And, the Picasa gallery with a few more photos.
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| 08-08 Tony's B'day |
29 September, 2008
Tony's 80th Birthday
A few of pictures from Tony's 80th birthday party at Anderson's Bay, North of Auckland.
And, the Picasa gallery with a few more photos.
And, the Picasa gallery with a few more photos.
24 September, 2008
Apartment Hunting in Wellington
The view from N's current place in Wellington is very nice
but recently we have been wondering if it might be better to move to somewhere a bit more stable --- when no one has to dig their car out of a landslide to get to work in the morning (and somewhere with just a little more space).
This place looks nice and big; grotty and poorly maintained, but it's got lots of room and plenty of windows...
More uninspired photos of dirty carpet and beige walls.
but recently we have been wondering if it might be better to move to somewhere a bit more stable --- when no one has to dig their car out of a landslide to get to work in the morning (and somewhere with just a little more space).
This place looks nice and big; grotty and poorly maintained, but it's got lots of room and plenty of windows...
More uninspired photos of dirty carpet and beige walls.
Doctor Deglaire
Amelie's a doctor now (a doctor of philosophy that is!) so we took he to Napier to drink wine and eat cheese on the beach.
Picasa gallery with the same three photos. You can use it to share with your friends!
Picasa gallery with the same three photos. You can use it to share with your friends!
Hanoi
From Quy Nhon, Tamsin and I flew to Hanoi, via Da Nang. The airport at Da Nang must be one of the nastiest, dullest airports I've seen and so T. and I took advantage of the linguistic abilities of Alan, a VSA worker who was traveling that far with us, to arrange a trip to the Cham museum for a couple of hours between our flights.
Besides the Cham museum (and China Beach) Da Nang's other highlight is it's canyfloss pink church --- though if you arrive at lunch time you won't be able to get in on account of the guard taking a break from lunch and locking the entrance gates.
Ha Noi has a different look and feel from HCMC and Quy Nhon. A lot of this stems from the colonial architecture that still survives, albeit in increasingly dilapidated states. This spans from the grandiose buildings like the opera house and metropolitan hotel, though to streets of small shops and houses with rusting fretwork and crumbling balconies. We were fortunate that our hotel was in the centre of the old-quarter where the concentration of these buildings is greatest.
We also had an excellent vegetarian cafe directly opposite us. This served some of the tastiest food we had in Vietnam, some of the tastiest drinks too with excellent fruit cocktails (with the odd bad one mixed in for variety). We visited a couple of cultural sites during our two days there. The Temple of literature which touts itself as the oldest university in Vietnam was a collection of carved stone tablets.
Its surrounding gardens were pretty and the whole thing worth visiting but it didn't catch my attention the same way that the forest of steeles at Xi'an in China did
The museum of Vietnamese art was good though it was depressing to see works stored and shown in such bad conditions (both the roof and the floor were letting in water) and with such little information. Are my museum expectations now a product of the Te Papas of the world where every article come accompanied by an interactive educational display?
Most of the time, however, we spent just wandering around the city. Looking at the markets with their amazing stalls of pirated DVDs, pet rabbits and turtles for making into a tasty soup.
And admiring the government propaganda; Uncle Ho may be dead (and interred on display in a public mausoleum) but his spirit lives on particularly strongly in Ha Noi
Here's the Picasa gallery with more Ha Noi photos.
Besides the Cham museum (and China Beach) Da Nang's other highlight is it's canyfloss pink church --- though if you arrive at lunch time you won't be able to get in on account of the guard taking a break from lunch and locking the entrance gates.
Ha Noi has a different look and feel from HCMC and Quy Nhon. A lot of this stems from the colonial architecture that still survives, albeit in increasingly dilapidated states. This spans from the grandiose buildings like the opera house and metropolitan hotel, though to streets of small shops and houses with rusting fretwork and crumbling balconies. We were fortunate that our hotel was in the centre of the old-quarter where the concentration of these buildings is greatest.
We also had an excellent vegetarian cafe directly opposite us. This served some of the tastiest food we had in Vietnam, some of the tastiest drinks too with excellent fruit cocktails (with the odd bad one mixed in for variety). We visited a couple of cultural sites during our two days there. The Temple of literature which touts itself as the oldest university in Vietnam was a collection of carved stone tablets.
Its surrounding gardens were pretty and the whole thing worth visiting but it didn't catch my attention the same way that the forest of steeles at Xi'an in China did
The museum of Vietnamese art was good though it was depressing to see works stored and shown in such bad conditions (both the roof and the floor were letting in water) and with such little information. Are my museum expectations now a product of the Te Papas of the world where every article come accompanied by an interactive educational display?
Most of the time, however, we spent just wandering around the city. Looking at the markets with their amazing stalls of pirated DVDs, pet rabbits and turtles for making into a tasty soup.
And admiring the government propaganda; Uncle Ho may be dead (and interred on display in a public mausoleum) but his spirit lives on particularly strongly in Ha Noi
Here's the Picasa gallery with more Ha Noi photos.
Quy Nhon, and a wedding
In HCMC Tamsin and I met up with Chris and Gary and caught an overnight train north to Quy Nhon where the wedding was going to be. The train ride itself was pretty interesting; the track runs along the base of the hills and much of the time we had a view of mountains out one window and beaches out the other, with rice paddies in between. All very picturesque.
The town of Quy Nhon is on the coast with golden sanded beaches, palm trees and brightly coloured wooden fishing boats which spend the day tied up off the shore. Despite appearances, the industry in the city is not fishing, but manufacturing wooden outdoor furniture from slow growing hardwoods which are logged in other countries and shipped to Quy Nhon. And the beautiful golden beach functions more as a sewage outfall than as a swimming attraction.
Brian's local knowledge of Quy Nhon meant that we got to see more than we would have otherwise. The egg market in the country was possibly the highlight of my time in Vietnam.
Or it might have been riding a scooter on roads where that is pretty much the only form of transport.
Or it could have been just meeting the locals.
Or the new family.
The wedding itself was an interesting affair; lots of people and various task that had to be done by the bride and groom, but for the most part it was just two hours of eating and toasting people. Oh, and some singing and dancing.
Then right on eight p.m. everyone got up and left.
Tamsin and I left early the next morning, to fly, Via Da Nang to Ha Noi. One interesting aspect of the Vietnamese airports in the south is that they all still have the aircraft hangers left over from the Vietnam war --- row after row of arched roofs with concrete 30cm thick over all of them. The airport in HCMC even had helicopters in some of them still (with the rotor blades removed).I didn't notice any hangers at airports in the north so I am guessing they are specific to the parts of the country which was occupied by US troops.
Here's the Picasa gallery with a few more photos from Quy Nhon.
The town of Quy Nhon is on the coast with golden sanded beaches, palm trees and brightly coloured wooden fishing boats which spend the day tied up off the shore. Despite appearances, the industry in the city is not fishing, but manufacturing wooden outdoor furniture from slow growing hardwoods which are logged in other countries and shipped to Quy Nhon. And the beautiful golden beach functions more as a sewage outfall than as a swimming attraction.
Brian's local knowledge of Quy Nhon meant that we got to see more than we would have otherwise. The egg market in the country was possibly the highlight of my time in Vietnam.
Or it might have been riding a scooter on roads where that is pretty much the only form of transport.
Or it could have been just meeting the locals.
Or the new family.
The wedding itself was an interesting affair; lots of people and various task that had to be done by the bride and groom, but for the most part it was just two hours of eating and toasting people. Oh, and some singing and dancing.
Then right on eight p.m. everyone got up and left.
Tamsin and I left early the next morning, to fly, Via Da Nang to Ha Noi. One interesting aspect of the Vietnamese airports in the south is that they all still have the aircraft hangers left over from the Vietnam war --- row after row of arched roofs with concrete 30cm thick over all of them. The airport in HCMC even had helicopters in some of them still (with the rotor blades removed).I didn't notice any hangers at airports in the north so I am guessing they are specific to the parts of the country which was occupied by US troops.
Here's the Picasa gallery with a few more photos from Quy Nhon.
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