Detailed Postings for Day Two
- Hoan Kiem Lake Park
- Helium Balloons Should Be Banned
- Báo Khánh Alley in the Morning
- King Le Thai To Monument and Nam Huong Communal House
- Ba Da Pagoda
- Exterior of Saint Joseph Cathedral
- Banh My Mama
- Deep Fried Snacks @ Quán Gốc Đa
- Pho 10 Ly Quoc Su
- The Temple of Literature
- Calligraphy Painting @ Temple of Literature
- Lenin Garden
- All Day Coffee 55 Hàng Bún
- Pizza 4P’s Bao Khanh
Despite the cloudy sky, I had a great jog around the mystical Hoan Kiem Lake Park and was, in fact, pretty shocked to see so many locals exercising!
Báo Khánh Alley, where Bonsella Hotel was located, had a mini wet market in the morning! A visual treat for visitors who would like to immerse in a bit of the local life. Beware of splashing water from struggling live fishes!
Aside from hotels, there were restaurants, cafes, massage parlors and even a temple which I didn't get to visit even though I was there for an entire week!
Street views! There were supposed to be 36 heritage streets in Hanoi Old Quarter, where we were situated and they were said to specialize in a specific trade. Like this particular one that had a number of stalls selling sunglasses.
Unlike Ho Chi Minh City, I felt like there were a lot more shops for the tourists though, for example, handicraft, pottery, coffee powder, photography gallery etc.
There were a good selection of Vietnamese food souvenirs (nuts, chips, biscuits etc) that you can purchase. Prices weren't the cheapest but at least not at the level of airport pricing. Only bad thing was the lack of sampling.
A pink, convertible bentley! For those who are unaware, bentley cars are for the super rich in Singapore as one would usually set one back by more than one million dollars!
First place of attraction - King Le Thai To Monument and Nam Huong Communal House. Check out the link here for more photos and information!
Mystery solved, at least for me, for the underwater working mechanism for the puppets! All thanks to the information panels outside the Lotus Water Puppet Theatre.
Visit to the Ba Da Pagoda; two things that struck me. The narrow entrance to this temple said to originate from the 11th century and the appearance of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas at the main altar.
Short distance away would be the Saint Joseph Cathedral; I didn't manage to step in for a closer look so just more photographs on the façade in this separate posting here.
Beautiful ceramics from this two-level shop (Cerender Ceramics by Jork Pap) next to Saint Joseph Cathedral. I would love to get some but my priority would be on piggy banks. And clumsy, butterfingers me can't handle too many fragile items.
Cong Cafe, with its signature army green facade diagonally across Saint Joseph Cathedral. Noticing its balcony seating, I already had in mind a plan, in the next few days, to take time-lapsed videos of the cathedral from the cafe.
A cute maltese guarding the souvenir shop! It's amazing how well trained the dogs were in Vietnam! It was the same situation in Ho Chi Minh City. Maybe it's not the norm in Singapore as we are a multi-racial society.
Kon was drawn to the queue for Banh My Mama and decided to join the line. As it was quite long, I decided to get a cup of super strong Vietnamese coffee from 1368 Speed Coffee, which doubled up as a bar at night!
I didn't know Lock is such an animal lover; much more than me! This feline from a shop was totally drawn to him and he spent so much time interacting with it!
Another pet guard; a corgi! Some of them were dining establishments and having animals in eateries would be a no-no in Singapore given the potential hygiene issue.
Our simple review of Banh My Mama; meh.
Dissatisfaction drove us to buying Deep Fried Snacks @ Quán Gốc Đa! I would love to return to check out the rest of their deep fried offerings!
More on street view.
Official first meal for the day since the rest were for sharing and I didn't eat much for breakfast at Bonsella Hotel; pho from Pho 10 Ly Quoc Su where over 6,000 reviewers had rated it on Google Map.
Well, I can reaffirm again that pho isn't my cup my tea. The more memorable thing from my patronage at Pho 10 was the wet staircase that I had to climb down after using the washroom on the second level. One wrong move; I bet I will break my neck.
Street vendor selling crispy rice puffs! Kon is always very supportive of local food, and thanks to him, I managed to try many stuff as my usual travel companion, Alex, is NOT adventurous. p.s. rice puffs were quite tasteless.
We took quite a number of 'funny' photos and Kon even got two calligraphy paintings from this ancient looking man at the Temple of Literature.
Another one of the 36 streets of Hanoi Old Quarter, I believe. Many shops were like art galleries although the style of the paintings was pretty old school.
Chanced upon a quiet park but found groups of people huddling at one side. Turned out they were there for Chinese chess games! I actually know how to play but it has been like almost two decades since I last played it.
Overlooking the Lenin statue is the 33.4 meters tall Flag Tower of Hanoi, which was "was built in 1812 during the Nguyen dynasty as an observation post to the Hanoi Citadel".
Want to guess which embassy this is?
The five-star emblem and the dragon are giveaways.
Unlike Ho Chi Minh City, I personally thought the vehicular traffic in Hanoi was much lesser. To be fair, Hanoi's population was almost half of Chi Minh City.
Main entrance and ticketing counter for the Imperial Citadel of Thang Long. As we already spent quite a while at the Temple of Literature, it was decided we would give it a miss. Alex's brain is never built to accommodate so much cultural and historical materials in one day. Ticket price was just 30,000 dong a person (less than S$2).
We caught a look of the citadel from public-accessible area. As it wasn't that big, I figured we wouldn't miss much. Whatever the case, I shall visit in my next time to Hanoi.
Right across the road were two rather modern structures, blessed with pretty landscaping that contrasted with the millennium old citadel. A search on Google revealed what they were.
This building is for the 500-member Vietnam National Assembly, known as the "highest organ of state power" according to Vietnam constitution.
Right behind is Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum. Do note that the queue can be insane, as we found out on day four. And don't believe the operating hours on Google map; refer to the link here instead. Sometimes, the operation hours can be as short as 3 hours.
It's strange to find a navigational marker on a public road to an area that's part of the ticketed Imperial Citadel of Thang Long, and best of all, no one standing guard. I was wondering if I could just take a peep but didn't want to embarrass my country....
Sepak takraw in Vietnam! Do you know that the name of the Southeast Asian sports is made up of languages from Malay and Thai? In Vietnam, it's known as Da Cau. Although common in Singapore, I have never once tried playing it as from the look of it, I bear a high risk of breaking my neck!
History students would understand the not so subtle meaning for the name of this bag shop. It's basically the play of the name of a notable Russian politician who led Russia for almost 30 years; Joseph Stalin.
Random street views again.
Cua Bac Parish Church; one of three major churches in Hanoi, this was built in 1932 and ever played host to former "United States president George W. Bush, who was on an official visit to Vietnam" in 2006.
Always nice to see plain walls being refreshed with meaningful painted murals like the historical landmarks in Vietnam.
Lock had to go in to take a look for his cats at home! I feel him as I was like him when I used to have pets at home; always an insatiable need to go into any pet shops in case there are unique things that would pamper my pets.
Time to rest our tired legs and quench our thirst at All Day Coffee 55 Hàng Bún. Correction - we literally had full meals when the initial intention was just to get some drinks!
Took GRAB back to Báo Khánh Alley as we didn't we could endure a walk back. Put it this way, if we didn't, Alex would still take GRAB back to the hotel, without us! So might as well save money and time. p.s. loving the lanterns hung on the trees!
Taking note of this Vietnamese BBQ along Báo Khánh Alley; if I recall, it's opposite Centre Point Hanoi Hotel. I tried Vietnamese BBQ in Singapore before, at Ăn Là Ghiền, and still prefer Japanese / Korean / Thai BBQ.
Again, a satisfying meal at Pizza 4P’s!
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