Backdate: Vietnam Hanoi Sep 2023 Day 1

10/9/23 Sun: Potato accompanied me to Changi airport for lunch together before I met PY at the departure lounge in the afternoon. Took SQ194 and flew off to Hanoi at 3.05pm and touched down at 5.50pm Hanoi time. *Return flight costed us S$265 per person. The seafood tom yam bee hoon on SQ flight was nice!*

There were long queues at the custom area and we waited for quite a while before we finally were allowed through at 7pm but then, PY got called to the back area because of her Visa issue. I had to wait for another hour or so… praying that she could be let through smoothly.

Took Grab ride (VND314,000) at 8.15pm to Hanoi Center Silk Charming Hotel at Old Quarter and reached there at 9pm. We stayed for a night (VND499,000), they’d upgraded the room to a bigger one with windows for us on the second floor but damn the noise was so loud at night that I didn’t really get any sleep. We were situated in the middle of a “party” area and PY said the “partying” only stopped at about 5am omg…

Walked past the Bia Hoi corner and there was a live band playing Adele’s song… nice. Decided to have dinner at Cai Mam Vietnamese Restaurant because of Google reviews online. PY ordered fresh noodle rolls with beef (VND99,000). The texture of the rolls were thicker than chee cheong fun and went very well with their fish sauce and red chilli! The grilled catfish with fresh noodles and herbs (VND 199,000) was shiok when you wrap them with the rice papper. *Their dipping sauce tasted amazing with all the dishes!* The jelly rice cake with pork and veggie (VND89,000) was meh though. PY also ordered 250ml of their brown rice wine (VND119,000) to try… quite strong for me and we didn’t finish in the end too. Costed us VND 549,000 in total, including 8% GST and service charge. *Exchange rate was SGD1 to VND17,640.*

Walked the Bia Hoi area and one of the streets reminded me of Haji Lane somehow… noisy and packed with tourists. Bought 1.5 of mineral water (VND10,000) at returned to the hotel close to 11pm.