16/9/23 Sat: We woke up at 7am because we’re
heading out for the half-day Hanoi Vintage Minsk Motorbike tour (S$121.50 for
two pax). Our 23-year-old guide, Trump and the 22-year-old Lucas, were the
drivers and they picked us up at 7.50am at our Airbnb. Trump’s command of
English was very good, strong American accent sometimes and he was knowledgeable
about the history of Vietnam and on current affairs. *made me feel ashamed at
times like this because I’m not so good with history and current affairs haiz~*
He resembled my ex-student Goklas a lot and sounded crude at times, but still a funny guy… too bad for PY because he just
got a girlfriend recently lol. Lucas’ English wasn’t as good, so he left most
of the talking to Trump, but I felt very safe on his bike. *At first, he
told me his mum was the same age as me I stunned LOL~ found out it’s 45 year
old la later…*Trump ordered some banh mi for us for a start
and while the auntie prepared it, we visited a market nearby the Train Street.
The open-air market opens at 5am and it’s a common sight in Vietnam. They had
veggies and meat you’d see in a wet market in Singapore. Trump bought the “green
rice” and sticky rice for us to try. The former tasted half raw. *The banh
mi with egg and sausage was salty too.*
We biked over to the Train Street and there were
already many eager tourists waiting for the sleeper train to pass by at 8.30am.
We sat outside the café and was only inches away from the train body when it
trained past…Trump got me peach iced tea and PY salted
caramel coffee… mine was too sweet but hers was surprisingly good. Then, we
took many photos at the tracks thanks to Trump.They then drove us through small alleys to a
neighbourhood, where we were showed a small confectionary shop that sells traditional
wedding bakes. It was a sticky green bean paste which signified that a couple
would stick together for life. We were together with another tour group of
Australian family led by a local young lady and she explained the above
information to us. She’s born in Hanoi and spoke very fluent English for a local
while Trump came from the countryside to study in university in Hanoi.We moved to another shop that sells offerings
and she continued explaining about the Vietnamese culture to us. Interestingly,
all Vietnamese believes in burning offerings to their ancestors, no matter if
they are Atheists (70%) , Buddhists (18%) or Catholics.All of us walked into Mr Quang’s place across
the shop after that. He shared about his life while the guide translated it
into English for us. He’s an 80-year-old war survivor and ex-teacher who
self-taught himself to play a few musical instruments like the Liu, the
harmonica and Tran, a Vietnamese instrument with four strings. His wife passed
away 26 years after their marriage, so he raised his five kids by himself and
now, he’s already a great grandfather! I loved this part of the tour a lot… a
peek into a local’s life and also knowing about their life in general.We were on the bikes again and on the road
before we alighted nearby the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum. *Trump joked to us that
in Vietnam, the best way to get past the traffic is to keep walking. “You run, you
die. You stop, you also die. Just walk and you’ll be fine.” LOL.*
Took some photos at the West Lake and the heat
was killing us. Can’t remember when but I finally experienced a time where
there’s traffic light and we stopped the bikes at a cross-road junction haha. We
turned into a wide street with lots of trees and I liked that because it
reminded me somewhat of Shanghai. Also drove through a street full of roadside
stalls that sold things for Mooncake festival.Finally, we went onto the road along the
2.4km-long Long Bien Bridge. It’s a track where the sleeper train to Sapa still
passes through. Trump helped us take a lot of photos there as usual…It was time for lunch and the last stop of the
tour. We were driven to the 3 storey-tall Hidden Gem Café and Pub, which Trump
said was owned by his boss. Saw the kitchen on the first floor before we went upstairs
to take photos and wait for our course lunch…They were quite big on upcycling, so we could
see like tyres and bottles etc used as fish tank and lighting accessories,
tables and chairs made from like trishaw and parts of cars etc.Had banh mi and spring rolls to go with lime
juice…. Very nice. Also tried their rice wine. Next, we had colourful fried
noodles with nuts… I liked it. The egg coffee was shiok too. Overall, it was an
insightful tour and I’d recommend it to any first-timers in Hanoi.PY and I walked around Hoan Kiem Lake
thereafter. She tried salted caramel apricot tea (VND 30,000) at Hong Tra Sui
Bot – Thanh Hoa but it wasn’t as nice as the one she had in Sapa. I was
physically drained after the tour so we decided to visit Loc Tai House to rest
and have some desserts (VND60,000). PY’s tofu pudding was good but my lotus
seed paste was very sweet. We sat on the second floor and had the whole “room”
to ourselves~Headed back to our Airbnb at 4.30pm and PY did
some work at the balcony. After sunset, we went out for dinner and ended up at
the same place again for pho (VND80,000) since PY had cravings for it. After
that, we shopped the night market and PY bought some hand-painted tees. We also
bought three boxes of green bean cakes (VND 165,000), two Bia Hoi (VND 26,000),
two tees (VND170,000).Decided to do manicure and pedicure at a random
Coco Spa there. I only did the basics for my hands and feet (VND200,000). As
the girls had some spare cash on our last night in Hanoi, we went on a shopping
spree~ splurging haha. PY bought three tees at Tiredcity and I got a couple set
for a total of VND1,347,000, and I also bought a “Buddha’s Heart” set (VND700,000)
at Ginkgo because I loved it and it was the last set available already.
Back in our room at 10.50pm and drank Bia Hoi,
which was meh and I didn’t finish it. PY and I talked late into the night thereafter…
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