Hanoi Hypothermia and Tet Madness - Part 3

Nisha and I spent Thursday relaxing and wandering around Hanoi in an endless search for Bun Cha - one of my favourite Vietnamese meals which is difficult to find outside of Northern Vietnam. Turns out it's also difficult to find during Tet, so I only managed to eat it three times in a week. I was quite disappointed.

Friday, Kelly (one of Nisha's friends) and I spent the morning at the Temple of Literature. Normally it is a very peaceful escape within a bustling city but as with most attractions during Tet holiday, the place was manic. However it was lovely, to be outnumbered by Vietnamese people at places normally full of tourists. It was also heartening to see Vietnamese people visit their own tourist attractions during their big holiday. Something that I think most Australians would probably be unlikely to do, myself included.

The temple is actually Vietnam's oldest university where students had to study for 7 years and to graduate had to perform an oral exam in front of the King. Graduates had their names engraved on these giant stone tablets that are carried on the back of stone turtles (turtles are a sign of wisdom in Vietnam). So a lot of people were leaving 500 vietnam dong notes (about 50cents) and patting the turtle's heads and then patting their own heads in the search for wisdom for upcoming school exams. It was very entertaining to watch.

Kelly and I left the Temple of Literature around 11am. With some time to kill before meeting the others for lunch, but not enough time to take on a museum or tourist attraction I decided to introduce Kelly to the 'Bier Hoi' widespread in Hanoi but not very common in Da Nang. Bier Hoi is literally someone's home-brewed beer that is served on the street in glasses to people (usually men) sitting at small plastic tables in tiny plastic chairs. This Bier Hoi also served food which was very good.

There were literally no women drinking at the Bier Hoi we decided to drink at, only 2 female waitresses. The average age of the men drinking would have been around 55. The beer is quite weak in strength and served warm with big chunks of ice, but the upside is it costs around 50 cents a glass.

Kelly and I sat down at a table with about 5 or 6 60 year old men and proceeded to have a very basic chat using my terrible (and limited) Vietnamese and a fair amount of miming. The men shared their snacks with us and then when it came time to pay the men insisted on paying for our drinks. Even though we only had 2 biers each I felt very bad about letting these men pay, but they were adamant that we were not to pay.

After lunch we headed to the Museum of Ethnology. It is about 7 km outside of Hanoi but is well worth the trip. This has to be one of the best museums I have ever been to. Plenty of information and displays on the 50+ ethnic groups in Vietnam and the grounds of the museum itself have lots of interactive displays and activities. There was traditional dancing and games of some of the minority groups, different styles of housing that you could walk through. Swings and tug of war and other games, a water puppets show, drawing, painting and calligraphy. It was excellent and very informative.

I bought a rocking buffalo mask (it is the year of the buffalo this year) but soon realised that it was a difficult thing to pack to take back to Da Nang. So after we finished at the museum I wandered back into town and gave it to some kids near the lake. I moved houses again to stay with Genevieve (also an AYAD based in Hanoi) and Saturday and Sunday were just a festival of eating, clubbing, drinking and shopping. Very relaxing and enjoyable. On Sunday we had Bun Cha (for the third and final time) and then went to an Irish pub to watch Nadal v Federer at the Australian Open on TV. I was the only one in the group going for Nadal but I was vindicated in the end.

After unexpectedly missing my flight I had an extra day in Hanoi on Monday which was spent eating, shopping for DVDs and eating a Chocolate buffet at the Sofitel Metropole, a very swanky hotel in Hanoi, it was lovely. Then on Tuesday it was back on the plane and back to reality at work.

The last few weeks in my life

So for some reason Blogger, Blogspot, Nam Overboard and everybody else's blogs that I like to read have been failing to cooperate for a couple of weeks now, so I've had tonnes of content for the blog but haven't been able to update. So here is the last few weeks of my life in pictorial and audio-visual bite size snippets. Enjoy!

Mark, an AYAD based up near the Laos border, came to town for a visit and "to work" so I showed him a cute little, very down-home seafood restaurant and Bamboo bar (of course)!

I found excellent Bun Cha Ca (Noodle soup with fish) near my office (around 8000vnd a bowl, 70 cents AUD) and it looks out onto a pagoda. Ian (my boss) had some friends over from Australia so we went for a delicious seafood meal.

Then Ian, Tra My and I had a couple of official functions to attend. One was held by the Labour Ministry and the other was the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

And it was at the Labour Ministry function that this wonderful piece of video was captured. A lot of high powered CEOs and businessmen were in the audience being awarded by the Ministry for their economic performance in the past 12 months. The guy in the video below, received 2 giant plaques and 2 gold stars to hang on his jacket and he addressed the crowd. Then as we all got up to grab some food and the band came on, the same guy got up on stage and serenaded the crowd with "By The Rivers of Babylon" and some excellent dancing. Enjoy...

Then as our Hanoi based work colleagues would be leaving early to return North for Tet (Lunar New Year) we had a lunch to celebrate.

Up next: I'm going to Hanoi for Tet, to spend sometime with the AYADS up there (leave Sunday 25th of January and back on the 2nd of February) so I will have a proper update of our hi-jinks when I get back (sight-seeing, JJJ Hottest 100 party, fireworks and Tet madness). Chuc Mung Nam Moi (Happy New Year).

Phu Quoc Island Part 3

So we headed down the beach about 7pm on NYE to Eden, a bar and restaurant on the sand which was hosting a NYE party. For 200,000 VND (a bit less than $20 AUD) we got a BBQ-ed seafood dinner, 2 free drinks and a bonfire and tunes.

At around 10 or 11pm at night the bonfire was lit and people starting lighting lanterns and letting them float into the sky. The AYAD intake 23 (mine) set one off and they were quite magical floating up into the sky and out over the ocean. They were a total fire hazard though, with quite a few people crowding around to take a look and having no control over the direction the lantern, with fire blazing inside, would take.

Then after a 3am swim in the ocean (which was unbelievably warm, like a bath) and a handstand competition (Don't ask) we headed home to bed at about 4:30am in the morning. The next day had been reserved long in advance for finally laying on the beach, getting massages, drinking beer and eating fruit and nothing else. There was some swim-frisbee played in the water and the more athletic people partook in a game of volleyball and some coconut tree climbing (again don't ask).

Up next: HCMC and Cu Chi Tunnels

My house - a video tour

And so the blog goes audio-visual. Inspired by the recent video update on my old room that Blake posted on facebook, and because for once it is not raining here in Da Nang, I thought I would finally make good on my promise to take you all on a video tour of my house. It's not a very big house and therefore the video is not too long.




I hope you all enjoy it. If anyone has any other suggestions for videos they would like to see from Nam, let me know.

Amy

Housewarming - now with extra $5 a bottle Vietnamese vodka

So I eventually found a house on Nguyen Hoang Street (well I should say off that street). Thats the main road you use to find my house and it's about 5 minutes away from Da Nang airport. However my house is off a little alley way a row of houses back from the street. Once I get around to it (and if it ever stops raining) I will make a video tour of the house for those of you back in Australia to enjoy!

It's a really cute 1.5 bedroom place, with western style bathroom (read normal toilet but no shower recess) and hot water (thank goodness). It has terracotta coloured tiles on the floor and white walls and ceiling. Gorgeous shuttered windows at the front and back of the house and wrought iron work on the door. Very secure with a lockable gate out the front. My walkway also has bamboo plants, which are very lucky apparantly.

So to celebrate and to get to know my new workmates from the Hanoi School of Public Health I had a housewarming party which was warm-up drinks before hitting Phuong Dung disco on the 30th of November.

Here are some of the pics:




































I had to be talked into purchasing the $5 bottle of Vietnamese vodka, made in Saigion, but it was suprisingly good.












Then we hit Phuong Dung disco which is the best disco I have found in Da Nang so far. There was a dance floor with lights underneath it a la Saturday Night Fever, good beats and an excellent mix of locals and foreigners. The pole dancing girls were also not too obvious and less scantily clad than Las Vegas so all in all I was quite pleased with the place. Word to the wise, avoid the fruit platters and the imported beer (v. expensive, at least for those of us on a volunteer budget!).