Hanoi - Old Quarters

If you want to see the heart of Hanoi, you will definitely need to drop by this area.
The Old Quarter has the original street layout and architecture of old Hanoi. Each street had merchants and households specialized in a particular trade, such as silk traders, jewellery, etc.
The area is famous for its small artisans and merchants, including many silk shops. Local cuisine specialties as well as several clubs and bars can be found here also.

The structures are all old but with character!


This place is filled with bikes and honking sound the whole day!




Amidst the noisy streets, the locals are coping fairly well...








This is one of the many shops that sells wedding stuff...and the streets is filled with colors!


Within the Old Quarters were many temples... and their religion are basically Taoism which is very much alike with the Chinese.





Here's a pic of Justine's back view concentrating for a shot in the Temple

Trekking SAPA valley

The views of SAPA valley is simply breath taking..
Blessed with bright and breezy weather, trekking thru SAPA valley was an enjoyment.

I selected a few of the better pictures to share here...










Kids swimming and bathing happily at the river


This little girl ran back home immediately when Benny and I followed her with our scary cameras! haha










Its such a beautiful place isnt it?

The beautiful views of SAPA Valley

We were blessed for this trip as the sky and weather was in our favor. There was no mist or fog blocking the view of the valley and the weather was bright and sunny.
Along the way to SAPA valley, we couldnt resist to stop a few times to admire the nice view from the mountain.





Along the road side, there were many kid peddlers selling handicraft items to tourist. I could only do a few snapshots from my wide angle lens, as the moment these kids spotted you taking their pictures, they will start pestering you.

"Buy from me please..." is what they said to everyone..


Something which i regretted not bringing was sweets and snacks that i could distributed to these kids.
Some kind tourist gave these siblings some stickers instead and kept them busy for awhile...and i noticed that despite these stickers were considered rare to them, there wasnt a single act of selfishness spotted throughout the session...







They share whatever given to them with one another...such virtues and behaviour were amazing!

Hanoi...SAPA a little touch of the innocent days

My first visit to Vietnam..and together with SGtrekker, we explored SAPA town. This little village at LAO CAI - SAPA area leaves the deepest impression on me. The children especially is the most innocent lot that i have seen....



The 2 little cute sisters along de way..that i met up the hill. They were so innocent that when Melvin offers them a biscuit and a lens to choose from, they choose the biscuit. They didnt even requested for one...nor asked for more....


Bidding farewell..


How the kids spend their days...








Thou they were poor and uneducated, i felt that they lead a simpler life which seems tonnes happier than any of us...

We were always taught by our parents, as well as influenced by the society, that we need to study hard, we need good grades to find a good job, we wanted a well paid job, and only when we become more well to do will we lead a better life...and throughout the years, we pursue them non stop...we get stressed, materialistic, and unsatisfied...we became competitive, complaining kings and everything...and so are we eventually going to be happy?

I guessed that its time for us to understand at the word "Contentment"...

A little camera porn

As i was packing my cameras and lenses for my trip to Hanoi tomorrow, i thought that i could do a little stock take on my film cameras and lenses (with all the buy and selling going on for the past few weeks).


Was a little surprise that it wasnt that many that i thought it would be. Anyway this is the first shot off my 60D...

and the 2nd shot!


And saving the shutter for Hanoi!

A Night walk around the neighbourhood

This is one of the oldest residential area(Chinatown)...and it has been a long while since i last visited this place at night...
I actually wanted to test out the canon 50 1.4 lens, to see how it perform wide open. The results was amazing. This old planar lens design was build to perform!

In the lunar 7th month(Ghost month), the quiet corridor adds a little creepiness...








There were still some activities despite the late night...it wasn't that lifeless after all...




Across the streets, some restaurant was still operating...


The people living in this area are mostly old folks. Given the urbanization and development these days, these old familiar scenes would be gone in years to come.

How do you spend your weekend?

Reading?


Or taking pictures?


Which do you prefer?