Of all the places of interest I had visited so far in Hanoi, I would say the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology is one of the most interesting. We spent a good couple of hours here because the museum collection is impressively extensive so set aside time as there’ll be lots to explore. Vietnam Museum of […]

Before I came to Hanoi, I had read up a lot about its places of interest and the Temple of Literature (entrance fee of 30,000 VND/person) was one of the must-visit attractions. Temple of Literature 58 Quoc Tu Giam Van Mieu, Dong Da Hanoi, Vietnam Tel: +84 4 3747 6013 Also known as the Temple […]

Bia Hoi is a type of draft beer that is very popular in Vietnam. It is freshly brewed on a daily basis with no added preservatives and is delivered to beer joints every day in steel barrels. In my earlier blog post [Hanoi Night Market – For bargain shopping, cheap booze & free entertainment], I […]

Not far from the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum is the Ho Chi Minh Museum (entrance fee 40,000 VND per pax) where you can learn about the life of Ho Chi Minh – his background, ideals and revolutionary career. To be honest, before I came to Hanoi, I didn’t have a clue what HCM actually meant […]

If you’re heading to Hanoi for a holiday, do make sure you have the Imperial Citadel of Thang Long in your list of to-visit places because it’s one of the few attractions in Hanoi that’s really worth checking out. The hotel reception staff had given us the wrong information/direction on where the entrance to the […]

It’s Chinese New Year Eve! Gosh, by the time this post goes live, I must be busy in the kitchen preparing a 10-course feast for tonight’s Reunion Dinner. In the end, I still decided to cook and have everyone eat in because we couldn’t find a CNY menu that everyone was happy with – we’re […]

When I travel to a different country, I always like to check out its local bakeries (besides supermarkets) because I love bread and I eat it all the time. It’s something that I can easily make a meal out of it and I can have it whenever I feel like it. 🙂 While exploring the […]

In one of my earlier travel posts, I’ve mentioned that if you’re staying in the Old Quarter in Hanoi, it’s actually very easy to get around on foot. In fact, many of the notable attractions and must-see places in Hanoi are also within walking distances from the Old Quarter. Well, when I say ‘walking distance’ […]

After completing one round of Truc Bach Lake (read my earlier post -> Truc Bach Lake, West Lake Hanoi and Bo Bia) on foot, we came to Highlands Coffee, a popular Vietnamese cafe chain. The 2-storey cafe was like a red boat docked at the pier – very eye-catching even from a distance. Hubby said […]

Hubby and I were in the vicinity of Truc Bach Lake after having bun cha for lunch. We planned to explore the lake on foot and at the same time, check out the Tran Quoc Pagoda which is the oldest Buddhist Temple in Hanoi. From Chau Long Street, we started walking around the lake in […]

If you’re currently planning a trip to Hanoi, you may want to have your travel dates overlap the weekend so you can check out the popular Hanoi Night Market a.k.a. Dong Xuan Night Market that only opens 3 days a week. On every Friday, Saturday and Sunday, the whole stretch of road from Hang Dao […]

Hoan Kiem Lake a.k.a. Lake of the Returned Sword or Lake of the Restored Sword is located within Hanoi Old Quarter, which makes it a good spot to get away from the hustle and bustle of city life. It’s probably also the only place to get ‘fresher’ air in the Hoan Kiem district which is […]

Before I go on to introduce more drool-worthy eats in Hanoi, I thought I would take you all to the streets of the Hanoi Old Quarter to discover more about the Vietnamese culture and their way of life. The Hanoi Old Quarter a.k.a. Hoan Kiem District is the main tourist attraction and commercial hub of […]

When you’re in Hanoi, you will likely see these mass-produced donuts being sold EVERYWHERE. Women sitting down by the roadside with baskets of donuts. Women on bicycles (like the one pictured above) with baskets of donuts. Women walking down the streets with baskets of donuts. Whenever they spot tourists, they would enthusiastically approach them to […]

On our first day while exploring the Old Quarter on foot, we came by Cho Dong Xuan or Dong Xuan Market which was Hanoi’s largest indoor market. It was a Thursday afternoon and it didn’t look that crowded on the outside so we thought it would be a good time to walk around and have […]