I really enjoy life here in Quan Thanh St in the Ba Đinh district of Hanoi, and haven’t been enjoying the forays down into the more touristy sections of the city nearly as much. We are becoming quite well known around here, after just over a week on floor 4, and the ladies selling flowers from their bikes on the roadside at the lake, the local eateries, and ‘our’ morning coffee spot (Pinocchio) all are coming to know us well and greet us in passing.

Most days we have seen some of the local sights – the 1,000 year old Temple of Literature, and Hoa Lo – the infamous ‘Hanoi Hilton’ established by the French colonialists to intern political prisoners, which was later used to detain US pilots, including John McCain, who were captured during bombing raids over North Vietnam.

Yesterday, I just failed to fire on enough cylinders to get a spark, and after our morning Ca Phe Đen Đa (Black Coffee, slightly sweetened and served cold on ice) at one of the dozens of café’s along the shore of the small lake – Truc Bac – adjacent to where we live, we wandered down a computer street in search of a new battery for my laptop, stopping at a friendly roadside barber for Bob to have a shave. The very friendly older guy – uncharacteristically wearing shorts – negotiated to a price of 25,000 đong ($1.80) for a close shave with a cut throat razor.

Although close to lunch time, I ended up turning on my heels and retracing my steps to head back to the flat for a rest. I had bought some instant noodles that morning at the local ‘FiviMart’ and made a small bowl before collapsing into a deep slumber for many hours. I have been surprised at the relative expense of instant noodles compared to street food; although small packets of local noodles may be bought for around 4,000 đong (28¢), many packets are over 12,000 đong (90¢) which is a similar price to a great big steaming bowl full of meat, vegetables and a fragrant broth. One packet of spicy noodles I know from Canberra sells in the local Coles supermarket for $1.18, and much less at the local Vietnamese grocer. Whilst these noodles are admittedly Thai, not Vietnamese, they sell for 14,000 đong (95¢) here.

Bob’s lunch was at our favourite little alley near the city’s main dry markets, where we have had a variety of “Com” (dishes with rice) & Pho (Noodle soup). On our last visit, we had a delicious Tomato Broth, and saw the lady making this as we left on our last visit. Bob really enjoyed his bowl and paid only 13,000 đong (90¢) for it. He finished this off with a drink of mixed fruits – lychees. Avocado, mango, dragon fruit, etc – with condensed milk and add your own shaved ice for 10,000 đong.

I wasn’t quite up to going out the dinner either, but Bob brought back some take-away Cuón – fresh rice paper rolls with warm beef and herbs with a dipping sauce.

It is my 44^th Birthday tomorrow, and we are going to KoTo, the restaurant set up to teach street and disadvantaged kids hospitality in Hanoi.