We are Moving!

After many weeks of consideration, we have finally decided to move! The main push factor was the endless and erratic construction patterns which annoyed me greatly. The housing searching was a pretty swift process (only abt 1 week) and the main reason is because our options were pretty limited, either a serviced apartment or private house.

In recent years, the influx of foreign investments has led to an increase in demand for housing from expatriates. However, the supply of serviced apartments here remain limited, with only a few players in the market such as Sedona Suites, Coco Village, Hanoi Club and Somerset apartments. As a result, rental prices have skyrocketed. Last year, a 2 bed-room apartment in town (approx. 82 sq metres) cost around USD 2,900. Now, the rental is close to USD 3,300, a whooping increase of 14% within one year! (Note: The increase is partly due to a rise in local town maintenance fees and utility charges, or so I was told.)

My initial strong inclination was to move to a serviced apartment. One reason (which my husband doesn't understand) was the hotel-like ambience and security which makes me feel like a VIP, as well as the accessibility of supermarkets and shops in town. Of course, there is the appeal of getting to know more friends as there is a usually a small community of Singaporeans residing in serviced apartments.

However, the small space area (a four room flat versus a 3 storey house) and overly hotel-like ambience puts my husband off quite a bit (he told me he cannot imagine coming home to a "hotel" every day). And one major factor that we both considered seriously was our maids. If we move to a serviced apartment, our maids will be retrenched since housekeeping service is provided. I will lose the company that I have enjoyed pretty much whereas my husband admitted sheepishly that he cannot imagine having to endure my cooking for the rest of his posting term! Well, well.. talking about mutual compromise and understanding...

Keeping this in mind, we went around looking for a suitable house instead. We both wanted a house that is not too big, in Tay Ho area (which means West Lake) and near to the gym where I go almost every day. Eventually, we managed to find one that we both like, about 5 mins' drive from our current house. It's really quite a sweet house because it's pretty (having been newly renovated) and located in a small road off the main one, which makes the surrounding quite serene. And there is a small pool right in front of the house! While I am not an avid swimmer, I have to admit it does make the house look more appealing. :)

We have decided to move after Tet (Chinese New Year) and boy, while I am looking forward to getting away from the noise, I can't help but feel a little sad to be moving away from this house that I have grown to like. Well, I guess one can never have the best of both worlds. Perhaps I should start working on my swimming strokes now so that when summer comes, I can utilise the pool more effectively? :p

Construction in Hanoi

Recently, my quiet little house has been plagued by pulses of loud booming noises coming from the construction of a 7-storey high apartment behind my house. The construction started in June last year but underwent a period of "cease fire" for a couple of months. We were baffled but word has it that local authorities were looking into the building because the foundation was not laid properly. Thinking that this matter would take a long time to resolve, we continued to stay in our house which I have grown to like.

Sadly, construction work was revived in "full force" a month ago. Day and night, drilling and pounding noises haunt me from my backyard. Strangely, construction in Hanoi does not require a "stipulated" project time line nor working hours. When I asked my maid the expected duration of construction, she cheekily replied "1 to 3 years", before explaining that construction timeline is "unknown" in Hanoi because it depends on too many variables.

Grumpily, I told myself that I could accept an ambiguous timeline. After all, we are encouraged to work with ambiguity these days. But the irregular working hours were beyond me. The working hours seemed to depend on the mood of the workers! Construction could begin as early as 5.30am in the morning and continue overnight till the next day. While I am a self-professed "quick-sleep guru" sleeper, having cement-mixing noises invade my bedroom the whole night was beyond my level of sleep attainment. To make matters worse, there was absolutely no construction the whole of next day until right at night again. This is beyond my comprehension. Why did the workers choose to work in the night and not day? Of course, there is no way I can find out the answer to my question. Nobody knows.

Recently, the construction hours have been more regular (God bless!), beginning at 6.50am and ending at 6pm. The precision in construction time has resulted in my alarm clock being obselete, as I get "pounded" out of bed each day. Occasionally, I am treated to singing accompaniment from the workers and each time, my husband has to refrain me from throwing my pillow out of the window.

We are considering seriously moving these days, and have started on our new house-hunting. However, we are both half-hearted because we do like our house a lot (minus the endless drilling). I have been praying that perhaps after Tet (Chinese New Year), more humane working hours could be established e.g. 9am to 4pm. But this is a dream that will never come true.

Meanwhile, I can only console myself with the fact that like the "early bird which catches the worm", I do have more time now (to add to the already endless time) to read, surf internet, write my blog and watch TV. All these not by my choice. :(

A Whirlwind Wedding Dinner Experience

I was invited to my first Vietnamese wedding dinner yesterday. The bride is a pretty young lady called L, who is my husband's colleague. She held her wedding at a small hotel in Lang Ha and this is considered a practice of the upper middle class in Hanoi. Typically, most others will hold their banquets in local restaurants and according to my husband, the experience would be totally different.



Le's wedding dinner started at 6pm and this timing would be considered early by Singaporeans' standard. However, in Hanoi, 6-7 pm is the dinner time for most. When we arrived, it was slightly past 6pm because there was a slight traffic jam along the way. The couple and their parents were already on a small stage pouring champagne and giving short speeches (possibly to thank the guests for coming). I had expected the bride to be dressed in the traditional Vietnamese costume "Ao Dai" but she had chosen a lacy white bustier gown instead, and looked simply radiant.

The waitress showed us to a table at the corner of the ballroom and I was quite surprised to find that a few dishes were already laid on the table. My husband explained that this was a common practice so as to "save time". I didn't fully comprehend what he meant until later. There was a total of 9 dishes, which included items such as roast suckling pig, crab and corn soup, chicken (which I refused to touch because of the bird flu scare in Hanoi), steamed fish, seafood stew, cold salad, vegetable dish, glutinous rice and fruits for desert. The dishes were mostly cooked in light broth or soup and I felt that it was the healthiest wedding dinner I have ever eaten. One thing though was the idea of using a "common spoon" did not exist in this restaurant so I felt a little bit uncomfortable.

What amazed me most was the "pace" at which the dinner was conducted. As the newly wed couple moved around the tables to toast to their guests and take pictures, the dishes continued to be served at "lightning" speed. By 6.40pm, the full course of the dinner was laid at the table and by 7pm, guests were starting to leave. I looked in amazement and this was when I finally understood that indeed, there was no time wasted.

We made a move at 7.15pm, spending only 1 hour (gasps!) at the dinner. This was really the shortest wedding dinner I have ever attended in my life (seriously). My only regret was that I had forgotten to bring along my camera and thus, was unable to take a picture with the bride.

Start of Journey in Hanoi

For many of my friends and relatives, my decision to move to Hanoi with my husband (who was posted here by his company) was a surprise. I have always been v close to my family and enjoyed my job in Singapore so it was really hard to imagine that I am willing to uproot myself to a city 3.5 hours away from Spore. For me, the main pull factor was really my husband. While we have always been an independent couple, I do not think it is a good idea to stay apart for 2-3 years.

Many Singaporeans who have stayed in Hanoi describe it as a charming and quaint city. If I were to paint a picture of Hanoi, it will be filled with lakes, old shophouse architecture and bustling traffic (believe me, the traffic is so chaotic that I had a headache on my first day here). For me, the appeal of Hanoi lies not in the city itself but rather the unique culture (includes food) and people here. As I interact more with the locals, I find that they have a strong sense of pride for their country and as my husband aptly puts it, Hanoians are a resilient lot and have a way of creating their own system within chaos. Of course, this could be common in developing countries but for someone like me who is used to living in a city, these small instances do add colour to my otherwise "stagnating" life here and I thought it was a wonderful idea to record them down in this blog. Perhaps years later, I would relish each and every moment as a passing stage of my life. This was how this blog "Hanoi Cafe" came about, a place to capture stories that I learnt through conversations and observations.