Berlin in Summer 2012

Berlin. Oh, notice the green traffic man. 

So I've got to say, Oli's job is pretty cool. Sometimes. Like when he gets sent to places for conference. And the cooler thing is his trip is usually paid for. But the coolest among all is I get to tag along. Sometimes. Like Hanoi but not Bielefeld, Germany (not that I care) or Berlin but not Barcelona (Okay, I really wanted to go to Barcelona but his accommodation was in Campus and truthfully, I couldn't miss any more German classes). Anyways, I thought I write about Berlin because it is a cool big city and I really had a good time just exploring Berlin. The things I enjoy about my days in Berlin, well, a plenty. First, it was so easy to get around in Berlin. And the accommodation that we chose helped because it had good train and bus connections just around the corner and very close to Kunfusterdam shopping street. Oh, and I have to say, I had Curry wurst from different places almost everyday I was in Berlin (that is 7 days) and the best curry wurst for me was the one located beside KADEWE shopping mall. Straight off the pan (which what makes it good and fresh), it was crisp from the outside and juicy inside. I'm salivating just thinking about it.

Curry Wurst. Cheap, tasty not so healthy.

The long queue into Pergamon Museum.

We visited the usual tourist spots; from Brandenburger Tor, Holocaust Museum, Jewish Memorial Site, and Jewish Museum to Checkpoint Charlie and whats left of the Berlin wall scattered around the city. We also went up to Bundestag Dome, Pergamon Museum (well only visited the special exhibition which was pretty fascinating) and after a bit of persuasion from Oli, Berlin Aquarium. I only agreed because Oliver said, there was whale but when we got there, none. Nada. I love him. Other days, when Oliver was cooped up in conference, I wandered on my own to the less touristy part of Berlin, which was pretty cool you know, slower paced and I guess, I'm pretty proud of myself. Having learn that much German (still learning) and being able to get around with much ease.

Bundestag (Berlin Parliament)

Loud, drunk, shirtless men.

Behind us are Berlin Dome and TV Tower

At Checkpoint Charlie. When East and West Berlin were separated by the wall, they had to go through several checkpoints to cross over to each side. Checkpoint Charlie was one of them and somehow, the popular one.

Pretty synagogue.

Us at Brandenburger Tor at night.

So yes, Berlin is a great city to visit. I've always vaguely known about Hitler, the Holocaust, World War 2, Jewish etc. And my visit to Berlin had really opened my eyes to the things that had happened in the past and how it shaped the things as of current. I learnt a great amount of history in Berlin, in a good way. One of the profound moments I had was when I visited the Holocaust Museum. The museum had different partitions or rooms and they were arranged in such a way that visitors will walk through rooms in chronological order depicting events in pictures and captions. In one of the rooms, it was set in dark, no light except the light coming from the previous room. There were a few blocks for people to sit. So I sat in one of the blocks. And in all four walls of the room, a name was projected. Every 20 seconds, it changed to another name. And another. Each names was narrated from a speaker. Those names were victims of Holocaust. Since the room was opened to public a few years back, it has been projecting names of the victims and up till today, they never repeated a name twice. There were just too many. Over 6 millions.

History, no doubt is one of the reasons you must visit Berlin. Even for someone like me who is not into history. Otherwise, there is the little interesting things that catch your fancies. Oh and of course, curry wurst. 

Discovering Hanoi Part 2: Halong Bay

Halong Bay, which translates to 'Descending Dragon Bay' is a destination to be reckoned with. A UNESCO World Heritage site, it was also a setting for two previous James Bond films.  Okay I sound like I'm writing a travel article. Geez. Anyway, the tour started with a 2 to 3 hours drive from Hanoi central to a docking area where all the boats and ferries to Halong Bay usually depart and arrive at. That day, the weather was not in our favor. It was raining when we left our hotel up to the point when we arrived at the docking area. But we didn't let it ruin our mood. We were ready for Halong Bay, come rain or shine.

We got on the big boat and it cruised towards the open sea. Lunch was served on the boat; they were French fries, spring rolls, some chicken dish cooked with soja sauce, steamed prawns, fried fish with sweet and sour sauce and some vegetables. We shared meals and chatted briefly with three men from Italy and a Japanese guy who we sat with during the journey. Shortly after lunch, we were looking out to the sea and Halong Bay revealed itself in all its glory. Ta da! Beyond were isles and karsts made of limestones all standing tall and majestically above sea levels. Other things that made the sight were tourist boats as well as local fishermen boats, a few fishing villages built on wooden stilts. We also saw banks which were built for the people living on sea to deposit and withdraw money. How convenient! Local vendors selling their produced goods on a smaller boat.

 

There is a story behind Halong Bay but I'll let you google it. :) During the excursion, we also had the chance to visit Hang Sung Sot (Cave of Awe) or also called the 'Cave of Marvel' by the French. It is one of the biggest caves in Halong area. We were led through a narrow passageway and soon we were standing in a massive interior cavern illuminated with multi-colored fluorescent lights. The lights were a little bit tacky but it was nevertheless an awesome sight. Our tour guide, Sunny was pointing out stones of stalagmites and stalactites that resembled different kinds of animals, a Buddha and a Virgin mary among others.

After spending some time in the cave, we got back to the boat and it headed back to the initial docking area. That marks the end of our Halong Bay excursion. Yes, we didn't get to take pictures of Halong Bay at its best with the lingering fog, mist and all but at least we now can cross Halong Bay off our list. The next few days were work and conference day for Oliver and he had to be in university and attend talks whole day from morning till evening while I got to enjoy a day at the sauna and jacuzzi, the swimming pool and city tours with people I was fortunate to know in Hanoi. I am a happy wife cum traveller.

More about Hanoi in another post. What can I say? It's an amazing city.

Discovering Hanoi: Part 1

I'm sitting here in front of the computer going through pictures from our Hanoi trip and thinking of what to write about Hanoi. There are so much to say about the experiences in Hanoi. I remember thinking at different points of time during the trip, "ohmygoodness, this is so amazing, I shall write about it in the blog when I get back." yet now, I feel like words just sort of left me. But I am going to attempt anyhow. If there is a phrase I could use to describe Hanoi, it would be along the line of "....chaotically beautiful."

We really had little expectations before coming to Hanoi other than looking forward to a warm weather and we also read horrific stories about the traffic in Hanoi, even watched them on Youtube. However, when we arrived we were greeted with rainy cold weather. The locals were wearing winter jackets for goodness sake.  The traffic horror, one we got to experience first hand for the next couple of days when we were there was like a scene of all hells break loose. They were constantly honking every other minute but for them, it's not rude, it's just a way of saying "Watch out, I'm coming" or "You're too slow, get out of the way so I can drive pass" or "Hey, just because...". Really, sometimes, they just  honked for nothing. I was talking to Christina, a fellow traveller and a friend I met from Portugal that it's amazing how crazy the locals are on the road yet we don't see accidents happen at least not while we were there. Also, crossing the road took a lot of guts.  A new friend we met from Germany, Daniel, who now stays in  Hanoi said it's easy to cross the road, just don't do anything unexpected, like dash back all of a sudden. One of the tips he shared with us is when crossing a busy road in Hanoi, walk slowly. The drivers or motorcyclists will actually look out for you and more often, they would slow down or swerve around you to avoid hitting you. So yeah, it was comforting to know that the locals are in fact, being careful in that sense.

But, looking past the weather, traffic, pollution and dirty streets, we soon discover that embedded beneath the facade of the city that portrays a large portion of French influenced architectures is a city that is still historically and culturally driven and one that still holds its traditional values while at the same time trying to fit in the modern contemporary world. I guess that is what makes Hanoi a charming city, the blend of the old and new, of different cultures that transcend through passage of recent history and events but nevertheless leave its marks, layers upon layers until it becomes a characteristic that is so uniquely Hanoi.

And just when we thought Hanoi is just this big, populated and congested city with 7 million in population and a staggering number of 3.8 millions motorbikes (that is one bike for every 2 persons, wow), we were driven towards outside Hanoi's big city and into the outskirts that revealed less buildings (can't say about less traffic though) but more greens and clearer skies. We booked two separate tours for the first two days we were in Hanoi. The first was the Hoa Lu Tam Coc tour. The tour started with a 2 hours drive away from busy Hanoi city  into Ninh Binh Province also referred to as 'Halong Bay on land. Here, we visited a Buddhist temple with a beautiful tall gate at its entrance and later after lunch, we went for a river cruise down the narrow Tam Coc river sandwiched between paddy vegetations on river and wall of cliffs made of limestones. Oh, I forgot to mention about the other thing that made the river cruise so unique. The boat person paddled the boat not with their hands but with their feet. It was interesting to note that and after the boat ride, we opted for a bicycle tour. We cycled for about 4 kilometres in total, back and forth, through the village and to another temple with cave on hill and back before getting on the tour bus to go back to Hanoi. 

When we got back to Old Quarter where we stayed, the sun had set and we walked around in search of a place to have dinner and finally came upon this restaurant called Ladybird. Front window of the restaurant displayed the menu which consisted of both local vietnamese and international cuisines and a few articles that wrote the restaurant was recommended by Lonely Planet. So, we decided to have dinner there.  

We had the spring rolls, roasted chicken for me and beef sate for Oliver and downed it with Iced coffee with milk. Two glasses each for both of us. The meals were decent and inexpensive. A great end for our first full day in  Hanoi and the next day promised another adventure, Halong Bay, the real deal. 

But, I'll continue another day. I need Vietnamese coffee now.