Taking Time-lapsed Video in Laika Cafe @ Shark Jaw Building [Hanoi, Vietnam]

Dong Kinh Nghia Thuc Square is like a roundabout where the fountain served as the landmark for motor vehicles. I was keen to take time-lapsed videos and the neighboring, and iconic Shark Jaw building was definitely a good choice given its height and the availability of open-air seating! 

Understanding that it was my last official full day in Hanoi, I knew I didn't have much time to procrastinate any more, and took the elevator to Laika Cafe situated on the upper levels of Shark Jaw Building.

My delicious blueberry iced tea that cost 59,000 dong (about S$3.20)! In Singapore, such a drink in cafes would have set me back by at least S$6.00 and I am being conservative here. 

Sights in front of me which included Dong Kinh Nghia Thuc Square. Now, if you are wondering where the traffic lights were, there was none and it's fascinating how motorists navigate with vehicles coming from all directions! 

I actually took a time-lapsed video at Cong Caphe earlier that day but angle was on the low side. This angle and elevation at Laika Café would give us a wider view. 

Hoan Kiem Lake - the legendary lake can be seen in its entirety from the above photograph. Given that Bonsella Hotel was just a hundred meters from the lake, I visited almost every day!

Only regret at that moment was Ngoc Son Temple although I did finally make a trip there on my very last day in Hanoi. And I must give you a teaser here; it's interesting and well worth the admission fee! 

Coming to our main objective of our visit. 

The time-lapsed video. 

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Address

1 P. Đinh Tiên Hoàng, Hàng Trống, 

Hoàn Kiếm, Hà Nội, Vietnam

Map

As above. 

Operating Hours

7am till 11pm. 

Click here for my Week-Long Itinerary to Hanoi - City of Lakes, Ninh Binh and Halong Bay @ Vietnam

Re Patisserie Cafe with Artisanal Desserts @ Johor Bahru in Malaysia

Compared to my usual haunts in Johor Bahru, this was at such a quiet and obscure location that I wondered if I had gone to the wrong place, although I am pretty confident of my ability to read maps! 

Despite the lack of a prominent signboard, I guess that the word "re:" refers to the dessert café I was looking for; Re Patisserie. Thanks to apps like Google Maps, the availability of pictures for the location makes it easier for us to know that we didn't lose our way. 

You know what I felt when I stepped into the sitting area? The whole concept appeared to be like a cavern with tall ceiling, uneven wall surfaces and even stalactites! 

A chill, private corner with some greenery. Due to the warm weather, I must say I was feeling extremely comfortable with the strong air-conditioning in the café. 

Even the handwashing area had that raw touch.

Absolutely loving the concrete sink; bet it's heavy!

The café jus started business for the day when we arrived and they were busy placing new pastries into the glass display. This Aloha artisanal tart looked so delish although I don't remember why we eventually didn't pick this.

Since there were three of us; each of us was given the free hand to chose our own dessert, albeit for sharing. As always, I relied on the recommendations from the staff and opted for Mac Face. 

Pastries; even though I was on a carbo-restricted diet regime and trying not to eat bread, where possible, I couldn't resist the sourdough morning bread with salted caramel! 

Autumn's Pear - drink from my cousin and I took a sip; unique and refreshing tea that had a layer of foam that made one mistake it as a beautified beer or a cocktail. 

Jardin Citron - orange was a tad too sour for my liking and as agreed by my cousin, the flavor was overpowering and covered the nice flavor of the pastry and the yummy base cream. 

Cyberpunk - I am not a huge fan of chocolate but this was said to be one of the popular choices. Chocolate used was said to be Madirofolo dark chocolate; and I have always preferred the use of milk chocolate in desserts.  

Bitter it sure was at first bite; however, the bitterness gave way to the nice creamy filling with a nutty flavor! Sadly, it ended with a sour, citrusy aftertaste that's likely from the grapefruit. Damn, I think I am not classy enough for artisanal desserts; the contrasting smiles and frowns drained me! 

Mac Face - best of the lot with varying textures from the nuggets of airy choux pastry, generous amount of dense nutty cream that worked as a marvelous spread, and a thin, crispy base! 

Sourdough Morning Bread - the staff warmed the bread for us and the result of a melty salted caramel covering the entire top of the bread. Let's take a bite to see how it fares.

Frankly, it tasted quite similar to the cinnamon rolls I baked although instead of cinnamon, you get the taste of salted caramel which wasn't a bad replacement, and the bread was fluffy just like my cinnamon rolls. White the artisanal tarts were the main draw of this café, I personally prefer this bread over the tarts! 

Whatever the case, Re Patisserie had good lighting and I unabashedly took a photograph while paying at the counter. Hm.... I think I need lip gloss! 

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Address

77, Jalan Kemuning, Taman Melodies, 

80250 Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia

Map

As above. 

Pricing

Autumn's Pear - RM 18.00

Jardin Citron - RM 26.00

Cyberpunk - RM 26.00

Mac Face - RM 24.00

Sourdough Morning Bread - RM 9.00

(Subject to Service Charge)

Quan Thanh Temple (Exterior Only) @ Hanoi in Vietnam

We were at a T-junction, on our way to the 1,500 years old Tran Quoc Pagoda when the Greatest Kon mentioned another notable temple that was just about 100 meters at the opposing direction. Oh well, might as well right?

Quan Thanh Temple - first built when the capital was moved from Hoa Lu to Hanoi (then known as Thang Long); meaning an age of more than a thousand years! 

Started as a Taoist temple, it was said to be one of four temples that worship four protectors, signifying the four directions, that guard Thang Long. As there were numerous restorations over the years, the architectural design now is more representative of the period from the Nguyen dynasty. 

Seeing the need for ticketing and that we might spend too much time in the temple (and seeing an uninterested expression on Alex's face), we decided, to give this a miss. 

Taking some pictures from outside; from what I see, the roof of the temple reminded me of Ba Da pagoda, which we visited on day two of the trip. I didn't read much about this temple until I am working on this posting.

Apparently, there were more to this temple; like one 3.6-meter tall black-bronze statue, said to be the second largest in Vietnam, that was made in the 17th century, to honor the patron deity "Huyen Thien Tran Vu". Never mind, I can always make another trip to the temple in the future! 

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Address

Đ. Thanh Niên, Quán Thánh, Ba Đình, 

Hà Nội 118810, Vietnam

Map

As above. 

Temple Map

As above. 

Click here for my Week-Long Itinerary to Hanoi - City of Lakes, Ninh Binh and Halong Bay @ Vietnam

Boating at Hang Luồn @ Halong Bay in Vietnam

Second official stopover at Halong Bay after Titop Island; to this place known as Hang Luồn. Hang actually means cave although the main activity here wasn't cave exploration! 

We docked at this floating jetty and were immediately ushered to the building above. 

First thing; secure a lifejacket from the huge stash. Those particular with hygiene and cleanliness would have to note that some had a smell of laundry that didn't dry properly. 

You can opt for two activities; and both involved the use of water. One, you can opt to take a boat where a person would do the hard work of rowing. p.s. this appealed to the Greatest Kon, Alex and I.

Our dear Lock opted for the laborious task of taking a kayak! I must admit that among the four of us, Lock is the most adventurous and to him, it's the intimate experience that counts. 

I think all the kayakers had to take a safety briefing. For me, I am usually quite keen to undertake such activity but I am more afraid of getting myself wet! And I was feeling lazy that day.

Boat option that we would be taking. It actually cost 100,000 dong a boat but this was covered in our fee for the day tour to Halong Bay. As you can see, each boat can take around 12 persons and I was lucky to be seated in front! 

Let's start! 

Everyone was going into this hole underneath the limestone hill. 

Guess this is where the cave comes about.

Seemed like low tide then.

Hm... would the hole be covered in high tide?

The kayakers trying to navigate in! It's a minimum of two persons per kayak so Lock had to be paired with a stranger. Should he be unlucky, I bet he would spend most of his time going in circles! p.s. his partner was fine.

Stalactites on the cave ceiling. 

Opening up to a lagoon surrounded by the hills! Pretty it sure was but after our day trip to Ninh Binh, where we had a similar activity; this was really nothing to scream about.

Furthermore, it was quite warm and wearing a life jacket didn't help. 

Whole lagoon was also filled with boats and kayaks. 

And plus the noise; it absolutely didn't feel relaxing at all. 

I bet they had been told not to disembark from their kayak in the lagoon.

But what to do, the tourists were either clueless or just didn't care.

Random photos.

After a while, we all had the same expression as the people on the boat above. Boredom had kicked in although it might not be a bad thing as I was almost about to doze off! 

Can't wait to the other light from the end of the cave.

Honestly, this was only a 20-minute boat ride! 

We were like them initially.

Wide-eyed, curious and anticipative! 

On second thought, kayak seemed like a better option.

I should have partnered with Lock! 

Goodbye and hope we wouldn't see each other again!

p.s. not that hopeful if our family plans for a Hanoi trip next year! 

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Pricing for Boat and Kayak.

As above. Do note that we didn't have pay a single cent as the charges already covered in our day tour. p.s. I guess most people will take the tours for ease of logistics.

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