A fun fact to follow up on crosscheck's fun fact: The pronunciation of "pho" is the similar to the pronunciation of the French word for fire: feu.

No turkey for us here in off-the-beaten-path Germany, where the ONLY English TV channel is Aljazera! CNN & BBC are not available here. BBC but not CNN was available in Switzerland! What is happening to CNN?

Anyway, lucky you for finding turkey. We had brats and fries for lunch and will have Italian for dinner.

I will look for pho in Chicago (but not silk worms)!

When abroad I enjoy the coverage you get with CNN, truely a world coverage and not just what interests US viewers. Many interesting stories around the globe.

Bob are you sure that was turkey, I read a report of a man in white running after pigeons outside of your hotel! Probably no connection, right?

One of the staff called it a large chicken... In that case it was the biggest chicken ever seen

Thanks for the pho stock recipe. I'll be trying it when I get home.

<<<One of the staff called it a large chicken... In that case it was the biggest chicken ever seen>>>

Another fun Hanoi foodie fact...
That small pig roasting on the spit might have been a dog!

No LL it was not a dog. Also if we need a google definition we all know how to do that. Really don't need to google or Wikipedia anything while we are living it. No need for your silly answers to ruin a perfectly good trip report. If you feel the need to help someone with your silly answers help Lauren who definitely needs some serious help

You can get the CNN international channel on your cable subscription in the US but it costs extra. It is not just shown abroad. Generally, if you have one of the cheaper cable subscriptions in the US, you get the US channel, not the international channel.

Yesterday.... Ok it was not a day for most of you... Not one of use put a foot outside the hotel bldg until about 9:30PM after dinner when we walked out the front door to look at the bright white LED Christmas decorations... Massive and bright.

We decided to try breakfast in theJW cafe on the ground floor, good but too much noise and too much walking around--- the club has the best of each category and we receive tons of personal service.

Next up was the pool... A huge pool on it's own floor with Windows on 3 sides overlooking the city and the local neighborhood. Heated but still a bit chilly. Aside from two loud Korean women we had the place to ourselves. There is also a massive fitness center next door.

The spa followed... I had leg foot massage for an hour... Karen had 1 hr oil massage, as did Peter . Linda had the same as me.

Today they are all up at the spa again... We lucked out because for this month they have happy hour, 9-2 daily, with a 30% discount..

Last night we had an elegant gourmet dinner in the French restaurant...Think escargot, lobster bisque, filet (USA beef), slow cooked pork chops, bouillabaisse (loaded with seafood), duck breast rare with a special preparation... And then marvelous desserts.... French wines.. About 2,500,000 D per couple--very reasonable.

Vietnam is a place to splurge as they do everything with such panache at a reasonable price.

Btw, we love this hotel and its gracious staff. Doesn't hurt to be platinum...

A memorable day for sure....

It is quite surprise for me that you stays in Vietnam for 11 days, but you do not have a plan to visit northwest of Vietnam with terraced rice field.
And related to Hanoi cuisine, you should try more food in street vendor in old quarters of Hanoi. It is some kind of vietnam culture and there are a lot of amazing food you can not find no where.

Nin, we travel the world and have seen so many rice fields in Japan, China, Bali, etc. that another one to me would be ridiculous. Not all people have your interests or ours but at least rhkkmk takes the time to write about it. All the complainers on this thread have never done a real trip report of interest on this forum but sure do complain how fodorites like to travel. Respect the travel style of others and maybe you will get some respect in return. Also Vietnamese food is so common in my state that it is no big deal really. Also remember we are on vacation. Some like to see every little thing others just don't.

Btw, I have been to Hanoi 3 times so have done the tourist things... I do not eat street food EVER.

We're in Cambodia, but so far the Vietnamese food has been the best. Ignore the naysayers I think. I'm enjoying reading about your experiences, keep it coming !

ninhnguyen is a Vietnamese with a new blog who has just joined Fodors (see his first post). No doubt it will take him a while to get up to speed...

@hawaiiantraveler: you may misunderstand me. It is just some my thinking, not any complain to you. i do not know that you've been in Vietnam before, so i gave a recommendation about that. It is not related to respect or not respect. For me, i find interesting to come to Northwest every year to see terraced field and take part in amazing culture of minor ethnic there.

Regarding to food, many of my friends enjoy street foods. We like it too, special in old quarters. It is not only the food, but also culture of cuisine. You can go to a restaurant anywhere of the globe, but culture of street cuisine you can try only in some Asia countries.

@thursdaysd: yes, i am a vietnamese and i am not professional traveler. Maybe i need to get up to speed as you said, but i think that i know Vietnam much more than you, so it is just some of my thinking. I am just blogging to tell about vietnam travel to foreign travelers who needs info.

tks for response to my comment.

There are a number of us on this forum who will not want to risk their vacation by sampling street food for a number of common sense reasons. Yes many eat street food with no problems but some have experienced issues so we choose not to run the risk?

So Saturday was another day of rest and relaxation and none of us even stepped outside this fabulous, but not for everyone, hotel.

There was swimming and spa treatments and lots of eating, and I even got to eat my favorite egg salad sandwiches at afternoon tea.

Dinner was in the club where they offered a Vietnamese feast. I had a delicious chicken pho among other things.

Today we will be flying Vietnam Air to Danang and then take a van, arranged by Tonkin Travel to the Anantara Hotel in Hoi An for two nights.

We have a res for dinner tonight at Secret Garden, the restaurant where we had our best meal on our last trip to Hoi an.

@ninhnguyen - you may mot need to get up to speed on Vietnam, but you do need to get up to speed on this forum and the regular posters.

I think we need to give Vietnamese food another try on our holiday Bangkok/Phuket trip! We had gourmet Greek last night here in Kassel Germany. I had a lot of difficulty choosing my entree. I finally decided on mousaka but only ate about half of it because it seemed very rich. Heading to Cologne today.

Enjoy Hoi An. Anymore pics for FB?

@MrsBillT<<<There are a number of us on this forum who will not want to risk their vacation by sampling street food for a number of common sense reasons.>>>

Did Kathie get ill recently by eating Street Food? No, thought not!

Commonsense should dictate, and if you use it then you won't be disappointed with Street Food.