Waking up fully re-energised after a good sleep last night, we started our second day in Hanoi with a filling breakfast in the hotel restaurant.
Our room came with a free breakfast. I have to say that the breakfast was a good one. It offered us not only buffet style but also ala-carte style.
Not to be missed, I started my breakfast with a Vietnamese Coffee. Vietnam is very famous of it's coffee :)
Fresh fruits before food is always my liking. The fruits are extremely fresh and juicy especially the watermelon. However, what I like most was, the sweet pomelo was pre-peeled and can be consumed straight away!
Next up, an omelet from the ala-carte menu really light up our day. Fried to perfection and not oily at all.
Croissant and red beans the usual healthy breakfast for everyone.
A small bowl of century egg congee smooth things down our throat and the banana pancake complete the whole course of our breakfast.
A cup of mix fruits at the very end.
After the filling breakfast, we began our first discovery in Hanoi for a visit to the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum.
The opening hours of Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum is shown below:
The opening hours of Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum is shown below:
7.30am to 10.30am - Tuesday to Thursday
7.30am to 11.00am - Saturday, Sunday and PH
So be early in order to see the preserved body of Vietnam's revered leader. Admission is free, and no photography, no shorts and no miniskirts is allowed. Remember to dress appropriately. In addition, no folded arms, and talking while walking inside the Mausoleum.
Anyway, photography is still allowed outside of the Mausoleum as you can see in the the background of our photo.
By the way, not forgetting to mention, in order to go from HED to the Mausoleum is better to take a taxi. It is not too expensive to travel by taxi in Hanoi, but it is more advisable to ask your hotel to book the taxi for you because you wouldn't want a taxi scam to ruin your day.
Then just a footstep away is the visit to Ho Chi Minh's vestige in the presidential palace area. We visited the Presidential Palace, fishpond, pergola, cars and the house which Ho Chi Minh lived and worked from 1958 to 1969.
The souvenir shop.
The Ho Chi Minh Museum.
The souvenir shop.
The Ho Chi Minh Museum.
We have also visited One Pillar Pagoda which was built in 1049. This Pagoda is one of Hanoi's most sacred sites.
Then by foot, we walked to Temple of Literature. The experience to travel by foot is always invaluable and interesting. Along the journey we are able to have the inside look of Hanoi.
You can see the main transportation is motorbike. So many motorbikes in Hanoi!!
I wonder how am I going to cross this road.
The cables looked so cumbersome.
Opps! We saw what you did.
Not forgot to mention, Mr and Mrs. Yeo, a loving couple from Singapore was our travel companion of the day! The fellowship was made outside of our hotel when 4 of us shared the same taxi. Great to know you guys if you are reading this post!
Finally we reached Temple of Literature and this place was Vietnam's first university.
It was famous of the stone stale which was carved with the top scholars name on it.
Although it hasn't been a university for hundred years, students which is going for exam or just graduated from university will still come to pray for good grades.
We managed to take a picture with the local students here. They are very friendly and willing to explain our queries. I love the traditional costumes they are wearing. It is call "Ao Zai".
As it was lunch time, we visited PHO-24, a franchise shop in Vietnam selling Pho. It is famous of it's pho soup which was prepared with 24 types of herbs. For me, it is so - so. The Pho in our hotel-HED, it tasted even better.
Pho VND 49,000 - served with bean sprouts, lime, chili..
Pork Rice VND 62,000
After the lunch, we just wandered around the busy street in Hanoi.
The remarkable things that we saw was the railway built in between small alleys of buildings.
Vietnam is also famous of it's artwork. Thus, a visit to one of the art gallery is a must while visiting Hanoi. Thanks to Mr Yeo, an art enthusiast and expert, he brought us to visit this art gallery which displayed various kind of art work. The art work as a touch of western and eastern culture. It was an eye opener. I manage to take some photos although it was forbidden to take any photo inside. :P
We then headed to St. Joseph Cathedral which was built in 1886. A photo mark our presence there.
Just few steps away was Moca Cafe. We stopped by to re-energise and had some light food and drinks before continue our journey. It was a nice chit-chatting session.
As it was dinner time, we headed back to our hotel HED for dinner as this was the last day of our stay in Hanoi Elegance Diamond and we would like to enjoy the food there again.
Some night shots of the street when we walk back.
Finally we reached the hotel and headed straight to the restaurant.
This time we tried something different in the menu. The first one Banh Xeo - USD4.30. An appetizer which consist of rice pancake filled with bean sprouts, pork and veggie, and served with enhanced flavor fish sauce. Yummy!
I took a Vietnamese Fried Rice - USD 5.60
Connie had a Galingale Sea Bass - USD - 8.40. The sea bass fillet was seasoned in the mixture of galingale(hot, ginger-peppery flavor) and condiments and then grilled to perfection. It was served together with stir fried veggie and steamed rice.
The dinner was filling and we ended with a group photo.
Headed back to our room and prepared to conquer Halong Bay on the next day.
You can see the main transportation is motorbike. So many motorbikes in Hanoi!!
I wonder how am I going to cross this road.
The cables looked so cumbersome.
Opps! We saw what you did.
Not forgot to mention, Mr and Mrs. Yeo, a loving couple from Singapore was our travel companion of the day! The fellowship was made outside of our hotel when 4 of us shared the same taxi. Great to know you guys if you are reading this post!
Finally we reached Temple of Literature and this place was Vietnam's first university.
It was famous of the stone stale which was carved with the top scholars name on it.
Although it hasn't been a university for hundred years, students which is going for exam or just graduated from university will still come to pray for good grades.
We managed to take a picture with the local students here. They are very friendly and willing to explain our queries. I love the traditional costumes they are wearing. It is call "Ao Zai".
As it was lunch time, we visited PHO-24, a franchise shop in Vietnam selling Pho. It is famous of it's pho soup which was prepared with 24 types of herbs. For me, it is so - so. The Pho in our hotel-HED, it tasted even better.
Pho VND 49,000 - served with bean sprouts, lime, chili..
Pork Rice VND 62,000
After the lunch, we just wandered around the busy street in Hanoi.
The remarkable things that we saw was the railway built in between small alleys of buildings.
Vietnam is also famous of it's artwork. Thus, a visit to one of the art gallery is a must while visiting Hanoi. Thanks to Mr Yeo, an art enthusiast and expert, he brought us to visit this art gallery which displayed various kind of art work. The art work as a touch of western and eastern culture. It was an eye opener. I manage to take some photos although it was forbidden to take any photo inside. :P
We then headed to St. Joseph Cathedral which was built in 1886. A photo mark our presence there.
Just few steps away was Moca Cafe. We stopped by to re-energise and had some light food and drinks before continue our journey. It was a nice chit-chatting session.
As it was dinner time, we headed back to our hotel HED for dinner as this was the last day of our stay in Hanoi Elegance Diamond and we would like to enjoy the food there again.
A nice Vietnam ice-cream worth trying sell at by the stall at roadside. VND5,500.
Finally we reached the hotel and headed straight to the restaurant.
This time we tried something different in the menu. The first one Banh Xeo - USD4.30. An appetizer which consist of rice pancake filled with bean sprouts, pork and veggie, and served with enhanced flavor fish sauce. Yummy!
I took a Vietnamese Fried Rice - USD 5.60
Connie had a Galingale Sea Bass - USD - 8.40. The sea bass fillet was seasoned in the mixture of galingale(hot, ginger-peppery flavor) and condiments and then grilled to perfection. It was served together with stir fried veggie and steamed rice.
The dinner was filling and we ended with a group photo.
Headed back to our room and prepared to conquer Halong Bay on the next day.
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