Finally a real update! Despite only working a 3 day week this term I've been pretty busy. I had to move as my landlady decided to sell the house I was living and I decided to give apartment living a shot. It's more expensive than renting a room in a shared house, but it's actually quite nice to have my own space so I think it's worth it. Plus I get this view, though right now the weather isn't great so it rarely looks like this. -



I'm about the same distance to work, but I'm closer to West Lake and I seem to be closer to the Old Quarter. I live in Truc Bach now and it seems to be tacked onto the end of the OQ so it appears to be easier to get to places in the OQ than before, but that might just be because Doi Can was such a horrible road to drive down. I decided to walk into the OQ last Saturday evening to stock up on DVDs ready for the crazy people avoidance/city shutdown that happens at this time of year (next week is Tet and right now the city is MENTAL! It's only gonna get worse too :o/) There are lots of lights up around Hoan Kiem Lake and the temple is all decked out.



Tet seems to be sponsored by Tiger this year - past years have been Heineken!



I've spent the past couple of days checking out the neighbourhood and getting things sorted, and I also spent an hour in the bookshop yesterday. It's now just a couple of minutes walk from my house! Dangerous... I'm now much closer to bus routes (there was only ever 1 bus going along Doi Can and it went in a direction I would never want to go in!) so I've found it easier to get places without my motorbike, which is good at this time of year as people are preparing for Tet and clogging up the streets all hours of the day and night.

This is now a common sight in Hanoi! Usually most people have just one tree on their bike but anywere you go in this city right now there are bikes with kumquat trees swaying wildly on the back!



Today I decided to get the bus to West Lake and check out the flower market and the places people go for Tet trees. I encountered this broom saleswoman on my way to the bus stop (I don't know why it amused me so much!)



Once at the flower market I walked down one of the lanes next to it, just to see where it went. Passed the local fruit shop



then the lane opened up and was surrounded by fields where people were growing and selling flowers and kumquat trees for Tet. I walked down the tracks and through a local village towards the river. I guess after Tet these people grow other things, as it was a pretty poor place without much decent housing but right now it seems to be all about kumquat trees.









The river seems to be pretty low right now so I wonder what the people who rely on it to make a living are doing right now to earn money?



Followed the river for a bit, then turned back to go to the main road. Headed to the chippy for lunch (oh, yes, a chippy has opened up in Hanoi!! It's not quite the same quality as those back home but it ain't bad! It also has a view over West Lake)




Finished up walking to the flower market where I bought some pretty flowers.



People have been asking for photos of my apartment - here it is!






Here are some more pics of Hanoi getting ready for Tet

The lack of updates is due to the fact that I've been busy moving into a new apartment! Will try and write an update tomorrow about all the fun and games that moving in Vietnam entails.

Have just got back from dinner at a North Korean restaurant! Can't say it was the best dining experience ever - there seemed to be a lot of cold pickled stuff on the table but it was certainly an experience! There is sometimes a performance of traditional songs but I guess there weren't enough customers in the place for it to happen tonight. It was quite pricey but some of it was nice. Not so much the kimchi and dumplings with the pickled stuff inside though! The waitresses are all from North Korea and speak good Vietnamese, but not much English so we couldn't really find out much about them. It made a change from our usual dining experience but I don't think I'm going to return any time soon.

I had a vaguely festive Christmas here in Hanoi. Had some gifts from back home to open (I was proud of my ability to save them til Christmas day to open!) and then spent the day with Calder and Alison.



We had a Christmas lunch with lots of good stuff ordered in from the local deli. Alison also made some yorkshire puddings to go with it!



We spent the rest of the day watching TV and snacking - just like at home!


On New Years Eve I went to Derry's with Alison, Calder and Nat, and some other people were there. It was pretty much like any other night until midnight when ABBA blasted out (there is no Auld Lang Syne here!) and everyone started dancing around the place to ABBA. Thankfully it wasn't really Nat's thing either so we lurked at the back til the dancing ended!