2006-11-29 – Day 1 – Vietnam – Hanoi
We touched down at Noi Bai International Airport at around 1000. Hanoi’s timeone is GMT+7 so its 1 hour behind Singapore. Heading out of the airport, we were greeted by one of the hotel staff from Sunway Hanoi where Yh’s seminar would be held. We met up also with delegates from Indonesia and Malaysia. Squeezing into two mini-vans, we drove into the city which was about 50 minutes away. The first thing that you’ll notice about Hanoi is that there is a lot of farmland and scooters! Pretty much everyone owned a two wheeler of sorts (bicycle or scooter).
Sunway Hanoi was considered to be one of the better hotels in Hanoi so we were glad to stay there. Its located in the business district and is a short 30 minutes walk to Old Quarters. The weather was pretty cool but overcast so it perpetually seemed like it was going to pour on us. One of the very first thing we did was head straight to Hoan Kiem Lake. Having heard so much about it from PC, I definitely wanted to have a look. Using a map provided by the hotel, we started to walk along the quaint old streets while admiring the shophouses and people’s activity.
Traffic in Hanoi definitely needs getting used to since everyone seems to have their own mind on how or when they should be moving. Its rather interesting as the traffic makes up a “symphony” of toots and engine growls as the folks move through the city. Pedestrians just have to look out and move along, vehicles tend to smartly avoid you and “flow” past. Seems all rather chaotic but yet straightforward since no one really needs to stop for long unless they reach a traffic light or a hesitant pedestrian. We passed by some children enjoying a game of badminton at King Ly Thai To’s statue.
Our first stop along Hoan Kiem lake (which seemed rather crowded for a weekday afternoon) was Ngoc Son Temple. Crossing a small little red bridge, we duly paid 3000 dong per pax for the entrance fee. There were some older folks enjoying a game of chinese chess and tourists milling around enjoying the view of the lake. One of the main problem we had to adjust to was the currency, since it was 1 SGD to approx 20,000 dong, most of the items were in very huge denominations that took some getting use to 
We slowly strolled over to Old Quarters where there were seemingly endless lanes of shops specialising in shoes, bags and other knick knacks. We also chanced upon a wet market which was just two long lanes of stalls of seafood, flowers, and most of the things you would find in a wet market. One of the stalls even sold roasted pork by weight which I immediately had to try since its one of my favorite food. We had to gesture to the weighing scales to say 100 grams and eventually managed to get it wrapped up whilst it was steaming hot in banana leaves and newspaper. It was simply delicious to savor the hot roasted pork and made me wish for a beer! We walked a little more but soon it was time to head back to the hotel since we were meeting up with the delegates for dinner.
After getting together with the other delegates, a bus took us to the outskirts of town near a restaurant called Sen which served a great Vietnamese buffet. It was recommended by Yen (Vanessa’s nephew who also graciously offered to be my tour guide the next day). The food was great and the selection aplenty. We tried rice noodles in so many varied ways that you realise it must be a staple in Vietnamese diet. Of course, not forgetting trying out Ha Noi Beer which tasted curiously like Tiger Beer. After a pretty filling meal (1 million+ dong btw.. which worked out to about SGD $11 per pax 
), we headed back into town.
We managed to catch a performance of water puppets (40,000 dong per pax) that was pretty interesting but unfortunately it was in Vietnamese with no translation. We could appreciate the puppet play but not understand the dialouge! I caught bits and pieces of what seemed to be the story of Ngoc Son temple and some other elements but about half hour later was starting to drift. The finale came about an hour later and we managed to see the masters who were knee-deep in water throughout the whole show manipulating the puppets with long rods and making them move effortlessly. Definitely an art to perform this way.
Some of the delegates wanted to walk around Old Quarters some more but since we had already explored our fill for the day, we lead the way back for the others who were getting tired from the day’s travel. Time to get a good nights rest for the adventure the next day!