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Sunday, May 05, 2024

Day One of My 8 Days' Trip to Danang (The City of Bridges) & Hoi An (The City of Lanterns) in Vietnam


Detailed Postings for the Day
Be very impressed with The Wonderfall at Terminal 2 of Changi International Airport. It's not fake news that this iconic airport in Singapore always surprises! 

Newly renovated, I must say the surprises I mentioned earlier extend to the choice of carpet pattern; it didn't look quite right. Why were there patches of blue that looked like a virus was attacking healthy cells? 

Knowing I wouldn't be having local food for more than a week, we decided to check out the Straits Food Village food court, and I ordered the yummy Tai Wah Pork Noodle! 

For a world class airport, it was appalling to see all the dust balls collating on the structural ceiling above the cosmetics and fragrances duty free store. 

2 Bears Hideout playground for ages 6-12! I was wondering where the second bear was and turned out the cub was "buried" with just a head sticking out, beside the honeycomb spring riders.

Absolutely digging the hanging gardens and don't you think the whole setup look like it belong to a futuristic cafe? 

And it was blessed with a killer view, where numerous airplanes land and take off from the runway in front of you. 

It's never a boring affair after you clear immigration at Changi International Airport; hence, do allocate some time before boarding to check out other attractions that are only open to air ticket holders; like the following.
I am acquainted with airport buses as there are airports that do not have aero bridges or the existing ones are unavailable, but the one in the middle piqued my curiosity. It looks like a camper van. 

Boarded the Singapore Airline's Boeing 737-8 plane, and got a window seat! Nowadays, I just had to bid my luck as I was too stingy to pay for seat allocation.

Manual window shades - preferred manual over the electronic dimmable kind that changes the tinge of the view outside. In addition, the dimmable kind takes time to dim! 

GIF of a plane landing on the runway! 

Taking a narcissistic photograph given that the bright lights from the window appeared to downplay my rough complexion. 

Catching Wonka by Timothée Chalamet via the inflight entertainment device. If I am taking budget airlines, you would see me watching movies / dramas on the comparatively smaller screen of my phone. 

And of course, the "free" food. I pre-ordered mine via the SQ website, requesting for seafood. Turned out to be fried fish with rice which turned out decent. Next round, I shall request for keto. p.s. mango pudding was nice.

View beneath us; I think we flew over Thailand, Cambodia but I am really just clueless. It would have helped if I managed to use the on-board Wi-Fi, which I was denied given that my reset of password for Krisflyer didn't work! 

So many wind turbines! 

Did you notice that rainbow?! I actually didn't notice when I was taking the photograph and only realize when I downloaded the photograph to my computer! Strange.

Landed in Danang at 3.55pm; a delay of 15 minutes from the original timing, which wasn't too bad considering we departed Singapore with a 30-minute delay.

Vietnam Airlines; maybe I should consider this airline the next I visit Vietnam. Or maybe Vietjet and Bamboo Airways too since I can do without inflight entertainment and food. 

Leaving the plane! Immigration clearance was a breeze for a country's third busiest airport; granted there didn't seem to be many visitors when we arrived. 

Problem was that the luggage had yet to be transferred so we still had to wait quite a while for our luggage to appear! Oh well, better to wait for luggage rather than get stuck at immigration. 

Awaiting for our local transfer that I booked via Klook at S$15.99. The local company (Tour Sanna) supplying the vehicle emailed me a few hours after I booked, with their contacts (Whatsapp/ Kakaotalk/ Line/Wechat) for ease of correspondence.

Here's our man! Turned out we waited at the wrong place but he didn't blame us; and continued to remain polite and friendly. 

Small statue of laughing buddha on his car's dashboard. It was often said that the the laughing buddha was the representation of Maitreya; "the Buddha of the future, who will be born to teach enlightenment in the next age".

Cityscape of Danang City - including the landmark Dragon Bridge which you can see its curvy, golden body from the above photograph. More on that when I returned a few days later.

Opened in 2013 at a cost of 26 million Singapore dollars, we were approaching cable-stayed Tran Thi Ly bridge, which has a 145-meter tall tower! It would be cool if there's an opportunity to climb up! p.s. I am scared of height. 

Coming to the famous beach of Danang; My Khe Beach, which was ever voted as the most beautiful beach in the world. From the beach, you can also see the tallest Guanyin Statue in Vietnam at 67 meters. 

Crown International Club - a casino opened for foreigners access only. It's actually quite common in Vietnam and even when we were in Hoi An, there was a casino right across our hotel. 

Driving past The Marble Mountains; a key attraction in Danang that we didn't visit, despite having the time to do so. 

Fusion Resort & Villas Đà Nẵng - I think the tower was still undergoing finishing touches as booking website listed only the villas which were going for over S$300 a night for two guests! 

Vietnamese cemetery! Did I manage to visit one on this trip? I sure did as we cycled past one on day two of the trip! 

Road lined with what appeared to be Bougainvillea trees! 

Setting sun - this explained why some of the photographs I posted had this soft orangey sheen. I was actually expecting to catch the sunset at one of the rooftop bars on day one; guess I have to miss it since it's just 20 minutes to sunset and we have yet to reach the hotel.

Electric vehicle in the captivating design of an old-school car traversing the road. Operated by Hoi An Go Adventures, you may check out more via their website here. p.s. it's cheaper to book if you have more people in your group.

Our stay for the next three nights - La Charm Hoi An Hotel & Spa! We had a great time and the service at the hotel was impeccable. Check out details of my review here! 

Time to explore Hoi An Ancient Town; a World Heritage Site declared by UNESCO in 1999, and said to be "a well-preserved complex of 1,107 timber frame buildings"! 

Preserved buildings aside, what would catch your eyes are the massive displays of colorful lanterns all over the place! I read somewhere that it's a MUST to have lanterns outside all commercial buildings within the old town; hence resulting in Hoi An also being known as the City of Lanterns. 

Photos of the trades you can find in the old town. Honestly, it's very touristy and items sold and services offered were skewed towards travellers.

You can even find Cong Caphe in a traditional building. Unlike Cong cafes elsewhere, the building wasn't painted in the army green shade. I presume they can't since there's strict criteria to maintain that UNESCO accolade. 

Boating along the neighbouring Thu Bồn River was another popular traveller activity. Aside from being flanked on both sides by the bustling streets decked out in lanterns, you can also undertake the release of paper lanterns in the river. 

Street got a lot more crowded once we past the century-old Japanese bridge that was undergoing renovation. Do note that there are many day-trippers at Hoi An and one highlight would be to visit Hoi An at night. 

Officially first meal in Central Vietnam, at Morning Glory Original Restaurant! I am having the meal on behalf of a friend who didn't manage to visit when she was in Hoi An. Check out my review here!  

Time to hit the lantern filled streets again! 

Bài Chòi Hội An - an arena in the old town said to host a traditional, bingo-like game! Do note that the game was conducted in Vietnamese.   

Paper lantern sellers along the river promenade, where you can release the lanterns along the riverbank. We didn't bother as I noted the activity I purchased on day three would include the same thing.

Across the river would be another line of shophouses. Unlike the old town, the structures on the other side appeared to be more modern and even the businesses operating there were different; noisier for sure.

 Crossing An Hoi / Hoi An Lantern Bridge to check out the other side, which was also the location of Nguyen Hoang / Hội An Night Market! 

Photographs taken on the centre of An Hoi / Hoi An Lantern Bridge. Maybe because of my skill, I didn't think the photographs turned out great. In real life, the sight in front of us was way more spectacular.

Nguyen Hoang / Hội An Night Market - for more photographs of this daily night market, please visit here. 

A street vendor selling those cute hair clips. Frankly, I should buy a few to clip on my black bag for ease of recognition. 

One of the many Vietnamese restaurants in Hoi An. Many of them also offer cooking classes for travellers. That's an activity I don't actively seek since I prefer paying someone to cook for me. 

Massage parlours were everywhere! That's why I am so keen to bring my mom to Vietnam as she would have a field going for massages every night! 

Traditional folk game that didn't seem exclusively Vietnamese. I think we can find such hit-the-can game everywhere.

Animals weaved out from leaves! Just realized that you need to pay 5,000 dong to take photographs; not that expensive when you realize it was just S$0.27.

A Mr Bean cafe?! Do you think usage of the images has gotten official approval from the company holding the trademarks? 

Guess the guys lost a bet. 

Another quieter section near the night market although it's next to the Thu Bồn River; items were more related to Vietnamese heritage like wood carved statues (demonstration on site using electric drill), pottery etc. There's a Thanh Hà Terracotta Park which I should visit in the future. Maybe I could even get some piggy banks from there. 

Random photos for viewing pleasure, as we made our way back to La Charm Hoi An Hotel & Spa. First day overseas would always be so energy draining.

Typical of Vietnamese culture - relaxing by the roadside! It's not as popular in Singapore as everyone's head would likely be bent down, looking at their mobile phones. Hence, might as well do the same thing at home.

Crossing a vehicular bridge to get back to our hotel.

Chợ Dêm Cẩm Phô Night Market - it's more a food market I guess but definitely of a much reduced scale as it was just a few stalls, and not as crowded. 


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