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Hanoi - Street Views

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It was December 2025. Most of Southeast Asia remained warm enough to continue with t-shirts. I still found the faux fir trees, decorations and blow-up Santa Claus figures at odds with most of my Christmas and NewYear experiences. I had a sudden desire to be somewhere a bit cooler but not freezing. Delhi was smog-ridden. So I decided the next best thing was to go to Hanoi, another city that is also infamous for..... errr.......its winter smog. I was convinced that it could not be as bad as Delhi (it wasn't but it has its own mix of toxic fumes). Nonetheless, it was fascinating and fun. So much to describe. I think this post should start with the streets, the scooters and the odd tri-shaw. The scene below is from Christmas Eve when several roads become pedestrian-only.  This small junction in the Old Quarter came to a stand still as bike-drivers tries to make their way to the nearest parking zone. Later in that week, this flower stall below caught my eye. This photo below is the beer...
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Vietnam: A bygone era at the Imperial City of Huế.

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  Vietnam's Ancient Capital- Huế It was late October 2024. I was coming towards the end of my trip to Da Nang and my online meetings for the week were done. I decided to join a mini-bus tour heading to the ancient capital Huế  which is about 2.5 to 3 hours from Da Nang. My co-travellers were Japanese and non-local Vietnamese folk. The outward journey was relaxed, accompanied by some pleasant scenery. Mid-way our mini-bus stopped by the beautiful Lap An Lagoon.  We barely had time to admire the view before the tour guide whisked us into a large shop selling pearls. Everyone politely resisted this marketing ploy and we continued on our way. Finally we arrived at the outskirts of the city and spent some time at this impressive seven-storey Thien Mu pagoda. Soon it was time for lunch, which was included in the package. The restaurant had been informed of my dietary preference (vegetarian). Being the only one, I was assigned a separate table with a  massive  spr...
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Vietnam: A story of beaches, lanterns and the Gajasimha

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When visiting a country for the first time, it is usual to set foot in a large city first. Very occasionally one lands in a small town (Cork was my first visit in Ireland). Sometimes it can be an island (Kefalonia has been my one and only experience of Greece). Surprisingly my first two visits to Vietnam were also to small towns and an island. Vietnam had been on my absoluetly-must-visit list for over a decade. Finally, making a somewhat impetuous decision, I landed in Da Nang in October 2024.  This is the month when much of Europe and North America are in the thick of autumn. However, like many tropical regions, Central Vietnam has only two seasons - rainy and not rainy. When I arrived, the dry season was ending and the formidable wet season was expected to kick in any minute. A friend with local knowledge was supremely pessimistic about impending storms and submerged streets.  Fortune favours the brave. That can be the only explanation that allowed me to experience the twin...
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Eating (somewhat) like a local in Hong Kong

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This is literally a taster. There are two reasons why I cannot do complete justice to food in Hong Kong.  The first is because my visit was too short. Some days I was too far, or too hungry, to make my way to the recommended restaurants. The second is of course my quest for vegetarian food in a city that is perhaps best-known for its wide variety of seafood and meat-based street food. I have no regrets on the latter, and I hope to remedy the former by visiting again some day. Till then, here are a few places worth checking out. Some are my own finds while others were recommended by a friend whose turf I has inadvertently stumbled upon. 1. Lan Fong Yuen  - tea and more Probably one of the most popular cha chaan teng (tea restaurant) in all of Hong Kong. It has history going back to 1953 when it was a small roadside food stall. It is also supposedly the place where the famous Hong Kong milk tea was created . It is located on Gage Street in SoHo and accessible by Mid-Levels Esc...
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The magic faraway escalator

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Reader Alert: Bite-sized posts are great for my time-starved friends, my family and the world in general. However, some experiences in life deserve more space. This time, I take a few paragraphs to share the story of a fascinating district in Hong Kong. _____________ An escalator. So what's the big deal? In the distant past, my commute in London often involved hurtling down the escalators of Tube stations. On some days I was even courageous enough to purposefully climb up the moving steps. It is common knowledge that the longest escalator in London (barring T5 Heathrow) is at Angel station. I have had many occasions to use it, not the least to visit  Sadler's Wells Theatre or to reach an erstwhile tea-house of interest (shout out to Mai Chai ).  On a related subject, one of my favourite pastimes when using metros in new cities, is to speed-read advertisements along the escalators. A few years ago I noticed that paper posters had been replaced by digital screens at many places...
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