The morning started off brisk & cloudy changing to sunny and pleasant by mid-day, then back to cloudy and "I wish I was wearing more than my sweaty bike jersey" by late afternoon. Yes, this last Saturday was another instalment of the annual KOTO Ba Vi Bike Ride. The ride took us through narrow streets & road-side markets, atop dykes alongside lakes & canals, through harvested rice fields, past fields of flowers & greenhouses, a rest-stop at a pagoda, a short distance along a major highway with screeching truck horns & buses, bumping over a trail past piles of raw bricks waiting for their turn in the kiln, past giggling schoolchildren on their bicycles, and much more.
A stiff headwind on the way to Ba Vi was a slight mental challenge, but knowing that beer and a delicious BBQ lunch would be waiting at the Tan Da resort provided ample incentive. This year KOTO organized post-ride massages provided by volunteers from various massage companies which was a very welcome addition to the ride. Unlike previous years when I rode back in a car, this year I bicycled back home for a round trip of 136km, the most km I've put on a bicycle in one day. With a rejuvenating massage to un-kink some muscles and a tail-wind, the ride home was very pleasant and gratifying.
I managed to take a few pics along the way; Bike Ride Pic Set:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kevjblack/sets/72157622727917683/
If you're in the Hanoi area next year at this time, the KOTO Bike Ride is a great way to support a worthy organization and to see villages and landscape outside of Hanoi, although you may start to tire of all the kids shouting "Hello!" at you along the way. See crossbow4's entry on everytrail.com for a view of the route See crossbow4's other entries or search everytrail.com for "Hanoi bike" if you are interested in other weekend bike rides around Hanoi.
PS: see the second half of this weekend's uploaded pics for recent shots of the kids and some of Naveen's artwork: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kevjblack/archives/date-posted/2009/11/22/page2/
Monday, November 23, 2009
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Sapa Tour
Last week was a break week for most of the international schools in Hanoi so we headed on a little jaunt to Sapa in northern Vietnam. Caught the 9:15pm train from Hanoi to Lao Cai arriving around 5:30am. The kids were very excited to be travelling and sleeping on a train, futilely hoping to be sleeping on the top bunks, gazing out the window as the lights of Hanoi slipped away.
About a half hour before arriving in Lao Cai, hideous Vietnamese music blares from the train's speakers, encouraging passengers to wakeup and prepare for arrival. I was encouraged to wakeup and bash in all the speakers.
Arrived in Lao Cai, drive up the twisty road to Sapa which caused Asha to heave up -- first indication we had that she gets car-sick. Breakfast in Sapa, a short walk around a local village, then a ride out of town to the Topas Ecolodge to checkin for a couple nights.
The next couple days consisted of walks around local villages & countryside, some time at the town market, climbing a hill for a grand view of the town, enjoying the splendid scenery, fresh cool temperatures, misty mornings, and saying no to the very persistent local women hawking their handicrafts. We had women follow us for a good half hour trying to chat us up and sell their wares. Apparently the best time to visit Sapa and not feel hounded by persistent vendors is during rice planting and harvesting seasons when everyone is in the fields. And wow, there are lots of rice fields, terrace upon terrace stepping up the hillsides, the harvested stalks left standing, being cleaned over by pecking chickens or grazing water buffalo.
Very interesting to see a part of the country with groups of H'mong, Dao and Tay ethnic minority groups, each with their distinct style of dress, the dark blues and blacks of the H'mong, the red head-dress of the Red Dao, and the green of the Tay.
After the pleasant cool quiet of Sapa and the Ecolodge, the return to the evening bustle of Lao Cai and the shriek of bus horns was a slight shock. Then the 4:30am arrival in the heavy, stinky humidity of Hanoi almost made us turn around and return to Sapa.
Some trip pics:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kevjblack/sets/72157622668118526/
PS: if you're in Hanoi, the 2009 KOTO Ba Vi Bike Ride is taking place on Saturday November 21st. It's a great chance to cruise the countryside outside of Hanoi and support a worthy organisation. If you're not in Hanoi, feel free to sponsor me as I enjoy my 3rd Ba Vi Bike Ride. :)
Sunday, October 25, 2009
How the kids imitate us
The kids were playing "mommy & daddy" yesterday. To help mommy (Asha),
daddy (Naveen) carried a big bag of stuff for mommy to take to work.
Mommy sported a bag of tennis balls to give to daddy when he goes off
to play tennis.
daddy (Naveen) carried a big bag of stuff for mommy to take to work.
Mommy sported a bag of tennis balls to give to daddy when he goes off
to play tennis.
Our kid's play reflecting our lives -- mommy goes to work and daddy is
a slacker ;)
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
What People View
It's curious to see what people search & view on a Flickr Photostream. Here's a snapshot of my top 12 pics by page view since I activated the Flickr stats. Curious that 'pooja tray' is out in front by such a wide margin.
1. pooja tray 319 views
2. IMG_0620 221 views
3. delivery 121 views
4. wheelchair bound 113 views
5. clothes from India 113 views
6. Hu'u sunset 106 views
7. Palm Garden pool 88 views
8. basket boat paddling 84 views
9. A crowd gathers 70 views
10. unattended briefcase 69 views
11. blindfolded Jasmine 65 views
12. IMG_0437 64 views
Tết Trung Thu
The moon is full and hanging low and orange in the sky. The dragons are dancing through the streets. Moon cakes are selling like hot cakes. Lanterns are decorating street posts. Kids are decked out in áo dài. Time for another Tết Trung Thu (Mid-Autumn moon festival) celebration this past weekend.
Some pics of the kids partaking of the fun: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kevjblack/sets/72157622404483211/
Some pics of the kids partaking of the fun: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kevjblack/sets/72157622404483211/
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Happy Birthday!
Good Gosh, another year gone by! The Big Boy is 5!
The clerk at the Hanoi Club thought it would be too difficult to make a Treasure Chest cake, so Lạp & I managed to make one ourselves. Lạp did the baking and I did some fine-tuning during the construction.
I got hand it to all the teachers out there -- we had 5 boys over for a couple hours -- so much noise and rough-housing -- I don't know how teachers withstand 15 or 20 kids each day. I think they enjoyed the treasure hunt we set up for them: a couple kids said it was the best treasure hunt they had ever been on and one gent even insisted on taking home all the clues!
5 blessed years with our little boy.
--
check out the pencil sketches of the kids done by our landlord's son: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kevjblack/3877409909/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kevjblack/3878203802/
The clerk at the Hanoi Club thought it would be too difficult to make a Treasure Chest cake, so Lạp & I managed to make one ourselves. Lạp did the baking and I did some fine-tuning during the construction.
I got hand it to all the teachers out there -- we had 5 boys over for a couple hours -- so much noise and rough-housing -- I don't know how teachers withstand 15 or 20 kids each day. I think they enjoyed the treasure hunt we set up for them: a couple kids said it was the best treasure hunt they had ever been on and one gent even insisted on taking home all the clues!
5 blessed years with our little boy.
--
check out the pencil sketches of the kids done by our landlord's son: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kevjblack/3877409909/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kevjblack/3878203802/
Monday, August 17, 2009
Quote of the day
While chatting about a friend who has chicken pox... Naveen: "Mommy,
what is chicken pox? Do you turn into a chicken or something?"
what is chicken pox? Do you turn into a chicken or something?"
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