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Aya Ueto in ao dai from YeinJee's Asian Journal

There’s one problem though, as some other restaurants are riding on its fame with similar name and menu to take advantage of naive foreign travellers, and I was one of the fallen prey of the conspiracy during my Hanoi trip in July 2008…

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Cha Ca grilled fish, Hanoi, Vietnam from YeinJee's Asian Journal

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Halong Bay, Vietnam – random photos (2) from YeinJee's Asian Journal

The limestone cave is now heavily developed for tourism, with granite pavements and coloured-lighting beautifying the cave. The nature elements of the cave seems pretty well preserved though, hopefully the in-flock of tourists won’t cause too much harm.

Photos from my July 2008 visit, including an aerial view of the iconic Bo Hon Bay which often featured on travel magazines and postcards…

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Sung Sot Cave, Halong Bay, Vietnam from YeinJee's Asian Journal

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Halong Bay, Vietnam – random photos (1) from YeinJee's Asian Journal

Cross country arranged marriages are not uncommon in Asia, and its popularity is ever increasing for the past two decades. Women often see it as a route out of chaos and poverty, while men seeking foreign companions for various reasons.

Chinese women used to be the wife-in-demand, but Thai and Vietnamese are catching up in recent years. Their husband-to-be are usually from relatively well being places like Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan etc.

The boom however opens loopholes for illegal syndicates to cheat ladies into prostitutions or other illegal activities; and it’s also quite common that the men they finally met are not fitting to the descriptions provided by the agencies.

The Vietnamese government says it hopes the plan will help prevent the abuse of Vietnamese women by criminal organisations or by their new husbands.

Vietnam plans state-run bride agency from YeinJee's Asian Journal

Tomb for the rich and high ranking people in the Cotu society

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Museum of Ethnology, Hanoi – outdoor exhibits from YeinJee's Asian Journal

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LoL moment at Museum of Ethnology, Hanoi from YeinJee's Asian Journal

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Floating village, Halong Bay, Vietnam from YeinJee's Asian Journal

Their menu was quite different from what I had at other Hanoi restaurants; their food was kinda like a fusion of traditional Vietnamese cuisine with some new cooking ideas.

Sticky rice rolls with roast meat… quite a gem

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Quan Com Pho restaurant, Hanoi, Vietnam from YeinJee's Asian Journal

Halong Bay has become an international travel hotspot in recent years; there must be more than 200-300 junks and cruises that depart daily from the port, with thousands of travellers visiting the destination each day.

The weather was perfect during my July 2008 visit. My guide told me that the clear blue sky are normally seen only for two-three weeks in one whole year. Sounds exaggerated, but my Hanoi friends later reaffirmed the statement… one of them had been to Halong for five times and had never seen such a clear weather. Lucky me :)

Some photos from the seaport and first glimpse of Halong Bay…

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First glimpse of Halong Bay, Vietnam from YeinJee's Asian Journal

Hue is a historic city in central Vietnam and was the imperial capital of Nguyễn Dynasty (1802-1945). Vietnamese food in general can be divided into three categories… the northern food, southern food and central food (which is often referred as Hue food).

One of the distinctive difference between Hue food and other Vietnamese food is the popularity of roundish vermicelli (bún) instead of the flat rice noodle (phở) in other Vietnamese region. Hue food also tends to be a bit spicier, but still mild in relative to Malaysian or Indian food.

There is a popular Hue dish called the bún bò Huế (Hue beef soup noodle), but I am not quite sure if the noodle soup I had at the restaurant was what I hope it was…

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Hue Food Restaurant, Hanoi, Vietnam from YeinJee's Asian Journal

Hanoi’s cable madness from YeinJee's Asian Journal

Hue City

Huế is a historic city in central Vietnam and was the imperial capital of Nguyen Dynasty (1802-1945). Hue is located about 1100km from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam’s capital city. It took about 25 hours of bus ride to travel from HCMC to Hue.

Complex of Hue Monuments

The Complex of Hue Monuments is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Sites; the complex comprises of 16 historic monuments from the Nguyen Dynasty. Among the monuments that featured in The Amazing Race Asia were the Khai Dinh Tomb, Minh Mang Tomb and Hue Citadel (the pitstop).

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Amazing Race Asia 3 – Ep 3 – Hue from YeinJee's Asian Journal

The distinctive features of traditional Bahnar Rong are its tall and steep roof, and also its lifted platform which are built to adapt to the (often rainy) tropical weather. The houses are traditionally used for cultural, religion and gathering purposes for men.

These traditional Bahnar Rong are almost obsolete nowadays, as the people are replacing their communal houses with iron and cement instead.

Photos below were taken at Museum of Ethnology in Hanoi where the Bahnar Rong, along with other traditional houses of various ethnic minorities, were built as an effort to preserve the fading Vietnamese traditions and heritage.

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Museum of Ethnology, Hanoi – Bahnar Rong from YeinJee's Asian Journal

Mae Kompong

Mae Kompong is a village in Chiang Mai Province. Once a poppy growing area, but now home to a small community of forest dwellers who cultivate tea and coffee plantations.

Mae Kompong is also home to the Treetop eco-tourism village where visitors can take an exhilarating flight (with zip line and slide) through a 1500 year-old rainforest in the “Flight of the Gibbon” adventure…

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Amazing Race Asia 3 – Ep 2 – Chiangmai to HCMC from YeinJee's Asian Journal