Rangoon, Burma

Rangoon is a fascinating city which reminds me a bit of Vietnam in the 80s. Every beaten up 1980s Datsun and Mazda is now on the roads in Rangoon, many of them operating as taxis. Interestingly, due to an assassination attempt a few years ago from the back of a motorbike, the ruling military put an immediate ban on the use of motor cycles in the city, a ruling which still stands today. So, unlike the cities of Vietnam, there are no two wheeled vehicles in Rangoon.

The architecture is beautiful old British style and not so different to what the French built in Vietnam in the colonial period. There are some really gorgeous old apartment buildings, many painted blue, green or pink. Sometimes these buildings are right next to something more functional or modern. This is interesting but occasionally very ugly.

Burmese people are incredibly friendly, apart from a few sellers near the famous temples. I understand why they have to be a bit pushy as their lives aren't that perfect. It's funny because I thought that the people would not be so positive and happy due to the political situation there but I saw them smile a lot during our trip, which is a great sign.

The temples in Rangoon are incredibly beautiful, very gold and shiny in the sunlight. I believe that the Burmese live their religion, which is mostly Buddhism, because I saw thousands of local people going to visit their temples everyday to pray and give offerings. It seems like a more peaceful experience than visiting the pagoda in Vietnam.

In five days, I didn't get to try as much food as I would like but it seems the food in Burma is influenced by Indian, Bangladesh and Chinese as well as some of the ethnic minority groups. It's quite an exciting food city, particularly the street food, which is my real interest. I really like the unique herbs, salads and pickles I tried. More on that in future posts.
In short, go to Rangoon now before too many tourists go there. It is amazing.

Bali Experiences

My first time in Bali meant many first experiences.

Bali is a popular place for Aussie tourists as it is pretty close to Australia and there are many great deals from Garuda Airlines, direct and cheap. A lot of Aussie guys and girls love surfing and I didn't want to miss out so I took a lesson from Ketut, a young experienced local surfer on the beach. He charged $20 a lesson which was much cheaper than the expensive schools further along the beach. Finally, after some training on the sand, we entered the water and after a few wipe outs, I managed to stand up. I surfed! On the last day of our holiday, I went back to the beach again to have another practice. This guy Ketut is also a fake-tattoo artist so I got a tattoo on my arm as well. He is definitely a jack of all trades.

My second experience was a bike ride arranged by an Ubud gym. Wayan, one of the gym instructors, was on the duty for our ride from the mountainous Kintamani region back to Ubud. It was fun and we had such a great time. Along the 25km route, we stopped at quite a few different places. At a coffee plantation, we tasted coffee with vanilla, chocolate, and ginger as well as some teas. Later down the hill, we visited a carving village and the guy explained the way Balinese carve their gods and other products. Some of their big carvings take an amazing 6 months to complete but the income doesn't seem to match the time they put in. We also rode through the incredibly green rice fields and had lunch at a very small local restaurant. The young chef served us amazing traditional Balinese food and it turned out only $20 for 5 people including beers and soft drink. The bike trip was a real highlight.

The third experience was the Balinese dancing at the palace near the market in Ubud. What was very impressive to me about the way they dance is the movement of their eyes rolling around, their dresses and also the amazing gamelan music. It was quite a moving experience and I was very impressed by the way the Balinese not only promote their traditions to tourists but also the way they seem to live their unique culture every day.

I will definitely be making another trip to Bali some day because apart from all the things to do, it is also possible to really relax there.

Hanh Cafe

Nguyen Huu Huan is a street full of cafes that I drive along almost every day. It's weird that I've never ever stopped in at any of these cafes to give them a try. But today my favorite cafe was way too busy and a friend recommended that I should taste the coffee at Cafe Hanh which is just a minute around the corner. As it was the weekend, they were busy as well but we landed a spot at the corner where two people had just left. On a bright and hot sunny day, we were lucky to be under the shade of a big old banyan tree.
Cafe culture in Hanoi is way different compared to the south, not necessarily in terms of the quality or quantity, but just about the atmosphere; the people spreading along the footpath, chatting and enjoying their coffee, no matter how busy or dangerous the street is. Having coffee in these kinds of locations is a great way to observe the happenings in the old quarter of Hanoi.

I love looking at the different ways people serve and even drink coffee in the old quarter. No matter if you are rich, famous or poor, everyone sits at the same kind of low tables and chairs. Most cafes in the old quarter use plastic chairs and tables because its very easy to collect them up especially when the police are patroling. Businesses are not supposed to take up the footpath with their goods or chairs and tables so when the police come, it's quite amusing. The customers stand up with their coffees while the staff move these plastic chairs so they will not be confiscated. Of course, it's back to normal after 5 minutes when the police have disappeared.

That's quite a normal part of Hanoi nowadays though I'm sure tourists get really confused if they experience it. But it's something that tourists shouldn't miss - sitting in the old quarter for half an hour, watching the craziness.
Don't forget to say, khong duong (no sugar) or it duong (only a little sugar) because black coffee comes with the sugar already in it. For white coffee, sweet condensed milk is always used. Yum!

Cafe Hạnh
51 Nguyễn Hữu Huân
Hoan Kiem - Hanoi

Offerings In Bali

The offering ritual in Indonesia is a real highlight of a visit to Bali. The Balinese perform their offering to the gods every morning. The tray of offerings contains various kinds of flowers, usually picked from the surrounding gardens, small spoons of rice on banana leaves, crackers, cigarette and, of course, incense. Each little tray is placed around the house, on the garden altars, on doorsteps and on the streets. They spend hours just preparing, perhaps as much time as for a meal. They look amazing. Offerings are also placed on motorbikes and inside cars.

One interesting side effect of this daily ritual is that it provides food for the native wildlife. I have seen rats, birds and other animals, even squirrels, in town climbing up onto the altars to eat the offerings and wonder if this actually prevents them from going inside kitchens to rummage for food. Itbis definitely a special treat for these animals.

Observing this aspect of Balinese culture everyday was a very special experience.

Greetings From Ubud

The main idea of going to Indonesia was to experience Ubud, where we spent two weeks staying at the Lala Lili Vilas in Penestanan. This little section of Ubud is located up 94 steps from the main road just after it crosses the river gorge. The two villas are behind a warung of the same name where we had breakfast any many other wonderful meals.

Lala villa is like a treehouse, open-air with the sleeping areas contained in two lofts. The swimming pool surrounds a little sheltered island where we spent many hours reading and relaxing. The atmosphere was filled with the sounds of birds, frogs and geckos. The gardens are lush with tropical plants and flowers and insects. In short, a perfect place to spend a holiday.

I discovered the neighborhood as much as possible by walking around, riding a bicycle and also driving a motorbike. Compared to Hanoi, the people in Ubud are much calmer in the traffic, even though the main streets in the town have traffic jams several times a day. One morning, my friends and I woke up pretty early and went to the local market, which operates as a food market first before changing at about 9am into a market for tourists where all kinds of souvenirs can be bought. The sellers are generally pretty open to bargaining but can be a bit touchy if you go low on price.

Our time in Ubud is nearly over but we intend to discover a bit more of the surrounding countryside over the next few days.

Postcard From Kuta - Bali

I have arrived in Seminyak - Bali after a stopover at Singapore airport. It was actually a pleasant flight with acceptable food from Vietnam Airlines. The second sector of the flight with Singapore Airlines was real contrast and clearly Vietnam Airlines have a lot to learn. The level of service, the range of in-flight entertainment and the smiling faces of the crew are all lessons for my countries national airline.

The last few days on the coast in Bali have reminded me of my hometown, Nha Trang as there are many restaurants along the beach. The only difference is that the beach is not as beautiful. The people in Bali are gradually becoming more friendly to me. I sometimes think Asians treat each other differently than the way they treat western tourists. I'm not sure why - probably someone could write a research paper on that topic! I'm not worried about that as this is my holiday and I am going to enjoy it as much as possible.

We're staying at the Kusnardi Hotel where the hotel room is ok and the garden and pool are very beautiful. I have realized that most hotels on the coast and maybe in the whole of Bali have lovely design aspects with beautiful gardens and swimming pools. My other friends are staying at the Jayakarta, a very expensive hotel but they are very disappointed with the experience. We are lucky!

Indonesian food is great and we have tried many different dishes and most of them have been very tasty. Some places serve very slowly (in Bali time) such as the Tekor cafe on the beach and Be Tunu cafe on the main shopping road. I would recommend Tunu due to the great food; huge serves at a very reasonable price. This afternoon during my walk along the beach I tried noodles from a seller on a motorbike. The noodle he served was very nice included noodle, tofu, dried shallot, few different balls, mint and celery on the top just only 10,000.

Just few thing for the first post about Kuta Bali, a very interesting small town 20 minutes away from the airport with mostly Australian tourists. I think this is the second Australia as more than 90% tourists are from Australia. Most sellers and restaurant staff speak English with Aussie accent and sellers here are everywhere and it seems to balance to Aussie tourists. Most restaurants here have Australian flat around the place and in the middle of the restaurant, but NO Indonesian flag. Weird!!!!!

Angkor Wat - Siem Riep 4

We took a day off from sightseeing to relax at the hotel pool and walk around the town, the old market and try some specialties of Siem Riep. Even though the weather was very hot my family loved the friendly atmosphere, nice people and the food from the old market. One of the highlights of the trip for me was that my mother, for the first time ever, at more than 70 years of age, got into a swimming pool to swim and she can swim every well. My nephew, my sister and I told her to walk into the pool to let her feet relax and take some photos with my sister. Then we pulled her into the middle of the pool for a bit of paddling. Truly a great moment to see!

On our last day at Siem Reap, our tuk-tuk driver Pheav took us to visit Banteay Srei Temple which has some of the most beautiful stone carvings in the world. This temple is about a 45 minute jouney by tuk-tuk from Siem Reap but we got a really good look at rural life in Cambodia along the road. My mother loved this temple the most because because of the carving and she was very impressed at the Cambodian government's efforts to maintain it so well. As UNESCO world heritage sites, they are obviously a very important source of revenue for the country.

Our next stop was the Ta Prohm Temple. My sister and my nephew couldn't believe those amazing huge trees growing throughout the temples and how nature and man's structures could become like one. We noticed this time that lots of restoration work was being carried out and that many foreign organisations help out.

Anyway, my family's visit to Siem Reap was great. We all learnt something new, about the different culture, experienced the beauty of the great temples and the charm of the Cambodians. The best thing from the trip was seeing the happiness that my mother showed after so many years of her working and sorting out the difficulties of our lives. Can't wait to make another trip somewhere next year with her.

Thanks to the Central Boutique Angkor staff and especially Mr Pheav for giving my family some great times in Siem Reap!!!!!

Rome

In Rome, we returned the rental car after at least an hour of driving around lost with nothing but a useless Lonely Planet map. We scouted around central station for a hotel, eventually locating one in an old style building on the fifth floor. We bought hop-on-hop-off bus tickets to visit the famous places around Rome and it was really worth the money. It was a good way to get a first overview of the city before we started the real discovery on foot over the following days. I loved the Victor Emmanuel Monument and kept coming back to it. Even though it's way different and not as ancient as other famous buildings in Rome,it was my favourite. It's a magnet for tourists and difficult to get a good photo.

On our second day, we made our way to the Colosseum. And I had to pinch myself because I couldn't believe I was standing in front of it. The surrounding outside wall looked amazing but unfortunately we couldn't make it to visit inside as the queues were at least 2 hours long and Rome is so much more than one building. Good reason to come back :). So we walked around the Colosseum and I did a silly tourist thing and had my photo taken with the guys in Roman costumes. It was fun but expensive (€15, I think). My friends thought I was crazy but how many chances in your life to do that and look at the photo at the end of the trip, it was a highlight :).

The Trevi Fountain was another highlight and, like everything in Rome, it was packed with tourists, particularly Japanese. We threw coins into the fountain before heading to Piazza Navona, an amazing space filled with fountains and artists and restaurants. When I travel, I like to have things to remember places by so I bought some paintings. We sat down in one of the many restaurants for lunch and watched the artists at work. The statues by people like Bernini are, of course, incredible!

The next day I walked past the Lazio football club and I told myself that it would be a be crazy to miss an opportunity to see a match while in Italy. Luckily for me, five days in Rome coincided with the local derby between Lazio and AC Roma. The match wasn't that tough but the fans and the atmosphere was so great. I've watched football in Vietnam alot but I enjoyed this so much more. My friends aren't that keen on football so they went to visit museums and other places which is fair enough and they had a good day too.

There are so many things to say about Rome. It's impossible to know in only five days. Five months would not be enough!

Plant Sellers

Street plant vendors are very common now in Hanoi in addition to the more noticeable flower sellers. After getting cheated a few times, I now know to check the plants very carefully before finalising any purchase from these vendors. Just remembering how I got cheated makes me feel silly but I do admire their endeavour, even though it's clearly not right.

At that time, as is my habit, I was sitting in front of Cafe Nang listening to the different conversations going on around me. I saw the plant vendor ride her bike past on the back of which was a very beautiful small bonsai covered with many gorgeous red flowers. After a round of bargaining, I thought I got a good deal. In fact, most of the customers in the cafe admired my bargaining skills and the flowers on the plant. Of course, two days later the flowers were dead. My friend checked them and we realized that the flowers had actually been pinned on, every single one of them. Hate that.

Another time, I got off my bike just opposite Cafe Nang, and noticed another seller with beautiful fire cracker flowers. I bought two plants and got them home safely. I went down to the Red River flats near my house to buy two new pots to plant them in. Great job, I thought to myself as I sat admiring them with a cool drink. Unfortunately, the next day the same friend pointed out that I'd been scammed again. This time the flowers had started to go moldy and I realised they'd been stuck in using elephant glue and I was so disappointed.

Bari

We arrived in Bari after an overnight ferry from Igounamitsa. As usual, I got seasick but this time wasn't too bad compared to the last time by 'supercat'. After going through immigration, we took a taxi to find a hotel. This was probably a bad idea as he drove us on the scenic route before deciding to turn around and drop us at a B&B which ended up being only 4 minutes walk from the harbor. Anyway, the B&B was very reasonable and cute, the owner was a young woman who couldn't speak English but it worked out somehow with lots of smiles and gestures. We got a good deal for a one night stay. Her husband took us to the cafe near their house for breakfast. The standard of Italian or western breakfast is very much different compared to Vietnam. We had a simple breakfast of coffee/ juice, croissont and sugary donut but it was very nice. I've never been a big fan of espresso coffee but I decided that in italy I was going to try it. In Bari, I had my first but it was by no means my last!

Bari is a reasonably sized city with a gorgeous old quarter which we discovered and got lost in the whole time we were there. We had arrived on a lazy Sunday morning, so there wasn't much going on except for a terrible trashy market selling crap from China. I suggested that we try some pizza even though it was only 10am. But we were in Italy. We had to eat something Italian to start. In the afternoon, we walked around the central square near the old fish market where people were hanging out to listen to some local bands singing. Amongst the cafes and restaurants,there are also several old beautiful churches. We tried some local fried polenta with salt on the edge of the square and sat down listen to the music. Sitting there for half an hour of so, watching the passing parade was really fun. Later at the old pizza shop, we ordered a volcano pizza, a seafood pizza and a margarita pizza and some beers. Again, it was very nice having pizza in Italy. They weren't the greatest but we were sure there would be more to come.

The hotel owner offered to take us to the train station which was so nice of him. We were taking the morning train to Salerno, gateway to the Amalfi Coast and Pompeii. Salerno is a medium city with a spectacular old town and cobblestone boulevards, which we walked along on our first evening. It was lined with many beautiful clothes shops, restaurants and ice-cream shops. The mint chocolate and Baci ice-cream proved to be our favourites that night.
To be continued..

Dua Ca Muoi - Pickles

Most Vietnamese women in northern Vietnam know how to make dua ca (pickles) well and my mother does, too. I have tried a few times when I was in Nha Trang but just couldn't make it right. Today, I walked pass Hang Muoi street and saw an old woman making it and my mouth started watering.

When I saw the woman hanging Dua vegetables on the side of an electric stand yesterday, I thought it'd be a great shot and I took a photo. Today, when I walked past again, she was sitting there making her specialty, going through the many different processes: the dried Dua veggies are laid in the hot sun for a few hours to wilt, after which they are well mixed with warm water and salt. They should taste a bit salty (no sugar is added). Lengths of spring onion are added and the Dua is ready to eat in 2 to 5 days. If you like the pickles a bit bitter then they can be eaten in a day. If you want to stirfry them, they are best after about four days of pickling.

In Hanoi, many typical Vietnamese restaurants serve stir fried Dua veggies with garlic, a little bit of tomato or sometimes with beef. In my opinion, it's better without beef as it has enough favor; the bit of sourness from the veggies, sweetness from the tomatoes, a little salt from fish sauce or soya sauce. It's a perfect match for beer and to eat with steamed white rice. It's actually a nice option for vegetarians, too...if you can get it without the beef, that is.

Angkor Wat - Siem Riep 3

We left the hotel at 5 am and headed to Angkor Wat. As we approached, the sun was starting to rise up behind the amazing temple. The quiet of the morning and the early fresh cool wind blowing across our faces was a nice way to wake up. And what spectacular scenery. My mum said, "Angkor temple looks so beautiful and well maintained, why don't we have something as beautiful as this in Vietnam???" I told her that we have different things of beauty in Vietnam, from the north to the south, like the Cham towers, Halong Bay, and Phong Nha Cave, which are all world heritage sites, too.

Anyway, we sat outside and watched the sunrise for about an hour, before walking into the temple to start our day. My main duty was explaining the site and taking photos for everyone. Thank god that I like photography and I enjoy doing this kind of work. My sister and my nephew love having thier photo taken and I spent most of the time focusing on them in different corners of the site.

We walked toward the entrance and we saw a group of 30 very loud Chinese people talking to each other. We tried to avoid them but they seemed everywhere. I think this kind of place needs quiet for people to enjoy its peaceful beauty instead of shouting and arguing.

Our great regular guide Pheav next took us to Bayon Temple and he told us about its history when we arrived and offered us water that he had prepared in an ice container. We very much appreciated his attention to this kind of detail. I told my mother this is my favorite temple in Siem Riep and this is the third time I had been here, the first 2 times during my first trip last year. We were all wondering how people in that generation could make these amazingly huge statues and erect them on hilltops. We spent more than an hour wandering around and taking heaps of photos, of course!!! On the way out, we saw quite a few old women sitting inside the entrance chatting in their traditional costumes after finishing their prayers. I wish I could speak Cambodian so that I could have got some special information about the temples in Siem Riep and especially Bayon temple.

Anyway, after a few hours my mother looked a bit tired and we decided to head back to the hotel to have lunch and jump into the hotel pool to cool down. Later in the day, we went to the night market at about 6 for dinner
To be continued...

Kastraki

Near the end of our time in Northern Greece, we arrived in Kastraki, the town at the foot of the world famous monasteries of Meteora. I was so excited to be there, to be able to visit this amazing landscape. We checked into a guesthouse nearby - run by a 60 year old Greek woman who had spent many years living in Australia - with fabulous views. Again, we were virtually the only travellers in town, which was kind of pleasant. We had the town to ourselves. While we were in Kastraki, unfortunately the weather was quite wet, forcing us to relax in the hotel for a couple of hours before walking down to the town for a wonder. We stopped at a small restaurant and had our lunch, the owner of which showed his upset face for no reason. May be he had an argument with his wife before we showed up. Anyway, we ordered a few dishes, tried to get a smile out of him and enjoyed his food despite it all.

Back at the hotel we started hearing music and the owner told us that the next day would be a special anniversay of a famous Greek victory over the Germans. We drove up there to have a look at the preparations, the music and the kids dancing. At the window of the town ouzerie, we saw the owner singing and dancing to Greek music as he served a single customer dinner. We immediately decided that this was the place for us. He was totally pissed and hilarious but he had a very nice voice and also he cooked brilliantly. We ordered some grilled sausages, Greek salad of course and Ouzo. He served the longest sausage I've ever had in my entire life, too big for the dish and it tasted amazing.

We started our monastery visiting the next day a bit earlier than usual as we wanted to visit as many as possible. Unfortunately some are closed on certain days. Anyway, we visited as many as we could and they were all amazing. I wondered at how the people could build so many monasteries that looked like they were hanging on the side of the rocky mountains. The walking paths up to them were beautiful both because of the view and the workmanship. After one visit, while I was waiting for my friends to come down, I talked to the ticket seller and he was so funny. He asked me where I was from and I responded. He tried to express that he knew Vietnam by acting out the shooting of a gun and said America and something else in Greek but I think he wanted to mention the Vietnam War. I'm so happy to know that at least someone in such a remote place knows about my country and he must know that we won the war. Thanks for that mate, I very much appreciated that. We had a brilliant day and yes, I can't believe I've been there.

To be continued....

Cafe Nang

For the last 10 years I've been drinking coffee at the same cafe in the middle the old quarter. It sounds like I'm a creature of habit but I love the coffee here, the people and the customers. I meet other regular customers all the time and sometimes we have a chat. Sometimes they help me to buy produce from the travelling vendors such as flowers, food, meat or sometimes order my lunch.

I would say Cafe Nang, 6 Hang Bac street is one of the oldest cafe in town and is busy for most of the opening time. The owner is an old lady with a very sweet smile who wakes up everyday at about 3am to prepare the coffee before walking around Hoan Kiem lake for exercise before heading up to her favorite Pho shop for breakfast. She gets back to her shop (the house is upstairs)and returns to sleep until 12 or 1 pm. Then she goes down to help her daughter to run the cafe. She makes the best coffee, even better than her daughter. The cafe also serves seasonal juices as well, passion fruit juice being my favorite and the staff know that I like to drink it with the seeds while other customers don't. The cafe's staff changes sometimes but they do remember the customers' choices very well and for me, it's white coffee with lots of condensed milk. Whenever I sit down, my coffee is put on my table instantly and tastes perfect every time. Can't complain at all!!!!

While there are an increasing number of cafes around the old quarter, it doesn't seem to impact on her business. The reputation of Cafe Nang is obviously strong. Customers sit on low wooden chairs at low wooden tables and in the peak times, people have to sit on the other side of the road but nobody seems to worry about that. They come to Cafe Nang to enjoy the coffee and the great atmosphere. observing the tourists walking by. It's probably the best place for people watching in Hanoi.

There have been quite a lot of famous publications that have visited Hanoi and Cafe Nang is often part of their story. I'm sometimes involved in their stories as an interpreter to help the journalists to understand a bit more about the cafe and its proprietor's life. She took over from her father in law after he died and has been running the original Cafe Nang for just over 60 years. She buys her own coffee from the centre of Vietnam, stores it on the forth floor and roasts it herself twice a week. When the coffee is roasting, the area surrounding the cafe is full of the aroma of coffee. She told me she gets a lot of satisfaction from making coffee but she just cant do it all the time as she's getting old. She has transferred her experience to her children and they have since opened two other Cafe Nangs in town but they aren't as popular as the original.
If you are visiting Hanoi, come and enjoy the great coffee here. The price is the same for both tourists and locals. There is no need to worry about being ripped off here at Cafe Nang.
For a good coffee every time, you can't beat Cafe Nang.
Cafe Nang
6 Hang Bac