Trip to Hanoi and Halong Bay (1 Oct to 4 Oct 2009)

1 Oct 1009 was our 4th wedding anniversary. We flew to Hanoi on Vietnam Airlines flight VN744 which departed from Changi Airport Terminal 1 at 3.50pm. It was going to be a 3 1/2 hr flight.



We arrived at Hanoi airport at 6.15 pm local time. It was a cool evening with temperature at 24 degrees Centigrade. We were met by our local guide Mr Thein Anh. He led us to a waiting vehicle and we hopped on for a one hour ride to a local restaurant for dinner. We reached a dyke before the car turned into a slip road which was below the dyke level. It was dark and the road was bumpy before we reached Banana Flower restaurant. It was a newly built 3 storey restaurant elegantly decorated which served authentic Vietnamese cuisine. There were only 2 of us in the restaurant and it was as if my hubby had booked the whole restaurant for us that anniversary evening. We slowly enjoyed the hot seafood broth and other dishes like rice paper spring rolls, braised beef, chicken, fish, etc. After the sumptuous feast, we were ferried to the Hanoi Hotel half an hour ride away for an overnight stay. After checking in, we decided to explore the area nearby. There were many stalls selling mooncake as the Mid Autumn Festival was just 2 days away. The hotel was selling mooncake at USD53.80 per box.! We also past cafes which lined the street. People were drinking alfresco. Children were also seated around playing. It was about 9 pm.



The next morning, we had buffet breakfast at the hotel. We had a cubicle overlooking the lake. There was pho which was Vietnamese beef noodle. I liked the soup as it had a sweet herbal taste. It was also non-oily. They say the soup took hours to brew which resulted in the delicious taste which tantalised my taste buds.

The guide took us to visit Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum and the Presidential Palace and the Temple of Literature. This is the temple where names of scholars who passed the exams were carved in stone on the many stone tablets displayed. Further in, there was a temple where Confucius statue was and many came to pay their respects. Confucius teachings spread from China to Vietnam in the 15th Century. The Presidential Palace was where Ho Chi Minh lived and worked during his term as President.

After lunch, we were brought to the Dong Xuan market which is a wholesale market. I bought a Louis Vuitton wallet for my sis Emily and a pair of shoes and lots of hairclips for my daughter Bernadette. We also bought grounded coffee powder for my inlaws and 3 in 1 coffee. Along the way back to Hanoi, we bought some more snacks and tidbits for colleagues and relatives.

That night we stayed at Pearl Hotel. The next morning, we then took a 15 min car ride to the Pier for our 5 hour cruise along Halong Bay. It was only 2 of us on the boat. There was a boat captain and a chef on board who also doubled as a sales lady later on at the end of the cruise. It was a sunny morning and the seagulls were flying by as the boat set sail. We went to the upper deck to suntan and have a better view of the bay and to take some nice shots. As we approached the first of thousands of islands, we were very excited. The view of the islands was breathtaking. The ambience was also tranquil and the sea calm. I did my personal meditation right there in the middle of the bay. We past fishing villages and fishing boats where the ladies were selling some seafood and mini groceries. We also past the famous 2 cockerels which were 2 islands leaning against each other shaped like 2 cockerels. Soon lunch time approached. We were served with many sumptuous dishes like crabs, prawns, fish, spring rolls, vegetables and fruits. After lunch, the lady brought out some bracelets and earrings for me to view. I bought a pair of pearl bracelet and earrings which cost me US$37. We reached the pier and bade farewell to beautiful Halong Bay.

After travelling back to Hanoi, we went for the water puppet show at the theatre near Dong Xuan market. It was an interesting performance by the puppeteers who manned the puppets from behind the stage which was filled with water up to knee level. There was dragon dance and also kids catching fish in the water. After the water puppet show, we went to Tara restaurant to have buffet dinner. The atmosphere was celebratory as it was mid-Autumn festival night. We tasted Vietnamese coffee. I found it too bitter for me. I prefer the 3 in 1 vietnamese coffee. We had bbq shishamo, squid, prawns, besides pho, and there was also a variety of desserts. We were brought to the Halong hotel after dinner.

As it was our final night in Hanoi, we spent the night watching the mid-Autumn festival programmes on TV and packing our luggage.

The next day, we took a flight home feeling tired but blissfully happy with sweet memories of Vietnam.

Bernie starts school

Bernadette started pre-nursery on 5 Jan 09. The first week she was doing fine with her grandparents around. The second week she started crying when her grandpa was not around. She wanted her grandpa to be in the classroom. On 15 Jan 09 my inlaws were away, so I had to take half a day leave to help John get Bernie ready for school, cook Bernie's meal and bathe her. John had to be in the classroom with her otherwise she would cry. When John went to the toilet, she followed him too. I told John he had to let Bernie get used to not having him around in class otherwise Bernie would not let go.

Christmas Celebrations

On Christmas Eve, my husband went for two Masses at the Cathedral. I stayed home to look after Bernadette. On Christmas Day, my whole family went for Mass at the Cathedral with John sitting at the Choir Loft. Bernadette was not used to having John not sitting with us and cried throughout Mass. I managed to appease her by giving her raisin bread and water. After Mass, we wished Sir Peter Low Merry Christmas and took pictures at the grotto where the Nativity scene was displayed.

After that, we walked over to Carlton Hotel for Christmas lunch at Wah Lok Restaurant with my husband's relatives. We had Tim Sum for lunch. Bernadette kept going out of the VIP room to play with the balloons. I fed her fish porridge and chee cheong fun. When we were about to leave the restaurant, I gave presents to Gabriel and Si Ting care of their father and aunty respectively as they were not present that day. I also gave a present to Jessica. Aunty Doreen, Grandpa, Edwin and Jessica also gave Bernadette ang pows and gifts. We gave a ride to my parents in law home.

Immediately after reaching home, I put Bernadette's rice in the crockpot to boil. After our nap in the afternoon, I bathed Bernadette and cooked her vegetables and fish. I fed her while she watched Mickey Mouse Clubhouse over Disney channel. John packed her milk powder and bib and bottles and we set off to Ping's for Christmas dinner.

John and I arrived at 7.15pm. Everybody else had arrived and had either ate or was finishing their dinner. John and I ate while Chieu Soon looked after Bernadette in the playroom together with the other kids. The Christmas buffet consisted of a wide spread of yam basket, fried prawns, sweet and sour fish, mee siam, chicken wings, duck, 'kong bah' and 'oh-nee' - a Teochew yam dessert.

Chieu Soon dressed as Santa Claus went out to the living room to distribute presents to the kids and take pictures with them. He also carried Bernadette and took a picture with her. Bernadette looked very serious and seemed overwhelmed by it all. Chieu Soon kept us entertained by doing a lucky draw. He asked the kids to pull the ribbons off the reindeer and it rained chocolates and candy. Bernadette picked up the chocs and candy and kept in her two pockets. After that, we started exchanging presents. Bernadette and I received lots of presents from the Aunties and Uncle Charles, Melinda, Ping and Emily. We went home feeling blissfully happy but tired.

At night before going to bed, we prayed as a family thanking God for giving us a happy and holy Christmas and a blessed one too and asked his continued blessings on us.

Bernadette is 2 yrs old

My little Bernadette is now 2 yrs and 4 mths old. She had a mini celebration on her birthday in July 2008. All her little cousins and aunties and uncle attended her birthday, her maternal grandparents too.

We, her parents brought her to her Pre-Nursery Orientation recently. She will be starting playgroup in Jan 2009. Time flies. From a little baby, Bernadette is now a toddler who is ready for school. She can sing, dance and recite her ABCs, 123 and nursery rhymes like Humpty Dumpty and Jack and Jill. She also likes to play with her mummy and daddy. Her favourite game is hide and seek and she likes to hide herself under mummy's and daddy's quilt cover. She enjoys it when we lift up the quilt cover to find her there. Bernadette also takes her porridge well and likes to eat adult food too like chwee kueh, chee cheong fun and bee hoon. She takes yoghurt and orange juice too.

Bernadette is 10 months old now. She has 4 teeth, two upper and two lower. She can babble, imitate words like bye bye and say Papa and Mama. She is on semi-solid food now and eats two meals a day of porridge for lunch and dinner. Her porridge has some ground vege like broccoli, cauliflower, pumpkin on different days. She also takes fruits like apple, papaya, banana and orange which we use a spoon to scrape and feed her. In between she takes 4 feeds of milk of about total 600ml per day. She sleeps through the night from 10pm to 7am. She rolls a lot in bed and sometimes makes a bit of crying noise at night when she has nightmare but it always lasts a little while about less than 5 minutes and she goes back to sleep. Old folks say it is due to laughing and playing too much in the day that causes her to cry at night. Talk about crawling, she does that very well and likes to pick up things and take a good look at them. She likes to grab bags and baskets and see what's in them. My little girl likes to flip over her toy car and play with the wheels. She can also knock down skittles with one swipe of a skittle.

Baby is 4 1/2 months old and has learnt to flip and started to crawl. Recently, we brought baby to attend her first outing away from home - a friend's kids' birthday party.

baby is 4 months old

My baby daughter turned 4 months old on 22 November 2006. She learnt to flip over from back to stomach on this day. Two days before she turned 4 months, she was trying her best to flip and both me and my husband could see her efforts at it. She tried till her face turned red and was frustrated when she couldn't flip. But now she is really happy as she is successful in flipping. She likes to suck her fingers and makes cooing noises. She is a very cheerful girl and likes to smile a lot too. She has two favourite toys, an aeroplane-train and a clown which when taken from her, she will cry. And when the toys are given her back, she will smile again.