Third time's the charm
So I was in Hanoi (yet again... three times in less than two years is a bit much) for a week. It was good (especially since I can literally close the books on it finally), and it was also somewhat hectic and draining. Went there with a slight cold and some mouth ulcers, returned with the same, and now a week on... cold and ulcers holding steady pom pee pee. I reckon I should just sleep a lot this weekend... haha yes of course. Because there's no PhD to work on, no marking to do, and no X'mas to prepare for. Ok, I reckon I won't wake up early on Saturday morning. There... so much more do-able.
Anyway back to Hanoi. The Vietnamese hosts were excellent. I must say this about our fellow Southeast Asians. They know all about courtesy and hospitality, although when you are actually working with them, you might sometimes miss the efficiency and brusque manner of the average Singaporean civil servant. Our hosts met the Singapore delegation with flowers at the airport, and everyday, we arrived at the conference venue to the somewhat touching, yet bizarre, spectacle of pretty young girls lining the staircases and clapping lustily to welcome each and every bus and taxi load.
The Southeast Asian Geography Association EXCO. I think this is my fave pic of us. We should use it for our website. Heh.
I went with a bus load of Singaporean teachers to Halong Bay to do fieldwork. This time around I learnt a lot more about the Karst landscape there than I gleaned from reading guidebooks or surfing the Internet. This is because one of my colleagues, who is an geomorphologist, walked me through the caves and gave me a detailed account of how the various features were formed. I knew some of it already from basic undergrad geomorphology and from previous trips to other limestone caves. But this was the most comprehensive lesson I've had so far. Hurrah! Invite me the next time you visit a limestone cave ;)
Mobile business on the bay
The conference itself lasted four days and it was a big enough deal to appear on Vietnamese national television. A new building was put up at the university to house the proceedings, and even the chairs in the rooms for the concurrent sessions arrived only the day before and were very comfortable. So comfortable that after lunch, there was a tendency to want to doze off. Very bad form if you're chairing a session. Heh. On another occasion, I was completely distracted from a panel I was convening because of the glorious smells being emitted from the kitchen where our meal was being prepared. You know how it is... go to a conference, death by over-eating.
Checking out the rooms for panel discussions just before the conference
While most of the days was devoted to work, evenings tended to be our own. A lot of the teachers chose to go shopping or relax with a non-dodgy massage (generally, karaoke and massage parlours are places of ill-repute in Hanoi), but some of us had other ideas.
Now this is how I like it...
A bit ironic though that after that particular evening out, I returned to the hotel room to a huge news feature on TV about the dangers of smoking. It also took me forever to wash the smell of tobacco from my hair that night. You see, while perfectly adequate, my hotel room did suffer from a chronic water pressure/hot water problem. Imagine washing your hair at midnight in a mere trickle of cold water during the Hanoi winter. No wonder my cold didn't get better. Another observation is that the lights in the room were rather wayward. Every day, different sets of lights would decide to work, while others took the night off. I swear the cleaning crew moved the working light bulbs around in a bid to 'surprise' me everyday!
Anyhow, after a week, I was ready to go home and have a proper shower. I can't remember the last time I felt so happy to turn on the water in my bathroom! It had been a productive and informative trip. It wasn't all hardship, that's for sure. But I was really glad to be home.
Borrowed these 'props' from the other delegates as a final goodbye gesture to Hanoi. A charming city with lovely people, though, alas, somewhat polluted and hence a tad trying.
Anyway back to Hanoi. The Vietnamese hosts were excellent. I must say this about our fellow Southeast Asians. They know all about courtesy and hospitality, although when you are actually working with them, you might sometimes miss the efficiency and brusque manner of the average Singaporean civil servant. Our hosts met the Singapore delegation with flowers at the airport, and everyday, we arrived at the conference venue to the somewhat touching, yet bizarre, spectacle of pretty young girls lining the staircases and clapping lustily to welcome each and every bus and taxi load.
The Southeast Asian Geography Association EXCO. I think this is my fave pic of us. We should use it for our website. Heh.
I went with a bus load of Singaporean teachers to Halong Bay to do fieldwork. This time around I learnt a lot more about the Karst landscape there than I gleaned from reading guidebooks or surfing the Internet. This is because one of my colleagues, who is an geomorphologist, walked me through the caves and gave me a detailed account of how the various features were formed. I knew some of it already from basic undergrad geomorphology and from previous trips to other limestone caves. But this was the most comprehensive lesson I've had so far. Hurrah! Invite me the next time you visit a limestone cave ;)
Mobile business on the bay
The conference itself lasted four days and it was a big enough deal to appear on Vietnamese national television. A new building was put up at the university to house the proceedings, and even the chairs in the rooms for the concurrent sessions arrived only the day before and were very comfortable. So comfortable that after lunch, there was a tendency to want to doze off. Very bad form if you're chairing a session. Heh. On another occasion, I was completely distracted from a panel I was convening because of the glorious smells being emitted from the kitchen where our meal was being prepared. You know how it is... go to a conference, death by over-eating.
Checking out the rooms for panel discussions just before the conference
While most of the days was devoted to work, evenings tended to be our own. A lot of the teachers chose to go shopping or relax with a non-dodgy massage (generally, karaoke and massage parlours are places of ill-repute in Hanoi), but some of us had other ideas.
Now this is how I like it...
A bit ironic though that after that particular evening out, I returned to the hotel room to a huge news feature on TV about the dangers of smoking. It also took me forever to wash the smell of tobacco from my hair that night. You see, while perfectly adequate, my hotel room did suffer from a chronic water pressure/hot water problem. Imagine washing your hair at midnight in a mere trickle of cold water during the Hanoi winter. No wonder my cold didn't get better. Another observation is that the lights in the room were rather wayward. Every day, different sets of lights would decide to work, while others took the night off. I swear the cleaning crew moved the working light bulbs around in a bid to 'surprise' me everyday!
Anyhow, after a week, I was ready to go home and have a proper shower. I can't remember the last time I felt so happy to turn on the water in my bathroom! It had been a productive and informative trip. It wasn't all hardship, that's for sure. But I was really glad to be home.
Borrowed these 'props' from the other delegates as a final goodbye gesture to Hanoi. A charming city with lovely people, though, alas, somewhat polluted and hence a tad trying.