A cozy spring afternoon in Sapa (Part#1) - Lunch at Viet Emotion

Princess Cheryl's thought of the day:- Business trip again next week. Never a month without flying since Jan'09... 2 more weeks after next week will be the QIC Regional Semi Finals in Cambodia!! Means flying again...BUT...Angkor Wat here I come~

Sapa is a small town up on the highlands of Hanoi. My first impression on Sapa was "Hanoi's Cameron Highland". Not very alike but just the feeling. People drink coffee in the cafe there while we drink tea in Cameron Highland. Spring time is one of the best times to visit Sapa, cozy weather, blooming flowers, even when the sun shines on my skin, I don't feel the burning at all. Soon after the 5km trekking, we were then ready on the go again.

Stomachs been growling since 11am... Now it's time to hunt for food. We walked through the market to another street.





These are Tzau tribe ladies if not mistaken. I can't really differentiate the tribes. There are just too many to remember!! Interesting to see the big 'pillow' on their head. Actually that's their hair inside the 'pillow'. I wonder how heavy is the burden on their head..



The Black Hmong ladies at business.. Honestly I love their handmade stuffs very much, but they're really expensive if you buy those in the open market especially at the tourist hot spots like this.



Our lunch spot - Viet Emotion. Under the name of the restaurant it's written there "We warmly appreciate the support of Lonely Planet". Oh, I didn't check on Lonely Planet at all before the trip. This was suggested by Thinh.



Cozy window view table for a relaxing lunch. Of course we gotta treat ourselves really nice after the exhausting trek to Cat Cat Village.




So since when I've become princess alcoholic...??? I think was about a month ago when I realized that I no longer suffer from rashes after drinking beer! =P



Local beers - Halida for him.



And Hanoi for me. I know this is not the right way to pour beer..



However I still managed to keep around 2 inch bubbles on the top layer. Heheh...



One of the things that I like most about Vietnam is how they garnish the soup.



Even though I'm not fond of pumpkin soup but how could I resist such an artistic bowl of pumpkin soup! I should learn to love pumpkin a little more, pumpkin represents Halloween, and no doubt I'm named after Halloween. HALLO-WEEN. =)



While waiting for my dishes to arrive, I saw something really interesting through the window. A Black Hmong girl combing her hair! Can you see how long is that?!



I do think they never cut their hair but just twist the hair and slot a comb through their hair to support it from falling loose. She looks like only ~20 years+ yet the hair is so long. I doubt that the hair length is 2x longer for the old ladies who keep their hair in a 'pillow' like the above photo.



Interesting huh. Even attracted some people to go near and take a closer look.



Finally lunch was served. A tableful of mouth watering food for only 2 pax! Vietnam cuisine is more to fusion style, probably because they're so much influenced by the French. Chinese never serve some creamy soup when the next serving will be stir-fry dishes served with rice. I found it quite awkward to drink sweet and creamy soup with breadcrumbs and then start eating rice..



Sizzling hot. Portion was very big but we finished all! So you can imagine how good the taste was. =)



Vietnamese rice, taste like Japanese rice but the shape is longer but not as long as the Siamese frangrant rice. Is this what we call “成块饭”? Hahha...really sticky.



Cheers to the travel couple.



...and to the new alcoholic babe.