Page 5
7/20/2024
Random thoughts….
Although all houses, apartments, restaurants, public buildings, universities, etc. have running water in the kitchen's and bathrooms, it is for washing and brushing your teeth only. It's not considered safe to drink tap water, unless you can't afford to buy water. Here you see a delivery of water. I pay 67,000 VND ($~2.60) for a bottle this size (~5 US gallons) and I go through one to two a month. I am being overcharged because it is provided by my apartment. When I run out, I take my bottle downstairs and they give me a full one in return. Last time I was here I lived in a house in a neighborhood, and I ordered 3 bottles at a time. My bill was $100,000 VND ($4.00 USD) for the three bottles - or about $1.30 USD per bottle.
Here is a picture of another very common child car-seat, or in this case “motorbike-seat”. This allows the driver of the motor bike to have their hands free. Their legs help hold the highchair in place and sometimes they are strapped to the motorbike. The drive and any passenger over 6 must wear a helmet by law unless the motorbike is 50cc or under. This motorbike (a Honda Wave 110) is 110 cc.
Due to the recent loss of lives in apartments around Hanoi due to fires, all apartments must now meet certain safety requirements (e.g., fire extinguishers). This “fire escape mask” showed up outside my door yesterday. I'm on the fifth floor of my building. Escape routes: stairs, elevator (not be used in a fire), and out the window using my bed sheets an comforter as a rope. Fingers crossed! as they say…
Me: “Ten con chó của em là gì?” ("What's your dog's name?)
Grab driver (insert huge smile here) “Bún”
Meet “rice noodle”!
So one thing I have never understood is “outdoor water misters”??. First, unless you are sitting directly under or in front of them, you won't get the effect as the water vapor won't land on your skin and act like sweat to cool you down. Second, adding humidity to the air in a humid climate like Vietnam is going to cool you down …how?? Normally (and this coffee shop near my apartment is no exception) you will see fans blowing on people to keep them cool. By the way, withing a one minute walk of my apartment (no exaggeration) are six coffee shops and three coffee kiosks. This is one of the coffee shops. It is not where I get my daily fix of caffeine. The Vietnamese love coffee almost as much as they love tea (which you can buy in any coffee shop).
Have you ever been to Big Piney, Wyoming? I have. Many, many times during my youth. It was on the way to one of our favorite deer and elk hunting areas. Big Piney “and the adjacent town of Marbleton are spots in the road. If you blink while traveling down the two-lane, you will miss them. Somehow this t-shirt made it to Hanoi? When I see things like this I can't help thinking: ”I'll bet when the person silk-screened this t-shirt, I'll bet he never thought it would end up in Hanoi." I asked this fine young gentleman (well, my Vietnamese friend asked him for me) where he got this shirt. He said one of his friends gave it to him. He did not know where Big Piney was, let alone Wyoming, and he didn't think his friend did either. He just liked the color and the way the shirt looked on the back.
"Đĩa" means “plate” so a plate full sparrows will cost ~7.50 USD (190,000 VND) and “con” means you get the whole bird. Our group opted for pigeon… everything else was out of season.
Sticking with a bird theme for a moment…here is how eggs get to the market or to your home…
Below are brown and white chicken eggs, duck eggs (vịt lôn) and quail eggs (cút lôn) for sale in front of a store. The seller sits in the small red plastic chair with the fan blowing on them to keep themselves cool.
You've heard about putting all your eggs in the same basket? The advice takes on a new meaning here. This person is either delivering eggs to the grocery store or they will sell them off their motorbike in the neighborhoods.
Western tattoo themes are very different from southeast Asian tattoo themes…
I have seen very little in Hanoi, or anywhere else in Vietnam for that matter. The government here in Hanoi does not tolerate it as it is bad for tourism; and spray paint is expensive. This
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