I’m here! I made it to Asia! (Minus one wallet..but we won’t talk about that..)
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Hanoi is quite simply insane. As organized and regulated and civilized as Europe is, Hanoi just throws all of that out the window. There seem to be exactly zero rules here. We went from the quiet stillness of a sleepy eastern European town (Sorry Sofia, you’re pretty much a town) to the epicenter of lawlessness insanity. It’s a completely new normal.
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As great as the new normal is, there are definitely also serious downsides. My new work hours of 8pm-1am have been a HUGE adjustment. I’m not sure if it’s the jetlag or just working nights in general, but coupled with a particularly heavy week at work, this week really took a toll on me physically. Hopefully it’s just an adjustment and will relieve itself as my body acclimates.
What I did this week:
- Had my first Vietnamese meal at one of the myriad of restaurants on our street. I totally lucked out this month with 1. Being in a single 2. Being in a building with like 12 other Kaizens and 3. Being on a street full of restaurants that legit never close. Convenience factor = 1 million.
Fam Jam Din Din. We literally ordered everything on the menu because #yolo.
This is our new workspace. Kind of obsessed. Which is good..because I have a feeling I’m going to be spending a lot of nights here.
Welcome to Vietnam.
- Went exploring to get some bun cha at the recommendation of our city experience manager. I actually showed her a photo of a Vietnamese noodle dish and asked where I could get it and was told that that’s a southern dish. Yikes. I’m starting to realize that North and South Vietnam are veryy different… kind of like the North and South of the US.
Can’t. Get. Enough. Bun. Cha.
- Paid a solid 4 dollars for dinner- such a welcome change from Europe (and I’m told that $4 is expensive here!) Guys, it was so freaking delicious I can’t even. It’s probably too early to say it.. but fuck it, I’m going to do it: I think Bun Cha is my new favorite Vietnamese food.
- Got caught in a torrential rainstorm coming back from Bun Cha. When they said monsoon season, they really weren’t kidding- this was legitimately like rainforest level rain. But the saving grace was that it was warm. And tbh, I’d forgotten how nice warm rain feels.
- Picked up what I thought was a poncho at the grocery store.. then got home and put it on and for the life of me could not figure out why it had a clear panel in the front.
Do they really like to show off their legs here? is Hanoi the capital of Vietnamese pant fashion? Is it especially important to always see where you’re stepping? (actually this last one might be true lest you step in a murky puddle of fish guts and motor oil.)
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DDR came over and asked about a pocket on the back and lo and behold we figured out that I had somehow bought a TWO PERSON PONCHO. Why would someone ever need a two person poncho you ask? Don’t worry, we had the same thought. A few google searches later and we had an answer.
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Your local genius had managed to buy (drumroll please) a scooter poncho. Yes. A scooter poncho. The clear panel on the front? That’s so the headlight of the scooter can shine through. Unbelievable. #justcallmeEinstein
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- Got a mini cultural tour from a bunch of kids from the English club of the local university on Thursday. They were eager to practice their english with us and we were excited to hear about the cultural places they gave us tours of. One of them was obsessed with my blonde hair and kept asking about it which was kinda cool. I almost asked her if she wanted to feel it before realizing that touching other people’s heads in Vietnam is a GIANT no-no #disasteraverted #pheuf.
When your mum shows up to the tour with a coffee and a giant smile
This is actually a Chinese-style temple..in Vietnam. ..Yeah
FINALLY figured out why Magikarp turns into Gyarados, y’all!! According to Chinese mythology, the Dragon’s Gate is located at the top of a waterfall cascading from a legendary mountain. If a carp can swim upstream and is capable/brave enough to make the final leap over the waterfall, it is transformed into a powerful dragon. #themoreyaknow #Iknowyouwantedtoknowthat
- Embraced the sitting-on-a-stool-a-foot-from-the-ground-eating-questionable-street-food life by getting dinner at this place with a dead chicken literally at eye level #nbd
- Joined a bunch of Kazens on a street food tour on Friday night that was just fantastic. I’ve been waiting for asian food for 4 months now and I FINALLY have it. And not just in an ‘oh maybe we should order thai for dinner on Tuesday’ kind of way. It’s literally breakfast, lunch and dinner here. Pho for breakfast. That’s a thing. *cries from happiness*
More Bun Cha!!
Honestly..I don’t know
Pork “pancakes!”
Sliced green papaya
Fried rice and chicken
And because Vietnamese food isn’t really that big in the states yet, I really don’t know too much about it. On top of that, there’s the double whammy of most Vietnamese food in the states being southern Vietnamese because refugees from the South were the ones who came over after the war. With Hanoi being in the north, I have so many things to try. 😛😛😛
We finished off the tour with sticky rice ice cream.. and a small dose of laughter at literally EVERYONE photographing our food. -__-
Our tour guide Noel “Like Christmas!!” was the absolute cutest. She wanted us to stick together when we crossed the street (for obvious reasons) and her method for doing this was to yell out “STICKY RIIIIIIICCEEEE!!” And as a result every time I hear those words I get a delightful little flashback and then feel the need to say it like she does which then makes me feel a little bit unintentionally racist… 😬
- Joined literally the entirety of Kaizen for our first big side trip of the month- Ha Long Bay. (No joke I think 40/50 of us went on this side trip..which of course means nothing other than pure insanity.) After a two hour bus ride down to the bay we hopped on a first boat that drove us to two other boats which turned out to be our floating palaces for the weekend.
The boat to the boats. Not sure what Josh was doing but given that it was Josh, I’m sure it was entertaining.
Was expecting blue water. Got green. Still pretty cool.
HAH. J/K. In Vietnam literally EVERYTHING is fake- it’s no joke the bootleg capital of the world. And if someone manages to create something successful, someone else will copy it at a lower quality and price. Even boat tours.
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Which brings me to our chariot. Apparently instead of booking the real Pirate’s Cove tour, we booked the bootleg one. Meaning we were in for an ..interesting.. weekend.
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Even for us this boat was freaking questionable. The crew was feisty and 100% unhelpful in every way (“no you can only have one egg” was actually said to Aimee despite six more eggs being on the plate), the super uncomfortable and sticky hot cabins had air conditioning that would only be turned on from 7pm to 6am, the top deck was covered in astro turf..and we were warned not to jump up and down on it lest we fall through the floor, our “open bar” turned out to be two kegs for 40 people (but only one tap of course) and the time kept getting moved.. so yeah! T’was an experience. #growthzone
The ‘before’ shot (check out that astro turf)
- Went kayaking with Steven in a tandem and it was good despite all of the garbage in the water. Went through a bat cave and found some other remotes trying to salvage a sinking kayak. Apparently Alex decided to get in a war with another kayak and in retaliation they flipped him. It being Alex, I’m sure he deserved it 😂
Can’t lie. It was gorgeous.
Real life.
ok.
- Walked the plank for a can of beer. After docking both chariots next to each other for the night, the deckhands opened a platform on the top deck for us to jump off of. And then started chucking beers at everyone who jumped off. Unfortunately the guy had a terrible arm though so only like 2/15 people actually caught the beer.
Our Chariot at sunset.
- Skipped the KRUNK for a nap instead. After we had our fill of jumping (including a few jellyfish stings-yikes) Kaizen began to do what Kaizen does best- get Kairazy. However, I was soooo incredibly exhausted that I literally went downstairs to my cabin and slept from 7-11pm- right through most of the party above me. (Thanks Joaquin!)
The ‘during’ photo
- When I got up and rejoined everyone I was at the point where I could either turn up or turn down and I decided that there really was no reason for me to play catch up at 11pm (besides, when has anyone played catch up and actually succeeded?) Instead, this responsible little lady went to bed sober (and was probably the only person to do so) which meant that I was the only one to wake up without a roaring hangover the next day (haha suckers!)
The ‘after’ picture. Despite how I look I was actually feeling pretty good
Had time for a little acro on the way back to the dock
- The two hour ride back to Hanoi was a muchhhh quieter one than the one down and was only punctuated by a stop a rest stop that had two kittens that I obviously befriended and had to be convinced not to take back with me.
- Hopped into bed really fast after the adventure that was that weekend.
Some last thoughts before bed:
So far, Asia is still a little hard. But not hard in the culture shock way. I love the culture- the craziness of Hanoi- the grittiness, the questionable food, the constant honks and people who don’t care who you are or what you’re doing here. To some it’s terrifying. To me it’s an adventure. I’ve been waiting for this. I finally feel like the remote part of Remote Year has started. This place is insane and I love it.