YeinJee's Asian Journal » Ha Noi City

Girls’ Generation arrived in Vietnam

Yein Jee — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 12:58:54 +0000

Korean pop group Girls’ Generation was greeted by throng of wild fans when arriving at the Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi, Vietnam on October 18.

The girls and singer Son Ho-young will be performing at a special concert in conjunction with the Vietnam-Korea Friendship Festival…

Read the rest of this post »

Girls’ Generation arrived in Vietnam from YeinJee's Asian Blog

Cha Ca grilled fish, Hanoi, Vietnam

Yein Jee — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 15:21:01 +0000

Cha Ca La Vong is a restaurant in Hanoi famous for its grilled fish (Cha Ca) dish which was created some 130 years ago. The restaurant/dish is so famous that the street is named after it, and it’s featured in almost every single Hanoi’s travel guide.

There’s one problem though, as some other restaurants are riding on its fame with similar name and menu to take advantage of naive foreign travellers, and I was one of the fallen prey of the conspiracy during my Hanoi trip in July 2008…

Read the rest of this post »

Cha Ca grilled fish, Hanoi, Vietnam from YeinJee's Asian Blog

Museum of Ethnology, Hanoi – outdoor exhibits

Yein Jee — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 07:21:21 +0000

Photos of some outdoor exhibits of various Vietnam’s ethnic tribes at the Museum of Ethnology in Hanoi, taken during my Hanoi visit in July 2008…

Tomb for the rich and high ranking people in the Cotu society

Read the rest of this post »

Museum of Ethnology, Hanoi – outdoor exhibits from YeinJee's Asian Blog

LoL moment at Museum of Ethnology, Hanoi

Yein Jee — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 12:48:30 +0000

Some interesting tomb design of the Giarai (or Jarai) tribe, an ethnic group based primarily in Vietnam’s Central Highlands…

Read the rest of this post »

LoL moment at Museum of Ethnology, Hanoi from YeinJee's Asian Blog

Quan Com Pho restaurant, Hanoi, Vietnam

Yein Jee — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 18:55:16 +0000

Quan Com Pho is a Vietnamese restaurant in Hanoi. Found this place via a travel guidebook during my Hanoi visit in July 2008, and the restaurant seemed pretty promising on some online reviews… thus giving it a try.

Their menu was quite different from what I had at other Hanoi restaurants; their food was kinda like a fusion of traditional Vietnamese cuisine with some new cooking ideas.

Sticky rice rolls with roast meat… quite a gem

Read the rest of this post »

Quan Com Pho restaurant, Hanoi, Vietnam from YeinJee's Asian Blog

Hue Food Restaurant, Hanoi, Vietnam

Yein Jee — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 17:58:35 +0000

Hue Food is a restaurant that sells Hue cuisine in Hanoi, Vietnam. The restaurant is located at 6, Lý Thường Kiệt Street; found this via a local newspaper’s food column during my Hanoi visit in July 2008.

Hue is a historic city in central Vietnam and was the imperial capital of Nguyễn Dynasty (1802-1945). Vietnamese food in general can be divided into three categories… the northern food, southern food and central food (which is often referred as Hue food).

One of the distinctive difference between Hue food and other Vietnamese food is the popularity of roundish vermicelli (bún) instead of the flat rice noodle (phở) in other Vietnamese region. Hue food also tends to be a bit spicier, but still mild in relative to Malaysian or Indian food.

There is a popular Hue dish called the bún bò Huế (Hue beef soup noodle), but I am not quite sure if the noodle soup I had at the restaurant was what I hope it was…

Read the rest of this post »

Hue Food Restaurant, Hanoi, Vietnam from YeinJee's Asian Blog

Hanoi’s cable madness

Yein Jee — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 05:32:09 +0000

One of the most bizarre things in I learned of Hanoi during my July 2008 visit was the complexity of the wires and cables which hang around every corner of the streets; which actually looks kinda cool…

Hanoi’s cable madness from YeinJee's Asian Blog

Museum of Ethnology, Hanoi – Bahnar Rong

Yein Jee — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 11:51:10 +0000

Bahnar Rong (Ba Na Rông) are communal houses of the Bahnar tribe from Central Highlands (Tây Nguyên) region in Vietnam.

The distinctive features of traditional Bahnar Rong are its tall and steep roof, and also its lifted platform which are built to adapt to the (often rainy) tropical weather. The houses are traditionally used for cultural, religion and gathering purposes for men.

These traditional Bahnar Rong are almost obsolete nowadays, as the people are replacing their communal houses with iron and cement instead.

Photos below were taken at Museum of Ethnology in Hanoi where the Bahnar Rong, along with other traditional houses of various ethnic minorities, were built as an effort to preserve the fading Vietnamese traditions and heritage.

Read the rest of this post »

Museum of Ethnology, Hanoi – Bahnar Rong from YeinJee's Asian Blog

Quan An Ngon Restaurant, Hanoi, Vietnam

Yein Jee — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 13:15:11 +0000

Quán Ăn Ngon is a popular restaurant in Hanoi (18, Phan Boi Chau Street), Vietnam, which offers a variety of traditional Vietnamese dishes and street food.

The restaurant was quite cozy, and the food decent. Not my favourite Hanoi restaurant, but if you can only have one meal in the city… this is probably the place you want to be because of the great varieties.

Spring rolls, roast pork, rice wrappers and herbs

Quan An Ngon Restaurant, Hanoi, Vietnam from YeinJee's Asian Blog

Cay Cau Restaurant, De Syloia Hotel, Hanoi

Yein Jee — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 15:55:35 +0000

Lunch at Cay Cau Restaurant at De Syloia Hotel in Hanoi during my July trip. A bit pricey, but great food, lovely place, and I was in good mood for photos…

Read the rest of this post »

Cay Cau Restaurant, De Syloia Hotel, Hanoi from YeinJee's Asian Blog

Museum of Ethnology, Hanoi – indoor exhibits

Yein Jee — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 15:15:57 +0000

The Museum of Ethonology in Hanoi is a great place to have a glance at the traditional culture of Vietnam’s 54 ethnic groups. The museum is located the Cầu Giấy District, about 8km from city centre… took a bit of travelling time but worth a visit.

Sharing some photos below, taken inside the museum building…

Chinese stuff in Vietnamese culture

Read the rest of this post »

Museum of Ethnology, Hanoi – indoor exhibits from YeinJee's Asian Blog

Hanoi’s cargo-load bicycle

Yein Jee — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 06:33:35 +0000

One of the most iconic Hanoi features… bicycle loaded with variety of baskets and fish-traps. Images of these fully-loaded bikes have graced the cover of various Vietnam travel guide books and magazines for decades.

The photo above was taken at the Museum of Ethnology in Hanoi. You know you won’t have a good chance to see this in real life when you can find this in a museum lol.

Would be cool if I could just catch this once in real action… will have to wait until I visit Vietnam again, perhaps years later. Chances are getting even slimmer in future though, as the feat will gradually fade away altogether.

Hanoi’s cargo-load bicycle from YeinJee's Asian Blog

Vietnamese ice-milk coffee in Hanoi

Yein Jee — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 17:33:32 +0000

Vietnamese have quite a unique way to prepare their coffee. One of the most popular coffees is the ice-milk coffee (cà phê sữa đá) which is also popularly called the ‘drip coffee’ by travellers because of how it was brewed… like this and this.

Didn’t manage to drip the coffee myself when I was in Hanoi in July 2008; the cafe I visited served the well-prepared drink instead (pic).

My sister who tried some coffee in Hanoi prior to my visit told me that Vietnamese coffee was stronger than common espresso… can’t agree on that, at least not with the one I had. A decent glass of coffee though… smooth, thick and rich.

Vietnamese ice-milk coffee in Hanoi from YeinJee's Asian Blog

Pho Thin Restaurant, Hanoi, Vietnam

Yein Jee — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 06:18:10 +0000

Phở (pronounced like ‘fuh?’) is a traditional rice noodle soup and one of the most iconic Vietnamese foods. Pho is normally served as a bowl of flat-rice-noodles in beef broth, with some beef slices or other options like tripe or chicken etc.

There are a few variations of pho depending on the regions in Vietnam. The pho in Hanoi is called phở Hà Nội or phở bắc (northern pho), which is normally served with green onions; while the other regions are using different herbs instead.

A new found friend brought me to one of the locals’ favourite to try the pho when I was in Hanoi in July 2008. The place is Pho Thin, located at 13 Lo Duc St.

The restaurant was packed on the Saturday morning. The customers were sitting shoulder to shoulder while some others lining up for their seats. It’s not difficult to understand the crowdiness after tasting the pho, because it was really good.

The rice noodles were smooth and chewy, and the broth was rich in flavour despite looking mild and clear… and their chillies were nice too. Simplicity to its best.

Pho Thin Restaurant, Hanoi, Vietnam from YeinJee's Asian Blog

Water puppet show, Hanoi, Vietnam

Yein Jee — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 18:16:26 +0000

Water puppet show (múa rối nước) is a famous traditional Vietnamese art with more than 800 years of history; it’s a unique heritage from the Red River (Sông Hồng) region in northern Vietnam.

The water puppet shows are predominantly in Vietnamese (language) and showcase the folklores and legends in Vietnam. Thang Long Water Puppetry Theatre near Hoan Kiem Lake in Hanoi is probably the most famous place to watch the show.

I was lucky to get a seat during my Hanoi tour in July 2008, as there was only a few seats left when I purchased the ticket. It’s advisable for future visitors to get the tickets early in the day before going to the show in the afternoon/evening.

Read the rest of this post »

Water puppet show, Hanoi, Vietnam from YeinJee's Asian Blog

Cyclo tour in Old Quarter, Hanoi, Vietnam

Yein Jee — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 12:31:23 +0000

The Old Quarter, as its name indicates, is one of the oldest areas in Hanoi. The place is famous for its streets that are packed with century-old shop-houses specialising in a particular trade… such as shoes, bags, toys, medicines, metals and bamboos etc. The speciality of each street is reflected by the road names.

The Old Quarter is also called the 36 Streets… probably the number of streets when the French started to rebuild the area in the 19th century.

These days there are probably more than 40 streets in Old Quarter; most of the streets are quite short and could be easily navigated on foot… but I was a bit lazy to walk as the summer heat was killing me. I decided to try the cyclo ride instead, which cost me about US$4 for an hour of touring around the area…

Read the rest of this post »

Cyclo tour in Old Quarter, Hanoi, Vietnam from YeinJee's Asian Blog

St Joseph’s Cathedral, Hanoi, Vietnam

Yein Jee — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 17:47:45 +0000

The St Joseph’s Cathedral in Hanoi was opened in 1886, a year after the French colonial officially occupied the country of Vietnam. The cathedral still holds mass twice daily and is probably the most famous church in Hanoi.

St Joseph’s Cathedral, Hanoi, Vietnam from YeinJee's Asian Blog

Kangaroo Cafe, Hanoi, Vietnam

Yein Jee — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 16:44:06 +0000

It’s kinda ironic that my first ever meal in Vietnam was not Vietnamese food, but western food instead…

It was at a restaurant called Kangaroo Café, which also runs some short tours around Vietnam. I was there to book a trip to Halong Bay initially, but couldn’t find the right schedule. However, after spending two hours walking under the sun, I kinda need a break… and the air-con and cold beer seemed a bit too hard to resist.

Hence, my first meal in Vietnam… a peppered chicken chop, some chips, salad, and a Bia Hanoi (Hanoi beer). Decent food and reasonably priced.

Kangaroo Cafe, Hanoi, Vietnam from YeinJee's Asian Blog

Ngoc Son Temple, Hanoi, Vietnam

Yein Jee — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 07:28:19 +0000

Ngoc Son Temple (Đền Ngọc Sơn), or Temple of the Jade Mound, is located on a small islet at Hoan Kiem Lake in the City of Hanoi. The temple was founded in the 14th century but most of its current structures were built in the 18th century.

Ngoc Son Temple was built to commemorate a few Chinese and Vietnamese legends, including famous Vietnamese General Trần Hưng Đạo who twice led the Vietnamese troops to fence off the mighty Yuan invaders in the 13th century.

Sharing a few photos of the temple below, taken during my Hanoi trip in July 2008. It’s a small temple, but pretty nostalgic with a serene environment…

Ngoc Son Temple as viewed from across the Hoan Kiem Lake

Read the rest of this post »

Ngoc Son Temple, Hanoi, Vietnam from YeinJee's Asian Blog

Hanoi, Vietnam – random photos (1)

Yein Jee — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 05:56:31 +0000

First day in Hanoi, intended to visit Hoan Kiem Lake after checking in at my hotel… the journey was supposed to take 15 minutes of walking, but somehow took me more than an hour to reach there due to some poor map reading lol.

The time was not completely wasted though; passed by some of these landmarks in Hoan Kiem District that I probably won’t discover if I hadn’t lost my direction…

Busy roundabout… with cars, motorbikes, tricycles and pedestrians on the road

Read the rest of this post »

Hanoi, Vietnam – random photos (1) from YeinJee's Asian Blog