So today, I came home, walked into my lounge room and see Malcolm being measured by his tailor... yes, that's right... his tailor does house calls.
I've had a pretty full couple of weeks and am just now taking a breather. I'm teaching but also busily preparing prac places for the upcoming Teach International course. The last few days have been oppressively humid, there hasn't been a sniff of a breeze. The city is sluggish and the pressure is building, we're all hoping for some rain.
Life goes on, and in saying that, it's generally been a happy blend of socialising, shopping, sneezing, drinking, massage, housesitting, dog whispering, nurturing good friends, creativity and general enjoyment... and shopping!
Being in a country that creates and has a reputation for manufacture, it's no wonder people can get exactly what they want (copied, made, designed and created). For example, a friend has a unique pair of Italian heels she nabbed in an op shop in San Fransisco, what luck! One of a kind you say!
Well, maybe in any other country than Vietnam...
.... even as I type, a hardworking Vietnamese cobbler is replicating the shoes and producing an identical pair for me for $9, mind you, finding his shop, the explanation, pattern picking and bargaining process took almost 2 hours and we'll see what happens when I pick up the shoes. So yes, you get what you want, however you need patience, NO expectations and a sense of humour in equal measures.
The Old Quarter is where most people spend their time shopping. There's a street for almost everything you need or want. Forget one stop shopping, for better or worse Hanoi makes the average shopper travel to each part of the city to find what they want! There's Silk Street, Bamboo Furniture Street, Shoe Street, Metal Pots and Pans Street, Ribbon Alley, Cushion Street... possibly read the Lonely Planet for a more correct description. Regardless, most of these places are situated in the Old Quarter.
From my house the Old Quarter is about a 15 min ride. It's a short motorbike ride through our laneway., down the packed popular shopping street of Doi Can, zoom past my favourite street in Hanoi... Chicken Street...
...On a delicious, totally off topic side note, it's now my personal belief that while Colonel Sanders served in the army... bear with me... he visited Hanoi and sampled barbeque chicken on Ly Van Phuc went back to America and made a poor reproduction in his Kentucky restaurant, haha. Each little restaurant that lines the street has their own closely guarded family recipe and spices, and it's chicken unequaled by anything I have eaten so far (being a fried chicken lover I can say this with certainty).
Imagine an entire street of small open area restaurants totally dedicated to cooking, making and selling chicken... you sit on the side of the road on small plastic chairs and are served enormous succulent glistening pieces of fresh chicken. The legs, wings (or feet depending on your fancy) are skewered on a stick, glistening hot and saucy, steaming fresh off the barbeque... complemented with hot spiced potato pieces and honey bread on sticks and washed down with bubbling Hanoian beer... it's heaven on a stick, a rare creation worthy of a chicken sacrifice.... or two, three, four...
Ah... give me a minute to wipe the saliva from my mouth...
... so zipping and zooming in and out of traffic after Chicken Street (with a full belly) you pass the pale high walls of the Temple of Literature and straight into the bustling, greedy heart of the Old Quarter.
I get the distinct feeling many travellers come to Hanoi and after spending a lot of time in the Old Quarter quickly become tired of the constant flow of people, street vendors, shops and other tourists.
On some faces you see a tic appear every time a street vendor calls out.. "You want a _______.' [insert cyclo/xe om/banh mi/leather wallet/Uncle Ho lighter/street map/ book/ fruit etc] It's fair enough... the flow of the Old Quarter is constant and busy, it's hot and compact and when you are living in it can be a little overwhelming.
Compared to most people I've come into the quiet and relative stability of an already established household outside of the compact Old Quarter and had a very positive introduction so far. Plus, living so close to Chicken Street, I can't really go wrong. I'm off tomorrow to find a standing hammock so I can relax and swing in the breeze (but since there's none of that) just to swing and relax and read a book on my rooftop... and sweat!
Oh and I've been a bit slack recently with blog updates, I think because I've 'misplaced' my camera (probably permanently) so sadly until I buy another there'll be no pics for a while...
Viet Cobbler
119 Ly Thai To
Chicken Street
Ly Van Phuc
Finally, after only a month I've given up my official position as Cat Nanny... a great job, if you have large wads of cash to live off. I have started teaching English (which is what I came here to do in the first place)!
I have to say, so far teaching is great. I've ended up getting a job in a business college of all places. I looked around at a few schools and was going to apply at one down the road, but I have to say the idea of teaching adults really appeals to me.
So anyway!
I'm teaching managers and sales and marketing staff at Yamaha motorbike company and getting paid a sweet penny to do it. Classes are held in the glitzy company offices above the main motorbike showroom. The building itself stunning, the bikes expensive and shiny and the students enthusiastic and simply stoked to have a teacher who plays games and activities.
My first class was a winner and I'm looking forward to my next group. I'm teaching different levels and it's interesting to meet all kinds of professionals and looking into getting a staff discount on a motorbike, haha.
Oh, and this is the scrappy lad Houdini... aw, will you look at that face!!!!
Finally!
An update on our Hanoi hacienda...
Mal, Simone, Houdini (the magic kitten) and I are now fully installed in our beautiful house...
Yes, it’s true for a weekend while we were here it was still a fully functioning school with 100’s of small children running up and down the stairs yelling and screaming. Yes, it’s true, the building was dirty, the walls had been drawn on, there was no furniture, no gas...
...and yes, the idea of moving into a school although bold and exciting, was probably not the most well thought out plan, but looking and living in this incredible living space now, I am glad we did.
It took a while but the house is fully equipped, sign taken down, oven included (which is rare here), beautiful bamboo furniture, walls freshly painted, floors scrubbed clean. It’s tall and thin like most Vietnamese houses, 5 stories in all.
My bedroom and bathroom are on the 4th floor. This means there are 54 stairs from the ground floor to my bedroom... I’ve counted. (But considering I'm in a perpetual state of butter-chicken-bliss here in Vietnam, I view these stairs in a positive light.)
So starting from the top...
Yoga/ exercise room on the 5th floor (again who can complain about stairs when you are working out), a roof terrace which houses a gigantic Vietnamese altar and our laundry. My room is on the 4th floor with the band room directly opposite (lucky me). Mal and Sim’s room is on the 3rd complete with ensuite and opposite them is a guest room for friends and family.
(deep breath, there's more)
...the 2nd floor holds the office and three desks and what will be a movie/lounge room. On the ground floor we have a lovely kitchen and a chill out space. There are a good 15 living spaces in this house, 7 rooms, three bathrooms, two lounges… and a fish pond (still to come).
Beeeeeeaaaaaaaaauuuuuuutiful!
For those of you viewing this on a click through from the house advertisment, click for bigger pics or visit www.flickr.com/tabithatravels for MORE!!!
The Museum of Ethnology provides a deeper look into the life and culture of the Vietnamese hill tribes as colourful and varied as they are.
I caught a xe om to the museum for a little more than 10, 000VND and had a bit of fun poking around the various clothing, jewellery, religious and birthing exhibits. My xe om driver insisted on being my tour guide, but with his terrible English it seemed better simply to read the tiny plaques.
The wander through the museum is nice! I love the difference between traditional clothing of the men and women of the tribes..the men's costumes are rough with bits of twine and bark quickly sewn together in jagged lines, covering only important parts. The women's costumes are lined with colors and intricate patterning and tiny detailed work..hahaha, typical!
Outside the main building there is a large space where they have built gorgeous traditional houses and huts as well as burial tombs. It's the first time I've seen a set up like this, and a walk inside the creaking bamboo of the houses is really something special!
There's a water puppet theatre with the backdrop of a wonderful traditional house. In fact there are many traditional houses spread over a large area in the back of the museum.
This photo is of decorations on a traditional tomb was by far my highlight, hehehe, even my guide had a giggle at that.
Nguyen Van Huyen Road
Cau Giay District
Hanoi, Vietnam
The Old Quarter is where most people spend their time shopping. There's a street for almost everything you need or want. Forget one stop shopping, for better or worse Hanoi makes the average shopper travel to each part of the city to find what they want! There's Silk Street, Bamboo Furniture Street, Shoe Street, Metal Pots and Pans Street, Ribbon Alley, Cushion Street... possibly read the Lonely Planet for a more correct description. Regardless, most of these places are situated in the Old Quarter.
... so zipping and zooming in and out of traffic after Chicken Street (with a full belly) you pass the pale high walls of the Temple of Literature and straight into the bustling, greedy heart of the Old Quarter.
