It seemed like we ate a lot. On the way backed to hotel, we decided to buy some Banh Bao Dac Biet, or special steamed pork filled dumplings or special steam bun with meat, for VND 4,000. Too bad, the taste was not so nice.

We didn’t waste time to taste the life in Hanoi Vietnam, although it’s late at night. Here seen busy traffic even at night in Hanoi Old Quarter Hoan Kiem district.
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We walked past To Tich street. There are a few stalls selling Sinh To. Sinh To actually mean fruit shake with milk added, but in Hanoi, most of them is pure fruit shake, with ice added. We tasted Sinh To Trai Cay for VND 7,000. Sinh To Trai Cay consists of fresh strawberry, pineapple, coconut, avocado, jack fruit, durian or mung bean shake blended with ice and sweetened condensed milk. The staff there actually told us it’s ‘fruit salad’. Ate there was a nice experience as there were no proper table. We simply sat on the street on a stool.
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Bun Thang, also called Hanoi Chicken Soup or “Ladder” soft noodle soup, is a kind of rice vermicelli dish. Bun Thang includes lean pork paste, thin fried egg, salted shredded shrimp, chicken, onion, shrimps paste, and a little Belostomatid essence. Especially, Bun Thang bouillon, soup made from not less than 20 ingredients, and shrimps and meat must be very sweet and pure. The best place to taste Bun Thang is in Hanoi, and I was glad that we ‘accidentally’ tasted it on the first night we reached Hanoi.
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We were introduced to Thanh Vinh Tourist Hotel when the hotel that we initially went to was fully booked. It’s located at 10A1 Yen Thai of Hoan Kiem district in Hanoi, inside small alley which accessible from Hang Manh street or opposite the Hang Da market. Actually I didn’t know the name of the hotel until I looked at the name card of the hotel, as the sign board only prominently displayed Sinh Cafe and Open Tour.
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We met Alan and his 4 friends, all NUS students in Noi Boi airport. It was the third time he been to Vietnam. They previously came to Hanoi Vietnam for a community project. We decided to follow him to Old Quarter to look for hotel. We were taking minibus to St. Joseph’s Cathedral to meet their friend Robin that reached Hanoi earlier. This avoided us the scam that the mini bus driver drops the passengers at the hotels that they can earn some commission.
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We finally reached Hanoi Noi Bai International Airport after 3 hours of flying. NoiBai airport is a small airport. But to my surprise, immigration and custom clearance is a fast, albeit long queue. And they did open up more counters when the queue got longer. Moreover, the immigration officers were very helpful. I tried to ask how to get to Old Quarter, but they simply didn’t understand what’s Old Quarter. Worse still, I couldn’t read Hoan Kiem Lake properly. After showing them the map, they’re so helpful to write me the Vietnamese of Hoan Kiem Lake, and told me that I can get there by taking bus no. 7 from outside of airport and then transfer to bus no. 9. They were simply so friendly and helpful. But we didn’t go to Old Quarter by public bus, we went by mini bus instead.
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