by aengelson | January 18th, 2010
First of all, I should note that I’ve added a new feature to the blog. Now when you post a comment, you’ll be asked if you want to receive notification of any follow-up comments… that way you’ll know if anyone has responded to your comment on a blog post. All you do is check the box below your comment entry and add your e-mail address. It will automatically notify you if there’s a comment following yours. Pretty cool–a big thanks to Frank at Our Hiking Blog for the tip!
So what have we been up to lately in Hanoi?
Fiona on the roller coaster at Lenin Park.
Well, the winter break was great, and in addition to some traveling to Ha Long Bay and Fansipan, the girls did some playing and exploring in Hanoi, including a visit to the art museum and several trips to Lenin Park. In the park, we rode a rickety but very fun little roller coaster, and several other somewhat rudimentary but exciting rides. The little circling airplanes that were propelled by room fans were pretty amazing. We also paid a visit to the crazy arcade at the Vincom Tower Mall. We spent an afternoon playing air hockey, whack-a-mole, and other assorted video games. Fun stuff.
Flight training.
The girls were back in school last week, and I was trying to get caught up on my writing. On Friday, Matilda slipped on the floor at home and landed on her chin. Not serious, but it was a pretty good gash, so Joanie and I took her to an international clinic in Hanoi. She ended up getting two stitches–the doctors were great, but it’s still a scary thing for a little 4-year-old and her 40-something parents. Tooda is healing up nicely and in great spirits. Her mom and dad are recovering from the experience, too–but a little less quickly!
Electronic music jam session at Tadioto.
Other fun in Hanoi: last night I went to a great event at Tadioto, a nice bar-gallery-cafe in the south end of Hanoi. Lots of poetry and music by expats, Vietnamese, and some traveling artists. Great guitar music and a lovely poetry-violin husband-and-wife duo (she’s originally from Sri Lanka, he’s from Ireland). And some fantastically intense electronic noise-sing-scream-trance stuff from some talented Vietnamese artists, too. A great night, and it’s fantastic to discover the vibrant creative community here in Hanoi among young Vietnamese artists and expats.
Thanks for the kind words about the blog! I’ll be at Tadioto this Sunday attending the next meeting of the Hanoi Writer’s Collective, a writer’s workshop group where we share and try to improve our writing.