We finally went to Canton Paradise as a family for dim sum, although it wasn't quite planned that way. From the top right in a clockwise manner, we ordered their signature crispy char siew (barbequed pork) bun, steamed chicken feet and prawn dumplings (ha kao).

The crispy char siew bun was a hybrid of bo luo bread with steamed bun filled with mashed up char siew. You don't get minced char siew, but mashed up char siew. Almost like the char siew was a stew to begin with. Hmm...not sure whether I like this but it's interesting. This made me wonder how their plate of char siew would taste like. It is supposed to be one of their signature dishes and reviews were raving about the char siew.

The chicken feet and prawn dumplings were ok. That being said...it means that they tasted the way they should! LOL.

We really ordered quite a lot of food. There was XLB, crispy yam dumplings (sorry but Royal China's version is better), steamed pork ribs with black beans (again, Royal China's version is better), chee cheong fun with prawns (Royal China's version was smoother and softer), Liu Sha Bun and much more. Now...guess what I'm going to say next. Yep, Royal China's version of the flowing custard bun is much much better. Why? Canton Paradise's custard was good but the bun was waaay too thick. Made you sick of eating the bun after the first one, which you don't want to do!

However, we did order a prawn and scallop dumpling which was really good! Too bad they ran out of Kampong Chicken when we went there, if not, I'll then be able to give you a better review of their signature dish.

Price-wise, it's the same range as Crystal Jade and Royal China but I couldn't help but feel that Royal China gave better value due to the quality of the food.

Canton Paradise

460 Alexandra Road
#02-30, PSA Building (Alexandra Retail Centre)
Singapore 119963
Tel: 6274 0644
Fax: 6274 1694
Website: www.paradisegroup.com.sg

Business Hours
Mon – Fri 
11.00am-3.30pm (last order at 3pm)
5.30pm-9.30pm (last order at 9pm)

Sat, Sun & PH 
10.30am – 9.30pm (last order at 9pm)

Watson's was having a sale for these Sally Hansen Sugar Coat nail polish. Buy 1 and get 1 free. Good deal right? $14.90 for 2 bottles! Yes...I was lured by the discount and bought these 2 colours. I didn't realise that it was meant to be sandy textured nail polish. Guess I should've read the fine print on the front of the label.  :P

So, after the first 2 coats, they turned out like the above. In my opinion, that's a little tooo boring. So what did I do? I added heart stickers on my thumbnails and glitter polish to the tips. I also did accent nails by adding a lot of glitter polish.

I must say that I'm not very fond of this sugar coat texture. It was too rough for me. I've used OPI's Sand polish and it wasn't this bumpy. I know that it's the desired effect but I like touching my nails from time to time and the rough bumps of the sugar coat polish was not making me happy. Weird, I know. Nonetheless, since I've bought 2 bottles, I will go and search for suitable designs that have sandy textures incorporated into them.

I wanted something bright and simple but yet I still couldn't get over how pretty the feathers turn out on the nails. Hence, I had a feathered accent nails, which I furthered highlighted with gold glitter polish. For the rest of the fingers, I used a bright orange by Model's Own.

If you have only 1 day to visit Hanoi's attraction, here's a quick itinerary to follow. I didn't do all within 1 day but it was split into 2 halves so it still is quite a good guide. Before I begin on the itinerary, here are some points to note before you even land in Vietnam:

1. Stay in a hotel within the Old Quarters.

Mum and I stayed at the Hanoi Pearl Hotel (4 star), which was quite conveniently located to most of the attractions within Hanoi. So, you need not stay in the exact same hotel but do your homework and try to stay somewhere near the Lake so that it becomes your point of reference.

2. Warning about the traffic is true
I'm sure that you've read a lot of blogs and forums about how the traffic comes from both directions even in a one-way street. It's all true. Just be confident and cross the road like you owned it. The traffic moves at a speed of about 30km/h so it's slow enough for them to dodge you but if you hesitate, they're not going to be able to judge your speed/direction etc.

3. Save the Google Map on your phone/tablet

Some of the roads don't seem to scale and some of the junctions don't look quite right on the paper maps given by hotels. My sense of direction isn't bad but I still managed to get a bit lost. Doesn't help at the road names tend to be only at the ends of the roads. Great thing about Google Maps (even on the saved version) is that tiny arrow representing you as you navigate through the narrow lanes.

Now...onto the top things to do/see when in Hanoi and it's easy to do this in order:

1. Hoan Kiem Lake (Lake of the Restored Sword)

It's the largest lake and park within the Old Quarters and legend has it that King returned a sword to the Turtle God in this lake, after a victorious battle. If you spot any turtles, it means that you'll have good luck (time period unknown). Take a short walk around half of it and then walk towards the south-west of the lake.  That's where you'll see the next attraction.

2. St. Joseph's Cathedral

Located in Nha Tho Street and built in 1886, this is the oldest church in Vietnam. Built by the French in the neo-Gothic style, it is no wonder that the architecture is similar to Notre Dame in Paris. Although it looks really dirty on the outside, it is very clean and pristine on the inside.

If you're Catholic like I am, I'd encourage you to go to the mass in Vietnamese. Just to experience it. You will forget all the things to say (except for Amen) but the singing is really quite beautiful and some parts reminded me of chants, although they were just reciting the Lord's Prayer.

Sunset mass on Sat is at 6pm.
English mass on Sun is at 11am.

The church is surrounded by a lot of cafes so this might be a good time to grab lunch, but again, it does depend on the time. If it's too early for lunch, this is the time to try a cup of Vietnamese Coffee (ca phe sua = coffee with milk; I prefer their iced coffee). Then, walk east beyond the southern tip of the lake to get to the next attraction.

3. Opera Theatre

We didn't go in but it does remind you of the French influence that Hanoi/Vietnam has. Does remind me a little of the Opera Theatre in Paris though. Depending on what time you left your hotel, how long you walked around the lake as well as whether you ate at the cafes near the church, you might want to walk north and have lunch at one of the more expensive cafes here.

4. Thang Long Water Puppet Theater

Head West towards the lake again but walk along Dinh Tien Hoang Street till you hit the Thang Long Water Puppet Theater. Their first show of the day starts at 1.45pm and each show is about 45mins. The stage is a small pool of about 4m x 4m. Tickets are cheap at about USD 4/pax. I highly recommend sitting in the front row so that you have an unobstructed view of the performance.

One of the folklores that they'll perform is the one where the King returns the magical sword into Hoan Kiem Lake! It's performed in Vietnamese but the action of the puppets is entertaining enough for you to understand what is going on. Grab a pamphlet before going in and read it while waiting for the performance to begin.

5. Old Quarter/ Market

I know that most guidebooks would recommend going to the Night Market (only on Fri-Sun) and honestly, I did and it's really not that much of a difference between day and night. In fact, it's more crowded at night (cue pickpocket alert) and with so many tourists, the shop owners jack up the prices a lot more than if you walked 15 min out of the Old Quarter! So, if you're really into souvenir shopping, I say do it during the day when it's less crowded and you're still in the mood to bargain!

6. Treat Yourself To A Fancy Meal
We were recommended to eat at 'Green Tangerine', a French-Vietnamese fusion restaurant at 48 Hang Be Street, which is right next to the Night Market and is also known as the area for good Vietnamese food. The concierge at another hotel warned us not to eat the local street food unless we've got strong stomachs.

I love the ambience of this restaurant and you can choose to dine al fresco or inside (where it's air-conditioned). I highly recommend ordering their crab appetizer and the beef main course is really yummy. Mum and I spent about S$50 each so yes, it's expensive in Vietnamese standards but is about there in Singaporean standards.

Green Tangerine
48 Hang Be Street
Tel: +84 4 3825 1286
Website: http://www.greentangerinehanoi.com/
Email:  enquiry@greentangerinehanoi.com

So, that concludes the day where you'll feel tired but satisfied at the end of it all. You'd have covered the more important parts of the Old Quarter and hopefully, you've managed to get some souvenirs such as silk, cashew nuts and/or lacquer.

I missed out some sights such as the Ho Chi Minh's House and the Hoa Lo Prison, both of which you can still add into your itinerary. I chose not to because my mum can't walk that much plus as mentioned earlier, this was actually split across 2 half days that we spent in Hanoi.

Have fun and happy travelling!

This is one of my favourite photos taken at Halong Bay, a 4-hour drive from Hanoi and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Mum and I had gone to Hanoi on 8 May and Halong Bay was on Day 2 of our itinerary booked through Go Asia Travel (you can read my review on this tour agent on Trip Advisor here).

Specifically for this 2D1N luxury cruise at Halong Bay, Go Asia Travel booked us with Huong Hai Sealife. I must say that it was a comfortable cruise where you did feel a bit pampered in terms of the attention given to you by the tour guide/manager.

Our Cruise Ship

That's the view of our cabin and each room comes with a private balcony which would've been cool to sit at after dinner, nursing a drink.

So, what's so great about Halong Bay? It's a bay that spans an area of around 1,553 km², including 1,960–2,000 islets, most of which are limestone. As the bay was formed over millions of years, some of these larger islets have caves in them and we went to 'Surprise Cave' after lunch where the third chamber was simply enormous and really quite gorgeous too.

 Below are photos from the largest chamber of the 'Surprise Cave' and it was really quite gorgeous.

After visiting the cave, we went to Ti Toc island, which has a beach! However, we went to climb up the 400 steps to get to the top to see a panoramic view of the bay.

This is only at the half way mark and the view is already really really pretty. Bring a bottle of water and make sure that you have comfortable shoes on. You could wear flip flops but I was thankful that I wore Fit Flops, which really cushioned my feet and prevented them from becoming too sore.

The above was taken from the top of the islet and you can see that the bay really extends far far out. It does capture the imagination that these limestone islets are the scales on a dragon that descended into the sea, which gave rise to the name Ha Long (下龙) - a Sino-Vietnamese name.

The beach was quite pretty but we questioned the cleanliness of the water at that area because not too far off was a fishing village and...guess where they do their business?

After the immense workout of climbing up and down the 'mountain', it was back to the 3-storey cruise ship where we were treated to a beautiful sunset.

 

 Onboard activities included a short cooking lesson on how to make Vietnamese fried spring rolls!

Honestly, it wasn't much of a cooking lesson because the ingredients were dead simple (mushrooms, spring onions, coriander and rice vermicelli anyone?) and I've wrapped so many popiahs in my life that spring rolls were a doozy. They should've taught us how to cook pho instead. Or Bahn Mi. Oh well...they probably were expecting a lot of amateurs and they didn't want to fill our stomachs with too much food since we had a grand dinner arranged an hour after that.


The next morning, we were shuttled off to a water cave tour (optional) which mum didn't go because she sprained her ankle the previous night while walking down the stairs to dinner. Those who woke up early at 7am went for Taiji (I obviously didn't go for that).

 All of us hopped into a 'traditional' rowed boat. Otherwise known as a sampan to all us South East Asian folks.

Entrance of the Cave

What they meant by 'water cave' is that this used to be a full cave but the roof eventually collapsed and is now an open top cave. If you're adventurous, you can choose to kayak into the cave. It's quite scenic but don't expect yourself to be awed by it, especially after seeing the enormous 'surprise' cave the day before.

After the cave trip, it was back on the ship where we then checked out before having a late breakfast while heading back to shore. All in all, we arrived back in Halong City at 11am before another 4-hour long journey back to Hanoi.

I thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience in Halong Bay - be it on the cruise or visiting the various caves and islets. I highly encourage everyone to book this tour and do it as a package prior going to Vietnam because we met a couple of Singaporeans who booked their Halong Bay cruise only at the hotel and they ended up paying about US$200/pax. That's about half of what I paid for my whole trip to Hanoi (excluding airfare).

My tour agents:
Go Asia Travel                   http://goasiatravel.com
Huong Hai Sealife Cruise  www.huonghaisealifecruise.com

I've been looking forward to watching Shakespeare In The Park - The Merchant of Venice ever since I saw the advertisements all over the columns of Raffles City Shopping Centre as well as the banners on the street lamps. It helped that I studied "The Merchant of Venice" in Secondary 1/2 (I can't really remember) for English Literature. Also, I had a great time at last year's Othello and was hoping for another entertaining evening under the stars.

The weather last night was really good. It was cool, breezy and although there was a forecast of rain, there wasn't a drop of it. I had a date with myself since nobody else wanted to go with me and the only one who would is now in Canberra :(

Anyway, true to it's style for all its Shakespeare in the Park plays, SRT's production was a highly modernised interpretation of "The Merchant of Venice". The stage was super modern and had lots of flashing lights and the music was leaning towards techno. Shylock's character was played by an Indian (nice play on stereotypes, although I wonder whether people got the play on how Indians are often called the 'Asian Jew') and the rest of the cast was a mix of all nationalities. Costumes were mainly business attires, gowns and the 'Jews' in the play wore costumes that bear the Nehru collar.

I get how they want to modernise it and use modern scenes (cue the bar and cocktails) as well as the clever use of the 3 light stands that rise and fall whenever the 3 caskets were needed/not needed in the scene.

What I don't get is the introductory 'dance' scene. It felt too stylised and pretentious in trying to introduce the cast with modern technology such as iPads and what I thought of as Stock Exchange jackets. The choice of music at certain parts were also too jarring and made me too conscious about them trying to fit everything into a modern context.

The saddest part was that I didn't feel the chemistry between the cast members. Although there were quite a few kissing scenes, it felt *ahem* too staged (pardon the pun), unlike 'Othello'. The only parts that I quite liked were the scene where the Prince opened the silver casket, only to find a picture of a blinking fool as well as the monologue of Lancelot.

I was so bored that I left during the interval. Sorry SRT. I will support you guys year after year but I was not convinced this year. Hopefully the next year would be better.

Finally had the chance to go to Crystal Jade and try out their fancy flavoured Xiao Long Bao. It's not 8 international flavours at the Ngee Ann City Branch/ Paradise Dynasty but it's still rather similar.

This steamer of 4 XLB is S$6.90++ and the flavours are:

• Original (white)
• Vegetable (green)
• Truffle (black)
• Spicy Sichuan (orange)

Learning from my Paradise Dynasty experience, I decided to eat the original first. I must say that Crystal Jade has picked up their quality. The pork isn't as sugar sweet as it used to be about 2-3 years ago (that is how long I've stayed away from Crystal Jade's XLB) and the skin is not too thick/thin. This one is much better than Paradise Dynasty's for sure. No leaky XLB here.

Second XLB to go into my mouth was the green one. I was rather disappointed with this one. It ended up tasting like 梅菜鸡 or the steamed pork with preserved vegetables that my mum cooks. Maybe it is exactly that. Paradise Dynasty doesn't have this flavour so no comparison can be done.

Next up was the Truffle XLB. Once again, I love love love how the taste of truffle just bursts into my mouth when I slurp the soup from the 'window' I make at the tip. The aroma of truffle hits you and you will not be disappointed in anticipating the truffle goodness within the pork. YUMMY! I could eat 10 of these at one sitting. Definitely on par with Paradise Dynasty on this. In fact, maybe I should give Crystal Jade a few more points because the skin of the dumpling was sturdier than that of Paradise Dynasty's and it wasn't dry although I didn't eat my XLB immediately.

Lastly, I tried the spicy one. It was not disappointing in the sense that it was flavourful and had the kick of the chillis. However, Paradise's version of this was simply more refined in the sense that there were layers of flavour to theirs.

Needless to say, the next time I go to Crystal Jade La Mian for XLB, I'll probably just order the original and truffle flavours. Keep improving on the quality of the food!!

Crystal Jade La Mian Xiao Long Bao
391 Orchard Road
Takashimaya S.C. #04-27
Tel: (65) 6238 1661 (reservation for weekdays only)

Great World City #02-43
Tel:  (65) 6738 5595 (no reservation)  

Bugis Junction #B1-04A
Tel:  (65) 6339 6902 (no reservation)

Website: http://www.crystaljade.com/