[28.2.2012] Hanoi Day 1 Pt 2

So when we left off the other day, we had just checked in the hotel and made arrangements for the cruise on Ha Lon Bay.

So whats next for us to do? Well we decided to walk around Hanoi and see whats up.

We were given a map by the hotel and located some of the nearby attractions (involved alotttt of walking)

and decided to walk along to see the lake nearby. Along the way there are lots and lots of shops selling shirts and other  knock-off stuff.. But we just kept on walking.. I was eyeing the jackets but thought its not that bad... its cold but manageable..

The lake is called Hoan Kiem Lake and legend has it that 

"emperor Lê Lợi was boating on the lake when his magic sword, Heaven's Will, was grabbed by a turtle who quickly disappeared into the depths. All attempts to find either the sword or the turtle failed. Lợi concluded that the Golden Turtle God (Kim Qui) had come to reclaim the sword that it had given Lợi some time earlier, during his revolt against the Chinese Ming Dynasty. Lợi renamed the lake to commemorate this event, it was formerly known as Luc Thuy meaning "Green Water"). The Turtle Tower (Thap Rùa) standing on a small island near the centre of lake is linked to the legend."

The travel mates being touristy and IN JACKETS!

So nearby the lake is the famous water puppet show. We decided to catch the show after we got back from the Ha Lon Bay cruise... The timings werent right when we were there.

Apparently Running Men from the show went there recently when they did their asian race.

Heres a picture of me. No jacket... Cool right? 

In the middle of the lake there was a temple which had some touristy things.. You have to pay to get in but I cant recall how much it was but it wasnt that much...

Hellow there...

After we visited the lake we decided to go walk around and have lunch.... The lunch was pretty 'meh'.. nothing to talk about as I didnt really feel like squatting down and having Pho and with all the halal issue I just ate something simple...

However.... After sitting down for lunch in the open air... and you sit and chat.. slowly the feeling of coldness started to creep in.. I was feeling like WHAT THE HELL ITS FREAKING COLD HERE... haha..

and being me.. I am HUGE for vietnam. hahaha finding something was difficult. So struggle struggle struggle I managed to find something for myself and despite it being totally un-planned,  I decided to go for it..

So we had decided to go visit uncle Ho Chi Min at his mausoleum.

We took a cab since it was kind of far from where we were and it dropped us across the square from where the mausoleum was.

It was closed by the time we arrived but we took some pics... 

Nearby was some of Ho Chi Minh's museum and then a single pillar pagoda was there too. The place had lots of honour guards in all their regallia and also some soldiers practising their marches.

Now i feel warm...

The museum

We didnt feel like going to a museum about a guy and just took some pics outside.. We then proceeded to the Hanoi Military Museum and decided to see what was there.

It costs about 30,000 dong (about RM 5) to enter and about another 20,000 dong (about RM 3.5) to bring in a camera.. But when we entered the guy didnt really care about the camera fees so.. I took pics but was slightly worried about it.. haha.. I dont understand the language and all...

What to expect in the museums? Well as I recalled from my Ho Chi Minh trip, there will always always always be a lot of propaganda about the war and how they won and how badly they were treated and such. So... please expect a lot of it.

Me outside of Malaysian Embassador's residence which we saw along the way. 

The citadel inside the compound of the Military Museum

After the museum stint, we decided to get some coffee before calling it quits and go back and rest. I couldnt resist having the chocalate brownies (they give you hot melted choc syrup to pour on top of it) and some of the coffee in vietnam.(You should always always always try the coffee in vietnam)

So basically thats it for the day... after we got back to the room, we went off to dreamland and slept.... later on we walked around the old quarter again and found some dinner and packed for Day 2! The Ha Lon Bay trip!

[24.11.2011] Korea Trip Day 4 Part 1

So hey guys! Now we got around to another day. I had been planning to go and see the traditional Korean Houses (which is called Hanok in Korean) the past few days, so I decided to venture out and go see what i could see.

Basically there is 2 different places where you can find the traditional korean homes. But I couldnt find the first one of it which is basically a set of houses set betwee other normal houses. Basically even in Korea the traditional houses are becoming extinct.. 

So I decided to go to another place which basically housed all the other houses...

Along the way I found some art in the Subway station. 

 Basically, I wanted to go to Namsangol Traditional Park to see the houses and after leaving the subway station, I saw this and thought that it was it... 

Turns out I was wrong and I had taken a left too early and ended up at a restaurant .. hehe I shouldve went a bit further and to end up here...

Basically this place houses a lot of the traditional houses and also has a nice time capsule buried in the compound.

The place is really beautiful and I must say that with the small stream going through its SPLENDID!

I think the picture above does not capture the' moment ' (no more kodak.. sorry) of the place that well, so i recommend for you guys to check out this video..

So whats at the village you ask? Frankly.. Houses! Lots and lots of old traditional houses. But these houses are not like normal terrace houses..These houses were rebuilt after the traditional houses of the Joseon Dynasty and belong to the various social classes from peasant to king. These places help to show how the daily lives of the people were during that time. 

So after walking around, I managed to see this... and decided to have a go at a traditional tea ceremony...

Desert.. Traditional candy... and you can make it into your own design... just press into these molds 

Here's a video of the tea ceremony.. I had several but I dont think you want to see it all.. 

Anyhow at the place you get to see how it looks like from back then.. and the kitchen... Apparently back then the husband and wife stay at home together and during the day the husband will leave the wife and work in a separate building and only come back at night.. (thats what the lady told me.. ) and the most important aspect of these traditional Hanoks is that they can also have heating... Basically to heat a house, you light a fire underneath the house at and it warms up the floor where they sleep.. pretty ingenious right? 

Some photo's of people in the traditional hanboks..

Here also they give you a chance to see and try out their traditional games .  Check out the vids...

.

I dont know why its ice... but it was cold...

The fire i was talking about..

some caligraphy action going on

So as I said before, there is a time capsule burried in this area... You can see that the place was burried with lots of grandness and had lots of statesmen giving their wishes and they were inscribed there for all to see. As I was walking around here i managed to bump into a Malay family that was on holiday there.. haha and for some reason, us Malaysians were sooo happy to see each other and talk in Malay! haha.. I guess its the Malaysian unity.. when we are away and separated thats when we want to be together and connected I guess.. hehe.. 

Stuff burried in there... 

 So afterwards, it was starting to get cold so I decided to go somewhere else that will be a lot of fun... 

How do you get here? If you are heading by train, take the subway line 3 or 4 and exit at Chungmuro Station Exit 4 and walk for about 5 minutes and you are there!