A port town visit, Hai Phong - Week 3 in Vietnam 2-

A very local town, Hai Phong, a major port city in northern Vietnam, near Cat Ba Island, offers a great cuisine of seafood and a colonial building lit up at night, which is breathtaking. We chose here rather than Ha Long Bay because it would be more adventurous and fascinating since we were unfamiliar with it. In reality, yes, it was, but I felt it was a bit difficult to adapt because there were no languages in common almost anywhere, so we struggled to find a restaurant, tried to get our head around the signs on the road, and understood what the pictures were trying to say at the museum. On top of that, the hostel we stayed at was a rip-off, so I didn't feel comfortable. However, there were good people and places we managed to find so it's paid off at the end of the day.

The train ride was fun, we hopped on the public one that local people use, and it's just enough for about a 6-hour ride, thanks to AC, reclining seats and a little table. 

Me waiting for the train at a nice cafe near the station in Hanoi. It was super hot and humid.

A temple visit. We kept quiet for people prying inside..There was a pagoda? In the middle of the pond.

Ho Chi Minh Museum.

Hai Phong museum.

Do you know AEON in Japan? It's a mega chain retailer that mainly sells groceries, affordable items for daily use with private brands. However, it's more upmarket here, like high-end brand clothing shops, furniture stores, etc. We even spotted a kitchen showroom displaying Japanese modern style with clean lines, natural material and earth colour palette, which gave us a lot of inspiration!

This restaurant was one of our favourites, where the house and the furniture were over 100 years old, and the interior was very chic yet classic. The owner's dog called Ngi ( the spelling could be wrong but sounded like it.) was so friendly enough to approach us to say hi and wait for food, then we started to chat with the owner about the interior and asked about Cat Ba Island such as how to get there and what things to do. over. The owner offered the Chinese tea and demonstrated how to make it in front of us. The teapot and bowls were very small and cute. What is more, the food was so so nice! The staff helped us to choose the dishes and it couldn't be better. 

This was the best local seafood restaurant we had ever found so far. We happened to spot it when cruising around the lake on a rental bike. It was the first time for us to have fish in the Vietnamese way, like wrapping in rice paper with mint and other herbs and vegetables. It's so healthy and so good. When I saw a pack of rice paper brought by a restaurant staff, I thought it would be a paper towel to clean my fingers, hihi. He showed us how to eat a rope, body language is always a way to do in this kind of situation. We know how to survive.