February 12, 2020
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Into the French Quarter

I walked south-east from my hotel, a direction which would take me south of the bottom end of Hoan Kiem lake, into the French Quarter. Here, I found myself on a wide avenue with broad sidewalks, and large buildings, many of which with the yellow walls typical of French Colonial architecture. The sidewalk had enough space that I rarely had to step into the street to find my way around parked motorbikes.

There was a great deal of traffic, but here most intersections had traffic signals, which were more or less being followed. Even though I’ve become relaxed about stepping into Old Quarter roads with a platoon of motorbikes heading straight for me, I was glad for the traffic signals on these wider roads.

I passed some swanky restauants and cafes, including one with the disturbing corona virus inspired sign and policy, “This restaurant does not accept customers from China”. This area is home to some high-end hotels, government buildings, residences and embassies. For instance, I walked past the Embassy of India. The Opera House is in the French quarter as well, where two years ago when we were here, Sheila and I attended a symphony performance.

I turned north onto a street that would take me to the east side of Hoan Kiem Lake, passing a cinema along the way.

It became foggy by the lake. I stopped to rest on a bench, watched a photographer photographing his family, and read a couple chapters of John Higgs’ excellent book, stranger Than We Can Imagine: Making Sense of the Twentieth Century.

After walking north along the lake into the Old Quarter, I found the street which leads back to my hotel, Turned onto it, and 20 minutes later, I was sitting down at what has become my favourite ‘local’ cafe. The young guy serving up rocketfuel greeted me, and welcomed me back.

February 11, 2020
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Breakfast, and the Cathedral

I continue to enjoy early morning walks in Hanoi, watching the city come alive. Today I headed for Pho 10, a bricks and mortor soup place I’ve heard is excellent.

A few customers were already eating at 6:30 am, and by the time I left it was nearly full. The place is bright and clean and serves only pho bo, beef noodle soup. There are a few versions. I got mine with brisket and half cooked beef.

The hot sauce, which looks like it house made, packs a punch. I also squeezed in lime and added a wee bit of garlic in vinegar.

The pho here is pricey compared to the little sidewalk joints, but it was an excellent bowl, and as a bonus they had comfortable wooden chairs. Breakfast here set me back about $3.50.

Afer breakfast I walked down to see St Joseph’s cathedral, which was beautiful in the early morning light.

I continued on and came to a beautiful example of French Colonial architecture, surrounded by a green garden.

February 11, 2020
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Cooking Class

I enjoyed an excellent cooking class today at the Hanoi Cooking Centre on Hanoi and Northern Highlands cooking. This was about family style Hanoi cooking, rather than street food. I was the only person signed up today so the chef gave me a private lesson.

It began with a walk through a small local market, where I learned about fish sauce, rice, and various common ingedients used in Hanoi cooking.

We made fresh spring rolls with prawns and pork, banana flower salad, ginger chicken and a dessert corn and coconut soup. I learned that while noodles are prominant in street food, at home rice is at the heart of of family cooking. The chef told me that Hanoian families are more likely to go out for breakfast or lunch, and dinner is more often made at home.

I participated in all the preparation and cooking and was given a beer to enjoy while learning. Here are a few photos from class…

After we we prepared everything, I was served the full meal, along with another beer. I learned a lot today. Start to finish it was very informative, and I was able to ask loads of questions along the way. On Thursday, I’m going back for the vegetarian class with a focus on cooking with tofu.

February 10, 2020
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Traffic Stop

I like to watch the ciy waking up here in Hanoi. At about 6:30 this morning I left the hotel to go for a walk, have some breakfast and enjoy a coffee at a sidewalk cafe.

A couple blocks from the hotel, I saw 2 policemen had pulled a car over and were talking to the driver. It looked like a traffic stop. In a city where traffic rules seem at best to be “suggestions”, I wondered what the driver might have done to prompt a stop.

I’ve seen drivers zoom through red lights, drive the wrong way on one way streets, drive in the wrong lane, and merrily drive motorbikes on sidewalks. I’ve seen people drive their motorbikes while making phone calls, texting, smoking, carrying on conversations with other drivers. Often I’ve seen women sidesaddle on the backs of motorbikes. It’s not unusual to see mom and dad and 2 kids on a motorbike, and other drivers with impossible loads, stacks of boxes, and construction materials.

It’s amazing how quickly I’ve become used to crossing streets here with several motorbikes bearing down on me, something I wouldn’t ever consider doing in Toronto. I avoid cars, as they can’t easily drive around a pedestrian. The big thing seems to be: go in a straight line and don’t stop.

February 10, 2020
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Walking North

The centre of Hanoi is situated west of the Red River and at its heart is a small lake called Hoan Kiem. I’m staying at the west side of the Old Quarter, about a 20 minute walk from Hoan Kiem. North of here are 2 other lakes. Truc Bach is pretty much directly north, about a half hour’s walk. It is connected to a larger lake to the west, Ho Tay, or West Lake. The two bodies of water appear to be separated by a causeway.

Walking north, I found myself on a wide avenue. On either side are some kind of guarded, walled in government or military buildings that stretched for blocks. Beyond that, I was back into neighbourhood streets again, with a varity of eateries, cafes and other businesses. My first destination was the Hanoi Cooking Centre, which offers a variety of Vietnamese cooking classes in English. I signed up for tomorrow afternoon’s class featuring dishes from Hanoi and the Northern Highlands.

From there I decided to have a look at Truc Bach.

I sat down on a lovely mosaic bench and watched a fellow fishing, using spinning gear, a bobber and a worm for bait. While I was there he caught a catfish, perhaps 15 inches long.

I continued on to West Lake. There is a perimeter road with sidewalks along the lake. At one point I passed a business renting paddle boats. It was not so different from lakefronts everywhere.

At a lakefront cafe, I took a seat on the second floor balcony and ordered up a smoothy. Hanoi does coffee and smoothies tremendously well.

From here I received Whats App messages from home about Bong Joon-ho’s tremendous success at the Oscars for his brilliant film, Parasite.

Last night I was up a couple times during the night and then out the door before 7 for breakfast, and at this point I was thinking an afternoon nap was a choice idea. I decided to try my Grab app for the first time.

Grab is much like Uber except they run a motorbike service which is hugely popular here. Unlike Uber back home, though, payment is in cash. I put my destination into the app and within minutes, a driver appeared. He handed me a helmet, I hopped on the back of his motorbike and off we went into the madness that is Hanoi traffic. My ride of a couple miles cost me under 2 bucks. Fabulous, and fun too.

February 9, 2020
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Banh Gio for Breakfast

I saw a sign for banh gio at the corner of an alley – convenient for people to stop on their motorbikes to grab something to go. There were only a couple tables and a few blue plastic stools, made for someone half my size. Banh gio was their only food offering.

These are like pork buns, with the addition of some whole quail eggs and a few noodles. The lady running the place had no English, but she offered me what turned out to be a glass of coconut milk by holding up a jug of it. The banh gio was steaming hot and so tasty. Hot sauce added some punch and a bit of acidity. The coconut milk, something I haven’t had in many years, was perfect with it.

I finished up and gestured with 1 finger for another. Breakfast was inexpensive, under 2 bucks. After, I made my way to a nearby cafe I knew was open early, for a coffee. I love the coffee here. I’ve taken to having it black with a bit of sugar. Now, I’m set for the day. I’m going to walk north to the West Lake area shortly.

February 9, 2020
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The Hanoi Fine Arts Museum and more

This morning I connected with Candy via Zoom and my cell phone and we recorded a new episode of The Agency Podcast from a sidewalk cafe, complete with street noises.

The weather remained overcast but the rain stopped and a cool breeze dried things out. I packed my rain pancho in my kit bag and headed to the Temple of Literature and the Fine Arts Museum. As it turned out I passed them both on my way to Chicken Street last evening. There was no missing them today though – there were tour buses parked in front of The Temple of Literature.

The Temple of Literature, built in 1070, was Vietnam’s first university. It was created to identify and promote outstanding scholars. They held competitions at the village level with final exams in Hanoi. The small number of students who passed were assigned choice gigs by the king.

There are 5 courtyards and a temple area – and when I was there a few tour groups.

This is in contrast to the excellent Fine Arts Museum across the street which was nearly empty.

The Museum housed work from many centuries and included a fine selection of 20th Century paintings executed using a tradional lacquer method.

There was also a selection of sculptures, screens, woodcut prints and a low basement packed with very old ceramics.

The collection was somewhat overwhelming for a single visit. Some more robust labelling of the galleries would have helped me sort out the centuries and the mediums. Still it was well worth the visit and would be worth stopping by a second time as well.

On the way back I spotted a little sidewalk bun cha place packed with local customers, and decided to stop in for lunch.

This was another spot which has dispensed with the idea of ordering. I sat me down and shortly out came my greens and bun (vermicelli noodle) followed by a genous bowl of pork in that tasty bun cha sauce (or would you call it a broth). This was even better than the bun cba I enjoyed the other day.

By this time the streets were pretty much dry so I walked over to Hoan Kiem Lake and did a drawing, after which I headed back to my hotel to relax for a while.

I opted for a simple dinner tonight of fried rice and nem (spring rolls) in the alley around the corner from my hotel.

I wanted to avoid waking in the dead of night again, so I skipped an after-dinner coffee. It as another full day and I’m knackered.

February 8, 2020
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Hanoi waking up

My sleep pattern is still a little messed up with the 12 hour time difference. Just like when Sheila and I were here 2 years ago, I awoke at 3 AM, and stayed up for half an hour before dozing off again. It was drizzling a little again this morning but not enough to dissuade me from an early morning walk in search of breakfast. Perhaps half of the eateries in and around the food alley near the hotel were open and serving.

At a corner spot steps from my hotel, a tiny sidewalk place with an awning to protect from the rain, 2 tables and the usual little plastic stools, I saw the sign I was looking for Xoi – sticky rice. I sai, xoi? The woman running the place nodded and loaded a bowl with sticky rice. She ladled some sauce from a cauldren

onto it, then pulled up a chunky piece of braised pork belly. She looked at me and I nodded. She dipped again and came out with somethin egg-shaped. I nodded again. It turned out to be a whole egg which I’m guessing had been deep-fried. I was also given a bowl of slightly pickled cucumbers, some copped chilies and a bottle of hot sauce.

This is Hanoi comfort food, delicious and filling. It was a perfect breakfast for a couple bucks.

Many of the coffee shops had yet to open but I found one a block away for my rocket fuel, strong black coffee with a bit of sugar. This place had a rooster wandering about.

February 8, 2020
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Chicken Street

This evening I ventured west from the hotel to a place known as Chicken Street. I didn’t see so many tourists walking out there, although there were some Australian travelers sitting down to dinner.

Chicken Street is a small street or alley. In the evening up to about 11:00, several vendors fire up big bbqs and start grilling chicken wings, feet, and legs. They also flatten bagettes and grill them up basted with honey butter.

Other options are sweet potato fries and beer. The chicken pieces are cooked up on long skewers and the cooks turn several of them at once.

After the chicken and bread is served, somebody comes by with big scissors, pulls the chicken off the skewers, and cuts it in pieces. Dinner comes with a plate of cucumbers and a bottle of a tasty and fairly mild hot sauce.

I enjoyed a few chunky wings, a couple pieces of bread and a beer for about 6 bucks. It’s quite the place. You can smell the smoke from the bbqs as soon as you turn down the street.

Today I did a lot of walking and my feet are complaining some, but it’s great to walk. On the way back I stopped at a sidewalk cafe for a black iced coffee.

February 8, 2020
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A damp(ish) morning in Hanoi

I awoke to a slightly drizzly morning, wet enough that I wore a rain pancho but not so rainy that I was in danger of getting wet. I walked around the corner for pho cuon for breakfast – noodle rolls stuffed with beef and greens.

These were delicious with some hot sauce, dipped in fish sauce.

After a strong, sweet coffee I ventured east for a walk around Hoan Kiem Lake before losing myself in the Old Quarter.

I stopped at a hole-in-the wall soup joint called Pho Thin. I sat down and was quickly served up a bowl of pho bo, Hanoi’s ubiquitous beef noodle soup. No need to order at this place. They only serve one thing. The one option is a plate of a kind of fried dough bread sticks for dunking.

There were a few condiments – garlic and vinegar, limes – or maybe they were calamansis – chopped chilies, and a jar of a hot sauce concoction. I added a little of each. What a perfect lunch on a damp day.