I need Spring!

Spring...

Perhaps, the reason for springs and autumns is because god has mercy on us humans!

Flying off from Hanoi right into Krung Thep in April seemed like a bad move. It is like putting taking your head our from the freezer and putting it straight into a super hot oven, if you can do those without your head cracking open!

It was so cold for Hanoi for me then that I had to wear socks almost all the time when I was in the apartment. I needed the jacket all the time when I was out and on worse days scenario, I even wore it while I was in the apartment. I might be exaggeration with the coldness but being a Malaysian, 18-20 degrees daily was too way to cold for me and I had a tough time adjusting, especially during the first 2 weeks.

Now, back in Krung Thep at the height of the Songkran season, I am experiencing massive headaches daily. It has only been 3 days here, yet, I cannot seem to adjust to the weather. It's almost like 35-38 degrees daily since I've landed. It's so hot I am tempted to have the airconditioning switched on almost all the time.

Which got me thinking, maybe the reason for spring and autumn to be stuck in the between winter and summer, and summer and winter, respectively, is to help our body to adjust better to the temperature change. That the world is designed to protect it's living things and not to kill it.

An extreme change from super hot to super cold or vice versa will just wipe us out!

Sigh.. where's my (mini)spring to help save me?

Hanoi Apartment Curse

Did I bring the 'apartment' curse with me to Hanoi?

I've been in here for almost 3 weeks, and in that 3 weeks, I've moved 3 apartments, due to reasons not under my control.

I reached here on a Tuesday. Come Thursday, I was asked to help pack up everything of ours and get ready to move. Another apartment, somewhere else, still unconfirmed then. The main thing was we needed to vacate that unit, that night!

So off we went in search of the 2nd place to stay. We had two options thrown to us, though they didn't differ much. In the end, we chose the 2nd unit as the interim unit as it was brighter, at least for me, even though that meant we would have a club/karaoke as our left neighbour. It was a walk up apartment.

Problem arose almost right after the agent left us that night. The kitchen sink was stank terribly whenever it was used and the kettle wasn't in a that dared me to use it. 2 nights later we got a rude shock in the wee morning. A drunk neighbour mistook our unit as his and managed to get in! Luckily Hubby was awake at that time. Else I wouldn't know what to do!

The technician came the following Monday to do the necessary repair work. About 3 hours of hardwork, with an hour of interruption to get another round of supplies after the initial diagnose, he managed to reveal quite a good job done! I wasn't able to open the replaced lock with my existing key, which I could after his first try and the kitchen sink actually smell better as you used.

It was smooth riding after that. No more complaints. Until we got here, apartment number #3, the apartment we originally wanted after being kicked out. The headaches came back, fast! First problem was the bedroom door couldn't close. The lock simply didn't catch. That simple problem was rectified quickly.

We thought that that was it, when after 2 days, we noticed the kitchen floor damp. The dampness didn't go away, instead, it got worse as the days went by. Water started dripping from the ceiling! At first it was a patch on the ceiling, and then later, it was almost the whole ceiling!

Tired now. The ceiling is bare, there's a staircase chair in the kitchen but the men are gone, for now. I'm hungry.

Walk to Museum of Ethnology, Hanoi

Another day of exploration, this time following a plan. No surprises today.

Since I had time to kill, I decided than rather surfing virtually, it would be better to do the actual surfing, though not that literal sense. I don't want to boast to others that I spent my time in Hanoi, staying online.

The Museum of Ethnology was the most eye catching thing nearby here. So, once I got rid of the blurriness after waking up, I took off. I had made up my mind to walk there, instead of taking the easy way out of hiring a taxi. It wasn't far, really. Looking at the map, it was doable on foot, with the distance given as only slightly less than 2km away.

Walking along the main road of the not so cold street of Dao Tan/Hanoi anymore, I must had stuck out wearing my black jacket. All the locals were casually dressed. I wanted to get some lunch on the way, but somehow managed to skip it. I did go into a very nondescript cafe along the way, thinking that perhaps I could get a 'ca phe' with some food, but alas, they seemed to serve only coffee. Well, a factor that I have to learn early, I guess.

After sipping my very strong coffee, I headed on. I walked and walked, following the map that I had memorised in my head. It was a pretty straight forward route, which had me going straight for the moment I came out find myself on Dao Tan Street. I passed the first junction, which led me onto Nguyen Khanh Toan Road. From there, I walked straight ahead until I reached the junction. The museum was, unknowned to me then, located to my right. Around 20 minutes of walk.

I didn't know the exact location, except the museum was supposed to be within the vicinity of that area. Seeing something like a park area, I crossed the road, thinking that might be it. From that other side, I looked back and saw that I just left the museum. How stupid of me! Unnecessary risk crossing the busy street again to get to the entrance.

The admission fee was set at 25k d for a normal entry, which meant no 'professional' cameras allowed, whatever that meant. I paid the normal price to a very unsmiling booth operator. Really, the face was really not nice to look at. Wonder what was her problem.

The museum itself was quite huge. It was divided into 2 sections, indoor exhibition hall and outdoor exhibition park. I followed one large crowd with got there almost at the same time as me, going into the exhibition hall first.

As the name suggested, the whole of the museum displayed things associated to the various ethnic groups in Vietnam. I am not one very interested in cultural/ethnology stuff, so I just got confused. In summary, what I realized was Vietnam is made of people of various ethnicities, which differs from the north to the south. Major religious influences came from Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism, although I have no idea which is greater. There is a little mention of Islam too.

Clothes among the various tribes looked similarly the same, so were their weapons, household things, hunting gears, and the likes. Trades, house styles, and food depended of their locality. Old Vietnamese seems to be very much influenced by the Chinese way of living. Anyhow, I felt that if you understood Chinese culture through and through, then you would be able to understand Vietnamese culture easier.

The outdoor exhibition showcased the houses of the various tribes. This was much more interesting as it was outdoor and not much reading was required. But again, there were similarities to the Chinese architecture or designs, especially with the carvings, the door designs, pillars, and layout in the house. Why, certain of the houses actually reminded me of certain parts of my grandparents' houses and houses in old Melaka!

Anyhow, I spent the whole good portion of my afternoon there. I left almost at the closing time of the museum. That too, I rushed through the last few houses, after checking the time. It was a good experience though. It was nice to see and of course I took lots of pictures when I was outdoor.

I stopped by for my dinner on the way back at one of the shops and had some 'pho ga'. I really must stop having this dish for dinner, as this is the 2nd day in a row that I had this for dinner. Rush hour traffic entertaining me, my walk back was uneventful, faster but more relaxing. Another satisfying way to spend the afternoon.