You have not lived until you have had a hot bowl of steaming Phở noodles in Vietnam! It's sooooo good... although I think I am biased since I love my Phở! However it seems that Vietnamese people have very dainty appetites, because Felix needs at least two bowls until he is satisfied. =) I wish you could see the pic that I took of our first bowl of pho noodles... we still salviate when we look at them! Unfortunatelty... the computers here are not as technologically advanced as we are used to!
We have been in Vietnam now for just less then a week... and loving it! Felix and I arrived on Tuesday and stayed three nights in Hanoi just absorbing the city! It’s a pretty crazy city... so much going on everywhere! We are currently staying in the Old Quarter which I consider to be the heart of the city! It’s just so vibrant and alive! As you all know... I am one to really appreciate the architecture... and Hanoi has not been a disappointment at all. I love the French inspired buildings, with the 12 foot ceilings, and the wooden detailing of the french windows, and the little balconies. Ooh La la!
One thing that really took us a while to get adjusted to, was crossing the road! I can truly say that it is worse than China. There is a constant flow of motorcycles, cyclos, bicyles and cars that are just coming at you. The key is to just slowly inch forward at a constant pace, so the vehicles can swerve “AROUND” you! Isn’t that insane! I still have a tendency to want to close my eyes as we cross. Thankfully, Felix has become a pro and I just hold his hand and hope for the best!
The Old Quarter is a must see if you ever come to Vietnam, and every shoppers dream! You can find anything here, and lots of variety! The cool thing that we noticed is that they divide all the different goods by streets. Ie there is a street dedicated to silk, and another to chinese medicine, and yet another for laquerwear. I wish to god that I had room in my pack, but sadly, we still have a good 6 weeks to go! =)
One thing that Felix really enjoys drinking is Vietnamese coffee. If you have ever come to my house, Felix may have made you a cup. It’s basically a slow drip coffee in a silver metal filter into a glass with condensed milk. Very yummy, but very strong, its kind of like expresso with 10x the caffeine. If we go for Vietnamese food in TO, Felix would also request specifically for “Vietnamese coffee.” (In case they mistakenly thought he wanted a regular cup of joe.)
Habits die hard, because while in Hanoi, we went to one of the very local coffee shop, and Felix as usual asked for a cup of cold “Vietnamese Coffee.” The lady just gave us a VERY strange stare! We slowly came to the realization, that we referred to coffee as they know it here as “Vietnamese coffee!” Moral of the story... it’s just regular coffee here! =) We have tried to spare ourselves the embarassment now... knowing that they just don’t GET it!
We did get a little adventurous one day... (despite both of us having previously gotten sick from tainted food) and tried sitting in the local stalls for bun. (Dried rice noodles served with fish sauce.) And when we say local.... we mean sitting on a small plastic stool, that is about a foot off the ground, and lucky for us, at this particular establishment, there were tables. We squatted in a tiny little alleyway... and tried the local delicacies. I have to admit... it was DAMN good... but since we couldn’t speak the language, the waitress/cook took it upon herself to serve us what she thought we wanted... which was a mountain of food. We paid about $4 USD for the both of us... but found out today from a local, that we got ripped off three times the cost that a local would pay! But when in Rome... you gotta do as the Roman’s do... despite the risk of being ripped off! ;)
Felix and I also got ripped off when we took a cyclo ride to the Ho Chi Minh Masoleum.... but again... it was worth it! Swerving around the roads with all the motorcyles and cars! Its a completly different feel being on the buggy, than being a pedestrian!
Aights peeps..... another chapter is done! PEACE OUT!
