Caught a Water Puppetry Show @ Thang Long Water Puppet Theatre in Hanoi [Vietnam]

Look at any travelogues for Hanoi and I bet that over 90% of them would talk about catching a water puppetry show; said to open a window into the local and traditional Vietnamese culture! 

Thang Long Water Puppet Theatre is one of the oldest in the capital city; established in 1969, this was said to be the most famous with a few shows on a daily basis. Its location at the Old Quarter was also an advantage for us since our hotel was just a few minutes' walk away.

It wouldn't be hard finding the theatre; Google Map was accurate and you would chance upon it while walking around the legendary Hoan Kiem lake. Look out for the building with hanging lanterns and a column displaying a puppet on every level. 

While you can buy the tickets online (via KLOOK), we decided to purchase on the spot. As you can see, there were about 3-4 shows daily between 4.10 pm and 8.00 pm, with three types of pricing ranging from 200,000 dong (about S$11.70) to 100,000 dong.

To be honest, we were gunning for the VIP seats at 200,000 dong but only the early birds get such privilege. Only 100,000 dong seats were available for the 4.10 pm show when we were at the counter at about 3.10 pm. 

Only CASH was acceptable. I am more shocked with the fact that the ticket schedule was based on an old school method that I haven't seen since my primary school days; printed on paper and manually struck out whenever a ticket was sold!

Back to the theatre at about 4.00 pm after having banh mi at the nearby Banh Mi Long Hoi. You may get your audio guide here for a price. Do note that the water puppet show is in Vietnamese and I kind of regretted not spending a bit more for an English translation.

Up on the second level where you would be greeted by this puppet by the name of "Chú Tễu"; said to be a recurrent character, he was said to be a jester providing witty comments. 

As the name suggest, water puppetry had to take place where water was a necessity. The shows shall take place "in a pool of water 4 meters square with the water surface being the stage". 

Audience seating; the more expensive tickets were in front whereas our 100,000 dong tickets were placed at the back. In total, 16 rows and about 19 seats per row.

Seats were the old school type used in cinemas in the 1980s. It was tight between each row and you can only pray that the person sitting behind you wouldn't keep hitting against your seat! Should you select a seat in the middle, be sure not to be too late as everyone in the row would have to stand up to let you pass. 

Mini platforms on both side for the musicians and singers. 

Show was about to start! Just in case you were wondering where the puppeteers were; they were behind the bamboo curtains in the middle of the 'building. 

Drumming and singing to start the show.

I was super in awe with this instrument; known as Dan Bau, it was "a one-string zither native to Vietnam"! And the sound it made was mesmerizing! 

Chú Tễu was the first puppet on the water! This was the moment I realized an audio guide would have been helpful as the language was just foreign to visitors and we wouldn't be able to apprehend its message and wit.

For a puppet show, amateur me was impressed on a few fronts; how did they manage to move the puppets with such ease when the controls were under the water? And it wasn't just movements since the dragons here were spitting water at each other! 

Different scenes were played out and they were individual stories with no link to each other. Words weren't necessary as you can roughly guess what the theme or story was.

At times, the voice actors would also complement the puppets although again, with no knowledge of the language, it was just plain gibberish to a foreigner. What I couldn't stand was when they try to mimic animals and it was exaggerated and pretty irritating to the ears. 

My dear friend, Lock, is very much into such cultural experience; he had vast travelling experience with an adventurous streak; I even remember he ever slept under a rock while holidaying in a European country! 

More on the shows; the pool was said to be waist deep and the puppets were controlled via a long bamboo rod and string mechanisms under the water. It would have been tiring for the puppeteers since each puppet can weigh as heavy as 15 kilograms! 

In addition, during some of the performances, the puppets appeared to cross each other and I don't know that can be done given that it would involve crossing the rods underneath too! 

A wedding procession!

This spoke of the Hoan Kiem lake legend, where a turtle appeared while the king was boating, to ask the king to return a borrowed magical sword that helped him defeat the Chinese Ming Dynasty. 

Not everyone can appreciate the performing arts; Alex fell asleep and it's hardly surprising as this was the same guy who can doze off in most of the movies I watched with him, like Night in the Museum, Avengers: Infinity War etc. 

Some dancing puppets. 

End of the show, with the puppeteers coming out from behind the curtain. With so many people, I wonder if it was mayhem behind the curtain when the show was ongoing!

The end. In all honesty, I think it was a one of a kind performance and foreigners who haven't watched it should consider catching it, especially when ticket prices weren't that expensive in the first place.

At 50 minutes long, it was said to be the record holder for the longest water puppetry performance by Asia Book of Records. Not sure how long ago that was.

Anyway, there's a short video for you to have a rough feel on what to expect from the Water Puppetry Show at Thang Long Water Puppet Theatre in Hanoi. Do watch and like! :) 

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Address

57B P. Đinh Tiên Hoàng, Hàng Bạc, 

Hoàn Kiếm, Hà Nội, Vietnam

Map

As above.

Website

https://thanglongwaterpuppet.com/

Operating Hours

9.00 am to 5.00 pm (daily)

Shows from 4.10 pm to 8.00 pm

Pricing

Cheapest - 100,000 Dong

Click here for my Week-Long Itinerary to Hanoi - City of Lakes @ Vietnam

Penang Prawn Mee Kosong (Ingredient Soup) @ 711 Penang Delight in Ang Mo Kio S-11 Food Centre [Singapore]

Like many Singaporeans, I am in love with the Penang prawn mee from a particular stall in Ang Mo Kio S-11 Food Centre; the one beside Jubilee Square. There's only one teeny weeny issue, maybe a big one by some measures; I don't like the mee! 

After a while of contributing to extreme food wastage, I mustered enough courage and asked if it would be possible to have prawn mee, sans the mee. The surprising answer was: "So you just want ingredient soup (料汤)?"

Hence, I finally secured my first bowl of Penang Prawn Mee Kosong, otherwise known as ingredient soup. It's definitely not my first kosong (meaning zero) meal as I am also known to order ban mian kosong which is literally just the soup! 

Aside from the intensely rich prawn broth that had both the desired sweetness and umami, I got a ton of ingredients comprising of four prawns, fish cakes, kangkong, beansprouts and slices of pork! If you ask me, this is a well-balanced meal for those who are on starch-restricted diet.

Leaving the best for the last! Super shiok! At S$7.50, this bowl of ingredient soup didn't come cheap, given that Penang Prawn Mee with soup cost just S$5.00. 

Nevertheless, I am happy with the extra ingredients, without the need for starch like rice / noodles / bread. In fact, this was the second time I had ordered the ingredient soup, and would gladly do the same in future visits! 

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Address

711 Ang Mo Kio Ave 8, 

Stall #8, S-11 Food Centre, 

Singapore 560711

Map

As above. 

Menu

As above. Ingredient Soup wasn't on the menu but you can just let the order taker know it's liao tang. And as aforementioned; this would set you back by S$7.50. 

Sum Dim Sum @ Jalan Besar in Singapore

Don't you just love the play of words in the name of eateries? And in the case of Sum Dim Sum, the meaning changes between its Chinese and English translation; former was full of heart whereas the latter seemed to downplay its passion. 

Whatever the case, this was my birthday lunch and I had been waiting to check out Sum Dim Sum! I do visit the district of Jalan Besar quite frequently but there were just too much eateries in the area! To put things in context, the popular Berseh Hawker Centre was just diagonally across the dim sum restaurant. 

Noting that the eatery had a long queue on weekends, I made it a point to reserve beforehand even though it was a weekday. We were first in line to step into it! Interior design was more cartoony and it's obvious the clientele it wanted to attract would be from the younger generation.

Whatever the case, the food matters more than anything in eateries! And it's time to pencil in our order using the ordering sheet, which was still pretty traditional for traditionalists like me.

You can opt to leverage on the newer technology by scanning, ordering and paying via the QR code! With the double whammy of the irritating presbyopia (due to ageing) and myopia conditions, I am sometimes better off with paper and pencil.

The saucer of condiments for our dim sum; I literally didn't touch the chili as it wasn't the paste-form, sweeter kind that I prefer. The other one was way nicer; deep fried shallots with spring onions in chili oil.

Pu Erh Tea - our pot of tea for two persons. I guess it's traditional to have tea with dim sum and I have been quite accustomed with this arrangement since I first started, although I would still crave for iced water on a ultra hot day.

Fresh Prawn Dumplings - decently sized with translucent 'clothing' that vaguely showed the red-orangey meat within; the skin did appear to be relatively thick.

The dumplings were dry even though the prawn meat (whole prawns, mind you) was crunchy yet succulent without compromising on the seafood sweetness. As usual, the thick skin was a hindrance and I happily removed it and just attacked the filling. 

Wolfberry with Mushroom Siew Mai - absolutely love these! Generously filled with two small prawns within, texture was juicy with bites of earthly mushrooms and tinge of herbal sweetness from the wolfberries. Max satisfaction. 

Fried Prawn Roll in Beancurd Skin - deep fried to a thin crisp, this had surprisingly quite a lot of mashed prawns. Only thing was they were quite oily, and rightfully so.

Pan Fried Carrot Cake - after having the super delicious one at Mongkok Dim Sum, I made it a point to have this as my regular to-order when I am having dim sum. Sadly, it was just lightly pan-fried and bland; the flavor came from the accompany ingredients like shallots and spring onions, with a touch of spiciness.   

Signature Hot & Spicy Dumplings - I have often said that the one from Crystal Jade is the best! Now, there's a close competitor in Sum Dim Sum! Well balanced in both spiciness and vinegarish-sourness, it literally brought me back to the time when Crystal Jade had a branch at Northpoint and I would visit often for their dim sum (especially 红油抄手).

Golden Custard Bun - don't you feel that the custard buns in general should improve on their visual appeal? From their smooth and plain appearance, you wouldn't have expected there were any filling! 

Tear it open and be surprised by its flowing, oozy, creamy sauce! The bun was bouncy and pillowy-soft, and it was nice to have tasted such creamy custard that wasn't overly sweet. My only grouch was that the bun had the tendency to stick to my teeth! And that's frustrating. 

Crispy Prawn Rice Roll - this was like a fusion between prawn and youtian chee cheong fun and had apparently won the hearts of many. Let's see how it fares. 

Honestly, I didn't like it; it was complicated with the different layers of texture that didn't complement with each other. I am actually better off either having prawn chee cheong fun or zha leong. p.s. Maybe also because this came last and I was already pretty full by then. 

Signature Pandan Crispy Pork Bun - this would remind many of the ones from Tim Ho Wan, the michelin dim sum eatery from Hong Kong famous for their baked buns with bbq pork. I would say this was an unconventional version.

First bite and you would have the nice fragrance of pandan hitting the end of your palate. Skin was thin and the filling was a generous bundle of char siew that, again, wasn't overly sweetened. I was so pleased with this; I had 2.5 of them! p.s. Alex didn't like it and prefer the ones from Tim Ho Wan.

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This was a satisfying birthday lunch and no doubt I would be back again! Three items deserved a re-order and they shall be the Wolfberry with Mushroom Siew Mai, the Signature Hot & Spicy Dumplings and the Signature Pandan Crispy Pork Bun! 

Address

161, Jalan Besar, 

Singapore 208876

Map

As above.

Website

https://sumdimsum.oddle.me/en_SG/

Menu

As above.

Pricing

Pu-Erh Tea - S$1.70

Fresh Prawn Dumplings - S$4.90

Wolfberry with Mushroom Siew Mai - S$4.80

Fried Prawn Roll in Beancurd Skin - S$4.80

Pan Fried Carrot Cake - S$5.00

Signature Hot & Spicy Dumplings - S$4.80

Golden Custard Bun - S$4.50

Crispy Prawn Rice Roll - S$9.20

Signature Pandan Crispy Pork Bun -  S$6.00

(Subject to Service Charge and GST)