3 days and 2 nights in Hanoi

As this photo so "subtly" hints, this is my long overdue post about my Hanoi trip in September! My company rewards employees with annual incentive trips, usually spanning across a long weekend (Friday till Sunday). This year, we were given 2 choices, Phuket or Hanoi. Surprisingly (to me), Hanoi won hands down with over 95% votes! I personally would have preferred a trip to Phuket where we can soak up the sun, sand and sea. Instead, we spent 3 days 2 nights in Hanoi, Vietnam. Fortunately, the company of my colleagues far outweighed the destination choice. I'll let the photos speak for themselves.

Me and my assistant cum room-mate Angela on board our Singapore Airlines flight to Hanoi.

One of our stops for the 1st day was to the Maison Centrale, or Hanoi Hilton Prison. Incidentally, our hotel for this trip was also the Hilton!

The poor prisoners were locked down on one foot (to allow them to turn their bodies) and were packed side by side on the wooden platform.

Why does this prisoner look so uncannily familiar?! (Oh, that's my colleague Tony!)

This cell that we all packed in used to house 30 female prisoners at a go.

A glimmer of light (hope) in the depressing prison. Some of us actually felt quite uncomfortable when we entered some of the cells. We went for a Cyclo-tour which was essentially like a trishaw tour around town. It was quite a refreshing way to see Hanoi.

Mmm...what are Bea & Lin Lin snapping at? Tim looks quite nonchalant though..

The number of motorbikes on the roads of Hanoi far, and I mean FAR, outweighs the number of carsBikes are used to transport all kinds of stuff! Apart from families of up to 4, I spotted bikes transporting furniture, and even chickens & pigs!

People in Hanoi live on simple pleasures like this kid self-entertaining on the road.

Barbers like this were commonplace in the back streets of HanoiAnyone care for a bowl of authentic pho?

In Hanoi, cables run everywhere

What did I say? they run EVERYWHERE

On the 2nd day, we visited Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum, which is where the previous president's body is laid, not unlike other communist leaders. Here, there were soldiers all round scolding those who talked too loudly, laughed, and we were not allowed to expose our arms or legs.

We visited a chinese temple by the lake after lunch at Bobby Chin's.

Tommy, our guide (far left), patiently explaining the sights to us, but most of us were too hot to pay too much attention. :Þ

The temperature in Hanoi hovered around 30-33 degrees celsius while we were there. Plus it was really much more humid there than in Singapore. Jamie & Er Jun's faces says it all.

If you thought that the boys' faces were grumpy, wait till you see mine! haha!

We found a shady spot under a big tree. All of us just converged there to hide from the heat! Don't we look adorable, like kids on an excursion? Spotted this middle-aged couple by the lake. What a sweet photo....

Hanoi at night. Some of us (shopaholics) went to the night market after dinner, while the others (alcoholics) went to a pub. One of us (who was greedy), went to both! One of the stalls at the night market. Honestly, there was nothing to buy except trinkets and some low quality clothes and accessories. Some of the shopaholics!

Dinner at Indochine, where we found out Seng Han's fetish for Bananas.... *mmmm*

No Catlin company trip can be complete without alcohol. That's Angela downing drinks as challenged by the ang mos!

Toilet buddy, Huizhi & I at the end of the evening that marked the end of our Hanoi adventure...