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Showing posts with label weather. Show all posts
Showing posts with label weather. Show all posts

Monday, 24 June 2013

Busy, busy June!

It's been an insane, non-stop June for me as I finished up the assessment period of school term, took pre-wedding photos(!!), went to Hong Kong, started a new school term including taking on a new large class, and finally I'm off to Osaka briefly in a couple of days!

Pre-Wedding Photo Shoot
An absolute must-do if you're getting married in Vietnam are pre-wedding photos.. and what a lavish affair they are! Although it's a year off from when we're likely to get married, as it's so cheap here and the city has so many fun, colourful locations, Toshi and I decided to go for it :) We had a team of 6 (driver, make up, hair, photographer, assistant and translator) come with us around the city to help out our 13-hour day, along with 5 costume changes for me! We were extremely lucky to get the only blue sky that week which made for great photos though I was sunburnt pretty much after the first 20 minutes! We were drenched in sweat all day but I think you'll agree it was absolutely worth it (and the $250 spent!)
Hong Kong
My school had a week's summer holiday so I took the opportunity to spend 4 days and 4 nights in Hong Kong! Unfortunately it was during rainy season and my second day was a total wash-out, but I definitely enjoyed the short queues at Disneyland as a single-rider!! I pretty much rode everything there!
 Dim Sum with Ed from my school days and his friends
 Hong Kong is so cool at night!

 Rain, rain, go away!

 The closest I'll ever come to meeting Jackie Chan
 Felt queasy after this ride.. must be getting old (left)
Met Buzz Lightyear (right)

 My future dream job!
 Cable car up Lantau Island mountain to see the giant Buddha

A Weekend in Hanoi
With Toshi in Osaka already I decided to hang out with the girls!
 We went swimming! It was such a beautiful blue sky until..
 ...the skies opened up for the entire weekend.
Foot scrub time!

Next up.. off to Osaka tomorrow night :D ...Followed by 5 more weeks in Vietnam!

Monday, 19 November 2012

Mt. Tam Dao Motorbike Trip

Toshi and I rented a motorbike (well, more of a scooter) for the not so hefty sum of $7 a day and made our way North-West to the Tam Dao National Park for a Music Festival.
ハノイでバイクを安く借りてタム・ダオ山まで乗りました。
The Tam Dao Mountain range is approximately 70-80km (~50 miles) North-East of Hanoi, but no thanks to Google Maps' strange route, it took us about 4 hours to get to there!!! We ended up going down some dodgy narrow farm paths and Toshi was attacked by several butterflies!
グーグルマップがあんまりよくなくてハノイから80キロぐらいが4時間かかってしまいました!
We stopped on the way for a spot of fishing. もちろんトシ君が釣り品持ってきました!
 New aviators for Toshi ̣(left) and definitely lost thanks to Google Maps (right)
 
 Toshi's first fish in Vietnam at Lake Dai Lai!
 The beautiful landscapes of Northern Vietnam!

The weather was SO hot, though once we reached the peak of Mt. Tam Dao ~1400m high the temperature dropped. We stayed in a pretty decent hotel (a VERY reasonable $20 for the room) overlooking the valley and enjoyed a crystal clear night sky.
天気はすごく暑かったけど山登ったら気温は急に落ちた!やすいホテルで泊まったことにしてはよかったです(2000円ぐらい)。
We enjoyed yummy grilled chicken, corncobs and sugar cane, as well as the crystal clear night sky, a bonfire and live music.
うまい焼き鳥を食べたり、きれいな星空を見たり、ライブな音楽も楽しみました。

The next day was also a beautiful day! Here are some pictures:
 Posing with our bike!
 

A video of us biking back down the mountain:
 Lake Lang Ha at the foot of Mt. Tam Dao
 
Misguided by Google Maps yet again!! This time an unfinished highway!!

*By the way, in case you're wondering, we're wearing masks as not to breathe pollution, dust, dry air and least of all bugs!

Friday, 9 November 2012

Walking around Hồ Tây Lake

On Sunday morning Toshi and I got our final shots of Rabies and Encephilitis!
日曜日の朝は最後の狂犬病注射でした!よかったです。
Unfortunately our vaccinations weren't
administered by this cutie pie!
このかわいいナースから注射をうけるといいですね!
After we got our vaccinations Toshi had prepared for a spot of fishing:
トシ君が釣りをやろうとしました。水が汚いしあんまりよくなかった。

 A lot of dead fish in the polluted water/死んだ魚いっぱい

Despite the grey photos, the weather was great and very hot- over 30 degrees!- So we went for a walk around the lake.
いい天気で湖の周りさんぽうしました。
 A man catches a carp (left) and crossing our own dodgy shortcut (right) 
釣られた鯉 (左)

3 hours of walking and a sunburn later, we realised we were only 1/4 around the lake!! Turns out it's 17km around the lake!
3時間過ぎても湖の周りが1/4しか通ってないかった!まさか17キロなんだ!


Finally we enjoyed yummy caramelized bbq bread and chicken!
その後おいしい甘いパンと鶏肉を食べました。

Thursday, 1 November 2012

October in Short

Sorry for the lack of updates! I've been so busy!
アップデートしなくてごめん!

Here's what I've been up to this past month:
10月の要約 :
 Rode a rather dodgy swan boat in Lenin Park, Hanoi
怪しいスワンボートを乗ったり
 

Excursion out the city to Hoa Lư- Ninh Bình, known as 'inland Ha Long'.
きれいな自然な所に行ったり
 
 Ate lots of deliciously more-ish Pho (probably all the MSG in it).
めちゃおいしいフォを食べたり
 Braved the typhoon to seek out a recently-opened Ramen shop near my workplace- yum!!
台風の中で最近できたラーメンショップに行ったり
 
 Hallowe'en!!! We took the kids out trick-or-treating to parents' houses in Vincom Tower, I carved a pumpkin and we held a costume contest.
ハロウィーンも祝いしました。