2025 Hanoi (including Japantown)
October 6, 2025, Mid-Autumn Festival + National Day, Hanoi
This is actually my second time in Hanoi. To be more precise, it's actually my first time in Hanoi.
One of my previous visits was with a dark, trashy business tour group that took me to Do Son and only passed through Hanoi. The concept is the same as me passing through Kaohsiung every day.
If I follow this calculation, I've probably contributed over 300 crappy domestic trips.
Another time, I was here with friends for just two days and was taken to a B&B in Bac Ninh.
It was around 8:30 PM when I got off the plane, but I insisted on taking the bus. Hanoi's buses are really terrible.
The bus to the city center only runs every hour or so (scheduled to run every 45 minutes, but traffic jams and the driver's cigarette break meant it took about an hour).
And if it's after 10 PM, there are no buses left, and you can't just take any bus. You have to take bus number 86. If you get on the wrong bus, it'll take you straight to Cambodia—not to Haiphong, Halong Bay, Ninh Binh, or somewhere far away... Compared to Ho Chi Minh City...
Taking the bus in Ho Chi Minh City is like jumping on any bus and getting to the city center.
The first thing I noticed when the bus pulled into Hanoi was that the streets were surprisingly cleaner than those in Ho Chi Minh City. While not as bustling as Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi has a feeling of being a poor kid, yet feeling thin, comfortable, and clean.
Ho Chi Minh City, on the other hand, feels like a chubby, greasy, and dirty rich kid.
Hanoi as a whole feels much improved. The highways, streets, and environment are all much better than they were five years ago (five years ago, Hanoi's highways were terrible).
If I were to settle down, I'd probably choose Hanoi. I've been to so many places in Ho Chi Minh City, and the overall environment is really not that great.
But don't talk about the differences between North and South with Vietnamese people; they love to argue about them.
Aside: I personally think South Vietnamese girls are much more attractive, while North Vietnamese girls are clearly one or two levels lower in appearance.
So the best combination is to marry a South Vietnamese girl and live in North Vietnam.
The hotel I chose this time was in Hanoi's Japantown. Japanese people love to open a Japanese-style izakaya wherever they go and refuse to learn the local language.
My master has been in Taiwan for over 10 years, and he doesn't speak Chinese.
Compared to me, he's definitely not as good as me in this regard. I started learning Vietnamese before I even settled in Vietnam.
Hanoi's Japanese Street was featured on YT, but when I actually visited it, I found it... quite boring.
Hanoi's Japanese Street consists of a few bars in the alleys along P. Ling Lang Road. That's it.
Compared to District 8A in Ho Chi Minh City's Japanese Street, it's a far cry from the rest.
The only similarity is that business is very poor... but somehow, the shops insist on staying open.
Yesterday was Saturday, and I thought it would be bustling, but the street was so deserted I thought it was Monday.
After visiting 7 or 8 bars with friends, we concluded that the Japanese Street scene in Hanoi is very chaotic. It can be roughly divided into three categories.
1. Hourly (Bar Area)
350,000-380,000 VND (400-500 NTD) per person per hour for all-you-can-drink drinks.
Tips for girls: 250,000-300,000 VND per hour (300-400 NTD).
2. Hourly (Private Karaoke Area)
1,000,000 VND per person per hour (but before 12:00 PM, no time limit). This means if you come at 9:00 and sing until 12:00, it's still 1 million VND (all-you-can-drink).
But after 12:00, it's 1 million VND per person per hour, also all-you-can-drink.
Tips for girls: No need to tip (but you have to buy a lady drink for 250,000 VND).
Fuck you! Luckily I understand Vietnamese, it's super complicated. One time is a timer, and the other time is no time limit before 12:00. Damn, it's so confusing.
3. Counting Drinks
This is much simpler. You pay for what you drink. If the girl doesn't have a lady drink, her drinks will be charged according to the menu.
Anyway, you pay for everything she drinks, but you don't have to buy her drinks.
4. Counting Drinks
Fuck. This is also a bit complicated. Simply put, it's 300,000 VND per person, no time limit, all-you-can-drink.
But if you want the girl to accompany you, you have to give her a lady drink.
Lady drinks at various establishments. The prices were quite confusing.
Some were priced in US dollars and some in Vietnamese Dong. Damn, why aren't there any in Japanese Yen?
Isn't this Japantown?
Anyway, avoid any place priced in US dollars. 99.87% of the time, you'll be ripped off.
Only places priced in Vietnamese Dong are allowed.
Later, my friend and I chose a place with a timed check-in service so we could stick to our budget. In Vietnam, you never know what tricks a lady drink might play, and you end up blowing your budget.
In the end, we paid about NT$1,700 per person (including the lady's fee) for a private room, two hours of karaoke, and all-you-can-drink drinks.
For the price, I think it was okay.
The atmosphere was similar to that of a hotel, but with minimal cuddling and, at most, leg touching.
Karaoke bars in Ho Chi Minh City are pretty much the same these days, except they don't allow takeout in Hanoi.
But takeout in Ho Chi Minh City is either a bummer or a scam. At least Hanoi is better.