I turned 30 yesterday. It was such a special day for me. Lots of friends spent their time coming to my house to help me prepare for the party and then even more friends came to join the party in the evening. My party started at 6.30 but I don't know when it finished because I drank so much beer but I think it was about 3am!
I spent about five hours organizing the flowers from 12am to 2.30 am, then in the morning from 9.00 am to 12.30pm. My friend Mark, helped me to cooked steamed vegetables with his own special dressing recipe, three different curries, two vegetarian including pumpkin curry, potato and eggplant curry and a beef curry. My colleagues from Wild Rice restaurant helped me to prepare lots of fried prawns with chili and lemongrass, ground prawn and cashew nut fried spring rolls, deep fried prawn roll with pork, fresh spring rolls, fresh vegetarian spring rolls, mango salad, mixed salad, stewed beef done in the Hanoi style" Sot Vang", crispy fried squid, mushroom and tofu in clay pot and pan-fried young tofu and bread.
Tiger draught was served for everyone even though all my friends brought their own drinks because it was a BYO party. People had to dress to impress as anything starting with "T" and most of my friends were dressed up with "T" and they looked fantastic. I dressed up as a teacher as I have a T-shirt with words written on it about being a teacher. People dressed as Christmas tinsel, a terrorist, a turtle, a tea bag, a tourist, a tiger family, and even Tin Tin...
After the gifts were opened, my colleagues brought out a surprising birthday cake. With all the lights switched off, everyone sang Happy Birthday and I almost cried with happiness. I still can't believe that I recieved so many gifts and all of them are so special and beautiful. Everyone seemed so nice to me and I hope everyone had a nice evening.
Thanks everyone who came or couldn’t come to my party to help me turn a very OLD 30! Thanks also for supporting me at work and in life, in general. Thanks to my family who remembered my birthday, even though they made me crazy calling me so that I had to run up and down the stairs to answer the phone. It was such fun.
The weather wasn't good for me to start preparations for my birthday. It was raining and so cold, and the following pictures show you how dam wet and cold it was.
The weather wasn't good for me to start preparations for my birthday. It was raining and so cold, and the following pictures show you how dam wet and cold it was. I started my day at a beef 
I finished my shopping at about 11.30 by which time I was completely wet and cold. It's ok, I had a fun time wandering around and had bought everything I needed for my party. 
I asked the seller and she offered me one for 20,000VND but the couple before me paid 10,000. As I mentioned in some of my other posts, bargaining is just a game that should not be too serious.
Kate and Mark are getting married, a really big surprise for their parents. But I am so glad that they decided to celebarte their day here in Viet Nam. Their parents arrived in Hanoi and we all met up at Au Lac House for dinner. This photo shows the happiness in their parents eyes, because they are going to have a nice handsome tall guy and a gorgeous happy girl in both their families.
There are lots of crazy ideas in house design in Viet Nam which is not surprising when you think about our history. In the big cities and even in the countryside, there are so many big architecture firms.
You may laugh when you look at these pictures. Some of them are so ugly with terrible colours and strange ideas. Along with the traditional ochres, I've seen bright pink, purple and green houses here in Hanoi!
Is this a King's crown?
What is this ?
I talked to a lady seller on the street today. She said to me that she earned 25,000Vnd per day wandering around the old quarter, starting her day at 7am and ending it whenever she finished selling her stuff.
A little sweet, a little bit buttery, her produce was edible yams and sweet potatoes. Cakes and sweets can be made from them or they can be enjoyed as a simple snack. They are especially popular in the winter.
Cassava is another common food for Vietnamese who eat it mixed with rice or dipped in salt, sugar and chilli for their meals. This is not really something to eat everyday, but it's good on occasion. They are filling, can be eaten hot or cold and are sold all day long.
Hang Tre (Bamboo) street is the only street where the business remains the same as the name. They sell all products made from bamboo such as ladders, sticks and house foundation. Bamboo is such a great tree from Asia which is strong, pliant and it is the only wood which doesn’t rot due to the humidity in such tropical countries like Viet Nam.
We started the afternoon by meeting up in front of Hanoi towers. A mixed group including one from Iran, four Aussies, one English, one Kiwi and me - Vietnamese with the Vietnamese soldier's hat on. Everyone on the street looked at us and smiled and thought it was funny. They possibly thought that we were strange or that we were doing some act for charity. We went to Hanoi Starbowl for a few games and beers, then down to the funny video arcade games. Most of us had never ever been bowling before and I had a sore thumb for a few hours afterwards.
After bowling, we went to Highway4 for dinner and drank some plum wine which was strong but satisfying. We ordered heaps of food and everyone seemed to enjoy the meal after a couple of hours of bowling down the balls.
The next place on the itinerary was a very luxurious place, the Hanoi Hilton Opera hotel, where listened to a Spanish guy singing in Spanish of which we couldn't understood a word. He seemed very helpful, using the microphone to call the waitress for us - cheers mate! The problem for us was the bill, my goodness me, my eyes almost popped: seven beers, one big bottle of water-and the damage was 490,000Vnd. We consoled ourselves that we deserved it.
We left the luxury for the Bia Hoi called Lan Chin, had a couple of beers each with crackers, peanuts and the bill was like nothing compared to the other places. The beer is really good here, the staff very friendly.We tried to get into the Relax bar and Seventeen Saloon but we couldn't because of the fire drills going on that night. This was a nuisance because we wanted to make a surprise for Mark for his last free night. Anyway, we kept going to Le Pub for more beer and waited for the girl group (hens party) to join us.
Finally, the girls arrived, a bit under the weather but dressed in very nice Ao Dai(traditional long dress). Kate - Mark's wife-to-be looked so gorgeous in Red even after much beer and happiness.
I went home at about 12.30 Am because I had to work early the next day, but all of them left there at 6am, probably a bit drunk. I don't know what went on after I left, but surely I know, they all had a good day. Mark and Kate will be a happy couple forever- Congratulations to you guys from the bottom of my heart.
Spread some mayonnaise on a bread roll, add some grilled fish in the bread roll and heat it in the oven. After five minutes, take the bread out of the oven, add some chilli sauce, fresh coriander, lettuce, cucumber and tomato. Wow, so yummy.
It takes a few mins to make it at home, and even though eating out is really cheap in Vietnam, there is something satisfying about preparing a meal for yourself.
Burning incense is a custom associated with Buddhism in Vietnam. People light incense almost every day at their home altars for their relatives who have passed away, for their business and for the pleasant smell which creates a warm atmosphere. The way the incense sticks are placed into the incense burner on the altar after praying is also important. People say that when the incense finishes burning, the shape of the remains can mean that the god received or rejected your prayer.
Making incense is really difficult according to the lady I talked with today, not because of the shape but because of the aroma and the different ingredients needed to get it right. Incense is made from botannical produce, and there are about 20 kinds of aroma. Huong Tram is one of the most popular ones for Asian people and is made from the tree of the same name. 
There are a few kinds of incense that, when you light them, give off hydrocarbons which can be harmful.
Internal organs porridge no doubt sounds horrible to most people, just the name. But when you eat it, you'll fall in love with it. For Vietnamese like me, it's just so delicious.
From the small intestine, kidney, blood, liver, stomach and heart a few quite different delicious dishes can be made. However, there are two common dishes, one which is steamed and the other is stir fried with vegetable pickles and onion. People drink wine and beer with this dish. One plate of offal is enough for four. I'm sure most westerners would need quite a few beers or wines before they even tried this dish. What do you think?
We bought Misa almost four months ago and can't believehow much he has grown. He's such a cute nice dog. All my friends love him. I usually bring food from 
He loves going out by motorbike, standing on the front like he's driving or by taxi. He always tries to sit on the sofa as he thinks he's a human being. Misa also enjoys having showers and playing in the park or walking down the road. He knows when we return home and he's usually looking down from the roof to get our attention. We love Misa even though he pisses in the wrong place sometimes.
Shoe repairing is such a common street business in Viet Nam. This old lady opens her business from 8am til 4 pm with her very simple shop, a few small chairs, a small machine standing right next to the tree, with shoes hanging as a crazy advertiserment on the wall. It's a classic! She is so friendly and her shop looks busy with heaps of shoes around her in various stages of fixing. It's better to get your old shoes repaired rather than spending a lot of money on a new pair, don't you think?