Hanoi Oi!

On the road again! Here we are visiting Hong-Anh's old Hanoi buddy Saeko with her two sons Kai (4 yrs.,right) and Jinto (10 mos., left). Saeko still lives in Hanoi and now runs a lovely laquer - painting studio and cafe restaurant where we ate on Tuesday. Her husband Mark was out of town, so we didn't see him; but Scuppy enjoyed his handiwork. Horsey, anyone?






Saeko sent us to a not-too-expensive (everything is expensive in Hanoi!) Japanese restaurant where I got great sushi for 15$. My old UW buddy Hanh and her friend Alex joined us for dinner. Alex is looking "weathered" according to Hanh's Vietnamese friends because he's spending almost every day out surfing in Japan as part of his research - making a documentary film about surf culture.





Did I mention how expensive Hanoi has gotten? Narrow houses in suburban neighborhoods now go for California prices - 500k to 1m in dollars or gold. That means everything else has gone up, too, from flowers to gas to noodles to straw hats! Hanoi real estate is now the most expensive for any city int he world per square meter! The trials and tribulations of a boomtown...