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Category Archives: Vietnam

Skinny Buildings

Leave a comment Posted by Lana on August 19, 2017

If property tax is based on the width of the building facing the street, then make it thin, deep, and tall instead.

Structure, Uncategorized, Vietnam building, Hanoi

Variety Store

Leave a comment Posted by Lana on October 11, 2016

A dry goods shop in Hanoi selling a variety of household plastic wares and other items

Vietnam Hanoi, household, plastic wares, shop

Shoe Cleaner

Leave a comment Posted by Lana on August 2, 2016

Street shoe cleaner in Hanoi

Sidewalk, Vietnam Hanoi, shoe cleaner, street

Fruit Vendors

1 Comment Posted by Lana on July 26, 2016

A straight line of fruit vendors in Hanoi.

Vietnam ambulant vendor, fruit, Hanoi

Ovoid Flower Arrangement

Leave a comment Posted by Lana on April 19, 2016

Oval shaped framework

Lads arranging flowers

Ho Chi Minh’s mausoleum adorned with several arranged flowers

Arrangement, Vietnam flower, Hanoi, ovoid, stand

Multipurpose Tree Trunk

Leave a comment Posted by Lana on April 15, 2016

Tree trunk as retail space

Vietnam Hanoi, retail space, tree, trunk

Pretty Coop

Leave a comment Posted by Lana on April 12, 2016

The idea of hearing nature in the cramped quarter

Hanoi’s soundtrack is the beep beep (and vroom vroom) of the motorcycles though in the background one can often hear bird calls. As one looks up expecting to see urban birds on trees like those magpies in Korea, there are none. Instead, there are attractive ornamental wooden birdcages housing pretty countryside birds (too pretty to be city dwellers) hanging in front of shops or at the balcony of thin buildings everywhere.

Let me guess the number one pet in Hanoi

Receptacle, Vietnam bird, birdcage, cage, coop, Hanoi, pet, wooden

Buddha’s Hand

Leave a comment Posted by Lana on April 9, 2016

When this fruit caught my attention, I imagined how it tastes like. So I resolved to eat some before leaving Hanoi. But when I asked a local what kind of fruit is this, she answered phat tu or Buddha’s hands, and it’s not for eating but as an altar offering. Now I wonder why something deemed to be not edible is being offered along with edibles and beers.

Phat tu, beers, and others as an offering at the Temple of Literature

More beers for Confucius

Yellow phat tu

Belief, Vietnam altar, Buddha's hands, Hanoi, offering, phat tu

Yellow Hanoi

Leave a comment Posted by Lana on April 1, 2016

Red is to Melaka while yellow is to Hanoi.

Structure, Vietnam city, color, French Quarter, Hanoi, Old Quarter, yellow

Vertical Corn Arrangement

Leave a comment Posted by Lana on March 29, 2016

Disarranged corn stack is good news. There had been a sale.

Corn stacked vertically and were held together by tying straw around it in multiple levels.

Arrangement, Produce, Vietnam corn, countryside, Mai Chau, maize, North Vietnam, stack

Cylindrical Charcoal Briquettes

Leave a comment Posted by Lana on March 28, 2016

There is life on the pavements of Hanoi that it’s not possible to use those for walking exclusively (people walk on the road in sync with vehicular traffic). The pavement is a living space where people park their motorbikes, buy and sell, worship (joss paper burning), eat, prepare food, and cook. After observing several cooking scenes, I’ve noted that people use cylindrical charcoal briquette for a stove purposely-built for it.