Sick As A Parrot!

Posted on May 24, 2013 by tokyofox

Not only was I feeling sick as dog recently but I had to suffer the double whammy of also feeling sick as a parrot (if I can use such a sporting cliché!) after witnessing a heartbreaking end to Leicester City’s Championship Play Off hopes.

Back in February we looked odds on to be going straight up but then the slump of all slumps happened which saw us win only one out of 12 games going into the final game of the season on May 4th. Incredibly, despite such an appalling run of form we still had a chance of making the Play-Offs if we could just find something to win that final game. However, that game was at rivals Forest where we hadn’t won a league game for 40+ years and they were in pretty much the same position as us where a win could give them a Play-Off place.

Expectations were fairly low but if football always offers one thing then its usually good old blind, fairthful optimism! Believe it or not that was rewarded as a last minute winner from Frenchman Knockaert saw us finally win at the City Ground in Nottingham and by miracle we actually sneaked into 6th place as Bolton messed up at home in their crucial game. Our 68 point tally was the lowest total ever for a side reaching the playoffs in a 24 team second tier so there was no doubt that we were fortunate to have limped over the line but the next two (three?!) games could have saved our season and brought us the riches that come with promotion to the Premier League.

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So Watford came to the King Power Stadium in Leicester on Thursday night (9 May) and despite being ill I still got up at 3.30am to see the game and glad I did as Nugent’s 81st minute goal proved to be enough for us to take a one goal lead into the second leg at Vicarage Road on Sunday 12 May.

Sadly, my celebrations of that winning goal were muted as I had no voice as was the same as Nugent cancelled out Watford’s spectacular opening goal. Thankfully this game kicked off at at a time that was decent for their one fan in Japan! The lunchtime kick off back home meant it was a nice 8.30pm start over here and to be fair Watford were the better side as we went in at the break level but leading on aggregate.

On the hour mark the home side levelled things overall, and with away goals counting for nothing in this game, the thought of extra time and penalties was to become more prevalent as the game entered a nervy last twenty minutes. I can’t even remember why but there was a somewhat lengthy spell of injury treatment as the 90 minutes came up and then incredibly Leicester were presented with an amazing opportunity to book their place at Wembley with 97 minutes on the clock. In all honesty it shouldn’t have been a penalty as Knockaert went down with all too much ease and having dusted himself down he was to be the one to take the glory.

What happened then was the stuff of nightmares as Almunia saved the kick and smothered the follow-up shot too but oh no that wasn’t it as Watford then charged upfield on the counter attack and when the floated cross from the right was nodded back and smashed home our hearts sank. If what makes football great can be summed up in a minute (or even 20 seconds!) of football then this was it.

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The final whistle went seconds later bringing to an end our season in devastating fashion and yet again Nigel Pearson’s team had fallen just short with a French-mans penalty kick costing us as it had done two years ago albeit in slightly different circumstances this time.

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Sick As A Dog!

Posted on May 21, 2013 by tokyofox

So having returned from a busy Golden Week’s Holiday in Vietnam and Hiroshima I returned from the latter on the morning of the 7th and went straight to work and apart from feeling a little tired I survived the day with relative ease. The next morning was fine too but as I was on the short train journey going to work I suddenly started to feel a little weak and slightly lethargic. By the time I arrived at school in Shibuya a short while later I was shorter on breath and had to lie down as I felt weaker in my arms and legs. Somehow I got through the rest of that day but when I got into bed early that night I was having slight breathing problems, light coughing and couldn’t swallow which made it quite difficult to get sleep which is what I was in desperate need of.

Around 1am I had to race for the toilet as I had an overbearing urge to vomit which (close your eyes if you’re a bit squeamish!) included a small amount of blood. A repeat trip to the toilet followed a bit later and I spent a fair bit of time just sitting on the floor of that room each time as I cooled down from a very hot night.

By the time of work that day I pretty much had no voice and I managed to get through the day with minimal speaking knowing that I had a day off the following day in which I could recover. That day was mostly spent sweating in bed, taking on lots of water and sleeping on and off throughout until my girlfriend got home that evening and thought it best to take me to hospital as the symptoms were suspicious of those linked to tuberculosis which had affected a family member in the past. I was given some tablets to take after meals which I wasn’t eating too many of due to lack of appetite. He said to take them for the next week and see how things went but he didn’t mention anything about bird flu which was the rather lazy thing that under-knowledgable colleagues were annoyingly coming out with. Just pure exhaustion was the more likely reason for my illness.

I actually managed to sleep quite well that night and went to work Saturday morning and surprised even myself by teaching with a bare minimum of words coming out of my mouth but by the afternoon it was getting harder and I was feeling hotter and hotter. By the time I got home I was burning up and felt out of breath and severely lacking in energy. Sunday was all spent at home trying to recover but it didn’t seem to work quite as I had hoped. My girlfriend was a great help throughout my illness and in return I kept her awake with my sniffing and mumbling! Oh and I also passed on some of the symptoms to her too!

History was made on Monday morning as I called in sick for the first time in all my many years with my present company as my temperature reached a (recorded) high of 39.6 degrees although my girlfriend reckons that I must have been well into the forties on the Wednesday night prior to that (before we had a thermometer)!

I returned to work the next day which was when I started speaking almost properly again for the first time in about five days and thankfully its been a slow but consistent recovery process since then. Even as I write this over a week later I’m still coughing a little and am out of breath more easily than before the illness but its all a work in progress and I’m heading in the right direction which at times I didn’t think would happen.

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I’m In A Relationship

Posted on May 18, 2013 by tokyofox

If I can paraphrase a Facebook relationship status I can confirm that I am in a relationship. However, this is not exactly ‘new‘ news as my girlfriend and I have actually been together for a long while now but me being me I rarely talk about it.

In this day and age, with so much information and personal views and opinion “out there” on the internet via Twitter, Facebook and this site it is quite nice to hold something back and have an air of mystery about it. However, since I was spotted by a colleague in the Meguro Tavern British pub with my girlfriend and her parents a few months ago there has been increased speculation among some of my colleagues regarding my private life albeit on a scale miles apart from even the Z-listers whose private affairs still make it in the celebrity gossip magazines.

There have of course been a fair few references to a ‘girlfriend’ on here over the last year or so. However, given that the bulk of Tokyo Fox’s hundreds of daily hits come from people searching for certain filming locations rather than actual friends or family, these subtle references go almost un-noticed! I guess over time I will gradually phase-her-in in terms of making some appearances on here as she is now very much a major part of my life (of course!) but it may be hard as she has no interest in movie locations (why would she eh?!) or cycling adventures in and around Tokyo. However, the ‘Dining Out‘ series was started on here as a chance for us to share in a regular activity and hobby. Watch this space is I guess all I can say regarding her future appearances on here! Just remember though that its my name on the door so-to-speak and this site is still very much about my life, travels, teaching ideas and whatever else.

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Hiroshima 2013 Pt III: Peace Memorial Park & Museum

Posted on May 15, 2013 by tokyofox

The atomic bomb was dropped on the city of Hiroshima at 8:15am on August 6th, 1945. It was the first dropping of its kind in world history during combat and it wiped out nearly a third of the city’s population. The area has become a pilgrimage for tens of thousands of visitors from across the world each year. On the 62nd anniversary (back in 2007) of the A-Bomb dropping on Hiroshima I wrote a short piece reflecting on my trip there a few years prior to that and last Monday I returned to the place. Despite it being a repeat visit for me it doesn’t get any easier, or less upsetting or emotional and thats exactly how it should be.

The iconic ruin of the A-Bomb Dome on the banks of the Aioi River was the former Industrial Promotion Hall. I never tire of looking at this place and only wish I could investigate closer but of course that’s never gonna happen and looking through the railings at the devastation is a standing reminder of the unprecedented horror and destructive power of nuclear weapons.

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Across the other side of the river is the Peace Bell (above) and further along the river heading towards the museum is the Children’s Peace Monument (below). This is a statue based on the true story of a junior high school girl called Sadako Sasaki who was only two years old when the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. She contracted radiation from the bomb and believed that making 1000 paper cranes would grant her the wish of being cured. It sadly didn’t but her legacy lives on and children from all around the world are still inspired to fold cranes and send them to Hiroshima where they are placed near her statue and these present messages of world peace.

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Finally, moving into the Peace Memorial Museum (50 yen entrance fee) we spent nearly a couple of hours walking around and reading the rather substantial amount of stories and articles dedicated to educating visitors about the bomb. These exhibits cover the build up to war, the role of Hiroshima in the war up to the bombing, and extensive information on the bombing and its effects, along with substantial memorabilia and pictures from the bombing.

As well as the section devoted to Sadako Sasaki what was also very moving was the number of damaged school personal items (clothing, pencil cases, lunch-boxes etc) donated by family members of the kids involved with a short, personal story of how the bomb affected said child which rarely concluded with anything other than the news of their death. All very, very sad indeed.

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Earlier in the day we had taken a quick trip to Hiroshima-jo Castle but having seen the far superior Iwakuni-jo the day before and wanting to push on for the A-Bomb Dome we decided against going in and moved on pretty sharpish on a lovely fine day.

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Hiroshima 2013 Pt II: Iwakuni

Posted on May 12, 2013 by tokyofox

Whilst in Hiroshima I wanted to see a different part to what I had seen back in December 2005. Of course I was always going to visit Miyajima and the Peace Memorial Park/A-Bomb Dome but as there was another day free, my girlfriends parents decided that going to Yamaguchi-ken would make for a nice day trip. They were of course right as it was a beautiful sunny day perfect for viewing the five arched Kintai-kyo bridge which was originally constructed with no nails or nuts and bolts. These days it has some cunningly concealed steel reinforcements. It is one of the most famous bridges in Japan and was originally built in 1673.

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Iwakuni-jo castle looms over the bridge from its position atop Mount Shiroyama which meant yet another mountain climb (we would go on to do a third and final climb the following day albeit much shorter) for us. The castle is not in its original position as Japanese castles tend to be all about tourism rather than warfare.

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The views from inside the castle were very impressive as one could see out over the bridge and further afield. Every place you go in Japan always has a local delicacy and Iwakuni was no exception as we had a special kind of sushi. This was not rolled in seaweed but was made with a square mold and had some special flavourings.

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Hiroshima 2013 Pt I: Miyajima

Posted on May 9, 2013 by tokyofox

Having arrived back from Vietnam early morning we returned home for a few hours before leaving mid afternoon on the Shinkansen (only my second time to ride on the bullet train) heading 500 miles west to Hiroshima. This wasn’t actually my first time to visit the iconic city as I spent a couple of days back there in December 2005. Like that time, Miyajima was the first port of call on what was a warm Spring day with short showers waiting ahead. I’d completely forgotten that the area was full of some very tame deer as you can see below.

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In the land of cheesy photo opportunities I couldn’t resist getting some pictures taken with a samurai lord in the foreground of the red floating torii gate. Well worth the ¥200!

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This most photographed of Japanese sites is not so impressive when the tide is out so we didn’t linger too long in this area, instead saving it for after we had returned from climbing Mount Misen (530m) which is the islands finest walk. The Momijidani Course took us about 90 minutes to reach the summit where typically it started to rain as soon as I had climbed on to the top of highest rock to see the view.

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At the top there were quite a few jizo dotted around the place which for some reason were clad in hats and even glasses. The descend took us down a different route which is always far nicer than passing the same points again

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Back down at ground level there was time for some photos of the floating torii which I first knew about only back in 2002 when the World Cup was co-hosted by Japan and this torii featured in the BBC’s opening titles which you can see here. What took us by surprise was that, having just returned from Vietnam the day before, the tourist boat rowing in, out and around the torii was full of people wearing the famous conical hats. Immigrants perhaps!!

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That was pretty much the end of an enjoyable day trip but not before one final taste of a few local delicacies. Cucumbers on a stick was a new one on me but not novel enough to warrant forking out a few hundred yen. Instead we sampled squid and the oysters below which were very tasty.

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Vietnam 2013 Pt IV: Halong Bay

Posted on May 6, 2013 by tokyofox

No trip to Hanoi would be complete without a trip to Halong Bay which has become one of Asia’s most popular tourist destinations and was recently inducted into the new seven wonders of the world series. The bay features over two thousand limestone karsts dramatically jutting out of the emerald sea waters.

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This part of the country gets a lot of cloud and rain and clear weather seems to not be so often but even in the overcast conditions the beauty of the area is undeniable…once you get past the bottleneck of coach tour groups at the main port.

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First on the menu was the option of kayaking or a bamboo boat trip round the floating villages, caves and lagoons. Normally, I’d plump for the kayaking but as it was raining and I didn’t know where to go I thought it better to just be taken round the main sights and get some photos of the place which wouldn’t be so easy if I was busy kayaking.

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Back on the boat later we had what was termed as a sunset party. Funny given that there was absolutely no sun to be seen but still we got given a glass of wine by tour guide Toan and then spent the next few hours mingling with the dozen-or-so other tourists onboard. Before dinner we had the chance to make Vietnamese spring rolls which I was fairly rubbish at but not the worst! My one in the picture below is on the far right side!

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Dinner was very nice and filling and included the shrimp concoction above. There was a chance to do some squid fishing after that which of course I tried my hand at but naturally I got impatient and bored and left empty handed. After a very long day (having only returned on overnight train from Sapa in the early hours) it was to be a very early night. It didn’t really feel like we were even sleeping on a boat to be honest as there was no swaying among the waves. The photo below is the view from our window.

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The rain was a lot heavier on the second day as we were taken first to a lookout view on Dao Titop which was followed by some very interesting caves going by the name of Hang Sung Sot which translates as Surprise Caves with the surprise being the phallic symbol below which has been christened cock rock.

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Halong Bay is indeed spectacular scenery but I’m afraid to say that it almost bypassed me and I took it a bit for granted. As I’ve been writing this I’ve realised that in terms of activity there was actually very little over the two days but I guess thats not the point. It’s all about being at sea and cruising around an area in a style that is miles apart from our normal daily lives in the city.

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Vietnam 2013 Pt III: Sapa

Posted on May 3, 2013 by tokyofox

When we booked this trip a few months back I really wasn’t too sure about whether to go on up to Sapa or not but following a sincere recommendation from a friend it ultimately  proved to be a very wise decision. Following a long nine hour night train between Hanoi and Lao Cai followed by a very winding one hour bus ride we finally reached our destination which was a small colourful town where tourists and local black mong tribe people (below) mixed freely among each other.

Over the last ten years or so Sapa has become a premier destination in the north-west thanks to the great views (on clear days!) and an amazing array of minority hill tribe people and colourful markets. I didn’t realise quite how much this old French hill station has become part of the northern travelling trail until arriving in the centre where it was lashing it down with rain. Typically as soon as we splashed out on some poncho’s it stopped raining and the sun came out though thankfully (for the sake of getting some use of the poncho!) it did rain in intervals throughout the day.

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The question beforehand was whether or not to do a tour or just roll up and organise it freestyle. Thankfully we chose the former and our tour guide, Quand from sapapathfinder.com was a very nice, friendly, smiling guy whose English pronunciation was clearer than any other local we met during our time in Vietnam. The tour started with a trail through a market where just about every part of an animals body was on sale (above) and then we trekked on into the countryside visiting Cat Cat and Sin Chai villages. Views of rice terraces in the foreground of mountains could be seen and was a very common sight over the two days.

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We could see a completely different way of life and fascinating it was too. There were very young kids selling bracelets everywhere and we entered a local home (below) which really was quite gruesome and so, so basic as they cook inside the hut and then sleep there with almost no daylight coming in which means that they sadly, often have a low life expectancy.

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After a night at the Hoang Ha Hotel we did more trekking the following day and took in a couple more villages amid soaring heat. We walked across the bridge below which had no railings or anything at the side to stop you falling off which wasn’t helped a few nervy times by vehicles passing over it meaning you had to stand very close to the edge to let them pass. Over the other side we had lunch in the Black Mong village before continuing on through a Red Dzao one but not before the hassle involved in the local kids and black mong people (who had followed us from Sapa) trying to sell us some local handicrafts. We had decided shortly before to buy something from a very, very chatty young girl (22 & married with two kids!) who we learned a lot from about Sapa, herself and her tribe. That didn’t stop every other person in the village from trying to sell us something too once they’d seen the sight of money!

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Can’t remember exactly when, but we did sample what I think was sparrow (below) which was fairly tasteless and not exactly easy to pick at due to its bones. For the record the building lit up below is the originally named Sapa Church.

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As someone who has travelled to many places around the world now I have experienced a lot of things so it was a relief that Sapa provided me, for one, with an intriguing and unique experience blending a mix of ethnic diversities with some beautiful green scenery.

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Vietnam 2013 Pt II: Sightseeing In Hanoi

Posted on April 30, 2013 by tokyofox

Dining out at the many street vendors might have taken up a fair bit of our time but we also visited a handful of Hanoi’s sightseeing attractions starting off with Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum. This was the only time I used a motorbike as opposed to all those years ago in HCMC when I used them all the time. The reason for limited use this time is that Hanoi is a small place which is easy to navigate on foot with a good map. The lines were super-long for this place but they did move fairly swiftly and though no visible reaction could be seen from the locals when we saw Ho Chi Minh’s body lying there it did make the heart of the Vietnamese guy I was with (below) beat fast and was really moving for him.

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The Presidential Palace and the house where Ho Chi Minh lived and worked from 1954 to 1958 are below.

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Due to its strange opening hours I didn’t have time to see the Ho Chi Minh Museum so walked on a few blocks to the Temple of Literature (below) which was a pleasant enough place but for someone living in Japan and surrounded by temples it wasn’t anything too new or interesting for me.

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The next two places were more up my street but all-in-all quite a dark reflection on Vietnam’s history. First up was the Vietnam Military History Museum which displays hundreds of objects, photos and most impressively a vast collection of weaponry including tanks, jet fighters and other such military vehicles as seen below.

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After that was what remains of the Hoa Lo Prison (a.k.a. the “Hanoi Hilton”) which was built by the French in the late 19th century and houses some rather gruesome exhibits and photographs such as the ones seen below.

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The Municipal Water Puppet Theatre was the setting for some early evening entertainment one evening as we saw a 45 minute water puppet performance. This show  was novel and fun and featured about ten acts depicting pastoral scenes and legends. The final scene was particularly interesting as we got to see the people quite literally pulling the strings come out to give the audience an idea of how exactly this ancient art form works. The band playing the accompanying music also added a nice bit of ethnic authenticity to the occasion.

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The old Long Bien Bridge was recommended by a friend as something to see in an interesting-but-certainly-not-essential type way. Located in the north-east of the city it is only for pedestrians, motorcyclists and the the train which crosses it. It’s certainly not for those with a fear of heights as you can see beneath you the whole time as the rusting old bring reverberates around you as the traffic passes over it.

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Hoan Kiem Lake is the focal point of old Hanoi and a nice place to walk around but not quite as interesting as some people make out. The Thap Rua (Turtle Tower) on an islet looks very impressive and Ngoc Son Temple on an island at the other end of the lake is nothing special but helped eat up a bit of time.

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Didn’t know where to put the picture above so I have included it here as this is what Vietnam is all about! Of course the pointy hats are ultra famous but these huge scale-type things which street vendors walk around carrying are a common sight too. This particular one got a good deal from me as I wanted my tourist photo and boy did she want me to cough up some hard cash after that for pineapple but I didn’t fall for that scam. Still, she got a reasonably good price for the fruit and the picture.

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Vietnam 2013 Pt I: Dining Out In Hanoi

Posted on April 29, 2013 by tokyofox

Vietnam is a deceptively big country – over one and a half thousand kilometres from north to south, although only around 50km wide at its narrowest point. With these long distances in mind, I could only ever get round the southern part just over six years ago when I combined that area with a trip up the Mekong into Cambodia to see Angkor Wat on what was one of my most memorable holidays ever.

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This time though it was just the north starting off with the capital city Hanoi which is  buzzing with atmosphere, particularly in the Old Quarter where motorcycles zip around the streets day and night in a city where traffic lights are few to non existent. These thousands of motorcycles provide a constant soundtrack of angry insect swarms and beeping horns. The city throngs with foreign visitors but is somehow not touristy as it seems that it doesn’t bend to their whims who instead have to adapt to the Hanoi way. Overall the place is fascinating and a little overwhelming but its never uninteresting and made quite an impression on us. It’s just a little difficult to really portray the place with just words and pictures when it really needs to be seen to be believed.

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Whilst Hanoi does have a fair few interesting sights grouped quite close together they are not the memories that most people leave with as it is the aforementioned street noise and ubiquitous food stalls which provide the highlight for many. Pho (noodle soup) is naturally the most common dish and we didn’t waste too much time in eating that on arrival at ‘Rising Dragon Grand Hotel’ on Hang Ga. After some pho and spring rolls on a noisy street we then sampled the dish you see below of which the name sadly eludes me at this moment.

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One of my favourite places was Banh Ghoi on Ly Quoc Su (below) which was where I ended up in the rain a couple of times. I love these simple kind of street food restaurants and this one in particular had some amazing deep fried pastries filled with the likes of pork, vermicelli and mushrooms. Very tasty and so, so cheap!

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Nearby to that was a place where I followed the above snacks with some bun cha (barbecued pork and rice vermicelli) as seen below.

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Pho 10 (above) was a place I never tried unlike Pho 24 (below) which is located next to the Hoan Kiem Lake and offers a cleaner, sleeker experience to that of the street hawker food.

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Above and all photos below show some of the other dishes and street food available in a city famed for its local cuisine. In fact the Old Quarter seems at times to consist of nothing but scores of vendors taking over the streets with smoking charcoal burners, tiny plastic stools & tables and hordes of locals and tourists alike throwing themselves into the chaotic neighbourhood eateries.

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