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Published: October 20th 2006
The Hanoi Opera House
The opera house was built about 1910 and is a very beautiful building. Many concerts are held there. On weekends lots of couples have their wedding pictures taken in front of the building.Chau (pronounce chow) is the word for hello in Vietnamese. Uncle Arlyn and I are still here in Hanoi. This afternoon it has been raining off and on but we may be getting out soon taking some pictures and seeing some mores sights in Hanoi.
Hanoi is a big city. There are about 3,500,000 people who live in Hanoi. It is always noisy out on the streets. The traffic moves fast and there are lots of people honking their horns. The two most popular types of transportation are motor bikes and bicycles. Most of the cars are Taxi cabs and that is what uncle Arlyn and I ride when we go long distances, although most of the time we walk.
The food here is really good. The food is very fresh - lots of very good fruits and vegetables. There are some fruits here that you can’t get in the United States and they are very good. The hotel we are staying at has good American food- bacon and eggs in the morning, cheese burgers, pizzas, steaks cakes and even ice cream and cake! But guess what? We are eating mostly Vietnamese food. The most popular food in Vietnam
Pagoda on Hoan Kiem Lake
See the pagoda behind me? It is very old and very dear to the Vietnamese people. It is said to date back to about 900 AD. is called Pho (pronounced foe). There are two types of pho; pho-ba and pho-ca. Pho-ba is beef noodle soup and pho-ca is chicken noodle soup. The Vietnamese eat it morning noon and night. Uncle Arlyn and I have been having it for breakfast every morning and it is very good. It’s much different than soup out of the can. It is made with rice noodle and many very good Vietnamese spices. We always have a bowl of Pho along with some fresh fruit. It is very good and healthy for you.
When the Vietnamese people have big meals with company there is always a lot of food. In some ways it is like Chinese food- except the emphasis is on vegetables. On this trip Uncle Arlyn and I have eaten Vietnamese Spring rolls, tofu, spinach with garlic and lots of fish, duck, and meats.
In case you wondered, Vietnam is a very safe place. There is very little crime and the people are all very nice and polite. In Vietnam, every child in second grade learns to speak English. Almost everyone we meet under the age of 40 speaks good English. The school children often come up to
Be Careful!
Crossing the steet here is dangeous. Many times there are no lights and we just have to walk at a steady pace so the motorcycles can anticipate our speed. It is their job not to hit you, and your job not to get hit! us and ask us to speak English with them so that they can practice.
Names are also very interesting here in Vietnam. Because many, many people have the same last name, they use their first names like we do last names. For instance Uncle Arlyn’s name is Arlyn Fulton, but instead of saying Mr. Fulton, they would say Mr. Arlyn. Their names usually also have meanings. Some of our good friend’s names and the meanings of their names are:
Mr. Hai - which means “Sea”
Ms. Huong - which means “flower”
Ms Tra (pronounce “chau”)- Which means “tea”
Well, Uncle Arlyn and I have to go off and do some work, but we will write soon!
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Angie
non-member comment
Very Cool
Thanks Arlyn, This is very cool. It looks like you are showing flat Stanley a great time in Hanoi. Take care, Angie