Or, a vision in a dream. A Fragment.
I like how bike repair dudes put a manual bike pump on the side of the road to advertise their services–though such a pump is never actually used. this guy, for example, clearly had a line coming from an electric compressor somewhere. tube patch + re-inflation: 5000 dong.
this is our house: the white one with the red brick balcony on the 3rd storey. in hanoi it is not unusual to have very narrow houses, but built tall (used to be that taxes were paid by the width of the front)–in our case, we have 5 floors, with 2 rooms on each. as to the bikes–I just rented … Read More
(dedicated to the pioneers of the labour movement: freedom solidarity!) (“Winter 1946”: in reference to the French re-occupation of Hanoi after Ho Chi Minh had proclaimed independence in 1945)
it’s been raining for the past 2 days, apparently the worst since 1984. and by murphy’s law, I of course live on what seems (to me) the worst-hit part of the city. this video is from early in the day, when I first tried to get to work: it only got worse later. nowhere to stand without being submerged, and … Read More
my third lesson today, and it was vocab overload.
teacher giáo viên …… Read More
I found a housewares store on the new hanoian that’s semi-near my house, so I set off late morning yesterday to take a look (similar to ikea stuff, the place is called uma in case you’re interested). all this to say,
it may distress some of you to know that food isn’t good all the time in hanoi (and there are nasty rumours saying that all *good* vietnamese cuisine, and certainly what we know overseas, comes from the South)–however: there is not a single person who doesn’t love bún chả. I admit I first heard of bun cha while bored on … Read More
and fried plantains, 3000 dong each. Doi Can street, Hanoi. (ed: 4000 dong as of November)
the company I work for partners with a French NGO to do the field work in Thanh Hoa–and this weekend 10 of us, from both organizations, went on a field trip to see some of the bamboo workshops in that province. so after work on friday, we set off towards Mai Chau village in Hoa Binh province to spend the … Read More
you know when you’re in the french quarter when: (the opera house. yes, I could have taken a nicer photo, but why not include the xe ôm driver?) arrived in Hanoi on tuesday, started work on thursday, and am staying in a guesthouse until I land a place to live–which looks like might take a few weeks. but it’s the … Read More