15th Jan - 10th Day - Pt 2 (Hanoi, Vietnam)

See... I never forget my root... Wa Si Hokkien lang

Herbal shop in the Herbal Shop Street. The auntie there is so shy she decided to close her face. Thanks to her for allowing me to take the photo of her shop.

Frying some herbal ingredients.

Me in the pic... There's a street selling mirrors and aluminium case, again.... forgot the name of the street.

Another shop selling Taoism praying stuff.

Taken at the street with the Viet Cong flag. Thanks Andrea for taking the pic.... we met again in Ha Long Bay!

Another shop selling Buddist and Taoism statues.

Landmark waiting area for local Hanoians and travellers alike. Situated next to the Hoan Kiem lake, it's the perfect place to wait or people watching. Notice the Korean words on the building? Yeah... they're EVERYWHERE!!!!!!!!!!!! Lotsa banks and tourist agencies around.

I found out later when I'm back to Malaysia that there're a lot Vietnamese who can copy the famous paintings around the world, i.e. works of Picasso and Rembrant (correct ah?) But the other pics, both paintings and photos are stunning.

变脸?

Rich travellers roaming around in Hanoi in their cyclo. Some sad stories about the cyclo peddler is that they're not allowed in certain roads so that new ruling kind of affects their earnings.

I like this pic and the food even more.... I stumbled upon this stall when I was strolling along a road... The smell of the BBQ pork (shown in the small bowl) was soooooo good and I managed to trace it to this stall and sat down right away with this old man pictured. The whitish stuff on the left is noodle (free flow man!!!! ) or meehon and the vege (also free flow man!!!!!) also provided. Ice coffee (again... Vietnamese coffee rocks!!!) The meat is soaked in cold soup, sour taste and it's VERY DELICIOUS!!!!

The old man is actually a US citizen but he's a Vietnamese. He told me in perfect USised English tat tis is the best stall in the whole Hanoi for the kind of dish they sell. I had two servings of the meat and the whole meal only costs me USD3. Not VERY cheap but it tastes GOOD.

Temple of the White Horse

Stalls selling stuffed toys

Roast Pork on sale

The aunties were so sporting! They kept asking me to take their picture.

Green Tangerine as recommended in LP

The Memorial House

School Breaks - waiting for their parents to fetch them.

18SX? Art knows no boundaries. Cool sculptures in the park around the Hoan Kiem Lake.

Sculpture 2

Oh.. tis one more abstract

Hoan Kiem Lake

Nice floral arrangement - Hoan Kiem Lake