Holiday in Hanoi & HalongBay

Finally made our way up to northern Vietnam, and hence complete our visits to the "H" cities/towns/sites in Vietnam: Ho Chi Minh City, Hoi An, Hue... Now it's Hanoi and Halong Bay !! =)


It's HOT! HOT!! HOT!!! in Hanoi in late April/ early May!! :( It averages a high of 36 Deg C in the afternoon. *bleah* 


As the focus of the trip was Halong Bay, we didn't get to spend much time shopping at the Old Quarters and the DongXuan market. :( We did manage to visit some art galleries and bought some art pieces back :) The water-puppet show was pretty entertaining too.




We had our fill of the Vietnamese phở in Hanoi. :) But conclusion: Our Favorite Vietnamese beef phở has to be the Vietnamese noodle shop in Richmon, Melbourne! It wins hands down. period. 

It's a lil' bit cooler @ Halong Bay, as the cruise boat is moving so we have some cool breeze on the upper deck, else we hide in the air-conditioned cabins :P



The Halong Bay is Absolutely  GORGEOUS... very peaceful as we cruise thru' the endless limestone formations. It takes your imagination on the limestone rocks of different shapes and sizes. We found one that looks like a Merlion! :P 

It's Easter!

John 11:25

... I am the resurrection, and the life ...

Three Simple Rules in Life

... someone share this on facebook. Nice!

Winter Wonderland

.. in the Japanese Alps in the NAGANO Prefecture.

Zenkoji Temple

Zenkoji was founded ~1,400 years ago and apparently, the first Buddhist statue ever brought to Japan is kept reight here in this temple.

Snow Monkeys (Jigokudani)

These playful furballs are simply oblivious of the curious camera totting tourists, as they enjoy their dips in the onsen. At times, you wonder who is entertaining who...

 Shibu & Yudanaka Onsen Towns

The onsens here are really HOT... 50°C !!! You gotta dip your feet first and then s-l-o-w-l-y immerse your body into the waters. We loved the footbaths by the roads =)

Shiga Kogen Ski Resort

Okushigakogen Ski Area where apparently is one of Princess Masako's favorite ski spots. We were lucky to have the entire place to ourselves and had a 2-hr ski lessons. It was FUN!! and couldn't stop shrieking as we kept crashing to the pillowsoft snow :P

Year of the DRaGoN !

祥龙贺岁 福喜盈门

Christmas @ Disney (again!)

... this time at Tokyo Disneyland :)
I didn't get to take the rides *bleah*

It's more crowded compared to

Disney Sea.

Looonng Queues everywhere, and the shops are packed with shoppers too!

I wonder how much Walt Disney Co. earn from the Japanese consumers.. everything and anything is KAWAII !!

Lethal Combination

DOPPIO: Have been depending on double shot espresso to kickstart the day these past few weeks...

... then these 2 days, to ensure that i'm doubly wide awake as i work thru the complicated worksheets, i decided to start with a bottle of Brands Chicken Essence with Cordyceps at home, before i have my cuppa at the office.

It's really effective to keep me wide awake the entire day! :)

Where's Piglet??

The exotic snowskin mooncakes (durian, champagne chocolate truffles, etc) are nice. But i still prefer the traditional mooncakes with the lotus paste. My favorite since childhood is actually the piggy biscuit. :P
However, this year, it seems like no one is selling the piglet biscuits. :(

Palmistry

... MY version of Palmistry: that's the result of doing several rounds of single-handed planking on the STEP-board in Gym class today :(

Here's a nice piece of poetry which was featured in the Moving Words campaign: "Palmistry" by Gilbert Koh:

So take my hand and hold it,
bend it gently to the light.

Discover me, in a way
that I do not know myself.

Speak what you will, of my
health, fame and fortunes,

but know that I will put a finger
to your gentle lips,

if on love, you try to say
the things I should not know,

like where you’re going to
and how I will stay behind,

how our separate ways
are written in these lines.

Serious Shoppers..

Bought this handbag in Nov'09. It's part of the Miss Vara Bow Collection of Hobo bags. It's made of calf leather in a unique metallic-gold color. I've always prefer understated designs with no conspicuous logos... and usually, only a regular shopper familar with that particular brand would be able to recognize the brand design.
This evening, on my way home on the train, 2 guys and a gal were standing beside me. They looked like they just started working in the retail industry as they were chatting about their uniforms (suits), and that they need to work at least 1 yr before they qualify to be given 2 sets of uniforms. Figured that they must be working for some branded boutique but kaypoh me couldn't figure out which brand...
... until about 15mins into their idle chat, one of the guys caught sight of my bag and exclaimed excitedly "Hey, that's a Ferragamo bag"... and all 4 of us gazed at my bag... and he sheepishly grinned at me when he realized that he was speaking too loudly to his frens. :P His fren asked is it because he saw the signature "vara bow" on the bag... but the guy answered flatly "Nope". He recognized it instantly because of the color - a metallic gold color that's patented by Ferragamo. His 2 frens were impressed how he knows his stuff very well. Well, so was I !!! VERY IMPRESSED Indeed!!=)