My first cheque

My first cheque is written/payable to my mom.

There goes a LV bag.

Sigh.

Where the sun never shines...

Hi people! I'm back!

Most of you should know that I went for a holiday. Those who don't, now you do! =p

This post will be dedicated to my trip to Hanoi, Vietnam, and I hope that it will provide an insight to those who are interested in travelling up north. =)

It will be long and full of pictures, but of course, not ALL the pictures that I've taken in Hanoi. There are a total of 500 odd pictures taken! To some, it might not be anything surprising, but I thing is, I didn't really camwhore. =)

Ok, let's start!

Day 1 - 7th January 2010, Thursday

Arrived Hanoi airport at 8pm and by the time we got to the hotel, it was already 9+pm and Jem and I were STARVING like mad! So upon checking in, we got a map from the hotel and asked for directions on where we can find Pho Bo. Pho Bo is the vietnamese beef noodles and is pronounced as "fur bow".


Hotel Jasmine, US34 per room per night








Pho Bo on Cau Go Street, Old Quarters
VND20,000 per bowl

The noodles were AWESOME! It was probably due to our hunger that it was damn awesome, but seriously, it tasted much better than the ones in Melbourne and definitely Singapore! What's best is that there is not MSG added as Jem and I didn't felt thirsty at all after eating it! AWESOME! After which, we both headed for coffee near our hotel.


Cafe Lam @ the corner of Lo Su and Ly Thai To streets, Old Quarter
VND14,000 per cup

First word that came to mind as we both drank the coffee was "gao". Gao means thick in hokkien. The coffee was absolutely aromatic and thick. And this stall probably serves the best coffee that I've drank in Hanoi so far.

While walking back to the hotel, we came across a stall selling dried beef. It was quite dry, but tasted good! So Jem decided to purchase 2 packets, one shredded and one whole. I didn't get any because my family doesn't really take these kinda food.


Jem with the shop owners

Day 2 - 8th January 2010, Friday

Had breakfast in the hotel (Pho again), then headed to the Temple of Literature. It was quite a walk away, but we got to see the everyday lives of the vietnamese.


Shop houses at Old Quarter


Hoan Kiem Lake near our hotel


Temple of Literature
VND10,000-15,000 per person per entry

The temple of literature is a must see for those who visits Hanoi. If I'm not wrong, it is also the first university of Hanoi (or was it the whole of Vietnam?). But frankly speaking, if you don't see it, there's nothing much left.

After that, Jem and I got hungry and we went to hunt for food. We found Bun Cha! Bun Cha, pronounced as "boon chaa" is vietnamese grilled pork noodle. It is absoultely AWESOME! Even better than the pho in my opinion.


Bun Cha @ the street across the Temple of Literature


Comes with the springrolls
VND30,000 per bowl

After our yummy lunch, we headed to the One Pillar Pagoda, Ho Chi Minh Museum and Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum.


Chua Mot Cot a.k.a One Pillar Pagoda


Ho Chi Minh Museum
Closed on Mondays and Fridays =(


Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum

After that, we walked towards the Truc Bach Lake. It was only early afternoon and we were already done with our itinerary of the day! So nothing better to do, I decided to do something romantic.


HAHAHAHAHA...
VND50,000 per hour

Then we went for coffee near the lake, but it wasn't as good as cafe lam's and headed back to the Old Quarters, to Dong Xuan Market. Dong Xuan market is a wholesale market selling accessories, shoes, bags, electronics, cloth etc. The things there are rather cheap, but you'll have to buy them in bulk. For example, Jem had to buy 12 pairs of socks, but it's only S$1 each!!


Dong Xuan Market

There was nothing much to shop at Dong Xuan market, so we headed back to Cau Go, wanting to eat the Pho again. But we came across this wanton mee stall, so decided to check it out.


Wanton Mee
Around VND20,000

It was nothing fantastic.

We were tired from all the walking, so we decided to go back to the hotel to rest our feet.

THEN, after that, we went out again for another round of Pho Bo at the same place and saw a night (wet) market. Interesting! They were selling meat, fish, fried stuff, coffee etc.




Night Market on Cau Go, just opposite the Pho Bo stall

Day 3 - 9th January 2010, Saturday

Since we've already did what we wanted to do on Saturday (Dong Xuan and a walk around Hoan Kiem Lake), we decided to visit the Hoa Lo, Hanoi Hilton. This place is where all the vietnamese rebels were caught and placed into.

But before that, we went for our brunch... BUN CHA!

We asked the hotel receptionist and found out that there was a stall just next to our hotel! WOOHOOOOO~




Bun Cha! YUMMMS

Then off we went to the Hanoi Hilton!


A portrait of how it was like living in the prison


Hoa Lo at present


Hoa Lo during the past

After that we decided to walk around the French Quarters. But on the way there, we past a massage palour and decided, why not? =p I didn't take a photo of the place, but it's located at Du Truong Street (if i'm not wrong) near the Hoa Lo. It's only VND150,000 for a 90 mins body, legs, hands massage. Shiok!

Next, it was FOOOD again! Walking around the French Quarter was tiring, so we headed to Hoa Ma street for beef steak. It's not the usually beef steak that we normally have, it's the viet version, but nevertheless, it was not bad.






Beef steak on hot plate
Around VND50,000 per person

There was nothing at the French Quarter! We walked and scaled the streets but there were only motorbike repair stores, motorbike repair stores and more motorbike repair stores. Other than the lighting and fixtures street. But we managed to find a place for coffee.


Nice decor, but coffee sucked.

On the way back to the hotel, we passed the Metropole Hotel. OMG, they had IWC and Hermes?!?!?!





Day 4 - 10th January 2010, Sunday

Today's Halong Bay! Let the pictures do the talking.


Pinta Cruiser
US89 per person for 2D1N


Dining Area


Room


Deck


A gorgeous view of Halong Bay from the Amazing Cave


Amazing Cave



Day 5 - 11th January 2010, Monday


Kayaking into the caves at 8am



Then it's back to Hanoi where we arrived at 5+pm. Had dinner near the hotel. Was some duck noodle that tasted like crap. So we ended up at the Pho Bo stall having our beef noodles again. We weren't feeling very well due to Halong Bay being very cold, so we ended the day early and went back to the hotel for a hot bath and slept.

Day 6 - 12th January 2010, Tuesday

Our last day in Hanoi.

Since it was already the last day, we decided to have another Bun Cha meal. I searched on the internet and found a blogger recommending the one on Ta Hien street. Unfortunately, it wasn't open when we got there! So based on my memory, I remembered that blogger wrote something about a famous Bun Cha stall on Hang Manh Street. So we decided to make a trip there, hoping that it's open.


HOORAY!


VND125,000 for 2 bowls, springrolls and 2 drinks

The servings were huge! I couldn't even finish it! No wonder the price. But I still think that the Bun Cha stall at the Temple of Literature is better.

There wasn't nothing much to do at Hanoi already, so Jem and I decided to go to the National Museum of Vietnamese History. It was quite boring. Haha!


VND20,000 per person per entry

On the way back to the hotel, we saw an ice cream stall! So I had a scoop of chocolate! =)


VND10,000 per scoop

Last but not least, Charlene called me and told me that she just arrived Hanoi. So at the last hour at 4pm, we met for coffee at Cafe Lam. 5pm and its goodbye to Hanoi.


Char and I

That's all folks!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year people!

I know, this post should've been entered on the 1st January, but better late than never! =p

Today's my 3rd day at work and I'm loving it! Well, I think it's because I feel that there's so much to learn, so much to do! Just the 3rd day and I've conquered the credit spreads! Even though its quite tedious having to look at the financial statements and flipping to every page, every pointer, it's still quite fun. =)

I have to go on some course before I can start doing the credit reports and I still haven't gotten access to some systems and even the internet! So, I'm unable to email to external parties. Oh well...

Anyway it's only my 3rd day and I'm going on a holiday tomorrow! WAHAHAHA.

Ain't my life great?

So excited about the trip tomorrow. It'll be a totally different place with really unknown language. I hope they speak english. If not, I'll only order 1 type of food, pho. =/

Gotta go bathe and pack now! TATA!