The city of Hanoi greeted me with blasts of hot air that seemed to stay suspended in the humid atmosphere like a disinterested dirigible of lethargic langour. I mean, this city is a sweltering oven of searing heat – it was probably around 38-40°C, if I were to try to give an idea of how hot it was.
An interesting titbit of information about Hanoi is that in October 2010, it will officially mark 1000 years of the establishment of the city. So this is really a city with lots of history. In fact, over the two days I was there, I spent a fair bit of time in the part of the city locals call the Old Quarter. With Hoan Kiem lake as a picturesque backdrop, this ‘Old Quarter’ still has the original street layout and architecture of old Hanoi. I read somewhere that at the beginning of the 20th century the city consisted of only about 36 streets, most of which are now part of this old quarter. The streets are named after the individual trades practiced here since as far back as the 15th century – although nowadays, few of them remain exclusively in their original commerce. There is also French influence and this is evident from the tree-lined boulevards (e.g. Phan Dinh Phung street) and French colonial architecture style buildings such as St Joseph Cathedral.
An interesting titbit of information about Hanoi is that in October 2010, it will officially mark 1000 years of the establishment of the city. So this is really a city with lots of history. In fact, over the two days I was there, I spent a fair bit of time in the part of the city locals call the Old Quarter. With Hoan Kiem lake as a picturesque backdrop, this ‘Old Quarter’ still has the original street layout and architecture of old Hanoi. I read somewhere that at the beginning of the 20th century the city consisted of only about 36 streets, most of which are now part of this old quarter. The streets are named after the individual trades practiced here since as far back as the 15th century – although nowadays, few of them remain exclusively in their original commerce. There is also French influence and this is evident from the tree-lined boulevards (e.g. Phan Dinh Phung street) and French colonial architecture style buildings such as St Joseph Cathedral.
But just in case, the photos deceive readers into thinking that Hanoi is merely an old city characterized by street vendors, cramped shops with narrow fronts, endless streams of motorbikes – the city is also transforming into a modern metropolis. Kindly check out these photos of Vincom Shopping Gallery in the Hai Ba Trung District:
Much of the evenings were spent in bars (and there were many bars – some with quaint names such as The Cheeky Quarter at Ta Hien Street where we did drop in) to watch World Cup matches and sip cold beer. Yes, I did try Hanoi Beer and yes, I liked it just as much as the other notable brands that were widely available (e.g. Heineken, Budweiser). I also tried riding on the ‘xe ôm’ (literally, "hug vehicle") – motorcycle taxis where the passenger sits at the rear of a motorbike (of course, if not, where else?) and in the early hours of the morning, a city tour can be deemed to be really adventurous. One big reason why we (Owais, Martin and me) rode on these motorcycle taxis was because the riders knew the city better than the cab drivers did.
On Monday, the Group F match between Paraguay and world champions Italy was not impressive and it ended with a 1-1 draw. It was as if the two teams were playing in slow motion – at least that was how I saw it. In the Group E match between Holland and Denmark, the former defeated the latter, thanks to an own goal and a tap-in from Liverpool’s Dirk Kuyt for a 2-0 win. And in a later match (also Group E), Keisuka Honda scored the decisive goal that steered Japan to a 1-0 win over Cameroon – their first ever WC victory on foreign soil.
On Monday, the Group F match between Paraguay and world champions Italy was not impressive and it ended with a 1-1 draw. It was as if the two teams were playing in slow motion – at least that was how I saw it. In the Group E match between Holland and Denmark, the former defeated the latter, thanks to an own goal and a tap-in from Liverpool’s Dirk Kuyt for a 2-0 win. And in a later match (also Group E), Keisuka Honda scored the decisive goal that steered Japan to a 1-0 win over Cameroon – their first ever WC victory on foreign soil.
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