This is the first time I m updating my blog twice a day but I have resolved to update it more often. :) I spent my first night in my new house yesterday and so far, everything is ok except for some minor defects like non-working TV, creaky doors and spoilt lamps. It may be major in Spore but in Hanoi, these are REALLY small stuff.
My OLD House
Anyway, as I was leaving my old house, I decided to take a few pictures for keepsake. After all, I had spent a few happy months here. My old house looked quite "run down" on the outside but its interior was quite decently furnished. Unfortunately, in my anxiety to move yesterday, I forgot to take the pics of my rooms before the BIG move. When I finally remembered, it was too messy. :( But this is a rather nice picture of the exterior. It is a 3 storeyed house with a small garage (at the bottom of the picture). My study room was the room on the right, 2nd floor, while my bedroom was at the back. See the tree in the picture? It is a guava (called "gua oi" in Vietnamese) tree and sometimes, my maid will pluck the fruits to eat. There's another "chiku" (or "hom siem") next to it and it really produces the sweetest chikus I have ever eaten. I will miss all these in my new house...
The Fish Pond
Another "attraction" of my old house was this fish pond where the previous tenant reared several types of koi and goldfishes. Though I m not fond of pets, the fishes actually brought some little joys into my life, especially during their feedtimes. And I am also amazed by their resilience because I heard tat they have gone without food for a month! One reason why I am not particularly fond of the pond is due to the lack of a proper filtration system so after 2 weeks, the pond will get really v v dirty. So what my maids do is they have to get into the pond, catch the fishes using a net and wash the pond with their hands. I tried to help once but I ended up screaming hysterically when the fish jumped right at me and landed on the floor. Talk about urban kids...
My New House
Well, here is a snapshot of my new home. It is quite newly renovated and thus, gives me a v bright and cheery feeling. :) However, the location is not so ideal because it is located in a small alley (rather difficult for cars to go through) and there is no garage. Of coz, during sunny days, a short walk is not a problem but believe me, it will not be so easy during rainy days. The rain here is horrendous.. and can go on for hours. There is a small swimming pool located right in front of my house but it's blocked by the gate. The new house is slightly smaller but it has many many windows which I love! It makes the house looks so bright! I met the owner of the house, T, today and she was v nice. I hope she will be as nice as the previous landlady who often tried to make things comfortable for us during our stay.
Mushroom Hot Pot
After the BIG move, we were left stranded with no gas to cook. Fortunately, my husband, M, had a company dinner gathering last night and I happily tagged along. Our dinner was held at Ashima, a mushroom hot pot restaurant. As the name goes, we had a mushroom steamboat (using black chicken broth as the base) with many different types of mushrooms, vegetables, tofu, yam and noodles. Really v yummy (but I m a veggie person)... One thing tat surprised me was the fact that instant noodles was served as part of the meal. I can hardly think of a restaurant tat will serve instant noodles in Spore... I took a picture of the restaurant from the outside on my way out, with every intent of putting it in my blog. I had wanted to take some pictures of the hot pot and stuff in the restaurant but as usual, my hunger made me forget everything. So I can only use words now to describe all about the satisfying meal tat I had. Yums...
My OLD House
Anyway, as I was leaving my old house, I decided to take a few pictures for keepsake. After all, I had spent a few happy months here. My old house looked quite "run down" on the outside but its interior was quite decently furnished. Unfortunately, in my anxiety to move yesterday, I forgot to take the pics of my rooms before the BIG move. When I finally remembered, it was too messy. :( But this is a rather nice picture of the exterior. It is a 3 storeyed house with a small garage (at the bottom of the picture). My study room was the room on the right, 2nd floor, while my bedroom was at the back. See the tree in the picture? It is a guava (called "gua oi" in Vietnamese) tree and sometimes, my maid will pluck the fruits to eat. There's another "chiku" (or "hom siem") next to it and it really produces the sweetest chikus I have ever eaten. I will miss all these in my new house...The Fish Pond
Another "attraction" of my old house was this fish pond where the previous tenant reared several types of koi and goldfishes. Though I m not fond of pets, the fishes actually brought some little joys into my life, especially during their feedtimes. And I am also amazed by their resilience because I heard tat they have gone without food for a month! One reason why I am not particularly fond of the pond is due to the lack of a proper filtration system so after 2 weeks, the pond will get really v v dirty. So what my maids do is they have to get into the pond, catch the fishes using a net and wash the pond with their hands. I tried to help once but I ended up screaming hysterically when the fish jumped right at me and landed on the floor. Talk about urban kids...My New House
Well, here is a snapshot of my new home. It is quite newly renovated and thus, gives me a v bright and cheery feeling. :) However, the location is not so ideal because it is located in a small alley (rather difficult for cars to go through) and there is no garage. Of coz, during sunny days, a short walk is not a problem but believe me, it will not be so easy during rainy days. The rain here is horrendous.. and can go on for hours. There is a small swimming pool located right in front of my house but it's blocked by the gate. The new house is slightly smaller but it has many many windows which I love! It makes the house looks so bright! I met the owner of the house, T, today and she was v nice. I hope she will be as nice as the previous landlady who often tried to make things comfortable for us during our stay.Mushroom Hot Pot
After the BIG move, we were left stranded with no gas to cook. Fortunately, my husband, M, had a company dinner gathering last night and I happily tagged along. Our dinner was held at Ashima, a mushroom hot pot restaurant. As the name goes, we had a mushroom steamboat (using black chicken broth as the base) with many different types of mushrooms, vegetables, tofu, yam and noodles. Really v yummy (but I m a veggie person)... One thing tat surprised me was the fact that instant noodles was served as part of the meal. I can hardly think of a restaurant tat will serve instant noodles in Spore... I took a picture of the restaurant from the outside on my way out, with every intent of putting it in my blog. I had wanted to take some pictures of the hot pot and stuff in the restaurant but as usual, my hunger made me forget everything. So I can only use words now to describe all about the satisfying meal tat I had. Yums... 
