Confucius says “Wherever you go, go with all your heart.”
Last Saturday I visited the famous Temple of Literature with Pip and her sister. It was their last day in Hanoi. Built in 1070 (can you believe it?!), the Temple of Literature is the oldest temple in Vietnam. The sights within the compound walls include rows of stone tablets espousing Confuscian wisdom in ancient Chinese [...]
Ballroom Dancing
Lastnight at 8:00 PM my co-worker Ha picked me up on motorcycle to take me out ballroom dancing with her dancing club friends! It was really great to zip through the Hanoi streets on a Friday night and see all the twinkling lights and beautiful people.
The ballroom was huge and wonderful, a truly authentic [...]
This Sunday afternoon I leave on a 5-day site visit to the field with my co-workers Khanh and Phuong. We will travel by car to Nghe An province, located in the impoverished North Central highlands of Vietnam. When I say countryside, we’re talking dirt-floor houses made with mud walls and bamboo supports, and yearly per [...]
Pip, Hanh and Crystal on the steps at the S-CODE office.
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Crystal in Hanoi
Travel from Thailand to Vietnam
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No icecream for you!
In Hanoi, it’s easy to distinguish the government establishments from the private ones, simply by the faces of the workers. During a recent trip to the post office, even my best chicken jokes could not make the stamp lady crack a smile. At a famous state-run ice cream stand near Hoan Kiem [...]
We originally had plans to go to the tailor with my co-worker Hanh on Sunday, to spend the afternoon designing and ordering all of our ao dai and my wedding and bridesmaid dresses. But on Friday afternoon, Hanh phoned us from the tailor and told us to come right away. I knew this would be [...]
It’s so sad when your stomach is full in Hanoi, because you always find other food that you want to try! For breakfast, I’ve typically been having French bread with fried egg and cucumbers. Yes, those French were good for at least a few things (including the coffee, to which I have now a serious [...]
Today at work the boss’ wife, Huong, came upstairs to show me and Pip the shiny new S-CODE sign they will put on the front of the building where our new office is located. S-CODE’s office opens out onto a very busy street — the address is 321 Vong St: very cute! — where motorcycles [...]
Wednesday, July 6th — The Famous Vietnamese Water Puppets
The Hanoi Water Puppet theater is located near the banks of the Hoan Kiem Lake, a very romantic little lake with benches, shady trees (lots of weeping willows) and great sidewalk cafes all around it. It takes about 30-40 minutes to walk all the way around the [...]