Oh Susan!

      I'm going to spend some time with Susan, hoorays!  We both graduated this year from university with matching commerce degrees but after graduation, she left Canada.  She swore that she was never going to come back.
        After a few weeks, she came back with her Persian prince for a short stay.  Oh Susan, she's so silly willies.

         Blah, Susan has a habit of being late.  I will record my boredom mmhmm and complain. I loooove her to death, but she takes a hella long time to get ready.  Susan is an wonderful though despite her lateness O.o She taught me tennis and she has the patience of an angel.  I, however, have the patience of a five year old or so I'm told.

        When Susan showed up, we walked to the Harbour Front to enjoy the lake. I also wanted to go to the Power House to look at some art and exhibits.  I love galleries, they're so fun and interesting.  Everyone has a slightly different and unique interpretation of what they see and it's usually better to go with friends.

This giant sculpture reminds me of a Halloween pumpkin.

There was enough seats inside to fit a tea party!

The blonde chika is Susan. I call this photograph...

Susan and cow.

          

Special Post - Hot Pot

         Every night that we wandered on the shores of Nha Trang, the beaches would be filled with families having hot pot.

Night view from our hotel

        Nha Trang has a few special dishes, one is known as seafood hot pot.  If you love seafood than  is something you definitely have to try. Hot pot consists of broth that simmers in a metal pot while various ingredients are placed into the pot in the center of the table and cooked.  The hot pot dishes in Nha Trang include mostly of fish, clams, shrimp and mussels with leafy greens.  They give you a side dish of noodles and fish sauce to dip and it's yummy.  Mind you, it's very hot in Nha Trang so you might have to sit under the ac or have four fans blowing at you.

Hot Pot

Day 14 : Hue - Imperial City (Hue Citadel)

        If you're in Hue you gotta go to the Imperial City.  It's a large place with many things to see and do. This place is massive. You will need a map and a lot of time to see everything. You can visit all the palaces with their many royal quarters.  The place built in 1804 and served as Vietnam's capital until  1945.  

Across from Hue's Citadel is Cot Co, also known as the big flag.

        When going to the entrance, there are large lily ponds.  A mote was built around the whole city and water comes from Hue's perfume river. 

We go in the side of the building to enter.

        We go inside the throne room.  Inside Tha'i Ho'a Palace everything is red and gold.  When I looked waaay up, I saw various poems on the wall.

Around the palace grounds I saw different statues of mystical creatures.  

The first one I saw was a dragon...

 and the second one is a...

hmm, I don't know what this is actually.  A doggy?

        In the Forbidden Purple City is where the emperor would do all his work.  It now looks like a large field of grass with  a few brick walls that survived the fire in 1947 and the fight during the 1968 Tet Offensive.

Another wall.

        Although the Purple Forbidden City is in ruins, the rest of the citadel is really amazing.  Here's an example of what an internal gate to the main buildings would look like.  The are a few gates inside the citadel.

These are the gates to Hung Mieu, the temple dedicated to the parents of the Nguyen Emperor Gia Long.

The hallways in the citadel are very pretty.  They vary in styles too.

In one of the buildings we found a carriage.

 A noble would be carried in this by four servants.

Day 13 - Hue : On my way to Hue, eco-tourism, respecting the dead

        The drive from Hoi An and Hue was very scenic. The temperature was slightly cooler from other provinces we stayed.

Pictures of rice fields and mountains.

       I think that eco-tourism is a wonderful concept.  Eco-tourism by definition means creating responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and improves the well-being of local people.  

         However, just pass the billboard that promotes eco-tourism, I see this. As we continue to drive I see more areas like this with machines digging and cutting slabs of land.  Seeing something like this really stirs up all kinds of emotions.  At first I thought it's was funny because this is the total opposite of eco-tourism but then I feel kinda angry, kinda sad and a little disappointed inside.

A quick pic of the perfume river in Hue.

   We motorbiked it to our friends house.  We inter-weaved into traffic, dodging oncoming bikes left and right.  The worst was driving through the a round-about in the city.  I held my breath every time this happened because I was scared shitless.

        When we arrived, preparations were being prepared for the ceremony and feast.  Like other cultures of the world, festivals and events in Vietnam was dedicated to something or someone.  Today was a day to honor and respect our friend's ancestors.

This hanger for helmets is totally cool.

Everyone takes turn to bow in front of an alter to show respect for the deceased.

Outside, paper money is being burnt.  

          And then everyone gathers around the tables for a feast. Quite a few dishes were brought in.  Food was served with Huda beer and orange Fanta drinks.

Our starter was a salad.

It was made with so many things including mint, papaya, shrimp and peanuts.

Day 12 - Hoi An : My Son ruins and relics, snorkeling, Cham Island

         Out we go to My Son to see the ruins and relics.  My Son is a cluster of abandoned and partially ruined Hindu temples.  They were constructed between the 4th and 14th century AD by the kings of Champa.  

The temples are made by a reddish brick which were fit together.

There are decorative art that were carved directly onto the bricks.

The buildings have their own unique shape
 but I have no idea what this building shape would be considered O_O.  

There were some relics left at My Son.  This is a statue of Shiva.

More relics...

Holy water was made by pouring water on this stone linga.

     
        When we reached the other temples, they were in ruins.  Bombs were dropped during the Vietnam War and destroyed almost everything here.  There are a few scattered pieces of brick from the walls and a couple fallen pillars.  It's such a pity.

       

        Looking out from the Harbour at Cham Island.  We took a speedboat to Cham Island.  Along the way, we did some snorkeling.  Every time we left an area by bus or boat, our guide would count the number of people AFTER we left.  Some poor soul would always get left behind.  It's funny until the person that gets lost is you.  Getting left behind sometimes happen and this is why you should always being a traveling buddy.

    

        Cham Island covers an area of 235km.  We will alter eat at one of the islands that surround these waters.  A feast is to be had, yay!  There are eight islands that are apart of Cham Islands and they are known as Hon Lao.

        

Some squid being baked in the sun.

After our dinner, we relaxed on the beach. 

Everything was perfect except...can you see what I see? Yup, warships!

Day 11 - Hoi An - Ancient Town and Night Market

We flew from Nha Trang  .. 

 to Da Nang.

Hoi An.

After we unpacked, we rented a bike and went to the Ancient Town.

This is the view from our balcony.  

You can see the river and t garden below is where the chefs get the herbs.  

There's about fifteen main areas of interest where the public can go into.  There's many beautiful places to see including the Japanese Bridge and a few temples, pagodas, meeting areas and houses around the town.

I like how this place had a pond in the circle of the house with an open roof, it's so zen XD

Night time in Hoi An.

         I felt like I was in the movie Spirited Away when I went to the night market.  Everything was so pretty.  Food stalls were everywhere and were cooking up a storm.  Couples are everywhere in Hoi An, holding hands or biking.

The lanterns shops here were so alluring. 

The lanterns were made out of paper and came in all sizes and colors.  

They lit up the streets and my spirits.

 There was a giant dragon lantern floating in the river O_O holy molies!

Day 10 - Nha Trang: Festival Bien

      Just in front of our hotel was the beach and I would always wonder why it seemed like nobody would swim or be on the beach during the daytime.  I learnt that aaaaalot of people do swim but only when the sun is partial out.  There are rarely locals that sun tan on these beaches.       

 Around 5am.

 Later in the morning...everyone left!

        This morning I spent the day at a spa.  At first I wanted to go to Thap Ba for a hot spring and communal mud bath but the thought of sharing mud with a bunch of people kinda turned me off. I ended up booking a spa treatment from head to toe that also included a mineral mud bath for myself only, har har. I got steamed, baked in a sauna, soaked in a tub of mud, messaged, manicured, pedicured, had my face mushed and got my hair done. By the time I made it to the jacuzzi filled with floating rose pedals three hours have already passed O_O. 

        Later in the evening we wandered and did a little shopping.  We tried various dishes cos deep down inside I'm a little foodie.  We had  spring rolls, glutinous steamed stuff with shrimp in banana leaves and sweets called che.    If anyone knows what those two other dishes are called, please let me know!

       For the rest of the night, we spent following a people and enjoying Festival Bien.

Day 9 - Nha Trang: Long Son Pagoda, Reclining Buddha, Lotus Seat

        We took a taxi from our hotel to Long Son Pagoda in Nha Trang.  The pagoda is found at the foot of Mount Trai Thuy.  Our goal is to reach the Lotus Seat.  The Lotus Seat is a large white statue of Sakyamuni Buddha sitting on...well, a lotus of course!

This is the entrance.

        There are over 150 steps from  Long Son Pagoda to the Lotus Seat (Also known as Kim Than Phat To Statue).  There are many things to see and do here.

Around the grounds are plaques with words of wisdom.

       
        Inside the temple lies two worship areas.  One is the Buddhist area.  Do you see the candles? Eeeeee, they are gigantic!  Apparently these candles will be lit up next year on New Years and will  burn for up to 3 months.  Isn't that crazy?

Here is a pic of the other worship place I mentioned.

This is the Hindu worship area.

        I greeted the head monk inside the temple.  He gave me prayer beads.  The prayer beads are the traditional tools used to count the number of times a mantra is recited when meditating.   He is such a kind old fella.      

After visiting the temple, we went to the Shrine Bell where we...

crawled underneath the bell...

sat...

and prayed...

while a person was hitting the bell and began to chant a blessing. 

 Oh my goodness @.@!!!

 They said that inside the bell, the ringing wouldn't be loud but I dunno.  I really wanted to cover my ears but it would have been considered bad luck.

This is what the inside of the bell looks like.

Later, we went to the Reclining Buddha.

It was kinda funny that everyone that made it to the Reclining Buddha wanted to touch him.  This reclining Buddha has reached nirvana.  I love how he has this huge grin on his face.  It's like he's having an good dream.

Finally, we made it to the Lotus Seat. 

The small climb was definitely worth it. 

The statue is 24m high not including the pedestal. 

        The pedestal itself is 14m high and has something special about it.  If you go behind the Lotus Seat, the pedestal has an entrance which leads to what used to be a library.  How cool is that?