Almost as soon as I got back from Hanoi, I had to certify a group of students in a secret island over the Merdeka Day weekend. With all the reports of whale shark sightings in the area, I was beginning to resign to the fact that perhaps the whale shark is a myth! I have been diving for 16 years and I’ve not seen it! Why?!?!
On our 5th dive which was my 2,209th, we set out to look for it and after 40 minutes hovering in the blue or was it green, due to the unusually high plankton content in the water. Almost given up, we surfaced to get back onto the boat when the boatman shouted for me to backroll into the water as a whale shark was approaching on the surface! Well, as you guessed it, the whale shark is no longer a myth because I had an encounter with TWO!
Walking into a house that resembled the traditional Nyonya Baba house of Melaka was so surreal. In Hanoi, where the Chinese have immigrated & settled, the houses are no different from the olden Chinese houses that we have here except that they have preserved much of the ancient feel by keeping the furniture as is and maintaining the way of life.
We were on our way to get civet poo (weasel, they call it) coffee and passed this quaint house which we paid some dong to get in.
The open space in the middle allowed the hot air to escape in addition to ventilating the whole house with fresh air. Absolutely great. Now if only houses here were made like this, a pool in the middle would suffice!
A constant reminder flashes on my PDA to look into areas which I’ve neglected since shuttling between countries became a weekly affair. Tasting the best that Hanoi had to offer, I actually miss the food in Green Tangerine after I got back. To say that I have not fine dined is not true, to say that I’ve not eaten the best is also not quite right since I have attended dozens of food sampling fares in my line of work as an editor.
Green Tangerine serves the best French cuisine in the whole of Vietnam.
Apart from that, I was also taken to Bobby Chinn’s, another exceptional place with truly the finest foods, tastefully prepared & equally good on the buds.
To complete the Vietnamese dining experience, Indochine was the place to be. Authentic Vietnamese food.
Treats upon treats, I knew I would have to work doubly hard when I get back to lose the pounds that I piled.
Before long, I had my trip to Tenggol, then Bali for 9 days. Now I’ve really got to get myself in the mode to detail my experiences for the rest of the trip! Here’s a short one for now.
