First day in Vietnam

By the time I got on the plane to Hanoi, I was pretty worn out, and this may have helped calm my initial nerves about traveling. I'm not sure why I suddenly got nervous about this trip, but about 2 days ago, I was feeling pretty scared! Anyway, I got through immigration no problems, collected my bag intact, got money out of an ATM and a local SIM before locating a taxi and heading out of the airport.
By this time I had a cracking headache, overtired and probably dehydrated. It took about an hour to get to the Old Quarter through traffic. The taxi driver was excellent; insistent enough to weave through the buses, mopeds, motorbikes and bicycles, but not so much that you thought you were going to die. It was interesting traveling through the outskirts into the city, and probably the most amusing thing was seeing a small herd of cattle being moved along the busy highway in the opposite direction.
Our hotel - Hong Ngoc 3 on Hang Bac Street in the Old Quarter seems very good. It is locally owned, clean and rooms are quite big. I am sharing a room with a girl from Brazil, who happens to be studying english on the Gold Coast. In fact most of our group of 12 are Australian, with a few Brits thrown in for good measure. So far everyone seems really friendly. Our leader, Bon, is enthusiastic and doesnt come across as a scripted guide.
I haven't seen much of the place yet, as I just wasn't in a state to face the busy streets when I arrived and crashed into bed. After an hour's rest and a shower though, we headed around the corner for a delicious meal at the Handspan Restaurant. I had the grilled fish where you roll them up in rice paper yourself. We had a shot of the local rice wine to finish - they call it "fire water". It seemed extremely pure, and didn't have a nasty after taste. I assume it's an excellent way to prevent an stomach bug!
Tomorrow we have an early start for an overnight trip to Halong Bay. I was inspired by Romain's photos of his visit earlier this year, and I'm looking forward to kayaking and swimming in the South China Sea.

Transiting in KL.

Yesterday I began my journey around SE Asia. I flew overnight from Brisbane to KL, and am now waiting for my flight to Hanoi, where I am joining an Intrepid tour through Vietnam and Cambodia, ending in Bangkok.

Flew with Malaysia Airlines for the first time and had a nice new plane. the seats reclined quite well, and I was able to get about 4 hrs of rough sleep, better than nothing. the "supper" was interesting - a chicken roll, which was like a bland sausage roll. Breakfast was better, I had the Malaysian breaksfast, which was shrimps, rice and half a boiled egg. someone took off their shoes early in the flight, you could smell their feet, ugh... pretty sure it wasn't me. Sat next to a friendly Chinese/Kiwi man who was going to KL for business.

I am quite nervous about landing in Hanoi. I have my VISA sorted, but didn't organise an airport transfer (it was 70USD, and a taxi is only 15-20USD). I will try and get some Dong out before I leave, and maybe even get a prepaid SIM card. at least I arrive about midday. I'll admit I have done little research on Vietnam, as I was concentrating on getting the rest of my non-tour part of the trip booked. I'm sure I'll be fine, it's just been a while since I've travelled!

My checked bag was only 10.3kg, so it will be interesting what it will weigh when I get towards the end of my trip. I'm not going to fill it up with statues, but if I do buy souvenirs I will try and post them back. Easier said than done?

So far glad I brought a netbook and my headphones, despite bulkiness. Noise-cancellation was key to sleep on the plane.

Right now though, I am wondering if the water fountains in KL airport are safe to drink from?

Testing Blogger from my phone

See if I can blog on the go.

New and shiny

After almost a year of silence I thought I'd update my blog a bit. I guess you could say I was "inspired" to start writing again by the ramblings of "Australia's youngest mortician" as well as listening to Radio New Zealand's dissection of a sonnet this evening. Somewhere I have a couple of notebooks of poetry I wrote as an angsty teenager. I'll admit it - back then I used to think I was shit-hot at writing. Was a huge fan-girl of John Marsden, I remember religiously lining up for "Young Writers Week" and sitting there in awe listening to him speak. I am hoping years of scientific writing has not killed the creativity. We shall see, we shall see...
Back to the blog, I need a new title. Crossing the Tasman is something I've been doing regularly of late, but as a blog title it has been stale for a while now. When I first started this, I had just moved from Australia to NZ, and was grappling with all sorts of change, and now that I look back, probably coming of age to some degree. So far I think I've gone through two of these transitions, and not surprisingly, they have both been associated with big changes and geographical moves in my life. Right now I don't feel like I'm going through one of those upheavals, although there's this anticipation, that one might be just around the corner, nothing sinister, just enough to keep me on my toes.
Anyway, I think that's enough from me tonight. I might be getting a bit excited in writing the first post of the year!

like watching a conversation in sign language

Went to see a South Indian dance production. At first I wasn't that impressed, but I soon became fixated with their hand gestures and eye movements. Very theatrical, and almost like watching a conversation in sign language, each posture and expression had meaning. But at the same time, all so subtle. I can still hear the rhythmic slapping of their feet on the stage accompanied by the rattle of bells around their ankles, and I many of the poses I recognised from ancient art/sculpture I have seen at the museum. Nice to see something you know nothing about and would not normally go to.

Funny, this is only my 3rd blog post since returning from Adelaide. I must have been occupied! :)

The grey space

Have been listening to Horrorshow - The Grey Space, another release from ElefantTraks (home of the Herd, Urthboy etc). Have to say it's a bit depressive (see Track 7 - Celapram) but I do like the secret track/coda on Note to Self (No. 81)

She wraps (raps) a smile 'round his tired face
and he around hers
and for a moment - they aren't so tired

made me smile :)

Adobo!

First post for so long I forgot I had changed my blogger template, whoops. Looks ok, I just didn't recognise my own blog!

There must be thousands posts about how awesome adobo is so I'm not going to dwell on it too much except it is delicious and wish it didn't take so long to cook! I love the way it smells, and how it works its way into every room of the house.