What's over there?
HANOI, VIETNAM – Sidewalks in Hanoi serve many different purposes… merchandise display space for shop stalls, seating for sidewalk restaurants, parking lot for motorcycles and bicycles (and sometimes cars), work room, kitchen, grazing space for urban livestock, and occasionally as a place for pedestrians to walk.
Continue reading “Sidewalks are for walking, right? Not in Hanoi…”
HANOI, VIETNAM – Back in the United States I often found coins on the ground… pennies mostly, sometimes a nickel, occasionally a dime or even a quarter. And one time I found a $20 bill. Whoo-Hoo!
Being the frugal person that I am, I’ve always picked up the coins (as long as I could do it safely, that is) – even the pennies that were so banged-up you could barely tell what they were (OK, I admit it; I’m a cheapskate).
Continue reading “Even in Hanoi I find money on the street…”
HANOI, VIETNAM – We recently spent a day at the Japanese Culture Exchange Festival, held March 23-26 near Hoan Kiem Lake in downtown Hanoi.
Continue reading “Japanese Culture in Hanoi (watch the video)”
HANOI, VIETNAM – OK, I’ll admit that title isn’t entirely accurate. Not everyone hates me, and I’m sure there must be a couple people who actually like me… at least a little. And I know my wife likes me (most of the time anyway).
But I did eat a grub the other day. Several of them, in fact.
Continue reading “Nobody likes me, everybody hates me. Guess I’ll just eat… grubs”
HANOI, VIETNAM – As slow travelers, John and I always try to connect with the local culture, so we were thrilled to be invited recently to join a family for their traditional Tet (Lunar New Year) family lunch in a rural village just outside of Hanoi.
We really did not know what to expect, besides lots of food, so we saved the entire day for the experience, and brought a box of chocolates for our host, Khai, the number two son in the family.
Continue reading “Our traditional Tet lunch experience”