Thursday, December 20, 2007
holiday....vietnam...hanoi
it wasn't the most expensive trip but certainly one of best family holiday ever
i believed my family have been through a lot of holidays and frequent fights in between
this holiday certainly showed a lot of maturity from all of us. i think i have grown up and my family together with me
i thank god, whoever and wherever u may be, for such a wonderful family
there wasn't much to buy from vietnam unlike thailand or taiwan. my family's favourite destination. it is a shopping family. but it has also cause me to hate shopping a little. haha
i like buying things, esp when my father pays. i am so spoilt. but i just dun like walking. that was until army, haha thank the route marches, oh god. yeah but i still din like to listen to my mum and sis shop. it is such a bother, but i get used to it.
without buying much, tts wat make this 7 days such a unique experience. from all modes of transportation, kai pin the great traveller has experience northern vietnam in winter(or such relatively cold weather). From the sampan to chinese junk. to walking and flying with our very own defense minister. and top it up with a train ride in between. all in this 7 days. incredable isn't it. and i spent much time sleeping as well.
thats good time mamagement. just because i sleep less at home doesn't mean i achieve more
i believe in stepping out of the house. i have seen so much more with my eyes opening less.haha
day 0
flew off in the afternoon and reach there in the evening
had my first dinner in vietnam.
my very first of many beef kway liao soup or hanoi soup or beef "noodle" soup as they called it.
then it is off to SUNNY hotel. nice place. about 9 levels of 7 rooms each. cool place with city view.
spent the first night there recovering from flight and psp hour begins.
day 1
yupz
travelled a few hours on bus just to get to a place for my sampan trip
then i saw three caves on the hour long sampan ride.
haha slight drizzle but good fun all together
got sent to dinner and then straight to the train station
this is so exciting. kai pin at twenty for his first train ride. Lets go.
the interior of our cabin was similar to tt on board a cruise just smaller and minus the cuboards.
made up of two double beds with an ally in between
the luggage can only go below the bed.
well it was a night in the train
msg ivan at singapore time midnight to wish him happy birthday. sry not to have internet so i can wish over free msn. just joking. (You are worth the msg) haha.
day 2
work up the next day at 0530.
sound so army
feel so army but oh well
the enviroment is so much more fun
i was on a train in a foreign land
walk out and saw a sign with my sis's name
had breakfast at a cafe and it was an hour journey to good old SAPA.
one of the tourist places tt had a strong french culture
that was where i found out tt vietnamese is just another dialet of chinese but due its french ties, they discard the chinese character and adopted the french.
so u can say that vietnamese is the like han yu pin yin in french.
hope i am not confusing anyone
we went for a treking tour, oh man can it was tough, if i nvr been through army i would have complain like hell, thank god afternoon was free time. haha
watch liverpool man u tt night and i shud leave it as tt. sobs.
day 3
we woke up for more trekking
this time more uphill and yes my family gave up half way and came down early
but it was good fun
then we are back to the railway
at the same cafe
with the same boss
the same section of the train but this time much older and more metal instead of wood
day 4
woke up even earlier
0430
oh man
the train is worst than airplane timing
haha
took a three hour long ride to Halong bay
tts a really nice place
it was near the sea
kai pin's home
we are treated better and given rest til lunch
and lunch is on a wooden chinese junk
large ship and only my family
private yacht
just wooden
haha we had seafood, just plain and boil but oh well natural i guess.
the chinese junk cost USD$40,000 only
definately gonna get one of these next time
by time we were on shore again
it was dinner and after dinner we went to night market
oh well
tourist stuff
day 5
3 hour journey on good old mercendies bus back to hanoi
and then we visited some famous pagoda and temples
good fun
got to know a japanese teacher and his students
the hightlight had to be the water puppet show
really a great technique and good show
but an hour of the show seem a little dragging
even more as i did not understand the dialogue
day 6
my family went to a day market and wholesale centre
i decided not to go and take a walk around the hotel
hoping for better luck
but oh well all females stuff
i only got gift for almost nobody at all
and absolutely nothing for my self
argh
but still this is one of the most fun trip
ever
i feel like travelling immediately after i came back
i am born to move
i am born to lead
follow my lead around the whole
kai pin the soon-to-be great traveller
Labels: family
onedayiwill.kaptan says "War is not the only answer..."
11:07 pm
