Cuisines in Hanoi

My trip to Hanoi was not only sightseeing, but to eat as many types of food as I could. In addition to Vietnamese food, Vietnam is also renowned for its colonial French cuisines. I had a French lunch buffet (USD22) at Le Beaulieu, Metropole Hotel Hanoi. This French colonial hotel was established in 1901.

Vietnam is also the 2nd largest exporter of coffee after Brazil. Not surprisingly Vietnamese coffee is strong and delicious and the stainless steel coffee filter adds another novelty to coffee drinking.

Bun cha: Rice Vermicille with BBQ pork and green papaya pickles

Steamed catfish in beer at Little Hanoi Restaurant

Appertisers at Le Beaulieu: Sashimi, foie gras with figs, teamed clams, braised scallops

Grilled oysters, spaghetti with clams, Beef Bourginion, ratatouille


Duck confit with bacons and croutons

Sponge fingers with chocolate dips, banana crumble, macaroon

Crepes with fresh strawberry and mango sorbet

Lunch onboard: Frieed fish, fried spring rolls, beancurds, beansprouts etc

Rice with beef and fried chicken with vegetables

DIY grilled fish at Cha Ca La Vong

Snails, Shrimp pancakes, nem (spring rolls) and bánh cuốn (steamed rice cakes)

Fried pho with beef and vegetables

Che, sweetened dessert with shaved ice

Condiments: Sausages, fried eggs, pate, roast pork and many more

Sticky rice with condiments

Traffic in Hanoi

The horrendous traffic at the Hanoi Old Quarter is something that newly arrived travellers have to get used to. There are 2.5 millions motorbikes in Hanoi (pop: 5 million) and the bikes were parked along the pedestrian lanes in front of shops, in the shops as well as in the alleys.

The traffic can come from all directions. And the honking is the norm in order to 'warn' the others. Some riders just cant be bothered to sound the honk when necessary, but do that all the waywhile driving. Some even talked on their mobiles with helmet on, while driving.

The speed is so well planned that when the traffic comes in 4 directions (maybe more than 4) at the crossroads, no one needs to stop at all. (movie clip 2)

Areas near schools are less congested with motorbikes but bicycles, as students are not allowed to own motorbikes till 18 years of age.

The good thing is, despite of the traffic no accident occurred while we were there.

The videos explain everything.

Guiltless UN-necessity!

I have been travelling with my Delsey LARGE suitcase all this while. I have decided to buy a smaller suitcase for shorter trips and use the Delsey for long trips. I have been window shopping for a while now, trying to get the most suitable one.

I finally bought a Samsonite suitcase. (Sound like SMSO! hahhaha) Since it is a good brand and more expensive, I hope it will be more lasting for my many trips. Guess what, when I brought it home and compared to my Delsey, they are almost the same size. Aiyooooooooooooooooooo!

After careful scrutinisation, Samsonite is slightly smaller than Delsey. What a relief! or is it a thought to make me guiltless!

Delsey (L) and Samsonite (R)

The arrivals - What a journey!

The box of printed materials has finally arrived. I was worried of the limited luggage weight allowance by the airlines so I decided to send all these by post using surface mail from the UK. It was 4.7kg and cost me £25.13.

It contains the inflight magazines, cookbook, transport tickets, guide books etc that I have used during my trip in Turkey, Bulgaria, Czech Republic and the UK in December 2008.

I sent it at 10.28am on 22 December 2008 from Leeds, and arrived at the Mail Processing Centre in Brunei on 4 March 2009. I collected it from MPC at 3pm on 16 March 2009.

So, it has been 84 days 4 hours 32 minutes for the box to leave my hands in Leeds, and reached my hands in Brunei. What a journey!