Bia and soccer

A typical street in the Hoan Kiem district. This is more of the 'touristy' area.

It's Saturday night and I'm currently watching Australian rugby on TV and the 3-inch spider running around on my wall. What else would I be doing in Ha Noi? Julia and I had a grand ol' Vietnam adventure today. We ended up walking around our neighborhood for lunch and errands for five hours. It went smoothly, except for the part when we were at the checkout line in the giant Japanese dollar store and realized we only had the equivalent of $1 between us. Oops. We did eventually get our dollar incense, scented candles, and buddha (we're so Asian now) and sweetened the deal with a kem xoi with Betty, which is icecream with sweet/salty sticky tea rice and coconut. Delicious! We did some more wandering around dinner time and I think I can now find my way to the park area nearby. Maybe this means a run tomorrow? Hmmm...
We finished our evening by stopping at a local cafe (the lady knows us well as the bewildered white girls who sometimes stop for ca phe sua da- iced coffee with sweetened condensed milk) and joined the crowd of Vietnamese men who were drinking their Bia Ha Noi (Ha Noi beer) and watching a British soccer match on the big screen. All in all, a pretty good day.

This is me riding a xe om around the city.

If my smile seems a little too cheery, it's masking the hint of concern...

Julia made a video of the walk through the alley to our house. Check it out on her blog!
http://profoundfluxpudding.blogspot.com/