Hanoi Part I: First Impressions

Last week, I took a lovely 9-day holiday to Hanoi, Ha Long Bay and Ninh Binh province. It was thoroughly enjoyable. I had wanted to travel to the north of Vietnam for quite some time now; and my friend's mother coming to visit from England was the perfect excuse to do so! I set off a day before them to explore as much as I could.

Hanoi is such a charming city. It reminds me of Washington (D.C.) in that it has quite streets with pretty row houses. However, there is definitely more of a rustic feel here than in D.C. The paint on nearly all the row houses is chipping away in such a graceful way. French-colonial style balconies line the streets where a new generation walks with new-aged flare in their "Boy" hats and imitation Burberry ensembles. There is a symphony of time-periods and cultures on blast here that doesn't quite make for a smooth harmony, but it somehow creates this uniquely Vietnamese character. So many unexplained things here are answered with "only in Vietnam" and though it can be comically frustrating at times, it is something that I love about Vietnam.

It's incredible how drastically different yet similar the North is to the South--which is also true for my own country. They speak the same language, but even with my lack of Vietnamese it is apparent that their accent is extremely different. Things I say routinely without a problem in the South were not translated easily in Hanoi. And I had a chatted about this with many Hanoians and Saigonese and they both confirmed that even they can't understand each other. And I thought it was interesting to note that a  Hanoian told me it was easier for a Saigonese to understand a Hanoian than for a Hanoian to understand a Saigonese.

   In addition to language and cultural differences between the two, there is also a major difference in scenery. There is also noticeably more green space in Hanoi than in Ho Chi Minh City. There are many parks in HCMC, but they are widely spread out and you don't seem to flow into them as effortlessly as you do in Hanoi. The scenery is much more cohesive and blended whereas in HCMC the lines are more refined. The French influences has endured much more strongly in Hanoi. Colonial architecture stands in harmony with the surrounding scenery. Hanoi took advantage of the beauty the French had left and made it their own by moving into the colonial-style row houses and opening up cafes serving Phở, Bún chả and fresh spring rolls. 

I loved this graffiti on the wall. It means "iced tea"

Along Hoan Kiem lake.

The "Eiffel Tower" as seen from Lenin Park

Everywhere in cities and beach towns in Vietnam, you are sure to find a balloon vendor toting about. I've only bought a Hello Kitty balloon once--on New Year in Saigon.

Lots of statues of children reading throughout Lenin Park. It reminded me of the Mall in Central Park, which is lined by statues of the writers 

This adorable little girl said hello to me and we were walking side-by-side along the quaint little streets I was exploring in the old Quarter. I asked to take her picture and she was beyond thrilled about it.

The famous Red Bridge at Hoan Kiem lake

Oh boy do the Vietnamese love their over-the-top, flat-brimmed hats

A Story to Restore One's Faith in Humanity

This morning I was noticing that I was rather low on coffee, so after a pop-in to the tailor for a fitting and a visit to the travel agent across the road to book my flight to Hanoi, I decided to check out the new Starbucks on De Tham that opened about five days ago. I was pleasantly surprised that the parking attendant at the new Starbucks had previously worked at the giant Starbucks on the CMT8 roundabout. We both recognized each other and exchanged warm smiles.

When I walked in, I was greeted by friendly baristas behind the counter. I said hello and walked over to the area where they sold bags of coffee to restock my home supply. One of the baristas walked over and told me about the brew they had that day (the Italian Roast) and gave me a small sample. She was the sweetest. We got to chatting about where I worked and how long I had been in Vietnam. When I went to pay for the coffee, I also decided to get a grande iced coffee for the time being. They told me that I could have this free of charge since they just opened and enjoyed my conversation. They even suggested that they add some caramel sauce on top. It was so adorable. I headed upstairs to have my coffee and people-watch on the terrace that looked over De Tham before heading to work.

On my way to work I decided to stop at the Saigon Petro on the corner of Nguyen Van Cuu and An Duong Vuong to get petrol for my bike. I asked the attendant to fill it up with 100,000 VND and he did so. I opened my backpack to get out my wallet to pay and realized it wasn't there. I frantically searched my backpack and the boot of my bike and I immediately knew that it had fallen out of my bag at Starbucks. I apologized profusely to the gas attendant telling him I had no money and I promised to come back in ten minutes. I actually felt dizzy at the thought of losing everything in my wallet. In it I had 2,000,000, my American credit card, my Vietnamese credit card, the ownership card to my motorbike (which cannot be replaced), and my health insurance cards. I left the petrol station without paying and sped to Starbucks (making incredible timing there).

When I pulled up, the parking attendant that I knew could see that I was in a hurry and he held up his wallet questioningly. I nodded and ran inside. I was greeted by the deeply kind baristas who said, "Don't worry we have your wallet and we were going to call your company to tell them!" They knew what company I worked for and the exact building because we had chatted about it earlier. They handed me my wallet with everything inside of it. I was extremely grateful and thanked them a million times over. They told me it was destiny for me to get it back because I was so nice to them. I cannot even put into words how thankful I am for this and how sweet they were for returning it.

Once I left Starbucks in relief, I sped back to the gas station where I was previously unable to pay for the full tank of gas they had given me. When I pulled up, the attendant's jaw dropped. He couldn't believe I had actually come back to pay. All of the other gas attendants started clapping and smiling. The attendant that helped me took my picture. He then shouted "my boss, picture, picture." Next thing I know, the manager of the gas station comes up, puts his arm around me and has another attendant take a picture of us. He didn't speak much English but he said, "You good, you good." I thanked them for understanding and believing in me and they were extremely grateful that I had come back.

What could have been a really frustrating and stressful situation turned out to absolutely make my day. People always complain about the amount of stealing and bag-snatching here...and yes it is a huge problem. Yet, no matter where you are in the world there will always be amazing people that are genuine and have the best interest of others in mind. Today I was extremely lucky to encounter a series of wonderful and understanding people who have truly warmed my heart.

A Tailor-made Town: Getting Things Made in Saigon

 Ho Chi Minh City is a fashion lover's paradise. I've always had dreams of becoming a designer, but my lack of ability to sew and draw on top of my unwillingness to be yelled at by people like Kelly Cutrone has really crippled my opportunities. Luckily, I moved to Vietnam to make things much easier. If you can envision something here, you can more or less make it happen. Here is how I make it happen:

Step 1: What do you want?

For inspiration, my go-to place is Pinterest. You can search specifics or browse and stumble on some amazing things from designers on every corner of the earth. Usually if the pin was from a clothing site where the piece originated, the link to the original site will be there and you can find different views of the piece to make sure you get exactly what you want. If you can't see the back/front/side view of a piece; you can always draw, explain, or simply find a similar item with a back that you'd like.

Step 2: Choose a tailor

There are tailors all over Saigon and I'm sure many of them are around the same level of quality. When I first got here, I was recommended a place called "Bao Silk" at 233 De Tham Street in District 1. I was satisfied with my first piece (both the price and the quality), so I've never found a reason to go elsewhere. I've developed a lovely relationship with Lo An, who works there basically as the liaison between the customer and the tailor. She also makes adjustments on things and does your measurements. She's an absolutely lovely lady. If she needs to make adjustments on my pieces, sometimes I just sit with her and chat while she does so. About a month ago, she got an adorable little puppy as well that I love to play with. His name is Na Na and he's such a nugget.

Now back to the point of step 2: to find out how much material you need.  When you go to the tailor you will show him or her the picture and ask how many meters of material you will need for the piece. Usually, the tailor will have an assortment of materials (as they do at Bao Silk), but you have much more options if you go to the markets. Plus, it is so much fun to go to the markets.

Step 3: Buying material

This is my absolute favorite part of it! The amount of material available in Saigon is incredible. Plus, the price is amazing in comparison to the price you pay for ready-wear pieces at shops. For material, there are a few different places I go to depending on what I need to buy.

Tan Dinh Market

The main hub for it all is Tan Dinh Market on Hai Ba Trung in District 3 (the official address is: 48 Mã Lộ, where you would turn right off Hai Ba Trung for parking). The market more or less has everything under the sun and usually the stalls will specialize in different types of cottons, polyesters, linens, etc. I could (and do) spend hours here looking at all the different prints. Printed cotton and jersey material is about 50-80,000 VND/meter. At Tan Dinh, you can haggle a little bit for prices but its not like Ben Thanh market where you'll get really ripped off. They usually offer a relatively fair price to start with. I know some of the ladies that work in the stalls there, which helps. The more you buy, the more they will offer you a discount.

Two things I'd say not to buy at Tanh Dinh are lace and knits/woolens. Lace is way over-priced at Tanh Dinh and woolens/knits are much more difficult to find. Also, Tanh Dinh seriously lacks accessories like buttons, buckles, studs, etc.  So for those, I can suggest a few more places.

Đại Quang Minh

This is an incredible place for people who love to craft. You can buy felt, buttons, jewels, embellishments, a variety of papers, and so much more for crafting. Keep it mind it is a wholesale market so if you'd like to buy buttons, you will have to buy a gross. It is also extremely Vietnamese, so it will be more of a challenge to communicate if you don't speak the language...and if you are white, prepare to stick out like a sore thumb.

This market is also great for lace. Not only is it much cheaper to buy lace here than it is at Tanh Dinh, but they also have a much wider variety of lace. At Tanh Dinh lace starts at a minimum of 180,000 VND/meter. Here, lace starts at around 120,000 VND/meter. 

Again, if you want to choose your own buttons, buckles or anything of the sort for a piece you want to have made, Dai Quang Minh is the place to go. The amount of options they have is truly remarkable. Only a few stalls sell things in smaller packages, but the buttons that come in packages of a gross cost only around 40,000 VND/packet (which is roughly $2 USD), so you can just have loads of leftovers to make a craft with, donate to your tailor, or whatever else you think you could do with 144 buttons! 

Address: 33-35 Châu Văn Liêm street, Ward 14, District 5.
Getting there: You basically take Tran Hung Dao Street all the way from District 1 to District 5 until you get to a large intersection at Châu Văn Liêm street and the market will be just 

Cửa Hàng Vải Nhật Ái

This is a store opposite of Tanh Dinh Market on Hai Ba Trung. There are many stores opposite the market and many people refer to it as "Fabric Street," because there's a street for just about everything in Ho Chi Minh City. The exact address is 323 Hai Ba Trung. Tel No: 38.202.279.

This is the place I go to for all knits and woolens. They also have some really nice sheer,chiffon and lace material as well (although Dai Quang Minh is usually better for lace). It's a small narrow store, but it's the only place in Saigon where I've truly seen a large variety of knits and woolens. Most other places with have up a few options, but here they have all sorts of different thicknesses, textures, colors and patterns to choose from in the woolens/knit department. Keep in mind that this is a store, so all the prices will be fixed. However, sometimes they have things that are even cheaper than the market.

This store and the surrounding stores also have a lot of really nice material for fancy dresses/gowns and suits. I can't remember which store I went to to get my dress made for my work gala (the very first thing I had made in Saigon), but there's a whole row of stores opposite Tanh Dinh Market that you can explore.

Step 4: Test and Purchase! 

Your final step is to go back, try on the finished product and make necessary adjustments. They will not charge you any extra for things that need to be fixed. Once you are satisfied with the outcome, you will pay and be on your way to show off your new pieces! Oh and one last things to mention, you will usually pay a deposit of around half of the total cost upfront and then once you are satisfied and the pieces are ready to be taken home, you will pay the remainder of the bill.

Things I've had made in photographs: 

Striped Jersey Dress. 

2 meters at 60,000VND/meter at Tan Dinh

300,000 VND for labor

Chambray Collared Crop Top

Price: 300,000 VND including fabric (from the tailor)

Red Floral Kimono and Green Mixed Pattern Floral Kimono

2 Meters each at 60,000 VND/Meter at Tanh Dinh

Labor: 250,000 VND each

Lace Crop Top

1 Meter at 120,000 VND/Meter at Dai Quang Minh

Labor: 250,000 VND

White Drippy Jersey Dress

Structured Shorts in Blue Floral Print and Red Polka Dot

Fabric: 1 Meter each at 60,000 VND/meter

Labor: 300,000 VND

Black Lace Shorts

1 Meter each at 120,000 VND/meter

Labor/Lining: 300,000 VND

Floral Print Matching Separates

400,000 VND for labor and material (tailor's material)

Knit & Chiffon Dress

Top: 1 Meter at 70,000 VND/meter (Nhat Ai)

Bottom: 2.5 meters at ??/Meter (I can't remember!)

Labor: 500,000 VND

Bright Orange Floor-Length Backless Gown 

(this was my first tailor experience in Vietnam!)

4 Meters at 100,000 VND/meter

Labor: 600,000 VND

Vietnamese People and Culture

So after a little over six months of living in Vietnam, I've gotten to know the culture and people pretty well. Here are a few thoughts and personal stories about interactions with Vietnamese people and Vietnamese culture.

I genuinely love the people of Vietnam. There are so many amazing smiling faces, kind acts of generosity, a deep curiosity about those who are different from them and an overall laid-back attitude emitted from the Vietnamese (despite the extremely wealthy Saigonese who can be a bit uptight and love to flaunt their money). 

 They can go from being very serious to having the greatest and most genuine smiles in less than ten seconds, which can be confusing at times with the added language barrier. For example our landlord, (who I refer to as the most beautiful woman in Vietnam--a seriously stunning 50+ year old woman who looks about 30), will have a serious and intimidating look on her face which makes me think she hates us, but then will give us the biggest smile which is lovely and confusing all at once. This happens all the time with Vietnamese people when you have trouble communicating with one another. Sometimes at first glance you will look at someone and they will have an extremely stern look on their face, but the second you flash a smile they give you an ear-to-ear grin in return. I smile at everyone on the street...well everyone I make eye contact with, and I would say about 80% of the time, I get a big smile back. 

 There are some cultural barriers to be aware of. A lot of things they do seem very rude and aggressive to us and it can be hard to get over. For instance: the Vietnamese have absolutely no sense of the que. They will push, shove, cut you off, honk their horn 1,000 times over, push onto the elevator before people get off (which is both inefficient and physically painful) and it just comes off as very "me, me, me." But, from their perspective it's just the norm. In the U.S., when someone beeps their horn at you, it's basically an act of aggressive. To me, getting beeped at either means "fuck you" or "what the hell are you doing." I still take it so personally when people honk their horns at me...and here it's seriously out of control. People will lay on their horn for hours. It is impossible to drive and not constantly hear at least 5 people having a field day on the horn button. Yet, the Vietnamese people don't see it that way. This lady literally shoved me at the hospital (yes this still happens at the hospital) and then when I dropped something, she picked it up for me and gave me the biggest smile. Earlier, I thought wow you're self-righteous bitch for shoving someone at a hospital, but then I remembered it's just how it goes here.

Apart from some of the frustrating cultural differences, The Vietnamese are really easy-going and genuine people. They love to try and practice English with Westerners. They think nearly every Westerner is beautiful...but then there's this weird sense of a superior beauty in being white that is uncomfortable and untrue because there are some gorgeous Vietnamese people, as in every culture. The woman are genuinely terrified of the sun and will completely cover their bodies in the blazing heat to avoid getting a tan...while the Westerners are doing everything possible to maximize their tans here. It's mental. And even products at the stores are all about it. It's actually a challenge for me to find regular body lotion (and even deodorant) without whitening chemicals in it. It's crazy how at home we have tanning salons and self-tanner and they just have the complete opposite.

I love talking to strangers and so I always get roped into random conversations with people here, which is so much fun. Sometimes they can be really nice and other times they can be really odd:

One time a girl followed me around the supermarket and kept asking me odd questions. Then she asked me if I drank Perrier, to which I said yes I used to more often but I haven't in a while. She then wanted my advice about which flavor to drink and asked if it would be good for weight loss. I didn't know how to communicate that expensive water wasn't necessary for weight loss, but I couldn't communicate that effectively with our language barrier. I told her she didn't need to lose weight at all and mentioned that Perrier which is $4.00/ bottle here is hardly different from the 30 cent soda water that is plentiful and much more cost-effective.

Another time, some 50+ year old man was pedaling a bicycle along my street and asked me to get on. Any normal person would have thought stranger danger, but I of course asked where he was going and hopped on because I was in the mood for something odd. I ended up being the one pedaling the bicycle ( by the way this was not a tandem...Vietnamese people always just fit two on the bike...one sitting on the metal bit where you would tie a bag or something on and the other on the proper seat). I pedaled him all the way downtown and back. It was quite the workout but it was lovely. He told me all about his family living in America and attempted to teach me some Vietnamese. I made sure to get off a few blocks away from where I actually live in case he decided to become creepy...but he genuinely was just a sweet old man who wanted to practice his English. He even told me to stop on Nguyen Hue at a Circle K ( a popular convenience store) and bought me water.

And yet another time, I lost my motorbike keys in a bookstore...and got oddly frustrated because I had no idea what to do...thank god I was renting at the time and the business I rented from had a spare key .Eventually, I got a hold of them and they came and tested out 100 keys on the sidewalk where my bike was parked (you would think they would know which one was the spare..but it's Vietnam and they are completely unorganized and lackadaisical when it comes to simple things like this...which is just comical at this point and I love them for it). Anyway, before the man came to help me out I was getting really worked up and crying (not hard but not quite subtly) and some police officer came up to me and helped me out. He asked if I was okay and walked all over the bookstore with me to help me look for my key. He said, "Don't cry, drink water" and bought me water...apparently people like to buy me water here? I'm not complaining. Anyway, he was lovely and we chatted about Vietnam and he really did put me at ease about the situation while I waited for the rental place to come help me. I was also thinking how it's funny I don't even have a license to legally drive this bike--something I wouldn't dare to do in my own country but somehow find it perfectly acceptable here. However, it is on my list of things to do and I definitely will get around to doing so in the near future...mostly for the cool aspect of it because it would just be unique to have a Vietnamese license as a foreigner.

Speaking of motorbikes, the men who I go to to get my motorbike serviced are absolutely lovely. I try very badly to speak Vietnamese with them and they laugh at me, but through gestures and google translate, we really get along and they often don't charge me for simple things which is unbelievably generous considering how cheap labor is already. I usually try to give them a bit extra because they are such hard-working and well-intended people.

I will speak more about my tailor and the lady I get my nails done with on another post because I''ve developed a nice relationship with them and I would like to say more without making this blog post a novel! 

Xx.

Mui Ne: (An extremely belated Christmas 2013)