Hanoi Happenings

I really do tire of all the business travel that I do, but occasionally I get to visit somewhere I've never been to before, and I get to check out more of the great planet we live on. This week is just such an occurrence.

I have been in Seoul for the past couple of days, a place I've been to... what... maybe 30 times? Have spent lots of time there, and I do like Seoul, but this morning I was excited to fly off to my first-ever trip to Vietnam today for a Unity seminar we're giving here tomorrow, sponsored by the Vietnam chapter of the IGDA (International Game Developers Association). Now... perhaps I've seen too many Vietnam War movies that have influenced this, but whenever I've thought of Vietnam, I've thought of rice patties. In my window seat in one of the smallest economy class seats I've ever been in (on Vietnam Airlines), the view on approach to the Hanoi airport didn't disappoint: rice patties... and lots of them! Check out the photo here.

Now... the organizers of this event booked the hotel for us (I have a colleague joining me here tomorrow morning). Sort of a brave step leaving hotel bookings to the locals, but in this case, it worked - sort of. It's actually a cute little quaint, family-operated hotel. And the room is nice, and large. I'm just not sure about the section of town we're in. After checking in, I went out on a walk for a couple of hours. In that couple of hours I walked probably two miles, and didn't see a single other foreigner. In fact, most everybody on the street stared at me like I was some sort of freakish anomaly (though I've been called worse).

Maybe it's like that in all of Hanoi? In all of Vietnam? I dunno... I just felt really out of place - and that's sort of unusual for me, with all the foreign travel I do. This second picture here is from my walkabout (you see it's rainy and dreary out) - I am learning that the Vietnamese certainly like bright colors! This is a Dept. of Labor building, painted bright yellow. Notice the French influence in architecture, too?

This last picture here is of what I think is a night club. I'm not sure what sort of cowboy look they're going for, but the place is called "Seventeen Cowboys" and through the cracked-open front door, it looked like a band was setting up in there. Maybe I should go check it out tonight! Then again... I'm liking my nice little cozy hotel and think I'll just turn in early. Such a party animal am I!!!

Anyway... I've posted 22 photos from today to my Flickr account (the set; the slideshow). Facebook seems to be blocked here, so I cannot post the pics there yet. But head on over to my Flickr account and check out all the pics. In the picture descriptions I mention the Backstreet Boys, heart attacks, stinky gutters, mopeds, electrical fires, and so on.