Pho Gia Truyen 49 Bat Dan Street

When you go to Hanoi, there are two things you must eat: the traditional ice-cream at Kem Trang Tien and the Pho at 49 Bat Dan street. When I visited Ductuan, he wanted to bring me to both places to try, but wasn't able to due to dietary concerns of my party. The long suffering Mr Manhunt and I went there some days later while I was collecting my cushion covers.

There is a constant flow of customers in and out of the shop, slurping up the hot noodles with enjoyment. I was certainly one of them. The meat was soft and the stock was not overwhelmingly moo but nicely flavored. I like~! One can even order eggs or fried dough fritters to go with their pho.The various types of chili condiments complemented the beef brilliantly. It was a simple but delicious meal.

 

Romance @ Hoan Kiem Lake, Hanoi

I didn't realize this but the romantic lives of the people of Hanoi revolve around Hoan Kiem Lake. They woo their girlfriends there, they take their wedding photos there, they stroll or exercise there as old couples. In one afternoon, I could count 10 couples taking their wedding photos just from one side of the lake where my cab driver drove past! They especially like taking a photo under this gate.

Mr B also liked the lake, well I did. I think I walked past this lake many times, especially the first day when I was trying to buy my stupid cushion covers.

Yet another bridal couple!

Kem Trang Tiens Eis

After dinner, still very determined to show us what the locals enjoy, Ductuan brought us to Kem Trang Tien, the famous traditional Vietnamese ice-cream. It had many flavors, and came in a box. I tried the coconut flavor.

The place was so popular that people were thronging the streets outside and opposite the shop, trying not to let the rapidly melting ice-cream drip on their clothes.

Nach dem Abendessen, hat Ductuan uns gebracht der Eisdiele. Der Eisdiele verkauft traditionellen Eis in Kisten. Da hat vielen Geschmäcker. Ich habe Coconut Eis gegessen.

Der Eisdiele ist sehr beliebt. Menschen essen Eis am der Straße.

Schnappi's correction:
Nach dem abendessen, hat Ductuan uns in eine Eisdiele gebracht. Die Eisdiele verkauft das eis traditionell in Kisten. da gibt (gab) es viele Geschmäcker/Geschmackssorten. Ich habe Kokusnusseis gegessen



Was siehst du, kleinen junge?





Coconut eis



Adresse: 35 Trang Tien Straße, Hanoi, Vietnam

A promise is a promise

I was really infuriated when I found out the others went ahead and bought bags without me while I was exploring the streets of Old Quarter by myself. It was the last straw in a series of frustrations I endured the whole trip, especially since I was the one who told them where the shops were.

So after dinner on the last night we were staying there, I stalked to the shop where they had procured their stuff to buy the backpack I had promised to get my mother. There I tried to cajole, charm the salesgirl with a smattering of bad French, and excuses, to get the price down. It was quite fun because the lady played along, even though she wasn't the same girl who sold to the group earlier than the day (or that's what she said).

In the end I bought three backpacks, a huge "Crumpler" for B1 (because I had torn one of his backpacks before), two smaller "Kiplings" for my mother and myself (I was starting to give up buying my "Smelly Cat" bags. 

It was next to 31B? Or 41B? or 37B Đinh Tiên Hoàng Street. Anyway the white shop on the left...

It was 1.1MVND for the three. If anyone buys or has bought from her at a lower price, do tell me =D. So I used up almost all my Dong and had to switch to USD. Turned out she didn't like transacting in USD, due to proliferation of fake notes, and she tried to "smoke" me and said she didn't have enough USD in change. I told her sadly then I could not buy (which was the truth) then she said, never mind, she got! In the end she went to the next stall, where another bag seller lie indolently in her own little chair, smoking and asked her to check the authenticity. The other lady leant back against the light, cigarette still in her mouth, and narrowed her eyes with an expert air before declaring my note as authentic. *roll eyes*

Still the lady was a cute charmer, so I said I was going to blog about her when I returned to Singapore, and asked her to smile. She did a few poses, which were unfortunately let down by my shit camera (Canon, you are not delighting me as always). This was the best. Sue me =D

The shop is located on Đinh Tiên Hoàng, facing the lake.

Shitty bun?

 I can't decide whether the Vietnamese are a humorous crowd, or that they are very literal. This is what we call a 馒头, i.e. a bun with no filling. I was trying to take a photo of a whole pile of them steaming on an open flame but the Tante tore into one with her bare hands to show me, "oh look, no filling."

I was like "eh, good for you?" What was I supposed to say?

Then she gestured at my wallet.

I am not brave enough to eat something touched by someone's dirty hands. But her son? toy boy? appeared and looked somewhat threatening, and she looked very impatient, so I became the proud possessor of a dirty bun @ 5000VND.

Held against His will

Mr B was being strapped in for the flight to Hanoi. He seemed to have a better inkling of what to expect than I did.

Monsieur Blau wishes everyone a Happy Vietnamese Mid Autumn Festival!!!

Full posts start tomorrow. I just flew back. Midnight flight.

Monsieurs Blau and Ductuan were my heroes throughout this entire trip. Monsieur Blau kept me company throughout the entire trip, obliging me with his frozen *always ready* smile, even when I was very sick last night with a bad flu. I was so sick, I ignored my colleague's warning that I should not expose my teddy to the Vietnamese bed bugs.

As for Ductuan, my CoH buddy, he was the best. 

First of all, he was so patient and thoughtful. He brought a colleague who could translate English and Vietnamese. I think he was a bit uncomfortable with the fact that I am a female playing CoH, and he tried his best to be a hospitable host even though my colleagues were collectively an unappreciative bunch. 

Second of all, he helped me acquire a prepaid SIM so I could call home, and then when he discovered the old man cheated me (Viettel was supposed to be 50% off, so I think the idea was that the old man sold to Ductuan the idea that a 55KVND card would have a 110K credit, but I think by right, the bad old man should have charged me 27K5VND for a 55KVND credit), he actually bothered to help me top up by 200KVND, which must be very expensive for him. His reasoning was because I was travelling to more secluded parts of Vietnam, I might not be able to buy top-ups easily. Wasn't he sweet? Totally saved my life.

Planning Hanoi Trip - Shopping Guide to Hanoi's Old Quarter...

The travel mags and books tell you what each street used to sell, which influenced their names.

However what they do not tell you is what kind of principal products that the streets are primarily selling now, which is so much more useful. 

Based on my one day of traversing the streets, I have come up with a new map on what to buy:

[pic source: travelfish]

Hang Dao - Jeans and trendy clothes (you need to be super small size though, if you are a chick)

Cau Go (stretching to Hang Be) - Fake bags, specifically Crumpler and Kipling. It will cost more to have the gorilla. Also excellent for backpacks (e.g. The North Face, Deuter). Remember to get those with rain guards/ backpack covers.

Hang Gai - this remains Silk (local friend and CoH buddy recommends Tan My, but it is EXPENSIVE)

Hang Giay - Coffee and the local drip coffee percolator (price for one cup percolator is ~15KVND - 20KVND. 3 cups percolator will be 40VND)

Hang Bo - Millinery, e.g. sewing scissors, lace, zippers (I bought some stuff there).

Hang Bo

Luong Van Can - toys, mostly MIC (made in China)

Luong Van Can

Hang Quat - Religious artefacts, e.g. altars

Hang Quat

Hang Hom - Wall paints

Hang Bac - jewellery (mostly)

Lan Ong - rather bewildering, towels (on one side) and medicinal herbs (on the other side)

Thuoc Bac - Hardware stores selling locks and torches

Thouc Bac

Hang Dieu - Upholsterers and bedsheets (mostly). The shop at 38 Hang Dieu I ordered my cushion covers from was pretty shit, they got the measurement wrong even though I gave them a sample. Wasted my time and then on top of that, they wouldn't give me the scraps. And they obviously did not employ any intelligence or QC when sewing. Why would a cushion be 4 cm thick, and why didn't they check against the sample which I left with them?

Note: you must speak passable French or English, as most of them would rather not work with you. Or buy ready-made from them. Much wiser thing to do.
 

Gia Ngu - groceries and fresh meat

Hang Dau - Shoes (buy slippers, and sport shoes. The women shoes are *ahem* a bit too classic for my taste).

Thrang Thi (technically French Quarter) - Electronics

There was a street selling cloth but I lost the location, can someone comment and tell me which street it is please?

Do not be intimidated by this. The seamstress shop is right down this dark alley to the extreme right.

Ethical Seamstress (found by someone in VietBank, when I couldn't find a seamstress shop in Quang Trung, as recommended by Ductuan):
There was a super friendly lady located at 37 Lo Su Street (shop is hidden behind this innocuous entrance) whose son was as friendly and can speak & understand decent English. She said she couldn't do the furniture covers for me but she offered me alternative locations instead.

Other recommendations:

- You can find some reproduction art and propaganda posters at Dinh Liet and Lyong Ngoc Quyen streets.  

- At the intersection of Hang Buom and Hang Giay, there is the famous Bach Ma temple.

Bach Ma Temple Entrance

- There is a weekend night market from the Hang Dao street (lake entrance) all the way to Dong Xuan Market.
- Instimex supermarket's entrance is next to Playboy, but its actual location is behind the latter. If walking from the Old Quarter, you will pass by ANZ bank before it, and Fanny's ice-cream after it. Excellent for buying local coffee and teas (if you are as cash strapped as me). Else buy them at Hang Giay, where you can get Civet Cat coffee (for some reason, they call it Weasel coffee here).

Best Pho Bo (according to Ductuan and soundly agreed  by me) - Pho Gia Truyen, 49 Bat Dan Street

2nd Best Pho Bo - 31 Hang Buom street (unfortunately remains untested by me).

Thoughts about Sapa (while standing in the Sapa Summit Hotel lobby)

Just three more days before I come home.

What I have learnt from this trip so far is never to complain about how terrible my life is. Well, it might still be terrible but in a different way.

I have a huge respect for the Hmong and other tribal women in Sapa. Despite having a lesser status in society, they remain so tough, brave and entrepreneurial, and great at multi-tasking. They could carry a child on their back, follow you for many kms down to different villages, help you down slippery slopes, find some medicinal grass that can heal your wound and still be able to weave wild grass to make their traditional woven bags which they endeavor to sell to you at the end of the trek.

The lady who escorted me down the hugely slippery 12km to her village today was the bravest of the lot, I might say, especially since I am such a hefty cow. I leant heavily on the bamboo pole (sharpened into a natural treking tool, and was excellent for digging new paths into the slippery slope). In the end I just tipped her 50KVND without buying anything. She had to put up with me alot, especially with my cursing in English and German whenever I felt like it. I wish I could give her more (I'd think that my life costs more than ~S$4, but I have a ton of stuff I need to buy for the house and I still haven't gotten started. And I had already been conned by one of her compatriots yesterday. In the end, I had to change more $$)

My Savior

I also learnt that maybe French is a more useful language than German. Hahahhahahaha. I was practically throwing "s'il vous plaît", "Merci beaucoup" and "Parlez-vous anglais?" (they were the only three phrases I know *haha*) everywhere I went, especially in Sapa.

2/3 Nibblezware team may NOT be in Hanoi, Vietnam

Two thirds of the Nibblezware team, i.e. Mr B (hopefully I will remember to pack him) and myself, MAY not be in town from 6th Sept to 12th Sept.

We will be in Hanoi, North Vietnam, though I can tell you, I am not looking forward to the trip right now and am planning on not going anymore. I am still very angry about something that has happened last week, and I can tell you the Hanoi trip is starting to read to me as ONE FRIGGING GIANT DISASTER of a DESARU TRIP. I mean if I am going to be abandoned again like I was in Desaru, I might as well go with B1 another time. At least the other time, it was just a straight route. Now I don't even know the language.

It's not because I am scared or whatever. I have backpacked by myself several times before. It is that the idea just pisses me off. If I am going to be abandoned, then why go as a group in the first place? Otherwise it is going to end up all over like Desaru.

"Oh you got lost, because you were doing your own thing/procrastinate/slower than us. How is it our fault?" Incredibly selfish. If I go with them, it means I have not learnt my lesson from Desaru. If I do go, I think I will make use my own alternative route and meet them at the end of the day.

I will still finish planning the map because I had promised to do so. I will need it when I actually go.

But I will still share the map to everyone in the WWW for anyone who wants to visit Hanoi.

View Office Trip 2011 - Hanoi in a larger map

Due to safety concerns, the itinerary will only be shared after they return.

Updated!!!
The trip was as horrible as I predicted. I did my own thing in the last two days. Vietnam was lovely. I will go back there again, especially Halong Bay.

Itinerary

Where to shop in Hanoi Old Quarter