Hanoi, Vietnam Part 2

Halong Bay, a UNESCO World Heritage site in Vietnam. I was told we muuuust come to Halong Bay when you visit Vietnam, so we went on the 2nd day.

So the package we took was this, 4 hours bus drive from 8am (!!), from the Hotel to Halong Bay. Takes at least 15 minutes of boat ride from the port to Halong Bay, where we will be served lunch (not very good), play around on the boat, see some staglamites in a cave, then 15 minutes boat ride back to the port, and another 4 hours drive back to Hanoi.

So for 4 hours, we were sitting ass to ass with a couple of tourist (a pack van). We thought at least the tour guide would have the decency to tell us some history on Halong Bay or Hanoi, but noo, he sat in front and just chatted with the driver. Man!!


So we amuse ourselves by taking a couple of pictures in the van and made a deal with each other. If either falls asleep and starts snoring, we're suppose to nudge the other person up to stop it. Hehe. Mostly May is the one snoring though..

This place is a tourist spot, so there are so many many people here, and the sad part is when you see the boats leaving the port, the water here is extremely polluted, the dirty water or oil from the boat can be seen pouring out of the boat into the sea. It's just so sad to see a UNESCO heritage place being so dirty and smelly. The amount of boats parked at the bay are too many to count.































The fishing village


















Huuh, at sea also got people sell fruits??

I think this is suppose to resemble a lion. It kinda looks like one though




























Okay, next are the stalagmites. First time I see a cave so brightly lighted with different colors and packed with tourist. Inside is pretty cool. Basically, our tour guide uses his laser pen and points out some stones, and said to use our "imagination" to point our some different animals and lookalike human stones in there. Ya sure, that's sooooo something I want to see..

I think this was suppose to be something about from hell, looking up to heaven, hence the small bright light at the top of the cave.

Some kinda waterfall. A couple of coins in there, is it a wishing pond?

The boats waiting outside the cave

After Halong Bay, it's back to the 4 hour journey back to Hanoi. During the toilet break, the driver dropped us off at some ceramic place, which was quite a snooze. Everything in there is in USD though. Strange isn't it, that nearly everything in Vietnam is in USD instead of Dong's.

Hanoi, Vietnam Part 1

1st Day in Hanoi

Hanoi, what can I say about Hanoi.. When me and May were driven to our hotel, Phudo Hotel, all we could see were many many many paddy fields. And it is kinda cold there, but not cold enough to wear a winter wear.

Our room was really really nice. Just one complain, the beds are really really tough! And the shampoo quality sucks! But other than that, everything was good. The customer service was excellent, the AC was excellent. And they also provide fresh fruits everyday, so May die die also must eat all the fruits! HAHA! When we walk into the room, my eyes immediately went to the other door of the room. So when I open it, it was..

hmm, nothing. And when I turn around... May has conquered the king size bed.. :(
Okay, so off to find stuff to eat. I mean, we're in Vietnam right, so I wanna eat Vietnamese food! But according to May, the things we should eat here are French and Italian cause it's.. known here?? What the.. So okay, fine. We went to this French restaurant called "The Green Tangerine"

The ambiance here is truly amazing. Candlelight dinner, (of course it's not suppose to be romantic for me and.. my sister), trees everywhere, and we were seated outside because inside is a smoking area.. Erm.. isn't it the other way round???

People whom are dining here are mostly foreigners and couples.

Our Appetizer

3 Kings Pleasure (All salmon)

Red Garrupa tartar with tropical fruits and zucchini spaghetti / rau thien vua (not a big fan)

Boneless chicken leg stuffed with vege boiled in vietnamese tea

P.S; By the way, if you haven't notice yet, me and May love to take pictures of what we eat, and I like to post up what we took :D

After dinner, May was raving about how cheap the food was and how delicious her food was (mine was not), but all I could think is, I'm never going to a French Restaurant no more.. Okay, maybe I shouldn't pass judgment on a first time basis thing, but I don't want to risk a 2nd time, eating my tropical fruit dish..

So after dinner, we went back to the Hotel. I wasn't very sure where I was going. All I know is on the way back, there are many stands selling dried squids. By the way, I notice that Vietnamese people love to eat on small little stools (or either that, no choice..)

What's New In The Cheong Family

The tv is broken

Mum's home from Saudi and finally gets to try Kit's cooking!

Mum bought a shoe rack but could only fit all of May's shoes.. (yes the shoe on the floor is ALSO may's pair and the one on top)

Was a little giddy when I drank my first Paulaner

There was a weird bump on the floor which Kit thought was termites, which turns out to be nothing when he pulled the woods apart. (That night I trip over the bump and woke up both Kit and May because I shouted really loud)

Grandma has a new puppy (sooooo cute)

Mum bought me a new cooler because my room was too hot

May's got a new Blackberry

So I took her Nokia 8600 Luna cell phone to use
(There is a crack on the surface because I "accidentally" dropped it on the floor, May was not pleased..)

Had a very tough exam (I hate Economics, period)

oh, and had a burger in class, hehe

The Goodies Saga Continues..

Good chinese food (yums!)

Kit's version of a pizza

Kitty version of Pesto

Fried Apple (because he said we don't eat fresh ones, so he has to fry them to make us eat apples )

Fish and Chips

Bolognese (looks weird in a close up)

and lastly, jam flavored apple pie!

Hana Yori Dango or Meteor Garden?

Hana Yori Dango

or Meteor Garden?

The show's the same. Four guys in a group call F4, all cute, all mega rich. Though the difference is, the Japanese versions has 20 episodes while the Taiwanese versions has... 51 episodes. I don't see the point of having so many episodes, the storyline becomes draggy but yet... must.. finish..the..show..

Okay, yes, maybe the guys in the Taiwanese show are cuter, but the guys in the Japanese version are hell of alot better actors than them. Their acting in Meteor Garden are unbelievably bad (which I actually thought was okay then I change my mind when I saw Hana Yori Dango). It's so bad that I don't even know if they're acting or posing? Their faces are expressionless and they move like a robot.

It's a good thing they have Barbie Xu in the show, cause her acting in there is superb. The reason why there's a high rating for the show is only because the guys in there are cute! (Ok yes, i admit, that was why i looove the show)

Okay, maybe I shouldn't be so harsh, it is their FIRST acting gig.. But to choose which show is the better one... I'll definitely go for the Japanese version.

mysoju website isn't working

Now that the mysoju website isn't working (apparently no one knows why..) try an alternate link which goes to the website, but not really an updated one.

mysoju1

Other websites which shows korean, japanese and taiwanese drama like mysoju are

1. crunchyroll
2. youtube
3. dramafreak
4. watchdrama

There are plenty, these are just examples of alternates like mysoju, while the site is "down"

* updates* mysoju's back!

Happy 51st Merdeka!