At Last Kenny G Live in Singapore

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February 3rd 2006

Published: February 4th 2006

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Drishti

One..Two..Threee

Leaping into the fresh mountain water of the waterfall

HANOI, VIETNAM: Our taxi driver dropped us off across the street from our hotel in the Old Quarter of Hanoi. He sped away. We stood with our packs, completely at a loss. We could see our hotel across the narrow street, but we had no idea how we would get there. Motos with families of 5 perfectly propped on the seats whizzed by us at full speed. A moto with a man balancing a full size television set of the side followed. Orange trees and peach trees for upcoming Tet celebrations seemed to be driving themselves down the street. Women selling fruit in traditional hats passed by. A cyclo nearly scooped us up from behind: "$1 for 1 hour sir!" And just like that, we'd arrived.

Needless to say, we finally mustered the courage, dove head first into the sea of confusion, and made it safely to our hotel. And we felt quite accomplished.

Hanoi is a a captivating city. We spent hours trying to walk down or across the streets of the Old Quarter, while trying not to miss a thing. Roses for sale wrapped in wet newspaper on flat round baskets. Bananas and sliced pineapple. Narrow French

Women of Hanoi

Women making their way through the street carrying their goods to sell

Colonial buildings. We discovered the streets of the Old Quarter: one for Tet decorations, one for diapers and toilet paper, one for candy, one for spices. Kindergarten plastic stools with people crouched drinking bia hoi (beer of the day- 8 beers for $1, not that we know anything about that). Men squatting to smoke tobacco from bamboo bongs. Sticky rice wrapped in banana leaves for sale. Dinners cooked on the sidewalk. By 4 PM you can't breathe in the streets from the exhaust that's cranking into the atmosphere from the bustling transportation. Yet all these things make up the life of this city, and we could feel the excitement of Tet's arrival (Chuc Mung Nam Moi - Vietnamese for Happy New Year)increase with each day. People shopping to get new clothes for their children, special gifts for friends, all the necessary elements to get their new year off to a good start. The excitement was easy to catch.

BATHROOM: Not to be crude (easily offended readers stop here), but after an afternoon of drinking bia hoi, we had to use the w.c., naturally, of course, because that's how these things go. I (Mandy) was prepared for the challenge of

Hanoi's Old Quarter

different forms of bathrooms, excited, even - but there comes a time when you just supersede any preconceived notions. When I followed the "W.C." sign, I thought I'd missed it - an empty closet? No, take another, closer look, a shower drain, two bricks.... all part of the expereince, although I shouldn't have worn flip flops today. A similar conundrum befalls Rich on his venture: "I don't even know if that was a bathroom." We realize how we really love certain comforts, such as Japanese heated toilet seats. We're learning quickly.

After several of Mandy's soap box speaches about cyclos embodying imperialistic undertones, we gave in and took a cyclo ride to the Temple of Literature across town. It resulted in a payment debacle (the word is used loosely of course). The Temple of Literature was the first university in Vietnam dedicated to Confucius. The bathroom attendant shoved me because Rich apparently forgot to pay. All this superhydrating is dangerous. We could stand to learn a few more useful Vietnamese phrases. All the wonderful little adjustments of traveling!

We tried to redeem our cyclo riding incident by taking another one to Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum the following day.

Timing is Key

Confucious says...One must feel at peace with oneself before jumping into the tiger's mouth

This resulted in the cyclo driver nearly hurling the cyclo at a tree. The trick is to be extremely clear of the cost before you step into the cyclo as it may change throughout the ride. We decided it's motos for us from now on.

The experience of visiting Ho Chi Minh's enbalmed body is really unbelievable. As we waited on line, Rich happened to be the first person on line, the guard saluted him, and we walked the red carpet entering the cold stone columned mausoleum. The guard led us in single file, and we walked around his body. It was eerie, yet inexplicable in a way. It's unbelievable to see the body of this man, on display for all to see, laid to rest in a glass case. All the history that goes along with it, and yet, it's just a body.

After nearly a week, we could get across the street without sweating, we had had our turn on the kindergarten stools, and we felt it was time for the beach. We flew south to Nha Trang. Now to us the beach is always the universal healer of things, a place to rest, but not

Crowded streets of Hanoi

Mandy making her way through the hustle and bustle of Hanoi's Old Quarter

so if you stay at the Bao Dai Villa Hotel and Rich is pretending to be Jack Nicholson, all work no play makes Jack a dull boy, and you haven't seen one other guest --- just lots of staff cleaning empty rooms and sweeping decrepit concrete sidewalks. The villa, built in the 1920's for Bao Dai, the last emperor of Vietnam, a lover of women and leisure seems to have remained untouched since then. There were lovely gardens, however, and bougainvilla, and the a lovely view of the South China Sea. The only people in the restaurant were staff members, and the sauteed vegetables and noodles we felt safe ordering turned out to be trouble. After a short period of time here, we said, how far can we actually be from town? And we took off. We were elated to find the Nha Trang beach bustling with other travellers. We found edible food, and more than edible, delicious at the Sailing Club -- and the sun started to relax us.

We spent two amazing nights at the Evason Hideaways, accessible only by boat, pristine and amazing. We safely put our Bao Dai experience behind us. We stayed in a

Getting Ready for Tet

Tet decorations for sale in Hanoi

private beach villa and melted into the scenery. We arranged for a private barbeque on the beach and ate seafood and drank champagne until the waves began to crash on our feet. The next day we went on a trek to a nearby waterfall escorted by two guides from the hotel. The motorcycle ride took us through rice patties, brightly painted cemeteries, past little homes decorated for Tet, past children waving "Hello!" We parked and hiked through the jungle for a bit, and scaled a few rocks, towards the sound of the rushing water. Our guide said there are tigers in this jungle, but it wasn't our lucky day to see one. The water was so refreshing... We ate ham and pate sandwiches and dragon fruit on a carefully chosen rock while we soaked in the sun. On the way back, our guides took us to a Buddhist Pagoda overlooking a lobster farm. Families, in new Tet clothes, visited, monks sat for tea. Everything was freshly painted the most exquisite hues of yellow and purpley blue that perfectly complemented each other and the green water of the South China Sea. Lotus flowers floated in the fountain and our guide explained

Hanoi Market

Cleaning fish in the market

that the translation of the meaning of the Vietnamese word for lotus flower is gun flower. Many petals exploding, I suppose.

We spent another night in Nha Trang and then took a bus to Saigon. The bus wasn't so bad, 10 hours passing beautiful coutry side, a few near misses, but we arrived safe. We've certainly picked up momentum and now there's no stopping us. We're staying in Pham Ngu Lao in a little guest house across form the Chua An Lau Pagoga. In the evening they have beautiful ceremonies which we can listen to from our balcony. We've found a little cafe we now call home, our Sevilla Bar Maravilla in Ho Chi Minh City. We're no longer sure what day of the week it is, or what time it is, and forget about the date. But we do know that the man with a cart on the corner is the gas station dispensing gas from plasric containers as motos drive up. And we love bo bay mon (Bo 7 Ways, grilled beef wrapped in rice paper with pineapple, noodles, cucumber, mint, basil, sprouts, lettuce, and chili sauce). And we know how to cross the street. The lovely

Fish, Shrimp, and Crabs for Sale

Goodies at the Hanoi Market

simplicities of life. Time is no longer the enemy.

And by now you're certainly wondering about our title. Ah, yes, our guilty pleasure. Star World Satellite TV. When you feel beaten down by a day in the thick of things --- when walking doen the street is emotionally exhausting, there's a satellite TV channel, now, we don't condone what's happening here, but we can't lie and say that we don't enjoy it - immensely. And the advertisements are calling us! They say At last Kenny G is coming to Singapore and Hong Kong. AT LAST, sometimes you hope and dream and are not sure if your dreams will come true and then you hear about something like this and your faith is restored! Book your flights now --- they're filling up fast! We're going to do whatever we can to make this show. (For those of you who got a little lost here, mom and dad hendricks, this is a little joke. ha ha)

FLASHBACK: NIKKO, JAPAN, 3 WEEKS EARLIER: A cold evening at the Turtle Inn. Again, we're the only guests -- a bit disconcerting in a tourist town, but hey, no big deal. Rich is yes,

Everbody be cool this is a robbery

Taking precaution against the thick Hanoi air

pretending to be Jack Torrence from the movie The Shining, Mandy's not laughing. All the garbage cans in the hotel are oversized cigarette logos - marlboro in the bathroom, lucky strike in our room. We bundle up and venture out, leaving the turtle menagerie to itself for a while. As 6 PM, it seems the town is completely shut down. Our guidebook told us about this place Hipparitako, that serves yakitori (chicken, beef, pork, skewers) and is a travelers hangout. Sounds cool. We can't find it, it's freezing, and we're a bit freaked out. Just when we're about to turn back, we stumble into it, shining like White Castle to Harold and Kumar. It was so warm inside Mandy's glasses steamed up and a hand passed her a tissue. Wipe. A smiling face. A kettle boiling by the door. A seat. A beer. The most delicious meal. There are business cards pinned to all 4 walls and the ceiling --- we look and look --- someone we know must have been here once. But while I'm sure they have been, we could have spent days searching. It didn't matter, it was enough to know many souls on personal quests had

Fender Bender

This happens quite often

passed through here and had a cold beer and a warm meal after a day visiting temples surrounded by fragrant cedar trees. So, it was that Japan began to warm itself to us. We were the only diners and spent the evening with the lovely hand that gives tissues just when you need them and her son, Kai, age five. A great fan of legos, drawing pictures for guests, and helping his mom - and very adept with a few English phrases. Our card is now somewhere on the walls of Hipparitako, you'll have to come to Nikko and this great little spot to find it.

Mandy + Rich

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