“Asian Review 011” ― Hanoi part3
Sidewalks in Hanoi, and their slow lives
The sidewalk of Hanoi is a common place to eat. There are casual restaurants that serve Hanoi’s specialties such as phở (translucent dry noodles made from rice), bún (white surface noodles made from rice), and side dishes with white rice here and there. Almost all of which have plywood tables and simple plastic stools inside the restaurants. Still, people seem to prefer eating outside, and you can spot people having their usual meals occupying the sidewalks.
Cafés in Paris also have chairs on the sidewalks, but the cityscape of Hanoi is a bit different from that of Paris. As I have mentioned in the previous post, some parts of the sidewalks are full of motorbikes, and is really difficult to walk on.
I often see men sitting in front of cafés during the daytime, who seems to be in their 50s or 60s. I wondered why and asked the Vietnamese guide, and he answered, “They do not have to work. They went to the war when they were young, and their wives work hard.” It is a daily routine of theirs to hang a bird cage overhead by wires, and listen to the songs from their birds such as parrots and Parakeets, and boast about them to others. This is exactly what we call the slow life, isn’t it?
