IT'S TUESDAY, I MUST BE IN HA NOI

Gooooooooooood Morning, Vietnam!!!

(I never said I was original)

A lot of cities claim to have a certain “vibe”, when they really don’t; or call themselves “charming” or “bustling”, even though they’re actually dull and dreary. Ha Noi is one place I can confidently say is LEGITIMATELY vibrant, with loads of charm to spare, and has lots and lots of…um…bustle.

Filipinos will also feel a certain kinship with the Vietnamese, maybe more so than with any other group. Both see virtue in service, helping others, and a job well done; both seem to live for their weekends and night outs; and neither is ever, EVER, stingy with their smiles (on the other hand, both also take LOADS of liberties with traffic rules, such as counterflow-on-demand and insta-freeway sidewalks).

PLACE KINDA REMINDS ME OF: part Bacolod, part Tomas Morato, part downtown Cebu, with a little bit of Malate, Padre Faura and T.M. Kalaw thrown in.

THE CITY / PEOPLE - I’m told the city follows the European style, south of France even. Whatever it is, it works. And I have to say that the Ha Noi ladies are, on a per capita basis, the prettiest I’ve seen so far in my travels. And yes, the LLDDL knows.


Typical Ha Noi streetscape. Tall, narrow houses all over.


Also, lots of trees and colonial buildings. Very quaint.

There are staircases, and there are dizzying National Convention Center STAIRCASES.

Holy photo op!

An unexpected sight: overflowing churches on Sunday. What the picture doesn't capture is the outdoor crowd seated on their motorbikes jammed right up to the church doors, like it was a drive-in theatre or something.

The LLDD wins "Most Congenial Delegate"

Sign as you enter the airport. Don't know what it's selling, but any shop that combines "well-being" and "natural latex" in its signage deserves our support.

THE SHOPS-Rows upon rows upon rows of them at street level. Mostly single proprietorship deals, with hardly a franchise in sight (except for several Nokia stores; they’ll rule the world someday, I tell you).

Night market in Han Gang(?) shopping district. I found it interesting that a lot of shops’ commerce were driven by sales of images of Ho Chi Minh, the Vietnamese star, and the Hammer and Sickle. There’s a profound, ironic statement to be made there by someone smart and articulate. I am not that person.

Shop where the Phildel did most of its buying ("Trade Missions", we call it).

The absolute hottest wasabi-type sauce I have ever tasted in my life. I was like, DAMN!

THE ART-Many hotels and restaurants I’ve been to (even the high-quality ones) have artworks that are, well, shall we say, a stroke away from dogs-playing-poker. In Ha Noi, however, EVERY place had these great pieces that I’d end up staring at or wanting for my apartment. And they were all distinctively Vietnamese/Asian without having to resort to clichés like villagers-planting-rice. I don’t know much about art, but I know I like their work.

Some samples. Remember, these aren't even museum pieces. Just hotel and restaurant stuff.

Great art looks even better when you're slightly smashed


Just a magnificent work of art (and the painting ain't too bad either hahahahahaha)


THOSE MOTORBIKES – Perhaps Ha Noi’s most distinguishing feature. At once fascinating and frightening to foreigners. From high above, they look like hyperactive ants; from street level and coming towards you, it’s like staring up into raindrops during a cloudburst; at twilight with their headlights on, they’re like the Sentinels pouring into Zion.

I wondered how having individual motorbikes would affect social interaction and all that. Apparently, the Vietnamese just do everything we would do, only on motorbikes. So you would still see several barkadas feverishly gossipping even while riding separately, families going to restaurants in bike clusters, business and party people dressed in high fashion scooting along to their next big event. There are even stories of riders balancing at least four pigs vertically on the back of a bike (now THAT I would pay to see!)


I'm from Manila - so a veteran of street-crossing and jaywalking - but nothing has challenged me as much as trying to get across a Ha Noi street on foot. And yet the local bikers just zip around each pedestrian with hardly an incident (which is good because no one wears a helmet).


Even though cars are uncommon, traffic jams still occur. Here, the LLDD gets stuck for close to 20 minutes as the US President's motorcade rolls by. (HIM again!)


The bikes DO look cool at night