Stupid ferenge was on his way into a store last night before dinner. I thought the door was open which of course it was not. I banged my head on the glass door to the amusement of an elderly lady in the establishment. I found out last night a few other things about the streets of Hanoi. I am constantly motioned at by guys sitting on scooters. I thought they wanted to rent me the scooter but was told they are yet another form of taxi, much cheaper but probably more risky than the 4-wheeled model.
I was also told that one can rent a scooter but then mentioned that if I were to do so, I would never be able to find my way back to the store. Apparently if you are a ferenge and approach a taxi driver on a scooter and give the address of the store, you can follow him there which solves that conundrum.
I contacted Parminder in Dar es Salaam and will hook my Sweet Thing up with him if she ends up there and he is still around. Towards the end of my stay in Addis, Parminder mentioned the Bank likes to rotate people every 7 and his time is up in Tanzania. He had not yet indicated to the Bank what he wanted for his next posting (sentence??).
I checked the lineup for BluesFest and ALL the acts I want to see are on before I get back. I need to see Sean Mallia's band on Sunday but there is really nothing else for me to see. I will discuss with my Sweet Thing who is very very very busy working away these days. It's funny to text her as I get up and find she is just getting home from work. I read today in the paper that it has been unusually dry May/June this year in Hanoi in a season that hosts some major downpours most years.
We are approximately 4-6 weeks away from the arrival of grand-child #2, a second child for Lindsay and Jordan. The baby will probably be either a boy or a girl :). Zaide will make plans to go out in early September.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Just do it
I am enjoying the cold spell. It has been no more than 35 all week which in the scheme of things is cool. It was a feverish pace at work today and I had meeting after meeting after meeting. I headed out of the office late as I spent quite a while with others in the collection centre then the IBM office looking at the system.
I had dinner with Kathleen and another guy from IBM whose name escapes me. I walked for about 2 hours before the dinner date and tried to find a familiar street near the Hilton that I frequented the week I stayed there. Just like every other voyage so far around Hanoi, I sort of got lost. Finally I recognized a street as I approached it ... Luong Van Cam where I once went to hear jazz and right at the corner where Little Hanoi was where I ate a few days ago. I followed the lake and ended up near the World Bank building. My next puzzle was which way to turn to go down the street I remembered and stopped at the Nokia store to look at some phones. My trackball is acting up on my BB and I know I can pick up something here starting at less that $50.
My next adventure was trying to find Ly Thuong Kiat street. I got some assistance at the Nokia store but could not find it. I asked a few more people and ended up at another Nokia store and called Kathleen. I ended up getting a cab and, stupid ferenge, had been on Ly Thuong Kiat all along. I am such an idiot. I did not see any cross streets with the name I craved to see 'cause I was already on it ... duh!!
We had Thai that was very nice and then I cabbed it back to the Horison. No World Cup again until Friday. Unfortunately I am tied up with an evening meeting with MoF and the World Bank tomorrow that may occupy most of my evening ... yucchh.
I made some progress with the local language today which will not make me look so silly when I meet with Mr. Tri (pronounced "Chi") and will proudly greet my buddy the Trangslator with her correct name tomorrow, that is Trang, pronounced "Chang".
I had dinner with Kathleen and another guy from IBM whose name escapes me. I walked for about 2 hours before the dinner date and tried to find a familiar street near the Hilton that I frequented the week I stayed there. Just like every other voyage so far around Hanoi, I sort of got lost. Finally I recognized a street as I approached it ... Luong Van Cam where I once went to hear jazz and right at the corner where Little Hanoi was where I ate a few days ago. I followed the lake and ended up near the World Bank building. My next puzzle was which way to turn to go down the street I remembered and stopped at the Nokia store to look at some phones. My trackball is acting up on my BB and I know I can pick up something here starting at less that $50.
My next adventure was trying to find Ly Thuong Kiat street. I got some assistance at the Nokia store but could not find it. I asked a few more people and ended up at another Nokia store and called Kathleen. I ended up getting a cab and, stupid ferenge, had been on Ly Thuong Kiat all along. I am such an idiot. I did not see any cross streets with the name I craved to see 'cause I was already on it ... duh!!
We had Thai that was very nice and then I cabbed it back to the Horison. No World Cup again until Friday. Unfortunately I am tied up with an evening meeting with MoF and the World Bank tomorrow that may occupy most of my evening ... yucchh.
I made some progress with the local language today which will not make me look so silly when I meet with Mr. Tri (pronounced "Chi") and will proudly greet my buddy the Trangslator with her correct name tomorrow, that is Trang, pronounced "Chang".
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Rainy day, dream away
The sky is so overcast, maybe I will get my wish and experience a torrential downpour Hanoi-style. We have had next to no rain the 2 and a bit weeks I have been here. Even though I felt badly for the street people in Addis, I loved the rain there. Picture the heavy flash rain storms in Orlando ... only 2 hours of that interspersed through 9 hours of rain. Welcome to Ethiopia.
I made hotel reservations in Seoul, staying at the Residence Inn ... I hope my hotel maven wife approves :).
I made hotel reservations in Seoul, staying at the Residence Inn ... I hope my hotel maven wife approves :).
Monday, June 28, 2010
The heat is on
It's starting to get to me (the heat that is, all else is OK) so I am not going to do as much walking. Even though it is entertaining, the oven out there makes it unbearable. There is no doubt that compared to the first 10 days I was here, this is cooler. I must admit that 35 is a lot less than 42, but still a chore in itself. The dress code at work, business casual, is not very conducive to such glaring heat.
I cabbed it to Nam Phuong for dinner, a Vietnamese spot I had been to before with the WorldBank duo who was here the first week I was. The food was great except oddly bland. I wonder if they deliberately took it easy so as not to flame out the ferenge.
BTRF ... body temperature raising factor --> 1
FSF ... ferenge stupidity factor, a measurement of how stupid I look when ordering --> 1
It's an early start in the AM with an 8AM meeting with IBM.
I cabbed it to Nam Phuong for dinner, a Vietnamese spot I had been to before with the WorldBank duo who was here the first week I was. The food was great except oddly bland. I wonder if they deliberately took it easy so as not to flame out the ferenge.
BTRF ... body temperature raising factor --> 1
FSF ... ferenge stupidity factor, a measurement of how stupid I look when ordering --> 1
It's an early start in the AM with an 8AM meeting with IBM.
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Little Hanoi 2
So here is the report from my voyage to Little Hanoi 2 at 21 Hang Gai street. I cost 60,000 VND to get there and in true Hanoi-style taxi, a mere 30,000 to get back. It must be the prevailing winds. It was at the corner of Luong Van Can which sounded like Minh's jazz club street. Across the street were a plethora of sunglasses outlets that would put the Sunglass Hut to shame. It was block 68 of Luong Van Can so could not have been far away from the sweet sounds of jazz.
They have been there since 1994, and the breakfast pho (pronounced "phir") was 87,750 VND. It had veggies and beef floating in a broth and was lovely. As the national food of Vietnam they have us beat big time. Canada's national dish is anything highly caloric and fattening :). The place had dark wood tables and chairs, something that always impresses this ferenge, and featured western and local fare. They were playing western folk music and I made out Judy Collins amongst others.
The surroundings with their medium narrow streets invite walking. The walls contain tall casement-like windows and the place is clean and bright. The streets in the immediate area of Little Hanoi are clean and spotless, which makes me wonder if that was because I was there Sunday. Hopefully it is that clean during a work week. There were a few air conditioners on the wall but they were mainly using ceiling fans. The menu was in English too and the server spoke English well.
I walked for about an hour after until the soak-factor kicked in and grabbed a cab back to the Horison. I think I may have learned how to ask for the bill in Hanoi as the server yelled "check check" to a colleague when I asked for the bill. It was the same in Addis, nothing fancy, simply a high-pitched "beel beel" and the invoice would arrive shortly thereafter.
When the bill arrived, at the bottom it said 6.60 USD or 12540 VND ... there was a "0" missing from the VND total which, without that last trailing zero was only 66 cents; I think I prefer to pay in VND currency if it is that much cheaper, you?
I surfed "pho" for a while and now feel confident going to a road-side emporium and asking for pho ba (beef), pho ga (chicken), pho lon (pork), or pho ___ (for fish with blank filling provided by Trangslator). I will also get the correct pronunciation.
I got the explanation from Trang for the extra-terrestrial transaction at the store Friday for my 3 shirts, and I quote ...
"Do you remember a lady at the shirt store and went with us to the cashier? She also bought a shirt which costs roughly 1.6 million VND or something. But that store has a policy of 10% discount for a bill with amount greater than 3.8 million VND. Your 2 Valentino shirts cost about 2.8 mil VND. She proposed to include her shirt into your bill to make the total amount to become greater than 3.8 million VND to enjoy 10% discount for each, you and her. Then with her shirt, the bill became more than 3.8 mil. Great! She paid for hers but it is included in your bill. That's why you see 4 in the bill but you get only 3."
My response was "Thanks ... I would not even understand that transaction in English so no wonder I missed it in Vietnam". Thus the 3 shirts cost me 3.6 million VND or about $55 each before tax. Was that too much to pay? Ask me Monday afternoon when I get home carrying 2 litres of perspiration rather than 3 litres.
I also ran into something today which amused me to no end ... a self-discounting street vendor. I stop and ask a lady in a small storefront how much the fans are ... she says 35,000 so I say no, and she immediately says "10". I did not have to bargain or even say a word, The price dropped itself by over 70% and I had nothing to do for the discount.
Two final measurement indicators for Little Hanoi 2 (not Zagat style ratings but better) ... for both factors, a 5 is best for the first and a 1 is best for the second:
BTRF ... body temperature raising factor --> 3.5
FSF ... ferenge stupidity factor, a measurement of how stupid I look when ordering --> 1
I will use BTRF and FSF for all the places I go and hope that will assist others who have nothing better to read than my BLOG when trying to figure out where to eat in Hanoi. Upon further investigation, Zagat and Frommer are planning to use there 2 factors once their patents expire in 7 years (rumour has it).
Another achievement today I am pleased to announce ... I now know how to get from Horison to the O building. One heads out of hotel and hangs a left. Proceed down to the temple I visited with the tour guide last Sunday and hang a right at the next street. Poof ... one is now on the O building street that leads to the World Bank building.
They have been there since 1994, and the breakfast pho (pronounced "phir") was 87,750 VND. It had veggies and beef floating in a broth and was lovely. As the national food of Vietnam they have us beat big time. Canada's national dish is anything highly caloric and fattening :). The place had dark wood tables and chairs, something that always impresses this ferenge, and featured western and local fare. They were playing western folk music and I made out Judy Collins amongst others.
The surroundings with their medium narrow streets invite walking. The walls contain tall casement-like windows and the place is clean and bright. The streets in the immediate area of Little Hanoi are clean and spotless, which makes me wonder if that was because I was there Sunday. Hopefully it is that clean during a work week. There were a few air conditioners on the wall but they were mainly using ceiling fans. The menu was in English too and the server spoke English well.
I walked for about an hour after until the soak-factor kicked in and grabbed a cab back to the Horison. I think I may have learned how to ask for the bill in Hanoi as the server yelled "check check" to a colleague when I asked for the bill. It was the same in Addis, nothing fancy, simply a high-pitched "beel beel" and the invoice would arrive shortly thereafter.
When the bill arrived, at the bottom it said 6.60 USD or 12540 VND ... there was a "0" missing from the VND total which, without that last trailing zero was only 66 cents; I think I prefer to pay in VND currency if it is that much cheaper, you?
I surfed "pho" for a while and now feel confident going to a road-side emporium and asking for pho ba (beef), pho ga (chicken), pho lon (pork), or pho ___ (for fish with blank filling provided by Trangslator). I will also get the correct pronunciation.
I got the explanation from Trang for the extra-terrestrial transaction at the store Friday for my 3 shirts, and I quote ...
"Do you remember a lady at the shirt store and went with us to the cashier? She also bought a shirt which costs roughly 1.6 million VND or something. But that store has a policy of 10% discount for a bill with amount greater than 3.8 million VND. Your 2 Valentino shirts cost about 2.8 mil VND. She proposed to include her shirt into your bill to make the total amount to become greater than 3.8 million VND to enjoy 10% discount for each, you and her. Then with her shirt, the bill became more than 3.8 mil. Great! She paid for hers but it is included in your bill. That's why you see 4 in the bill but you get only 3."
My response was "Thanks ... I would not even understand that transaction in English so no wonder I missed it in Vietnam". Thus the 3 shirts cost me 3.6 million VND or about $55 each before tax. Was that too much to pay? Ask me Monday afternoon when I get home carrying 2 litres of perspiration rather than 3 litres.
I also ran into something today which amused me to no end ... a self-discounting street vendor. I stop and ask a lady in a small storefront how much the fans are ... she says 35,000 so I say no, and she immediately says "10". I did not have to bargain or even say a word, The price dropped itself by over 70% and I had nothing to do for the discount.
Two final measurement indicators for Little Hanoi 2 (not Zagat style ratings but better) ... for both factors, a 5 is best for the first and a 1 is best for the second:
BTRF ... body temperature raising factor --> 3.5
FSF ... ferenge stupidity factor, a measurement of how stupid I look when ordering --> 1
I will use BTRF and FSF for all the places I go and hope that will assist others who have nothing better to read than my BLOG when trying to figure out where to eat in Hanoi. Upon further investigation, Zagat and Frommer are planning to use there 2 factors once their patents expire in 7 years (rumour has it).
Another achievement today I am pleased to announce ... I now know how to get from Horison to the O building. One heads out of hotel and hangs a left. Proceed down to the temple I visited with the tour guide last Sunday and hang a right at the next street. Poof ... one is now on the O building street that leads to the World Bank building.
A quandry
There are so many places to eat in the area of the Horison I don't know where to start. The problem is that they most seem to serve the famous soup with vegetables/fish/other meats that I do not recognize. When at the fish restaurant near Minh's jazz club last night there was a bowl of dipping sauce that had something in it whose taste I did not like. One day last week I turned left out of the office building where I work and then down an alley for some very nice soup. I don't want to know what was in that soup but it was good.
So I made myself a list of places to try and have them carefully written on a piece of paper to show the cabbie. I will try Au Lac (I did go there with Bruce and Ron once already) as well as Tamarind, Cha Ca La Vong, and Little Hanoi 2 that I read about here as a start. Some of them could be quite a piece from the Horison but it does not matter since I can then explore the new surroundings and cab it back when swimming in perspiration. I so want to see Hanoi again when it is not summer. Supposedly they have 4 seasons here rather than the 2 they have in Africa ... wet and dry.
Now I will ask the Trangslator on Monday to write down on a piece of paper how to say:
No snake
No eel
No stomach or intestines
I like chicken
I like pork
I like beef
I will then present this list wherever I go and should be fine. Without these adventures I will go back to Ottawa missing the what I know is some of the most amazing dining experiences of Vietnam.
So I made myself a list of places to try and have them carefully written on a piece of paper to show the cabbie. I will try Au Lac (I did go there with Bruce and Ron once already) as well as Tamarind, Cha Ca La Vong, and Little Hanoi 2 that I read about here as a start. Some of them could be quite a piece from the Horison but it does not matter since I can then explore the new surroundings and cab it back when swimming in perspiration. I so want to see Hanoi again when it is not summer. Supposedly they have 4 seasons here rather than the 2 they have in Africa ... wet and dry.
Now I will ask the Trangslator on Monday to write down on a piece of paper how to say:
No snake
No eel
No stomach or intestines
I like chicken
I like pork
I like beef
I will then present this list wherever I go and should be fine. Without these adventures I will go back to Ottawa missing the what I know is some of the most amazing dining experiences of Vietnam.
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Working at the Horison
So ferenge did make it up to USA football time at 1:30AM. I was even awake for most of the game. I watched tennis beforehand for 90 minutes. The overnight front desk staff watched most of the game as well. Mrs. K. A., is that taught in your front desk course :) The USA and Korea lost yesterday and are now eliminated ... tears. One of the guys brought me some tea which was very kind. Today is another stay at the hotel and hide from the heat extravaganza. England plays Germany at 9PM and in my short love of football, even I am pumped.
The front desk guy found the game last night on Viet 2 but I convinced him that, after remembering that I had seen S3 from South Africa on that receiver downstairs, he looked and found it in English ... remember what I said about kind?
Since I spent so much time with these employees, I must work at the Horison too ...
The front desk guy found the game last night on Viet 2 but I convinced him that, after remembering that I had seen S3 from South Africa on that receiver downstairs, he looked and found it in English ... remember what I said about kind?
Since I spent so much time with these employees, I must work at the Horison too ...
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