Woke up this morning for breakfast at 8. We thought we were going to miss it since the reception told us they close at 9. We chat over a fulfilling breakfast over coffee till about 10. I guess time limits are quite different in Vietnam.
When we finally got to our room, the sky was also ready to cry. And it did… till 2 in the afternoon. I thought it was a good time to try out the pool in the resort. After all, what’s a holiday in a well-appointed resort without a dip in the pool, right? Well, apparently someone thought that a good joke, because 30 minutes into the dip in the pool, the sky laughed till it cried. Again.
Depressing. Our first day in “the tropical sunshiny island of Cat Ba) and we are greeted with showers of blessing. Well, I guess in true ‘us’ fashion, we finally thought it a good time to start our lunch (well, you can take us out of the country; just no the country out of us). A very late lunch.
When we arrive at the restaurant (the one in the resort, since it was raining and we weren’t too keen on walking all the way out, in the rain, to town. Since we were bored out of our brains (don’t quite understand this phrase, but…), we weren’t too keen on thinking (sort of explains the “bored brains” bit). We ordered the set lunch for two, a watermelon juice and a Vietnamese coffee (what else) for myself.
When the juice arrived, we experienced W-A-T-E-R-M-E-L-O-N juice. A sip of the juice drink was like a whammy of 10 watermelons shot at you at once. The flavour was intense and so was the sweetness. What do they feed their fruits? Steroids? Okay, someone call the international fruit sweetness association; this is not fairplay.
Anyway, it wasn’t too long when the dishes arrived. And arrived. And arrived. And arrived. And arrived. And arrived. And arrived. And arrived. Yup, by the fourth dish, we realized maybe the set lunch for two was a misprint. I am very sure the set could well feed a family of four… giants… or gluttons… or Americans... well, you get the picture.
At the end of the meal, delivered straight out of the magic set-meal pot, the sun finally decided to show up on the island. Talk about being a diva! Well, I‘ve got news for you sun, it’s 15 freaking MINUTES late to be fashionable, not HOURS! Hello!
I sunbathe for the last one hour of sunlight on the island. Diva! Next time you come out early and stay out long! But when the sun went down, I went walking down this track that winds along the coastal rock face of the island. It was a beautiful walk. The path winds down and as you move forward, so the vista changes. Every scene that reveals itself is new and refreshing and seemingly more beautiful than the one before. It really was like looking at a scrolled up Chinese painting, as you unroll the scroll, a new and beautiful scene shows up, telling a breathtaking story of the landscape. Breathtaking.
There was one particular spot that overlooks another granite formation. Along that spot on the path, was a huge boulder. As I sat there in the quiet, I could hear the birds above me, the waves lapping from the right, caressing the formation to the left. The atmosphere was gentle, gentle, uplifting, spiritual. I could have stayed there till the sunset. It was a transcendental spot for the soul.
As we were making our way back, we met an Irish couple. Like us, they had just arrived from Hanoi. They came here for a breather after finalizing their adoption of a local baby. I applaud them for their perseverance (they waited 5 years for the procedure to be finalized) and they loving-kindness. In fact, I think that all adoptive parents should be applauded. It is one thing to love your own children, but quite another to have that love spill over to love another that is a complete stranger, someone apart from you. So on a side note, if you are thinking of adopting, I salute you, but I also want to ask, “ what are you waiting for?!”. It is one of the most beautiful thing one human being can do for another – to offer shelter in the form of selfless love.
Being who we are, we also talked about how dining on the island’s restaurants is an experience in hit-and-miss (see previous post). In any case, in their generosity, they offered the name of a restaurant “Green Mango”. A couple of European tourists had recommended it. Judging from the name, I had thought it to be some local restaurant of high standards. But I should have known better, knowing the recommendation came from a couple of Europeans (won’t name their nationality, but they are well known for their butter cookies).
When we got there, a look at the menu wrenched two reactions out of me. First a stunner – they were all European food (schnitzel, pizza, pasta, surf and turf, etc) and a assurance of conclusion (you can stop them from colonizing, but you can’t stop them from being colonists).
Please, you visit another country and you go only for food from home? What’s the point in traveling then? Might as well just stay home and serve home cooked dinner while watching the travel channel. That way it’s cheaper!
In any case, I always think that going to another and still insisting on eating your own food is akin to visiting your friend for dinner and criticizing their food. It’s just downright rude and disrespectful.
If one is adventurous to leave one’s country to visit another country, one should experience the foreign culture. And there is no easier way to experience it through food!
Be a traveler; not a tourist. Or worse – a colonist.
When we finally got to our room, the sky was also ready to cry. And it did… till 2 in the afternoon. I thought it was a good time to try out the pool in the resort. After all, what’s a holiday in a well-appointed resort without a dip in the pool, right? Well, apparently someone thought that a good joke, because 30 minutes into the dip in the pool, the sky laughed till it cried. Again.
Depressing. Our first day in “the tropical sunshiny island of Cat Ba) and we are greeted with showers of blessing. Well, I guess in true ‘us’ fashion, we finally thought it a good time to start our lunch (well, you can take us out of the country; just no the country out of us). A very late lunch.
When we arrive at the restaurant (the one in the resort, since it was raining and we weren’t too keen on walking all the way out, in the rain, to town. Since we were bored out of our brains (don’t quite understand this phrase, but…), we weren’t too keen on thinking (sort of explains the “bored brains” bit). We ordered the set lunch for two, a watermelon juice and a Vietnamese coffee (what else) for myself.
When the juice arrived, we experienced W-A-T-E-R-M-E-L-O-N juice. A sip of the juice drink was like a whammy of 10 watermelons shot at you at once. The flavour was intense and so was the sweetness. What do they feed their fruits? Steroids? Okay, someone call the international fruit sweetness association; this is not fairplay.
Anyway, it wasn’t too long when the dishes arrived. And arrived. And arrived. And arrived. And arrived. And arrived. And arrived. And arrived. Yup, by the fourth dish, we realized maybe the set lunch for two was a misprint. I am very sure the set could well feed a family of four… giants… or gluttons… or Americans... well, you get the picture.
At the end of the meal, delivered straight out of the magic set-meal pot, the sun finally decided to show up on the island. Talk about being a diva! Well, I‘ve got news for you sun, it’s 15 freaking MINUTES late to be fashionable, not HOURS! Hello!
I sunbathe for the last one hour of sunlight on the island. Diva! Next time you come out early and stay out long! But when the sun went down, I went walking down this track that winds along the coastal rock face of the island. It was a beautiful walk. The path winds down and as you move forward, so the vista changes. Every scene that reveals itself is new and refreshing and seemingly more beautiful than the one before. It really was like looking at a scrolled up Chinese painting, as you unroll the scroll, a new and beautiful scene shows up, telling a breathtaking story of the landscape. Breathtaking.
There was one particular spot that overlooks another granite formation. Along that spot on the path, was a huge boulder. As I sat there in the quiet, I could hear the birds above me, the waves lapping from the right, caressing the formation to the left. The atmosphere was gentle, gentle, uplifting, spiritual. I could have stayed there till the sunset. It was a transcendental spot for the soul.
As we were making our way back, we met an Irish couple. Like us, they had just arrived from Hanoi. They came here for a breather after finalizing their adoption of a local baby. I applaud them for their perseverance (they waited 5 years for the procedure to be finalized) and they loving-kindness. In fact, I think that all adoptive parents should be applauded. It is one thing to love your own children, but quite another to have that love spill over to love another that is a complete stranger, someone apart from you. So on a side note, if you are thinking of adopting, I salute you, but I also want to ask, “ what are you waiting for?!”. It is one of the most beautiful thing one human being can do for another – to offer shelter in the form of selfless love.
Being who we are, we also talked about how dining on the island’s restaurants is an experience in hit-and-miss (see previous post). In any case, in their generosity, they offered the name of a restaurant “Green Mango”. A couple of European tourists had recommended it. Judging from the name, I had thought it to be some local restaurant of high standards. But I should have known better, knowing the recommendation came from a couple of Europeans (won’t name their nationality, but they are well known for their butter cookies).
When we got there, a look at the menu wrenched two reactions out of me. First a stunner – they were all European food (schnitzel, pizza, pasta, surf and turf, etc) and a assurance of conclusion (you can stop them from colonizing, but you can’t stop them from being colonists).
Please, you visit another country and you go only for food from home? What’s the point in traveling then? Might as well just stay home and serve home cooked dinner while watching the travel channel. That way it’s cheaper!
In any case, I always think that going to another and still insisting on eating your own food is akin to visiting your friend for dinner and criticizing their food. It’s just downright rude and disrespectful.
If one is adventurous to leave one’s country to visit another country, one should experience the foreign culture. And there is no easier way to experience it through food!
Be a traveler; not a tourist. Or worse – a colonist.
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