My Shopping Expedition

Still reminiscing from the fun tat I had yesterday. Met up with two friends in Hanoi, L and W, and had lunch at "My Way" cafe. My husband, M, was the one who recommended me this cafe and I like it v much. It's located on the 2nd floor of a building opposite Espirit. From the outside, it looks v much like an art gallery but it's actually a cosy restaurant with a F1 decor theme. The food is pretty inexpensive and a Vietnamese set lunch costs about VND 32,000 to 48,000 (around SGD 3.20 to 4.80). Of coz, western dishes like grilled salmon and beef would be more pricely at SGD 18 to 20.

I ordered my favourite fresh Vietnamese spring rolls with prawn and pork. The rolls were well wrapped and the sauce was delicious, with a tinge of lemon zest. It was coupled with a nice smoothie drink of mango and thick vanilla.. Heavenly...

After lunch, we headed to a handbags' wholesale shop in Au Co Street where we spent close to 45 mins browsing through the entire bag selection. The shop looks pretty run-down on the outside but once u r in, u will find urself surrounded by shelves of neatly wrapped, reasonably priced embroidered handbags. At the back of the shop, u can often see young girls sewing the beads and glitter-stuff on the bags. Truly authentic hand-made quality. I decided firmly once again tat I will not make any purchases just yet (despite being tempted by several nice-looking bags), though L and W did garner some small victories.

As we were all in a shopping mood yesterday, we continued the hunt at Nha Tho. There, u can find a series of interesting shops selling clothes, accessories and household items. I was quite taken by a couple of table runners but found them a tad pricey (USD 15 to 22). It was really fun walking with the gals becoz we took time to explore every single shop, gave comments to potential purchases and enjoyed the process. It was really far more enjoyable than going through the same route with M, who always complained tat I took too long and constantly tried to convince me not to go into the shops becoz all the items were similar.

I invited L to a simple dinner at my home while W went off hunting the night market (held every weekend at Hang Dao street) with her bf. My maid whipped up a jolly good meal of clams, mushroom soup and home-made pork balls. Credos to her efficiency and good cooking skills! We ended the night with more chats before L headed home at 8pm. I m starting to plan for the next "all-girls" session already. Perhaps L and I can roam the night market next week? And definitely without our husbands. *Chuckles*