Ha Long and short of it...

We arrived in Hanoi to a ground temp of 17 degrees, much colder than it was in HCM, and I was definitely glad of my pashmina scarf and my warm jacket, especially when we decided to take a trek around Hoan Kiem lake, just a 10 min walk from Sunshine 3 Hotel on Ma May in the Old Quarter in Hanoi.



Next day we were off to Ha Long bay for the eagerly anticipated overnight Junk Cruise. Ha Long is 5 hours from Hanoi by car, and we joined a group of tourists headed there at 8:30 in the morning, having downed a somewhat oily breakfast. Unfortunately for us, we were the 2nd to the last couple who was picked up so hubby and myself were not seated next to each other, and I had no one to drool...um...lean my head on while I tried to nap. Hence the strange expressions we had on our face sometimes.



Of course it could be the spectacle of the passing traffic.



Anyway, like many many tourist destinations, Ha Long is not as desolately beautiful in photos as it is in reality, and the Junk of course, used a powerful onboard motor rather than its sails to get around. However Ha Long bay has it's own charm, and mystique and the many junks crowded at the pier make a colorful picture, packed so closely you could probably jump from one to another without too much effort.





A welcome drink and an hour later, we were served lunch...



settled into our small but reasonably comfortable cabin...



...and wandering around looking for photo ops, which all presented itself in due time.









More tomorrow, on Hang Sung Sot cave, seascapes, and good food, after a night of well-earned rest!

Wanderlust again...

Headed for Viet Nam in around an hour.

My husband has been in and out of the country for about 3-4 weeks at a time on a Project in Ho Chi Minh. Between longing for food that tastes like home, and missing my company, we've decided that I should come spend the next few days and the New Year cuddling up together in Hanoi.

So we're here at the Centennial wing, whiling the time away breathing in secondary smoke and blogging. The only wifi zone in this airport is unfortunately in the smoking area and cafe. The good part is that our departure gate is practically in front of the cafe, and the sandwiches are decent even if the coffee is not so hot.

We'll be spending much of today in transit, flying to Saigon, with a 3 hour layover then flying to Hanoi, ending up at our hotel at around 8pm.

What I'm really looking forward to is getting on the boat for the overnight Junk Cruise on Ha Long Bay my husband is treating us both to.

Ha Long Bay is a World Heritage Site, and the seascape looks like fairy islands jutting out of emerald green water, and for sure I'll be taking a lot of pictures when we get there.

Weather in Hanoi is colder, bottoming out around 15 degrees C, so I took care to bring warmer clothing, but I'm hoping to be able to wear shorts on the boat at least.

Time to pack up, next post will be evening in Hanoi.

Resurfacing after a long hiatus

Holykamote has been on hiatus for quite some time, due to work and general exhaustion. I'm pleased to say at least that I'll be able to post a few things before the end of the year.

For the moment I'd like to take the opportunity to revisit the charms of all things Tachikoma, the cutest gun-toting AI tank that's ever been created in the history of Anime. Screw you Motoko, your sexiness has nothing on the curves on these babies!

Who can resist the rounded shape of these compact babies, especially when they come in yellow:

Nendoroid Tachikoma (Yellow) by Good Smile

Available currently on preorder at places like AnimeXing.

My husband and I are both Tachikoma fans so we trooped to Greenhills to check out Wasabitoys to see if we could get our hands on one, but unfortunately it was no longer available from their supplier so we may have to wait a good while before we'll be able to get us one.

What they did have though, was the blue USB robot Tachikoma that's been featured in Gizmodo:



It comes with bundled software and a USB cable so you can plug into your computer and it can talk(in nihongo), answer email, play minigames. Needless to say the price tag was sufficiently intimidating for a casual buyer, but was in retrospect was not as expensive as you would expect of something this cool.

For the hardcore fans who are crazy/lucky enough to acquire one, I'm betting it'll be tough to resist the temptation to try to feed with Natural Oil.