But I, being poor have only my dreams. And Tiger Airways – and I can go only as far as it takes me.

Nonetheless, the trip did have some good moments, that I feel the urgent need to put on record before it’s too late, and this experience becomes another insipid thread in the giant spool that is my past.

So my 5-day vacation took me to Hanoi and Halong Bay, and while it was so hot I wanted to die, I did like some things about our trip:

• Where we stayed: We were staying in the heart of Hanoi: at Hotel Imperial right next to the Hoan Kiem Lake in the Old Quarter, The hotel is quite nice, our room was spacious and comfortable, the breakfast pretty decent, and the people warm and friendly. And all this for a reasonable price of 33 USD a night. There are a bunch of cafes located right opposite the hotel, and the lake and the famous puppet theatre are just a stone’s throw away.  I was pleased as hell with our choice of location
• The museums:  I will admit, I am not a big fan of museums, and after having seen one too many in my Europe travels, I am even less of a fan now. But visits to the Museum of Ethnology and the Ho Chi Minh Museum were effective ways of ensuring we got a peek into the 2 things that Vietnam takes great pride in: the diversity of its peoples, and its great leader. There are a couple of war museums too that will help you delve deeper into Vietnam’s political past, but we didn’t get the time to visit them
• The Halong Bay Cruise: Almost everyone that visits Hanoi does the Halong Bay cruise, thus ensuring that there are literally dozens of cruises to choose from. But most of these cruises have very similar itineraries, leaving you with 2 important elimination criteria: the duration of the cruise (choose between 2 days 1 night and 3 days 2 nights) and the cost (ranges from 60 USD to over 300 USD). We chose the one that was 109 USD for a 2 days 1 night cruise (be warned not to go too cheap, or the food will suck, and the junk will probably have a leak, and you will most likely perish at sea or something) But there’s one all-important, ultra-critical, super –urgent point that is totally not in your control that can potentially make or break your cruise experience – the people you meet on the cruise. We had a group of utterly delightful cruise companions, thus making it a grand success
• The food: Vietnamese food doesn’t hold much attraction for me, mostly because it’s not spicy, curry-based and rich as hell (Mera Bharat Mahan and all that). But there’s one restaurant called  Quan An Ngon that I will highly recommend you visit when you find yourself in Hanoi, just for their scrumptious to-die-for seafood mango salad, and the experience of seeing what I thought was the world’s largest fricking seating capacity for a restaurant. Go there, OK?
• The bars: Now, Hanoi is not the place you want to find yourself in if you have drunken revelry on your mind. But do wander off to the Ta Hien area which has streets lined with small bars where you can spend an evening with friends or friendly strangers.

Other than the above, I felt the “famous” water puppet theatre was overrated, the Ca Tru music was nothing to write home about, and the Hoan Kiem Lake was much smaller than I had expected.  The spa experience was good, but for the price I paid, I’ve had far superior experiences elsewhere in South East Asia.

There were a bunch of other things on our agenda that we never got around to due to lack of time and/or inclination : like doing a city tour on the cyclo, visiting the war time prison, checking out the famous pagoda on West Lake, and trying Vietnamese paan.

As an end note, I would like to mention that my camera tripod is turning out to be a good investment and I have nailed the perfect settings for all kinds of light for my Nikon L110. Boo yah.

• Yesterday, my flat mate told me I looked like her. Now, I know for a fact I don’t. If you’ve seen me, you’ll agree; if you haven’t, send me your email id, and I’ll mail you some pictures of me (now now, I just made that sound completely dodgy.) But boy, did it make my day. Everyone noticed the extra spring in my step
• Am turning 27 in two weeks’ time. Fuck. It’s a divine racket
• I am most definitely in love with him. After his current wife dies under mysterious circumstances, I shall ask him to marry me
• Finally found boyfriend jeans, but as it turns out, a year too late. Apparently they are no longer in fashion. No wonder I got them at 30% off. Oh well
• Have been thinking a lot about someone I used to know a long time ago, back in the day when I was beautiful and brilliant and footloose and content, and he had found me enchanting
• Am wasting a perfectly good 3-day weekend moving house – again. Like everyone else, packing and moving are positively my least favorite things to do. And yet, for the past 3 years, it seems like all I have been doing is moving- though I never really go anywhere
• Went through these in exactly 1/2 hour. And that too almost immediately after lunch. Shame on me. But they are so delicious. And I am so weak.  

• You know what I don’t get? Clothes with fake pockets. If you don’t want me to keep stuff in my clothes, just don’t make any pockets, yes? Why create an illusion of storage?

1. How to avoid >66% of the things Bali is famous for :
Stay at Balam Bali Villa, nestled in the paddy fields of Mengwi, a village located
dozens of kms away from almost everything

2. How to make every day of the trip memorable:
Day 1: Injure self from falling off bicycle while trying to save pedestrian
chicken family during eco- ride around village. Hobble for rest of
trip.

Day 2 : Eat delicious prawns fresh out of the Bali sea at Sanur beach that leads
to violent seafood allergy, thus rendering New Year Eve merrymaking infeasible.

Day 3: Lose contact lenses, then proceed to go on island – wide wild-
goose chase from Seminyak to Legian to Kuta in pursuit of replacement. This
on a motorbike with crazy rash driving fellow who promises to take care of
you because he is “Hindu too”. Live to see day 4. Huzzah.

3. How to bring the house down
Step 1: Roam around in Seminyak, looking for Best Bali Bargains. Find Body &
Soul Factory Outlet Store. Invade.
Step 2: Go from girl to goddess in 12 minutes flat
Step 3: Head for Sky Garden Club at Kuta, drink cheap Balinese wine on the way.
Step 4: Once at club, buy Triple Vodka Fruit Shaker for 75, 000 IDR. Proceed
to shock and awe house with potent combination of wanton grinding, “motor
pumping”, pole dancing and sofa-top gyrating.

4. How to get back home after bringing down the house

a) Stumble into cab
a) Find SB. Get her to talk about all things swaadisht.
b) Sing Hindi songs from the last 3 decades in loud uncontrollable chorus,
much to the amusement of cab driver. Do this non-stop for 1.5 hours.
c) Come back to the villa, cause property destruction in state of drunkenness,
pass out.

5. How to leave Bali in style

• Pose with the Trip Advisor award that villa received
• Pose at least 3 times,so there is no confusion that villa was liked
• Give generous tip, buy people chocolates and cigarettes, promise to come back

On Sunday evenings, the park would be teeming with young and old lovers, families with small children, joggers with their iPods and hip flasks, performers on stilts,  artists that drew portraits for €10 and gypsy women in faded gowns with frayed lace trimmings. One of those women had read the lines on my palm and told me I would never  leave.

But I did leave, and the city let me. Not a word of goodbye, not a whispered promise to write to me, not a silent prayer wishing for my return.

It’s been a while since I left – I am somewhere else now, and I am trying to be happy. But sometimes, when I am alone, I remember the beautiful, unforgettable city that I was in in a different lifetime.  I remember its autumn, and its winter, and I wonder what its spring must be like.

Will you not let me clasp your hand, beseech you to stay?

Won’t we sit at the centre of the universe, eating dark red cherries?

What of the stories I have to tell you (and the ones you haven’t told me yet)?

Where are the stars we were collecting in a jar?

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How would you like me to remember you?