Sleep, Work, Eat (alot), Repeat.

Tuesday 24th April 2019 (Day 79)

We arrived in La Siesta Trendy - our first Hanoi hotel - at 5.30am after an exceedingly over-delayed flight (that’s the last time we’re flying with Cebu airways), hoping to gain a few hours sleep. Even after sporadic napping, for so long we missed breakfast, not one of us was at all fully charged and therefore, apart from switching to The Light Hotel (extreme Louis the XIV accommodation) we relaxed for the greater part of the day. However, we (Dad and I) had a 2hr gym session, in which I burnt approximately 800cals on a combination of the running machine, a few apparently common pieces of exercise equipment known by such obscure names that I really cannot believe they’re genuinely common; and a small scheme of my own requiring no machinery. The reason that we attempted this excursion was to prepare us for the intense mountain biking soon to come...

All of a sudden Mum rushes into the room and agitatedly yelled that we were running late for our 6.00pm food tour so, because I believed that running twice - both figuratively and literally - (I was currently occupied with the sprint machine and we were ‘running late’) at once was a little much exercise for the day. I also was hoping to gain some of the calories that I had just lost.

We ate so much on the food tour that it all, sort of, blurred into one big meal; although I can tell you that we had an extremely positive experience not to be forgotten. Thankfully, we happen to have an itinerary sent to us by our guide while they were still trying to sell it to us (we peeled off just before the fried rice but still had the glass noodles, due to being it rather late).

FOOD LIST

1. Grilled pork noodles (Bún chả)

  21 Nguyễn Hữu Huân

2. Bánh mì + Egg coffee

  10 Hàng Muối

3. Dried beef salad ( Nộm thịt bò khô)

  23 Hồ Hoàn Kiếm

4. Steamed pancake ( Bánh cuốn)

  14 Bảo Khánh

5. Fried food ( Đồ rán)

  52 Lý Quốc Sư

6. Fried rice ( Cơm rang)

  65A Bát Đàn

7. Mixed Glass Noodles ( Miến xào)

  66 Bát Sứ

8. Dessert – sticky rice with coconut ice-cream ( kem xôi)

  95 Hàng Bạc

Recommendation

Phở ( Noodle soup)

@10 Lý Quốc Sư

@49 Bát Đàn

Coconut coffee

@35A Nguyễn Hữu Huân

Egg Beer/ Egg cocoa

@Giang cafe at 39 Nguyễn Hữu Huân

(Me). My highlight of this uncannily delicious endeavour was almost certainly the glass noodles, although I cannot match Mum’s history lesson or dad’s superb description.

(Mum). Surprisingly I really liked the Egg coffee as it tasted like tiramisu.  Apparently the daughter of its inventor has created Egg Beer but I don’t think I’ll be trying that!

(Dad).  I liked the tiny doorways we went through to reach little eateries off the beaten path and the best of them was the upstairs Bun Cha (grilled pork with noodles) in highly spiced broth at a low table with fresh torn green leaves of Vietnamese wild mint and basil.

P.S. Last post’s mystery photograph was…

a close up of a piece of dragon fruit.

Today’s mystery photograph is: