I wake up and realise that I didn't even pay for the drinks last night. I say to Abdullah that I'll have to call back later on today and pay duke, wouldn't rip him off like that. Just within all the commotion of the exit, we hadn't paid yet. I'll square him up later.
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I go for breakfast with Hoang near the cathedral, and I have the famous food from Hanoi. It is a beef noodle soup. But it has large slices of meat in it, like from a Sunday roast. Tastes good too. After this we grab a coffee and some sunflower seeds and sit on the street chatting. I haven't spent much time in the cathedral area do we take a walk around just looking, and it's nearly lunch time so we grab some more food. Hoang is an accountant for her uncle, he owns 2 hair salons and a restaurant. She is also the receptionist at one of the salons, but from what she tells me she just goes out with her friends in the morning for food, then goes in to work after lunch. Nice job, I could do with something like that.
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Alex came crawling back in to the room at 10, after being out all night. Go know what she was up to, but she got scratched by a cat and now she thinks she has rabies, ha! Not likely. She is still drunk and is panicking. Ha. Abdullah had met Duke while I was out, apparently he was in a right flap about the money, but Abdullah assures him that I am going to be calling in later to square him up. Hoang offers to take me out on her bike later as she has to go to the other side of town. I have only stayed in the old quarter so I jump at the chance to see a bit more of the city. She gets me about 3 and we go on a trip through Hanoi, it's pretty crazy, but at least she drives safely, I don't feel like I'm going to die, well, not too much. Ha. We get over to the other salon and restaurant that her uncle own as she has to sort out some money stuff. It is a much more developed part of the city. Significantly more modern than where I stay. No shortage of mercs cruising about, and a lot of office buildings. After she finishes she takes me back to the hostel. I make her take the scenic route so that I can see a bit more of the city. There is nothing like cruising about the city on the back of the bike. I get a really different perspective on Hanoi life. There are so many bikes here, but after being on the bike you can see that everyone know the rules, which are, there are no rules. At least no one drives at any significant speed. I have never been so close to so many bikes. Literally at any point in time, there are 30 bikes surrounding me. I can just reach out and touch these people if I wanted to, madness! I get dropped back to the hostel, on quite a high after my afternoon through the city.
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I call back to the Tet bar to pay Duke his money. He is thrilled to see me and I apologise for the confusion last night. Apparently we were just to wait until the police had gone and then we were to come back down. Duke is completely understanding, just happy that I came back, I'm quick to inform him that an Irish man always pays his debts. I have a beer with him while we chat for a bit, before I head back to the hostel.
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I go out for a coffee with Alex and Trang. Alex is to read Trang's tarot cards this evening. I decide to go along for the Craic and see how she reacts. When we get to the coffee shop we walk inside and Trang has brought 3 of her friends as well. I'll admit that I find this situation hilarious, because I know Alex will just be thinking, what the.... I get a juice drink and Alex is asked if she can read everyones cards. Pfft. I laugh to myself, the other girls don't speak much English and so Trang is translating, priceless. After half an hour Hoang phones me and asks if I want to do dinner, I decide yes, and so leave the life reading translation mess! We get some good old street food and then back on the bike to the other side of town for some coffee. Tomorrow is Halloween and so we talk about where to go and what to wear. Hoang decides that she will try and do some funky eye make up, I don't think I will be buying anything for just for one night. After coffee Hoang drops me home.