Here's to a wonderful 2010 ...

Another year is over and for me, the year 2009 has been filled with experiences and memories that made me happy, sad and at times wonder the true purpose of my life. Many questions I asked and some still remained unanswered. But I am okay with that.

What would I like for myself for 2010? I would like to take control of areas in my life which at times seem totally out of control. There are things that I have been procrastinating because of various reasons and 2010 will be the year for me to confront them and do what I need to do. And most important of all, I want to spend more time on myself and my loved ones (family and friends) and constantly remind myself of how fortunate I am to have what I have ....

Here's wishing each and everyone of you a blessed New Year and may the year ahead be overflowing with everything good from love, happiness, good health (having lots of money wouldn't hurt either). Love you!

Back in Ha Noi ...

We didn't have much time left in Ha Noi so tried to see as much as we could during the day. One of the visits took us to the One Pillar Pagoda (photograph above) where  the pagoda is supported by one singular concrete pillar which looks like a lotus flower blooming on a stem. This is a replica as the original pagoda was razed by the French military as they abandoned the country in 1950s. Today, you can go to the top and make special prayers especially if you're attempting to have a baby (or at least this was what I was told).

Another place that we visited was the Temple of Literature which reflects the Vietnamese esteem for education and literature. In the past, that was where Vietnam's best and brightest gathered in the compound of temples, pavillions, courtyards and dorms to study the master's teachings and obtain recognition.

 

The above photograph shows the Garden of the Stelae, a home to some of the country's most precious relics - ma,es pf tje 1,306 doctor laureates, who achieved fame between 1442 and 1779n have been captured and inscribed on 82 stelae (with details of the name, birthplace and sometimes even the age with 16 being the youngest and 61 the oldest). Interestingly these stelae and turtles were entombed in sand and concrete by the authorities during the Vietnam War to protect them against the bombing.

When we were there, we saw groups of school children who were also there part of their school trip and it was suppose to be good luck to rub the heads of the turtles. The stelae were meant to inspire the children to study hard and achieve what many others have done in the past.

At the Temple of Literature, I came across these wooden figurines that were replicas of wooden puppets used at the Water Puppet show that we were going for later in the afternoon.

Below is a huge drum that was found at the side of the Thai Hoc Hall which is an ironwood-timbered museum and sanctuary for the veneration of three great Vietnamese kings.

We didn't manage to cover the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum as there was a long queue of visitors so will have to kiv that for the next trip there.

Tien, our local guide, asked if we wanted to visit Cafe Smile and support the establishment where orphans were saved from the streets and taught different skills and they worked in this Cafe upon completion of their training.

We were impressed with the whole concept and we went in to have Vietnamese Coffee with milk (photograph below). Becsause we were due to have lunch, we didn't pig in there though the menu looked really tempting.

A must see in Vietnam would be the Water Puppet Show. Water puppetry is a thousand-year-old Vietnamese performance art with deep roots in the wet rice agriculture of the Red River Delta. What you will see would be puppets carved from fig wood painted and lacquered in bright colours, splashing about on a watery stage as they enact skits drawn from Vietnam's folklore and history.

Photograph above shows the watery stage before the start of the performance. The water puppets were accompanied by an orchestra of musicians and cheo (popular opera) singers (as seen below).

Just to note that you need to pay a small token  on top of the entrance fee if you want to bring in your camera or video cam but it's worth it yes. Only frustrations I had was trying to figure out how to take the photos in the dark without the flash.

These puppets can be as tall as 102cm (40 inches) and weigh up to 16kg (35 pounds) and are attached to buoyant wooden base of float that oplows along just beneath the water's surface.

It's amazing how expressive these wooden puppets can be as the puppeteers work the different parts of the puppets like them marionettes.  Above is part of the skit from Le Loi's return of the magic sword to the golden tortoise of Hoan Kiem Lake.

What I also love are the colours from the puppets and though the songs are sung in Vietnamese, you don't need to understand the language to understand the show.That's how it should be, shouldn't it *grins*

Below is a photograph to show how huge the watery stage is and the water puppets in comparison to the stage. We were fortunate to be seated on the second row and would have been better (for photo opportunities) if we could seat on the front row as I have photographs with people's heads, hands and cameras in many of my shots :o)

Below is a shot of the puppeteers hard at work maneuvering the heavy puppets. It's sheer hard work to make it all look so easy.

At the end of the 45 minute show, the puppeteers wade out from the stage so that us audience can show our appreciation of their performance! Nice!

In Ha Noi, we stayed at a hotel located in the Old Quarter and that is an awesome place to walk around. Lots of shops and things to see and eat if you're daring enough. What is interesting is how the streets are named for the merchandise (hang) that they used to make or sold during imperial times. The way to see the place is just to walk and not worry about getting lost!

Below was a rush shot of an old lady existing the market that was opposite the hotel we stayed in. The plan was to get up nice and early to take some shots but usually I ended up going to bed pretty late and that meant having problems getting up in the morning!

I still have many things that I have not seen in Ha Noi, let alone other parts of Vietnam and I would definitely like to come back again some day. The last few visits this year to different places in Asia has opened my eyes (nice and wide) to the many awesome places to visit that didn't require me to travel half a day to get to to enjoy. And as I have shared with many of my friends, the next year or two, my travel will probably be limited to within Asia and I am so looking forward to it ...

Trekking Sa Pa.

Part of the trip included a trek through the beautiful Sa Pa mountains. There are different treks to suit your fitness level and the one I was on was easy enough as it was DOWNHILL most of the time and it gave me time to enjoy the beautiful surroundings.

I did some googling before the trek and was really looking forward to seeing the terraced rice fields of Sa Pa. And seeing it in person was a dream come true and it reminded me how much I miss being in the classroom.

The harvest season was over so the fields look kinda bare. Would be amazing I think to be able to see these fields when it's all green as the seedlings are growing or when it's all golden from the ripen rick stalks just before harvesting.

You can also see the bunds built by the farmers to keep the rainwater in to flood the terraces. I miss teaching Geography!!

As we were lots of animals roaming around the fields like this huge black pig you see above.

There was also a stream that we had to cross but it wasn't running full so it wasn't as exciting *grins* I had hoped that we would have to use a wooden bridge like the one below but ...

unfortunately, the bridge was defunct a year ago and they built a more solid concrete bridge (see below) for visitors to use. Not so exciting huh? Darn it ...

Right after the bridge, we stopped for lunch. We had a boxed lunch so it was nice to munch on food with the mountains for a view.

After lunch, we walked on and came across farmer's houses, and there was this boy who was happily playing with his dog.

And the photograph above shows a close up of a house belonging to a farmer. Couldn't venture further in but from what I saw from afar, the houses are build low to the ground and am wondering if it's due to the cold winds?

The two phtographs (above and below) are more shots of the fields as I walked along the Sa Pa trek.

And below is another favourite photograph from the trip of a black Hmong tribe woman. What is interesting about this lady was that even though she was much older than the others, she was still able to walk the long distance that the women have to travel each day.

I came across this mommy and baby pair below and the lil fella looks so small and am not sure if it's a newborn.

Along the trek, there is also options of staying at guesthouses among the rice fields. Would be something I would definitely like to explore when I head back to Sa Pa, at least for a night as it would give me more time to enjoy the beautiful scenery.

As I was walking, I noticed corn that the local farmers were hanging out to dry. I asked the nice local lady (she was from the Black Hmong tribe who was walking with me throughout the trek - hoping to sell me something, though thankfully she was as pushy as the others - had to admire her perseverance though) and she explained that the corn was dried so that they can produce corn wine and the stalk will then be used to feed the animals on the farm.

I was also fortunate to witness something quite interesting. There were no petrol kiosks around so how do the motorcycle owners top up their petrol?

You look for a shop like the one above. And then you take one of them plastic bottles but don't start drinking from it yah.

And you just pour the liquid into your bike and hope that it's what you need and not 7-Up or Sprite *grins*

I took the two photographs (above and below) as part of an experiment. Same subject, different angle and to me, the photographs turned out very different. Which do you reckon is a better shot to take? As for me, I still can't decide which I prefer ...

There were also kids playing outside their homes and they weren't too bothered by the many tourists going by. This fella below was happily throwing stones at however went by him. Guess that's his way of saying GO AWAY! *laughs*

It was an enjoyable trek and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Could have spent more time taking the photographs but guess for now it will have to do :o) And would I like to go back? A definite YES!

Visiting village schools in Sa Pa.

Part of this trip to Sa Pa included visits to two village schools where the tribes would send their children for schooling. The schools were pretty way off and because the houses were scattered all over the hills, the children have to travel quite a bit to get to school.

So you can imagine how fit the children were. And this is the view of the surrounding area to the school.

I have always wanted to see rice terraced hills and could only admire them from photographs I saw either online or through documentaries on telly. But to see the hills with terraces cut into the slopes, it was like WOW!! Made me miss being in the classroom ...

For the first school, we went there on a Sunday because of the tight schedule and we had a meeting with the Principal and a small group of her teachers. What we didn't expect the kids to come as well, all nicely dressed in their tribe costumes to greet us.

And while the adults were talking, the children sat quickly without having to be supervised by their teachers. Amazing!!

Managed to take a few shots of the kids and they are really gorgeous. Am not sure if you can see from the photographs, many of the kids had their hands stained and we were curious why. The local guide explained that they helped their parents in dying materials for clothes and as you can see why these are known as the Black Hmong from the colour of their costumes. So they use indigo to dye their clothings to get the dark black colour - thus the stained hands.

And the kids had a fresh look that I just couldn't resist taking photos of them. Aren't they just gorgeous *grins*

Here's another one of the girls in the school ..

The next day we ventured off to another village school and had more time to spend with the teachers and pupils there.

While we were conversing with the Principal and a small group of teachers, the kids were outside exercising, probably part of their Physical Education lessons.

The teachers also organised games for the children and we were also invited to partake in the activities. Don't have any pictures but one where the Singapore team competed with the Vietnam team was through tug of war and we *hangs head in shame* lost.

For example, we played tug-of-war and there were about five of us adults and maybe about 10 YOUNG children. I arrogantly told the teachers that we should let them win. And why did I say 'arrogantly'? Because those kids didn't need us to let them win - they won on their own!!! These are kids who walked through the mountains to get from one place to another, do a lot of work around the house and farm - they were strong!!! And when the female adults competed, yeah, we lost even though their teachers were in heels!! Yes, very humbling experience.

Above is a photograph of some of the kids who watched as we embarassed ourselves during games. I think they were as curious of us as we were of them.

The children here were not used to having visitors to their school and with the language barrier, it didn't help. Initially some of them were afraid of us and didn't know how to react to our gestures like when we waved at them or when one of my colleague carried one of the kids.

As you can see they don't have school uniforms and what caught our attention was that many were also without shoes.

Like I mentioned before, it was a humbling experience in many ways for me. For the teachers who volunteered to teach in an area where resources would understandably be limited, where education may not be top in the parents priority list compared to the need to farm to produce food to feed the family.

The kids who travel daily to school regardless the weather to get an education, to study in classrooms that were covered with bullet holes ...

The school experience was one that touched me the most and it would definitely be good to be able to continue the collaboration with the school sand see how we can work with them for the next few years.

Looking at the pictures of the kids, I definitely have to work on the portrait shots because most of the time, I am clicking away too quickly without much thought to the background, composition etc - am just too focused on not wanting to miss those 'moments' which has happened many a times because am just too slow with my camera *grins*

Below is my favourite photograph for the school visits. I was fortunate enough to be there to catch this lone girl who was watching the others play. She had a piece of what looked like bread in her hand, and she just looked like she could do with a hug. I also like the contrast of the background with her, especially her purple boots. She is such a sweetheart.

And let me introduce our wonderful Vietnamese guide Tien who was knowledgeable and able to share much with us, and took good care of us while we were in Vietnam. Thanks Tien!