Saturday Afternoon at the Movies

We went off to the movie theater yesterday (a rare event) to see Avatar. I had not (deliberately) really read much about it so few expectations. I had a wonderful time. Visually gorgeous. Nothing at all subtle about the story.

But the colours - oh the colours...

 

 

Walking through the mall after the movie, debating where to go for lunch, we came across a few alternatives, including this one ...

Passed.

Flood

The town of Hoi An in central Viet Nam is located close to the coast on a river that flows to the South China Sea. Very low lying ground.

In late September when the Philippines was struck by the horrendous rainfall and massive flooding (see Trip From Hell) we were on our way to Viet Nam and got, shall we say, distracted and delayed. By the time we arrived in Hanoi, well to the north of Hoi An, the storm had followed us across the South China Sea and scored a direct hit on that whole area - Hue, Da Nang, Hoi An. It was a bad one for the citizens there as well. (We were not affected in Hanoi).

However, it seems that Hoi An and its people are well used to flooding. It happens all the time and it appears that people just pick themselves up, clean up and carry on. As you walk through the alleys and streets of the town you see walls that are obviously water damaged (actually beautiful colours, shapes and designs on the painted walls). When we were there at Christmas it was obvious that people were still repairing and renovating - you could see evidence of a recent flood. What I subsequently found out was that it wasn't just damage from the late September storm but they had also been hit by yet another typhoon in November as well.

We stopped for coffee at one of the riverside cafes one morning and saw these markings on the wall indicating some of the really bad floods in recent years. Here's a shot of Number 2 Son, Mike, who is at least 6 feet tall, standing by these high water markings - dated September 30, 2009 (the big one we were affected by back in Manila) and November 5th, 2007. Almost unimaginable that the water could rise this high.

Oh, one curious thing about this picture. Coincidentally, these two dates represent both my and Howard's birthdays.

No birthday trips to Hoi An in our future. I'll pass.

The Ao Dai

The Vietnamese traditional dress, the Áo  Dài (roughly pronounced "ow zy") is worn by most Vietnamese woman, although nowadays usually only for special occasions. It is a simple, close-fitting blouse with long panels front and back, worn over wide pants or sometimes a long skirt.You still see it quite often in Hanoi as a uniform for some shop assistants or restaurant hostesses and servers, as well as airline staff. An elegant, beautiful silhouette, it is captured a lot in Vietnamese art. A white Ao Dai is the uniform of many Vietnamese schoolgirls.

THE Áo  Dài

Last October when I was in Hanoi I stumbled upon a shop near the Cathedral called Cocoon. The place blew my mind - gorgeous, contemporary clothing designs with fantastic colourful embroidery. Total eye candy. I got chatting with the designer and owner and came up with an idea. I didn't want to buy any of the clothes as I didn't think I'd wear them much in my life and climate and as pieces of art, didn't want them just hanging in a closet. So, I commissioned a piece from Nga to be what I envisioned as a sculpture. I wanted a beautiful Áo  Dài, traditional in shape yet contemporary in colour, that would be a three-dimensional piece of art, to be displayed on a dressmaker's mannequin. Nga got quite excited over the idea, as did I. I asked her to design an Áo  Dài fit for a Vietnamese princess if they still had any, and she replied "Why not for a queen?" By Christmas it was ready and we flew up to Hanoi from Hoi An so I could pick it up in person. It's covered with hand embroidery in fantastic colours on black silk. It's home now and I'm thrilled.

As an aside - we had just about decided that we had to stop buying large pieces of furniture or large paintings as we'll be hard pressed as it is to fit everything into our B.C. house. Now we have the equivalent of a full sized person standing in the corner! Oh well.

The woman wearing the Áo  Dài's at the top calls herself Hanoi Girl - theRedRiver on her great travel blog.

Nguyen Thanh Binh painted the girls in white Áo  Dài.

The Money Shot

Former Philippine President Estrada, who was kicked out of office for high crimes and misdemeanours, was tried and convicted for graft and corruption, served 6 1/2 years of his sentence at home and was pardoned last year by current President Gloria, is running for the Presidency again in the upcoming elections.

This picture, on the front page of yesterday's paper, shows him passing out rolled up bills to baranguay residents on his campaign trail. This after passing out other gifts .

The price of a vote in the Philippines? Apparently he thinks it's 50 pesos - about a dollar.

Christmas Lanterns

We're back from a wonderful Christmas trip to Viet Nam. As usual, hundreds of photos to sort through and inspiration to absorb before leaving in a few weeks on another three-week trip (Thailand and Laos).

We stayed in a great little hotel in a great little town called Hoi An. Hoi An is another World Heritage designated site and is really interesting. It used to be a major trading port hundreds of years ago and Chinese and Japanese traders used to go there, then get stuck  and have to stay for several months until the winds changed. Eventually they set up permanent residence to look out for their interests, so there is an interesting mix of old Chinese and Japanese influenced architecture, which fortunately has survived wars and tear downs and such.

As a heritage site now, it offers some protection as well as lots of tourist dollars because it is definitely a tourist down. It is so interesting to walk through the streets and alleys. Great food - not good food - GREAT food. As well as the town and its river to amuse, a fifteen minute bike ride away is the beach, so there's that great mix of beach stuff, bars and restaurants, shopping, culture vulture stuff and general walk-around wonderfulness.

In the oh so small world department, the first morning we were there, I was pouring my coffee at the breakfast terrace beside the pool when I was approached by a gal I went to school with at Royal Roads several years ago, staying at the same hotel. What a surprise and a delight! She is now living in Dubai and we hung out a bit with her and her traveling companion during our stay, including getting together for Christmas dinner under the stars by the river.

After Christmas dinner we all went for a stroll over the river bridge, on this warm, beautiful night under the stars. We turned the corner to this amazing sight:

Hoi An is known for its silk lanterns and here were thousands in these open air stall shops, all lit up in the night. We ran over to take pictures. Or so we thought. They were so beautiful we bought a few. Well, actually between the 5 of us we bought about 50. As usual had to buy another suitcase to cart it all home.