Highlights from Hanoi & Ha Long Bay

I just realized that I never posted pics from Hanoi and Ha Long Bay! It was a lot of fun and I really enjoyed myself. I'm pretty sure Tania's favorite part was Ha Long Bay. We took pictures as much as we could, and there's a whole huge set of the pics on Flickr.



I really really loved Hanoi. We ate at all of these awesome restaurants, but we were a little dismayed that the restaurants in the tour books were all restaurants that catered to foreigners. I have to say that our cheapest and most authentic meals came towards the end when we were eating street food on tiny little chairs with motorcycle exhaust blowing up our butts.

Hanoi is a small city, and we walked because we felt like walking would be the safest course of action. Motorcycle taxis were aplenty, as were cyclos and taxis, but none of them seemed to obey any sort of traffic law and we wanted to get out alive. The highlight was really the water puppet show, which was a total deal. My sister said something along the lines of "they could charge stupid Americans 5 times as much and they would still pay."

We left Hanoi for Ha Long Bay in the middle of our trip and it was everything Hanoi was not -- peaceful and serene. We booked an overnight trip on the Santa Maria Cruiser, and it was quite nice as we were two of six guests total on the cruise ship. The ship maxes out at 16 guests, but I imagine it would have been quite crowded with all rooms occupied like that. I don't know how people do Ha Long as a day trip from Hanoi because it's nearly three hours just to get there.

Anyhow, I'm hoping that we get to go back soon. I'd love to go with Joel and the rest of my family and see the rest of Vietnam -- Hue and Saigon especially.

Hong Kong Highlights!

Here are highlights of our trip to Hong Kong!




We arrived in Hong Kong at 7am. After going through customs and picking up our luggage, my sister and I had our own bus to our hotel on Hong Kong Island. We checked in, and as our room was already ready for us, we showered and were on our way. First order of business: dim sum! We went to dim sum in City Hall at Maxim's Palace. There, we experienced for the first time (but not the last time), Hong Kong's version of cleanliness. We were given a pot of hot water and a bowl to clean our eating instruments. We also noticed that dim sum in Hong Kong was a time for locals to relax. Many of them came in with reading material and would just sit there with tea and read. After our dim sum, we started our walk through Central towards Victoria Peak. We took the Peak Tram up to the Peak, and it was actually quite a fun steep ride. The views up on top were amazing, and we took a walk around the hill. Afterwards, we went into Kowloon to the Temple Street Market. Tania didn't see anything she liked there, so we went to Ladies' Market. Again, Tania didn't see anything there, so we decided just to go see the Avenue of the Stars and wait for the Symphony of Lights.

The Symphony of Lights in the Guinness world record holding longest light show in the world, and it was neat how for over 15 minutes, the buildings in Hong Kong danced. After the light show, we took the ferry back to Hong Kong. We went to dinner at a hole in the wall noodle joint near our hotel.

The next day we went to Luk Yu Tea House. As much as Maxim's Palace the first day was the dim sum with the dim sum carts that we were used to, Luk Yu looked like what dim sum must have looked like mid century. Women carried the dim sum selections in tin trays, and everything had an old world feel to it. After breakfast, we wandered around Hong Kong Island some more until we came upon Hollywood Road and Man Mo Temple. Then we hopped on the subway for Lantau Island to see the biggest outdoor Buddha in the world. Now, I had already seen the second biggest outdoor Buddha in the world in Japan, so I was interested to see the biggest. The stop before ours was the transfer stop for the Disneyland line, and we smiled when we saw the Disneyland train, all dolled up Disney style.

Now, we knew that at the end of the subway line, there would be a cable car. What we didn't realize was how long the cable car ride was -- over 5 miles long. It was quite lovely, having a bird's eye view. We got up there and walked through the little shopping village to the Buddha. Unlike the one in Japan, one can see this Buddha sitting on top of the hill from many vantage points, and it was a very popular tourist site. We saw the temple nearby. At night, we went to check out the Causeway Bay shopping area. In the morning, before our flight, we had our last dim sum at a restaurant near our hotel. If Luk Yu was "old school," Viking was "new school" with no carts, only menus (kind of like sushi bar menus) to mark. After our dim sum, we went back to the hotel to check out and catch our ride to the airport.

Back Home!

It's been thrilling to travel around, but it's also very nice to be back home. I've been busy sorting the pictures and putting everything up online for posterity. A couple things that I've welcomed:

- Potable tap water. So so nice.
- Enforced traffic laws.
- Catalytic converters. I didn't think I would call LA air clean, but man, it certainly seems clean after Hanoi.
- Cushy bed. Nuff said.

Leaving Vietnam

It's 7am here in Vietnam, and we're going to be leaving this afternoon. I wish we had more time here to see more of the country. We stuck mainly to Hanoi, with our overnight cruise to Halong Bay. It is warm and sticky here in Hanoi during the day, and I can't imagine going any later than spring. I am definitely going to have to come back to see more of the country -- especially Hue and Saigon which we did not get anywhere near.

Anyhow, once we're back stateside, I'll be able to upload the pictures to share all the fun we've had so far. I've got to start my morning soon...

Last Full Day in Hanoi!

Yesterday, my sister and I saw the majority of the remaining sights in Hanoi. The entire morning was taken up by queueing up to see Ho Chi Minh himself. It was quite the surreal experience. Afterwards, we saw the One Pillar Pagoda (Chua Mot Cot), perused the Military History Museum, and then had a super late lunch of Cha Ca. At night, we walked to Bobby Chinn and had a superb dinner.

Today is our last full day in Hanoi, and we're going to spend the majority of it in the Old Quarter. It's been a lot of fun and a lot of walking. Now to start our last day here...

Hello Hanoi!

It's been an interesting trip so far. Right now, my sister and I are back in Hanoi after doing an overnight trip to Halong Bay. Hanoi is a noisy, lively city, and the trip to Halong was peaceful and quiet. The Internet connection here has proven to be super slow, so I've decided to wait until I get home to upload our hundreds of photos. Our trip is more than half over, and I wish we had more time to explore more of Vietnam.

Here is an overview of what we saw/did so far:

Hong Kong -
Day 1: ate dim sum at Maxim's Palace, went up Victoria's Peak, went to the Temple Street Night Market, went to the Ladies' Market, walked the Avenue of the Stars and saw the Symphony of Lights, ate at a whole in the wall noodle joint
Day 2: ate dim sum at some fancy tea house, walked Hollywood Road and saw the Man Mo Temple, went to Lantau Island, took the Ngong Ping cable card to the Po Lin Monastery and the world's biggest outdoor Buddha statue, wandered around the Causeway Bay shopping area and found a whole in the wall Chinese BBQ place for dinner.
Day 3: ate dim sum at Viking Seafood Restaurant near the hotel, then went to the airport to fly to Hanoi!

Hanoi -
Day 1: wandered around Hanoi's Old Quarter and stumbled upon a night market, ate bun bo Hue at Restaurant 69 near our hotel.
Day 2: walked around Hoan Kiem Lake, visited the Ngoc Son Temple, passed the Cathedral, ate a delicious delicious lunch at Green Tangerine, shopped some more, then at night walked to the French Quarter, saw the Opera House, ate dinner at Club Opera.
Day 3: went to Halong Bay on an overnight cruise, went kayaking in Halong Bay.
Day 4: saw Amazing Cave before cruising back to the pier and returned in Hanoi!

We have tickets to see the famous water puppets tonight, then afterwards we're going to go find some yummy food for dinner. I'll go into more detail once I upload all the pics.

In Hong Kong...Next Stop: Hanoi

It's almost bedtime for me here in Hong Kong! My sister and I arrived here yesterday morning after a 15 hour flight from Los Angeles. (Strangely, Hong Kong is 15 hours ahead of Los Angeles.) We've been all around Hong Kong Island, Kowloon, and even Lantau. Tomorrow, we are leaving for Hanoi, Vietnam. If we had stayed in Hong Kong for one more day, I would have probably broken down and gone to Hong Kong Disneyland like my sister wanted.

Anyhow, we've taken lots and lots of pictures, but we've been using one of two shared Internet terminals in the hotel, so pictures, videos, and more details will have to wait until we get to Hanoi.

Back from Vail!

We're back after nearly a week in Vail, Colorado! I'm bruised and sore all over -- Vail Mountain kicks serious ass, literally. It was a great trip, and we were sorry to leave. I'll be posting pictures (when I get them) to our website. Until then, here's me at Mid Vail!

TripAdvisor

So I love TripAdvisor. Finally, today, I signed up, and I was making a map of everywhere I've traveled to. It was kind of fun! Check it out:

• View my profile


• Create your own travel map or travel blog


• Visit TripAdvisor.com

Super-confusing, but superfast!

Last week Tuesday (January 17th), I sent my passport to the Vietnam Embassy in Washington, DC, via USPS Express Mail, to get a visa for my upcoming trip to Vietnam. Now, I could have sent it to the Vietnam Consulate in San Francisco, but I had a confusing conversation with the Consulate over the phone and the people at the Embassy in DC seemed to understand my questions better.

The confusion I had stemmed from the dual fee structure that Vietnam now has. First you have to call or email them to ask how much the fees are, and then, depending on what language you speak or, in my case, what your last name is, they'll give you a price. There is one fee for Vietnamese people ($30 single entry) and another fee for everybody else ($65 single entry). Not so confusing so far, right? Except do they mean "Vietnamese" as in "born in Vietnam" or Vietnamese as in ethnically Vietnamese? In my case, what if you were born in America to Vietnamese-born parents?

The problem is exacerbated by the fact that in order to get the $30 Vietnamese people rate, you need to fill out the form written in Vietnamese for people "born in Vietnam." Which seemed to indicate that I didn't qualify. But the answer from the Embassy is that I am Vietnamese and therefore qualify for the lower amount and that I needed to fill the Vietnamese application. When I said that I couldn't read Vietnamese, the lady on the phone just said, "Have your mom or dad help you."

Well, I had my mom help me, and I sent it off with my passport, fighting a paranoid fear that I wouldn't see my passport again for awhile. But today (January 24th), around noon, a USPS mail lady came with my Express Mail package with my passport in tact, with a brand new Vietnam visa attached inside. I'm very impressed with the speed and efficiency that everything took. And I'm very very glad to have my passport back in my hands.

Here's hoping my passport renewal in a couple of months will be anywhere near that efficient.

Excited!

I have an exciting February and March in front of me!

In February, I'm going to visit the great state of Colorado for the first time with a trip to Vail. I'm uber excited, and I can't wait to test out my near non-existent snowboarding skills in Colorado snow.

In March, my sister and I are going to Hong Kong and Hanoi. This is both my first time traveling with just my sister and my first time seeing Hong Kong AND Hanoi. I'm especially excited to see northern Vietnam, where my family hails from.

Right after I get back, I get to renew my passport. I actually thought I had another year to renew my passport, but apparently not. I'm out to lunch on whether the new passport design is cool or a little "Mickey Mouse." I think it's pretty cool, though a little "Big Brother"-esque for your passport to be able to hold biometric information about you. Check out the news article on it in the NY Times.