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…

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

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Halong Bay, Vietnam – random photos (2) from YeinJee's Asian Journal

The limestone cave is now heavily developed for tourism, with granite pavements and coloured-lighting beautifying the cave. The nature elements of the cave seems pretty well preserved though, hopefully the in-flock of tourists won’t cause too much harm.

Photos from my July 2008 visit, including an aerial view of the iconic Bo Hon Bay which often featured on travel magazines and postcards…

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Sung Sot Cave, Halong Bay, Vietnam from YeinJee's Asian Journal

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Halong Bay, Vietnam – random photos (1) from YeinJee's Asian Journal

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

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

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

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Floating village, Halong Bay, Vietnam from YeinJee's Asian Journal

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

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

Halong Bay has become an international travel hotspot in recent years; there must be more than 200-300 junks and cruises that depart daily from the port, with thousands of travellers visiting the destination each day.

The weather was perfect during my July 2008 visit. My guide told me that the clear blue sky are normally seen only for two-three weeks in one whole year. Sounds exaggerated, but my Hanoi friends later reaffirmed the statement… one of them had been to Halong for five times and had never seen such a clear weather. Lucky me :)

Some photos from the seaport and first glimpse of Halong Bay…

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First glimpse of Halong Bay, Vietnam from YeinJee's Asian Journal

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…

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

Hanoi’s cable madness from YeinJee's Asian Journal

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.

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

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 Journal

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

Sharing some photos below, taken inside the museum building…

Chinese stuff in Vietnamese culture

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

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 Journal