Hanoi

Went to Hanoi for work to scout out a suitable location to open a new salon....and at the same time to catch some sights and SHOP!

Weather was great as it's winter now....so I got to wear my furs and minks! Kidding....just a plain old jacket for me...

Took a ride around the city on a Sichlo (Seek-low), its like a trishaw...here's a my auntie in one...

The main shopping street is called Hang Gai. Its just streets and streets of these little shops. The funny thing about it is that each street has its own characteristics....its either a shoe street or scarves street or toy street etc etc, all the shops sell the same things!

Shoes anyone???

A cute little cafe at the intersection of Hang Gai....see all the motorbikes?!!? They are EVERYWHERE!!!

Went to this restaurant called Jungle where they served mainly traditional food from the tribes...check out the English translation on the menus...I especially love the 'Chicken' items!

They had a dish that I really liked, Bamboo Sticky Rice. It was just plain rice stuffed into a bamboo but it was really fragrant and yummy...

And they had this really funky heater! It looks like a fan with no blades! Maybe they fix back the blades during summer so that it can be used as a fan then.... Cool or what!?

But the most interesting thing for me in Hanoi was the pedestrian walking signs....they are all different!! Every where I walked, there were these walking signs...and whenever I turn into another street, there's a different one looking at me! Ok maybe not every street, but at least a couple of streets down, you will see a different looking sign! Suspect there's no quality control whatsoever...whichever contractor gets appointed does their own signs! Hehe...