We took a well deserved weekend in Norfolk Coast with 6 other friends. Needless to say we thoroughly enjoyed the company, plenty of sun and long walks by the glorious sea and dunes. It felt we caught the tail of summer before the autumn / winter months kick in. We stayed in Burnham Market which is close to everything we wanted to see and do. It was a lovely little village with a nice bakery (opens Mon to Sat at 8am) where we got our fresh bread and croissants from. There are a couple of nice pubs and restaurants in the area as well but we didn’t get a chance to visit them all because we were out and about during the day and stayed in for all evenings for dinner and games.

So the top five highlights of the trip:

1. Brancaster beach – rather isolated but lovely sandy beach no doubt. Great for sunset but not for sunrise.
2. Holme Sand Dunes – long walks with blowing sand dunes. Holme also makes a popular kite surfing spot because of its wind condition. For lunch, we went to a nearby pub called The White Horse. Being a vegetarian with lots of other food constraints, I stucked to my boring salad (I’m not complaining!) so I can’t comment on the local cuisine served at the pub. But based on the “yummmm”s I heard at our table, their Sunday Roast and Fish and Chips must have been pretty good. For the less fussy veggie eaters, don’t be disappointed, there is a veggie lasagne option for you.
3. Seals basking in Blakeney. We took a bean boat to watch the seals. The boat departed from Morston Quay and we waited till 4.45pm before we could head out because the tide was slow coming in. Disregarding the tide and weather condition, I would suggest to bring your waterproof jackets because I was almost drenched in sea water if AL hadn’t offered me her spare raincoat.
4. Rainbow in Snettisham Bird Reserve. We were awarded with the sight of a huge  rainbow when half the group decided to turn back after a third of the way because we were completely shattered after a long day’s walk. I barely made it back to the car let alone continue the entire journey. The Reserve is an estuary for more than 100,000 birds which I never got to see. Along the way, the other half of the group who stayed behind came across some hardcore bird watchers, silently sitting with their tripods and multimillion times zoom lenses / binoculars. My friends merely caught dots of thousands of birds flocking to the Reserve at a distance on their SLRs – possibly resembling the birds I gladly missed.
5. Great company topped it all! We bonded well over cooking, game of charades and pictionary – all in all just having a good laugh. Not forgetting MC’s infamous quote from the trip: “I put double layer protection of Durex on my toilet seat” when describing his toilet hygiene. What he actually meant was Andrex (the toilet paper). It is sooooo him to make a reference mistake like this one.

Though Wells-Next-The-Sea was one of the more popular seaside town, I was less impressed by it. It was too commercial for my liking. Saying this, it looks great for families with little children where they can safely build sandcastles and splash in the sea water with a coast guard lookout. Also, there’s a caravan park within easy reach to the beach. So, I can see the appeal for different holiday makers but just not for me. After being in crowded and congested London, you just want to getaway from the noise, people and pollution, and just enjoy the fresh air and nature (even for a short while).

One thing we had to get use to was the opening hours of the local shops and couldn’t refrain from shopping in Sainsbury. We were so used to the 24hrs and Sunday opening hours in London that we forgotten the convenience of living in a big city.

FYI – we stayed at St. Georges cottage which we booked through Kett Country Cottages and we were all very happy with it. The cottage was of high quality and was well equipped including dishwashing liquid and tablets; salt and pepper and cooking utensils with full ceramic hob and double oven.

JC finally made it back to Vietnam after three decades. The growing up pain of assimilating to the West and rejecting anything of the East was put to rest as he finally embraced his roots and heritage. Needless to say, he’s the first of his generation to return to Vietnam because most of his siblings and cousins couldn’t see what Vietnam has to offer.

Here are some snapshots from our trip in December last year.

First day we set foot in busy Hanoi, what do we see? Motorbikes. It takes some practice and most of all courage to cross these roads. Useful tip: Always walk in a constant pace when crossing – the motorcyclists are experts in maneuvering themselves around you. Many a times, I thought I was close to seeing my own death but here I am, still in one piece writing about it. It becomes relatively easy when you get the hang of it on day 2. So, don’t fret!

Hoan Kiem Lake: The city jolts up to an early start. It’s worth waking up early for a walk around the lake for a glimpse of the local life. Groups of people from all ages practising Tai Chi, Qi Gong, Kung Fu, weight-lifting, badminton… can be seen scattered around the lake.

Halong Bay: We spent 3 days and 2 nights on a junk called The Jewel of Bay. If you’re looking for some quiet time to yourselves, I would recommend going with a smaller junk, though it can be a bit pricier, it’s still worth it as bigger boats can be packed with enthusiastic or sometimes noisy tourists. We had a really relaxing and easy time – we swam, kayaked, lounged around the deck reading and visited numerous caves and floating villages… On one of the nights, we had the whole to boat to ourselves because there were a few cancellations. So, it felt like we chartered the junk at a fraction of the price.

There are thousands of limestone rock formations dotted around Halong Bay. The weather forecast and the tide varied from day-to-day in Halong Bay and can be unpredictable at times. We were lucky to catch the sunny spells during our visit in December. Some people we met were not as fortunate and they end up having to stay in their cabins as it was too wet and cold to truly enjoy the boat experience.

The population here survives on fishing and selling trinkets, food and drinks to the tourists. Kids as young as four are seen rowing the small boats with their feet, selling seashells from one junk to another.

Paddy fields seen through most part of Vietnam. We went in the dry season so no photos of beautiful lush green paddy fields.

We visited JC’s birth place – Langson. It’s located in the North of Vietnam, near the border of China and Vietnam. We spent one night with his extended family and went round the city on motorbikes. We visited the street where JC grew up and where they ran the family business on the main street. So, it was not surprising when we visited the main street, we met people who knew of his family.

Some of the ethnic ladies selling some potent looking drinks. The people up north are very fond of their drinks – they toast to breakfast, lunch and dinner and the ladies do it as best as the men.