First month in Hanoi

Can't really believe it! We are here for the past one month already...

This new place is likened to a new adventure for me- trying to get adjusted has taken a bit longer than anticipated. To think that as a seasoned traveller, and bec I had called so many different places and countries 'home', I was a bit over optimistic about Vietnam.

The very first few days led to weeks of constant headaches whenever I go out of the sanctuary of my 'hiding place'-the continuous blasting of horns from cars, trucks and especially motorbikes irritated me beyond words- I could hear the honking even in my sleep initially. There's literally no traffic laws -cars and motorbikes alike move in every direction at any time. Crossing the road has proven to be life-threatening and a good avenue for the 'spirit of fear' to enter, lol bec you will never know where a car or a motorbike will appear inches beside you and honk at you- no exaggerations , they come from everywhere and move in all directions... so driving is out of the question atm. We rely on taking taxis and buses to commute.

Unfortunately, taking taxis would mean being taken for joy-rides, I mean they will take you and drive in circles eventho it is to a well known nearby spot. Not knowing the language means you can't give them a piece of your mind.. all you can do is raise your voice a little and say 'you know where you are going? etc and the driver will look back at you and utter something in Vietnamese... so you would say "stop!, stop!" but they would say "ok,ok.." and continue on his journey.

The best way to travel is by bus bec the routes are fixed and the bus fare is really cheap but again danger looms bec some bus drivers have the habit of not stopping the bus fully- imagine, you have to jump-on or hop-off skillfully onto or off a moving bus. For some reason, they also do not like to stop exactly where the bus should stop but would like you to do a bit of chasing- I mean, imagine a whole crowd of people dashing and pushing to try to get on board- just like school days when we had to ride on the 'mini-bus' to school back in KL thousands of years ago... and then oops! you realise your wallet is missing from your pocket- again you can't shout or explain that somebody in the bus is a pick- pocket bec nobody understands you.. so you stand there and feel 'sad' till you reached home to complain to someone who can understand you- ie your family members overseas who will sympathise with you and warn you to be careful next time.

To add on to the 'adventure', you'll have a man dressed in a police uniform, ringing your door bell and asking to look at your passports in the night..?? I mean how on earth does a police- or so he claims = know there are foreigners in this particular unit out of the millions of homes in Hanoi is really beyond me and btw isn't the immigration in charge of visas and passports ?? and goodness?? why at night?? ..

Marketing proves to be another story bec for the same item you buy this week at this price and suddenly next week the price has increased - talk about instant inflation ... hahaha!! yeah , live with that !!

The most recent story is that we were walking pass a government-looking building where there were soldiers guarding the entrance.. well, saw men in soldiers' uniform throwing stones at on-coming cars on the road- I made the biggest mistake by glaring hard at them bec I thought 'how unbecoming and ill-disciplined these soldiers are'- and guess what, I felt a stone land on the back of my shoulder- I mean they have the guts to throw a stone at a civilian who is passing-by.. I turned my head and glared at them( not sure if there was hatred or fire reflected in my eyes lol) but they shrugged their shoulders and laughed- so live with that too hahaha !!

Yeah.. it is very challenging in this piece of foreign land atm...I am much better adjusted as compared to 30 days ago and I am sure I will be able to like my stay here more as time goes by too.. so yeah- let's be optimistic...

Truly thank God for His hands of protection and we are all fine and well.. I am sure He sends many angels to encamp around us here...