or: how I developed a caffeine addiction
In travel, you mostly only hear about amazing sights or thrilling activities. But I assure you – our everyday is not that glamorous! A Day in the Life is where I capture the small moments that make up a typical day and give you a peek at what life really looks like in pictorial snippets, as well as some of my recommendations and idea for cost.
I feel like every time I do one of these A Day in the Life posts, I start off saying that we wake up really late in the morning. Let me explain real quick that we are usually up past 2 am because of D’s working hours. One of the drawbacks of traveling in Asia is that our sleeping schedules get seriously screwed up when we have to match up working hours to USA time. It’s really not a big deal because I’m a night owl anyway. But Hanoi has been the worst yet.
But I’m getting ahead of myself. As all days begin, let’s begin with the beginning:
We wake up at almost noon. Yikes, practically half the day has already passed us by. Can we get any lazier??
We’re staying in a little boutique hotel right in the middle of the Old Quarter. The hotel serves a complimentary Vietnamese style breakfast daily but we have never once woken up early enough for it. Instead, we quickly get ready so we can go seek out our own.
We open the front door and step out into the street. Immediately we are enveloped by the sounds of the city. For breakfast, we generally alternate between two places, depending on what we’re craving. Today, we want rice and for that, there is only one place we even dream of going to. And that’s Xoi Yen, just a couple of blocks up the street.
Xoi Yen: corner of main street Nguyễn Hữu Huân & Hàng Mam
Xoi Yen, a sticky rice restaurant, is practically an institution in Hanoi and is always crowded. At the front, a couple dozen employees in identical jackets furiously fill orders to keep up with the non-stop flow of customers. This place is so popular that there’s even an imposter right next door, with the exact same name and menu. But don’t be fooled (like we were our first time). The real deal is the one at the street corner where the employees wear branded clothing and serve the food in branded bowls.
The menu is simple, consisting of only glutinous sticky rice and various toppings. By now, we’ve tried almost all the toppings, and today we get a bunch of our favorites to share: boiled chicken, pate, and braised hard boiled eggs. We throw in a beef paste for something new.
12:30 pm: breakfast/lunch at Xoi yen (cost: 73,000VND or $3.42US)
oh look, while we’re eating our chicken, there’s a bucket of chickens right behind me
After breakfast, we do what the locals like to do best and head to a café.
Hanoi is a city that never rests. The streets are always busy with scooters and cars. The air is always echoing with the sound of horns. But if you look closer, the cafés are always packed at all hours of the day with people just leisurely sipping on coffee and chatting. I love the café culture in Vietnam.
In Old Quarter, there’s a café practically every few meters. For the first week of our stay, we visited a new one (or two) everyday. But today, we go for the familiar and walk across the street to our favorite one. The owner is friendly, the coffee is strong, and the prices are right.
On this day, there’s a chicken tied to a tree next to us. In Hanoi, there’s always something interesting to look at!
1:00 pm: two coffees, tea is complimentary (cost: 40,000 VND or $1.87 US)
I’ve never been a coffee drinker. The taste kind of grosses me out. But Vietnamese coffee is a magical creation. First of all, it’s brewed with a French drip filter which makes it intensely strong. And most importantly, it’s made with sweetened condensed milk (aka. nectar of the gods). This makes the coffee so good that upon my first sip, I declared myself a Vietnamese coffee aficionado.
I sip my coffee slowly. Mmm… so good. Yes, tired… need caffeine! Immediately, I can feel my heartbeat rising and my body getting all jittery.
We hang out at the café for a while until D decides he’s getting hungry again, so we go walking around town. I’ve already talked about the Old Quarter in my last post, so I will share just one more picture. I can never get enough of the street scene here!
Street kitchens dominate the food scene in Hanoi. In fact, half the time, you’re forced to walk on the street because the vendors have already claimed the sidewalk real estate. A general good rule of thumb is to go where it’s crowded. We’re intrigued by a group of people sitting on stools cradling steamy bowls of soup.
2:15 pm: D gets a bowl of bun rieu – 15,000 VND or $0.70 US
It turns out to be bun rieu, a northern crab and tomato noodle soup made with thin rice noodles. There’s no real crab meat pieces in there, but rather small clusters of crab egg. Nevertheless, it’s rich yet refreshing and tangy. And the best part: a bowl of this on the street cost 15,000 VND, or a mere US 70 cents. You can definitely eat well in Vietnam on the cheap.
We go back to the hotel to rest, but I’m restless with all the caffeine coursing through my veins. So we go back out to explore again. There’s really not much to do in terms of touristy things, so to pass the time, we stop at another café. This time, we opt for tea as it’s getting late in the afternoon.
4:30 pm: another café break! (cost: 25,000 VND or $1.17 US)
We also partake in the people’s favorite pastime: munching on sunflower seeds! They are very addictive. We do as the locals do and discard the shells on the sidewalk as we eat. An hour later, the plate has emptied and we have a nice carpet of shells at our feet.
With our appetites worked up, we go for real food. In the past couple of years, pho has become one of my favorite foods. The main reason I was so excited to visit Vietnam is so I can gorge on authentic noodle soup. And so, my day is not complete if it did not include a bowl. We go to our favorite evening pho lady. Though she’s light on the smiles, her soup is heavy on the deliciousness, so she’s won our loyal patronage.
6:15 pm: pho at our favorite dinner stall (cost: 90,000 VND or $4.21 US)
Later in the evening, when we’re hungry again, we go out to search for a quick bite. We walk by a granny steaming up banh cuon fresh on the sidewalk. She’s a one woman show with a one table restaurant. We take seats in front of her and immediately, she starts to fill a plate with food. (Please excuse the poor photo quality as all I had was my iPhone).
9:00 pm: joining another couple at the table for some banh cuon
Banh cuon is made with a pork and mushroom filling wrapped in freshly steamed rice paper, then topped with crunchy fried shallots. Fish sauce, chilis, and fresh herbs are served alongside. She also steams up a few pieces of cinnamon pork (a springy ground pork cake). She continues to pile food on our plate until we’re stuffed. Banh cuon is a common street food in Hanoi, and they’re the perfect snack to end the day!
banh cuon for 2 people (cost: 100,000 VND or $4.68 US)
Back in the hotel, we both settle down to work. My heart is still racing from the coffee earlier. The hours slip by… I watch as the clock ticks to 2 am… 3 am… and still no signs of weariness. Finally, when I close my eyes, I fall into a restless, fretful sleep. And when I wake in the morning, I feel dead tired as if I haven’t slept.
And thus, the cycle begins again.
Total for the day: $16.05 US. On average, our food cost for two people in Hanoi came out to approximately $15 US per day. In terms of cost & quality of food, I think Vietnam is one of the highest value travel destinations.
How is your day going? :)
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Love these posts! Oh my gosh, all the food sounds amazing – I really love the thought of the pavement restaurants and choosing somewhere busy is always the way to go :) Thanks for sharing your day!
Thanks Marcella! I really loved just randomly stopping and eating whatever they are cooking on the sidewalk. It’s such a fun part of the culture!
I’m so hungry now from reading this post! Especially the coffee! x
Oh, you’ll love the Hanoi egg coffee too! They whip an egg yolk with the condensed milk and mix with coffee. It creates a SUPER sweet and thick coffee that’s practically like a custard!
Oh my gosh, so much yum. This is such a tease, I’m drooling at my desk. (Sorry coworkers.) I also laughed out loud at this part: “…it’s made with sweetened condensed milk (aka. nectar of the gods)” Ha! So true!
I know! That stuff is SO good. And when you go, make sure you find a coffee shop with egg coffee! It’s mixed with whipped egg yolk & condensed milk, and it turns the coffee practically into a custard!
What a day! Are you used to the sleep days/work nights schedule at this point? I’m such a morning (and sunshine) person… I would probably struggle! The Vietnamese coffee you speak of sounds sooooo dreamy! Has the addiction subsided now that you’re in Singapore?
Ugh I am not a morning person at all. I’m pretty used to the schedule, but it does feel like we’re wasting half the day sometimes! Thank goodness it was only a temporary addiction. Singapore is so much more expensive so we don’t go out to cafes anymore, and just make our own tea in the house!
Hahaha, this sound so much like what my boyfriend and I do on trips when there aren’t that many sites to see or beaches to hang out on – eat, drink, eat, wait until we’re hungry again… or not.
I’m with you on regular coffee. While I might care about having quality food and even cocktails, I haven’t been able to really get into coffee or what it tastes like. I’m just in it for the energy. But throw some condensed milk in there and I’m all for it!
Oh I know. You just can’t go wrong with sweetened condensed milk! I find that I almost always enjoy the cities without too much to see more. Because then we don’t feel rushed to run around and see things and just get to hang out and eat all day!
Busy day! I cant believe it starts at noon :) Jealous! And that pho?? Makes me want to jump on a plane to Hanoi, stat.
I know… I feel kinda guilty about wasting half the day :/. The pho is SOoooo good in Vietnam (in both Hanoi and Saigon… slightly different styles, but both are amazing!). I’m in love with pho even more now!
All the food looks so delicious. I don’t know about the coffee though…. maybe I’ll have to try it myself though unfortunately I’m not Vietnam is in the cards for me this time around.
Condensed milk makes the coffee for me! D usually likes his coffee black, and he says that way is really good too because of the way they make it. Awww I hope you can make it to Vietnam next time. It’s been one of my favorite countries so far!
Omg, drool. I love how food-centric your days are :) Also I’m sensing a chicken theme… or am I crazy? ;) PS I don’t know how you operate with that sleep schedule—it’s like trying to live the days of two time zones?? I would be so exhausted all the time! Mad props.
I think the north eats a lot of chicken. I can’t be sure, but I believe that chicken pho is really popular in Hanoi, while beef pho is more popular in the South. Whatever the case, the chicken is really good there!
The schedule is definitely a little hard. But it’s not too bad because we wake up so late! And he doesn’t need to start working until later at night, so we still have the day to explore and do stuff. :)
Ah, when you put it like that, it seems like it’s the PERFECT schedule, actually. Chicken pho is a weird new concept for me… here in the States, I’ve only seen beef pho! Is it… grilled…. chicken?
Yeah the States is mostly beef pho, but I think it’s because the States only have Southern style pho. Nope, it’s boiled chicken, really tender! I still like the Southern beef pho better though. :)
Anna, Wow…that’s my kind of day restaurant to cafe to restaurant to cafe…love it!
Those kind of days are my favorite too! Hanoi was one of the most fun cities to do it in too. :D
Wow, I want to eat all that food!! it looks amazing! i have a feeling I would love breakfast in Hanoi/Vietnam. I love brunch because I really enjoy eating more savory foods that border on lunch for my first meal of the day, so rice would definitely satisfy my taste buds! When I read your subtitle, I was intrigued because I remembered you saying you don’t like coffee – but now seeing all those cafes, I can see why you converted over to the “dark side” with the rest of us, lol! I love coffee, and am intrigued by Vietnamese coffee now! Lovely post, thanks for sharing a glimpse of your life in Hanoi!
You would love the sticky rice then! I was really obsessed with the pate topping. And you would love Vietnamese coffee too. I didn’t have coffee while in France, but I wonder now if it’s similar?? Since obviously the coffee part of the culture came from the French!
Not having been to Vietnam, it seems like the cafe culture comes from France, but not the coffee itself. The French actually generally don’t make good coffee (at least in the cafes) – it can taste bitter or acidic. Though in Paris there has been a movement of specialty cafes that pride themselves in the quality of their beans and coffee-making techniques. So it’s possibly to get some really good coffee if you know where to go! (All that to say you didn’t miss much by not having coffee in France!)
Oh that’s good to know! It seems like the craft coffee movement is everywhere now. Maybe you can find an authentic Vietnamese cafe. :)
I thought your pho looked… weird. That’s chicken, right? I thought pho means, beef noodles soup?
Yep, that’s chicken pho. I think chicken pho is more popular in Hanoi. Pho actually just means “noodle soup.” :) Pho ga is with chicken, and pho bo is with beef!
Oh that banh cuon – please send me some over now!! I’m sad I totally missed out on the sticky glutinous rice stalls – didn’t even notice that – I was with my parents though and they are sometimes more cautious with street foods etc so we did end up eating in restaurants a few times. Jealous of your coffee routine out there – I was never a coffee drinker. At all. And then I went to Vietnam and it is so decadent and delicious out there that I made the most of that every day during my trip!
I know!! Some condensed milk changes everything. And the banh cuon is so good! It was one of our favorite snack meals. I love how you can literally see them making it fresh in front of you too! I’m surprised your parents are cautious with street food being from India!
Nice that you had a fairly relaxing day like a local would rather than rushing around fitting in all the sights which I tend to be a bit guilty of!
Suze | LuxuryColumnist
There’s no fear of that in Hanoi, because there’s really not a lot of attractions to see! The best part of the city is just observing the local life. :D
So much food!!! I’m considering taking a trip to South East Asia last this year, and Vietnam is high on my list! I’m definitely going to troll through your SEA posts ;)
Chalsie | The Workshop Co. x
Oooh I hope you go to Vietnam! I really loved Hanoi and the culture there. It’s nothing like I’ve ever seen. And the food was the BEST. It’s always so fresh and so affordable. I really think it’s one of the best value destinations I’ve been to!
That Pho is literally making my mouth water – one of my absolute favourite foods and the main reason I am looking forward to visiting Vietnam
Me too! The pho is so unbelievably good there. And you’ll also find SO much more delicious food besides pho!
Love ALL your photographs! My parents are actually in Vietnam now! I’ve been dying to go, see where my parents grew up but haven’t had the chance. Your posts are making me want to go bad!
How awesome!! I hope you make it to Vietnam someday! I totally fell in love with the culture there. It’s soooo interesting and different from anything I’ve seen. It’d be so special to see where your parents grew up!
Any day filled with yummy food is a good day!!!
I totally agree! And Vietnamese food is some of the yummiest!
I don’t really like coffee either, but Vietnamese coffee is super yum. I really want to go to Vietnam and just eat. I love pho and wouldn’t mind it everyday for awhile – especially when its so cheap!
Exactly! I was determined to eat pho everyday in Vietnam – and I did! It’s so funny how all the non-coffee lovers all love Vietnamese coffee!
Vietnam is seriously one of my favorite counties! That banh cuon looks incredible. My husband is Vietnamese and has since introduced me to its cuisine for which I’m eternally thankful. It looks like you ate well on your trip! It’s really interesting to see the difference between Northern and Southern Vietnamese cuisine.
After visiting Vietnam, it became one of my favorite countries too! It must have been so special to visit the country with your husband. Before going, I only knew about pho and vermicelli bowls, and I was amazed to discover so much more than that. I loved seeing the differences between food from the north and south too! I would say I’m partial to the north as of now. :)
I live in the south of Vietnam and your post makes me want to fly to the north of Vietnam to enjoy those delicous food. I really want to eat Xoi Yen.
Yes, Xoi Yen is SOOO good! No wonder it’s so famous. The sticky rice and pate is the best. :) Where in South Vietnam do you live? I loved both the food in the north and south!