Love is patient, love is kind.
It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Saturday, 15 December 2007, 4:41 pm
Vietnam trip was excellent! The places, the people, the culture, the food.
The place is very different from here. The streets are dusty and somewhat dirty. In the town area, many old buildings line the roads, though there're a couple of decent looking ones too. Motorcycles are as numerous as the sands on the beach. There're some taxis and cars are quite rare. Everyone moves around in motorcycles or bicycles. Its very hard to cross a street with so many vehicles on the road. And.. And... The sound of honkings from vehicles everywhere! Its like the drivers are conversing using the 'honking' language.
motorcyclist 1 : "honk honkhonk hooonk!"
[translation: "hello. Look at these tourists, they can't cross the street!"]
motorcyclist 2 : "hoooonk hoooonk. beeep honk!"
[translation: "haha yeah. So noob!"]
hahhaa, okay i'm so lame.
Vietnamese people are very friendly and nice. Though some can be quite inconsiderate.
VIETNAMESE FOOD ROCKS! Especially their noodles. PERFECT. The Vietnamese rice noodles are soft and easy to eat. Excellent.
Anyway, i shall start from day 1...
[Day1 (6/12/07)]
Took off at about 5.40pm arrived in Hanoi at about 8.15pm (Vietnam time). Met our tour guide for the trip, Xiang. She's a very nice lady, from Singapore too. Working in Vietnam. Grabbed our luggage and took the van to the town area. Checked into the hotel, Hotel Elegance. Left our luggage there and ate dinner at a nearby bar-restaurant. The music was techno and i kinda liked it. But everyone else HATED it. Haha. The food was very good. Totally love it. Finished eating and went back to the hotel. The hotel is very nice. It's got a computer in every room and there's internet broadband access too! The room service was good and the room was nice as well. Like, large beds, bathrooms.
the airport
[Day2 (7/12/07)]
Woke up at around 6am. The sunrises v. early, about 6.10am! Ate breakfast in the hotel. Food was good!
yogurt!
Next, took the hired van down to the Ho Chi Minh memorium. Also visited his living quarters and palace.
Next up, was the Temple of Literature. It was a school where all the scholars from go there to study. After passing the exams there, they would serve in the king.
Lunch at a nearby restaurant. After that was the Museum of Ethnology. i think that's the bestest funniest museum i've been too!
i think this should be on the cover of karma sutra
Next, water puppet! These are actually puppets on water and the puppeters are in a specially constructed stage. Pretty interesting. (but i slept half the time, haha)
Spent the evening shopping around. Very crowded and had much difficulty crossing the roads since we were new here. Ate dinner at Ancient Restaurant. haha.
Went back to the hotel. Took our luggage and went to the train station by a van. Yep, night train to Lao Cai town! it was very fun. Though the cabins were a bit small. My 2 sisters, Le Jing & Le Ying, Justin, Joseph and Marcus cramped into a cabin and played pictionary! V.fun!
at the train station
SLEEP!
[Day3 (8/12/07)]
Reached Lao Cai at 5.30am! its a small town near the China-Vietnam border. Ate breakfast at Emotion Restaurant. So emo! Hahaha. Bought some snacks and took the hired van, up up up!
that's how bored i was!
After riding for about 3 hours, we reached another small town and had a toilet break. Continued the ride upwards and reached a villagers' market. Its like a gathering and the villagers from all over the area would gather every saturday in this place to trade and sell stuff. Bought a couple of things. Took some photos. The villagers sold their cows, horses and buffaloes!
After we finished walking around, took the van back down to the same town and ate lunch. it was quite cold too! We also saw this group of guys playing chapteh and they're pretty good!
And then, its on to this town called Sapa! I LOVE THIS TOWN! And its even colder there because its about 1600m above sea level!! Its a really nice town and i totally love it. The weather rocks. Its a great place for relaxing. Nice people there and once again, excellent food. We checked into the hotel, put down our luggage and walked around. Ate dinner at Mimosa Restaurant. Very nice!
Went back to hotel and played pictionary (again). Was quite exhausted already so i went to sleep early.
[Day4 (9/12/07)]
HAPPY BIRTHDAY JEREMY!
Alrighty, woke up as usual, 6plus am. Ate some cold food in the hotel for breakfast even though its a buffet. Well, i went down late, that's why!
Went out and walked around the town. Its a sunday so many people are selling their thingies. And its very crowded too! Hmm at least there were lesser honkings as compared to in Hanoi. Bought some winter stuff. A glove an a ski-hat. The ski-hat has got the number 19 at the back! YAY! (maybe i'll wear it when playing for Slayers. HAHA)
Ate lunch. The pancakes they are VERY THE NICE! Its thin and soft and thin and soft and thin and soft and thin and soft!
After that, we walked to another part of the town. Sort of like the outskirts but not very far away. Visited the villagers there. And the scenery was very beautiful!
Waterfall!
After taking like, a million shots, walked back to the hotel and bathed. Ate dinner at some place called Friendly Restaurant. But the food wasn't so good. (Not so friendly after all. hahaha) Went back to the hotel and crashed. ZzzzzZZzzZZzZzzzzzZZzzz
[Day 5 (10/12/07)]
Dajie and i were the first to be down for breakfast. Faster than Dad! i think this's the first time! :D
Made a Heartagram on my butter!
In the morning was more trekking. So fun! Mum and Po-Po didn't come though. Took a lot of photos of the scenery. V.nice!
Went back and ate at Mimosa Restaurant (again!). I tell you, the food there is SUPER-DUPER-GOOD!
my Hawaiian pizza! :D
After lunch, packed our luggages and took the van to another waterfall! COOL!
After that, went back down down down. Reached Lao Cai at about 4.30pm.
That's China over the other side!
Ate dinner and there was a blackout. So the waiter brought in candles and lighted them up. Thankfully the lights came back on.
Took the night train back to Hanoi and played pictionary on the train too!
[Day 6 (11/12/07)]
Reached Hanoi at about 4.30am! Dragged myself out of bed, grabbed my luggage and got out of the train. Was VERY SLEEEEEEPY. Took the bus to some factory place. A factory for diamond, embroidery and clothes. Pretty cool. Ate breakfast there. Had some time to spare so we played pictionary, together with the other tour group. They're from Singapore too!
After that, continued on the bus ride to... HA LONG BAY!!!! Got onto a ship and.. SET SAIL! Took a lot of pictures. The scenery and all. Excellent!
Cruised around. Visited a small fishing village. And then went onto another place. Its called a... Huge ginormous rock. Okay, look at the picture and tell me what it is! haha. Climbed up! Mum climbed it too! Nice pictures!
Spent the night playing pictionary and then went to sleep quite early.
[Day7 (12/12/07)]
Cruised around again and went back to the harbour. So sad!
Ate lunch and took the bus back to Hanoi! Checked into the last hotel for the trip. It was also a very nice hotel. Same like the first one, a computer in every room with internet broadband access. Cool. Put down our luggage and took a taxi to a shopping mall. It was quite big too. Ate dinner there at a famous noodle store. V.good!!
Took taxi back to the hotel. The rest went out to shop while i remained in the room 'cause i was quite tired already.
Anyway, that night, i slept at 4am! Haha. Was watching Crash online. Its an excellent movie! Go watch it! Throughout the movie, its about racial discrimination.
[Day 8 (13/12/07)]
Woke up at around 8am. Was alone in the hotel. My family left me to go shopping! Haha. Oh well. So i went down quickly for breakfast before the it closes. Phew. Stayed in the hotel the whole morning. Anyway, in the afternoon was shopping! Yay. Bought quite a lot of things. Christmas gifts and all.
Evening came. Got our luggage and left for the airport. :((((((
i was actually quite reluctant to leave because i really loved Hanoi.
Bid farewell to Xiang and then onto the plane back to Singapore.
Tired nia!
Goodbye Vietnam!
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Reuben
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