Chi Duo

Today was our last day in Hanoi, and was started off with Tai Chi. After practicing our punching and kicking through the hotel, it was very calm and slow. Most of it was pushing one hand forward and the other back in a slow motion, but at the end the instructor showed us these were fighting moves slowed down, which meant that when mum says no punching each other, we can use Tai Chi.

We then went on a ride around the city on Eco-Friendly buggies. The city was a lot nicer and cleaner than Ho Chi Minh city, and it was filled with buildings of a lot of different styles, from Japanese to French. We were dropped off at Ho Chi Minh's burial site, where the line to get in went around the block. Luckily, we got to skip the line, to everyone's contempt. We were halted on the way in, and soldiers brought out a large wreath and placed it on the steps, continuing a line of about 12 wreaths. We were later told that the wreath they brought out when we were going in was donated by Disney. When we went in the chamber with Ho Chi Minh's body, I immediately guessed it was wax and that the hair was fake. When we were outside, someone asked Tony whether it was fake or real, and he said that it is the real body, but they cover it in a thin layer of wax and fake hair every year.

We then went to the Temple of Literature, which at the time it was a reading festival so it was packed full of people. It was filled with bushes shaped like the Zodiac animals and ancient carvings and statues. We looked around the book stalls for about 10 minutes, and were called under a pagoda by Drew for a challenge. Seeing it was Easter, he had hidden a large plastic egg in one of the bushes and we had to find it. Amanda found it, and inside were Hershey kisses and a plastic dinosaur. She got to keep the dinosaur, but the chocolates were handed out to everyone.

For dinner, we went with Angela & Co. again, but this time to the Opera Cafe, which they and mum had both found on TripAdvisor. The food was good, but each of them came with an animal made from a carrot. Some were rabbits which came with mushrooms made of apples, some were poles of bamboo and one was a highly detailed dragon. We began playing around with them, then Ginny's asked us to take a photo with the dragon as a chest buster from the movie Alien. We performed a heist to bring the dragon back to the hotel, avoiding mum when necessary. We successfully brought it back and took the photo, then we left the dragon in the sink for the cleaners to find the next morning.