Toys to Eat

I remember very well these flour toys because they belong to my childhood. When I was a little boy and I used to see many old people making these beautifully shaped toys to sell in front of my school and in the market. During my years at elementary school and maybe secondary school, the sellers were always around but they seemed to disappear when I went to high school. Maybe I grew too old to notice them?

I hadn't seen them for such a long time until last week in front of the Ethnology museum. I was really nicely surprised, and it brought back a lot of fond memories from my school days. Because I took quite a few photos, I bought several toys from the seller above but I didn't eat them like I used to do when I was a little boy. I remembered when we finished our classes, we usually bought at least one everyday and asked our mothers to put them on the top of the cooked rice for about 15 minutes then we used to eat them. They didn't have much flavour but that's the way we did at that time.

The man told me he spends less than 10 minutes making each one. They all look gorgeous, colorful and only 5000Vnd. If you ever see this man, buy some to help him out. Nice thing to keep even though it's another dust collector :)

Street Vendors

Street businesses are a unique part of Vietnamese culture. In the past, street businesses were a common way for poor people to earn an income and this is the same today. However, the local authorities in Hanoi are making it hard for street vendors to trade these days.

I think one of the reasons is there are too many people who come to Hanoi to do the same thing and sell the same stuff. Lots of people are selling hats, books, fruits, flowers, postcards and t-shirt on the streets, following tourists from one place to another to sell their things. It's not always pleasant and tourists can't enjoy their walking tour because they constantly have to refuse politely from these aggressive sellers. Lots of sellers I've talked said that if they don't hassle people they don't sell anything and they go home empty handed.

Two weeks ago, while I was eating duck eggs from a girl on the street, she suddenly ran away with her basket. A xe om called out that the police were on their way. If these sellers get caught, they lose their stuff and receive a fine. It's funny to watch the vendors rush away quickly when the police arrive. But everything's back to normal when the police men are gone. Eventually, the duck egg lady comes back and I finished my snack :) These sellers could be really good 100m athletes.

Street vendors are a part of our culture and, even though they are a nuisance sometimes, they should be allowed to remain trading in the streets. Maybe the government should introduce a license to restrict their numbers though?

Craft Toys

Walking between Truc Bach Lake and West Lake in today's freezing weather of Hanoi was a bit of a shock. It's a bit early for winter! The weather was only around 17 degrees, drizzly and high in humidity that makes you feel really cold. I walked down to the Truc Bach supermarket to buy some stuff for my dinner and I also stopped by the man at the corner who makes craft toys.

After I bought a toy grasshopper, I asked if I could take some photos of his products. He told me that it takes five minutes to finish a grasshopper and about ten minutes for a heart, and a bit more than that for a phoenix. He makes them look amazing with just a few coconut leaves. This is quite a popular business between the two lakes. Lots of guys but them for their girlfriends and parnets also for their children.

Almost every single person looked at me on the way home because I was holding a toy coconut grass hopper. Maybe I am too old to play with these things? :)