Going to the Beauty Salon!

I finally succumbed and went to the beauty salon here while in Da Nang, Viet Nam. After months on the road I needed help. Jason has been "suggesting" I go for a while now, and because I hate having to try to find a new stylist, I kept on putting it off. Then to try to find one in a country you don't speak the same language, who knows how it will turn out! It's easy for a guy to sort of ask for what he wants, but for a female it is much more complex, how do I explain I want bangs, layering, texturizing, etc.? Well, I couldn't put it off any longer, so off I went, after I tried to google something first of course! I just picked the first place I could find, and there isn't a lot of places being reviewed online! With that being said, the place I did find a "review" for didn't even get their haircut there, just a wash, but oh well. I'm going. No point in stressing over it. It's hair and it will grow back...I hope!

I hopped in a taxi and within a few minutes of driving, I was there. I walked in, and that's where it stopped. No one spoke English! Then a man, who turned out to be a hairdresser, asked me what services I wanted. He showed me a menu with English and Vietnamese along with prices. Very helpful. I asked for a haircut. Then he started to go through the services and before I knew it, I was having a hair wash, ear cleaning and massage as well! Good sales person, ha ha.

Other clients getting facials, ear cleaning, etc.

The Ear Cleaning (Vay tai)
Never had this done before so I thought, why not? I was taken up some stairs into a dark room with a young woman who spoke a couple of words in English so we relied on body language. She gestured for me to lay down as she pulled her stool up to the table. She then found her head lamp and tools. Whew, some light. And to work she went, poking and prodding ever so gently in my ear. I was terrified of moving hoping I would not sneeze. She was very calm and very careful as she performed whatever it was she was doing. The thought of what is in there disgusts me! She took great care in what she was doing and I was grateful for that. It was interesting to notice the different sounds I could hear when she worked on various parts of the ear, at moments it was the sound of a soft swab and at others a heavier almost scrapping sound you would hear while under water. After 30 minutes of work it was over. I was glad. Would I do that again? Not likely, but it was interesting, and boy can I hear things now! ha ha. 25,000 VND ($1.25 CAD)

The Body Massage
I can never understand when someone says they do not like massages. I LOVE them! I have not had one since we started this journey, so it was long overdue. Although petite, she was extremely strong. It was very good, and for only 120,000 VND ($6 CAD...I am NOT kidding!)

The Hair Washing (Goi dau Nu)
This is not included with your hair cut. But it is also not "just a wash", it is 30 mins of a relaxing facial and hair wash. I was taken to another room for this service, where there were sinks and tables all lined up in a row. Unlike in North America where you sit in an awkward chair, and slide down until your neck rests on the sink, here you lay down, with your neck resting on the sink. A much better system. So much so, that the man next to me fell asleep! I could hear his quiet snore as he was having a facial done! First she washes your faces with a cleanser, then massages it for a bit. After she works on your hair shampooing and conditioning it about 3 times! How can you not love the idea of this?! 40,000 VND ($2 CAD)

Hair washing stations

The Haircut (Cat toc Nu)
The man who helped me when I arrived cut my hair. I was not able to explain what I wanted, but I tried to show a picture of a previous cut I had. I wanted it cut a little short, and apparently he understood the short part and before I knew it, he pulled out a razor and started at it! Oh well, I did say it would grow back! Ahhh. The communication was difficult, and trying to ask for some layering was a challenge, so I tried to fluff up my hair to show I wanted some lift (so my hair would not sit flat on my head). He did something and I sort of got what I wanted. In the end, I said thank you, laughed inside my head and paid. At least it is done, and I look less like a mop top. It's better but I miss my stylist back home! 70,000 VND ($3.50 CAD)

Waiting and wondering how my haircut will turn out!

This is what I got...much better than before!

But really, if I did not go I would not have had this fun experience! This place was not a fancy salon/spa. It was simple and offered good services. This place obviously caters to the locals, and as such, the prices reflected it. I was there for close to three hours and it was a total of 255,000 VND ($12.75 CAD)!

My bill for 255,000 VND

A big part of traveling for me is getting past how something looks on the outside and how you are used to doing things. Just go with it, and I hope to have a good (or at least interesting) experience!

~ Christine

White or wrong?

In Asia there is this 'trend' of ladies wanting to have white skin. Most pop singers look something like this:

White!

In China they also love to take pictures with white children and sometimes adults, like me. I thought they were just confusing me for David Beckham at first, it's easy to understand though. It's odd to see them mob a couple with a child, they will just swoop in and pose with the child while their friend snaps the photo. It's as if the child were a famous actor or something.

In Viet Nam just about EVERY body/skin related product has "whitening" in it.

Deodorant for Men, with WHITENING!

Who doesn't want whiter arm pits!?

Whitening Shower Cream

Whitening Body Lotion

 And just for reinforcement, these ads (found online):

Yes ladies, dream of white!

White or wrong?

-Jason

Happy Holidays!

Giáng sinh vui vẻ và hạnh phúc năm mới from Vietnam!

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas and all the best for the New Year!

Feliz Navidad y Prospero Año Nuevo!

Joyeux noël et bonne année

~ Christine & Jason

Photo taken in Shanghai Nov 2013

Strike! Bowling in Da Nang, Vietnam

We have always talked about going bowling but never did it...until now! Not only is Lotte Mart a supermarket, but it also has a cinema, arcade and bowling alley upstairs! This was Jason's first time trying 10-pin bowling, and the last time I tried was about 15 years ago! The lanes were quiet when we got there (granted it was a weekday), so we had the place to ourselves (to laugh at each other). No, we weren't that bad, but we weren't good either!

Enough English was spoken there that we didn't have too much trouble getting setup. The only challenge we had was finding a pair of shoes that would fit Jason! They immediately gave him the largest pair they could find, and after the third pair, he found some that would work...well, sort of! And yes, the same ugly bowling shoes are worn all the way over here in Vietnam. They also provide you with socks too, how nice!

The largest pair still wasn't big enough!
Jason's big toe is trying to get out!

The lanes were automatic as was the scoring which was good because I could not remember how to score! We played two games, and it is tied 1 to 1 right now so we will have to go back one day for a tie-breaker! For the four games (2 games each) plus shoes it was 130,000 VND or $6.50 CAD!

Service was very good as the pins got stuck a couple times or would not reset correctly, and one of the attendants was there to promptly assist.

It was a lot of fun and good laughs for both us and the staff who were watching us but kind enough not to laugh.

Till we meet again!

~ Christine

Going to a local market in Da Nang, Vietnam

Went to a local market with the help of Lan. We hopped on our motorbike, and scooted over. Lan did all the buying while we watched. It was full of activity and life. We wanted fish for dinner so she surveyed the vendors looking for the best one, then moved to the vegetables. Not satisfied with what she saw, we moved to the next vendor. And lastly we headed to the fruit section. She was fast, and before we knew it, our adventure at the market was over! It was overwhelming and fun!

 Seafood vendors

Vegetable vendors

 Meat vendors

 More vegetables

 Buying our fruit

 Our meal cooked by Lan!

~ Christine

Nanjing (Nanking) Massacre Memorial Hall

When we knew that we were going to China, one place that was a must on our list was the Nanjing massacre memorial in Nanjing.

Known as Nanking to many, Nanjing is the official "pinyin or "romanized" name and has become widely accepted as the official pronunciation effectively replacing Nanking.

In the late part of the 1800s and early part of the 1900s the colonial powers (British, French, American, etc) were busy carving up Asia for themselves with a great degree success. America had the Philippines and Guam. Britain had Hong Kong, India, Malaysia and Singapore. France had Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. The Japanese really wanted in on this "carving up of Asia".

China offered the opportunity of a significant amount of land and natural resources. China was weakened by the efforts of of the colonial powers and internal divide over who and how the country should be governed.

Around 1931 Japan starts it's efforts to conquer and colonize China. At first its a small scale effort, fighting skirmishes with the Chinese but by 1937 (two years before the start of WWII) it escalates into full scale war.

Japan had taken the northeast corner of China, north of Nanjing (calling it Manchukuo) and had taken Shanghai, south of Nanjing.  At the time, Nanjing was the capital city.

On December 13, 1937 Japan attacked Nanjing from the north and south. Their goal was to take the city so violently and horrifically that the rest of China would be terrified and capitulate to Japan.

What followed was a systematic rape, torture and killing of 200 000 to 300 000 men women and children over a 6 week period. Many people were buried alive while family members bore witness. Women were raped countless times a day, many murdered some gutted while alive. Children were not spared. The Japanese would have killing contests to see who could behead the most people with their swords... 

The most striking part of all this is the very personal nature of the slaughter. This was not a mechanized effort to exterminate, it was very hands on to shock and terrorize. It would ultimately have the opposite of the desired effect by the Japanese, it would instead galvanize the Chinese into fighting and ultimately winning (with help from the allies) against the Japanese.

Buried alive

The memorial is very moving, more so than any other we have been to. They have done a very good job with telling the human side of the story. There are many personal accounts of what happened. You do not get a feel of propaganda or sensationalization. It is part memorial, part park, part museum.

Inside the Memorial Hall are photos, descriptions and artifacts including some of the excavated remains of victims. All descriptions are in Chinese and English, so no guide is needed. You will want to move at your own pace and you will not (can not) read every piece of information. It is a lot to take in and by the end of it, we were exhausted and drained, but it was worth every minute. We did not take any pictures inside the Memorial Hall as we felt awkward due to the nature of the exhibit. We walked through it reading and learning a lot and trying to absorb what was being said. We took the time to read only parts of every section, rather than every detail so as not to overwhelm ourselves, yet be able to read about every aspect.

The most difficult moments that had a profound effect was seeing the actual remains, the torture photos, and reading about survivor accounts (especially the story about the boy who saw his mother die and his baby brother trying to get milk from her).

Taking the time to visit is well worth it and something you will never forget. Following are a few photos of the outside area:

Statue of a mother holding her dead child

Statues of a few of the massacre victims

 Mass grave of 10,000 corpses

Footprints of the massacre survivors

The official site for the Memorial Hall:

http://www.nj1937.org/english/default.asp

Getting to Nanjing and the "Memorial for compatriots killed in the Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Forces of Aggression" from Shanghai was easy. It's about an hour train ride.

How to get there:
From the Shanghai Railway Station take a bullet train to Nanjing Station (or Nanjing South Railway Station). Check the times of the trains, the 300km one way trip will take about 1 hour and 15 min depending on which train you take. Some will take longer depending on how many stops it has.

Once in Nanjing, hop on Metro Line 1 (connected to the train station) and transfer to Metro Line 2 westbound at Xinjiekou Statio. Alight at Yunjinglu Station, take exit 2. At the top of the stairs turn left, then cross a minor road and follow the statues on your right that lead to the entrance. The Memorial Hall is indoors and massive. After visiting it, you will exit outside to visit more of the Memorial site.

Entry is free, and plan to spend a few hours here. Washrooms are located near the end of the Memorial Hall building before you exit to the grounds (outside).

When you exit the grounds, you will be at the exact opposite end of the memorial. Turn left, then left again and follow the sidewalk in essence doubling back to return to the subway.

-Jason and Christine

Going to the Movies in Da Nang, Vietnam - Snowpiercer

This movie is full of Hollywood actors such as Chris Evans, Tilda Swinton, Ed Harris, John Harris, Octavia Spencer, and others but we never heard of it until a week ago! It was written, directed and produced by a South Korean movie studio but it is a Hollywood style movie in English and currently in negotiations to be released in North America and here we are in Vietnam watching it.

The Megastar Cineplex is very nice. http://www.megastar.vn/en/vtp/ We were able to communicate to all staff in English without any problems. Like the rest of Asia, Hollywood movies are not dubbed but have subtitles for the particular country's spoken language.  And like every cinema we have been to in Asia, you get to select your seats at time of purchase. I really do like this system!

We went to a lunchtime showing of Snowpiercer, and it was 95,000 VND (Vietnamese Dong) each (or almost $5 CAD). We sat in the lobby and waited to be let into the theatre. Before heading in, we stocked up at the concession. Jason got a large pop and popcorn - mixed sweet and salty (these are more like mediums back home - we really do have large portions in North America!). His two items were 63,000 VND (approx. $3.20 CAD). It's rare, but I felt like having my own bag of sweet & salty popcorn but opted for the medium. Only 40,000 VND ($2 CAD). There was nothing "interesting" or "strange" at the concession, the closest thing would probably be Milo, which is big in Asia.

 Jason paying for his goodies

Heading into the theatre it was clean, nice seats and good leg room. We had seen online, that some of the theatre's in Vietnam have "couples seats" (like a love seat so you can cuddle with your sweetie - blah!) but ours did not. Thank goodness, I was worried Jason would want to cuddle! ha ha!

Before the movie we had the usual commercials and trailers, but we have never experienced so many before. Mainly commercials intermixed with a couple of trailers for a good 17 minutes before the movie started! We could not believe it, and they repeated some of the commercials too?! That is just silly!

Our thoughts on the movie itself, overall excellent if imperfect.  As you've noticed, we don't like to write/say a lot about a movie itself so as not to spoil it for you if you decide to see it. You can read what others have to say about the movie itself if you are curious! Everyone did a great job in the movie, and like we said, we were curious to see it based on the fact that it was a Hollywood movie made in/by South Korea!

Until we meet again for the next movie!

~ Christine

Hong Kong Disneyland

Check! All Disney's in the world have been visited! Starting with the first Disney in Anaheim, to Florida, to Tokyo, to Paris and now Hong Kong.

Hong Kong Disneyland is the youngest park (2005) and the smallest in both the sense of park size and the fact that it is only one park. But despite this, it is still fun. It is more geared toward small children (no Indian Jones, no Pirates of the Caribbean or Matterhorn Bobsleds, for example) with a very good Fantasyland, and Toy Story Land. There is also an area called Grizzly Gulch with a roller coaster ride similar to Big Thunder Mountain Railway, and an area called Mystic Point with an attraction called Mystic Manor that is related to the story of the Tower of Terror ride at Tokyo DisneySea (this story is totally different than the one at the other Tower of Terror's around the world).

Getting to HK Disneyland is very easy by the MTR (metro), alight at the Sunny Bay station, and hop onto the Disneyland Resort train. If you are on Hong Kong Island it will take approximately 35-45 minutes to get there and $26 HKD per person (from the Western District area - Sheung Wang Station).

See the Mickey windows & holders on

the Disney Metro Line

There several locations where you can pre-purchase your park tickets rather than waiting in line at the park (check your with your hotel's front desk, Circle K outlets, Hong Kong MTR Station, etc) http://park.hongkongdisneyland.com/hkdl/en_US/ticketsAndReservations/overview?name=OneDayTicketPage The current price for 1 adult is $450 HKD ($64 CAD) for a 1-day ticket.

We spent half a day at the park walking around, going on a couple of rides and waiting in line to meet some of the characters :) The lines were not too long, but we were there off-season (November) and on a weekday (Friday).

Here is our day at the Happiest Place on Earth:

 Toy Story Land!

Loved the Scrabble tiles!

 Sleeping Beauty's Castle

 Lunch time! I had to get the chicken once

I saw the rice :) So simple but I love it!

 Pluto n' me - In Fantasyland, there is a dedicated

area to meet the characters

Christmas at Disneyland

 Snack time! A Mickey waffle

Now to get Jason to Florida, this is the only one he has not visited :)

~ Christine

PS Shanghai Disney is slated to open at the end of 2015, so I will be going!

Going to the Supermarket in Da Nang, Vietnam

Now that we have taken a break from hotels and are staying for a while in a condo, we needed to do a little shopping to set up shop. We found LOTTE Mart, a Korean chain, that sells EVERYTHING. You name it, they have it, from furniture to clothes, to toys, to groceries. Sorry guys, no pictures of the store, there was a lot of security and staff wandering the store and I did not feel comfortable whipping out my camera! It seems that all supermarkets are heavy on the security, you either have to check your bag/purse in or get it sealed up. They might put a zap-strap on the zipper or put it in a plastic bag and then heat seal the top of it.

We grabbed our shopping cart on the ground floor, and headed up three floors.

This escalator "locks" the cart's wheels so it does not

roll back/forward as you go between floors

I was excited to have a fridge, stove, dishes, etc. again. It is nice to be able to just head to the fridge in the morning and grab some yogurt or make some eggs.

After three months of eating at restaurants, street vendors or convenience stores, I was lost in the supermarket. I mean, I did not know what to buy! What do I want to cook?! What do I need? Starting a kitchen from scratch is hard, you never remember what condiments you need, and you always forget ingredients for a dish.

There I was standing in front of the produce staring at some items I was not sure what they were, and others I did, but could not think of what I wanted to make! I mean, it’s been months since I’ve cooked a single thing! Jason is very impatient whenever we have to go to the supermarket, so that always adds to the pressure. What I have noticed in other supermarkets in other countries, is that when you get your produce, there is a person (or machine) dedicated to weighing and pricing your items. This is genius as the person there knows all vegetable or fruit codes, and you do not hold up the cash register line with a price check or code!

After getting a few items, we then headed up and down the aisles. This is the fun part because you get to see what interesting things they have (and try!). Some of the things we bought:

 Instant Congee - I'm a little worried, but I wanted to try it!

 Jason loves the different chip flavors they have in Asia

Microwaveable rice

 Microwavable congee

Jason's new favorite drink - Aloe!

Guessed this was yogurt - we were right

 The smallest ginger root I have ever seen! 

Battery is for scale purposes!

 The smallest garlic bulbs I have ever seen!

Once we had enough, we headed to the check out. Items were scanned, and the total was growing. In the end, our shopping spree cost us 1,885,000 VND (Vietnamese Dong). You heard me right, 1.9 million VND! Currency in Vietnam really messes us up. That is approximately $98 CAD. This included a bottle of wine (207,900 VND, or $10.50 CAD), a bottle of sparkling wine (289,000 VND or $14.50 CAD), milk 1.5L imported from New Zealand (69,000 VND or $3.50 CAD), to name a few items.

 See the total?

 Close-up of the receipt

As were were leaving the store, an employee approached us and asked if we needed a taxi. Why, yes we do. She called one over for us (they were lined up outside), and pushed our cart to the taxi,  the driver helped put our bags in the taxi and off we went. Such service!

The local markets are much less expensive, but we felt the need to visit a supermarket where prices were clearly marked and we could figure out what we wanted at our own pace.

~ Christine