Xiaoyizhang had breakfast with Xiaoyi at a pretty cafe...while the rest of us ate noodles cooked by Waipo...She was one amazing lady, she could cook for the entire household without breaking a sweat.
Oo the pancakes looked yummy
Marble Mountains
This was the day with the most photos! First, we went to Marble Mountains.
Ah it was nice of them to put up 2024 for visitors to have a photo spot
What better way to start the day than a delightful ice cream. We found this super yummy ice cream called Power Cap, which was from Korea. Yanjie actually dropped her ice cream when she tore open the wrapper. The shop attendant gave her some tissues and intended for Yanjie to clean the ice cream and just eat it...haha Er Yi asked for one more for free, which the attendant kindly obliged, bless that kind soul...and the attendant actually ate the dropped ice cream herself!
We took the elevator up. View at the top.
There were two different exploration routes. One to explore just one cave. Another one to explore 5 caves and we could take the elevator ride up.
Yeah, so we chose the more expensive ticket as we wanted to explore the different caves...and walking downhill would definitely be easier for all of us, but SanYi Zhang would have to turn back midway to take the elevator down as there was no way he could push the wheelchair down.
One of the first caves we went to, Cave no 5 I think
It was like stepping into a cool sanctuary and escaping from the blazing inferno, erm a little dramatic but the weather was truly merciless.
Do you see Tong down there? Right in the middle of the photo, at the pointy corner of the rock
A lot of walking and climbing
Papa and Jie went to explore this old building and said it was called the River Watching cover...they said the view was better than it was at Heaven's Gate...beautiful name but the arduous climb up and down slippery well-worn marble steps was anything but heavenly
The photos were all jumbled up as different cameras were used and photos were sent at different times but my iphone stored photos in the sequence they were saved...so it had always been a headache rearranging the photos...so...not going to go for accuracy with this set of photos...
Photo after photo of marble stone, darkness, statues...Ha...
Well..the philosophical me thought that one knew brightness only because one had known darkness. ..one knew coolness only after one experienced heat...
And truly..a tedious journey made the attainment of reaching the top sweeter...
Someone said hello to us from the hole up there
Saw pagodas
We were truly amazed at how magnificent the caves looked...
An entire mountain made of marble...how impressive was that!
A short steep climb to the very first cave...some of us were wearing flip-flops, gosh, we were totally not equipped for serious climbing
However, it was indeed really special to be greeted by tranquility and coolness as we neared the caves...it was like stepping into another world through some invisible portal.
Ah...steps as old as time
Such a sense of ancient history...
Something about artefacts stirred the soul, i guessed they connected us to the past and had witnessed the rise and fall of civilisations, binding us in this ongoing narrative of the world's story
They found a dark hole and thought it would lead to a small tunnel...erm..nope...dead end
One of the caves (this one with Mei at the steps - the last one we explored) was supposed to have two waterfalls, at least that was what the name of that cave and picture on the directory indicated...we saw two patches of mold so we guessed there were probably waterfalls in the wet season..but we had come in the wrong season...
Mum seemed to be very at home...well...she said she had reached home
Mind-blowing...how did one carve an entire statue nestled high up in the mountains
Oh this was when we were at Heaven's Gate. The name sounded pretty but the climb was horrendous. But the adventure was worthwhile simply because we felt proud of ourselves for not giving up! Erm..not a spectacular view up here.
YEAH..Waigong made it up there in this thin slip-flops...POWER TO HIM
Eryi was rather proud of herself for taking such a nice shot, with the light streaming in through the opening
Taken by Er Yi Zhang...I was singing him praises as he had definitely improved in his photography skills...so I said he could officially be a IG-hubby now. LOL, ah...Papa had also improved in his photography skills and he was an expert in taking the 0/5 shot of the entire group> Eryi complained that Er Yi Zhang did not include the entire opening..
I did not know why...but when I was saving and uploading photos, some photos got lost in the transfer process : ( It would be too much trouble to scrutinise every photo to see what had been missed...AH WELL...I tried to make sure that all the memorable photos made it to the blog
Waipo often said morbid things. Xun liked to ask Waipo to comb her hair after showering and Waipo would say Xun would be so heartbroken when Waipo died
The capybara was a really sweet and dedicated grandchild. He was always looking out for Waigong and making sure that he was still following the rest
Heh...0.5 camera lens, made everyone's legs look elongated
We were surprised to see San Yi Zhang in Cave 5. He actually piggy-backed Aden up...ah...the sacrificial love of a dad...He kept saying that he would surely be 10kg lighter after this trip with all the carrying, pushing and lifting he was doing...
Tong said he had the small ones under his control. They were his minions and would join in the fight against Jie. Apparently, they tried to pin Jie down in the kids' playroom (aka Room 10, the special room with a king bed and a mini fridge!)
Cave 5 was interesting...we climbed up to this part which allowed us to have a look of the sky through the opening up there...then there was a steep climb to lead us into another chamber with lots of fist-sized marble stones...
Up, up, up...our strong and sturdy dad
Missing our boys
LUNCH TIME
San Yi went to VV Mall for lunch. They ordered milk tea and we ordered Gong Cha!
The men were drenched in sweat so we opted to go home to shower and grab some food
The little ones having fun
And the tiny one asleep at mealtime yet again...Someone commented "No wonder Mei is so skinny. She is always asleep when it is time to eat"
COCONUT BOAT RIDE
Erm...the famous coconut boat ride..we saw tickets being sold online and it was cheaper than the price given by the person-in-charge at the boarding point...alas...well...not as if we could quibble with her...
Three people in a boat for 500,000 VND
Since we paid the price per boat and we were missing one pax in one of the boats, we cajoled Uncle Cavan to join us. He did and Xiaoyi claimed indignantly that Cavan was the one who said he did not want to go but ended up ditching her...
Going into areas with vegetation...sometimes the river would be very narrow and we would bump into other boats, and it felt as if we were playing bumper boats!
Went to the open sea area...Sunset time...
Beautiful mix of colours and light
Paid 100,000 VND each for the two kids to be spun around like rag dolls
They brought to a boat with a singer...eh they blasted the music so loudly that we almost went deaf...the singer invited the kids to dance along in his boat
Waigong looked so cool in the traditional Viet hat
Mei looked exceptionally cute
It was a good ride...the boaters were enthusiastic and kept chanting Singapore No 1, Singapore Jia You, Vietnam No 2, Vietnam Jia You
Our boater also spun our boat...gosh it was dizzying
It would have been a really peaceful ride if not for the racucous cheering of the boaters, but overall, a really enjoyable ride
HOI AN ANCIENT CITY AND NIGHT MARKET
Took photos at the same spot where San Yi took hers
Saw many people sitting next to this cart stall and thought it must be famous, so we got two drinks
Xun said this was the current trend for taking photos - make the drink look super BIG
Saw many handicraft stalls
Went on a lantern boat - 400,000 VND for all of us
Mei said her favourite part of the day was holding Eryi's hand and walking down the steps at Marble Mountains...: ) here she was cuddling with Er Yi
Ah...releasing lanterns into the water...erm...what wish did everyone make?
z
May all our wishes come true!
Children on one side
Nearly all the adults on the other side...we were worried that the boat would tilt if Xiaoyi and Uncle Cavan joined our side to take a photo
My darling Tong, who was asleep right next to me as I was typing on the last night of the hols...he said he would pull an all-nighter..Prob not going to happen
Bought food at a restaurant that sold SG / Malaysia food
And finally the end of a fun-packed day and a really long blog with sooooo MANY photos
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