As scrumptious as it sounds, the chocolate buffet at Hanoi’s Metropole Hotel is a must for all you Cocoa-crazed folk out there.
You know who you are – you guys are everywhere.
Sadly I’m a savory kind of guy. So when my partner suggested we head off for an afternoon of chocolaty treats, I wasn’t too eager.
“What about lunch?” I ask sheepishly.
“That is lunch” she replies.
It was the noodliest of times. It was the rice-iest of times.
In Hanoi there was a bowl of soup, richly aromatic and nourishing.
In Khon Kaen there was a racy rice dish - full of spices and flavour.
I've been travelling a lot between Thailand and Vietnam recently. So thought I'd do a little Dickens-inspired comparison, because I've been confusing my Saawadee Khrups and Xin Chao-s, not to mention my Pad Thais and Phos.
Khon Kaen. Never heard of it, right? It's up in Thailand's NE. Pretty spot and big university, where I'm working right now.
Then there's Hanoi where I'm based the rest of the time. Breathing, bustling, larger than life, it sucks you up in its vortex of constant motion, and pops you out - and, incredibly, you're still on your scooter zipping along happily.
Khon Kaen - like its uni student population - is quiet, shy and studious.
Hanoi is big and brash. Streets are filled with "Emmmmmmm Oiiiiiiiiieeeeeeees" and "Annnnnnngggggg Oiiiiiiiiiiieeeeee" - translation: "Hey you!"
If everyone's saying it how does anyone know who the "Hey You" is directed at?
I'm sitting outside a local cafe drinking in Hanoi's bustling street-scape as well as my sugary watermelon juice. As the dude out front slices open a coconut with his short machete, the clouds open up - sprayed with coconut mist and giant rain glob-lets I feel instantly refreshed.
Grabbing my laptop, I scramble under shelter, safe from the pelting rain.
The street outside quickly fills up with brown, choppy water, as rain drops get bigger and faster. Soon there's a grade 5 river gushing past, and I half expect a yodelling Swiss white-water rafting team to skim past.
My girlfriend Kat calls.
What? You want me to pick you up NOW?
Jumping on my scooter, I pursue the Swiss who are now tangled up with a lady and her lychee-stacked bicycle. Greasy water laps up around my waist as I ford the river-road, scooping Kat up as I whiz by.
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Hop into kayaks and clean up Ha Long Bay, as part of Environment Day. Not my idea, got mucky, but lots of fun. June 2011
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Trip down Hanoi's Red River. May, 2011
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