Random Saturday Afternoon in Hanoi

After celebrating the birthday of one of our analysts in Revenue Management for lunch yesterday, Chi and I decided to head downtown and just hang out.  It was a little overcast, but it was mid 70s and relatively little humidity, so it made for a good excuse to be outdoors.

Hanoi really is a fascinating city.  It’s amazing what you see, just walking around the Old Quarter.  Unfortunately, it’s difficult capturing all the images I’d like to share.  So many I see are while I motor around and it’s all I can do to manage navigating the chaos, so snapping pictures while I’m doing so isn’t going to happen.  Even walking around, there are so many things to share, but by the time I dig out my cell phone, set it to camera and attempt to snap the picture, the opportunity passes and I’m SOL.

Nevertheless, I was able to take a few good pictures yesterday afternoon.

Man roaming the streets with a scale which says
"You're too fat" or "You need to eat more!"

Little Resumes posted for selected candidates in the coming election
(More on that soon)

Busy street scene.  Everyone out on their kiddie stools, ready to eat!

Man selling pinwheels and balloons.

If you don't have time to grab a stool, you can grab your food to go...
provided you can catch up with your restaurant!

Bread for sale.

So those pictures represent about a quarter of those I wanted to, attempted to and/or was unable to capture.  Hopefully I'll be able to recapture again, at some point, the images of those pictures that just didn't happen.

The best part of yesterday was our visit to a secret spot of Chi's near Hoan Kiem Lake downtown.  Much like Dick's Hideaway Restaurant in Phoenix, you have to know what you're looking for because there are no signs and, in this case, not even a door.

Just off the main traffic circle, there are several rows of shops.  If you pick the right one, enter and head to the rear, you'll find an alley:

Inside, there's a small courtyard (and, yes, the guy with the bike's about to push his scooter right back through the alley, above, and the shop out front).

After going up one flight of stairs,

(Passing the small bridge which connects to a second floor seating area)...

Up a second flight of stairs...

 Then a third...and fourth...

Four stories up at this point...

For an amazing view of Hoan Kiem Lake, including the turtle temple there in the center.  You can't see it well, but they're constructing a sun deck for the turtle next to the temple so it can work on its tan.

Even better than the view, was the delicious coffee which was delivered shortly after our waitress climbed the same four stories we had just conquered. 

This is "ca phe trung" which is literally "coffee egg".  As you can see, the Vietnamese coffee sits at the bottom, with a creamy egg mixture on top.  After a minute or two of brisk stirring, yet another coffee masterpiece is ready for consumption.

I asked Chi what the egg mixture was made of, but she was unsure.  This is the only place in town where you can get ca phe trung.

It was delicious.  And, yes, the empty glass you see is the bottom of my second.  While Chi was still nursing her first. 

I was thirsty!