Back at the Sofitel Hanoi- Feb 22-23

After another long 3 hour drive- 4 with our driver, he is so slow, we finally reached Hanoi. We were back again to my favourite place to stay the Sofitel Hanoi(sadly only for 1 more night). The family would rank this hotel as part of our personal top 10 best hotels we have stayed including notable ones like the Burj, Lake Palace, Londolozi, Chateau Lake Louise, Banff Springs Hotel.

This time we were upgraded to the old part and given a balcony. I almost felt like Evita on it. However, the room was tiny and tired compared to the new modern room we had before. The best parts of the room were the history, near the better lobby and awesome bathtub.

The cyclo tour that afternoon involved each of us having our own pedicabs around hanoi's old district. There is no such thing as manners on the road, you just have to go slowly but surely in the destination you want and people will avoid you- even as pedestrians(scary). Most of the tour left my mother and myself itching to buy some of the street food. It finally ended at the Water Puppet Show. The only word I can use was interesting- imagine Pacific Mall on Crack this was worse. I did enjoy the part where the carp became a golden dragon.

For dinner we tried a fodorite recommendation: La Badiane. Looks can be deceiving with the faded walls and crumbling ceiling this is one of Hanoi's top restaurants.

The moment I saw a Tasting Menu, I knew I had to have it. The of the family ordered a la carte.

I decided to try this Cocktail- TI Punch- a cinnamon lime rum punch that was suprisingly delicious.

My Appetizers consisted of Hot Pumpkin soup, Beet and goat cheese Spring Rolls and raw salmon with sesame cracker on top. I loved the Spring Rolls and want to try making them. The Salmon portion was okay but the soup was quite nice.

My Mother had this crab concoction- Her verdict was the dish was okay.

My Father had a Chorizo ravioli with a foam on top- He wasn't too in love with the dish due to the foam(something he is not in love with)

My father's main made up for the foam. It was australian beef with pea puree.

My Mother main was a crab and asparagus risotto. We were both in love with her dish, not bland at all. I would say the best dish of the night.

My dish was lamb chop coated with coffee. The coffee made the dish but otherwise just okay.

Mine came with a cheese course- eggplant and goat cheese crumble- an unique idea but it was alright not great.

My Mother for dessert had the raspberry puffs- which was presented beautifully but were nothing special. The best part was the sugar basket.

My father had the creme brulee tasting- traditional, coffee and green tea. He liked his dish and said they were executed perfectly.

My dessert was the tasting- one raspberry puff, a mint chocolate brulee and marinated strawberries with cream on top. I loved the brulee and strawberries and like my mother had a similar opinion about the raspberry dish.

Overall a wonderful meal. The service was quick as we had requested. The only thing to consider in this part of Asia is that water is never free even in the nicest restaurants.

Our Hotel and Old wing:

Our final tour of city: We were supposed to visit ho chi minh's mausoleum, however we only saw it from the outside. Our guide instead of leaving early to avoid the line like the other guides took us at the peak time (1 hour wait) and since it was just a mausoleum we decided to not wait in line.We then modified our visit to include a temple and walk around the old district of Hanoi.

Our Walking tour of Hanoi during the rain:

 This man was blow torching the pork- interesting technique.


Our final meal in Hanoi: Green Tangerine. Then we are off to the airport to Ho Chi Minh City (AKA Saigon). This restaurant looks like a dive on the outside and inside has a beautiful courtyard.

For the first course my father had the raw beef tropical salad- which was to die for and beautifully presented in the coconut piece.

My Mother and myself had the prawn fritters and spring rolls. The prawn fritters were very ordinary but the springs rolls were delicious and different from previous ones.

My Father's main course was the saffron fish- something he enjoyed even though he is not fond of fish. The only issue with the dish is the dried basket of noodles- that were inedible(sadly).

Our main course was the stir fried beef and tamarid fish with rice. We loved the tamarid fish- sweet and different from the Indian tamarid. The beef was a dissapointment and very touristy. It reminded me of something I got at Manchu Wok.

Our dessert was flambed bananas and coconut ice cream. Overall- wonderful finish to the meal.

I liked this restaurant but felt La Badiane was better value for money and better food choice. The major problem with this restaurant was it was touristy and the food reflected that. However being the start of our trip did not want to take any chances with my health.

Now we are off the Ho Chi Minh City via Vietnam airlines. This airline is strange that business class passengers do not have a separate boarding call, actually everyone runs and pushes to get onto the flight. The bathrooms also lacked soap and coming off the flight all the people knew not to use the bathrooms on board.

Halong Bay- Halong Violet- Feb. 21 to 22, 2011

After a 3 hour journey we expected to be wowed- since this boat was sold as the most luxurious and expensive  boat. All I can say is GROSS!! The only good thing was the food and halong bay. I hope never to board the Violet again. Not worth the price we paid and the hygiene was a major issue.

This boat was only 2 years old but was rusted like a 10 year old ship and then the towels and surfaces were dirty. In fact we found out if you threw a dirty towel on the floor they would pick it up and refold it and then put it on top of the clean towels.

I ended up breaking 2 rollaways- I should mention I paid a 1 person charge and was given a rollaway for a 70 pound child. I am NOT that and unlike other rollaways there was no part in the middle to connect the two pieces together. Weirdly, the bed was split into two mattresses.  The final resolution was an uncomfortable matress on the floor and glassy look in their eyes(in Vietnam this translates to we speak English but really only know 3 words, Nobody really speaks or understands English).

The food was excellent and we wanted to steal their chef. Especially because her food deserves a better environment to showcase the quality and beauty.

Our First meal consisted of traditional Vietnamese dishes (Not the only one we know PHO):

Spring Rolls: Wonderfully presented and done- a favourite of my family

Clear Crab Soup: Something that appears to be served at most Vietnamese meals

Grilled Shrimp on Mango Salad- for those that know my mother she makes the best mango salad. However, she conceded this Chef made a better one.

Our Main course was Sea Bass- beautifully prepared but not as tasty as the previous dishes.

For dessert they stepped away from the traditional Vietnamese to Cheesecake. We had brought our own fresh jackfruit, so I admit to not trying this dish.

The rest of our day was sailing along Halong Bay area, visiting a floating village (that actually had nothing to sell but had people doing real work) and then having a wonderful dinner in a Cave. This Cave dinner was not part of our itineray, however our company found the cave in December. As a result they could host private dinners in it with permission from the government.

Our Cave Dinner: This was the highlight of our trip and made up for how gross the boat was.

Day 2: We only had the morning on the boat then back to Hanoi for our cyclo tour and water puppet show.

That morning we learnt how to make fresh spring rolls. I have to say it was a tie between my dad and myself how made the best ones.

Verdict: The boat was not worth the money however the food, Halong Bay and the Cave were wonderful experiences.

Sofitel Hanoi- February 20th to 21st

Coming in late off our Asiana flight we spent the night in the Sofitel Hanoi. The journey from the airport here takes about 1 hour and our driver was the slowest one I have ever been with. Just to give some perspective, my dad and myself would have passed him within 2 minutes and my mom within 5 minutes. We think he was paid by the hour judging how slow he drove everyday (Vietnam we learnt during our trip is a strange country).

The Hotel has two lobbies- one for the older Hotel and one of the new. Our driver dropped us off at the Older one and it was a classic French architecture. Our room however was located in the new portion that was created to mimic the old style with modern amentities.

The new hotel:

After eating a wonderful breakfast, we left this gem for our stay in Halong Violet at Halong Bay. The breakfast was great included all types of Asian and North American choices and I even got a chance to tried their High priced tea (about $10 Canadian).

Verdict: A wonderful hotel and looking forward to returning here after Halong Bay.

Asiana Business Class- February 20, 2011 Seoul to Hanoi

We were welcomed in as usual Business Class passengers. This time unlike the First Class no introduction to the purser or pampering. They did offer us the champagne and juice before takeoff as usual.

Foodie: I tried the Korean option: Beef Bulgogi with lettuce and it was tasty. There were first only going to give me fresh fruit till I asked for Ice Cream(on the Western menu but not on the Korean one). I then enjoyed a quick bit of Haagen Daz Vanilla.

Bed: This a Lie Flat business class which means it does not go down all the way. It was fine but not as comfortable as First Class.

Verdict: Okay flight for 5 hours but nothing special. However, when we landed in Hanoi we were able to the be the first in line for our visa(if we had gone straight to immigration with visa done before we would have to wait to get thru). We then had a 15 min wait to the front and individually had to speak to the officer. Meanwhile, everyone from our flight was waiting for their bags and ours being priority were there for us.

Onwards to the Hanoi Portion.

Asiana First Class Lounge and Business Class Lounge- February 20, 2011

As a passenger coming off a First Class I decided to try the First class lounge first. I had a wonderful shower- except they gave a general shampoo, conditioner, and other essentials. I felt a bit gross about this considering the experience they tried to give and took out my lufthansa ones from the lounge and used these.

Food and drinks: They had 4 hot dishes including Korean, Dim Sum and noodles and a number of cold selection The Champagne was Mumms and average drink selection except for the Johnny Walker Blue Label. The best part of the Haagen Daz selection- Green tea, vanilla, chocolate, macamdia, bars and carmel ice cream sandwich.

After enjoying this lounge met my family in the business class one. This lounge was more crowded and limited food selection- only noodle soup, chicken nuggets and salad. The drink selection was worse but we only had 2 hours left till the Hanoi Flight.

Verdict: Lufthansa won hands down on this round. I was not impressed by the Asiana first class though the business class lounge is okay for a business class one.

Asiana First Class February 19th from Frankfurt to Seoul

Using our free tickets allowed me to redem a first class reward. Instead of continuing on Lufthansa I tried their Asian partner/competitor Asiana. The moment I walked into the cabin I felt the word PAMPER. I was the only women of 5 people in a 12 seat cabin. We had four wonderful women fluttering and there to grab a bag, put it up, nothing was too small for them to do for us. During the flight, I mistakely tried to put away my table tray and a second later one said NO, NO and quickly put it away (like she had failed by allowing it to sit for a minute).

The meal was wonderful here. No Caviar but they served a Tattinger Comte de comte champagne and everything was beautifully prepared.

To start off we had a beautiful pate, smoked salmon and mushrooms in cucumber- a tasty dish.

We moved to a hot potato cream soup with melted cheese on toast- very yummy and satisfying dish.

The next course was a mango yougurt salad- all right but the worst of all the courses.

The main course I selected was the Korean BimBiBap. The attendant was suprised by my choice and equally suprised I knew how to make the dish (enjoyed this dish many times at my time at Queen's)

Finally the cheese course- ordinary by Lufthansa's standards but it will pass.

Then my favourite course- a mascarpone tart with blueberry sauce- interesting and tasty.

The service was amazing as mentioned before. After each one of us used one of 2 washrooms, they cleaned it up. The purser unlike the Lufthansa flight acted as our 4th staff member in providing us with our meals. The only issue if anything was their English was basic (I will have to amend this statement now writing from Vietnam).

Fellow passengers were Korean businessmen. Nothing unusual about most of them except one man couldn't wait to change in his pajamas during takeoff. I turn my head a minute to get the view outside and the man is in his boxers with pajamas coming up his legs. I then decided not to turn again. Strange.

The bed- unlike Lufthansa they know how to make a bed. They first put a mattress to ensure comfort and then gave a very warm duvet.

Overall, I enjoyed the pampering and want to come back again. I know had to wait 4 hours till I saw my family and then take our flight to Hanoi.