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| Tra Que Water Wheel Organic farm |
Bright and early morning, the sun’s
robust rays shone directly to my butt and body giving it a roasting sensation
as though it was jealous of me sleeping comfortably on the plush bed and clean
sheets. I tried valiantly fighting the sun’s rays but I gave up after landing
on the floor under a heap of pillows. People used to say ‘ Carpe Diem” but I
say, “ Carpe Food” or “Seize the food!” for it is going to be another long day!
As usual, the raiding of the coffee house as we walloped breakfast of the day
was very important task indeed!
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| Vegetables beds |
Afterall, the first meal of the day ; breakfast
– are meant for the champions! In order not be like the China tourist or Korean
tourists, I tried to be dignified in my eating but alas, I gave the pho, the
sausages, the crispy bacon and the dumplings a real good fight. They ended up
in the cauldron of my belly after a good sacrificial fight! Hurray to me! They
sacrificed themselves in dignity!
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| Seated at our bamboo table ad chairs |
When the clock struck 10.00am, our
ride arrived and we whisked off together with our luggages to a new adventure
for the day – organic vegetables farm located in Cam Ha, Hoi An. This was to be
an organic farm experience. Again, the sun was merciless towards us as its rays
cuts bitterly into our already darkened skin and the spray of honey dew infused
sun block permeates our van each time. Our gleaned and shining skins from the
layer of sun blocks makes us looked like some nice roasted organic chicken ;
fresh from the oven,man! As there was no other roads leading to the organic
farm, we had to walk between the narrow and dusty path to reach Tra Que Water
Wheel Organic farm. The vegetables beds were beautifully laid while healthy
looking vegetables lined up nicely ; ripe for the picking. We were also shown the
sesame seed plant and they were in full bloom waiting to be ripened and
harvested soon. It was such a delighted sight indeed. Soon, Tuan seated us at the bamboo made table
and chairs and interestingly, there were two cooking classes on-going at that
time. One class was 6 young European girls while the other group was a mixtures
of three European white men, a black guy and two European white ladies! The
groups were a riot indeed with their oohs and ahss!
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Prawn salad with fresh parsley, mint and salad with flower...all edible!
|
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| Seafood salad with fresh vegetables.... |
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| Pork with cinnamon and spice...lovely delight |
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| Mackerel fish |
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| Water spinach with garlic ( kang kong ) |
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| Fried fresh water fish |
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| Banh xeo - Vietnamese pancake delight - delicious........ |
The younger European girls
were definitely hopeless in cooking and that’s why they came for cooking class!
Anyway, we are there for the meal ( our lunch). We ordered salads, banh xeo (
pancake like dish with meat, shrimp and vege filling cooked on a skillet ) ,
prawns appertizers, rice crackers, seafood salad, pork with cinnamon pot, water
spinach ( kangkong ) and two types of fish cooked in some fine concoction
of chili paste. Again, the food was
marvelously prepared and tasted really good. I guess, with good food like this,
cooking class would be appropriate and in order.
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| Marble Mountain, here we come.... |
On with the next adventure - Marble
Mountain. Known as Ngu Hanh Son in the Vietnamese language, it literary means
five elements mountains. Marble Mountains is a cluster of five marble and
limestone hills located in Ngu Hanh Son District, south of Da Nang city in
Vietnam. The five mountains are named after the five elements namely Kim (
metal ), Thuy ( water ), Moc ( wood ), Hoa ( fire ) and Tho ( earth ). All the
mountains have cave entrances and numerous tunnels and it was possible to climb
to the summit of Mount Thuy. This area is known for stone sculpture making and
stone –cutting crafts. Extraction from the mountains are banned recently
We were told that there is a 156 steps
leading to the summit of Thuy Son but Tuan recommended that we take the lift up
halfway and then walked our way to the summit. A good idea in my head but not
so good for the stomach. Anyway, I put up a brave face and told myself “Die Die
lar! Jangan mati terkangkang sudah!”. Yeah, I do feel alive scaling caves and
mountains but I hate steps,man. I am never good at steps. Steps wears me down a
lot. Somehow that day, I feel like a man on a mission or possessed with the
knowledge that after the climb, we are going to be rewarded with good food, I
clambered on the steps and I made it.
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At the top of where the lift stopped....the view...breath taking indeed
|
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| Another view from where the lift stopped......nice |
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| Inside the cave.... cool and pleasant |
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| One of the caves in Marble Mountain...... |
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| Steps to higher caves ....slippery, uneven and polished marbled steps |
I could actually keep up with the pace
and able to climb up the steps to the carved in Buddhist sanctuaries inside the
caves. The pagoda of Pho Dong and temples surrounds the Marble Mountain. Though
I find fascinating that the temples are within the caves but dark and dingy
places do not augur well with me. I am not afraid of anything but I do find it
insane that every nook and corner of the mountains has an altar or some sort.
Wait a minute! Hold on to your axes or parangs or your sharpened knives as I
really do not want to comment further on this matter.
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| Another climb to the top of the mountain...challenging... |
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| SLing emerging from the narrow climb up to the top.... |
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| Doing my part to help others ( Koreans! ) to get through the narrow passage |
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| Alvin...emerging victoriously from the narrow passage to the top of the mountain. |
But I do enjoy the
certain section of the caves whereby fresh winds could go through and bring
good air to the lungs. Yeah, I am very impressed and marveled with what I would
call - the wind tunnel. It is so nice to have the sliding of fresh air when you
are moving up the steps to the summit. Boy, the steps are equally slippery not
because of wetness conditions but mainly because of the wear usage of the steps
whereby the marbled steps are grinded out to a smooth consistency making the
steps slippery. But I like the challenge of getting through the narrow tunnels
and climbing up towards the summit. I feel alive and good.
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| The view at the top....lovely indeed |
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| At the top..... |
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| In one of the larger cave........ |
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| SLing at one of teh larger cave area.... |
Actually, I had
wanted to move on after getting out from the 70 degrees exit at the summit but
seeing so many others below, I am compelled to, at least, lend a helping hand
to those who were trying to reach the top, right? So, I did just that but
little did I know that I would be helping a rather larger group of people. It
is alright. I am just happy to help out as the rock edge at the exit is quite
sharp and daunting looking. Piercing ones head over this rock edge would have
serious medical implications indeed. Yes, I was concerned…very concerned.
Anyway, we moved on and the view at the top is truly amazing and breathtaking
indeed.
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| Towards the end of the climb.... relieved.... |
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| The beatifully erected archway.... |
The descending part was equally
dangerous because of the slippery and uneven steps down. Somehow, it was all
good and we were down in a jiffy. We then went on to get to our other members
of the group who had been down earlier. Together, after wiping off our sweats
and getting a cool down, we were off to enjoy our favourite beverage while in
Vietnam – Vietnamese coffee.
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| Long Cafe that serves the people for almost 30 years now..... |
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| Long Cafe... |
This time, Tuan brought us to Long Café situated
at 123 Le Loi Street, Danang to sample the authentic and oldest coffeshop
coffee. Dubbed as the “ always-crowded café”, Long Café is a favourite
destination of coffee lovers in Danang from young to old. It is model for
street style café with small tables and small chairs to go with it. People sit
close by together to chat even without tables and it is such a synonymous place
for the Danangites!
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| Enjoying our tea first....... |
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| Anticipation for our coffee...... |
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| Our coffee .... hot & cold ones.....lovely ( the bowl is filled with hot water to warm our coffee! ) |
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| Our cold coffee ....diabetic for sure in years to come...the small bowl is sugar ; just in case not sweet enough! ( *pengsan* ) |
We were informed that this was the
coffee shop and their special Long coffee that had been servicing their
customers for the past 30 years. As we walked into the shop which was crowded,
we soon get a feel of what it is like to sit down small chairs and enjoy the
coffee in its full body, aroma and taste. This coffee shop is unique as it
serves you a cup of coffee and a glass of Chinese tea. I’ve had not such
experience and I soon find the practice of sipping coffee followed by a sip of
cold tea was rather interesting. Kinda a cham ( coffee with tea mixture ) mix
but the taste of coffee is rather brilliant. Looking into the Vietnamese people
at their tables, we had asked Tuan what were the people actually do in Danang.
Tuan answered brilliantly by saying, “ Drink coffee, chill and do nothing! They
do a lot of people watching!”. I guess, in Malaysia, they call it “lepak” or
hangout or simply chill , right? Anyway, many of us definitely cannot afford to
chill like this day in day out for sure! Tuan added that students come here
because of the internet. It is said that every establishment of beverage or food
outlet will be equipped with internet or else no one would walk into the
business premises. Back to the coffee or ca
phe, the rich , bitterly coffee after taste for black coffee is evident and
I like it….I like it a lot. The rest had coffee with condensed milk – hot &
cold but I guess, the language barrier can be quite a humour if one is not with
a guide. Yeah, it would be difficult to communicate with the locals if you do
not know the language. So, in many ways, we are lucky to have a guide in Tuan
who does the ordering for us and helped us in so many ways. As I snapped away
with my camera, I realized that many Vietnamese would look at you with a stoic
face before going on with their own conversation. I realized that these
Vietnamese in the town are in no hurry of their lives unlike us in Malaysia.
Everything is so “hurry-hurry” “quick quick” but pay salary really slow back
home but here, it is simply - stop what you are doing and smell the flowers, man before
continuing on your journey. I could never ever live this way but I would be
glad to take a slice of that laid back chillness back home when I sip my
coffee. I had observed that Vietnamese do not wolf down their food or drinks.
They do it slowly and take their time to enjoy the little things in life. Sure,
Da Nang is a city now and everything will be double in pace a couple of years
from now for sure. Nothing is constant, I guess....it will evolve......
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| Heading towards Linh Ung Pagoda... |
Then it is off to some market nearby
for some souvenirs hunting. As we crossed the street to get to the market, the
ladies started to look for their rounded straw bag souvenirs. We passed some
pretty lovely shops selling straw bags and fishing tackles. It was an
interesting street indeed. Bargaining and haggling were a constant battle
between the buyers and the sellers. To me, it was interesting scene indeed to
see the friendly atmosphere of bargaining unlike the many places I have seen
which can leave one with a bitter memory. In Da Nang, it was very friendly and
cordial. I dunno, I just wish it would stay that way for many years to come.
Anyway, the streets were crawling crowded with Koreans who drive hard bargains
for the stuff they want to buy simply by pushing the numbers at the calculator.
We were told that Korean drama is really big in Da Nang and the ladies in Da Nang goes
goo-goo and gaga over the Korean boyz! For me, get out of my way, you are
hindering my view of the scenery! Aahhhh…........of endless surgery under the knife,
botox and implants! Hahahahahhaahahahaaaaaaaaaa……….
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| The pagoda temple. |
Yeah, I stood at one corner of the
road seeing all the charades, the waving of hands in bargaining and all the
contortions of faces too. It was fun to look at the people. One scene I would
not forget is when I saw a mother heading out to a nearby food stall to get
some food for her child. Seated outside the shop near the walkway, a child sits
at the small chair and small table waiting for her mother to get some food for
her. The mother came back with a plate of banh beo , which I believe is 6
pieces, to feed the child. I guess, that is the heart of a mother who feeds the
child first while working in a shop. It was a touching scene indeed for me. The
sacrificial love of a mother to her child. I guess, even with the economic
opportunity for the Da Nang residence, it is still very much a struggle to keep
up with daily living. I believe that with the window of opportunity for
business capitalism in a communist country, it would most certainly improve the
living standards of the people but at what price is the question. I do hope the
best for the Da Nang and Vietnamese people as a whole.
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| Interesting bonsai plant around.... |
From our shopping palate, we then
ventured to Linh Ung- Bai But Pagoda or Lady Buddha of Da Nang. Situated in the SonTra peninsula, just 9km
away from the city centre of Da Nang city, Linh Ung pagoda is considered as the
largest pagoda in both scale and art of architecture.
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| Interesting bonsai plant in an oxen flower pot. |
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| The Da Nang city landscape at night |
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| The Goddess of Mercy statue as it is..... |
Walking through Linh Ung
pagoda’s main gate, you’ll be greeted by 18 large white stone statues
representing the 18 Arhats which are a popular subject in Buddhist art, with
all of the human emotions of joy, anger, love and sadness. The most prominent
part of the pagoda complex is the highest statue of the bodhisattva
Avalokitesvara or Goddess of Mercy in the South East Asia at 67m in height with
a 35m lotus diameter, an equivalent to a 30 storey building. At night, hit with
spot lights strategically placed to bring out the best of the architecture, it
is really a sight to behold indeed. At night, just as we were at that time, we
could have a panaromic view of the city of Da Nang and it is really a sight to
behold.
We were ready for some seafood dinner,
at last. We had informed Tuan that we wanted a seafood meal at the end of our
trip and he brought us to just the place. I could have sworn that I had taken a
picture of the place but somehow, I could not find the photograph. Anyway,
Alvin, Tuan and myself went to the selection area to do our selection of
seafood for the group. It was quite a task for me as I did not want to put the
group down with my selection of seafood. I would have to take into
consideration the price of the seafood and ensured that everyone would enjoy
the seafood picked out.
I hope I did okay that night. I picked out cuttlefish,
mud crabs (female ), sea crab ( orange – female ) , some clams and stingray.
Cuttlefish was to be deep fried with flour while mud crabs & orange sea
crabs will be with tamarind sweet sour sauce. The clams will be gingerly fried
while the stingray is to be barbecued with lemon grass mixture.
Keeping my fingers cross, the dishes
came and they were good except that the cuttlefish and crabs weren’t properly
cleaned. It was quite a letdown if you
don’t clean seafood properly. Guess, they still have lots to learn when serving
seafood to guests. Service was a little slow but luckily, Tuan ensured that we
get our dishes on time than the rest of the locals. Really appreciate Tuan for
this. To me, the hero of the dish was the stingray dish- BBQ to perfect texture
and consistency. The flesh was good and tasty. I really like this dish. We had
beers to go with our seafood this time around. It was afterall a hearty meal
indeed. Yeah, we could have had the grouper fish or the lobsters and the conch
but I guess, this was enough. Probably, the words of General Mac Arthur will
prevail in the future? Yes, I shall return!
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| Fried sotong....yummy |
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| Mud crabs with tamarind spicy sauce |
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| Orangy sea crabs with tamarind spicy sauce |
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| Lala with ginger and hoi sin sauce |
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| BBQ sting ray with lemon grass and spices.... delicious & best dish ever..... |
After a cleanup from the mess of
eating crabs, we were off to our accommodation Hadana Boutique Hotel in Da Nang
city. What a beautiful hotel! SLing liked this hotel as the room was very
spacious and nice. There was even a reclining sofa set in the room with a leg
rest. Wow! This is fantastic indeed! As SLing and SYuen showered for the night
and jumped into the bed to wander into the fairyland of rest and slumber of
sleep, I rested for a while and enjoyed all that had happened in the day.
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| Hadana Boutique Hotel.... |
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| Our comfy , clean and spacious room.....in Hadana Boutique Hotel |
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| Look at that reclining chair with a foot rest! Heaven, man |
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| The writing table , coffee tea making facilities and the place I can sketch. |
It
was an incredible day of adventure and fun. So much laughter and closeness as
family unit had set in finely. I guess, I will miss the bond we had made with
our guide and the family kinship between us. After a fresh shower, I sketched
my last sketch of my rendition of Da Nang. I felt a mixed feeling of gladness
and sadness as my holidays are coming to an end
but yet again, it was truly a fruitful trip indeed. There was just so
much fun and joy settings in my heart
and I really felt …….genuinely happy…..
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| My rendition of Da Nang..... |
Satisfied after finishing my sketch, I
closed up my drawing pad, put aside my drawing pen, looked out the window at
the street below darkened by the day of the night…..Yeah, it was time to sleep. It has been truly a wonderful day and what a way to end our trip in Vietnam....
Come little comfortable pillows and bed sheets…caress me to sleep and bring me
to a kingdom of overflowing rest and
cloud nine sensation of sleep! Good night, Vietnam !~
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