Sail Away: Halong Bay, Vietnam

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I feel like I should have a lot to say about our trip to Halong Bay, but I just can't seem to put the words together. We went, the scenery was mind boggling, we slept on a boat, we climbed to the top of the highest cliff and we clambered around inside of a cave. There is no doubt in my mind that this was a real highlight to our time in Vietnam, but I just can't seem to string the sentences together to tell you that in words. While sailing through the thousands of karst lime stone cliffs that protrude from the water like the ridges of a dragons back, it's easy to be at a loss for words .... apparently that feeling lives on.

So for now, I'm going to let the photos do most of the talking for how cool Halong Bay is.

As far as basic facts of the trip go, you must visit Halong Bay by organised tour, one of which can be very easily organised in Hanoi a day or two before you leave.  We booked ours up the day before departure with a well known company known as Vega Tours. There are essentially three price options, and three trip options to meet your travel needs. There is budget, midrange, and luxury tour operators, all of which offer 1 day, 2 day or 3 day excursions on the bay.  We opted for the midrange 1 night/2 day option because there are plentiful horror stories for the budget options, and there doesn't seem to much disparity in terms of what you get between the midrange and luxury options, except perhaps a few hundred dollars out of your pocket.

When booking we were pretty mindful of exactly which tour operator we were using because as I've mentioned before, scams abound in this city. But, as with anything, just be ready with all the questions you want to ask (sleeping arrangements, toilet arrangements, crew arrangements, number of people per boat, meals, activities, etc.), they are very open with their answers, and know that you generally get what you pay for. After that it's just settling in and getting ready for the view of a life time.

I guess the one story I can't leave this post without telling is the evening activity on board. It was New Years day and the captain and crew had prepared a special party for us after dinner. At 8:00 we were told to gather around the lounging area. As we were waited, we were handed a shot of Vietnamese whisky and the captain said a few words about health and happiness in the year to come. Just as we thought we were about to be served up a slice of scrummy looking cake, the lights went out, the disco beats came on (along with the strobe and disco ball), and the captain, crew, and very confused passengers were getting down on the makeshift dance floor. While the whisky flowed fast and free, the crew demonstrated some (less than) traditional dance moves with us. To say that the Vietnamese dance with their hips is an understatement, these men could show Shakira a thing or two about the honesty of her hips.  Obviously some passengers were more reserved than others, but one good hearted fellow did manage to get himself wedged between the captain and bartender in what can only be called a swivel sandwich.

And just as quickly as the dance party began, it ended. The captain got back to his post, as did the entire crew. The lights were on and the music lowered to a dull roar, all after only 5 minutes of the most intense Vietnamese dance party I think I can ever dream to be a part of. I don't know about the other boats on the bay that night, but  I did look out at one point and noticed that there were no disco light shows happening anywhere else on the water, as far as I could see, which meant they clearly weren't having as much fun.

Until next time, keep having adventures!

Wide Angle: Vol. 6

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Less travel, more writing. That's what I said in the last post, right? Well... I sort of forgot about the last long weekend of the year - 4 glorious days off for the QingMing Festival. We leave tomorrow morning, so those Halong Bay photos are going to have to wait a few more days.

I'm actually pretty excited about this trip, because it will be my first time going somewhere within China on a holiday. We've seen a lot outside of the country, but absolutely nothing inside of it. We're headed to Xi'an to see the Terracotta Army and other such delights, so while we do that... you can look at what else has been going on in the day to day!

1. The Shenzhen ferry terminal likes to serve their coffee in fairy cups. It makes me feel pretty fancy.

2. A hot dog stand in Hong Kong, and my old nickname. Clearly, a name meant for food related things.

3 - 6. We went to Macau recently, and it was awesome! Not only did it include a stop at the famous Margaret's Cafe de Nata for the best egg tart I have ever had, but it also included a trip to the House of Dancing Water show, which was cirque-esque spectacle based in the water. Obviously, it was great.

7. Our neighbour turned 60, so we celebrated with cake. I can't tell you how much I miss regular cake. I want cake and I want it to be just cake and icing. They don't do that here. They are always loading in the whipped cream and fruits and who knows what else. I get it - cake isn't their specialty - but maaaaaan could I go for a slice of fudgy chocolate cake right now!

8. Every year at our school we hold a heritage fair to celebrate the many heritages represented by our students. The best part is the food fair section (obviously) and includes tents for East Asia, India, Europe (basically all French), and North America. I couldn't get enough of the India and Europe areas... endless supplies of bhaji, samosa, quiche, sable pistache, and so, so much more. It was like a dream.  I made 3 dozen butter tarts for the North American table, and I guess they were good because they were gone before I got one!

Anyway, that's all for now! Hopefully I can get caught up on my writing once this last mini-break is finished. Until next time!

Travel To: Hanoi, Vietnam

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I've done a lot of traveling the last couple of months, and not a lot of writing. With all major holidays finished before the school year ends, I think the table is about to turn on that equation.

A couple (several) weeks ago I wrote about our adventures in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap with Other Half's dad. Well, that was just half the story. After Cambodia we hauled ourselves over to Northern Vietnam to spend some time in Hanoi and the surrounding area.

I was a bit nervous about visiting Vietnam at first because many travellers have had less than glowing things to say about the people, and it's well known that travel scams are extremely common, especially in large cities like Hanoi.  Armed with our guidebook to help point out some of these, we were feeling pretty okay, none of us were new travellers and we were all aware of the stories. Before I dive into my next tale, I want to note that these warnings come from somewhere, but I think as long as you are mindful, you can avoid most scams.

Ngoc Son Temple

Unfortunately we missed the part of the guidebook that told us there are only two official taxi companies in Hanoi, and all others had "high-speed meters" that charge about double the rate. Yep, that would be a good thing to know before we got into our taxi from airport to hotel. Our first tip off that something was amiss came just outside the airport parking gates when our driver stopped in the middle of the road, got out and traded taxis with another driver, calling a mumbled "sorry" over his shoulder as he went. Yes, my mind was RACING at this point, and it turned out the new driver had even less English than the first (to match our zero Vietnamese) and so after a few feeble attempts to retell where we wanted to go (and lots of head nodding from the driver) we sat back and let life happen.

To cut a long story short... we did end up in a high-speed metered taxi, we did end up in the city centre, we didn't do too many circles, and I do believe the driver genuinely wanted to get us where we wanted to go. Unfortunately for him he got lost in the tangle of the Old Quarter and after some fruitless attempts to find our hotel we eventually got out and walked the remaining 500 metres. And that was our welcome to Hanoi. Freezing temperatures, a stressful taxi, and a cold walk to the hotel at midnight.  I swear we were excited to be there.

Bridge entrance leading from the outskirts of Hoan Kiem Lake to Ngoc Son Temple

At this point I need to pause and make a confession. A grossly ignorant confession. I don't know about you, but when I think about South East Asia I picture warm and sunny, or warm and rainy. Two seasons, both warm. NEWS FLASH! Unlike Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Burma (Myanmar), and a whole variety of other places, northern Vietnam gets C-O-L-D, cold! After a week in the scorching heat of Cambodia it was a pure shock to the system to land in damp, dreary, and chilly Hanoi. Brrrrrrrr. Never the less, we pulled ourselves together, layered on everything we had with us and set our sites to exploring!

During our time in Hanoi we stayed at the Church Boutique hotel, which due to some last minute travel planning was a squeak more luxurious than I normally would have opted for, but hooooo boy was it nice! Not recommended for the budget traveller, but if you want a clean, comfortable, accommodating and warm place to rest your head, then you can't go wrong here. Good service, good breakfast, comfy beds, heating. It was like heaven. It was also perfectly situated in the Old Quarter so that everything was on our doorstep.

Temple of Literature - first courtyard

We spent our days entirely within walking distance of the Old Quarter because there was a) so much to see there, and b) only a day before we wanted to leave for Halong Bay.

Our very first stop was Hoan Kiem Lake which sits at the base of the Old Quarter and includes a pleasent walk around the lake and Ngoc Son Temple which extends out into the middle of the lake and is accessible by bridge.  It's said that giant turtles live in the lake and long ago one came to the surface, took the sword of King Le Loi while he was boating from the lake and took to the depths of the lake to return it (the sword) to the Gods from whom it came. In memory of this they have mummified and gold plated a giant turtle and put it on display in the Ngoc Son Temple.

Stelae of Doctors - Temple of Literature

From here we wandered over to the Temple of Literature, an expansive complex that has 5 inner courtyards. The temple has been dedicated to Confucius and education, and was established as the cities first University in the 11th Century.  Though it no longer operates as a University, it does house what is known as the Stelae of Doctors, a series of blue stone carved tortoises each holding a plaque on its back engraved with the names of individuals who were successful in the royal exams. It was meant to encourage education and the study of culture, but I believe the practice stopped sometime in the 18th Century.

The fifth courtyard, though slightly hidden behind the fourth, opens onto the building that was constructed for the actual studying. An open, two storey structure that now acts as a place of offering to Confucius. As an outsider, the temple of literature was most fascinating in its mixture of Confucianism and Buddhism. A worthy stop on your visit to the city.

You can't visit Hanoi without seeing and sampling the huge variety of street food on offer. I wish I had done more of this, but it's just reason to return. There was everything from fried dough balls of goodness (their official name), Bahn Mi sandwiches, Pho soups, fruits, and so, so much more. Sadly, I didn't get any photos of this because I was too busy drooling and gawking.

After a very cold and busy day in the city we packed up once again and moved on to Halong Bay,. Known as the Bay of Descending Dragons holding some 1000 karst cliffs jutting up from the water, I knew we were in for something special... I can't wait to tell you about it in the next post!

Keeping warm...

It's a blogiversary! Let's have (crepe) cake.

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Is there a song you're supposed to sing when you're blog has a birthday? Is there a specific gift you're supposed to buy (yourself) when you and your blog celebrate your first year together? Is it time for cake?

It's always time for cake.  Silly question.

This past year with the blog has seen a lot of changes. It started because I was moving to China but when the move came, I discovered that the Great (fire)Wall was going do its very best to prevent me from ever posting again. Sometimes it wins. Sometimes I win. It's a give-take relationship.  Never the less it has helped me to chronicle my various food/travel/life adventures so that even though my memory sucks, I can attempt to keep track of things and look back and remember my own life. Thanks blog!

It was actually the blogiversary yesterday but I haven't been able to access the internet for almost a week (joy of joys), so I present you this cake today instead. 

This is actually a bit of a cheater cake. It's too easy to be a real cake. It really shouldn't even be allowed. But living the kitchen-less lifestyle that I do, I need to make compromises here and there. Cut some corners, you know? I don't have the luxury of an oven, or a cake pan, or normal ingredients easily available to me. The milk for this recipe alone was a 20 minute bus-ride. So I'm going to let the ease of this cake slide, it's too good not to.

The components of this "cake" are pretty simple. A lot of crepes and a lot of chocolate. I used Nutella because it's quick, easy, and occasionally available in China. If you have the capacity, and the motivation this would be made even more spectacular by a homemade version.

Double Chocolate Red Wine Cookies

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Do you need to read that again to believe it? Double. Chocolate. Red. Wine. Cookies.

That's what I have for you today and to be sure, this is an adult cookie. This is a sexy adult cookie. This is the Jessica Rabbit of cookies.

These cookies are dark and rich, soft and chewy, indulgent and divine. Not to mention they fit so many occasions. Do you need to impress your mother-in-law? Check. Do you need the perfect treat for a girls night in? Check. Do you need something that touches on the romantic side of things a bit better than your average peanut butter cookie? Check. Basically, check, check, check!

There is no way a double chocolate red wine cookie couldn't be an intense flavour experience. These cookies are graced with a deep chocolatey flavour that ends with a hint of red wine.  They will make you question whether you can get away with adding booze to every cookie you ever make again. Grand Marnier Dark Chocolate Cookies anyone? Yes, please! I think we're on to something here...