Does this look like december to you?!

So, it's December. Officially christmas. At home I would be going all out right now; christmas shopping, drinking gingerbread latte's, ice skating, wearing my knits and living in thermals. But here? errrm, well, apart from the odd christmas tree, distressingly, nothing. 

(Only those who actually know me will understand my obsession and the pain this is causing)

I will attempt to do a christmas blog next time, but for now I don't have much for you.

Just a trip to a temple, involving...

1)a pretty orange tree.

2)a lovely insence coil.

 3)some hanging pots.

4)weird little ceramic figurines.

 

Oh, and im leaving in 1 WEEK! WAHOO. ahem. Singapore here I come!

Just in case you too are planning on getting on a plane anytime soon,

please remember kids, don't take ANY of this stuff onboard...

(I know you were planning on the pickaxe and that taser)

 Since I arrived in Vietnam, just as I would be doing at home, I have spent alot of time taking photos, painting, drawing and generally mulling over those lovely artistic trains of thought -

I thought I would post a blog on one particular idea.

 At home motorbikes and scooters are pretty rare - to me they represent a has-been in a mid-life crises, a so-called wide boi or if i'm lucky, some chique Italian who for some bizarre reason has made a move to Durham....or in my dreams, Jude Law.

 Here however, they are everywhere; they are a symbol of freedom and independence and chaos. These paintings (apart from illustrating just how obsessed I have become with motorbikes) are supposed to portray the importance of familial relationships in Vietnam, as well as representing the speed of development that is happening here and the desire to catch-up with the western world.

CHAO. Another art-blog to come soon...

I can't believe my time here is coming to an end!

*sob*

thought I would do a 'what I will miss about Hanoi' part 1...

1. West Lake. Morning, evening, night; I love it.

 2. the chilled out lifestyle I got going, though not as chilled as this guy... 

 3. Animals on the street, umm, though the dogs creep me out abit too.  

 (nb. discounting the rats please)

4.  The weather. Well, the sun we've had for the past few weeks has been sweet. I'm sure I will ignore all that rain we had early on.

 5. The motorbikes will never stop being fascinating...

 6. Fresh lemon juice (though I doubt my teeth'll miss it!)

7. THE PEOPLE and the night life, obviously...to be continued in part 2

Okay guys, it's official, I REALLY LIKE LIVING HERE.

For the past four days we have had these wonderful sunsets...

 and I've started to relax abit more...though maybe not as much as these people! 

Midday nap on the side of the road anyone?

oh, and it's just been halloween...halloween makes everything better!

 

  And you know what else is official? Vietnamese children are the cutest.

Beautiful Halong Bay...

 so everyone says it is lush, but you just can't appreciate it unless you actually see it!

(Now we all know where Cameron got his inspiration for Avatar's 'hanging mountains'!)

 So, obviously we jumped off the boat...

         but I admit, it was BEFORE we saw these...

We also visited this floating fishing village...the village itself was pretty cool and I did get a billion photos of it, but for me, photos are so much more interesting when they have people in them (or really cute dogs!)

So here's a couple of those kinds...

so long Halong, back again to Hanoi....

Hoi An. Done and done!

I left now. Back to the bustle of Hanoi. 

Will just round it off with a couple last photos...

 

tadaaaah! 

Will try to do another side of Hanoi soon, but for now, ta-rah loves. 

Hoi An -   in monochrome, in the pouring rain, and in-credibly weird. 

Lets start with the weird. We went to My Son, these old old old buildings...I couldn't really get any photos as every arty snap was intruded upon by the constant trail of sweaty tourists. SOZ. 

but no matter, because I did get this video -

How COOL are these plants' defense mechanisms?

talking of weird, a cute little temple I visited was made even cuter by its infestation of terrapins. This one reminded me of the one in Kung fu Panda...

  (note:if you haven't seen this film, DO.)

Okay, moving into monochrome (sticking with the weirrrd theme)

I reckon this is pretty self explanatory. No? Well, it's a music-play thing, with a fisherman trying to look hot infront of the dancing river ladies with the pots whilst dancing and fishing himself. Get it now?

Hoi An also has the most brilliant old people,

wonderfully crumbling buildings, 

but rain. And lots of it.

A Numbered Guide to Hoi An
(as I know it so far.)

1. the old buildings, the old windows, the old doors, the old boats, the river (which is old).

2. the beach; about 30 mins bikeride from the town...just long enough for me to burn my neck.

3. the beautiful rural land around the town ...

(though I must admit, it seemed even the buffalo were used to tourists!)

4. the market; even though it smells pretty sick I am happy to put  up with it to get photos like this -

buy your birds, alive or dead...

'i'm sorry, you might need to buy a larger shopping bag to fit this baby'

4. the tailors. 350 of them. I went to the one they went to in Top Gear, ha. 

 (it may be relevant to mention at this moment that I learnt to ride a motorbike yesterday)

SCORE!

5. The conical hats!

A lovely illustration of how trad-vietnam is alive and thriving here in Hoi An