Outgoing: city tour

One of the priorities of LST is to introduce Vietnamese culture and history to interns. Therefore, we held an outgoing day for all interns to discover Hanoi’s places and custom.

At 3:00 pm, interns and LST members gathered at Cam Tu Monument then went straight to The Huc Bridge (meaning Morning Sunlight Bridge). LST members introduced about the meaning of The Huc Bridge’s name and the history of Hoan Kiem Lake there. The legend related to these Hanoi must-see places was worth knowing. When we got in through the entrance to the bridge, Joe was quite curious about the decorations on the gate. Then, LST members explained about them and the war between Le Dynasty and Chinese Ming Dynasty thousand years ago.  Afterwards, some people bought tickets to go inside the Ngoc Son Temple (Temple of Jade Mountain) while others sat on the bridge to get to know each other.

After visiting Ngoc Son Temple, we walked around Hoan Kiem Lake to watch the way Hanoians did exercises, played chess, and enjoyed the landscape there. The reason why this scenic spot is the social focal point of Hanoians was gradually revealed. Interns had chances to cross the street in Hanoi, which was truly a challenging experience to go to Ly Thai To Statue. 

Hoan Kiem Lake is just between the Old Quarter and French Quarter so we chose to discover the magnificent French colonial buildings first. Hanoi Opera House with Vietnamese Flag interested the Indonesia girl, Ratih due to its classical architecture. Then we walked to Trang Tien ice-cream store to enjoy the most famous ice-cream of Hanoi. Maggie said that this frozen dessert attracted her a lot because of its delicious taste and incredibly cheap price. There was some nearby bookshops so we got into to pick up several local maps. 

After having a break at a café, interns and LST members went to the Old Quarter to have dinner. “Bun thang”, a famous dish in Hanoi was chose. Eating on the pavement was also an interesting way to experience the life style of Hanoians. In Hanoi, “Life takes place on the pavement” and the scene that people gather to eat together and sit on the plastic stools is ubiquitous and this is definitely an experience that foreigners should try. The restaurant was a cuisine street and opposite the shoemaking street so interns could have small conservation about culture in Hanoi as well as watch the life of Hanoians there. 

 Dong Xuan Market at night, a popular destination of the local at weekend.

8:00 pm, we walked to night market which sold a variety of products with cheap price. The market is on crowed streets that have tons of fashion wholesale shops and alleys, which are also a unique feature of the capital. 

Finally, beer store was the last destination and it was also the climax of the trip. We came across the bia hoi corner which was on the intersection of Ta Hien and Luong Ngoc Quyen Street. The awesome attraction of this beer store was not only the fresh beer but also its ambience. Sitting outside on the pavement, watching the steam of motorbikes and people went by, taking loudly and laughing so much was extremely an unforgettable memory about Hanoi of interns as well as all LST members. 

A.P

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Posted in: activities,AIESEC,AIESEC Hanoi,Hoan Kiem Lake,Local Supporting Team,LST,night market,outgoing day,Sword Lake

Outgoing: Coffee & Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum

At last LCM, Maggie asked everybody if we could have coffee together talking about something related to culture on Monday (20/06), then I decided to arrange a day out for interns as well. Hence, the plan was having coffee at Highland coffee bar near Hoan Kiem Lake at 10AM, then taking the bus to Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum and some attractions around it in the afternoon. 

Unfortunately, some LSTers had their duty so they could not join the outgoing day, so only Minh with her friend and Phuong go with interns. Shame on Phuong, she was late because she woke up too "early" that day, and said hello to the morning at 12:30 PM, and Minh could not go in the morning because of her final exam at university. The 3 interns: Maggie, Eden, and Joe decided to drink coffee at Highland and then went around the Old Quarter. 

1:30 PM, Phuong showed up, then everybody had lunch together at Lotteria Fast-food Restaurant. There, we talked a lot about everything, and mostly about Vietnamese Women and the culture. Although the cultures of Vietnam, China and some other Asia countries have some similar points, Vietnam culture still has something different, and it seemed to amazed the interns. The topic continued with the difference between Vietnam women in the past and at present. There are also differences between the characteristics of North - Middle - South women, and everybody was eager to know it.

2:30, we waited for Stella, Minh, and her friend to come, then we took bus 9 to Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum. When getting there, Phuong and Minh guided everybody to go to the One Pillar Pagoda first, telling a bit about the meaning of the Pagoda. After going inside the pagoda, we moved to Ho Chi Minh Museum. Unluckily, the museum does not open on Monday and Friday, so we only walked around and took pictures of the museum and mausoleum. The weather was getting hotter and hotter, and sugar cane juice and ice tea made us less thirsty. We walked to Lenin park (Lenin garden) and the Hanoi Flag Tower before going home.

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Posted in: activities,AIESEC,AIESEC Hanoi,Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum,Local Supporting Team,LST,outgoing day

A Day out around the Hoan Kiem Lake

It was so happy that we finally met Maggie (Hongkong) - the last intern of phase 1 project "Earth & Me". From the first time I met Maggie, she was a nice person and always smiled (which I like the most). Maggie is quite easy-going so we could work together quite smoothly. 

In order to let Maggie get used to Hanoi life style, LST held a outgoing day to some attractions around Hoan Kiem Lake (Sword Lake) with other 3 interns: Joe - Stella - Eden. We started at 3PM, and then we walked around the Hoan Kiem Lake and straight to the Ngoc Son Temple. During walking, LST member told about the meaning of the red bridge and the Pen Tower. 

Interns were also introduced about lemon ice tea at the tea street store near Soldier Monument. We enjoyed the Hanoiian's culture and chit chat with each other. Interns had chance to taste the fresh lemon ice tea which was the favorite drink of Hanoi teenagers. 

After drinking tea, we walked across some streets inside the Old Quarter, which were Hang Dau, Cau Go, Dinh Liet. We also went to the Big Church or St Joseph Church on foot. Interns were introduced about the church history and spent time praying inside the church. 

At 6PM, another LST members and X-team members joined us. We had dinner together at Peperonis Restaurant. Everybody seemed to be happy with many stories told by Quan - a very enthusiastic LSTer. It seemed that nobody want to go back home because we had too many things to tell to each others.

You can see more photos below :

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Posted in: activities,AIESEC Hanoi,Big Church Hanoi,buddy,Hoan Kiem Lake,Local Supporting Team,LST,Ngoc Son Temple,outgoing day,Sword Lake

Buddy Meeting - Stella and Eden

Finally the two interns from China: Eden and Stella have already arrived to Hanoi. They came here by train from the province near Shanghai to Gia Lam train station. Hiep - our LSTer and Mieu from X-team picked them up from the train station to the host family.

As Eden and Stella had already been here in Hanoi, and they are going to start their work soon; therefore, during the time they were free, LST held a friendly meeting between interns and their buddies. We had a whole afternoon going to the West Lake and to the Lotus ponds at the West Lake. We had so an interesting time chit chat with each other about many things such as: culture, Hanoi attractions, etc. We also introduced a bit about the project and their buddies. 

After knowing each other, we went to Tran Vu Pagoda. LSTer showed Stella and Eden about the history of the Pagoda, and also the interns told us some Chinese word written at the gate of the pagoda. We had so a wonderful afternoon!!

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Posted in: activities,AIESEC Hanoi,buddy,Ho Tay,Local Supporting Team,LST,outgoing day,West Lake