Vietnam

You avid readers, we are back by popular demand!

First Stop - Hanoi

Intro - let's start with the Green Mango Hotel & Restaurant..!!

Had the loveliest time shacked up at the Top View room, a real bargain at US$55 per night - you get free brekkie for two, 2 bottles of mineral water and a bottle of Chianti for every night of stay.. Although the website was undergoing maintenance during my accommodation search, having read great reviews on it (you can find a large number of them at Tripadvisor), I persevered to contact the owner Mr Hai directly for piccies and inquiries. Good job I did.





Our Top View room - great workout everyday.. 5 flights of steps!





Breakfast Menu











The courtyard - the hotel building used to be a primary school, this is where the kids ran around during playtime

Other quirks of the hotel - shisha, helpful receptionist-turned-personal-shopper, and an owner who gives great banter and chomps on cilantro as a bar snack. Piccies of these experiences below..



Bokkie having a go at Shisha - S$8 for a fruity flavour




Check out my shopping of traditional H'Mong gear - my bib, beaded coat and headdress!! Thanks to helpful personal shopper (pictured) for the great bargains..

By the way, my H'Mong name is La, please call me La from now on!! :)

No piccies on cilantro chomping, included a link instead on the wiki page Bokkie found confirming that Cilantro (known to the Vietnamese) is the same as Coriander (known to the Brits) which is also the same as Chinese Parsley (known to the Chinese - duh!).. Big debate of the night!

Cool, I'm adding this to my list of veggies-with-many-different-names-according-to-many-different-countries/ regions:

1. Eggplant - Brinjal - Aubergine
2. Bhindi - Lady's Fingers - Okra
3. Cilantro - Coriander - Chinese Parsley
4. Kang Kong - Water Convolvulus - Water Morning-Glory*
* new contribution from the Girls on 16-12-2008

Our banter with Mr Hai on our last night included an in-depth discussion of Vietnamese cooking, an intense debate on cilantro vs coriander vs chinese parsley (which led to cilantro chomping as we had to fetch 'evidence' from the kitchen) and an insider review of must-try Hanoi street foods (complete with markings on our well-worn map)...

European travels

Very belated photos update from European travels in the last 2 months

Naughty weekend in Amsterdam with Bokwok - Easter

Let's just say we weren't there for Anne Frank Huis

Get it?

Is this a sign? The next stop on our Europe travels is Montmarte, gay Paris

Romantic Paris with Bokwok - end Apr

Our baroque hotel with a giant jacuzzi tub in colourful Pigalle/ Montmarte

Our endless feasting on French cuisine..

Dinner - Snails @ Restaurant Roger la Grenouille (Latin Quarter)

Yes, despite the name of the restaurant (Roger the Frog), we had snails which were yumms

Lunch - Very very very (can't stress this more) good food at L'Ambassade d'Auvergne (Marais)

Starter - Warm lentil salad (check out how much I was given as a starter)

Main - Lucious duck breast and aligo (stringy potato and cheese)

Dessert - The most heavenly banana sorbet ever

Along with the complimentary foie gras and sugared bread, we were STUFFED! Had to roll us out from the restaurant..

Bokwok says "pls don't fall on me Mr Gammon"

Wine - Lavina at Madeleine

(Recommended by Kimura Takuya himself, featured on SMAP X SMAP)

The real reason why we were in Paris - to visit Europe's largest wine store and to follow in SMAP's footsteps and buy a bottle of wine each from our birthyear.

Unfortunately '79 was not a very fruitful year for wine.. SMAP was not there but the salesman featured in SMAP X SMAP was, haha... ... We did get nice bottles of Vins de Pays instead!

"Can't believe I'm sitting on Kimutaku's seat!"

"yeah yeah whatever..."

Our poses with Statues

Bokwok doing the rhino

Suck it

Doubling up on the sunnies

The giraffes

Shopping weekend with Ned (Mid May)

2 new Spanish words learnt

1) Straw (pajita) - you know I can't drink my Diet Coke without a straw!

2) Beautiful (guapa) - had to learn it cos we were told it so often??

Museum of Ham

Any boobjobs on the menu?

Leeds (not Leeds)

Remember the band Was (not Was)? Well, it was Leeds Castle in Kent (not in Leeds) we visited last weekend.. countless tourists have been confused over how Londoners can fit in a day trip to Leeds Castle when Leeds is in North London.. FYI Kent is only an hour's drive from (the right side of) London..

Castle was well pretty as it's set on 2 man-made (I think!) islands but I think our pictures turned out pretty well too!

Wah, cool photo.. Looks like a cover shot of one of America's newest hot TV sitcom!

Not sure why we were all grinning ear to ear!

Me as new 'Mo-dell' for Pantene Ad (as the wind blows my hair..)

Bok's usual look of fright when I'm coming at him! how funny are our expressions??

Awww, how sweet...

Idea for new Flatmo in Singapore.. I also really dig her shoes!

After (more than) one coin-toss, we headed to Dover as our next stop to see the White Cliffs and to check out the seagulls (if any)..

Nothing too fantastic up front but we did catch a glimpse of them when the sun was shining down hard, and man were they white......!

After stopping to grab some pub grub and a pint of Guiness to celebrate Paddy's Day, our last stop was Canterbury Cathedral, one of the oldest and most famous largest cathedrals in the UK. Very very pretty indeed and also rather goth for the UK!

Greenwich

Even after 5+ years in London, I still think it's rather cool that we live near the GMT line. If you ever wanted to be AT the actual line, you can take a river boat eastwards from the Greenwich pier and the boat operator is highly likely to point it out to you.

Two Saturdays ago, we finally headed out early to have brekkie and read the newsie at Pistachios (our fav cafe in Greenwich).. an activity we chat about all the time but never quite making it out the door in time for! check out Grumpy-pants in piccie below..

Weird how chips were included in this english breakfast

Next up was also another untraditional stop for us - the National Maritime Museum (also in the village). One of the good things about London? Free entry to museums.. A suggested donation of £2 per visit allows Londoners the flexibility to pop in and out of museums at their own leisure without thinking OVERLOAD!

Check out how the daffodils look GIGANTIC next to me!

(Cue: Admire the flowers as you sing 'and the daffodils look massive today ay ay ay... and the daffodils look massive today ay ay ay... look massive today ay...' from the Cranberries)

Dinner Collage

Photos of meals 2 weeks ago:

Kimchi HotPot 1

Prawn Mee

More Kimchi HotPot (with wantons!)

ASH Started a Fire

New ASH single free for download is called I Started a Fire - click to DL the mp3!

J, is it my imagination or does Tim look like Sam in the Pic?

Separated at Birth?


Tim Wheeler (Ash) enjoying chicken


Sam hanging with homies whilst Jit is away

Am gutted I didn't get tix to their concert in London this week, their next concert tour is in Jul when we'll probably not be in London by then! Mega Boos..

Speaking of great concerts, I am currently revelling in my newly-arrived Pop Up SMAP concert DVD! Fantastic opening with the band flying down the stage on 'flying-fox'-like contraceptions.. What would I give to watch a live SMAP concert, sigh.. Do you know that only SMAP fan club members can apply for concert tix and that you can only be a SMAP fan club member if you lived in Japan! Damnz!

Ladybird (box) and Puma (Hat)

The rest of my days in New York were ruled by shopping and eating, no surprises there!

Quick highlights:

Tues -
Headed to Koreatown on 32nd Street for kimchi ramen at Woori Jip (def: our house, kor.) ahead of hitting the shops (no photo as was too hungry to pause)
First disappointing trip was to Victoria's Secret - very mediocre 'plasticky' bras with over-enthusiastic and 'cheong hei' (def: long-winded, canto.) sales assistants! Erm, leave me alone? Left instead with some cute undies and make-up and headed down the street to American Eagle and Old Navy
Wah - cheap, fast and furious purchasing pursued for the next couple of hours.. Stopped when arms literally could not carry any more bags!
Hmm, New York seems well prepared for St Patrick's Day - bought t-shirts, PJs, Flip-flops, boxers with an Irish theme - how fun and tacky!


G suggested that I should change the T-shirt wording to "I'm getting soME Irish 2Night" - bwah-haha

Wed -
Wandered about NoLita and bought For All Mankind jeans at Henry Lehr (good knowledgeable staff) and a cute ladybird box from Soho Baby (toy shop on Elizabeth St.)
Lazy day ended with dvd-shopping in Chinatown (where my skilled scouring located a very old Takuya samurai series), foot reflex and more pigging out at Joe's Shanghai with the girls.
Remembered to take a few shots this time round, but still not after we had already polished off a quick round of Xiao Long Baos. Had our second order of Winter Melon Soup - below average, more expensive than before and can only feed 2 peeps.. Boos!

Thurs -
Full day's dedication to Shopping! Left the flat at half 8 and returned 12 hours later after visting shop-till-you-drop Woodbury Common shopping outlet.

FYI - Top tips for survival:
bring a rolling bag to lug around purchases
get a map so you don't get lost
plan the shops and order in which you will proceed
get to bus station early as queues are long and station is BIG
top shops: Coach, Calvin Klein, Ferragamo, G-Star Raw (for men's jeans)

Best Buys - a pair of Nine West shoes at $20, a pair of G-Star jeans at $65, loads of Coach accessories at 30-50% off, a Puma Hat for $10

Ended exhausting day with tasty Katsu Don, sake and green tea ice-cream at Sapporro's just down the road (49th St.) from G's.

Fri -
Made an extra-special trip down to Princetown Ski to pick up a new snowboarding outfit for Bok (you owe me Big time!). What do you guys think? Bok is sporting the latest Jacket of the Gods and Pants of the Gods combi from Burton. Got a great deal as the Winter season is ending and all goodies are at 30% off.

BTW - Bok is holding the mirror to 'add light' and enhance his looks for the picture (little does he know I've captured his silliness on camera - haha!)

More shopping after a detour to drop off the super-heavy "God's clothing" at the flat - picked up more pressies at Coach, yet more jeans at Abercrombie & Fitch, a 3-pc work suit plus extra pencil skirt at Banana Republic and 3 more pairs of shoes from Nine West!

More shopping photos - shoes, jeans, 'birth-year'-themed tees, Ladybird (box) and Puma (Hat)

Also attached a photo below of the St Patrick's Cathedral to prove I did 'some' sight-seeing... Actually nah! the Cathedral was conveniently located across from the BR store!

Had Korean BBQ at 'NY 24 hours' for dins before heading on to drinks at Merc Bar (watch out, cowskin couches galore!) and clubbing at Element (special DJ sess in the Vault). Bedtime? 9am!

Snowy day of Pampering

Monday in New York - Snow Outside

What can a girl do?
Book last-minute spa and salon appointments of course!

• First up (11am - 3 hrs at spa)

Got me a Winter Refresher package at Dorit Baxter's

Wah, shioki-shiok (Bok, this is how you spell it!) - 1 hr massage, 1 hr facial and 30 mins scrub plus an extra spots-treatment.. Damage? US$236, not bad I must say

• Next: Wandered into Kate's Paperie

It's all very nice and pretty and cute blah blah blah, but seriously, was I going to stay at home and make cards? Nah! Got a cute rubber stamp and stamp pad instead. The wedding Guestbooks were also JUST ordinary..

• Late Late Lunch - Rai Rai Ken

Cute little ramen stall in the East Village, went there as reviews were good and I was meant to have a hair appointment at the Jap salon next-door but shock shock horror horror, they had moved to a new location a month ago.. Regardless, sat down and had me a shoyu ramen - very very yum! I think the store owner was a tad shocked when I said Itadakimasu ahead of eating (or maybe I was just imagining it!)..

Shoyu ramen at Rai Rai Ken


Pack'em in! This is exactly how 'big' the stall is..

• Cut and Colour at Hair Kuwayama (2 hrs)

Had a bit of a confusion over my appointment as the stylist couldn't quite understand 'my English' but managed to squeeze in a cut and colour (no highlights though). Instead, 'highlights' included chatting about KimuTaku, Won Bin and J-dramas and K-dramas.. what else? Stylist Nari looks a lot like a Jap colleague in Singapore so got a photo in. Damage? US$160

• Happy Hour at Bamboo 52 and Dinner at BYOB- Nooks

Zagat-subscriber and happy-hour crazed bird P's recommendations for drinks and dinner in our Mid-town vicinity.. Had a Bam Bam Boo (sake, lime, cranberry) and some very delicious Mushroom cigars (what? smoking even with the great NYC smoking ban..!) and lamb chops.

New York New York!

Got to the Big Apple Sat afternoon (24 Feb) and was quickly out and about in town with mates, piccies attached below:

A quick run-down on where we were:

Pre-dinner drinks

A sake bar-restaurant near S's abode at NoLita - Chibi's Bar

S says that she thinks of a nasty Hokkien phrase whenever she reads the name of the Bar, I'm sure you all get it.
Best thing about the bar? The pictures of the pug - cute.. Woof!

Dinner

Trip to The Stanton Social was not successful so ended chomping at Latino- Mexican food at a restaurant nearby - don't think any of us remembers the name.. nevermind, next!

Kara

Went to Sing Sing Karaoke, is this NY's finest? Hope not! Songs were outdated and manual flipping of crusty old songbooks were required for tunes-selection! Yuck..

Clubbing

First choice was The Shelter but no one knew the address then. For future reference, you can click on my hyperlink! So ended up at basement club Sullivan Room for great house music.

Supper

A greasy-spoons cafe near S's place, not very memorable (had a fairly good cheeseburger I think). Only remembered thinking to myself how I would not be caught dead in a kebab shop (probably the UK equivalent) back in London. Hope I was not eating rat-burger instead..

Aftermath

Back to S's place, the stragglers eventually left or went to bed at 5 or 6am. Bedtime was 8am for S and myself, zzzzzzzzzs..

Next morning

Nua-d (def: lazed, hokk.) till stomachs were growling, proceeded to Chinatown for pig-out session at Congee Village.

Our Order?

4 types of porridge

Winter Melon Soup for 4 - gan pi (def: real cheap, hokk.) at only $4

Beef fillet chinese style

Aubergine and tofu hotpot

Rice baked salted chicken (served in a log!)

Tao Miu (or Tou Miao - chinese veg)

Fried Rice with diced chicken and salted fish

Xiao Long Baos

....... I'm sure I'm missing something out....

That was all for the 4 of us.. 'crazy's aye!