First of all: thank you to all of you followers and occasional readers! There are now over 1000 visits to this blog, awesome! :)
Saturday was the day to pick up the rest of the family from the hospital. Started the day by taking a dip at the pool after which I rushed to the hospital. At the hospital there were 2 early woken ladies all fired up and ready to go. The only thing needed was the paper work to be concluded. That took us abit longer than I was expecting but I rather have all the paper owrk done correctly for the insurance company than rush away when not in a hurry. After a while we got the papers and went into a taxi and started the journey back home. This time I noticed something else regarding the local taxis. I learned the fact that they need always the address. If you say the name of the place they usually don't get it. The exception to the rule is the Sofitel plaza hotel. :) I have tried many places, even this time the Circus, which is one of the biggest sights here but again: no. Luckily I've learned that much of the city that I at least roughly knew where we were supposed to drive so off we went with me pointing the direction with my hand. :)
The statistically relevant elevator for the handicapped persons at the Hanoi French hospital
Luckily made it to the Circus where even the driver seemed to understand what I was asking him for. We had a coofee/juice brunch at Cafe Mai (the place we have once been to already). After the coffee we went back at the apartment which Enni had missed so much, according to her words. Actually I walked from the cafe as I wanted to stop by at one shop to see come cycling apparel. During the walk back home I noticed that the temps ewre quite high and a quick check on the Foreca app showed the numbers of +36 degrees, so more than enough.
How fine ladies cool themselves down in a bar with a fan... ;)
At the department the ladies had already gone fixing their short night of sleep, as Enni had woke up at 5 in the hospital... that requires some fixing with a set of naps. I joined them just to find out 2 hours later that the nap had gone a bit too wide. Well, a man sleeps when a man needs to, so no harm done there!
After the nap it was a time to go to have a swim at the pool again. The day was actually perfect for the sun bathing session at the pool as the temps were on such figures (later learned that the Foreca figures might even lie a few degrees on the low side).
.jpg)
Enni by the pool, ready to make the dip
This is what was hurting earlier... but no more!
.jpg)
A swimming picture...
.jpg)
The other girlie by the pool as well
After the ultimate chillaxation at the pool we went off for an evening dinner. There was this place that Laura had been to earlier that sounded pretty decent so it became our choise of the day. The restaurant was quite close to the lakes and it was a pretty fancy place. There was a lady playing a local traditional guitar music and from time to time checking her Facebook account with her traditional iPhone. :D The illusion of a time traveling got a bit shattered there. Food was good and I got to eat the fish head. :)
.jpg)
A bike pic of the day: the neighbour got a new bike (on the way to the cinner)
.jpg)
Enni at the restaurant and the traditional musician/iPhonist at the back
.jpg)
An apetizer Mojito well served
.jpg)
The stare. Well done red snapper with salt and chili
Old meets the new. The skyscrapers pictured from the restaurant's old environment
.jpg)
Family Äännevaara in the mirror
.jpg)
The fish tank of the retaurant was walk above version
After the restaurant visit we went still out for a cup of cold coffee. And yes, here they mostly serve it with ice. The restaurant by the Hoan Kiem lake was the setup to be used for this purpose. On the way to the restaurant ew dropped by at the weekend night market North from Hoan Kiem lake. There was a lot to see and a bit less to buy. :)
.jpg)
The local police interceptor, you may not want to try to escape this evil form of speed ;)
.jpg)
A bottle (Old Hennesey I think) of medicine that works for (almost) every kind of illness
.jpg)
As the medicine is not going to cure everything, here's a set of butt pants that will do the rest. :)
.jpg)
Fruits at the weekend market
.jpg)
Enni's choise of shops. We may need to come back for one of these...
.jpg)
Crazy paparazzi photographing the ice cream destroying princess
A view from the restaurant to the lake
On Sunday we decided to do something that Enni would wnjoy again. We had been talking quite long about the Circus and there was a show especially directed for the kids on Sunday morning so the setting was pretty good. After a quick breakfast we went to the Circus again directed by human navigator's hand signs. The show consisted of two approx 30 minute parts. First part was an acrobatic show including a plot and narration but as that one was in Vietnamese it was a bit hard to follow all the details. The main idea was that there was this dude who used some Kungfu type of martial art skills to overcome the obstacles on his way to... ummm. Some place. In the end the main character got to be with his monkey friends. :) Second session was then again a show with animals. On stage we saw horses, monkeys, dogs, bears and even elephants. The amazing thing to see was the bear driving a bicycle and scooter around the stage! Also the elephants showed some neat tricks. The dogs were just doing basic algebra if I'm not mistaken. :)
The circus stage
Family Äännevaara lined up at teh circus
The only thing I didn't like about the circus was the treating of the animals. It seemed a bit cruel. Then again, I think that forcing an animal to do something they naturally don't is not possible without the steering of them... still not this way.
After the circus session we went back to the apartment to give Enni the re-hydraion medicine we got form the hospital on Saturday. That was pretty easy deal, took only 2 hours do drink that 50 ml dose! After the medicine we decided to go check out the Ho Tay waterpark on teh other side of the West lake. It was a pretty long drive on taxi but I think that it was worth it. Though I was not waiting too much of refreshing elements of the water. The thing was that I think it must have been the hottest day so far and at the end of the day I learned that the temps went up to +41 degrees Celsius. Cool - NOT! Anyways, the park consisted of less than 10 different kind of pools and maybe 5 different kinds of slides. We went to try the slide with a two seated tyre. The girls were screaming and even I must admit that maybe the slide was a bit rough and fast. Well, we still did it again. :) We also spent some time on the kids' pools and also on the "river" flowing around the slide area. The experience itself was ok, as the temperature was so high and the water was somewhat cooling but the occassional strong smell of urine was a bit distracting. Later in the showers I learned why there was this smell at least in the shower area. The tickets were 400 000 VND from our whole family and with those we got to spend the day at the water park area. The sun park with the Ferris wheel and other mixers would had cost some extra. The Ferris wheel wold had been a nice ride with a view over the lake but the small boxes with small venting windows did not seem so good idea in that weather.
The entrance of the water park
Kids' pool
The same pool, and from time to time it felt a bit crowded
The Donald Duck slide
Smaller kids' pool
Some palm trees together with the Ferris wheel
The Ferris wheel shot from closer up
Sharing a can of regreshment
Girls posing... :)
At the end of the day there was still some time to go for evening dinner in FukuZushi, the first sushi restaurant of the trip. For the coffee we chose to go to the restaurant bar & lounge Potomac cruise, an old river boat now serving a restaurant in the south-east corner of the West lake. That's also a good place for bat spotting and getting run over by scooter.
The sushi set... still missing some. The FukuSushi (Fuk U Sushi...?) had also sticky rice + other foodstuff on their menu. ;D Didn't go for that one though.
Restaurant Potomac cruise pictured from a far
The figurehead of the Potomac
Had to take a picture of our address as it seems to be a bit hard for the locals to understand. There's an easy way to pronounce it: "Fun boy, chao!" and the number would be baba. I think I'll get home every time. Or at least if the taxi driver is not like the one that brought... tried to take us home on Sunday. Getting in to the taxi and giving him the card that shows the address. OK, the dude doesn't see that well, gives the card back shakes his head and starts to drive. Laura checked from the GPS that the driver was going directly to opposite direction. We stopped and the driver started calling someone. At the same time I showed him the place on the map on my phone. He nodded and started driving again, to wrong direction. We were forced to try stop the car which he did not understand either. Ultimately he did stop and we changed the taxi to the one on the side of the road. He laughed at us and took us to the correct address immediately. That's how taxis are here without the common language. I'm not saying that it would be that much easier to foreigners in Finland though. Maybe just a tad easier. ;)
Thank you once again for viewing the blog!
Saturday was the day to pick up the rest of the family from the hospital. Started the day by taking a dip at the pool after which I rushed to the hospital. At the hospital there were 2 early woken ladies all fired up and ready to go. The only thing needed was the paper work to be concluded. That took us abit longer than I was expecting but I rather have all the paper owrk done correctly for the insurance company than rush away when not in a hurry. After a while we got the papers and went into a taxi and started the journey back home. This time I noticed something else regarding the local taxis. I learned the fact that they need always the address. If you say the name of the place they usually don't get it. The exception to the rule is the Sofitel plaza hotel. :) I have tried many places, even this time the Circus, which is one of the biggest sights here but again: no. Luckily I've learned that much of the city that I at least roughly knew where we were supposed to drive so off we went with me pointing the direction with my hand. :)
The statistically relevant elevator for the handicapped persons at the Hanoi French hospital
Luckily made it to the Circus where even the driver seemed to understand what I was asking him for. We had a coofee/juice brunch at Cafe Mai (the place we have once been to already). After the coffee we went back at the apartment which Enni had missed so much, according to her words. Actually I walked from the cafe as I wanted to stop by at one shop to see come cycling apparel. During the walk back home I noticed that the temps ewre quite high and a quick check on the Foreca app showed the numbers of +36 degrees, so more than enough.
At the department the ladies had already gone fixing their short night of sleep, as Enni had woke up at 5 in the hospital... that requires some fixing with a set of naps. I joined them just to find out 2 hours later that the nap had gone a bit too wide. Well, a man sleeps when a man needs to, so no harm done there!
After the nap it was a time to go to have a swim at the pool again. The day was actually perfect for the sun bathing session at the pool as the temps were on such figures (later learned that the Foreca figures might even lie a few degrees on the low side).
.jpg)
.jpg)
A swimming picture...
.jpg)
The other girlie by the pool as well
After the ultimate chillaxation at the pool we went off for an evening dinner. There was this place that Laura had been to earlier that sounded pretty decent so it became our choise of the day. The restaurant was quite close to the lakes and it was a pretty fancy place. There was a lady playing a local traditional guitar music and from time to time checking her Facebook account with her traditional iPhone. :D The illusion of a time traveling got a bit shattered there. Food was good and I got to eat the fish head. :)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
After the restaurant visit we went still out for a cup of cold coffee. And yes, here they mostly serve it with ice. The restaurant by the Hoan Kiem lake was the setup to be used for this purpose. On the way to the restaurant ew dropped by at the weekend night market North from Hoan Kiem lake. There was a lot to see and a bit less to buy. :)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
On Sunday we decided to do something that Enni would wnjoy again. We had been talking quite long about the Circus and there was a show especially directed for the kids on Sunday morning so the setting was pretty good. After a quick breakfast we went to the Circus again directed by human navigator's hand signs. The show consisted of two approx 30 minute parts. First part was an acrobatic show including a plot and narration but as that one was in Vietnamese it was a bit hard to follow all the details. The main idea was that there was this dude who used some Kungfu type of martial art skills to overcome the obstacles on his way to... ummm. Some place. In the end the main character got to be with his monkey friends. :) Second session was then again a show with animals. On stage we saw horses, monkeys, dogs, bears and even elephants. The amazing thing to see was the bear driving a bicycle and scooter around the stage! Also the elephants showed some neat tricks. The dogs were just doing basic algebra if I'm not mistaken. :)
The only thing I didn't like about the circus was the treating of the animals. It seemed a bit cruel. Then again, I think that forcing an animal to do something they naturally don't is not possible without the steering of them... still not this way.
After the circus session we went back to the apartment to give Enni the re-hydraion medicine we got form the hospital on Saturday. That was pretty easy deal, took only 2 hours do drink that 50 ml dose! After the medicine we decided to go check out the Ho Tay waterpark on teh other side of the West lake. It was a pretty long drive on taxi but I think that it was worth it. Though I was not waiting too much of refreshing elements of the water. The thing was that I think it must have been the hottest day so far and at the end of the day I learned that the temps went up to +41 degrees Celsius. Cool - NOT! Anyways, the park consisted of less than 10 different kind of pools and maybe 5 different kinds of slides. We went to try the slide with a two seated tyre. The girls were screaming and even I must admit that maybe the slide was a bit rough and fast. Well, we still did it again. :) We also spent some time on the kids' pools and also on the "river" flowing around the slide area. The experience itself was ok, as the temperature was so high and the water was somewhat cooling but the occassional strong smell of urine was a bit distracting. Later in the showers I learned why there was this smell at least in the shower area. The tickets were 400 000 VND from our whole family and with those we got to spend the day at the water park area. The sun park with the Ferris wheel and other mixers would had cost some extra. The Ferris wheel wold had been a nice ride with a view over the lake but the small boxes with small venting windows did not seem so good idea in that weather.
At the end of the day there was still some time to go for evening dinner in FukuZushi, the first sushi restaurant of the trip. For the coffee we chose to go to the restaurant bar & lounge Potomac cruise, an old river boat now serving a restaurant in the south-east corner of the West lake. That's also a good place for bat spotting and getting run over by scooter.
Thank you once again for viewing the blog!
Ei kommentteja:
Lähetä kommentti