Day 2 - Hanoi, cooking class and the start of our Intrepid Tour
Today in Nam we had a few things planned. First was the morning cooking class we had booked the previous day and then in the afternoon we had our Intrepid group meeting and group dinner. So Dave and I woke up about 6:30 ready for our 7:30 start for the cooking class.
The cooking toup guide picked us up at our hotel and put us in a taxi to meet near the lake in Hanoi. After getting out of the taxi he told us to meet near a tree across the road whilst he got another person doing the class. After waiting for about 3 minutes and watching all the locals do Tai Chi we saw another westerner waiting on another corner. So we approached and asked her if she was doing the cooking class and sure enough she was doing the class as well.
The tour guide then showed up and we walked around the lake whilst he told us bits about Hanoi. We then stopped off for breakfast which was Beef Pho at a local eating joint followed by green tea at a street stall. The interesting thing about the green tea was it doesn't taste that good and the seats we sat in are similar to the seats kindergarden kids sit on at school.
Both Dave and myself became a bit paranoid after we saw the stall owner washing the cups in a tub full of water so we only ended up drinking half the tea.
From there we made our way to the restaurant where we would be doing our cooking class. After a very brief tour of the markets with the cooking class instructor we were ready to start cooking
The cooking class included lots of chopping up ingredients whilst the chef cooked what we had chopped up. The highlight of the class was definitely the fresh spring rolls we made. The ingredients included noodles, some vegetables (i forget which ones), a shrimp all wrapped in a fresh rice paper sheet. My rolling skills wasn't as good as I would have liked so they came out a bit dodgy. After we finished cooking spring rolls, some really disgusting desert, chopping up fish and chicken we were ready to eat.
The restaurant had cooked the food for us so below is the final masterpieces. We are still not quite sure if this was actually the food we chopped up but it tasted really good
After lunch we continued exploring Hanoi before finally meeting at the hotel for our Intrepid group meeting. At the front of the counter of the hotel there was a list of the people who were on the tour. The list included the following names
"Paul, David, George, Morag, Elizabeth, Wendy, Taylor, Samantha, Lauren, Jenny, Allen, Christie". With my skills of deduction I guessed we had 8 girls in the group and only 4 guys but Dave disagreed. After a brief discussion we determined I thought Taylor was a girl because of Taylor Swift and Dave thought Taylor was a guy because of Taylor Lautner. The competition was on!
The group met in the foyer of the hotel when our tour leader (Vu) arrived and told us that we had a table reserved up stairs on the 8th floor in the restaurant. We all headed to the elevator but it was quite slow, that is where we got our first glimpse at George and his energy.
Dave and myself looked at each other and agreed we would take the stairs, as we said that George comes out of nowhere and says "Steps". He then proceeded to bolt up the stairs, because first impressions count both David and I were on his heels trying to ensure he didn't get to far ahead. After a lightning race the 3 of us reached the restaurant completely out of breathe. I'm disappointed to say George got gold, Dave got Silver and I got Bronze.
At the group meeting everyone was a bit quiet, we went around the room and talked about ourselves. Just the usual stuff of location, hobbies and what we do for a living. Since it was a new group I fought the urge to tell them I was a male escort and told the truth that I work in I.T (ohhh the shame). Dave made a hit by revealing that his one true weakness was kryptonite.... whoops sorry I mean Chocolate. As we got around to one of the guys sitting on the table he revealed his name was "Taylor". Man my day was getting worst Dave had just won a bet.
After the group meeting we all headed out to have a group dinner to try and get to know each other a bit better. We went to what Vu described as a nice restaurant that cost a bit more, as we walked in the place was amazing. Looking at the menu most meals only cost $6 - $10 so if this was a place that cost more I was going to love Vietnam. During dinner we spoke to some of the group whilst trying to remember all the names of the people in the tour. It's really hard to try and remember 10 names in such a short space of time.
The dinner was pretty quiet, I don't think people wanted to drink to much to ensure they didn't make a bad first impression. After dinner we went back to the hotel where myself and Dave quizzed each other on the names of the tour group and debated if Christie and Wendy was in a relationship. Dave thought they were I didn't think they were, so another bet was on.
Finally we went to sleep ready for an early start in the morning with a tour around Hanoi and the Mausoleum. It was this night both Dave and I realised that the beds where as hard as rocks so we struggled to sleep well. We made a pact that in future we need to get drunk enough in order to sleep quickly on those beds.
Today in Nam we had a few things planned. First was the morning cooking class we had booked the previous day and then in the afternoon we had our Intrepid group meeting and group dinner. So Dave and I woke up about 6:30 ready for our 7:30 start for the cooking class.
The cooking toup guide picked us up at our hotel and put us in a taxi to meet near the lake in Hanoi. After getting out of the taxi he told us to meet near a tree across the road whilst he got another person doing the class. After waiting for about 3 minutes and watching all the locals do Tai Chi we saw another westerner waiting on another corner. So we approached and asked her if she was doing the cooking class and sure enough she was doing the class as well.
The tour guide then showed up and we walked around the lake whilst he told us bits about Hanoi. We then stopped off for breakfast which was Beef Pho at a local eating joint followed by green tea at a street stall. The interesting thing about the green tea was it doesn't taste that good and the seats we sat in are similar to the seats kindergarden kids sit on at school.Both Dave and myself became a bit paranoid after we saw the stall owner washing the cups in a tub full of water so we only ended up drinking half the tea.
From there we made our way to the restaurant where we would be doing our cooking class. After a very brief tour of the markets with the cooking class instructor we were ready to start cooking
The restaurant had cooked the food for us so below is the final masterpieces. We are still not quite sure if this was actually the food we chopped up but it tasted really good
After lunch we continued exploring Hanoi before finally meeting at the hotel for our Intrepid group meeting. At the front of the counter of the hotel there was a list of the people who were on the tour. The list included the following names
"Paul, David, George, Morag, Elizabeth, Wendy, Taylor, Samantha, Lauren, Jenny, Allen, Christie". With my skills of deduction I guessed we had 8 girls in the group and only 4 guys but Dave disagreed. After a brief discussion we determined I thought Taylor was a girl because of Taylor Swift and Dave thought Taylor was a guy because of Taylor Lautner. The competition was on!
The group met in the foyer of the hotel when our tour leader (Vu) arrived and told us that we had a table reserved up stairs on the 8th floor in the restaurant. We all headed to the elevator but it was quite slow, that is where we got our first glimpse at George and his energy.
Dave and myself looked at each other and agreed we would take the stairs, as we said that George comes out of nowhere and says "Steps". He then proceeded to bolt up the stairs, because first impressions count both David and I were on his heels trying to ensure he didn't get to far ahead. After a lightning race the 3 of us reached the restaurant completely out of breathe. I'm disappointed to say George got gold, Dave got Silver and I got Bronze.
At the group meeting everyone was a bit quiet, we went around the room and talked about ourselves. Just the usual stuff of location, hobbies and what we do for a living. Since it was a new group I fought the urge to tell them I was a male escort and told the truth that I work in I.T (ohhh the shame). Dave made a hit by revealing that his one true weakness was kryptonite.... whoops sorry I mean Chocolate. As we got around to one of the guys sitting on the table he revealed his name was "Taylor". Man my day was getting worst Dave had just won a bet.
After the group meeting we all headed out to have a group dinner to try and get to know each other a bit better. We went to what Vu described as a nice restaurant that cost a bit more, as we walked in the place was amazing. Looking at the menu most meals only cost $6 - $10 so if this was a place that cost more I was going to love Vietnam. During dinner we spoke to some of the group whilst trying to remember all the names of the people in the tour. It's really hard to try and remember 10 names in such a short space of time.
The dinner was pretty quiet, I don't think people wanted to drink to much to ensure they didn't make a bad first impression. After dinner we went back to the hotel where myself and Dave quizzed each other on the names of the tour group and debated if Christie and Wendy was in a relationship. Dave thought they were I didn't think they were, so another bet was on.
Finally we went to sleep ready for an early start in the morning with a tour around Hanoi and the Mausoleum. It was this night both Dave and I realised that the beds where as hard as rocks so we struggled to sleep well. We made a pact that in future we need to get drunk enough in order to sleep quickly on those beds.
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