Da Nang Honey Time (Part 7): Minor caving at Marble Mountains, Da Nang

This is the last post of our wonderful 6D5N honeymoon trip to Da Nang and Huế in Central Vietnam. :)

We did some minor caving at Marble Mountains, Da Nang.

Here's the view halfway up one of the mountains.

The entrance ticket.

There are a lot of stone-carved steps on the way up and down the mountains.

Some structures are pretty well-blended with the mountains.

Some of the temples on the mountains. 

Follow this tag to read earlier blog posts about our honeymoon trip. :)

4

Da Nang Honey Time (Part 6): Huế Memorabilia

Our 6D5N honeymoon trip includes Da Nang and Hue (Huế) in Central Vietnam. 

Huế, the former imperial capital of the Nguyen Dynasty (1802-1945) is located about 700km south of Hanoi and about 1,100km north of Hồ Chí Minh City (formerly known as Saigon). Huế's famous landmarks include Sông Hương (Perfume River), Truong Tien Bridge, and the formidable Citadel.

We took the "sleeping bus" to Huế, about 80km from Da Nang. The journey took us three hours. The "sleeping bus" has three rows of upper and lower bunk-beds. It's a pretty cool experience.

Thai Binh II Hotel - after checking in and oohing and aahing non-stop at the gorgeous room setting, we went out to hunt our way to the Citadel.

To get into the Citadel, we passed through the Thuong Tu Gate, one of the eight gates of the complex and formidable walled city built by the kings of the Nguyen Dynasty. The Citadel is now undeniably one of the most preserved ancient structures in Huế.

This is the Flag Tower opposite the massive Ngo Mon Gate, the entry into the Imperial City where the ancient Nguyen Dynasty's families lived and ruled for a few generations.

Our entrance tickets to the Imperial City.

The main sights as stated behind the ticket are Ngo Mon Gate, Thai Hoa Palace, Ta Vu House, Huu Vu House, Royal Theatre, Dien Tho Residence, The Mieu, Hung Mieu, Hien Lam Pavilion.

This is the Ngo Mon Gate that leads to the Imperial Palace. This massive, formidable gate once served as the observation point for the Emperor to review his troops and for ceremonies.

This is my favorite structure - the stunning gate to Dien Tho Residence.

Dien Tho Residence once housed residences and audience halls for the Queen Mothers of the Nguyen dynasty. There's also an enchanting pleasure pavilion and a lily pond.

Phoenix on walls created with colorful ceramic pieces. Stunning!

This is Dong Ba Market, the largest market in Huế.

Follow this tag to read earlier blog posts about our honeymoon trip. :)

0

Da Nang Honey Time (Part 5): Da Nang Memorabilia

Our 6D5N honeymoon trip begins in Da Nang, Central Vietnam.

Da Nang is a laid-back town. It's about 5 p.m. local time and you can see quite a number of elderly men playing Chinese chess by the roadside. Interested onlookers gather around, taking their own sweet time chatting, looking at chess players, or just staring into nothingness.

Bach Dang Street, Han River, crystal clear blue sky, and an insanely hot weather.

The Han River Bridge during the day.

The Han River Bridge is a cable-stayed bridge that is lit up brightly at night.

The lights change colors rhythmically and watching them at night is a spectacular experience.

Most Da Nang men, even women and children travel around either on motorbikes or bicycles. In fact, this is the first time I see so many motorbikes, like ants crawling everywhere, non-stop. There are some cars, mostly Korean cars.

There are almost no traffic lights even on major streets. Everyone drives as if nothing unfortunate will happen. But the way they honk every single minute to alert other motorists and drivers, is rather irritating.

There seems to be quite a number of mini petrol kiosks along the streets.

There are also people who look like they are motorbike mechanics sitting by the roadside.

The Han Market, a must-visit place to experience how life in a Vietnamese market is like.

Follow this tag to read earlier blog posts about our honeymoon trip. :)

0

Da Nang Honey Time (Part 4): Gastronomically blissful

 

 This is my favorite dish - mì bò kho. It's Vietnamese beef stew cooked with carrots, black fungus, garnished with spring onions, and served with a baguette. This stew is one of the best I have ever had.

 This is my second favorite dish - bún bò Huế. We have this awesome dish in Hue, the city where it originated from. Huế is the last imperial capital of Vietnam. 

The broth of bún bò Huế of is prepared by simmering beef bones and beef shank with lemongrass and seasoned with fermented shrimp sauce and sugar for taste. Before it's served, lashings of spicy chilli oil are added for extra kick.

I'd say eating is indeed one of our main agendas during our 6D5N honeymoon trip. We stroll along streets after streets until we stumble upon food stalls. You see, having street food like the locals is a must-do! Look at those tiny tables and stools.

Now this is really neat. There are stacks of rough papers on tables to be used as tissue paper. Not only so, there's also a wastepaper basket either beside or under each table. In fact, we hardly see rubbish on the streets.

Some food stalls have their menu translated, which is super helpful!

******************************

Here are the rest of the dishes that we have. I link each dish to its photo on my Facebook.

Noodles dishes

• Beef phở: Vietnamese beef noodle soup.
• Bánh canh bột lọc: Bánh canh (literally "soup cake") is a thick Vietnamese noodle made from a mixture of rice and tapioca flour. This is a popular breakfast soup dish among the locals. Bột lọc is the translucent version of rice and tapioca flour noodles.
• Mì quảng: This is a dish of rice noodles served with pork chop, chicken, shrimp, vegetables, peanuts, and with a little bit of broth.
• Áp chảo: Pan-fried, sauteed rice noodles with pork and beef slices, green vegetables, and tomatoes.
• Mì xào: Stir-fried thin yellow noodles with pork, beef, and vegetables.
• Tái lăn: Stir-fried beef, tomatoes, and vegetables on top of a bowl of phở.

Rice dishes

• Cơm rang: Fried rice with pork, Chinese dried sausages, and carrot.
• Chicken curry rice.

Pancakes

• Famous banana pancake at Mandarin Cafe, Hue city.
• Bánh xèo: Vietnamese savory fried pancakes made of rice flour, water, turmeric powder, stuffed with pork, shrimp, and bean sprouts.

Wraps / Rolls

• Bánh cuốn: Vietnamese chee cheong fun, mostly eaten for breakfast. Side dishes are chả lụa (Vietnamese pork sausage) and leafy vegetables.

Sandwiches

• Bánh mì / Bánh mỳ: Vietnamese sandwiches made with a baguette (introduced by the French). Ingredients include roasted pork belly, chili, and basil leaves.

Snacks

• Nem lui: Sweet, minced pork around bamboo sticks and grilled over hot coals. They look like our satay.
• Bánh bột lọc: Dumplings with shrimp, served with hot chili oil.
• Bún hến: Vietnamese dry noodles salad with lots of mini clams and hot chili oil.
• Hột vịt lộn: Half-hatched eggs, a nutritious delicacy in Vietnam.

Desserts

• Sweet desserts sold at a roadside stall in Hue City.
• Kem: Vietnamese ice cream served with roasted cashew nuts and coconut flakes. The ice cream is served as sliced chunks of seven different flavors - orange, vanilla, strawberry, yam, chocolate, durian, and melon.
• Yaourt: Vietnamese yogurt.

Beverages

• Cà phê: Vietnamese coffee!
• Nước mía: A super refreshing drink made from sugar cane and lime juices.
• Biere Larue: This might be Tiger Beer. Larue sounds like Lao Hu (tiger in Chinese).

******************************

Follow this tag for future updates. :)

2

Da Nang Honey Time (Part 3): We ate ducklings... I mean duck eggs

Yes, you read that right.

In the Philippines, this "nutritious delicacy" is known as balut. In Vietnam, it's called hột vịt lộn. Vịt means duck.

In English, it means half-hatched duck eggs, which also means, there's a HALF-FORMED DUCKLING in that egg!

From now onwards, I'm staying away from anything that has the word vịt on the menu in any Vietnamese restaurant. Who knows if they serve duck testicles (haha...) or something. :S


******************************

How did we end up with ducklings... I mean duck eggs, in our tummy? Here's the story.

We were taking a 4.3km romantic night walk from the beach back to our hotel when we came across a roadside stall. Hubby and I spoke zero Vietnamese while the old lady manning the stall couldn't speak English. We were having a hard time deciding on which stuff to order when she pointed at hột vịt lộn. We agreed without arguing, thinking it might be some sort of noodles.

  

We were served with two white-shelled eggs, rau răm (Vietnamese mint), radish and papaya pickle, and a small bowl of mixed salt and pepper. 

A little bit disappointed, we thought, "oh, soft-boiled eggs." Then, she cracked the egg shells and when the whole thing dropped into our bowls, we saw FEATHERS!!! I almost fainted. I knew right away what they were because I've seen similar eggs in the Philippines.

O_O

Found this description on Wikipedia:
The age of the egg before it can be cooked is a matter of local preference. In the Philippines, the ideal balut is 17 days old. The chick inside is not old enough to show its beak, feathers or claws, and the bones are undeveloped. The Vietnamese often prefer their balut mature from 19 days up to 21 days, when the chick is old enough to be recognizable as a baby duck and has bones that will be firm but tender when cooked.

Arghhh!!! 

******************************

Anyway, follow this tag for future updates. :)

2

Da Nang Honey Time (Part 2): Cà phê (coffee) at a café

Drinking Vietnamese coffee (cà phê) in Vietnam is one of the things I looked forward to the most during our honeymoon in Da Nang.

As I have described in my previous post, the weather was insanely hot and dry in Da Nang. We were strolling along some streets under the scorching sun when we came across a lil' quaint café called Greeny. My eyes shone in glee when I saw the selection of cà phê, my love.

I recognized two types of cà phê on the menu: cà phê sữa đá (iced coffee with milk) and cà phê sữa nóng (hot coffee with milk). Sữa means milk.

I chose cà phê sữa đá.

At the bottom of the short glass was a layer of condensed milk. A steel canister was placed on top of the glass. Steaming hot black coffee dripped slowly from the steel canister into the glass.

As you can see, the black layer on top was coffee in contrast to the white layer of condensed milk at the bottom.

Ice cubes were served separately. When the dripping stopped, I removed the steel canister, poured ice into the glass, and stirred. Voila! Sweet and refreshing!

We took a peek at the remainder of drained coffee powder in the steel canister before we left the café. :)

******************************

Follow this tag for future updates. :)

0

Da Nang Honey Time (Part 1): The "Hot & Horny" Summary & Highlights ;)

Photo source

Day 1

• Touched down at Da Nang International Airport around 3:05 p.m. Note: Time difference is one hour.
• Checked in Rainbow Hotel (22 Bach Dang Street, Hai Chau District), about 3km away from the airport. See map below:

• The weather was freaking HOT!!! The sun was like a merciless giant ball of angry flames! HOT!!!
• Had our first bowls of authentic Vietnamese beef phở.
• Shared our first plate of Vietnamese kem (ice cream) at Kem Ky Co Phong, Tran Phu Street.
• By the way, why did every single vehicle, big or small on the road "practice" obnoxious horn-honking like no one's business? This explained "horny" in the title. Now, what were you thinking huh? ;)

Day 2

• "Splurged" on sunblock SPF110 before we ventured with "faith" onto the streets. The weather was still insanely hot.
• Hubby and I spoke zero Vietnamese and the Vietnamese's English was barely understandable.
• Found a lil' quaint cafe and indulged in my long-awaited Vietnamese iced drip coffee with milk (cà phê sữa đá).
• Took a taxi to My Khe Beach in the evening. Due to traffic redirection at the nearer bridge, the taxi driver had to take a longer route (and more expensive hmph!) via another bridge further north.
• So so so... disappointed to find My Khe Beach packed with sardines, I meant human beings. Didn't get to flaunt my bikini, I was too shy!
• For some adventure, we decided to take the 4.3km romantic night walk back from the beach, across the Han River via the nearer bridge, back to our hotel on the other side of the river. See map below:

 

• Stopped by roadside food stalls to satisfy our curiosity. At our first stop, we had bánh mì or bánh mỳ, a kind of short baguette sandwich stuffed with roasted pork, basil leaves, onions, and chilies.
• At our second stop, we had the scare of our life when we realized this foreign delicacy called hột vịt lộn that we ordered was half-hatched duck eggs! Argh!
• Had local beer called Bia Larue (resembled Tiger Beer) for supper.

Day 3

• Took a "sleeping bus" from Hanh Cafe, Da Nang to Hue City at 9:30 a.m.
• Passed by scenic Lang Co Bay. 
• Reached Hue around 12:30 p.m. and checked in Thai Binh Hotel II (02 Luong The Vinh Street).
• Had my first bowl of bún bò Huế, a kind of beef phở with lashings of chili oil. Hubby had bò kho, Vietnamese beef stew served with baguette.
• Took a taxi to the Citadel and spent our entire afternoon exploring this place.
• For some more adventure, we decided to take the 2.2km romantic late evening walk from the Citadel, across the Perfume River, back to our hotel on the other side of the river. See map below:

 

• Had some really nice dry noodles salad called bún hến and dessert by the roadside.

Day 4

• Took a cyclo to Chợ Đông Ba (Dong Ba Market) in the morning. Bought some souvenirs.
• Took the "sleeping bus" again at noon to go back to Da Nang.
• Reached Da Nang around 3:30 p.m.
• Lugging our luggage with us, we took another 2.3km late evening walk from where the bus dropped us, to get back to Rainbow Hotel.
• Stopped by a stall selling bánh canh and I happily slurped down the entire bowl of porky soup with gelatinous noodles.

Day 5

• In the morning, we took the yellow bus No. 1 (Da Nang - Hoi An) to go to Ngũ Hành Sơn (Marble Mountains), 12km from town.

 

• Bus tickets for foreigners were notoriously hiked up to 40,000 VND per person (locals pay 15,000 VND only). We managed to settle at a total amount of 60,000 VND for both of our tickets. Oh well, better than gotten thrown off the bus. Note: RM1 = 6,500 VND.
• Spent almost the entire afternoon at the mountains and did some minor caving. I was thrilled, I couldn't believe I actually climbed up and down those narrow passages and rocks.
• Our bus tickets back to Da Nang were 50,000 VND (total amount for both of us).

Day 6

• Walked to Chợ Hàn (Han Market). Bought some Vietnamese durian, coconut, and banana candies, and some snacks.
• Reached airport slightly after 12:30 p.m. Our flight back to KL was 3:30 p.m.

******************************

Stay tuned for more blog posts about places of interest and our gastronomic adventure, WITH photos. ;)

Follow this tag for future updates. :)

2

Project: Reflect 52 #25 - 3 popular questions people ask us after we're married

Our wedding bands

#1: Where did you go for your honeymoon. How was it?

Honeymoon was really good. We went to Da Nang in Vietnam. Weather was scorching hot. We walked to wherever we wanna go everyday for 6 days. Follow this tag for more upcoming blog posts and photos. :)

#2: How's married life?

We're still in love. We got our own nest, I mean house. Hubby says it's our kingdom. :D We're spending more time together compared to before we're married. Everything's really great! Marital bliss is real. :D

#3: When are you gonna have a baby?

Not so soon, but we have plans to produce a 2013 year-end baby, either boy or girl is fine. We have names for them already! :D

******************************

In case you missed, you might want to read these posts:

We're Married (Part 1): A Thank You Note
We're Married (Part 2): A Summary
We're Married (Part 3): Our Wedding Mass

******************************

By the way, I really like this charm bracelet we got from Han Market, Da Nang. One of the charms is inscribed with the LOVE character in Chinese. It pretty much summarizes my mood all these while. :)

0