我的人生舞台: St Joseph's Cathedral

Friday, June 8, 2012

Hanoi 4 －我打败仗了

Today I wake up with a sore throat and my sinuses feel funny. At 5 am this morning the Cathedral bells were ringing loudly as if there was no tomorrow. I know the thing I dread - a cold, is here. I decide with SM that they should go to Ha Long Bay without me so I can rest and try to recover as much as possible. I do not want to miss the following days' programs.

I want to lose one day of fun but save the rest of the week.

I go out of Splendid Star after B/F to a local pharmacy and buy some flu tablets and Vit C. One thing I find different with the Hanoians compared to the Saigonians is that the Saigon residents speak some sputtering English whilst 99% of Hanoians do not! When it comes to buying pharmacy products I am struggling with hand gestures and mimic signs.

After B/F I see them off with their tour guide of the day. They will only be back from Ha Long Bay after 8pm, it's going to be a long day for them; and for me.

I take 2 Ameflu and rest in my hotel bed, conscious that my body needs some re-charging.

I awake a couple of hours later feeling better and decide to go for a walk to the nearby St Joseph's Cathedral. I go inside and find a family having a baptism service for their young child. I remember thinking to myself as I sit in the church pew, " somewhere in this world some family is spending time together as a family unit doing something really important".

I get out of the church and head to the neighboring streets wanting to take some pictures of the nearby area and keep the scenes in my memory. After all I haven't got anything substantial to do for the day .....

I have a foot massage for an hour nearby the hotel; faintly hoping it will cure my cold! Sigh!

I have another nap and then eat a baguette at Little Hanoi again. I love baguettes. I walk some more and take some pictures.

I go back to the hotel and write my posts to pass time before welcoming SM and 弟弟 back later in the evening. Eventually I would doze off ......

Photos taken by 弟弟。。。。。

Hanoi 2

We wake early and have B/F at MAI on Duong Thanh St - Hanoi is one hour behind KL time and three hours behind Melbourne in summer. They offer b/f beyond what I expect:- nice fresh baguette, toasts, cheese, yogurt, fresh salad, fried rice, sausages, eggs and congee.

This morning we are going to Dong Xuan market north of Hoan Kiem Lake.We like visiting local markets because there are always things to see and people to watch although we are not there to buy anything specific. SM did buy some preserved lotus seeds in the end.

Following my itinerary we go to 69 Ma May St & the old house at 87 Ma May St. 69 was a 200 years old house that has been turned into a nice bar & restaurant. 87 is an equally old Chinese merchant house that is now a restored heritage house. These are like the old shop houses we find in Petaling St, Georgetown, and Malacca. We particularly love 87 Ma May.

Ma May St is Hanoi's backpackers haven .....

These are pictures taken of 69 Bar & Restaurant.....

Following are pictures taken of 87 Ma May St.....

We go back to MAI to meet Sarah and finalize our tour bookings with her. Friday to Perfume Pagoda, Saturday to Ha long Bay, Sunday - Thursday @ Sapa. There are huge numbers of so called tour agents in Hanoi but in the end we decide to go with Sarah for her "honesty" and also we find MAI a nice hotel to stay. In fact， later on we find out it is much like an old friend to us during our stay.

After lunch of KFC (roast chicken with rice) we taxi to the Mausoleum area to see the thousand year old One Pillar Pagoda, the Imperial Citadel of Thang Long (One Flag Citadel) and the Lenin statute. Again just the touristy things to do and review a bit of the country's history.... it's like "been there, done that; and not coming back to do that again" feeling. I guess knowing a bit about the history of where we go to visit is both interesting and nice to know.....