The first time I stayed in a hostel was in Hanoi. I was lucky enough to not have roommates steal from me, nor anyone who snores. Yes, that’s a legit concern when sleeping with strangers! My friends tell me that I am a chatty Kathy, and I have never had a problem making conversation. However, I was really confused on how to open up with the people I’m staying within the hostel as most of them just come and go. I don’t even notice when they get back in the middle of the night and usually just see who my current roommates are when I wake up in the morning. On my third day in Hanoi, I met Olivia from Korea. She is the only roommate I had an actual conversation with. She used to study in the Philippines and she quit her job to travel. How fun! (Note: As of writing, we have met up for coffee here in the Philippines!)

On my last night in Central Backpackers Hostel, I was roused by 5 of my roommates (I haven’t really talked to them). They were so drunk that the entire room reeked of alcohol. “Oh God, earthquake! I don’t wanna die here!” was the first thought that ran through my head as my eyes flew open when the bed started shaking. Lo and behold, the girl sleeping in the bottom bunk (I was in the upper one) brought back a guy with her.. and yes, you know what happened next. T_T I didn’t know what to do.. Should I open the lights? I laid there in silence, waiting for them to finish and then gave in to the urge to shower (if they had sex in technically the same bed as mine, did I just go through my first threesome experience?). When I went to the bathroom, there was a used condom on the shower floor when the trash bin is right beside it. Eeew. So one horrible night out of four is not that bad for my first hostel experience, I guess. But I’ll probably stick to a solo room next time. $5 is cheap but sharing a bunk bed with inconsiderate strangers is not an experience I want to repeat.

For my last breakfast in Hanoi, I went to Hanoi Social Club! I made plans to eat brunch with Olivia but I was eager to get out of the room and I didn’t know if it’s okay to rouse her from sleep. Haha!

Would it sound pretentious if I say I like cafes that make me feel like I’m on a movie set? 😛

I squealed when this cat jumped onto my lap and I didn’t know what to do. When I was younger, a cat bit my leg and my mind take me back to that time with every cat encounter. One of the staff started chasing the cat around and kitty decided to stay there and watch me eat. Huhu

Chorizo and Potato Fritters. Yum!

I was telling my friends via Viber (and the cafe’s wifi) about the bunk bed incident so Vernice (a friend who quit her job to travel) asked a friend she made when she lived in Hanoi for a while if she could come meet with me. I waited for Thu in the cafe and she brought me to an establishment overlooking Hoan Kiem Lake, IFEEL Coffee.

I was wearing a short white dress while sitting at the back of her motorcycle, as she toured me around Old Quarter. She pointed out this coffee shop which was run by three different generations.

One of the places we tried is Cafe Giang along Egg Coffee Lane. Thu brought me here so I can try egg coffee. This unassuming cafe was in the second story of a house, hidden by other establishments. The reason I went out of my comfort zone is to gain new experiences and this is why I always stood by the approach of eating local food. I appreciate shops which are referred by locals, because consuming the same food that they do on a regular basis or when hanging out with their friends, is taking an actual peek at the lives they live.

Apparently, they whip the egg until it’s frothy and pour it over the coffee (and ice because I wanted mine cold). Thu had the egg with mung beans and ice. Drinking egg coffee is like sipping melted marshmallow frosting; the consistency has made me want to eat butter sponge cake with it.

Chocolate Popsicle from Kem Trang Trien. It’s a drive-thru ice cream place, how cool! The ice cream is pretty cheap too. It only costs 7,000 VND. Leng recommended this to me the other day. According to Thu, this shop was opened by the government but they are slowly trying to make this privately owned.

This was our last stop since Thu is running her own business, Jade Hanoi (heads up for those who want to get their own clothes tailored!).

While walking around Hoan Kiem Lake, the sandals I used and broke in Cebu, which C had repaired, broke again. Fortunately for me, I kept a nail cutter in my bag for the entire duration of this trip. I permanently cut off the offending strap and did the same on the other pair. Ta da!

The last spot I had left on my list is St. Joseph Cathedral. I passed by a boutique with a cafe upstairs, which naturally, made me curious. Marilyn Cafe it is! I had my usual order which was lime juice and a few glasses of iced tea (VND 75,000).

To be completely honest, I sat there just to take a rest from all the walking. Haha!

Thu wrote down a street food, banh goi or pillow cake, that I must try which was within the hostel area. I went back to the hostel and it was only 100 meters away! The only landmark I was given was “under the big tree” and it literally was true. Maybe it’s an Asian street food thing to fry food in large vats of oil. Banh goi reminded me of eating sumpia peddled by a manong here in our village for merienda.

I, unfortunately, have to cut this post short. I scheduled this post to be published a few days ago but I have been quite busy and totally forgot about it. Since I blog and write at my own convenience, there are a few circumstances of when I do is less than ideal. Right now, I am sitting on a hospital room couch, across my mom who is sleeping. I find it a bit ironic to be writing about a time wherein I was adventurous and carefree, while the person who I got those qualities from is either catatonic or crying due to pain in a hospital bed.. I wonder if years from now when I look back and read this post, will I envision myself back at this moment? Hopefully, by then, we all are in better places.

One thing I learned from my mom, is that the best way to avoid getting lost by yourself is to walk to places. You can ask any of my siblings. Or my dad. Even C! If we get a tattoo for every kilometer we’ve traveled by foot because our mom insisted, we’d be covered in ink by now. Now that I have just started traveling with my own money, I realized that I prefer walking too. Getting scammed by a taxi driver may have fueled the decision to walk, but I am proud to say that the only time I took a taxi in Hanoi is to go to the train station. While in Hanoi, I walked an average of 20 kilometers per day! You see a lot of interesting things while walking, which you would not see when aboard a quick vehicle. Such as that pastry artwork which I would have bought if I had the luggage space.

Although walking is a great way to roam around (while doing a light bit of exercise at that), you can also get crazy experiences. Luckily, mine wasn’t getting mugged or harassed, but it did become the inspiration for this post’s title. I have not had lunch yet, and while walking towards the Ho Chi Minh complex, a dog started to chase me! My maxi skirt was a lifesaver when the dog made an attempt to sink its teeth on my leg so I ran like crazy and didn’t realize where I was going. I made a turn and found myself in this street with pretty trees. I went inside to buy a drink (milk tea in a bottle for VND 10,000) and ask for directions, and I was not surprised when no one knew how to speak English.

Since Hanoi has so many narrow streets, both of the maps that I have with me is incomplete. Unfortunately, the wrong turn I took led me to a street that was not in either. I seriously contemplated hailing down a taxi, but as I was walking around, I found a street that I just knew was on one of the maps. Yay! From there, I found myself back on track.

I am near!

There is an abundance of parks in Hanoi. I may not understand the language, but the city feels similar to home.

I finally got to my destination which was the Ho Chi Minh Museum! It was closed for lunch, but I was impatient so I did not go inside anymore. At this point, I have been to a lot of museums and the choice to wait outside in the heat or save the VND 40,000 and go on my way is an easy one.

Here’s the schedule for anyone who is planning to go..

I looked through the artworks and other trinkets being sold outside the museum and the prices were just.. whew.

There was a temple(?) right outside the museum. I couldn’t read what it said but I went in any way. #rebel LOL

A pure black cat as a guard.

Stumbled upon One Pillar Pagoda when I went out the temple’s back gate.

The Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum from the back. It was already noon when I got there so it was already closed for public viewing. I heard that the line gets really long, though.

Witnessed the changing of the guards where they march all the way from the back to the front of the mausoleum.

In front of the mausoleum is the Ba Dinh square. I have no photos because, at the time, I was surrounded by a huge Korean tour group, all of them wearing a non la. The chance of taking a photo with no tourists in it was nil.

Yellow buildings everywhere in the Ho Chi Minh complex. Even the Presidential Palace was yellow. I didn’t take a photo though cos the guards were eyeing my camera and I did not know if I was allowed to take a photo or they were going to smash my camera to the ground once I do. Better not take chances. 😛

What are your crazy experiences while traveling? Do you prefer walking while traveling as well? 🙂

After the disastrous attempt at getting back to the hostel, I decided to walk around and look for the Water Puppet Theater. Look what I found on the way there, MAC and Estee Lauder. The super girly me rejoiced and was about to cross the street when I realized that I still have four cities to go and it wouldn’t be that beneficial for me (and my wallet) to go crazy over makeup.

Although if any of you guys decide to look for it, it’s near Hoan Kiem Lake.

The Turtle Tower.

I used the lake as a reference to get to Ngoc Son Temple. Aside from visiting the temple and crossing it off my list, I knew that the theater is almost across the road from it. Unfortunately, the temple is already closed when I got there. It’s for another day, then.

I was starting to get frustrated why I couldn’t seem to find it when I have unknowingly passed by the theater a few times. /facepalm

Theater schedule.

Tickets cost VND 100,000 (Php ~200). I got lucky too! I was in the second row (Row B) so I’m safe from the splashing water and in the middle of the row (Seat 9).

I didn’t read any of the reviews before I went here. I seriously just skimmed the list of things to do in Hanoi and tried to do whatever strikes my fancy. So when the narrator starts speaking in Vietnamese, I am guilty of waiting for an English translation. When none came, I laughed a bit at myself (on the inside cos laughing out loud would probably scare my seatmates haha) for not reading reviews. What I can say is this “band” is very talented. The female singers hit those high notes like their lives depend on it. The other musicians play an array of instruments (simultaneously!) while I watch the drummer who seemed to be the happiest of the bunch.

Even though I did not understand the dialogue, some of the scenes are admittedly funny. This is something I’d recommend for families with small children.

The puppets used in the show.

Leng is a Malaysian solo traveler as well! She spent the whole month in Vietnam and while Hanoi was my first stop, it was her last. I chatted her up while we were waiting for the show to start. Once it did, we had a whispered conversation about not understanding anything. Hahaha!

It was a Friday and Leng was telling me about her night plans. Apparently, the Dong Yuan night market is only open on weekends.

And yes, I tagged along!

There were too many cheap stuff available! It was a significant version of Divisoria. If it was my last stop, I would have gone home with boxes of goods. Fortunately, I was still in my “save all the money” phase.

However, I never scrimp on food. So I went and threw my “save all the money” crap I kept internalizing and tasted all the street food. Hahahaha! I spent a total of VND 20,000 which is insanely cheap if you ask me.

Even though I was really full, I still went with Leng when she told me that there’s a nice hole in the wall place right across the hostel she’s staying at. Lo, and behold, we were staying in different branches of the same hostel!

Chicken bahn mi with lots of potatoes!

Milk tea with jelly that had cheese inside it. Yummers!

It was already 11 in the evening, and I decided to take a rain check when Leng invited me to a pub for a beer. I was so tired and I just knew my legs would be sore the following day. Overall, I was so glad to have spent the evening in a great conversation with Leng. Writing this now, it still feels surreal that I actually went and made friends in Hanoi. Have you made friends while traveling? 🙂