Month: July 2008

As some of you already know, Hanoi’s ‘Old Quarter’ features many little streets that were once dedicated to one particular activity each; there was for instance ‘bamboos street’, ‘cotton street’, etc. There are supposed to be 36 of them. Guess… Continue Reading…

In some streets in town you can almost feel the trees wanting to hug the pavement – and that feels nice.

Here’s the view from the rooftop of my office’s building; you can see the West Lake (close to the horizon line), and, on the foreground, the land where a new building is being erected. Hanoi being super humid at this… Continue Reading…

Yep, this shot could have been taken decades ago… Surprising, ain’t it?

As I was looking around town for an Apple authorized reseller to bring my laptop in for servicing, I fell on this amusing pastiche of other (official) well-known stores of the californian brand. Of course it is not at all on the… Continue Reading…

Looking at this picture, one might think it has been taken somewhere in the outskirts of Hanoi, with the giant tree growing between two houses – one of which seems abandoned. One might be surprised to realize it has actually been… Continue Reading…

Kind of like what happened in Malaysia in June, the petrol prices rose by 31% on last Monday in Vietnam. A tough reality check for a country which day-to-day life practically revolves around motorbikes! As a natural consequence, taxi fares… Continue Reading…

Helmets were only recently made compulsory in Vietnam, and today you can chose from a lot, as you can see. I’m not sure of the efficiency of wearing those, but the fine for not wearing one costs as much as… Continue Reading…

Badminton really is something here; you can find courts everywhere, from the sidewalks in the city center to the public parks as you can see on this shot. I went to play last Saturday, and boy was it fun –… Continue Reading…

Those guys are fixing this giant ‘billboard’, at a good twenty meters off the ground. I wouldn’t bet too much on the solidity of their harnesses, but it seems to be doing the trick. Like they say, Vietnam is not… Continue Reading…