Beautiful Vietnamese Lanterns

How beautiful is this???? This his how I dream my garden will look soon ........



Every day, I'm lucky enough to get my little glimpse of daily life in one of my favourite places, Vietnam, courtesy of http://saigon-today.blogspot.com and http://hanoi-today.blogspot.com.


A big thankyou to Simon for taking such a spectacular lantern picture, and allowing me to share this photo with you all. I must also mention he was also kind enough to advise me on the best places to get great coffee on my last visit!

Visit Simon's blogs for more great real-life Vietnam pics!
Have a lovely weekend, and Happy National Day holidays for my Chinese friends!

Beauty Shopping ..... Saigon Style!

One of the great things about Vietnam that I love, is you can buy absolutely anything you may need (or didn't even think you may need) from street vendors!

No need to go into exclusive and expensive stores ........ but if you are game, here's the best way to get some incredible bargains!

This lady has a mobile beauty products shop - nail polishes, creams, lotions - and more!



and, after buying all your products, how about a new hairdo??? There's even room to park your motorbike!!!



Everything a modern girl needs when travelling :-)

Have a lovely week my friends!

Start preparing for Chinese New Year!!

Hello girls! Here's some tips for you all for the perfect preparations for Chinese New Year!!

On the days before the New Year celebration Chinese families give their home a thorough cleaning. It is believed the cleaning sweeps away the bad luck of the preceding year and makes their homes ready for good luck. Brooms and dust pans are put away on the first day so that luck cannot be swept away.
Homes are often decorated with paper cutouts of Chinese auspicious phrases and couplets. Purchasing new clothing, shoes, and receiving a hair-cut also symbolize a fresh start.

The biggest event of any Chinese New Year's Eve is the dinner - consisting of fish.



On New Years Eve, it's customary to make dumplings. Chinese Dumplings look like silver ingots. Legend has it that the more dumplings you eat during New Year celebration, more money you can make in the New Year. (this I really agree with)!



Its also necessary to make a new year cake (Niangao) after dinner and send pieces of it as gifts to relatives and friends in the coming days of the new year. Niangao literally means increasingly prosperous year in year out.



Not many days left to make your preparations!!!! So get busy :-)

Images from here.


Patsy and I have been so busy sending out lanterns for everyone's parties. Here she is after the end of a hard day's work (sleeping on my handbag)!



Have a great week :-)

Sunday Vietnam Tour - Halong Bay

Hello my friends! Hope you are all having a lovely weekend! 3 hours from Hanoi (where we were last week) is this World Heritage Site.

Ha Long means 'descending dragon' - the myth is that a celestial dragon flung herself headlong into the sea, her swishing tail digging deep valleys and crevices in the mainland. As she descended into the sea, these filled with water creating the bay!

Of course, in Vietnam you can shop anywhere! There's always fresh fruit for sale, even on the bay - the vendor will come to you!! I love this service :-)



The fruit sellers and fisherman live in these cute mini villages on the bay!



Hire a boat, to take you wherever you please!! You can even sleep on these if you want to stay a while!



The scenery is beautiful. Even on a cold, dreary, rainy day - its such a lovely part of the world! Next time, I'll go in summer so I can swim from the boat!!



This is 'duck rock'. Don't you think it looks like a duck???



And here I am on 'my' boat. A little wind-blown and cold, but still having fun :-)



Hope you had a lovely time!! See you next week :-)

Come on a tour of Vietnam with me!

I'm getting itchy feet again .... So thought I'd take a mini tour of one of my favourite places, Hanoi Vietnam - and bring you all with me!!! ***Note: these are not professional pics - this is Vietnam through my eyes!! ***

Hope you enjoy!!

Lets begin at Hoan Kiem Lake (lake of the Restored Sword). I love the story of this lake - In the 15th century, Emporor Le Thai To was supposedly handed a magic sword by a divine tortoise living in the lake, helping him repel Chinese invaders. After the country had been liberated, the tortoise snatched back the sword and disapeared in the lake!!

This is the Rising Sun Bridge - lets all stop and take pics of each other!!


I like to visit this peaceful lake of a morning, and watch the elderly people doing tai chi. Its so serene, and such a contrast from the rest of the crazy/noisy city!






Here is Thap Rua (Tortoise Tower) - dedicated to this mythical creature! Its a three tiered tower. I think it looks very mystical!



Next stop Tran Quoc Pagoda. This is my favourite pagoda in Hanoi.
Founded in the 6th century, but relocated to present site in 17th century as the original site was prone to flooding. This area was formerly the Buddhist centre of ancient Hanoi.



The buddhas and lotus flowers are so crisp and white!



I actually have many pics of this Buddhism pagoda, but for some reason in all my pics the tower looks like it leans (just like Pisa). But I'm sure in reality it doesn't!!!!



I love to do a lot of walking when I'm in Vietnam. You can stumble across the most amazing temples, shops, beauty parlours, eateries .... etc.

So, its vitally important to allow time at the end of your day for some reflexology and manicure/pedicure. There are 100's of places to choose from, and very cheap!!

I always get a design on my toenails ....



Here are some cute ladybirds on my fingernails!! Love these :-)



Hope you have enjoyed the mini tour. I've had so much fun I'm gonna take another one next Sunday.
Hope to see you next week. ***Don't forget my lovely follower friends to enter my giveaway (see post below). Prize drawn on Wednesday***

Welcome, dragonfly baby

Great news - there's a new addition to the extended dragonfly family. Congratulations Ashleigh and Paul on the birth of your beautiful little Gracey yesterday. She's such an angel :-)

Recently when I was in Vietnam, I bought this adorable little girlie outfit - and now there's a little cutie who will be able to wear it!
I could even get my favourite colour - purple!!



After cuddling this angelic newborn yesterday, I'm feeling a teensy bit maternal ..... (don't tell Patsy - she doesn't want to share me)! So here's my dream nursery - isn't it just heavenly!!!!


image from thelennox.com


Have a wonderful day :-)

Vietnamese Tea Party!

What a busy day of preparation - but we are finally ready for our tea party frenzy. We are participating in two great parties today: Firstly, Tuesday Tea Party hosted by The Plumed Pen, and the second is Mr Toast's First Annual Christmas Tea!


I thought it would be nice to do something a little different this week - so we are having a Vietnamese Tea Party!! Here is my Ao dai that I'm wearing - this is the traditional Vietnamese Outfit. Click here to see me wearing it! Patsy is wearing her dragonfly kimono (also bought in Vietnam).

Patsy is waiting for me to pour the tea ......



Lets begin with something savoury - Vietnamese Summer Rolls!



The highlight is the rambutan red bean cake!



Have you tried a rambutan before? Now is the perfect opportunity!
Its just like a lychee, and the skin is sooooo interesting!! This is what it looks like! Tastes nice too :-)



We are also serving moon cake. I know we are a little late, as the Mid-Autumn moon festival was on in October. This festival celebrates the autumnul equinox of the solar calendar and is the asian version of the harvest celebration! Moon cakes (which look like the full moon in the night sky) are eaten at this time when families get together and celebrate! Anyway, I'm celebrating the first harvest of my lettuce in the garden which I ate last night .... delicious!

They come in so many varieties.... even green tea!




Lets finish with a decorated fortune cookie!! Hope you get a sweet message!



Hoping you have enjoyed the green tea and exotic foods!! Thankyou for dropping in my dear friends :-)
Stay a while, enjoy the hot weather (35 degrees celcius today). Why not relax in the pool!!!

I need Traditional Herb Street

The weather in Brisbane today is outrageously hot, and I'm feeling so flat and lethargic. Big sigh :-(


I've got so many things to do and no energy - I need a miracle herbal cure. Wish I was back in Saigon! I could take a trip to 'D Hai Thuong Lan Ong (the area of traditional herb shops). Here, you can purchase a natural remedy to fix any ailment or condition - now matter how big or small.

The sights and the aromas are like nothing I've ever seen before, and its such a busy place!!.

Each store has sacks and bags of goodies all spread on the pavement, and they have the very cute Chinese medicine chests which I love. To my untrained eye, all the stores seem the same to me - I wonder how you choose who to buy from!


This area is in the Cholon (China town) area, near some of the fabulous pagodas I blogged about recently (click here for pics).

Maybe, I just need a cup of green tea and a lie down ...... Its almost the weekend - help!!

Burning money!

Its tradition in Vietnam to burn 'paper money' for the ancestors!
Look at these sweet old ladies at the temple in the village! They were very happy to pose for me and give me lovely big smiles :-)
In Hanoi, there's an entire section of the old quarter dedicated to selling all the paper items for burning - money, houses, motorbikes - just about anything your dearly departed could wish for!
Such a fascinating tradition!!

Vietnamese cakes featuring the Dragon fruit!

My new favourite fruit (since my most recent visit to Vietnam) is the Dragon fruit. Its has the most magnificent looking textured pink skin, and the most interesting and beautiful flesh!
The bottom pic is the whole fruit and the third pic (which was my breakfast snack) shows a slice of dragon fruit.




Then, on my last day in Saigon I spotted these amazing cakes, complete with dragon fruit decoration on top.
Mmmmmmmmm, my mouth is watering again as my mind drifts back to that wonderful day ....
Don't you think these look just incredible???!! and why can't I get this fruit in Brisbane???!
Quick reminder - my giveaway is drawn tomorrow night! Automatic entry to all blog followers :-)

Giveaway to a lucky follower!!!!

Look what Patsy, my hard-working assistant has got!!
Its a beautiful beaded hand-made bracelet, made in the north of Vietnam. As it doesn't fit her, we've decided we'll use this for our monthly giveaway!!


Entry is automatic for all followers of our blog, and will be randomly drawn next Tuesday 3 November, after we celebrate Melbourne Cup (the biggest horse race in Australia)!! Good luck!! Will post anywhere in the world!!

Pagodas - Vietnam

Cholon District Saigon - Phuoc An Hoi Qua Pagoda, and Quan Am Pagoda.

Here's a few pics of a couple of beautiful pagodas I visited recently. Such serene and tranquil places, only metres away from the busy and noisy streets!

I'm having a lovely peaceful Sunday today, and it has taken my mind back to this wonderful place .....

Unfriendly scales! ... a continuation of my feeding frenzy

I had a most interesting (and horrifying) experience on my recent overnight trip to the Mekong Delta in Southern Vietnam.

As you can see from my earlier posts - I have been having a lovely time eating the wonderful foods here (mainly healthy too!).

The hotel that I stayed in had scales in the room (beside the lounge), so out of curiosity I thought I'd check if I'd gained any weight. Before I continue, I must point out that according to Australian height/weight guidelines, I'm well within the healthy weight range, even a little on the low side!! And I'm sure those of you who know me would agree with this!!

So imagine my horror when I jumped on these scales. My weight was a tiny bit up (no problem), but clearly written on the scales is the recommended weight for your height - and according to Vietnamese scales, I'm very overweight!!! What a shock!!! (I'm actually 5kg over the maximum recommended weight for my height)! How can this be?????

Time to head out for coffee and cake, and put this experience behind me!!

Hairdressing - Saigon style!!

Here's a whole new take on mobile hairdressing!! - Haircut alfresco!

Vietnamese Food

Hello again! I'm back in Ho Chi Minh City after 2 days in the Mekong Delta, where I continued on my feeding frenzy! Here's some pics of some of the things I've been enjoying!
Coconut salad with shrimp and pork (above),
Pancakes with shrimp below (my favourite so far)..... but still a couple of days to go!


And look at this! The bananas in Saigon are small, but I found these cutest ever little mini bananas in the river towns. Aren't they adorable!!!!

And the very nice dragon fruit!

Feeling hungry?????