Winter in Hanoi

Wouldn't want the dog freezing - it was 22c that day

Vietnamese performance

A couple of weeks ago I went to a perfomance by Anh Khanh, dare I say Vietnam's most famous artist? It was out at his house in Gia Lam - neighbour province to Hanoi. His house and the surrounding grounds are filled with installations, sculptures and paintings - and the perfomance itself was quite something. I cannot explain what was going on as my art interpretation is not advanced enough to understand him, so I'll let the pics speak for themselves.

Violence in Hanoi Streets

Last week walking down Hang Trong towards the lake two moto's stopped in the middle of Nha Tho. There were two guys on one moto - two girls on the other. One of the guys jumps of, pulls the girl-driver off by her hair and stars punching her in the face!
We start screaming "stop!" - others pull up by the side, but no one except the other girl does something to try to stop him...

The girls run towards the church in her high heals - he chases her, punches her till she's on the ground screaming. She gets up and runs and tries to hide between the rather big crowd and finally a guy pulls the violent man by his arms and stops him.

The girl has blood running down from her lips - she looks dead scared. We start walking again, stunned and scared. I've never seen anyone hit a girl like that. I have never seen anyone hit a girl in my life! I felt paralysed - afraid to butt in. Maybe it's an excuse, maybe an explaination, but I'm a girl, tiny of size and I wouldn't have the strength to hold him down and stop him. But what about the 20 something guys standing around just looking doing nothing? Why didn't they try to stop him?

I didn't understand what was wrong as the guy was yelling at her in Vietnamese, but it was obvious they knew each other - and maybe there's some codex here in VN saying you don't mess with other people's domestic affairs? I don't think there's anything in the world that justifies domestic violence and when you take it to the streets of Hanoi, you'd except someone to react, step in, try to help. I don't think I have a guy-friend who wouldn't try to step in if he saw a girl getting beat up in the middle of the street...

Why was everyone so passive? I don't understand....

It's oh so cold

After Hong Kong I went on to Beijing where I for the first time since March felt really cold. The temp reached 0c at night and when I visited the Great Wall of China I could see my own breath piercing through the mist. I even bought a new winter jacket to keep the Chinese cold out ; )


After 6 days in Beijing I was looking forward to feel the warm humid Hanoi weather again and I was pleased when the temp showed 23c when I set foot on Vietnamese ground 11 pm. The humidity pressed against my body and I felt at home.

But oh, the joy only lasted a few days. After a hot weekend with the temp hitting a rocking 32c in the afternoon the following Monday summer was over and winter came in a flash! 19-23c is not much when you're used to 30c. The Hanoi winter feels cold and damp and last night I wore my grannie's home-knitted wollen socks, that's how cold I felt.

Yes, I know 19c is not that cold and in Denmark I'd probably be out in my bikini the first day of spring with temp barely over 20c, but here my body has gotten used to the humid hot Hanoi weather and does not seem to adjust very well to Northern Vietnamese winter weather. I wear a jacket and a scarf to work even though it's just across the street. It helps that the scarf is a lovely soft deep purple pashmina that bought on my most recent trip to Thailand ;)
Feeling cold reminds me of winter in Europe and that this Asian journey all too soon is coming to an end. Time is flying...

More Beijing images here

Sorry, I've been lazy

...and enjoying life in Asia

So, here's a few pics from my recent trip to the amazing city of Hong Kong

Hong Kong island from the Kowloon side

Ladies market - which I actually didn't find too impressive

Hong Kong from Victoria Peak

South side of Hong Kong island

South China sea sunset

More pics here

Street games

Does anyone know the name of this game?

How many people live in Hanoi?

I wonder how many people actually live in Hanoi city? I think the embassy website says 2,5 million, Lonely Planet say 3,5 and the locals say 5 million.
What is your take?

Cook & Cook

I normally leave the food bloging to experts like Sticky Rice and Real Thai, but I'll make an exception.

So, back in Hanoi my family and I wanted to try some of the different cuisines available (besides Vietnamese food of course).

So one night my sister and I opted for Cook & Cook, a Korean style teppanayaki place off Ba Trieu. It turned out to be quite an experience!

Each table has its' own chef and ours certainly new some tricks. It was kind of a mixture between circus and cooking with beautiful food and entertainment with knives and fire as the result.

We had a set meal consiting of around 11 dishes (as far as I remember); salad and soup, scallop with vegetables in curry sauce, grilled veggies, chicken with vegetables, grilled fish, prawn cooked in red wine, Australian steak with vegetables, fried rice, noodles and fresh fruit. It was fab, just fab ; )
Video available here

PS: After the meal we chatted with the owner who informed us a new KFC was opening just across the street. He seemed quite cheerful about it which I didn't really understand.
Anyways, I promised him to recommend his restaurant which I hereby do!

Holiday in Thailand

My family came from Denmark to visit me and we spent 5 days of our holiday in Thailand.

I love Bangkok - shopping heaven, good food, lots of fruit juice from the street vendors and life in the streets after 10 pm!
But besides the joys of big city life we also went for a one day trip to Kanchanaburi, probably best know from the book and film "The bridge on the river Kwai".

The highlight of the day - besides walking on the brigde, riding on the "death train", getting cooled down in the mist of a beautiful waterfall and having a lovely Thai lunch surrounded by mountains - was a visit to the Tiger Temple.

As you can see below I actually got to pet a tiger. As a matter of fact I touched 3 full size live tigers!

More pics from Thailand here

Moon festival

Pics from Friday - Hanoi celebrating Mid-Autumb Moon Festival

Building, noise, buidling

If you are in Hanoi construction sites are just a part of the regular street scence. They're builing, building, building. Come to think of it it's actually pretty amazing how many buildings. big and small (but mostly big), that are shooting up everywhere in different parts of town. Building = noise! A lot of noise in an already pretty noisy city.

So this morning (after being out till 3) I wake up 'cause they're breaking up the road infront of our house. Mind you, this was 7 am in the morning on a feking Sunday! I'm used to noise from my landlords' kids running around infront of the house, the motos' noise from the street, the kid next door who plays the piano 4-5 hours a day and only knows "Für Elise", people shouting in our alley 'cause they're selling fruit or want our old magazines - I'm used to noise! But this was just too much. I put in my earplugs and hid myself under the duvet. Little did it help.
The horrible sound of them breaking up the concrete road with an air drilling hammer penetrated my vague attempt to sleep and made me long for my bed back home in Denmark on my quiet street a dark October morning covered by my warm duvet - where all you can here is the wind and the rain pouring down...
Who've thought I'd ever miss that?

Does Viet-teens driving motos have a death wish?

So I'm sitting a Balcony Bar this Friday after a long week at work enjoying a nice drink chatting with a friend watching the Hanoi evening traffic around Hoan Kiem Lake.
Motos, a few bicycles, taxis and the kings of the Viet-road, buses swirl in between each other passing by under me. Business as usual. But then - something is disturbing the somewhat peaceful pace of Hanoi traffic - 2-3 motos with teens chasing each other zig-zaging in and out. Need I say practically no one here wear a helmet? Bumbing into another road user knocking yourself and the other person out of balance creating a potential accident is almost bound to happen. Even though these kids are born and raised on the streets and used to navigating through Hanoi traffic this does not make them over-human when it comes to avoiding accidents.
I know they're teens, trying to empress each other or the girl on the back of the moto, pushing boundries, but they seem more fearless than I remember me and my peers did 10 years ago.

Officially 11.000 people were killed in Vietnam traffic from 1st of January 2006 - 12th of September 2006. That's an average of 66 people a day! Someone told me the real number is around 3 times higher....

Saturday - having coffee with friends I mention this reoccuring incident in Hanoi traffic; teens driving crazier than what is percieved normal in this country. Horrified I listen to one of my friends who has lived in Hanoi for 12 years tell a story of how the Viet-teens challenge their driving abilities and death to the max: At night, in the deserted streets of Hanoi they apparently race against each other. That in itself is in my view nuts, but the story gets worse. In order to prove their dare-devilness they set the breaks out of function.... (bet you're shaking your head now) - the girl sits behind the boy which is normal, but the boy is blindfolded and the girl acts as his eyes! This must be the most stupid thing I've ever heard! Does these kids want to die?

I know I sound like a very old women sitting in my rocking chair pointing my cane at the telly rambling about "kids today", but honestly I don't understand this need for adrenalin when you might end up hurting other people - worst case scenario - taken another persons' life. Rock climbing, sky diving, bungee jumping - be my guest - do what gives you the kick and makes you feel a live, but why I ask do are you willing to risk another persons life as well?

The perfect wedding photo

A couple of weeks ago I biked to the Museum of Etnology with two of my housemates.
Although the museum itself was quite interesting I discovered another interesting subject to blog about; The perfect wedding photo. There were brides and grooms everywhere - each with their own photo-team lined up to do makeup, light and so on - posing at all the minority house trying to catch the most beautiful photo to remember their special day by. It looked like posing as happy newlyweeds was very hard work! In fact they neither of the couples looked too happy about the whole situation besides when the flash was pouding against them. But I guess in the years to come it will be good to look back at that day 2 weeks before the acutal wedding where you were running around the garden at the Museum of Etnology trying to look as happy as ever while 3 other couples were waiting in line to catch the spot next!

So much for democracy

So I open my computer this morning and there's been a military coup in Thailand! Geees what has the world come to? I'm supposed to go to Bangkok when my family comes to Asia in 3 weeks, kinda worried about riots, but maybe most people really wanted Thaksin to step down and welcomes this coup?
If the King approved of it, you could hope people will stay calm and it won't come to the same conditions as 15 years ago. Time will tell.
I guess democracy movements might demonstrate, but I was thinking what kind of democracy they're avocating - is the Thaksin model better than temporary military rule I wonder?

Modern Ballet

Last week we went to Hanoi Opera to see modern ballet arranged by L'espace (the French culture centre in Hanoi). The performers were still students - and as far as I understood they were some of the first professional dancers educated in Hanoi. The show was divided into two sections - the first section consisted of 6-7 different acts - the second was one long story. I liked most of the show, but being an "old" gymnast I wasn't too impressed with their ability to hit the marks in some of the acts, after all they are soon prof dancers. It was clear they'd worked more on some acts than others. But over all it was a good experince and my first time in the Opera.

Feeling chilly?

Who would have thought 27 degrees C would feel like a chilly spring day in Denmark?! Last week the temperature hit 40 c and the humidity was still about 60% and I thought I was about to die when walking out at West Lake. A/C was my best friend!
This Saturday the weather changed. I was going shopping and took a xe om and believe you me - I was freezing. The rain drizzled on me as the moto took me through the crowded streets of Hanoi and all I could think about was how I wished I'd brought a cardigan (+ please don't let me die in a moto-crash in Hanoi)!
The other day our maid try to explain us how cooold it gets in December, 15 c mind you she (sort of) said rapping her arms around herself to emphasize the coooold Hanoi winter weather.
"Ha ha" I thought to myself. I'm from Denmark - we go down to minus 10 c and with a cold wind it easily feels like minus 15. But somehow my body most have adapted to the weather. At home as soon as the termometer hits 22 c I'm in the garden wearing sunglasses and a bikini, but suddenly 27 c is cold to me! Oh God, I'm dreading the Hanoi winter...

Hanoi from the back of a moto

"Ahh you doctor"

When I was in Viet Nam in 2003 everyone asked where I was from (as they do now). This is how the conversation would go:

Vietnamese: "Where you from?"
Kath: "Denmark"
V: "Huh?" (looking very confused)
K: "Denmark"
V: "You no look Denmark"
K: "I'm adopted, I came to Denmark when I was a baby"
V: "You parents where from?"
K: "Denmark!"
V: "Huh?"
K: "I'm adopted"
V: "Ahh you doctor!" (smiling)
K: "Yes, yes I'm a dotcor" (sighing)

This time around I can show my little buisesscard from the embassy written in Vietnamese, they'll still look at me shake their heads and go... "ah Denmark?"
Marianne taught me how to say "Korean" in Vietnamese, and although I can't pronunce it perfectly it's still a much more satisfying answer to most Vietnamese than "Denmark". None of the ones I've met spoke Korean anyways (or at least I don't think they did - I've actually got no idea what Korean sounds like) and with the language barrier it's sometimes easier just to say Korean.

Sometimes they'll speak Vietnamese to me, but they mostly go: Japan? China and even Phillipines...

I actually found it much harder to explain to Westerns that I do not speak Vietnamese, my parents aren't Vietnamese and I don't speak any other Asian language. We were at a bar this weekend and this French guy asked me four times if I was sure I was from Denmark. After the 4th time I turned my back to him. I couldn't be bothered anymore.

I know some (or maybe even most) Westerns have difficulties telling some Asian features apart, and I do admit it can be hard, and I as Asian-looking am probably much more aware of the differences. And as far as I can tell myself, I could probably look Japanese, Southern Chinese and hopefully Korean : )
But the fact is - I'm Danish. Yes, my body's Asian, but my mind and my body language is Danish. I do not mean to give out in this post, I came to Asia, I knew I'd be asked over and over again - and I know people ask out of curiosity, but sometimes it can get really tirering to be questioned about you biological heritage each time you meet a person who doesn't know the term "adoptee" or doesn't want to accept that I'm not Asian of heart and mind.
I haven't been to Korea, I might go some day, but not in the near future. I'm not trying to renounce my Asian roots, I'm merely sharing my every day experiences of being an Asian-adoptee with a Western mind and heart in Vietnam.

PS: They adoption agency I was adopted through doesn't adopted from South Korea any more - they've become too wealthy, but Vietnam is actually one of the biggest countries where Danish couples adopt from now.

Hanoi pics

I mostly post my pictures on my Danish blog as it has most readers - I upload them to flickr as well, but I'll post some here so you won't get too bored...

Fast food fascination

A bit late, but better late than never, I have to comment on the fast food fascination there seem to be in Vietnam. From what I read in news papers and the like the same goes for many Asian countries.

As you might have read around the Hanoi/Vietnam blogspheare, KFC - Kentucky Fried Chicken - an American fastfood chain recently opend a "restaurant" here in Hanoi. This is the first of it's kind in the capitol of Vietnam. Here's no McD or other international fast food chain!

So what does this mean and why are people so fascinated with the term fast food? In just about every restaurant here there's a sign saying fast food. Is fast food really something a nice looking restaurant would self itself by? So it seems. The term appeals to Westerners, but also to Vietnamese....
My guess is as good as any's - but I agree on what is stated in the comments on Vietnamese God's blog - what is happening here was the same thing that happend in the Western world in the 50-60's. I remember reading in Hillary Clinton's biography that her parents took the family to McD as a special treat. Fast food is/was some kind of status symbol. That was before obesity-research - before people realized how unhealthy this kind of food is.
In Hanoi the KFC is not placed in the touristy Old Quater. The market for Westerners wanting comfort food is of course there, but I think the target is Vietnamese middle class people. Here it is the new and growing middle class' who wants to signal their wealth and Western lifestyle by eating at KFC.

To me KFC isn't even comfort food as we don't have it the city where I live. But I'm no saint - I do like fast food especially if I'm hung over! And I prop pop by McD to have a bigmac and some fries when I go to Bangkok in October - long live fast food ; )

Oh btw have a look at Preya's blog - I thought it was rather funny

Vietnamese Construction

So this morning when I got out bed something was dripping on my laptop! I live on the 1st floor of a 4 storey house. I have no idea why, but there's some sort of opening in the roof, it's build in two levels and inbetween there's a space where the rain can get in! I have no idea what the point of this is, but if anyone knows please fill me in!
You're probably wondering howcome it was raining on my desk, since I live on the first floor - well, in the floor of the second floor there's a "window" where you can look all the way up to the roof - probably build in to let some more light into the room. But there are little cracks around the egdes of the window that allow a rather large amount of water to run through. I panicked and tried to dry the keybord the best I could and when I went to work, I put the computer infront of a fan going at full speed. Fortunately as you might have guessed, it still works : )
I've moved now the desk with computer and everything else away from the window.
The combination of the roof construction and the rainy season isn't good!

Sushi craving

Somehow the blog have become very food-related. This post will be no exception!
Sushi is one of my favorite treats and yesterday I felt like I deserved a nice Sunday lunch. So I caught a xe om to Asahi Sushi located at Ba Trieu St just south of the Hoan Kiem lake. I hadn't been there before, but was quite surprised by the very modern style resturant.

I'm a sucker for sushi on conveyor belts! It doesn't even matter how hungry I am - the concept of delicious raw fish moving around on little plates just waiting for me to eat it draws me into the restaurant each time I'm near one. There's something satisfying judging each plate of sushi with your eyes as it moves around infront of your nose, carefully picking out the specific plate that looks the best. It's like being a kid in a candy store - only this time it's actually healthy food. God, I love sushi!

Well as for the sushi itself, I don't think the fish was quite as fresh as the Sheraton sushi, but it was still good. They wouldn't allow me to take pictures, but I'll def return to this restaurant next time my stomach craves sushi, and I might be able to take a sneak photo.

eating out, Vietnamese style

Not every day is brunch at Sheraton : )
I've been trying out some street kitchens as well. Last night we went out for a late dinner and couldn't be bothered to walk very far - so we went down our local "food street". We orded 3x chicken noodle soup, 3 breads and one mixed soup - or so we thought! First a plate of chips arrived - then 2x fried noodles with chicken + one chicken soup (without noodles). My dish never came and eventually I pointed at the black soup with chicken the lady sitting behind me ate and I got my dinner. The soup was delicious although I have no idea what I ate.

Last week we tried another street kitchen close to the embassy. The food was displayed in plates at a counter and loads of people were sitting at little tables. Many people eating at the same place seems to be a good sign of good food. I had some semi-spicy meatballs that tasted amazing (I hope it wasn't dog meat), some rice and some kind of vegetable I've we def don't have in Denmark. When we asked to pay a girl came to the table with a book and wrote 4000. We tried to asked whether 4000 was for each of us or each dish, but she didn't seem to understand - then she wrote another 0 and took the 50.000 bill one of my fellow trainees was holding. We couldn't help feeling a bit stupid as we could see all of the other bills in the book were only 4 digits. Oh well, still dirt cheap :)

Sheraton Brunch

One of the other embassy trainees turned 25 today and to celebrate we all went to Shearaton Hotel at the West Lake about 10 min. from Hanoi city centre. We'd been told there was an exellent brunch - and we weren't dissapointed!
Never in my life have I seen so much food! At first we felt a bit weird about it, knowing that people just outside the door would be able to feed an entire family for a week or more with the 23 USD the champagne-brunch cost pr. person. We decided to make the best of the experience although it felt rather absurd to be surrounded by luxury and waiters on every hand.
As the word "champagne-brunch" indicates the food orgie came with champagne, beer and wine ad libithum. This is the first morning ever I've started with champagne and sushi : )
I can't even remember all the different things on the buffet, but I'll show you a few pics of the amazing desserts so you'll get an impression.




I don't remember ever eating so much and it's certainly not something I would want to do every day - but if you can put aside the crazy circumstances (being in a luxury hotel in Vietnam) it was a cool experience and the food was amazing.....

Hanoi - hot and humid

So here I am, in Hanoi. After another delayed flight I arrived Wednesday night and was picked up at the airport and taken to my hotel.
I've spent the last couple of days walking around town, mainly the old city, soaking in all the impressions of this beautiful, but hectic city. I don't understand the traffic and I'm dead scared each time I try to cross a street with scooters coming towards me from every direction. Somehow I don' remember this being a problem from the last time I was here - I must have blocked it out.
On Monday the new embassy trainee team move into our new house. I'm looking forward to unpacking all my stuff and hopefully I'll come to think of the house as a home.
Tuesday is my first day at work and I still don't really know what my tasks will be, but I'm excited to finally start : )

When I was here in 2003 it was right after the city reopend after SARS and I suppose the lack of tourists for quite some time had made everyone more aggressive in the hunt for money. I felt rather uncomfortable being pulled in different directions by people trying to sell stuff and when I left Vietnam for Laos I was fed up with being scammed and had no wish of ever returning to this coutry.
This time around there seem to be fewer tourists than last time, but people don't seem nearly as aggressive. Although they still shout at me to get on their moto or cyclo, or pull my arm to make me buy whatever item they're selling, they aren't as persistant as they were the last time around. I suppsose the economic development combined with a steady tourist flow have helped.

So far I like being in Hanoi again, but somehow I don't think I've realized that this is where I'll be till February.

4 countries in a week

So here I am - in Singapore - the 4th country since last Monday, when I left Prague.
I spent two days in Bangkok shopping and walking around the city. I noticed the prices have gone up a bit - it's still dirt cheap compared to Denmark. Three years ago I ate about 7 little plates of sushi and had a coke for around 150 bath. Saturday the same amount bought me 2 plates and a coke at the same place.

Today I took the plane to Singapore - it's my first visit to the city/state and my first impression is that it's a very groomed city who've lost a bit of it's charm due to the economic growth. Maybe Singapore will prove me wrong, but somehow I can't get used to all the skyscrapers. It looks too groomed to me...

I'm finding rather annoying not being able to speak and Asian languague - due to my looks everyone expects me to. Oh well, at least here English goes a long way : )

I'm leaving on a jetplane

I had a wonderful time in Prague
- the inner city hasn't changed much since my last visit 11 years ago, but three stops by metro from city centre a new shopping centre has emerged. It's supposed to be the largest one in Eastern Europe - the brands were the same as anywhere else in the Western World - who'd have imagined that 16 years ago?
After Prague I went back to my parents summer house where I've spent the last couple of days before returning to my parents house to pack up my stuff and say the last goodbye's.


In about 26 hours I'll be in Bangkok ... It's so unreal to me. I'm scared and excited.
Next post will be from the other side of the world

Summer house

Went to my parents summer house for a couple of days - it's located on a little island in the North Sea. Even though it's only 12 min.'s sailing away from Esbjerg (where I'm from) it's like being in another world 1000 of miles away.
I've spent a week or two on Fanoe just about every summer. To me Fanoe is summer, icecream, walks and the beach.

The ferry

pheasant and mrs.

Soft-ice covered with chocolate and rice crispies

My dog in front of the house

My dad, my sister and my dog at the beach

Sunset

More pics here