Boxing Week

Just back last night from travels to Cape Breton and an overnight stay with my in-laws. Had a nice quiet Christmas, with a satisfying haul of choccies, booze, and books/DVDs, as well as some nice glassware/crystal and a spa gift cert (whoo hoo). Perhaps the most interesting thing I received, however, was a year's subscription to Bitch magazine, courtesy of J. It's billed as a 'feminist response to pop culture', which is just up my street. The first issue was delivered to me before J. told me she'd gotten me a subscription, though, so when I first looked at it I wondered if some anonymous person was trying to tell me something. ;-)

Hit the shops first thing this morning in search of a few items and was home by noon, when the crowds started getting crazy. I snagged a lighted makeup mirror for my dressing table (for those dark winter mornings), matching new bed linens, a pillow and a comforter for the spare room upstairs, wrapping paper, gift boxes and Christmas cards for next year, and new undergarments. :-D

Happy Christmas

From my vintage postcard collection:

Trip Videos

Since I picked up a new 1GB memory stick for my camera before leaving, I was able to make a bunch of short videos during my trip.

First, here's a sample (00:38) of what traffic on an ordinary busy afternoon in Hanoi looks like (you just can't capture this in a photograph). The number of motorbikes (and the noise they make) is unreal!



The final night of my stay in Hanoi, when we went to see the water puppets, I recorded the opening of the performance (02:17), in which the live orchestra played a short piece of traditional Vietnamese music - quite nice:



Finally, I made this little video (01:01) at The Peak in Hong Kong. It was really windy up there, so my voice cuts out towards the end (probably a good thing - nobody needs to hear me blathering on endlessly):



These vids are all hosted on YouTube, so they should work for everyone. Enjoy.

Trip Photos

Argh...I've been back over three days now, and I'm still in the throes of jet lag (not to mention the fact that I've picked up a cold). Night before last, I was wide awake at 4.30 a.m. Last night it was even worse - I woke at 2.30 a.m. and couldn't get back to sleep, so I ended up taking a Dramamine because it was getting a bit ridiculous. Hope I'll be back on track soon - with Christmas looming, it's not exactly a convenient time to be feeling under the weather.

Anyway, enough whingeing. The point of this post was to say that a selection of my trip pics are now online here, at Flickr (I took the opportunity to upload most of them yesterday morning, when I couldn't sleep).

I made a bunch of little videos during my trip, too, which I will post here hopefully in the next day or two - as soon as I figure out the mechanics of YouTube.

On My Way Home...

Sunday afternoon and I'm now waiting to board my flight here at Hong Kong Airport (free wi-fi everywhere, woo hoo). This airport is a model of efficiency - the moment people step off planes, there are staff at the gate holding signs with names and flight numbers, and golf carts standing by to whisk travellers away to their onward connections. Fabulous - why can't every airport be so organised? It can't be anything to do with size - this place is huge.

I had a busy morning, getting my luggage repacked, then racing around the local area finding some breakfast and picking up a few last-minute items. Then it was time to check out of the hotel and get the airport coach. The drive here was surprisingly scenic (for an airport highway). Glad I packed my camera in my handbag - I took a lot of pics from the coach.

I got to the airport over three hours early, so I could try to change my (not very good) pre-assigned seats. Had success - for the flight to Toronto, I now have an aisle seat near the front with a power point, so I can use my laptop throughout the flight (I probably could have gotten a bulkhead seat, but getting work done on my lectures was more important than ample leg room). Got a bulkhead seat for the Toronto-Halifax flight, though.

Guess I should post this now - they'll be calling the flight to board soon. Sixteen hours in the air - ugh. I hope the movies are good! At least I have a free pass (courtesy of B. and P.) for that nice Air Canada lounge in Toronto, so that's something to look forward to.

Goodbye Asia! It's been amazing!

Day Eight: It's Fun to Stay at the...

OH MY GOD. I LOVE HONG KONG!

Maybe it’s just that I was more drained by Hanoi than I realised, and am not cut out for travel in the developing world. But I had such a great day here today.

Got up early(ish) this morning, to have breakfast here in the YMCA hotel with B. and P. Fantastic Western buffet – never have I been so excited by Rice Krispies and English muffins. The chef made me a scrummy omelette too – I was such a happy camper. Sat for a bit afterwards with a nice cup of tea and a copy of the South China Morning Post.

Saw B. and P. off on their coach to the airport, then collected my things and went out for the morning. Happily, the forecasted rain did not materialize, and we had a bit of a misty morning followed by a sunny, mild afternoon. I went just across the road from the hotel to catch the Star Ferry over to Hong Kong Island. That was fun – the ferries are quite antiquated, but there’s no better or cheaper way to see the harbour. And it’s a very short hop – only about 10 minutes to go across.

On the other side, I caught a coach up the hill to the Peak Tram station. The Peak is the highest point on Hong Kong Island and I’d read that that views were spectacular. There’s a tram that one can take to the top, which has been in operation for over a century, so I didn’t want to miss that. The trip up was short but amazing, with stunning views – not to mention the incredibly steep climb. At the top, a rather soulless office tower and shopping complex has recently been built. However, it has a roof terrace from which the views were, as promised, absolutely amazing. I’ve never seen a cityscape and skyline so impressive. Well worth the effort to get up there, even though the air was a bit hazy and so didn’t make for the best photos.

On the way back down on the tram, I made a little video of the ride, then walked downhill from the tram station back to the ferry, making a pit stop for coffee and happily snapping pics as I went. Hong Kong really is Asia lite – it’s so Westernised. Everything is incredibly efficient and well-organised, and visitors are catered for well. Perhaps too well - some might say the city lacks a certain character, but I’m sure there’s nowhere else like it.

After catching the Star Ferry back across the harbour, I stopped in at the hotel for a quick break, and to arrange for internet access in my room. Then I set off again, for an afternoon of wandering around, popping in the shops around Nathan Road (the main drag of Hong Kong and the central tourist area). Sweet Jesus, the shopping in this town. It really is a shopper’s heaven – I was feeling so sorry that I didn’t have more time.

I went into more shops than I could shake a stick at – but one of the most notable were the drugstores. I always love going into drugstores in other countries, especially to look at stuff like makeup, lotions, potions, etc. The offerings here are fascinating. I had always wondered about the Asian predilection for expensive, luxury skincare regimes – well, today I realised it’s partly because all those products are significantly cheaper here. Also, the drugstores are full of small samples of high-end products (Dior, Clinique, Clarins, Estee Lauder, Arden, etc., etc.) at very reasonable prices. I didn’t pick up any of that stuff, but I did get a large package of Shiseido blotting papers for about $1, a heated eyelash curler for a mere $2, and a Hong Kong brand of powder in a lovely engraved compact for only $5. I saw all kinds of odd things on offer – including what appeared to be transparent tapes to apply to the eyelids, to try and create a Caucasian eyelid crease – freaky.

The other thing I noticed in the drugstore was that Asian women really are obsessed with pale skin. Every skin care line available offers a full range of products that claim to whiten the complexion. This includes several brands that we’re familiar with in Canada – but in addition to the usual offerings, have all kinds of special ‘whitening’ products created specifically for the Asian market. I normally use Olay moisturizer, so for a lark (and because I’m keen on bucking the North American tanning trend), I bought their UV whitening moisturizer. It probably won’t do anything much, but it’ll be fun to give it a go.

I spent about four hours tramping around the city centre, going into everything from small dingy shops to huge, luxury mega-malls (speaking of the Asian taste for luxury goods, I saw queues out the door and down the street in front of Prada, Gucci and Louis Vuitton – incredible). By about 6 pm I was pretty hungry, not having eaten since that big buffet breakfast, so I stopped in a European-style bakery for a blissfully Western meal. By the time I’d gotten myself back to the hotel, there was only enough time for a short rest before I went across the road to the waterfront, to wait for the “Symphony of Lights” which occurs every evening at 8 pm. It was pretty spectacular – most of the high-rises on the Hong Kong skyline are lit up in neon, and each evening for about 15 minutes, there’s a laser light show across the harbour, set to music. I tried taking a few pics, but they didn’t come out very well – besides, there are better pictures all over the web, like these.

By the time the show was over I was super-tired and footsore (I must have walked 7 or 8 miles today), but I really wanted to go to one of the night markets, so I pressed on – God knows I’ll do enough sitting on the flight home. I headed up Nathan Road, battling the huge crowds out doing their Saturday night shopping, and dodging the counterfeit handbag/watch hawkers as well as the representatives from the East Indian tailors. Eventually I arrived at the Temple Street Night Market and had a browse around. Most of the goods on offer were cheap tourist tat, but it was fun to stroll around, taking pictures. I bought a bag for a few dollars, so I can fill my carry-on case with books and papers and check it in tomorrow, to reduce the heavy load in my suitcase.

Then I jumped into a taxi and made it back to the hotel by 10. Just relaxing now with some tea and the BBC World news on television while I write this diary. Very sleepy though – I need a good night’s rest before tomorrow’s trip home, for sure.

Day Six: Culture and Fashion!

Another heavy work day. Today’s sessions were on curriculum development, to which I needed to pay close attention. Also spent quite a bit of time with my (not altogether efficient) local equivalent here in Hanoi, sorting out the various expenses for the meetings, and getting bills paid.

Today was the first sunny day of our stay! Temperatures balmy and wonderful – well over 20 degrees C. B. and H. went swimming in the hotel pool at lunchtime, though I was too busy to join them. :-(

As soon as we finished up for the day, I grabbed my purse and jumped in a cab to the ao dai tailor. H. came along with me for the ride. The seamstresses were ironing my ao dai as I arrived, and I had a quick fitting. Everything looked great, and fit wonderfully (though the trousers are snug – were I to gain even 2-3 pounds, they mightn’t fit properly!). The ao dai is just so beautiful, and the fabric I chose is even lovelier than I remembered – it sort of shimmers blue and green, depending on the light. I had the trousers made up in pale green to go with. They did a nice job on the sewing, too (though they were so rushed, they forgot to take out the basting stitches on the cuffs of the tunic, so I had to do that back at the hotel). After I paid the remainder owing to the tailor, H. and I had to walk for a bit before we found a taxi to take us back to the hotel – it was rush hour by then and the traffic was fierce.

As soon as we got back, it was time to jump into my ao dai and then meet the bus that was taking our whole group to dinner. I hadn’t told any of the Vietnamese that I was having the ao dai made, and they were all very surprised. We ended up having an unexpected night-time tour of Hanoi – our bus driver got mixed up as to where we were having dinner, and we ended up on the outskirts of the city, at the wrong restaurant, before the problem was sorted out. But it was OK – one of the sights we passed on the way back into the city was the mausoleum of Ho Chi Minh. “Uncle Ho” (as the Vietnamese call him) is preserved and on public display in Hanoi, a la Lenin or Chairman Mao, and I had hoped to visit him during this trip – but alas, the mausoleum is closed each year from Sept-Dec. so Uncle Ho can undergo preservative maintenance. (!)

Finally got to our restaurant, Brother’s Café, an hour late. But it was worth all the trouble – it’s housed in a beautiful converted, 18^th century temple, and is open-air. The food was excellent – there’s a large dinner buffet and they have several stations set up to mimic the street food vendors of Vietnam (which of course was very touristy, but it takes a brave tourist to risk authentic street food here – you never know what you might get, or the conditions under which it was cooked). Unfortunately, just after our group settled in and started to eat, our enjoyment was marred by the arrival of a large, rude and obnoxious group of Western tourists – we thought they were European at first, but later found out they were Israeli. They quite literally stampeded the buffet, pushed others out of the way, made absolute pigs of themselves, and cleaned it out – it was appalling. I felt like apologizing to the chefs and wait staff, on behalf of all tourists!

Once dinner was over, H. and I headed back into the city centre, to see a performance of the famed Hanoi water puppets. They have their own theatre, and it’s quite a popular thing for tourists and locals alike to do. We really enjoyed it – there was live traditional Vietnamese music accompanying the performance, and the puppeteers themselves were really talented – the ‘stage’ is a large pool of water and the puppets dance across it. I took loads of pics, and a couple of videos too, which I’ll try to post here when I get home.

Afterwards, we got a cab back to the hotel, and had a bit of an ‘adventure’ when the driver seriously tried to rip us off. We made sure to get into a cab with a meter, but unbeknownst to us it was not an official cab. The driver drove off in the opposite direction from our hotel, took us all over hell and creation, then put his hand over the meter so we couldn’t see the fare. H. was sure he was fiddling the meter, and as we neared our hotel, she asked him to move his hand away. Sure enough, the fare had soared to over 100,000 dong (about US $6.50), when we knew it should have cost no more than 15,000-20,000! We immediately insisted that we would not pay any more than 20,000 and the guy argued with us about it, but we got quite angry with him and told him off – he had some English so I’m sure he knew what was up. In the end, neither of us had small change, and so we gave him US $2 (about 32,000) – so he still got about twice what he should have. Swindler!!

*addendum, 1 am, late Friday night*

OK, so now after a long last working day, I’m finally in Hong Kong. I travelled here with B. and P., and we got a coach into the city from the airport, and checked in about half an hour ago. We’re at the Salisbury Hotel, which is run by the YMCA – I tell you, compared to where we’ve just come from in Hanoi, this place is a bloody palace! It’s nothing special in North American terms, I suppose, but it’s totally Western, and so a complete contrast to where we stayed in Hanoi. It’s also far cleaner and better-equipped – feels positively luxurious.

B. and P. are heading to the airport tomorrow morning, and carrying on home, but I have the whole day here tomorrow to do my own thing. Apparently, the weather forecast is for rain…booo! That may put a serious damper on my sightseeing plans. I may just be forced to hit the gargantuan shopping centre down the street, Harbour City/Ocean Terminal – it has 700 shops, apparently. ;-) Perhaps the weather will be better in the afternoon, or on Sunday morning. I’d really like to take a trip across the harbour on the Star Ferry, and go up to the Peak to check out the view. We’ll see.

Anyway, must sleep. I’ll see about activating the wireless connection here in my hotel room tomorrow morning – I’ll do it for just a few hours, as it’s a bit expensive, but I need to check my work e-mail, and post this blog entry, of course. Stay tuned for my next Hong Kong update!

Exhausted in Hanoi

Whew. This is will be a short informational post - it's lunchtime on Friday here in Hanoi now. This morning we finished the main part of our workshop, and most people have departed. I'm just waiting now for the final meeting of the management committee, which starts at 2 pm. I'm all packed and checked out, and just killing some time before the meeting starts. At about 4.30, the bosses and I will head for the airport and my next stop, Hong Kong.

I'm looking forward to the flight - by that point, my job will officially be done and I can relax a bit - and hopefully get caught up on my travel diary from yesterday. And if I can blog from there, I surely will.

Excited about Hong Kong - it'll be great to have some time for myself. :-)

Day Five

Intensive work today. I’ve been working with my counterpart here to make sure all the various bills associated with this workshop get paid, and had to attend the first of two meeings of the project management committee (while everyone else here got the afternoon off to do their own things…*sob*)

The sun finally came out (albeit a little weakly) this afternoon. It’s warmer today too. The week so far has been grey and a bit foggy, but very mild – temperatures around 15 degrees. This afternoon, it felt closer to 20. It’s quite funny – most days in meetings, I’ve been wearing short-sleeved sweaters, and not bothering with a coat, and all the Vietnamese women keep coming up and asking me if I’m cold! They’re all swaddled in puffy jackets and think it’s chilly!

Finally escaped the hotel around 4.15 and had a mad hour and a half racing around the Old Quarter, doing some (possibly final) bits of shopping. Have I mentioned yet how bad the air quality is here? After an hour or so of walking around in the city centre, I get a heavy feeling in my chest – almost like there’s soot in my lungs. Others have noticed it too – it’s awful. Can’t imagine what it’s like for people who live here.

Got back to the hotel around 6 pm to meet Tho, the brother of our former secretary at work. He was very kind, and brought me a bag full of fresh mangoes, which I shared with the others here. Then at 6.30, Thao arrived at the hotel again, so she, H. and I could go have dinner. First, we stopped at the theatre downtown where there are nightly performances of the Hanoi ‘water puppets’ – tried to get tickets for this evening, but they were sold out, so we’ll go tomorrow instead.

Then we jumped back in our cab and headed for one of the outlying districts in the city, to a restaurant which is one of Thao’s favourites. It was just a neighbourhood restaurant, but quite good, and very typically Vietnamese, according to Thao. It had bamboo furniture and low tables – we sat at chairs downstairs, but the dining room upstairs had even lower tables, and everyone sits on floor cushions. On shelves all around the walls of the restaurant were these rows of large jars, filled with dark-coloured liquid and foreign objects:

We enquired about them and found out later that they contain a medicinal drink called ‘beauty white’. Various herbs and chopped-up snakes (!) are put in the jar, which is then filled with alcohol and allowed to stew for a few months. The resulting elixir is then served for people to drink – apparently, it’s most famous for giving “strength to men.” ???

Anyway, we got some local beer, then Thao ordered all the food. After we’d tasted everything, she told us what it was. With a moment’s hesitation, we dove in. First, we had wonderful fresh spring rolls with beef and greens, in rice wrappers, and with lots of fish sauce for dipping. Next came little bowls of soup with mushrooms, vegetables and eel (!). There was peppered tofu, lightly battered and deep-fried, then a platter of thinly-sliced, seared goat with sesame seeds. The final dish was rice noodles with beef and lots of stir-fried veggies. I must admit, I was not wild about the goat – I’ve had it once before and it has a very strong flavour and is quite chewy. But it wasn’t awful or anything – and everything else we ate was really quite nice.

At the end, Thao brought out some fresh fruit she’d bought at the market, for us to try. I’m going to have to find out the names of them later today – the first one looked like a tiny kiwi, but grows in bunches on stems like grapes, and once peeled is a little grape-like. The other was red with white segmented flesh, and absolutely delicious – H. says it’s called mangosteen (sp?) in English. Honestly, I’m going to do a whole blog entry just about the fruit here – I keep taking pictures of it. It’s so good.

We settled up our bill (a whopping US $8 for all three of us), bid Thao goodbye, and got a taxi back to our hotel. Still early (only 9 pm) but I decided on a quiet evening of reading and TV in my room, and writing this blog entry. I was awake at 5 am again this morning so I’m pretty tired! Plus, tomorrow will be a very long day.

Day Four: Takin' it to the Street (heh)

Today’s workshop session was on Teaching and Learning, and continues tomorrow morning. One of our Filipino partners is leading the sessions, and I hope the Vietnamese in particular get something out of it. University teaching and learning here, in a communist country, is totally different from what we are used to in the West. Here, students go into class, sit down, write down everything the lecturer says, then get up and leave; come exam time, they basically memorize and then regurgitate their notes. Group work, student/teacher interaction and discussion are pretty much unheard of, and students aren’t even really encouraged to ask questions (I think that’s viewed as disrespectful to professorial authority). It’s a very passive style of learning, and means that critical thinking is not really encouraged – and in a totalitarian state, why would it be? In that sense, what we’re offering today is new and a bit radical.

Watching the news at breakfast this morning, we discovered that there is a typhoon possibly headed our way. Oi. Typhoon Utor went over the Philippines yesterday, and is now heading out over the South China Sea. There’s a good possibility it will hit Vietnam, but may go north to China. We’ll have to keep a close eye on the forecast over the next day or two. Needless to say, it doesn’t bode well for my planned departure from here to Hong Kong on Friday night.

Yesterday, I was telling the others how I seem to have gotten over my jet-lag quite easily. Other than a woozy spell around midday on Sunday, I’ve felt quite well, and hadn’t had any trouble getting to sleep at reasonable hours. I may have spoken too soon – last night, I fell asleep by 11 pm, but was plagued by bad dreams, then found myself awake just after 5 am. After a half-hour of lying in bed, I decided I might as well get up and do some work – so I got in an hour of lecture-writing before going for breakfast and starting the day. So that was good, at least.

At lunchtime today, H. and I decided to disappear and do some of the walking tour of the Old Quarter that’s outlined in our Lonely Planet guidebook. We only had an hour, so we hopped in a taxi to Hoan Kiem lake and started seeing the sites in a whirlwind fashion (“Look! There’s some neat stuff! Take a picture of it!”). We started in an eighteenth-century Buddhist temple, and then moved on to some densely-packed shopping streets. The Old Quarter is known for entire streets whose shops specialise in certain types of goods. So today, we passed the Christmas decoration (!) street, the tin box street, the metalwork street, the wrapping paper and tape street, the paper lantern street, the mirror street, and the shoe street. Unbelievably chaotic and incredibly noisy, but fascinating nonetheless. I snapped loads and loads of pics.

When we were finished, we jumped back into another taxi to get back to the hotel for 2 pm, when our afternoon sessions were due to start. Unfortunately we made the mistake of getting into an un-metered cab. When we arrived back at our hotel, the driver told us the fare was US $3. Now, a trip anywhere in downtown Hanoi should cost no more than about $1.25, maximum, so I knew we were being hosed as tourists. The driver was quite insistent however, and not wanting to quibble over a lousy couple of bucks, we just paid what he asked. But still, it’s kind of annoying to know we were charged triple the normal price, just because the driver knew he could probably get away with it.

Afternoon sessions were very long today, and I had to work with P. for a while, to get ready for tomorrow. Earlier, she had made noises about us getting together tonight also. But I (nicely) put my foot down and told her we had already made plans to go sightseeing and out to dinner – I know I’m here to work, but I also know that if I don’t make plans to get out and see some of Hanoi in the evenings, it won’t happen. Eh well – B., who is my immediate supervisor, didn’t seem to care if I was available tonight or not, so I guess I shouldn’t fret too much.

H. and I went back to the Old Quarter to continue our tour for about another two hours of chaotic wandering, then we met up with P. and L. for dinner. We went to a fantastic restaurant close to our hotel called Emperor. By all accounts, it’s one of the best in Hanoi and (surprise!) is a bit posh. It lived up to its reputation – it was absolutely beautiful, and in a very elegant setting. We had a candlelit, open-air table on a balcony, which was very comfortable given that the evening was fairly balmy. We had a fabulous dinner, with fresh spring rolls, rice, and main courses including beef with ginger, chicken on lemongrass skewers, spicy grilled pork, and squid. We splurged on a bottle of French wine (which was crazy expensive, for Hanoi), but ultimately, our bills only came to about $18 each (and nearly half of that was the wine). For Hanoi, this constitutes a pricey gourmet experience. Well worth it for us, though – I suspect it’s the best meal I’ll have here.

Time for bed shortly. I took loads of pics today and will do my best to upload a few choice ones tomorrow. Stay tuned!

Day Three: Down to Work

Workshop opened today, and things went pretty well, all things considered. Everyone worked really hard, and it was quite a productive day. Great to see some old friends, as well as finally meet lots of people I’ve been corresponding with for the past two years.

Worked flat out all day, though. I was chatting with H. earlier and we were both saying how, if we want to get in any Hanoi sightseeing at all, we’re just going to have to disappear in order to make it happen. If you wait around to come to some sort of consensus with the rest of the group, you waste too much time and don’t get anything done. So I think that tomorrow, as soon as we’re finished the day’s activities, we’re going to try to escape. Our Lonely Planet guidebook has a walking tour of the Old Quarter, so we’ll try to do that, then try to get to one of the more upscale restos in the area for dinner (the food in the hotel here isn’t that great, though it’s crazy cheap – a filling meal of chicken or beef, with rice, veggies, spring rolls and beer, is running at about US $3!).

The unseasonably warm weather of the past few weeks has sadly not materialised so far (though the humidity has not dissipated – it’s quite damp here). Of course, it’s still balmy compared to Halifax, but today was cool and no more than about 15 degrees C. Of course, to the Vietnamese, this is frigid – I kept telling them about our snowstorm in Halifax last week!

This evening there was a Welcome Dinner for the whole group. A bus came to pick up everyone from the hotel, and take us to the restaurant, which was not too far away. We had a multi-course feast laid on for us, which was mostly very good (prawns, whole fish, rice with tomatoes, herbs and tofu) but had a few dodgy dishes as well (like a strange sweet-and-sour soup with whole fish in it).

Time for some work on my lectures for an hour or so, then to bed – we have another 8.30 am start again tomorrow.

Day Two: Free Day in Hanoi

Got up at 8 to meet the others for breakfast and try to get my body on some kind of schedule – still v. tired though. Chinese steamed dumplings for brekkie, as well as the usual Western offerings – very tasty. Around 11 am a bunch of us met up to walk into the city centre and hit Hang Gai (the main street for silk shopping).

The first thing any visitor to Hanoi must notice is that the traffic is unlike anything you have ever seen before. Nobody pays the slightest attention to any road rules – people just go wherever they feel like it and it’s unbelievably chaotic. And the number of mopeds and motorcycles is unreal – I think I saw more today than I’ve ever seen in my whole life. The volume of bikes, plus the lack of attention paid to road rules, and the fact that almost no one wears helmets, means that the number of traffic accidents is staggering. Last year, in Hanoi alone, there were apparently 18,000 traffic-related deaths. I can tell you, sitting in taxi cabs is a harrowing experience – best not to look outside the vehicle. And as for crossing the street, you’ve just got to pluck up your courage, look for a lull in the traffic, then cross at a steady pace – then the drivers just swerve around you.

Managed to walk, without being killed by a mad motorist, over to the Hoan Kiem lake (a major city landmark) and the Old Quarter, which is the most picturesque bit of the city and has the best shopping. We went to one particular silk shop that others in the group (who have been to Hanoi before) recommended – it’s not the cheapest, but is quite good quality. Apparently there’s a lot of poor-quality silk out there, and you get what you pay for. Anyway, Hanoi is teeming with beautiful things made of silk – every variety of clothing, scarves, ties, quilts, cushions, purses, wallets, curtains, sheets – you name it. And needless to say, prices were very low.

Bought a number of Christmas pressies, then we headed back to the hotel around noon as I wasn’t feeling all that well (headachey and tired). Had lunch and a bit of a rest, before meeting up at 2pm with my shopping guide. The former secretary in my office at work is a former native of Hanoi, and last week she put me in touch with her friend Thao, by e-mail. Thao and I had arranged to meet at the hotel this afternoon, so she could take me out shopping.

Well, we had a brilliant afternoon. P. and H. joined us for a bit, as we went to a number of shops and went a bit crazy buying gifts. The places she took us were all really nice (silk, jewellery, lacquerware), and unbelievably cheap! It was great shopping with her because I knew she’d take us to nice places where we wouldn’t be gouged as tourists.

Around 4.30 P. and H. went off on their own and Thao next took me to see some tailors, as I want to get some clothes made up. First, we went to a shop where I ordered an ao dai (the Vietnamese national dress) to be made for me. I picked out beautiful blue and green patterned silk – they are going to rush my order for me so it will be ready by Thursday afternoon (because I want to wear it that night at our farewell dinner here). The entire outfit is only costing me the equivalent of US $35! And this woman who’s making it is apparently the best ao dai tailor in Hanoi! Insanity!!

Afterwards, we went on to another tailor, so that I could have my favourite shirt copied. I’d bought some linen and cotton-linen blend fabric earlier in the day (in white, pink and red). The second tailor had a look at my shirt, and will keep it in order to copy it. I bought the fabric for the three shirts at one of the more expensive, tourist-oriented shops, for US $48. And the cost for making all of them up? US $10. Yes, that’s right. TEN DOLLARS to make three shirts with collars, long sleeves, buttonholes, etc. I actually felt bad, paying so little – but Thao said that this is a fair price in Hanoi.

Got back to the hotel about 6.30 this evening, met up with some of our other Vietnamese and Filipino participants (who’ve just arrived) then had dinner with the rest of the group. I’ll meeting my Hanoi counterpart in a half-hour’s time, to go over a few details for the opening of our workshop tomorrow, then it’s off to bed for me – feeling very tired again after the day’s shopping exertions.

I’m typing this on my laptop, and I’m going to go down to the lobby now to try posting these entries to Blogger – apparently the lobby has wireless internet now, which is super convenient.

*addendum* It works! I love wi-fi!

Day One: En Route

I've arrived! But not without a somewhat rocky trip here.

Cab arrived at 4.30 am and I picked up H. (a project colleague) en route to the airport. On board the flight to Toronto, we met up with P., another colleague, who’d boarded ahead of us. Uneventful flight to Toronto, during which I mostly slept. On arrival, I got to enter the hallowed enclave of the Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge for the first time (P. and H. had upgrade certificates and were flying business class, so were allowed to bring me into the lounge as a guest). Hot damn, those lounges are nice – free breakfast, computer access, loads of papers and magazines to take away, etc., not to mention ample comfy seating and nice loos.

We only had a short time in Toronto before P. and I had to get our connecting flight to Vancouver – H. had a different flight, though we were all due to rendezvous in Vancouver and carry on to Seoul together, on the same flight. Well, shortly after getting on our plane, the problems began. We dithered on the tarmac for almost an hour, before the pilot came over the PA system to say that there was a technical issue and we had to return to the gate! It turned out to be a faulty oil filter – the problem was fixed, but not before we were delayed by two hours in Toronto. Given that we only had an hour and a half to make our connection in Vancouver, had the flight been on time, we knew there was no way we were going to make our Air Canada flight to Seoul. H. would be on that flight without us.

Needless to say, it didn’t make for a very pleasant flight, not knowing how or when we’d be able to carry on (and on a petty level, I was annoyed that the nice bulkhead seat I’d snagged for the transpacific flight was now lost!). But on arrival, the ground staff in Vancouver managed to get us on a Korean Air flight to Seoul, just an hour later. Luckily, Korean Air was very nice (even though I was stuck in the middle of an aisle). The plane was a Boeing 777 and therefore pretty sweet. The service was very good, as were the amenities. Plus, the Korean Air stewardesses were completely adorable – cutest uniforms I’ve ever seen! We got our onward connection to Hanoi as scheduled, where I managed to meet up with H. again and explained what had happened.

By the end of the flight to Hanoi, we were all just about at the end of our tethers. So, so tired. By the time we got out of the airport, met our local representatives, and met up with some other people from Halifax who’d arrived earlier, it was well after midnight. I stuck around for a beer and a quick chat, got myself settled into my room and unpacked, then finally got some sleep around 2 am.

Countdown to Asia

Well, I'm off to Vietnam this Friday morning, at the crack of dawn (seriously - my flight from Halifax is at 6.00 am). Still can't quite believe it.

These last few weeks, what with trip preparations, feverish writing of lectures, holiday shopping, and cranking out Christmas cards and letters, have been busier than anything I can remember for years and years. What's even stranger is that I haven't completely lost my marbles by this point - I'm actually feeling quite calm and well-prepared for everything.

I arrive in Hanoi late night on Saturday, local time (Hanoi is 12 hours ahead of EST), so I have a total travel time of over 27 hours. Errrgh. I'm planning to crash immediately on arrival, then have plans to meet a friend of a friend on Sunday afternoon, for an epic shopping expedition around Hanoi (since that's the only free day we have there).

I'll be staying with the rest of my group at the Army Hotel - which is not fancy by any means, but is apparently perfectly comfortable, and in a good location. Happily, they also have a large outdoor pool - which I hope to use as the temperatures there at the moment are an unseasonably warm 20-25 degrees C.

The hotel apparently also has one or two public internet terminals in their 'business centre', so I hope to be able to post news and updates (and possibly even photos) to this blog while there. So watch this space!