Hanoi

Randy's blur (and ours will continue).

Needless to say we were feeling pretty tired. We got to Hanoi at 8:30 a.m. their time (a three hour flight) and cabbed it for forty-five minutes to the Old Quarter. The cab driver and some cronies tried to scam us. We were taken to another cheap hotel and told that the Win Hotel was all booked and we would stay at their's. No way. We insisted on being taken to the Win and eventually the cabbie complied. He then had the gall to ask about a tip!!!! Reception at the Win Hotel seemed unsurprised as we told him the story. Apparently it is not unusual. We learned that you should always book the taxi through the hotel and they add it to your hotel bill so that the driver does not try to clean out your wallet.

The Win is a "boutique" hotel right in the Old Quarter. It has five floors and ten rooms and no elevator. The ceilings are all 12 feet and the rooms are small. The place is very clean and comfortable but hardly a 2 star hotel. The location however was excellent. Again we were in the heart of the action. Although tired we stepped out to find a bite of lunch. There are local cafes lining the street and around the corner we found an Italian restaurant where the pizza was excellent. We also found a French restaurant that we decided to return to later.

The hotel is a block from one of the lakes...the Lake of the Divine Turtle. We walked the 1.7 km around the lake and visited many of the local shops and side streets. We also booked tickets to an afternoon performance of the water puppets. This is a northern Vietnam art form and entertainment. We attended the four o'clock performance and I think we each missed a portion due to sagging eyelids. More walking, more shops and more shopping and we were all ready for a dinner at an excellent French restaurant- see the photo (but not the aforementioned). We wandered by circuitous routes back to our hotel and were in bed by 10:00.

On Friday the culture shock hit. We have never felt culture shock until now. The parts of Asia we have visited have been different but this was overwhelming. Looking back I guess it started on the taxi ride when Randy tried to smack an insect and hit the seat. The fleas flew up all around her and Kim. Kim wants to believe that they were mosquitoes. This is little better given the diseases that mosquitoes carry in Vietnam. The scam from the taxi driver rolled off of us because we were so tired but I believe it had its impact. The number of motor bikes (small scooters) is also overwhelming. The roads & intersections are chaotic. There a bicycles, motor bikes, some cars, vans & trucks. Along with this there are people walking everywhere and so many ladies carrying 6 foot long poles with huge baskets hanging from each end. Crossing the street is so scary. We were told to close our eyes & just keep walking - the motor bikes would go around us!! Well, needless to say we kept our eyes opened and the vehicles did go around us! The streets of Hanoi are amazing. They are crowded with vendors of every kind. All of the store merchants sit on little 6 inch stools on the side walk. They sell everything from their store front or from woven baskets - clothes, shoes, meat, vegetables. Families sit on the little stools to eat breakfast, lunch & dinner. Barbers set up shop by hanging a mirror on a wall & men get their hair cut & faces shaved right on the sidewalk. We could not convince Bill to have a "street" hair cut! We witnessed many women having the lice picked out of their hair - on the sidewalk!!

We walked to the open fresh market. It was sooo crowded but amazing. You can buy anything there. We were not afraid but we did feel very vulnerable. At one point Bill & Kim got stuck on one side of a bridge & Randy was on the other side out of sight. We thought we'd never see her again. She is an attraction because of her blond hair. People would stop her & ask to have their pictures taken with her. But, we did catch up with her. The streets are also very polluted & dirty - not with litter, but with the grit & grim of a dusty, dry, very crowded & very hot city. We did not do a lot of shopping.

On Friday afternoon we decided to hire a taxi & take one of the tours of the country side to visit ceramics, painters & carpenter villages. Again, the culture shock overwhelmed us. The rural areas are still using water buffalo to pull small ploughs, and the horse/pony & cart are a common mode of transport. The roads are narrow and barely passable. There are very few cars but thousands of bicycles & motor bikes. We do not know how our driver did not hit someone or how someone did not hit us! It was truly incredible but very scary. We got to the ceramics village where the local people work in huge factories to produce all of the ceramic vases, dishes, bowls etc etc that we buy in North America. I bartered long & hard to buy 3 small blue & white ceramic lidded containers. I was thrilled with my purchased at $1.00 per dish. Unfortunately, I left them on the floor of the taxi we hired!!!! Our driver got terribly lost & we ended up driving through some amazingly 3rd world villages - kids in bare feet everywhere, sellers by the side of dirt roads, pony & cart hauling, ladies walking cows through town, and no electricity, no street lights. We finally arrived at the painter's village & the driver motioned for us to go in. It was pitch dark & he was staying in the car. All of our alarm bells went off & we said no - take us back to Hanoi. We really believe that he was not trying to lead us into any trouble but we did not want to take any chances in the dark.

On Saturday morning we took a tour of Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum, his home and the Temple of literature dating back to 1067. All of these sights were fabulous & our guide was great. People in Vietnam love Ho Chi Minh. Although it is a Communist country, this is the only place where we felt the Communist presence. We kept looking for the downtown, city area. We discovered that there really was not a central city area. They seem to have rebuilt the city in the past 20-25 years in a bit of a scattered manner. When we asked a concierge at the Hanoi Hotel for a city tour - she replied that the wasn't one because there was nothing to see!! The devastating history of the US carpet bombing of Hanoi is horrible. But, everything is referred to in US terms and dollars. It is truly an acceptance attitude that escaped our comprehension. We learned so much in Hanoi. It is truly one of the experiences we will never forget.

Hong Kong

Randy's last week is a blur. We visited Hong Kong for four days and Hanoi for three. School wrapped up with graduation on Thursday and Kim and I committed to work the recruiting fair on Saturday. We had booked flights and hotels in both Hong Kong and Hanoi. On Saturday morning we heard that the Hong Kong hotel had notified us that a room was no longer available (a better offer, I guess). We immediately began a search online and talked to colleagues. Our director, Frank, recommended the Stanford in Mong Kok (in the Kowloon section of HK). A phone call confirmed a reservation and we crossed our fingers.
Hong Kong

On Sunday we flew into Macao and ferried over to Kowloon, Hong Kong. We taxied into an apparently older part of town. Our trepidation was relieved when we got to a small but modern hotel just blocks from the Market ( Ladies Market, electronic market, Jade market, Temple market, fish market, flower market, bird market, sports market - truly amazing). The activity in the area is energizing. People are everywhere from early morning until late evening (midnight). The market itself opens at noon and closes at midnight. Each evening it is torn down and cleared away to allow for cleaning and local deliveries. Each day it is set up and the surrounding streets are blocked off to create a pedestrian mall. The market then becomes shoulder to shoulder browsers and bargainers. We took great advantage of the opportunities to get some Christmas shopping done.

On Monday we found a tour company and booked two tours. The first was a half day tour of Hong Kong island on Monday afternoon. We were picked up at a local hotel at 1:30 and toured until after 7:00 that night. It included the shopping district from British colonial times (Hollywood Avenue) the temples and Stanley market. The tour gave us a wonderful overview and we determined that we would return on Tuesday to further explore the Hollywood Avenue(shopping) and Soho (eating and partying) areas. One of the experiences was a ride on the inclined railway to the top of Victoria peak. This is the highest point in Hong Kong and provides quite a view of the harbour. The railway is serviced by a pair of old style tram cars and is said to be the steepest in Asia. We moved on to Aberdeen typhoon shelter. A safe harbour that houses the fishermen. We took a ride on a sampan with a crust old woman with a very direct approach to everything. At the end of the tour she said "55 dollars each person - you pay now!" This part of the tour showed us around the floating village that houses the fisherman's families. We drove through the outer areas of the island past Repulse Bay and on to Stanley market. Having spent time in the Ladies market we found Stanley market a little tame.

On Tuesday we went back the HK island and walked around the areas mentioned. On Hollywood we met Ken and Susan, a young couple from the college ... among 7 million people. We arranged a lunch for Wednesday. We also visited Soho for a delightful lunch at a little bistro. We returned to the hotel and prepared for the second tour...a Christmas holiday lights tour of Hong Kong and Kowloon areas. The first stop was on the Kowloon side of the harbour where watched a sound and light show put on by the major buildings and businesses on both sides of the harbour. Back on the bus we drove around for an hour on the top of an open top double Decker bus and marvelled at the neon and Christmas lights. They really get into Christmas here but we hear that the BIG celebration is Chinese New Year in February. We finished up with a visit to Temple market. Is is much like Ladies market - you can buy just about anything and most are "GENUINE COPIES". They really said that!

Wednesday was a hectic day. We went to the Jade market but didn't buy because Kim (the negotiator) didn't get the prices she wanted. Then we met Ken and Susan for a dim sum lunch. The restaurant was recommended by Ken's uncle who lives in Hong Kong. It was great to have Ken along as he grew up in HK and speaks the language. He also knows dim sum and what to order. We had a wonderful time sharing food and experiences.

We absolutely loved Hong Kong. It is the most vibrant, crowded, interesting city with fabulous sights, areas, and people.

Back at our hotel we picked up the luggage and caught a cab to the ferry terminal. The trip to Macao and the airport went well and we were in plenty of time for our 7:50 flight. Unfortunately, the plane did not arrive and we were delayed for 3 hours until 10:50. We arrived back in KL at 3:00 AM and waited in the airport until 5:30 to check in for a 6:30 flight to Hanoi.

Another Great Weekend

Last week was exam week for the college so Kim and I were busy there. Randy also kept herself busy. She has become quite comfortable with the KL transportation system and strikes out to explore the city on her own.

On Friday afternoon Kim had completed her exam marking and I had just started mine so Randy and Kim set out to shop, mostly for a dress for Kim to wear to Andrea's wedding. They tried on "THOUSANDS". When they got back to Subang Jaya we went to our favourite Japanese restaurant, Tomoe for a fabulous dinner.

On Saturday we hopped a bus and went to Melaka. This is one of our favourite cities. It is steeped in history going back to th 14th and 15th centuries. We caught a cab and rode into the old section of town where we began a tour that Carolyn and Joe would recognize. In Chinatown we picked up several gifts and souvenirs. The lunch at Geographer was wonderful. Afterwards we toured St. Paul Hill and the church ruin. It is coming up to the feast of St, Francis Xavier and the church was decorated with an altar and flowers in preparation for the celebration. This is the church that the saint regularly attended until his death. He was buried first in Melaka. After nine months the church had him exhumed and reburied in Goa, India. The official reason for the move was that the Holy See decided Francis wanted to be in Goa. In recompense they left a relic of the saint in Melaka, his right arm.

After a visit to Santiago Gate Randy and Kim took a trishaw ride. The had an excellent tour. Bill waited near the signature Christ Church and had an interesting political conversation with a local tour operator. We decided to take a bus back to KL and hopped aboard a local bus. This bus was very local, and very old. We spent 40 minutes experiencing the neighbourhoods...old, new, elegant and kampung. Finally arrived at Melaka Sentral (the bus depot) for the ride back to KL.

In KL we walked a few blocks from the bus station to Petaling Street. This is the Chinese night market. It is apparently becoming more multicultural and aggressive. Randy did some shopping and managed to get a few bargains. More than anything we all enjoyed the SPORT of haggling.

On Sunday, Randy and Kim went dress shopping again and spent the entire day walking, trying, and enjoying each other's company. I had a pile of exams to finish marking so I stayed home. I owe Randy big time for allowing me to work and for saving me from the endless round of bridal and designer shops.

On Monday we left the college and hooked up with Rand for a return trip to Bangsar. Kim and Randy had found THE dress. Kim bought it once I had approved :-) In celebration we walked over to a very upscale section of Bangsar for dinner. We had appetizers and wine at an Italian restaurant and then moved over to a French restaurant for entrees and more wine. I stuck to the usual fruit juice and sparkling water; after all someone had to get the women home.

All in all it was a very successful weekend...wouldn't you agree?