24 Hours in Hanoi: A Chaotic Craze

joemarquis10
Jun 12, 2017
2 min read

My first 24 hours in Hanoi has been hectic. Before even getting here, my flight was delayed from Toronto to Tokyo, and I ended up having to spend the night in the Tokyo Airport (got three-thousand yen, a hotel room, and a morning flight from Air Canada... so I'm happy!).

New t-shirt I bought at the Tokyo airport:

Bought a cool new shirt at the airport with my yen. Thanks Air Canada!

It took me a couple of hours after my 5-hour flight from Tokyo to Hanoi to finally make it to my apartment. My landlord met me out front of my apartment (somewhat serendipitously), and I got my keys and finger-scanner entry to the apartment building sorted out (Whoa! Now that's high tech!). We had intended to explore the city a bit, but I passed out from the jet-lag (11 hour time-difference hits you like a ton of bricks). I woke up at midnight without any food in the house, and with a single bottle of drinkable water. I literally chewed gum all night until 7am before I grabbed some coffee and spicy dehydrated shredded chicken for breakfast (it was either this or sunflower seeds... so I went for it). Not bad!

Iced coffee and spicy dehydrated shredded chicken

Today was my first shift at HealthBridge - the organization I am working with for the Master of Public Health program at Western University. It was incredible! Everybody is so nice. They are all incredibly supportive. Plus, there's a chef that makes fresh Vietnamese food everyday during the lunch hours!

Everyone eats together and shares the food!

I'm currently using Uber to get around the city. It's quite convenient, and VERY cheap in comparison to Canada (even without using the available promotion codes, my 10-minute Uber ride to-and-from work barely cost me $2 CAD each way). It'd like to jump on one of those cool mopeds that everyone in the city seems to drive, but it's seriously hectic. Like... absolutely crazy. I saw a man speeding off with a full sized German Sheppard dog in a cage on the back of his moped. I've seen a family of four crammed onto a moped (Snapchat, 2017). I'm just not ready for that craziness yet. Maybe in another 24 hours things will change for me...

Mother and children riding on a moped:

I was able to "unlock" my phone today with my landlord, which was great. He's been very helpful in helping me adjust to this new culture. We went grocery shopping afterwards to ensure that I never starve myself again in my apartment. It's 9pm right now, and yet it's still over 30 degrees celsius with 90% humidity. I'm unwinding with my 40 cent beer on the balcony.

This is the view from my balcony: