2013 Hanoi Trip - Thang Long Water Puppet Theater (Nhà hát múa rối Thăng Long)

Location: Hanoi, Vietnam

Vietnamese: Nhà hát múa rối Thăng Long

Full experience of my visit to Hanoi can be accessed through the list below:

Attractions:   St Joseph's Cathedral | One Pillar Pagoda | Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum | Lý Thái Tổ Garden

Dining:          New Day Restaurant | Sketch Coffee | Bánh Cuốn Gia Truyền | Dương Hoa Kem Caramen | Thu Nga Kem Xôi & Chè Thái Lan

More about Hanoi can be read through the list below:
Vietnamese Dong


When I was planning our trip to Hanoi, I frequently encountered the comment that one of the city's highlight was to attend a cultural show in Thang Long Water Puppet Theater. We entered the theater with great anticipation to be enthralled, so maybe our expectation proved to be the reason we felt disappointed upon the end of the show.

Thang Long Water Puppet Theater proved to be an easy reach from Hoan Kiem Lake once we got over our phobia and crossed the relentless traffic to the other side of the road. As if in fear of not being noticed among the jumble of buildings, the narrow profile of the building's front was decorated with a column of puppets, and come dusk they were all lit up eerily, reminding me of killer dolls in horror movies.

The theater shows a traditional play but boasts a modern facade. Puppets decorating the narrow front profile of the theater will lit up come dusk, an eerie display reminding me of killer dolls of horror movies.

Headline Places - Eruptions of Mount Sinabung

Location: Sumatra, Indonesia

Volcanologists are having a field day while surrounding inhabitants fled amidst the clapping eruptions and spewing smoke from Mount Sinabung. Active and dormant volcanoes straddled the world's fourth populous country of Indonesia, itself a collection of islands along the Pacific Ring of Fire crossing the Southeast Asian region.

There are approximately 130 active volcanoes across Indonesia, but Mount Sinabung has recently garnered headlines when it started erupting in September 2013, and has not stop to date. Indonesian government has evacuated everyone in a 5-km radius zone, a zone which may expand depending on the situation. Dozens of eruptions were recorded on Saturday (Jan 4, 2014), a number which varies from 30 to 77 times, from the 2,500 meters tall volcano, triggering a flurry of panicked evacuations and igniting a scene not unlike an apocalyptic movie.

Question: Where is Mount Sinabung in Indonesia?

The deadly beauty of Mount Sinabung eruptions as captured in this photo. Dozens of eruptions on Saturday triggered panic evacuations in a 5km radius zone (image taken from Los Angeles Times),

2013 Hanoi Trip - Thu Nga - Kem Xôi & Chè Thái Lan

Location: Hanoi, Vietnam

Full experience of my visit to Hanoi can be accessed through the list below:

Attractions:   St Joseph's Cathedral | One Pillar Pagoda | Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum | Thang Long Water Puppet Theater | Lý Thái Tổ Garden

Dining:          New Day Restaurant | Sketch Coffee | Bánh Cuốn Gia Truyền | Dương Hoa Kem Caramen

More about Hanoi can be read through the list below:
Vietnamese Dong


I wouldn't have expected that Hanoi has a delicious and less well known dish which involved ice-cream. After getting our fair share of bún, phở and bánh cuốn in our 8 day trip, to find respite from the more conventional everyday meals was welcoming. We had our pleasant surprise at the successful food hunt for Kem Caramen at the Northern end of the Old Quarters, and our subsequent adventure to the south bagged us an encounter with Kem Xôi, an ice cream dessert with stick pandan rice and roasted coconut.

Introducing another Vietnamese treasure - a dessert known locally as Kem Xôi, where vanilla ice-cream complements the pandan sticky rice covered underneath. A heaven sent after a hot walk under the sun.

Travel through Philately - Ancient Town of Feng Huang 鳳凰古城 (Macao Post)

After my last Macao Post article on its 5th Mainland Scenery series, Watchtowers of Kaiping (開平碉樓), I got interested in the series and hunted for its predecessor, an FDC featuring a scenery much more intact than the crumbling UNESCO Heritage. The focus in this issue is the ancient water town of Feng Huang (鳳凰古城), a city named after the legendary Phoenix.

This 2011 issue portrayed Feng Huang Ancient City, a town built in a harmonious blend between water and earth.