Hanoi Day 1

After a crazy rush from the apartment to Changi Airport T2, which consisted of TWO separate jams along ECP, a mad dash across the departure hall with a luggage, a backpack and constant holding up of my bermudas which were slipping down my butt, and unwilling discarding of my Physiogel cream at the bag scan because its tube says 150ml, I found myself in my flight seat... panting... and messaging 'Good Fren'.

"Success! *Pant Pant* On the plane. 

Only casualties are my legs and Physiogel. 

See you in a few hours. LOVE!!"

I hadn't seen 'Good Fren' for almost a week. He was in Hanoi, Vietnam, on an official trip. The plan was for me to go join him at the end of his trip.

It took my heart quite some time to settle down. Asked for some water and read the papers while waiting for take-off.

After take-off, I had some yucky chicken and watched Rabbit Hole. Will blog about this later.

About 4 hours later, I was walking myself out of the tiny Hanoi (Noi Bai) Airport. I'd expected to be walking a lot more before I got to the exit because Changi Airport just goes on and on. So, when I saw this familiar grin on the other side of the glass exit doors, I was utterly surprised.

BM: PAPAAAAAAAAAA!!! HUUUGGGGG!!!
GF: Hello Baby! Finally! How are your legs? How was the flight?
BM: This airport is so tiny. Flight was ok. So happy to see you... Everything's ok oredi! LOVE!

He had arranged for a car to take us to the Movenpick Hotel. Once we got into the room, he was like,"It's ok, right?!" You see, ever since we stayed at a serviced apartment for an earlier trip, I've been fascinated with serviced apartments. I like having a washing machine in the room. But for this trip, we decided to stay at a hotel coz he would already be at that hotel for his official trip.

The room is nice. =))


Ok, enough of the room, I was hungry, and 'Good Fren' had just the right place to bring me to for an authentic Vietnamese meal a short away from the hotel.

This is like a serviced food court in an old colonial building with a large open yard. Many customers were locals, so I guess that's a good sign of its authenticity.

Love these tiles... They would later appear again at a spa...

'Good Fren' making his order.

'Good Fren' and I have been going through a pomelo craze in Singapore. When he found this pomelo drink in Hanoi, he went nutz. He's been having it for days. It's really light and refreshing.

 To open the meal, we had lotus rhizome salad with seafood. Crunchy and light.

Steamed lemongrass clams with sweet and sour dipping sauce. BEST!

A bowl of beef pho always does it for me. The noodles were so delicate. Like cheong fun skin... slipping down my throat effortlessly. The soup base was not overly salty. Mmmmm...

'Good Fren' had fatty bom bom pig trotters. Basically, pig trotters in strong gravy to be eaten with some noodles. It was fragrant but a little too strong for me. I prefer light food, especially after a flight.

The Vietnamese rendition of chendol called che. Like most Vietnamese foods, it is light and refreshing. Not too sweet. Perfect ending to an afternoon meal.

After the meal, 'Good Fren' asked me,"Wanna go walk walk?" And we were off to explore Hanoi on foot.

Doggie is lost.

UN in Vietnam.

A beautiful building... looked like some sort of embassy.

Before the French came, the Vietnamese used the Chinese script. It's everywhere.

They love playing Chinese chess. It's everywhere. And you do not have a chess board, just draw one on the ground.

They are gonna watch 倩女幽魂 2011 too. They shouldn't waste their money. This version sucks.

A young Vietnamese family. Looks Singaporean.

A Vietnamese cat. Looks Singaporean too. =))

WOAH... Huge wedding studio ad at the cross junction.

This was an ad of ELLE mag along the streest of Hanoi. Ok, ELLE Vietnam is not similar to ELLE Singapore.

We love local markets. We want to see the produce which locals buy. So 'Good Fren' asked around and was  pointed to Cho Hom, a wholesaler market.

The first floor is full of raw and prepared produce and foods.

Spicy Snails on FIRE!!

The upper floor was stuffed with fabric. The aisles were so narrow that one could barely walk past the stalls.

As a well-trained Singaporean public servant, the instinct was to question the fire-safety of the market and look around for fire exits and extinguishers. Found them lined up at one of the main entrances.

The market extends to near alleys. With apartments above.

This is also a drive-thru market.

After a long walk, I could no longer feel my lunch and legs. So, we made our way back to the hotel to prepare for the evening's meal. Yes, the objective of this trip is to eat. Everything else merely fills in the gaps between meals.

'Good Fren' made a reservation for 2 at Restaurant Bobby Chinn. You must have seen Bobby Chinn on one of the food channels or Discovery Channel. He looks like a bad boy who is a lot more suave than he is a chef. Nonetheless, we were there to check out whether he is all fluff or stuff.

The decor of the establishment was a little overwhelming. Like... tacky...

A colleague had told 'Good Fren' a couple of days ago that this establishment was overrated. Uh Oh...

Upon entry into the dining area, we didn't like the drapes. They were all over the place and felt a little dusty. However, the art pieces are a different story. The nicer ones are part of Bobby Chinn's own collection and are not for sale.

We were initially in this yellow-drapes section. But the table of Europeans with 2 kids got a little too much for us. So we moved to another section, the red-drapes instead.

'Good Fren' using a lit-magnifying to identify his feast.

The menu is humorous. You have to read it to understand.

There is something wrong with the Coca Cola in Vietnam. It's too sweet and tastes like Pepsi.

This is my favourite piece. Part of Bobby Chinn's private collection.

There is just so much to take in in this restaurant, and before you know it, the food symphony has started.

Bread was warm and came in a variety. I dunno what I ate from the spoon, but it was absolutely yummy.

There we were crossing our fingers... This could turn out very well... or it could turn out very disappointing, we said to each other. Then 'Good Fren' told me what he had learnt about Vietnam during his trip, we discussed about Singaporean politics, meals we had in other cities etc.

And then... my seafood creviche came in this freaking pretentious and large coconut. The term 'Fusion Confusion' leapt around in my mind, seducing my taste buds to be biased and to reject anything that touches them.

But alas, Bobby Chinn is too good for form to spoil its substance. This is downright light and yummy. This is what an appetiser should taste like.

'Good Fren' had some crab soup. It was by no means inferior to my creviche, though 'Good Fren' loved the latter more.

Still at appetisers, 'Good Fren' thought he had ordered Vietnamese fried pancakes with the waiter, but this came by instead. Being the Asians whom we are, we didn't complain. We ate them.

And with relish... Mmmm... Fried to a crispy perfection... The sauce is light.

'Good Fren's multiple-course dinner came with squid fettuccine. I was like... Erm... It looks dodgy. It's too broad... too springy...

But once I put it in my mouth, I ate it along with my words. It's superb! It's made of 100% squid, cooked to perfection and steeped in that light and tangy wasabi sauce.

Then, the arrival of my pork belly. Again... at first sight... It looked gimmicky. But I had to eat everything, including my words again.

Not only could I smell the charcoal in the pork belly, I could taste it. A mouthful of the tender and flavourful pork belly, with some cabbage and fried rice... One has to conclude that Bobby Chinn is an intelligent chef. He doesn't mix stuff together to fit a theme. He knows what works with what, and he is not constrained by conventions.

This pic does not do this piece of steak any justice. If 'Good Fren' the carnivore likes the steak, it must be very good.

To finish off the exhilarating symphony, the desserts delivered right till the end. Rice in coconut sauce. Mmmmm... My stomach still has good memories while I am blogging about this. That comforting feeling...

By the end of the meal, we were fully satisfied... We were very happy... We were literally bursting with joy. HAHA!

So, we took a walk around the expensive neighbourhood where many rich and powerful locals and expats resided, and made our way to the Intercontinental Westlake Hotel, which looked really nearby on the map, but was not. Har Har.

The InterCon in Hanoi looks much better than the one we have in Singapore.

We were looking for the famous Sunset Bar.

This InterCon is in fact built partially into the West Lake.

The rooms are above water and over the West Lake.

And this is Sunset Bar at about 9.30pm. Not crowded like the pubs you find at Clarke Quay. A place to enjoy a frosty beer, breeze, and flat skyline of Hanoi.

It was filled with Asians. Koreans, Japanese, Taiwanese, some locals and a couple of Singaporeans.

With that, Day 1 in Hanoi ended.