edit / turns out this blog has gone past the one year mark… exactly one month ago. hooray!

day 7 of 7: we reach hanoi before dawn, took an hour’s nap and explored a little, somehow managing to spend all the money we had left…

after breakfast (tofu and fishcake with vermicelli, dipped in fish sauce) served by this sweet old lady, we headed for the ho chi minh mausoleum…

and then the ho chi minh museum, which had extremely odd exhibits. it was like a surrealist’s take on ho chi minh’s life story.

after running around in circles we sit down to sample some grade 1 weasel poo coffee. we bought some coffee back, but i’ve yet to replicate it perfectly.

couldn’t have asked for better weather or travel companions during these seven days, incessant snoring aside…

day 6 of 7: spent the day with two breakfasts, a motorbike ride through the mountains, buying some rice sacks and sandals at the market, a foot massage, lunch stretched out as long as possible, and tea at the same place where we had breakfast. walked all over the tiny town and chanced upon a creepy dog meat restaurant:

we had lunch somewhere else. good lunch!

we then took the bus back to lao cai, where we had some street food (which, i need to add, was the first time we ate on the street, on day 6) and then the overnight train back to hanoi. of course we ended up in the worst cabin with a child who cried whenever the train stopped…

day 5 of 7: the train arrives in lao cai at 5am, and we take a hour’s busride to sapa. nothing to see through the heavy mist except shapes of dark mountains. apparently two weeks before the weather in sapa was within the single-digit region, and every local we spoke to cautioned us about the ‘cold’. after a nap and a change of clothes (extra layer of uniqlo’s heat-tech for me) we look for breakfast, and then take a trek to the nearest village.

the mountains captured badly on my 50mm lens.

since it’s winter, all the terraced fields were brown…

we reach catcat village. as you can see, the sun is out. it definitely was not cold. all that walking and that heat-tech was making me sweat!

child with pants. (none of the little boys we saw in sa pa wore pants. it wasn’t that cold, but it definitely was too cold to be outside without any pants on.)

natural indigo-dyed fabric.

mountain cat butt.

sigh, the woes and paradoxes of travelling – to be honest, the visit to catcat village was a little upsetting. in my opinion, much of sapa and her attractions seem to be (altered, and) catered to the tourist. it has sadly become another one of those places that reek of false authenticity. to be able to see how tourist-funded commercialism can affect a gorgeous, middle-of-nowhere village really dampens the moods a little. not to mention there was that hideous climb back uphill…

the longest, most excruciating one:

sátántangó

the letdowns:

coco avant chanel / public enemies (although both were memorable, sartorial-wise)

the good ones:

inglourious basterds / not without you (no puedo vivir sin ti)《 不能没有你》 /
the message《风声》
another good one would be up.

not worth mentioning: bruno.

these are of course just the ones i’ve seen in the theatres. funnily enough i’ve been obsessively hoarding all sorts of paper ephemera for the past year, with the exception of movie ticket stubs. i don’t know why. next year shall be different…