Hanoi - Water Puppet [Part 8]

14 February 2012 @ Hanoi, Vietnam

One of the major attractions in Hanoi is the water puppet show at Thang Long Water Puppet Theatre.

We bought the 9.15pm tickets for 60,000 Dongs each, and we get to sit somewhere in the middle of the theatre. Not bad.

Vietnamese girl sitting beside me!

The show is mostly revolves around the lives of Vietnamese people and some of their folk tales.

I was trying to get a snapshot of the orchestra but I got a pretty dark shot. Did a little editing and the photo turned out pretty creepy...

*Aikz*

The show ended in less than 1 hour but the performance was superb. It's amazing how the puppeteers can easily control the wooden puppets to dance on the water.

Right outside the theatre, there's a display of different types of puppets used for performance. I'm amazed at how these puppets are uniquely carved and coloured.

After the show, we took a stroll outside. At the busy street near Hoan Kiem Lake, there are many balloon sellers standing in the middle of the road trying to sell the balloons to the couples on bikes. 

It's quite a dangerous feat as there are constantly swarms of motorcycles trying to run you down zooming on the roads. You will never be able to cross the road if you want to wait until the road is clear!

It was valentine's day anyway. And I think the Hoan Kiem lake is the most romantic place in Hanoi because there were hundreds of couples sitting at the side of the lake! Guess there's not many places for them to hang out...

We joined the crowd and walked along the quiet chilly lakeside. I kinda like the serene feeling while looking at the lighted temple in the middle of the lake.

One of the favourite thing that I like to do when traveling is to hunt for street food. I can see a lot of people eating Pho Bo (pronounce as "Fur Ball" hahaha) at the roadsides and it looks good!

I picked a stall, sat down, ordered my "fur ball" and it was yummilicious! Having a bowl of hot noodle soup in the cold weather was the best thing ever!

Well, by the time I finish my noodles, most of the shops were already closed. 

We went back to our hotel to rest and left Hanoi very very early the next day, after our sumptuous hotel breakfast of course. And that wraps up my short trip to Hanoi! Billy, out.

-End-

Hanoi - Valentine's Evening [Part 7]

14 February 2012 @ Hanoi, Vietnam

The third place we stayed during this trip is at Meracus Hotel. We checked in immediately once we reach Hanoi town from Ha Long Bay.

The entrance to the hotel looks really grand and majestic. Even the interior is decorated lavishly.

We were ushered to our room and we got upgraded for free again!

There's a laptop, flat screen tv, a plate of fruits, wine, water and tidbits.

And rose petals were decorated in the shape of heart on the bed to welcome us! I don't know if it's just for Valentine's or they do it everyday...? But it's a very nice effort they've put in.

Added our own touch to it

Needless to say, the bathroom was very clean. There's even a power spray at the shower area to give you a little back massage while you're taking your bath. Brilliant!

Last but not least, a personalized letter for us on a hand-drawn postcard. How lovely...

Later in the evening, we headed out to Gecko Restaurant for Valentine's dinner. There are few branches of Gecko around the town of Hanoi. Guess it must be doing pretty well.

We had appetizers, main course and desserts. The food is good but they're not typical Vietnamese cuisine.

We took our time to finish up our romantic dinner and then headed straight to the Water Puppet Theatre located a couple blocks away to catch our "movie". More on that in my next post. Billy, out.

Next post: Hanoi - Water Puppet [Part 8]

Hanoi - Surprise Cave [Part 6]

14 February 2012 @ Ha Long Bay, Vietnam

We woke up super duper early to join the tai chi master on the deck for our morning exercise.

The surroundings is still very misty and could hardly see anything out there.

The morning tai chi session with the cool and chilly winds really freshen things up.

Breakfast was served immediately after our morning exercise.

We were then ferried to Hang Sung Sot (Cave of Suprises) for our last activity on the cruise.

We have to climb quite a number of flights of stairs to reach the entrance of the cave.

Inside the cave, there are 3 chambers. All 3 chambers are well decorated with colourful lights so that the visitors will be able to clearly see the beauty of the natural formations inside the cave.

A mini "lake" inside the cave.

The famous pink "cock rock"

There are wavy patterns on the ceiling of the cave

The 3rd chamber - the largest chamber in the cave

The exit is of a different side from the entrance. From the exit, we were able to enjoy the scenic view from above. The panorama was stunning.

We had our last meal on the cruise while we traveled back to the jetty, and then another 4 hours back to Hanoi.

There's an art centre where the bus stopped for our toilet break and the people there use thread to sew beautiful pictures. The pictures were unbelievably real that from a glance, I thought they were paintings! What an eye opener.

It was already evening by the time we reach Hanoi. We quickly checked into our 2nd hotel and I'll talk more on that in my coming posts. Billy, out.

Next post: Hanoi - Valentine's Evening [Part 7]