Vietnam - an amazing place.

90 million people and 80 million motor bikes or scooters are two of the most significant statistics to remember.  Every city is crowded and vibrant, with people of all ages making a living in any way they can.  The average income is around $2 - $3 per day and there is a huge gap between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have-nots’.  The country is becoming a very tech-savvy nation and there was huge development happening wherever we went.  Free wi-fi is available almost everywhere, but the government still blocks some social media sites on a regular basis, as we found on several occasions.

We flew into Hanoi and had a few days to acclimatise to 35 to 37 degree temperatures and 85% humidity and explore the ‘old town’ before a trip up to Halong Bay on the coast, where hundreds of magnificent limestone islands rise out of the sea.  We spent 2 days and 1 night on a junk, cruising the seas around Halong.  Hanoi still has a significant French colonial influence, with some beautiful old buildings and quite a few wide boulevards, particularly in the “French Quarter”.  The ‘old town’ in central Hanoi is crowded and extremely busy and we spent much time dodging motor scooters and marvelling at the industrious people.  Streets are laid out quite regularly in a grid fashion and businesses are grouped – one street might be hardware street and another will be dedicated to shoes, whilst another may be electronics. 

Everywhere we went we enjoyed bia hoi (fresh beer), brewed daily without preservatives or additives and to be drunk that day.  It is incredibly cheap – usually 50 cents to 75 cents a pot – and very enjoyable.  Eating out is fantastic with a wide range of local fresh food available and many local variations on a theme, giving regional variety.  More often than not, we could enjoy a dinner of 3 or 4 courses with a couple of beers each, for a cost of $10 to $12.  Sometimes we went a little up-market to ‘named’ restaurants (recommended by others or from Lonely Planet) and the cost was rarely over $20 for the two of us.  Only if we ordered wine did we exceed that level of cost.

Dodging motor scooters is a bit of a game and zebra crossings are generally ignored, giving western pedestrians a false sense of security.  The secret to crossing streets in the face of hundreds of scooters coming at you, is to step onto the street and don’t hesitate when crossing.  The scooters will go around as long as they realise that you won’t stop or hesitate.  It took us a couple of days, but we realised that we could get around quite comfortably without getting mowed down.

A couple of highlights of Hanoi were the Ho Chi Minh mausoleum and the Hoa Lo prison (or “Hanoi Hilton” as the Americans termed it).  Hoan Kiem Lake in central Hanoi is a lovely area, surrounded by gardens and we were struck by the beautiful gardens and plantings wherever we went.  Beautiful temples are everywhere and there are still a number of Christian churches worth visiting including St. Joseph’s Cathedral in the Old Quarter.  One of the best memories we’ll carry is the fantastic food in Hanoi – amongst the best regional food we’ve eaten.

The beautiful Japanese Bridge in Hoan Kiem Lake

Traffic is frightening until you become accustomed

An oncoming wall of scooters and bikes

Vietnam Telecom

Enjoying Bia Hoi (fresh beer) at the street bar

At Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum

Young Vietnamese women are incredibly fashion conscious

The "Hanoi Hilton" or Hoa Lo prison - macabre & frightening

Mobile shoe repairs - very cheap and available everywhere

Fast efficient delivery service

Limestone islands at Ha Long Bay

Traditional fishermen in Ha Long Bay

Hundreds of cruising junks at Ha Long Bay

Comfortable cruising junk - traditional teak ships, painted  white by regulation.

Mobile florist

Beautiful temples in many streets

Incredible array of fresh spices in the market

Local Bunnings store

Tinsmith at work - traditional smokers

Typical street scene

Family Wedding in Newcastle

Last week we travelled to Newcastle to enjoy the wedding of our niece, Kylie, who was marrying Justin Murray.  Justin serves in the Air Force and is stationed at Richmond and we were looking forward to meeting him and celebrating the marriage of two lovely young people.  The wedding was held at a lovely old home (now reception centre) which was originally the home of the first CEO of BHP in Newcastle.  The ceremony was meant to have taken place in the gardens, which are rather beautiful, but an early downpour made that next to impossible, so it was moved onto the terrace, which turned out to be a great choice.  The marriage was celebrated by the Padre of the air base and it was quite a lovely service.  We then enjoyed canapes and drinks before sitting down for the wedding dinner.

One of the great joys of a family wedding such as this, is that we all get together in an atmosphere of fun and frivolity and there is inevitably a good deal of all kinds of beverage consumed and this was no exception.  In fact, I was quite amazed at the level of imbibing taking place, although there are some parts of the two evenings we were there that are still a little vague.  Perhaps my memory is not as sharp generally as it used to be!  It's great that my brothers and sisters-in-law can still keep a party flowing, but the nieces and nephews are getting better at it than we've ever been.

After the celebration, the Princess and I jetted off to Brisbane to join our old friends Darryl and Betty for a few days of catchup after a couple of years of being apart and, as always, it is as though we have been together forever.  I'm most grateful for the constant friendship over 35years or so, of these beautiful people and we look forward to another visit from them, in the not too distant future.

The two latest additions to the family, Mila and Max.

The Bride arrives.

The Vows

Signing the Register

An adoring look!

Presenting Mr and Mrs Murray

The Princess with the lovely Toni.

The wedding dance.

Simon's Peiking Duck

 

Simon Lay has been described as rude and arrogant and named the “Duck Nazi”, but our experience was quite a bit different.  He is a perfectionist, without doubt, in the preparation of Peking Duck and his antics in the dining room are fun.  If you want the best Peking Duck in Melbourne, but don’t have a sense of humour, don’t go.  Simon’s stock-in-trade is perfectly prepared and inelegantly served roasted duck – the standard 3-course menu is Peking Duck served in pancakes, then a noodle dish with the ‘white’ meat from the duck and the last is a clear soup prepared from the residue of the duck.  All three courses are delicious and the choice of soft noodles with the second course was a wise one – they are scrumptious.

Simon’s Peiking Duck Restaurant is in Middleborough Rd, Box Hill Sth and we decided the day before when talking to friends, to try it out.  Bookings are essential as the ducks are prepared well in advance and the place is very popular, but we were fortunate to get a table.  You also need to order the number of ducks required, but 2 ducks for a table of 4 people is quite sufficient.  The dining room is very noisy and meals are served in shifts, so the tables turn over at least once during the evening, with a 6pm and 8pm sitting.  Lots of tables are occupied by chinese families which usually indicates that the food is authentic.  The staff are attentive without being overly professional and Simon, himself, serves the duck with the pancakes, flipping the pancakes across the table to land on plates at each setting.  He then proceeds to show diners how to fold the duck and vegetables into the pancake.  He is quite a character!  And the duck is superb!

The restaurant is fully licensed or BYO and we shared a couple of bottles of delightful local pinot noir, which went beautifully with the food.  One bottle was from the Yarra Valley and the other from the Mornington Peninsula, both extremely enjoyable in their own way, but somewhat different in character.  One thing to remember when dining here is don’t bring the credit card – this is a cash-only experience, but don’t expect to be spending heaps either, because each duck is only $55 and we ate 2 ducks for our table – very economical.  Corkage is very reasonable and ‘deluxe’ noodles adds a few dollars, but this is one dining experience which we’ll repeat, perhaps often.

Jacques Reymond

For many years, our small group of Uni students, come professionals and now retirees, have joined together on the first weekend in December, to catch up and enjoy each other’s company.  We invariably choose one of the ‘better’ restaurants in Melbourne which have included Attica, Vue de Monde, Stokehouse, Sails on the Bay, Pure South, Circa, The European and Jacques Reymond.  This year it was back to the latter for a re-visit experience and what a great experience it was.

Our group of eight has aged gracefully, has travelled widely, has lived well but fairly wisely and is (individually) quite active and relatively fit and healthy.  But we love our food and we enjoy a great bottle of wine.  So the choice of Jacques Reymond was quite logical.

The venue is still just as wonderful as always and the staff are attentive, knowledgeable and personable.  Jacques invariably visits towards the end of the evening and is a fantastic host and a superb Chef.

Most of us chose the degustation menu because it is such a chore choosing from the extensive ‘carte’ menu and choosing the correct wine for the course is somewhat daunting from such an incredible cellar.  Ocean Trout, Moreton Bay Bugs and John Dory, each in their element  with incredible tastes and textures, were the first three courses followed by the meat courses of Wallaby, Venison, Pekin Duck and Veal fillet with some of the most intense tastes of additions such as lamb dumplings, spanner crab and Tasmanian wasabi and lard potatoes.  And the desserts are something else again!  The whole experience is amazing, which is why we return to places like this.  Most of the wines were perfect matches to the course, although we were less than enthused over one of the NZ offerings, particularly coming immediately after a superb Alsace riesling.

The reasons for ‘Jacques Reymond’ restaurant to remain at or near the top of the list, are many and varied, but the return visits of many people, us included, are a testament to the professionalism, the incredible menu, the extensive cellar and the great ‘vibe’ of the Willams Rd mansion. 

Congratulations to the kitchen staff, Jacques and the front of house staff, for the great experience.

Knitting in the colder months

Knitting season is almost done, although Jules is still working on a couple of pieces.  She invariably has three or four pieces going at a time and regularly works on pieces with her cousin, Michelle.  Michelle makes some fantastic pieces although she works more in quilting, than knitting.
See - http://thequiltedtortoise.blogspot.com.au

During the winter, Jules has knitted socks for grandkids and hubby, jumpers for hubby, step-daughter and daughter-in-law, scarves for the above and a beautiful Colour Affection shawl for a girlfriend in England, for her birthday. 

But the piece de resistance - Christmas Puddings for her students in English classes at Swinburne.  These are little gems and look just like the real thing - quite amazing!

Bistro Thierry

A visit to Bistro Thierry with friends Jessica and Keith was a highlight of an exceptionally busy week.  The two course lunch menu is exceptionally good with quite a few mouth-watering choices and a relatively inexpensive price, although we invariably seem to add sides and extras to come away with a bill somewhat more than expected.  The Caesar Salad and Salad Nicoise which we enjoyed for entree were both excellent and the 'Poisson' - a fillet of rockling - juicy and sweet, on a seared spinach base, was exceptional.  Staff are attentive and the place was buzzing at lunch on Friday.  We enjoyed catching up again with our friends and look forward to many more good times in great company.

Earlier in the week, Wozzy Jnr and Shev moved house and are now settling in to their 'forever house' - the grand-kids are ecstatic with their new enlarged backyard to play in and a court position with lots of other kids to interact with.  Some painting will be required because the previous owners thought that feature walls on every surface was a great idea and a new dishwasher was required on day two as the original was inoperable and smelled as though something had died in it.  However, they have taken a significant step and we wish them much happiness in their new surroundings.

Today (Sunday) saw us with another very early rise and trip into the city for the 'Sussan Classic' 10km run which saw Jules take a couple of minutes off her previous best time and cross the finish line with a smile which could have been mistaken for a grimace!

Tilt head to right to see Jules crossing the line!

Haven't figured out how to tilt photos within the blog - was OK on screen & in the folder.

Happy Birthday, Lynne

Happy Birthday Lynne

She hates surprises, so her husband decided it would be a good idea to organise one for a special “0” birthday!

Last Friday saw 8 of us head to Daylesford to celebrate our friend’s Big 0 birthday.  3 of the couples met before lunch & the girls took the birthday babe for some pampering, then we joined them in the early afternoon for a late lunch at Jimmy’s Bar.  We shared a tasting plate of local sausages, pate & cheese, just perfect.

Our accommodation was within walking distance of everything, so we parked the cars out the front & didn’t move them until it was time to leave.  We stayed at Lake Daylesford Country House,  a French provincial style house with 4 lovely bedrooms & importantly, 4 ensuites!  It was well equipped with everything we needed and plenty of room to lounge around both inside and outside in the beautiful gardens.

The birthday dinner on the first night was at Lake House.  All agreed that the quality & presentation of the food was fantastic, although there was some wincing when we got the bill – those good wines don’t come cheap! Anyway, it was certainly a delicious & worthwhile experience.

After a slow start the next morning, we went to Cliffy’s for breakfast, a rather eclectic place, with a small menu and limited coffee options (no skinny!) but the food was good, so we were happy.  We wandered back into town, and the boys took off to sample a joint called Breakfast & Beer, whilst the girls gave the local shops a thorough going-over.  We finally met up back at the house mid afternoon, where newspapers were perused, snoozes were enjoyed and some even took more exercise!

As we had all taken quite a few bottles of wine to share, it was decided that we would stay home & eat fish & chips on Saturday night, and it helped the bank balances too.  The local chippery served up great fish & chips & hamburgers, and we had another enjoyable evening of “shooting the breeze”.

All good things must come to an end, and Sunday morning saw us packing up, before an excellent farewell breakfast at Bad Habits Cafe in The Convent.  Again, great food and coffee saw everyone satisfied for the journey home.

I think the birthday girl enjoyed her surprise, and we definitely enjoyed celebrating with her and the rest of the bunch.

Birthday girl Lynne with Phil

Lake Daylesford Country House

Birthday party at Lake House.