Da Nang : Part 13 - Fukien Assembly Hall, Museum of Trading Ceramics, Japanese Bridge, Cantonese Assembly Hall

After Tan Ky Old House, it was the Assembly Hall. I am really amazed at how my friends can maneuver their way in a town that we were there for a day only! 

For the assembly hall, we chose Fukien Assembly Hall - suggested by a website. See, I read enough in the plane to memorise all these places. A meeting place of Fukien colony and worship place of Goddess of Thien Hau Holy Mother, 6 Highly Esteemed Generals and Heavenly Midwives.

I am attempting an artistic shot. Don't roll your eyes at me!

For the museum, we chose Museum of Trading Ceramics - suggested by a website. Because its house is older than the Old Houses which truly signify how old houses are. We were not interested in museums anyway. Really, the architecture of this museum is very much older than Tan Ky Old House. How do I know that? Well, when I walked in, I felt like I was transferred back to the olden days. The floorings, the steps, the creakings of some floorboards made as I walked, and how everything is so brown in colour - well, that is the wood of course.

This is where I learnt about the Chinese architecture influence - 'yin' and 'yang' element represented as concave and convex arrangements. The broader tiles are the concave and the thinner ones are the convex arrangement.

Next, we cycled to the Japanese Covered Bridge. Opposite the place we parked our bicycles were these 2 yellow buildings which pulled me to snap a photo of them. Maybe because my surname 'Hwang' which means yellow was the connecting line. The bridge was constructed in the early 1600's by the Japanese community, roughly 40 years before they left the city to return to Japan.

In the Bridge, there are 2 zodiac animals. The dog to signify the year it was built.

The monkey to signify when it was completed.

At the end of the bridge was another part of Hoi An Ancient Town. Well, if you decide to not cross the bridge to go to the other side, there is another less-glamoured bridge adjacent to it. It is made of wooden planks. I love the lanterns in the town. They are so colourful, and especially so at night.

 

Hello, lovely lady. She smiled as I snapped her photo. I guess she gets that a lot from ignorant foreigners like me.

I love cycling.

Then, I saw a few tourists wanting to try to the rickshaw, and immediately, a line of rickshaws queued up persuading them to use their rickshaw.

Then, I saw my friends have stopped cycling and they were gathered around a dessert seller. Definitely much needed during a hot day.

Dessert of jelly grass, ginger, corn, peanuts, tau foo fah (soybean pudding) and ice. VND10,000, I believe. Once we exchanged monies with drink, the seller was on her way to find new customers.

Last place of the day - Cantonese Assembly Hall. We entered Cantonese Assembly Hall because we could not find the Traditional Culture place (i.e. Traditional Theatre or Hoi An Handicraft Workshop). There were lots of dragon inside Cantonese Assembly Hall, because according to my friends, dragons are famous in the Cantonese community.

Okay, must-do sightseeing done. It is time for our daily coffee! Photographs are excellent when it is a hot day. The sunlight reflecting against the river.

We went to the coffee shop near our hotel. In the coffee shop, there were locals playing Chinese Chess. We saw 2 ladies eating really small mussels. Their fingers were skillful in pulling out the mussels from its tiny shell. It was a bit spicy.

In any coffee shop, they will serve Chinese Tea with coffee. Chinese Tea is to reduce the sweetness of the coffee. The stall owner charged us USD2 (VND40,000 / RM6) for the coffee and we knew it was a rip-off. My friend stood her ground, and told the stall owner that we are paying VND20,000, the usual price. The stall owner did not argue back. The locals were staring at us.

After coffee, we went back to the Hotel, swam a bit in the pool, and got ready for our reserved dinner in Morning Glory Restaurant.