Pandes Vieting
030607 - Day 1
The Vietnam Airline left me quite amazed as though it’s a commercial airline, the size of the plane is like Jetstar, no inflight entertainment also. There’s food though. Journey was about 3 hrs plus. We finally arrived in Hanoi around 6plus local time.We had a traditional Vietnamese dinner on arrival at a restaurant, the representative Pho(Vietnamese Noodles). It’s actually like kway teow soup with beef, quite tasty. After dinner, we proceeded to our dormitory, in this outskirt part near the Hanoi University.
First impression: Quite rundown, olden looking 1940s kind of building. I’m sharing room with 3 other guys at level 1, all 3 from Sociology, me the only NBS. Our room sux! The only room with spoilt aircon, and the internet is down. Anw Prof London brought us for a walk around the vicinity and we tried the Vietnamese dessert which came at the right time as we were all so thirsty. After that all of us were in need of mineral water and we all mobbed the provision shop asking for water. So all of us bought like a box of water, the largest size being 5 litres. Back to dorm, and retired in humid and warm environment with just the small fan working.
040607 - Day 2Morning assembly at 7am. Went for breakfast at a place near our dorm. We all had Pho again : Then it was a History lecture at the Uni by this US Prof. Damn boring. My mind drifted for very long. Lucky there was a coffee break and we all walked to the shophouse for coffee. Vietnam is kind of famous for its coffee, and though the size was pathetic, it really tasted not bad, thicker than those in Spore. And I heard the mentoes cost 25 cents Sing only. Lesson ended around 11 plus and it was then lunch at the same place. Food was good :)
We went to this oldest University site in Hanoi and a local guide brought us around. The place look more like a temple than a previous school. After that. We proceeded to town area, called Old Quarter, which sells many different products, like a Pasar Malem. J Lo walked us around, and I just just amazed how come the people here do not get into accidents on road as their driving is really beyond your imagination unless u see it yourself. They are really very skilful! And honing is customary here. 
Then we all split into small groups to walk around. So me, Zi Liang, Kai Xiang, Seng Keat, Bao Chern, Pei Shan and Phung went to Hoan Kiem lake to tour. Quite a scenic lake in Hanoi. Then it was basically roaming around the streets, and Phung brought us to have Vietnamese ice cream, which is damn popular. And we saw the opera house! Nice French Architecture. And we actually went to Hilton Hotel just to use the 5 star toilet. The aircon is a luxury as the weather is even more humid than Spore. Buay Ta Han lor.And after a long walk, we managed to have a roadside dinner, Vietnamese noodle. I became a Panda again when I ate the Bamboo in the noodle soup. Well didn’t know bamboo can taste so normal, like other vegetable. After dinner was another round of shopping in Old Quarters. We didn’t buy much, cos it’s just the 2nd day. And some of the stall vendors were quite unfriendly. We cabbed back around 9 plus as our legs were aching.
We shared the lychee we brought at the dorm and while savoring it, there was a blackout! It was damn dramatic! Some of us saw the sparks in the cable box which lasted a few seconds before the whole floor turned black. Then everyone started to come out of their room and just hanged out together. Phung’s sudden scream was another dramatic event as we thought she saw something dirty. The electricity was restored about 30 min later then I heard from the rest there was a 2nd blackout. Oh well. Tried reading the lecture readings before sleeping and it truly served as a bedtime story book :\The internet is really bad, using internet from a internet cafe now.
