My favourite South East Asia country so far, with a pretty vast cultural differences from north to south. Here's my top 5 things to do in Hanoi:

1. Escape from the hustle and bustle at Hoan Kiem Lake. Read a book, do a skipping rope workout, (anything!) just to have a piece of mind, especially since you've gotta blindly cross the crazy road, avoiding motorbikes to get there! When I say "blindly", I literally mean it. 

2. Drink iced tea or vietnamese coffee by the sidewalk. Sitting on the sidewalk stool, taking a sip while "people-watching" was my favourite! The weather in March was perfect to be the sidewalk observer (somewhere between 15 to 20 degree celcius).

3. Buy a North Face merchandise at Ma May Street (Old Quarter). Not too sure if it's fake or real, most likely fake, but it's cheap - about RM100 or lesser for a single layer downjacket. Bought one before I left for the cold weather in Sapa while my travelling mate bought one for her spring trip to Japan. Could not really differentiate its quality with the original ones, but it's definitely worth the buy.

4. Eat Pho or Bun (prounounced as "Boon"). There are 2 types of beef noodles - Pho (rice noodles, somewhat similar to our kuey teow) and Bun (rice vermicelli, similar to our thick bee hoon which goes superbly well with fish paste noodle). I preferred Bun over Pho, personal preference though. The best Bun which I've accidentally came across in Hanoi was somewhere across our hotel (Tulinh Palace Hotel at Hang Ga Street). Sorry, we didnt get the name as we were too engrossed! Seemed like a popular breakfast place for the locals. It comes with pork trotters too!

5. Beer at Bia Hoi junction. It attracts a good mix of locals, expats and tourists, a nightlife spot not to be missed! There were draft beers going for RM0.50! The alcohol content may be low, but still, you can hardly get anything with RM0.50 back home! Paired our beer with a couple of pork otak-otak (Malaysian-ised term).