Thursday is ladies night at Hotel de l’opera with DJ Cache taking over La Fee Verte bar from 6pm until 9pm.
Dubstep has officially landed in Hanoi with top DJ Slim V bringing the UK favourite to Amazon bar every Thursday night from 8.30pm.
Always.Gam is performing for the last time tonight before moving to Australia and waving goodbye to Vietnam, so get down to The Hanoi Social Club for the last chance to hear some real Hanoian foot tapping melodies.
For several weeks, I took the 31 bus from the corner of Nguyen Du and Ba Trieu to the end of the route. It manoeuvered its way towards Vincom Tower, lumbering elephant-like among a jungle of motorbikes and pedestrians. Then it hooked a right onto Dai Co Viet, and finally turned left down a small, winding street, which led to the university. I got off the bus and walked to my Vietnamese lesson. Afterwards, I returned to the same bus stop and waited — sometimes for three minutes, sometimes for 20. Occasionally, I passed the time answering questions about my age, my nationality and marital status. The bus had curious passengers. The 31 would come. I would board the bus, and go home along Pho Hue.
The dead of night may be the only time a person can actually find peace and quiet in a city like Hanoi. The cacophony and constant chaos of the traffic finally begins to cease. But just as I am about to slip into slumber, a curious voice emanates from some distant megaphone to break the silence with its call, “banh bao day, bao nong day”.