Scenes of Hanoi

Since Pinky is 'slogging' out helping her clients to meet the tax filing deadline (i.e. due end of this month), I took the liberty to make an attempt to keep the blog somewhat alive.

I thought it would be nice to share some of the pictures of Hanoi streets, which I took while I was on a business trip a week back.

Before I put the pics, I must say that the flight to Hanoi wasn't the most pleasant one. I can't imagine that MAS has the cheek to use a smallish Boeing 737 to carry passengers on a 3 1/2 hour international flight. It certainly does not help that I have to sit beside a huge French guy. The only saving grace was that I was on the aisle seat where I have a chance to 'stretch' my right foot to the maximum. To sum up, it was a flight with lousy food, lack of cabin space and of course no in flight entertainment (remember 737 has no videos nor music facilities). I might be better off flying Air Asia !

Nevertheless, barring the lousy flight experience, it was a fairly good trip cos I had quite a bit of time to look around Hanoi. On the business part, I only spent half a day participating in a seminar organised by Bursa trying to encourage Vietnamese companies to list in Malaysia, and an hour with my Hanoi office partner to get the latest developments on the local capital market.

As for Hanoi, all I can say is that it looks like KL/Penang in the seventies. There were scenes u can never find in the urban Malaysia nowadays. Eg. Barber by the streets, shoeshine boys plying their trade along the shopping districts and etc.

Shopping in Hanoi should be very appealing to many people especially the ladies ONLY if you are not into designer labels. I bought a very nicely done silk based wallet shot with embroidery for Pinky and it only costs USD2. My lady colleague told me that it would have cost at least RM25-30 in KL. Wonder that's true....well what the heck :-)

Ok, here are some of the pics

I was told this is the Hanoi's famous Silk Road. This is the area where good quality silks are sold. As you can see, this scene seems to be a reminiscent of the old Penang in seventies - Motor cyclists without helmet, old buildings with French windows.

I took this pic from the top floor of an art gallery. The lake in the background is called Hoan Kiem Lake. It smacks right at the heart of the city. This small lake between the Old Quarter and the French Quarter is central to Hanoian folklore. A ghostly shrine (the Turtle Pagoda) standing on an islet at its center pays homage to a golden turtle. In the 15th century, this heroic reptile is said to have returned a magic sword to its home in the lake after it had been taken. These days, the sculptured park along the banks plays host to postcard sellers, hawkers, old men playing chess and freelance money changers.

I happen to stumble on this Church. What intrigue me was that the church was so grand and ironically its situated in one of the once hotbed of communism. The St. Joseph's Cathedral was built in 1886, after the Nguyen King officially handed Hanoi over to the French. The cathedral was build over the ruins of the demolished Bao Thien pagoda. Inside St Joseph's Cathedral take place masses on a daily basis. The building remembers the Notre Dame in Paris

This is one of the streets in the Old Quarters. Do note the neatness of the surroundings. Defintely better than our Chow Kit or Petaling Street area.

One last one - I took this from my hotel room. I was trying to capture the ever famous Hung River in the background. But certainly the quality of my camera phone is not good enough to get it right. The next time on overseas trip, I promise myself at very least, take my Canon Ixus along !