Day 13, June 6 th: Hanoi

"When in Rome, do as Romans do". That was sort of today's caption. I was expecting this day to come. Sort of a collision of cultures. Now, I don't want to sound any rude nor do I want to make anyone feel bad. just pointing out one thing I've noticed and thought that Enni will notice in some point as well. In Finland, at least in our family and most families I know it has been taught that one should eat with their mouth shut, not making noises while eating. Well, in far Asia, Ive noticed the thing must be the opposite of this. The more you make noise, the better and might even be considered as a sign of honoring the chef or the householder. This is what Enni also pointed out today: "Daddy... why are all the peolpe not eating with their mouth shut...? Are they not taught to behave well?" she asked. The moment of understanding that this is an exception case, when you are abroad. "Sure they are, but You know... the things are a bit different here and it's seen as good behaviour." I expalined. "One should do as the locals do when visiting other countries or When in Rome, do as Romans do (maassa maan tavalla in Finnish)". "Ok, so I can start doing it as well...?" She responded. "Well... ummm... yes..." I replied with my heart crying just a bit. Had all the work gone for nothing and we needed to start all over again? "But you may do it only here. Back home things are as they have been before". "OK, I get it!" she responded, eating her mouth open and smiling big time. :D

Other than that the day went as a normal one would. Out of ordinary was the call I made related to this jop opportunity I mentioed in the earlier post. That took a whilee off the morning and actually gave some good vibes for the day as it seemed that there was sense of mutual agreement on things present in that call. As the day's task we took to find postcards and I had a plan how we would do that. We would go to the Hoan Kiem lake where at least last time were loads of people selling cards on the street, coming to you as soon as they noticed someone close by. The tactics didn't fail and I was actually able to surprise the first candidate aproaching us by saying that "You are just the man I was looking for! Do you have post cards?". "...yes... yes I do..." O_o "Could you sell us some, please?" together with a big smile and he was almost walking away already...! :D In the end we got the cards and moved to eat in a Non-Viet restaurant that served Vietnamese food... I didn't quite get what was the psilosophy of that place anyway. ;)

View over Hoan Kiem and the lonely temple in the middle of the lake

Enni taking a break

We then decided to go check whether we would still find the local helmet places we ran into last weekend. One of the odds: we did! The thing was that I was not able to find the exact same helmet I found back then. There's another rule of thumb for living here: If you find something you like, buy it. The chances are that you will never find the same thing again. You can find the results from below. Oh... and did the helmets cost us dearly? No. Just about 5 € each! :D

The owners of the new helmies!

In the evening we went to eat in  Luc Thuy restaurant, the first turning table place on this trip. The price was a bit higher than expected but then again we got a private room where Enni was able to dance as much as she liked. :) The food was brilliant and the service and hospitality was warm and nice.

At the turning table place's own private room

It was all in the details... love how they had cut the dip ingredients


Artwork at the entrance of Luc Thuy

After the dinner we quikly went to the Supermarket next door and I got the picture that I earlier mentioned: how I got the feeling that cheese is here more appreciated than gold. ;)

Keeping the cheese safe

With this being said I farewell ya'll for the night!