Back in Beijing

Firstly, I wanted to celebrate. I spent the summer holiday writing this blog on my mobile phone. Now that I am back in China, I can graduate to my laptop. Hurrah!

I do have another reason to celebrate. It is about two years since I first arrived here in Beijing. It feels good to return to “normality”. If a noisy, heavily polluted yet interesting and exciting city can be described as normal. For me, it is coming back to what I know and it is therefore normal for me now.

What has changed in these two years? I have gained a lot of experiences which have taught me how to deal with many professional, social and cultural situations. I can now communicate adequately (to a certain degree) with Chinese locals, although often get to the point of a conversation where I can’t understand or say exactly how I feel and therefore feel frustrated with myself. Continuing my Mandarin lessons will hopefully build on my skills.

I also like to think I have become more Beijing-wise. I now know when someone is trying to overcharge me with “foreigner tax”. I am still nowhere near amazing at navigating around this huge city, but the feeling of disorientation and being lost occurs much less now. If I ever do find myself in a strange place, I can now ask for directions to the underground or explain where I would like to be to taxi drivers. This definitely makes life more comfortable (and less stressful) when compared with two years ago.

Mother nature can sometimes be a cruel mistress. Beijing is usually a super dry city. I think I can count on one hand the amount of times it rained in my first year residing in Beijing. But on my first full-day back in Beijing, there is indeed a shower of acidic rain merrily dancing through the sky and dampening the streets below. Another perk of living here for two years is knowing that if is does rain (or more often the case – if the pollution levels are too high) and you don’t want to leave the house, you can order in food very easily.

Fast food chains do deliver to your home here in Beijing. However, I prefer to use companies like Sherpa’s Food Delivery Service. You log on to their website, choose a restaurant in the city, select what meal you would like and then the delivery man will hop on a scooter, go to the restaurant, collect your order and bring it straight to your door. The delivery costs depend on the distance to your place.

Tipping is unheard of in Beijing, but this is a service I have really valued since living here, so I regularly tip the deliverymen - especially on a smoggy day. To celebrate my Beijing two-year anniversary, I ordered bacon and chicken fusilli (NOT easy to find good bacon here), a zucchini carrot cake and a peach, banana, passionfruit, oat, honey and yoghurt smoothie. Happy Two Years, Bejing, here’s to having a great new year together!

Tôi sống ở Bắc Kinh được hai năm rồi. Tôi thích cuộc sống ở Bắc Kinh, nhưng không khí ô nhiễm đến nỗi không thể thở được. Sự khác biệt trong ngôn ngữ và văn hóa xuất hiện như sự thử thách thật sự. Văn hóa Trung Quốc vừa độc đáo vừa hấp dẫn.
Tôi không biết tại sao nhưng tôi luôn nghĩ nền văn hóa của các nơi khác thú vị hơn nền văn hóa của nước tôi.

Farewell Hanoi!

Another visit to Hanoi is coming to an end. I don't feel sad. As I walked around Hoan Kiem Lake for the last time, I thought about my very first trip to Vietnam. So much has changed and a lot has happened in the past eight years. But I am grateful for my experiences in Hanoi. They definitely helped to shape the person I am and my love for the place is probably the main reason why I am working as an international primary school teacher with a love of travelling. I know I will return to Vietnam again someday.

On my last trip around the lake, a young girl with cerebral palsy came to sell me water. She was so surprised that I could speak some Vietnamese and was interested to know where I was from and how I knew Vietnamese. It reminded me of the openness of many Vietnamese people and how appreciative they can be of foreigners trying to speak their language. She told me that she goes to the lake every day to sell water. She wanted to take a photograph with me before I left. How I love Hoan Kiem Lake.

Since coming back from Bac Ninh province, I have tried meeting up with friends again before I leave Hanoi, while also finding time to relax (because I am lazy, but also because I am aware work will be starting soon).

On Thursday evening, Ngan invited me to a gathering. In 2006, we visited a zoo with her sister and neighbours. Ngan thought it would be nice to have a reunion. We went to Cau Giay Park and took some photos. Ngan said she will try to edit the photographs from both 2006 and 2014 so that we can easily compare the changes from past and present.

Those shy children from eight years ago are now young adults and were very successful in making me feel old (while repeatedly telling me how fat I have become). I will post the photo from 2006 and 2014 when I get a copy. Back then, I was a lanky nineteen year old and was still called fat by some Vietnamese. So I haven't got a chance of being thought of as thin now!

It was nice to meet Ngan and her group of friends. Her sister Thu had some great news that she passed her exams and will begin university after the summer.

On Friday, I ate mì xào (fried noodles) and drank a fruit tea before meeting with Khoa. He has some more guitar concerts in Hanoi and next week will go to Danang for the remainder of his summer holiday.

Afterwards, Minh and I ate crêpes. I chose to have a banana and custard cream filling. Later, we had a beer on a rooftop bar by West Lake.

Today I spent time with Minh and Nhung. I had my last Vietnamese coffee and a brownie with vanilla ice cream. Then we went souvenir shopping and took an obligatory selfie.

In the evening, Quy invited me to try the food at a vegetarian restaurant. I am by no means a veggie, but it was interesting how this restaurant recreates dishes without meat while still being very tasty and having a meat–like texture.
I once tried vegetarian bacon (fake-on) with dire consequences. It tasted like the world had ended in my mouth. In fairness I was hungover. Anyway this restaurant however, impressed me.

We had stir fried cauliflower in a sweet and sour sauce, vegetarian summer rolls and spring rolls and vegetarian kebabs. There was something suspiciously like sausage meat on that kebab, but I will trust that it was indeed meat free.

As we left the restaurant, we were caught in the mother of all electrical storms. It seems that Hanoi thought I deserved one last soaking before I left. Quy stopped the motorbike to get a plastic rain coat for me. Because I was already quite wet, the lady selling the coats had to help me into it. Quite a funny scene. A road sweeper was also sporting a similar coat and shouted in English "handsome boy!". What a fashion statement.

Quy and I went to eat che before driving through the rain back to my hotel.

It has been a fantastic summer of travelling and seeing friends. Thanks to all the people who made it special and hope to see them all again in the future.

Tôi thích đi du lịch suốt các kì nghỉ hè. Kỳ nghỉ hè của tôi thật tuyệt vời. Tôi đã đến Hàn Quốc, Thượng Hải, Tô Châu và Việt Nam. Chuyến đi vượt ra ngoài mong đợi của tôi.

 Bây giờ tôi cảm thấy buồn vì kì nghỉ hè sắp kết thúc. Hẹn gặp lại Hà Nội! Một ngày nào đó tôi sẽ trở về và ngày đó sẽ không còn xa nữa~

Bắc Ninh

Yesterday, I visited Anh Hung in Bac Ninh province. He was one of the first Vietnamese friends that I made in Hanoi in 2006. I try to meet him and his family each time I return to Vietnam. I consider him like a brother and he asked me to be godfather to his daughter, Quynh. It was my second time meeting her.

Once I arrived, Quynh was scared of me for most of the afternoon (who can blame her when a random, foreign stranger suddenly turns up). Finally she became more comfortable and I was so chuffed when she wanted to share her milk with me.

In the evening, we had a small gathering with Hung's family and neighbours. It was great seeing familiar faces and it made me feel like I was a 19 year old, on my gap year all over again. They have some animals in their courtyard, so the chicken was definitely fresh! There was so much food, including fish, soup, chicken, tofu, spring rolls and vegetables.

The next morning, I was able to spend more time with Hung and his family. For breakfast we ate trứng vịt lộn, or balut (duck embryo). We also had homemade bún chả and nem.

Quynh loves to sweep up around the house. After she tidied up, she enjoyed watching some videos and looking at pictures on mobile phones. One of the best feelings was counting in Vietnamese with her.

Hung's wife, Chung asked me to help her make spaghetti. After eating, it was a resounding "the spaghetti is bland and not salty enough" for the Vietnamese palate. Luckily, they had also prepared pho cuon.

I love spending time in Bac Ninh. Hung's courtyard now has a bathroom with hot water and he has a small area for his salon so that he can work from home.

Driving through the streets of Bac Ninh Province, you get a real sense of the countryside life; tropical trees lining the roads and workers in conical hats in and around the rice paddies. There are absolutely no tourists in the area where Hung lives, so there are some shocked expressions when the see me and the word "tây" (Westerner) can regularly be  heard.

Hung and his family may not have a great deal in terms of physical possessions, but they do have kind hearts. They treat me, an outsider who often has no idea what is going on, as one of their family. I have many treasured memories here and hope to have more in the future.

Hôm qua, tôi đã đi nhà Anh Hùng ơ Bắc Ninh.
Tôi coi anh ấy như anh trai của mình. Con gái Anh Hùng rất dễ thương. Em bé này là con gái đỡ đầu của tôi.

Nghĩ về gia đình Anh Hùng, lòng tôi dâng lên những cảm xúc tuyệt vời.

Cuộc sống nơi vùng quê thì ít ồn ào vội vã.

Uncle Ho Bác Hồ

Today I visited the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum. I have been inside before, so today I just enjoyed walking around and taking in the sights.

As I made my way back, it clouded over, the heavens opened and I was caught in yet another rainstorm. I managed to get a photo of the Flag Tower Of Hanoi before getting utterly drenched. Check out the angry clouds...

After resembling a drowned rodent for the third time in a week, I felt it was only fair to treat myself to a cupcake. I stopped off at Mint Cupcake Creations and chose a key lime cupcake. It was the perfect remedy to getting soaked. I also liked the look of the cookie chocolate cupcakes on offer, so I will be keeping an eye on the weather forecast while planning a return visit!

Later in the day, I met with Hieu and Nhung. I first met them eight years ago. It was wonderful to see them again and meet their daughters.

We had dinner at a seafood restaurant. It was definitely a big, tasty feast! We had snails, squid, crab, clams, noodles and shrimp soup.

I walked off the meal with a lap around Hoan Kiem Lake. A nice end to the day.

Hôm nay tôi đã đi thăm lăng Chủ tịch Hồ Chí Minh. 

Tôi biết là sẽ có mưa rào nhưng tôi không biết rằng là nó sẽ mưa như trút thế :))

Sau đó, tôi đã ăn một bánh nướng nhỏ...ngon quá!

Tối nay, tôi và bạn bè đã đến một nhà hàng hải sản. Ở nhà hàng này có quá nhiều món trong thực đơn. Tôi thích ăn hải sản. 

Bún Bò Huế

I decided to explore the Old Quarter a little bit more. In Vietnamese, it can be called 'Ba mươi sáu phố phường' which means thirty six streets, but there are actually a lot more than that. It is a great place to explore and get lost.

For lunch I ate bún bò Huế. It is not too different from phở bò, but the noodles are more cylindrical and there was a floating meatball added to the mix. The Vietnamese know how to make a good broth.

Later I went to the monument of King Le Thai Tho. It was so quiet there so I was able to get some photographs without other visitors photobombing. Lê Thái Tổ was a Vietnamese emperor and led a revolt against the Chinese occupying Vietnam. He is also involved in the legend of the sword and turtle in Hoan Kiem Lake (perhaps a story for another blog entry). Anyway he is a pretty famous historical hero.

I decided to buy some dried fruit. After trying a variety of fruit on display, I chose dried plum. There was a heavy rain shower so I returned to the hotel.

In the evening I drank beer with Thang and his friends. I enjoyed drinking Hanoi beer and practising my Vietnamese. I really like having dried squid and chilli sauce when drinking beer.

Tối qua tôi hơi say. Tôi thích đi chơi cùng bạn bè và uống bia. Một người bạn đã dạy tôi 'không say không về' bằng tiếng Trung là 不醉不归 (bù zuì bù guī) :))

Hanoi's Old Quarter

Today was quite a lazy day. I decided to have a walk around the Old Quarter. Hanoi has so much tangible and visible history. I have enjoyed being a tourist here and seeing famous places during previous visits. This time I wanted to focus mostly on meeting friends and enjoying the culture and food. But I still love to appreciate the beauty and history which is literally on my hotel doorstep. As you walk through the labyrinth of ancient streets, you can really imagine you are travelling back in time (especially the streets with less traffic!). Many of the buildings and shops throughout the Old Quarter have kept their charm and authenticity (although some areas are obviously heavily aimed at tourists now).

I paid a visit to the Hanoi Ceramic Mosaic Mural. It tells the story of different periods in Vietnamese history. It is amazing to think that it didn't exist when I first visited Hanoi. It was created to celebrate the millennial anniversary of Hanoi being the capital. It has an impressive length of about 4km which resulted in a World Record for the longest mosaic mural.

Behind the mural, I have always admired the Vietnamese architecture of the houses and buildings. They are typically narrow and very tall. I was told that this is due to land prices being so expensive. So these buildings have many floors, with perhaps only one or two rooms on each floor. People may rent out floors of their house to shops, offices or tenants. I often picture this style of building when I think about Vietnam.

Afterwards, I decided to eat chè. There are many kinds available and I chose to eat chè thập cẩm. It can contain crushed ice, beans, fruit, syrup, ice cream, milk, glutinous rice, tapioca balls and jelly. It is certainly refreshing to eat this during the summer heat. 

Later in the day, I ate phở again...but this time it was different: Phở cuốn is beef, garnished with vegetables and herbs, then wrapped in a rice noodle roll (like a fresh spring roll). It is then served with a dipping sauce.

The other kind is phở chiên phồng (fried pho noodles). The noodles are like fried square pillows and served with beef and vegetables in a sauce.

Hôm nay tôi rất lười biếng  ╯_╰

Tôi đã đi khắp phố cổ Hà Nội. Tôi rất thích 'Con Đường Gốm Sứ'. Đúng là một kiệt tác nghệ thuật! 

Tôi muốn biết nhiều hơn về lịch sử Việt Nam.