Food Glorious Food - Hanoi Day 1

Hanoi is definitely a HAVEN for food! The variety is unbelievable and the taste….sigh! I may have forgotten some of the sights but the taste of the food still lingers on. I am not referring to food served in cafes or fancy restaurants. On the contrary, it is the street food that beckons me for a second visit to Hanoi in the near future.

My colleagues and I booked the Air Asia free and easy package 6 months ahead of the trip in March 2007. So you can imagine the anticipation as the date grew closer. We arrived in the late evening of March 10^th, 2007. It was dark, wet and cold and we were caught by surprise by the whizzing motorbikes (we would soon find out that crossing the streets of Hanoi requires skills and the nerve of steel). Checked into the Hanoi Plaza Hotel located within the Old Quarters. A friendly hotel staff showed us to a restaurant for dinner as it was too late to explore the place and we were too hungry from our journey.

Meet my 3 friends – (from far left) – Ong, Chou and Koh. Yes, that’s me on the right.

We ordered the typical Vietnamese meal – Beef noodle soup. Yum.

Explored the place for a bit (actually we got lost trying to get back to the hotel) and returned to the hotel to unpack and retire for the night. Another thing, I was thrilled to find 3 PCs with internet connection at the hotel lobby coz that meant that I could email Jai during my stay in Hanoi.