The Inside of Saint Joseph Cathedral @ Hanoi in Vietnam

Saint Joseph Cathedral is a major tourist attraction in Hanoi and for reasons unbeknownst to me, I only managed to check out its exterior on my first visit in 2023, despite staying near for a week! 

Things to note before entering!

So, bringing you the grand interior of Saint Joseph Cathedral, with its super high ceiling! I think I didn't manage to visit in the past two times to Hanoi due to its operating hours from 8.00 am till 11.00 am and from 2.00 pm till 5.00 pm from Mondays to Sundays.

Sundays are likely for local Roman Catholics and for usual visiting hours, the front seats are reserved only for prayers. Given the emptiness in the front few rows, I am guessing the rest of the people with me that day were tourists.

Aside from the architectural beauty of cathedrals, another thing that drew me would be the use of colorful stained glass windows, bringing in sunlight that radiated differently. 

Another feature would be the 7-meter tall pipe organ at the back, on the second level of the cathedral, which is known to have 1,850 pipes! And no, it's not an antique since it was only installed in 2022. 

Massive wooden doors, inlaid with stained glass displayed like a flower petal, almost like watching a gigantic fixed display of patterns from a kaleidoscope.

What's the above stone sink for?

There were two sections. 

Side of the cathedral, with paintings hung along the columns. Honestly, for safety wise, it did feel a bit disturbing to have the paintings hung at such a weird angle, with just two nails bearing the weight. Guess devotees might find it harder to appreciate the paintings if they were to be placed upright.

Area where devotees sit and pray, including a kneeler; "a padded cushion or bench attached to the base of pews, rails, or standalone frames where congregants rest their knees during prayer."

Oh... a confession booth; always curious to see the inside! As a confession is supposed to be anonymous, I wonder how true that is since it might not be difficult to guess from a person's voice, and in the modern era we are in, there's always ways to check via the CCTV.

More of the altars that were placed on the sides, flanking the nave; the central, main body of a cathedral "designed to hold the general assembly of worshippers and laity during services", like mass. 

I bet Roman Catholics and those with deep interests in architecture and religion would be intrigued. For layman, non-religious people like me; well, it sure has a pretty interior.

Hearing the bells went off at Saint Joseph Cathedral after my meal at Phở Gà Nguyệt and taking away a bag of prawn crackers from the nearby Quán Gốc Đa. 

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Address

1 P. Nhà Thờ, Phường, 

Hoàn Kiếm, Hà Nội 100000, 

Vietnam

Map

As above.

Banh Mi 25 @ Hanoi in Vietnam

7.00 am in Hanoi and the sky was already bright. My objective for waking up so early was to walk to the above street, which appeared quiet and peaceful, departing from the scene a day earlier in the afternoon, with clusters of humans waiting for food / queuing to step into the most popular eatery.

That eatery was Banh Mi 25 and I kid you not; although it took up just half a shopfront, people waiting for their takeaways huddled in front of the building, and spilling onto the road. 

I was aware there were seatings right opposite and rushed straight to the dine-in area! Frankly, I couldn't remember if I should order from the takeaway store first or order right from the dine-in area. 

Limited seatings available and despite arriving at 7.00 am sharp, my mom and I were the last few customers to secure seats immediately as the queue started to form shortly after! My mind was calculating the massive profits to be generated since it's open from 7.00 am till 9.00 pm! 

One thing catching your attention upon entering would definitely be the hundreds, if not thousands of pentagon-shaped stickers all over the walls, the tables, the chairs, and even on decorative items like the puppets from Vietnam's Water Puppetry Show.

Those with OCD should not step in! 

Unlike Bánh Mì Phượng @ Hoi An, which had customers putting up their passport sized photographs, customers of Banh Mi 25 prefered to showcase their currency; specifically notes! 

Iced Americano - Interestingly, I am not really into iced coffee but ever since this latest Hanoi trip, I fell in love with this cold beverage, and had started spending more money on it back in Singapore! p.s. changing occasionally to the cheaper Iced Kopi O Kosong instead.

Banh Mi Mixed - the signature with pate, barbecued pork and smoked sausage. As I would be sharing (the "fats") with my mom, we requested for the Vietnamese baguette to be sliced into halves! 

So that's where the stickers came from! Pity ours were already sliced into halves. :( Oh well, the thing with food stickers; they were not that sticky to begin of, especially the freshly pressed ones. 

Anyway, here's the cross section of our banh mi! The friendly server actually asked us, upon ordering, if we can accept cucumber and coriander! Well, we can accept both; in fact, my mom and I embrace cucumber and coriander. 

Bread was toasted perfectly with a resounding crunch with every bite and the thickness was optimal; sufficiently fluffy with a high ingredients over bread ratio. Taste wise; spicy and the barbecued pork was your typical cantonese style flavour. Honestly, I am more a thit nuong (grilled pork) banh mi person, which banh mi 25 doesn't have.

Overall, still a not-bad banh mi.

And we were happy to showcase our currency.

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Address

25 P. Hàng Cá, Phố cổ Hà Nội, 

Hoàn Kiếm, Hà Nội 100000, Vietnam

Map

As above.

Menu

As above.

Pricing

Americano Iced - 40,000 Dong

Banh Mi Mixed - 50,000 Dong

Dong Xuan Market 2026 - Hanoi's Biggest Indoor Market @ Vietnam

Given that it was mom's first visit to Hanoi, I knew I had to bring her to the capital's biggest indoor market as she is a major shopper for dried food produce, and then only thing I should worry about is whether we had enough luggage space for our plane ride back to Singapore!

As we only had about two nights in Hanoi, it was decided that we shall only target the ground floor of Dong Xuan Market, and avoid non-food stalls as mom would have spent even more time; limited time requires strategizing and mom is known to procrastinate, like me.

On my last trip to Hanoi, with my dad with a focus on Sapa, I visited the market only to find that the stall I wanted to patronize was already closing for the day! And this time round, I made it a point to reach much earlier! So here's Lan Ca, at B1 level, Unit 37-37a, at the other section! 

As expected, the friendly lady who can't speak English, kept feeding us sample after sample of walnuts, macadamia nuts, lotus seeds, cashew nuts etc etc etc! 160K dong for a kilogram of macadamia nuts, 240K dong for a kilogram of cashew nuts with skin. 

The price was reasonable and the samples tasted great, clearing the final hurdle from my picky mom! Unlike some unscrupulous stallowners, the boss from Lan Ca would scoop out from the same bag that she used to "feed" us. 

Needless to say, we bought quite "a bit". And we can ask to pack them in bags of 250 grams, 500 grams and a kilogram, at no extra charge! p.s. using google translate helped to bridge the communication. 

After walking away from Lan Ca, my mom was shortly captivated by the above shop; Thuc Du, at B1 level, Unit 32. It wasn't something she saw; it was something she caught a whiff of.

The seasoning strewn across the stall and the one she was looking for would be the Vietnamese pepper which had such a piquant aroma that even I decided to get a small bag which cost just 30k dong (about about S$1.50)! 

Haul after stepping out of Dong Xuan Market.

Easily more than 10 kilograms worth of stuff! 

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Address

Old Quarter, Hoan Kiem, 

Ha Noi 100000, Vietnam

Map

As above.

The Hokkien Mee Club @ Newton Hawker Centre [Singapore] #newtonhawkercentre

Putting the word "club" to a stall name evokes exclusivity and the hokkien mee club with its vibrant red signboard claims the three most important factors for a good plate of hokkien mee; stock, fresh ingredients and wok hei!

Since we had a group of five persons dining at Newton Food Centre that day, we opted for a large serving of the hokkien mee, wrapped with the most traditional, and natural opeh leaf.

According to the staff, and the small placard stuck to the wrapped leaf, we had to let the hokkien mee 'simmer" for between five to ten minutes, before squeezing in the lime for the best enjoyment! 

After an excruciating five minutes, we impatiently unwrapped the leaf, revealing the jewel within, with a puff of steam rising from the noodles!

  With the hokkien mee being so tightly packed for what seemed like eternity, what appeared in front of me was like an unappetising smosh of noodles that appeared too dry for my liking.

Despite the Greatest Kon's negative verdict, I thought the taste was acceptable, albeit a bit on the bland side, with wok hei weaker than what I expected. The dryness I assumed didn't materialize as it was more like a semi-wet consistency with the noodles sufficiently soaking up the broth!  

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Address

500 Clemenceau Ave N, #01-70, 

Newton Food Centre, Singapore 229495

Map

As above.

Menu

As above.

Pricing

Hokkien Mee with Opeh Leaf (Large) - S$15.00

22 Best Satay - Going for BBQ Prawns @ Newton Hawker Centre [Singapore] #newtonhawkercentre

While I am a lover for satay, the allure for seafood is much greater and the battle between meat and seafood eventually resulted in the choice for BBQ prawns at 22 Best Satay! 

Frankly, the recommendation came from the Greatest Kon and it also happened that Alex would always prefer barbecued prawns over chicken, mutton satay etc. This was evidenced in the used-to-be-frequent visits to Satay Jae Aeng in Bangkok! 

Like Satay Jae Aeng, the prawns were already deshelled, making it much easier for to enjoy the feast. Unlike Satay Jae Aeng, the prawns were much pricier at S$2.20 a stick!

While perfectly grilled without being burnt, the seasoning used did cover the original sweetness of the prawns, and I would require the dark spicy dip to enhance the flavour. Point was, the dip was too hot for my liking and I could only thank my mug of cold beer that helped to soothe the spiciness. 

Maybe next round, I should seriously consider going for their combo, which had a mix of chicken, mutton/beef and prawns! More to review, and more variety to check out from 22 Best Satay. 

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Address

500 Clemenceau Ave N, #01-22, 

Newton Food Centre, Singapore 229495

Map

As above.

Pricing

BBQ Prawns - S$2.20 each