#Vietnam #Hanoi #FreeTravel

Day 3 of my Hanoi trip Today's breakfast was Vietnamese rock sugar bird's nest. It tasted pretty good, a bit like what I'd have in Thailand, with a sweet, syrupy flavor. I stumbled upon eel vermicelli noodles and fried eel spring rolls. The eel was crispy and sweet, the vermicelli noodles tasted like Indonesian coconut instant noodles, and the soup was similar to Vietnamese pho. 70,000$81 My friend recommended egg coffee. My first sip was like, "Wow! This is the legendary egg coffee!" It tasted a bit like crème brûlée. The second sip had a slightly fishy flavor, and I was hoping for the more liquid coffee underneath. But! What the heck! No coffee at all! I thought it was just milk cap, with coffee underneath. Overall, it was pretty good, but I'd have liked some coffee underneath; it would have been great. There was some concentrated liquid in the middle, but not much. I was hoping for a more fluid, more intense egg and coffee. I drank it hot, but the iced coffee next door was exactly what I'd ordered, so I should have ordered it. Since I only took a sip or two, the waiter only charged me for one cup. The second stop was the Dong Xuan Wholesale Market. On the way, we passed a hardware street with stainless steel kitchenware, door handles, and locks. Near the market, everything was selling National Day merchandise. Many Vietnamese locals were draped in national flag shawls and taking photos. The road was crowded with cars and people, and the honking of horns was deafening. Then we continued onto the red-lit street, which looked like a Lunar New Year shopping street. I originally thought it would be like the coffee and dried fruit shops in Thailand, but it was more like the old market next to the Korean five-star shop. I was quite disappointed because I wanted to buy coffee, and my friend bought a hat for $160. There was a fountain inside the market, but it reeked of urine, so we left. After the market, we went to Train Street. Actually, along the way out of the market, there was something like an arched bridge, where the trains would run. There were also many vendors selling wreaths with flower columns, the kind used for rituals. I looked closer and saw that they weren't all made of fresh flowers. Some were made of colored bubble wrap, bent into flower-like shapes. We then found the stairs on the arch bridge leading up to Train Street, so we started from the back. I'd read online that if you enter from the front, there would be security. The train station looked quite colorful and interesting, but due to the weather, I still felt the photos weren't very good, which was a shame. The train wasn't running, but that was fine, as it seemed safer. We then had mango coconut ice cream and fruit tea. 242,000$280 Imperial City Tickets 2,000,000$230/2 The interior wasn't as spectacular as I'd imagined. Although it's a World Heritage Site, it was quite deserted. The building, which you can reach on the second floor, seemed to be used for rituals. It was stuffy and smelly, like urine. I was a little disappointed, so I didn't go to the Ho Chi Minh City attractions. The weather was incredibly hot and muggy today, and I felt wet and sticky all day. Mango Cake 85,000$ The cream was made with coconut milk, and the filling was filled with mango and longan. After finishing the cake, we went to a hipster-looking cafe next door. I'd been craving coconut milk coffee, but it wasn't available. I spent a long while looking at the menu and ended up ordering a caramel macchiato. For dinner, we had a French Michelin restaurant. The smoked salmon, the Michelin-rated first course, was absolutely delicious, with layers of aroma and a perfectly salty flavor. The accompanying sauce was unique in every drop. The soft-serve cream was scallion-based, and the bread was crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. It had a floury aroma, and the scallops were fresh and sweet without any fishy smell. The chef treated the foie gras like a dessert. The yellow mango and kumquat sauce tasted like body odor, which was quite impressive. 🤣🤣🤣 The black sauce was chocolate. The beef had a very strong charcoal flavor upon entering the mouth and was very tender and flavorful. The dessert, yogurt cream and lemon sorbet, had a unique texture.