February

Another month has almost passed by, at the speed of light, just as previous ones. Tomorrow we escape the Hanoian winter for a lazy week at the beach on a hopefully sunny Malaysian island, and when we are back it will already be March. Meaning we'll have about three months to go before Keisuke's contract comes to an end and we dont know where to go... Should we stay or should we go?!? Life sure is exciting.

Happy Valentine's day from Keisuke. Although it was pointed out that in Japan it is acutually the women who should get the men a present. Didn't know about that...

Without doubt, the outfit of the month.

Taking a break down at Sedona playground.

With Swedish-Vietnamese friend Theo, about to move to East Timor. Hana sure will miss him - and I his mum.

Part of our living room, and kitchen. Starting to look rather furnished, almost normal, slowly waking up the nomad in me. Time to start thinking about moving?

Mosaic wall

If you take the main road from town out to Tay Ho, you will pass the mosaic wall; several kilometers covered with amazing mosaic. On sunny days it is all sparkling but it sure does light up all these grey days, too. Of course, no spot is left without plenty of vendors trying to sell whatever it might be.

l'Espace

This week I started French at fancy - but cheap and definitely super subsidised - French cultural center l'Espace in town. Downstairs they normally have some kind of exposition, too, right now showing works by a contemporary embroydery artist, taking silk embroidery to a completely new level.

There is also a little cafe where you can have a coffee and croissant, while doing the homework.

Lazy days, kids paintings and termites

Trying to enjoy my unemployed days again, I do all sort of important things, like cleaning up old book shelves (which right now came to an abrupt end as found a box full of stuff now half eaten by termites, very disgusting and crawling and has to be handled later by Keisuke) and going through packs of drawings kids have made in school, thinking I better take photos and save them in the computer before termites find them as well. Maybe after lunch.

Engraving by Kai. Mysterious animal.

By Hana. Blue and orange period (day?).

Tet-o the cat

What to do what to do? Maybe it is just natural that we get a cat now that we enter the year of the cat. We cant keep it though but still havent found a new home for it and meanwhile the kids have adopted it totally, made it a little house and all. We call it Tet-o. Can be picked up anytime!

Hidden Hanoi

During our Hanoian Tet holidays we also went for a bicycle tour through the little alleys across the dyke road, and discovered a lovely neighbourhood made up of a mace of tiny alleys often no more than a meter or two wide, stretching all the way to the Long Bien bridge. Especially lovely now that it was empty.

"Keisuke, do people buy all these flags, or do the government provide them?"
"They buy them."
"Oh. But why?"
"Because they love their country so very much"

Money burning

During Tet everyone who can leave the city, the Vietnamese go home to their towns and villages and relatives, the foreigners go on vacation somewhere warm. Almost everything shuts down, only a few places in the Old Quarters catering for tourists remain open, and here and there a small street stall outside of one of the many pagodas where you have to go to ask for a prosperous, happy and healthy year. And burn some insence and money. Of course, we did it all.

It is not only at Tet you have to burn money, but also on other special moon calendar days. Outside your house or your shop or business. As the more you burn, the more prosperous you will become, the fires sometimes get quite big. In our friends' apartment building there were signs in the lobby asking people to please not burn money inside the apartments...

Bamboo ladders

I guess you can get these at Ikea nowadays, but next week I will go down to get a couple of bamboo ladders for myself. Straight from the source in the old quarters where they are supposed to be very cheap.

Taking a break

From what I am not sure, but in good company they seem to think.

I especially like the white tea pot someone must have brought from grannies house...

"1000 dong for the photo!" the young man shouted, and I thought that if I'd gotten that from every Vietnamese who's taken pictures of my kids without asking I would be a multi millionaire by now, and ignored him.

Happy New Year!

Today is the first day of the Lunar Year and Tet (the "Chinese" New Year) is being frantically celebrated all over Vietnam. Here it will be the year of the cat, while in China and Japan the year of the rabbit is coming up. I dont know anything about the difference but am sure that either will be exciting.
The best thing about Tet is that everyone gets a week off work, including Keisuke, and for the first time since we moved to Hanoi, we are on vacation without travelling. Tet is also the only time a year that the city actually shuts down, as everyone is busy visiting relatives and eating special food - or going to the pagoda to wish for a prosperous, healthy and happy new year. We took the opportunity and went for a bicycle ride into town. Almost empty the old quarters looked lovely.

Happy New Year! - or Chúc Mừng Năm Mới as they say here.

A rooster in the garden

The other day I made the mistake of giving the abandoned meowing little kitten that hangs around our garden some food and water. He's now settled completely; made our terrace his home and is getting pretty creative about ways to make it inside. Then, today the neighbor's new - and fairly big - rooster got loose and also decided our garden was the best place to hide. The kids of course got all excited and had loads of fun watching the neighbor, me and Thoa running around trying to fetch it, with brooms and all. Luckily we managed to keep it outside. Then Hana got hold of the broom and was the scariest of all, chasing Kai and Yuuki all the way up to the second floor. As cute as she is, she really can turn herself into one mean looking old witch! Other than that, nothing new and all pretty calm.

Cock-a-doodle-doo! Kuckeliku! Kokekokko!

Looks deceive...

Communication for Development

The other day when I entered the bathroom, I was greeted by the following message:

Looking like a perfect hand washing campaign I asked Keisuke how much he actually talks about the details of his job with Kai. As suspected - not at all. Maybe Kai is just a natural talent. Or he got fed up with the constant "wash your hands" nagging and acted it out all creatively.

Cyclo

The traditional public transport is now mainly an attraction for tourists or used on special events like when the whole family is going to the pagoda. Yesterday all kids in Hana's and Kai's school went for a cyclo ride around the block, to check out the Tet tree plantations, and for the fun of it.

Anna and Hana, with new teacher Erica, ready to go.

Tet holidays coming up

Next week Vietnam celebrates Tet, the Lunar (Chinese) New Year. This week all preparations are being made. Meaning it is virtually impossible to get through anywhere. Roads are jam packed, with people rushing here and there to get "everything" done, all motorbike drivers are busy transporting giant cumquat (a kind of small orange) trees here and there, just as indispensable as a Christmas three back home.

Here nothing is too big for two wheel transportation.

Yesterday, Hana came home with some tratidtional Tet food - banh chung, which she hade made in school and proudly ate for snack: a giant piece of sticky rice with mung beans and meet, cooked overnight in banana leafs. Actually not very yummy at all.

This year we will try what Hanoi is like during the holidays - supposed to be a very special experience, and very important to make sure you have enough food at home, as absolutely everything shuts down.

Sleep over

Last weekend we had Kai's best friend Hosea over for a sleep over again. On Friday afternoon they went straight from school to Kai's other best friend Yuuki for some serious play in his garden. Then home, a bath, dinner, movie with popcorn, a bedtime story and before 8.30 they had both passed out. On Saturday Hosea just refused to go home. Late afternoon Keisuke finally managed to get them both on his motorbike and drove him home. Somehow he managed to get Kai with him back home. It seems like this Friday both Kai and Yuuki will sleep over at Hosea's place. Ganbatte, Yuuki!

Best friends. Yuuki, Hosea, Kai.