Tid-Bits of Hanoi
When I think back on my time in Vietnam, I often forget the small details. The small things that made my life so different every single day than it was at home in Canada. Here are a few of those things.
Sometimes men have one REALLY long fingernail. Usually their pinky. And I’m talking 3 inches long. I could never quite figure out why.
There’s a service here called Grab, which is owned by Uber. It’s the same thing as Uber, except you get to ride on the back of a motorcycle, which makes it way more fun.
Bánh mì is amazing.
If you’ve been living in Hanoi for an extended period of time, like me, you don’t even hear the honking anymore. I was on Skype with my friends Jess and Sara and they said “omg, what IS that?” and I said “what’s what?” and they said “the honking”. I didn’t even notice.
You should probably always wear a pollution mask while driving.
Hanoi is ALWAYS busy. It’s so vibrant and dynamic, and there is always something going on.
In Old Quarter, you can sit on a tiny blue plastic chair on the side of the road and drink a beer for 30 cents. I don’t even like beer, but 30 cents?
Old Quarter is the place where all of the tourists go. But the vibes are so much fun. It’s also sooo busy that you can barely cross the street without having to dodge 50 motorbikes and 30,000 tourists. I love it though, and I loved visiting there to go out to the bars.
There is also a neighbourhood called Tây Hồ, which is where most of the expats live, and a few of my friends as well. This area is less crowded than Old Quarter - and there is a big difference between the two. Old Quarter = backpackers & tourists. Tây Hồ = expats.
Traditionally, Vietnamese families eat their meals on the floor in a circle, which is something I did at a lot of different home-stays while I was travelling around the country - especially the North. A lot of the times, families have their businesses on the first floor of their homes, and around 6pm, they eat their dinner right in their shop (whether it be a clothing shop or a shoe shop or whatever have you).
If you’re an extra small in Canada, you’re an extra large in Vietnam.
The two signature beers in Vietnam are Hanoi Beer or Tiger Beer.
Rice wine is what they call “happy water”. It pretty much tastes like vodka, just worse. Once, when I was at a home-stay, the whole village wanted to cheers me health and happiness, and every time they do, you would take a shot together. They wanted to cheers me health and happiness at least 30 times, and I didn’t want to be rude….. so 30 shots later I was doing karaoke to Taylor Swift - which I’d actually probably do sober too, but that’s not the point.
Coconut coffee is literally the best thing you’ll ever have. Also, egg coffee is pretty lovely too.
If you’re driving, you can pretty much forget all of the rules of the road that we’ve learned at home. Just focus on what’s in front of you, and try not to crash.
Everybody is really kind and I met some of my favourite people in Vietnam.
