Vietnam Trip - Memorable Journey to Sapa :D

Memorable journey to Sapa :D (Photo source: Google.com)

I never thought that my journey to Sapa would be the unforgettable moment of my traveling life. When on our first day Jacky told us to be our emergency contact, whenever and wherever we needed, I never thought that I would need the service so badly. Here was the story.

We were fetched by our driver at 7am in the morning. We left early because it took around 6 hours to reach Sapa from Hanoi. Aileen and I had filled our stomach full with breakfast provided by our hotel. Since it was a long journey, I made sure I had enough food until reaching there in the afternoon.

The van was slowly leaving Hanoi. My phone network started becoming so weak when we entered the highway. I could not browse the internet. Suddenly, I felt my stomach wanting to pee. That was one thing I most afraid of when traveling on road, toilet break. I told myself not think about it, and tried to sleep instead. Sometimes it worked.

I closed my eyes and breathed, trying to catch some sleep. However, instead of reducing the urge for peeing, the reaction changed to a bigger feeling. I wanted to go for big business instead. The wind and various feelings stirred inside my stomach. Oh my God!!! 

I breathed in deeply, concentrated not to make it worse. I looked outside the van's window. It was highway, and only highway. We just left in less than an hour from Hanoi. It would be impossible for the van to go to resting area so soon, that too, if it was available. I started to panic.

I told Aileen who was seated next to me, "Leen, could you inform the driver that I wanted to go to toilet?" She said she did not know how to say as our driver knew only Vietnamese language (usually the driver did not know any English. Their duty was just to send us from hotel to the destination and stopped at resting area sometimes. They used finger to tell us how long we would stop before continuing the journey again.

I opened the Google translation apps on my mobile, trying to translate toilet to Vietnamese language. But as my phone could not catch the network, I was helpless. Aileen also used the same SIM card (I purchased both SIM card together from Singapore), but luckily her network was working. So maybe the problem lies with my three-year-old mobile phone. 

We were seated on third row inside the van. So I had to force Aileen to translate the word fast and inform the driver fast too. She immediately translated the word and went to the driver, showed him the word to him. I saw him nodding, and continued the journey.

The problem was, the speed was the same. I kept looking on my left and right. There was no lane for car to stop. Even if it was there, there was no toilet available. No place to hide as well. All was plain and open space, with some buildings at the side.

Oh my God!!! This would not work!!! My stomach was squeezing and squeezing. I was holding on, trying to endure as much as I could. "Aileen, could you call Jacky please??? Ask him to call the driver, telling him to stop for toilet. It is really bad. I can not hold it so long now," pleaded me. 

She dialed Jacky's number (the emergency number he gave us) and told him about my situation. After calling him, it took a while until the driver received the call from Jacky. When his phone rang, I was relieved. They were talking for a while. The driver looked at me from the rearview mirror. I also looked at his eyes, showing my pale face, pleading face, with no word, trying to tell him to help me as fast as he could!

Once he finished the phone call, he started racing. Hahahahahaha..... I was not kidding. He was really racing on the highway. He kept honking the horn and cutting out lanes, just like the ambulance bringing the patient who was in emergency situation. Wahhh.... when he drove like that, I was really feeling relieved. I thanked my emergency messenger - both Aileen and Jacky - deep inside my heart, for helping me in such situation.

Later on, Aileen received message from Jacky, saying that the driver would drop me to the Airport, and asking me to go to the toilet there. The van was racing with time. I told the rest of the passenger, "Sorry everyone, I am in emergency for going to toilet," because I did not want them to complain about it to the van company and thought of the driver to be reckless unnecessarily. 

I was enduring as much as I could. When I saw the airport signage coming up, I was praying that the distance to there would not be far, hoping that there would not be traffic jam, the stopping area would not be crowded with cars, and toilet would not be far and crowded with people.

Thank Buddha, Buddha heard it all!!! The distance was not far, it was not crowded at all, no traffic with other vehicles, the toilet was not far from the place where the van stopped, and it was empty whenever I reached there, as if the toilet was waiting for me and the rest of situation was really advantaging my situation.

Once the van stopped, I opened the van door, and ran as fast as I could. As I entered, my eyes looked frantically for the toilet sign. When I saw, I immediately ran towards it and went into the first empty cubicle I saw and released!!!! Hahahahahahaha........

Oh myyy..... it was really an embarrassing moment for me to experience!!! I released whatever things that wanted to go out from my stomach. Aileen accompanied me to toilet as well. When I went out from the building, the driver was entering, wanting to go to the toilet. He saw me and smiled, he was asking me if I was ok using his two thumbs. I showed my two thumbs as well and thanked him for the ride!!! He was smiling sheepishly but happy at the same time because he managed helping me in such urgent situation. I was deeply grateful for him and his effort. Without it, I could not imagine what situation I would be inside the van.....

I thanked Jacky too for conveying my message to the driver afterwards (there was network connection in the area). When he was back, we continued the journey to Sapa.

On our way, Jacky told me to give the driver some money to cover the entrance fee to the airport. I told him not to worry about it. I would give even without him noticing me and when we stopped for first resting area, I handed in some money for him as I went down from the van and said "cảm ơn" to him (means "thank you").

The driver was surprised when saw me handing him the money and he immediately refused. I told him, for the parking fee earlier, and he waved his both hands, asking me not to give him anything but I insisted. I just left it at the basket filled with fruits next to him and went down. He was so good, wasn't he??? 

With a rescued driver who brought us to Sapa 

We reached Sapa town at around 1.15pm. Our local guide, Dinh, was waiting for us when we reached. After collected our luggage, suddenly our driver talked to her, asking us to take photo with him. I was wondering why he suddenly wanted to take photo with us (not to any other passenger there). That too, he was requesting to take with my mobile phone and not his. 

Anyway, we still took the photo. Later on, the driver talked to Dinh again, asking her to tell us that he would be around Sapa tonight and in case we wanted accompany for drink, could ask her to contact him. Lol....

We had lunch first at Red Dzao House before checking in to our hotel - La Casa Sapa Hotel. We put our luggage inside the room and refreshed for a while. When readied, we headed to Cat Cat Village - the first destination stated in our itinerary.

On our walking path towards Cat Cat Village

We took car to the entrance. It took us only about 10 minutes time. We walked down through the staircases. There were shops on our left and right selling mostly souvenirs (traditional clothes, accessories, traditional dry herbs, and so on).

Throughout walking path towards Cat Cat Village - Sapa, Vietnam

You could rent their local dress and wear it there. We spotted many local Vietnamese renting the dress and took photos with beautiful scenery. It was too troublesome to wear the cloths for me, so I skipped it. While walking we asked many questions to our guide about anything we wanted to know. She told us many about her and her family condition, her situation due to Covid, and so on.

Sapa is famous for its magnificent view of sloping rice terraces. You could spot the view while walking too. It was greenish and yellowish as the season was in September. It was located in the hill, therefore, the weather was cooling.

Waterfalls in Cat Cat Village - Sapa, Vietnam

Soon we reached the Cat Cat Village and welcomed with beautiful waterfalls. We were given free time to enjoy the scenery and watch performance shown by local minority who stayed in the area.  

Traditional performance by Hmong minority - Sapa, Vietnam

We took photo with Dinh at the picture above. She was wearing her traditional cloth and her handmade weaving bag. She said she waived a lot during Covid-19 period as she did not have guiding job to do. She made many handcrafts so that she could sell now to her guests. I requested her to bring some of her handmade produces the day after as my friend was interested to get one.

Photo taking set on the left side with people wearing the rented traditional clothes

The place was beautiful, but very touristic. Many manmade items were made to cater tourists, especially photo taking place set next to the river. I did not really like it. I preferred natural beauty over manmade stuffs. But many were enjoying though, especially when wearing the rented traditional clothes. We saw many couples wearing it together. Some, only ladies were wearing and the guy took their beautiful photos.

View of the traditional house in Cat Cat Vilage - Sapa, Vietnam

There was traditional house for viewing as well, showing the internal and external side. So the visitor could have an idea how they lived.

Notre Dame Cathedral in Sapa Town, Vietnam

After visiting it, we headed back to Sapa town. We went to visit the Notre Dame Cathedral located very near from the Sapa center. While Aileen went inside for prayer, I was sitting down outside with Dinh and had a chit chat. Notre Dame Cathedral was built by the French in 1895. This stone church featured a bell tower and Roman Gothic architecture. It was beautiful.

Medicine bag foot bath and body massage in Sapa, Vietnam

Once done, Dinh went home to cook for her family. The traditional medicine herbs for foot and body bath was famous there. We decided to give a try, but foot only (VND50,000). At the same time, we had a 60-minute head, shoulder and foot massage (VND250,000).

They soaked my foot for so long. The water from hot until became cold. The lady was doing massage while my legs were inside the pail. I think it was soaked for too long and when it was over, I did not feel well. My body was shivering from the cold weather, and the cold feet ( I was wearing slipper instead of shoes).

Preparation for Full Moon festival in Sapa Center - Sapa, Vietnam

We passed by the Sapa Center when walking to the Moment Romantic Restaurant to have our Vietnamese style fish soup dinner. The places started to get crowded. It happened to be Full Moon Festival on that day. What a lucky occasion for us to be there!!! Weren't we??? They were preparing their car (full of light and decoration) for the upcoming night.

Salmon Hotpot - Must try food in Sapa, Vietnam

We were hungry and I was not feeling well. So we decided to have dinner first and go back to hotel afterwards for taking a rest. Jacky asked us to try the local salmon hotpot while we stayed in Sapa. So I browsed internet looking for the nice salmon hotpot in the area. This restaurant seemed to have good review and the location was not far from where we stayed. So we chose it.

We ordered one pot for 2 person. Rice and noodle were included. With tea for 2 pax, it cost us VND580,000. It was not cheap but we enjoyed it very much as the ingredients suited my condition very well. I needed proper food (too many snacks the day before), and hot soup was really good for such a cold weather. We both ate in gusto and the portion was just nice.

We both went back to hotel. I took bath and Aileen helped me 'gua sha' (scratch my back using oil) to let the air coming out from my body, and I took a rest inside the room. She went alone back to Sapa town to watch the Full Moon parade and night scenery over the lake near there. It was too bad that I could not enjoy them, but rest was all I needed so that I could recover fast and go on with my journey.

Overall I had a good day there, but too bad we could not visit the rice terrace as we needed separate tour for trekking or hiking there, which I did not know. So if you wanted to visit it, you should arrange beforehand, and make sure you have enough time. That was all for now. Will continue again...

Vietnam Trip - Day 2 at Ha Long Bay and Hanoi

Morning rainbow at Ha Long Bay, Vietnam :)

 

I woke up early at 5 am as I wanted to catch the sunrise. I went up to the highest floor but it was drizzling and cloudy. I thought I wanted to go back to catch some sleep, but then, the impermanent thing came. The cloud had started to change its color. It had become reddish and the sky turned to clearer view. Woahhhh..... and soon after that, I caught a glimpse of rainbow!!! Wasn't it amazing??? 

I never thought that I could catch a rainbow in Ha Long Bay. I had no expectation or whatsoever about what would come actually. So when it appeared, I could never stop feeling blessed and grateful for that moment. The rainbow kept changing too. From just a bit, it could slowly turn to longer curve. It changed as the cloud, wind, and sun were moving around. Our cruise kept moving around and changed its direction too. Those things were what made the situation beautiful. The beauty of nature and its surrounding :)

After it was no longer drizzling, Mr. Tam came up. He asked my friend, me and Indian group if they would like to join Tai Chi - the Chinese shadowboxing. He taught us the simple and basic one, as form of exercising in such early day. We agreed to it almost immediately and joined him. We followed the movement shown by him and ended it by series of back and shoulder massage while standing up. Hahaha... not bad, especially when the person did it wholeheartedly and with full of energy :D

Kayaking and boating at Luon Cave - Ha Long Bay, Vietnam

We had a simple and quick breakfast before heading to Luon Cave. We could choose between kayaking or taking a bamboo boat with many people in it. Aileen and I chose kayaking without hesitation. I just had it when I went to Sweden and I enjoyed it so much. This time, I would love to do it again, at different place. So there we were...

Live life to the fullest, always :)

Although it was only a short one (half an hour), but I enjoyed it so so much!!! I did not stir it well and often bumped into other boats, hahahaha... but I just loved doing it! And it gave me chance to learn and do better. So when I had another series of kayaking with my sister earlier this month in Australia, I had that confidence to lead the kayak for both of us :) Just loving it! :)

As you could see at the photos, we passed through under the cave, then we were free to roam around it until time was up. The water was calm and it was safe. The next time you go there, make sure you try it as well and enjoy the beauty of the cave underneath :)

We went back to our boat after that. Got ourselves ready for checking out the room, and heading to dining room to have our last meal on the cruise. We settled our bill on our way back to the port. We reached the port quite early at 10.30 am so we had to wait until the van came and picked us up. I felt a bit sad with the separation with our cruise mates. Although we spent only short time, we enjoyed our time together. Well, that was another thing about traveling. It just reminded me of the quote below. 

Life is like a journey on a train quote (Pic: Google.com)

Interesting, wasn't it? :)

We took around 3 hours to reach Hanoi, back to the Golden Rooster Hotel, felt like going back home. Hahaha.... We spent the rest of our day surrounding the Old Quarter in Hanoi, because that was the only time we had left to spend there. 

We were starving, so after putting our back into the room, we started our own food tour. We first walked to Banh Mi Hoi An. We wanted to eat banh mi - Vietnamese baguette with pate - at the shop other than Banh Mi 25, since we had already tried it before. Unfortunately when we reached there, the seller was running out of baguette. It would only be delivered in a while. So we decided to leave the shop and move on to another place. I looked at the Google map and decided to go to try the Banh Xeo - Vietnam savoury fried pancake at Bánh xèo, Nem cuốn. 

Must eat Banh Xeo in Hanoi!!!

Never underestimate the simplicity of the food. The shop, the owner, and food looked so simple, but let me tell you, the taste was unforgettable!!! You ate it with rice paper, vegetable, the pancake, and dipped it with the sauce and ate it with the chopped chili. It tasted heavenly!!! I would definitely go there again if I visited Hanoi again next time! And I would eat at least two portion for myself alone. Hahahahaha....

Must try local dessert in Hanoi :)

My stomach was warmth and happy. Next, we headed to Hoa Quả Dầm Hoa Béo to taste the local dessert. I chose something light and simple - Jackfruit caramen (jackfruit with pudding caramel), while Aileen chose Kem Soi (sticky rice with ice cream and coconut flakes). We sat at low stool and low table, commonly used by Vietnamese. I really loved and enjoyed my dessert :) Pour the crushed ice onto it and it just tasted so delicious :) 

After that we walked towards a convenience store that selling local snacks and coffee. Aileen wanted to buy some for her friends and colleagues. There, we browsed around and bought what we wanted (after asking around the local staff, which brands they found it good or usually chosen by them). 

Local snacks you might want to try or bring home :D

You could find these at van resting stops

On our way to Cafe Giang, we passed by the Banh Mi Hoi An shop again. This time, the customer was there buying. So we decided to give another chance to taste their banh mi. We ordered one, divided into two and had it there while resting our feet after walking for some time. The taste was okay, and we ticked one of our food list to try :)

Banh mi at Banh Mi Hoi An - Hanoi, Vietnam

Did Cafe Giang sound familiar? Hehehe.... Cafe Giang was where you could find the original taste of the egg coffee. I was not the fans of egg coffee, but trying only one would not be fair for me to judge whether I liked it or not. So I wanted to visit this one, and tried the egg coffee again. 

Egg coffee at Cafe Giang - Hanoi, Vietnam

We sat at lower level of the shop since Aileen's knee was in pain. We ordered one hot and one cold egg coffee again.  Aileen chose the hot one. It was so sweet (maybe too much condensed milk). But the egg yolk taste was not as strong as Cafe Dinh. For coffee flavor wise, I still preferred Cafe Dinh one, much  more strong and flavorful. Here the coffee taste was not that strong. Maybe the next time I go to Hanoi, I would visit Cafe Dinh and order ice coffee with milk instead of egg coffee since I liked the coffee but not the egg yolk taste hahahaha... :P We went back to our hotel by Grab and had some rest.

Yummy chicken noodle in Hanoi, Vietnam

At 8pm we went out for dinner. We visited one local stall selling chicken noodle. It was located not far from our hotel. Jacky recommended us that place. We were asked to sit inside the small alley instead of sitting outdoor because the outside space had been occupied with other customers. Both of us shared a bowl since the portion was quite big and we were not very hungry after series of eating in the afternoon. It was simple, yet delicious. I loved it :)

Hang Dao Street night market during full moon - Hanoi, Vietnam

It was Friday night, a night before the Full moon festival. In Hanoi, there was a night weekend market located at Hang Dao Street, opened every weekend from 8 to 10 pm. So right after dinner, we walked there. Here, they were selling clothes, accessories, artisanal or handmade crafts, wooden crafts, food, snacks, and so on. 

Miss this kind of lifestyle - like back to the good old time :)

We walked all the way until nearby the Hoan Kiem Lake, the prominent building behind me - Jacky called it MBS Marina Bay Sands of Hanoi (the photo above) :D There was tent and performance (mostly singing and dancing). The road was closed for any vehicles, purely only for walking path.

I loved the atmosphere, the ambience. I felt safe walking there despite the crowd surrounding me. Many families were there walking together (husband and wife with their children), some hand in hand, some carried their child on their shoulder, and so on. Even late at night, people were still traveling with their motorbike with their friend, family. I really missed this kind of lifestyle. As if I was traveling back to the past when mobile phone was not existing yet. So everyone would just want to go out and enjoy what the market had to offer :) If I had to go back to Hanoi again, I would make sure I would be there on weekend again, so that I could experience this all over again :)

We walked until we could not walk anymore. Hahaha... I bought some snacks, beer, and headed back to our hotel to rest. I enjoyed walking in Hanoi now, and really wish to go back there again, at least once, in my life :)

Vietnam Trip - Day 1 at Ha Long Bay :)

The famous limestone rock formation as printed in VND200,000 note

Ha Long literally means "descending dragon". It was said that there was a legend behind the place. It was a UNESCO World Heritage Site too. To be honest, before the trip I had no idea what Ha Long Bay would look like. I just had a glance view of it before and preferred to let myself be awed with its magnificent view. In my travelling experience, I did this a lot, especially when going to places arranged by travel agent. Lack of time to do research was one thing. Leave things flow naturally and let myself be awed by it were the other reasons. So, same like my experience with Ha Long Bay this time.

The weather was another thing I missed to check before going. Hahahaha... Since I did some research for writing this blog, I only found out now that September was not the favorable time to visit Ha Long Bay since the chance to rain was high. Lol... But I could not do anything too since my time schedule had been packed with other traveling plans and only had this 6-day slot, exactly on these days, available. And I would not mind with rain. I would not mind with hot weather. It had been part of my life almost every day living in Singapore. And again, nothing was certain. Nothing was permanent.

Rain would not fall whole day. The sun might appear, and those two might even create the beautiful rainbow. So, leave this naturally, with the flow, expect the worse, and hope for the best, were the mentality I always holding to whenever going for traveling. I loved surprised. I loved the unexpected circumstances. I loved changes. Because it was only natural that those things happening in our lives. Without challenges in life, I would not know my limit, how much I could endure, how much I could accept, how would I handle it, gracefully, or with anger. 

Yeah, that was how I started writing this for my one-night stayover in the Ha Long Bay :)

How I captured it ^^"

P.S. I did not even know that the limestone rock formation was printed in the VND200,000 note until the second day I was in the cruise. I even forgot to ask the cruise guide, where was the formation rock located. And later on, I found out that actually I had my picture with it without realizing its existence and that too, was taken very far away and shown a very small picture. Hahahaha..... :P

We took about 3 hours to reach Ha Long Bay port by taking the limousine van. Jacky said, after Covid-19, the mode of transport for traveling had changed to limousine van. I was not sure what tourists took before that though. But he kept asking me to take photo of the inside of the van. Perhaps he too, never took this van as passengers before, so not sure how his customers would feel - whether they were comfortable, were they enjoying the ride and facilities, and so on.

Typical limousine van for transfer in Hanoi, Vietnam

In some van we took, the USB charging port that each seat had at the side, was working. But in some van, it was not. So there was no consistency in it and we could not rely much on the charging facility provided. There were 3 rows at the back, with two-seat each in the first two rows and three-seat at the back row. Another passenger would be seated in front seat, next to the driver. Therefore, a maximum of 8 passengers could be taken at each journey.

We reached early at about 11.30am. However, the weather was not good. It was raining heavily. Everyone was just waiting under cover until the rain turned lighter. Small boat came and went to pick and send the passengers from the cruises that were parked not far from the port. Our turn was finally came too around an hour later. We were transferred to our cruise, called Syrena.

Once reached the cruise, we went to the third floor where all passengers were gathered for the welcome and safety briefing. After that we were given key to our room. Passengers' rooms were located at first and second floor but mostly we were all staying at second floor. We headed to our room with our bags and checking the facilities, making sure that all was working well. 

I think all room had small balcony, but we seldom went outside because there was kerosene smell and hot air when we were standing there. Overall we had a nice, comfortable, and most importantly, at least for me, clean room. The bathroom had wooden floor, which was unusual. I loved staying there. The air-conditioner had been turned on before we entered. It was cool and nice.

After freshen up, we went upstairs again to have our lunch. It was six different dishes and ended with a plate of dessert to share. My friend and I ordered a cup of coffee each to finish our lunch and sat outside while enjoying the view surrounding us. By then the rain had stopped. It was so relaxing and enjoyable.

At around 3.30pm we left the cruise and was transferred with a small boat to visit our first stop - the Surprising Cave or Hang Sung Sot. On our way we could see many amazing shapes of the limestone, as a result of 500 million years of formation in different conditions and environments (see the picture below).

Various limestone rock formation that resembled animals - Ha Long Bay, Vietnam

There were around 59 caves found surrounding the Ha Long Bay, but Sung Sot was the largest. It was formed since 520-470 million BC. The size and view inside was really unbelievable and living up to its name.

The view inside the Sung Sot Cave - Ha Long Bay, Vietnam

Everyone who entered was awed by it. They were woo waa non-stop, entering different parts of the caves. All was offering different shapes and view. They used camera to take picture and video, remembering the view and moments, sharing it with their loved ones.

Ti Top Island - Ha Long Bay, Vietnam

After that we visited Ti Top Island, not far from the cave. In the island, we were given option to climb up around 450 steps to see the panoramic view from of the Ha Long Bay the top and/ or to swim and/ or play volleyball or just relaxing at the base. The island was named after Russian cosmonaut Gherman Titov on the occasion of his first visit to Ha Long Bay in 1962.

Activities at Ti Top Island - Ha Long Bay, Vietnam

We had a great time there from the climbing and watching our fellow friends playing beach ball at the seaside. We went back to our cruise after that to catch the happy hour drink promotion time hahahaha.... :P

Wrap spring roll activities taught by Mr. Tam - Syrena Cruise at Ha Long Bay, Vietnam

Before dinner started, there was a fun lesson conducted by Mr. Tam, our cruise guide, how to wrap the Vietnamese roll. All of us was given a chance to try. After that they fried it and served it for us for dinner. They served buffet for dinner.

Our buffet dinner and happy hour beer. Yo!!! Means Cheerssss.... :D

Most dishes tasted good. Desserts too. I tried Halong Sapphire beer and triple 3 (333) beer on board. We had a relaxing dinner after a long day. We even made friend with other group after those trips. There was fish catch activity at night after dinner, which was actually just wasting of time because it was really difficult to catch one. Hahaha... But it gave us a chance to chat with other people including the cruise crew.

After taking bath, I headed to the top deck. There I joined other for a drink. They bought so many beers and wine and shared it with me. I drank, listened to them, chatted sometimes, and enjoying the night breeze and moon view on top of the sky. I felt really blessed and grateful for being there. Thank you, thank you, and thank you SB for giving me the opportunity to travel to many places in the world, for being there, at the moment. To be continued....

Vietnam Trip - Hanoi in September 2022

Hanoi, Vietnam

I went to some parts of Vietnam before, but I had not been into Hanoi (the capital and second largest city in Vietnam), Sapa Village and Ha Long Bay before. I had heard a lot about it from my close friends. One had been there before and shared with me how lovely the places were and why it was worth visiting. Another had not been there, but really wanted to go.

It was in the middle of August and I had already some plans made for the month of September to travel to other countries. Nevertheless, Sapa was famous for its beautiful and pristine rice terraces, cool and fresh mountain air, plus the living place of many ethnic minorities, such as: Hmong (52%), Dao (25%), Tay (5%), and so on. And one of the best time to visit Sapa was in September (before the farmers harvested their paddy fields, so the fields were in yellowish color).

I was looking at my timetables and there was a small gap in between of my planned trips but I did not have accompany as my friend who was interested to go there, was unable to take leave from office. But fortunately, in few days time, I managed to find another friend, who could make time and also take leave from her office. I had to convince her to take six days trip there instead of five days though, since she had also another long-trip planned in the next following month.

Yeah, if you asked me, how many days would be enough to visit Hanoi and the area, I would say 7 days would be ideal. With 6 days planned, I could visit places I wanted to go, but there was one place I missed visiting - Ninh Binh - and that was why seven days would be perfect. Some people could complete all the places within 6 days but they would not stay a night on a cruise in Ha Long Bay, instead, they could only visit on a day trip, but they would miss lots of thing (in my opinion, since I loved a relaxing trip instead of the hurried one).

So, I got accompany, I got 6 days to spare in between of my two trips, then, what was next? I asked my friend a local travel agent contact that she knew from her previous trip. She gave me the contact and I messaged Jacky through Whats App right away asking him for the quotation based on places I wanted to visit. He sent me few itineraries to choose and I forwarded it to my friend. 

I was quite occupied with so many things regarding my other trips. Therefore, I wanted to take this trip easy, with lesser planning, lesser research, and left all the hotels and van transfers booking into the hand of this local agent. I left the choice of the recommended hotel in their hands too, because I believed that they also wanted to give us the best with the budget offered and wanted to make their customers happy with their services. 

So I replied him within few days and confirmed to take their services in the next one month. He trusted me so much just like friends did, that he did not even collect deposit until we reached there (even when there was a local bank account available for transfer). However, in case I had to cancel my trip due to any unexpected circumstances, I had to still follow their procedures to pay for the cancellation fee as mentioned in the itinerary (to be fair, right?)

Thank Buddha that both of us were blessed with good health and could proceed with our trip there accordingly :)

Noi Bai Hanoi International Airport

There were many airlines available from Singapore to Hanoi, especially for direct flight. There were SQ, Vietnam Airlines, Vietjet Air, Bamboo Airways, Scoot, etc. I picked up Scoot since it offered free 10 kg hand carry luggage at the budget rate, and the flight time was perfect for our itinerary too. We flew at 10 am and reached there at around 12.30pm. 

Our guide, owner, cum friend, Jacky, had personally picked us up from the Noi Bai International Airport. He was our food and city guide of the day since we were introduced by my close friend, who had also introduced him to many of her friends who were travelling to Vietnam. He had other group who also came from Singapore that day, but because of this connection, he took his time to accompany me and my friend instead of bringing the other group around.

Upon arrival, I was surprised and happy when seeing many Vietnamese not wearing masks. I thought, wearing mask was still a requirement for Vietnamese there. Many were still wearing for their own health protection instead of a must-do-thing or requirement by the government. So, I was loosen my guard up too while travelling there - only wore it when I was surrounded by the heavy crowd or indoor.

Golden Rooster Hotel, Hanoi - Vietnam

We were dropped first to our hotel, Golden Rooster Hotel, located in the heart of Hanoi Old Quarter. It was designed modernly. We stayed there for total of 3 nights and overall, we really had a good and comfortable stay in the room, and even made friend with most of the staffs there. They were all polite, friendly, professional. We checked in, kept our luggage inside the room, and refreshed ourselves for a while before we started our food tour. It was just nice, time for lunch and we both were hungry!

Our first meal in Hanoi - Banh Mi and Hanoi Beer at Banh Mi 25

We started our food tour by having banh mi (Vietnamese baguette with pate) at Banh Mi 25. The owner had extended their shop to 30 Hang Ca Street to meet the seating demand from its Hanoians and travelers customers who fond of seating longer and enjoying the old Hanoi quarter ambience (check out the above photo and you can see what I mean by that). Since both of us would try few different food during our tour, we decided to order only 1 portion of each food and shared it into half. 

It was such a hot afternoon and I was craving for something cold. It was when I was Jacky what Vietnam beer he would recommend, hahahaha......, and he recommended me the Hanoi Beer that I was holding, and Saigon Beer. I tried only one first though as I wanted to save more space in my stomach for more delicious Vietnam food :)

Second stop, Bún Chả Đắc Kim, to taste the Bun Cha (Vietnamese noodles with grilled pork). Apparently, Vietnam was famous for copycat. Other than the famous branded goods, it was also famous at copycat-ing the famous local street food brands. The copycat shop (decorated also in red and yellow banner) was opened very near from the original one, resulting many visitors had mistakenly gone into the copy cat shop instead of the original one.

Take note on how the original Bún Chả Đắc Kim looks like!!! :)

Luckily we had Jacky with us, so we were able to avoid such a big mistake. Because it turned up that I loved this Bun Cha very much!!! I was even willing to fly there once again just to taste this "Obama noodle". Hahaha... But, why Obama??? You can read the story here.

In the photo, you could see the noodle portion. It was for only 1 pax. We both shared it together. Vietnamese ate a lot of rice and noodles, according to Jacky. They could even eat triple share of it. If I was very hungry, maybe I could finish the whole portion for my self, but not more than that. And yet, most Vietnamese were mostly slim built, not chubby like me ^^"

Train Street in Hanoi

We walked a little bit after these 2 meals. Jacky brought us to visit the train street in Hanoi. I think I saw the clip somewhere online before without knowing where the place was. So I was surprised and very happy when finding this place out, really did not expect to see it there in Hanoi :)

St Joseph's Cathedral, Hanoi

We visited the St Joseph's Cathedral or also called Nhà Thờ Lớn Hà Nội. This church was built resembling the Notre Dame de Paris. It was the oldest church in Hanoi but was not opened when we were there. It opened usually for Sunday mass at 6pm. 

Next, we went to Pho 10 Ly Quoc Su to taste the must eat food in Hanoi - beef noodle soup or Pho. We ordered one bowl well done beef noodle soup to share.

Pho 10 Ly Quoc Su - Hanoi, Vietnam

The ingredients inside the bowl looked so simple. It contained sliced beef, noodles, spring onion, sliced onion, coriander, and clear broth. At the side, they provided fish sauce, slice garlic soaked in vinegar and chili sauce. Usually when eating Pho in Ho Chi Minh, the restaurant would provide additional various vegetables for us to eat together with the beef noodle. But here, they did not provide any. It was simply as it was. Sometimes, simplicity is the best, don't you agree? The next time I go, I will try the half done beef and soak the fried dough into the soup :P

We continued walking to let the stomach digesting the food inside the stomach. Jacky brought us to view the Hoan Kiem Lake, which was known as the lake of the returned sword. There was a legend behind the name which you can read it here. 

Ngoc Son Temple or the Temple of the Jade Mountain - Hanoi, Vietnam

I was curious with what was inside the Ngoc Son Temple (the Temple of the Jade mountain), which was located in the Jade islet of the Hoan Kiem Lake. So we went inside there for a short visit. The temple was built, dedicated to Confucian and Taoist philosophers and also the national hero, Trần Hưng Đạo. It was slightly different from the usual Chinese or Buddhist temple. There was also a huge specimen of Hu Guom tortoise being displayed inside. You had to pay a small fee to enter the temple. It was not included in the tour, but Jacky had kindly treated both of us for the entry. Cảm ơn bạn hiền ;)

Cafe Dinh - where 

And now, it was time for the famous Hanoi specialty coffee - "egg coffee". Jacky brought us to Cafe Dinh, named after the road where it was located (Dinh Tien Hoang Street) - near the Hoan Kiem Lake, instead of Bich Cafe (named after the daughter of Mr Giang who was the founder of the famous Giang Cafe), to try this specialty coffee.

The cafe was located at second floor and a little bit hard to find since the signboard was put above the other shophouses' names. So make sure you turn "your location" in the Google map on to locate this place. This cafe was opened in 1990s. It looked old but many local and tourists loved visiting. 

Egg coffee from Cafe Dinh, Hanoi - Vietnam

Both of us ordered one hot and one cold egg coffee to taste the difference between both types. We could see bottles of coffee being filtered. We could also see how the egg coffee was being made. The history said that the egg coffee was first created back in 1946, during French war (or first Indo China war). There was a pressure of milk shortage. So, Nguyen Giang, who was at that time bartending at the Sofitel Legend Metropole Hotel, whisked in the egg yolk to substitute the milk for the coffee.

I heard about egg coffee just before I planned for my trip to Hanoi. There was a Vietnamese restaurant who was selling it here in Singapore. However, I did not try it as I wanted to taste the original egg coffee directly from Hanoi, where it came from. Other ingredients included sweetened condensed milk, butter, and maybe cheese. 

I finally tasted it for the first time. Before having it, Jacky asked us to stir the coffee wholeheartedly, to ensure that the whisked egg yolk mixing well together with the filtered coffee. Perhaps I did not mix it well enough. I felt that the egg yolk taste was very strong, and at the same time, the filtered coffee was very strong too. Just too bad, I felt both separately, not as a mixed drink. Lol!!! So, it was not my favorite but at least I tried :)

We were all full from all the food that we had (two bowls of shared noodles, one baguette, half bottle of beer, and one glass of egg coffee were all consumed within 2.5 hours). I think our stomach had to rest. It was time for us to go back to our hotel. 

I loved staying in Hanoi Old Quarter because the distance was all reachable on foot. The traffic situation was very challenging though. Human, cars, motorcycles, bikes were sharing the two-way street. There were traffic lights in some areas, however, many ignored its existence. Jacky was very calm walking on the street, as if he owned the road. Hahaha... But funnily, no car or motorcycle blast its horn on him despite walking very slow, and sometimes blocking their way. The car and motorcycle just slowed down and let us walk on the road.

There was a time when I felt like giving up to cross that busy road. Cars and motorcycles were crossing from many directions and I felt I was sweating, thinking when would I be able to stop them to cross that road. Hahahaha.... It was not the road for elderly who walked very slow. I could not imagine myself bringing my parents to walk around Hanoi on foot, might as well bringing them to other parts of Vietnam :D But after some time, I got used to with the traffic. And until now, I often miss crossing those busy roads. Can you believe it???

Chả Cá Thăng Long - Hanoi, Vietnam

We had our free time after the food tour was over. Both of us took a rest inside our room. Before 7pm, we went out to have a dinner not far from where we stayed, called Chả Cá Thăng Long. The restaurant sold fried fish (you could mix it with pork intestines if you liked), a popular dine in place for locals and these days, foreigners like me. The fish was stir fried together with lots of spring onion and dills. After that, you could mix the noodle with the fried fish and veg, raw spring onion, coriander, peanuts, chilli, and dollops of fish sauce. Wow!!! I loved it!!! If I go back to Hanoi, I would have this again too!!! :)

Full Moon or Lantern Festival Street Night Market - Hanoi, Vietnam

Since we were full, it was time for a walk. We decided to walk to the street night market where Vietnamese celebrating the upcoming Full Moon or Lantern Festival (as a result of Chinese culture influence - the intertwined history with China from the past). There, they sold various lanterns (with music and lights) and things related to the festival (although the items sold would mostly attract children - see picture above). 

Train Street in Hanoi, Vietnam

After that we walked back to the train street. The train passed by at around 8.45pm and 9.13pm Hanoi time. We sat and ordered another Hanoi Beer at Hao Hao Cafe while waiting for the train to pass by. It was a cooling night and it was good to just relax at their second floor. We saw two trains passing by then walked back to our hotel to rest.

As I did some research just now, I found out that the train street was no longer opened for public starting September 18th, 2022. You could read the article here. Woahhh.... I thought it was fake news so I checked with Jacky about it, and he confirmed that it was no longer opened for tourists anymore as it was dangerous with the still operating railways and trains. Lucky Aileen and I had our chance to enjoy it when we were there :)

So, that would finalize my post for our first day in Hanoi. Hope it could help you in case you have any plan to visit the capital one day :) Will continue with second day soon :)