at KOTO

i thought koto was a japanese restaurant because the name sounded like japanese. it was not. it meant 'know one, teach one'. thus the name KOTO - a not-for-profit restaurant and vocational training program that is changing the lives of street and disadvantaged youth in Vietnam.

the ground floor. pillows adorned the wall seats.

the stairs leading to the second floor. on the walls were bricks with written names of perhaps donors and patrons of the restaurant.

the setting was more homey and comfortable. the lighting was subdued as well. more pillows...

there was another stair leading to the rooftop.

my meal for the night - river fish curry with winter squash tips and rice.

they have all been in vietnam for at least a year. we talked of happenings at work, relationships, cultural events, food from home, trips - the list went on. they were open, funny and warm people. later we went out to have desserts. dropped by one place which had generic names on their menu like various cakes and a glass of yogurt. it was not appealing at all so we ended up in an italian resto where we had ice cream and panna cota.

i was just on my third week and vietnam seemed to be already warming up to me...

hanoi traffic jam

it was a tuesday night. and it was only past 6. i got to meet some new faces for dinner and it seemed that i was running late. i couldn't get any taxi near my place so i walked to the nearby lake and park, and kept walking until i got one. however, my cab barely moved within the next 10 minutes or so. ahead of us was a major intersection which was undergoing construction. it was rush hour and so all the xe oms were out on the road.

xe om literally means bike hug. maybe because the passenger sort of hugs the driver while riding.

my crib

again one of those long and winding stairways which seem to be part of hanoi if not vietnam architecture.

i call it the penthouse. located on the topmost floor of my building. half of the rooftop is a covered terrace. i call it the garden too because of the various plants grown by the owner in different sizes of pots. it is also the drying area for the rest of the tenants - total of 4. there is a permanent clothesline with hangers as well.

the other half is my flat. and entrance is by the kitchen area. i got a one-burner stove and a personal ref under the counter.

the view from the kitchen window. mature cactus plants stand as partial shield from the afternoon sun.

a female nude drawing hangs by my bedroom/living room door. below it are my food supplies, condiments and other cooking stuff.

the comfort and laundry room. it's got a window for the morning sun. a clothesline hangs above it. there is a water heater and an automatic washing machine. opposite the window is a sink and a mirror.

the study/living area which is also my bedroom. got aircon, cable tv, telephone and internet connections. i do not have a proper dining table so i use the same when i have my meals.

i open the bedroom window once in a while - when it is not so warm and the sun is nice.

my single bed. got a small portable shelf beside it. usually where i put the remote devices for the aircon, tv, and my cellular phone.

on the other side of the bed is the dresser. there is a mirror attached to it.

overall, it is a small place. but no matter what, for now and so far, this is home.

highway 4

it was one of those quaint restos. red tile floor. repainted old walls with assorted asian paintings. wooden tables. upholstered iron chairs.

the main door. i liked the idea of the small swing doors.

the bar which displays the restaurant's own rice wine / liquor brand. only 1 i remembered from the menu: young sticky rice wine. there was like a large fish bowl on the counter, and it contained rice wine with the rice still in it.

we agreed to order sauteed locusts, freshwater clams and ostrich steaks.

there were many other exotic dishes like crocodile and dog meat in the menu. but i was not the daring gourmand that night. the food was just second in my agenda. the first was to get to know the person who invited us. and i did to some extent. i was so happy i did not refuse her invite.

In Vietnam, the road Highway #4 itself is not just a single continuous path but a network of strategically important routes that wind along much of the length of the Sino-Vietnamese border.

hoan kiem lake - north side

a sort of a square at the north side. there is a fountain. it's like the gateway to the night markets usually held on weekends.

mother and kids on a tribike. maybe going home or just for a ride...

shopping stalls, cafes and restaurants abound in this area.

traffic flow depends on the time and occasion. i found myself thinking if i can or would dare to drive a motorbike or car around here...

early evening by hoan kiem lake

i have seen it in pictures on the internet. and i thought it was a river then. it was not. the hoan kiem lake is just one of the man-made lakes in hanoi.

2 men in a conversation

father and child

a man and a woman

lovers or friends?

no one really knows.

first days in vietnam

arrived in HCMC on a wednesday past midnight. standing on the immigration line, i knew i was in another country again.

so this is vietnam, i said to myself as i was getting out of the airport. it has tropical weather just like my country's - warm and humid.

on my way to the hotel, i was trying to get a closer look of the city. but it was nighttime. i knew i had to wait until morning to better appreciate the view of old saigon.

in the morning a few minutes after 9, i was back at the airport. had a late breakfast of vietnamese noodles, and got booked for a late afternoon flight to hanoi. the earlier planes were all full. that left me with 5 hours to spare at the airport.

at a cost of USD 1/luggage/hour i was able to leave mine at the international airport which was adjacent to the domestic airport. then i went to a nearby shopping center as recommended by the staff at the locker room.

prices were in thousands and millions. 1 american dollar = 16,000 vietnamese dong (pronounced as dom) more or less.

as i was about to cross the road, a guy in motorbike asked me if i wanna take a ride. (i understood his vietnamese the way he said it while on his bike.) i refused. i thought his bike was not a public ride. and that it was a motorbike! only to find out later that it was a 'xe om' - a biker who takes a passenger for a fee usually cheaper than a taxi's.

i arrived in hanoi at almost 7 pm. i had to find my way to my hotel. ordinarily, the taxi fare would be around vnd 300,000 from the airport to the city. however i was asked to pay only vnd 250,000. my taxi driver's expected passenger did not show up at the airport so i guessed my payment was an extra income for his part. it was a real bargain - he spoke english, taught me my first vietnamese words and oriented me a bit of hanoi.

the long and winding staircase to my hotel room on the 4th floor. actually, on the 5th. they have ground floor, then 1st, 2nd, and so on.

i stayed in a hotel in one of the 'hang' streets. it means shop in vietnamese. before in the old days, the area were workshop villages. they evolved into commercial areas where people of the same skill/product stayed together. and so there were 36 'hang' at the time - one area for each kind of product or service.

motorbikes were parked and can be seen everywhere. around 1 million in hanoi only. they occupy the streets - middle and side. and there were bicycles too.

the bike drivers were not that fast but they rule the road with their numbers. they don't beat the red light. they just drive through it as the stop sign goes on.

both driver and passenger need to wear a helmet. i saw kids - toddlers and infants also in the bikes. little children usually had a transparent cloth covering their heads.

some of the souvenir and decor shops not far from the city center (the 'hang' area). they were located by the railroad tracks. they reminded me of home where we also have the same setup. only back home, we have squatters though. but here, i still have to find that out.