Everyday life in Hanoi...

So today, I came home, walked into my lounge room and see Malcolm being measured by his tailor... yes, that's right... his tailor does house calls.

I've had a pretty full couple of weeks and am just now taking a breather. I'm teaching but also busily preparing prac places for the upcoming Teach International course. The last few days have been oppressively humid, there hasn't been a sniff of a breeze. The city is sluggish and the pressure is building, we're all hoping for some rain.

Life goes on, and in saying that, it's generally been a happy blend of socialising, shopping, sneezing, drinking, massage, housesitting, dog whispering, nurturing good friends, creativity and general enjoyment... and shopping!

Being in a country that creates and has a reputation for manufacture, it's no wonder people can get exactly what they want (copied, made, designed and created). For example, a friend has a unique pair of Italian heels she nabbed in an op shop in San Fransisco, what luck! One of a kind you say!

Well, maybe in any other country than Vietnam...

.... even as I type, a hardworking Vietnamese cobbler is replicating the shoes and producing an identical pair for me for $9, mind you, finding his shop, the explanation, pattern picking and bargaining process took almost 2 hours and we'll see what happens when I pick up the shoes. So yes, you get what you want, however you need patience, NO expectations and a sense of humour in equal measures.

The Old Quarter is where most people spend their time shopping. There's a street for almost everything you need or want. Forget one stop shopping, for better or worse Hanoi makes the average shopper travel to each part of the city to find what they want! There's Silk Street, Bamboo Furniture Street, Shoe Street, Metal Pots and Pans Street, Ribbon Alley, Cushion Street... possibly read the Lonely Planet for a more correct description. Regardless, most of these places are situated in the Old Quarter.

From my house the Old Quarter is about a 15 min ride. It's a short motorbike ride through our laneway., down the packed popular shopping street of Doi Can, zoom past my favourite street in Hanoi... Chicken Street...

...On a delicious, totally off topic side note, it's now my personal belief that while Colonel Sanders served in the army... bear with me... he visited Hanoi and sampled barbeque chicken on Ly Van Phuc went back to America and made a poor reproduction in his Kentucky restaurant, haha. Each little restaurant that lines the street has their own closely guarded family recipe and spices, and it's chicken unequaled by anything I have eaten so far (being a fried chicken lover I can say this with certainty).

Imagine an entire street of small open area restaurants totally dedicated to cooking, making and selling chicken... you sit on the side of the road on small plastic chairs and are served enormous succulent glistening pieces of fresh chicken. The legs, wings (or feet depending on your fancy) are skewered on a stick, glistening hot and saucy, steaming fresh off the barbeque... complemented with hot spiced potato pieces and honey bread on sticks and washed down with bubbling Hanoian beer... it's heaven on a stick, a rare creation worthy of a chicken sacrifice.... or two, three, four...

Ah... give me a minute to wipe the saliva from my mouth...

... so zipping and zooming in and out of traffic after Chicken Street (with a full belly) you pass the pale high walls of the Temple of Literature and straight into the bustling, greedy heart of the Old Quarter.

I get the distinct feeling many travellers come to Hanoi and after spending a lot of time in the Old Quarter quickly become tired of the constant flow of people, street vendors, shops and other tourists.

On some faces you see a tic appear every time a street vendor calls out.. "You want a _______.' [insert cyclo/xe om/banh mi/leather wallet/Uncle Ho lighter/street map/ book/ fruit etc] It's fair enough... the flow of the Old Quarter is constant and busy, it's hot and compact and when you are living in it can be a little overwhelming.

Compared to most people I've come into the quiet and relative stability of an already established household outside of the compact Old Quarter and had a very positive introduction so far. Plus, living so close to Chicken Street, I can't really go wrong. I'm off tomorrow to find a standing hammock so I can relax and swing in the breeze (but since there's none of that) just to swing and relax and read a book on my rooftop... and sweat!

Oh and I've been a bit slack recently with blog updates, I think because I've 'misplaced' my camera (probably permanently) so sadly until I buy another there'll be no pics for a while...

Viet Cobbler
119 Ly Thai To

Chicken Street
Ly Van Phuc