Tag: Ha Noi

coming home

Coming home: Get on a bunch of planes. Watch a bunch of movies and eat the weird combination of what is airplane food—My favorite food during our longest flight today from Tokyo to San Francisco was two saltine crackers with a pat of cream cheese. Exactly like something I’d eat when there was nothing else to eat in the house. Try to sleep mostly unsuccessfully and ultimately stumble from plane to plane to immigration/customs to plane and to a lovely friend who drove us home.

After thirty hours traveling, those beds in Newton were incredibly comfortable!

But to back up —

On our last night in Hanoi, we had a hot pot supper—various kinds of meat and vegetables that are brought to the table raw along with a pot of boiling broth on a heater.  It’s good and I’ve liked the idea both back home and in Hanoi.  We’ve eaten it a number of times in Vietnam, but truthfully, when I go out to eat, I’d much rather have the cook do the cooking instead of one of us at the table. Still, it seems like a favorite with the people of Hanoi, including our friend, Tra My. 

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last weekend

We’ve been walking a little slower, trying to savor, trying to memorize, and still, at the same time, trying to stay in the present. We know that we are looking at things we’ve grown use to for the last time. So many streets we haven’t walked down and restaurants we haven’t eaten in. We have gotten better at crossing streets with and without traffic lights and drivers of motor bikes and cars that consider lights, lanes and one way signs as mere suggestions. We are regulars at that pho restaurant on the sidewalk half a block away from our apartment and enjoy so much all the fresh fruit juices that we drink every day.

Lots of flowers were planted during out week away in Hoi An. So nice to see them.

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bits of Ha Noi

Surprises around every bend.  And always good to be just a little prepared. Perhaps a little open and curious.

Case in point: this morning’s iced coffee—expresso with almond milk and fresh milk (no skim or 2% anywhere in sight) and I’m sure a little sugar—contains little coffee “jellies.” The first jelly slips up in the straw and surprises me.  A worm?  Okay, it is nothing like a worm but  . . . and it is just one of many of these exquisite jellies.  Julia’s chocolate soda drink has chocolate jellies.

Also, a find from a few days ago—tiny and perfect cream puffs. Oh, to die for!  We are walking and sweating so much that a few cream puffs at the end of the day is of no consequence.

It is a balmy 80 degrees this morning and boy, it feels like autumn. Or early summer. Just something lovely.  And a breeze!

We have been very lucky with the air conditioning in all of our lodgings.  It is neither too hot or cold and adjustable.  This has saved us over and over—mid-day naps when the sun is unbearable—and then, out again when the sun goes down.  The sun goes down pretty early or rather, we are experiencing fall sun sets with summer temperatures.  

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Van Mieu-Quoc Tu Giam

We spent a long morning, not as hot as many of the ones that came before but still sweaty hot, at the Temple of Literature, in Vietnamese, Van Mieu-Quoc Tu Giam.  This was my favorite place 22 years ago when I came with my friend, Jennifer, to adopt her daughter.  And it remains a favorite—now, with an excellent audio tour.  It is a place of calm and peace in the middle of the chaos of Ha Noi.

Van Mieu-Quoc Tu Giam was founded in 1070 as a temple to worship Confucius. A short 6 years later the next Emperor established the Imperial Academy on the Temple grounds as a royal school for nobles, and bureaucrats. Other students were accepted based on competitive exams as a way of filling the civil service.  It seems it didn’t take long for the prestigious academy to diversify their student body.  I wonder if those nobles and bureaucrats didn’t get bored of their own company.  Maybe they just needed some smart guys.  The last exam took place around 1919.  Of course, candidates were only considered if they were male and sons of landowners, sons of singers, performers and criminals were not allowed into the exam.  The school was strict and too many violations of the behavior code could result in expulsion or loss of a head.

For all its restrictions, Van Mieu-Quoc Tu Giam is a magical place of learning, a place that has valued education and right living for more than a thousand years and for that I love it.

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Trấn Quốc Pagoda

Trấn Quốc Pagoda is the oldest Buddhist temple in Ha Noi.  It was originally built from 544 to 548; however, it has been refurbished and rebuilt a number of times since—websites disagree on the last renovation which may have occurred just before the turn of this century.  The pagoda is located on a small island near the southeastern shore of Ha Noi’s West Lake which is a lovely location.  We visited it on my last trip here in 2001 and I may have taken the same pictures that I did this time.

On the grounds of Trấn Quốc is a Bodhi tree taken as cutting of the original tree in Bodh Gaya, India under which the Buddha sat and achieved enlightenment. The gift was made in 1959, marking the visit of the Indian president Rajendra Prasad.  The tree is not marked, or at least not marked in English.  I should have looked up what it looked like before visiting.

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