Hanoi, Vietnam

We spent our last day and a half in Vietnam exploring the city of Hanoi. Hanoi is the capital of Vietnam, and the second largest city in the country.

I read an article describing Hanoi as, "the most beautiful city in all of Asia." I strongly disagree with this statement. It took us about an hour to get from the airport to our hotel in the heart of Hanoi (the Old Quarter). The drive allowed us to see a huge variety of things - farmers tending to their fields, rivers, old buildings, shacks, new buildings, trash everywhere, and even numerous people selling things along the highways. The drive was actually not pleasant at all. The roads were incredibly bumpy, and that topped with stop-and-go traffic with motorbikes and people everywhere all over the streets accounted for Elodie throwing up all over me in the car. Not a pleasant start to our trip in Hanoi.

The city itself was interesting, and overall not what I expected it to be. The narrow streets are filled with shops, restaurants, motorbikes, cars, and people. The bustling city was constantly filled with the noisy sounds of honking - all day AND all night long. You seriously couldn't even walk down the street without feeling like you were going to be hit by motorbike. And the smell.... ohhh the nauseating smell that made me sick to my stomach every time we walked outside is hard for me to even describe. The smell of an overcrowded city - people, food, trash, and major exhaust fumes. Our tour guide said there are about 7-million people living in Hanoi, and about 4 million of them have motorbikes. It was overwhelming.

Notice the chaos of power lines in the photo above. This was a pretty common site throughout the city.

Our hotel was in the Old Quarter, which is where we spent the majority of our time. Old Quarter means "Ancient Quarter" or "36 streets." The 36 little streets are each named for a commodity once sold by all of the businesses on that street. So each street had merchants and households which specialized in a particular trade, such as medicine, copper, chicken, silk, jewelry, etc. It was an interesting area, with a lot of history and cheap shopping (but you always have to bargain).

It was certainly a city filled with history, and despite the overwhelming crowds and fumes there was a lot to see. You could look in almost every direction and see women carrying the traditional Vietnamese baskets over their shoulders or even on their heads. It was also common to see women on bikes filled with produce, looking to sell their goods to local vendors. 

Hoan Kiem Lake sits near the Old Quarter, and is one of the major scenic spots in the city. It's a city focal point and remains "the very heart of life in Hanoi." There is some legend about a giant turtle presenting the emperor with a magic sword to defeat Chinese invaders, which is why this lake is named "Hoan Kiem" or "restored sword." Ngoc Son Temple sits on an islet at the end of the lake. I read that certain parts of the structure date back to 1225.

Luckily Hanoi is very compact, so we were able to see all of the major sites in a day. We hired a personal tour guide and driver, who took us around everywhere. There is not a subway system here, so hiring a driver was well worth it, especially because it was cold and rainy.

Our site-seeing adventure began at the Hanoi Hilton. Don't let the name deceive you, this is not a hotel. It's actually Hoa Lo Prison, the prison that housed many American prisoners during the Vietnam War. The prison actually still displays John McCain's uniform from the day he was captured. Needless to say, it was a depressing site.

Next we visited Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum - the massive tribute to the most famous leader in Vietnam. It's the city's most visited site and "sacred place." We were told that Ho Chi Minh wanted to be cremated after death.  Instead of adhering to his wishes the people embalmed his body and placed him on display for all eternity in a glass tomb.  Nice way of showing their respect, huh?  In fact, they view his tomb as so sacred that they don't allow young children inside. So because we had Elodie, we couldn't go inside - but that's ok, I didn't really want to see his body anyway. Kind of creepy if you ask me. Anyway, the Mausoleum is only open in the mornings, from 8-11am. Our tour guide said this is because in order to preserve his body, they have to keep it cold the majority of the day - so there's only a 3 hour window where his body is actually put on display.

A short walk further you come across a bright yellow building known as the Governor's Palace. Unfortunately, you're not allowed inside this building. Behind the wooded park next to this yellow building sits Ho Chi Minh's house on stilts. Our tour guide said that Ho Chi Minh used to live in the Governor's Palace, but he didn't like it because it was built by the French and he thought it was too elegant for his simple lifestyle. So that's why he build the small and simple house on stilts next door to it.

Next, we visited the One Pillar Pagoda, which has a historical significance to the city dating back to 1049; and the Tran Quoc pagoda, which is the foremost symbol of Buddhism in the country. These were just two quick stops, so I don't have much to say about them because I don't know much about them!

After a short car ride across the city, we arrived at the Temple of Literature. It was built in 1070 and was formerly the site of one of the oldest universities in Vietnam. It's now a tribute to Confucius and used as a Confucian temple. The landmark has numerous pavilions and courtyards, and stone turtles.

We ended our evening with a tour around the Old Quarter in a cyclo (like a rickshaw) and a show at the Water Puppet Theatre. The traditional Vietnamese water puppet show dates back numerous centuries. There are several short performances or "Acts" throughout the entire show, each with it's own song, dance, and theme. Each Act revolves around a different Vietnamese lifestyle and includes performances such as: fishing, tending to the rice fields, dragon dancing, cultural dances, etc. Tickets only cost between $3-5, with numerous show times each day (but believe it or not, they sell out quickly!). We didn't get any good photos from the show ourselves, so the photo below is from here.

Wow, I know that was a lot of information. Thanks for reading. :)

I'm sure you could sense a tone throughout this post, because I didn't really like Vietnam all that much. But all in all, I'm glad we went. It was definitely a good cultural and eye-opening experience. My favorite part (of course) was the food. Vietnamese is ranked right up there with Italian & Indian on my list of favorite cuisines. Pho = the best soup EVER! I better be able to find this when we're back in the U.S.

Halong Bay, Vietnam

Since we stayed in Nagoya for the holidays so that Joe could work while his co-workers were all on vacation, we took off the week after New Years when everyone was back in the office for our own holiday vacation. We went to Vietnam and Cambodia. We did and experienced so much in both countries that I'll have to write a few posts to cover it all.

We had a direct flight from Nagoya to Hanoi, Vietnam for a 4-day vacation before we continued our adventure in Cambodia. The first thing on our agenda in northern Vietnam was Halong Bay. We took a 2-day, 1-night cruise through Bhaya Cruises.

It was a 3.5-hour shuttle bus ride from Hanoi to Halong Bay - this was the most difficult part of the whole trip. The roads in Vietnam are not nice. It's not like we were cruising 70mph down the highway to get there. Instead, we were going maybe anywhere between 25-40mph, down bumpy roads and through sketchy areas. Elodie and I get car sick, so it's fortunate that we both survived the trip without getting sick. So when all the cruise websites advertise that it's a "comfortable drive," know that's a big fat lie. Our driver on the way there reeked of smoke, and kept the windows down for most of the trip. The temps were in the upper 40's and low 50's, so having wind blowing on you for 3 and a half hours was not pleasant. The three of us cuddled up in the back seat, wearing our winter hats and as many layers as we had brought with us. And that's another thing, northern Vietnam in the winter is COLD. I don't know why weather.com advertised that it was 65+ degrees and sunny... because it was low 50's MAX and overcast and rainy the whole time. So needless to say, we did not pack appropriately. The first thing we did when we arrived at our hotel was go out and buy winter hats.

Ok, on the bright side, we really enjoyed our cruise. It was a small boat, but luckily Elodie and I felt great the whole trip. The bay was always smooth, so that helped immensely. In the picture below, our boat is the one on the right. You can also see a picture of our bed, Elodie's bed, and our private balcony (only 2 rooms on the entire boat had private balconies! Yep, we felt pretty special).

The website pretty much sums up the entire cruise experience, "The bay is dominated by more than 1,600 limestone karsts and islets which rise out of the waters of the bay to heights of up to 100 meters (330 feet) and the numerous caves and grottos spread throughout the bay. Abundant scenic beauty, archeological and geological significance, cultural and historical connections, fresh seafood and proximity to international gateways make Halong Bay one of Vietnam’s most popular places to visit."

The cruise provided a variety of activities in the 2-day itinerary. On the first day, we visited the Vung Vieng fishing village by local rowing boat. A tour guide did all the labor, so we just had to sit back, relax, and enjoy the sites. It's amazing how this fishing village (in the middle of nowhere) has a community of homes, a pearl farm, and even a school. We were able to get off the boat at their "Welcome Center" to buy souvenirs and take a quick look around.

Can you see the fishing village nestled in there?

This small village was complete with dogs and even monkeys!

What I can't forget to mention is the food! The food on this cruise was outstanding. On our first day we had a Vietnamese buffet lunch, which was complete with fresh seafood, stir-fried dishes, stews, and my favorite Vietnamese dish - Pho (noodle soup). Even our picky little eater was a fan of this buffet! Dinner was a 5-course meal, which was also incredible. I chose baked fresh fish from Halong Bay, and Joe had the beef - both were amazing! And of course the meals are included in the cruise price, so it makes it that much better. ;)

They chef even hosted a cooking activity where we were able to learn how to make some traditional Vietnamese dishes, and sample them too!

After dinner, there was a squid fishing activity that Joe went to. No one caught any squid, but someone did catch an octopus! We were docked at this point, and the slight rocking movement was starting to get to me, so sadly I missed all night activities because I went to bed when Elodie did!

We started the second day exploring the famous Surprise Cave. It's one of the most spectacular and largest caves in all of Halong Bay.  There are 3 chambers within this cave to explore. I read that it's over 10,000 square meters (107,600 square feet?)

Our pictures inside didn't turn out that great, so I borrowed this image from here.

With over 2,000 limestone cliffs formed over millions of years, this really is a beautiful bay. Halong Bay is one of the top tourist activities in Northern Vietnam, so there are several cruise companies to choose from that offer several different itineraries. Most companies offer even longer cruise options, but I think the 2-day/1-night cruise was plenty long enough.

Another thing I have to mention is how wonderful the cruise staff was. We were the only couple on board to have a baby, and they were more than willing to entertain her. They played with her and even carried her through the caves so we could take pictures and enjoy the sites. The service was truly out of this world, and it made our cruise experience that much better.

You can see all of our Vietnam photos on our shutterfly page.

Two Feet

Photo by Kurosaki Etsuko and designed by Yumi Murray.

Nabana No Sato - Winter Illumination

Every year the Nabana no Sato park is decorated with millions of LED lights during the winter season (from November all the way through March). I read that this year there was over 7 million lights. Each year there is a theme, this year the theme was "nature." You can see pretty spectacular photos of the lights here.

There were 3 main attractions this year: 1) tunnel of white lights, 2) tunnel of pink flower-shaped lights, and 3) Mt. Fuji.

Nabana no Sato is considered one of the best light shows in all of Japan. So needless to say because this is Japan... this place was crowded! Had we known that we'd have to park miles away, wait in traffic for hours, and fight the crowds just to take a picture... we'd probably have thought twice about going. Plus, it was $25 a person!

It was pretty and I'm glad we experienced it, but I suppose I just expected more. This place is a park, and yet there weren't any lights on any of the trees. Besides the 3 main attractions, there really wasn't a whole lot to see or do there. Nonetheless, it was something unique to do to get us out of the house during the cold winter months.

Christmas in Nagoya

Merry Christmas from Nagoya!

We've been in Japan for 3 years, and this was our first year actually being in Nagoya for the holidays. As I said in a previous post, Christmas is not a Japanese national holiday, so Joe had to go to work. Luckily he was able to sneak out a little early, so Elodie could open presents in the afternoon before our guests arrived.

We decided to host Christmas dinner at our house and invited other expats living here that were also missing being home for the holidays. Each family made a main dish and a side dish, so it was pretty fun to see how much variety we had for dinner. We had a whole roasted chicken, baked salmon, lasagna, cornbread, salad, quiche, fruit, marshmallows, and pumpkin-upside down cake. How's that for a Christmas dinner spread?!

 You can see all of our holiday photos on shutterfly, Tis The Season.

Turkey!!!

I got a tip from a friend that there may be turkeys at the supermarket. So the next day, I was cruising through the meat isle and you'll never guess what I saw... a TURKEY!!! Turkey in Japan!?... you've got to be kidding me. I don't even need to tell you how quickly I snatched one of those birds up and put it in my cart, without even considering whether or not it would fit in my oven or how in the world I was going to cook it (I have never cooked a turkey before).

This 3.5lb bird cost me a whooping $20, but I didn't care. And yes, I said 3.5lbs not 35lbs! Can you even picture what a turkey that small looks like? I had no problem fitting it in my oven.

I guess you really need to see the size of my small oven to understand how tiny this bird actually was. I'm not even sure it was bigger than a whole chicken.

But I'm glad to report that my tiny, non-even cooking oven (you should see how lopsided a cake turns out in this oven!) did a fantastic job. And considering that this was my first time cooking a turkey, I think it turned out pretty dang good. This website and this website helped me immensely.

I was wondering and a bit worried about what I was going to make for Christmas Eve dinner. So this was the perfect find.

When I move back to the U.S., I am making a commitment to cook a turkey more than once a year. Why do most people only cook this fabulous bird once a year anyway? It's not that much work, and you have a ton of leftovers... which makes it worth it, in my opinion.

Happy Birthday to ME!

I didn't really want to do anything for my birthday, but good friends Yumi and Anna convinced me to go out. So needless to say, I picked an Italian restaurant - most of you already know this, but I've had spaghetti on my birthday for every single year as far back as I can remember. Of course this was always my mom's special spaghetti, but considering that we were celebrating my birthday from the other side of the world this year... we had to make due. There has been ONE exception to this tradition - the one year we were in Australia for the holiday and celebrated my birthday Down Under... this is the year I splurged and ate expensive and delicious Australian mudcrab. But because we were Down Under, I don't count that one. ;)

The ladies were nice enough to order me this awesome cake, which you can see was topped with yummy fruit. The owner of the restaurant made this cake, and even played "Happy Birthday" on his saxophone when presenting it to me. It was a very special experience, and I'm glad my friends convinced me to go out... a very nice and memorable birthday indeed. :)

KFC & Christmas Cake

This post is for my Uncle Mark, who reminded me about the important Japanese Christmas tradition of KFC... as in Kentucky Fried Chicken. 

Did you know KFC is one of the most popular U.S. fast food chains in Japan? Well it is, especially on Christmas Eve. This is the day that people wait in a long line for the special "Christmas Chicken Dinner." In fact, if you don't pre-order your chicken dinner, there's no guarantee you'll get one!

Photo is from here.

Apparently KFC has done a great job marketing their product, making Japanese people think that Westerners celebrate Christmas with a chicken dinner (instead of the obviously more common ham or turkey dinners). I read here how this trend got started: apparently foreigners started eating KFC on Christmas because they couldn't find a whole turkey or chicken anywhere else. KFC saw the opportunity, spent a ton of yen on marketing the phrase "Kentucky for Christmas!"then launched their first Christmas set meal in 1974. It's been a growing tradition since then, and today if you want KFC for Christmas, you better pre-order your meal or at least prepare yourself to wait in a huge line.

By the way, in 1974, you could get the Christmas chicken dinner for $10, today the chicken dinner goes for $40!

Photo is from here.

Another interesting Christmas tradition in Japan... the Christmas cake. The traditional Christmas cake is a sponge cake, topped with whipped cream and strawberries. These cakes are ordered months in advance, and are eaten on Christmas Eve along with the famous bucket of KFC.

Photo is from here.

You can order Christmas cakes pretty much anywhere in Japan, from the local 7-11 convenience store, to your average grocery store, to the most elegant department stores.

Who would have thought the most important thing to do on Christmas Eve in Japan is to pick up your pre-ordered KFC and Christmas cake...?

Tis the Season

Although Christmas is celebrated in Japan, it is purely a commercial affair. It's estimated that less than 1% of the Japanese population is Christian, so every year I'm always surprised by the amount of Christmas decorations throughout the city. I guess this comes down to the fact the Japanese love festivals and celebrations... and Christmas just gives them the excuse to drink, buy presents, and spend time with loved ones.

Train display at the Hilton

December 25 is not a national holiday in Japan, so everyone still has work - but the holiday is still celebrated in a very commercial way. Christmas presents are usually exchanged between people in relationships, as well as close friends. Typical gifts are always "cute" (cute is important in Japan!) and include items such as teddy bears, flowers, candies, scarves, and jewelry. Below is a picture of a package of candy I bought (for myself!) - the wrapping was beautiful, but of course I opened it to show you how cute the candy was.

Christmas music plays in almost all stores, and you can even hear the popular tunes playing over the loudspeaker when you're walking down the street downtown. Christmas lights and elaborate displays are set up throughout the city, especially at major hotels and departments stores. The city is actually quite festive, and all of the displays and beautiful lights give me the comforting feeling of home. So even though we're half way across the world, the Christmas season here really reminds me of home.

The depressing part is that the city tears everything down on Christmas night. They must have employees working around the clock, because when you wake up on the 26th - everything is gone. It makes it feel like the holidays didn't even exist. It's a sad and empty feeling. And the feeling of home... gone.