HK Independent Traveller Blog

Hoi An is a city located at the middle of Vietnam. The focal point of interest is the old Hoi An, the city's historical centre.  Hoi An flourished and became an important trading port between 15th and 19th century. However, its importance waned sharply by the end of 18th century. The new emperor Gia Long repaid the French's aids by giving them exclusive trade rights to the nearby port town of Da Nang. Da Nang emerged and Hoi An became forgotten. Not until 200 years have elapsed, Kazimierz Kwiatkowski (Polish architect) brought Hoi An back to light. Being a well preserved example of a Southeast Asian trading port and with buildings displaying a blend of local and foreign influences, Hoi An old town was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. Our hotel ( Pearl River Hoi An Hotel ) is located 1.2km away from the old town centre.  We walked leisurely along the river.  The silence was broken once we have left the river. Lively scenes pop up. Around the corner is a je...

We joined a local foodie tour in Hanoi.  Our tour guide, Kevin, is a fabulous person, very optimistic, customer-oriented and funny. The plan was to take us to 9 places for snacks. But he received a call from his boss that he could take us to 11 places. Magnificent!  我們在河內參加了一個 本地街頭小食團 ， Kevin是我們的導遊，他是一個很精彩的人、樂觀、細心和有趣。本來的計劃是帶我們去九個不同的地方品嚐小吃，但他上級臨時叫他帶我們去11個地方嚐試美食。實在是太好了！ Our first destination was spring roll which I showed in another post . One of the best visits is ice cream, cool and nice! The ice cream shop is located at the rim of the  Hoan Kiem Lake  near the Old Quarter. Opposite to the shop is the beige colour  BaoViet  Building. We ordered green sticky rice (cốm) and coconut milk ice cream. Both were very good and not too sweet. If you like new trial, then go for the green sticky rice for its unique flavour. 我們第一道小吃是春卷，我在另一個帖文有提及的。最賞心樂事的是雪糕，透心涼又好味！雪糕店是位於還劍湖的一邊，接近Old Quarter，對面是杏色的BaoViet銀行大廈。我們選擇了 綠色糯米 和椰子牛奶雪條，兩款都很美味也不太甜，如果你喜歡新嘗試，那你...

In this post, I will share the outstanding noodle places I visited in Hanoi. Noodles in Vietnam are named after their form. Pho is beef stock and spices to which flat rice noodles (like fettuccine) and thinly sliced beef or chicken are added. Bun is soft rice vermicelli (more cylindrical). Here explains the key staple foods in Vietnam. You can see the difference better in the photo below. 在本帖文我會分享一些在河內我曾到訪的頂尖粉面店，在越南，粉是由它們的形狀而命名的， Pho是比較寬闊的粉，好像河粉或意大利寬麵，通常用牛肉和湯烹調，有時候也會加雞肉。Bun是米造成的柔軟粉絲（圓筒形，似米線）， 按這裏 可認識越南的主糧，又或者你可以看下圖來察覺它們的分別。 When we were riding the airport shuttle to the centre of Hanoi, I read about the best phos recommended by Culture Trip . The top recommendation, Pho Gia Truyen , which is close to our hotel. After check in we headed to 49, Bat Dan. Oops, it was not in service as the food was sold out that day. We were advised to come in the evening. 當我們在搭乘機場穿梭巴士往河內市中心時,我讀到由Culture Trip撰寫的”最好的河粉”,冠軍推介是 Pho Gia Truyen ,原來很近我們的酒店。在 Golden Rooster 酒店check-in後...