finally.....beef pho for dinner...wahahaha

we tried out the traditonal vietnamese beef noodle which they called "pho bo" there at one of the street hawker along bat dan street, around 5 minutes walk from the hotel...pho is actually a bowl of flat, white noodle soup and come in different variety, including beef, chicken, pork pho and usually eaten with a plate of vegetable...vietnameses like to eat them for breakfast and dinner while they usually eat rice for lunch...the noodle is really soft and delicious and the soup is nice!!! we have to sit at those small little stools, somewat like in squatting position...and the tables are also very low, just around hip level...low chairs, low tables....that is usually how the vietamese eat their meals...pretty cheap too, just around SGD$1 i think...but really worth the experience...and yeah, this is where our chicken and duck talk starts, cos most of the common vietnameses dun even know simple english....so point here point there loh...haha...after that we went for drinks in one of the bars...tried the hanoi beer, locally called "bia hoi" ...i personally dun really like beer thou...so dawn went to mix beer with some lemonade...taste much better haha...but main thing is to find one place to relax ourselves first after all the tiring journey...and to keep away from the noisy roads and streets!!! and we also realise that vietnamese people like to sit by the roadside in those stools...do nothing...and just watch the surroundings...there was this couple beside us who did exactly the same thing...watch the streets thru the glass...and didn't even talk to each other for like some 30 mins lol...wat a relaxing life they have...i doubt we ever has such simple life in singapore!!! so sad... =(

beef pho

say cheese!!!

hanoi beer aka "bia hoi"

hoa linh hotel

hoa linh hotel small lobby hehe...

we check-in into our hotel which is situated in the old quarter of hanoi city, along hang bo street...hotel does not look very impressive from the outside...but the friendly staff, good service and cosy room is really the important stuff...and too bad that we got the 3rd floor room, have to climb so high haha...the room is not really big, but it has the very cosy feeling...US$17 per night for 3 of us...suppose to have 1 double bed + 1 single bed...but in the end didn't wanted the single bed cos the room has no space already...and the big king size double bed should be enough for the 3 of us lah haha...also they have 3 free internet terminals on the ground floor for us to surf net and do msning...hehe...check the link on the right for more info on the hotel =)

hello hanoi city!!!

we took a 45 mins taxi ride to hanoi city itself...and it costs US$10 per way for 4 person...luckily the taxi driver do know a little english...so we ask him abit of wat to eat later and where to go...pretty dark along the way...so couldn't see much of the view outside...but i know there are really lots of motorcycles...and they dun wear helmets!!! haha...pretty much like malaysia...but wat stunned me most was i saw 4 people riding on a same bike...2 children sqeeuzing in the middle of perhaps their parents...isn't it dangerous? o.0 ... so we finally reached hanoi city...pretty late and all of us are so hungry!!! hahaha....greeted by the heavy traffic and non-stop horning of the vehicles...so irritating!!! they seems to horn at every single little thing...and there is never like 10 sec pause without a horn sound...........................arrrrrr..............mental breakdown lol...and we must learn how to cross the road daringly...cos the vehicles will never stop for you...just cross and they will avoid you hahaha...

finally we are on the plane!

we took our flight to hanoi with our local budget tigerairway...time to adjust the time slower by 1 hour to vietnam local time!...wahahaha...and yeah, i will always remember how myyher was drinking water and suddenly there was a turbulence and she poured water all over herself...lol...and also we were furiously trying to learn some basic vietnamese language so that at least we will not feel so lost later on...thou lots of our pronounciation is totally wrong...we touch down at hanoi's Noi Bai international airport...woah...the first thing we saw was all the stern vietnamese soldiers patrolling the airport...nvr took any pictures thou...we were joking that they might just catch us and throw us into prison...haha...and saw a few vietnamese gals in the traditional costumes "ao dai"...looks really pretty...went looking for our taxi driver who was holding a "MR DAWN" sign...did i said "MR DAWN"?...hahaha...

not very well taken as we have to take by ourselves...lol

hi vietnam!!! (look at those green padi fields)

feeling before the trip

i will say this is the first time that i am going backpacking...pretty excited...vietnam has always been a country that people relate to war...probably due the notorious vietnam war...and that why most travellers fear to travel to the country...thinking that it might be dangerous and chaotic...of cos i do feel abit reserved in the first place...but i do think that it is a rather exotic place that is worth exploring...so here we go!