Avalon

Flavours of Vietnam Episode 2

Thursday, June 12, 2008

Picking up from where we left, we shall now introduce the main highlight of our stay in Hanoi: Ha Long Bay.

The Deluxe Junk...

Yes you are here mainly to view these half-submerged mountains.. There are about 1997 of these in the whole Ha Long Bay, if I don't remember wrongly. They are competing to get into the new 7 Wonders of the World.

On the deck.. Notice why noone is using the chairs.. That's because the sun is devilishly hot. My butt was scorched..

Yimeng definitely enjoyed Ha Long Bay alot, from the looks of it.. I am sure he enjoyed serenading the two Jap backpackers with his playlist on the deck later in the evening more.

The picture does give me the impression it is screaming, "We love Ha Long Bay!"

Lunch on deck was supposed to be "luxurious". No complaints about that..

Especially when you see everyone digging into every plate and polishing it off the instant it is placed on the table. But then you have Zhehan with his "吃得快，因为不好吃”theory so there might be a little bit of dispute here and there.

Nice landscape. No those are not illusions..

Zhehan's expression says, "The Sun is too glaring!"

The Vietnam flag flies high...

At the limestone caves

The very welcoming entrance

The grottoes. Looks like something from an Indiana Jones movie.

We looked like expeditioners who have been through war.

We have seen the light!

Zhehan with the serious look, Yimeng with the statuette look, me with the tourist look. I like the contrast.

Those on the same boat, literally, with us.. There were Spaniards, Australians, Japanese and us.

No I did not photoshop the effect came out like this.. I guess there's some truth when they say there's light at the end of the tunnel.

A normal day of a boatman.

A beautiful layout.

Yimeng appalled us when he bought this Corpia fish for US45... We all thought he was ripped off, but he was happy at the very least. But in the end we were the ones consoling him when he felt disappointed over the taste of the fish. It tasted very well to me though, or at least the taste of US45 bucks did. Thanks for the treat. ごちそうさまでした。

No I was not pissed, not even by the toilet bowl that couldn't flush when I need it to, nor the air-conditioner that is not working. Really.

We actually kayaked in Ha Long Bay. The last time I did that was Sec 3 I think. A very different experience, especially when I paired up with Yimeng.

“感谢我不可以拥抱你的背影, 所以才能变成你的背影... ...”

升龙湾有感

今宵无星无月，海阔天地无边。白浪卷雪飞，烛光映水蓝。青山半没依故我，我登船头海上峰。万籁齐奏本无谱，一心所闻尽是曲。莫道闲愁难下肚，与君同饮千古风。

Bye Ha Long Bay..

Yimeng posing at this cafe with a personalised theme.

Signs of national education success.

We now know Uncle Leon has a kiddy side too...

Told you I love our trip. After leaving the "luxurious cruise", we returned to Hanoi, only to stay at this high-end Frasers suite that made us feel like expatriates, even if it's for one night. (One night is really enough, given the cost..) Must thank Zhehan for the lobang.

This was when we ~~fooled around~~ made use of the kitchen. Yimeng got down to making us supper, which was supposed to be fish, but he bought frog's legs instead because he said he could not make out the contents in the packing he got from a nearby supermarket. He does look pretty happy about that though. And I must say his frog's legs tasted not bad, though he admitted it is the sauce he bought. In return, me and Leon helped washed his clothes... with a washing machine.

Starting to get what I mean when I said it was high-end? There were like 3 bedrooms and 2 toilets, with a study and a hall..

Ladies, I am proud to present: the SNAGs. Very domestic indeed.

Tsk tsk Zhehan how can you sit and watch (tv) while the two are hard at work!

Greeted by such a pleasant view in the early morning after sleeping on a Queen-sized bed, what else can I say?

Next episode we shall bade goodbye to Hanoi and continue our adventures down south of Vietnam.

Envoy of the Stars @ 11:24 PM
-------------------------------