Travelogue - Hanoi, Vietnam April 2013 (2)

We slept like pigs that night. So cosy, the two of us sharing a double bed. Ruth hardly snores and I would like to think that I didn't as well. I think we complemented each other's travelling st.  es really well. I wake up early to shower and do my barang barang he st.s in bed to surf Internet. On some days, I get lazy to shower first and she didn't mind using the let first. Awesome partners for travelling are hard to come by! Truly grateful for such an awesome bestie!

We had breakfast at the hotel before venturing out into the nearby vicinity! Ruth found out by the shit way that milk in Vietnam tasted sweet. Eeeeeew.

Walked to Hoan Kiem Lake, as recommended by the hotel staff. I think we walked EVERYWHERE in Hanoi. The only time we took a cab was when we were leaving for the airport.
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We saw many couples on dates.

We also found a highly-raved café by the locals - the Highlander Café. It was situated on the third floor of a building and overlooking the Hoan Kiem Lake. Ordered ourselves drinks and sat the afternoon away reading. Honestly, almost all cafes in Hanoi provided free WIFI! There was no need for us to get prepaid phone cards at all.

Looks so-so only right. Hahahaha.

Taper your expectations when they say the café very nice. Neither the café nor the drinks were very nice. I would say they were pricey for the standard of living there but it was affordable to us - about SGD$3 for an Ice Blended Mocha.

Seriously, I didn't think there was anything big deal about the cafe. The bigger deal for me came to - crossing the Vietnamese roads. I succeeded! The trick is to walk at a very predictable and constant pace. Do not jerk back and forth like you are damn scared to cross the road. The motorists would not be able to anticipate your speed and therefore unable to siam you. You have to cross the roads in a very calmly and bo chap manner. Tried and tested and not knocked down yet. The motorists there are all damn good at siam-ing!

A bestie, a drink, a book and my favourite backpack. Good way to spend the afternoon.

We decided to leave the café for more exploration! Walked to the St Joseph's Cathedral and took some mandatory shots.

Honestly, I think we eyed the roadside stall selling pho more than the Cathedral itself. Gave in to temptation and we sat down at the first roadside stall of the trip! 比手划脚 and ordered two bowls of pho! It was ooooommmmmgggggggg. Each bowl cost about 45,000 Vietnamese dong, which was around less than SGD$3.

After a full lunch we walked on to Maison Centrale, also known as Hoa Lo Prison. It was used by the French colonists to house political prisoners, then by North Vietnam to house prisoners of war during the Vietnam War. The locals gave it an affectionate term - the Hanoi Hilton. HAHAHAHAHA.

Seriously, what's with me and visiting prisons? For sure, I enjoyed Patarei Prison more than this.

The guillotine.

We decided we had enough of touristy places fo' the day and walked on to find yet another café!

Stumbled upon a gem - Joma Bakery Café!

When we entered, it seriously looks like a super small café but if you look further in, there is a doorway which you can enter and PWAH, a much much much larger seating area, fully air-conditioned awaits you! After walking in the sweltering heat for the entire day, we were soooooo grateful for this little respite!

Looks like we weren't the only tourists around.

We spent three hours there and I managed to finish my book! We got hungry again and decided to look for this roadside BBQ stall that we saw on the way back from the night market the night before. We walked for almost two hours looking for that stall but never found it. I swear both of us saw it! In the end we had to settle for the one that was just outside our hotel.