Same same, but different - where the grass is green, and the people are sweaty

By special request, I've decided to devote time to updating my blog. See? There's at least one person in the world who reads this. That and the internet is free here - a wonderment not seen since the joys of Fukui and perhaps the Apple store in Tokyo. Here I am in Hanoi, Vietnam: it's 40 degrees, regardless of time of day and no point of a Humidex because everyday is just humidity up a creek.

I bought a silk robe today for 10 USD. Perhaps it was a silk-like robe, who really knows - I was offered a polyester one which was called "same same" but cheaper. And if you know me, polyester is a poly-no-sir. I don't wear synthetics; I don't care what country I'm in. I bargained the woman down from $15 to 2 for $20, and all I could think while triumphantly walking away was I could taken her down to $8 each. Either way, I'm quite happy to bring my delicious new robe home - it matches my silk throw pillows from Home Sense, which I'm sure I egregiously over paid for given the prices I've seen here - perfectly.

When I first got to Vietnam, it took me a while to notice that they drive on the non-British (i.e. North American) side of the road here, unlike in Japan. And just after I got all used to walking on the right and standing on the left on escalators! Not that I've been on a single escalator since reaching Hanoi. There are probably an equivalent number of motorbikes to people in this bustling city of 3.5 million. For everyone empty one you see parked on the sidewalk, three more whiz by with a family of four sitting on it.

Hanoi is starkly different from Tokyo. Both are chaotic in their own rights, for sure, but in Hanoi traffic lights are merely a suggestion and no one really seems to heed to them. I am becoming the master of dodging traffic here. Basically, you have to just walk onto the street and mentally say "my turn" and the bikes will kind of go around you. I do wonder what the rate of traffic accidents is here...no matter.

My delightful travelling partner and I made a pact not to get Hep A. We both have our shots, and are only drinking sealed bottled water, but I can't help but think about Slumdog Millionaire where little Salim reseals water bottles with tap water. hmmm...It also probably doesn't help that we bought pineapple from a woman carrying them on a balance with a rice hat on. It's every stereotype you're thinking about. We squared off two vendors for 2 bags of cut pineapple for 20,000 dong (which is like $1.10 CAD) and in their bartering technique they put the scale on us and the hat to let us take a photo. Those will be posted eventually...

I should be off to the night market now, I have table runners and wall hangers to bargain for. I hope I find that stall selling $2 one-size-fits-all linen capris again. I shouldn't even pause to think about those things. What I love the most are the Louis Vuitton shoes with a Gucci label on in the instep. It's all the same same, but different.