HANOI - old quarter

A visit to Hanoi is not complete without a stroll through the Old Quarter.
Originally, it's 36 streets were arranged by trade: silverwork, leather, textiles and the like.
Nowadays, whatever the trade of the individual shops, the main income generator surely is catering to tourists... hotels, restaurants, coffee shops, souvenirs, tour operators and massage.
Comparing the current layout of the quarter to the old maps of the place, it looks like time has stood still and little has changed. The same grid, and shophouses that, apart from the merchandise, would not have been very different from a few hundred years ago.
But of course, that is a wrong inference as the Old Quarter, too, is affected by unceasing and unrelenting change.
Very unexpectedly, I chanced upon this apartment building that has risen where once a few shophouses stood. I was struck by the easy way the old and the new blended aesthetically. I would have loved to see the interior and most likely would have come away green with jealousy. That location, and most probably combined with all conveniences of a modern residential unit, it couldn't get any better.

HANOI - coffee shop

Back in Hanoi after a long absence, it's been almost six months.

Enjoying my morning coffee in my favourite coffee shop where the Christmas decoration still hangs above the door.

Watching Hanoi glide past.

Many changes to be noticed.
The building construction site across the road, that used to be a massive hole where prestressed concrete piles were driven into the ground, is now a multi-story structure and will eventually be an office complex.

The coffee is still Trung Nguyen, incredibly good, and the price still an incredible 20 Dong--that's about 10 cents US$. Compare that to the 2 US$ I pay in Jakarta for a double espresso in Starbucks.

This is just the joy of the Vietnamese coffee culture.
The delicious food started this morning with banh cuon and pork ribs noodles. For lunch, I went to the best bun cha place I know... just around the corner and if Anthony Bourdain had known about it he would have taken Obama there.

Wishing you all the very best...